He was a looker, too! (Image via MGM)

Carleton Carpenter was born July 10, 1926. I interviewed him for BoyCulture.com back in 2017, right after the heartbreaking death of his longtime pal Debbie Reynolds.

It was a fascinating interview, and I highly recommend his badly titled memoir The Absolute Joy of Work.

In the meantime, check out this video of Carleton at work — the first clip is a 1954 performance that aired on television, one of the first (or possibly the first) frank portrayal of an indisputably gay character on TV.