Famous Bisexuals in History
Since this is bisexual awareness week, I decided to highlight some famous bisexuals in recent and not so recent history and their contributions to the world
Josephine Baker
Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Baker was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. Josephine Baker's son Jean-Claude Baker and co-author Chris Chase wrote about her bisexuality in the biography "Josephine."
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He remains a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Dean is sometimes a target of bi erasure by gay critics who dismiss his amply documented relationships with women as nothing more than publicity stunts. Dean's same-sex relationships were far less public. When questioned about his sexual orientation, Dean is reported to have said, "No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back."
Bessie Smith
(April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) Bessie Smith was born poor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her parents died when she was eight years old and she began singing to support her family at age seven. She sang on street corners with her brother accompanying her on guitar. Smith's heart-wrenching blues reflected the harsh realities experienced by the black underclass in the Jim Crow era. Bessie Smith went on to become the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. Her first recording, “Downhearted Blues”, established her as the most successful black vocalist of her time. More than any other performer, she was responsible for introducing the blues into the mainstream of American popular music.
Countee Cullen
(May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. The exact details of Cullen's youth have been lost to history, but what is known is that he was orphaned and raised by his maternal grandmother who died when he was still a teen. He was then raised by a conservative minister from the renowned Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. Despite these setbacks, Cullen was already an award-winning poet in High School and went on to attend New York University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1925 and won the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize. That same year, Cullen released his lauded debut volume of poetry, Color. Cullen graduated with a master's from Harvard University in 1926 and subsequently joined the editorial staff of Opportunity magazine, penning the column "Dark Tower," which was a review of works from the African-American literati. Cullen worked in a variety of literary forms, was a children's author and playwright, a novelist, and even translated Euripides' classical work Medea from the ancient Greek.
Cullen's work was charged by the intersections of race, religion, and sexuality that marked his life. Cullen was married twice, and was married when he died, and yet, as often happens with non-heterosexual historical figures, you will often find Countee Cullen on lists of gay men. This plays into a popular societal belief in a "one drop rule" of male sexuality where a man with any same-sex attraction is automatically 100% gay.
Marilyn Monroe
(born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was one of the most glamorous and iconic stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had a turbulent personal life that included 3 marriages, 2 miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy, and 3 divorces. Her dating life included high profile men and women who remain household names to this day. In "Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox," author Lois W. Banner, feminist biographer and gender-studies professor at the University of Southern California, writes that Monroe’s sexual identity was one of the questions that formed her inner monologue of unsureness and insecurity:“How could she be the world’s heterosexual sex goddess and desire women?"
Julius Caesar
(12 or 13 July 100 BC - 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. He was a skillful politician and popular leader who turned the Roman Republic into the powerful Roman Empire. Julius Caesar greatly extended the territory of Rome before seizing power and making himself dictator, paving the way for the imperial system. Julius Caesar was a man of great intensity who openly enjoyed the "company" of both men and women. Curio, the famous orator of ancient Rome, described Caesar as "every woman's husband and every man's wife."
Greta Garbo
Garbo (18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990), born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and Garbo was nominated four times for an Academy Award. Greta Garbo was intensely private about her personal life, which included relationships with both men and women. When she died in 1990, Garbo had been living with a female companion for many years
Alexander the Great
(20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), Alexander III was king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful military commanders.
Alexander had several wives and a Persian-style harem, but the central relationship of his life was with his lover and general, Hephaestion.
Actually, I was made aware of Alexander's sexual orientation by Whoopi Goldberg. To quote her speaking of Alexander the Great she said "What the fuck you think made him great? He had good lovin' and it didn't make him any different"
Amy Winehouse
(14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English musician known for her eclectic mix of musical genres and her deep, soulful voice. In 2008 she won 5 Grammy awards in a single night for her second album, Back To Black. Amy's troubling personal life and recurring battles with drug addiction, self harm, and eating disorders colored some of her best work. Her personal struggles endeared her to her fans who could relate to her vulnerability and fight against adversity. The singer was always open about her sexuality; "There is something about being with a woman that is very satisfying. I don't care what people think about me being bi — I do what feels good,” said Winehouse as quoted in News of the World. She died tragically from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 in 2011.
Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt (2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma Vie (Story of My Life), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century. He has become so famous for his often complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer". Casanova was equally talented at seducing men.
Ethel Waters
(October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her best-known recordings include, "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", and "Cabin in the Sky."
Byron
Lord Byron - George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), was a British poet, an iconic bon vivant, and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and the short lyric "She Walks in Beauty." He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential. In Greece, he is regarded as a national hero for his work in helping them fight the Ottomans
Billie Holiday
(born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Holiday was rather openly bisexual and was rumored to have had several affairs with notable stage and film actresses, including Tallulah Bankhead. She sometimes had friends call her "Bill." Holiday's different-sex relationships included Orson Welles.
Malcolm X
(born Malcolm Little; May 19, 1925 – Feb 21, 1965) was a Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. In his late 30s, after his Hajj, he denounced the Nation of Islam and many of the controversial, militant views with which he is still associated in popular culture. Before he married, Malcolm X had relationships with men as well as women. His self-identity was not bisexual, however his sexual orientation and behavior were.
I bet you were shocked by this one. I was a bit surprised too.
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