Jerry

American Playhouse: Family Business aired on PBS in February 1983. It starred Milton Berle. It was a rare serious dramatic role for him. He played a dying successful businessman, and he had to decide how he would divide his estate among his sons. The youngest son Jerry, played by Jeffrey Marcus, immediately caught my eye. He was just a few years older than me, and I thought he was cute and sexy. He made a point of talking about girls with his father. To this day, I can hear him going on about bodacious sets of tatas. I got the feeling he might be gay. Maybe because his lascivious comments about girls seemed a little too over the top and forced. Turns out, I was right. I was 17, a junior in high school, deeply closeted, had never told a soul I was gay, never met an out gay person, and yet I felt this tingling when I saw Jerry. I knew there was something different about Jerry. When his father died, it was revealed that Jerry had a boyfriend, and he used his inheritance to open a gay bar.

Jerry was one of a handful of positive and fully rounded gay characters I saw as a teenager. He wasn’t merely some sad sack tragic boy doomed to lead a life of loneliness like Willie’s old friend on Family. Jerry wasn’t going to settle for that. Jerry had a boyfriend, and he started a business that catered to other gay men. He couldn’t tell his father, but his brothers knew.

I have wanted to see this film again for many years, but it’s not on DVD or YouTube. I think it’s been mostly forgotten. It would be interesting to find out if the film holds up to my memory of it. I felt so alone and isolated at the time, and Jerry gave me hope.