Wesley Eure: Gay Hunk In The Jungle

Remember hot and hunky Will from the original "Land of the Lost?"

Wesley Eure, now 57, recently came out in an interview at AfterElton.com. He discussed the frustration of being a closeted teen idol in the '70s and his yearlong relationship with Richard Chamberlain. He now has a partner of 2 1/2 years.

"It was a horrible time in Hollywood, being gay. It was horrible," Eure told the site. "I was on the cover of Tiger Beat and all those a lot, and they'd do those 'Win a Date With Wesley' and 'Who's Wesley Dating?' It was so disingenuous."

While playing Will on the original "Land," Eure was simultaneously shooting "Days of Our Lives," where he played the original Mike Horton from 1974-81. He also co-starred with Valerie Bertinelli, Conrad Bain and Red Buttons in the 1979 movie "C.H.O.M.P.S.," about a young man who develops a robot dog, and in the late '80s he hosted the kids' game show "Finders Keepers" on Nickelodeon.

But Eure has had even more success behind the camera, co-developing the animated PBS children's series "Dragon Tales" and authoring several kids' and comedy books. He's also a longtime fundraiser for AIDS and breast cancer charities in Palm Springs, Calif., where he lives.

As for the new "Land of the Lost" movie, Eure shot a cameo which was cut when the ending was changed. But he attended the premiere at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater.

"I walked down the red carpet and it was surreal," he wrote on his site, wesleyeure.com. "To think our little Saturday morning show could generate so much buzz! The cost of the party after the show was probably the entire budget of our first season in 1973."

Here's a recent interview he did with co-star Kathleen Coleman, chatting about his experiences on the original 70s TV show:

Written by CHRISTY LEMIRE

Images courtesy Amazon

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press

Comments

[Dewayne]

So, Wesley Eure is gay huh? I KNEW there was more than one reason I had such a crush on the guy when I was a kid!