The openly gay actor, Peter La Tourneaux, initially attributed his limited opportunities in the film industry to being stereotyped as a gay hustler, a role that had become synonymous with his name.
Following the release of the film adaptation of Mart Crowley's play, The Boys in the Band, La Tourneaux's career began to decline, and by 1978, he found himself performing his one-man cabaret act in a male-oriented adult entertainment establishment in the heart of Times Square.
David Ragan, author of the esteemed reference book, Who's Who in Hollywood, notes that La Tourneaux blamed his lack of success on being perpetually typecast as a hustler.
Tragedy struck La Tourneaux in 1983 when he was arrested and subsequently sent to Rikers Island, where he contracted the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),which would ultimately lead to his untimely demise in 1986.
