Robert Joel McLane (August 4, 1944 in Macon, Georgia – September 30, 1992 in Riverside, California) was an American actor who is known for having starred in the early openly gay film A Very Natural Thing in 1974.
Robert Joel McLane (August 4, 1944 in Macon, Georgia – September 30, 1992 in Riverside, California) was an American actor who is known for having starred in the early openly gay film A Very Natural Thing in 1974.
He was born Robert Joel McLane, and was sometimes credited under the name Robert McLane. He was born in 1944 in Macon, Georgia.[1] and grew up on a farm in Wagener, South Carolina. He graduated from Furman University in 1965.[2][1]
Joel had various roles in theater. He was debuted on Broadway in 1969 as "He Who Hears Thunder" in Arthur Kopit's Indians in 1969. A year later, he had a leading role in the NET Playhouse television drama They Have Taken Over that was an adaptation of the novel by Marya Mannes. He had a minor role in the Alan Arkin-directed Little Murders (1971).
He starred in Blue Summer (1973) with Bo White and again with White in A Very Natural Thing (1974) under the name Robert Joel.[1] Joel played the lead, David, a gay ex-monk, who finds love in New York City. The film has been viewed as being the first film to show gay love.[3] His other co-stars were Curt Gareth, Jay Pierce, and Vito Russo, who went on to write The Celluloid Closet. Joel also appeared in Russ Meyer's Up! (1976),[4][5] Barbara (1970), and a 1971 PBS television drama, They.
He wrote one-act plays, one of which, Triptych, was presented in 1990 at the Glenn Wallichs Theater at the University of the Redlands, and was directed by Kent Paul.[6][7]
He moved to Riverside where he wrote plays and taught. He worked for the AIDS Project, coordinating the work of volunteer therapists who worked with persons with AIDS and their families.[6][8] He died in 1992 of AIDS.[1] A panel honoring him appears on the AIDS memorial quilt.[1]
