Boy George on 'Donahue' (1984)
Celebrating The Trailblazer's Birthday
Today marks Boy Georgeās 61st birthday, and I canāt think of a better way to celebrate than by revisiting the moment I first āmetā him.
It was 1984. I was a kid. I donāt remember if it was live or Memorex, but I remember exactly how it felt to watch Boy George on Donahue for the first time.
My mom and I sat there together, wide-eyed, and mesmerized. Neither of us knew what to say to each other during or after the interview. But we both seemed to know something would never be quite the same between us afterward.
Here was this unapologetically flamboyant, eloquent, and defiant figure, facing down a live studio audience filled with skepticism, confusion, and some hostility. But Georgeādressed in a Liberace-meets-New-Romantic ensembleādidnāt flinch. He met every question with disarming wit, intelligence, and radical calm.
Watching it now, forty-one years later, the interview plays like a time capsule and a celebrity masterclass. Itās easy to get caught up in the sequins and eyeshadow, but I urge you: look past the glam.
Listen to what Boy George is saying about the narrow-mindedness of society, the limits of gender norms, and the absurdity of peopleās obsession with appearances over talents. Boy George didnāt just preach acceptanceāhe embodied it.
Boy George was, is, and will always be a trailblazer.
This 1984 interview was more than a cultural moment; it was a seismic shift in what could be said, seen, and heard on American television. And for my mom and me? It cracked something open. A door into possibility. A mirror held up to authenticity.
Happy birthday, Boy George. Thank you for being so far ahead of your timeāand for making it a little easier for the rest of us to catch up.
Keep calm and carry on!
Clint šāļø
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
SUNDAY = Happy Best Friends Day!
MONDAY = Scott Kennedy
TUESDAY = June Gloom + June Doom
WEDNESDAY = Keeping Up With The Emails (+ More)
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THURSDAY = The Joke...Is On The Jokers
FRIDAY = In The Air...
FYC = STORIES + SUBSTACKS
Male Desire in the Art of Caravaggio (The Rogue Art Historian)
Shut Up and Obey: The First Amendment, Brought to You by the Marines (What Are We Doing Here?!)
ON THIS DAY = JUNE 14
BIRTHDAYS
1811 = Harriet Beecher Stowe = American author and activist
1820 = John Bartlett = American author and publisher
1904 = Margaret Bourke-White = American photographer and journalist
1905 = Arthur Davis = American animator and director
1909 = Burl Ives = American actor and singer
1919 = Sam Wanamaker = American actor and director
1928 = Ernesto "Che" Guevara = Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician
1931 = Marla Gibbs = American actor and comedian
1952 = Bill Sherwood = American musician and filmmaker š
1954 = Will Patton = American actor
1955 = Paul O'Grady = British comedian and drag performer š
1958 = James Gurney = American artist and author
1961 = Boy George = British singer-songwriter and DJ š
1968 = Faizon Love = Cuban-American actor and screenwriter
1970 = Heather McDonald = American comedian, actor, and author
1978 = Diablo Cody = American filmmaker
1988 = Kevin McHale = American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality
EVENTS
1775 = The Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Armed Forces.
1777 = The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States.
1959 = Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
1976 = The Gong Show premieres on NBC.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
Flag Day (US)
Pride Month (ongoing)
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
āIn a way, the most political thing you can do is be yourself.ā
Boy George
āI always say I'm Catholic in my complications and Buddhist in my aspirations.ā
Boy George
Thanks Clint and George. I just finished reading Running with the Bulls, My Life with the Hemingways, by Valerie Hemingway, married to Ernest's youngest son Gregory, who later became Gloria and died in a women's prison after no one bailed him out. Now reading Dear Papa, The Letters of Patrick and Ernest Hemingway
Hey Clint, Hmmmm BG I can take or leave him, it all depends. Still he has balls to do what he does/did. Cheers DougT š«š“š¬š§