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‘Dynasty’ Alum Gordon Thomson on His 7-Year Soap Run, Career Highlights and 1 ‘Overrated’ Costar
As Dynasty’s black sheep Adam Carrington, actor Gordon Thomson gave Joan Collins’ wicked Alexis some competition. During his seven-year run on the primetime soap, his character raped his future wife, attempted to poison his brother-in-law and routinely gay-bashed his homosexual brother.
Initially, Joan balked when the show cast Gordon, insisting he was too old to play her long-lost son, but he quickly became a fan favorite — and won Joan over, too. “Toward the end of Dynasty’s run, Joan said to me, ‘Gordon, darling. I have feelings for you that are far from maternal,'” Gordon, 78, confides to Closer exclusively. “I was so complimented. The woman had Warren Beatty, for God’s sake!”
Did fans confuse you with evil Adam?
“Oh, yes. People were really afraid of me. I remember meeting one fan a few years after the show ended who was shocked that I was nothing like Adam. I asked, ‘Do you want to see him?’ Then I summoned Adam, and the man backed two steps away. It’s all in the eyes.”
Did your good looks help your career, or did you find it hard to be taken seriously?
“It hasn’t really helped all that much. I did get to model instead of waiting tables to get the rent paid. But it puts some people off, thinking that I’m perhaps not a very good actor. And a certain British gay director took an appalling shine to me when I was living with a fabulous woman. [Accepting his advances] became a condition of employment. I told him, “I can’t. I want to hold my head up.”
People might be surprised that you haven’t always been a purely dramatic actor.
“I did a 1973 production of Godspell in Toronto for six months with an astonishing company: Gilda Radner, Marty Short, Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. Gilda was a brilliant comedian, but also complete bliss. She and Linda [Evans] are the only two actors I’ve ever met who, when you meet them, you just love instantly. Linda truly is like the sun coming up.”
You also costarred with Kermit the Frog!
“That was probably the happiest day I’ve ever spent on a set. I was playing Sir Robin the Brave [in 1971’s The Frog Prince]. Jim Henson was there working Kermit to my immediate left, and I’d stroke Kermit’s little head like he was my new pal. It was magical.”
At the height of Dynasty’s worldwide popularity, you had an audience with then Prince Charles. What do you recall of it?
“I think it was in London in 1985. He said, ‘I don’t watch, but my wife [Princess Diana] watches.’ I noticed the people in the background were looking at me and not him because I was the exotic Hollywood visitor.”
You also met Barbara Stanwyck when she appeared on ‘Dynasty’. Did she live up to your expectations?
“She was heaven. Golden Hollywood at its finest. When I gave her a kiss, she held her cheek and said, ‘Mmm, nice kiss.’ I thought, ‘Sweetheart, you were married to [actor] Robert Taylor. C’mon. A kiss from me is nothing.’”
Did you ever meet any stars who were a disappointment?
“Charlton Heston, whom I called Chuckles, was most overrated. I was performing an angry fight scene on [the spinoff] The Colbys, and Chuckles was standing behind the set. When I made my exit, he said to me, ‘When in doubt, we all shout, don’t we?’ I thought, ‘How dare you be so condescending.’”
In 2017, you were outed as gay by a journalist. How did that happen?
“The first words out of this reporter’s mouth over the phone were, ‘Well, Gordon, as one gay man to another…’ I had one of those instant chats with myself: Do I hang up or do I continue? He took away my autonomy to come out on my own, as Richard Chamberlain did with such grace after waiting until he reached his 70s. And then at the end of the interview, the reporter told me he’d had a crush on me and asked me out!”
Have you ever known true love?
“No, I don’t think I have had that gorgeous, reciprocal love. What I lacked in spades for a very long time was a sense of self-esteem. I put up with stuff nobody should put up with just because I didn’t think I was worth it. I had a shift about 13 years ago when I finally realized the man I was with was selfish and not worth what I’d invested in him. Far and away the best relationship I had was with an actress when I was 21 who had the most generous spirit I’ve ever known. Maureen and I were a wonderful couple and remained friends until she passed.”
What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were younger?
“Joan [Collins] said to me once, ‘Gordon, darling, I’ve not had the sun on my face since I was 24.’ When I moved to California, my first car was a convertible. I should have kept the top up. Get out of the sun and put a whole lot of SPF 50 on your face.”
Well, you look great. Have you made any lifestyle concessions to aging?
“I found out I had diabetes in 2021. It’s been a very simple thing to adapt to. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but you do change. The biggest is you really have to stay away from all-purpose white flour, which means pasta. So, you start to eat pasta made with chickpea flour, which is very good for you.”
When are you happiest?
“I read an enormous amount. I’m [happiest] surrounded by stacks and stacks of books. There’s a writer called William Boyd, who I was first introduced to with his book Any Human Heart. A wonderful book. There’s also one called The Cellist, by Daniel Silva. And Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.
In 2022, you and your fellow ‘Dynasty’ alums John James and Jack Coleman did several ‘Cocktails With the Carringtons’ shows. What was the highlight?
“It was a whole lot of fun. The splashiest evening was at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel when Pamela Bellwood, Maxwell Caulfield and Joan Collins came. Joan loved it, but she had one note afterwards: ‘Darlings, you should be meaner.’ I told her, ‘No, Joan. That’s your cabaret.’”
