When I heard that former 70s teen star Kristy McNichol came out of the closet, I vaguely remembered her and assumed that she’d already been out. I know her from the 1980 movie Little Darlings, which came out when she was just 17. She was known for being a tomboy and I thought she came out as gay sometime in the late 80s or 90s, but I guess I was wrong. So it’s like deja vu hearing this story since I could have sworn I read it ages ago. Anyway McNichol, now 49, has a girlfriend and gave a kind of blurry low-res photo of the two of them to People along with a statement that she’s gay. She’s also been with the same partner for over 20 years! Good for her, but couldn’t she have released a clearer photo to go with this story?
Kristy McNichol has been out of the public eye for 20 years. Now she’s chosen to come out – to try to help kids who are being bullied.
McNichol, 49, who has lived with her partner Martie Allen, also 49, for the past two decades, decided to make a statement about her sexuality and share this photo because she is “approaching 50” and wants to “be open about who I am.”
She “is very sad about kids being bullied,” her publicist Jeff Ballard tells PEOPLE. “She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different.”
Best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Buddy Lawrence in the ’70s show Family and later as Barbara Weston in Empty Nest, McNichol left it all behind when she dropped out of Hollywood to focus on her health.
Done with acting, McNichol spends her time focusing on tennis, yoga, travel and raising her beloved miniature dachshunds. “She is very happy and healthy,” says Ballard. “And she enjoys living a very private life.”
[From People]
I’m 38 and I don’t remember much about McNichol’s career, as most of it was before my time. A quick glance at wiki reveals that she kind of pissed away a chance at a movie career in the early 90s. She earned a repuation as being unreliable as she was doing drugs and was later diagnosed as being bipolar. It’s interesting to me that a lot of former 80s female stars have only come out recently. Top Gun star Kelly McGillis came out a few years ago at the age of 51. Family Ties’ Meredith Baxter also came out at 62. It’s a much different world now than it was in the 80s and it’s nice that people feel that they can be open about being gay. Even if some of these stories make me wonder why these celebrities we haven’t heard of in so long are making announcements. Wiki says that McNichol has been teaching acting in L.A. and devoting her life to charity work.
