Robin Williams stopped co-star being outed as gay on talk show

Amber Dowling Canadian talk show “The Marilyn Denis Show” is ending after 13 seasons. The weekday Bell Media series concludes with its final episode on Friday, June 9, after more than 2,000 shows in front of a studio audience in Toronto. “We are live today because I have a very special announcement to make and it’s going to be tough for me to make this,” host Marilyn Denis said, fighting back tears on the April 13 edition of the show. “After 13 wonderful seasons, I’ve decided this is the last season of this show. And I want to be clear I’m not retiring and I’m very, very healthy. I’m going to be 65, that’s true. But life is really, really good and I look forward to spending more time with my family.”

Wendy Williams is on her way back to TV — but her little brother doesn’t like the idea!

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty was absent from her usual spot on Saturday, with a co-star filling in. The broadcaster hosts alongside Charlie Stayt on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

From New England to Hollywood. Matt Damon’s work as an actor, writer and producer has cemented him as one of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars.

Drew Barrymore is known for keeping it real on her self-titled talk show, and this week she shared a milestone moment while interviewing pals Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.«I'm so hot. I think I'm having one of my first perimenopause hot flashes,» the 48-year-old actress shared, taking off her jacket and fanning herself as Aniston helped her adjust her microphone.

Lisa Rinna is leaving the door open for a possible return to reality TV, alongside her family.The former  cast member is one of several cover stars for CR Fashion Book Issue 22 — dedicated to Mother Nature — and she opened up to the publication about fame, her drive to become an actress and her future in the industry.«I love fame,» Rinna expressed in her interview. «I think it’s the greatest thing.»Despite her outspoken appreciation for the spotlight, she recently made the decision to leave and explained to the magazine, «It was hard because it's a job and it's hard for me to leave a good paycheck, but I just really knew in my gut that it was time to move on.»But what is she moving on to? The reality star played coy when asked about possible rumors that she and her famous family — including her husband, actor Harry Hamlin, and their model/actress daughters, Amelia and Delilah Hamlin — might soon be starring in a style reality TV series of their own.Rinna simply teased, «Never say never.»She did, however, seemingly hint at what fans could likely look forward to if and/or when that project comes to fruition — namely, lots of drama.«Drama is what the shows are about!» Rinna said. «If you don't talk about the elephant in the room, then what are we talking about, my yoga class? What I had for breakfast? No one wants to watch that.» and hit newsstands on April 13.

Oprah Winfrey is known for her intimate sit down chats, like her bombshell interview with Harry and Meghan. But even long-time hosts like Oprah get it wrong sometimes, as Nathan Lane recently highlighted when he told NBC Sunday Today that late actor Robin Williams for was 'a saint' after he 'swooped in' and saved him during a 1996 Oprah interview when he wasn't ready to publicly come out as gay. Lane, 67, publicly came out three years later in 1999, but during the press tour for his movie The Birdcage - where he starred alongside Williams - he simply 'wasn't ready' to tell the world when Oprah asked him if he was worried about being typecast because he played a drag queen in the movie.

Nathan Lane hasn’t forgotten how his The Birdcage co-star Robin Williams helped protect him during an interview almost 30 years ago.

Nathan Lane is remembering his friend Robin Williams — as a “saint.”

during an interview on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” when the Oscar winner then stepped in.“I was not prepared at all for that,” Lane said during a chat on the “Today” show Sunday about being open with his homosexuality in public.“And I certainly wasn’t ready to go from table-to-table and tell them all I was gay,” the “Lion King” actor and New Jersey native continued. “I just wanted to talk about finally [I] got a big part in a movie, and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality.”In “The Birdcage,” Williams — who died in 2014 — and Lane played a gay couple whose son is about to be married.Tony winner Lane explained on the morning show how he knew that starring in a queer film would bring inquiries about his own sexuality — and it was “sort of unavoidable.”However, while he knew that Winfrey, 69, wasn’t trying to out him on purpose, he recalled what he mentioned to “Good Will Hunting” star Williams prior to the interview.

Nathan Lane says he wasn’t ready to publicly come out of the closet when The Birdcage opened in 1996, and co-star Robin Williams helped him dodge the issue during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nathan Lane revealed on “Sunday Today” that Robin Williams once protected him from coming out as gay against his will on national television. The year was 1996 and Lane and Williams were on their press tour for Mike Nichols’ “The Birdcage,” in which they play a gay couple trying to marry off their son to a conservative couple’s daughter. Lane was nervous about doing an interview on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as “The Birdcage” was one of his first major film roles, and he did not want to come out publicly as gay at the time. “I was not prepared at all for that,” Lane said about openly discussing his sexuality at the time. “And I certainly wasn’t ready to go from table-to-table and tell them all I was gay. I just wanted to talk about finally [getting] a big part in a movie, and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality.”

told Today’s Willie Geist of the potential pressure to discuss his sexuality while promoting the 1996 film on Oprah’s talkshow. “And I certainly wasn’t ready to go from table-to-table and tell them all I was gay.”While Lane, who dressed in drag in the film, admitted that discussing his sexuality was “sort of unavoidable because of the nature of the film and the character,” he remembers wanting to expand on his big break rather than his identity, saying, “I just wanted to talk about I finally got a big part in a movie and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality.”While Lane clarified that he, to this day, doesn’t think Winfrey was trying to out him, he shared his concerns with Williams prior to their appearance on the show.

Nathan Lane is recalling the sweet moment when Robin Williams saved him from having to talk about his sexuality when he wasn’t ready to do so.

Sam Neill has said that Robin Williams was “inconsolably solitary and deeply depressed” at the height of his career. The actor has penned a new memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?In the book, Sir Sam, 75, writes of Williams: “He had fame, he was rich, people loved him, great kids — the world was his oyster. “And yet I felt more sorry for him than I can express.

Nathan Lane is recalling the sweet moment when Robin Williams saved him from having to talk about his sexuality when he wasn't ready to do so.In an upcoming interview on, the 67-year-old actor fondly remembered the time he and Williams were set to appear on to promote but before doing so, he turned to Williams and told him why he was feeling nervous.«I said to Robin beforehand… 'I'm not prepared to discuss, you know, that I'm gay on national television. I'm not ready,'» Lane says, before revealing Williams told him not to worry.Lane admits not talking about his sexuality was a bit of a challenge, considering his character in the 1996 comedy, Albert Goldman, is an openly gay man who stars in a South Beach drag club owned by his partner, Armand Goldman, played by Williams, who tragically died in August 2014. «And so then, of course she [Winfrey] was like, 'How come you're so good at that girlie stuff? Are you worried about being typecast?'» Lane recalls.

Sam Neill has described his late co-star Robin Williams as both the "funniest" and the "saddest" person he has ever met. The 75-year-old reflected on the time he spent with Williams shooting 1999's Bicentennial Man in his new memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, and described the late actor as "irresistibly, outrageously, irrepressibly, gigantically funny". However, the Jurassic Park actor could also sense a "dark space inside" the Good Will Hunting star.

Sam Neill has special memories of Robin Williams, who worked with him in 1999’s Bicentennial Man. Neill, 75, looked back on their time together in his new March 21-released memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?

Did I Ever Tell You This?, the actor recalls how they had “great chats” together while visiting each other’s trailers on the set of 1999 film Bicentennial Man.“We would talk about this and that, sometimes even about the work we were about to do,” Neill wrote (via People), adding that Williams was “irresistibly, outrageously, irrepressibly, gigantically funny”.Neill describes the late actor as simultaneously the “funniest person” he ever worked with and “the saddest person I ever met”.He added: “He had fame, he was rich, people loved him, great kids – the world was his oyster. And yet I felt more sorry for him than I can express.

Sam Neill thinks Robin Williams was the "saddest person" he's ever met. The comedy star committed suicide in August 2014, and Sam - who worked alongside him on the 1999 movie 'Bicentennial Man' - has now opened up about their friendship, describing Robin as the "funniest person" he ever worked with. In his new memoir, 'Did I Ever Tell You This?', he writes: "He had fame, he was rich, people loved him, great kids - the world was his oyster.