What was Tommy Cothran for Leonard Bernstein, and who is Tommy Cothran? HITC explores.
Music biopics have seen a resurgence over the past few years. Freddie Mercury has been given the film treatment as well as Elton John and Elvis. The productions also feature a large cast of actors. Leonard Bernstein is the most recent to see his life brought to screen. The iconic American composer and conductor, he’s best known as the Broadway musical West Side Story. Bradley Cooper directs the movie for Netflix but also stars as Leonard, with Carey Mulligan portraying the musician’s wife, Felicia Montealegre. The trailer makes the audience curious about Leonard Bernstein’s life. They want to know who Tommy Cothran is.
Leonard Bernstein’s Tommy Cothran:
Tom Cothran, played by Gideon Glick, is the clarinetist character in Maestro. Leonard is said to have had an affair with Tom Cothran.
Leonard was Tom’s friend and introduced him to his friends in the San Francisco social scene. They quickly became close over shared interests.
They were known to take off on vacations, and it’s claimed that the two of them had an affair; Leonard was married to Felicia Montealegre from 1951. Felicia was aware in 1976 that Tom was dating her husband. She was outspoken about the affair.
Leonard traveled extensively after the breakup, but the two eventually settled down together in Palm Springs. The relationship ended in 1977. Leonard wrote Felicia in the same year about their desire to reconcile.
Leonard tragically learned in 1978 that Felicia was diagnosed with lung tumor. She died. Following her passing, Leonard and Tom did remain friends beginning in 1980, but this was short-lived because Tom died from AIDS a few years after Leonard’s wife.
‘He wasn’t conflicted about it at all’
The Guardian Reports that Leonard had a number of lovers following his wife’s death.
Arthur Laurents, his collaborator on West Side Story, once said that Leonard was “a gay man who got married,” adding that “He wasn’t conflicted about it at all. He was just gay.”
The New Yorker reports Felicia as having once been in the New Yorker According to a claim wrote to her husband that “You are a homosexual and may never change— you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depends on a certain sexual pattern, what can you do? “I am ready to accept you for who you are without becoming a martyr, or having myself sacrificed on an altar of L.B. altar.”
Gideon Glick in the role of Tommy Cothran
Gideon, the American actor portraying Tom is 35 years old and has performed in many roles on both stage and screen.
He played Ernst on Broadway in Spring Awakening. Jimmy-6 was in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Jordan Berman appeared in Significant Other. Dill Harris appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird.
On-screen, however, he’s been in shows such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Alfie) and the movies Oceans Eight (Kyle McCallister), White Noise (Simuvac Technician), and The Pale Blue Eye (Cadet Horatio Cochrane).
Maestro debuts on Netflix in 2023 on December 20th.