Viewers who saw this in a 2004 episode of the prison drama Oz were shocked. Not by the nudity -- there were lots of nude guys.
Not because he was Andrew Schillinger, 20-year old son of the white supremacist prisoner Vern Schillinger.
Not even because he was a heroin addict who would be given a batch by an unscrupulous guard and die of an overdose.
Although he had appeared in Judging Amy, Ally McBeal, Profiler, Gideon's Crossing, Charmed, and A Kiss Before Dying, Fred Koehler was famous for Kate and Allie (1984-89), a sitcom starring two recognizable 1970s tv stars, Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James, a free spirit-stick in the mud couple living together. Fred Koehler played their 10-15 year old son, Chip
No, they weren't lesbians, although they pretended to be in an early example of a "let's pretend to be gay to get some of their incredible privileges" episode.
To quote Sally in Peanuts, isn't the grown-up Frederick "the cutest thing"? Short, rather husky, with a round, handsome face and a befuddled expression that makes him perfect for roles as oddball outsiders with no heterosexual interests. Instead, they are gay-vague, yearning for love, acceptance, and family.
Like Ben Sharpless, teenage son of the obsessive sheriff Nolan in Birdseye (2002).
Or the mentally handicapped Pemon in Little Chenier (2006).
More after the break