Voting Station

Rawley T. Farnsworth

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Educator

The Resume

    (1924-April 15, 2013)
    Born in Lyndon, Osage County, Kansas
    Middle name was Tucker
    Former high school drama teacher
    Taught at Skyline High School (Oakland)
    Thanked by Tom Hanks in his Best Actor Academy Award acceptance speech for ‘Philadelphia’ (March 21, 1994)
    Inspired the 1997 comedy ‘In & Out’ starring Kevin Kline

Why he might be annoying:

    Tom Hanks was accused of outing him as gay on live television in his Best Actor speech.
    The speech led to a New York Post front page headline that read: ‘Outed at the Oscars!’
    He had technically already come out to a local San Francisco newspaper earlier that year, after Hanks had mentioned having a teacher who was gay and they contacted him (he said: ‘I thought, I’ve been retired for 12 years. What harm can it do?’).
    The movie his case inspired hasn’t aged well (Teacher gets mistakenly outed by his student, spends half the film in vehemently denying it before coming out and dancing to The Village People).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He began his 30-year teaching career in his home state, before moving to the Bay Area in 1968.
    Unlike the movie he inspired, Hanks had contacted him and asked for his permission to disclose that he was gay prior to his winning the Oscar.
    After winning, Hanks saluted both him and John Gilkerson (his former classmate who had died from AIDS) as ‘two of the finest gay Americans I have known.’
    He became involved in gay activism after coming out, including joining an organization for gay teachers and serving as grand marshal for an Atlanta parade for HIV-positive kids.
    When Tom Hanks donated $125,000 to restore the Skyline High auditorium, in 2001, he did so on the condition that it be named in Farnsworth’s honor.
    He gave a special tribute to Hanks at his AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2002, saying 'you've been so lavish in saying my praises that I wanted to come here tonight and do the same for you!'
    A Teaching Fellowship was created with ACT (American Conservatory Theatre) in his honor. He taught his students to ‘act well the part, there all the glory lies.’

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying