The Secret Love Story of Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo

By the time the couple met in 1948, Williams had already cemented his status as one of the greatest living playwrights, having debuted the timeless A Streetcar Named Desire the year prior to great acclaim.

Merlo, for his part, was a working-class Sicilian-American actor who had grown up in New Jersey. Despite his screen-ready handsomeness, he hadn’t really managed to break through in the business. He appeared in a handful of Western films throughout the ’40s, but often in bit parts that frequently went uncredited.

Still, he certainly looked like a movie star, and when Williams first laid eyes on him at the Atlantic House bar in Provincetown, he couldn’t see anything else.

“My continual and intense scrutiny must have burned through his shoulders, for after a while he turned toward me and grinned,” Williams wrote of Merlo that night in his Memoirs. It was love at first sight.

And thus began a 15-year love affair that would inspire much of Williams most creative – and romantic – work. Merlo gave up acting, more or less, to become the writer’s secretary full-time, living with him in his Manhattan apartment, his Key West home, and frequently travelling abroad together.

The guise of Merlo’s “job” was largely to protect the fact that the two men were romantically together. Many closest to the two understood this truth – in fact, you could call it an “open secret” – but such was the nature of being gay at the time, and their relationship was never acknowledged publicly in the press.

In 1951, Williams wrote The Rose Tattoo, which he called his “love play” and was clearly inspired by his feelings for Merlo. Though he seldom wrote directly about his own life, it’s been said the character Alvaro – a Sicilian truck driver – was loosely based on his lover, drawing from Merlo’s “playfulness, sense of humour, deep feelings, and athletic physique.”

Despite the secrecy, Williams has described his early years living with Merlo as the happiest and most productive of his life. However, over time, both men’s heavy reliance on drugs and alcohol is said to have put an intense strain on their relationship, and they had their fair share of rocky periods.

In 1962, Merlo was diagnosed with lung cancer, at which point Williams relocated him back to his Manhattan apartment and stayed by his side as his health waned. Before Merlo passed in 1963, it’s said his last words to Williams were, “I’m used to you now,” which the writer understood to be an admission of deep love.

Many claim 1961’s The Night Of The Iguana to be Williams’ last truly great work, which is attributed (by even Williams himself) to the fact that he fell into an extended, dark depression after Merlo’s death, turning further into debilitating drug use.

He would continue to write, and eventually found another romantic partner in aspiring writer Robert Carroll, many years his junior, but Williams was never the same. He was discovered dead in a New York City hotel in February 1983, found to have toxic levels of drugs in his body. He was 71.

It was only earlier this year that the Tennessee Williams Annual Review published a never-before-seen poem from Williams called “The Final Day Of Your Life,” which, as the title might imply, provides an intimate portrait of his last moments with Merlo, writing specifically about sitting next to his companion while he was attached to an oxygen tank.

Though Williams and Merlo’s story has a tragic end, we’re still discovering new details about the love these two men had for each other, and the impact that love had on the writer’s body of work – one of the most consequential and influential oeuvres in American culture.

Autumn and Winter Pride Festivals

Many Prides around the world take place in June, timed to coincide with the anniversary of New York’s Stonewall Uprising on 28 June 1969, considered by many to be the beginning of the modern LGBT+ movement. 

But can that be the only reason why June is considered the proudest month? Is it a coincidence that late June is when it’s warm and sunny in much of North America and Europe? Can it really be a big mystery why Toronto, for example, doesn’t hold its Pride festival in February, coinciding with the 1981 bathhouse raids that are considered the turning point in the country’s LGBT+ movement? (Hint: Toronto’s daily temperature in February is an average of -3C.) I mean, who wants to shiver while they party and protest?

But not everybody in the world gets their best weather in June, July and August. Those in the Southern Hemisphere often have their warmest months in January, February and March.

And we who live in more northern, more frigid climates, in search of autumn and winter Pride festivals, are lucky to have those places to visit when the temperature at home drops. So set aside the idea that June is Pride Month. Here are some places you can visit for Pride when you need a taste of the rainbow.

October 

Las Vegas Pride, Nevada – 11 and 12 October 2024

The people behind one of the world’s few night time Pride parades know exactly what they’re doing. The unbearably hot days of the Nevada summer are over, and the evenings bring comfortable temperatures that can almost be called cool. But this is Vegas, so there will be plenty of razzle, dazzle and sexiness on display.

Honolulu Pride, Hawaii – 19 and 20 October 2024

The capital’s Pride parade heads down Kalākaua Avenue at sunset allowing the evening breeze to cool off all the parading hotties. The entertainment starts immediately after the parade with programming continuing over the rest of the weekend. Drag is in no short supply.

Taipei Rainbow Festival, Taiwan – 25 to 27 October 2024

This free weekend-long national event takes place in the square around The Red House, a landmark in Taipei’s gay village, and draws upon the DJs, go-go boys, drag queens and other performers that drive Taipei’s LGBT+ scene all year long. The October weather is usually pleasantly warm and drier than other months. The biggest Pride celebration in East Asia, it attracted nearly 180,000 attendees last year.

Johannesburg Pride, South Africa – 26 October 2024

Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, with a metro population of 6.2 million, has the biggest Pride festival in the country – and in Africa – with more than 20,000 taking part. For its 35th anniversary year and as part of the organisation’s broader Pride of Africa project, there will also be an empowerment summit, a gala fundraiser and a “secret venue” event.

Greater Palm Springs Pride, California – 31 October to 3 November 2024

This California resort town’s first Pride celebration was in 1986 – it was a dinner and show called Sizzle that didn’t go over very well. The first parade was in 1992, with 35 entries. Now spreading the rainbow across the entire Coachella Valley, it’s a four-day party with 225 parade entries.

November

Buenos Aires Pride / Marcha de Orgullo, Argentina – 2 November 2024

The timing of Buenos Aires’ Pride celebrations point not only to the lovely late-spring weather but also to the anniversary of the founding of Latin America’s (and Argentina’s) first LGBT+ organisation, Nuestro Mundo, in the city in 1967. Although politics and history remain important for this festival, remember that this is Latin America – the party is fierce, as are the entertainers on the main stages. The parade and street festival brought out an estimated million people last year.

Maspalomas Winter Pride, Gran Canaria, Spain – 4 to 10 November 2024

The Spanish resort town of Maspalomas, located on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, has a special role in European gay life, namely providing a warm super-gay beach escape during the wintertime. Scandinavians, Germans and Brits flock there to get themselves a winter tan. So it’s not surprising that its Winter Pride, which turns 10 this year, is just as popular as Maspalomas’ springtime Pride celebrations.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 19 November 2024

Though not as big and famous as São Paulo’s Pride festival, Rio’s is a lot of fun and includes performances and parties as well as protest. It’s often outshone, even for LGBT+ people, by Carnaval and Rio’s massive New Year’s celebrations, which involves millions of people partying on Copacabana Beach dressed all in white, but it’s a great opportunity to celebrate with the community. Take note, November is usually the wettest month.

January

Melbourne Midsumma Festival, Australia – 19 January to 9 February 2025

Australia’s second-biggest city does things its own artsy way -Melbourne’s Pride festivities are embedded in a 22-day LGBT+ arts and culture festival, with a variety of free and ticketed events. If three weeks of performances, exhibits and parties aren’t enough for you, the annual parade takes place on 2 February 2025, with an estimated 7,400 marchers proceeding down Fitzroy Street in St Kilda, watched by more than 45,000 supporters.

February

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Australia – 14 February to 2 March 2025

It’ll have been two years since this antipodean city hosted WorldPride and they’re still buzzed. Of course, the flight Down Under is a long one, so visitors will want their money’s worth. With 100 events across 17 days, there’s literally something for everyone, even those who just want to stand jaw-dropped before all the spectacular costumes and floats in the Mardi Gras parade. There are few Prides with this much dazzle on display.

Auckland Rainbow Parade, New Zealand – 15 February 2025

New Zealand’s largest city, with a metro population of about 1.7 million, also has beaches, a bustling Central Business District and Pride celebrations that will have you smiling and dancing. A Pride-like festival called Hero was the thing through the 1990s; the current organisation making things happen was founded in 2013. Unlike the name suggests, Pride is a full-fledged festival, with dozens of parties, shows and exhibitions around the city – some official, some by independent organisers – leading up to parade day. 

Mumbai Queer Pride, India – February 2025 (To Be Confirmed)

India’s biggest city, with a population of more than 12.5 million, hosts a month of Pride events – circuit, literary, artsy, health-oriented, history-minded – leading up to its annual Pride march. The march itself usually starts in August Kranti Maidan, the park where Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, which led to India’s independence, on 8 August 1942.

March

Cape Town Pride, South Africa – March 2025 (To Be Confirmed)

The city that’s home to Africa’s only rainbow crosswalk knows a thing or two about throwing a Pride party. More than 30 years after South Africa decriminalised homosexuality, and almost 20 since it legalised same-gender marriage, the city’s LGBT+ community continues to grow and celebrate with a variety of events leading up to parade day. The parade itself is not as big as Johannesburg’s, but the vibe and backdrop make it an amazing experience. 

LOUD Cabaret

LOUD is The Met’s monthly queer cabaret night, showcasing the most fabulous of rising stars from across Bury and beyond!

Expect tantalising musicians, side-splitting comedians, captivating dancers and a line-up of talented additions for your delight on a monthly basis. Thursdays have never been so exciting!

September’s event will feature Val the Brown Queen, King Navassa and Maisy Whipp. Your host for the evening will be Mancunian writer, actor and activist Nathaniel J Hall, Artistic Director of Dibby Theatre.

Thursday, 19 September 8.00pm – The Box @ The Met, Market Street, Bury BL9 0BW

£11 standard / £9 subsidised / £13 supporters (inc fees)

Tickets available here.