Like little stars, they dazzle on our screens and take our breath away with their undisputable talents. They are no other than child stars. The prodigies are produced in their numbers yearly but interestingly, only a fraction of the slew progress into a future where they continue in the art by which we came to know them. The list could go on and on including Culkin Macaulay, Kirsten Dunst, Leonardo DiCaprio, Corey Feldman, Nick Jonas, and now Philip McKeon.
He is known from the 1970 CBS sitcom, Alice, as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed teen idol, Tommy Hyatt. After the show ended in 1985, he continued to make periodic acting appearances such as in the episodes of The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Amazing Stories. Apart from his work as an actor, he is also known as a director and producer.
Philip Mckeon’s Bio
The Alice actor was born as Philip Anthony McKeon on the 11th day of November 1964 in Westbury, New York to Barbara and Donald McKeon who is a travel agent. His star sign is Scorpio. He has a younger sister (born in 1966), Nancy McKeon who is an accomplished actress and producer known for her role in the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life.
Philip began acting and modeling in commercials when he was just four years old. His parents took him along with his sister to a nearby modeling audition from where he began appearing in magazines, newspapers, and television commercials as a child model.
During the early days of his auditions, he did not get so lucky as his sister who fell in love with posing for the camera and was picked immediately. For Philip, he had to attend several auditions to get picked. However, once he got picked, his sail took off, and over the next several years, he got numerous modeling works which were accompanied by roles in films and on stage.
After several spells with seemingly minor roles, his breakthrough role came in 1976 when he was discovered by Linda Lavin who played the titular character in the CBS sitcom. She first saw him performing in a Broadway play and deemed him just right for the role of Tommy going by his brightness and loads of talent hence, she recommended him for the part. After attending the auditions in California, he got the role and the rest became history as he went ahead to appear in all the nine seasons of the sitcom.
The series revolved around Alice Hyatt (Linda Lavin) a recently widowed mother who relocates with her teenaged son (Philip) from New Jersey to Phoenix. In Phoenix, she works as a waitress to make ends meet while trying to launch a singing career. The sitcom which also starred Vic Tayback, Beth Howland, Diane Ladd, Celia Weston, Marvin Kaplan, Martha Raye, and Polly Holliday was based on Martin Scorsese’s 1974 feature film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. It also became a hit and fan-favorite following its first two seasons and ranked among primetime’s top 10 series in four of the next five seasons, only falling to No. 13 in 1978-79 but climbed to No. 4 the following year. Besides its rankings, it also won many awards including Golden Globes and Emmys, and remained incredibly popular throughout its entire nine-year run despite its several cast changes.
Philip practically grew up on the show and wouldn’t trade the experience garnered therein for anything. By the end of the show in 1985, he was an adult with a height of 6 feet 3 inches and was earning way over six digits in salary. As he puts it, the experiences are his and no one else can lay a claim to them. While on the set of the show, he also took up golf as a youth and became an avid player.
He was faced with the nuances associated with stardom such as gaining more friends for benefits than one would real ones though he was able to establish a remarkable relationship with his co-stars with his relationship with Tayback standing out as closer than with the others. Tayback was more like his dad and would take him along with his own son who is a year older than Philip to Dodgers games and horseback riding. When Vic died in 1990, he took it particularly hard as it was the loss of one close to him.
Following the end of the series in 1985, Philip McKeon continued to appear occasionally in other works such as 976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor (1992) Sandman (1993), and Ghoulies IV (1994). His other on-screen credits include Return to Horror High (1987), Red Surf (1989), CHiPs (1979), Favorite Son (1988).
Other than acting, he is also credited as a producer cum director and has recorded a few films under his wings. He has also been given credits for behind the scene works in movies like Teresa’s Tattoo (1994) (which starred his sister Nancy McKeon), Murder In The First (1995), and The Young Unknowns (2000).
Is Philip Mckeon Married? – Wife, Is He Gay?
McKeon has never been married and is not linked to any woman. Being a very private person, he does a good job of concealing his private life, keeping it where it belongs. He is undoubtedly a handsome bloke and could garner a lot of attractions to him from women and men if we may add. And going by his long residence on the singlehood avenue, one would be left in speculations about his sexual preferences and orientation.
Philip McKeon has, however, not given wings to our speculations as to let them fly. Whether he is gay or has a woman in his life remains a mystery we shall yet unravel. Thus, it would be safe to assume that he is not gay until proven otherwise.
