Billy Blackwell (1947-1983) was central to the origins of gay theater in NYC. A founding member of the first TOSOS, he is still remembered for his performance in the title role of Lanford Wilson’s The Madness of Lady Bright and the plump pink fairy busting through an Oak tree in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. Doric Wilson wrote two roles for him, Shanghai Lil in The West Street Gang and Thalia in Forever After. For The Glines, he was Executive Producer of Jane Chamber’s seminal lesbian play Last Summer At Bluefish Cove. From the mid 1970s to the early 1980s he was the belting half of the celebrated cabaret act Billy & Tiffany (with Michael Bowers) singing in a voice that would make Merman gasp in terror. He was a excellent costumer, conscientious house and box office manager, and a jealous guardian of the wine table.