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APRIL 6. 1986 ABC tackles once-taboo topic off bisexuality Redgrave: Gay role just another part Widow torn by love for man and woman I Vi 'A By MICHAEL E.HILL Washington Post News Service m. I j. 9 vf i the opportunity to go over changes in "My Two Loves," because he was at work on another script when the film crew set off for Texas. He said he usually stays with a production after doing the script.

"For my purposes, I think the bisexual theme was well presented. In a way, it was daringly explored." In "My Two Loves," Hartley's character, Gail Springer, takes a job as chef in a corporation dining room. There she meets businesswoman Marjorie Lloyd (Redgrave), and they form a friendly relationship. Marjorie is gay. When the relationship goes beyond friendly, Gail is caught between Marjorie and Ben Taylor (Newman), the man Gail is dating.

Further complications come from Gail's mother, who condemns the woman-woman affair. Rose said he thought bisexuality was a valid topic for television drama to illustrate and explore. "The reason I do," he said, "is that I have done some research on it. This Is an original story. The producer called and said he wanted a film about bisexuality.

Bisexuality, especially among older women in their 30s and 40s, is far more prevalent than anyone thinks, according to psychiatrists. "Women of that age sometimes find themselves attracted to another woman. They are closet bisexuals. All the talk is about homosexuals, but bisexuals may very well outnumber them all. There are settled, married women who never suspected they weren't heterosexuals.

Then they think their whole past is a lie. Or, is this bisexuality a lie? Have they been trapped?" The subject is valid, he said, because it is widespread. Rose said he See LOVES, next page By LANE CROCKETT Gannett News Service There are few subjects these days that television hasn't tackled. The latest being explored is bisexuality in the movie "My Two Loves." It will air from 9 to 1 1 p.m. Monday on ABC (channels 10, 26 and 40; cablechannels 7, lOand 13).

Set in San Antonio, Texas, it stars Mariette Hartley as a young widow dating her late husband's best friend but finding herself drawn to another woman. Barry Newman is the friend and Lynn Redgrave is the woman. Sada Thompson plays Hartley's mother. Reginald Rose wrote the original script and shares credit on the final product with Rita Mae Brown, author of "Rubyfruit Jungle," a novel about lesbianism. Rose, a veteran of the 1 950s golden age of television, has written for such series as "The Defenders" and "Playhouse 90." He's seen a rough cut of "My Two Loves" and said he approves.

"Essentially, the script was all mine," Rose said. "There were some changes, mostly scenes between the two women. Maybe another writer was brought in (Brown) because of being a woman. I don't know. "I agreed with some of the changes.

Changing that's just part of this business. In television, you're dealing with a committee kind of business. The only pure writing is a book, where nobody else is in it at all but an editor with whom you can disagree. In television, a property is turned over with or without you. Suddenly, there is a director.

There are actors, producers. The work gets taken over by them." Rose said he didn't really have Lynn Redgrave pondered her role as a lesbian in "My Two Loves." The movie will be telecast at 9 p.m. Monday on ABC (channels 10.26and40;cablechannels7,10and 13). "I've played a nun, a hooker, a bisexual and a saint," she mused. "Why should this part be a problem?" The part is that of a hard-driving businesswoman "who happens to love other women." The object of her desire: Mariette Hartley, a widow returning to the work force.

Hartley is also being wooed by Barry Newman. "This is somewhat new ground for television," said Redgrave, insisting that everything is In good taste. ABC has nevertheless posted parental-discretion warnings. Let's see. Hooker, nun, bisexual, saint, lesbian.

This role is the latest in a string of parts of the type Redgrave says she loves best the ones that take her entirely outside her own experience. The transition was therapeutic when she was in her teens and has helped build a sizeable body of work as she matured. "When I was 17, 1 didn't particularly like myself," she said. "To become someone else was liberating." Now, at 43, Redgrave exudes self confidence and security and points with quiet pride to a 19-year marriage and three children, 4 to 1 8. "Life," she said, "is full and lovely." Oddly enough, one of Redgrave's most widely seen and acclaimed performances was as the ugly duckling Georgy in "Georgy Girl" in 1966.

Wasn't Georgy reminiscent of the girl Redgrave disliked at 1 "Yes, she was awkward. I identified with large parts of what she was," said Redgrave. "I didn't at first, but looking back I see more of her in me than I did at the time." The next run of scripts she saw had her playing variations on the Georgy theme. She escaped movie typecasting by fleeing to the theater, returning to the large screen later in films that made the Georgy image only a memory, such as her portrayal of Xaviera Hollander in "The Happy Hooker." So, what's there to playing a lesbian? "I didn't find it hard," said Redgrave. "It's fun to play people who are not like yourself." ABC Marietta Hartley, center, is caught between two powerful forces when she discovers she is romantically attracted to both Barry Newman and Lynn Redgrave in "My Two Loves," a contemporary drama airing at 9 p.m.

Monday on ABC. 'Beverly Hills Madam' classy, not brassy C4 By MIKE HUGHES Gannett News Service ing an Academy Award for "Network." But it also has limited her work. "I enjoy (the elegance) less than you might think," she said. The breaking point came four years ago, when Dunaway moved to England with her husband, photographer Terrence O'Neill, and their son. During that time, she took only two movie roles and "The Wicked both European-based and flops.

Dunaway agrees with the "Wicked" critics. "The effort was to be a sort of female 'Tom a real juicy piece. But there wasn't much juice." But the "Beverly Hills Madam" script tempted her. Producer-scriptwriter Nancy Sackett said she based her fictional script on 15 hours of taped Interviews with real-life call girls. Dunaway says she was fascinated to discover the sophisticated intelligence of the women, mixed with the sadness of "giving up your humanity and your naturalness." The story has Dunaway's character rising from "kind of a tough Irma La Douce (a French street prostitute)" to a businesswoman managing high-priced call girls.

This show represents a new American presence for Dunaway, but she'll also continue to work ir London for a while. actress, one she says she's grown tired of. And it will start to crumble in "Beverly Hills Madam." For almost two decades, that cool, in control image has persisted. Much had to do with her look and style, especially after her spectacular start in the 1967 classic "Bonnie and Clyde." She was a Florida kid, daughter of a career soldier. She had a classy theater background Boston University, Lincoln Center, Broadway.

She had a classier style blonde, high cheekbones, theatrical voice, precise style. In the years that followed, the image has served her well, getting her heavy roles and honors, includ The opening image is pure Faye Dunaway. She plays the title character in "Beverly Hills Madam," at 9 tonight on NBC (channels 8 and 20; cable channels2, 4, 8 and 12). She's managing high-priced call girls and doing rather well at it. "The first time you see her, she's the epitome of the Beverly Hills housewife," Dunaway said.

"She's the sort of person you'll see out shopping on Rodeo Drive, elegantly dressed." It is an image we expect from the Ounaway plays high-priced madam in NBC movie tonight. Dunaway as Joan Crawford in the movie "Mommie Dearest." dkjeoi' WELCOMES YOU TO OUR SUNDA CHAMPAGNE BR UNCH Served Feast On Our Elegant Array Of Freshly Prepared Selections To Delight The Most Discriminating Taste. $1095 0i(M7 Regular and La Petite Menus served Sunday 939-5151 Reservations Requested Catering Small or Large Affairs are our specialty. 1400 Colonial Boulevard Royal Palm Square Fort Myers 939-5151 0YCCI Please start my special subscription to USA TODAY at up Pla bill Current Subscriber USA TODAY ACCOUNT Mail to: 52 weeks for only $104.00 (SAVE 20) 26 weeks for only $55.00 (SAVE 15) 13 weeks for only $29.95 (SAVE 8) NAME ADDRESS CITY $5o23 USA TOOAT P.O. leu fart My.r., FL 33903 Or Call: 335.0233 STATE ZIP WITH FREE COBBLER! ONLY PHONE I I PltaH charga my Ami MotarCord Vita card Pol 3 EXPIRATION DATE SIGNATURE Oh what a deal! With every order of Po Folks Catfish Dinner you get: Over a pound of crispy, southern-style catfish Choice of 2 vegetables (fifteen to choose from) Hushpuppies Choice of apple or blackberry cobbler FREE Fort Myers: 1920 Boy Scout Dr.

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