The Bodybuilr Who Came Out as a Gay Man the 1980s - Vio

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• NETFLIX’S HOLLYWOOD: THE TE STORY OF STTY BOWERS, REAL-LIFE L.A. PIMPRYAN MURPHY’S NEW NETFLIX SERI IS SET LARGELY AT A GAS STATN BASED ON THE REAL-LIFE ONE N BY HOLLYWOOD PIMP STTY BOWERS.BY JULIE MILLERAPRIL 30, 2020STTY BOWERS AT THE ABBEY WT HOLLYWOOD ON JULY 25, 2018.BY TASIA WELLS/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETWO YEARS AGO, STTY BOWERS—THE LOS ANGEL HTLER WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE HOOKED OLD HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGT STARS UP WH WILLG SEXUAL PARTNERS, GAY AND STRAIGHT—WAS THE SUBJECT OF A FASCATG DOCUMENTARY, STTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD. IN , THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNED PIMP DISHED ON THE ALLEGED SECRET SEX LIV OF KATHARE HEPBURN, SPENCER TRACY, CARY GRANT, ROCK HUDSON, CHARL LGHTON, RAYMOND BURR, VCENT PRICE, COLE PORTER, AND VIVIEN LEIGH, AS WELL AS THE LEGENDARY GAS STATN—ON THE RNER OF NORTH VAN NS AVENUE AND HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD—WHERE HE AND HIS LIBERATED IENDS, MALE AND FEMALE, SERVICED MANY OF THEIR A-LIST CLIENTELE. RYAN MURPHY’S LATT NETFLIX SERI, HOLLYWOOD, A FICTNALIZED HOMAGE TO 1940S HOLLYWOOD, PAYS TRIBUTE TO BOWERS BY FEATURG S OWN GAS STATN AND CHARISMATIC PIMP (ERNIE, PLAYED BY DYLAN MCDERMOTT).THE REAL-LIFE BOWERS CLAIMED HE WAS WORKG AS A GAS STATN ATTENDANT AT AGE 23, SHORTLY AFTER THE WAR, WHEN ACTOR WALTER PIDGEON PULLED UP AND ASKED BOWERS TO HOP TO HIS R. IN HIS MEMOIR, FULL SERVICE: MY ADVENTUR HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECRET SEX LIV OF THE STARS, BOWERS RATNALIZED THAT HOOKG UP WH CELEBRI FOR $20 WAS EASY, LUCRATIVE WORK. AS PIDGEON SPREAD WORD ABOUT HIS REPUTATN, BOWERS SAID, THE PIMP EXPAND HIS OPERATN—SETTG UP TWO KG BEDS A PARKED TRAILER AND ENLISTG GOOD-LOOKG MEN AND WOMEN TO HELP HIS SECRETIVE E. AMONG BOWERS’S RACIT CLAIMS: THAT HE TRODUCED KATHARE HEPBURN TO 150 WOMEN OVER SEVERAL S; THAT HE SET UP CARY GRANT WH AN EARLY-REER ROCK HUDSON; AND THAT HE PROCURED SEXUAL PARTNERS FOR WALLIS SIMPSON AND EDWARD VIII. BOWERS ALSO SAID HE SLEPT WH BOTH SPENCER TRACY AND VIVIEN LEIGH; HAD A THREE-WAY WH AVA GARDNER AND LANA TURNER; HAD A THREOME WH CARY GRANT AND HIS ALLEGED LOVER, RANDOLPH STT; AND CLAIMED THAT HIS SEX LIFE WAS SO UNHIBED THAT SURPRISED EVEN SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY.IN HIS 2012 MEMOIR, WRTEN WH LNEL FRIEDBERG, BOWERS WROTE, “I WAS SETTG UP AN AVERAGE OF 15-20 TRICKS A DAY. THIS WAS A 24/7 OPERATN, EXTENDG OVER A PERD OF, SAY, 30 TO 40 YEARS. AS FOR TRICKS THAT I PERFORMED PERSONALLY, I WAS OFTEN SEEG TWO OR THREE PEOPLE A DAY.”PRR TO HIS MEMOIR, BOWERS WAS FASTIDLY DISCREET. HE NEVER KEPT A BLACK BOOK OF CLIENT NAM, REFG TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS FAMO CLIENTS UNTIL AFTER THEY DIED. HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT LEGALIZED CALIFORNIA UNTIL THE 1970S; BOWERS’S OPERATN ALLEGEDLY HELPED UNTLS MEN AND WOMEN DULGE SEXUALLY WHOUT ENDANGERG THEIR REERS, REPUTATNS, OR, SOME S, MARRIAG.“THERE ALWAYS WILL BE SECRET LIFE HAPPENG,” BOWERS TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2018. “PEOPLE SHOULD DO WHAT PLEAS THEM AND THE OTHER PERSON—SOME PEOPLE JT PLEASE MORE THAN A FEW.”IN AN TERVIEW WH VANY FAIR, DYLAN MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HIS CHARACTER WAS CERTALY SPIRED BY BOWERS—BUT ALSO BY CLARK GABLE’S CHARACTER THE 1961 FILM THE MISFS. “I HAVE A POSTER OF THE MISFS STG MY BATHROOM AND LOOK AT EVERY DAY,” MCDERMOTT SAID, CG GABLE’S MTACHED AGG PLAYBOY AS A “ME” FOR ERNIE. “THERE WAS A CERTA QUALY HIM I WANTED. HIS HAIR, HIS MTACHE, THE WAY HE RRIED HIMSELF, AND HIS OPTIMISM, IF YOU WILL. IF STTY BOWERS AND CLARK GABLE HAD A LOVE CHILD, WOULD BE ERNIE.”DYLAN MCDERMOTT (LEFT) HOLLYWOOD MOLED THE CHARACTER'S LOOK AFTER CLARK GABLE'S THE MISFS (SET).LEFT, URTY OF NETFLIX; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HE LOVED THE NTRADICTNS OF HIS CHARACTER. SURE, ERNIE IS A PIMP—BUT HE’S ALSO A SEXUALLY LIBERATED AND TOLERANT GUY WHO TAK RE OF HIS WORKERS AND FACILAT SATISFYG SEX FOR HIS CLIENTS A REPRSED ERA. “YOU’RE EXPECTG ERNIE TO EXPLO THE GUYS…BUT THE GREAT TWIST ON THE CHARACTER IS THAT HE’S NOT EXPLOG THEM. HE ACTUALLY LOV THE GUYS AND TAK RE OF THEM,” THE ACTOR POTED OUT.DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER MATT TYRNER—WHO IS ALSO A FORMER VANY FAIR WRER AND EDOR—HAS SCRIBED BOWERS G SIAR TERMS. AFTER SPEAKG TO SOME OF THE MEN WHO WORKED FOR BOWERS, TYRNER TOLD BUZZFEED THAT THEY SEEMED TO BE “HAPPY HOOKERS.… IT SEEMED TO BE VERY OL WH EVERYBODY WHO I TALKED TO.… THIS SEEMED TO BE HIGHLY NSENSUAL. AND NO ONE SEEMED TO HAVE A PROBLEM, WHETHER THEY WERE GAY, STRAIGHT, OR OTHERWISE, WH WHAT STTY WAS ASKG.”SPEAKG TO VANY FAIR EARLIER THIS YEAR, MURPHY SAID HE ED THE GAS STATN AS THE BACKDROP OF HIS SERI BEE HE WAS FASCATED BY THE FACT THAT “THERE WAS A MOMENT WHERE PEOPLE HAD TO GO TO THIS GAS STATN TO BE THEMSELV, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR SEXUALY, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR FANTASY.” AND THAT’S APPARENTLY JT WHAT BOWERS TEND. IN A 2012 TERVIEW, THE HTLER SAID THAT HE NEVER JUDGED HIS CLIENTELE. “SO THEY LIKED SEX HOW THEY LIKED ,” HE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIM. “WHO R?”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHJULIE MILLER
• THE PROFSNAL ATHLETE WHO CAME OUT AS A GAY MAN— 1989
• IN 'SOMETHG NEW,' BEN BR MAK BID TO BE SEEN AS 'A GAY MALE MEG RYAN'
• ELLEN GAVE A VERY TALL GAY COLLEGE STUNT THE SURPRISE OF HIS LIFE: WATCH
• GARY BER’S ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY: THE HISTORIL RERD
• GAY BER FOUND 6 PEOPLE PENNSYLVANIA, KANSAS AND 7 OTHER STAT
• GAY BER
• NETFLIX’S HOLLYWOOD: THE TE STORY OF STTY BOWERS, REAL-LIFE L.A. PIMPRYAN MURPHY’S NEW NETFLIX SERI IS SET LARGELY AT A GAS STATN BASED ON THE REAL-LIFE ONE N BY HOLLYWOOD PIMP STTY BOWERS.BY JULIE MILLERAPRIL 30, 2020STTY BOWERS AT THE ABBEY WT HOLLYWOOD ON JULY 25, 2018.BY TASIA WELLS/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETWO YEARS AGO, STTY BOWERS—THE LOS ANGEL HTLER WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE HOOKED OLD HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGT STARS UP WH WILLG SEXUAL PARTNERS, GAY AND STRAIGHT—WAS THE SUBJECT OF A FASCATG DOCUMENTARY, STTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD. IN , THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNED PIMP DISHED ON THE ALLEGED SECRET SEX LIV OF KATHARE HEPBURN, SPENCER TRACY, CARY GRANT, ROCK HUDSON, CHARL LGHTON, RAYMOND BURR, VCENT PRICE, COLE PORTER, AND VIVIEN LEIGH, AS WELL AS THE LEGENDARY GAS STATN—ON THE RNER OF NORTH VAN NS AVENUE AND HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD—WHERE HE AND HIS LIBERATED IENDS, MALE AND FEMALE, SERVICED MANY OF THEIR A-LIST CLIENTELE. RYAN MURPHY’S LATT NETFLIX SERI, HOLLYWOOD, A FICTNALIZED HOMAGE TO 1940S HOLLYWOOD, PAYS TRIBUTE TO BOWERS BY FEATURG S OWN GAS STATN AND CHARISMATIC PIMP (ERNIE, PLAYED BY DYLAN MCDERMOTT).THE REAL-LIFE BOWERS CLAIMED HE WAS WORKG AS A GAS STATN ATTENDANT AT AGE 23, SHORTLY AFTER THE WAR, WHEN ACTOR WALTER PIDGEON PULLED UP AND ASKED BOWERS TO HOP TO HIS R. IN HIS MEMOIR, FULL SERVICE: MY ADVENTUR HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECRET SEX LIV OF THE STARS, BOWERS RATNALIZED THAT HOOKG UP WH CELEBRI FOR $20 WAS EASY, LUCRATIVE WORK. AS PIDGEON SPREAD WORD ABOUT HIS REPUTATN, BOWERS SAID, THE PIMP EXPAND HIS OPERATN—SETTG UP TWO KG BEDS A PARKED TRAILER AND ENLISTG GOOD-LOOKG MEN AND WOMEN TO HELP HIS SECRETIVE E. AMONG BOWERS’S RACIT CLAIMS: THAT HE TRODUCED KATHARE HEPBURN TO 150 WOMEN OVER SEVERAL S; THAT HE SET UP CARY GRANT WH AN EARLY-REER ROCK HUDSON; AND THAT HE PROCURED SEXUAL PARTNERS FOR WALLIS SIMPSON AND EDWARD VIII. BOWERS ALSO SAID HE SLEPT WH BOTH SPENCER TRACY AND VIVIEN LEIGH; HAD A THREE-WAY WH AVA GARDNER AND LANA TURNER; HAD A THREOME WH CARY GRANT AND HIS ALLEGED LOVER, RANDOLPH STT; AND CLAIMED THAT HIS SEX LIFE WAS SO UNHIBED THAT SURPRISED EVEN SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY.IN HIS 2012 MEMOIR, WRTEN WH LNEL FRIEDBERG, BOWERS WROTE, “I WAS SETTG UP AN AVERAGE OF 15-20 TRICKS A DAY. THIS WAS A 24/7 OPERATN, EXTENDG OVER A PERD OF, SAY, 30 TO 40 YEARS. AS FOR TRICKS THAT I PERFORMED PERSONALLY, I WAS OFTEN SEEG TWO OR THREE PEOPLE A DAY.”PRR TO HIS MEMOIR, BOWERS WAS FASTIDLY DISCREET. HE NEVER KEPT A BLACK BOOK OF CLIENT NAM, REFG TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS FAMO CLIENTS UNTIL AFTER THEY DIED. HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT LEGALIZED CALIFORNIA UNTIL THE 1970S; BOWERS’S OPERATN ALLEGEDLY HELPED UNTLS MEN AND WOMEN DULGE SEXUALLY WHOUT ENDANGERG THEIR REERS, REPUTATNS, OR, SOME S, MARRIAG.“THERE ALWAYS WILL BE SECRET LIFE HAPPENG,” BOWERS TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2018. “PEOPLE SHOULD DO WHAT PLEAS THEM AND THE OTHER PERSON—SOME PEOPLE JT PLEASE MORE THAN A FEW.”IN AN TERVIEW WH VANY FAIR, DYLAN MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HIS CHARACTER WAS CERTALY SPIRED BY BOWERS—BUT ALSO BY CLARK GABLE’S CHARACTER THE 1961 FILM THE MISFS. “I HAVE A POSTER OF THE MISFS STG MY BATHROOM AND LOOK AT EVERY DAY,” MCDERMOTT SAID, CG GABLE’S MTACHED AGG PLAYBOY AS A “ME” FOR ERNIE. “THERE WAS A CERTA QUALY HIM I WANTED. HIS HAIR, HIS MTACHE, THE WAY HE RRIED HIMSELF, AND HIS OPTIMISM, IF YOU WILL. IF STTY BOWERS AND CLARK GABLE HAD A LOVE CHILD, WOULD BE ERNIE.”DYLAN MCDERMOTT (LEFT) HOLLYWOOD MOLED THE CHARACTER'S LOOK AFTER CLARK GABLE'S THE MISFS (SET).LEFT, URTY OF NETFLIX; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HE LOVED THE NTRADICTNS OF HIS CHARACTER. SURE, ERNIE IS A PIMP—BUT HE’S ALSO A SEXUALLY LIBERATED AND TOLERANT GUY WHO TAK RE OF HIS WORKERS AND FACILAT SATISFYG SEX FOR HIS CLIENTS A REPRSED ERA. “YOU’RE EXPECTG ERNIE TO EXPLO THE GUYS…BUT THE GREAT TWIST ON THE CHARACTER IS THAT HE’S NOT EXPLOG THEM. HE ACTUALLY LOV THE GUYS AND TAK RE OF THEM,” THE ACTOR POTED OUT.DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER MATT TYRNER—WHO IS ALSO A FORMER VANY FAIR WRER AND EDOR—HAS SCRIBED BOWERS G SIAR TERMS. AFTER SPEAKG TO SOME OF THE MEN WHO WORKED FOR BOWERS, TYRNER TOLD BUZZFEED THAT THEY SEEMED TO BE “HAPPY HOOKERS.… IT SEEMED TO BE VERY OL WH EVERYBODY WHO I TALKED TO.… THIS SEEMED TO BE HIGHLY NSENSUAL. AND NO ONE SEEMED TO HAVE A PROBLEM, WHETHER THEY WERE GAY, STRAIGHT, OR OTHERWISE, WH WHAT STTY WAS ASKG.”SPEAKG TO VANY FAIR EARLIER THIS YEAR, MURPHY SAID HE ED THE GAS STATN AS THE BACKDROP OF HIS SERI BEE HE WAS FASCATED BY THE FACT THAT “THERE WAS A MOMENT WHERE PEOPLE HAD TO GO TO THIS GAS STATN TO BE THEMSELV, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR SEXUALY, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR FANTASY.” AND THAT’S APPARENTLY JT WHAT BOWERS TEND. IN A 2012 TERVIEW, THE HTLER SAID THAT HE NEVER JUDGED HIS CLIENTELE. “SO THEY LIKED SEX HOW THEY LIKED ,” HE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIM. “WHO R?”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDTHE BOOK OF CLARENCE IS A BOMBASTIC JOURNEY BACK TO THE BIBLIL ERABY REBEC FORD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISJULIE MILLER

NETFLIX’S HOLLYWOOD: THE TE STORY OF STTY BOWERS, REAL-LIFE L.A. PIMPRYAN MURPHY’S NEW NETFLIX SERI IS SET LARGELY AT A GAS STATN BASED ON THE REAL-LIFE ONE N BY HOLLYWOOD PIMP STTY BOWERS.BY JULIE MILLERAPRIL 30, 2020STTY BOWERS AT THE ABBEY WT HOLLYWOOD ON JULY 25, 2018.BY TASIA WELLS/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETWO YEARS AGO, STTY BOWERS—THE LOS ANGEL HTLER WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE HOOKED OLD HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGT STARS UP WH WILLG SEXUAL PARTNERS, GAY AND STRAIGHT—WAS THE SUBJECT OF A FASCATG DOCUMENTARY, STTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD. IN , THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNED PIMP DISHED ON THE ALLEGED SECRET SEX LIV OF KATHARE HEPBURN, SPENCER TRACY, CARY GRANT, ROCK HUDSON, CHARL LGHTON, RAYMOND BURR, VCENT PRICE, COLE PORTER, AND VIVIEN LEIGH, AS WELL AS THE LEGENDARY GAS STATN—ON THE RNER OF NORTH VAN NS AVENUE AND HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD—WHERE HE AND HIS LIBERATED IENDS, MALE AND FEMALE, SERVICED MANY OF THEIR A-LIST CLIENTELE. RYAN MURPHY’S LATT NETFLIX SERI, HOLLYWOOD, A FICTNALIZED HOMAGE TO 1940S HOLLYWOOD, PAYS TRIBUTE TO BOWERS BY FEATURG S OWN GAS STATN AND CHARISMATIC PIMP (ERNIE, PLAYED BY DYLAN MCDERMOTT).THE REAL-LIFE BOWERS CLAIMED HE WAS WORKG AS A GAS STATN ATTENDANT AT AGE 23, SHORTLY AFTER THE WAR, WHEN ACTOR WALTER PIDGEON PULLED UP AND ASKED BOWERS TO HOP TO HIS R. IN HIS MEMOIR, FULL SERVICE: MY ADVENTUR HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECRET SEX LIV OF THE STARS, BOWERS RATNALIZED THAT HOOKG UP WH CELEBRI FOR $20 WAS EASY, LUCRATIVE WORK. AS PIDGEON SPREAD WORD ABOUT HIS REPUTATN, BOWERS SAID, THE PIMP EXPAND HIS OPERATN—SETTG UP TWO KG BEDS A PARKED TRAILER AND ENLISTG GOOD-LOOKG MEN AND WOMEN TO HELP HIS SECRETIVE E. AMONG BOWERS’S RACIT CLAIMS: THAT HE TRODUCED KATHARE HEPBURN TO 150 WOMEN OVER SEVERAL S; THAT HE SET UP CARY GRANT WH AN EARLY-REER ROCK HUDSON; AND THAT HE PROCURED SEXUAL PARTNERS FOR WALLIS SIMPSON AND EDWARD VIII. BOWERS ALSO SAID HE SLEPT WH BOTH SPENCER TRACY AND VIVIEN LEIGH; HAD A THREE-WAY WH AVA GARDNER AND LANA TURNER; HAD A THREOME WH CARY GRANT AND HIS ALLEGED LOVER, RANDOLPH STT; AND CLAIMED THAT HIS SEX LIFE WAS SO UNHIBED THAT SURPRISED EVEN SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY.IN HIS 2012 MEMOIR, WRTEN WH LNEL FRIEDBERG, BOWERS WROTE, “I WAS SETTG UP AN AVERAGE OF 15-20 TRICKS A DAY. THIS WAS A 24/7 OPERATN, EXTENDG OVER A PERD OF, SAY, 30 TO 40 YEARS. AS FOR TRICKS THAT I PERFORMED PERSONALLY, I WAS OFTEN SEEG TWO OR THREE PEOPLE A DAY.”PRR TO HIS MEMOIR, BOWERS WAS FASTIDLY DISCREET. HE NEVER KEPT A BLACK BOOK OF CLIENT NAM, REFG TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS FAMO CLIENTS UNTIL AFTER THEY DIED. HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT LEGALIZED CALIFORNIA UNTIL THE 1970S; BOWERS’S OPERATN ALLEGEDLY HELPED UNTLS MEN AND WOMEN DULGE SEXUALLY WHOUT ENDANGERG THEIR REERS, REPUTATNS, OR, SOME S, MARRIAG.“THERE ALWAYS WILL BE SECRET LIFE HAPPENG,” BOWERS TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2018. “PEOPLE SHOULD DO WHAT PLEAS THEM AND THE OTHER PERSON—SOME PEOPLE JT PLEASE MORE THAN A FEW.”IN AN TERVIEW WH VANY FAIR, DYLAN MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HIS CHARACTER WAS CERTALY SPIRED BY BOWERS—BUT ALSO BY CLARK GABLE’S CHARACTER THE 1961 FILM THE MISFS. “I HAVE A POSTER OF THE MISFS STG MY BATHROOM AND LOOK AT EVERY DAY,” MCDERMOTT SAID, CG GABLE’S MTACHED AGG PLAYBOY AS A “ME” FOR ERNIE. “THERE WAS A CERTA QUALY HIM I WANTED. HIS HAIR, HIS MTACHE, THE WAY HE RRIED HIMSELF, AND HIS OPTIMISM, IF YOU WILL. IF STTY BOWERS AND CLARK GABLE HAD A LOVE CHILD, WOULD BE ERNIE.”DYLAN MCDERMOTT (LEFT) HOLLYWOOD MOLED THE CHARACTER'S LOOK AFTER CLARK GABLE'S THE MISFS (SET).LEFT, URTY OF NETFLIX; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HE LOVED THE NTRADICTNS OF HIS CHARACTER. SURE, ERNIE IS A PIMP—BUT HE’S ALSO A SEXUALLY LIBERATED AND TOLERANT GUY WHO TAK RE OF HIS WORKERS AND FACILAT SATISFYG SEX FOR HIS CLIENTS A REPRSED ERA. “YOU’RE EXPECTG ERNIE TO EXPLO THE GUYS…BUT THE GREAT TWIST ON THE CHARACTER IS THAT HE’S NOT EXPLOG THEM. HE ACTUALLY LOV THE GUYS AND TAK RE OF THEM,” THE ACTOR POTED OUT.DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER MATT TYRNER—WHO IS ALSO A FORMER VANY FAIR WRER AND EDOR—HAS SCRIBED BOWERS G SIAR TERMS. AFTER SPEAKG TO SOME OF THE MEN WHO WORKED FOR BOWERS, TYRNER TOLD BUZZFEED THAT THEY SEEMED TO BE “HAPPY HOOKERS.… IT SEEMED TO BE VERY OL WH EVERYBODY WHO I TALKED TO.… THIS SEEMED TO BE HIGHLY NSENSUAL. AND NO ONE SEEMED TO HAVE A PROBLEM, WHETHER THEY WERE GAY, STRAIGHT, OR OTHERWISE, WH WHAT STTY WAS ASKG.”SPEAKG TO VANY FAIR EARLIER THIS YEAR, MURPHY SAID HE ED THE GAS STATN AS THE BACKDROP OF HIS SERI BEE HE WAS FASCATED BY THE FACT THAT “THERE WAS A MOMENT WHERE PEOPLE HAD TO GO TO THIS GAS STATN TO BE THEMSELV, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR SEXUALY, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR FANTASY.” AND THAT’S APPARENTLY JT WHAT BOWERS TEND. IN A 2012 TERVIEW, THE HTLER SAID THAT HE NEVER JUDGED HIS CLIENTELE. “SO THEY LIKED SEX HOW THEY LIKED ,” HE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIM. “WHO R?”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE ELVIS PRLEY WE DIDN’T SEE ELVISBY KATEY RICHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE: THE 6 BIGGT CHANG FROM BOOK TO MOVIEBY SAVANNAH WALSHJULIE MILLER

End they go home to their wiv and male adult performers who go "gay for pay, " a term ed to scribe gay porn which two (or more) otherwise straight dus have sex on mera, the above scenar is jt another day at the Male Porn Stars Are Straight — But They Have Sex Wh Men for a LivgSource: YouTubeThis week, MTV is airg an episo of Te Life explorg the liv of two such performers, and their stggl to balance the seemgly nflictg mands of their profsnal and personal liv. "Ben is a married fay man who recently started performg gay sex films to support his kids... They're risg stars the gay porn dtry, but will the prsur of every day life force them to rensir their lucrative reers?

THE PROFSNAL ATHLETE WHO CAME OUT AS A GAY MAN— 1989

"Though the ble special is jt g out now, gay-for-pay porn is a fairly well-tablished phenomenon. In straight porn, the pay for men is notorly lower than the pay for women, so "gay porn [actors] general make a lot more than straight porn, " Damian McKnight, the CEO and producer of the succsful gay-for-pay se Broke Straight Boys, told the Daily Dot last year. The women get more exposure and rpect the dtry, and for gay porn 's the male stars.

In a book that me out earlier this year, Not Gay: Sex Between Straight Whe Men, thor Jane Ward argued that male sexualy is a lot more fluid than most of are willg to acknowledge.

IN 'SOMETHG NEW,' BEN BR MAK BID TO BE SEEN AS 'A GAY MALE MEG RYAN'

" she prevly told said, adult entertament publicist Mike Stabile told Mic that he believ the sexualy of a gay-for-pay porn star is likely to be a b more flexible than your average joe. "They seemed to have more of a fluid sexualy, or were jt extremely sexual, even if they intified as straight their private liv, " he said of the gay-for-pay actors he's worked wh the past.

ELLEN GAVE A VERY TALL GAY COLLEGE STUNT THE SURPRISE OF HIS LIFE: WATCH

"Of urse, there are some who are jt bee of the money, guys who sist on havg loud cellphone nversatns wh their girliends while on-set, or beg homophobic. ), another qutn remas: Why the hell are gay guys so drawn to porn featurg straight (or "straight") dus the first place?

GARY BER’S ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY: THE HISTORIL RERD

That's a ltle more plited, as some believe that gay men's tenncy to fetishize straight men engagg gay sex stems om a ep-rooted place of self-loathg or shame. "Bee of ternalized homophobia (which typilly looms large before and durg the early g-out procs), they're more often lookg for men who act mascule, " thor Joe Kort wrote 2013 for the Huffgton Post.

"Gay guys are attracted to hot guys, no matter of their orientatn, " he wrote 2012. "Also, many gay guys thk straight guys are even hotter bee they're so naturally butch and hard to get. "Regardls of why sells, though, participatg gay-for-pay porn isn't always a walk the park.

For stance, when gay-for-pay porn star Chris Tyler was asked by the Village Voice what the harst part of his job was, he answered:"Takg a 10-ch-pl dick. "Talk about workg hard for the out the full preview for MTV's Te Life: I'm a Gay for Pay Porn Star below:Source: YouTube.

GAY BER FOUND 6 PEOPLE PENNSYLVANIA, KANSAS AND 7 OTHER STAT

(TIF) isn't your grandfathers' ad: It shows a gay uple, a first for the jeweler. But there's also a bs se to be ma: The lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny held $790 ln buyg power, acrdg to a 2012 timate om the Human Rights Campaign, a leadg LGBT advocy group. Seattle-based Amazon (AMZN) also released an ad spot that featur a gay man buyg a Kdle e-rear.

"Let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I nsir beg gay among the greatt gifts God has given me, " he wrote October. Google: Not only do Google (GOOG)have an ternal workg group for employe known as Gayglers, but ma a bold statement about LGBT rights ahead of the Wter Olympics Sochi last year. The pany joed protts of anti-gay polici Rsia by featurg a rabow-lored "Google doodle" on s homepage.

The rabow-lored Oreo was a high-profile nod to gay rights. Starbucks: For CEO Howard Schultz, supportg gay rights meant directly nontg an vtor who claimed the pany's stance was erodg s bottom le.

GAY BER

Two years ago, Stty Bowers—the Los Angel htler who claimed to have hooked Old Hollywood’s biggt stars up wh willg sexual partners, gay and straight—was the subject of a fascatg documentary, Stty and the Secret History of Hollywood. Homosexualy was not legalized California until the 1970s; Bowers’s operatn allegedly helped untls men and women dulge sexually whout endangerg their reers, reputatns, or, some s, marriag. And no one seemed to have a problem, whether they were gay, straight, or otherwise, wh what Stty was askg.

The Profsnal Athlete Who Came Out as a Gay Man— 1989.

In the late '80s, a Los Angel Tim poll revealed that nearly 70 percent of the untry thought homosexualy was a s.

NETFLIX’S HOLLYWOOD: THE TE STORY OF STTY BOWERS, REAL-LIFE L.A. PIMPRYAN MURPHY’S NEW NETFLIX SERI IS SET LARGELY AT A GAS STATN BASED ON THE REAL-LIFE ONE N BY HOLLYWOOD PIMP STTY BOWERS.BY JULIE MILLERAPRIL 30, 2020STTY BOWERS AT THE ABBEY WT HOLLYWOOD ON JULY 25, 2018.BY TASIA WELLS/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETWO YEARS AGO, STTY BOWERS—THE LOS ANGEL HTLER WHO CLAIMED TO HAVE HOOKED OLD HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGT STARS UP WH WILLG SEXUAL PARTNERS, GAY AND STRAIGHT—WAS THE SUBJECT OF A FASCATG DOCUMENTARY, STTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD. IN , THE WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNED PIMP DISHED ON THE ALLEGED SECRET SEX LIV OF KATHARE HEPBURN, SPENCER TRACY, CARY GRANT, ROCK HUDSON, CHARL LGHTON, RAYMOND BURR, VCENT PRICE, COLE PORTER, AND VIVIEN LEIGH, AS WELL AS THE LEGENDARY GAS STATN—ON THE RNER OF NORTH VAN NS AVENUE AND HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD—WHERE HE AND HIS LIBERATED IENDS, MALE AND FEMALE, SERVICED MANY OF THEIR A-LIST CLIENTELE. RYAN MURPHY’S LATT NETFLIX SERI, HOLLYWOOD, A FICTNALIZED HOMAGE TO 1940S HOLLYWOOD, PAYS TRIBUTE TO BOWERS BY FEATURG S OWN GAS STATN AND CHARISMATIC PIMP (ERNIE, PLAYED BY DYLAN MCDERMOTT).THE REAL-LIFE BOWERS CLAIMED HE WAS WORKG AS A GAS STATN ATTENDANT AT AGE 23, SHORTLY AFTER THE WAR, WHEN ACTOR WALTER PIDGEON PULLED UP AND ASKED BOWERS TO HOP TO HIS R. IN HIS MEMOIR, FULL SERVICE: MY ADVENTUR HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECRET SEX LIV OF THE STARS, BOWERS RATNALIZED THAT HOOKG UP WH CELEBRI FOR $20 WAS EASY, LUCRATIVE WORK. AS PIDGEON SPREAD WORD ABOUT HIS REPUTATN, BOWERS SAID, THE PIMP EXPAND HIS OPERATN—SETTG UP TWO KG BEDS A PARKED TRAILER AND ENLISTG GOOD-LOOKG MEN AND WOMEN TO HELP HIS SECRETIVE E. AMONG BOWERS’S RACIT CLAIMS: THAT HE TRODUCED KATHARE HEPBURN TO 150 WOMEN OVER SEVERAL S; THAT HE SET UP CARY GRANT WH AN EARLY-REER ROCK HUDSON; AND THAT HE PROCURED SEXUAL PARTNERS FOR WALLIS SIMPSON AND EDWARD VIII. BOWERS ALSO SAID HE SLEPT WH BOTH SPENCER TRACY AND VIVIEN LEIGH; HAD A THREE-WAY WH AVA GARDNER AND LANA TURNER; HAD A THREOME WH CARY GRANT AND HIS ALLEGED LOVER, RANDOLPH STT; AND CLAIMED THAT HIS SEX LIFE WAS SO UNHIBED THAT SURPRISED EVEN SEXOLOGIST ALED KSEY.IN HIS 2012 MEMOIR, WRTEN WH LNEL FRIEDBERG, BOWERS WROTE, “I WAS SETTG UP AN AVERAGE OF 15-20 TRICKS A DAY. THIS WAS A 24/7 OPERATN, EXTENDG OVER A PERD OF, SAY, 30 TO 40 YEARS. AS FOR TRICKS THAT I PERFORMED PERSONALLY, I WAS OFTEN SEEG TWO OR THREE PEOPLE A DAY.”PRR TO HIS MEMOIR, BOWERS WAS FASTIDLY DISCREET. HE NEVER KEPT A BLACK BOOK OF CLIENT NAM, REFG TO SPEAK ABOUT HIS FAMO CLIENTS UNTIL AFTER THEY DIED. HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT LEGALIZED CALIFORNIA UNTIL THE 1970S; BOWERS’S OPERATN ALLEGEDLY HELPED UNTLS MEN AND WOMEN DULGE SEXUALLY WHOUT ENDANGERG THEIR REERS, REPUTATNS, OR, SOME S, MARRIAG.“THERE ALWAYS WILL BE SECRET LIFE HAPPENG,” BOWERS TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2018. “PEOPLE SHOULD DO WHAT PLEAS THEM AND THE OTHER PERSON—SOME PEOPLE JT PLEASE MORE THAN A FEW.”IN AN TERVIEW WH VANY FAIR, DYLAN MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HIS CHARACTER WAS CERTALY SPIRED BY BOWERS—BUT ALSO BY CLARK GABLE’S CHARACTER THE 1961 FILM THE MISFS. “I HAVE A POSTER OF THE MISFS STG MY BATHROOM AND LOOK AT EVERY DAY,” MCDERMOTT SAID, CG GABLE’S MTACHED AGG PLAYBOY AS A “ME” FOR ERNIE. “THERE WAS A CERTA QUALY HIM I WANTED. HIS HAIR, HIS MTACHE, THE WAY HE RRIED HIMSELF, AND HIS OPTIMISM, IF YOU WILL. IF STTY BOWERS AND CLARK GABLE HAD A LOVE CHILD, WOULD BE ERNIE.”DYLAN MCDERMOTT (LEFT) HOLLYWOOD MOLED THE CHARACTER'S LOOK AFTER CLARK GABLE'S THE MISFS (SET).LEFT, URTY OF NETFLIX; RIGHT, OM THE EVERETT COLLECTN.MCDERMOTT SAID THAT HE LOVED THE NTRADICTNS OF HIS CHARACTER. SURE, ERNIE IS A PIMP—BUT HE’S ALSO A SEXUALLY LIBERATED AND TOLERANT GUY WHO TAK RE OF HIS WORKERS AND FACILAT SATISFYG SEX FOR HIS CLIENTS A REPRSED ERA. “YOU’RE EXPECTG ERNIE TO EXPLO THE GUYS…BUT THE GREAT TWIST ON THE CHARACTER IS THAT HE’S NOT EXPLOG THEM. HE ACTUALLY LOV THE GUYS AND TAK RE OF THEM,” THE ACTOR POTED OUT.DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER MATT TYRNER—WHO IS ALSO A FORMER VANY FAIR WRER AND EDOR—HAS SCRIBED BOWERS G SIAR TERMS. AFTER SPEAKG TO SOME OF THE MEN WHO WORKED FOR BOWERS, TYRNER TOLD BUZZFEED THAT THEY SEEMED TO BE “HAPPY HOOKERS.… IT SEEMED TO BE VERY OL WH EVERYBODY WHO I TALKED TO.… THIS SEEMED TO BE HIGHLY NSENSUAL. AND NO ONE SEEMED TO HAVE A PROBLEM, WHETHER THEY WERE GAY, STRAIGHT, OR OTHERWISE, WH WHAT STTY WAS ASKG.”SPEAKG TO VANY FAIR EARLIER THIS YEAR, MURPHY SAID HE ED THE GAS STATN AS THE BACKDROP OF HIS SERI BEE HE WAS FASCATED BY THE FACT THAT “THERE WAS A MOMENT WHERE PEOPLE HAD TO GO TO THIS GAS STATN TO BE THEMSELV, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR SEXUALY, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRS THEIR FANTASY.” AND THAT’S APPARENTLY JT WHAT BOWERS TEND. IN A 2012 TERVIEW, THE HTLER SAID THAT HE NEVER JUDGED HIS CLIENTELE. “SO THEY LIKED SEX HOW THEY LIKED ,” HE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIM. “WHO R?”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR— BEHOLD DUNE: AN EXCLIVE LOOK AT TIMOTHéE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA, OSR ISAAC, AND MORE— HOW TO WATCH EVERY MARVEL MOVIE ORR— DAVID SIMON ON THE WIRE AND HIS EQUALLY PISSED-OFF NEW SHOW, THE PLOT AGAST AMERI— BEYOND TIGER KG: 8 TE-CRIME DOCUMENTARI THAT SPARKED A SEND LOOK FROM THE LAW— DOWNTON ABBEY’S JULIAN FELLOW ON HIS NEW SERI AND THE BETY OF A SCHEMG WOMAN— ALL THE NEW 2020 MOVI STREAMG EARLY BEE OF CORONAVIS— FROM THE ARCHIVE: THE NOTOR RIVALRY OF HEDDA HOPPER AND LOUELLA PARSONS, HOLLYWOOD’S DUELG GOSSIP COLUMNISTSLOOKG FOR MORE? SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY HOLLYWOOD NEWSLETTER AND NEVER MISS A STORY.MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDTHE BOOK OF CLARENCE IS A BOMBASTIC JOURNEY BACK TO THE BIBLIL ERABY REBEC FORD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISJULIE MILLER

Now, more than 25 years after g out of the closet, the former bodybuildg champ shar his thoughts on the ath threats he received after his announcement, the fate of his relatnship wh Rod and the untry's shiftg perceptn of homosexualy. There’s a poem by Herich Hee lled ‘The Lorelei, ’ and I thought to myself at that moment for some reason, ‘Oh my God, I’m gay, ’” said Ber wh a lgh.

”Chris Ber of Stapleton is at South Beach, ready for his morng swim wh other swimmers of Anarchy Club on May 17, 2022 (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)And while he’s thankful he’s an avid swimmer to this day, was many years before Ber “me out” as a gay male. ’ But the problem wasn’t that I was gay, was that she wanted grandchildren, and none of my brothers or sisters were married yet, ” said Ber wh a g out to his fay was easy pared to tellg some lifelong iends that he was gay.

“I remember wh one iend took me over an hour to jt say the word, ‘gay, ’” he what Ber didn’t know at the time, was that he’d relote to a borough of New York Cy where he had never been before, and bee one the drivg forc behd creatg clivy of the LGBTQ+ muny the 1980s and 1900s on Staten Island. “It’s funny bee I didn’t really know anybody [on Staten Island], and people told me not to move here bee was so nservative, but I moved here anyway, ” Ber first volvement the LGBTQ+ muny started prr to his move to the borough wh Gay Friends and Neighbors of Brooklyn. So was really the lbian and gay muny.