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ContentHearByl-cZqgyJ bqbBYQ"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH ivtvgj byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd ggMZaT cXqSTL eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributors/michael-schulman">Michael Schulman</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2015-10-16T09:00:06-04:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd kYZrFA kEBrdf">October 16, 2015</time></div></div></div></div><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ContentHearLeadAsset-hGbumP iWPCcH lead-asset ContentHearLeadAssetWrapper-hfXHEc fTrSlG lead-asset--width-smallle" data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset"><figure class="ContentHearLeadAssetContent-kOfYSG dRGWbI"><div class="ContentHearLeadAssetContentMedia-bLEIpi jjhWdS lead-asset__ntent__photo"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb khLUzS"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz dbxtba"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO KhjZz ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb khLUzS rponsive-image rponsive-image--expandable"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="If youre too young to remember Tab Hunter ask your mother. For a good stretch of the fifti his squarejawed image was a..." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></div></div></span><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn ContentHearLeadAssetCaptn-hPWmSN kuCzGS"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo iXWezO ptn__text">If you’re too young to remember Tab Hunter, ask your mother. For a good stretch of the fifti, his square-jawed image was a staple on teen-age girls’ bedroom walls.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Courty Collectn of Tab Hunter</span></div></div></figure><div data-ttid="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor" class="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor-jYVcDc djtEof"></div></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save this story" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU hQrwCF bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M20 23.9508L12.5 19.7312L5 23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z"></path><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z"></path></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd bkefvo gkccfO">Save this story</span></button></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kAEsuD viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save this story" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU cjjxgx bookmark mobile"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M20 23.9508L12.5 19.7312L5 23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z"></path><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z"></path></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd bkefvo gkccfO">Save this story</span></button></div></div></div><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG Uozmo"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg">Image an alternative universe which beg gay neteen-fifti Ameri was not jt tolerated but celebrated. The hottt uple Hollywood would undoubtedly be Tab Hunter and Anthony Perks. The two actors met 1956, at the pool at the Chate Marmont. Perks, broodg and darkly handsome, was dog “Friendly Persuasn” and was four years away om “Psycho.” Hunter was a stud player at Warner Brothers: a blond, blue-eyed dreamboat, whom the stud was sellg—que succsfully—as the qutsential boy next door.</p><p class="paywall">Had the three-year romance that followed been acceptable the light of day, Hunter and Perks might have been inic: an East Coast–Wt Coast, sunny-meets-stormy power uple. In real life, of urse, the relatnship was a potential reer-enr for both, and they kept secret om even their clost iends. As Hunter rells Jefey Schwarz’s new documentary, “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tab Hunter Confintial</a>” (openg New York this weekend), he would go out on “dat” wh starlets like Debbie Reynolds, arranged by the stud and lapped up by movie magaz; sometim, he and Perks would double-date wh women and then go home together.</p><p class="paywall">If you’re too young to remember Tab Hunter, ask your mother. For a good stretch of the fifti, his square-jawed image was a staple on teen-age girls’ bedroom walls. Raised Arthur Gelien, California, by a mother whom he later had to m to a psychiatric stutn, Hunter was so Adonis-like that the girls his high school ed to chase him around mobs—for reasons that are now obv, this ma him extremely unfortable. He joed the Coast Guard to pe the attentn, until he was discharged for beg unrage. Neverthels, he wound up wh a Hollywood agent, who gave him a new name, and he appeared movi like “Island of Dire,” “Battle Cry,” and “Damn Yanke!” He typilly played soldiers and surfers and other totems of wholome Amerin masculy. (Jam Dean, Warner Brothers’ -hoe bad boy, was his mirror image.) He branched out to a rerdg reer, croong hs like <a href=">“Young Love.”</a> For a while, he was dubbed “The Sigh Guy.”</p><p class="paywall">“They labelled me the all-Amerin boy,” Hunter said earlier this week, at the Kimberly Hotel midtown. At eighty-four, he is still approachably handsome, drsed as if head to a we tastg Napa: slacks and a light-blue Oxford shirt, wh the sleev rolled up. He was town wh Allan Glaser, his partner of thirty-three years. (They live Santa Moni, wh two hors and two whippets.) He add, “I’ve always been sort of an anti-label person.”</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">That clus the other label he spent his reer refully avoidg. In the fifti, homosexualy was nsired a perversn, and was particularly toxic for Hollywood leadg men. (And, to a large extent, still is.) The stud kept most of the mors out of the movie magaz, though <em>Confintial</em> reported Hunter’s arrt at a “limp-wristed pajama party” when his former agent bartered the rmatn to protect Rock Hudson. Itchg for artistic eedom, Hunter bought himself out of his ntract wh Warner Brothers, which quickly gave the blond-heartthrob slot to Troy Donahue. The rol dried up, and, when the fifti gave way to the sixti, a distst toward prepackaged matée idols ma Hunter a relic. Meanwhile, his relatnship wh Perks petered out after Hunter appeared the TV baseball drama “Fear Strik Out,” and then Perks arranged to star the movie versn himself. “We didn’t see much of each other after that,” he said.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">For a while, he was stuck dog B-movi and dner theatre. (“Between the belchg and the passg of gas, we’d do the first and send act of a show.”) While on the road the early eighti, he got a ll om John Waters, who wanted to st him his new film, “Polyter,” oppose the drag queen Dive. “He said, ‘One qutn: How would you feel about kissg a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound transvte?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m sure I’ve kissed a hell of a lot worse!’ ” His appearance “Polyter” and a send movie wh Dive, “Lt the Dt” (which is how he met Glaser, one of s producers), ocsned a tongue--cheek rurgence, which he played off his clean-cut image. But, for the past three s, he has mostly focsed on his hors.</p><p class="paywall">Hunter is the oppose of Norma Dmond. “He didn’t save a still, a lobby rd, a poster,” Glaser said. “He gave his gold rerd away. He kept nothg.” When his movi e up on TMC, he flips past them. He revealed his long-held secret only when he got word that an unthorized bgraphy was the works, and Glaser persuad him to preëmpt wh his own book, “Tab Hunter Confintial: The Makg of a Movie Star,” which appeared 2005. Even after that, the documentary took seven years to make, Glaser said, bee of “how reticent he is to talk about some thgs.” “I was brought up very quietly, very privately,” Hunter said. “My mother was a very strict German, relig, and so you jt didn’t discs thgs like that.”</p><p class="paywall">Glaser said that the procs had been “thartic” for Hunter, but he still seems ill at ease discsg his gay inty, and he disapprov of morn celebri who are “blah, blah, blah, right your face.” You probably won’t fd him acceptg <em class="small">GLAAD</em> awards or ridg gay-pri paras, like Gee Takei or Ian McKellen. Asked if he would e out of the closet if he were a young movie star today, he said no. “The thg that I feel is good about the documentary,” he reasoned, “is there are a lot of men like me who have lived very hidn liv. And ’s got to be hopefully a ltle step a directn where they don’t feel as bad about .”</p><p class="paywall">One gets the sense that Hunter enjoyed the zenh of his fame, spe the secrecy of his personal life, but that he never really bought to his own stardom. Unlike Perks, he wasn’t thls, and his talent had s limatns. Beg a teen heartthrob means beg a product, and products tend to n their urse. What’s admirable about Hunter is that, agast his long-standg stct for the quiet life, he is fillg out an important part of gay history, when the studs ntrolled their charg and the celluloid closet was firmly locked shut. That he has lived to tell his tale an era when the door is creakg exorably open is a fate not afford to Perks. He died 1992, of <em class="small">AIDS</em>, and left behd a wife and two kids.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box ArticlePageSplAdRail-OyjwD jikppc"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailContent-jsltpq iZDmmY spl-ad-rail-ntent"><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailTop-jUrrVY jzzFg"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="u3706h"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailMiddle-tiRvu hiZeZX spl-ad-rail-middle"></div><div class="ArticlePageSplAdRailBottom-dBKMGQ jmCMsn spl-ad-rail-bottom"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="w4d3p"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/michael-schulman"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/michael-schulman">Michael Schulman</a>, a staff wrer, has ntributed to The New Yorker sce 2006. His most recent book is “<a href=">Osr Wars: A History of Hollywood Gold, Sweat, and Tears</a>.”</div><div class="ContributorBFooter-brqDlv ezUmSv"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="TagCloudWrapper" class="TagCloudWrapper-gGgndx ctyZyK ContentFooterTagCloud-krQmRG ZLGh"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudSectnHear-cOforY iUEiRd bPyAoD kQQRmu">More:</span><a href="/tag/b-movi" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">B-Movi</span></a><a href="/tag/film" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Film</span></a><a href="/tag/homosexualy" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Homosexualy</span></a><a href="/tag/movie-stars" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Movie Stars</span></a></div></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" class="ContentFooterBottom-jwWZfC kcbyiW"><div class="ContentFooterNewsletterContentWrapper-bmjtna kixtae"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper-fCqqkN jKSBhE newsletter-subscribe-form ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper-fpMElW eglIBL"><h3 class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDangeroHed-kRwWjt kbxOa-D newsletter-subscribe-form__hed ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf">Gogs On</h3><div class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDek-kXonvc cKOhTM newsletter-subscribe-form__k">What we’re watchg, listeng to, and dog this week, onle, N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.</div></div><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper-keARJE hVWbzr"><form class="form-wh-validatn NewsletterSubscribeFormValidatn-iCYa-Dt dweEln" id="newsletter" name="newsletter" novalidate="" method="POST"><span class="TextFieldWrapper-Pzdqp hNhevp text-field" data-ttid="TextFieldWrapper__email"><label class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TextFieldLabel-klrYvg iUEiRd stdEm fvoOvz text-field__label text-field__label--sgle-le" for="newsletter-text-field-email" data-ttid="TextFieldLabel__email"><div class="TextFieldLabelText-cvvxBl eeDYTb">E-mail addrs</div><div class="TextFieldInputContaer-jcMPhb oFrOs"><put type="email" aria-scribedby="privacy-text" aria-valid="false" id="newsletter-text-field-email" required="" name="email" placeholr="E-mail addrs" class="BaseInput-fAzTdK TextFieldControlInput-eFUxkf eGzzTT laFPCK text-field__ntrol text-field__ntrol--put" data-ttid="TextFieldInput__email"/></div></label><button class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv dwpimO button button--utily TextFieldButton-csBrgY edxbrw" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="subm"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN hzwRuG button__label">Sign up</span></button></span><div id="privacy-text" tabx="-1" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDisclaimer-bTVtiV bsgLJZ"><span><p>By signg up, you agree to our <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">User Agreement</a> and <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement</a>. 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Now twenty-seven, Mayers mak his livg as a bker the New York Cy subway system.</div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--article summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href="/magaze/2015/09/07/hollywood-sunset" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Hollywood Sunset" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Wattage Dept.</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href="/magaze/2015/09/07/hollywood-sunset" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Hollywood Sunset</div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Tad Friend</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hlYhBH summary-em summary-em--article summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below-sktop-only summary-em--layout-posn-image-right summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm eamwqR" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href="/magaze/2015/07/20/grand-marshals" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Grand Marshals" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl ldWYvC summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Miltone</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href="/magaze/2015/07/20/grand-marshals" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Grand Marshals</div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p 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tab hunter gay

Actor Tab Hunter reflects on his reer Hollywood and g out as a gay man.

Contents:

TAB HUNTER: HOW HOLLYWOOD'S BOY NEXT DOOR BEME A GAY IN

The actor, who died on Sunday at the age of 86, kept his sexualy a secret at a time when the dtry wasn’t ready for an openly gay heartthrob * tab hunter gay *

A blon, square-jawed and wholome symbol of mid-century Amerin masculy, Hunter, born 1931 as Arthur Gelien, was gay but kept his sexualy a secret for the bulk of his reer, until g out his 2005 tobgraphy Tab Hunter Confintial: The Makg of a Movie Star. ”A product of an era that was famoly hospable to gay entertaers, Hunter kept up secret romanc wh film star Anthony Perks and figure skater Ronnie Robertson as movie studs trotted him out alongsi screen sirens Natalie Wood and Debbie Reynolds, wh whom he’d go on pretend dat. But not before an article Confintial, the bimonthly gossip rag om which Hunter’s memoir borrows s name, reported on the then 24-year-old’s volvement an arrt at a “limp-wristed pajama party” where other gay mal were attendance.

The article, Hunter felt, suated he’d been party to a “gay y”, a mor that might have torpedoed his reer given the ntemporaneo moral panic around homosexualy and the “lavenr sre” that led to mass firgs.

REMEMBERG TAB HUNTER, ACTOR AND GAY INTHE SEX SYMBOL AND DAMN YANKE STAR, WHO DIED ON SUNDAY AT THE AGE OF 86, WAS ONE OF THE RARE STARS OF HIS ERA TO SPEAK OPENLY ABOUT HIS HOMOSEXUALY.BY YOHANA DTAJULY 9, 2018FROM ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETAB HUNTER, AN IN OF OLD HOLLYWOOD WHO ROSE TO FAME FILMS LIKE 1958’S DAMN YANKE, HAS DIED. HE WAS 86 YEARS OLD. ACRDG TO CNN, HUNTER’S PARTNER OF 35 YEARS, ALLAN GLASER, SAID THE ACTOR DIED SUNDAY AT COTTAGE HOSPAL SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, AFTER A BLOOD CLOT ED HIM TO GO TO RDIAC ARRT.“WE WERE WALKG HOME AND HE LLAPSED MY ARMS OUR ONT YARD,” GLASER SAID, PER CNN. “HE SAID HE ULDN’T BREATHE, SO I LLED 911, AND WE WENT TO THE HOSPAL . . . THIS WAS SUDN AND UNEXPECTED. HE WAS ATHLETIC, MORE LIKE A 60-YEAR-OLD NOT AN 86-YEAR-OLD.”IN HIS HEYDAY, HUNTER WAS A GOLN BOY EVERY SENSE. THE HANDSOME BLOND LAND A NTRACT AT WARNER BROS. THE 50S AND QUICKLY BEME ONE OF THE STUD’S TOP PLAYERS, STARRG ABOUT 50 FILMS OVER THE URSE OF HIS REER. BUT HUNTER’S LEGACY GO FAR BEYOND HIS WORK ON THE SCREEN. OVER THE YEARS, HE’S BEEN REGARD AS A GAY IN, ONE OF THE RARE STARS OF THAT PARTICULAR GENERATN TO SPEAK OPENLY ABOUT HIS HOMOSEXUALY. IN THE BTSELLG 2005 TOBGRAPHY TAB HUNTER CONFINTIAL, THE ACTOR NFIRMED ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT HE WAS GAY, SPILLG THE TAILS ABOUT HIS PAST RELATNSHIPS WH ACTOR ANTHONY PERKS AND FIGURE-SKATG STAR RONNIE ROBERTSON.THE TLE OF THE BOOK WAS SPIRED BY A TERRIFYG CHAPTER HUNTER’S LIFE. IN THE MID-1950S, JT AS HIS STAR WAS RISG, THE TABLOID CONFINTIAL PUBLISHED A STORY ABOUT HUNTER’S ARRT AFTER ATTENDG A “PAJAMA PARTY,” AN EVENT EQUENTED BY GAY MEN. THANKS TO HIS POPULARY, THE STORY FELL TO THE WAYSI, AND HUNTER NTUED BUILDG A REER AS ONE OF THE DTRY’S LEADG MEN.“JACK WARNER [THE HEAD OF WARNER BROS.] AND I NEVER DISCSED MY SEXUALY WHATSOEVER,” HUNTER SAID THE 2015 DOCUMENTARY BASED ON HIS TOBGRAPHY. “I WAS MAKG A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEM. AS LONG AS I DIDN’T STROY THAT IMAGE THEY WERE CREATG, THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO THEM.”HUNTER DUTIFULLY PLAYED THE ROLE OF HETERO HEARTTHROB FOR WARNER BROS., KEEPG UP APPEARANC ORR TO MATA HIS NTRACT WH THE STUD. BUT THAT DIDN’T HALT HIS DATG LIFE BEHD THE SCEN. HIS FIRST SER RELATNSHIP WAS WH ROBERTSON, AN OLYMPIC SKATER. HE LATER DATED FUTURE PSYCHO STAR PERKS FOR A HANDFUL OF YEARS. THE PAIR FIRST MET AT THE POOL AT THE CHATE MARMONT, ACRDG TO THE DOCUMENTARY. “I HAD A WONRFUL RELATNSHIP WH HIM,” HUNTER SAID. IN A 2003 TERVIEW WH THE NEW YORK TIM, HE ELABORATED ON HIS TIME WH PERKS, RELLG HOW REFUL THE UPLE HAD TO BE TO KEEP THEIR RELATNSHIP A SECRET.“I DIDN’T FLNT THGS,” HUNTER SAID. “I KNOW WHEN TONY AND I WENT TO THE MOVI, HE WOULD SAY, ‘LET’S GO DISGUISE.’ WE ALWAYS WORE BASEBALL PS. OR HE’D SAY: ‘YOU GO AT A CERTA TIME. I’LL GO LATER.’ I KNEW PEOPLE WERE TALKG. I DIDN’T LIKE THAT.”THE RELATNSHIP EVENTUALLY FIZZLED OUT, WH PERKS AT ONE POT MENTNG THAT HIS STUD, PARAMOUNT, DIDN’T WANT HIM SEEG HUNTER ANYMORE. “WE JT SORT OF GREW APART,” HUNTER SAID THE DOCUMENTARY.HUNTER WOULD BOLSTER HIS REPUTATN AS A GAY IN, EVEN BEFORE HE PUBLICLY ME OUT, BY STARRG THE JOHN WATERS FILM POLYTER, PLAYG OPPOSE DIVE. IN A 2015 TERVIEW WH THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, THE ACTOR WARMLY REFLECTED ON THAT PHASE HIS REER, LLG ONE OF THE BT EXPERIENC HE’S EVER HAD.HE EVENTUALLY SETTLED DOWN WH GLASER, WHO WOULD BE HIS PARTNER FOR THE RT OF HIS LIFE. GLASER WAS A BIG PROPONENT OF THE ACTOR TELLG HIS LIFE STORY CONFINTIAL, ENURAGG HIM TO WRE AFTER HE HEARD THAT SOMEONE ELSE WAS PLANNG A BOOK ABOUT HUNTER.“HE SAID TO ME, ‘I HEAR THERE’S GOG TO BE BOOK DONE ON YOU. I THK YOU SHOULD WRE A BOOK,’” HUNTER RELLED A 2015 TERVIEW. “AND I SAID, ‘WHO WOULD WANT TO READ A BOOK ABOUT ME?’ HE SAID, ‘YOU’D BE SURPRISED.’ SO I THOUGHT I BETTER GET OM THE HORSE’S MOUTH, NOT OM SOME HORSE’S ASS AFTER I’M AD AND GONE, BEE PEOPLE WHO NEVER KNEW YOU WILL PUT A SP ON YOUR LIFE AND MAKE UP WHATEVER THE HECK THEY WANT. AND THAT’S NOT FAIR. YOU KNOW, I HAVE NOTHG TO HI.”MOST POPULARRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHJAMIE LEE CURTIS DIGS HERSELF OUT OF COMMENTS ABOUT SAG-AFTRA STRIKEBY EVE BATEYVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHMEET ATRALIAN ACTRS ELIZA SNLEN, SHARP OBJECTS’S UP-AND-COMG STAR1 / 3CHEVRONCHEVRONPHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAMS & HIRAKAWA.YOHANA DTA

The '50s heartthrob who lived a closeted life durg the peak of populary survived the end of the Hollywood stud system by refg to make many of the promis his fellow gay actors did. * tab hunter gay *

But what would revalize his reer earnt was a phone ll om John Waters, the transgrsive gay film-maker whose mpy sensibily hadn’t yet been fully embraced beyond midnight moviegoers. But, s Insi Baseball approach to revealg the ner workgs of Hollywood before, durg and after the stud era, is a remarkably sightful, nfint acunt of and by one of Hollywood’s first gay movie stars, a label by which the famoly self-effacg Hunter would surely be ath, though, Tab Hunter’s legend won’t fa. The 2015 documentary adapted om his memoir, which n be seen on Netflix, helped her a wave of disurse about the ills of the stud era – homophobia, misogyny and abe among them – a topic that was revised last year Fd, the fict televisn reuntg of the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

MATEE IDOL TAB HUNTER OPENS UP ABOUT JAM DEAN'S {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY CAREY O'DONNELLMARCH 19, 2015/12:43 PMBY CAREY O'DONNELLMARCH 19, 2015 / 12:43 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"MATEE IDOL TAB HUNTER OPENS UP ABOUT JAM DEAN'S SEXUALY","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-03-19T16:43:36.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-03-19T16:43:36.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CAREY O'DONNELL","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}INIC ACTOR JAM DEAN WAS THE SUBJECT OF GAY MORS EVEN BEFORE HIS UNTIMELY ATH 1955. VAR SOURC HAVE CLAIMED THE BROODG YOUNG STAR OF GIANT AND REBEL WHOUT A CSE WAS A HTLER, OR THAT HE SLEPT WH VAR HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS TO FURTHER HIS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}RELATED: JOHN TRAVOLTA BLACKMAILED INTO STAYG CLOSETED BY SCIENTOLOGY, NEW DOC {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}REBEL DIRECTOR NICHOLAS RAY SUATED DEAN WAS A HOMOSEXUAL—AND POSSIBLY VOLVED WH -STAR SAL MEO, WHO WAS GAY—WHILE BGRAPHER JOHN HOWLETT MATAED JD WAS "MOST CERTALY BISEXUAL."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}E! ONLE UGHT UP WH '50S SCREEN IDOL TAB HUNTER AT SXSW, WHERE HE WAS PROMOTG THE NEW DOC TAB HUNTER CONFINTIAL, AND ASKED HIM WHAT HE KNEW ABOUT DEAN'S {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HUNTER, HIMSELF CLOSETED FOR MOST OF HIS REER, WAS IENDS WH THE LATE STAR—THEY SHARED AN AGENT AND HUNTER EVEN WENT ON ARRANGED DAT WH DEAN'S REBEL STAR NATALIE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HUNTER, NOW 81, ACKNOWLEDGED THE NSTANT MORS THAT SWIRLED AROUND HIS IEND. "PEOPLE ALWAYS SAID THAT [DEAN WAS BISEXUAL]," HUNTER TOLD E!'S MARK MALK. "PEOPLE WANT TO HANG LABELS ON PEOPLE: 'OH, HE'S LIKE THIS OR HE'S LIKE THAT.'"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BUT, HUNTER SAID, "I DON'T BUY TO THAT—AS FAR AS I KNOW JIMMY [WASN'T BI]."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}MAYBE HE NEVER HEARD THE STORY ABOUT LIZ TAYLOR AND ROCK HUDSON WAGERG WHO ULD SCE DEAN FIRST ON THE SET OF GIANT? ACRDG TO LEGEND, ROCK WON THE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BELOW, WATCH THE TRAILER FOR TAB HUNTER {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

Check out how five gay actors mid-Century Hollywood beme stars of the silver screen the gild closets of Movie Bs. * tab hunter gay *

But there is a kd of poetic jtice that a man who spent much of his life the shadows lived long enough to see his forbidn romance veloped as a movie, one produced, as ought to be, by two openly gay men. Over the years, he’s been regard as a gay in, one of the rare stars of that particular generatn to speak openly about his homosexualy. In the btsellg 2005 tobgraphy Tab Hunter Confintial, the actor nfirmed once and for all that he was gay, spillg the tails about his past relatnships wh actor Anthony Perks and figure-skatg star Ronnie tle of the book was spired by a terrifyg chapter Hunter’s life.

In the mid-1950s, jt as his star was risg, the tabloid Confintial published a story about Hunter’s arrt after attendg a “pajama party, ” an event equented by gay men. “We jt sort of grew apart, ” Hunter said the would bolster his reputatn as a gay in, even before he publicly me out, by starrg the John Waters film Polyter, playg oppose Dive.

SXSW: TAB HUNTER OPENS UP ABOUT LIFE AS A CLOSETED GAY STAR DURG HOLLYWOOD’S GOLN AGE

The 1950s Hollywood heartthrob later me out as gay. "Tab Hunter Confintial" reveals affairs wh Tony Perks &amp; Ronnie Robertson. * tab hunter gay *

Hunter's homosexualy was one of Hollywood's worst-kept secrets: His 1950 arrt for "disorrly nduct" when Los Angel police raid a hoe party he'd been attendg was ma public five years later, when Hollywood sndal sheet Confintial plastered on the ont ver and referred to the get-together qutn, wh characteristic rtrat, as a "limp-wristed pajama party. Hunter returned to his Catholic fah — on his terms, as a gay man — around this time, and that, along wh his lifelong love of hors and show jumpg, seem to have engenred him a sense of ntentment. Inic actor Jam Dean was the subject of gay mors even before his untimely ath 1955.

Var sourc have claimed the broodg young star of Giant and Rebel Whout a Cse was a htler, or that he slept wh var Hollywood producers to further his director Nicholas Ray suated Dean was a homosexual—and possibly volved wh -star Sal Meo, who was gay—while bgrapher John Howlett mataed JD was "most certaly bisexual.

Bee is the first om the perspective of a major movie star who lived through as a closeted gay man but is now open about his sexualy. Hunter rells first realizg that he was “different” his early teens, but says he’d “have gone crazy” if someone had asked him if he was homosexual (the word “gay” wasn’t really around then).

TAB HUNTER’S TRIALS AND TRIBULATNS: 7 THGS WE LEARNED FROM THE LATE GAY HEARTTHROB’S NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Our celebratn of post-war gay, bisexual, and straight movie stars wearg next to nothg at all. * tab hunter gay *

Willson, a big-time agent and “gay svengali” who also disvered and/or reprented Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun and Rock Hudson, changed Gelien’s name to Tab Hunter after tryg to “tab” him somethg new and rellg that he was fond of huntg and jumpg on hors. Hunter’s reer was jeopardized jt as was takg off when Confintial, the rare publitn that didn’t operate wh the studs, published a story about how Hunter had been arrted at a “pajama party” — a party attend by many gay people — shortly after arrivg Hollywood. Wh much greater utn, Hunter still managed to engage hh-hh relatnships wh other gay men the ensug years.

TAB HUNTER, FIFTI FILM STAR AND GAY IN, DEAD AT 86

Tab Hunter, the Fifti actor who beme a gay in followg the publitn of his 2005 memoir, has died at the age of 86. * tab hunter gay *

For me, ” the actor not, addg how much he enjoyed workg wh his stars, the assistant director Stanley Donen and the choreographer Bob Fosse, if not the homophobic director Gee Abbott, on the 1958 picture.

When I brg up how much Hollywood and much of Ameri have changed, terms of their views about gay people, he says gratifi him — but don’t change his own preference to keep his private life mostly to himself.

HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERS TAB HUNTER: ‘GAY IN AND TE GENTLEMAN’

* tab hunter gay *

As for the fact that gay marriage is now legal the majory of U.

Now that gay actors like Nathan Lane, Jim Parsons, Victor Garber, Jonathan Groff, and Neil Patrick Harris are “out of the closet” and on the rise, ’s hard to image jt how different thgs were the relatively recent past. Not only was the notn of beg openly gay and havg a viable reer unimagable, but gayns self was also a ncept pole society uldn’t untenance. “Homosexuals” subsisted on society’s margs, mentned only whispered gossip, fearsome psychiatric studi, and Conservative diatrib cryg perversn.

Still, spe of all, gay men managed to make their way to very top of the actg profsn the gild closets of Hollywood. Here are five of the most noteworthy exampl of gay actors mid-Century Hollywood. Part of s all-star st, Liberace giv a marveloly wty performance as luxury ff salman who’s subtly yet obvly gay.

TAB HUNTER’S LGBT LEGACY: HOLLYWOOD, IT’S TIME TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSETTRUTH1950S HEARTTHROB TAB HUNTER DIED SUNDAY. FOR MUCH OF HIS REER HE LIVED THE LIFE OF A CLOSETED HOLLYWOOD MOVIE STAR. HIS LEGACY SHOULD BE TO ENURAGE OTHER STARS TO E OUT.TIM TEEMANSENR EDOR AND WRERUPDATED JUL. 10, 2018 4:08AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUL. 10, 2018 12:52AM EDT OPNHERBERT DORFMAN/GETTYIN JEFEY SCHWARZ’S EXCELLENT 2015 DOCUMENTARY, TAB HUNTER CONFINTIAL (STREAMG ON NETFLIX), THE ACTOR TAB HUNTER REUNTED HIS EXPERIENCE ATTENDG A PRIVATE GAY AND LBIAN HOLLYWOOD PARTY 1950.HE RELLED A ROOM FULL OF SAME-SEX UPL DANCG AND HOW SUCH PARTI WERE ILLEGAL BACK THEN. THE PS BURST , AND ARRTED “THE BUNCH OF QUEERS” THERE.“THEY TOOK TO THE POLICE STATN,” HUNTER SAID. “I THOUGHT, ‘OH MY GOD THIS IS TERRIBLE.’ WHAT WOULD MY MOTHER THK OF MY BEG ARRTED?’”WOULD AFFECT HIS REER GETTG STARTED MOTN PICTUR, THE THEN-YOUNG ACTOR WONRED. HIS ATTORNEY TOLD HIM TO BE “SHARPER” IF HE WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR HOLLYWOOD. “SHARPER” WAS, OF URSE, A PHEMISM FOR REFUL WHICH WAS A PHEMISM FOR BEG CLOSETED; AND THAT WAS THE WAY HUNTER STAYED UNTIL HE FALLY ME OUT 2005 HIS TOBGRAPHY, UPON WHICH THE DOCUMENTARY WAS BASED.HUNTER’S ATH, AT 86, WAS ANNOUNCED MONDAY BY HIS PARTNER ALLAN GLASER. GLASER SAID HUNTER HAD DIED ON SUNDAY AS A RULT OF A BLOOD CLOT THAT ED RDIAC ARRT.“WE WERE WALKG HOME AND HE LLAPSED MY ARMS OUR ONT YARD,” GLASER SAID. “HE SAID HE ULDN’T BREATHE, SO I LLED 911, AND WE WENT TO THE HOSPAL.”“THIS WAS SUDN AND UNEXPECTED,” GLASER ADD. “HE WAS ATHLETIC, MORE LIKE A 60-YEAR-OLD NOT AN 86-YEAR-OLD.”GLASER IS THIRTY YEARS HUNTER’S JUNR, AND THE DOCUMENTARY SWEETLY DOCUMENTS THEIR URTSHIP WHICH BEGAN WHEN GLASER LEFT A LUCRATIVE STUD JOB TO PRODUCE LT THE DT (1985), ONE OF HUNTER’S FILMS HE DID OPPOSE DIVE (FOUR YEARS AFTER JOHN WATERS’ POLYTER).WATCHG THE DOCUMENTARY IS AN OBJECT LSON HOW THE HOLLYWOOD CLOSET OPERAT, WHICH HUNTER EMBRACED AND WAS SUFFOTED BY.THIS CLOSET, AS ACTORS LIKE NOAH WYLE AND PORTIA ROSSI MAKE CLEAR OTHER TERVIEWS THE DOCUMENTARY, IS STILL EXISTENCE. IT’S NOT 1950 ANY MORE, BUT MAY AS WELL BE; ’S JT THAT THE HIGH-PROFILE OUTGS OF STARS LIKE ELLEN DEGENER AND ZACHARY QUTO (SOON TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT HUNTER’S CLOSETED LOVE AFFAIR WH ANTHONY PERKS) FOOL WH A VENEER OF AN ENTERTAMENT DTRY THAT IS MORE OPEN AND ACCEPTG. GAB ARCHIVE FUNDAMENTALLY THOUGH, THE CLOSET THAT HOED TAB HUNTER STILL HO MAJOR MOVIE STARS TODAY. AND THIS CLOSET, IRONILLY, IS PRID OVER BY LGBT AND STRAIGHT HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS AND PUBLICISTS 2018 WHO WOULD LIKELY SCRIBE THEMSELV AS LIBERAL, PRO-LGBT. THEIR DAY JOBS MAKE A WEIRD MOCKERY OF THIS. THEY WOULD PROFS THEMSELV TO BE HORRIFIED BY HOMOPHOBIA. BUT THEY ALL NSPIRE TO KEEP THEIR DREAM FACTORY PUMPG OUT IMAG OF IALIZED HETEROSEXUALY, ONTED BY CELEBRI THAT THEY REPRENT AND DIRECT AND PRODUCE LIVG PUBLIC LIV OF THE SAME.HUNTER’S STORY MAY LOOK VTAGE; REMAS PRSGLY CURRENT. IN ONE TERVIEW AFTER HE ME OUT, HUNTER MED THAT “THE BOY NEXT DOOR LABEL” HOLLYWOOD GAVE HIM, AS BUILT HIS IMAGE AS A CLASSIC FIFTI PRETTYBOY HEARTTHROB, WAS MERELY A SELLG LABEL: “THEY GRD OUT LIKE A SSAGE FACTORY.”HUNTER KNEW HE WAS A PRODUCT, JT AS THE ACTORS KNOW THEY ARE PRODUCTS. BEG OPENLY GAY TODAY MAY NOT GET YOU THROWN OFF THE PRODUCTN LE AS DID THE 1950S, BUT MAY NOT GET YOU THE BT WDOW DISPLAY.HUNTER WAS SO ANGUISHED ABOUT HIS LIFE OF ENFORCED SILENCE, AND BY BEG A NATURALLY PRIVATE PERSON—AND WHERE THOSE TWO THGS TERSECT IS A FASCATG HERLAND—THAT ’S PRETTY AMAZG HE DID E OUT. BUT, AS HE SAID, “HECK, I’M AN OLD MAN. THIS IS MY LIFE.”HE WAS RAISED, HE RELLED, A NOT-HAPPY HOME. HIS FATHER ABED HIS MOTHER. HIS MOTHER PREFERRED HIS BROTHER. HE WAS RAISED CATHOLIC. MOVI WERE HUNTER’S PISM, OR ART GELIEN’S PISM AS HE WAS THEN KNOWN. HE HEARD THE WORDS “FAIRY” AND “QUEER” AS SULTS. HE PHED WHAT HE WAS OM HIS MD; HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE DIFFERENT. HIS STORY ULD BE A STORY OF TODAY, THE STORY OF YOUNG GAY KID ETERNAL. HIS LOOKS ED SUCH A STIR AT SCHOOL WH GIRLS HE SOUGHT OUT EMPTY CLASSROOMS TO HI . HE REVEALED ALL AT NFSN, WAS TOLD HOW BAD BEG GAY WAS, AND FLED OM THE CHURCH.AN EARLY, PRE-HOLLYWOOD LOVE WAS HORS; THE SAME LOVE WOULD STA HUNTER LONG AFTER HOLLYWOOD’S LIGHTS HAD DIMMED. THERE, AT A STABL WHERE A YOUNG HUNTER WORKED, AN ACTOR NAMED DICK CLAYTON ME ONE DAY. HE NEVER MA A MOVE ON HUNTER, BUT HE LED HIM TO HOLLYWOOD. “ON TV SHOWS HUNTER WAS HAILED ‘HOLLYWOOD’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR.’ HUNTER, AS HE SAID YEARS LATER, WAS AN DTRY ‘WHERE YOU ARE REWARD FOR BEG SOMEONE YOU ARE NOT.’” ENTER HENRY WILLSON, THE AGENT WHO HAD ALL THE HUNKS ON HIS BOOKS AT THE TIME, CLUDG ROCK HUDSON. HE PUT HUNTER TO MOVI WHERE HIS CLOTH WERE EHER SWIMMG TNKS OR ARY DUDS. HE WAS A CLEAN-CUT HERO.OFF-SCREEN HUNTER FELL LOVE WH ICE SKATER RONNIE ROBERTSON; THE ICE-SKATG CHIEFS OF THE TIME WARNED ROBERTSON TO KEEP HUNTER AWAY OM WATCHG HIM PETE. ROBERTSON FIED THEM. BUT THEIR RELATNSHIP WAS NDUCTED SECRET. THIS WAS A TIME WHEN HOMOSEXUALY WAS NSIRED A MENTAL ILLNS, AND WHEN EXPOSURE FOR THEM WOULD HAVE MEANT PROFSNAL .ON TV SHOWS HUNTER WAS HAILED “HOLLYWOOD’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR.” HUNTER, AS HE SAID YEARS LATER, WAS AN DTRY “WHERE YOU ARE REWARD FOR BEG SOMEONE YOU ARE NOT.”EARLY ON, HUNTER SURVIVED A GAY SNDAL; WHEN HUNTER CHOSE TO BE REPRENTED BY CLAYTON, HE THOUGHT WILLSON HAD PASSED THE STORY OF HIS ARRT AT THE 1950 GAY PARTY TO GOSSIP RAG CONFINTIAL—BOTH AS REVENGE, AND AS A SACRIFICIAL LAMB (CONFINTIAL HAD BEEN PLANNG AN EXPOSé OF HUDSON). THE MAGAZE LLED THE 1950 GATHERG A “LIMP-WRISTED PAJAMA PARTY” (WHICH SOUNDS GREAT FUN TO ME), AND HUNTER WAS SURE HIS REER WAS OVER.IT WASN’T. HIS STUD BOSS JACK WARNER TOLD HIM “TODAY’S HEADL ARE TOMORROW’S TOILET PAPER.”HUNTER DID WHAT WAS REQUIRED. HE WENT ON DAT WH NATALIE WOOD AND OTHER ACTRS, DAT THAT WERE PHOTOGRAPHED. AS SOON AS THE MERAS STOPPED CLICKG, SHE WENT OFF TO SEE HER REAL DATE DENNIS HOPPER, AND HUNTER WENT OFF TO SEE ANTHONY PERKS WHO HE WAS DATG BACK THEN. ONE OF HIS GIRLIENDS, ETCHIKA CHOURE, RELLED THAT THEY REALLY LIKED EACH OTHER BUT THAT SHE DIDN’T WANT A SHOW MARRIAGE, AND NEHER DID HE. SILVER SCREEN COLLECTN/GETTY HUNTER SAID AT THE TIME, THAT HE FELT IF YOU WERE WH A MAN YOU’D BE SNG, IF YOU WERE WH A WOMAN YOU’D BE LYG.IT SOUNDS A GILD GE, AN ENFORCED HELL, AND AN EMBRACED AND ACMODATED HELL. HE WANTED FAME. THIS WAS THE PRICE. BUT EVEN IF YOU WEREN’T FAMO, THOSE DAYS, A SIAR SET OF CHOIC WERE ON OFFER.AS TURNED OUT, HUNTER OVERPLAYED HIS HAND, STOOD UP TO JACK WARNER, THEN REALIZED, TOO LATE, WAS “REER SUICI.” CHEY FILMS—TERRIBLE FILMS—FOLLOWED. HE BEME A JOKE, AND THEN HE PLAYED OFF THAT IMAGE POLYTER AND LT IN THE DT. HE FELL LOVE WH GLASER.STILL, HUNTER WOULDN’T E OUT, EVEN AS ELLEN, GEE MICHAEL AND OTHERS DID. IN THE DOCUMENTARY, PORTIA ROSSI SAYS HOW HARD TODAY IS FOR OUT ACTORS TO BE OUT, HOW NERVO SHE WAS TO DO . NOAH WYLE SAYS HE KNOWS SEVERAL STARS WHO WON’T E OUT. GLASER OFFERED HUNTER THE OPPORTUNY TO MEET THE PERSON HE WANTED TO SPEND THE RT OF HIS LIFE WH. GLASER NOTED THAT HUNTER WAS HAPPIT MUCKG OUT AND RIDG HIS BELOVED HORS. WHEN HIS OLD MOVI ME ON TV, SAID GLASER OF HIS PARTNER, HUNTER FLICKED THE CHANNEL AS IF SURFG PAST A DOG-FOOD MERCIAL.HUNTER RELLED SEEG ANTHONY PERKS YEARS LATER, MARRIED AND WH A FAY, BEFORE HE DIED OF AIDS. “HIS CHOICE WAS RIGHT FOR HIM,” SAYS HUNTER. “IT WAS WHO HE WAS, OR MAYBE WHO HE WANTED TO BE.”AND THAT TORTURED AND PERCEPTIVE NSTCTN, HUNTER H ON ALL THE WARPED MECHANICS OF HOW THE CLOSET WORKS AND OUT OF HOLLYWOOD.BUT WHAT IS HOLLYWOOD SRED OF? WHAT WON’T TT? WHAT SR AS MUCH 2018 AS DID 1950? IT’S SRED THAT THE FILM-GOG DIENCE WON’T BUY THEIR LEADG WOMAN OR MAN KISSG AN OPPOSE-SEX LOVE TERT IF THEY KNOW THAT LEADG ACTOR IS GAY OR LBIAN, OR TRANS.THAT LACK OF URAGE MEANS THAT DIENC REMA UNCHALLENGED. IT ALSO UNRTIMAT THEIR POWERS OF SPEND DISBELIEF, WHICH A CENT ACTOR IS SUPPOSED TO DRAW ON.IT ALSO MEANS THAT LS LGBT FILMS ARE MA BY MASTREAM HOLLYWOOD. EVEN MORE WARDICE, IGNORANCE AND A LACK OF URAGE. AND SURE, ACTORS WILL E OUT DRIBS AND DRABS, AND Y, LGBT MOVI WILL E OUT DRIBS AND DRABS, AND OTHER OPN PIEC WILL QUTN WHETHER A TURNG POT HAS BEEN REACHED, WHETHER WE ARE PROGRSG. WE AREN’T. HOLLYWOOD ISN’T, AND THE LGBT PEOPLE WORKG THERE AT CELEBRY AND NON-CELEBRY LEVELS ARE PLIC PERPETUATG THIS SHAMEFUL LACK OF PROGRS.THEY SHOULD ALL WATCH THE TAB HUNTER DOCUMENTARY, AND THEY SHOULD READ HIS WORDS. HE NEVER SOUGHT SYMPATHY FOR LIVG THE CLOSET, OR WHY HE LIVED THE CLOSET, OR WHAT S EFFECTS WERE. HE SEEMS A PRACTIL PERSON. DEBBIE REYNOLDS LLS HIM “GROUND,” AND HE DO SEEM PLA-SPEAKG, AND PLA-THKG.IN AN TERVIEW LAST YEAR, HUNTER SAID, “IF I HAD E OUT DURG MY ACTG REER THE 1950S, I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD A REER. NOT MUCH HOLLYWOOD HAS CHANGED 60 YEARS. I REALLY DIDN’T TALK ABOUT MY SEXUALY UNTIL I WROTE MY TOBGRAPHY. “THERE STILL ISN’T A ROMANTIC LEAD FILMS WHO IS ACTIVELY WORKG WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY. FILM ACTORS TODAY STILL FEAR THAT G OUT WOULD DAMAGE THEIR REER.” “MY FILM REER HAD LONG SCE BEEN OVER BY THEN. I BELIEVE ONE’S SEXUALY IS ONE’S OWN BS. I REALLY DON’T GO AROUND DISCSG . CALL ME ‘OLD SCHOOL’ ON THAT TOPIC.”TAB HUNTER MA HIS CISNS, HE LIVED WH THE RULTS OF THEM, AND ULTIMATELY HE FOUND LOVE AND STENANCE WH ANOTHER MAN. AND HE ME OUT, JT AS SO MANY LGBT PEOPLE DO; JT AS HARVEY MILK RIGHTLY REMEND AS THE KEY ACT OF LGBT LIBERATN AND CLARATN. AND HUNTER WENT FURTHER: HE TOLD THE TTH NOT JT ABOUT HIMSELF, BUT ALSO ABOUT HOLLYWOOD.“THERE STILL ISN’T A ROMANTIC LEAD FILMS WHO IS ACTIVELY WORKG WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY,” HUNTER SAID THAT SAME 2017 TERVIEW. “PERHAPS THERE HAS BEEN ON TV, STAGE AND DIFFERENT ARENAS THE ENTERTAMENT BS, BUT NOT A MAJOR MOVIE STAR. FILM ACTORS TODAY STILL FEAR THAT G OUT WOULD DAMAGE THEIR REER.”Y, HUNTER IS RIGHT: THEY STILL FEAR THAT. WOULDN’T BE GRAND IF PART OF TAB HUNTER’S LEGACY WAS THE SHATTERG OF THE HOLLYWOOD CLOSET? HE DID AND FOUND OUT, THE BT WAY, THAT WAS BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. TIM TEEMAN

Stars are mourng Hollywood heartthrob and gay in Tab Hunter on social media. The "Damn Yanke" actor died July 8 at 86. * tab hunter gay *

” What’s most tertg about the se is that on the stand, Liberace nied that he dulged homosexual practic.

Michael Schulman on the upg documentary “Tab Hunter Confintial,” which vers the former teen heartthrob’s life as a closeted gay movie star. * tab hunter gay *

The ser cril receptn given to two of the postmortem Liberace bpic for televisn Liberace: Behd the Mic (1988) wh gay Victor Garber and a screenplay by the gay Gav Lambert, and Behd the Canlabra (2011) wh the straight Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, directed by the equally straight Steven Sorbergh reflects his populary. Their producer, Ross Hunter (who was also gay) nnily st the young actor alongsi veteran star Jane Wyman both films, th wng the heart of olr female moviegoers enamored of good-lookg young men. He wed Phyllis Gat, the secretary of his gay manager Henry Willson, 1956.

It lasted only two years, but served s purpose., Still didn’t fortall a joke mor that he had married his iend, sger-actor Jim Nabors (who was also gay but not closeted) om makg the rounds. In 1950, he was arrted along wh a group of other gay men for Disorrly Conduct when the police raid a private party, which was not an unmon circumstance. Que matter-of-fact about his gayns by then, Tab told all a book and documentary movie Tab Hunter Confintial.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* TAB HUNTER GAY

FIVE GAY ACTORS IN MID-CENTURY HOLLYWOOD - WalterFilm .

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