Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star

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Author: Tab Hunter

ISBN-10: 1565125487

ISBN-13: 9781565125483

Category: Actors & Actresses - Biography

Welcome to Hollywood, circa 1950, the end of the Golden Age. A remarkably handsome young boy, still a teenager, gets "discovered by a big-time movie agent. Because when he takes his shirt off young hearts beat faster, because he is the picture of innocence and trust and need, he will become a star. It seems almost preordained. The open smile says, "You will love me," and soon the whole world does. \ The young boy's name was Tab Hunter—a made-up name, of course, a Hollywood name—and it was his...

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Art Gelien was just a kid when an agent asked him if he wanted to be in movies. Blessed with extraordinary good looks and enough smarts to know that he had a lot to learn, that kid said yes. Rechristened Tab Hunter, he was launched on a journey that carried him to stardom. First he became a pin-up favorite of teenage girls worldwide and then a number one box-office star; then he recorded a song called “Young Love” that knocked Elvis Presley off the top of the charts—and all the time he had to keep secret the fact that he was gay.In Tab Hunter Confidential, written with Eddie Muller, Hunter looks back on a life lived without apologies and a career that soared, then crashed, and then later—thanks to popular cult-film auteur John Waters—enjoyed a revival. It is a true Hollywood story, told with humor and insight. The Washington Post - Louis Bayard Like Hudson, Montgomery Clift and Sal Mineo, Hunter depended on what he calls the "gentleman's agreement in the Hollywood ranks, a 'live and let live' attitude about homosexuality. In private and around other like-minded people, you didn't have to pretend. In public, however, you were always careful." It led to a bifurcated existence, as Hunter's wry and unblinkered memoir makes all too clear.

\ The Washington Post"[A] wry, unblinkered memoir....with that golden hair and torso, the scrubbed skin and the jaw that could open cans, [Tab Hunter] was a whole Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue rolled into one package—except this package had a secret compartment."\ —The Washington Post\ \ \ \ \ Jacob HeilbrunnHunter offers shrewd assessments of the studio moguls Jack Warner and Harry Cohn, as well as hilarious anecdotes about working with Natalie Wood, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner. After Warner Brothers cut him loose, Hunter's career stalled, but how sorry can you feel for someone who was whizzing around Capri and hanging out with Ingrid Bergman in his mid-20's? His foray into Tinseltown's past should help revive his name, but not, one suspects, his films.\ — The New York Times\ \ \ Louis BayardLike Hudson, Montgomery Clift and Sal Mineo, Hunter depended on what he calls the "gentleman's agreement in the Hollywood ranks, a 'live and let live' attitude about homosexuality. In private and around other like-minded people, you didn't have to pretend. In public, however, you were always careful." It led to a bifurcated existence, as Hunter's wry and unblinkered memoir makes all too clear.\ —The Washington Post\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyThe 1950s heartthrob has penned a brave, surprising and sad memoir about depression (his mother's), repression (his homosexuality) and redemption (a career revival and meeting his partner of 20-plus years). Hunter (b. 1931) was a good-looking 19-year-old with no acting experience when he was molded into a movie star, later stumbling into a hit record (1957's Young Love) and a two-year affair with Anthony Perkins. Although his acting improved over a decade of mediocre films, by the early 1960s he was scrambling for parts in movies starring Soupy Sales and going overseas to film spaghetti westerns. His career was reborn when he co-starred with Divine in John Water's Polyester (1981) and again in Lust in the Dust (1985), which introduced Hunter to a new generation and turned him into a gay icon. Hunter, who is virtually alone among actors of his era and stature to write about living a closeted gay life in Hollywood's spotlight, is honest about his shortcomings and missteps. He's made an admirable choice to chart his life through friendships and hardships (emotional and financial), rather than just his career trajectory. This is an illuminating, emotionally charged and important piece of Hollywood's hidden history. Photos. Agent, Fred Morris. (Oct. 14) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalCelebrity biography mavens of the baby-boomer generation will especially welcome this memoir. They know Hunter as one of several glamour boys of the 1950s who were "manufactured" by Hollywood to appeal to teenage girls. Blond and tan, he couldn't act, but who cared? With film noir specialist Muller, Hunter tells his complicated life story. In reality, he was extremely introverted; his private life was so well concealed that much of the information related in this heartfelt and candid autobiography will come as a surprise to his fans: his affair with Tony Perkins, his figure-skating accomplishments, and the agony of being a big star at 20 and a fading commodity at 30. He also shares the confusion he suffered over his sexuality at a time when the subject of homosexuality was taboo and gay actors were heavily closeted and in constant fear of being "outed" by the likes of Confidential magazine. An engrossing tale of too much too soon, but with a surprisingly happy ending, this book is recommended for all public libraries.-Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsWarner Brothers' former boy-next-door tells all. Tab Hunter's life would have made a brassy melodrama for Warners, where he reigned in the 1950s. He was born Arthur Gelien in New York City in 1931. Escaping her violent husband, Gelien's mother took her two sons to San Francisco, where Gelien fled to movie theaters, there first having sex with a man. At 15, Gelien lied about his age to join the Coast Guard. On leave in New York City, Gelien, now a smashing, muscular blond, woke up with a wealthy older man. Not wishing to be a "boy toy," he went West to make movies. Gelien's manager turned him into Tab Hunter, who took off his shirt to star in Island of Desire. Eager to draw teens, Warner Bros. cast him in Battle Cry, which he stole when he again doffed his shirt. Then scandal rag Confidential claimed cops arrested Hunter at a gay party. As damage control, Warners paired the actor with "beard" Natalie Wood, but after dates, Hunter pursued an affair with actor Tony Perkins. Eager to be taken seriously as an actor, Hunter bought out his Warners contract, donned his shirt and acted in They Came to Cordura and The Pleasure of His Company. More melodrama ensued when he stood trial, in 1960, for beating his dog. Acquitted, he relentlessly worked the dinner-theater circuit. After a heart attack, a stroke and mixed success as a producer, Hunter settled into a happy life with partner Allan Glaser, who suggested that he write his memoirs to head off the revelations of a projected, unauthorized biography. Whether that volume materializes and tells a different story remains to be seen. A straightforward account of how a gay actor handled the '50s-alas, not very differently than closeted gay actorsmanage their careers today.\ \ \ \ \ New York Times Book Review“A mesmerizing account of his Candide-like journey through Hollywood.” —The New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ Entertainment Weekly“This bio might be the best work of [Tab Hunter’s] career. He takes readers on a gleeful romp.” —Entertainment Weekly\ \