Today In Gay History: Tab Hunter

[William769]

Tab Hunter, the '50s-era Hollywood actor known for his roles in classics like Damn Yankees and The Burning Hills, as well as for a fabricated relationship with Natalie Wood, turns 82 today.

This is worth celebrating, of course, and not only for the fact that 82 is itself a milestone. Though not as legendary as some of his peers, like fellow Warner Bros. star James Dean, Hunter left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry at large. In fact, one could argue that without Hunter we wouldn't have Madonna.

Born in New York City as Arthur Andrew Kelm (later Gelien, his mother's maiden name), the man who would become Hunter moved to California as a toddler, and then, after many years as a figure skater, he left civilian life to join the Coast Guard at the age of 15. He had to fib a little to register, of course, and unfortunately there would be more lies to come after Hunter left the Guard and entered Tinsel Town, first in the 1952 movie Island of Desire and then, three years later, the more successful Battle Cry, a World War II drama. It wasn't long before Tab Hunter -- a name chosen by Henry Willson, closeted agent to the equally closeted celebrities, including Rock Hudson -- was a star and heartrhrob. And it's not hard to understand why: blond and blue-eyed Hunter exemplified the new era of the strapping but sensitive hunk. (Casper Van Dien is basically a carbon copy, if that helps put things in perspective.)

Hunter, his looks, and his string of roles in movies like The Girl He Left Behind with Wood and James Garner and Damn Yankees helped define the emerging Hollywood culture. There was no way he could reveal he was spending his weekends with men in Palm Springs, which is why Willson and the rest of Hollywood insiders insisted Hunter create fake relationships like the one he had with Wood.

http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/07/11/today-gay-history-tab-hunter

[MADem]

1. And he sang, too!

They didn't do much messing with his voice--they gave him the "bathroom wall" sound on the chorus (a slight echo) but that was it.

Nowadays, if a voice isn't manipulated to hell, it doesn't get on the air...

[William769]

2. Agreed.

[teenagebambam]

3. There's a fascinating (and titillating!) book

about Henry Willson and his "boys" called "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson". Worth a read if you like that sort of thing.