1
00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:31,944
I would go out occasionally
to a cockail party,

2
00:00:32,032 --> 00:00:37,289
and I was fascinated by
all of what I saw there.

3
00:00:37,370 --> 00:00:39,134
There were a few guys
dancing with a few guys,

4
00:00:39,205 --> 00:00:42,357
a couple of gals dancing
with a couple gals.

5
00:00:42,475 --> 00:00:44,899
It was just a party,
and people were

6
00:00:44,978 --> 00:00:48,494
dancing and having a good time.

7
00:00:48,615 --> 00:00:50,379
Paries like this were illegal.

8
00:00:54,187 --> 00:00:57,510
And the nex think I
know the cops came in.

9
00:00:57,624 --> 00:01:00,219
Doors burst open,
there they were.

10
00:01:00,293 --> 00:01:02,751
They were arresting
a bunch of queers.

11
00:01:05,398 --> 00:01:10,052
They took us down to
the police station.

12
00:01:10,170 --> 00:01:15,666
I thought, oh, my
god, this is terrible.

13
00:01:15,742 --> 00:01:22,012
I thought, what would my mother
think of my being arrested?

14
00:01:22,082 --> 00:01:24,711
Will it affect this career
that I'm trying to get

15
00:01:24,818 --> 00:01:28,778
stared in the motion pictures?

16
00:01:28,855 --> 00:01:31,484
An attorney, Harry
Weiss, appeared.

17
00:01:31,558 --> 00:01:33,083
He was well known
for taking care

18
00:01:33,193 --> 00:01:35,651
of situations like that with
many, many Hollywood people.

19
00:01:38,598 --> 00:01:42,399
And he said, you've got to be
a lot sharper than you are.

20
00:01:42,502 --> 00:01:43,458
You're in Hollywood now.

21
00:01:43,536 --> 00:01:49,203
You want to be an actor and
really laid down the law to me.

22
00:01:49,275 --> 00:01:52,541
And then I was released.

23
00:01:52,612 --> 00:01:54,581
I had no idea it was
going to jump up and be

24
00:01:54,681 --> 00:01:58,368
thrown at me years later.

25
00:01:58,451 --> 00:01:59,942
He's the young fellow
you've been waiting for,

26
00:02:00,053 --> 00:02:03,922
ladies and gentlemen,
Tab Hunter.

27
00:02:04,023 --> 00:02:05,116
MAN: Six feet of
rugged manhood can

28
00:02:05,191 --> 00:02:06,773
stir the hear of every woman.

29
00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:09,557
Oh, my goodness,
I'm fabbergasted!

30
00:02:09,629 --> 00:02:10,312
Tab Hunter.

31
00:02:10,430 --> 00:02:11,591
MAN: How do you shave, Tab'?

32
00:02:11,698 --> 00:02:13,280
With Gillette Super
Speed of course.

33
00:02:13,366 --> 00:02:14,049
Tab Hunter!

34
00:02:15,301 --> 00:02:17,122
You tell me where I
can fne Tab Hunter.

35
00:02:17,237 --> 00:02:18,034
Well, you do pretty good.

36
00:02:18,104 --> 00:02:18,867
Gee, thanks.

37
00:02:18,938 --> 00:02:20,122
MAN: What do you like
about Tab Hunter?

38
00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,357
Well, (LAUGHING)
quite a few things.

39
00:02:23,276 --> 00:02:23,891
MAN (SINGING): That clean
cut, unaffected Tab Hunter.

40
00:02:23,977 --> 00:02:24,740
GIRLS: Tab!

41
00:02:26,946 --> 00:02:28,801
MAN (SINGING): That
All-American boy.

42
00:02:31,718 --> 00:02:34,506
Shocking, but true story of
a young man who found himself

43
00:02:34,587 --> 00:02:37,409
overwhelmed by a
strange compulsion.

44
00:02:37,490 --> 00:02:40,608
Hello, I'm Tab Hunter,
and I've got a secret.

45
00:02:40,727 --> 00:02:43,026
Well, I would never have
talked about my personal life

46
00:02:43,096 --> 00:02:44,758
in the 1950s.

47
00:02:44,831 --> 00:02:46,595
Something the matter, kid?

48
00:02:46,666 --> 00:02:47,349
What?

49
00:02:47,467 --> 00:02:48,150
Oh, no.

50
00:02:48,268 --> 00:02:49,520
No, not a thing.

51
00:02:49,602 --> 00:02:52,117
TAB HUNTER: I obviously
was very closeted.

52
00:02:52,238 --> 00:02:54,173
And I'm sure it's a
very diffcult thing

53
00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,505
to think, what's the problem?

54
00:02:56,576 --> 00:02:57,703
But there was a problem.

55
00:03:00,647 --> 00:03:02,673
It's been very diffcult
for me my whole life

56
00:03:02,782 --> 00:03:06,230
talking about that side of me.

57
00:03:06,319 --> 00:03:07,981
For me to come out
of myself like this

58
00:03:08,087 --> 00:03:11,239
and to share all of this
is exremely diffcult.

59
00:03:11,324 --> 00:03:13,350
I've never been as
open as I am with you

60
00:03:13,459 --> 00:03:16,782
because it's been written
about and what the heck?

61
00:03:16,863 --> 00:03:17,990
You know, I'm an old man.

62
00:03:18,097 --> 00:03:20,851
You know, this my
life-- big deal.

63
00:03:20,934 --> 00:03:30,526
(mum-nus)

64
00:03:30,610 --> 00:03:33,808
When I count three, will all
of the ladies in the audience

65
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,304
please go, (SIGHING).

66
00:03:36,382 --> 00:03:38,408
Tab, when I was young,
when I frst saw him,

67
00:03:38,518 --> 00:03:44,310
looked-- beside acting, he
just was amazing looking.

68
00:03:44,390 --> 00:03:47,144
Whoa, this was like a
fying saucer landed looking

69
00:03:47,227 --> 00:03:52,154
like that cute-- beautiful,
California surfer,

70
00:03:52,232 --> 00:03:58,001
handsome that every single girl
or boy wanted to make out with.

71
00:03:58,071 --> 00:03:58,834
GIRL: Are you Tab Hunter'?

72
00:03:58,905 --> 00:03:59,736
Uh, yeah-- yeah.

73
00:03:59,839 --> 00:04:03,708
I think I've died
and gone to heaven.

74
00:04:03,810 --> 00:04:06,325
Kids and the fans
just gravitated to him

75
00:04:06,412 --> 00:04:08,392
just like a magnet.

76
00:04:08,514 --> 00:04:13,532
He was so popular, and so many
people just thought he was it.

77
00:04:13,653 --> 00:04:14,666
And he was.

78
00:04:14,754 --> 00:04:16,336
(LAUGHING) I'll bet.

79
00:04:16,422 --> 00:04:20,291
He was as big as
they could come.

80
00:04:20,393 --> 00:04:24,922
He had the star quality
and he had the x-factor.

81
00:04:25,031 --> 00:04:27,182
Mr. Tab Hunter- Tab.

82
00:04:28,668 --> 00:04:32,355
And in every picture they
managed to take his shir off.

83
00:04:32,438 --> 00:04:33,804
(mum-nus)

84
00:04:33,906 --> 00:04:35,340
Hey, kid!

85
00:04:35,408 --> 00:04:37,832
Nobody could take their
eyes off Tab Hunter.

86
00:04:37,910 --> 00:04:41,904
He was the All-American boy, and
nobody sold that image better.

87
00:04:42,015 --> 00:04:43,995
He was the good-looking
sailor, or he

88
00:04:44,083 --> 00:04:46,507
was the good-looking Marine,
and he was the good-looking Air

89
00:04:46,586 --> 00:04:48,202
Force pilot.

90
00:04:48,288 --> 00:04:50,109
I did so many
military flms that I

91
00:04:50,223 --> 00:04:53,489
was waiting for the government
to send me a pension.

92
00:04:53,559 --> 00:04:56,347
I mean, my gosh, I was
in uniform all the time.

93
00:04:56,429 --> 00:04:57,408
Cigarette?

94
00:04:57,530 --> 00:04:59,897
I saw him in "Battle Cry."

95
00:04:59,966 --> 00:05:03,391
He played a young Marine
with Dorothy Malone.

96
00:05:03,469 --> 00:05:04,596
They did have a love scene.

97
00:05:08,107 --> 00:05:09,928
It caused a lot of
comment at the studio.

98
00:05:10,043 --> 00:05:11,409
Let's take a dip in the pool.

99
00:05:11,477 --> 00:05:13,457
We can't have one of
our young Marines having

100
00:05:13,579 --> 00:05:15,036
an affair with a married woman.

101
00:05:15,114 --> 00:05:16,241
Oh, really?

102
00:05:16,316 --> 00:05:16,999
(mum-nus)

103
00:05:17,116 --> 00:05:19,904
I think you're the most
beautiful woman I've ever met.

104
00:05:19,986 --> 00:05:22,501
What was the one he
did was Sophia Loren'?

105
00:05:22,622 --> 00:05:23,988
ANNOUNCER: "That
Kind of Woman--"

106
00:05:24,090 --> 00:05:27,288
"That Kind of Woman,"
yeah, and of course,

107
00:05:27,393 --> 00:05:30,841
I adored her too, and I
thought, ooh, what a couple.

108
00:05:30,930 --> 00:05:33,081
He doesn't look
old enough to drink.

109
00:05:33,166 --> 00:05:35,920
I'm old enough to do anything,

110
00:05:36,002 --> 00:05:41,191
With his charm and good looks
and his magnetic presence,

111
00:05:41,307 --> 00:05:45,904
he was the embodiment of
youthful American masculinity.

112
00:05:45,978 --> 00:05:47,344
Thank you very
much and thank you.

113
00:05:47,447 --> 00:05:49,962
There he goes, the eligible
bachelor from Hollywood.

114
00:05:57,090 --> 00:05:59,184
By now I'm used to
Tab Hunter, of course,

115
00:05:59,258 --> 00:06:01,227
after all these years.

116
00:06:01,294 --> 00:06:02,910
I grew up as Ar Gelien.

117
00:06:06,866 --> 00:06:12,362
I was born in 1931--
July, 11,1931.

118
00:06:12,472 --> 00:06:15,499
My mother's name
was Gerrude Gelien.

119
00:06:15,608 --> 00:06:19,090
She was from Hamburg, Germany.

120
00:06:19,178 --> 00:06:23,616
I always used to say she was
a poor-man's Marlene Dietrich.

121
00:06:23,683 --> 00:06:25,538
She had two children--
my older brother,

122
00:06:25,651 --> 00:06:30,271
Walt, who was 11
months older than me.

123
00:06:30,356 --> 00:06:32,120
My mother and father did
not get along at all.

124
00:06:32,191 --> 00:06:35,946
He was terribly abusive to her.

125
00:06:36,028 --> 00:06:38,213
Once my mother
left my father, it

126
00:06:38,331 --> 00:06:39,947
was a lot of burden,
a lot of stress

127
00:06:40,032 --> 00:06:44,470
for a single woman raising
two children in those days.

128
00:06:44,537 --> 00:06:46,392
She was very strict.

129
00:06:46,506 --> 00:06:48,486
One moment she could
be very explosive,

130
00:06:48,574 --> 00:06:53,262
and the other moment she could
be terribly tender and dear.

131
00:06:53,379 --> 00:06:56,349
My mother worked like a dog.

132
00:06:56,416 --> 00:06:59,739
She held, sometimes, two jobs.

133
00:06:59,852 --> 00:07:01,468
She wanted to create
an environment

134
00:07:01,554 --> 00:07:04,820
of a family and a
home, and that was very

135
00:07:04,891 --> 00:07:06,860
imporant to her and to us.

136
00:07:09,695 --> 00:07:14,861
I was lost as a kid in
many ways-- introvered.

137
00:07:14,934 --> 00:07:19,133
And I was exremely shy.

138
00:07:19,238 --> 00:07:22,504
I was never comforable
around people.

139
00:07:22,575 --> 00:07:24,669
It made me very nervous.

140
00:07:24,744 --> 00:07:27,771
My brother was
quite the opposite.

141
00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:29,576
My brother I looked
up to a great deal

142
00:07:29,682 --> 00:07:33,312
because he could handle
every situation very well.

143
00:07:33,386 --> 00:07:35,719
He was always prompting me on.

144
00:07:35,788 --> 00:07:38,485
Otherwise I'd have stayed in
my shell much, much longer.

145
00:07:41,794 --> 00:07:44,946
We were raised as Catholics.

146
00:07:45,064 --> 00:07:48,899
My mother put us in parochial
school, where we had nuns.

147
00:07:48,968 --> 00:07:51,233
She just was really,
really concerned

148
00:07:51,304 --> 00:07:53,728
about our own development--
mental, physical,

149
00:07:53,806 --> 00:07:56,776
and spiritual.

150
00:07:56,876 --> 00:07:59,300
I loved going to church.

151
00:07:59,378 --> 00:08:01,859
I did sing in the choir.

152
00:08:01,948 --> 00:08:05,703
Benediction was always wonderful
to me, and mass was in Latin,

153
00:08:05,785 --> 00:08:07,720
and I loved that.

154
00:08:07,787 --> 00:08:09,904
It was a good place to
go and become a par

155
00:08:09,989 --> 00:08:11,514
of something that moved me.

156
00:08:11,624 --> 00:08:14,617
ANNOUNCER: It's "The Black
Swan," starring Tyrone Power,

157
00:08:14,727 --> 00:08:17,663
in his lustiest role as
the daring Captain Waring.

158
00:08:17,730 --> 00:08:20,245
Of course I went to
movies all the time.

159
00:08:20,333 --> 00:08:22,518
I lived at the movies.

160
00:08:22,635 --> 00:08:24,251
There was an aura
about movie stars.

161
00:08:24,337 --> 00:08:26,101
It was quite wonderful.

162
00:08:26,172 --> 00:08:27,458
They were total escapism.

163
00:08:27,573 --> 00:08:30,202
I loved that.

164
00:08:30,276 --> 00:08:34,077
Movies was a world away.

165
00:08:34,146 --> 00:08:38,231
I did feel I was
different from other boys.

166
00:08:38,317 --> 00:08:42,846
The word gay was not
around when I was a kid.

167
00:08:42,955 --> 00:08:48,724
They used derogatory
terms- fairy, queer.

168
00:08:48,794 --> 00:08:51,821
And I might even have
said that about someone,

169
00:08:51,931 --> 00:08:54,230
not wanting to be
different, wanting

170
00:08:54,300 --> 00:08:56,895
to be like everyone else.

171
00:08:56,969 --> 00:08:59,063
I was always taught
if there's something

172
00:08:59,138 --> 00:09:02,768
bad just push it from your
mind, push it from your mind.

173
00:09:02,842 --> 00:09:05,505
So I never confronted those
things, even though it was

174
00:09:05,611 --> 00:09:07,193
there and was very powerful.

175
00:09:10,683 --> 00:09:13,346
I hated myself.

176
00:09:13,452 --> 00:09:15,239
I went to confession.

177
00:09:15,321 --> 00:09:17,779
And this one priest made me feel
like I was the most miserable

178
00:09:17,857 --> 00:09:18,711
person that ever lived.

179
00:09:21,694 --> 00:09:26,792
After my confession I fed
from the church completely,

180
00:09:26,866 --> 00:09:30,348
even though it was
something I really loved.

181
00:09:30,469 --> 00:09:34,156
I came away from that
more fearful than ever.

182
00:09:40,179 --> 00:09:45,618
I when John Burroughs Junior
High School with Arhur Gelien.

183
00:09:45,685 --> 00:09:50,373
It with as if magic had
dropped into the school.

184
00:09:50,489 --> 00:09:53,573
Honestly, the girls would
not leave him alone.

185
00:09:53,659 --> 00:09:56,652
They had never seen
anybody so handsome.

186
00:09:56,729 --> 00:09:59,244
They were just mesmerized.

187
00:09:59,365 --> 00:10:01,061
Girls were very
attracted to me,

188
00:10:01,167 --> 00:10:03,989
and it made me
exremely uncomforable

189
00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:08,838
when people would carry on
in any way, shape, or form.

190
00:10:08,908 --> 00:10:13,107
If he tried to walk down the
hall, he simply was mobbed.

191
00:10:13,212 --> 00:10:16,694
There were times that he'd have
to run into an empty classroom

192
00:10:16,782 --> 00:10:20,378
and lock the door to
get away from the girls.

193
00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:24,049
I don't know how he survived.

194
00:10:24,123 --> 00:10:28,049
The attention at school was
so disruptive that I just felt

195
00:10:28,127 --> 00:10:30,551
I needed some sor of escape.

196
00:10:30,630 --> 00:10:33,293
So I decided to join
the Coast Guard.

197
00:10:33,399 --> 00:10:34,412
I just had wanderlust.

198
00:10:38,237 --> 00:10:41,537
My mother and I had a big
argument just prior to my

199
00:10:41,607 --> 00:10:44,031
joining the Coast Guard.

200
00:10:44,110 --> 00:10:48,730
Kelm was my father's
name-- Charles Kelm.

201
00:10:48,814 --> 00:10:54,105
My earliest memory was my
father abusing my mother,

202
00:10:54,220 --> 00:10:57,702
and my brother and I crying.

203
00:10:57,790 --> 00:10:59,884
I had no recollection
of my father after that.

204
00:10:59,959 --> 00:11:01,655
My mother never wanted
to talk about him.

205
00:11:01,761 --> 00:11:03,377
In fact, you'd mention
his name and she

206
00:11:03,462 --> 00:11:04,259
would literally shudder.

207
00:11:07,099 --> 00:11:10,456
I at times wished
that we had a father.

208
00:11:10,569 --> 00:11:15,007
I kept saying Charlie probably
wasn't that bad after all.

209
00:11:15,074 --> 00:11:16,770
And my mother said, oh, really?

210
00:11:16,842 --> 00:11:18,959
Then I think you should go
to New York and see him.

211
00:11:21,847 --> 00:11:26,171
And when I was on libery in
New York, I had his address,

212
00:11:26,285 --> 00:11:28,049
and I knocked on the door.

213
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,147
And this woman says, yes'?

214
00:11:31,257 --> 00:11:33,351
And I said, is
Charles Kelm here?

215
00:11:33,426 --> 00:11:35,725
And she said, no.

216
00:11:35,795 --> 00:11:41,416
And beyond her I could see
a fgure sitting in a chair.

217
00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:45,426
And I said to her, well, would
you tell him that his son

218
00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:48,019
came by to say hello?

219
00:11:48,140 --> 00:11:49,153
And she said, yes.

220
00:11:49,275 --> 00:11:50,607
And she slammed the
door in my face.

221
00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,480
I knew that that was my
father sitting in that chair.

222
00:11:57,550 --> 00:12:02,409
And I could tell that he
didn't want to see me.

223
00:12:02,521 --> 00:12:04,376
I was devastated.

224
00:12:04,490 --> 00:12:07,187
And I just walked in
the snow for hours.

225
00:12:10,129 --> 00:12:13,611
The Coast Guard found out I was
under age and discharged me.

226
00:12:13,699 --> 00:12:15,224
And then when they
discharged me,

227
00:12:15,334 --> 00:12:16,825
I went back down to Los Angeles.

228
00:12:22,208 --> 00:12:23,824
I worked as a delivery man.

229
00:12:23,909 --> 00:12:26,026
I worked wrapping presents
at Brothers

230
00:12:26,145 --> 00:12:26,908
in Hollywood.

231
00:12:26,979 --> 00:12:30,302
I worked at the Orange Julius
stand on Hollywood Boulevard.

232
00:12:30,382 --> 00:12:31,634
I did an awful lot of jobs.

233
00:12:35,921 --> 00:12:40,006
My brother was the one who
introduced me to horses.

234
00:12:40,092 --> 00:12:43,290
I wanted to do whatever
my brother did.

235
00:12:43,395 --> 00:12:45,660
And then my brother went on,
of course, to other things,

236
00:12:45,731 --> 00:12:48,428
but I stayed with the horses.

237
00:12:48,534 --> 00:12:53,131
I loved being around the horses
when they were in their stalls.

238
00:12:53,205 --> 00:12:54,184
I loved the smell of them.

239
00:12:54,273 --> 00:12:55,434
I loved working around them.

240
00:12:55,541 --> 00:12:57,396
I loved riding.

241
00:12:57,510 --> 00:13:02,312
And I got a job mucking
out and being at the barn.

242
00:13:02,381 --> 00:13:04,202
When the horse
came into my life,

243
00:13:04,283 --> 00:13:07,151
they totally consumed my life.

244
00:13:07,253 --> 00:13:09,950
One weekend at the
barn, Dick Clayton

245
00:13:10,055 --> 00:13:13,412
came out, who was an
actor at the time,

246
00:13:13,526 --> 00:13:16,155
with an actress by
the name of Ann Blyth.

247
00:13:16,228 --> 00:13:18,015
And they were doing
a photo layout

248
00:13:18,097 --> 00:13:20,248
for one of the movie magazines.

249
00:13:20,366 --> 00:13:24,963
Well, I was fascinated, so I
just stood there and watched.

250
00:13:25,037 --> 00:13:29,202
And then Ann left, and I got
to talking to Dick afterwards,

251
00:13:29,275 --> 00:13:31,699
and we became friendly.

252
00:13:31,777 --> 00:13:35,464
Dick never came on to me
like a lot of people did.

253
00:13:35,581 --> 00:13:39,063
I never felt a hidden
agenda from Dick Clayton

254
00:13:39,151 --> 00:13:43,680
because I just felt so
comforable with him.

255
00:13:43,789 --> 00:13:46,657
I never had a man in
my life like that.

256
00:13:46,759 --> 00:13:48,250
And he was the one
who frst planted

257
00:13:48,327 --> 00:13:51,923
the seed for me-- how would
you feel about being an actor'?

258
00:13:51,997 --> 00:13:56,128
And I thought, oh, wow,
that'd be terrifc.

259
00:13:56,235 --> 00:13:58,022
I did star thinking about it.

260
00:13:58,103 --> 00:14:00,038
But I didn't know what
to do, where to begin,

261
00:14:00,105 --> 00:14:01,562
how to get stared
in the business.

262
00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:10,028
Henry Wilson was an agent
for a lot of young actors.

263
00:14:10,149 --> 00:14:14,917
Henry had a stable of
stars- Guy Madison,

264
00:14:14,987 --> 00:14:18,947
Rory Calhoun, Rock Hudson.

265
00:14:19,024 --> 00:14:21,960
Henry Wilson was
a big-deal agent.

266
00:14:22,027 --> 00:14:27,648
And it seemed like every actor
he touched became a big star.

267
00:14:27,766 --> 00:14:30,554
And he had a cerain
style of client,

268
00:14:30,636 --> 00:14:33,060
and he was the one who
would take the pretty boys

269
00:14:33,138 --> 00:14:35,619
and make stars out of them.

270
00:14:35,708 --> 00:14:39,190
Dick Clayton said I want
you to me Henry Wilson.

271
00:14:39,311 --> 00:14:42,998
You know, he doesn't have
the most sterling reputation.

272
00:14:43,115 --> 00:14:44,777
And I went there and met him.

273
00:14:44,850 --> 00:14:47,149
You know, he was giving
you the look and the stare

274
00:14:47,219 --> 00:14:47,902
and all that.

275
00:14:48,020 --> 00:14:49,352
I'm not an idiot.

276
00:14:49,455 --> 00:14:52,152
I could see what
was going on there.

277
00:14:52,224 --> 00:14:56,059
Oh, yeah, Henry would put the
make on me every now and then.

278
00:14:56,161 --> 00:14:59,097
Occasionally his knee would push
against your knee or something

279
00:14:59,164 --> 00:15:00,826
like that.

280
00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:02,027
Well, I just wasn't interested.

281
00:15:02,134 --> 00:15:05,582
I mean, Henry was an amusing,
fun person to go out with once

282
00:15:05,671 --> 00:15:08,334
in a while, but that was it.

283
00:15:08,407 --> 00:15:09,739
Henry was cerainly not my type.

284
00:15:13,312 --> 00:15:15,736
We were sitting in
his offce, and he

285
00:15:15,814 --> 00:15:17,749
said the name's gotta go.

286
00:15:17,816 --> 00:15:19,603
So he said we've got
to tab you something.

287
00:15:19,685 --> 00:15:22,382
So that's how Tab came about.

288
00:15:22,488 --> 00:15:26,084
And I showed horses--
hunters and jumpers.

289
00:15:26,158 --> 00:15:27,615
And Henry said, that's
it-- Tab Hunter.

290
00:15:27,693 --> 00:15:29,548
That's a good name.

291
00:15:29,662 --> 00:15:35,101
I can just see my new name,
Tab Hunter, on the marquee.

292
00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:39,093
I remember having a few drinks,
and I was feeling no pain.

293
00:15:39,171 --> 00:15:44,428
I said, I'm going to be
a movie star. (LAUGHING)

294
00:15:44,510 --> 00:15:47,776
Ar Gelein became Tab Hunter.

295
00:15:47,846 --> 00:15:51,146
The new name was hard for
me to get used to though.

296
00:15:51,216 --> 00:15:53,333
And then Henry said, well, once
you see it on "pay to the order

297
00:15:53,419 --> 00:15:57,106
of," it won't be so bad.

298
00:15:57,222 --> 00:16:01,910
He was a man who was eager,
excited, and enthusiastic,

299
00:16:02,027 --> 00:16:03,609
and wanted it.

300
00:16:03,696 --> 00:16:05,392
Boy, it sure did come fast.

301
00:16:05,464 --> 00:16:07,399
ANNOUNCER: A lush,
topical paradise

302
00:16:07,466 --> 00:16:09,253
beyond your wildest
most romantic dreams.

303
00:16:12,237 --> 00:16:17,767
The frst interview I had was
for "Island of the Desire."

304
00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:20,300
So they sent me to
meet the director.

305
00:16:20,379 --> 00:16:24,737
He looked up and said,
that's the boy I want.

306
00:16:24,817 --> 00:16:26,103
And he asked me to
take off my shir.

307
00:16:26,218 --> 00:16:28,335
I was really embarrassed.

308
00:16:28,420 --> 00:16:31,504
I then did a screen
test with Linda Darnell.

309
00:16:31,590 --> 00:16:33,775
She was a very big name.

310
00:16:33,892 --> 00:16:37,522
Oh, I was a nervous wreck
doing a screen test.

311
00:16:37,596 --> 00:16:38,552
She said, don't worry.

312
00:16:38,630 --> 00:16:41,088
I'm good luck for newcomers.

313
00:16:41,166 --> 00:16:44,364
And they said, now you take her
in your arms and you kiss her.

314
00:16:44,470 --> 00:16:45,802
I took her in my arms
and I kissed her.

315
00:16:49,174 --> 00:16:51,109
(LAUGHING) I kissed her.

316
00:16:51,176 --> 00:16:51,859
She looked at me.

317
00:16:51,977 --> 00:16:53,673
And they said, cut,
and she pinched me,

318
00:16:53,779 --> 00:17:01,619
and she said, that was
nice. (LAUGHING) Audience

319
00:17:01,687 --> 00:17:03,508
response was phenomenal.

320
00:17:03,622 --> 00:17:06,444
Critics, ha, they hated.

321
00:17:06,525 --> 00:17:08,050
You're out of your mind!

322
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:09,412
Darn right.

323
00:17:09,495 --> 00:17:11,521
This blasted
island's got me loco.

324
00:17:11,630 --> 00:17:12,882
I got roasted.

325
00:17:12,965 --> 00:17:13,978
Hello, Hawaii.

326
00:17:14,099 --> 00:17:15,351
Hello, America.

327
00:17:15,434 --> 00:17:16,413
Hello, England.

328
00:17:16,502 --> 00:17:17,788
Hello, anybody!

329
00:17:17,870 --> 00:17:20,954
He doesn't
demonstrate any shred

330
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,827
of acting ability in that flm.

331
00:17:22,941 --> 00:17:25,399
I was born too late, and
I've got a lot to learn.

332
00:17:25,477 --> 00:17:28,231
My mother and I did go
to a screening of it.

333
00:17:28,313 --> 00:17:29,599
The lights came up.

334
00:17:29,681 --> 00:17:35,018
My mother said, you were lousy.

335
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:40,104
I was so bad in the movie
that I couldn't get arrested.

336
00:17:40,192 --> 00:17:42,980
It was a long spell
between "Island

337
00:17:43,062 --> 00:17:45,998
of Desire" and my nex job.

338
00:17:46,065 --> 00:17:50,059
The only pars I could
get were grade-Z movies.

339
00:17:50,169 --> 00:17:51,330
Interpreting
hieroglyphics was par

340
00:17:51,403 --> 00:17:53,338
of my archaeological studies.

341
00:17:53,405 --> 00:17:59,106
I felt that I was a B actor
trapped in that genre of flm,

342
00:17:59,211 --> 00:18:02,534
and there was no way out.

343
00:18:02,648 --> 00:18:03,479
Hello, Pop!

344
00:18:03,549 --> 00:18:05,848
TAB HUNTER: Acting was
something that Dick Clayton

345
00:18:05,918 --> 00:18:08,581
was always on my case about.

346
00:18:08,687 --> 00:18:10,121
This isn't something
that just happens.

347
00:18:10,189 --> 00:18:12,818
You've got to work.

348
00:18:12,891 --> 00:18:18,023
There's so much to learn and so
much to tap inside of myself.

349
00:18:18,097 --> 00:18:21,295
And I wanted to go
on to the nex step.

350
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,222
And he arranged for
me to do "Our Town."

351
00:18:24,336 --> 00:18:28,626
It was imporant for me to do
it because it was great material

352
00:18:28,707 --> 00:18:32,997
and a chance to grow.

353
00:18:33,078 --> 00:18:36,344
Marilyn Erskine, a Broadway
actress, who was very good,

354
00:18:36,415 --> 00:18:39,715
did not want to do
"Our Town" with me.

355
00:18:39,785 --> 00:18:44,439
George was a marvelous
par for a young actor.

356
00:18:44,556 --> 00:18:47,856
But Tab Hunter playing George?

357
00:18:47,926 --> 00:18:50,441
Well, I didn't see that.

358
00:18:50,562 --> 00:18:54,158
And so I was a little bit
concerned because that's such

359
00:18:54,233 --> 00:18:57,533
an imporant par of the play.

360
00:18:57,603 --> 00:18:59,720
We did a read through.

361
00:18:59,805 --> 00:19:01,592
And after we
fnished the reading

362
00:19:01,707 --> 00:19:04,461
she agreed to do it with me.

363
00:19:04,543 --> 00:19:08,560
She said, OK, young man, we've
got a lot of work ahead of us.

364
00:19:08,647 --> 00:19:10,582
Let's get to it.

365
00:19:10,649 --> 00:19:14,905
Well, I wanted him to be
comforable within himself

366
00:19:14,987 --> 00:19:17,775
that he can do this.

367
00:19:17,890 --> 00:19:22,339
Tad had that desire
to really be good.

368
00:19:22,427 --> 00:19:26,262
I saw an actor who
grew and grew, getting

369
00:19:26,331 --> 00:19:29,529
better and better and better.

370
00:19:29,635 --> 00:19:31,615
TAB HUNTER: The only thing
I really could rely on

371
00:19:31,737 --> 00:19:35,538
were my instincts
and my feelings.

372
00:19:35,607 --> 00:19:39,408
And they won't lead
you too far astray.

373
00:19:39,478 --> 00:19:42,175
And Tab was just fabulous.

374
00:19:42,281 --> 00:19:43,078
He was George.

375
00:19:45,784 --> 00:19:48,265
The play was exremely well
received, got good notices--

376
00:19:48,353 --> 00:19:51,949
the frst good notices I
ever received in my life.

377
00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:55,472
From that, it sor
of whet the appetite.

378
00:19:55,594 --> 00:19:58,382
I came away from that
experience realizing

379
00:19:58,463 --> 00:20:00,125
that I wanted to be an actor.

380
00:20:04,770 --> 00:20:08,252
The studios ran Hollywood.

381
00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:12,698
Hollywood was MGM,
Paramount, 20th Century

382
00:20:12,811 --> 00:20:16,646
Fox, Warner Brothers.

383
00:20:16,715 --> 00:20:21,904
It was just a society in
unto itself, Warner Brothers.

384
00:20:22,020 --> 00:20:25,536
It was the best studio,
so we were very proud.

385
00:20:25,657 --> 00:20:29,105
But you did not cross
to cross Jack Warner.

386
00:20:29,194 --> 00:20:32,494
Colonel Warner- Colonel Jack
Warner, ladies and gentlemen.

387
00:20:32,564 --> 00:20:34,146
You know, Warner was
quite a character.

388
00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:35,417
He really was.

389
00:20:35,534 --> 00:20:38,891
He looked like Lucifer with
a little mustache of his.

390
00:20:39,004 --> 00:20:40,825
Ha, you son-of-a-bitch.
(LAUGHING)

391
00:20:40,906 --> 00:20:43,899
When you had a guy like
Jack Warner on your side,

392
00:20:44,009 --> 00:20:45,443
you had the whole
Warner Brothers

393
00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:47,274
operation on your side.

394
00:20:47,346 --> 00:20:49,463
You were in business.

395
00:20:49,548 --> 00:20:51,073
The studio contract
was really good

396
00:20:51,183 --> 00:20:54,267
because of the security of it.

397
00:20:54,353 --> 00:20:57,289
At Warner Brothers,
they had acting classes,

398
00:20:57,356 --> 00:20:59,473
singing, dancing.

399
00:20:59,558 --> 00:21:03,245
And I said, Henry, I
really need to go to work.

400
00:21:03,362 --> 00:21:05,729
And Henry sent out wired
to different producers

401
00:21:05,831 --> 00:21:07,413
saying Tab Hunter's available.

402
00:21:07,499 --> 00:21:10,435
And he arranged for me to
meet, casting

403
00:21:10,502 --> 00:21:12,289
director of Warner Brothers.

404
00:21:12,371 --> 00:21:14,829
And I got a call
from the studio.

405
00:21:14,906 --> 00:21:16,670
They took out an
option that they

406
00:21:16,742 --> 00:21:18,927
might put me under contract.

407
00:21:19,044 --> 00:21:22,640
And your frst picture will
be with John Wayne in and Lana

408
00:21:22,714 --> 00:21:24,899
Turner in "The Sea Chase!"

409
00:21:25,017 --> 00:21:26,679
, more coffee.

410
00:21:26,752 --> 00:21:27,708
Yes, sir.

411
00:21:27,786 --> 00:21:30,381
All I had to say in
the flm was, yes, sir.

412
00:21:30,455 --> 00:21:31,138
Yes, sir.

413
00:21:31,256 --> 00:21:32,019
Thank you.

414
00:21:32,090 --> 00:21:33,615
Everybody, sir.

415
00:21:33,725 --> 00:21:35,182
"The Sea Change" was
an all right flm,

416
00:21:35,260 --> 00:21:36,751
but I had nothing to do in it.

417
00:21:36,862 --> 00:21:37,693
I was very disappointed.

418
00:21:40,766 --> 00:21:43,395
Jack Warner was looking
at rushes of the flm,

419
00:21:43,468 --> 00:21:45,585
and a director by the
name of William Wellman,

420
00:21:45,704 --> 00:21:49,186
"Wild Bill" Wellman, happened
to see a couple of my scenes

421
00:21:49,274 --> 00:21:52,927
and said, I want that
kid for my nex picture.

422
00:21:53,045 --> 00:21:54,741
And the nex picture
was "Track of the Cat"

423
00:21:54,813 --> 00:21:55,644
with Rober Mitchum.

424
00:21:55,747 --> 00:21:58,569
The place is just
crawling with dreams.

425
00:21:58,650 --> 00:22:00,835
Do you have any, kid'?

426
00:22:00,952 --> 00:22:03,046
I go along Mitch very well.

427
00:22:03,121 --> 00:22:05,750
He had great sense of
humor and was full of hell.

428
00:22:05,824 --> 00:22:08,419
I really like him a lot.

429
00:22:08,493 --> 00:22:11,577
Well, the frst big flm
I did at Warner Brothers

430
00:22:11,663 --> 00:22:15,145
was a flm called "Battle Cry."
"Battle Cry" was the biggest

431
00:22:15,267 --> 00:22:18,419
picture Warner's had that year.

432
00:22:18,503 --> 00:22:23,157
They tested me nine times for
the role of Danny Forrester.

433
00:22:23,275 --> 00:22:26,473
Sorry, I-- I felt
kind of itchy.

434
00:22:26,578 --> 00:22:28,911
I wasn't the only one
who tested for that role.

435
00:22:28,980 --> 00:22:29,902
Kiss me.

436
00:22:29,981 --> 00:22:30,664
Can't hear.

437
00:22:32,951 --> 00:22:37,241
Warner's tested Jimmy Dean
and Paul Newman for the role.

438
00:22:37,322 --> 00:22:39,780
They still couldn't
make up their mind.

439
00:22:39,858 --> 00:22:43,340
So they said, well, we'll
give this kid one more test.

440
00:22:43,462 --> 00:22:46,660
The morning I left
to go to the test

441
00:22:46,765 --> 00:22:48,051
my mother stopped
me at the door,

442
00:22:48,133 --> 00:22:49,385
and she said, think positive.

443
00:22:49,468 --> 00:22:52,256
See yourself in this role.

444
00:22:52,337 --> 00:22:55,990
And she said, if it's
meant to be, it will be.

445
00:22:56,108 --> 00:22:58,293
I thought I was so bad
in that test I went home

446
00:22:58,377 --> 00:23:00,494
and was ready to kill myself.

447
00:23:00,612 --> 00:23:02,945
And that was the test
that got me the role.

448
00:23:03,014 --> 00:23:05,472
Give me a cheeseburger
and a cup of coffee.

449
00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,031
And, uh, how about a
piece that apple pie too.

450
00:23:08,153 --> 00:23:09,769
I just liked the role.

451
00:23:09,855 --> 00:23:11,437
It reminded me of my brother.

452
00:23:11,523 --> 00:23:16,052
He was a very straightforward,
decent human being.

453
00:23:16,161 --> 00:23:19,029
Any guy in the world would be
lucky to have you for a wife.

454
00:23:19,131 --> 00:23:21,726
The flm was very successful.

455
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:23,587
It was a major hit
for Warner Brothers.

456
00:23:23,668 --> 00:23:25,102
ANNOUNCER: "Battle
Cry," the Warner

457
00:23:25,170 --> 00:23:29,665
Brothers story of the Marines,
having its world premier.

458
00:23:29,741 --> 00:23:32,859
I stared getting so much
recognition for doing it

459
00:23:32,978 --> 00:23:35,436
that I was offered the
seven-year contract

460
00:23:35,514 --> 00:23:36,948
with Warner Brothers.

461
00:23:37,015 --> 00:23:38,506
I thought, whoa.

462
00:23:38,583 --> 00:23:40,518
Tab Hunter!

463
00:23:40,585 --> 00:23:44,067
And when that came on, it
was like you struck a match,

464
00:23:44,189 --> 00:23:45,350
and off it went.

465
00:23:45,424 --> 00:23:47,882
ANNOUNCER: Hollywood pays
tribute to bright, new stars

466
00:23:47,993 --> 00:23:48,790
of tomorrow.

467
00:23:48,860 --> 00:23:52,058
Awards go to blue-eyed
and blond Tab Hunter.

468
00:23:52,164 --> 00:23:56,966
They translated everhing
into box offce receipts.

469
00:23:57,035 --> 00:24:01,325
Jack Warner saw
box-offce gold in Tab.

470
00:24:01,406 --> 00:24:03,432
Once I was under
contract to them,

471
00:24:03,542 --> 00:24:05,875
all this publicity
came out on me,

472
00:24:05,944 --> 00:24:08,425
and the publicity
exceeded the product.

473
00:24:08,547 --> 00:24:10,812
ANNOUNCER: Actor Tab
Hunter signs autographs

474
00:24:10,882 --> 00:24:13,511
in the time-honored way.

475
00:24:13,585 --> 00:24:16,453
They were selling
the All-American boy.

476
00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:18,524
Take him home to mother.

477
00:24:18,590 --> 00:24:20,411
It was a nice wholesome image.

478
00:24:20,525 --> 00:24:21,709
How do you feel
about dancing tonight?

479
00:24:21,793 --> 00:24:22,476
Are you ready'?

480
00:24:22,594 --> 00:24:24,688
A little awkward,
but I guess I'm ready.

481
00:24:24,763 --> 00:24:27,756
He was everhere.

482
00:24:27,866 --> 00:24:30,290
We were being bombarded
with Tab's presence.

483
00:24:30,368 --> 00:24:35,500
And I was delighted because he
was so exciting to be watching.

484
00:24:35,574 --> 00:24:38,658
ANNOUNCER: America's
favorite sweethears,

485
00:24:38,743 --> 00:24:41,201
Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood.

486
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:42,611
Natalie Wood was the
sweetest little thing

487
00:24:42,714 --> 00:24:43,807
that ever came down the road.

488
00:24:43,882 --> 00:24:44,565
I loved her.

489
00:24:44,649 --> 00:24:45,810
She was like my kid sister.

490
00:24:45,917 --> 00:24:49,035
You really got it
made, haven't you?

491
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:50,486
TAB HUNTER: She had
been a very successful

492
00:24:50,589 --> 00:24:52,774
in "Rebel Without a
Cause" with Jimmy Dean,

493
00:24:52,891 --> 00:24:57,181
and I had been successful
in "Battle Cry."

494
00:24:57,262 --> 00:24:59,026
Warner Brothers put us together.

495
00:24:59,097 --> 00:25:02,750
They wanted to make us
into the new "dream team."

496
00:25:02,834 --> 00:25:04,598
We went along with
it, of course.

497
00:25:04,669 --> 00:25:07,787
ANNOUNCER: Tab
Hunter, Natalie Wood.

498
00:25:07,906 --> 00:25:09,192
And they had a
great time together.

499
00:25:09,274 --> 00:25:10,071
She adored him.

500
00:25:10,141 --> 00:25:13,498
I never met a gal
with such spunk.

501
00:25:13,612 --> 00:25:16,764
ROBERT WAGNER: He was on
fre, and she was on fre.

502
00:25:16,848 --> 00:25:17,941
They traveled a lot together.

503
00:25:18,016 --> 00:25:20,838
They went on tours together.

504
00:25:20,952 --> 00:25:22,443
TAB HUNTER: Oh, my gosh,
there were thousands

505
00:25:22,521 --> 00:25:23,318
and thousands of kids.

506
00:25:27,158 --> 00:25:29,013
He looked like he loved
being a movie star,

507
00:25:29,127 --> 00:25:30,379
and he was a good one.

508
00:25:30,462 --> 00:25:32,647
ANNOUNCER: Warner Brothers stars
Natalie Wood and tab Hunter

509
00:25:32,764 --> 00:25:36,690
plant a Christmas parade for the
annual Toys for Tots campaign.

510
00:25:36,768 --> 00:25:39,101
But I knew Tab
frst from his music.

511
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,702
TAB HUNTER: The
recording career came

512
00:25:43,808 --> 00:25:48,007
about when Randy Wood
of Dot Records said,

513
00:25:48,113 --> 00:25:50,264
how would you like to record?

514
00:25:50,348 --> 00:25:53,671
I said, I'd love it.

515
00:25:53,785 --> 00:25:55,811
Randy had me come over there.

516
00:25:55,887 --> 00:25:58,709
I cut the record.

517
00:25:58,823 --> 00:26:01,418
Randy yelled out, that's it.

518
00:26:01,493 --> 00:26:02,950
It's gonna be a hit.

519
00:26:08,366 --> 00:26:10,847
(SINGING)--for every
boy and girl there's just

520
00:26:10,969 --> 00:26:14,599
one love in this
whole world, and I-hi

521
00:26:14,673 --> 00:26:19,532
kno-ho I-hi-I found mine.

522
00:26:20,645 --> 00:26:22,762
It became the number
one song in the nation.

523
00:26:22,847 --> 00:26:23,769
(SINGING) Young love.

524
00:26:23,848 --> 00:26:24,770
Young love.

525
00:26:24,849 --> 00:26:25,771
First love.

526
00:26:25,850 --> 00:26:27,785
First love.

527
00:26:27,852 --> 00:26:30,788
When "Young Love" hit
number one on the pop chars,

528
00:26:30,855 --> 00:26:33,518
it knocked Elvis
out of number one

529
00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:36,562
and stays for a month
and a half at the top

530
00:26:36,661 --> 00:26:39,597
of the national chars.

531
00:26:39,664 --> 00:26:42,748
Jack Warner blew his stack.

532
00:26:42,834 --> 00:26:46,521
He said, we own
you for everhing.

533
00:26:46,605 --> 00:26:48,756
He had totally prohibited
me from recording

534
00:26:48,873 --> 00:26:51,024
for Dot any longer.

535
00:26:51,109 --> 00:26:54,432
And I said, but Mr. Warner, you
don't have a recording company.

536
00:26:54,546 --> 00:26:55,798
And he said, well, we do now.

537
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,065
And, they stared Warner
Brothers Records for me.

538
00:26:58,183 --> 00:27:04,646
[MUSIC- TAB HUNTER, "NINETY NINE
WAYS"]

539
00:27:07,192 --> 00:27:11,323
Tab had a real genuine
reporing career.

540
00:27:11,396 --> 00:27:13,763
He was not a one-hit wonder.

541
00:27:13,865 --> 00:27:16,562
He released dozens of
singles and albums.

542
00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:20,629
It was phenomenal, and it
was noticed by everyone.

543
00:27:20,739 --> 00:27:27,532
(SINGING) What a wonderful
wedding there will be.

544
00:27:27,612 --> 00:27:34,974
What wonderful day
for you and me.

545
00:27:35,086 --> 00:27:38,022
He came along at a
very brilliant time.

546
00:27:38,089 --> 00:27:41,059
It was the beginning of the
teenage revolution in America.

547
00:27:43,995 --> 00:27:47,352
He had a million and one
crushes from the largest group

548
00:27:47,465 --> 00:27:50,253
of teenagers that has
ever lived in the United

549
00:27:50,335 --> 00:27:52,315
States, the baby boomers.

550
00:27:54,673 --> 00:27:58,474
They were the ones who would
make a career overnight,

551
00:27:58,576 --> 00:28:00,397
and they cerainly
did with mine.

552
00:28:00,478 --> 00:28:01,241
I can't help it.

553
00:28:01,312 --> 00:28:03,907
I've got a very bad
case of Tab Hunter-itis.

554
00:28:03,982 --> 00:28:06,247
I know just how you feel.

555
00:28:06,317 --> 00:28:08,832
I had Tab's
pictures on my wall.

556
00:28:08,953 --> 00:28:11,286
We all did.

557
00:28:11,356 --> 00:28:14,952
My wall was covered with
pictures of Tab Hunter.

558
00:28:15,026 --> 00:28:19,225
Young girls just
were crazy about him.

559
00:28:23,201 --> 00:28:27,195
The minute they took a
look he became their guy,

560
00:28:27,305 --> 00:28:30,298
and he was marketed
to those people.

561
00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:32,469
It was the movie
magazines that really

562
00:28:32,544 --> 00:28:36,993
made him a huge star, more than
the flms that he was making.

563
00:28:37,115 --> 00:28:39,482
TAB HUNTER: The kids
kept demanding all of it,

564
00:28:39,551 --> 00:28:43,352
so I would get things like "Tab
Hunter Buys a Hat," "Tab Hunter

565
00:28:43,455 --> 00:28:47,745
Drives a Car," "Tab
Hunter Cleans a Window,"

566
00:28:47,826 --> 00:28:52,446
"Tab Hunter Goes to the
Beach-J' wee! (LAUGHING)

567
00:28:52,530 --> 00:28:56,285
One of the magazines
had a contest,

568
00:28:56,367 --> 00:29:01,351
and I won a date in Hollywood
with Tab Hunter in 1956.

569
00:29:06,578 --> 00:29:07,830
Was I nervous?

570
00:29:07,912 --> 00:29:10,245
I could hardly breathe.

571
00:29:10,348 --> 00:29:15,275
When I frst saw Tab Hunter,
I was very intimidated.

572
00:29:15,353 --> 00:29:22,226
And he smiled, and that
smile was just truly magical.

573
00:29:22,327 --> 00:29:24,990
Tab Hunter was the
hearthrob that I had

574
00:29:25,063 --> 00:29:28,363
seen in the movie magazines.

575
00:29:28,433 --> 00:29:33,053
And we had dinner and dancing.

576
00:29:33,171 --> 00:29:35,686
I could not believe,
Jo-Ann, here you

577
00:29:35,774 --> 00:29:37,231
are dancing with Tab Hunter.

578
00:29:40,044 --> 00:29:45,028
My date was over, and
he gave me a kiss.

579
00:29:45,116 --> 00:29:47,938
I felt like
Cinderella, and I had

580
00:29:48,052 --> 00:29:50,749
a kiss from my Prince Charming.

581
00:29:50,855 --> 00:29:53,643
It was a dream-come-true.

582
00:29:53,725 --> 00:29:57,856
In the 1950s love and
marriage was the ideal theme.

583
00:29:57,929 --> 00:30:01,229
It's not always very real.

584
00:30:01,299 --> 00:30:05,100
The studios had a system.

585
00:30:05,203 --> 00:30:10,972
And they always wanted their
starlets to go out on a date

586
00:30:11,042 --> 00:30:13,637
with a beautiful, handsome boy.

587
00:30:13,711 --> 00:30:17,796
And the one they
chose was Tab Hunter.

588
00:30:17,882 --> 00:30:21,398
He was a guy that all the
girls wanted to go out with.

589
00:30:21,486 --> 00:30:23,250
Of course I wanted to meet
Tab Hunter because he was

590
00:30:23,321 --> 00:30:26,519
the big young male star
at Warner Brothers,

591
00:30:26,624 --> 00:30:30,049
and I was the big female
star at Columbia Pictures.

592
00:30:30,128 --> 00:30:33,212
And so we had to date.

593
00:30:33,298 --> 00:30:34,994
He was a gentleman.

594
00:30:35,099 --> 00:30:37,853
He always came around
and opened the doors.

595
00:30:37,936 --> 00:30:39,518
He picked up checks.

596
00:30:39,604 --> 00:30:41,937
And my parents liked him.

597
00:30:42,006 --> 00:30:42,689
It was fun.

598
00:30:42,807 --> 00:30:45,265
We did all sors of things.

599
00:30:45,343 --> 00:30:49,030
We did all the things that
normal people do on dates.

600
00:30:49,147 --> 00:30:53,437
But we had a third person who
was a photographer with us.

601
00:30:53,518 --> 00:30:58,013
He was the kind of boy every
mother would want to have

602
00:30:58,122 --> 00:31:00,751
married into her family.

603
00:31:00,825 --> 00:31:02,521
He had an honesty.

604
00:31:02,627 --> 00:31:04,926
He had a simplicity.

605
00:31:04,996 --> 00:31:08,683
He a cerain strength
of character.

606
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,952
He would not let anybody down.

607
00:31:12,036 --> 00:31:15,905
We got along great because
he was always fun and sweet.

608
00:31:16,007 --> 00:31:21,264
And he wasn't after me,
so he wasn't on the make.

609
00:31:21,346 --> 00:31:24,134
And women like that.

610
00:31:24,215 --> 00:31:28,710
I really was a very naive,
young, innocent girl,

611
00:31:28,820 --> 00:31:32,905
and I would never think that the
most handsome boy would be gay.

612
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,142
TAB HUNTER: I
would never discuss

613
00:31:37,228 --> 00:31:38,810
my private life with anyone.

614
00:31:41,733 --> 00:31:44,885
I was able to get close to
them, but I never really went

615
00:31:45,003 --> 00:31:46,619
that deep in the relationship.

616
00:31:49,807 --> 00:31:54,825
I had the ability to
live behind this wall.

617
00:31:57,749 --> 00:32:01,345
And you only allow people
to break the barrier

618
00:32:01,419 --> 00:32:02,944
if you feel you
can confde in them

619
00:32:03,054 --> 00:32:05,990
and you want to have
that friendship.

620
00:32:06,057 --> 00:32:08,925
INTERVlEWER: What was your frst
relationship with another guy?

621
00:32:09,027 --> 00:32:11,053
Pfoof.

622
00:32:11,162 --> 00:32:14,678
(LAUGHING) The frst
relationship I had

623
00:32:14,766 --> 00:32:19,204
was when I was ice skating
with a fellow skater.

624
00:32:19,270 --> 00:32:21,535
INTERVlEWER: Can you
tell me about that?

625
00:32:21,606 --> 00:32:23,097
What do you want to know'?

626
00:32:23,207 --> 00:32:32,004
(LAUGHING) I always
loved fgure skating.

627
00:32:32,117 --> 00:32:38,068
I competed in the regionals,
and I went to the nationals.

628
00:32:38,190 --> 00:32:42,480
I enjoyed just being on the ice.

629
00:32:42,561 --> 00:32:48,353
He was a very good skater and a
very strong competitor as well.

630
00:32:48,434 --> 00:32:51,950
A lot of his friends were
ice skaters- champion ice

631
00:32:52,071 --> 00:32:53,653
skaters with the Ice Capades.

632
00:32:53,739 --> 00:32:55,674
Mouseketeers, meet
Ronnie Roberson.

633
00:32:55,741 --> 00:32:56,504
Hi, Ronnie!

634
00:32:56,575 --> 00:32:57,258
Hi, Mouseketeers.

635
00:32:57,376 --> 00:33:00,642
Hi, Bob.

636
00:33:00,713 --> 00:33:04,673
Ronnie Roberson was known
as a great technician.

637
00:33:04,750 --> 00:33:09,438
His skating was different
than anybody else's skating.

638
00:33:09,555 --> 00:33:12,070
And he could spin faster
than anybody in the world.

639
00:33:12,157 --> 00:33:14,012
Nobody ever spun that well.

640
00:33:14,126 --> 00:33:15,617
He was a major talent.

641
00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:21,582
We had an attraction
for one another.

642
00:33:21,667 --> 00:33:26,105
And I drove him home one
evening after a skiing session.

643
00:33:26,171 --> 00:33:28,652
Nex thing, we were
in a relationship.

644
00:33:32,644 --> 00:33:34,306
I'm sure there was
talk about Ronnie

645
00:33:34,413 --> 00:33:38,043
and myself in the skating
world, paricularly

646
00:33:38,117 --> 00:33:40,382
if you've got a talent and
people are jealous of it.

647
00:33:43,322 --> 00:33:47,316
There were times when I was
cerainly stressed hearing

648
00:33:47,426 --> 00:33:50,021
things that had been said.

649
00:33:50,095 --> 00:33:57,696
But you learn when you're in the
public eye to comparmentalize.

650
00:33:57,770 --> 00:34:00,251
A big issue as
that Tab was around.

651
00:34:00,339 --> 00:34:04,538
And the political game at that
time is you don't do that.

652
00:34:04,643 --> 00:34:07,511
There was one skater
that didn't like the fact

653
00:34:07,613 --> 00:34:10,367
that Ronnie and I were
friends and took a skate blade

654
00:34:10,449 --> 00:34:11,542
to my new car and
just went right

655
00:34:11,617 --> 00:34:13,586
down the side, (SCRATCHING
SOUND) to the paint.

656
00:34:16,488 --> 00:34:21,256
Tab came to the championships
with Ronnie Roberson.

657
00:34:21,326 --> 00:34:23,113
Ronnie was told
that he would not

658
00:34:23,195 --> 00:34:28,179
win the championships unless
Tab would not come along.

659
00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:31,236
And Ronnie said,
it didn't matter.

660
00:34:31,303 --> 00:34:33,454
He wanted him there.

661
00:34:33,539 --> 00:34:36,691
And Ronnie skated- oh,
magnifcent performance.

662
00:34:42,347 --> 00:34:44,373
The fact that I was
there with Ronnie

663
00:34:44,483 --> 00:34:52,175
might have hur his ability to
win, and he should have won.

664
00:34:57,896 --> 00:35:02,846
My mother never really approved
of the Hollywood stuff.

665
00:35:02,935 --> 00:35:06,417
Being private was
very imporant to her.

666
00:35:06,538 --> 00:35:09,838
She only visited me on a set
twice in all of the years

667
00:35:09,908 --> 00:35:12,901
I was in the business.

668
00:35:13,011 --> 00:35:15,105
She did one interview
for a magazine,

669
00:35:15,180 --> 00:35:18,264
but it was like pulling
teeth to get her to do that.

670
00:35:18,350 --> 00:35:19,966
People would say,
oh, Mrs. Gelien,

671
00:35:20,052 --> 00:35:21,987
aren't you excited about Tab'?

672
00:35:22,054 --> 00:35:23,818
And my mother would
say, yes, it's nice,

673
00:35:23,889 --> 00:35:27,815
but Walter's the
intelligent one.

674
00:35:27,893 --> 00:35:31,250
My mother was always
a very intense woman.

675
00:35:31,363 --> 00:35:34,060
She had a lot of
pressure in her life.

676
00:35:34,133 --> 00:35:37,160
She was very high strung.

677
00:35:37,269 --> 00:35:38,430
While I was doing
"Battle Cry" I was

678
00:35:38,537 --> 00:35:41,962
in touch with my mother a lot.

679
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,636
And I noticed a change
in her behavior.

680
00:35:45,711 --> 00:35:49,341
She would fy off the
handle rather quickly.

681
00:35:49,414 --> 00:35:51,747
She was ranting
on behind a closed

682
00:35:51,817 --> 00:35:54,685
door in the bathroom in German.

683
00:35:54,786 --> 00:36:01,056
And she ran out into the street
and collapsed in my arms.

684
00:36:01,126 --> 00:36:05,575
It just got more out of control
and more out of control.

685
00:36:05,664 --> 00:36:13,686
My mother totally lost it,
and I had to commit my mother

686
00:36:13,805 --> 00:36:14,568
to a mental institution.

687
00:36:18,810 --> 00:36:20,779
And it was very diffcult to do.

688
00:36:24,516 --> 00:36:26,883
And on the way there I
said, Mom, please try

689
00:36:26,985 --> 00:36:27,964
to understand what I'm saying.

690
00:36:28,086 --> 00:36:30,601
I really feel bad about this.

691
00:36:30,689 --> 00:36:32,840
And she said, I know.

692
00:36:32,958 --> 00:36:35,655
I know.

693
00:36:35,761 --> 00:36:38,754
I had to commit my mother.

694
00:36:38,830 --> 00:36:40,924
I mean, there was
nothing else that I

695
00:36:40,999 --> 00:36:43,969
could think should be done.

696
00:36:49,341 --> 00:36:54,029
She had to have 37
electroshock treatments.

697
00:36:54,146 --> 00:36:57,628
I went down there to
see her, of course.

698
00:36:57,716 --> 00:37:01,551
I remember walking in,
and she was lying in bed,

699
00:37:01,653 --> 00:37:05,135
and they shaved her head where
she had all the treatments.

700
00:37:05,224 --> 00:37:12,313
And as I walked in she said,
why did you do this to me'?

701
00:37:15,033 --> 00:37:19,801
She was very fragile when I went
to see her, but she was better.

702
00:37:19,871 --> 00:37:23,888
When I saw my mother,
as helpless as she was,

703
00:37:24,009 --> 00:37:25,625
I swore that she would
never have to work

704
00:37:25,711 --> 00:37:26,690
another day in her life.

705
00:37:29,548 --> 00:37:31,369
Hello, I'm Tab Hunter.

706
00:37:31,483 --> 00:37:33,145
Did you know that mental
illness claims more

707
00:37:33,218 --> 00:37:35,551
victims than any other disease?

708
00:37:35,654 --> 00:37:36,485
That's right.

709
00:37:36,555 --> 00:37:39,491
One American in every 10 is
suffering from some disabling

710
00:37:39,558 --> 00:37:40,685
mental or emotional disorder.

711
00:37:43,595 --> 00:37:49,580
In the 1950s being gay was
absolutely not acceptable.

712
00:37:49,701 --> 00:37:52,489
It was against the law.

713
00:37:52,571 --> 00:37:56,588
It was considered
a mental disease.

714
00:37:56,708 --> 00:38:01,203
There were very
devastating consequences.

715
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,796
You couldn't have a
life being gay back

716
00:38:04,916 --> 00:38:11,402
in the '50s Tab would
be foolish not to hide,

717
00:38:11,523 --> 00:38:14,220
or he would not have a career.

718
00:38:14,293 --> 00:38:15,818
What do you think of your
dinner date here, Tab?

719
00:38:15,927 --> 00:38:17,088
She's very lovely, I must say.

720
00:38:17,195 --> 00:38:17,878
ANNOUNCER: Isn't She?

721
00:38:17,963 --> 00:38:18,646
Oh.

722
00:38:18,764 --> 00:38:21,734
The public saw me as one
person, and I was another.

723
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,224
I didn't feel good about myself.

724
00:38:24,303 --> 00:38:28,502
Hollywood's most eligible
bachelor, Mr. Tab Hunter!

725
00:38:30,475 --> 00:38:33,991
TAB HUNTER: I never felt that
I deserve a lot of that stuff

726
00:38:34,112 --> 00:38:36,536
that was happening.

727
00:38:36,615 --> 00:38:39,699
You were rewarded for
pretending that you

728
00:38:39,785 --> 00:38:40,946
were someone you're not.

729
00:38:46,425 --> 00:38:52,763
Henry Wilson was a good agent,
but people outgrow one another.

730
00:38:52,831 --> 00:38:55,494
Then Dick Clayton
became an agent.

731
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,287
I signed with him immediately
because I could trust him,

732
00:38:59,404 --> 00:39:00,235
and he was family.

733
00:39:02,908 --> 00:39:05,935
I told Henry I was leaving him.

734
00:39:06,011 --> 00:39:07,991
He was furious.

735
00:39:08,113 --> 00:39:11,595
Henry was very, very upset.

736
00:39:11,683 --> 00:39:13,174
In fact, because of
that, I'm sure it's

737
00:39:13,285 --> 00:39:16,881
why he turned over that story to
"Confdential" magazine on me.

738
00:39:19,791 --> 00:39:24,445
In the 1950s the magazine that
you had to be most concerned

739
00:39:24,529 --> 00:39:26,384
about was "Confdential."

740
00:39:26,498 --> 00:39:29,013
Oh, "Confdential" was
the talk of Hollywood

741
00:39:29,134 --> 00:39:30,568
because everyone was
afraid that if there

742
00:39:30,635 --> 00:39:32,661
was a skeleton in the
closet, it would be released.

743
00:39:32,771 --> 00:39:34,797
God knows I love you.

744
00:39:34,873 --> 00:39:37,024
But I won't let Ned
nor Kay or anyone else

745
00:39:37,142 --> 00:39:39,964
run our lives, Cary.

746
00:39:40,045 --> 00:39:43,163
"Confdential"
magazine, they had

747
00:39:43,281 --> 00:39:45,648
some information
on Rock that was

748
00:39:45,717 --> 00:39:48,198
very damaging to his career.

749
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,290
And they were going to print it.

750
00:39:51,356 --> 00:39:56,283
Rock Hudson was the biggest
star that Henry Wilson ever had.

751
00:39:56,361 --> 00:39:59,718
He built Rock, and that
was his meal ticket.

752
00:39:59,831 --> 00:40:00,810
He was gonna protect that.

753
00:40:03,402 --> 00:40:06,668
To save Rock, Henry
gave "Confdential"

754
00:40:06,738 --> 00:40:10,163
the story about me when I'd
been arrested when I was just

755
00:40:10,242 --> 00:40:13,599
staring out in the business.

756
00:40:13,712 --> 00:40:15,692
Inside the magazine
the aricle read,

757
00:40:15,814 --> 00:40:21,276
"Tab Hunter caught at a
limp-wristed pajama pary."

758
00:40:21,353 --> 00:40:24,983
I would say I was
thrown under the bus.

759
00:40:25,056 --> 00:40:27,514
When the magazine
came out, I was

760
00:40:27,592 --> 00:40:30,050
sure that my career was over.

761
00:40:30,162 --> 00:40:32,791
I took Natalie to
the Academy Awards.

762
00:40:32,864 --> 00:40:34,116
That was about the
time-- a little

763
00:40:34,199 --> 00:40:36,566
after the "Confdential"
had come out.

764
00:40:36,668 --> 00:40:39,695
The press of the world was
there photographing us.

765
00:40:39,771 --> 00:40:43,640
And one guy yelled out,
smile pretty this way, Tab.

766
00:40:43,742 --> 00:40:48,191
This is for the nex issue
of "Confdential" magazine.

767
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,215
Jack Warner, god
bless him, he turned

768
00:40:50,282 --> 00:40:53,969
me right back to the cameras
and said, just remember this.

769
00:40:54,085 --> 00:40:57,533
Today's headlines,
tomorrow's toilet paper.

770
00:40:57,622 --> 00:40:58,601
Everybody was nervous.

771
00:40:58,723 --> 00:41:02,239
But in those days they
could cover those things up.

772
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,990
So if you are a money
maker for a studio,

773
00:41:06,064 --> 00:41:08,488
they are going to
protect that image

774
00:41:08,567 --> 00:41:11,833
like there is no tomorrow.

775
00:41:11,903 --> 00:41:16,830
The press knew just
about everhing,

776
00:41:16,908 --> 00:41:19,605
and they kept it to themselves
when it was to their advantage

777
00:41:19,711 --> 00:41:22,647
and to the advantage
of the studios.

778
00:41:22,714 --> 00:41:28,335
It was a gentleman's agreement--
just keep it out of the press

779
00:41:28,420 --> 00:41:30,901
and don't make waves.

780
00:41:30,989 --> 00:41:32,776
Jack Warner and
I never discussed

781
00:41:32,891 --> 00:41:36,521
my sexuality whatsoever.

782
00:41:36,595 --> 00:41:39,565
I was making a lot
of money for them.

783
00:41:39,631 --> 00:41:43,284
As long as I didn't destroy this
image that they were creating,

784
00:41:43,401 --> 00:41:44,926
that was imporant to them.

785
00:41:47,572 --> 00:41:50,770
They created this persona.

786
00:41:50,842 --> 00:41:54,643
That was your job
to be that persona.

787
00:41:54,746 --> 00:41:57,113
You played the
game, so to speak,

788
00:41:57,182 --> 00:41:59,663
if that's what they want.

789
00:41:59,784 --> 00:42:02,572
I did sign a contract,
and I was willing to do

790
00:42:02,654 --> 00:42:06,819
whatever they wanted me to
do to fulfll that contract.

791
00:42:06,925 --> 00:42:08,905
Don't you ever
think about marriage?

792
00:42:08,994 --> 00:42:10,815
All the time, Ernie.

793
00:42:10,929 --> 00:42:12,591
That's what keeps me single.

794
00:42:13,999 --> 00:42:16,480
I thought of marriage
a number of times

795
00:42:16,601 --> 00:42:20,436
because it's expected of you.

796
00:42:20,505 --> 00:42:22,929
When I did the flm
"Lafayette Escadrille,"

797
00:42:23,008 --> 00:42:25,705
that's when I frst
met Etchika Choureau.

798
00:42:25,810 --> 00:42:27,267
She stopped me
dead in my tracks.

799
00:42:27,345 --> 00:42:30,497
She was gorgeous.

800
00:42:30,615 --> 00:42:32,595
And we hit it off immediately.

801
00:42:32,684 --> 00:42:34,448
She didn't speak
a word of English.

802
00:42:34,519 --> 00:42:37,205
My French was just awful.

803
00:42:37,222 --> 00:42:39,043
I can't remember
what we talked about because

804
00:42:39,157 --> 00:42:40,853
he did not speak one word of French

805
00:42:40,959 --> 00:42:42,814
and I only spoke three words of English.

806
00:42:43,895 --> 00:42:47,218
I don't know how we communicated...
undoubtedly with our eyes.

807
00:42:48,533 --> 00:42:51,890
But in any case,
we got on like a house on fre.

808
00:42:53,171 --> 00:42:55,140
And he was irresistible.

809
00:42:56,207 --> 00:42:59,564
I usually can think of
a lot of things to say.

810
00:42:59,678 --> 00:43:03,274
Suddenly I can't say anything.

811
00:43:03,348 --> 00:43:05,806
We had wonderful
times together,

812
00:43:05,884 --> 00:43:09,082
and I was drawn closer
and closer to her.

813
00:43:09,654 --> 00:43:13,853
Yes, I had heard
that Tab was homosexual.

814
00:43:15,493 --> 00:43:22,855
I think it was a soul-searching
period of time about his sexuality.

815
00:43:24,102 --> 00:43:26,731
It must have been very painful for him.

816
00:43:27,539 --> 00:43:34,537
You know, actors often...always...
have two faces.

817
00:43:37,916 --> 00:43:41,364
I did feel discomfor, and I
did feel a little bit of guilt

818
00:43:41,453 --> 00:43:42,910
also.

819
00:43:43,021 --> 00:43:45,843
But I did seriously think
of marrying Etchika.

820
00:43:47,959 --> 00:43:50,440
I was fattered
to have been chosen, of course.

821
00:43:51,529 --> 00:43:53,316
If I was to marry Tab,

822
00:43:53,398 --> 00:43:54,582
it would have been for love.

823
00:43:55,266 --> 00:43:56,928
I would inevitably have never

824
00:43:57,035 --> 00:43:59,129
accepted to share
him with someone else.

825
00:44:00,705 --> 00:44:02,890
And I cerainly
would not have married him

826
00:44:02,974 --> 00:44:05,967
to protect him
and hide his homosexuality.

827
00:44:07,879 --> 00:44:10,178
I think Tab was too good of a man.

828
00:44:11,583 --> 00:44:13,882
He would have never accepted
such a thing.

829
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:19,280
It would have been a lovely story
if it could have been rewritten.

830
00:44:22,460 --> 00:44:24,975
She went back to Paris.

831
00:44:25,096 --> 00:44:28,089
I just couldn't commit to her.

832
00:44:28,166 --> 00:44:32,820
It wouldn't have been
right to be with Etchika.

833
00:44:32,937 --> 00:44:37,591
I felt that if you were with
a man, you were sinning.

834
00:44:37,676 --> 00:44:40,760
And if you were with a
woman, you'd be lying.

835
00:44:47,419 --> 00:44:52,369
Tony and I met at the pool
of the Chateau Marmont.

836
00:44:52,457 --> 00:44:56,542
He was in California doing
"Friendly Persuasion."

837
00:44:56,628 --> 00:44:58,608
I don't want to die.

838
00:44:58,697 --> 00:45:01,849
I don't know if I could
kill anyone if I tried.

839
00:45:01,966 --> 00:45:03,093
He was a good actor.

840
00:45:03,168 --> 00:45:04,932
ANNOUNCER: What is there
about Tony Perkins that

841
00:45:05,003 --> 00:45:07,029
made the young people
of America acclaim him

842
00:45:07,138 --> 00:45:09,403
as their star of the future?

843
00:45:09,474 --> 00:45:11,591
I'd been in the
business longer,

844
00:45:11,676 --> 00:45:15,761
but I respected the fact that
he'd done Broadway plays.

845
00:45:15,847 --> 00:45:18,510
I thought he was
very intelligent,

846
00:45:18,616 --> 00:45:21,609
and he was just fun to be with.

847
00:45:21,686 --> 00:45:23,780
We just kind of hit it off.

848
00:45:23,855 --> 00:45:25,289
[MUSIC- ANTHONY PERKINS,
"MOONLIGHT SWIM"]

849
00:45:29,194 --> 00:45:32,278
And I went up to
his room with him.

850
00:45:32,363 --> 00:45:37,222
That's when Tony and I got
together for the frst time.

851
00:45:37,335 --> 00:45:40,453
And that's when we
stared seeing each other.

852
00:45:40,538 --> 00:45:43,167
When I frst saw Tab
and Tony I knew that they

853
00:45:43,241 --> 00:45:45,540
were more than friends.

854
00:45:45,643 --> 00:45:47,077
It was pretty obvious.

855
00:45:49,981 --> 00:45:53,008
I had a wonderful
relationship with him.

856
00:45:53,084 --> 00:45:55,201
I did trust him.

857
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:58,142
I was comforable with him.

858
00:45:58,223 --> 00:46:01,091
Tony and Tab were
totally different.

859
00:46:01,192 --> 00:46:02,353
Tony was East Coast.

860
00:46:02,427 --> 00:46:05,090
Tab was West Coast.

861
00:46:05,196 --> 00:46:08,496
Tab was very macho.

862
00:46:08,566 --> 00:46:13,254
Tony was very
sensitive, introvered.

863
00:46:13,371 --> 00:46:15,829
Well, I would see
him quite a lot.

864
00:46:15,907 --> 00:46:19,173
And he would stay to my place,
lived there for a while,

865
00:46:19,244 --> 00:46:21,759
got an aparment
around the corner.

866
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:22,973
And then I would go back East.

867
00:46:23,047 --> 00:46:25,869
I'd say with Tony at his place.

868
00:46:25,950 --> 00:46:28,374
I knew that he was
very dedicated to being

869
00:46:28,453 --> 00:46:29,978
an actor in Hollywood.

870
00:46:30,088 --> 00:46:32,068
And the most promising
male star of tomorrow

871
00:46:32,190 --> 00:46:36,628
is the fne young
actor, Tony Perkins.

872
00:46:36,694 --> 00:46:39,630
TAB HUNTER: Tony was very
concerned about his image

873
00:46:39,697 --> 00:46:41,791
and doing the right thing.

874
00:46:41,866 --> 00:46:45,792
They would go to a lot of
pains not to be seen together.

875
00:46:45,870 --> 00:46:48,055
TAB HUNTER: At frst, when
Tony and I used to go out,

876
00:46:48,139 --> 00:46:50,119
we would go out together.

877
00:46:50,241 --> 00:46:52,028
But he would get recognized.

878
00:46:52,110 --> 00:46:54,045
I would get recognized.

879
00:46:54,112 --> 00:46:55,273
He felt very uncomforable.

880
00:46:55,380 --> 00:46:58,805
I always did too because
the idea of two young actors

881
00:46:58,883 --> 00:47:01,398
around together might
star some talk.

882
00:47:01,486 --> 00:47:02,465
(SINGING) Yes, I'm in love.

883
00:47:05,323 --> 00:47:07,349
Don't tell a soul.

884
00:47:07,458 --> 00:47:08,471
TAB HUNTER (SPEAKING):
Natalie Wood

885
00:47:08,593 --> 00:47:09,754
and I would go to a premiere.

886
00:47:09,828 --> 00:47:10,955
Then we'd go to
Ciro's afterwards.

887
00:47:11,062 --> 00:47:13,395
We'd be photographed dancing.

888
00:47:13,464 --> 00:47:15,763
Then we would leave, and
she'd go out the back door.

889
00:47:15,834 --> 00:47:18,099
She'd have a date
with Dennis Hopper.

890
00:47:18,169 --> 00:47:19,455
And I'd go see Tony.

891
00:47:19,571 --> 00:47:24,168
(SINGING) Shh, don't
let it get around.

892
00:47:24,242 --> 00:47:29,169
(SPEAKING) Tony and I did
go on couple dates together:

893
00:47:29,247 --> 00:47:32,069
Tab and Tony and I
went out together.

894
00:47:32,150 --> 00:47:34,745
I suppose I was a beard.

895
00:47:34,819 --> 00:47:36,913
But I was happy to
be a beard because we

896
00:47:36,988 --> 00:47:40,288
were having a good / I knew the
game, and we were playing it.

897
00:47:43,161 --> 00:47:46,916
In the fan magazines there would
being a picture of Tab and I.

898
00:47:46,998 --> 00:47:49,331
And then in the nex page
there'd be a picture of Tony

899
00:47:49,434 --> 00:47:53,087
and I doing something else,
but never just Tab and Tony.

900
00:47:53,171 --> 00:47:55,151
(SINGING) Shh, don't
let it get around.

901
00:48:06,217 --> 00:48:09,904
I did feel that Tab and
Tony had a real relationship.

902
00:48:10,021 --> 00:48:12,502
I could see them together:

903
00:48:12,624 --> 00:48:14,650
But it was a painful
relationship,

904
00:48:14,726 --> 00:48:15,648
at least for Tony.

905
00:48:19,731 --> 00:48:24,180
Tony was more in love with
Tab than Tab was with him.

906
00:48:24,302 --> 00:48:27,238
Whenever Tab and Tony
got into a fght,

907
00:48:27,305 --> 00:48:30,457
Tony would come to
my house and cry

908
00:48:30,541 --> 00:48:33,966
on my shoulder about
how mean Tab was.

909
00:48:34,045 --> 00:48:38,039
My relationship with Tony, I
never discussed with anyone.

910
00:48:38,149 --> 00:48:40,300
And if one of my so-called
friends or my friends

911
00:48:40,385 --> 00:48:44,743
would mention it, I probably
would have gone berserk.

912
00:48:44,856 --> 00:48:46,438
I would have hated
it and denied it

913
00:48:46,524 --> 00:48:48,891
emphatically--
(EXPLOSION SOUND) where I

914
00:48:48,993 --> 00:48:51,019
could blow it up very quickly.

915
00:48:51,095 --> 00:48:53,121
Tony, as the audience
ovation indicates,

916
00:48:53,231 --> 00:48:55,598
your career is cerainly
going full steam ahead.

917
00:48:55,700 --> 00:48:59,501
Tony was on his way to
being a pretty big star.

918
00:48:59,570 --> 00:49:04,019
Tony's career was most imporant
to him, more than anything.

919
00:49:04,108 --> 00:49:06,043
He could be exremely charming.

920
00:49:06,110 --> 00:49:08,443
But I think he had a
hidden agenda, as far

921
00:49:08,546 --> 00:49:11,846
as his career was concerned.

922
00:49:11,916 --> 00:49:17,685
You never really
knew Tony 100%.

923
00:49:17,755 --> 00:49:20,543
There was always
a secretive side,

924
00:49:20,625 --> 00:49:24,824
and he was a bit of a game
player with people's minds.

925
00:49:24,929 --> 00:49:25,885
Can't you see it's a brush-of

926
00:49:25,964 --> 00:49:27,091
They're trying me
out at a position.

927
00:49:27,198 --> 00:49:28,484
They know I can't play it!

928
00:49:28,566 --> 00:49:30,421
Just as soon as I make a few
errors, they're gonna drop me!

929
00:49:30,535 --> 00:49:33,164
Can't you see it?

930
00:49:33,237 --> 00:49:35,536
TAB HUNTER: The frst
live television show

931
00:49:35,606 --> 00:49:38,963
I did was "Fear Strikes Out."

932
00:49:39,077 --> 00:49:41,592
I played Jimmy Piersall.

933
00:49:41,713 --> 00:49:46,071
He was a ball player
who had mental problems.

934
00:49:46,150 --> 00:49:50,952
Tony caught my performance and
told me how much he liked it.

935
00:49:51,055 --> 00:49:52,819
I confded in Tony
that I wanted Warner

936
00:49:52,890 --> 00:49:56,543
Brothers to buy the project for
me to make a movie out of it.

937
00:49:56,627 --> 00:49:59,142
One evening we were playing
ping pong on a terrace,

938
00:49:59,263 --> 00:50:02,745
and he said, oh, by the
way, Paramount just bought

939
00:50:02,834 --> 00:50:05,463
"Fear Strikes Out" for me.

940
00:50:05,570 --> 00:50:07,539
And it just was like, whoa.

941
00:50:10,274 --> 00:50:11,890
He had mentioned
it to the studio,

942
00:50:11,976 --> 00:50:13,831
and they got it for him.

943
00:50:16,614 --> 00:50:19,607
He was a very ambitious young
man and a very fne actor

944
00:50:19,684 --> 00:50:21,835
and he should be working.

945
00:50:21,953 --> 00:50:28,871
But I did feel
betrayed by that move.

946
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:32,226
When, Jimmy-- when that's
all you ever cared about.

947
00:50:32,296 --> 00:50:33,127
And you're killing me.

948
00:50:33,197 --> 00:50:34,483
You've been killing
me for years.

949
00:50:34,599 --> 00:50:35,760
Yes, you have.
And it's too much.

950
00:50:38,870 --> 00:50:41,465
He was very good in the flm.

951
00:50:41,539 --> 00:50:44,327
But our relationship
was strained after that.

952
00:50:47,712 --> 00:50:50,705
He told me that
his studio didn't

953
00:50:50,815 --> 00:50:54,980
want him to see me anymore.

954
00:50:55,053 --> 00:50:57,716
We saw less and
less of each other,

955
00:50:57,822 --> 00:51:00,485
and we just sor of grew apar.

956
00:51:05,630 --> 00:51:10,284
"Damn Yankees" was
a huge Broadway hit.

957
00:51:10,368 --> 00:51:13,725
Jack Warner bought
"Damn Yankees" for me.

958
00:51:13,838 --> 00:51:16,660
It was the frst really
good project for me

959
00:51:16,741 --> 00:51:19,040
from Warner Brothers.

960
00:51:19,143 --> 00:51:22,170
Jack Warner brought in
the whole New York cast,

961
00:51:22,246 --> 00:51:26,206
except for the lead, and
he wanted me to do that.

962
00:51:26,317 --> 00:51:28,798
I was the only outsider in it.

963
00:51:28,886 --> 00:51:31,754
It needed some
sparkle, which he had.

964
00:51:31,856 --> 00:51:33,791
What's the story on this kid'?

965
00:51:33,858 --> 00:51:38,717
This Tab Hunter was
like a breath of spring.

966
00:51:38,830 --> 00:51:40,321
WOW!

967
00:51:40,398 --> 00:51:42,731
The director was George Abbott.

968
00:51:42,834 --> 00:51:45,292
He didn't want me at all.

969
00:51:45,369 --> 00:51:47,338
He wanted Don Murray.

970
00:51:47,405 --> 00:51:50,728
Warner said, I want you
to the use Tab Hunter.

971
00:51:50,842 --> 00:51:53,437
He's the biggest
star at my studio.

972
00:51:53,511 --> 00:51:56,208
Every one of his
pictures is popular.

973
00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:58,397
Tab was cerainly at
the top of his game.

974
00:52:01,419 --> 00:52:04,446
George Abbott and
I did not get along.

975
00:52:04,555 --> 00:52:06,376
The frst time I met him
was at the read through.

976
00:52:06,457 --> 00:52:09,086
The whole New York
cast was sitting there.

977
00:52:09,193 --> 00:52:11,219
And after I read a
few lines, he said,

978
00:52:11,295 --> 00:52:13,230
I want you to read it like this.

979
00:52:13,297 --> 00:52:16,233
And he gave me a line reading,
which actors do not like.

980
00:52:16,300 --> 00:52:18,781
I want to exercise the escape
clause which is to take place

981
00:52:18,903 --> 00:52:21,691
on the 24th, which is today.

982
00:52:21,772 --> 00:52:25,254
So I read it the
way he wanted me to.

983
00:52:25,376 --> 00:52:27,072
We went on, and he
stopped me about two

984
00:52:27,145 --> 00:52:29,114
or three or four times.

985
00:52:29,213 --> 00:52:32,331
And fnally, I just
had had enough.

986
00:52:32,416 --> 00:52:34,749
So I stopped, and I said, Mr.
Abbott, from what I gather,

987
00:52:34,819 --> 00:52:36,003
you'd like me to do
it the way Stephen

988
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:37,884
Douglas did it on Broadway.

989
00:52:37,955 --> 00:52:38,638
He said, yes, yes.

990
00:52:38,756 --> 00:52:39,735
That's exactly
what I would like.

991
00:52:39,824 --> 00:52:41,941
I said, well, I
thought Stephen Douglas

992
00:52:42,059 --> 00:52:47,851
had a magnifcent voice, but
I thought he was a real stick.

993
00:52:47,932 --> 00:52:49,901
If I play the
character, frst of all,

994
00:52:49,967 --> 00:52:52,266
he's got to be human being.

995
00:52:52,336 --> 00:52:54,316
That was the wrong
thing to tell him.

996
00:52:54,438 --> 00:52:56,805
Oh, I'm honest, but,
uh, I'm dumb too.

997
00:52:56,908 --> 00:53:00,356
He closed his script, said,
thank you all very much.

998
00:53:00,444 --> 00:53:04,313
He got up and left the room,
and I was fred off the picture.

999
00:53:04,415 --> 00:53:06,566
Jack Warner went
to Abbott and said,

1000
00:53:06,651 --> 00:53:07,744
I bought it for Tab Hunter.

1001
00:53:07,818 --> 00:53:09,343
Tab Hunter's going to do it.

1002
00:53:09,453 --> 00:53:11,934
You don't say no to Jack Warner.

1003
00:53:12,023 --> 00:53:12,877
OK, you win.

1004
00:53:12,990 --> 00:53:14,276
Get a uniform.
- You mean it?

1005
00:53:14,358 --> 00:53:15,314
- I mean it.
- Wow!

1006
00:53:15,426 --> 00:53:16,109
I made it!

1007
00:53:16,194 --> 00:53:17,048
(mum-nus)

1008
00:53:17,161 --> 00:53:18,925
Sol did the flm,
but it was diffcult,

1009
00:53:18,996 --> 00:53:21,989
knowing that he'd never wanted
me right from the star.

1010
00:53:22,099 --> 00:53:30,030
(SINGING) Whatever
Lola wants, Lola gets.

1011
00:53:30,107 --> 00:53:34,101
And Gwen Verdon- Gwen
always called me like a New

1012
00:53:34,178 --> 00:53:35,999
York cab driver-- Tab Huntah.

1013
00:53:36,113 --> 00:53:37,934
(LAUGHING) I loved it.

1014
00:53:40,518 --> 00:53:43,215
The choreographer
was Bobby Fosse.

1015
00:53:43,321 --> 00:53:46,257
You can't get any
better than that.

1016
00:53:46,324 --> 00:53:48,418
Bobby Fosse made me
look like I could dance,

1017
00:53:48,492 --> 00:53:49,585
even though I have
two left feet.

1018
00:53:49,660 --> 00:53:51,629
And he said, don't
worry about it, Tab.

1019
00:53:51,696 --> 00:53:52,527
You'll be fne.

1020
00:53:52,630 --> 00:53:54,121
You see, Mr., uh, Mr.--

1021
00:53:54,198 --> 00:53:56,952
Uh, Hardy- uh, Joe Hardy.

1022
00:53:57,034 --> 00:54:01,324
I just felt like I wanted
to take him in my arms.

1023
00:54:01,405 --> 00:54:04,603
Well, he was perfect
for the role.

1024
00:54:04,709 --> 00:54:06,530
He was delicious
in it, and I think

1025
00:54:06,644 --> 00:54:09,728
that Mr. Abbott was very very
satisfed with him ultimately.

1026
00:54:09,814 --> 00:54:11,146
All right, a caron
of Winstons, and Tab,

1027
00:54:11,215 --> 00:54:12,501
thanks a million.
- Thank you very much.

1028
00:54:14,485 --> 00:54:18,115
He was always, always
trying to be better.

1029
00:54:20,758 --> 00:54:23,239
Probably at that time his
looks got in the way a bit.

1030
00:54:23,361 --> 00:54:26,616
I've had a great
evening. really I have.

1031
00:54:26,731 --> 00:54:28,393
I'll never forget it.

1032
00:54:28,499 --> 00:54:31,287
The era that Tab
got kind of stuck in

1033
00:54:31,369 --> 00:54:34,794
was that era when we were all
very attracted to the Brando

1034
00:54:34,872 --> 00:54:37,501
angst and the Jimmy Dean angst.

1035
00:54:37,575 --> 00:54:41,262
You're tearing me apar!

1036
00:54:41,379 --> 00:54:44,736
TAB HUNTER: Warner Brothers
had Jimmy as the rebel,

1037
00:54:44,849 --> 00:54:46,670
and they had me as
the all-American boy.

1038
00:54:46,751 --> 00:54:50,051
So they had their bases covered.

1039
00:54:50,121 --> 00:54:52,545
They did discuss me for the
Jimmy Dean role in "Rebel

1040
00:54:52,623 --> 00:54:56,310
Without a Cause."

1041
00:54:56,427 --> 00:54:59,056
Can you imagine that? (LAUGHING)

1042
00:54:59,130 --> 00:55:01,759
He didn't get the opporunities
with some of those pars

1043
00:55:01,866 --> 00:55:03,630
that he could've done very well.

1044
00:55:03,701 --> 00:55:07,126
And they were terribly
complicated people.

1045
00:55:07,204 --> 00:55:08,638
And one of the great
assets of Tab Hunter

1046
00:55:08,706 --> 00:55:10,368
was the fact that he
didn't look like a terribly

1047
00:55:10,441 --> 00:55:12,467
complicated person.

1048
00:55:12,576 --> 00:55:15,728
You know, it's a curse
and it's a blessing

1049
00:55:15,813 --> 00:55:19,978
to have that kind of career
where they think that you are

1050
00:55:20,084 --> 00:55:23,532
that infectious smile or
you are that person that

1051
00:55:23,621 --> 00:55:26,591
jumps off the screen to them.

1052
00:55:26,657 --> 00:55:30,082
Tab had a very
diffcult time trying

1053
00:55:30,161 --> 00:55:36,146
to prove that behind this
face there really is a talent.

1054
00:55:36,267 --> 00:55:41,638
ANNOUNCER: Playhouse 90,
tonight starring Tab Hunter.

1055
00:55:41,739 --> 00:55:43,890
TAB HUNTER: The director
Arhur Penn said, there's

1056
00:55:43,974 --> 00:55:45,795
a great script I've just read.

1057
00:55:45,910 --> 00:55:48,539
It was called "Porrait
of a Murderer."

1058
00:55:48,612 --> 00:55:50,194
He said, will you do it?

1059
00:55:50,281 --> 00:55:52,739
I said, oh, I don't think so.

1060
00:55:52,817 --> 00:55:55,082
Live television?

1061
00:55:55,152 --> 00:55:58,270
That would clear
the hell out of me.

1062
00:55:58,356 --> 00:56:00,985
I was awfully guilty of
saying, I can't do that,

1063
00:56:01,092 --> 00:56:03,209
or I'm afraid to do this.

1064
00:56:03,294 --> 00:56:04,455
But you've just got
to go (SPLASHING

1065
00:56:04,528 --> 00:56:06,315
SOUND) take the plunge.

1066
00:56:06,430 --> 00:56:09,093
ANNOUNCER: "Porrait
of a Murderer,"

1067
00:56:09,166 --> 00:56:11,283
directed by Arhur Penn.

1068
00:56:11,369 --> 00:56:16,137
It was the true story
of Donald Bashor a man

1069
00:56:16,207 --> 00:56:20,565
who committed burglaries
and murdered these people.

1070
00:56:20,678 --> 00:56:23,011
It was a very powerful
piece of material.

1071
00:56:23,114 --> 00:56:24,446
Put than back right now.

1072
00:56:24,515 --> 00:56:25,437
I'm calling the police.

1073
00:56:25,516 --> 00:56:27,997
You're going to get arrested
for breaking and-- ah!

1074
00:56:28,119 --> 00:56:28,882
Oh!

1075
00:56:35,693 --> 00:56:39,016
He was frightening--
really frightening.

1076
00:56:39,130 --> 00:56:41,315
He played it so well
because it seemed to be

1077
00:56:41,399 --> 00:56:44,392
going against his own persona.

1078
00:56:44,502 --> 00:56:47,438
Here was Geraldine page from
the Actor's Studio in New York.

1079
00:56:47,505 --> 00:56:49,986
It was a whole different
way of working.

1080
00:56:50,074 --> 00:56:52,043
Tab kept up with her.

1081
00:56:52,143 --> 00:56:53,668
But I don't want to
bring you bad luck.

1082
00:56:53,744 --> 00:56:54,427
Bad luck?

1083
00:56:54,545 --> 00:56:56,730
You're my good
luck, my best luck.

1084
00:56:56,847 --> 00:56:58,372
This was big time.

1085
00:56:58,482 --> 00:57:03,432
This wasn't just some teenage
hearthrob who got a break.

1086
00:57:03,521 --> 00:57:04,534
Oh, I was proud of that show.

1087
00:57:04,655 --> 00:57:06,624
It was a good show.

1088
00:57:06,690 --> 00:57:08,716
Television was giving
me the opporunity

1089
00:57:08,826 --> 00:57:12,456
to do things that I could
not do in motion pictures,

1090
00:57:12,530 --> 00:57:16,217
with the most creative
people in the industry,

1091
00:57:16,333 --> 00:57:18,427
directors like
Sidney Lumet, John

1092
00:57:18,502 --> 00:57:21,472
Frankenheimer,
really good actors

1093
00:57:21,539 --> 00:57:24,293
and actresses and good writers.

1094
00:57:24,375 --> 00:57:27,345
I loved live television.

1095
00:57:27,411 --> 00:57:28,663
ANNOUNCER: Tab Hunter.

1096
00:57:28,746 --> 00:57:30,863
Then it stared
to click, where he

1097
00:57:30,948 --> 00:57:34,373
was getting cast in
things that made sense,

1098
00:57:34,452 --> 00:57:36,603
and he was no longer a joke.

1099
00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:37,403
Come on!

1100
00:57:37,521 --> 00:57:38,204
Just me brand them.

1101
00:57:38,289 --> 00:57:41,225
I told you to
put that gun away.

1102
00:57:41,292 --> 00:57:44,410
Yes, sir.

1103
00:57:44,528 --> 00:57:49,364
I'd played heavy on
television but never in a flm.

1104
00:57:49,433 --> 00:57:51,891
It just was such
a good character.

1105
00:57:51,969 --> 00:57:53,585
It's a pathetic.

1106
00:57:53,704 --> 00:57:56,401
From now on, I'm going my
own way, me, Ed Hackett.

1107
00:57:56,474 --> 00:57:58,295
He's a complete psychopath.

1108
00:57:58,409 --> 00:57:59,934
I'm giving you an order.

1109
00:58:00,044 --> 00:58:01,478
You can go to hell!

1110
00:58:01,545 --> 00:58:02,672
He's a racist.

1111
00:58:02,746 --> 00:58:05,375
You mean to tell me you'd
marry that no-good half breed?

1112
00:58:05,449 --> 00:58:06,701
He's a murderer.

1113
00:58:06,784 --> 00:58:08,309
Mister, you made a mistake
in pulling that gun.

1114
00:58:11,989 --> 00:58:13,514
He's just waiting to explode.

1115
00:58:16,227 --> 00:58:20,358
Of all the flms I've done,
"Gunman's Walk" was some

1116
00:58:20,431 --> 00:58:23,856
of my best work as an actor.

1117
00:58:23,934 --> 00:58:29,703
After "Gunman's Walk," Hollywood
stared to see me in a new way.

1118
00:58:29,773 --> 00:58:33,642
I stared getting cast in
some very nice productions--

1119
00:58:33,744 --> 00:58:38,842
"They Game to Cordura," with
Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworh,

1120
00:58:38,916 --> 00:58:40,350
"The Pleasure of His
Company," with Fred

1121
00:58:40,417 --> 00:58:43,933
Astaire and Debbie Reynolds,
"That Kind of Woman,"

1122
00:58:44,021 --> 00:58:46,286
with Sophia Loren.

1123
00:58:46,357 --> 00:58:49,680
These wonderful flms were not
being made at Warner Brothers,

1124
00:58:49,793 --> 00:58:51,614
where I was under contract.

1125
00:58:51,695 --> 00:58:57,157
Warners would loan me out
for like $250,000 a picture.

1126
00:58:57,268 --> 00:58:59,203
Then they would pay
me my regular Warner

1127
00:58:59,270 --> 00:59:04,402
Brothers weekly salary, and they
would pocket the difference.

1128
00:59:04,475 --> 00:59:08,833
I was getting a little
upset about that.

1129
00:59:08,946 --> 00:59:11,279
The two flms that
Natalie and I did together

1130
00:59:11,348 --> 00:59:13,806
were both big hits.

1131
00:59:13,884 --> 00:59:17,082
So the studio went and put
us together in another flm.

1132
00:59:17,187 --> 00:59:21,147
Well, I read the script, and
I thought, I can't do this.

1133
00:59:21,225 --> 00:59:24,047
I turned it down because
I knew what I liked,

1134
00:59:24,161 --> 00:59:27,029
knew what I didn't like,
and I wanted to grow.

1135
00:59:27,131 --> 00:59:29,066
I'm not a puppet.

1136
00:59:29,133 --> 00:59:33,298
So I asked the studio
for my release.

1137
00:59:33,370 --> 00:59:34,827
Well, needless to say,
Jack Warner wasn't

1138
00:59:34,905 --> 00:59:38,330
about to have that happen.

1139
00:59:38,409 --> 00:59:41,197
And I said, well, Mr. Warner,
how much would it cost'?

1140
00:59:41,312 --> 00:59:43,577
And he said, if
you want out, you

1141
00:59:43,647 --> 00:59:48,745
pay us $100,000 for the
remainder of your contract.

1142
00:59:48,819 --> 00:59:52,574
That was a lot of money,
like a couple million today.

1143
00:59:52,656 --> 00:59:56,172
But to express myself and
be my own person, I fgured,

1144
00:59:56,260 --> 00:59:58,741
I've got to do it.

1145
00:59:58,862 --> 01:00:02,856
Products of Hollywood
are interchangeable

1146
01:00:02,933 --> 01:00:05,562
and ultimately replaceable.

1147
01:00:05,669 --> 01:00:07,160
Get outta here, Dad.

1148
01:00:07,237 --> 01:00:11,675
If you weren't half
drunk I'd throw you out.

1149
01:00:11,742 --> 01:00:14,826
Troy Donahue was a young actor.

1150
01:00:14,912 --> 01:00:17,370
He was one of Henry's clients.

1151
01:00:17,448 --> 01:00:19,906
Actually, Henry Wilson tried
to stick me with that name

1152
01:00:20,017 --> 01:00:21,633
before they gave me Tab Hunter.

1153
01:00:24,254 --> 01:00:26,280
Warner Brothers was trying
to make Troy Donahue

1154
01:00:26,390 --> 01:00:28,575
in the image of Tab Hunter.

1155
01:00:28,692 --> 01:00:31,025
They stared building
Troy's career

1156
01:00:31,095 --> 01:00:34,850
and have him a very good career.

1157
01:00:34,932 --> 01:00:37,413
You've been a good old wagon,
but you done broke down.

1158
01:00:37,534 --> 01:00:39,958
(WHISTLING SOUND) You're out,
and somebody else is in there.

1159
01:00:42,573 --> 01:00:46,704
Leaving Warner Brothers
was career suicide.

1160
01:00:46,777 --> 01:00:49,076
I thought there'd be opporunity
for me at other studios,

1161
01:00:49,146 --> 01:00:53,470
but that was not the case.

1162
01:00:53,584 --> 01:00:57,009
The days of studio
contracts were over.

1163
01:00:57,087 --> 01:01:01,536
I was now a freelance
actor on my own,

1164
01:01:01,625 --> 01:01:06,154
and my primary concern was
taking care of my mother.

1165
01:01:06,263 --> 01:01:07,879
I had a lot of responsibilities.

1166
01:01:07,965 --> 01:01:11,720
And it was tough to keep
your head above water.

1167
01:01:11,802 --> 01:01:13,384
I would do anything
to pay down my debt.

1168
01:01:13,470 --> 01:01:17,555
ANNOUNCER: "Operation
Bikini," starring Tab Hunter.

1169
01:01:17,641 --> 01:01:21,271
My career was really
drying up in Hollywood.

1170
01:01:21,345 --> 01:01:24,213
So I would take
whatever was available.

1171
01:01:24,314 --> 01:01:27,250
I was no longer looking for
the keys to the kingdom.

1172
01:01:27,317 --> 01:01:30,742
ANNOUNCER: "The Golden
Arrow," starring Tab Hunter.

1173
01:01:30,821 --> 01:01:35,680
Well, not many actors can say
that they rode a fying carpet.

1174
01:01:35,793 --> 01:01:38,911
When you have to live
and you need a job,

1175
01:01:38,996 --> 01:01:40,248
you'll accept what's there.

1176
01:01:40,330 --> 01:01:41,855
ANNOUNCER: Tab
Hunter in a dual role

1177
01:01:41,965 --> 01:01:47,063
as a heroic security offcer
and a treacherous enemy agent.

1178
01:01:47,137 --> 01:01:51,336
"Birds Do It," with Soupy
Sales, that's a winner.

1179
01:01:51,442 --> 01:01:53,377
ANNOUNCER: Tab
Hunter is Steamer.

1180
01:01:53,444 --> 01:01:56,266
He goes all the way for
everhing Hawaiian.

1181
01:01:56,346 --> 01:01:58,110
To this day, people are
still coming up and saying,

1182
01:01:58,182 --> 01:02:01,448
oh, I loved you in all
those beach movies!

1183
01:02:01,518 --> 01:02:03,373
I only did one.

1184
01:02:03,487 --> 01:02:05,672
That was "Ride the Wild Surf."

1185
01:02:05,789 --> 01:02:08,759
Everybody kept thinking
of me as this surfer.

1186
01:02:08,826 --> 01:02:10,522
And at that point, I
felt that I was a little

1187
01:02:10,627 --> 01:02:12,482
long in the tooth for that one.

1188
01:02:12,563 --> 01:02:15,863
I was 32 at the time.

1189
01:02:15,966 --> 01:02:20,131
They would have a son a little
Red Flyer wagon on our knees

1190
01:02:20,204 --> 01:02:24,289
with process shot behind us
of this mountainous wave.

1191
01:02:24,374 --> 01:02:25,831
And then a prop man
would be in front of us

1192
01:02:25,909 --> 01:02:29,107
With a bucket of water going
splash-splash, splash-splash.

1193
01:02:29,213 --> 01:02:31,193
Someone point me
toward the nearest bank.

1194
01:02:31,315 --> 01:02:34,069
This was called paying
the bills and keep working.

1195
01:02:34,151 --> 01:02:35,585
That's what it's all about.

1196
01:02:35,652 --> 01:02:37,746
ANNOUNCER: "The
Tab Hunter Show--"

1197
01:02:37,821 --> 01:02:39,847
The television
series that I did,

1198
01:02:39,923 --> 01:02:41,710
This was bottom of the barrel.

1199
01:02:41,825 --> 01:02:43,259
But that's impossible.

1200
01:02:43,327 --> 01:02:46,684
This so-called comedy wound
up with a director who would

1201
01:02:46,764 --> 01:02:47,948
Say to us, come on, come on.

1202
01:02:48,065 --> 01:02:48,748
Faster!

1203
01:02:48,866 --> 01:02:49,663
Faster!

1204
01:02:49,733 --> 01:02:52,100
Fast is funny, but
faster is funnier.

1205
01:02:52,202 --> 01:02:53,659
When do you meet her?

1206
01:02:53,737 --> 01:02:55,763
Right now.

1207
01:02:55,873 --> 01:02:57,489
It was really bad stuff.

1208
01:02:57,574 --> 01:02:59,361
The bloom came off the rose.

1209
01:02:59,443 --> 01:03:01,105
My career was going
(WHISTLING SOUND).

1210
01:03:01,211 --> 01:03:02,167
Beat it, Tab.

1211
01:03:02,246 --> 01:03:04,340
Can't you see I'm busy'?

1212
01:03:04,414 --> 01:03:06,781
Without the protection
of the studio,

1213
01:03:06,884 --> 01:03:11,322
My boy-nex-door image
was in total free fall.

1214
01:03:11,388 --> 01:03:16,486
People could say and write
what they wanted, and they did.

1215
01:03:16,560 --> 01:03:19,223
If I had still been
under contract,

1216
01:03:19,296 --> 01:03:23,165
They'd have nailed it like that.

1217
01:03:23,267 --> 01:03:28,604
I was sick of Hollywood,
sick of the media,

1218
01:03:28,705 --> 01:03:30,799
And I had just about
lost faith in everhing.

1219
01:34:44,915 --> 01:34:49,569
As I was doing flms, I would
always run back to the stable.

1220
01:34:49,653 --> 01:34:52,851
The thing about being
alone on a horse,

1221
01:34:52,956 --> 01:34:57,758
it helps you divorce
yourself from yourself

1222
01:34:57,828 --> 01:34:59,319
because you're
working with an animal

1223
01:34:59,430 --> 01:35:02,457
that has a life of its own.

1224
01:35:02,533 --> 01:35:06,493
It's a marriage that's
quite marvelous.

1225
01:35:06,603 --> 01:35:09,721
I found that my touch of reality
in that unrealistic world

1226
01:35:09,807 --> 01:35:10,570
of Hollywood.

1227
01:35:13,944 --> 01:35:16,425
He was riding a jumper.

1228
01:35:16,513 --> 01:35:20,439
I was in awe of him
because of how he rode.

1229
01:35:20,517 --> 01:35:23,715
I was standing at the back gate,
and we just stared talking.

1230
01:35:23,821 --> 01:35:25,915
I didn't know who he was.

1231
01:35:25,989 --> 01:35:29,016
And he asked me questions
like, do I ride'?

1232
01:35:29,126 --> 01:35:33,086
And I said, oh, yeah,
I grew up on a horse.

1233
01:35:33,163 --> 01:35:34,825
He said, do you
ride jumping horses?

1234
01:35:34,898 --> 01:35:36,560
And I said, no,
I've not done that,

1235
01:35:36,667 --> 01:35:39,933
but the thought appeals to me.

1236
01:35:40,003 --> 01:35:43,599
And he said, I'd be willing
to teach you some jumping.

1237
01:35:43,674 --> 01:35:45,700
So I took him up on it.

1238
01:35:45,809 --> 01:35:50,463
And so we became
friends after that.

1239
01:35:50,547 --> 01:35:52,334
He didn't have
all the trappings,

1240
01:35:52,416 --> 01:35:55,932
I didn't think, that
a star would have.

1241
01:35:56,053 --> 01:35:57,487
He was very real person.

1242
01:36:03,360 --> 01:36:07,286
It was the frst long-term
relationship that I ever had.

1243
01:36:07,364 --> 01:36:09,344
We were together for
about seven years.

1244
01:36:13,670 --> 01:36:16,299
Hollywood turned
their back on him.

1245
01:36:16,373 --> 01:36:21,630
And I realized what it must
be like to be very popular

1246
01:36:21,712 --> 01:36:25,797
and to be very unpopular.

1247
01:36:25,883 --> 01:36:28,478
I cerainly
commiserated with him.

1248
01:36:28,552 --> 01:36:31,181
But he didn't ever want
to talk about it much.

1249
01:36:31,255 --> 01:36:33,224
ANNOUNCER: Tab has been
out of town for a while.

1250
01:36:33,290 --> 01:36:36,442
Now he's back, just horsing
around, waiting for the day

1251
01:36:36,560 --> 01:36:38,529
he's discovered again.

1252
01:36:38,595 --> 01:36:41,588
I was very concerned.

1253
01:36:41,698 --> 01:36:46,318
So I bought space in "Variety"
to just tell people hello.

1254
01:36:46,403 --> 01:36:48,019
Is there any possibility
of you getting

1255
01:36:48,105 --> 01:36:49,687
job somewhere around here?

1256
01:36:49,773 --> 01:36:51,105
I just wanted people
to know that I wasn't

1257
01:36:51,208 --> 01:36:53,029
dead, that I'm still alive.

1258
01:36:53,110 --> 01:36:55,807
And a couple responses- really
sweet people-- said, yeah,

1259
01:36:55,913 --> 01:36:58,064
get lost, or yeah, drop dead.

1260
01:36:58,148 --> 01:37:01,175
Tab Hunter, who was every
high school girl's idea

1261
01:37:01,285 --> 01:37:03,311
of a dream boat--
he was a boy who

1262
01:37:03,420 --> 01:37:05,537
never seemed to get any older.

1263
01:37:05,622 --> 01:37:07,409
Well, he has.

1264
01:37:07,491 --> 01:37:10,313
Well, I might as well have
been a relic from the silent era

1265
01:37:10,427 --> 01:37:12,089
because people
wanted real people

1266
01:37:12,162 --> 01:37:17,021
in real situations, no more
Hollywood made-up personas.

1267
01:37:17,134 --> 01:37:18,898
We want to be free to ride
our machines without being

1268
01:37:18,969 --> 01:37:19,766
hassled by the man.

1269
01:37:22,139 --> 01:37:24,802
TAB HUNTER: The new actors
were anti-establishment,

1270
01:37:24,908 --> 01:37:28,993
and I was apple pie
and All-American.

1271
01:37:29,079 --> 01:37:31,105
It would have
taken some director

1272
01:37:31,181 --> 01:37:34,606
to give him the kind of a
par that would make everybody

1273
01:37:34,685 --> 01:37:36,984
look at him in a new way.

1274
01:37:37,087 --> 01:37:39,238
In order to make the
change, he would have had

1275
01:37:39,323 --> 01:37:42,919
to do something really radical.

1276
01:37:42,993 --> 01:37:45,258
This was a low-budget
horror flm--

1277
01:37:46,797 --> 01:37:49,426
--made on a show string.

1278
01:37:49,499 --> 01:37:52,526
It needed a very
handsome debonair man

1279
01:37:52,636 --> 01:37:54,252
who would love women to death.

1280
01:37:58,475 --> 01:38:00,296
Tab Hunter would
be the last person

1281
01:38:00,377 --> 01:38:03,006
you would expect to do that.

1282
01:38:03,113 --> 01:38:07,437
TAB HUNTER: "Sweet Kill"
was cerainly way out there.

1283
01:38:07,517 --> 01:38:11,352
I did it because the movie roles
were just not coming along.

1284
01:38:14,725 --> 01:38:18,526
Tab was so much a par
of that Eisenhower era.

1285
01:38:18,629 --> 01:38:22,646
The '50s, as an era, was
repudiated in the '60s.

1286
01:38:22,733 --> 01:38:24,349
Young people are
the only people

1287
01:38:24,468 --> 01:38:26,619
in this whole country that
have saved the soul of America.

1288
01:38:31,308 --> 01:38:34,631
It was a completely
changed world.

1289
01:38:34,711 --> 01:38:39,729
America was at war with itself
as well as at war with Vetnam.

1290
01:38:42,653 --> 01:38:47,011
My brother was in military
medical evacuations.

1291
01:38:47,090 --> 01:38:49,685
He had joined the Navy.

1292
01:38:49,760 --> 01:38:53,925
He wound up in Vetnam,
as so many young men did.

1293
01:38:56,900 --> 01:39:00,985
I was at a horse show at the
Cow Palace in San Francisco.

1294
01:39:01,071 --> 01:39:03,336
And I was sitting on my horse
at the back gate waiting

1295
01:39:03,407 --> 01:39:05,774
for the announcer to
announce my horse Nob Hill

1296
01:39:05,876 --> 01:39:09,176
and myself for the nex
entry into the arena.

1297
01:39:09,246 --> 01:39:11,579
And I saw a man in
military uniform coming,

1298
01:39:11,682 --> 01:39:18,646
and he walked over to me, and
he said, are you Ar Gelien?

1299
01:39:18,722 --> 01:39:24,184
I just want to tell you your
brother was killed in Vetnam.

1300
01:39:24,261 --> 01:39:26,378
I thought, why him?

1301
01:39:26,463 --> 01:39:28,159
Why not me'?

1302
01:39:28,265 --> 01:39:29,699
Walt was married, and
he had seven children.

1303
01:39:33,136 --> 01:39:38,632
I remember taking the moment,
closing my eyes, and saying,

1304
01:39:38,742 --> 01:39:42,702
Walt, I'm gonna win
this class for you.

1305
01:39:45,315 --> 01:39:46,897
And my horse won the
class that night.

1306
01:39:49,786 --> 01:39:53,439
And then afterwards I
went back to the barn.

1307
01:39:53,557 --> 01:39:59,258
And when I was in the stall with
my horse, I totally lost it.

1308
01:39:59,329 --> 01:40:02,629
I was scared of my own shadow.

1309
01:40:02,733 --> 01:40:05,430
My brother was the one who
opened the doors of life

1310
01:40:05,502 --> 01:40:07,869
for me.

1311
01:40:07,971 --> 01:40:09,496
I really looked
up to him so much.

1312
01:40:16,246 --> 01:40:21,082
My mother was very stoic
about my brother's death.

1313
01:40:21,151 --> 01:40:25,680
She was getting better,
but it took a while.

1314
01:40:25,789 --> 01:40:27,451
I was very concerned
about her well-being,

1315
01:40:27,524 --> 01:40:29,891
and I would see her a great
deal more than I had when I was

1316
01:40:29,993 --> 01:40:33,020
running around with the movies.

1317
01:40:33,130 --> 01:40:36,430
I found her a little
aparment in Long Beach.

1318
01:40:36,500 --> 01:40:38,082
Whatever she need, I
would be there for her.

1319
01:40:41,171 --> 01:40:44,437
Well, I made a promise to my
mother to take care of her.

1320
01:40:44,508 --> 01:40:47,660
And I defnitely was
going to keep it.

1321
01:40:47,778 --> 01:40:50,202
I had to create
work in some way.

1322
01:40:52,783 --> 01:40:54,115
I discovered dinner theater.

1323
01:40:56,720 --> 01:40:59,918
Dinner theater was a place where
people could come and stuff

1324
01:41:00,023 --> 01:41:03,141
their faces, then sit back,
and while they were getting

1325
01:41:03,226 --> 01:41:07,755
to belch, watch the show they
you were doing. (LAUGHING)

1326
01:41:07,864 --> 01:41:11,062
They were becoming
very, very popular.

1327
01:41:11,168 --> 01:41:15,128
There was a stigma attached
to working dinner theaters.

1328
01:41:15,205 --> 01:41:20,997
They said that it was the place
that old actors went to die.

1329
01:41:21,078 --> 01:41:22,603
I was making more
money at dinner theater

1330
01:41:22,712 --> 01:41:25,409
than I was waiting for a picture
now and then in Hollywood,

1331
01:41:25,515 --> 01:41:28,337
that's for sure--
six weeks here,

1332
01:41:28,418 --> 01:41:33,220
eight weeks there, four weeks
here, all over the country.

1333
01:41:33,323 --> 01:41:37,192
I felt I had to keep going once
you put yourself in that gear.

1334
01:41:37,260 --> 01:41:40,947
I was on the road constantly.

1335
01:41:41,064 --> 01:41:42,521
INTERVlEWER: Your
story in "Here Lies

1336
01:41:42,599 --> 01:41:44,215
Jeremy Troy," which
is at the Grand

1337
01:41:44,334 --> 01:41:45,427
Dinner Theater in Anaheim--

1338
01:41:45,502 --> 01:41:46,185
That's right.

1339
01:41:46,269 --> 01:41:47,248
We'll be there for eight weeks.

1340
01:41:47,370 --> 01:41:49,851
It's right opposite the
entrance to Disneyland.

1341
01:41:49,940 --> 01:41:54,560
It's a very lonely,
lonely existence.

1342
01:41:54,678 --> 01:41:56,863
You perform in front
of 1,500 people,

1343
01:41:56,947 --> 01:42:00,907
and you go home to a hotel
room in the middle of nowhere

1344
01:42:01,017 --> 01:42:03,350
by yourself.

1345
01:42:03,420 --> 01:42:07,289
Working at dinner theater
was very exhausting.

1346
01:42:07,390 --> 01:42:11,145
And doing that every single
night took a toll on me.

1347
01:42:11,228 --> 01:42:12,924
I wore myself right
into the ground

1348
01:42:13,029 --> 01:42:16,227
to the point of where
I had a hear attack.

1349
01:42:16,299 --> 01:42:20,100
I was sure that it
could be the end.

1350
01:42:23,940 --> 01:42:26,455
I was wondering if I was
going to be able to make it,

1351
01:42:26,576 --> 01:42:29,603
and I was praying a lot.

1352
01:42:29,713 --> 01:42:33,707
I did give up dinner
theater after that.

1353
01:42:33,783 --> 01:42:36,753
I learned to try to relax a bit.

1354
01:42:36,820 --> 01:42:39,335
I learned to be grateful
for every moment

1355
01:42:39,456 --> 01:42:40,287
and thankful- thankful.

1356
01:42:46,463 --> 01:42:48,887
I love the church.

1357
01:42:48,965 --> 01:42:51,116
I love my religion.

1358
01:42:51,234 --> 01:42:54,659
But I still just felt
like I was such an outcast

1359
01:42:54,738 --> 01:42:55,535
because of my sexuality.

1360
01:42:59,943 --> 01:43:01,468
It took a long time for
me to fnd my way back.

1361
01:43:05,148 --> 01:43:07,606
It was so peaceful,
and it was so imporant

1362
01:43:07,684 --> 01:43:12,008
that I try to be a par of it.

1363
01:43:12,122 --> 01:43:15,775
And I struck up a conversation
with a priest who I felt

1364
01:43:15,859 --> 01:43:18,829
I can really communicate with.

1365
01:43:18,929 --> 01:43:20,750
I told him I was a
Catholic, and I told him I

1366
01:43:20,830 --> 01:43:24,961
had some terrible reservations.

1367
01:43:25,035 --> 01:43:27,129
He was so receptive.

1368
01:43:27,204 --> 01:43:31,289
And he really made me
feel better about myself.

1369
01:43:34,044 --> 01:43:40,564
He was discovering something
about his own truth.

1370
01:43:40,684 --> 01:43:45,304
For a man to have to live
in someone else's presuming

1371
01:43:45,388 --> 01:43:51,089
about who you should love,
how do you ever know yourself?

1372
01:43:51,194 --> 01:43:55,029
He was going to go where
his hear told him to go.

1373
01:43:57,701 --> 01:44:02,799
By going back to my church
and my beliefs, that really,

1374
01:44:02,872 --> 01:44:07,970
really helped me through
a very diffcult period.

1375
01:44:08,044 --> 01:44:12,539
And little by little, I just
felt the weight of the world

1376
01:44:12,649 --> 01:44:13,833
was lifted from me.

1377
01:44:22,225 --> 01:44:24,205
I knew Tab is an
image, you know'?

1378
01:44:24,327 --> 01:44:26,592
And that was the thing that
was so very imporant to me

1379
01:44:26,663 --> 01:44:29,178
and why I so much wanted
him to be in Polyester."

1380
01:44:29,266 --> 01:44:31,087
It's Todd, honey.

1381
01:44:31,201 --> 01:44:32,180
Todd?

1382
01:44:32,269 --> 01:44:33,635
Todd Tomorrow?

1383
01:44:33,737 --> 01:44:36,002
John Waters called me up
on the telephone and said,

1384
01:44:36,072 --> 01:44:39,588
I've got a script I'd like you
to read for a flm with Divine.

1385
01:44:39,709 --> 01:44:41,143
What do you think, sweethear?

1386
01:44:41,211 --> 01:44:43,999
Oh, it's very high brow, Todd.

1387
01:44:44,080 --> 01:44:45,571
And then he said,
how would you feel

1388
01:44:45,682 --> 01:44:48,015
about kissing a

1389
01:44:48,084 --> 01:44:50,565
(LAUGHING) And I
just said, I'm sure

1390
01:44:50,687 --> 01:44:53,987
I've kissed a hell
of a lot worse.

1391
01:44:54,057 --> 01:44:56,720
John's flms were outrageous.

1392
01:44:56,793 --> 01:44:59,615
I prayed that he would never
go watch "Pink Flamingos."

1393
01:44:59,729 --> 01:45:01,584
Happy birhday, fatso.

1394
01:45:01,698 --> 01:45:02,620
Oh!

1395
01:45:02,699 --> 01:45:03,712
And he did.

1396
01:45:03,800 --> 01:45:06,224
How could anyone be
flthier than Divine'?

1397
01:45:06,303 --> 01:45:10,752
Even then, he didn't
say, oh, well, never mind.

1398
01:45:10,874 --> 01:45:13,469
He was unafraid.

1399
01:45:13,543 --> 01:45:16,138
I remember an agent
saying to me at the time,

1400
01:45:16,212 --> 01:45:18,147
you can't do that flm.

1401
01:45:18,214 --> 01:45:21,241
And my response was,
what have I got to lose'?

1402
01:45:21,318 --> 01:45:23,105
Where's my career now'?

1403
01:45:23,219 --> 01:45:25,006
I thought this will
be a lot of fun.

1404
01:45:25,088 --> 01:45:27,353
Why don't you show me
your bedroom, honey'?

1405
01:45:27,424 --> 01:45:28,346
Mother may I'?

1406
01:45:28,425 --> 01:45:29,222
Yes, you may.

1407
01:45:29,292 --> 01:45:30,055
Ooh!

1408
01:45:30,126 --> 01:45:33,119
I could only afford
him for one week.

1409
01:45:33,229 --> 01:45:35,824
I'm sure it was the least
Tab Hunter was ever paid,

1410
01:45:35,899 --> 01:45:39,700
and it was by far the most
I had ever paid anybody.

1411
01:45:39,769 --> 01:45:42,967
Doing a flm for John, you
got to fnd a spot on the foor

1412
01:45:43,073 --> 01:45:46,430
where you can sit down between
takes-- cold pizza at 2:00

1413
01:45:46,509 --> 01:45:47,795
AM. (mum-nus)

1414
01:45:47,911 --> 01:45:49,163
Are you my little fesh pot?

1415
01:45:49,245 --> 01:45:50,406
Mm-hmm.

1416
01:45:50,480 --> 01:45:52,460
It was the frst
time ever we had

1417
01:45:52,582 --> 01:45:54,733
quote, "a real
movie star" come in

1418
01:45:54,818 --> 01:45:57,788
and work with my movie stars.

1419
01:45:57,854 --> 01:46:01,302
Tab made out with
Divine who was in drag.

1420
01:46:01,424 --> 01:46:04,451
People could not
believe their eyes.

1421
01:46:04,527 --> 01:46:07,679
That's why the movie worked
because they together

1422
01:46:07,797 --> 01:46:10,494
were a great screen couple.

1423
01:46:10,600 --> 01:46:12,364
A couple of people said,
oh, don't worry about it.

1424
01:46:12,435 --> 01:46:14,950
Nobody's gonna see this flm.

1425
01:46:15,038 --> 01:46:16,222
The movie came out.

1426
01:46:16,339 --> 01:46:17,671
It was a hit.

1427
01:46:17,774 --> 01:46:20,232
And it defnitely
revitalized my career.

1428
01:46:20,310 --> 01:46:23,246
Mr. Tab Hunter, yay!

1429
01:46:23,313 --> 01:46:25,168
Well, there was a
whole new audience

1430
01:46:25,281 --> 01:46:27,307
that never heard of Tab Hunter.

1431
01:46:27,384 --> 01:46:28,716
Now, what is the
best time of the month

1432
01:46:28,818 --> 01:46:31,515
for a woman to conceive?

1433
01:46:31,621 --> 01:46:33,738
I feel like a new old
face or an old new face.

1434
01:46:33,823 --> 01:46:35,849
So I'm getting my toe in the
door to star all over again.

1435
01:46:35,959 --> 01:46:37,814
It's very exciting

1436
01:46:37,894 --> 01:46:39,988
Tab was serious
about his career.

1437
01:46:40,063 --> 01:46:41,884
But he never took
himself that seriously.

1438
01:46:41,998 --> 01:46:43,330
DR. ERNO: Tab, what do
you do for a living?

1439
01:46:43,400 --> 01:46:45,551
Well, Erno, I'm a
Hollywood movie star,

1440
01:46:45,668 --> 01:46:48,661
and I've been in over 40 flms,
and I lived in Beverly Hills.

1441
01:46:48,738 --> 01:46:49,922
That sounds exciting.

1442
01:46:50,039 --> 01:46:53,237
He found himself amusing.

1443
01:46:53,343 --> 01:46:55,824
When you have a sense
of humor about yourself,

1444
01:46:55,912 --> 01:46:57,494
people appreciate
you in another way.

1445
01:47:01,985 --> 01:47:05,069
I wanted to work
with Divine again.

1446
01:47:05,155 --> 01:47:09,081
I had come up with the idea
of doing a Western comedy.

1447
01:47:09,159 --> 01:47:11,128
It was called
"Lust in the Dust."

1448
01:47:11,194 --> 01:47:13,345
ANNOUNCER: Tab Hunter
is the stranger.

1449
01:47:14,230 --> 01:47:18,918
And Divine is Rosy Valdez.

1450
01:47:19,035 --> 01:47:19,798
Come and get it.

1451
01:47:19,869 --> 01:47:21,633
I turned over every
stone I possibly

1452
01:47:21,704 --> 01:47:25,334
could trying to get "Lust
in the Dust" going forward.

1453
01:47:25,408 --> 01:47:27,923
The frst time I
saw Tab in person

1454
01:47:28,044 --> 01:47:29,478
was when he walked
into my offce

1455
01:47:29,546 --> 01:47:32,630
at Fox to pitch
"Lust in the Dust."

1456
01:47:32,715 --> 01:47:36,732
Tab still had that star quality.

1457
01:47:36,853 --> 01:47:39,038
And I mentioned the
project to Allan.

1458
01:47:39,122 --> 01:47:43,287
And he hit on it right away and
said, what a wonderful idea.

1459
01:47:43,393 --> 01:47:45,726
Once Tab left the
meeting, I thought, yeah,

1460
01:47:45,795 --> 01:47:49,152
"Lust in the Dust" could work.

1461
01:47:49,265 --> 01:47:53,396
I knew I could trust
him almost immediately.

1462
01:47:53,470 --> 01:47:57,066
I found Allan very
attractive, very bright,

1463
01:47:57,140 --> 01:47:59,837
and I wanted to spend
more time with him.

1464
01:47:59,943 --> 01:48:02,242
Tab stared calling me.

1465
01:48:02,312 --> 01:48:03,769
And I thought
initially it was just

1466
01:48:03,880 --> 01:48:07,146
a follow up about "Lust in the
Dust," but it went beyond that.

1467
01:48:10,587 --> 01:48:13,705
Tab was 30 years
older and I was.

1468
01:48:13,790 --> 01:48:15,372
I was 23.

1469
01:48:15,458 --> 01:48:17,609
Tabb was 53.

1470
01:48:17,727 --> 01:48:20,060
But once we did
connect, I couldn't

1471
01:48:20,129 --> 01:48:23,099
imagine us not being together.

1472
01:48:23,166 --> 01:48:26,432
And then the more our
personal relationship grew,

1473
01:48:26,503 --> 01:48:31,601
the more I was determined
to get that movie done.

1474
01:48:31,674 --> 01:48:33,859
I tried to get it
going at Fox, and there

1475
01:48:33,977 --> 01:48:35,161
was a little bit of
interest, but they

1476
01:48:35,278 --> 01:48:37,736
ultimately passed on it.

1477
01:48:37,814 --> 01:48:41,296
Tab said to me I should get
involved and produce this.

1478
01:48:41,417 --> 01:48:44,842
Well, that would mean having
to leave my secure job

1479
01:48:44,921 --> 01:48:50,258
at Fox, which I did.

1480
01:48:50,326 --> 01:48:53,683
People told me I was taking a
big risk leaving the studio.

1481
01:48:53,796 --> 01:48:55,651
But I had a hunch
that my future would

1482
01:48:55,765 --> 01:48:59,395
be better with Tab, so I left.

1483
01:48:59,469 --> 01:49:02,792
He single-handedly raised
all the money for that flm.

1484
01:49:02,872 --> 01:49:04,454
You got it all wrong, honey.

1485
01:49:04,541 --> 01:49:06,658
You've been cheap all your life.

1486
01:49:06,776 --> 01:49:07,459
Cheap?

1487
01:49:07,544 --> 01:49:09,877
I was the sister of Divine.

1488
01:49:09,979 --> 01:49:11,914
This furniture is cheap.

1489
01:49:11,981 --> 01:49:13,961
I looked like a
drag queen, you know'?

1490
01:49:14,050 --> 01:49:17,134
(LAUGHING) I think
that was the idea.

1491
01:49:17,220 --> 01:49:21,669
My love scene with Tab
Hunter- we were in a shower.

1492
01:49:21,791 --> 01:49:22,554
It was delicious.

1493
01:49:25,962 --> 01:49:29,615
The frst flm I ever appeared
in was "Lust in the Dust."

1494
01:49:29,699 --> 01:49:32,726
That set, in paricular, had a
real sense of frivolity and fun

1495
01:49:32,835 --> 01:49:33,518
about it.

1496
01:49:33,636 --> 01:49:36,117
And I remember being
struck by Tab's naturalism

1497
01:49:36,205 --> 01:49:40,461
and how efforlessly everhing
he was doing was coming across.

1498
01:49:40,543 --> 01:49:42,569
Vctory shifts from man to man.

1499
01:49:42,679 --> 01:49:43,840
Deuteronomy'?

1500
01:49:43,913 --> 01:49:45,575
Homer.

1501
01:49:45,682 --> 01:49:49,437
Everybody was sor of
playing it larger than life.

1502
01:49:49,519 --> 01:49:52,273
"Lust in the Dust"
was well received,

1503
01:49:52,355 --> 01:49:58,488
and it cerainly opened doors
for us to do other things.

1504
01:49:58,561 --> 01:50:01,588
ALLAN GLASER: Tab
defnitely had a value.

1505
01:50:01,698 --> 01:50:07,399
I got a lot of meetings just
because Tab was attached.

1506
01:50:07,503 --> 01:50:09,290
We were doing these
independent projects,

1507
01:50:09,372 --> 01:50:13,628
and Tab's celebrity helped
me raise the fnancing.

1508
01:50:13,710 --> 01:50:16,168
It was a very
productive time for us.

1509
01:50:16,245 --> 01:50:20,842
For me, it was a challenge to
make it work, which I enjoyed.

1510
01:50:20,917 --> 01:50:23,341
But not so much for Tab.

1511
01:50:23,419 --> 01:50:25,001
He didn't fnd that
same excitement

1512
01:50:25,088 --> 01:50:28,513
that I found in trying to
get these projects going.

1513
01:50:28,591 --> 01:50:30,173
Well, I never paid a
lot of attention what

1514
01:50:30,259 --> 01:50:31,352
was happening in Hollywood.

1515
01:50:31,427 --> 01:50:32,588
I let Allan do all
of that because he

1516
01:50:32,695 --> 01:50:33,822
was really good at it.

1517
01:50:33,896 --> 01:50:34,579
How are you'?

1518
01:50:34,697 --> 01:50:35,619
Tab Hunter.

1519
01:50:35,698 --> 01:50:40,887
By this time, Tab wasn't
too happy to continue acting.

1520
01:50:40,970 --> 01:50:45,738
Tab was still getting offers,
but he turned 90% of everhing

1521
01:50:45,808 --> 01:50:47,333
he was offered down.

1522
01:50:50,813 --> 01:50:54,898
People were coming out, and
that was their choice to do so,

1523
01:50:54,984 --> 01:50:57,579
and I respect that.

1524
01:50:57,654 --> 01:51:03,958
Personally, I didn't want my
sexuality to defne who I was.

1525
01:51:04,060 --> 01:51:06,541
I just didn't talk about.

1526
01:51:06,629 --> 01:51:09,383
It's not my comfor zone.

1527
01:51:09,465 --> 01:51:13,095
I was point-blank asked
about my sexuality.

1528
01:51:13,169 --> 01:51:16,856
Wasn't it diffcult
to be in a closet?

1529
01:51:16,973 --> 01:51:21,422
Some of the press occasionally
would cross that boundary,

1530
01:51:21,511 --> 01:51:23,446
I'm entitled to have
that line there,

1531
01:51:23,513 --> 01:51:28,804
and if I don't want to share
that with you, I won't.

1532
01:51:28,918 --> 01:51:30,443
I think it probably
means I fnally made it.

1533
01:51:30,520 --> 01:51:32,375
I mean, you can't be a star
without having a gay rumor out

1534
01:51:32,488 --> 01:51:34,309
there, can you'? (LAUGHING)

1535
01:51:34,424 --> 01:51:36,120
In some respects,
the business is

1536
01:51:36,192 --> 01:51:38,457
still like it was in the '50s.

1537
01:51:38,528 --> 01:51:41,726
It may be a lot more
socially acceptable to be gay.

1538
01:51:41,831 --> 01:51:44,312
But I know several
people who are very

1539
01:51:44,434 --> 01:51:48,428
prominent in this industry who
feel, perhaps legitimately,

1540
01:51:48,504 --> 01:51:51,770
that if they came out it would
affect their box offce appeal.

1541
01:51:51,841 --> 01:51:56,199
Let's put it this way, fellas,
a Gillette shave turns a trick.

1542
01:51:56,312 --> 01:52:01,842
For someone who is the fantasy
for women all across America

1543
01:52:01,951 --> 01:52:06,446
and the world, to come
out in the public and say,

1544
01:52:06,522 --> 01:52:12,348
I'm gay and expect to play
leading men is an issue.

1545
01:52:12,462 --> 01:52:14,795
It's still tricky.

1546
01:52:14,864 --> 01:52:18,346
Every actor who has a
secret, like being gay,

1547
01:52:18,468 --> 01:52:21,586
there's a par of us that
are afraid of Hollywood.

1548
01:52:21,671 --> 01:52:26,029
We're afraid to be
who we are completely.

1549
01:52:26,142 --> 01:52:29,112
That's a hard life to lead.

1550
01:52:29,178 --> 01:52:33,195
After decades of being in
the public eye, all I wanted

1551
01:52:33,316 --> 01:52:35,467
was my privacy.

1552
01:52:35,551 --> 01:52:40,319
In order to achieve that, I just
withdrew from it all for good.

1553
01:52:47,363 --> 01:52:49,343
My life had been very transient.

1554
01:52:52,001 --> 01:52:55,449
I never thought
of settling down.

1555
01:52:55,538 --> 01:52:58,963
But then Allan came
into my life and just

1556
01:52:59,041 --> 01:53:00,532
opened up whole new vistas.

1557
01:53:04,180 --> 01:53:06,809
We're so much of a
par of each other

1558
01:53:06,883 --> 01:53:09,580
now because we have been
together for so long.

1559
01:53:09,685 --> 01:53:11,711
And it's just one
of those things.

1560
01:53:11,788 --> 01:53:14,451
It works.

1561
01:53:14,557 --> 01:53:17,641
Allan's a very
stabilizing infuence.

1562
01:53:17,727 --> 01:53:21,323
I have a wonderful
relationship with Allan that's

1563
01:53:21,397 --> 01:53:24,993
grown over SO-some years.

1564
01:53:25,067 --> 01:53:28,333
This is really an
incredible person that I

1565
01:53:28,404 --> 01:53:29,258
want to spend my life with.

1566
01:53:35,478 --> 01:53:38,778
What brings Tab pleasure
on a daily basis,

1567
01:53:38,881 --> 01:53:42,682
and I can sum it up in
one word, is Harlow.

1568
01:53:42,752 --> 01:53:45,176
This old cow, look at her.

1569
01:53:45,254 --> 01:53:50,113
ALLAN GLASER: Harlow, Tab's
horse, is what gives Tab joy.

1570
01:53:50,226 --> 01:53:52,593
This is what makes me happiest.

1571
01:53:52,662 --> 01:53:55,291
This is where I really
feel more at ease

1572
01:53:55,398 --> 01:53:57,060
than I would anywhere else.

1573
01:53:57,133 --> 01:53:59,068
It's getting up in
the morning, having

1574
01:53:59,135 --> 01:54:03,425
to go clean out that stall,
having to groom that horse.

1575
01:54:03,506 --> 01:54:06,294
Whoa, listen to
your belly growl!

1576
01:54:06,409 --> 01:54:09,527
That sounds like a pretty good
life-- riding horses and just

1577
01:54:09,612 --> 01:54:11,376
kind of cooling his heels.

1578
01:54:11,447 --> 01:54:14,383
OK move your tush, sweethear.

1579
01:54:14,450 --> 01:54:15,941
He's a better man than I am.

1580
01:54:16,018 --> 01:54:19,102
I try to stay away from
anything weighing 1,400 pounds

1581
01:54:19,188 --> 01:54:22,340
and has a brain the
size of a walnut.

1582
01:54:22,458 --> 01:54:26,293
When you have a passion
that fulflls you,

1583
01:54:26,362 --> 01:54:31,892
you don't look to other
areas to fll you up.

1584
01:54:32,001 --> 01:54:36,200
Tab is an incredible
horseman and always has been,

1585
01:54:36,305 --> 01:54:40,743
and that is a career in itself.

1586
01:54:40,810 --> 01:54:44,941
Well, my acting career I look
at as being all in the past.

1587
01:54:45,014 --> 01:54:49,213
I loved it, bud I love
where I am now in my life.

1588
01:54:49,318 --> 01:54:51,173
And I am happy to be forgotten.

1589
01:54:57,560 --> 01:55:00,075
Tab's attitude to
his Hollywood career

1590
01:55:00,196 --> 01:55:02,222
is been there, done that.

1591
01:55:02,331 --> 01:55:05,324
He calls it his past life,
which drives me nuts.

1592
01:55:05,401 --> 01:55:07,336
I found this is at fea market.

1593
01:55:07,403 --> 01:55:09,588
It's something that
he could embrace,

1594
01:55:09,705 --> 01:55:10,684
but he doesn't care to do it.

1595
01:55:10,806 --> 01:55:11,489
He did it.

1596
01:55:11,574 --> 01:55:13,543
He let go of it.

1597
01:55:13,643 --> 01:55:16,636
He doesn't even want to
see himself on television.

1598
01:55:16,712 --> 01:55:21,309
If he's laying in bed and an
old movie of his comes on,

1599
01:55:21,384 --> 01:55:23,842
he doesn't stop for one second.

1600
01:55:23,920 --> 01:55:24,933
Forget it.

1601
01:55:25,054 --> 01:55:26,545
ALLAN GLASER: He just
fips through the channel

1602
01:55:26,656 --> 01:55:29,774
like it was a dog food
commercial and keeps going.

1603
01:55:29,859 --> 01:55:31,646
Well, a-- a boy's best
friend is his mother.

1604
01:55:35,197 --> 01:55:37,291
We were casting
"Lust in the Dust,"

1605
01:55:37,366 --> 01:55:40,188
and there was this character
named Hardcase Williams.

1606
01:55:40,269 --> 01:55:44,593
And I thought Tony Perkins
would be perfect for that role.

1607
01:55:44,707 --> 01:55:49,031
ANNOUNCER: 22 years later,
Norman Bates is home.

1608
01:55:49,111 --> 01:55:51,808
"Psycho II" had just come out.

1609
01:55:51,914 --> 01:55:55,066
Tony was getting a tremendous
amount of publicity.

1610
01:55:55,184 --> 01:55:57,210
Tab was having a
career resurgence

1611
01:55:57,286 --> 01:56:01,121
at the same exact
time Tony Perkins was.

1612
01:56:01,223 --> 01:56:05,718
He said, Tony Perkins--
do you know him'?

1613
01:56:05,795 --> 01:56:08,663
(LAUGHING) I said,
yeah, Allan, I know him.

1614
01:56:08,764 --> 01:56:13,930
(LAUGHING) I contacted
Tony, went up

1615
01:56:14,036 --> 01:56:16,790
to his house up on Mulholland.

1616
01:56:16,872 --> 01:56:20,320
I hadn't seen him
in a long while.

1617
01:56:20,409 --> 01:56:23,732
His wife Mary answered the door.

1618
01:56:23,813 --> 01:56:26,271
Tony had married, had a family.

1619
01:56:26,382 --> 01:56:29,580
And I presented Tony
with the script.

1620
01:56:29,652 --> 01:56:31,348
And he said he really
would like to do it,

1621
01:56:31,454 --> 01:56:33,389
but he just didn't think it
was the right project for him

1622
01:56:33,456 --> 01:56:35,641
at the time.

1623
01:56:35,758 --> 01:56:39,081
And Tony and I said
goodbye that afternoon,

1624
01:56:39,161 --> 01:56:42,359
and that was the last
time that I saw Tony.

1625
01:56:42,465 --> 01:56:45,788
AIDS has taken the life
of actor Anthony Perkins.

1626
01:56:45,901 --> 01:56:50,760
He died Saturday at
his Los Angeles home.

1627
01:56:50,840 --> 01:56:55,278
I never felt that Tony was
struggling with his identity.

1628
01:56:55,344 --> 01:56:59,429
And when I did hear of it, I
was really quite surprised.

1629
01:56:59,515 --> 01:57:05,648
Maybe he was deep down unhappy
with himself about being gay

1630
01:57:05,755 --> 01:57:08,543
and wanted to change that.

1631
01:57:08,624 --> 01:57:11,139
His choice was right
for him, and it's

1632
01:57:11,260 --> 01:57:15,061
all par of a person's growth.

1633
01:57:15,131 --> 01:57:19,933
Tony was who he was, or
maybe he wanted to be.

1634
01:57:20,002 --> 01:57:22,369
That was good enough for me.

1635
01:57:22,471 --> 01:57:27,000
I had no right- no one does--
to be judgmental or to second

1636
01:57:27,109 --> 01:57:28,566
guess his pursuit of happiness.

1637
01:57:31,447 --> 01:57:35,737
There are an awful lot of
people who have feelings,

1638
01:57:35,818 --> 01:57:39,619
and they're in confict
with themselves.

1639
01:57:39,688 --> 01:57:44,672
And it's a terribly diffcult
thing to have to go through.

1640
01:57:44,794 --> 01:57:46,888
I think you have to
be true to yourself.

1641
01:57:53,002 --> 01:57:57,133
My mother never said
I love you a lot.

1642
01:57:57,206 --> 01:58:03,237
But she'd show it when
you'd least expect it.

1643
01:58:03,345 --> 01:58:05,132
My mother and I are
sitting on the back terrace

1644
01:58:05,214 --> 01:58:08,184
having breakfast one
morning after church.

1645
01:58:08,250 --> 01:58:10,185
And she leaned over and kissed
me on the cheek and said,

1646
01:58:10,252 --> 01:58:12,847
I love you very much.

1647
01:58:12,922 --> 01:58:13,935
I was in a good place with her.

1648
01:58:14,056 --> 01:58:14,739
I know that.

1649
01:58:14,857 --> 01:58:18,692
And she was in a
good place with me.

1650
01:58:18,761 --> 01:58:19,683
I miss her.

1651
01:58:26,735 --> 01:58:31,355
There's something
well-grounded about Tab.

1652
01:58:31,440 --> 01:58:36,242
That's why he's lasted all
these years is that he's real.

1653
01:58:36,345 --> 01:58:37,028
He's like the earh.

1654
01:58:37,113 --> 01:58:39,901
He's solid.

1655
01:58:40,015 --> 01:58:44,510
He's happy in his own
special way to live his life,

1656
01:58:44,587 --> 01:58:47,011
and he's had a happy life.

1657
01:58:47,089 --> 01:58:48,853
He chose that right road.