Keeping tabs
By Skye Mayring
May 21, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Shoveling horse manure in Los Feliz does not typically serve as
a gateway into movie stardom, unless your name is Tab Hunter, the
Warner Bros.’ strategically devised heartthrob of the 1950s.
Hunter’s affinity for horses herded him into the company of
Hollywood influentials who frequented the stables for studio
business, steering Hunter through the capricious ride of fame.
The popular-culture-deemed “Sigh Guy,” star of more
than 50 films, former pop singer and current film producer comes to
UCLA today to discuss his New York Times extended-list bestseller
memoir, “The Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie
Star,” in an event presented by the UCLA Department of
English, the Friends of English, the Young Research Library Special
Collections and The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campus
Research Center. The event will take place at 7 p.m. in Royce
314.
“I think it’s going to be a fun, light evening and a
nice closer for the year. Tab Hunter is a very ingratiating person
who can show everyone what it is like to have your life directed
for you,” said Judith Linde, president of Friends of
English.
The evening features an interview with Hunter and clips
encompassing his 50-year career in film, and it finishes with a
reception and book signing.
“I have no idea why (the book) has been so successful.
It’s overwhelming. I suppose it’s because I talk about
the people I’ve worked with in the industry and the demise of
the studio system that will never be again,” Hunter said.
In his autobiography, Hunter unveils the contrivance of his
stardom and the aftermath. His agent, Henry Wilson, had a formula
for creating all-American heartthrobs such as Rock Hudson, Troy
Donahue and Guy Madison, which began with christening his clients
with a new name; Art Gelien metamorphosed into Tab Hunter. Without
any formal training, the newly dubbed Hunter landed a long-term
contract with Warner Bros., which afforded him lead roles in
“Battle Cry” and “Damn Yankees.”
Warner Bros. did more than integrate him into successful films:
The studio also created a commodity out of the film star,
capitalizing on his personal life.
Hunter, who is gay, entertained his studio’s pre-arranged
“dates,” (co-stars such as Natalie Woods and Debbie
Reynolds) while the movie magazines fabricated lusty romances out
of their publicity photographs. In 1956, the “Sigh Guy”
received 6,200 Valentines from his predominately teenage girl fan
base.
The following year, Hunter topped Elvis on Billboard’s pop
chart with his debut hit, “Young Love.”
After buying out his studio contract so that he could work
independently, Hunter found mild success and turned to dinner
theater to pay the bills.
“My wife came to see Tab Hunter; I came for the roast
beef!” said an audience member, following one of
Hunter’s “Jeremy Troy” performances. The story is
one of many that Hunter chronicles in “The Tab Hunter
Confidential.”
Since his post-studio contract struggles, Hunter starred in John
Water’s “Polyester,” playing the love interest of
Divine, a 300-pound transsexual, and alongside Michelle Pfeiffer as
the sex education teacher in “Grease 2.”
Approaching his 75th birthday this summer, Hunter shares his
days with life partner, Allan Glaser, enjoying the simple pleasures
of life ““ attending a morning stretch class, taking the dog
for a walk on the beach, and working in his garden.
“I’m happy to be forgotten,” Hunter said.
