Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star

Loved reading about his hollywood experiences.

I knew almost nothing about Tab Hunter, except the name, and hearthrob status, before reading this autobiography. Now I feel as though I virtually know, and LIKE the man. That is the highest praise I could imagine giving for such a work. The book is highly readable and comes across as conversational and intimate. It is neither sordid nor prurient, and those looking for same will find instead an insider's look at the fame treadmill and the honest, warts and all story behind a Hollywood male heartthrob. This book, much more so than THE MAN WHO MADE ROCK HUDSON, made me want to rent or buy the films of the former Arthur Gelien and reread the book while watching, to add to the experience. This is a wonderful item to have while the author is still living, and still vital. Hats off to Mr. Gelien!

At a party some years ago, when everyone was asked to name the celebrity whose "memory banks" he most wanted to plunder, I chose Tab Hunter. Being of a certain age, I still thought of him as "the golden boy" from the last golden age of Hollywood. Naturally, when I found out that he was writing his memoirs, I expected to be regaled with some titillating gossip from the era of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. In other words, I expected glitz and glamour galore. On reading the actual book, however, my impression changed with the first chapter, which recounts a grim childhood worthy of Dickens, and presided over by a strong-minded, but harsh and mentally unbalanced mother. His extraordinary good looks did little to ease Hunter's transition out of adolescence, plagued as he was by insecurities and doubts, not the least of which concerned his sexuality. His discovery by a movie agent while working in a stable and his signing a 7-year contract with Warner's are the stuff of legends and there are plenty of tales about the end of the studio era which will make lovers of 50's movies sigh with nostalgia. But the general impression I came away with, after finishing his book, is that for this "golden boy" life was anything but glittering. After leaving Warner's while still in his 20's, he had to scramble just to make a living, often working in projects that were nothing short of embarrassing. Not that he had such a lavish life style to maintain. In fact, we discover that he chose to contribute to the support of his mother (despite her constant criticisms) and his widowed sister-in-law with her seven children, over the course of many years. With few complaints (and who could blame him), he describes the innuendoes and insults he at times had to put up with from certain colleagues, journalists and members of the public, just to keep drawing a paycheck, often in spaghetti-westerns or dinner theater drivel. Yet the emphasis in this book is always on the positive. Hunter is more eager to celebrate a friend or tout a project he's keen on than to grind axes or settle old scores. Not that he's the Pollyanna type; in fact, the character he most resembles is Voltaire's Candide, the much-battered optimist who's struggling to gain some hard-earned wisdom. He doesn't present himself as a saint, but comes across in this book as a basically decent guy, who takes pride in his achievements but has no illusions about his abilities, one who wants to be honest but prefers to keep his private life just exactly that. Consequently, there was less gossip and "dirt" in this book than I had anticipated. However, the story he has to tell and his way of recounting it kept me totally engrossed from the first to the last page. It gave a far darker, but also a more interesting "take" on his more-gilded-than-golden life. Consequently, these memoirs are not what I had been expecting. But, in the end, they make for far better reading.

I was picking up my drink order at Starbucks the other night, my book in hand, when the Barista asked my what I was reading. I showed her the book and told her it was about Tab Hunter. Her face fell a bit, unsure what to say. I then asked her if she had even heard of him, and she admitted she had not. I quickly explained to her that he was the one of the first pretty-boy screen idols of the 1950's, a sort of Ashton Kutchner (a sad comparison, I know) of his day. I showed her the pictures in the book of the handsome "Sigh Guy" and she suddenly understood what the book was all about. While I've seen very little of Hunter's work, I've always been fascinated by him. But he was also part of the old Hollywood that I love so much. And he was just so damn good looking. The genetic perfect, you love them and hate them. Art Gelien won the genetic lottery and like so many "movie stars" of today, became a hit -even if they had no talent (hello, Ashton). Still, Tab Hunter turned out not be just another pretty face. Even he knew that his rise to fame came because he had perfect cheekbones and looked very, very, very good shirtless. But unlike today's pretty-boys, Hunter knew he could be better and was determined to show the world that there was something below the surface. Even if the studios didn't fully understand who they had in their pocketbooks. Tab Hunter Confidential is perhaps the best autobiography of Hollywood superstar I've read. With honesty and a great sense of humor, Hunter takes us on a glorious ride through old Hollywood, when the studio ways were ending. Where movies began to be pitched towards teenagers instead of adults, where character pieces and epic story telling were pushed aside for empty, marshmallow war dramas and beach films. And where being gay was almost as bad as being a communist. I don't remember where I first saw a picture of Hunter, but I had heard of him from my mother, who, while 4 years younger than him, was the demographic the his films vied for. And, when I first saw Polyester back in the 80's, I knew deep down in me that Hunter was gay. After all, it took one to know one. Still handsome, I would look through old Hollywood books and see his picture and sort of think that had I been around during his popularity, I would've been one of his biggest fans. Years later, when I saw his striking image on the cover of Shirtless! The Hollywood Male Physique in 2001, I drooled all over it. The sad thing is I never bought the book for myself, but did give it as a birthday present to a good friend who loved these guys as much as I did. But I love old Hollywood, as I've read many books by the men and women who starred in those great films, to the biography's of the men who made Hollywood. The sad, one striking thing that remains, is Hollywood's treatment of gay actors and singers who cannot live openly due to the parochial, conservative attitudes that has run rampant over the last 20 years since AIDS. For every Rupert Eve

Pop star, matinee idol and alternate darling/demon of the 50's & 60's tabloids, Tab Hunter has had an amazing life in the public eye. Now he recollects memorable moments and reveals his behind-the-scenes experiences in this thoughtfully written autobiography. Less of a "tell all" and more of a "tell ABOUT," Tab recounts encounters with an amazing array of friends, lovers and co-stars. Film buffs will especially enjoy reading anecdotes about Tallulah Bankhead, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren, Debbie Reynolds, Gwen Verdon and Anthony Perkins--with whom Tab had a secret, intimate relationship. Tab never sells out. Though now open about his sexuality, he remains a staunch Catholic with some pretty conservatives views about marriage, sexuality, politics and fame. It makes for exceptionally compelling reading in this day and age of celebrity-driven headlines. Great collection of photos, too, that show Tab was (and is) more than mere beefcake!