Tab Hunter Tells All

1950s Heartthrob Confronts His Sexuality, Struggle With Fame

(CBS) 
Warner Brothers promoted his teen sex-symbol image relentlessly, Spencer says.

Encouraging dates with starlets from Debbie Reynolds to Natalie Wood, the movie magazines had a field day with Tab Hunter's alleged love life.

But even in uptight Hollywood of the 1950s, there were whispers. And in 1955, Confidential Magazine broke a story implying that the heartthrob Hunter was gay.

Well, Hunter says today, they were right.

"I was living a lie, absolutely," he says. "I was another person. I mean, my sexuality was my sexuality. And it was not what people, you know, perceived. You know, people believe what they want to believe. But this was very difficult for me."

Spencer notes that the 1950s was not the time to be gay in Hollywood.

Hunter replies says, "But you don't talk about it. I never talked about those things."

Asked if he thought others in the Hollywood community knew he is gay, Hunter says, "Some did, probably. Some didn't."

He jokes that on double dates with Tony Perkins, he was less interested in his date than in Perkins, with whom he had a two-year relationship.

Hunter explains that he was able to hide his sexuality because, "I am just a very private person."

Spencer notes a passage in Hunter's book that says, "I never acted 'straight' to get by. I wasn't getting away with something. I behaved the same way all the time. With me, what you saw is what you got."

Hunter explains that he decided to write his biography once he learned someone else was ready to publish his story. "I thought, look, get it from the horse's mouth, not some horse's ass," Hunter quips.

In any case, so powerful was Warner Brothers' public relations that his career flourished, despite the rumors, in movie after movie.

And in 1956, he stepped into a recording booth for the very first time.

"Young Love" knocked Elvis off the top of the charts and won Hunter a spot on Perry Como's TV show. "It really shocked me when this jumped up to number one like that," Hunter says. "I was scared to death."