Gay actresses in old hollywood
When Hollywood Studios Married Off Gay Stars to Preserve Their Sexuality a Secret
Valentino also married costume planner Natacha Rambova in 1923, at a time when his career was starting to take off and the roles he played were seen as less typically masculine, such as in the film “Monsieur Beaucaire” in 1924. His marriage to Rambova ended in 1925, which left some speculating that the marriages of the “pink powder puff” (a nickname Valentino acquired after playing effeminate roles on screen) were coverups to retain the sex symbol’s reputation intact.
Identifying how many Hollywood couples tied the knot to cloak their sexuality is, of course problematic since it’s primarily based on speculation_._
“I think the hardest thing for a historian is to gentle of sift through what the rumor [is] and what is actually factual," says Tropiano.
One commonly cited source for speculation is the memoir of Scotty Bowers, Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars. Bowers’ account details sexual encounters, gay and straight, that he claims he both arranged and took part in, beginning in 1946.
Bowers wrote that he had been sexually involved with lead
Hollywood's Golden Age Gays. The list is LONG.
R17
Thank you , will have to check out your recommendation.
Reading Hollywood Babylon am struck at all the suicides, murders (unsolved) and other criminal activity (including drugs). Knew hard core drugs were around since after time 1800's or so, but had no idea so much of Hollywood were dope fiends.
The unsolved murders are also striking. More so since people called the studios, other actors, and everyone else first before LE. By occasion LE did arrive the crime scene was often not only contaminated but things missing.
Some quick proof checking already proves Kenneth Anger played fast and lose with the truthfulness. His gory account of Marie Prevost's death is largely fiction.
Cool thing, to me anyway is many of the places where various Hollywood stars involved suicide are still around. Wonder if any are haunted?
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | February 23, 2020 1:16 PM |
5. Stars from a Bi-Gone Era
Most of the stories that we discussed came from one guy: Scotty Bowers, a Hollywood pimp of the queer silver screen actors of the 1940s and beyond. He was also associated with Alfred Kinsey in his famous study of human sexuality in the 1950s by providing many of the interview subjects.
A former marine, Bowers kept hushed for many years about these stories, as he did not want to adversely affect the lives of any of the actors who were still around. Many of the stories were actively hushed up using fixers paid by the studios at the time, and several of the actors were in "lavender marriages"---marriages arranged by the studio, frequently with another queer performer. At the time, studios especially would not hold wanted the queer attractions of their headlining actors to be widely recognizable, as that would possess damaged the 'wholesome family image' of many of the films they wanted to market.
After all of the actors died, Bowers finally decided that his experiences and stories couldn't harm their image or beloved status---plus the nature was a more unseal place to queer attraction---so he wrote about it. His memoir, Full Service, records many of the t
Old Hollywood Stars You Didn't Know Were Gay
Let's state the obvious: Being a gay celebrity during the days of Ancient Hollywood was no saunter in the park. Behind Tinseltown's glitzy facade loomed the specter of Hollywood's "sexual gestapo," a legal title coined by Matt Tyrnauer, director of the documentary Scotty and the Private History of Hollywood (via NPR). "It was very difficult," he said, "for people to hold authentic lives." And Tyrnauer should know: His motion picture profiled L.A. personality Scotty Bowers, who reportedly acted as a "confidante, ally, and pimp for Hollywood's closeted movie stars."
The threat of exposure was concrete and ever-present for these entertainers. Per Tyrnauer, studio contracts contained so-called "moral clauses" that could instantly vaporize a lucrative career. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department's vice squad were all too willing to bust celebrities, often working in cahoots with the press in their quest to hobble reputations.
Definitively name-checking these stars is impossible, as they were all in the closet throughout their careers. SFGate cannily suggested that "gossip is where the real truth lies" in this are
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