Tab Hunter Confidential Page #6

She'd have a date

with Dennis Hopper.

And I'd go see Tony.

(SINGING) Shh, don't

let it get around.

(SPEAKING) Tony and I did

go on couple dates together:

Tab and Tony and I

went out together.

I suppose I was a beard.

But I was happy to

be a beard because we

were having a good / I knew the

game, and we were playing it.

In the fan magazines there would

being a picture of Tab and I.

And then in the nex page

there'd be a picture of Tony

and I doing something else,

but never just Tab and Tony.

(SINGING) Shh, don't

let it get around.

I did feel that Tab and

Tony had a real relationship.

I could see them together:

But it was a painful

relationship,

at least for Tony.

Tony was more in love with

Tab than Tab was with him.

Whenever Tab and Tony

got into a fght,

Tony would come to

my house and cry

on my shoulder about

how mean Tab was.

My relationship with Tony, I

never discussed with anyone.

And if one of my so-called

friends or my friends

would mention it, I probably

would have gone berserk.

I would have hated

it and denied it

emphatically--

(EXPLOSION SOUND) where I

could blow it up very quickly.

Tony, as the audience

ovation indicates,

your career is cerainly

going full steam ahead.

Tony was on his way to

being a pretty big star.

Tony's career was most imporant

to him, more than anything.

He could be exremely charming.

But I think he had a

hidden agenda, as far

as his career was concerned.

You never really

knew Tony 100%.

There was always

a secretive side,

and he was a bit of a game

player with people's minds.

Can't you see it's a brush-of

They're trying me

out at a position.

They know I can't play it!

Just as soon as I make a few

errors, they're gonna drop me!

Can't you see it?

TAB HUNTER:
The frst

live television show

I did was "Fear Strikes Out."

I played Jimmy Piersall.

He was a ball player

who had mental problems.

Tony caught my performance and

told me how much he liked it.

I confded in Tony

that I wanted Warner

Brothers to buy the project for

me to make a movie out of it.

One evening we were playing

ping pong on a terrace,

and he said, oh, by the

way, Paramount just bought

"Fear Strikes Out" for me.

And it just was like, whoa.

He had mentioned

it to the studio,

and they got it for him.

He was a very ambitious young

man and a very fne actor

and he should be working.

But I did feel

betrayed by that move.

When, Jimmy-- when that's

all you ever cared about.

And you're killing me.

You've been killing

me for years.

Yes, you have.

And it's too much.

He was very good in the flm.

But our relationship

was strained after that.

He told me that

his studio didn't

want him to see me anymore.

We saw less and

less of each other,

and we just sor of grew apar.

"Damn Yankees" was

a huge Broadway hit.

Jack Warner bought

"Damn Yankees" for me.

It was the frst really

good project for me

from Warner Brothers.

Jack Warner brought in

the whole New York cast,

except for the lead, and

he wanted me to do that.

I was the only outsider in it.

It needed some

sparkle, which he had.

What's the story on this kid'?

This Tab Hunter was

like a breath of spring.

WOW!

The director was George Abbott.

He didn't want me at all.

He wanted Don Murray.

Warner said, I want you

to the use Tab Hunter.

He's the biggest

star at my studio.

Every one of his

pictures is popular.

Tab was cerainly at

the top of his game.

George Abbott and

I did not get along.

The frst time I met him

was at the read through.

The whole New York

cast was sitting there.

And after I read a

few lines, he said,

I want you to read it like this.

And he gave me a line reading,

which actors do not like.

I want to exercise the escape

clause which is to take place

on the 24th, which is today.

So I read it the

way he wanted me to.

We went on, and he

stopped me about two

or three or four times.

And fnally, I just

had had enough.

So I stopped, and I said, Mr.

Abbott, from what I gather,

you'd like me to do

it the way Stephen

Douglas did it on Broadway.

He said, yes, yes.

That's exactly

what I would like.

I said, well, I

thought Stephen Douglas

had a magnifcent voice, but

I thought he was a real stick.

If I play the

character, frst of all,

he's got to be human being.

That was the wrong

thing to tell him.

Oh, I'm honest, but,

uh, I'm dumb too.

He closed his script, said,

thank you all very much.

He got up and left the room,

and I was fred off the picture.

Jack Warner went

to Abbott and said,

I bought it for Tab Hunter.

Tab Hunter's going to do it.

You don't say no to Jack Warner.

OK, you win.

Get a uniform.

- You mean it?

- I mean it.

- Wow!

I made it!

(mum-nus)

Sol did the flm,

but it was diffcult,

knowing that he'd never wanted

me right from the star.

(SINGING) Whatever

Lola wants, Lola gets.

And Gwen Verdon- Gwen

always called me like a New

York cab driver-- Tab Huntah.

(LAUGHING) I loved it.

The choreographer

was Bobby Fosse.

You can't get any

better than that.

Bobby Fosse made me

look like I could dance,

even though I have

two left feet.

And he said, don't

worry about it, Tab.

You'll be fne.

You see, Mr., uh, Mr.--

Uh, Hardy- uh, Joe Hardy.

I just felt like I wanted

to take him in my arms.

Well, he was perfect

for the role.

He was delicious

in it, and I think

that Mr. Abbott was very very

satisfed with him ultimately.

All right, a caron

of Winstons, and Tab,

thanks a million.

- Thank you very much.

He was always, always

trying to be better.

Probably at that time his

looks got in the way a bit.

I've had a great

evening. really I have.

I'll never forget it.

The era that Tab

got kind of stuck in

was that era when we were all

very attracted to the Brando

angst and the Jimmy Dean angst.

You're tearing me apar!

TAB HUNTER:
Warner Brothers

had Jimmy as the rebel,

and they had me as

the all-American boy.

So they had their bases covered.

They did discuss me for the

Jimmy Dean role in "Rebel

Without a Cause."

Can you imagine that? (LAUGHING)

He didn't get the opporunities

with some of those pars

that he could've done very well.

And they were terribly

complicated people.

And one of the great

assets of Tab Hunter

was the fact that he

didn't look like a terribly

complicated person.

You know, it's a curse

and it's a blessing

to have that kind of career

where they think that you are

that infectious smile or

you are that person that

jumps off the screen to them.

Tab had a very

diffcult time trying

to prove that behind this

face there really is a talent.

ANNOUNCER:
Playhouse 90,

tonight starring Tab Hunter.

TAB HUNTER:
The director

Arhur Penn said, there's

a great script I've just read.

It was called "Porrait

of a Murderer."

He said, will you do it?

I said, oh, I don't think so.

Live television?

That would clear

the hell out of me.

I was awfully guilty of

saying, I can't do that,

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