Tab Hunter Confidential Page #9

I'm sure it was the least

Tab Hunter was ever paid,

and it was by far the most

I had ever paid anybody.

Doing a flm for John, you

got to fnd a spot on the foor

where you can sit down between

takes-- cold pizza at 2:00

AM. (mum-nus)

Are you my little fesh pot?

Mm-hmm.

It was the frst

time ever we had

quote, "a real

movie star" come in

and work with my movie stars.

Tab made out with

Divine who was in drag.

People could not

believe their eyes.

That's why the movie worked

because they together

were a great screen couple.

A couple of people said,

oh, don't worry about it.

Nobody's gonna see this flm.

The movie came out.

It was a hit.

And it defnitely

revitalized my career.

Mr. Tab Hunter, yay!

Well, there was a

whole new audience

that never heard of Tab Hunter.

Now, what is the

best time of the month

for a woman to conceive?

I feel like a new old

face or an old new face.

So I'm getting my toe in the

door to star all over again.

It's very exciting

Tab was serious

about his career.

But he never took

himself that seriously.

DR. ERNO:
Tab, what do

you do for a living?

Well, Erno, I'm a

Hollywood movie star,

and I've been in over 40 flms,

and I lived in Beverly Hills.

That sounds exciting.

He found himself amusing.

When you have a sense

of humor about yourself,

people appreciate

you in another way.

I wanted to work

with Divine again.

I had come up with the idea

of doing a Western comedy.

It was called

"Lust in the Dust."

ANNOUNCER:
Tab Hunter

is the stranger.

And Divine is Rosy Valdez.

Come and get it.

I turned over every

stone I possibly

could trying to get "Lust

in the Dust" going forward.

The frst time I

saw Tab in person

was when he walked

into my offce

at Fox to pitch

"Lust in the Dust."

Tab still had that star quality.

And I mentioned the

project to Allan.

And he hit on it right away and

said, what a wonderful idea.

Once Tab left the

meeting, I thought, yeah,

"Lust in the Dust" could work.

I knew I could trust

him almost immediately.

I found Allan very

attractive, very bright,

and I wanted to spend

more time with him.

Tab stared calling me.

And I thought

initially it was just

a follow up about "Lust in the

Dust," but it went beyond that.

Tab was 30 years

older and I was.

I was 23.

Tabb was 53.

But once we did

connect, I couldn't

imagine us not being together.

And then the more our

personal relationship grew,

the more I was determined

to get that movie done.

I tried to get it

going at Fox, and there

was a little bit of

interest, but they

ultimately passed on it.

Tab said to me I should get

involved and produce this.

Well, that would mean having

to leave my secure job

at Fox, which I did.

People told me I was taking a

big risk leaving the studio.

But I had a hunch

that my future would

be better with Tab, so I left.

He single-handedly raised

all the money for that flm.

You got it all wrong, honey.

You've been cheap all your life.

Cheap?

I was the sister of Divine.

This furniture is cheap.

I looked like a

drag queen, you know'?

(LAUGHING) I think

that was the idea.

My love scene with Tab

Hunter- we were in a shower.

It was delicious.

The frst flm I ever appeared

in was "Lust in the Dust."

That set, in paricular, had a

real sense of frivolity and fun

about it.

And I remember being

struck by Tab's naturalism

and how efforlessly everhing

he was doing was coming across.

Vctory shifts from man to man.

Deuteronomy'?

Homer.

Everybody was sor of

playing it larger than life.

"Lust in the Dust"

was well received,

and it cerainly opened doors

for us to do other things.

ALLAN GLASER:
Tab

defnitely had a value.

I got a lot of meetings just

because Tab was attached.

We were doing these

independent projects,

and Tab's celebrity helped

me raise the fnancing.

It was a very

productive time for us.

For me, it was a challenge to

make it work, which I enjoyed.

But not so much for Tab.

He didn't fnd that

same excitement

that I found in trying to

get these projects going.

Well, I never paid a

lot of attention what

was happening in Hollywood.

I let Allan do all

of that because he

was really good at it.

How are you'?

Tab Hunter.

By this time, Tab wasn't

too happy to continue acting.

Tab was still getting offers,

but he turned 90% of everhing

he was offered down.

People were coming out, and

that was their choice to do so,

and I respect that.

Personally, I didn't want my

sexuality to defne who I was.

I just didn't talk about.

It's not my comfor zone.

I was point-blank asked

about my sexuality.

Wasn't it diffcult

to be in a closet?

Some of the press occasionally

would cross that boundary,

I'm entitled to have

that line there,

and if I don't want to share

that with you, I won't.

I think it probably

means I fnally made it.

I mean, you can't be a star

without having a gay rumor out

there, can you'? (LAUGHING)

In some respects,

the business is

still like it was in the '50s.

It may be a lot more

socially acceptable to be gay.

But I know several

people who are very

prominent in this industry who

feel, perhaps legitimately,

that if they came out it would

affect their box offce appeal.

Let's put it this way, fellas,

a Gillette shave turns a trick.

For someone who is the fantasy

for women all across America

and the world, to come

out in the public and say,

I'm gay and expect to play

leading men is an issue.

It's still tricky.

Every actor who has a

secret, like being gay,

there's a par of us that

are afraid of Hollywood.

We're afraid to be

who we are completely.

That's a hard life to lead.

After decades of being in

the public eye, all I wanted

was my privacy.

In order to achieve that, I just

withdrew from it all for good.

My life had been very transient.

I never thought

of settling down.

But then Allan came

into my life and just

opened up whole new vistas.

We're so much of a

par of each other

now because we have been

together for so long.

And it's just one

of those things.

It works.

Allan's a very

stabilizing infuence.

I have a wonderful

relationship with Allan that's

grown over SO-some years.

This is really an

incredible person that I

want to spend my life with.

What brings Tab pleasure

on a daily basis,

and I can sum it up in

one word, is Harlow.

This old cow, look at her.

ALLAN GLASER:
Harlow, Tab's

horse, is what gives Tab joy.

This is what makes me happiest.

This is where I really

feel more at ease

than I would anywhere else.

It's getting up in

the morning, having

to go clean out that stall,

having to groom that horse.

Whoa, listen to

your belly growl!

That sounds like a pretty good

life-- riding horses and just

kind of cooling his heels.

OK move your tush, sweethear.

He's a better man than I am.

I try to stay away from

anything weighing 1,400 pounds

and has a brain the

size of a walnut.

When you have a passion

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