HOLLYWOOD — Tab Hunter, the 1950s heartthrob who portrayed Joe Hardy in the “Damn Yankees!” movie, has died. He was 86.
Hunter died Sunday night in Santa Barbara from a blood clot that caused a heart attack, Allan Glaser, his romantic partner of more than three decades, told the Hollywood Reporter, describing his death as “unexpected and sudden.”
A Facebook page linked to the star also announced his passing with a message that read: “SAD NEWS: Tab passed away tonight three days shy of his 87th birthday. Please honor his memory by saying a prayer on his behalf. He would have liked that.”
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FILE – This July 27, 1959 file photo shows actor Tab Hunter, left, with actress Tuesday Weld at a dinner reception in Los Angeles. Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, died on Sunday, July 8, 2018. He was 86. (AP Photo/File)
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FILE – In this April 3, 1967 file photo shows actor Tab Hunter. Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, died Sunday, July 8, 2018. He was 86. (AP Photo/File)
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This undated image shows actor Tab Hunter. Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, died Sunday, July 8, 2018. He was 86. (AP Photo, File)
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FILE – In this Oct. 14, 2005, file photo, Hollywood icon Tab Hunter answers questions from the crowd during a book signing in New York for his memoir, “Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.” Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, has died. He was 86. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
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FILE – In this Aug. 13, 2013 file photo, actor Tab Hunter arrives at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, died Sunday, July 8, 2018. He was 86. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
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In this Dec. 6, 1955 file photo, Natalie Wood, left, Tab Hunter and Peggy Lee, pose with trophies at the Audience Awards in Los Angeles. Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was the heartthrob of millions of teenage girls in the 1950s, and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, died on Sunday, July 8, 2018. He was 86. (AP Photo, File)
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After decades of silence, Hunter confirmed long-standing rumors about his homosexuality in his autobiography, “Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star,” published in 2005. Hunter said he had been told by Glaser that someone was planning to write a book about him, according to the Reporter.
“I thought, Look, get it from the horses mouth and not from some horses ass after Im dead and gone,” he told the Reporter in 2015. “I didnt want someone putting a spin on my life.”
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The blondish Hunter was a constant presence on the front of fan and teen magazines in his heyday. After he beat out James Dean and Paul Newman to portray a young Marine in Raoul Walshs “Battle Cry” (1955), Warner Bros. picked up his option and signed him to a seven-year contract, and he appeared in “The Girl He Left Behind” (1956) and “Burning Hills” (1956).
“If I had come out during my acting career in the 1950s, I would not have had a career,” Hunter said in an October 2017 interview. “Not much in Hollywood has changed in 60 years. I really didnt talk about my sexuality until I wrote my autobiography.
“My film career had long since been over by then. I believe ones sexuality is ones own business. I really dont go around discussing it. Call me old school on that topic.”
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