By Shawn Marsh
The Associated Press
Tab Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was a heartthrob for millions of teenagers in the 1950s with such films as “Battle Cry” and “Damn Yankees” and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay, has died. He was 86.
Producer and spouse Allan Glaser said Hunter died Sunday of a blood clot in his leg that caused cardiac arrest. Glaser called the death “sudden and unexpected.”
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)
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)
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)
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)
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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Hunter was a star for several years. In addition to his hit movies, his recording of “Young Love” topped the Billboard pop chart in 1957.
But in his 2005 memoir, “Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star,” Hunter recounted the stresses of being a love object to millions of young women when he was, in reality, a gay man.
“I believed, wholeheartedly — still do — that a persons happiness depends on being true to themselves,” he wrote. “The dilemma, of course, that was being true to myself — and Im talking sexually now — was impossible in 1953.”
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Among those stars honoring Hunter on Monday included Harvey Fierstein, who called Hunter a “gay icon” and a “true gentleman” on Twitter, adding, “We shared some good laughs back in the 80s. I was always fond of this dear man.”
Zachary Quinto on Instagram also cheered Hunters “vital and generous nature” and called him a “pioneer of self-acceptance” who moved through the world “with authenticity as his guide.” GLAAD tweeted “Our hearts are with Tabs loved ones.”
Born Arthur Andrew Kelm, his screen tab (slang for “name” at the time) was fabricated by Henry Willson, the same talent agent who came up with the names Rock Hudson and Rory Calhoun.
The legend goes that Willson said to the young man: “Weve got to find something to tab you with. Do you have any hobbies?” His client answered, “I ride horses. Hunters.” Agent: “Thats it! Well call you Tab Hunter.”
With no dramatic training, Hunter was cast in a minor role in the 1950 drama, “The Lawless.” The fuss over the young actor began two years later when he appeared bare-chested opposite Linda Darnell in the British-made “Island of Desire.” Soon his handsome face and muscular build appeared on magazine covers. Warner Bros., alert to the increasingly important youth market, signed him to a contract.
Hunter made a flurry of movies in the latter half of the 1950s, aimed at capitalizing on his popularity with young girls. The films included such war dramas as “Battle Cry” (with Van Heflin) and “Lafayette Escadrille” (Clint Eastwood in a small role). He made the Westerns “The Burning Hills” (Natalie Wood) and “They Came to Cordura” (Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth). And he made romantic comedies like “The Pleasure of His Company” (Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds.)
A highlight was the 1958 “Damn Yankees,” an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical with Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston in their Tony-winning New York roles and the original director, George Abbott, sharing direction with Stanley Donen. The New York Times critic noted that Hunter “has the clean, naive look of a lad breaking into the big leagues and into the magical company of a first-rate star.”
Besides the movies, he displayed his athletic skills — he had been a figure skater as well as horseman — in a TV special, “Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates.”
As with so many pop idols, his fans grew up and a new generation sought other favorites. His slide followed the classic pattern: to a television series (“The Tab Hunter Show,” on NBC, 1960-62); European films (“The Golden Arrow”) and cheap kid flicks (“Ride the Wild Surf.”) In his memoir, he took pains to note that “Ride the Wild Surf” was his only beach-party movie; his “Operation Bikini,” despite its title, was “yet another war movie.”
Over the years, he also played small roles in “The Loved One,” ”The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” and “Grease 2.”
In the 1980s, he won new fans by appearing in cult movies with Divine, the 300-pound drag performer, notably John Waters 1981 “Polyester” and Paul Bartels 1985 “Lust in the Dust,” co-produced by Hunter himself.
Of “Polyester,” Hunter wrote: “Everybody got the joke. … For both John and me, our collaboration paid huge dividends: Id helped legitimize his brand of movie, and he made me hip overnight.”
Hunter appeared on Broadway in 1964 in Tennessee Williams “The Milk Train Doesnt Stop Here Anymore” opposite the formidable Tallulah Bankhead. The play closed within days, and he said it was “completely buried under Tallulahs offhanded trademark campiness.”
Hunter was born in 1931 in New York City, the second son of a mechanic and his German immigrant wife. His father left the family two years later and the boy took his mothers name, Gelien. Young Arthur Gelien grew up in San Francisco and Long Beach, California, and joined the Coast Guard at 15, lying about his age.
While in New York, he saw Broadway plays and became interested in acting. Back in California, Willson arranged for a two-word role in a small Western, “The Lawless.” He got $500 and a new name.
In his memoir, he said that his career flourished despite some innuendo and smear articles in the scandal sheets — “clear evidence that despite its self-righteous claims, Confidential magazine did not influence the taste and opinions of mainstream America.”
Writing the book was difficult, he told The Associated Press in 2005, “because Im a really private person. I grew up full of denial. I just didnt like any suggestions or questioning of my sexuality.”
In 1960, Hunters boy-next-door reputation did take a hit when he was charged with cruelty for allegedly beating his dog. (He was acquitted.) In recent years, Hunter appeared in dinner theaters and organized film projects. After living on a ranch in New Mexico for a time, he took a home in Montecito in Santa Barbara County with Glaser.
He didnt dwell on his Hollywood career or regret losing it. “I had my fling, and I was very fortunate,” he remarked. “But thats all in my past.”
The late AP Entertainment Writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report.
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