Tab Hunter, ’50s Hollywood heartthrob, dies at age 86
Tab Hunter, the blond actor and singer who was a heartthrob for millions of teenagers in the 1950s, 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.
Hunter was a star for several years. He appeared in hit movies such as “Battle Cry” and “Damn Yankees” and received new attention decades later when he revealed that he was gay. In addition, 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 women when he was, in reality, a gay man.
“The dilemma, of course, that was being true to myself — and I’m talking sexually now — was impossible in 1953,” he wrote.
Born Arthur Andrew Kelm, his screen tab (slang for name at the time) was fabricated by Henry Willson, the same agent who gaverock Hudson and Rory Calhoun their screen names.
Among his screen highlights the 1958 “Damn Yankees,” an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. 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.”
In his memoir, he said that his career flourished despite 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 said in 2005, “because I’m a really private person. I grew up full of denial. I just didn’t like any suggestions or questioning of my sexuality.”
He didn’t dwell on his Hollywood career or regret losing it. “I had my fling, and I was very fortunate,” he said. “But that’s all in my past.”