The gay silent-film star who was loud and proud
NEW PLAY HONORS THE FIERCE, FABULOUS AND NEARLY FORGOTTEN MOVIE STAR WILLIAM HAINES
Even some avid film buffs may struggle to remember MGM star William Haines, whose movie career peaked in the early 1930s.
Haines was able to survive the transition from silent films to talkies, but he couldn’t continue as a movie star while hiding his sexuality.
Given an ultimatum between MGM stardom and living openly with the man he loved, Jimmie Shields, Haines quit screen acting forever.
A Connecticut playwright stumbled on a 2001 Haines biography that was posted on YouTube, and he was inspired to document the late actor’s life story.
Haines died in 1973, decades after pivoting from matinee idol to influential interior designer in Beverly Hills. That’s where Jack Rushen’s play, “Taming the Lion,” debuted last week, at Theatre 40.
The play is the culmination of dutiful research fueled by admiration.
“The thing I admire most about William Haines was his ability to not give in to the powers that be,” says Rushen, who lives in Bridgeport. “He lived the life he wanted to — he did the things that made him happy.”
In the play, Haines’ boss, MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer keeps telling him, “we just want to make you happy here,” to which Haines responds, “How do you know what can make me happy? It’s not possible for another human being to gauge the happiness of others.”
The imagined dialog is rooted in a real-life showdown.
Mayer pressured Haines to hide his homosexuality and enter a “lavendar marriage” with a woman. He went so far as to try blackmailing another MGM star, Joan Crawford, into persuading Haines to destroy his gay relationship. Crawford, who is depicted in the play, refuses and becomes a lifelong friend to both Haines and Shields.
“Mayer just never got it, so Haines walked away and became the most popular interior designer and antiques dealer in Hollywood for nearly 50 years,” says Rushen.
His relationship with Shields lasted just as long, and it was never hidden — an unusual and brave posture for the time. Their clients were at the pinacle of California society, from Betsy Bloomingdale to the Reagans and the Annenbergs.
Rushen’s Beverly Hills production follows numerous stage triumphs. He is a two-time firstplace winner in the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition for “Taming the Lion,” and another play called “Image.” He also won first place in the Standing Ovation Awards for his short play, “Testimonial,” which was subsequently published in “The Best Short Plays of 2019” by Smith & Kraus.
“Taming the Lion” was developed at the Theatre Artists Worskshop” in Norwalk, and has received several readings across various venues. For Pride Month in 2018, “Taming the Lion” was featured in development at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Pittsfield, Mass., and won a significant grant from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation.
Rushen began his career as an actor, working in clubs, stage, television and film, beginning in Michael Moriarty’s production of “Richard III” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
He also appeared in several regional theater productions, including “The Admirable Crichton,” “Ethan Frome” and “The Doctor’s Dilemma” at the Long Wharf in New Haven. Rushen also appeared in “Antony and Cleopatra” under the direction of Mark Lamos at Hartford Stage.
The new play received favorable reviews in national media.
“It’s an entertaining glimpse into a bygone era, and it remains relevant nearly nine decades later,” writes the Jewish Journal.
And Broadway World says that “this true story of a Hollywood legend is more fascinating than anything a screenwriter could invent.”
‘THE THING I ADMIRE MOST ABOUT WILLIAM HAINES WAS HIS ABILITY TO NOT GIVE IN TO THE POWERS THAT BE.’