Tab Hunter, who found fame in the ’50s as a leading man and one of Hollywood’s closeted gay celebrities, has passed away at the age of 86 at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara — near the California home where he’d retired to raise his horses alongside his longtime life partner Alan Glaser after decades of trying to hide his sexuality. The star of films like “The Burning Hills” and “Damn Yankees” dramatically came out of the closet in 2005 with his autobiography, “Tab Hunter Confidential,” which confirmed earlier National ENQUIRER reports that his true great Hollywood love was “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins. Read on for more about the Hollywood legend, and click here for the inside story on gay and lesbian celebs who once stayed in the closet…
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“Tony and I were together for two or three years,” Tab said in 2015. “Warner Bros. never said a word to me about it, either. But the Paramount studio eventually told Tony, literally, ‘We don’t want you seeing Tab anymore.’” Tab added the studio then gave Tony the lead role in "Fear Strikes Out" — after Tab had gotten raves for an earlier performance as troubled baseball star Jimmy Piersall.
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Tab — born as Arthur Kelm in 1931 — was also sent out on dates with starlets like frequent co-star
Natalie Wood. “I loved her like a little sister,” he recalled. “We’d have our pictures taken going inside a restaurant. Then I’d go home after dinner, and she’d sneak out a back door to go on a date with
Dennis Hopper!”
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The former star even boasted that he still personally cleaned out the stables for his beloved horses. Said Tab: “I’d rather be there shoveling the real stuff than the Hollywood stuff!”
“Tony and I were together for two or three years,” Tab said in 2015. “Warner Bros. never said a word to me about it, either. But the Paramount studio eventually told Tony, literally, ‘We don’t want you seeing Tab anymore.’” Tab added the studio then gave Tony the lead role in "Fear Strikes Out" — after Tab had gotten raves for an earlier performance as troubled baseball star Jimmy Piersall.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Tab — born as Arthur Kelm in 1931 — was also sent out on dates with starlets like frequent co-star
Natalie Wood. “I loved her like a little sister,” he recalled. “We’d have our pictures taken going inside a restaurant. Then I’d go home after dinner, and she’d sneak out a back door to go on a date with
Dennis Hopper!”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
The former star even boasted that he still personally cleaned out the stables for his beloved horses. Said Tab: “I’d rather be there shoveling the real stuff than the Hollywood stuff!”
