Tab Hunter
Encyclopedia
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol
and author who has starred in over forty major films.
, competing in both singles
and pairs
, and a horseback rider.
In later years Hunter's mother was institutionalized and underwent shock treatments, and he supported her financially until her death.
. His good looks landed him a role in the film Island of Desire opposite Linda Darnell
. However, it was his co-starring role as young Marine Danny in 1955's World War II
drama Battle Cry
, in which he has an affair with an older woman, but ends up marrying the girl next door, that cemented his position as one of Hollywood's top young romantic leads. His other hit films include The Burning Hills with Natalie Wood
, That Kind Of Woman with Sophia Loren, Gunman's Walk With Van Heflin and The Pleasure Of His Company with Debbie Reynolds. He went on to star in over forty films.
In September 1955, the tabloid magazine Confidential
reported Hunter's 1950 arrest for disorderly conduct. The innuendo-laced article, and a second one focusing on Rory Calhoun
's prison record, were the result of a deal Henry Willson had brokered with the scandal rag in exchange for not revealing his more prominent client Rock Hudson
's sexual orientation to the public. Not only was there no negative impact on Hunter's career, but a few months later he was named Most Promising New Personality in a nationwide poll sponsored by the Council of Motion Picture Organizations.
Hunter had a 1957 hit record with a cover
of the song "Young Love", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart
for six weeks. He also had the hit "Ninety-Nine Ways", which peaked at #11 in the chart. His success prompted Jack Warner
to enforce the actor's contract with the Warner Bros.
studio by banning Dot Records
, the label for which Hunter had recorded the single (and which was owned by rival Paramount Pictures
), from releasing a follow-up album he had recorded for them. He established Warner Bros. Records specifically for Hunter, although his singing career foundered after a few more recordings.
Hunter was in the 1958 musical film Damn Yankees
, in which he played Joe Hardy of Washington D.C's American League
baseball
club. The film had originally been a Broadway
show, but Hunter was the only one in the film version who had not appeared in the original cast. The show was based on the 1954 best-selling book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
by Douglass Wallop
. Hunter later said the filming was hellish because director George Abbott
was only interested in re-creating the stage version word for word. Hunter was Warner Bros. top money grossing star from 1955 through 1959. In 1958, he sang on ABC
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
, a venue open to scores of performers in the entertainment world. On October 27, 1960, Hunter performed on NBC
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
.
Hunter's failure to win the role of Tony in the film adaptation of West Side Story
prompted him to agree to star in a weekly television
sitcom
. On July 9, 1960, prior to the program's debut, he was arrested by Glendale, California
police for allegedly beating his dog Fritz. His 11-day trial started in mid-October, a month after The Tab Hunter Show
debuted on Sunday evenings on NBC
. It was proved that the neighbor who initiated the charges had done so for spite when Hunter declined her repeated invitations to dinner, and he was acquitted by the jury. The Tab Hunter Show had low ratings and was hence cancelled after one season.
For a short time in the latter 1960s, Hunter settled in the south of France
, where he acted in spaghetti western
s. His career was revived in the 1980s, when he starred opposite actor Divine in John Waters
' Polyester
(1981) and Paul Bartel
's Lust in the Dust
(1985). He is particularly remembered by later audiences as Mr. Stewart, the substitute teacher in Grease 2
, who sang "Reproduction." Hunter had a major role in the 1988 horror film
Cameron's Closet
. He also wrote and starred in Dark Horse
(1992).
A documentary about Tab's life called "Tab Hunter Confidential" is being developed by producers Allan Glaser, Neil Koenigsberg, and Jeffrey Schwarz
of Automat Pictures
.
, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, he acknowledged his homosexuality
, confirming rumors that had circulated since the height of his fame. According to William L. Hamilton of The New York Times
, detailed reports about his alleged romances with very close friends Debbie Reynolds
and Natalie Wood
were strictly the fodder of studio publicity departments. As Wood and Hunter embarked on a well-publicized and groundless romance, promoting his apparent heterosexuality while promoting their films, insiders developed their own headline for the item: 'Natalie Wood and Tab Wouldn't'.
Hunter did become close enough with Etchika Choureau, his co-star in Lafayette Escadrille, and Joan Cohn, widow of Harry Cohn
, to contemplate marriage, but thought he never could maintain a marriage and remained merely platonic friends with both women.
During Hollywood's studio era, Hunter says, life "was difficult for me, because I was living two lives at that time. A private life of my own, which I never discussed, never talked about to anyone. And then my Hollywood life, which was just trying to learn my craft and succeed..." The star emphasizes that the word 'gay' "wasn't even around in those days, and if anyone ever confronted me with it, I'd just kinda freak out. I was in total denial. I was just not comfortable in that Hollywood scene, other than the work process." "There was a lot written about my sexuality, and the press was pretty darn cruel," the actor says, but what "moviegoers wanted to hold in their hearts were the boy-next-door marines, cowboys and swoon-bait sweethearts I portrayed."
Hunter had long-term relationships with bisexual actor Anthony Perkins
and champion figure skater Ronnie Robertson, before settling down with his partner of 30 years, Allan Glaser.
Hunter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6320 Hollywood Blvd.
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
and author who has starred in over forty major films.
Background
Hunter was born in New York to Charles Kelm and Gertrude Gelien. His parents were German immigrants - his father Jewish and his mother Lutheran. Hunter's father was an abusive man and within a few years of his birth, his parents divorced and his mother moved with her two sons to California. She reassumed her maiden surname Gelien and changed her sons' name to that as well. As a teenager Hunter was a figure skaterFigure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
, competing in both singles
Single skating
Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...
and pairs
Pair skating
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...
, and a horseback rider.
In later years Hunter's mother was institutionalized and underwent shock treatments, and he supported her financially until her death.
Career
Arthur Gelien was given the stage name "Tab Hunter" by his first agent, Henry WillsonHenry Willson
Henry Willson was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in popularizing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Robert Wagner, Nick Adams, Guy Madison, Troy Donahue, Rory Calhoun, Clint...
. His good looks landed him a role in the film Island of Desire opposite Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
. However, it was his co-starring role as young Marine Danny in 1955's World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
drama Battle Cry
Battle Cry (film)
Battle Cry is a 1955 CinemaScope film, starring Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore, Tab Hunter, Anne Francis, Dorothy Malone, Raymond Massey, and Mona Freeman...
, in which he has an affair with an older woman, but ends up marrying the girl next door, that cemented his position as one of Hollywood's top young romantic leads. His other hit films include The Burning Hills with Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
, That Kind Of Woman with Sophia Loren, Gunman's Walk With Van Heflin and The Pleasure Of His Company with Debbie Reynolds. He went on to star in over forty films.
In September 1955, the tabloid magazine Confidential
Confidential (magazine)
Confidential was a periodical published quarterly from December 1952 to August 1953, and then bi-monthly until 1978. It was founded by Robert Harrison and is considered a pioneer in scandal, gossip, and exposé journalism. Newsweek said it featured "sin and sex with a seasoning of right wing...
reported Hunter's 1950 arrest for disorderly conduct. The innuendo-laced article, and a second one focusing on Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
's prison record, were the result of a deal Henry Willson had brokered with the scandal rag in exchange for not revealing his more prominent client Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
's sexual orientation to the public. Not only was there no negative impact on Hunter's career, but a few months later he was named Most Promising New Personality in a nationwide poll sponsored by the Council of Motion Picture Organizations.
Hunter had a 1957 hit record with a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song "Young Love", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
for six weeks. He also had the hit "Ninety-Nine Ways", which peaked at #11 in the chart. His success prompted Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
to enforce the actor's contract with the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
studio by banning Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
, the label for which Hunter had recorded the single (and which was owned by rival Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
), from releasing a follow-up album he had recorded for them. He established Warner Bros. Records specifically for Hunter, although his singing career foundered after a few more recordings.
Hunter was in the 1958 musical film Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees (film)
Damn Yankees is a 1958 musical film made by Warner Bros., a modern version of the Faust story involving the New York Yankees and Washington Senators baseball teams. The film is based on the 1955 Broadway musical of the same name....
, in which he played Joe Hardy of Washington D.C's American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
club. The film had originally been a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show, but Hunter was the only one in the film version who had not appeared in the original cast. The show was based on the 1954 best-selling book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant is a 1954 novel by Douglass Wallop. It adapts the Faust theme to the world of American baseball in the 1950s.-Plot summary:...
by Douglass Wallop
Douglass Wallop
John Douglass Wallop III was an American novelist and playwright.-Early life:John Douglass Wallop III was born on March 8, 1920 to John Douglass, Jr., an insurance agent, and Marjorie Wallop ....
. Hunter later said the filming was hellish because director George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
was only interested in re-creating the stage version word for word. Hunter was Warner Bros. top money grossing star from 1955 through 1959. In 1958, he sang on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is a half-hour variety show that aired on ABC from October 3, 1957 to June 23, 1960, starring the young singer Pat Boone and a host of top-name guest stars. The program was of course sponsored by Chevrolet...
, a venue open to scores of performers in the entertainment world. On October 27, 1960, Hunter performed on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
.
Hunter's failure to win the role of Tony in the film adaptation of West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
prompted him to agree to star in a weekly television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
. On July 9, 1960, prior to the program's debut, he was arrested by Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
police for allegedly beating his dog Fritz. His 11-day trial started in mid-October, a month after The Tab Hunter Show
The Tab Hunter Show
The Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy starring former teen idol Tab Hunter. The series ran new episodes on NBC from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.-Synopsis:...
debuted on Sunday evenings on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. It was proved that the neighbor who initiated the charges had done so for spite when Hunter declined her repeated invitations to dinner, and he was acquitted by the jury. The Tab Hunter Show had low ratings and was hence cancelled after one season.
For a short time in the latter 1960s, Hunter settled in the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he acted in spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s. His career was revived in the 1980s, when he starred opposite actor Divine in John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
' Polyester
Polyester (film)
Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole...
(1981) and Paul Bartel
Paul Bartel
Paul Bartel was an American actor, writer and director. Bartel was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.-Life and career:...
's Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun...
(1985). He is particularly remembered by later audiences as Mr. Stewart, the substitute teacher in Grease 2
Grease 2
Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film...
, who sang "Reproduction." Hunter had a major role in the 1988 horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Cameron's Closet
Cameron's Closet
Cameron's Closet, also known as Cameron's Terror, is a 1988 American horror film. The film was directed by Armand Mastroianni and stars Scott Curtis, Cotter Smith, Mel Harris, Tab Hunter, Kim Lankford, Gary Hudson and William Lustig.-Plot:...
. He also wrote and starred in Dark Horse
Dark Horse (1992 film)
Dark Horse is a 1992 American drama film directed by David Hemmings. The screenplay by Janet Maclean was adapted from an original story by Tab Hunter.-Plot:...
(1992).
A documentary about Tab's life called "Tab Hunter Confidential" is being developed by producers Allan Glaser, Neil Koenigsberg, and Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz is President & CEO of Automat Pictures, a Los Angeles based entertainment company specializing in the production of studio EPKs , Blu-ray and DVD content, original television programming, and feature films....
of Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures is a multi-award winning entertainment production company based in Los Angeles, which specializes in EPK, Blu-ray and DVD Added Value, as well original television programming, web content and independent feature film production....
.
Personal life
In Hunter's 2005 best selling autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, he acknowledged his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, confirming rumors that had circulated since the height of his fame. According to William L. Hamilton of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, detailed reports about his alleged romances with very close friends Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
and Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
were strictly the fodder of studio publicity departments. As Wood and Hunter embarked on a well-publicized and groundless romance, promoting his apparent heterosexuality while promoting their films, insiders developed their own headline for the item: 'Natalie Wood and Tab Wouldn't'.
Hunter did become close enough with Etchika Choureau, his co-star in Lafayette Escadrille, and Joan Cohn, widow of Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
, to contemplate marriage, but thought he never could maintain a marriage and remained merely platonic friends with both women.
During Hollywood's studio era, Hunter says, life "was difficult for me, because I was living two lives at that time. A private life of my own, which I never discussed, never talked about to anyone. And then my Hollywood life, which was just trying to learn my craft and succeed..." The star emphasizes that the word 'gay' "wasn't even around in those days, and if anyone ever confronted me with it, I'd just kinda freak out. I was in total denial. I was just not comfortable in that Hollywood scene, other than the work process." "There was a lot written about my sexuality, and the press was pretty darn cruel," the actor says, but what "moviegoers wanted to hold in their hearts were the boy-next-door marines, cowboys and swoon-bait sweethearts I portrayed."
Hunter had long-term relationships with bisexual actor Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
and champion figure skater Ronnie Robertson, before settling down with his partner of 30 years, Allan Glaser.
Hunter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6320 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
Filmography
- The LawlessThe LawlessThe Lawless is a 1950 American drama film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Macdonald Carey, Gail Russell and Johnny Sands. A newspaper editor in California becomes concerned about the plight of the state's fruit pickers, mostly illegal immigrants from Mexico...
(1950) - Saturday IslandSaturday IslandSaturday Island is a 1952 British romantic war film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, Donald Gray and John Laurie, Lloyd Lamble and Peter Butterworth....
(1952) - Gun Belt (1953)
- The Steel Lady (1953)
- Return to Treasure Island (1954)
- Track of the CatTrack of the CatTrack of the Cat is a William A. Wellman film starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright. The film is based on a 1949 adventure novel of the same name by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. This was Wellman's second adaptation of a Clark novel, the first being The Ox-Bow Incident...
(1954) - Battle CryBattle Cry (film)Battle Cry is a 1955 CinemaScope film, starring Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore, Tab Hunter, Anne Francis, Dorothy Malone, Raymond Massey, and Mona Freeman...
(1955) - The Sea ChaseThe Sea ChaseThe Sea Chase is a 1955 World War II drama film starring John Wayne and Lana Turner. It was directed by John Farrow and written by James Warner Bellah. The plot is basically a nautical cat and mouse game, with Wayne determined to get his German freighter home during the first few months of the war,...
(1955) - The Burning HillsThe Burning HillsThe Burning Hills is a 1956 Warner Bros. CinemaScope Western based on a 1956 novel by Louis L'Amour. The film features young stars popular with the teenagers of the time such as Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood and has a strong emphasis on the importance of tracking....
(1956) - The Girl He Left BehindThe Girl He Left BehindThe Girl He Left Behind is a 1956 romantic comedy film starring Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood. The supporting cast includes Jim Backus, Alan King, James Garner, and David Janssen. Written by Guy Trosper and directed by David Butler. It was filmed at Fort Ord, California. For Garner and King it was...
(1956) - Lafayette EscadrilleLafayette Escadrille (film)Lafayette Escadrille American war film released in March of 1958 by Warner Brothers Pictures, starring Tab Hunter, David Janssen, and Will Hutchins, and featuring Clint Eastwood in an early supporting role. It was the final film in the career of director William A...
(1958) - Gunman's Walk (1958)
- Damn YankeesDamn Yankees (film)Damn Yankees is a 1958 musical film made by Warner Bros., a modern version of the Faust story involving the New York Yankees and Washington Senators baseball teams. The film is based on the 1955 Broadway musical of the same name....
(1958) - They Came to CorduraThey Came To CorduraThey Came To Cordura is a 1959 Western film co-written and directed by Robert Rossen, starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, and featuring Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Richard Conte, Michael Callan, and Dick York. It was based on a 1958 novel by Glendon Swarthout.-Plot:Tom Thorn is a U.S...
(1959) - That Kind of WomanThat Kind of WomanThat Kind of Woman is a 1959 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, who was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Sophia Loren. The screenplay by Walter Bernstein, based on a short story by Robert Lowry , is highly reminiscent of the 1938 film...
(1959) - The Pleasure of His CompanyThe Pleasure of His CompanyThe Pleasure of His Company is a comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds, released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1958 play of the same name by Samuel A. Taylor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.-Plot:...
(1961) - The Golden Arrow (1962)
- Operation BikiniOperation BikiniOperation Bikini is a film released in 1963 by American International Pictures. It was directed by Anthony Carras and starred Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon, and Scott Brady.The casting was aimed to capture a varied audience...
(1963) - Man with Two FacesTroubled Waters (1964 film)Troubled Waters is a 1964 British crime film directed by Stanley Goulder and starring Tab Hunter, Zena Walker and Andy Myers. It was also released as Man with Two Faces...
(1964) - Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
- War-Gods of the DeepWar-Gods of the DeepWar-Gods of the Deep is a 1965 science fiction film. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and starred Vincent Price, Tab Hunter and David Tomlinson. The plot concerns the discovery of a lost city beneath the sea off the coast of Cornwall...
(1965) - The Loved OneThe Loved One (film)The Loved One is a 1965 black comedy film about the funeral business in Los Angeles, which is based on The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy , a short satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh...
(1965) - Birds Do ItBirds Do ItBirds Do It is a 1966 comedy movie that was made by Columbia Pictures and filmed at the Ivan Tors Studios in Miami. It stars Soupy Sales in his film debut as a leading man, Tab Hunter, Arthur O'Connell, Edward Andrews and Beverly Adams...
(1966) - The Fickle Finger of FateThe Fickle Finger of FateThe Fickle Finger of Fate is a 1967 comedy film directed by Richard Rush, produced by Sidney W. Pink, and starring Tab Hunter...
(1967) - Hostile Guns (1967)
- Vengeance Is My Forgiveness (1968)
- The Last Chance (1968)
- The Legion of No Return (1969)
- The Arousers (1970)
- The Life and Times of Judge Roy BeanThe Life and Times of Judge Roy BeanThe Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is a 1972 western film written by John Milius, directed by John Huston, and starring Paul Newman...
(1972) - Sweet KillSweet KillSweet Kill is a 1973 B-movie written and directed by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. The film was Hanson's directorial debut and was produced by Roger Corman...
(1973) - Timber Tramps (1975)
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
- The Kid From Left Field (1979)
- PolyesterPolyester (film)Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole...
(1981) - PandemoniumPandemonium (film)Pandemonium is a 1982 comedy film spoofing horror movies. It had an ensemble cast including Eileen Brennan, Phil Hartman, Tab Hunter, Carol Kane, David Lander, Eve Arden, Paul Reubens, and Tom Smothers....
(1982) - Grease 2Grease 2Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film...
(1982) - Lust in the DustLust in the DustLust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun...
(1985) - Grotesque (1988)
- Cameron's ClosetCameron's ClosetCameron's Closet, also known as Cameron's Terror, is a 1988 American horror film. The film was directed by Armand Mastroianni and stars Scott Curtis, Cotter Smith, Mel Harris, Tab Hunter, Kim Lankford, Gary Hudson and William Lustig.-Plot:...
(1989) - Out of the DarkOut of the Dark (1989 film)Out of the Dark is an erotic comedy horror film released in 1989 starring Karen Witter. The film is notable for being Divine's last movie.-Plot:...
(1989) - Dark HorseDark Horse (1992 film)Dark Horse is a 1992 American drama film directed by David Hemmings. The screenplay by Janet Maclean was adapted from an original story by Tab Hunter.-Plot:...
(1992) - Wild Bill (1996)