Hollywood Gays (38 page)

When he was there, and in good health, he could help to counter-effect some of that. There were these blind items I’ve referred to, and not just about me, about Novarro...Nils Asther, I think, others, not just at Metro, but each studio. And this was
before
1933 and the arrest, and I was called on the carpet. I had to account to Strickling, to a few others, and to the grand poobah—Mayer. Irving did speak up on my behalf, and so did Marion Davies. She had some say-so because of her link to (her married lover) William Randolph Hearst, who was...associated with Mayer. So their intercession—Irving and Marion—may have saved me from an earlier...end to all that.

Q: Someone who used to go to Hearst parties at San Simeon said that Hearst—it was his policy—and Marion Davies used never to invite unmarried heterosexual couples or lovers—even if they were single and available—to weekend at Hearst Castle!

A: I never heard it voiced, but I saw it practiced. The men and the women had to be “legal” or drive back the same day.

Q: Hypocrisy, thy name is Hollywood.

A: It’s that all right, and a taste level that....Alva Johnson said that a press agent in the movie capital who worried about taste was as miscast as a soldier who hates violence.

Q: So Hearst Castle, on a weekend, was one place where a gay pair of lovers might have more fun than a “straight” pair who wasn’t married.

A: Old W.R. never saw the jest in that.

Q: On the other hand, a gay pair, or a lesbian pair, never had the choice to make it legal or, quote-unquote, respectable.

A: (Sighs while smiling.) I don’t talk freely about my long-long-past cinema career. It was about a dozen years, and no one remembers it now. But I am gratified that you’re interested, and about what happened. I mentally let go of those bad episodes long ago—as much as I could. More for Jimmy’s sake.

Q: You both had to live through a lot of awful times and—

A: Crap. But we had each other, and we have each other.

Q: You were lucky to survive. Some didn’t.

A: There were situations similar to ours, and an unknown quantity of actors didn’t survive the scandals and the firings. Then, in the McCarthy period, more of the same. Most of it political, but not all. And suicides. People Jimmy and I knew. Or people not permitted to earn a living. There has been more than one blacklist in this business—the rewards are great here, but so are the pitfalls and the punishments.

Q: Couldn’t you have screamed bloody murder? Or done something?

A: In those times, if one screamed, one was silenced. You either didn’t hear the scream—others wouldn’t hear it, like the tree falling in the forest—or you were shut out. Contained. Segregated. Just made into a pariah. There were scandals among the straight set, high and low, in front of the camera and in the executive offices...and I could have spilled the beans. But who would print it? Who would put it on radio? Even if they had, I’d then have been frozen out of the picture business, and most other businesses besides.

The fact is, if I’d been on my own, who knows? Things did enter my head...I felt like taking reprisals. But I didn’t dare do anything rash. Not just for me—and I had good contacts, good friends, I
hoped
I could continue to earn a living without leaving California. But, you see, I had Jimmy. Anything rash would probably have backfired on me and, more importantly, on him. When you’re not on your own, you have to consider the other person. You have to be responsible to him too.

Q: But it was all so unfair—so illegal, so unconstitutional, etc.

A: My boy, the laws, the...even the Constitution, it only means what the not-so-honorable gentlemen in charge want it to mean.

Q: Is it true there was a gay brothel that male stars used to visit?

A: There were
brothels.
There was one for men...got closed down, with Mayer’s conniving.

Q: Was it more difficult for a gay star than a lesbian star?

A: I’d say there was more fun for the men. But it was more dangerous, professionally. I’ve never known about any brothel for the Sapphic set. They always catered to men, just men. We
all
went on studio “dates.” But I think, in their twenties, there was more of an urgency for an actress to find a husband. They could stall by saying that having a career didn’t leave enough time for romance or searching out a husband, and the studio skunks liked that reasoning better than having an actress of easy virtue on their hands.

Q: One who slept with more than one male?

A: Or one, if she wasn’t married to him.

Q: What about bisexuality?

A: Don’t you have any small questions? (Smiles.) If you’re getting at, has William Haines tried women, yes. A few times, and I acquitted myself honorably. I was able to perform, but it wasn’t something I ever craved, and I can understand why sometimes the...heterosexual is impotent. He may or may not be doing what he craves. Or with a woman that he craves. Homosexuals are never impotent—two doctors have made that known to me.

Q: Is that because gay men are doing what they like, sexually?

A: There you go. If a man
wants
another man, then he’s doing what he desires and craves to do, whether it’s allowed or not, and he’ll perform out of sexual desire, not duty or pressure or...what he’s been ordered to do.

Q: Whereas a gay man with a woman...

A: Is doing what he thinks he “should” do.

Q:
If
he buys the line that there’s only one way, which there isn’t.

A: He might be able to function with her, depending how she looks, depending what he’s thinking of—if his mind can really take hold of another man he craves, or some...act or image he craves, then he can do it. You asked about lesbian stars. Well, in regards to lesbians—never mind the star part—they, like other women, don’t have to show proof of desire, if they’re doing it with a man. A man, any man, if he’s with a woman, has to
show
proof...do you catch on?

Q: One can’t fake an erection.

A: You’re learning fast. (Laughs.) You ask who has it easier? No one has it easy, not really.

Q: Perhaps not, but the sexual minority group has it the toughest.

A: This, I know...It comes back—Thalberg. Let’s finish this sordid episode about...with Mayer. I was sent to jail, but Mayer saw to it, and not for
my
sake—for
business—
that I didn’t have to go to court. That would have made the papers. And to fire me, within the law, he invoked the “morals clause” in an actor’s contract with the studio—

Q: Which it’s amazing no one has legally challenged as unconstitutional, don’t you think?

A: It doesn’t amaze me because the person or people who came up with that clause knew to a
hair
what they were doing. If anyone speaks against that clause, people will want to know why—”What has he done?” No one wants to be seen to be outside of the morals of society.

Q: But
words
have to be questioned. What does “morals” mean?
Whose
? And they have to be revised and updated—this isn’t the Old or New Testament time when a woman could be stoned to death for cheating on her husband, while the husband who cheated just got a pat on the back.

A: Or a second wife? (Grins.)

Q: But someone has to challenge such nonsense, legally or otherwise.

A: If a man challenged it, and he wasn’t married—so he couldn’t be accused of adultery—then people would ask why he was challenging it....

Q: And, as long as his career was being ended, he would say he was being fired and blacklisted simply because he was gay—and actors do act; gay actors do portray heterosexuals—and that that isn’t right, fair, or legal.

A: You forgot constitutional.

Q: So if the studio’s going to get away with ruining his career—
and
his future prospects—the least he should get out of them is a financial settlement. Preferably generous.

A: No one ever did that. No one was open. Who’s to say some private blackmail didn’t take place, but....

Q: If it had been done publicly, that could have helped those who followed.

A: (Shrugs.) No one did that.

Q: So one just slinks away, tail between their legs...? I mean
today
. If this happened today, don’t you think it should be different?

A: It
should
be...and maybe someday it will. You know what I think? I think when an actor gets
inside
the business, it gets inside of him. The pretense and the rules—wrong though they may be—he accepts them, and it becomes part of his own code.

Q: Even if it hurts him, and all those like him?

A: (Shrugs, bigger.) That’s Hollywood.

Q: That’s lousy.

A: (Cheerily.) Let’s decorate!

Q: Hmm?

A: I’ve spent far more time, and more happy times, doing interiors than doing pictures. Go ahead....

Q: Ah. Joan Crawford.

A: She wanted to improve herself. She wanted culture and beauty. I did her home in Empire and white moderne. She liked a formal look. Carole was less formal, and she liked color. Everyone’s different, and that was part of the challenge—to create a setting that reflected and enhanced the...
propriétaire
(giggles). This may interest you more, but Joan dated scads of gay men when she wasn’t married. I think she may have dated more of them than the sort that wanted to take her to bed.

Q: Don’t you think a lot of heterosexual men would
not
want to take her to bed?

A: You mean...she’s a little frightening to some men?

Q: The ones who think women are the softer sex.

A: (Laughs.) I’ll have to think twice before letting her in on that one. She’s always been tight with Cesar Romero—nice guy—and whenever a handsome new star came along and Cranberry wasn’t maritally engaged, she’d try and date him. To show her interest in the up-and-comers and to be seen with a handsome, important face.

Q: Like who?

A: George Nader.
That
was a dish! And his best buddy, Rock Hudson. She said she thought that Rock thought she was too old for him to be seen with. George had better manners. (Hudson left most of his estate to Nader and Nader’s mate; according to
People
magazine,
Confidential
outed George in the ‘50s in Rock’s place—both were contracted to Universal—thus ruining his American career; he then enjoyed screen success in Germany.)

Q: Why would a Hudson or a Nader agree to go out with Joan Crawford?

A: Why else?
Publicity
!

Q: I keep forgetting: in Hollywood, that’s almost everything. I suppose some heterosexual actors with no sexual interest in her would also go out with her...to be seen?

A: You’re catching on, my boy (pats my knee).

Q: And, uh, with all these platonic dates, was Joan doing anything for fun, or...?

A: All my friends love a good time. Joan had her private diversions—sometimes they were already married. (Finger to lips.)

Q: Here’s a quote. You said, “When Mayer gave me a choice between my career and Jimmy, I didn’t hesitate. I don’t have to hide and lie any longer. Having my freedom means more to me than becoming a myth.” (He smiles widely.) That’s a wonderful quote, and it is a brave attitude.

A: I wouldn’t have given up Jimmy. But even if I’d been on my own, it wouldn’t have been worth it. How many decades of staying one jump ahead of trouble, or trying to cover up day and night, night and day...and for what? So some perfect stranger can inform me that they saw one of my films on television the other day?

Q: It takes a toll.

A: Every day of your life, it takes a toll. Thanks, but no thanks.

Q: There’s another side to it. In your work now, you get to express yourself—

A: And my clients.

Q: Your clients, through your eyes and your taste. But as an actor, all you played were roles that...were alien to you.

A: There wasn’t any choice, then. In a way, it was a challenge, almost fun, to see if I could carry off the masquerade. When I did, it sort of enlarged my ego—and made me laugh.

Q: You say that was “almost fun,” but I’ll bet interior decorating
is
fun.

A: It really is. Every new job is all new. A
fun
challenge. Are you interested in the field?

Q: I like decor and styles, but I think I like architecture more.

A: Do you like mathematics?