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Detailing Tab Hunter's Closeted Stardom

Fresh Air | By Terry Gross

Published November 7, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST

Detail from the cover of <i>Tab Hunter Confidential</i>. — Detail from the cover of *Tab Hunter Confidential*.

Actor and singer Tab Hunter's new book, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, reveals his long-secret status as a homosexual in Hollywood.

Hunter was a teen heartthrob in the 1950s and 1960s, starring in over 50 films that included Damn Yankees and That Kind of Woman. He also recorded a hit record, Young Love.

But he began life as Art Gelien, a shy but talented young man who was turned into a star.

In the 1980s, Hunter experienced renewed popularity as he took roles in cult movies by iconoclastic directors, from John Waters' Polyester to Paul Bartel's Lust in the Dust.

Terry Gross

Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.

See stories by Terry Gross