Pride Package: Tab Hunter

For years, Tab Hunter was sold as a little girl's dream; the young romantic ingenue with a secret. Surf flicks, tearjerkers, fortunately many opportunities for shirtlessness kept Tab Hunter a box office success.

Yet a tabloid in the 50s outed him even then. He didn't formally come out until 2005, when he released his autobiography.

But we knew a long time ago, didn't we? Even before his sort of comeback in John Waters' Polyester!



an excerpt from an interview a few years back:

"Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star," an autobiography written with Eddie Muller, in which Mr. Hunter chronicles his life in public as America's golden boy and his life in private as a gay man, will be published by Algonquin Books. As Mr. Hunter stepped out with starlets like Ms. [Natalie] Wood in movies, magazines and Hollywood night spots, he pursued relationships with actors like Anthony Perkins, who eventually stopped seeing him, married and later died of AIDS.


Mr. Hunter, like many celebrities who become international obsessions, is fairly simple in person. At 74, he says he prefers horses to people. He can swear with the best of them. He has lived quietly in a small cottage in this small town outside Santa Barbara for 12 years with his partner of 23 years, Allan Glaser, a producer. Oprah Winfrey has a place down the hill, 42 acres that she paid $55 million for, but that's entertainment. Nicely kept 230SL's buzz among the old-growth olive-grove roads like hornets. No one pretends that Montecito is Middle America.

There's more to life than success, Mr. Hunter said last week, sitting in his garden with Mr. Glaser, talking about being Tab Hunter. One of their two whippets, Olivia, chewed on an acorn by his chair. Mr. Hunter has an actor's habit of holding one's eye with consequence as he answers questions, as if it were a camera.

"Rock? No," he said, asked if he had had sex with Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood's other A-list homosexuals in the 1950's. "Not my type." Mr. Hudson and Mr. Hunter shared an agent, Henry Willson, who was known as the gay Svengali for the beefcake stars he created.


...Mr. Hunter said that Hollywood in the 1950's had its version of "Don't ask, don't tell," which was "Don't complain, don't explain." Or, let the studio take care of you, and let the public draw its conclusions.

"There was a lot written about my sexuality, and the press was pretty darn cruel, but people believe what they want to believe," he said. What moviegoers wanted to hold in their hearts were the boy-next-door marines, cowboys and swoon-bait sweethearts he portrayed.

He was also rumored to have had affairs with other guys, but remains discreet. The photos alleging to be of him nude, and being blown, are not his, but shown anyway.



Here's to Tab, which isn't even his name. Better late than never!

Pride Package: Robert Gant

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida July 13 1968 as Robert Gonzalez, in just a few years, Robert Gant has gone from real-life Ivy Leaguer and barrister-in-training to portraying the Good Humor Man, a sexy handyman, the all-around nice guy, an offbeat high school vice principal... and most recently, a professor of literature and gay studies.

Gant began acting and performing at a young age. He appeared in a national TV commercial for Cheerios cereal in the fifth grade and did a soft-shoe routine at age 11 with legendary comedian Bob Hope as part of a USO show. In high school, Robert ("Bobby") was involved in a variety of extracurricular activities. He sang in a barbershop quartet, appeared in the school's theatrical productions (including "Grease"), and played football.


Gant remained active in theatrical and musical endeavors in college but had his eyes set on becoming an attorney. He studied pre-law at the University of Pennsylvania, earning his undergrad degree in 1990. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, in 1993 and took a job in Los Angeles with a law firm.

When the LA branch of the firm closed in 1994, Gant remained in California to pursue an acting career. At first, he landed small roles and guest appearances on several television programs, including My So-Called Life, Step by Step, Melrose Place, Friends, and Ellen.

In 1996, Robert was selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants to reprise the role of the Good Humor Man; he donned a white suit and black bow tie, drove a Good Humor ice cream truck, and sang and danced in a series of commercials for the Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Company. He also appeared in commercials for Coors Light beer, Saturn cars, and Hanes underwear (with Michael Jordan). He also made a straight softcore movie - faking sex with -shock- a woman!




Robert later had recurring guest star roles on Caroline in the City, as Caroline's (Lea Thompson's) boyfriend Trevor, and on Popular, as Vice Principal (and then Principal) Calvin Krupps of Kennedy (as in "Jackie O") High School. In Spring 2002, he joined the cast of Queer as Folk as Ben Bruckner, a professor of literature and gay studies who develops a romantic relationship with one of the show's main characters, Michael (played by Hal Sparks). Gant's film credits include Cityscrapes: Los Angeles, Jane Street, The Contract, Fits and Starts, and the TV movie, Bitter Vengeance.

In August of 2002 he came out as a gay actor in the Advocate. He's since worked with Chad Allen to create a film production company that focuses on gay stories.

And he's got a hot smokin' bod!!

Pride Package: Chad Allen

Chad Allen got outed after being on Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman for a few years. Already contemplating coming out, he was then outed by some queen who sold their pool party pics of him smooching his boyfriend to a tabloid.

Since then, he's maintained a successful career acting, and producing movies for one of those gay cable stations. They're murder mysteries, which I don't care for, but there's some beefcake in them, and Chad does a good job.

Check out his Official Fan Site for more updates on movies and things Chad's making. Here's to Chad, out gay handsome and my Pride Package of the day!