Tab Hunter

His father, Charles Kelm, was Jewish and his mother, Gertrude Gelien, a Roman Catholic who later converted to Judaism. His 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 skater, competing in both singles and pairs, and an ardent horseback rider.
In later years, Hunter's mother was institutionalized and underwent shock treatments, and he supported her financially until her death.His older brother Walter, whom he idolized, became a medic and was killed in Vietnam.


Career
Arthur Gelien was signed to a contract at Warner Bros. He landed 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. He went on to star in over 40 major Holywood films
In September 1955, the tabloid magazine Confidential reported Hunter's 1950 arrest for disorderly conduct.He also had the hit "Ninety-Nine Ways", which peaked at #11 in the charts, and was actually his first single, before "Young Love". His success prompted Jack Warner to enforce the actor's contract with the studio by banning Dot Records, the label for which Hunter had recorded the single, from releasing a follow-up album he had recorded for them.

Records specifically for Hunter, although his singing career foundered after a few more recordings.
Hunter's best role during this period was in the 1958 musical movie Damn Yankees, in which he played Joe Hardy of Washington D.C's American League baseball club. The movie had originally been a Broadway show, and Hunter was the only one in the film version who hadn't appeared in the original cast.On July 9, 1960, prior to the program's debut, he was arrested by Glendale, California police for allegedly regularly and relentlessly beating his dog Fritz. It was proven 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 .

His career was revived in the 1980s, when he starred opposite transvestite actor Divine in John Waters' Polyester (1981) and Paul Bartel's Lust in the Dust (1985). Stewart, the substitute teacher in Grease 2, who sang "Reproduction." He also wrote and starred in Dark Horse (1992).
Personal life
In Hunter's 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, he acknowledged his homosexuality, confirming rumors that had circulated since the height of his fame.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 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 he portrayed."
Hunter had long-term relationships with actor Anthony Perkins and champion figure skater Ronnie Robertson before settling down with his partner of 25 years, Allan Glaser. The two live in Montecito, California.
Hunter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6320 Hollywood Blvd.
Filmography

The Lawless (1950)
Saturday Island (1952)
Gun Belt (1953)
The Steel Lady (1953)
Return to Treasure Island (1954)
Track of the Cat (1954)
Battle Cry (1955)
The Sea Chase (1955)
The Burning Hills (1956)
The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
Lafayette Escadrille (1958)
Gunman's Walk (1958)
Damn Yankees (1958)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
That Kind of Woman (1959)
The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
The Golden Arrow (1962)
Operation Bikini (1963)
Man with Two Faces (1964)
Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
War-Gods of the Deep (1965)
The Loved One (1965)
Birds Do It (1966)
The Fickle Finger of Fate (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 Bean (1972)
Sweet Kill (1973)
Timber Tramps (1975)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
The Kid From Left Field (1979)
Polyester (1981)
Pandemonium (1982)
Grease 2 (1982)
Lust in the Dust (1985)
Grotesque (1988)
Cameron's Closet (1989)
Out of the Dark (1989)
Dark Horse (1992)
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996)

.