Stephen Boyd

[quote]I'd of rode that

Oh, [italic]dear.[/italic]

Loved him in ben hur. Hot as hell! The best of everything is a very underrated gay mans dream.

Total Big Dick Face

Grammar be damned, R1!

He was breathtaking.

Also, great sense of humor. Most of us eldergays probably know this, but Boyd went along with Gore Vidal's suggestion that Massala and Ben-Hur had been lovers as young men. Ben Hur rejected Massala when he wanted to resume the relationship, and that was the real reason for Massala's hatred. They, of course, didn't tell Chuck.

I believe this Hollywood story. In their early scenes, Boyd looks at Heston as if he wants to leap on him.

Died prematurely of a heart attack at age 44 on the golf course.

Not much known about his personal life either.

It's been said that he didn't like Whitney Houston.

It's not your grammar, OP/r4: it's your spelling.

I love him in Ben Hur, Best of Everything etc. I always thought he had to be gay - I understand British acting legend Sir Michael Redgrave picked him up with Boyd was working as a cinema doorman in London in the early 50s, when Boyd was a nice slab of beefcake - and got him into movies. He had natural charm and looks and did ok for about 10 years (like that non-actor Laurence Harvey), but his career was really over and his looks going before he died so young.

He is good too in Fall of the Roman Empire with Loren,and the Vadim film with Bardot in 57: Heaven Fell That Night - they were both hot as hell. One of those actors who looked good in epics and costume films. He is practically bursting out of his suit in the Best of Everything. Wonder if Joan asked him over for a vodka and coke ?

I'd of rode that too!

I heard/read somewhere that Doris Day had a crush on him while they were making Billy Rose's Jumbo together but he didn't reciprocate because he was "family"

He was hot as hell. There is a scene in Ben Hur where he is walking around in a towel and he looks SO HOT

According to Raquel Welch (his co-star in "Fantastic Voyage" - oh those jumpsuits!), he was gay if not out - yet he was married twice...

My mom's two favorite hunks of all time were Jeff Chandler and Stephen Boyd. She had exquisite taste. Boyd was sex on a stick.

Interesting, R12. I don't think I've ever heard someone out him before.

Loved him in the Oscar.

Any info on why he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 45?

He is good too with Susan Hayward in 'Woman Obsessed' in 59, right after Susie won her oscar; and a 1962 one 'The Inspector' or 'Lisa', with Sister Dolores Hart.

His 2 marriages seem rather suspect - the first was in Italy during the shoot of 'Ben Hur', as if to quell any gossip - and they divorced after the movie, then just 10 months before he died he married his longtime female friend and manager.

Its a shame he was not nominated for best supporting actor in Ben Hur, as he is the black heart of the film and just as good as Heston - Hugh Griffith who did win is really comic relief here with just a few scenes.

We need a biography on Boyd, particularly details on his friendship with Michael Redgrave, who appeared in a later film with him.

[quote]Wonder if Joan asked him over for a vodka and coke ?

Pepsi, please!

Check out his gorgeousity as The Mystery Guest on What's My Line? on youtube!

I'm obsessed with the Ben Hur story, which is just a brilliant bit of Hollywood fun, but I've never heard of Stephen Boyd being gay before this.

In fact, I like to believe he was straight because it makes it funnier that he would punk Heston in cahoots with Gore Vidal.

That said, his wikipedia page says he was a Scientologist, and both his marriages were kind of unusual.

Signs point to gay.

R2- Funny you should metion BEN-HUR. I watched the new blu ray on Sunday. Boyd was hot, especially in the scene right after intermission, in the roman bath house. Hot to die for!

"That said, his wikipedia page says he was a Scientologist, and both his marriages were kind of unusual."

I wonder if the Scarytologists made him take "ex-gay" classes

Scientology existed back then?

Raquel explains it for you. Just the other day, as a matter of fact.

[quote]Any info on why he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 45?

Was he discovered in the bathtub with an uneaten turkey sandwich on a tray?

R23, Scientology has been around almost as long as I have:

[quote]Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. [cite omitted] Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey.

R24, R12 beat you to that story...

Funny coincidence that Raquel Welch discusses this just days after this topic was posted on DL

I am 100% certain that Boyd looked fantastic in a jock.

[quote]Any info on why he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 45?

This is just a wild guess, but maybe it was because he had heart disease? Clogged arteries? A burst aorta?

Raquel Tejada/Welch.

Rockell Welsh called him a homo

BUMP

Being closeted in the 1950s-60s must have been very stressful which probably was a contributing factor to his heart attack.

Nope, OP/R4, it's your grammar.

Boyd made a movie - Jumbo - with Doris Day but apparently they didn't like each other's work habits and simply tolerated each other.

I love Day, Boyd, Durante, Raye. Walters, Rodgers and Hart but Jumbo is unwatchable.

It must have made some kind of sense in the Hippodrome.

He was in two of,my favorites, Best of Everything and Roman Empire. The last five or so years of his life he looked haggard and older than he was. Don't know if there was much smoking, drinking.

Who cares if he was gay, but it was cunty of Welch to tell that story. Of course, he MUST have been gay, not to want to fuck her!

Roman Empire has a scene where he and Christopher Plummer each have a wine bota, interlock arms and drink/squirt wine into their mouths. Quite sexy.

R37 It was Doris Day's only flop movie during that time period and her last musical.

Seeing him in The Caper of the Golden Bulls when I was a boy was probably one of the first times I had a strong reaction to a man.

I wonder if he was one of the handsome leading man types who really couldn't make a successful transition from old Hollywood to new. Rod Taylor, Omar Shariff, James Garner and Rock Hudson were others.

Though like Hudson and Garner if you were lucky you got a hit TV series.

40 damn comments and not one picture. Do I have to do everything myself?

I was searching for another thread and just happened upon this one. In the early 90s when I was 15 or so on summer break, I found an old VHS copy of Fantastic Voyage down in the basement and decided to watch it. Stephen Boyd in that film is at least partly responsible for my homosexuality!! I busted my nut so many times to him in the film during the course of that summer, I ended up wearing the tape out.

Raquel Welch claimed that Boyd was gay despite his marriages -although in that era it was very common for gay men to marry particularly in Hollywood - he had one very brief marriage & one eloping that lasted only a few months. He married his long time secretary a few years before his death who was a rather "homely" looking woman. When he was asked why he never had children Boyd responded: “There are certain things lacking in me"

"I'd of" huh? Ok.

How about "I'd have," or "I would've" - if you intended English to be the language you were using.

R16, since he was gay and died in the 1970s, Boyd would of died of Prehistoric AIDS.

[quote] Boyd would of died

Oh, DEAR!

[quote]Funny you should mention BEN-HUR. I watched the new blu ray on Sunday. Boyd was hot, especially in the scene right after intermission, in the roman bath house. Hot to die for!

In addition to the smoking hot Boyd, that scene at the baths also has several hot extras in towels, including one guy who's truly breathtaking. Here's the clip. At the beginning of the scene, the unbelievable hottie I'm talking about is standing in a bath towards the left side of the screen, getting sponged down by a slave, with his back to the camera. Soon he turns around and moves forward with the group of men -- and there is sort-of closeup of the guy's gorgeous face at around 3:40-3:42 in the clip, at the right of the image, where he's standing behind one of the Arab characters. In the screen cap image below, he's standing second from left, the guy at extreme left being the Arab character.

I hope all of that doesn't sound too complicated, because believe me, the scene is worth watching if only for Boyd and this stunner.

I've always loved Boyd and though his body is good in Ben-Hur, it looks surprisingly scrawny out of his breastplate.

Here's the gorgeous Mr. Boyd on What's My Line? in 1960 at the height of his Ben-Hur/Best of Everything fame.

He seems quite genteel and elegant.

I saw THE OSCAR many years ago on TV, and I remember it being awful in a really campy way, with Boyd doing a very unconvincing American accent and Tony Bennett pretty bad and over-the-top in an acting role. Would be fun to see it again sometime.

I always loved Ben Hur. There is a great story that Gore Vidal told for years that during the early stages of filming Ben Hur, he and the director Willy Wyler felt that Paul Newman's and Stephen Boyd's onscreen interactions didn't seem "thrilling" enough. So Vidal come up with the idea that the relationship between Ben Hur and Messala should be played like a romance. On hearing this Wyler said to Vidal "Fuck Gore, this is Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ," then Wyler paused and said "well it's better than what we've got now. Tell Boyd but for Christ's sake don't tell Newman." So Vidal tells Boyd he should play it like Messala and Ben Hur had a heavy fling years ago and while Ben has moved on, Messala is very interested in picking up where they left off." Well, Boyd loved it and played it to pieces. If you watch the scene where Messala and Ben are reunite for the first time the looks Boyd gives Newman are hysterical...total eye fucking.

Was Stephen a homosexual?

"The Oscar" has a well-earned reputation as being one of the worst movies ever made.

R31 According to Raquel Welch he was. Although Raquel seems to base her whole story on Boyd not accepting her advances so who knows. Boyd was legally married twice and briefly eloped but with the exception of his last marriage his marriages broke down super fast. His last marriage seemed more of a "partnership," His last wife has been his secretary for several years and allegedly he told some people he felt obligated to marry her as she was the only woman who always there for him. If he was gay I think we would have heard more solid evidence by now? Someone he would have slept would have come forward? or close friends who knew him would have indicated that?

Others have commented he was gay as well. Brief and/or business like marriages with no children. He was gay - with a bad heart.

R55 I'm not doubting you but do have names? Welch is the only one who has ever said anything publicly.

I wonder if there was more going on with Boyd in the years leading up to his death because he aged terribly in the the 70s. I mean he looked 20 years old then he actually was. Yes, he was a heavy smoker so the heart attack is not shocking but I wonder if there were other things going on like cancer? Honestly if he had died just a few years later I might have suspected he died of an HIV/AIDS complication.

I don't know how anyone could watch that What's My Line? clip and think Stephen Boyd was straight.

Where is the evidence he was a heavy smoker?

r50 Thinking Ben Hur was with Paul Newman is a big mistake, and he didn't fit in historical movies at all; confusing Charlton Heston with Paul Newman in one of the most famous movies of all time on a movie-affiliated site about is a pretty big mistake.

R58 Most actors of his era were smokers but just google him and you'll see that most pictures of him he's got a smoke in hand. He also was a heavy drinker for a number of years. Actress turned nun Dolores Hart has recounted a few times in interviews that she and Boyd discussed his drinking when they worked together in Lisa in 1961. Hart's mother was an alcoholic and during the filming of Lisa Hart was at her wits end about how to deal with it. Boyd confided in her about his own struggles with drink and that he had only sobered up a couple years before.

Actually if you read the autobiography that Hart wrote about her life, she talks about Boyd and she seems to drop hints about his sexuality. She and Boyd became very close while filming Lisa and Hart was interested in pursuing a romance. When Hart "made her move" he told that her that "he wasn't like most men" and the he also said "she marked" which she later assumed meant she was being called by God to become a nun. She also stated that Boyd was very closed off about his private life and it was difficult for him to talk about it and she felt it was deliberate as if he has many dark secrets that he didn't want anyone to know about. Interestingly Boyd and Hart remained in contact for years after she joined the convent and she claims that by the early 70, Boyd had become seriously involved with Scientology.

The only woman he seemed to have been truly involved with was Marisa Mell in 1971. Mell claimed in her autobiography that she attempted to seduce Boyd frequently while they filmed Marta but he rejected all her advances. It was only after they finished filming (and after Boyd had joined Scientology) that he came back to pursue Mell. Shortly afterwards they had a "gypsy wedding" and did some kind of exorcism thing because Boyd thought their relationship was "unclean." The relationship ended very abruptly when Boyd left in the middle of the night while Mell was sleeping and never returned. Mell also reiterated much of what Hart said about Boyd that he wouldn't talk much about his life before they met and that he would frequently take off only to come back drunk or upset about something.

Well, if the What's My Line? clip didn't convince you Boyd was gay, the musings of Dolores Hart, Marisa Mell and Raquel Welch certainly should.

R59, I think it's an inspired "mistake." The thought of Newman and Boyd together...

R41, thank you!!

After watching the 1960 WML appearance we can say: Dropdead Gorgeous and 100% homosexual!

Nothing less than 9 inches was ever allowed to explore her primo hole!

I hate Arlene Francis.

Are you from the legitimate theater?

.......

Was Charleton also a homosexual?

Apparently he "bared all" in an Italian film

Charleston was never a homosexualist. He was a good strong upright full blooded American MAN. He was a MAN. Just because he paraded around in a loin cloth and exhibited his oiled sweaty torso, and looked longingly at Stephen is no reason to believe he was attracted to him or wanted his attentions.

[quote]I'd of rode

Oh of Dear.

I saw LISA with Boyd and Sister Hart on FMC last week and it's a really good movie filled with some great character actors. Probably the best performance Dolores ever gave and Boyd was gorgeous.

I liked him and I thought he was sexy, but he did have bad skin. It looked lumpy. too many carbs.

Steven screams bossy bottom!

I think that was alcohol bloat, R73. From a young age, too.

I think by all accounts he was a fascinating and complicated person (and then some). There are a lot of anecdotes/ interviews which seem to contradict each other, but perhaps it proves the point that we don't need to know everything about a person.

I'd say he was bi rather than straight out queer. You can't give a leery performance such as he did in The Best Of Everything without liking women quite a lot. I love the bit where he and Hope Lange are both smashed and giggling on the sofa together, and when she passes out as he tries to kiss her, he makes her comfortable on the sofa, puts a blanket over her, and sits down by the fireside in order to demolish a bottle of wine by himself.

Whatever homosexuality he may have embraced may have been due to mother issues. I was reading an interview on stephenboydblog which stated that his mother used to call him "Poison" because she had a difficult pregnancy with him. I'm not sure that's good for a person's psyche, yet he still bought his parents a house. You wouldn't have caught me doing the same under similar circumstances, because I just would not have put up with it. I think he was very giving of himself.

He was frequently told he was not special - yet he was special! Personally, I think there are pointers to his being mad as a box of frogs - which I recognize, as I'm the same. Perhaps the fact he was so amazingly good-looking and sexy overshadowed the fact of his talent.

He once said he would rather have done more comedy, than constantly serious drama. I'd have loved to see him in more comedy too - think he had a wonderful readiness to laugh and sense of humour.

However, I don't think any of us will ever know who the real Stephen Boyd was, and perhaps that was his intention.