So what was Anthony Perkins like?

He was very smart--liked to hang out with Stephen Sondheim and talk about word games and puzzles with him. And he hung out with jet set types.He was very fucked up about being closeted to fans but open to his friends--it was a weird double life.

Where did you read that OP? (BTW it was Meg Tilly in Psycho 2. I always liked her in that. I think she had an interesting quality.) Who was the woman he wanted fired in #3?

Was it Diana Scarwid?

OP here R2. Just stuff I read on IMDB and Wikipedia. The girl from pt 3 was the red hed who hooked up with Jeff Fahey and he threw her out of the hotel.

Does anyone have any idea what movie this gif is from.....and who the other actor is? It has to be a foreign film as I can't imagine a U.S. studio of the era allowing such a homoerotic moment.

Gay or just European?

From what I gather his performance as Norman Bates was not acting but behaving.

R4 the movie is Phaedra, and they are playing father and son.

Thanks R7.

He loved wearing that yellow hanky in his pocket to advertise.

The "official" story on trying to get Tilly fired is that she supposedly had no knowledge of "Psycho" or it's history or who Anthony Perkins was and made some comments questioning why he was getting so much press attention and special treatment on the set. He found out about the comments, got pissed and said she should be replaced but they had already shot too much footage to easily recast the part. I find that a little hard to swallow - even if she didn't know about "Psycho" before getting the role surely she would have been told what a big deal it was once she was cast.

I think Perkins had a love-hate relationship with Norman Bates and probably had reservations about reviving the role. Tilly probably said something but Perkins probably took it to the extreme. Perkins could be pretty bitchy and hard to get along with and if he was already on edge about the project he probably wanted to work with someone who at least appreciated his position.

In 1960, Perkins had an affair with an actor-dancer who wishes to remain anonymous with whom he indulged in some most peculiar behavior. Of one incident his partner said:'We were doing things that he liked, not the normal gay sex. Anything sloppy and messy was fine. Tony became like an animal. There was some S&M, we had sex in leather. He wore jeans. He liked inventiveness.'

He never sucked my dick.

Co-star, Ava Gardner (they played both in 'On the Beach' and in 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean') had made a play for Perkins before, but he was terrified by her and kept his distance. She later recalled:'Tony Perkins was shy about everything but attacking his plate.'

Ask Tab Hunter-

Tab and Tony dated for a few years in the 1950's. They would double date with beards and then go home together, where Perkins, a rising stage actor making a mark in Hollywood, lived around the corner from Hunter, the more established matinee idol, recording star and all around all American dreamboat. They were both part of Henry Wilson's stable of management clients, which included Rock Hudson, Rory Calhoun, and Guy Madison - all closeted hunks, Wilson's specialty. We've discussed all of this aplenty in DL.

In any case, Perkins was talented, intense, and ambitious. Hunter was a laid back natural athlete with an engaging smile, and a knack for not taking himself too seriously. At some point in their relationship while still under contract with Warner Bros, Tab did the play Fear Strikes Out - one of the many times he played a pro athlete which was always perfect type casting for him - and got decent reviews. He asked Jack Warner to option the play for a movie starring himself. A few days/months later, while playing ping pong with Tony, the latter casually mentions "Oh BTW, I told 20th Century Fox I was interested in doing 'Fear Strikes Out' and they bought it for me." Tab was a little taken aback but did not make a big stink because Tony was very talented and needed hit movies. Still, it put a strain in their relationship.

If Tony was capable of calmly doing that TO HIS BOYFRIEND, I wouldn't put it past him to get random starlets fired for smaller reasons. For him, as for most in Hollywood, career came first, before anything or anyone.

It's all in Tab Hunter Confidential, a cheekily presented but surprisingly entertaining bio- documentary narrated by Tab himself and produced by Allan Leach, Tab's current boyfriend and producer for over thirty years (Lust In the Dust). On Netflix now.

I forgot to mention Tab had told Tony about his wish to do the movie. So Tony was very aware of what he was doing when he asked his studio to do it.

In other words, Tony acted like a true cunt, R15.

Tab actually was in a TV drama of Fear Strikes Out, not a play.

It was not unusual back in the 1950s for good TV dramas to become hit films. Marty and A Catered Affair both started out on TV.

Especially since I think Tab really loved him.

If you've ever seen those marvelous home movies of Roddy McDowell's from his Malibu beach house in the early 1960s, just watch his camera's interaction with Tony Perkins. Of all the major celebrities who were there, Tony is the only one who HATES to be filmed. Very insightful.

[quote]I forgot to mention Tab had told Tony about his wish to do the movie. So Tony was very aware of what he was doing when he asked his studio to do it.

At least he didn't steal the script off Tab's coffee table.

Were Tony Perkins & Tuesday Weld friends? They did a couple of movies together & seemed a lot alike.

R21, 'Dear friends in life, Perkins and Weld were simply able to tune in to each other's frequencies.'

I saw an interview with the red head in Psycho III and she had nothing but glowing things to say about Perkins. Same with Diana Scarwid and all the other women in the cast. The Meg Tilly feud is well documented, though. Everyone involved in Psycho II has mentioned it.

Seems like Tony was a bit wild. I bet he was into fisting. But was he a top or bottom?

The " actor-dancer who wishes to remain anonymous" in R11 is Grover Dale.

R23 From what I've read over the years he seemed to be versatile, but preferred bottoming.

When Tony was promoting Psycho II he alluded that he played Norman Bates so well because his own mother molested him and they had an awful relationship. His friends were startled to see him say that because they know Tony actually had a very good relationship with his mother (who interestingly enough was either bisexual or a lesbian) and she was very much accepting of Tony for who he was. He threw his own mother in the gutter to promote a movie.

Still, I think he was a very beautiful man, as fucked up in the head as he was.

I got him hard and made him cum!

It is hinted in the Tab Hunter documentary that he was abusive to Tony.

[quote]It is hinted in the Tab Hunter documentary that he was abusive to Tony.

Did you interpret that from what that actress said about how Tony would come to her and cry on her shoulder every time he thought Tab had slighted him?

Because I would seriously doubt that a documentary narrated by Hunter and produced by his life partner would actually even hint at his being abusive. And, as we've already seen in this thread, Tony was not beneath deception - at many levels.

I don't doubt that Tab, with all the people he had throwing themselves at him, would succumb to infidelity. But abuse? Also, I think all his relationships have been open.

Yeah, I didn't get that from the Tab documentary at all. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact.

Can someone please start a thread about those Roddy McDowell home movies?

Cowardly self-loathing geek. Next.

I saw him on an old Dick Cavett and just when he was getting started on gossiping about Hitchcock, the tinkly music began and Cavett said sadly the show was over.

People like him knew "where all the bodies were buried" in Hollywood.

People like who, r32?

Dick, Tony or Roddy (which makes sense. though I don't think you meant Roddy).

I don't remember where I read it, but a former lover said that Tony could get scary in bed because he liked the sight of blood. That stuck with me because that just made him creepy in my mind.

[Quote] He never sucked my dick. —Joel Grey

Well, I most certainly did. Then you sat on mine afterwards.

R14 Robert Calhoun, NOT Rory.

Tony Perkins was never part of Henry Willson's stable. He came from a prominent NY theatrical family (his father was actor/director Osgood Perkins) and starred in Look Homeward, Angel on Broadway in 1958.

I think it was in one of Andy Warhol's diaries that it was mentioned about Tony being at some sort of small get together with his wife and he became enlusted with one of the men there. When the ladies were in the kitchen preparing coffee and snacks, Tony stared at the guy and made his intentions crystal clear. The rest of the room was shocked at how blatant he was in his proposition.

More about Tony at the link:

His acting style could best be described as peevish. He would have fit in better during the heyday of indie films. Hollywood must have seen the sensitive elements and thought he could be James Dean but less menacing. He mostly seems miscast in a lot of his early roles.

He was effective in the independent Alan Rudolph film Remember My Name (1978) as the ex-husband of ex-con Geraldine Chaplin. It also features his real life wife Berry Berenson as his screen wife. She is as stick-thin as he is and looks boyish. However it may be a bit much to imagine Perkins as a construction worker.

The Psycho Legacy gave some interesting insights into him. It seemed as though he was a bit of a Jekyll/Hyde type. He either got along incredibly well with people or very contentiously. Lee Garlington told a story that on the set of Psycho III (which he directed, and actually did a great job at that), the crew had a respect for him that was impressive and very rare. However, Mick Garris (who directed the fourth Psycho) said he was the most difficult actor he ever worked with and would constantly pick fights over everything,

The interpretation I got was that Perkins had some power issues. If he was in power (either at work or in relationships with other people), he was kind and benevolent. But if he wasn't, he would be very nasty and cruel. So it makes sense that he'd be into BDSM as some sort of psychosexual extension of that.

He seemed like a truly complicated man, though, who was very difficult to figure out.

Forgot to clarify, The Psycho Legacy is a documentary about the series that came out around 2010. It's worth a watch if you can track it down.

I actually really like Psycho IV.

Henry Thomas in his tighty-whities helped pre-gay me figure some things out.

I co-sign on both counts, R43

Did Perkins ever fuck Rock Hudson?

After Tab Hunter starred in the film "Damn Yankees." Tony played the same role in summer stock. But, Tony was by far the better actor. Tab is probably the better person

I read a bio years ago by Richard Pryors ex Jennifer Lee. It was quite dishy. She described how she was staying with him and his wife Berry Berinson in NY. She was alone in the apartment with him when he made a big point of taking a shower with door open and was making obvious display of his body which she described as fit.She said it was very weird and uncomfortable and he was enjoying it. Which she found very odd. I think he was a strange neurotic guy.

Has Marisa Berensen ever talked about him? She'd likely know the background of her sister's marriage to a gay man.

r14, "Fear Strikes Out" was a Paramount film, not 20th Century Fox.

Tab Hunter did Fear Strikes Out as a live TV show, and got raves for it. But he never did it on stage.

Mom tried to get him in bed, but he wanted dad!

Tab is selling the DVD of the documentary based on his memoir on his own website.

He had AIDS and was determined if he had to die, he'd take as many "straights" as possible.

R47, Tony was neurotic, but he was also kinky.

Let's bump this shit!

What about his fetish of being tied up and raped by ' burglars' - he would hire hustlers to live out that fantasy.

Tony was a well known piss bottom in LA. He would got to gay events wearing jeans with a yellow hanky hanging out of his right back pocket.

He seemed terribly insecure and neurotic. He would cry about Tab because Tab could be a bit cool and aloof and Tony needed constant attention and approval. The upcoming film should be interesting.

I would add his name to the list of actors with dark energy.

Saw him in Equus in NYC in the '70s, he was excellent as the psychiatrist.

I just watched the Tab Hunter documentary this past weekend, and the bit about Tony and Tab is pretty brief, but it is clear, looking at Tab's expressions while he talks about it that Tony hurt him deeply. And then they just drifted apart, he says. Seems to be Tony was all about Tony! I mean, if you had Tab Fucking Hunter as your BF, you don't fuck that up. God he was gorgeous and seemed truly sweet.

He was a crappy driver.

It's just so shocking that he was into piss and rape play. He looks so nerdy and nice and cute!

"He wore jeans."

Dear Lord!

Hee Hee!!

I always thought young George Chakiris looked a lot like Perkins.

Were he and Sondheim a thing?

or George Hamilton.

I turned him straight.

We know, sweetheart.

Don’t sass me, R69. Don’t forget, I’m packing heat! Just ask my maid.

No mention of the son?

This is Elvis, right?

I didn’t realize Meg Tilly was such a cunt.

No, R72. That's his other son Oz. He's an actor/director/writer and played 'Dorky David' in "Legally Blonde".

Neckbeard! Shave that shit, dude.

Berry seemed star struck.

What makes you think this, r76. She had many opportunities to meet (and did meet) celebrities of all kinds, but she fell all over herself trying to meet Perkins. I think she really loved him.

Berry Berenson and sis Marisa, were the granddaughters of French couturiere Elsa Schaparelli, who basically invented hot pink and the 1930s.

Someone more adept at linking than me must post a couple of those Roddy MacDowall Malibu home movies that Tony appeared in. He looks positively evil in them unlike all the stars (even Lauren Bacall!) who appear to be absolutely delighted to be photographed.

OMG, everyone from Rock Hudson, Tuesday Weld, Judy Garland, Natalie Wood, Betty Bacall, Polly Bergen, Suzanne Pleshette, Jane Fonda, Natalie Wood, David O Selznick & Jennifer Jones, Tom Tryon, Dominick Dunne, even Gladys fucking Cooper!

Actually, Tony doesn't seem so evil in this one. Maybe I misremembered. Thanks for posting r80. I love those home movies so much.

Perkins strikes me as someone whose life was one long midlife crisis from about age 30 on. I just get the feeling he did a lot of LSD, and became a creepy, bitter little bitch.

I also read about the "burglar" fetish Perkins had, where he'd leave his door open and be laying naked on his bed awaiting the "intrusion." Chris Makos, professional boyfriend to oddballs (Perkins, Warhol) said that his marriage to Berenson didn't stop Perkins from acting out his dark fantasies. When Berenson left the room, he told Makos all the dirty things he wanted done to him. "Whatever you say Norman," Makos allegedly replied.

Everything I've read about Perkins pretty much makes it clear he was a dick.

Manipulative, bitchy, disloyal, vicious, arrogant, sexually depraved and duplicitous.

In other words, the perfect Data Lounger.

In his book "Dropped Names," Frank Langella tells a story of seeing Perkins in L.A. outside Tower Records. Earlier, Perkins had put the moves (unsuccessfully, or so says Langella) on him and now, here he was near the end of his life, zonked out of his mind, sick and scrawny wandering through the weeds above the parking lot on Sunset Strip. A very sad life, esp. for those involved with him who suffered.

That clip was just meant to be European, not gay. Back then, people did not automaticly think gay.

My thing with Perkins, he married and had two kids but continued to have boyfriends. Then he died of aids...how did his family feel about that?

It must also be mentioned that the hot daddy in Phaedre stroking Tony was Italian New Wave star Raf Vallone.

Probably pretty sad, r86. In every public statement at the time, they were loving and loyal. Berry was upset that he'd forbidden her to tell any of their friends he was so sick, which left her very isolated--but other than that, she, and later the kids, spoke of him with great affection. She also claimed they didn't know how he'd gotten AIDs.

I forgot where I read it but a former trick of AP's said he had creepy fetishes and liked to see blood.

It was probably Chris Makos, who sang like a bird for one of the two biographers. ^^

Tilly was foolish to not know who Tony was and why he should have been respected. I would have wanted to fire her too. There was no excuse for her ignorance.

I think he loved his family and obviously they loved him but he was a bit odd.

His son was in Legally Blond.

Right on all counts, r92.

Thanks for that, r80.

Who was the guy hugging Jane Fonda?

And Tony looked like an asshole at the 3:40 mark, saying "fuck you" over and over. Seems like he'd be a total wet blanket at a party

Anthony Perkins is a lot like Liza, good actor with limited range who had one iconic role that defined his entire career.

I'm not sure I'd call him a good actor, range or not. Phaedre was embarrassing. So were most of his early films. How was Fear Strikes Out?

Let's just say that for Tony they had to bring in a stand-in for all the batting shots.

In R80's link you see Dominick Dunne slipping in and becoming part of the party. He should wear a shirt. Jane Fonda's outfit is everything.

Aw, I think Dominick Dunne was very cute back then!

Did everyone at those Roddy MacDowall parties eventually die of lung cancer?

Those movies really bring back a moment in time where the old guard (David O. Selznick doing crossword puzzles) was disappearing. Ten years after these movies I was a teletype operator and I worked underneath Selznick's old office. Fox was now corporate-owned with the back lot already Century City. Selznick had a suite of white tiled rooms down there with a private staircase leading to it. There was his sauna and massage room, a small pool (now filled with empty bottles and cans) and a dressing room which was where my teletype machine was set up. Forgotten and shabby. I love these old movies and I'm glad Roddy passed them on. Watching James Fox pulling Natalie Wood into the water was kind of scary sad. I wish someone would do a list of who's who in the films.

Who was the hottie in the swim trunks with the pretty in shape body lighting the cigarette? Dark and handsome

I just take it for granted that the really cute boy is Roddy's boyfriend. He's the one who tries to look happy whenever the camera glides over his perfect body.

Paul Newman is hotness personified in his white swimsuit.

I wish Jane Fonda would release movies of the parties she and Roger Vadim had down the beach from Roddy's. That would be something, tho probably unreleasable.

The hot guy in the trunks lighting cigarettes was Roddy's bf of the moment, Summer 1965. His name has come up in these threads before but he wasn't an actor, at least not of any fame.

I love these movies so much and I wish some old Hollywood expert could go over all of them and add a sub-titled name over each person as they appear. There are so many celebs in them who are not identifiably famous but whose names would be recognized (mostly producers and their wives, I guess).

1965 was the beginning of such a transitional time in Hollywood, it's particularly fascinating to see who was "in" that summer.

And fascinating to wonder how much gay talk (admiring of a hot newcomer, for instance) was done at Roddy's parties. Surely most of the guests knew that he, Rock, Tony and several other young men were gay. Was it acknowledged or just discreetly not mentioned at all.

Anyone know who the brunette lady in the lavender sweater is who opens the home movie at r80? Or the lady in the yellow blouse and big white hat who comes in next? Or the hot guy in the broadly striped sweater talking to Jane Fonda later on?

[quote]I wish some old Hollywood expert could go over all of them and add a sub-titled name over each person as they appear.

Yeah, or add it as a soundtrack, identifying the people and giving little tidbits of trivia, the pictures they were doing, who was sleeping with whom . . . etc.

R109, the brunette in lavendar is Ellen Griffin Dunne, or "Lenny," Dominick's wife.

My Eldgay Children, Mr. Perkins was my co-star in my movie Mahogany. I shall not speak ill of the dead however his acting was more a portrayal of his "true" personality. I was saddened by his death. Love to all as always !!!

Thanks for the ID, r111.

[quote]I worked underneath Selznick's old office. Fox was now corporate-owned with the back lot already Century City. Selznick had a suite of white tiled rooms down there with a private staircase leading to it.

Not Selznick. Zanuck. My bad.

[quote] I also read he tried to get one of the chicks

chicks?

This is what he was like.

nice.

[quote]I love these movies so much and I wish some old Hollywood expert could go over all of them and add a sub-titled name over each person as they appear.

Sounds like a job for "Pop-Up Video!"

When I was little I always got Tony and Bradford Dillman mixed up.

The Perkins biography, “Split Image” was very interesting, though it didn’t present Perkins in the best light. The Tab Hunter/“Fear Strikes Out” story was a prime example of Perkins’s behavior. I also remember that the author asked Connie Stevens, his costar in Broadway’s “The Star Spangled Girl” for her impressions of Perkins and she declined comment.

R112, but she let him know that she wasn't the one

R121 , I remember that scene well !! He kept wanting to reshoot it !! On the 4th take he said "call me a bitch boy to make it more intense " Well I looked over at Berry he called it a wrap. I was not going to participate in his S and M foolishness !!

Who is the guy with the bulge at 51 seconds? He is hot!

R123, Christopher Plummer

Tab was not a nice person either. Tony would visit Tab's set, early on, and someone told Tab to make him disappear so no one would get gay vibes, and Hunter did it.

Mrs. Brewster, that may be the case, but surely you remember that the scene was a recreation of actual events. You could not have forgotten how Berry Gordy was being an absolute bastard to you demanding take after take of a particularly humiliating scene. Finally, you'd had enough and slapped the shit out of Berry, sending his sunglasses flying into the air. You stormed off the set and never returned - you were DONE! The scene was recreated for the movie in the gif above. He should have known better, eh?

I think R123 was talking about Sal Mineo (the hot number in the white jeans)

R121 You must be one one of my super fans !!! Yes Berry and I had a complicated relationship that was somewhat intense at times. I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy while filming this movie so hormonally I was delicate. I remember having to retake this scene over and over again with Berry's insistence. The worst part was the rather annoying flamboyant production assistant drying me off each time!!!! I had suggested to Berry to use Bruce Vilanch as a stand-in ( with a black wig and heavy Fashion Fair Foundation on his face ) for the fountain scene. But Berry was concerned too much water would be displaced by him falling into the fountain and it would flood the streets of Rome !!!!

Thanks R124. Love those old timey bathing suits that showed the goods.

^Yes, Mrs. Brewster - that is the scene to which I was referring, and I'm so glad that you remembered. For a minute there, I was considering whether or not you were tipping the bottle back then as well. Berry was a fool to think that he could still exert the same control over you which he employed the five years he was slipping you the D! And people have the nerve to question your reputation for being such a bitch - if they only knew.....

I don't believe for a moment he ever fucked Berenson.

R121 As I look back on my life each step has been necessary, complete and perfect !!! Thank you for continued love !!!!

You're welcome Mrs. B. You always rose above it all, and I personally always referred to you as "Diana - Goddess of Belief" Best wishes always.

If the poster meant the bulge in the clingy baby blue swim trunks that is indeed Captain Von Trapp. Chris Plummer looks exceedingly hot in that home movie, even with his clothes on.

These home movies really do show the innate and effortless beauty of Natalie Wood, Jane Fonda, Tuesday Weld, even Juliet Mills......you get why they were hired in the waning days of the studio system.

Samantha Eggar and Lee Remick appear in other home movies and Roddy's camera captures a beauty they never even quite showed onscreen.

Why does (er, did) Lee Remick always look like she's posing?

Why did he never play Bobby in Company? Wasn't the part written with him in mind?

Who was the beautiful young blond man who was fully dressed--ie, wearing chinos of some kind--who first appears with Sal Mineo? Ms Mineo's trick or another celeb? He has the beauty of Joe D'A but is not he...

During this period Sal would have been shagging Bobby Sherman. Is that him?

Perkins was offered the chance to direct a play and begged off doing Company, r137.

Many think the blonde guy with Sal was one of those Beach Boys.

To me he always looks like Andrew Garfield's father.

He was suppose to play Hard Case Williams in Lust In The Dust but felt the part wasn't "right" for him.

Sad closet case who died of AIDS.

he was extremely secretive, incredibly ambitious and ruthless in pursuit of parts. He would throw anybody under the bus for the next part. He was also strange, sexually confused, and about as much on the downlow as it is possible to be..............other than that, he was a great guy.

I remember reading a story on the old IMDB board about Anthony Perkins going to the dentist or doctor and they found "strange liquids" in his mouth. I don't know if the poster got that from a bio book or what.

My God, EVERYone smoked in those days !