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The sexuality of Robert Taylor

When Robert Taylor married Barbara Stanwyck, the marriage came as something of a relief to MGM, who had been distinctly worried about Taylor's seeming lack of interest in women. Taylor's overbearing mother was not impressed and went on hunger strike to protest at the wedding which referred to as 'it'. Taylor spent his wedding night with his mother.

He didn't enjoy spending time with his wife and claimed to have fallen in love with Lana Turner, during the filming of 'Johnny Eager' (1941). He went so far as to boast that their passion had been consummated, a claim Lana refuted. Taylor told Stanwyck he was in love with Turner and they had a brief break-up.

When he befriended MGM worker Ralph Couser, Stanwyck became convicted the two men were having an affair. When Couser telephoned the Taylor home, Stanwyck would call out, 'Hey, Bob, your wife wants to speak to you.' Taylor became convinced he was gay and went to visit a psychologist. He was told that he saw Stanwyck as a mother figure, and, therefore, could not become aroused by her. He later let it be known that he had an affair with Ava Gardner. He and Stanwyck were divorced in 1951. In 1954, he married divorced actress Ursula Theiss aboard a boat in Jackosn Lane, Jackson, Wyoming. With her, he found a new lease of life and felt his attraction to men almost disappear. It is said that he once yelled at Stanwyck:'At least, i can get it up with her.' With Theiss, they had two children.

Sal Mineo once said of him: 'I'd always heard around town that Robert Taylor was bisexual, that his marriage to Barbara Stanwyck was arranged, and that she was also gay. So when i met Taylor, i figured we'd have something in common, right? Wrong! I was open, he was not only closeted, he was right wing and a witch hunter, not at all friendly, or honest, or even smiling.'

DataLounge, what do you think, or feel about Robert Taylor?

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by Anonymousreply 144August 6, 2021 5:49 AM

He moved to Hollywood with his mother. That says it all!

His father was a doctor and his mother was not expected to survive his birth. Ironically, she would outlive him.

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by Anonymousreply 1June 13, 2016 12:02 AM

Taylor's original career plan was to be a concert cellist and he followed his music teacher to Pomona College, in California. There, he began acting in college productions and the rest is history.

by Anonymousreply 2June 13, 2016 12:08 AM

"Stanwyck became convicted the two men were having an affair. "

That would be The File on Thelma Jordon (1950), she was definitely convicted of murdering her aunt for money.

by Anonymousreply 3June 13, 2016 12:12 AM

It seems that he is only remembered because of Stanwyck.

by Anonymousreply 4June 13, 2016 12:12 AM

He was beautiful as a young man, but he didn't age well.

Really, this looks like the face of a heavy drinker to me, someone who let the closet win.

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by Anonymousreply 5June 13, 2016 12:16 AM

Taylor on What's My Line. He's in his early forties here. Utterly humorless after they guess who he is.

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by Anonymousreply 6June 13, 2016 12:33 AM

Wasn't sal Mineo super kinky? Like seriously

by Anonymousreply 7June 13, 2016 12:38 AM

I guess Mineo fancied him, because he kept in mind the image of young Robert Taylor, in 'Camille', R7.

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by Anonymousreply 8June 13, 2016 10:44 AM

Taylor's worship of Garbo in Camile was one of the gayest things I've seen in a 1930s movie.

by Anonymousreply 9June 13, 2016 2:40 PM

Taylor sounds like a real douche. Don't care if he was bi or whatever, he was a very lame actor all through his career. Is there any gossip about any possible male lovers he had. ? I heard a story that Errol Flynn tried it on with him only to get an angry rebuff!

by Anonymousreply 10June 13, 2016 8:42 PM

R6, my god, he looks like he's in his late sixties. He smoked big time, but must've been a raging drunk as well.

by Anonymousreply 11December 4, 2017 4:23 AM

He looks like a fit daddy in Ivanhoe.

He's quite beautiful in Camille but even during filming Cukor was complaining to Irving Thalberg how lousy he was.

Thalberg was like who's going to be watching him anyway?

by Anonymousreply 12December 4, 2017 4:39 AM

He was 33 years old when he made Ivanhoe.

by Anonymousreply 13December 4, 2017 4:44 AM

R13

He was 40, 41 when he made IVANHOE.

Film was made in 1952, Taylor was born in 1911.

by Anonymousreply 14December 4, 2017 4:59 AM

I had no idea who he was.

by Anonymousreply 15December 4, 2017 5:10 AM

Robert Taylor was considered to be more beautiful than Garbo in Camille. He was stunning in his day. No wonder he was gay or bisexual.

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by Anonymousreply 16December 4, 2017 5:14 AM

Barbara Stanwyck with Robert Taylor. Again, he is more beautiful than her.

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by Anonymousreply 17December 4, 2017 5:20 AM

Stanwyck and Taylor in their last movie together, The Night Walker. By this time they were divorced.

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by Anonymousreply 18December 4, 2017 5:24 AM

Just beautiful.

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by Anonymousreply 19December 4, 2017 5:34 AM

He signed my orange.

by Anonymousreply 20December 4, 2017 5:35 AM

He was suppose to be something of a simp, not very bright.

by Anonymousreply 21December 4, 2017 5:39 AM

He was a Republican stooge at the HUAC hearings during the blacklist era...a real asshole when it came to other people's freedom. I couldn't care less about what he slept with...he's right up there with that bastard Elia Kazan as a Joe McCarthy stool pigeon.

by Anonymousreply 22December 4, 2017 5:43 AM

Gurl!?!

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by Anonymousreply 23December 4, 2017 5:45 AM

Oh, that's right, isn't it, R22?

Ah, well - maybe he and Jedgar and Clyde got to have some threesomes, ick, ick, ICK!

by Anonymousreply 24December 4, 2017 5:50 AM

He was a terrible actor and not much of a personality either. Pass!

by Anonymousreply 25December 4, 2017 5:54 AM

Beautiful when young yes but physical beauty in the pretty sense means nothing to me. I'd rather have slept with John Garfield.

by Anonymousreply 26December 8, 2017 3:45 PM

My mother adored him. But he seems " dated" now. I agree about Garfield R26.

by Anonymousreply 27December 8, 2017 3:52 PM

He apparently couldn't hide the boners he got around Elizabeth Taylor.

[quote]Conspirator's most prominent attribute is that it gave 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor her first grown-up role, playing wife to more than twice her age co-star Robert Taylor, a continued sore point of embarrassment for the latter. Vanity aside, the veteran leading man later admitted that young Liz's beauty and sexuality would drive him crazy on the set, causing the actor to become so aroused that re-takes would be necessary, lest some sharp-eyed censors took note of unsightly bulges in the trouser area.

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by Anonymousreply 28December 8, 2017 3:54 PM

Taylor was very immature and passive, Stanwyck loved it. He also did cooking and household chores - Stanwyck loved that too!

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by Anonymousreply 29December 8, 2017 3:54 PM

He isn't much of an actor, or even in bed, but he autographs fruit beautifully

by Anonymousreply 30December 8, 2017 3:58 PM

Think you meant Ricardo.

by Anonymousreply 31December 8, 2017 7:26 PM

He was very, very right wing and a wooden actor.

Never, ever liked him. Never.

by Anonymousreply 32December 8, 2017 8:13 PM

r31

No, the bitch remarried and wanted to forget those horrible Cuban years

by Anonymousreply 33December 8, 2017 8:38 PM

Stanwyck carried a torch for him, long after they divorced. When he died, his wife Ursula graciously allowed Stanwyck to sit with the family during his funeral. She made something of a spectacle of herself. She arrived, late, with two attendants supporting her. She wore a bright yellow dress that jarred with the attire of the other mourners. She said that Taylor had told her he didn't want people wearing black at his funeral, hence the yellow dress. During the funeral she sobbed and carried on. Despite all this Ursula invited her back to their house where everybody was having "a drink on Bob." When Stanwyck was ready to leave, she and Ursula were seen deep in conversation in the middle of the driveway. No one knows what was said, but the two women betrayed no emotion, there was no comforting hand touching an arm, no hug or handshake. Then Barbara took her leave, getting into her limousine and slowly driving away. She never got over Robert Taylor, even though their relationship was unfulfilling and unsatisfying for both of them.

by Anonymousreply 34December 8, 2017 9:02 PM

I believe Barbara Stanwyck was lez (or at least bi) herself. So, it should have been a firm marriage.

by Anonymousreply 35December 8, 2017 9:11 PM

I don't think he even made it out of the 1930s before his looks started aging badly, He had a rather weak jaw line which was usually camouflaged with lighting and shadowing on film and heavy touching up in stills. And that widow's peak could be scary if not lit properly, too.

But he was kind of adorable in 1936 in the MGM musical Broadway Melody of 1936, singing I've Got a Feeling You're Fooling. Supposedly that's his singing voice. Check it out on youtube.

by Anonymousreply 36December 8, 2017 9:32 PM

The only film I've seen of him is the second version of Waterloo Bridge, with Vivien Leigh. He's a terrible actor (Vivien Leigh, the script and the music do all the work), but still good-looking. Film is from about 1941. The older version (1934?) with Bette Davis is v good too, albeit different (drama vs melodrama). Two very interesting movies to watch if you want to see what you can do with two treatments of the same basic story.

by Anonymousreply 37December 8, 2017 9:41 PM

Just ask Darwin Porter, who wrote extensively about Taylor's bisexuality. Remember whose place he took on "Death Valley Days?"

by Anonymousreply 38December 8, 2017 9:47 PM

I've never seen someone go from beauty to yuck so quickly.

by Anonymousreply 39December 8, 2017 10:07 PM

Barbara Stanwyck never remarried and even though she had ALL the money she would ever need, insisted that she be paid her alimony every month. Ursula sent it to her, but first she signed the check "Mrs. Robert Taylor."

Taylor's name came up in conversation at my job one day. A woman said that her father had been in the Naval Air Corps during WWII. One day an officer propositioned him and touched his put his hand on his ass. Her father hit him and knocked him down. Her father was sent to the brig - the officer was Robert Taylor.

by Anonymousreply 40December 8, 2017 10:16 PM

Delete "touched his".......

by Anonymousreply 41December 8, 2017 10:17 PM

R34, that Stanwyck "carried a torch for him" is movie fan MYTH.

She was very upset after the break-up because she had no closure. Taylor OFFERED the ridiculous percentage of his salary settlement, R40, to get out of the marriage quickly as per his attorney. Dumb on his part, but Stanwyck took it.

Stanwyck got over her hurt and remained fond of Taylor. However, she didn't carry a torch waiting for him to come back or any of that other insane clap-trap. Her never remarrying was a choice she made that had absolutely nothing to do with Robert Taylor.

by Anonymousreply 42December 9, 2017 5:08 PM

When angel of mercy Joan Crawford died. She had 2 pictures in her apt Pres.Kennedy Missy Stanwyck Put 2+2 together.

by Anonymousreply 43December 9, 2017 5:45 PM

Missy Stanwyck was too occupied with me to give a damn about Bob Taylor!

by Anonymousreply 44December 9, 2017 6:34 PM

Great thread. Love learning about old timey golden age actors I knew nothing about.

by Anonymousreply 45December 9, 2017 6:44 PM

Taylor was never a good actor and he got worse with age. I have never seen such a difference in skill and magnetism on screen as when Taylor shared scenes with Peter Ustinov in 'Quo Vadis'. I wonder what Ustinov thought of such a cardboard-faced, dead-eyed bore.

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by Anonymousreply 46December 9, 2017 6:59 PM

Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck were next-door neighbors in the early 30s. Stanwyck's husband at the time was Frank Fay who was an abusive alcoholic. Stanwyck frequently took refuge at Joan's house when Fay was in one of his drunken rages, and spent the night. Make of that what you will.

Joan and Barbara remained good friends for the rest of Joan's life.

by Anonymousreply 47December 9, 2017 7:13 PM

^ They met in New York many years before they were neighbors. And their friendship soured after Joanie moved back:

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by Anonymousreply 48December 9, 2017 7:31 PM

Seeing as he married a big ol' known lesbo like Stanwyck I would say he most likely was a homo.

by Anonymousreply 49December 9, 2017 7:45 PM

R14, okay 41. He still looks like he's in his mid-fifties in that film.

by Anonymousreply 50December 9, 2017 7:49 PM

He lost his looks but still managed to get a tv show in the late 50s and later he took over from Ronnie Reagan as the host for Death Valley Days. Not much of an actor.

by Anonymousreply 51December 9, 2017 7:53 PM

Well, I was looking for something else, but came across this, and needed to share it with DL (about Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor).

[quote]Apparently all was not calm between the two during the filming of Torch: A frequent visitor to the set, Liz snubbed Joan one day by not saying "hello"; Joan then accosted publicity man Dore Freeman and said "You tell that little bitch never to walk in here without acknowledging me. I want you to teach her some manners." Joan also allegedly suggested to Wilding that he put a harness on his wife. Liz later told reporters that her husband was very fortunate to be playing a blind man in his first American film: "That way he doesn't have to look at Joan Crawford throughout the entire movie."

by Anonymousreply 52December 9, 2017 8:04 PM

Sorry, but DL, please forgive me. I'm pathetic about linking.

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by Anonymousreply 53December 9, 2017 8:05 PM

Here is a charming newsreel clip of a 1947 interview of Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor as they arrive in Southampton aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth.

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by Anonymousreply 54December 9, 2017 8:07 PM

David Shipman, easily the best writer about movies, said that I Am A Camera had the biggest disparity in acting talent (Laurence Harvey and Julie Harris) since Garbo and Taylor in Camille.

by Anonymousreply 55December 9, 2017 8:10 PM

Robert Taylor and Tyrone Power were two impossibly beautiful pretty boys who aged rather poorly. Their features had thickened and by the age of 40 they looked ten years older.

by Anonymousreply 56December 9, 2017 8:19 PM

Feelin'/Foolin'

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by Anonymousreply 57December 9, 2017 8:21 PM

There's a good biography of Barbara Stanwyck by Axel Madsen. In her later years, confined to her home by illness, she "let her mind drift to the past." And it was obvious she never let go of Robert Taylor:

Her sickroom became a dimly lit shrine to Bob Taylor and herself. Photos of them together were everywhere. On the night table stood her honorary Oscar. It was almost twenty years since Bob had died, but she talked of her late husband as if he were there yesterday, and she came to believe she could communicate with him through the Oscar. If anyone asked why she was clutching the statue in bed, she said "It brings Bob to me."

"When I hold this Oscar and I'm very quiet, I feel young and beautiful again. I discovered some time ago that Bob is still with me and that our love for each other will continue on the other side. Bob comes to me in the early hours of each morning. I wasn't frightened when he first appeared, just pleased and grateful. That was a year ago, and I was tossing and turning in my sleep. I turned on the light and saw the Oscar gleaming on the table. Something told me to pick it up. As I touched it there was a little electric shock, and then my beloved Bob was standing by me. A look of incredible tenderness was on his face. We were together again, and I knew he was there to help me to the other side"

Poor Barbara. Her mind was not just "drifting"; it had gone soft. She sounds like she'd gone totally loony, thinking she could communicate with the deceased Robert Taylor through an Oscar.

by Anonymousreply 58December 9, 2017 8:25 PM

I love how the British newsreel at r54 drops the W when pronouncing Barbara Stanwyck's last name like in "Greenwich".

by Anonymousreply 59December 9, 2017 8:33 PM

Who is that charming blonde in r57's charming number doing all the heavy lifting?

by Anonymousreply 60December 9, 2017 8:34 PM

r58 - Bob...is that...you?

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by Anonymousreply 61December 9, 2017 8:40 PM

That's June Knight, R60.

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by Anonymousreply 62December 9, 2017 8:46 PM

In some of the photos where he is older, he has this strange combination of the looks of Bob Barker and Bela Lugosi.

by Anonymousreply 63December 9, 2017 8:52 PM

He really lost his looks in a hurry. In later photos he doesn't even look like the same person.

by Anonymousreply 64December 10, 2017 12:22 AM

Robert Taylor had one of the all time great voices. To this day every time I hear his voice it's a comfortable reminder of my youth.

by Anonymousreply 65December 10, 2017 12:47 AM

R58, you're a fuckin RIOT!!!! Um, no.

R55, David Shipman? That's the bloak that wrote so many perverted things about JUDY!!!!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 66December 10, 2017 1:15 AM

He reportedly had a very small penis. As Ava Gardner was once reputed to say, "Not even a mouthful" (which she also supposedly said about Clark Gable).

by Anonymousreply 67December 10, 2017 2:01 AM

Is he in that famous MGM anniversary photo? He was one of the studio's leading men for 2 decades. If he's there he must not be in a prominent seat as I can't remember him.

by Anonymousreply 68December 10, 2017 2:03 AM

You cannot only communicate with the dead through an Oscar you can also use it as the world's greatest aphrodisiac.

by Anonymousreply 69December 10, 2017 2:08 AM

R68, Second row, 4th from the right.

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by Anonymousreply 70December 10, 2017 2:23 AM

Some of those heads look stuck on like on the Sargent Pepper album cover.

by Anonymousreply 71December 10, 2017 2:25 AM

R56 Here's quite a nice pic of Power in 1958 the year he died. He looks pretty damn good in the goatee. I'm a Stanwyck fan but she was a bit of an enigma to me. Many seemed to like her as was a rather honest and no nonsense woman. Henry Fonda said he was his biggest crush. I also think Taylor was fairly dreadful in almost everything he did. I do like his pretty boy phase in black and white and I rather like him in Johnny Eager but stuff like Ivanhoe? He is awful. Luckily George Sanders is in it to divert your attention.

by Anonymousreply 72December 10, 2017 2:37 AM

Sorry. Forgot the link.

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by Anonymousreply 73December 10, 2017 2:39 AM

Kirk Douglas writes about her in his autobio and she comes off as cold and calculating.

Not being at all welcoming until seeing what he has on screen. He makes it seem as if he did not appreciate her initial coldness.

Robert Walker said the same thing about MGM when he was just starting out and being treated like a second class citizen.

These initial snubs are not forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 74December 10, 2017 2:48 AM

Why would a divorced man's heir have to pay alimony for the deceased?

Robert Taylor's widow has to pay the late Robert Taylor's alimony to Barbara Stanwyck? Surely that isn't true.

Would some DL attorneys care to comment?

by Anonymousreply 75December 10, 2017 2:48 AM

When I was young, I always confused Robert Taylor with Tyrone Power. I guess that's because when they were young, both were famous for being more glamorous than their glamour girl co-stars. Then they both lost their looks due to their alcoholism. Later I learned both were bisexual but Power was the bottom scat queen.

by Anonymousreply 76December 10, 2017 3:16 AM

R73, Ty Power was 44 years old when he died. But in that picture he looks like he's in his 50s.

by Anonymousreply 77December 10, 2017 3:18 AM

Maybe Stanwyck just didn't like Kirk Douglas, R74.

Maybe she got his number early on and wasn't having any.

by Anonymousreply 78December 10, 2017 3:36 AM

He was a leading man at MGM but rarely carried a film. Most often he was paired with a bigger female star (Garbo, Crawford, Shearer, Lana Turner) or in his later post-WWII MGM career was eclipsed by the younger female stars who supported him (Liz, Deborah Kerr).

Odd that he was the epitome of the studio contract player yet married to Stanwyck who refused to sign with any studio on a long term basis.

by Anonymousreply 79December 10, 2017 3:43 AM

R44

She just wanted to see for herself what all the fuss Clifton Webb was making you really was.

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by Anonymousreply 80December 10, 2017 4:14 AM

The beautiful waltz scene from "Waterloo Bridge" with Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh.

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by Anonymousreply 81December 10, 2017 4:21 AM

[quote] I always confused Robert Taylor with Tyrone Power

Yep, same here.

by Anonymousreply 82December 10, 2017 5:40 AM

Wow, Stanwyck’s successor as Mrs. Taylor, Ms. Ursula Thiess, was quite the stunner! Thought of linking a photo, but couldn’t decide which one I liked best. Disappointing to learn they were so tight with th Reagans.

by Anonymousreply 83December 10, 2017 6:04 AM

Come on, Tyrone Power was a far better actor - and a cooler guy.

by Anonymousreply 84December 10, 2017 2:51 PM

Cary Grant truly was that exceptional leading man who kept his looks well into his 40s, 50s and onwards, compared to contemporaries like Taylor, Power, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper.

I'm sure he was no saint but Cary must have led a very moderate life in terms of eating, drinking, smoking and general all-around healthy living.

by Anonymousreply 85December 10, 2017 2:56 PM

I loved this fan video for Camille using a Dead or Alive song because it makes Garbo seem like a drag queen and her and Robert like a gay couple. Hilarious.

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by Anonymousreply 86December 10, 2017 3:18 PM

I remember reading that Cary Grant would research and learn about a new topic every year. Whether it was learning about astronomy, learning a language, or what, he was always learning something new.

He was also very athletic, beginning as an acrobat when he first got into show business. That gave his body movement a real grace and confidence. It's fun to watch the tricks he does with Hepburn in Holiday.

by Anonymousreply 87December 10, 2017 3:20 PM

This is a Robert Taylor thread r87. Get the fuck out.

by Anonymousreply 88December 10, 2017 3:25 PM

"As Ava Gardner was once reputed to say...

Ava Gardner refuted all of the sex quotes she supposedly said as "smut" and "bullshit."

by Anonymousreply 89December 10, 2017 3:49 PM

R74, could that be because Kirk Douglas has always been an asshole?

by Anonymousreply 90December 10, 2017 3:55 PM

Webb was even more obsessed with his mother. They were always together and when she died he was in his 60s and he was inconsolable.

Someone who knew him said he never recovered from her death.

He was a brilliantly talented man. I wish I could have seen him on stage.

He introduced the song Easter Parade.

by Anonymousreply 91December 10, 2017 11:50 PM

Crawford and Stanwyck were two tough-talkin' rug munchers who should have done a prison film together, where they played leaders of rival gangs.

by Anonymousreply 92December 11, 2017 5:35 PM

Missy Stanwyck was into gay/bi dudes. She kept Robert Wagner.

by Anonymousreply 93December 11, 2017 5:43 PM

[quote]R90 [R74], could that be because Kirk Douglas has always been an asshole?

he reportedly raped the virginal Natalie Wood when she came in to meet him for an audition. Robert Downey Jr., who once dated her daughter, has discussed it.

(Of course, Angela Lansbury would have asked her what she'd been wearing, but that's beside the point.)

by Anonymousreply 94December 11, 2017 5:54 PM

[quote]I always confused Robert Taylor with Tyrone Power.

I did too until I found out that Power was the bisexual into scat as opposed to the normal bisexual. They were easy to separate after that.

by Anonymousreply 95December 12, 2017 3:56 AM

R92, did you know Crawford wanted Stanwyck for the Mercedes McCambridge part in Johnny Guitar? It didn't happen because Stanwyck was deemed too expensive, though there's no evidence she was interested in the role.

Even though they were friends, and probably more than friends at one point, I can't see in the same movie. Gestapo Stanwyck would not put up with Crawford's diva antics for 3 seconds.

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by Anonymousreply 96December 12, 2017 3:20 PM

bump this homo beauty

by Anonymousreply 97December 14, 2017 12:44 AM

In Feelin'/Foolin', Taylor looks exactly like one of those archetypal '30s cartoon uptown swells.

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by Anonymousreply 98December 14, 2017 1:10 AM

"I did too until I found out that Power was the bisexual into scat as opposed to the normal bisexual?"

Where did you hear Tyrone Power was "into scat?" From Scotty Bowers? Only an idiot would believe anything that crazy old coot says.

Tyrone Power was one of Judy Garland's boyfriends. According the Gerald Clarke (Clarke is a big old Judy queen) he was smitten with her and wanted to marry her. But evil people told her the lie that he was reading her love letters to his army buddies so she ended the relationship. Actually, the relationship was nothing more than an affair for both of them. To say that marriage was in the cards for them was really stretching it.

by Anonymousreply 99December 14, 2017 1:21 AM

Joan Crawford referred to Barbara Stanwyck as 'Missy', and they kept up a correspondence. Who knows what happened between those dragon ladies. I'm almost tempted to write some Lesbian fiction.

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by Anonymousreply 100December 14, 2017 1:30 AM

Everyone keeps talking about Tyrone Power losing his looks. But he looked pretty damn good in "Witness For The Prosecution", and wasn't that one of his last films?

by Anonymousreply 101December 14, 2017 1:35 AM

Crawford, Stanwyck, Taylor and Franchot Tone out for a night on the town. If I didn't know any better, I would think this is a picture of a gay couple and a lesbian couple.

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by Anonymousreply 102December 14, 2017 1:45 AM

R102 I think you're close to the truth!

by Anonymousreply 103December 14, 2017 2:06 AM

Stanwyck takes on Charles Bronson in the Earthquake episode of "The Big Valley".

Trapped in old, forgotten mine tunnels after a building collapse, she takes him on:

Starts at about the 28:00 mark.

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by Anonymousreply 104December 14, 2017 10:09 PM

Franchot Tone had a huge cock.

by Anonymousreply 105December 14, 2017 11:47 PM

Franchot Tone was a girly man.

by Anonymousreply 106December 14, 2017 11:55 PM

Unfortunately the gorgeous Tone, see MOTB, was straight.

And I'm the first one who wants to believe an actor is at least bi.

by Anonymousreply 107December 14, 2017 11:59 PM

R101, Sure he was handsome for a 55 year-old. But he was only 43.

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by Anonymousreply 108December 16, 2017 3:31 AM

[quote]After their marriage, Tone had this to say: "She's like that old joke about Philadelphia. First prize, four years with Joan, second prize, eight."

Franchot Tone could be pretty catty. But somehow, he and Joan remained friends, and she was the one he trusted to scatter his ashes after he died.

by Anonymousreply 109December 16, 2017 3:44 AM

Joan's first husband Doug Frairbanks Jr. gave her clout in Hollywood but second husband Franchot Tone taught her the manners to go with it.

by Anonymousreply 110December 16, 2017 1:25 PM

Shit, manners!!!

by Anonymousreply 111December 16, 2017 1:25 PM

"But somehow, he (Franchot Tone) and Joan remained friends"

Um, I don't know. There was no one else he could turn to. Previously he was so desperate or deluded he ran with trash like Barbara Payton.

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by Anonymousreply 112December 16, 2017 3:19 PM

When Tone was dying of cancer, Joan took care of him.

by Anonymousreply 113December 16, 2017 4:16 PM

Drunken Joan probably left him in his diaper for days...

by Anonymousreply 114December 16, 2017 4:33 PM

Taylor was supposedly having an affair with Phillip Terry, Joan Crawfords 3rd husband when they were married. Terry and Taylor made one movie together around that time frame so I suppose its possible. Robert Taylor smoked 3 packs of cigs a day since he was a teenager and he drank the hardcore stuff his whole life, plus liked horses/ranching in his off screen time, so was probably out in the sun a lot..................all 3 speed the aging process ,but I also think the aging rate is somewhat genetic and in those cases its hard to put the brakes on.

by Anonymousreply 115July 17, 2018 11:55 PM

I thought Robert Taylor’s best performances were in “Waterloo Bridge” and in “Camille”. He was at his best with strong female stars, such as Vivien Leigh and Greta Garbo. He had limited talent, but he was effective. I never found his looks, though, as appealing. Tyrone Power was far more beautiful, and was a talented actor. He had warmth and humanity where as Robert Taylor did not.

by Anonymousreply 116July 18, 2018 1:17 AM

Bette Davis was not in the earlier (superior) version of Waterloo Bridge. It was Mae Clark--one of those amazing actresses of the early 30s who are all but forgotten today.

Mae Clark and Ann Dvorak were phenomenal.

by Anonymousreply 117July 18, 2018 1:30 AM

Mae Clark is only famous today (if at all) for getting a grapefruit smashed in her face.

by Anonymousreply 118July 18, 2018 1:37 AM

[quote] Joan Crawford referred to Barbara Stanwyck as 'Missy'

Everybody called Barbara Stanwyck "Missy".

by Anonymousreply 119July 18, 2018 1:37 AM

They were each other’s beards.

by Anonymousreply 120July 18, 2018 1:42 AM

If you're new to this thread be sure to check out the very young Bob Taylor singing I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' at r57. It's one of those really grand b&w MGM musical numbers from the early 1930s with beautiful sets, costumes and staging.

I've never been a fan but he's quite charming there even if his voice is dubbed.

by Anonymousreply 121July 18, 2018 1:43 AM

So many stars moved to Hwood with their moms, though. If not both parents. So many.

by Anonymousreply 122July 18, 2018 1:56 AM

Mae Clark was really really good. You can find more of her work on youtube and she's excellent.

by Anonymousreply 123July 18, 2018 2:01 AM

I somehow missed this thread when it was originally posted, but glad to have found it now. Who knew so many others love the same "I've Got A Feeling You're Fooling" number that I do?

The Bob Eberly version of the song with Tommy Dorsey was a huge hit, but I like Taylor's version better, even if he's no singer.

by Anonymousreply 124July 18, 2018 2:20 AM

I remember first seeing the Feelin'/Foolin' number when it was featured in That's Entertainment (Part 1) in a section about early MGM stars who were coerced to sing and dance in the studio's musicals. This one and Clark Gable in Idiot's Delight, Cary Grant in Suzy, Jean Harlow in Reckless and Jimmy Stewart introducing Easy to Love were all some of my favorite moments in spite of the genuine lack of real musical talent.

by Anonymousreply 125July 18, 2018 12:48 PM

I thought Mae Clarke was close enough with Stanwyck at one time to be considered one of her female lovers.

"Robert Taylor smoked 3 packs of cigs a day"

Um, no. Taylor smoked more like FIVE packs of cigarettes a day. He smoked so much that even heavy smokers like Ava Gardner remarked on it.

by Anonymousreply 126July 18, 2018 2:07 PM

R117 I believe that Bette Davis has a tiny supporting role in the 1931 "Waterloo Bridge" as Douglass Montgomery/Kent Douglass' sister. BTW: Douglass Montgomery really pings. Montgomery married later in middle age - 45 years old. Mae Clarke's character in the 1931 "Waterloo Bridge" is pretty much flat out a prostitute/ex-chorus girl right from the beginning of the movie - the hero is too naive to know what she is. There is a great scene with Mae Clarke and Enid Bennett as the hero's mother where she very gently and sympathetically tells Clarke that she isn't going to marry her son and they both know why.... No fooling mother.

Stanwyck really seemed to look for beauty in men. Taylor, RJ Wagner and the scenes she has with Richard Chamberlain in "The Thorn Birds" are sizzling. She is in her 70's and she is burning up the screen with her sexuality. Also, Stanwyck continued to play seductive sexually powerful women all through her forties and into her fifties.

I can't get worked up about the sexuality of Robert Taylor in general because I have a feeling he was as stiff and boring in bed as he was onscreen.

by Anonymousreply 127July 18, 2018 7:47 PM

So the second wife cured him of the gay?

by Anonymousreply 128July 18, 2018 8:49 PM

Never marry a SOB who's is prettier than you.

by Anonymousreply 129July 18, 2018 10:10 PM

"Why would a divorced man's heir have to pay alimony for the deceased?" R75, Taylor was not deceased. It's just that his wife signed the alimony checks.

by Anonymousreply 130July 18, 2018 10:49 PM

[R1]s photo....he looks exactly like RACHEL MADDOW.

by Anonymousreply 131July 18, 2018 11:23 PM

I'm very glad that it was suggested to watch the Feelin'/Foolin' number. I loved it because it reminded me how old Hollywood made practically every one sing and dance - whether they wanted to or not. And they did! Thats's the way it was but I am always amazed that they were able to muster the talent (although with varying results) to be able to pull it off. To me that is astonishing.

Also thank you to R81 for that clip. I actually started to cry. I'm kind of embarrassed to (Mary!) admit it but it's true. It was just the magic of Hollywood in those days. With the sets, not to mention the absurdity of a bunch of strangers dancing in the dark. But the beauty of Leigh and Taylor and the belief that a sap like me would sit in the audience convinced there was a place like that - that pulled off a stunt like that. It all kind of came together and worked me over.

Thank you DL. It's threads like these that remind me there are still many of the old gang around and still can produce wonderful, wonderful threads.

by Anonymousreply 132July 19, 2018 6:59 AM

I forgot that I appreciate that someone made the correction about Mae Clarke being in the first Waterloo Bridge. I remember being so inpressed with Clarke as I thought she had a very naturalistic quality to her acting - which was definitely not the usual - especially in 1931.

by Anonymousreply 133July 19, 2018 7:09 AM

Actually a lot of the actresses in the very early thirties, like Clarke, Dvorak, Jeanne Engels, and others had that natural quality. They were a lot like the silent actresses. But the sound technology got better--this combined with the loss of being able to do location shooting anymore--gave films that artificial quality. And the acting got artificial too.

by Anonymousreply 134July 19, 2018 11:41 AM

True, r134, and add that in the late twenties/early thirties Hollywood started importing a lot of stage actors because it was thought they could speak more clearly. That was true but commercial stage training during that period didn't emphasize a natural approach.

by Anonymousreply 135July 19, 2018 7:50 PM

Very few silent stars had anything like a natural approach to acting. It just wasn't the desired aesthetic.

by Anonymousreply 136July 19, 2018 10:22 PM

So the second wife cured him of the gay?

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by Anonymousreply 137November 6, 2019 10:18 AM

Five packs a day and HEAVY drinking? Wow, these people really abused their bodies! Robert Taylor had a thin and tall waistline in the 30's. They pretended he could dance in Broadway Melody of 1936 and took fake PR pictures of him standing in for Nick Long Jr. who was the real dancing star of the picture. For some reason Nick was blackballed from a return in Broadway Melody of1938.

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by Anonymousreply 138June 13, 2021 4:07 AM

Louis Mayer liked Robert Taylor because he always seemed grateful to be under contract and although earning a decent salary he settled for what the studio paid him and never asked for raises. His career at MGM is one of the longest (other than maybe Clark Gable) for a big contract player. He was there a full twenty years, and only left when the studio released its famous roster of stars in 1955-56.

by Anonymousreply 139June 13, 2021 6:01 AM

[quote] Barbara Stanwyck with Robert Taylor. Again, he is more beautiful than her.

Oh dear me.

by Anonymousreply 140June 13, 2021 9:59 AM

Ba ba ba ba ba ba bump bump bump R138

by Anonymousreply 141June 13, 2021 11:32 AM

Taylor was given the world's gayest first name at birth: Spangler.

by Anonymousreply 142June 13, 2021 12:35 PM

Back to that MGM Anniversary photo at R70, it's funny that right in the middle of the second row, behind LB Mayer himself, you have Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon and Robert Taylor sitting together - three closeted queens! And Van Johnson right behind Tracy.

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by Anonymousreply 143June 13, 2021 12:38 PM

R54, notice how many times Taylor takes a puff off his nicky-stick, while Stanwyck -- who also smoked -- manages to get through the interview just fine.

VERY telling though is her laugh at the very end of the clip, like the entire interview was a performance -- a joke that they were both well aware of.

by Anonymousreply 144August 6, 2021 5:49 AM
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