Tab Hunter was the poor man's Rock Hudson

..........

Yes. And?

I don't know about "poor man's." I much preferred him to Hudson, even before Hudson's diagnosis. But then I always have been partial to blonds. Several years ago, when I lived in Albany, I read that Hunter was holding a book-signing in NYC to celebrate the publication of his autobiography. I drove to the city and arrived in time to hear him tell a few anecdotes. At the time, he was in his early 70s and still quite handsome. He was also chatty with the couple dozen or so of us who turned up to meet him.

Counterpoint: Jane, you ignorant slut. Tab and Rock are two different types , filling different film niches beyond their heartthrob status. Both were manufactured by Hollywood, and while there may have been some cross over adoration from a certain number of fans, I think Tab and Rock likely appealed to separate demographics.

I want my Tab!

Good god Rock Hudson was perfect looking. There are literally no flaws on him.

Firmly in the Tab camp, Hudson does nothing for me.

And they called me the poor man’s Liz Taylor. So who out lived that old broad.....

Apples and oranges. Both nice in their own way.

I don't particularly find blond haired men with Aryan looks attractive but Tab is the exception.

Rock was a passable actor. Tab was not.

A pre-fame Tab (still from the movie about him)...

Ditto...

and now he's lost his cola.

Back when men were men. Sigh.

Rock was the star who made Hollywood money. Tab didn't have that kind of support even though he was managed by the same manager as Rock. Young Tab and young Rock? I'd say yes to both of them.

I always thought Rock had the look of a man who could make a good girl go bad. Tab had the look of a good boy who you would want to corrupt.

Hudson's flaw was a Ken doll blandness. In spite of his huge stardom, I always thought he'd be better off anchoring the news instead of trying to act. Tab, at least, had "Polyester".

Rock's blandness was mass appeal great for romantic comedies with Doris Day or dramas with Liz Taylor. James Dean and young Marlon Brando covered the edgy and brooding anti-hero parts.

No, Joan r8 They called you a slut dear.

So where does that leave me.?

You're a woman beater, T Donahue.

Neither was a stellar actor. Hudson had a bit more range.

Both HAF.

George Nader was the poor man's Rock Hudson.

"Though they became life-long friends, during his film career Nader often found himself being cast in Hudson's left-overs: 'If Hudson didn't want the part,' he recalled rather bitterly, 'Universal offered it to Curtis; if Curtis said no, then Chandler was third on the list; and if the studio janitor, the postman or the garbage guy said no, they offered it to me.'"

I think Tab looked sexier in middle age, with a few more lines on his face that erased the blandness and gave him more character.

Nice smile

I loved Tab with Rudolf Nureyev

I love this picture of Tab and Rudy with their cocks zeroing in on each other.

That is quite the picture, R29.

I was sad when Tab died suddenly. He wasn’t ready to go.

R29 wins the internet. Bless you, Sir

R28, Were they a proper couple or was Tab on the rebound from Anthony Perkins?

I don't even like blonds, and I have always found Tab Hunter more attractive than Rock Hudson, who has never done a thing for me.

Hudson was the pauper's Cary Grant...

They are nothing alike. Tab was a teentbopper star while Rock was starring in films like Giant.

R32, Tab and Rudy had a brief fling in 1968, when Tab was ensconced in the South of France doing spaghetti westerns in neighboring Italy. Rudy was always jetsetting about, so he never stuck around long enough for a deeper relationship. Plus, Tab was already in a relationship with Neal Noorlag, who accompanied him to Europe and appeared in Tab's film "Vengeance is My Forgiveness."

I read Tab's book (skip it. boring as fuck) and he never "dated" Anthony Perkins. He described Perkins as a difficult and competitive person and implied that he didn't really enjoy being around him. Did they fuck? Based on Tab's book, Tab seemed really wholesome when it came to sex, so I would think, no. But you put two hot closeted gay boys together and they're gonna shove their hands down each other's pants, at some point, I would think.

He dated Nureyev but his true love was a figure skater that he was with for years and years.

Double-dating with Tony. I wonder who went home with whom...

i always thought john gavin was the "poor man's" rock hudson? personally i would take gavin over hudson anyday in terms of looks..

and i would take clint walker over gavin and hudson together! now THAT WAS A MAN, CLINT WALKER! in every way!.... in "send me no flowers" he makes rock hudson look and act and sound like a "pebble"!!!!!!!!!!!

R25, Nader was a fine ass looking man! It's a shame he ended up in so many dud roles.

R37, what do you mean they never "dated"? Tab and Tony were together off and on for two years (that's in Tab's book). Tony came from New York and rented a place a few blocks from Tab in LA, but according to Tab, Tony spent most of his time at Tab's. You can just imagine went went down those evenings. But Tony was ambitious and extremely career-focused, and when the Paramount suits warned Tony about spending too much time with Tab, who had previously been outed by Confidential, Tony became uncomfortable about their relationship.

Tony was heavily into piss-play, leather, exhibitionism, extreme fetishism etc, so one can only imagine what type of shenanigans he and Tab got into.

R22 Troy’s real name was Johnson. Are you a relative, quoting a relative or coincidence?

R43, Sara Jane was the black girl passing for white in "Imitation of Life." Troy had a bit part as her white BF who finds her out and beats her down in the street. Touching movie, so see it! Stars Lana Turner as well.

^^^ R22

Rock was A list. Tab was not.

Thanks I have heard he was a real life woman beater. He hit fiancée Lily Kardell and Rona Barrett says he also hit Suzanne Pleshette so I immediately thought of that vs his characters.

Photog was a horndog

[quote]Rock was A list. Tab was not.

Tab was most definitely A-list in the late '50s.

Sophia Loren played Tab Hunter's love interest in "That Kind of Woman" in 1958, then went on to play Anthony Perkin's emotionally battered wife in "Five Miles to Midnight" in 1962. I wonder who among them she favored most.

Barbra Nichols... The name seems familiar.

Barbara Nichols was a B-movie Marilyn Monroe, who occasionally rose up to A-level projects, but mostly as secondary characters (e.g. "Sweet Smell of Success").

Here's Barbara with Joi Lansing:

Not knowing he was gay, I had such a crush on Rock Hudson when I was young. Had I only known, I probably would have turned into his stalker.

Were you blond?

I thought Rock was handsome, but rather square and bland with that clean cut, heavily pomaded hair. However, in "Lover Come Back," when he sprouts a beard while pretending to be Dr. Linus, I thought, "Holy mother of God, daddy is fuxking hot!"

As a woman, alive in the Rock-Tab years,I can tell you that Rock Hudson came across to a straight virginal woman as sex on a stick!

Tab Hunter was seen as a cute boyfriend of teen girls. He had no particular sex appeal. Hell, we didn't know what that was!

I'll take both thanks.

Rock and Tab both did played psycho killers around the same time, too.

*both played

May I ask as a straight woman - who did the gays think was sexy back in the day? Rock or Tab?

Robert Mitchum.

In his prime Rock Hudson for the win.

That man could mow my lawn any day of the week, and yes I'd make him lunch, dinner, snacks....

He was mentioned , quite frequently in local south western PA news as being a guest of one of the Mellon heirs. Pix and other documentation over the years seems to confirm gayness.

Add to above - subject is Tab Hunter

Did Jane Wyman always looked middle aged?

It was that hairstyle, I detest whoever came up with it; and Jane Wyman stuck with it until death.

Again in his youth/prime Rock Hudson blew Tab Hunter out of the water.

More

Still more

Rock's screen test.

Tab was Rock's type...

Different bf, I think.

WTF? Is that a twink statue in the background?

Rock's worst look?

r39, how long have you been blind?

R39

You're obviously blind or just an ass.....

John Gavin was no one's poor man anything.

John Gavin also had a better body than Rock Hudson as a young man.

RH was tall, attractive and otherwise a cool drink of water but he really didn't do much with his body; and that began to show...

If spoiled for choice, I'd take young John Gavin over Rock Hudson any day of the week.

Gavin is wearing more make up than Sandra Dee in that shot.

Tab, what a beautiful treat!

[quote] Rock Hudson blew Tab Hunter out of the water.

Unless you're really good at holding your breath, it's usually easier that way..

WOULD TAKE CLINT WALKER OR STEVE REEVES over hudson, gavin AND hunter combined!...

[quote] At the time, he was in his early 70s and still quite handsome. He was also chatty with the couple dozen or so of us who turned up to meet him.

A few dozen? When he autographed his book at the Lincoln Square Barnes and Noble, there were hundreds who showed up.

After the reading, when I saw that the line for autographs was going to be long, my then-partner and I bailed and went across the street to Ollie's for dinner. An hour later, as we were leaving, I looked up and saw the lights were still on in B&N's event room so, on a hunch, we went back upstairs and Tab was still there, still chatting, and still signing.

I joined the line and when it was my turn I told him how much I enjoyed his chapter on THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE (a notorious flop he'd done with Tallulah Bankhead). He just laughed and said Tallulah was a real piece of work.

A real gentleman. And, to borrow a phrase from a friend, he had a 'good death'. Came in from riding horses (his passion). had a heart attack at age 86, and died in his partner's arms. We should all be so lucky. Unfortunately, Rock Hudson's life will always be thought of in terms of the awful suffering he experienced at the end.

Although neither was thought of as musical theater stars, both appeared in musicals (Hunter: DAMN YANKEES (film), Hudson: ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (tour) and both sang duets on television with Ethel Merman (Hunter: "You're Just in Love", Hudson: "You're The Top")

Both were Republicans.

R81, that is a good picture of him for sure. BTW, back at R22 and a few places, I think the posters were confusing Tab Hunter and Troy Donahue. That is undertandable because of the names, looks and era but Tab was never a wife-beaer. He was never involved with them much !

R65 & R66 Jane Wyman had a sense of humor about the Mamie Eisenhower hairstyle she had from the early 1950's on. Basically, it worked for her, but she was aware it aged her yet never changed it. When she was in the Bing Crosby musical "Just For You", it is distracting in her production numbers for that reason, but the way she looks in the Edith Head outfits, you look past it. Plus she was actually a pretty good singer and dancer. She had really good chemistry with Rock Hudson, and the look suited her character in those two terrific Ross Hunter tearjerkers.

Chad Allen kind of looked like a young Tab Hunter. He’s now around the age Tab was when he made [italic]Polyester[/italic] with Divine.

Tab Hunter was in decline in the late 50s. He did his shortlived sitcom in 1960, the mark of someone whose time had past.

Nader was rather wooden as an actor. He was a contract player for Universal, not Warner.

Gavin was also a Universal contract player, like Hudson, which really would make him a B-movie Hudson. Both even worked for Ross Hunter. Gavin was much more suited to television.

I’ve never liked their stage names: Rock and Tab. No one in their right mind would even consider them for nicknames. The dated clothing they wore make them look like clowns today. Rock and Tab are stupid names. Always will be to me.

Well smell Sarah Palin @R89!

Wasn’t Tab just a “poor” man, by Hollywood standards, period? Palm Springs isn’t the Hamptons or Palm Beach.

Saw Tab Hunter on an episode of Mannix few weeks ago; was not impressed. Even for television his acting seemed stiff and laden. Furthermore to that he wasn't even all that good looking.

OTOH Lust in the Dust was a hoot; but even by then Tab Hunter looked awfully tired and worn.

He was an outdoors type.

R91

Suppose by some standards of 1960's to certainly now Tab Hunter might have been considered "poor", but then again he would have had plenty of company. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and scores if not hundreds of other actors from the studio system/golden age of Hollywood were in reduced circumstances by 1970's.

Tab and his husband owned a decent enough sized house and kept horses; none of which is cheaply done.

R94 No disrespect to Mr. Hunter at all. I just met him as a kid in the early 2000’s in Palm Springs. He was prob late 70s, He had a haughty, almost imperial, air about him. That’s why I was shocked when friends told me later he wasn’t flush. Tab absolutely wanted those he met to think he was.

Why would he be flush? He did dinner theater throughout the 1970s. And, unlike Cybill Shephered, he never lucked into a TV series in the 1980s and beyond.

But he made that lucrative diet cola.

R96 Like I said, it was early 2000s, and all I knew was that every single person at this party told me he was a 1960s “movie star.” There was also the part where he acted like he was the Queen Mother, but I was trying to be discreet.

R96 and, “unlike Cybil Shepherd?” She was 20 years younger! Are you Tab from the grave?

Cybill was a marginally talented blond(e) who spent time on the dinner theatre circuit after initial movie success. The comparison is apt. Hunter was older but that didn't stop his contemporaries getting work on primetime 1980s soaps, for instance.

Tab Hunter got work in 1970's onward, but nothing that would have made any serious money. He did land a television series back in early 1960's (The Tab Hunter Show), but other than that he was a jobbing actor who got roles where he could.

Polyester and Lust in the Dust sort of put TH back on the map and "out there" so to speak, but that was all too little and too late IMHO.

If you believe those celebrity net worth sites; Tab Hunter had an estate worth $10 million. But even if that is true we're talking total assets, not cash. Tab and his husband had that house in Santa Barbara filled with art, sculpture and other things picked up over TH's lifetime. Hopefully (for his sake) TH had investments and so forth that brought in money. He certainly wasn't so poor that unlike other actors at or near has-been status he took any and everything just for a paycheck.

So do you think Tab ever got a piece of the Rock?

This 1977 clip mentions that Tab lived with his male secretary. How would that have been received back then?

R103: That was his long time partner--he was with that guy at his death.

R104

Tab Hunter didn't meet and start a relationship with Allan Glasser until 1983, and the latter was never a "male secretary", but a well respected Hollywood producer in his own right.

Tab was under contract with Warners Bros from 1954 to 1959, and as WB did with all their talent, they tried to milk him for all he was worth. They sabotaged his successful contract with Dot Records because they didn't want him making money for other companies. So they created the Warner Bros Music division specifically to profit from his recordings.

Warner Bros wanted to expand into television and lure the teen crowd so they kept pressuring Tab to do series television. He said no to 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, and Surfside 6. Basically, Warner Bros wanted to cash in on their top moneymaker by having him do movies, television, and music, all at his original seven year contract price of $3,000 a week.

Additionally, WB kept loaning him out to other studios at $75,000 to $150,000 a picture, but Tab never saw more than the $3,000 contract price. Tab became increasingly disenchanted with Warner Bros, but each time he rebelled, they waved the new guy, Troy Donahue, in his face: "See that guy? He's the new you!" In 1959, he told Jack Warner he wanted out of his contract, and Jack responded, "All right, it'll cost you $100,000." So Tab bought out his contract, but it took him years to do it. Warner Bros garnished his wages at 25% of everything he earned.

What are you talking about? Plenty of poor men had Rock Hudson.

Gay Tom Tryon was the poor man's John Gavin.

I won't deny finding both prime Hudson and prime Hunter attractive. Both were closeted obviously, but wasn't Hudson as nasty a person to his male lovers, as he was physically attractive?

I'd have dated rock but fucked tab.

[Quote] wasn't Hudson as nasty a person to his male lovers

No, that was Paul Lynde. Easy mistake to make.

Tom Tryon was hot as fuck in his day.

Big Daddy!

Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter appealed to the working class and middle classes, equally, and were both from the working class. I don't see the point of OP's set up.

R112.. i wonder if marilyn monroe was jealous or not happy seeing all those other pretty and younger girls in bikini's in that scene with tom tyron her island mate in the unfinished "something's got to give"... with her power, interesting she didn't have any of these young woman in any scene with tyron, even if it made sense because his character is suppose to be a stud/hunk much to dean martin's dismay..

More Tom Tryon

R108, Tom Tryon wasn't the "poor man's" anything.

You need a slap! ... Asap.

Yes, Tom Tryon was never a name.

Tom Tryon was one of those actors who showed up in movies, television, and theater, but never really made an impact in either medium. He had a better career a novelist. So good for him for finding his niche.

/as a novelist...