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Farley Granger and Barbara Stanwyck had a one night stand

Excerpts from Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway

Gary Cooper called to invite me to a dinner party he was giving for Clark Gable at his house. When I accepted and he asked if I would mind picking up Barbara Stanwyck, I was delighted. I had always thought she was one of the greatest. The Lady Eve and Double Indemnity are two of my favorite films and feature two of the many terrific performances she gave through the years.

I arrived at her door promptly at 6:30 P.M., a huge bouquet of pink peonies in hand. The maid said she would be right down, took the flowers, and offered me a glass of champagne. Barbara came down a few minutes later, looking terrific in something silver and slinky. She carried on about the flowers as the maid brought them in and joined me for some champagne. I was anxious to get things off to a good start with the right kind of small talk, but unfortunately I was out of touch with the latest gossip. I asked how and where her husband was. An expletive told me how she felt about her husband: “That son of a bitch ran off with some kraut starlet.”

As I struggled to pull my foot out of my mouth, she started to laugh and said, “Don’t worry about it, baby, he’s not worth sweating over,” and the rest of the evening went like gangbusters.

I took Miss Stanwyck home and had a great time listening to her dish the party and everyone there. We went in for a nightcap, and I ended up spending the night. We enjoyed each other’s company to the fullest.

The next day I resolved not to fall into the trap of becoming the new, available young stud about town for the unattached A-list ladies. Other young actors I knew, like Peter Lawford, had been there and done that, and never ended up any better for the wear.

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by Anonymousreply 153December 23, 2021 4:07 AM

No way. She really didn't have a type.

by Anonymousreply 1December 11, 2021 1:56 AM

Didn’t Robert Wagner claim to have an affair with her too?

by Anonymousreply 2December 11, 2021 1:57 AM

Who did he borrow that suit from?

by Anonymousreply 3December 11, 2021 2:01 AM

Great story! Thanks, OP.

by Anonymousreply 4December 11, 2021 2:09 AM

Robert Taylor, Robert Wagner, Farley Granger ...

Babs had a type -- beautiful and bi.

by Anonymousreply 5December 11, 2021 2:12 AM

R5 Be careful, you might unleash the bisexual hating troll.

by Anonymousreply 6December 11, 2021 2:21 AM

Kraut starlet...

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by Anonymousreply 7December 11, 2021 2:24 AM

It seems that after her first husband who was 16 years older than her, every other known/alleged relationships were with guys who were younger than her. Taylor was four years her junior, Granger 18 years younger, and Wagner was 23 years younger. Also, from what is known about her mothering skills in regards to her adopted son, I think she was a woman who ran the roost. She probably preferred men who were younger so she could dominate and mother them. Basically she was in real life just like her on screen persona. She is one of the few women to become associated with Westerns where you could see her going toe to toe with John Wayne or Gary Cooper, and maybe winning.

by Anonymousreply 8December 11, 2021 2:25 AM

She liked her girls young, too. But not anyone well-known. She didn't like competition.

by Anonymousreply 9December 11, 2021 2:36 AM

The three movies where she went toe to toe with Cooper weren't Westerns, r8.

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by Anonymousreply 10December 11, 2021 2:36 AM

The dialog doesn't sound like Stanwyck in the slightest. And Farley Granger was a gay guy who just HAD to identify as "bi" because he'd slept with three women. Next!

by Anonymousreply 11December 11, 2021 2:42 AM

Who was the top?

by Anonymousreply 12December 11, 2021 2:44 AM

R10 I meant more of a Gary Cooper type, than him particularly. It was more that she is the rare woman you could see in their type of western roles. She was strong woman made of steel.

by Anonymousreply 13December 11, 2021 2:47 AM

[quote]She probably preferred men who were younger so she could dominate and mother them

You lost me with the "mother them" part.

by Anonymousreply 14December 11, 2021 2:49 AM

In his 20s Farley was probably bi, like a lot of gay men are. But he aged into the biggest queen in the city, like a lot of gay men do.

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by Anonymousreply 15December 11, 2021 2:52 AM

R14 All women mother differently, some are loving but others are authoritarian.

by Anonymousreply 16December 11, 2021 2:59 AM

R15, Roy Cohn was the biggest queen in the city. Please.

by Anonymousreply 17December 11, 2021 3:26 AM

You would think they would be able to afford more furniture than that. I have several night stands just in one bedroom.

by Anonymousreply 18December 11, 2021 3:44 AM

R11 R15 Farley didn’t like to call himself gay and he said in his book that he loved both men and women.

by Anonymousreply 19December 11, 2021 4:58 AM

Farley also wrote about having a month long affair with Ava Gardner. I wish there were photos of them together.

by Anonymousreply 20December 11, 2021 4:59 AM

I'd prefer to hear about the women she slept with.

by Anonymousreply 21December 11, 2021 5:04 AM

Men or women?

“That really depends on the person,” he said impishly. But his follow-up comment left little doubt: “I’ve lived the greater part of my life with a man” — he has been with Mr. Calhoun in New York since the 1960s — “so obviously that’s the most satisfying to me.”

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by Anonymousreply 22December 11, 2021 5:06 AM

Tell me about your life in New York right now.

I’m a huge movie fan so I go to the movies a lot or have lunch at Café Luxembourg with old friends like Jimmy Mitchell. He was one of the Agnes DeMille dancers, and now he plays Palmer Cortland on All My Children. We’ll gossip about mutual acquaintances like Arthur Laurents.

Whom you had one of your first relationships with. How was he in bed?

[Long pause.] I don’t want to talk about him. I’d be too tempted to say something mean.

Ouch! What about Lenny Bernstein as a lover?

Very passionate.

Aggressive like his conducting?

I’m not going to get specific with you. He was terrific to be with.

Of all the men and women you were with, who attracted you most?

I guess Ava [Gardner]. First time I saw her, I thought, Wow, that lady is something else. She was fun, and she wasn’t into Hollywood game. The women I’ve loved, I’ve loved completely, so I can’t rule out that side of me.

But you don’t like to call yourself gay or even bisexual.

We’re not going to emerge as untarnished until we get rid of labels. Until we have the perception that sex is only part of what makes up a human, the enemy will always be able to say, “He’s just a faggot.”

You see a lot of theater in New York. What have you liked recently?

I know that critics knocked The Vertical Hour, but I liked it. I thought Julianne Moore was terrific. We were on As the World Turns together, though our storylines never crossed. When I went backstage to see her after the play, she took my breath away. I forgot how tiny and beautiful she was.

What young male actors do you admire?

Ed Norton. I just love him.

Would you date him?

Probably, but I don’t think he’s gay. Ryan Gosling is No. 2 for me. And though I know there are rumors, I don’t care if Tom Cruise is gay. I’m not a huge fan because I think he’s basically limited as an actor.

Where else do you eat besides Luxembourg?

I go to Orso anytime I go to the theater. Their little pizzas are still terrific!

You’ve done your share of musicals, including The King and I with Barbara Cook in 1960. What’s the best musical of the past decade?

The revival of Sweeney Todd. Fabulous.

What about the current revival of Company?

I enjoyed it, but it didn’t work as well.

You would have made a good Bobby, I bet.

That would have been a good part for me, wouldn’t it?

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by Anonymousreply 23December 11, 2021 5:07 AM

Farley Granger was a beautiful man and Stanwyck was a homely almost deformed woman. Limp hair, colorless skin, TINY eyes and small teeth from the poor nutrition and abysmal life she lived as a child. She was rickety and had abnormally small facial features. These are some reasons she is not well remembered. She was almost imperceptible as an actress and she was of course very crude as a person. She wasn't a bad actress. But not one of the greats either.

Granger says some enlightened things about being gay and open in life to enjoying women and men and your own beauty and sexuality.

Glory holes and bathhouses stopped the old whore disco (Datalounge) generation from even trying to experiment with women sexually. Most of y'all died of AIDS - except for charlie and miss warwicke. Gross old men closer to 80 than sixty. Farley was sexy and smart. AND gay. There's nothing fetched about being bi. Younger gay men have our time with women too. And consider more.

Stanwyck was no Ingrid Bergman. Bergman was quite a great actress. Barbara was more like Joan Crawford - a bad actress, acting it UP!! Except no matter how much makeup she wore, or how tiny her body - Barbara Stanwyck always appeared like a street beggar. I think she had rickets. Zero degrees between her and white trash. Oy.

She used men for career and ego advancement. Not a sexy girl with anyone.

Ingrid Bergman was full of sexual desire and expression in everything she did. A much better actress and a healthy human woman.

by Anonymousreply 24December 11, 2021 5:36 AM

Your in trouble now r24! Interesting opinion. I never heard of Barbra Stanwick but I know Ingrid Bergman. That is true.

by Anonymousreply 25December 11, 2021 5:42 AM

"Stanwyck was a homely almost deformed woman."

Oh, yeah, a real dog...

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by Anonymousreply 26December 11, 2021 5:58 AM

Your post proves it R26. That's a glamor shot? Stanwyck was colorless, featureless and limp. One of those people who always looked muddy and unclean. There was no sheen to any part of her. Her "tiny" figure and malformed face marked her as FAS and a child who grew up lacking proper nutrients. She was deformed. Poor soul. Too bad she tortured men and children to make herself feel better.

by Anonymousreply 27December 11, 2021 6:04 AM

Stanwyck was the best of the Golden Age of Hollywood actresses. She has made a masterpiece in almost every genre of movies. Her range was much greater than any of the other major actresses if that Era. While the acting of many of her contemporaries now seems very dated (Crawford, Davis, Hepburn), Stanwyck seems to be the most modern. She also was smart enough not to attach herself to one studio.

Very, very good actress, the best of that time.

by Anonymousreply 28December 11, 2021 6:41 AM

^ total nonsense^

by Anonymousreply 29December 11, 2021 6:47 AM

I love Stanwyck and never thought that she was homely or deformed. To each his own.

by Anonymousreply 30December 11, 2021 1:47 PM

R24 has a real problem with reality. He sounds like the Linda McCartney hater in the Beatles thread - an obsession with a woman he perceives and ugly and therefore worthless sleeping with a beautiful man. Sick stuff for anyone over the age of fourteen.

Note that Granger forced Arthur Laurents to tone down his description of him and their relationship in his 2000 autobiography. Why? Too gay?

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by Anonymousreply 31December 11, 2021 3:59 PM

Barbara wasn’t ugly, no way. Plainer in appearance than Joan Crawford maybe, but she photographed well and definitely had onscreen presence.

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by Anonymousreply 32December 11, 2021 4:04 PM

[quote]I never heard of Barbra Stanwick

I forgive you for misspelling the last name, but be advised that the first name is spelled, BARBARA. There's only one pretentious individual who changed it to "Barbra."

by Anonymousreply 33December 11, 2021 4:05 PM

[quote] We went in for a nightcap, and I ended up spending the night. We enjoyed each other’s company to the fullest.

He doesn't say he slept in the same bed with her, let alone had any type of sex with her, and I doubt he did.

by Anonymousreply 34December 11, 2021 4:13 PM

Oh for chrissakes. Again, Capra said she had "a stern beauty".

And...again..from a book I used to have:

"Stanwyck may never have been as good as Davis at her best, but she was never as bad as Davis at her worst. In fact, she never gave a bad performance."

by Anonymousreply 35December 11, 2021 4:22 PM

[quote]Plainer in appearance than Joan Crawford maybe

Are you aware that the 1930s "beauty" that was Joan Crawford was the results of plastic surgery, dental work and make up?

by Anonymousreply 36December 11, 2021 4:29 PM

Farley is the biggest queen who ever lived and still couldn't shake that bit of period typical self loathing that makes him cling to any remembrance of "bisexuality." He also claims he had an affair with his fag hag Shelley Winters, who in her books said they were just friends - and she claimed to have fucked EVERYONE!

by Anonymousreply 37December 11, 2021 4:34 PM

The insistence on this thread Farley was bi and that Stanwyck was a bad actress proves that this place has been lost to fraus and Gen Z idiots.

by Anonymousreply 38December 11, 2021 4:37 PM

Farley might have been gay and not bi, but it still wouldn't rule out a one night stand with a major movie star. I've met very few gold-star gays in my life. Many gay guys, who claim to be fully gay and I believe them, but they have had at least one hookup with a woman.

And, no, I'm not claiming all guys are bi. Sometimes you have to try something before you figure out you don't like it.

by Anonymousreply 39December 11, 2021 4:44 PM

Rare pic of Farley with mustache.

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by Anonymousreply 40December 11, 2021 4:49 PM

[quote]All women mother differently, some are loving but others are authoritarian.

Finally, one of you shows signs of actually having learned something.

by Anonymousreply 41December 11, 2021 4:50 PM

Stanwyck's lust for gay Richard Chamberlain played to great effect in THE THORN BIRDS.

But then again, so did her lust for Capucine in WALK ON THE WILD SIDE.

by Anonymousreply 42December 11, 2021 4:50 PM

Bette Davis HATED Stanwyck for getting the Thorn Birds role (they already were unfriendly since So Big in 1932). So Bette trashed the series - she more or less outed Stanwyck and Chamberlain as sexless, code for homo.

However, I found the scene between Stany and Chamberlain in the TB, that everyone loves, to be very forced, unrealistic and uncomfortable.

by Anonymousreply 43December 11, 2021 4:55 PM

How many of you old queens have said the same to a younger man because you're too gross for him to have sex with??

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by Anonymousreply 44December 11, 2021 5:08 PM

Big whoop

by Anonymousreply 45December 11, 2021 5:11 PM

R24 Joan Crawford wasn't a bad actress, dummy

by Anonymousreply 46December 11, 2021 5:12 PM

Love Bette Davis as an actress, but she seemed so disagreeable all the time.

by Anonymousreply 47December 11, 2021 5:21 PM

R44, a couple of years ago, you'd play that card after the bars closed and three times out of ten you were in the for the night, if ya follow.

by Anonymousreply 48December 11, 2021 5:26 PM

Those who claim to be totally unfamiliar with Barbara Stanwyck should watch The Lady Eve. A wonderful performance in a wonderful film.

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by Anonymousreply 49December 11, 2021 5:35 PM

Is Ingrid Bergman the one who always wanted to be alone?

by Anonymousreply 50December 11, 2021 5:39 PM

R38 I don’t care to debate Farley’s sexuality because he was partners with a man for the last half of his life, but he didn’t like to call himself gay and insisted he loved both men and women. Why would you want to claim someone like that as gay?

by Anonymousreply 51December 11, 2021 5:44 PM

@r49, I've done that (tripped a guy to meet him) works like a charm ;-)

by Anonymousreply 52December 11, 2021 5:45 PM

@r37,"He also claims he had an affair with his fag hag Shelley Winters, who in her books said they were just friends"

Geez, any guy who didn't fuck Shelley was a guaranteed Gay. Was Farley good friends with Elizabeth Taylor? That's the other total Gay give away

by Anonymousreply 53December 11, 2021 5:50 PM

“Farley Granger and I became inseparable friends, sometimes lovers, certainly as close as brother and sister —and always there when we needed each other. We now live in the same building in New York, two floors: apart. He prefers the theater now, and he does movies and TV only when he has to, He is just as handsome as he was then, except that his beautiful black curly hair is now pepper and salt, and he is more disciplined about food and exercise than I am. It’s strange how our friend- ship has lasted through husbands and wives and fiancés and lovers and children growing up and long and short separations. Once we were talking about something, then for some reason didn’t see each other for about five years, and the next time we met we just continued the same conversation. There is almost nothing I can’t tell him, and I think he feels the same way about me.”

by Anonymousreply 54December 11, 2021 5:52 PM

Well if it was a PR relationship, Farley did a convincing job.

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by Anonymousreply 55December 11, 2021 6:06 PM

Farley was so hot. I don’t care if he was gay. His beauty in They Live by Night and Senso is unparalleled.

by Anonymousreply 56December 11, 2021 6:08 PM

R51 Because he was with men for most of his life. Most gay men date women at some point or even fall in love with women, but they're not bisexual if they outgrow it.

by Anonymousreply 57December 11, 2021 6:11 PM

Farley was briefly engaged to Janice Rule.

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by Anonymousreply 58December 11, 2021 6:18 PM

Who are you quoting, R54?

by Anonymousreply 59December 11, 2021 9:30 PM

I think it's Shelley Winters' ghost writer, R59.

by Anonymousreply 60December 11, 2021 9:34 PM

R59 It’s from Shelley’s first memoir, Shelley Also Known As Shirley.

by Anonymousreply 61December 11, 2021 9:51 PM

Farley made no mention of a relationship or hook up with Roddy McDowall in his memoir but you never know. However he did say that he lived with Roddy and his family for a time when he was 18 years old.

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by Anonymousreply 62December 11, 2021 10:07 PM

Harry Belafonte also briefly lived with Farley. In his memoir Harry said Farley was sweet and gracious but never made any passes at him.

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by Anonymousreply 63December 11, 2021 10:21 PM

Harry was so beautiful back then. I’m surprised that Farley didn’t make advances to him.

by Anonymousreply 64December 11, 2021 10:41 PM

And Farley was too much of a gentleman to contradict his version of the past.

by Anonymousreply 65December 12, 2021 12:13 AM

[quote] Harry Belafonte also briefly lived with Farley

Why?

by Anonymousreply 66December 12, 2021 1:00 AM

R66 He needed a place to stay during the filming of Bright Road, which starred Dorothy Dandridge.

by Anonymousreply 67December 12, 2021 1:17 AM

I had the hots for Farley Granger as he appeared in Hans Christian Anderson....damn he was fine.

by Anonymousreply 68December 12, 2021 1:37 AM

[quote]Farley was so hot. I don’t care if he was gay.

We attract the worst people on DL, I swear.

by Anonymousreply 69December 12, 2021 1:41 AM

OMG I know! We’re the worst!

by Anonymousreply 70December 12, 2021 2:14 AM

Looks like that and a huge cock too. Some guys have all the luck.

by Anonymousreply 71December 12, 2021 4:22 PM

[quote]Granger says some enlightened things"

"lets get rid of labels then they'll stop calling me a fag" doesn't sound particularly "enlightened" to me, R24.

by Anonymousreply 72December 12, 2021 8:44 PM

R72, don't feed the troll

by Anonymousreply 73December 12, 2021 11:17 PM

^the troll^

by Anonymousreply 74December 12, 2021 11:28 PM

Gosh, OP: STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!

Don't we all know by now that everyone in Hollywood slept with everyone??????

by Anonymousreply 75December 12, 2021 11:38 PM

R74 = R24

by Anonymousreply 76December 12, 2021 11:47 PM

R76 is the Ancient White RACIST F@G of Datalounge!!

F&F it. You know his name....

by Anonymousreply 77December 12, 2021 11:55 PM

Why was Barbara so over the top in her role on The Big Valley? It was almost comical. Any thoughts?

by Anonymousreply 78December 13, 2021 12:07 AM

R75 Then why are so many on here skeptical of this story?

by Anonymousreply 79December 13, 2021 12:10 AM

Excerpts about the party from Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway:

We arrived at 7:30 on the dot and were met at the door by Rocky, Mrs. Gary Cooper, who hugged Barbara and said, “He’s going to be so glad to see you.” Cooper and Stanwyck had made a couple of great films together, Meet John Doe and Ball of Fire, the latter for Sam Goldwyn, whom she liked even though she referred to him as “that tough old bastard.” Rocky sent Barbara out to the garden to see Coop, took my arm, and showed me around their lovely home. As we walked into the garden, I spotted him laughing with Barbara. Rocky took me over to meet him. He was tall, lean, warm, and friendly. The thing I remember most about him is the twinkle in his deep blue eyes, which were framed by thick dark lashes. He was a movie star.

The group that evening turned out to be almost a who’s who of Hollywood royalty, many of whom were Brits and all of whom could not have been kinder to this new kid on “the block. Some of the people I remember meeting were: Greer Garson; Ronald Colman; David Niven, who had also been under contract to Goldwyn, and who was the best raconteur I have ever met; Myrna Loy; Ray Milland, with whom I later worked in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing; and James Mason, who never seemed to be in the moment. It was as if he was off in his own secret places. Meeting him confirmed what I’d always suspected: he would have been terrific as Rupert in Rope.

Barbara and I had arrived early, so I got to admire everyone’s entrance. We were seated at tables around a dance floor that had been set up on the lawn behind the house. Barbara and I shared a table with Deborah Kerr and her husband. Deborah, a lovely English redhead, had been brought to Hollywood to play opposite Clark Gable in The Hucksters. Louis B. Mayer needed a cool, refined beauty to replace the enormously popular redhead, Greer Garson, who had married a wealthy oil magnate and retired from the screen in the mid-fifties. Deborah, like her predecessor, had an ultra-ladylike air about her that was misleading. In fact, she was quick, sharp, and very funny. She and Barbara got along like old school chums.

Jimmy Stewart was also there with his wife. It was the first time I’d seen him since we’d worked for Hitchcock. It was a treat talking to him, and I felt closer to him than I ever did on the set of Rope. He was so genuinely happy for my success in Strangers on a Train that I was quite moved.

Clark Gable arrived late, and it was a star entrance to remember. He stopped for a moment at the top of the steps that led down to the garden. He was alone, tanned, and wearing a white suit. He radiated charisma. He really was the King.

The party was elegant. Hot Polynesian hors d’oeuvres were passed around during drinks. Dinner was very French, with consommé madrilène as a first course followed by cold poached salmon and asparagus hollandaise. During dessert, a lemon soufflé, and coffee, the cocktail pianist by the pool, who had been playing through dinner, was discreetly augmented by a rhythm section, and they became a small combo for dancing. The dance floor was set up on the lawn near an open bar, and the whole garden glowed with colored paper lanterns.

Later in the evening, I managed a subdued jitterbug with Deborah Kerr, who was much livelier than her cool on-screen image. She had not yet done From Here to Eternity, in which she and Burt Lancaster steamed up the screen with their love scene in the surf. I was, of course, extremely impressed to be there with Hollywood royalty that evening, but as far as parties go, I realized that I had a lot more fun at Gene Kelly’s open houses.

by Anonymousreply 80December 13, 2021 12:17 AM

Is it true Barbara was bisexual? I thought she was super conservative.

by Anonymousreply 81December 13, 2021 12:22 AM

R31

The guy I live with, we’ve had over a 40-year relationship that we’ve never tried to hide,” Granger says, referring to his partner, Robert Calhoun, who co-authored the autobiography. “Even when I lived with Arthur in Hollywood, we never tried to keep it hidden. We weren’t big names like Cary Grant and Randolph Scott.

“Arthur’s book angered me with some blatant untruths, saying I used Shelley [Winters, another former lover and lifelong friend] to get little boys in bars. I threatened to sue, it made me sound like a pedophile. I never needed any help [romantically] when I was 25, and I never would have used a hysteric like Shelley for that purpose.”

As he recounts in the book, Howard Hughes, then owner of RKO Pictures, ordered a public announcement of an engagement between Granger and Winters just before they set out on a worldwide tour to promote their only film together, a comedy called “Behave Yourself.”

“She was something else,” he says of Winters, who passed away last year. “I’ll always miss her. Arthur was really trying to take a swipe at Shelley in his book, because she walked out on one of his plays. But it put an end to our on-and-off friendship, unlike with Shelley, who I saw just before she died.”

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by Anonymousreply 82December 13, 2021 12:30 AM

R72 It seems his partner Robert Calhoun felt similarly.

It seems to me you’ve never actually been in the closet, the journalist said to the actor. “No, I never was.” Granger quietly replied. “That’s why he resents labels,” Calhoun said. “And ‘gay’ — in itself, destruction of a perfectly good word — is just another way of saying faggot.”

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by Anonymousreply 83December 13, 2021 12:34 AM

Even the simplest question about whether he considers himself gay or bisexual doesn’t engage him. “I’m too old to worry about that,” says the 81-year-old. “I’ve done too much.”

His partner, Calhoun, 76, is less reticent, readily discussing the moment he knew he was gay, the couple’s support of the Service members Legal Defense Network, and Granger’s unwillingness to place importance on his sexuality.

“It’s very frustrating for reporters because they often ask him what it was like being gay in Hollywood at his age,” says Calhoun. “And his answers seem like he’s avoiding the question. I’ve grilled him on my own afterwards, just to say, ‘Well, come on, you must have had some feeling,’ but he never had any feeling of guilt. He said he never worried about it or tried to hide who he was.”

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by Anonymousreply 84December 13, 2021 12:38 AM

[quote]Is it true Barbara was bisexual? I thought she was super conservative.

What does being conservative have to do with sexuality? Stanwyck was an old fashioned Republican, not necessarily a conservative. She worked on behalf of Native Americans and the Urban League, She certainly had no issues with gays.

R77, trying too hard

by Anonymousreply 85December 13, 2021 1:16 AM

Barbara Stanwick was not a good actress. Terrilbe voice and tiny little eyes. One of the least attractive female movie stars. Yelling or weeping or trying to be sexy? She overacted everyline. She didn't like gay men. She tried to get them to fuck her! She was a very jealous woman. Mean and cruel. A drunk. As a mother she made Joan Crawford look like angel. She was a Conservative Republican. A professionl hypocrite.

by Anonymousreply 86December 13, 2021 1:30 AM

Granger's label-speak is classic closet-speak. He was always gay and over time he morphed into a big kween (with affection) I don't for a moment believe he bedded Shelly Winters or Barbara Stanwyck

Winters referenced bedding him in her memoir, but Farley may have asked her to do so.

This kind of thing still goes on today. I recall when John Barrowman was still closeted he asked Stefanie Powers to drop these kind of stories to cover for him and she said she would. And they weren't even terribly close The photos of them together are amusing.

by Anonymousreply 87December 13, 2021 1:57 AM

Nobody would claim to have fucked Barbara Stanwyck if they didn't have to.

by Anonymousreply 88December 13, 2021 1:59 AM

I worked a mean strap-on.

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by Anonymousreply 89December 13, 2021 2:19 AM

R86 How long have you been stupid?

by Anonymousreply 90December 13, 2021 2:20 AM

Stanwyck was too busy with her girlfriends bowling and horseback riding in the hills for all this nonsense. .

by Anonymousreply 91December 13, 2021 2:36 AM

R86 = R24

Give it a rest, pal.

by Anonymousreply 92December 13, 2021 2:16 PM

R83, Both of them are full of it. Claim they never tried to hide being gay but are so offended that anyone would think they're gay. And his comment about the word "gay" says it all.

by Anonymousreply 93December 13, 2021 7:13 PM

Someone on Facebook claimed that they knew Farley on the set of that soap opera that he was on and they claimed that Farley brought a young hustler on the set. Or something like that. Anyone willing to spill the beans?

by Anonymousreply 94December 13, 2021 7:30 PM

R93 They both died before gay marriage was legalized. Maybe they’d feel differently if they were still around today.

by Anonymousreply 95December 13, 2021 7:38 PM

Nice interview with Farley and Bob Calhoun promoting Farley’s book. Sadly Bob would die of lung cancer nearly a year after this interview.

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by Anonymousreply 96December 13, 2021 7:44 PM

I am not R24. Why do you post lies R92? Because you do it often. We see your many posts all over this site and you are a very unhappy old man with several fake selfs. WE are not pals. You are old enough to be my grandfather. You post under more than one person. Stop stalking people on Datalounge. This can only bring you pain!!

We can all watch old films and read biographies. Barbara Stanwick is lost in time. You were young when she made films maybe.

She was not a very good actress and CANT represent old Hollywood beauty & glamor. She had a career. Its nice of you to remember her. This plain woman who overacted.

Happy Holidays. 👍

by Anonymousreply 97December 14, 2021 1:46 AM

Wow, this is the first time I have seen such hatred for Miss Stanwyck. I guess that everyone doesn’t like her. I do and I always will. There’s quite a few Golden Age actors who I dislike (Garbo, Dietrich, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Astaire and Rogers), so it’s okay.

by Anonymousreply 98December 14, 2021 1:58 AM

Missy was the greatest actress of Hollywood's Golden Age.

by Anonymousreply 99December 14, 2021 2:01 AM

The Stanwyck hate is unfounded. What sane person would go on such a tangent?

Here's an amusing taped call during which Stanwyck clutches her pearls about Joan's bad behavior at a party.

The phone call is directly after the opening with B and J. It's delicious.

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by Anonymousreply 100December 14, 2021 7:23 AM

R97 needs a change in medication

by Anonymousreply 101December 14, 2021 1:54 PM

STAT

by Anonymousreply 102December 14, 2021 3:42 PM

R101 seems afraid of being exposed. Again.

by Anonymousreply 103December 14, 2021 3:51 PM

Barbara was the top.

by Anonymousreply 104December 14, 2021 4:02 PM

Stanwyck was great in comedy, something Davis and Crawford could never really do.

by Anonymousreply 105December 14, 2021 4:19 PM

[quote]I've met very few gold-star gays in my life. Many gay guys, who claim to be fully gay and I believe them, but they have had at least one hookup with a woman.

Um, no.

by Anonymousreply 106December 14, 2021 4:20 PM

R106, that's a common profile for gays - gays over 65 years old.

by Anonymousreply 107December 14, 2021 5:56 PM

I wonder if Barbara rubbed her taco with Marlene Dietrich?

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by Anonymousreply 108December 14, 2021 6:03 PM

No, but Barbara did rub her taco with Joan Crawford when they were next-door neighbors in the 30s.

by Anonymousreply 109December 14, 2021 6:30 PM

Prove it, r109.

by Anonymousreply 110December 14, 2021 6:39 PM

This Stanwyck woman had a twisted lip.

A hare lip or a permanent sneer.

Sneers are very unattractive. Sneers make all those "rappers" unattractive. Elvis Presley had a sneer but he was attractive despite it.

by Anonymousreply 111December 14, 2021 6:43 PM

Barbara was married to the abusive alcoholic Frank Fay in the early 30s and when he went into a rage she'd go next door and spend the night at Joan's house. People who knew them said that Barbra and Joan were intimate in those times. It's in the biographies.

by Anonymousreply 112December 14, 2021 7:06 PM

Get back to me when you have the specifics, r112.

by Anonymousreply 113December 14, 2021 7:08 PM

r113 you can read like everyone else. It was pretty common knowledge among their intimate circle in the 30s that they were intimate.

by Anonymousreply 114December 14, 2021 7:09 PM

“Like her lover Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck was an earthy bisexual known as "Hollywood’s most well-known closeted lesbian…that everybody knew.” Clifton Webb called her his ‘favorite Hollywood lesbian.’ She surrounded herself with lesbians and bisexuals her entire life. In the late 1920s, she taught dance at a gay and lesbian New York speakeasy owned by Texas Guinan and was ensconced in the city’s lesbian crowd with Tallulah Bankhead, Marjorie Main, and Blythe Daly. It was there she met Crawford. Bankhead openly spoke of their affair, as did Crawford, and writers also point to her 30-year relationship with press agent Helen Ferguson.

Ferguson lived with Stanwyck even through Stanwyck’s two “lavender” marriages, both of which offers insight. In 1928, the 21-year-old married 31-year-old vaudevillian Frank Fay, an arrogant homosexual; alcoholism made him appear to be twice his age. The marriage offered her protection from the press and an entrée to Hollywood. After the ceremony she left for Hollywood and resumed a six-month tour. Their mêlée-filled union ended in divorce in 1935. Fay and Stanwyck shared this home, but while here she often entertained Crawford, who walked over from her house to resume the sexual relationship begun in New York.“

Her issues weren’t a secret at the studios, but she was eventually forced into marrying bisexual Robert Taylor. The studio even drove the couple to San Diego to see the judge. Taylor refused to kiss his bride for photographers; she returned to her Northridge ranch and he, home to his mother. He called her "The Queen” and she called him “Junior.” They were rarely together, and proudly showed reporters their separate bedrooms. In his spare time Taylor flew planes with a homosexual co-pilot and long-time buddy. During their surprisingly contentious divorce, Taylor told friends she was a lesbian, they didn’t have sex, and never slept together.“

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by Anonymousreply 115December 14, 2021 7:10 PM

The only thing that bugs me is that she asked for and got alimony. Which she didn’t need from him, since she was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood.

by Anonymousreply 116December 14, 2021 7:20 PM

I don't know how trustworthy "Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites: Seventeen Driving Tours with Directions" by E.J. Fleming is, r115. How does that comprehensive Stanwyck bio from a few years back cover it?

by Anonymousreply 117December 14, 2021 7:24 PM

And so did Lily Tomlin & John Travolta, in 1977.

by Anonymousreply 118December 14, 2021 7:28 PM

r117 nothing will convince you so maybe you should just give it up.

by Anonymousreply 119December 14, 2021 7:30 PM

[quote]The only thing that bugs me is that she asked for and got alimony. Which she didn’t need from him...

Taylor publicly humiliated Stanwyck by openly running around on her, then wanted a quickie divorce. It was HIS and his lawyer's stupidity to give her a percentage of his salary.

The Stanwyck-Crawford relationship is an old old old story. Why anyone would get bent out of shape about it is ridiculous, like finding out there's no Santa Claus when they're 35.

by Anonymousreply 120December 14, 2021 8:21 PM

So because he was openly cheating r120, she could get alimony? I would have threatened to out her. And I like Barbara. And he was with men as well? And all of those years she told everyone that he was the love of her life…closets cause cancer.

Taylor always came off as a poseur, not really macho, he just tried to play one in the movies.

by Anonymousreply 121December 14, 2021 8:50 PM

If he wanted a quick divorce, R121, his lawyer gave her anything she wanted. These things are negotiated. Perhaps she thought he would stop the divorce and come back and it was a bluff. You are going to need a very good lawyer if you can't figure that out, R121, when it's your time.

Threaten to out her to WHO? No one would print such a thing at that time, except for Confidential Magazine a few years later, and even that wasn't totally outing someone.

Btw, Stanwyck never said Taylor was "the love of her life." That's fan magazine bullshit. If Stanwyck actually thought that, she'd never say it.

by Anonymousreply 122December 14, 2021 8:58 PM

"Barbara Stanwyck was an earthy bisexual known as "Hollywood’s most well-known closeted lesbian""

This just proves my point that the old timers didn't made a difference between bisexuals and gays. They called bisexual men and women, gays and lesbians.

by Anonymousreply 123December 14, 2021 10:07 PM

Barbra Stanwick was kind of deformed looking. She might have easier time being a lesbian.

by Anonymousreply 124December 14, 2021 10:45 PM

[quote]Barbra Stanwick

Barbra Streisand fan above unaware that the name is Barbara.

by Anonymousreply 125December 14, 2021 11:29 PM

Stsneyck had a lovely voice. The finest speaking voice of Old Hollywood IMO.

by Anonymousreply 126December 14, 2021 11:55 PM

Stsneyck???

by Anonymousreply 127December 15, 2021 12:02 AM

Pardon my big hairy fingers on this small tablet svp.

by Anonymousreply 128December 15, 2021 12:04 AM

Granger in probably his best role in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1952).

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by Anonymousreply 129December 15, 2021 12:18 AM

[quote] sneer

Some anonymous person on the internet says

[quote] Stanwyck's career faded In the 1950s

[quote] She lent her sneer and throaty laughter to wayward, evil women who, by the fade-out, were usually dead.

by Anonymousreply 130December 15, 2021 12:48 AM

R130, don't feed the troll

by Anonymousreply 131December 15, 2021 12:54 AM

Can't see r130. Must be an arsehole.

by Anonymousreply 132December 15, 2021 12:57 AM

^ Ladies and Gentleman, the TROLL

by Anonymousreply 133December 15, 2021 1:50 AM

^^ you've got posters confused Grandma.

by Anonymousreply 134December 15, 2021 11:13 AM

All I can say is: YASSSSSS QWEEEEEEN!!!!!!! Though not sure whether I'm addressing Stanwyck or Farley. Maybe both?

by Anonymousreply 135December 15, 2021 11:19 AM

I think that Axel Madsen was right by saying that Stanwyck's refusal to work overseas may have contributed to her decline. Some of her B-stuff was truly bad. But she was a trooper. [italic]Cattle Queen of Montana, Escape to Burma[/italic], both of them were wretched films. But she was a bit of a yahoo and thought that American-made films were the only way to go.

by Anonymousreply 136December 15, 2021 9:05 PM

'Escape to Burma' shot completely on stage sets.

by Anonymousreply 137December 15, 2021 9:10 PM

I forced myself to watch 'Escape to Burma' on Youtube.

She plays a character named Grandma. She talks to elephants but sneers at humans. Robert Ryan sneers back at her.

It has some ludicrous sets and dubious morality. The only interesting factor is David Farrar and his beautiful speaking voice,

by Anonymousreply 138December 16, 2021 11:08 AM

I am a huge Barbara Stanwyck fan and I can't explain why. She really wasn't a beauty and aged better after her ingenue years following "Annie Oakley".

By the time of "Golden Boy", "Ball of Fire" and "The Lady Eve, I can say that she was sexy if not gorgeous. It's that sex appeal and her way with a line and the fact that she could play comedy and drama and did action films as well which makes her unique. She was also a great film noir femme fatale. Still sexy in 1950's "The Furies". I love her in the films where she's gray-haired and eventually white-haired. Still sassy and oh that voice. Maybe not a large number of classics, but her films are fun to watch and she is mesmerizing. I can see how some people might be indifferent to her, but she does have a huge cult following.

by Anonymousreply 139December 16, 2021 2:20 PM

I love the scene in THE FURIES when she throw a pair of scissors in Judith Anderson’s face. Classic Stanwyck.

by Anonymousreply 140December 16, 2021 3:37 PM

For r140…@ the 1:30 mark

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by Anonymousreply 141December 16, 2021 4:32 PM

I like how Stanwyck retained her very Brooklyn accent throughout her career, even though it softened up the more successful she got. If she was in a long term contract to a studio they'd surely have had her take speech lessons.

by Anonymousreply 142December 16, 2021 5:07 PM

[quote] Still sexy in 1950's "The Furies". I love her in the films where she's gray-haired and eventually white-haired.

Yes, but you are a gay man; others wouldn't call her "sexy" at that point.

by Anonymousreply 143December 16, 2021 5:15 PM

Others who, R143? And why does it matter on a GAY site?

by Anonymousreply 144December 16, 2021 7:04 PM

Sneering Barbara wasn't sexy, she was camp.

by Anonymousreply 145December 16, 2021 7:56 PM

I once forced a friend of mine, that knows nothing of and has no interest in classic Hollywood, to sit and watch The Lady Eve with me. She was extremely annoyed with Stanwyck's looks and in the chase lounge scene got very distraught, saying that it looked like Barbara had foul breath and their faces are too close to each other.

by Anonymousreply 146December 17, 2021 9:49 AM

R146, how old was your friend, twelve?

by Anonymousreply 147December 17, 2021 1:14 PM

I love that scen from TLE. And I love the costumes that Edith Head designed for Barbara who, as a soft butch, didn’t really care for glamour.

by Anonymousreply 148December 17, 2021 1:21 PM

Escape to Burma is one of the most idiotic film's I've seen.

It's a very cheap, very bad copy of 'Elephant Walk'.

The plot was written up on a Post-It note.

All its sets were recycled from Maria Montez' 'Arabian' movies.

It's an insult to the people of Burma.

by Anonymousreply 149December 17, 2021 9:46 PM

Maybe you should start an online movement against it, R149.

by Anonymousreply 150December 18, 2021 12:39 AM

That's Myanmar, bitch!

by Anonymousreply 151December 22, 2021 4:35 PM

R151 That silly Stanwick movie was filmed in Griffith Park and LA Zoo.

by Anonymousreply 152December 22, 2021 10:09 PM

Gay-leaning bisexuals exist. Farley Granger clearly preferred men romantically. It's weird how this site gets mad at bisexuals calling themselves gay yet will call self-admitted bisexuals gay.

by Anonymousreply 153December 23, 2021 4:07 AM
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