Interview: Tab Hunter

When I talked to actor Tab Hunter on the phone, he was so effusive in his love for the Santa Barbara area that I suggested that he should get a job as the spokesman for the city’s tourism office, to which he joked that he could be a greeter for the cruise ships that visit town.

But at 84 years young, Hunter is busy with other things, so the cruise ship greeter gig will have to wait. He is currently promoting his latest movie, a documentary called “Tab Hunter Confidential”, which like his autobiography with the same name tells his incredible story inside and outside of Hollywood. The documentary will screen on Thursday, November 19 at the Granada Theatre, with Tab Hunter himself in attendance. Tickets are available here.

If you’re too young (or too old) to remember, Hunter was a big-time movie star in the 1950’s and beyond, with credits including Battle Cry and Damn Yankees, and, later, Polyester and Lust in the Dust. His co-stars included John Wayne, Lana Turner, Natalie Wood, Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Sophia Loren, Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds, Vincent Price, Divine, and many others. He was also a music star – in fact, his recording of “Young Love” knocked Elvis off the top of the charts in 1957.

But, perhaps foremost, Hunter was a Hollywood heartthrob, one of the biggest of the 1950’s. The plot twist is that his legions of female fans were unaware that he was actually gay, living a secret life that threatened to shatter his popularity.

This interview was done by phone on 11/9/15.