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swinglifeaway's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
joelipsett's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting, if slightly polarizing read. I'm used to biographies, whereas there's a lot more personal observations in an autobiography. Tab Hunter comes across as many things in his account of his life: an animal lover, a workaholic, a man with a difficult relationship with his mother and religion. He also seems to be a mediocre actor who wants to live the high life and act on his schedule, but complain when things don't work out as he'd like. With biographies I rarely dislike the person, whereas at several points here I actively disliked Tab, which proves to be an interesting read. Or perhaps that's just a sign that he's a real person and not simply a Hollywood research project. Either way, getting a first hand pov of the rise and fall of the star system is interesting, even if the twilight years prove to be a bit of a slog when times are tougher.
expendablemudge's review
3.0
Rating: 3* of five
***R.I.P. TAB HUNTER*** He died 8 July 2018 at 86. He was married to Allan Glaser for 35 years.
The Publisher Says: Welcome to Hollywood, circa 1950, the end of the Golden Age. A remarkably handsome young boy, still a teenager, gets "discovered by a big-time movie agent. Because when he takes his shirt off young hearts beat faster, because he is the picture of innocence and trust and need, he will become a star. It seems almost preordained. The open smile says, "You will love me," and soon the whole world does.
The young boy's name was Tab Hunter: a made-up name, of course, a Hollywood name and it was his time. Stardom didn't come overnight, although it seemed that way. In fact, the fame came first, when his face adorned hundreds of magazine covers; the movies, the studio contract, the name in lights all that came later. For Tab Hunter was a true product of Hollywood, a movie star created from a stable boy, a shy kid made even more so by the way his schoolmates both girls and boys reacted to his beauty, by a mother who provided for him in every way except emotionally, and by a secret that both tormented him and propelled him forward.
In Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, Hunter speaks out for the first time about what it was like to be a movie star at the end of the big studio era, to be treated like a commodity, to be told what to do, how to behave, whom to be seen with, what to wear. He speaks also about what it was like to be gay, at first confused by his own fears and misgivings, then as an actor trapped by an image of boy-next-door innocence. And when he dared to be difficult, to complain to the studio about the string of mostly mediocre movies that were assigned to him, he learned that just like any manufactured product, he was disposable "disposable and replaceable."
Hunter's career as a bona fide movie star lasted a decade. But he persevered as an actor, working continuously at a profession he had come to love, seeking and earning the respect of his peers, and of the Hollywood community.
And so, Tab Hunter Confidential is at heart a story of survival of the giddy highs of stardom, and the soul-destroying lows when phone calls begin to go unreturned; of the need to be loved, and the fear of being consumed; of the hope of an innocent boy, and the rueful summation of a man who did it all, and who lived to tell it all."
My Review: Memoir of 1950s movie heartthrob Tab Hunter, his Southern California sun-kissed boyhood, his coming of gay age, and the effects of being part of the star-maker machinery of Hollywood as it existed at that time on a modestly talented, very very pretty boy. It's obvious that Mr. Hunter paid attention to the business of Hollywood...he gives a real and thorough account of the whys and wherefores of the last gasp of the studio era's decisions.
Not as salacious as some, and a whole lot sweeter than most. Mr. Hunter says very few unpleasant things about others in his memoir, and is in fact so generous to his exes that I wonder how large a role the Algonquin legal department played in the setting of the tone. Either that or this is one of the NICEST old stars ever born. The photos are all nicely chosen to illustrate Mr. Hunter's textual points. I liked this book, but I don't think anyone not interested in Hollywood, gay Hollywood, or the Fifties would do anything more than yawn through a Pearl-Rule 50pp.
***R.I.P. TAB HUNTER*** He died 8 July 2018 at 86. He was married to Allan Glaser for 35 years.
The Publisher Says: Welcome to Hollywood, circa 1950, the end of the Golden Age. A remarkably handsome young boy, still a teenager, gets "discovered by a big-time movie agent. Because when he takes his shirt off young hearts beat faster, because he is the picture of innocence and trust and need, he will become a star. It seems almost preordained. The open smile says, "You will love me," and soon the whole world does.
The young boy's name was Tab Hunter: a made-up name, of course, a Hollywood name and it was his time. Stardom didn't come overnight, although it seemed that way. In fact, the fame came first, when his face adorned hundreds of magazine covers; the movies, the studio contract, the name in lights all that came later. For Tab Hunter was a true product of Hollywood, a movie star created from a stable boy, a shy kid made even more so by the way his schoolmates both girls and boys reacted to his beauty, by a mother who provided for him in every way except emotionally, and by a secret that both tormented him and propelled him forward.
In Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, Hunter speaks out for the first time about what it was like to be a movie star at the end of the big studio era, to be treated like a commodity, to be told what to do, how to behave, whom to be seen with, what to wear. He speaks also about what it was like to be gay, at first confused by his own fears and misgivings, then as an actor trapped by an image of boy-next-door innocence. And when he dared to be difficult, to complain to the studio about the string of mostly mediocre movies that were assigned to him, he learned that just like any manufactured product, he was disposable "disposable and replaceable."
Hunter's career as a bona fide movie star lasted a decade. But he persevered as an actor, working continuously at a profession he had come to love, seeking and earning the respect of his peers, and of the Hollywood community.
And so, Tab Hunter Confidential is at heart a story of survival of the giddy highs of stardom, and the soul-destroying lows when phone calls begin to go unreturned; of the need to be loved, and the fear of being consumed; of the hope of an innocent boy, and the rueful summation of a man who did it all, and who lived to tell it all."
My Review: Memoir of 1950s movie heartthrob Tab Hunter, his Southern California sun-kissed boyhood, his coming of gay age, and the effects of being part of the star-maker machinery of Hollywood as it existed at that time on a modestly talented, very very pretty boy. It's obvious that Mr. Hunter paid attention to the business of Hollywood...he gives a real and thorough account of the whys and wherefores of the last gasp of the studio era's decisions.
Not as salacious as some, and a whole lot sweeter than most. Mr. Hunter says very few unpleasant things about others in his memoir, and is in fact so generous to his exes that I wonder how large a role the Algonquin legal department played in the setting of the tone. Either that or this is one of the NICEST old stars ever born. The photos are all nicely chosen to illustrate Mr. Hunter's textual points. I liked this book, but I don't think anyone not interested in Hollywood, gay Hollywood, or the Fifties would do anything more than yawn through a Pearl-Rule 50pp.
zefrog's review
3.0
Disclaimer: This is possibly the first autobiography I've ever read. It's not a genre I'm normally interested in and I only picked this up because it's been selected by my reading group.
Quite surprisingly, Tab Hunter Confidential turned out to be an enjoyable page turner for me. The tone of the book is very conversational, as if Hunter was chatting directly with the reader, and the charm that is possibly one of the causes of his success as a film star, certainly transpires throughout the book.
The pace is quite fast and, despite the largely repetitive nature of the material (I got involved with that film with those people, here is an anecdote, that's how the film did), the book is never boring and sustains the reader's interest.
I feel however that the title should have been "Tab Hunter Superficial". Not only were Hunter's looks a major factor in his success, something we are consistently reminded of at least in the first part of the book, the vast majority of the material covered here is almost certainly already in the public domain. There is in fact very little here that appears to be (or have been, at any time) confidential at all.
And this is to me the big failure of the book. We learn about the circumstances of Hunter's life (or rather his career) but there is little about his personality or the most important relationships in his live. People that count, that he claims to be close with, get cursory mentions from time to time but that's about it.
An odd element of the book is Hunter's treatment of his sexuality. Although he claims to be relaxed and open about it, his sexual orientation (and its manifestations) only receives sporadic mentions. There are what we must assume are a few male partners but we are told little of what interests him in them, particularly in the first 2/3 of the book. He does become a little more forthcoming towards the end.
As a stark opposite, Hunter waxes lyrical about a good number of women (usually co-stars) he "dates" along the years, describing how attracted he is to them and what great relationships they are having, the way a straight man would go on with love interests, to the point of becoming confusing.
Coupled with his use twice of the word "fag" to characterise some people he met, this can only lead the reader to ask themselves questions about how at ease with himself Hunter really was.
This is of course an autobiography, which of course raises the spectre of the unreliable narrator. But Hunter had a writing to help him in his endeavour who should have been able to steer things towards something a better balanced and, yes, informative.
Having read this book, I certainly know about Hunter's career, I'm not sure I know that much about Hunter the man.
Quite surprisingly, Tab Hunter Confidential turned out to be an enjoyable page turner for me. The tone of the book is very conversational, as if Hunter was chatting directly with the reader, and the charm that is possibly one of the causes of his success as a film star, certainly transpires throughout the book.
The pace is quite fast and, despite the largely repetitive nature of the material (I got involved with that film with those people, here is an anecdote, that's how the film did), the book is never boring and sustains the reader's interest.
I feel however that the title should have been "Tab Hunter Superficial". Not only were Hunter's looks a major factor in his success, something we are consistently reminded of at least in the first part of the book, the vast majority of the material covered here is almost certainly already in the public domain. There is in fact very little here that appears to be (or have been, at any time) confidential at all.
And this is to me the big failure of the book. We learn about the circumstances of Hunter's life (or rather his career) but there is little about his personality or the most important relationships in his live. People that count, that he claims to be close with, get cursory mentions from time to time but that's about it.
An odd element of the book is Hunter's treatment of his sexuality. Although he claims to be relaxed and open about it, his sexual orientation (and its manifestations) only receives sporadic mentions. There are what we must assume are a few male partners but we are told little of what interests him in them, particularly in the first 2/3 of the book. He does become a little more forthcoming towards the end.
As a stark opposite, Hunter waxes lyrical about a good number of women (usually co-stars) he "dates" along the years, describing how attracted he is to them and what great relationships they are having, the way a straight man would go on with love interests, to the point of becoming confusing.
Coupled with his use twice of the word "fag" to characterise some people he met, this can only lead the reader to ask themselves questions about how at ease with himself Hunter really was.
This is of course an autobiography, which of course raises the spectre of the unreliable narrator. But Hunter had a writing to help him in his endeavour who should have been able to steer things towards something a better balanced and, yes, informative.
Having read this book, I certainly know about Hunter's career, I'm not sure I know that much about Hunter the man.
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