Friday, March 15, 2019

Blind Item #10 - Old Hollywood

It was just around the start of WWII. New York. He was young, just out of his teens -- tall, Scandinavian, striking. He met a slightly older man. VERY sophisticated, very witty, very romantic. Rather movie star handsome because, well, he actually was a movie star. A few years into his film career, he was typically the second romantic lead or the first villain. A versatile and pretty good actor. Distinctive. Artistic. Stylish.

Despite the times, the star was very comfortable with his sexuality -- he preferred men but really liked women, too, and was married a number of times. Had several children. But, always loved men. Loved this young man. They ended up having a steamy fling which turned into a friendly on again/off again affair, lasting about six years. Whenever this older man was in town, or they could meet somewhere in the middle, they would dine, and walk, and talk. They had fun. The younger man learned a lot about the world, being in love, gaining confidence, manners, and a lot of good tips on simply getting through life in that era as a gay man, while still being authentic. He never lost his deep affection for this man, considering him a mentor. This younger man is now in his 90s. He clearly remembers this time in his life, and the gentleman as exactly that: a gentle man. A kind man. A sharply funny man. Of course, our actor is long gone but fondly remembered by his many fans as a true sophisticate, a man of good taste with a dash of campy good fun, who gave us some great movie moments. Perhaps it was sleight of hand, but he remains one person out of so many in Hollywood who managed to make it all work for him all those years, living his life on his terms, and to the end, having a whale of a good time. 

131 comments:

cumboy666 said...

Gregory Peck? Whale reference.

Flashy Vic said...

Am I the only one that was waiting for some sort of pay off here?

Anonymous said...

Dick van Dyke

cheesegrater15 said...

Dick Van Dyke is still alive. I thought Peck, too, but he was only married twice.

Flashy Vic said...

@Ian Fowler.

Gregory Peck would have been A+ in his day ,not second romantic lead or first villain.

veee said...

I keep thinking Cary Grant? I dunno, who could be the younger (now in his 90s) man...

Simon said...

@cheesegrater, says he’s in his 90s which dick van dyke is.

veee said...

Hmmm that's right - villain... I dunno, makes me think of someone like Basil Rathbone (always a hot villain, until he played Sherlock Holmes.)

Groggy said...

+1 @ Ian. I think Gregory Peck fits. Great, great actor. If this is him, happy for him that he lived his life his way.

cheesegrater15 said...

Ralph Bellamy. It's gotta be Ralph Bellamy.

sandybrook said...

Randolph Scott for the dead actor?

cheesegrater15 said...

I don't know why I was thinking the guy still alive wasn't an actor. Dick Van Dyke could work for him.

Jon said...

Richard Basehart.

Flashy Vic said...

I checked the IMDb for oldest living actors and only Dick Van Dyke and Half Holbrook really for the bill.

Flashy Vic said...

Hal not Half, though that's a great name for midget porn.

MJ said...

Not Gregory Peck, he has been the lead in MANY films, is one of the Grestest stars of all times in many lists


what an handsome man he was, sigh

MJ said...

i am sorry, but" Scandivian"?

sandybrook said...

Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Van Dyck fits as Scandinavian as a last name for the area.

chuckmcg3 said...

I'll go with Vincent Price for the older actor.

Simon said...

If it was van dyke, he often talked about his inspiration being Stan Laurel. Does he fit for the older actor?

:| raven |: said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katy said...

I think chuckmcg3 has it- Vincent Price was in the Whales of August. It was the only role that earned him a nomination, hence the whale reference. And he was leading man number two in Laura, but played many villains and was campy as hell!

Now! said...

Van Dyck is Dutch or Flemish, not Scandinavian.

Flashy Vic said...

The Scandinavian thing is a bit vague.

Does it mean in looks?
Or that he or his heritage was actually from Scandanavia?

If it Dick an Dyke (which is a surname from Holland) it might be because of the seemingly endemic American failing of not knowing their Dutch from their Denmark.

Scandanavia is usually defined as the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with Finland loosely lumped in their sometimes too.

Holland, or more correctly The Kingdom of the Netherlands, is not in any way Scandanavia.
Though they do fit the lazy Germanic, blonde stereotype like most of Northern Europe.

Here endeth the geography lesson for uninterested Colonials.

Anonymous said...

Van dyke is dutch, which is Scandinavian

Now! said...

Vincent Price was a very cultured man. An art collector.

Flashy Vic said...

Damn you Nutty and your quicker clarity and brevity!


Damn you to Hull!!!



Not an autocorrect, Hull is a fucking shithole.

Now! said...

Vic is correct. The Netherlands, and the Dutch people who live there, are not Scandinavian.

nancer said...

george sanders?

Evelyn Evelyn said...

Perhaps the Scandinavian man is Max Von Sydow?

HeatherBee said...

I was thinking Vincent Price or Laurence Olivier, maybe?

Jwill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Strangertruths12 said...

Van names are Dutch, not Danish. Not Scandinavian.

MJ said...

Max Von SYdow was my guess, too, but the blind says " the older man is " long" gone" and Von Sydow is still alive, so, not him

Andrea said...

I thought Cary Grant for the older man but he only had the one child, despite his many marriages.
Thought maybe Douglas Fairbanks Jr but he served in WWII.

I'm also of the opinion that the Scandinavian is not an actor.

John the peon said...

Holland is Viking adjacent😎😁😋

MJ said...

But Sydow might be the " slightly younger", yes

actually, now that i read the blind corretly i think Sydow is the correct answer for the" mentored" man

Angela said...

Price was the lead in Dragonwyck, he played a Dutch colonial in it. His daughter said she was sure without actually being there that he had affairs with men. I can't think of who would still be alive who worked with him.

MJ said...

" I'm also of the opinion that the Scandinavian is not an actor. " yoy are right..he blind is about the older actor, but doesn't say that the younger actor is or was an actor, too

but the older man cannot be Cary Grant, too, he, like Peck, was leading man all the way

roque said...

Vincent Price was my first thought as well- we was married three times, but it was an open secret he was bi and preferred men. He always seemed like such a genuine, kind, not giving a flying fladoodle what you think person!

Flashy Vic said...

I was originally thinking Von Sydow too, but he didn't leave Sweden to pursue his career until the sixties.

Disillusioned Fan said...

I instantly thought of Vincent Price once the word “campy” got involved. Gay rumors or innuendo aside, he is remembered by those old enough to do so as witty, urbane, cultured. Totally sounds like him.

Aside: “Thriller” freaked me out as a little kid. My mom played the record nonstop. She had to explain to me that he really was a nice man with kids of his own, not scary or evil. That voice, though!

Disillusioned Fan said...

Also, Enty describes him as artistic. Price was big into art, a collector and lecturer.

kelli grrrl said...

This is a nice story. Kinda reminiscent of OG Enty. Who I miss very badly.

Valerie said...

I loved Randolph Scott, but he was of Scottish descent.

Flashy Vic said...

@Disillusioned Fan.

" 'Thriller' freaked me out as a little kid. My mom played the record nonstop. She had to explain to me that he really was a nice man with kids of his own, not scary or evil. That voice, though!"


Well she got that waaaaaay wrong. What did she say about Vincent Price?😄

MJ said...

so, we have

a young man, tall, scandivian and young, but we don't know with profession this man had that meets


an older man, a movie star witty, sophisticated, bisexual ( tough preferred men ), married more times, etc, etc

this blind is just about the older man-movie star

if the young man was " just out of his teens" he was around 20 years old...and the movie star older, so, around 20-25 years older at times, that was" at the start os the WWII, which mean 1939

so, the guess is an actor sophisicated ,witty etc, that was around 20-25 or 30 years old at most at times

he also has been married, more than once , and has had children

MarxistFreak said...

Vincent Price.

MJ said...

Price started his career just around the 1939, idk if he could be already considered a" movie star"

and he was 28 years old when he got his first movie role

Sd Auntie said...

Vincent Price is a very good guess!! Used to see him on TV and thought he was very flamboyant and could see him being BI. Friend of MJ too.

Brayson87 said...

Read the blind, the younger man is Scandinavian, not the star.

Jon said...

He would have been 10 at the start of WW II.

Brayson87 said...

Vincent Price could fit for this blind, he always pinged the gaydar. Married three times, don't know if two children counts as "several" but it's multiple.

Morninglorri said...

Claude Rains

dave peters said...

The blind mentions "sleight of hand" which suggests someone who was an amateur magician (many actors were/are), had an interest in magic, or at least played a magician on film. Vincent Price fits at least two of those.

rdkizziah said...

I was thinking Don Ameche, but Vincent Price fits.

J said...

William Powell?

dave peters said...

And Orson Welles for mentor. He was a magician (slight of hand). Fits the whale clue (Moby Dick film). Spouses. Kids. Etc.

Anonymous said...

+1 @dave peters

Flashy Vic said...

Orson Welles sounds good and also give me a chance to post a link to his hilarious frozen pea commercial out takes.

I don't know if they were shown in the States because - at least back in the day - big Hollywood stars were a little up themselves and sniffy about being caught grubbing for gold like us plebs and peons. Hard to believe, innit?

But Welles in particular when abroad would whore himself out to any product if there were a few hamburgers in it for him.


In the Seventies he was more known (and ridiculed, "Colorado armadillo") in Britain for his Sandeman Port TV ads than The Magnificent Ambersons or Citizen Kane.

These out takes show him treating a voiceover for a frozen peas and as if he were directing Titus Andronicus at the RSC at Stratford on Avon.

Think of the Casey Kasem thing or the Troggs Tapes....

https://youtu.be/tyko_oQ0da8





CarolMR said...

Nancer, I was thinking of George Sanders, too. But it's probably Vincent Price.

MazzaMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vita said...

Love these Old Hollywood blinds!

Chuckmcg3-- great guess with Vincent Price! I had originally been thinking Clifton Webb, also from brilliant Laura, but Vincent of three marriages and kind rep is much better fit.

Orson Welles is an good guess, but I think it's Vincent.

Dick Van Dyke was an unexpected but interesting guess for younger man...it doesn't specify what the younger man became!

Unknown said...

Congrats that is the dumbest thing I have read all day lol.

Nosey Parker said...

I'll guess Errol Flynn for the older movie star.

Caoimhe said...

I thought everyone knew Vincent Price was bi.

Anonymous said...

Robert Redford? Career began in NY in the 1950's. Had 4 kids. No clue if he was friends with Vincent Price or Gregory Peck though.

When I think "Scandinavian" I don't think ancestry - I think looks. Kris Kristofferson and Paul Newman come to mind - bright piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, fair haired. Tall is another one. Like Dolph Lungren-esque (less along the lines of my beloved Mads Mikkelson). I for sure thought Paul Newman at first but he is deceased.

Gator said...

Cary Grant only had one kid

Mia Lilcray said...

I was really stuck on John Wayne for this, idk

missann said...

Vincent Price

Sna said...

Sound like Price for the star, but he had only two children. His daughter does believe her father had sexual relations with men.

Astra Worthington said...

Hahaa I always think of the Critic, where they make fun of that.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6i7ycxiog40

Village Guru said...

My first thought was Vincent Price too, and I'll stay with that thought.

Orson Welles? Hell no! Daily Beast wrote this headline about him, depicting him as in no way sophisticated:

Go F—k Yourself: The Real Orson Welles
That was Orson Welles’s response to most people.
Christopher Bray on a new book that presents the director at his maddening best.

MJ said...

Don't think is Orson, he became famous in 1941 with Citizen Kane, it's a bit too late for being already a " movie star " at the start of the WWII


also, while he may have been attractive, somehow, i wouldn't call him " movie star handsome"

Sna said...

2nd guess- John Carradine for the older actor that played villains.
3rd guess- Olivier

TruRes said...

And what a pleasant surprise... They just enjoyed life! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

:| raven |: said...

can't wait for the reveal on this one!

bean àlainn rua said...

Mentor: Vincent Price

Mentee: Scotty Bowers

TruRes said...

I thought of Rex Harrison. About 5 wives, a couple of kids, from England and died in New York.

Scandi Sanskrit said...

This just reminds me of a cultured, older Scandinavian man I used to know. 🖤

Thanks for the good feels...

Dave said...

I wanted to say Claude Rains for the older actor--A- range, stylish, married six times, BUT only one child.

Scandi Sanskrit said...

My God, he was DASHING in “The Omen” and “Roman Holiday”.

I’d bonk it (but only with a condom in “The Omen” 😱😱😂💛🤣).

T. W. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
T. W. said...

Younger Man - Dick Van Dyke (?)

1. The blind says the younger man LOOKED Scandinavian, not that he is. Dick Van Dyke has English, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch ancestry. Holland (Dutch) is not Scandinavian. In my opinion, DVD did look Scandinavian when he was younger.

2. Dick Van Dyke does magic tricks. I remember seeing him perform some on his show Diagnosis Murder. He seems like a cool guy too.

THANK YOU ENTY, MR. X, AND CDAN COMMUNITY FOR OLD HOLLYWOOD BLINDS AND REVEALS.

THANK YOU ENTY AND CDAN COMMUNITY FOR CHEERING ME UP!

With Love,

T. W.

Joey JoJo Jr Shabado said...

No it's not

Alice H. said...

Vincent Price and the amazing Scotty Bowers.

Alice H. said...

Vincent Price and Scotty Bowers - Scotty is 95 now and was a gorgeous young man. He claims to have slept with half of Hollywood. I just watched an amazing documentary about him. What a character!

3eb said...

Frank Sinatra

Alice H. said...

Oh, also, Vincent Price was in a movie called The Whales of August.

Nosey Parker said...

Errol Flynn... 3 Wives & 4 Kids. Movie Star Handsome and born in 1909. Late in his career he made a movie called "Cruise of the Zaca" (1952) Next part is copied from IMDB- Storyline

From his Hollywood home, Errol Flynn copters to La Jolla's Scripps Institution of Oceanography for a few days. Inspired by the sight of a pod of gray whales, Flynn, his father (an oceanographer), and Dr. Hubbs from Scripts take Flynn's schooner, the Zaca, for a specimen-collecting trip down the coast, through the Panama Canal, and on to a southern port in Jamaica. Flynn's wife Nora joins them; his dad, Hubbs, and John Decker, an artist, turn the Zaca into a floating research lab. The Flynns take a raft for a day trip upriver to a Jamaican waterfall. There's an evening of dancing, then it's back to the sea.

Freckles said...

Richard Widmark or Vincent Price. Everyone asked about Price always had great things to say, including Scotty Bowers. The documentary on Scotty was great, wish it was longer! Loved the book

Fifi LaRue said...

Burt Lancaster. Married, had a very close male friend. No other details.
Very classy actor with iconic screen moments.

emeraldcity said...

When I got to the word 'campy' an image of Dr Phibes flashed into my mind, this blind fits Vincent to a tee. One of his movies was The Mad Magician so that gives us the 'slight of hand' clue. He was also a gourmet chef as well as an art expert.

Vita said...

Scotty Bowers makes great sense as the younger man

Erroll doesnt have a great rep, more into scads of younger girls than bi

I adore William Powell, but one son, and never heard bi

I hear ya on Gregory Peck, Scandi, lol!😍

I hope you're ok, TW! Take care!❤

HB 3 said...

Mentor/older guy sounds like George Sanders, but he was Russian-born, not Scandinavian.

Elphin MacSkye said...

Vincent Price for the deceased gentleman.

Unknown said...

Im going with Vincent Price as well.

I'm Outraged! said...

Scotty Bowers didn't go to Hollywood until he got out of the war mid 1945, not him.
Errol Flynn does not fit at all, not a 'second romantic lead or the first villain', not a few years into his career at the start of the war, he was a star from 1935 in Hollywood and starred in an Australian movie in the early 30's.

TheCureTheTop said...

My guess also

JL said...

I read this as the young guy is Scandinavian, not the older sophisticate.
Also Van Dyke is a Dutch name not Scandinavian in the least.

JL said...

Well Vincent Price was born too late for this. 1911. Looking for someone born 1900 or earlier 1895.

Also, both Price and Flynn did not spend time in NY. They both started on the stage in London in the 1930s and from there went directly to Hollywood. Flynn, a notorious drunk, was no gentleman. Early in his career he was accused of throwing a female stage manager down the stairs. Also, he was also born in Tasmania and this doesn’t say foreign born.
Tough one.

Anonymous said...

Scotty Bowers and Beach Dickerson

LondonGirl said...

There is a big clue in the Distinctive. Artistic. Stylish. Your wouldn't full stop (period) and capitalise a list like that unless the letters mean something.
DAS - ?!
...I'm going to think on it....

LondonGirl said...

Errol Flynn for the older actor who lived his life his own way? The wives and dates match.

GypseeWind said...

I met Vincent Price once in a restaurant down town. He had beautiful manners, I was fascinated by watching him eat. He probably thought I was hungry. He had beautiful eyes and when he smiled you just sort of fell into his dimples. Sigh... when Hollywood had class.

Anonymous said...

The only thing that comes close to fitting for the older gentleman who I can think of is Vincent Price. The younger man could be anybody, I don't see where it says he was famous. This is going to be a hard one to figure out.
If it's the Scotty Bowers guess, I'm not 100% sure I would believe it.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe the younger man is Dick Van Dyke, but if it is, wouldn't it be wonderful and such a great public service if he would openly talk about being bisexual in those days? It would be fascinating. Who or what could it really hurt at this point?
I always thought Vincent Price and Dick Van Dyke were beautiful men, and both under-rated as actors. It's a nice thought that it could be them.

Glow W said...

I think it’s Vincent Price for the older man, but I’ll throw out Jimmy Stewart because he was so well loved, well mannered and lived a long tome and had a good career.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

All these guesses at George Sanders are way off- he did not have a whale of a time right up to the end; he had dementia, famously said he was bored with life, David Niven described him as having bouts of moroseness/depression and he eventually took his own life.
He'd also have been described as foreign born.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

And Jimmy Stewart was a leading man. The blind says he was 2nd romantic lead or the villain.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

And VP's age fits perfectly- born 1911, therefore 28 at the start of WWII and "a few years older" than the 20yo ingenue of the blind.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

It can't be Flynn, Peck, Stewart, Olivier, Lancaster because all of these were romantic leads- not "2nd romantic lead".
Do people not read longer blinds in detail?

Substance D said...

Walter Pidgeon for the older guy. My old man was in the HWood rackets and he said Pidgeon was the final arbiter for gay disputes within the industry. They couldn't "divorce" and split assets in a proper court of law so they all worked out a system where Wally was the most respected and therefore most trusted of this then criminal underworld of homos that entertained America for decades from the closet. That would make Bowers the stable boy.
Of course some of this blind's details don't quite fit, but then the committee that writes these blinds sometimes gets their edits mixed up with other blinds.
Vincent Price as Egghead is correct.

Anonymous said...

John Barrymore played Captain Ahab in Moby Dick(1930)
Re:the whale reference

Stevie Nixed said...

More Dutch. But def not Scandinavian, I agree (as a flemish speaking person.)

Stevie Nixed said...

Someone was asleep during geography, part "The Netherlands is located beside Belgium, not Norway" 😂

Shortyp2000 said...

Yes! And married 3 times

Carolyn said...

Totally think this is meant to be Vincent Price and Scotty Bowers.
Bowers was a marine before he went to Hollywood and this story suggests they met in New York, not CA, sometime after the start of the war. NYC was point of departure for many young men heading off to the war, and of course where many had leave as well. So all of that fits.

Whether it's true or not is another matter, but I'd certainly believe that Bowers has told the story this way. Which isn't saying much.

Vita said...

Substance D-- that is a super cool story about Walter Pidgeon and some of the inner workings of Old Hollywood! Thanks for adding that into the mix!

Puddy said...

Vincent Price fits best, just reading up on his background and he was a very well educated fellow hence the initial description.

MattDaddy said...

Cary Grant.

hiyosilvergirl said...

Agree that Rex Harrison also fits for the actor. In 1938/39:
* Born in 1908, he would have been "slightly older" than a fellow just out of his teens
* He was a few years Into his movie career, and played villain in Continental Express

Looking at the other clues:
* Married six times, two children - "Sexy Rexy" spoke his mind and certainly lived life on his own terms (imdb)
* He was definitely distinctive and stylish - had a hat style named after him (imdb)
* Artistic, as well: his etchings can be found for sale online
* Whale of a good time - he was from Whales
* Sleight of hand - could refer to the fact that he "frequently wore a specific ring with a dark square-cut stone, on his little finger of his left hand. It appears in almost all of his films." (imdb)

Unknown said...

Cary Grant was from Bristol, England.

Sunkist said...

Franchot Tone for the older man

D Brown said...

If not Vincent Price then I would suggest James Mason.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

Mason fits quite a few of the clues, but he'd be "foreign born", and he wasn't in the US at the start of, or even during, WWII. He went in ~1949.

Plus -if you can believe the biographers- he didn't have a fabulous time of it for many years owing to the bitter relations he had with his first wife. In fact she allegedly continued making life hard for him even after they divorced and he remarried.

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

And Franchot Tone was often a romantic lead. The blind says 2nd. And a villain; I can't think of any time he played one of those. If he did, it's not what he was known for.

gauloise said...

David Niven? He had four kids, and played campy roles in Pink Panther and Around the World in 80 Days, very stylish.

I had thought of George Sanders, but he committed suicide

phoebephoebo.Sydney said...

@gauloise- I doubt it was Niven. He left Hollywood just as he was beginning to make a name for himself to join the army. The US joined the war in 1941 and by then he was already extremely busy fighting with the British army. And when he was home on leave, he was extremely busy making "quota quickies" for the British film industry to raise morale back home.
The timing's all wrong for him.

gauloise said...

@phoebe You make a good point about WW2 ruling out a lot of people. I was also thinking may Douglas Fairbanks Jr, but he also was away.

gauloise said...

Found this interesting blog post by Vincent Price's child about coming out to Vincent and how for a while they searched for answer about Vincent's sexuality, Vincent seems like a really open minded, wonderful man, esp for his era.

http://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-other-side-of-vincent-price.html

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