Tab Hunter had a secret romance with a famous actor before he came out and married Allan Glaser

 Clayton encouraged the star to set up a meeting with Henry Wilson, an agent known as being a “gay svengali,” linked to other gay actors like Rock Hudson.

Wilson helped Hunter to amass a few roles before he eventually landed in 1955’s “Battle Cry,” the movie that skyrocketed the young star to fame. He became the bad boy of Hollywood whose face appeared on magazine covers around the country.

This popularity earned him a rare contract of seven years with Warner Bros. It was at the company that he was introduced to his “Burning Hills” costar, Natalie Wood. 

Warner Bros. placed the two young stars together, and they appeared in public to have a romantic relationship. They were sent to award shows and various ceremonies together. At the same time, Hunter was reportedly close with star Debbie Reynolds and was receiving endless amounts of fan mail from female admirers. 

His appearances and rumored relationships, of course, were all publicity stunts. Hunter was even scandalously arrested at a pajama party during the height of his career, and the party guests were mostly comprised of gay men.

While Hunter was pretending to date Wood, he was actually engaging in an affair with Anthony Perkins, an actor most known for his starring role in “Psycho.” Speaking on the relationship, Hunter said:

“Tony and I had a very, very good relationship. We double-dated a lot.”

He had other secret relationships over the years, and there were no rumors or scandals that seemed to affect his career. There were rumors eventually that is was Wilson, Hunter’s former agent, who leaked the news of the star’s sexuality to the press.

Hunter eventually married Glaser, and the couple lived in a small cottage in a town on the outskirts of Santa Barbara.

They lived away from the spotlight in the 1960’s after Hunter’s popularity had begun to decline. They were happy in their choice to live simply and away from Hollywood. While speaking to the New York Times in 2005, Hunter explained that success is not the only part of life.

Sadly, Hunter eventually passed away at his shared idyllic home with Glaser. It was confirmed that the then 86-year-old star died of a heart attack after a blood clot entered his lungs.