Remembering A Forgotten Gay Hero, William Haines

[Jingthing]

What an inspiring story is William Haines!

He would never have seen himself as a gay hero, but he lived an open life as a gay man as the biggest star in Hollywood, long before gay men thought of themselves as gay men.

His friends, gay and straight, called William and Jimmie the happiest married couple in Hollywood.

When dictatorial studio boss Louis B. Mayer demanded that Haines drop his long time husband, Haines replied, sure, I will give up Jimmie if you give up your wife! Such unbelievable cheek even today, but back then of course, it meant the end of his movie career.

Happily, he went on to be a massively successful decorator to the stars.

We won't really remember his movies so much, but the MAN William Haines, really deserves to be remembered.

Check out the video Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life of William Haines for the life story of this pioneer.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Jingthing

[Scott]

Thanks for posting. I'll do some reading about him.

[Jingthing]

I learned about him from the video I mentioned.

While he was a big star, he refused to play the usual game of gay show biz people (such a Rudolph Valentino) by showing up to events with a woman. He actually took his husband to some of these events and parties. In an interview with a Hollywood PR magazine of the time he was asked why he wasn't seen with women. He quipped, "too busy buying antiques!"

BTW, he and Jimmie (who he met as street pickup in Greenwich Village) were together for the rest of their lives, well into old age. After William died, Jimmie offed soon after out of grief.

Edited June 19, 2010 by Jingthing