In my recent post about actor Tab Hunter, I mentioned that Henry Willson (Hunter’s agent) threw him under the bus. He revealed to a scandal magazine about the time the actor was arrested at a men’s only “pajama party”. Willson did this to bargain with the magazine not to publish an article about his star client - Rock Hudson.
This week I came across the actual article Confidential printed. I was shocked by how blatantly homophobic and hateful it was. And the actual arrest was entrapment by the police. (I’m sorry to say that the current era seems to be returning to this level.)
The text of the article was clear enough to copy, so I’ve posted it below for better reading.
THE LOWDOWN ON THAT ... "DISORDERLY CONDUCT” CHARGE AGAINST TAB HUNTER
The fans who mob this six-footer want to know all about their idol... Well, this reporter remembers the night a cop moved in on that limp-wrist pajama party.
FLIP THE PAGES of the movie magazines these days — Tab Hunter, the crew-cut six-footer who's being touted as the next Gary Cooper or John Wayne.
The bobby-soxers can't get enough of him. They mob him at personal appearances, deluge him with scented love letters and save every word that's printed about him ... where he was born, whether he prefers blondes or bru-nettes, what he likes to eat, how he sleeps and so on. And his studio is only too willing to fill the demand with a flood of yarns and pictures - anything the public wants.
Anything, that is, except the real lowdown on Hunter.
That, the build-up boys thought, was safely locked in the records of the Los Angeles County vice squad, confidential file Z-84254. In it is the racy story of a night in October, 1950, when the husky Hunter kid landed in jail, along with some 26 other good-looking young men, after the cops broke up a pajama party they staged - strictly for boys.
Only a year later, Tab had zoomed to where he was being interviewed by front-rank columnists like Earl Wilson, with whom he blushingly discussed how it feels to kiss Linda Darnell. But he was strictly an unknown on that night of October 14, 1950 - just one more of the scores of overly handsome youths who haunt the studios by day and get their kicks in unusual style after sundown.
There weren't even a dozen people who knew him by his movie monicker. Tab went by his real name, Art Gelien, and he was so far from fame and fortune that the cops found only 20 cents in his pockets when they pinched him.
It all started with a vice cop who was drifting in and out of Hollywood's queer bars on the afternoon of October 14th, looking and listening for tips on the newest notions of the limp-wristed lads.
Vice Cop Picked Up a Hot Tip
Pausing for a Scotch and water in one gay joint, the deputy detective struck up a conversation with a couple of lispers who happily prattled that they were set for a big binge that very evening, at 2501 Hope Street in Walnut Park, a surburb of Los Angeles. One drink led to another and the pair finally invited the snooper to come along. There was only one dashing requirement - bring pajamas.
Since breaking up such queer romps was his business, the detective pretended to fall in with his barroom chums and arranged to accompany them. Between snorts, how-he called the Los Angeles sheriff's office for reinforcements.
The detective and his pals arrived around 10:30 p.m., and one of the couples at the wingding had already changed into pajamas. His escorts gayly informed the cop that he didn't have to hurry about donning his own night togs since the soiree was scheduled to continue through the night and everyone planned to stay until the next morning.
Milling around him were two dozen of the gayest guys the vice squad had ever seen. There was one lone pair of women but their mannish attire and baritone voices only added to the novelty of the evening.
Thirty minutes of watching the strange goings-on was enough for the cop. Walking to a window, he quietly signaled outside and a few minutes later the whole party was under arrest. Off they went to the Firestone Park sheriff's station, where they were booked before being hustled off to the Los Angeles County jail.
There were no big names in the catch, so far as the cops could tell. Students, salesmen, bit actors and so on. But one handsome hunk of man in the crowd seemed to stand out. Arthur Andrew Gelien was the name he gave the booking ser-geant, age 19, born in New York City.
In the space reserved for occupation, he told the sergeant to write "None." Artie and his playmates were first charged with violating California's Penal Code, Section 647.5, which calls for the arrest of "idle, lewd or dissolute persons or associates of known thieves.”
The Judge Gave Him a Break
Four months later, he appeared in a South Los Angeles court, where a tolerant deputy district attorney dismissed the original charge and accused him of disturbing the peace.
Judge Ralph C. Dills, who heard Art's plea of guilty wasn't too lenient. Gelien escaped with a $50 fine and a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail, but the magistrate put him on probation for a full year thereafter.
Neither Judge Dills nor Joseph Forno, the attorney who defended the pajama playboy, knew they'd just brushed with a future movie star. But they had, for Arthur Andrew Gelien - the good-looking kid with the bad boy friends — was the Tab Hunter the bobby-soxers rave about today.
He's come a long way since that night he rode off in the paddy wagon with a load of shrill nances. And the build-up boys have erected a stout screen around Tab which accents the masculine. He's pictured taking horses over hurdles, water-skiing, swimming and the like. The gossip columns are fed a constant stream of items about his yen for this or that starlet. First, there was a mysterious doll named Joy, then another by the name of Lori Nelson. He was also linked with Debbie Reynolds. In half a dozen interviews, he even panted for Lana Turner.
Tab seldom, if ever, goes to pajama parties anymore, but who can blame him? After all, he learned the hard way that you can't tell who is wearing that nightshirt next to you. It could be an understanding chap. It could also be a cop!
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