A Movie Finally Captures the Secret History of Gay Hollywood
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A documentary tells the story of Old Hollywood’s inescapable closet through the eyes of a man many know as the “Pimp of the Stars.”
The movie, called “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”, was released on September 9, 2017.
In the years after World War II, Scotty Bowers, a former marine ran a sex operation out of a trailer behind a gas station. For some years after, the trailer served as an escape for gay and bisexual Hollywood. This led to the man earning the title, “Pimp of the Stars.”
Hollywood was going through a homophobic period, so if you were a gay or bisexual person in Hollywood in the years after World War II, you wouldn’t be allowed to live an authentic life both in public and in private because of the many hazards. This actually did help Scotty grow his business rapidly; even though it was in secret.
Bowers provided services to the likes of Cole Porter, Cary Grant, and Katharine Hepburn. He accrued a covert operation in Hollywood and was known as an unprejudiced, sex-positive procurer. He became friends with sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, Vidal, and many other cultural giants, and finally was introduced to Tyrnauern (who made the film).
Years after meeting Tyrnauer, “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” was born. This was an unabashed salacious documentary that hit theaters this month. According to Bowers, now 95, Tyrnauer found a way to extol a less straight-washed, sub-Rosa version of the golden era of Hollywood. Many of Bower’s clients are now dead, so many of the tales from the “Pimp of the Stars” are not verifiable or deniable, but Tynauer believes Bowers’ tales are valuable.
According to Tynauer, Hollywood was in a period when it was more acceptable for someone to be adulterous than to be gay, and anyone who openly speaks of being gay is outed in the media; in fact, it was a firing offense to openly admit to being gay in Hollywood. When Bowers came on board, allowing stars to lead authentic lives, it was as if he was the one everyone had been waiting for.
Speaking about Kinsey’s friendship with Bowers, Tynauer revealed that Bowers was a major resource and source for Kinsey who interviewed him for the data pool of his groundbreaking book “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” which went on to change the equation for sex and sexuality worldwide when it got published.
Its proven that Kinsey sought Bowers out as a subject because he needed certain sexual unicorns who could show him spectrums of sexuality that were never discussed and inaccessible to medical research up until that point. Bowers was an open book, especially since Kinsey was willing to work confidentially. Bowers told him everything, then gave him access to the hidden worlds of same-sexuality in Los Angeles at the time.
Like every city and industry, Hollywood has its own secrets. Seeing the great stride the industry has made, seeing how it has grown from being a predator of sorts for people with same sexuality to being friendly to inclusive shows us that the future of homosexuality and bi-sexuality isn’t bleak.