Darwin Porter - Paul Newman, the Man Behind the Baby Blues: His Secret Life Exposed

"You can't help feeling sorry for guys like Newman. They have too much to lose if they make one false step. Look what Confidential did to Tab Hunter. Whenever Joanne Woodward came up, Newman became all macho. He was sad in many ways. Having to pretend to be what he wasn't. But most of us Hollywood hunks in the 1950s had to do that."

Matinee heartthrob Jeffrey Hunter

"Hell, guy, you just can't seem to realize what's happening. You're the new kid on the block. Every gay and every horny broad in Hollywood wants to go to bed with Paul Newman. You're doing pretty well for a married man. I've always had this belief that if a married man played it right, he can have more fun than single blokes."

Rod Steiger

"Paul Newman has the potential of becoming a magnificent actor if he ever gets through this complex he has about playing boy-macho."

Joan Crawford

"Even Newman's baby blues couldn't lure the women away from those TV boxes. We should have stripped him down more and shot the film with him half naked. That day will come for movies, I predict."

Robert Wise, lamenting the failure of the Paul Newman film he directed, Until They Sail

"Mr. Newman, Mr. Newman! Would you like to see my body?"

Sandra Dee, at 14

"I never got around to screwing Paul Newman, although I certainly intended to. He had as much sex in the 50s as I did, but whereas he got away with it, I didn't"

Rock Hudson

"Newman is just as much of a narcissist as Gore Vidal, but he disguises it completely, and, like the most skilled of actors, puts up a mask to confuse the world. I suspect he will go far in an industry that is all about illusion. There is no self-awareness in this handsome young man at all. He is an obvious homosexual, but does not dare admit that to himself. He's a selfish rogue while pretending to be benevolent, supporting all the right causes. He has a facile charm but no depth. In spite of the hot sun out here, he already knows that California is a cold, harsh land. He does not want it to hurt him. So what will he do? What must he do? He will inflict emotional pain on others, therefore avoiding the pain of having the blows strike him first. I predict Newman will turn into a cardboard figure. There will be no reality to him. He can't be real. A tragedy, really. But, this is, after all, Lotusland."

Anais Nin

"I'm really a very ordinary guy. Sure, I drank whiskey a lot. For a while, it really screwed up me up. There are periods in my life in which I don't take any particular pride. I'm not very good at revealing myself. I cover for it by telling terrible dirty jokes."

Merv Griffin, A Life in the Closet

Brando Unzipped

The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart

Katharine the Great: Hepburn, Secrets of a Life Revealed

Howard Hughes. Hell's Angel

Michael Jackson, His Rise and Fall (What Really Happened)

And Coming Soon:

Steve McQueen, King of Cool (Tales of a Lurid Life)

Blood Moons Guide to Gay & Lesbian Film (Volumes One & Two)

Hollywood Babylon-Its Back!

Butterflies in Heat

Marika

Venus

Razzle-Dazzle

Midnight in Savannah

Rhinestone Country

Blood Moon

Hollywood's Silent Closet

Many editions of The Frommer Guides to Europe, the Caribbean,

California, and parts of America's Deep South

Another Hot, Startling, and Unauthorized Celebrity Biography by

Darwin Porter

THE AUTHOR DEDICATES THIS BOOK TO THE SOURCES WHO CONTRIBUTED TO ITS COMPILATION:

Janice Rule

Eartha Kitt

Sal Mineo

Anthony Perkins

Robert Francis

Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo

William Inge

James Leo Herlihy

Lana Turner

Maila Nurmi

Shelley Winters

Geraldine Page

and countless others.

A world class American Icon

Paul Newman 1925-2008

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

A DISCLAIMER FROM BLOOD MOON

CLIMBING THE LAVENDER LADDER

Paul Newman's Secret Life as a Bisexual

In the opinion of many of his fans, Newman's emotional and sexual involvements with the women in his life (Monroe, Crawford, Taylor, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and perhaps most importantly, Joanne Woodward) are more compelling than the equivalent relationships he shared with men.

But according to Darwin Porter, the full story of what Newman did as a means to his end in Golden Age Hollywood hasn't ever been fully revealed-until now.

During a span of more than 50 years, insiders on Broadway and in Hollywood have spoken of Paul Newman's closeted life. Details about the megastar's bisexual history have been among the entertainment industry's worst-kept secrets.

For decades, the underground press has included Paul Newman on their list of bisexual or gay stars, a list that included Rock Hudson, Roddy McDowall, Richard Chamberlain, Farley Granger, Tab Hunter, Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Montgomery Clift, and countless others. "WAS PAUL NEWMAN GAY?" ran one headline. Yet another proclaimed: "DEEP INSIDE THE HOLLYWOOD CLOSET: RUMOR MILL IMPLICATES PAUL NEWMAN."

Even during Newman's lifetime, Larry Quirk, the dean of Hollywood biographers, wrote about Paul Newman's "homosexual panic" and how he maneuvered his way "up the lavender ladder." Quirk was making veiled references to his casting couch interludes with playwrights Tennessee Williams (author of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof--its film adaptation propelled Newman to stardom) and William Inge (author of Picnic, the play that launched Newman's legend on Broadway).

According to Darwin Porter, the secret life of Paul Newman reached the peak of its exposure and speculation during the 1970s, when Newman acquired the film rights to The Front Runner, a best-selling novel about a homosexual coach who falls desperately in love with his star (male) athlete.