EXCLUSIVE: Love in the Shadows – The Gay Golden Age of Hollywood Stars Who Lived in the Closet
Gay Golden Age stars in Hollywood secretly navigated fame while hiding their true identity.
July 18 2025, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
Back in the glittering heyday of Hollywood's Golden Age, stars lit up the silver screen with charm, elegance and seemingly picture-perfect personal lives, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
But behind the dazzling smiles and carefully curated images, many actors and actresses lived a secret life – one they were forbidden to share.
At a time when there was no such thing as an LGBTQ community or gay pride, being gay was considered both scandalous and career-ending.
Gary Cooper quietly mentored Anthony Perkins through studio pressures.
Some performers openly declared their sexuality, but countless performers were forced to hide their true selves, often living in fear of exposure.
Studio contracts, morality clauses and ruthless gossip columnists ensured that any hint of same-sex attraction could result in a swift fall from grace.
Some entered sham marriages, others maintained lifelong "roommate" relationships cloaked in secrecy, and a few endured heartbreaking separations to preserve their careers.
Today, Hollywood celebrates a broad spectrum of identities and sexual orientations, with stars free to live openly and love who they choose. But for those in the 1930s, '40s, '50s and beyond, authenticity came at too high a price.
While we now embrace diversity in the spotlight, it's bittersweet to look back and realize how many legends were denied the joy of living – and loving – out loud. Their stories deserve to be told, not just as cautionary tales, but as tributes to the courage it took to shine in silence.
Anthony Perkins
Early in Anthony Perkins' career, Paramount pressured him to end his public relationship with Tab Hunter. He resisted but in the end complied – the Psycho star even bought himself out of his contract to escape pressure. He had deep emotional trauma, once declaring to the draft board that he was homosexual to avoid service – but later was urged into conversion therapy.
Western star Gary Cooper took him under his wing after realizing Perkins' struggles.
Cooper's daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, says her father "respected everyone's life and right to make their own choices. He had friends in Hollywood, in the acting community, who were gay, and they couldn't come out. He saw what an emotional toll it took on them."
Natalie Wood was used to mask Tab Hunter's true relationship with Perkins.
Tab Hunter
Hunter was closeted during his 1950s and '60s career, and his studio fostered fake romances (e.g., with Natalie Wood) to hide his attraction to men. Privately, he maintained a long romance with Anthony Perkins. He didn't come out publicly until 2005, decades after those phony arrangements.
Robert Reed
Robert Reed, who played Mike Brady, the dad on the family sitcom The Brady Bunch, was gay. He kept his sexuality a secret – and in 1954, married a woman named Marilyn Rosenberg, with whom he had a daughter. They divorced in 1959. Robert Reed
TV wife Florence Henderson talked about Reed being in the closet during a 2000 interview with ABC News: "Here he was, the perfect father of this wonderful little family, a perfect husband. Off camera, he was an unhappy person. Greg Brady, I think had Bob not been forced to live this double life, I think it would have dissipated a lot of that anger and frustration. I never asked him. I never challenged him. I had a lot of compassion for him because I knew how he was suffering with keeping this secret."
Barry Williams, who played the oldest son, said: "Had it ever come out that Robert Reed was gay, it probably would have caused the demise of the show."
After Reed died of colon lymphoma in 1992 at age 59, his death certificate details were made public, revealing he was also HIV-positive.
Florence Henderson said Robert Reed suffered deeply keeping his secret.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, the star of On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire – considered one of the best and most important actors of the 20th century – married three times and had 10 children.
But he was different from most men of his time – he never tried to hide his sexual escapades.
In 1976, he told a French journalist: "Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences – and I am not ashamed."
Marlon Brando boldly admitted to same-sex experiences without shame.
Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde, the Hollywood Squares star, was known for his flamboyant comedy persona but never publicly addressed his sexuality. In the 1970s, Lynde lived with his hairstylist, "suite mate," and "chauffeur-bodyguard," Stan Finesmith.
Despite his campy image, Lynde's private life and sexual orientation were not directly acknowledged or discussed on television or in other media during his lifetime. Friends later confirmed his relationships with men and his frustration at being forced to stay closeted.
Cathy Rudolph, a friend of Lynde's who published the 2013 book Paul Lynde: A Biography – His Life, His Love(s) and His Laughter, stated in a 2018 interview that "being gay and having to hide it frustrated him."
Sal Mineo claimed Nick Adams revealed James Dean's hidden romance.
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Sal Mineo & James Dean
James Dean was never publicly out, but his bisexuality became known after he died tragically in a car crash in 1955 at age 24.
Sal Mineo – who was openly bisexual and costarred with Dean in the 1955 classic Rebel Without a Cause – mentioned it in a 1972 interview, saying: "Everyone's bi if they'd be honest about it."
He went on to say: "Half the gays in Hollywood pretend they're bi. And I guess so far that's a matter of survival. Some don't even have the guts to say they're bi ... I might tell you some people I had affairs with – maybe. But Jimmy was special, so I don't want to say ... I didn't hear it from Jimmy, who was sort of awesome to me when we did Rebel. But [actor] Nick [Adams] told me they had a big affair."
Henry Willson staged Rock Hudson's marriage to silence gay rumors.
Rock Hudson
One of the subtlest, most tightly managed "hides" in Hollywood. Rock Hudson's agent, Henry Willson, used an arranged marriage (to Phyllis Gates in 1955) and leaks to tabloids to suppress rumors about the star.
During their 1958 divorce, Gates hired private detective Fred Otash to secretly record Rock admitting he was gay in order to negotiate alimony and property deals – highlighting the obstacles the studio and aides faced in trying to conceal his sexuality.
Raymond Burr
For over 30 years, TV's Perry Mason maintained a secret partnership with Robert Benevides while fabricating an elaborate heterosexual backstory. In interviews, Raymone Burr claimed he'd been twice widowed and lost a child – all fiction invented to ward off suspicion.
