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26
winter
|
spr ing
Tab Hunter
H
e was “discovered” shoveling manure in a barn at a stable
near Hollywood popular with a show business crowd. Later,
19-year-old Art Gelien took his shirt off at a casting call
and by doing so won a coveted role in a major motion picture opposite
27-year-old established star Linda Darnell. Before long, New York
City-born Arthur “Art” Gelien (née Kelm) had morphed into his new
Hollywood-agent-given name: “Tab Hunter.”
Conversations:
by James Buckley
Longtime Montecito resident Tab Hunter was, in the mid 1950s, one of the world’s most famous screen actors; he was
Warner Brothers’ #1 box office draw and shared screen billing with Natalie Wood, Linda Darnell, Sophia Loren, Lana
Turner, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Mitchum, Van Heflin, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and others. He was then and is now
just an unpretentious and modest guy who admits he still doesn’t understand what the fuss was all about.