Boze Hadleigh
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Boze Hadleigh (his writings indicate a supposed year of birth around 1954) is an American journalist, interviewer and writer primarily of gossip about homosexuals of Hollywood.
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[edit] Biography
A linguist, originally known as George Haddad-García, who allegedly can converse in five languages, Hadleigh has an M.A. in journalism and has traveled to 48 countries. He has been called the "Samuel Pepys of Hollywood".
He has written more than 15 books and also writes extensively for magazines. His work has appeared in more than 100 publications including TV Guide, Playboy, and Us Weekly.
He lives in Beverly Hills, California, and in Sydney, Australia. He is of Jewish and Latino descent.
[edit] Writings
Most of his books deal with well-known homosexual, lesbian and bisexual actors, actresses, and singers, most of whom are supposed to have talked in detail about their sex lives and the sex lives of their contemporaries with him. According to his own words, the author had committed himself not to out any of his subjects against their will -- at least as long as they were living. The interviewees frequently comment on Hadleigh's youth, and show surprise that someone so young should know so much about film and Hollywood history. The author is frequently cited in many books and biographies dealing with gay and lesbian actors in Hollywood.
[edit] Commentaries and Criticism
Hadleigh's first book, Conversations With My Elders (republished as Celluloid Gaze) includes interviews with actors Sal Mineo and Rock Hudson; directors George Cukor, Luchino Visconti, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder; and designer, photographer, and author Cecil Beaton.
Their frank conversations with the author reveal much about the lives and careers of these celebrities and how their homosexuality affected both. According to Midwest Book Review, the book "is a ground breaking collection of interviews with six men who share a common and unusual trait relevant to their success in the movie-making industry: they were gay, and during their lifetimes, they concealed their sexual orientation from the public. Yet these interviews are remarkably open and candid about how these men's sexuality affected their lives and careers. ... Celluloid Gaze is an informed and informative contribution to Film History and Gay Studies academic reference collections and supplemental reading lists, as well as highly recommended reading for fans of the film work of Sal Mineo, Luchino Visconti, Cecil Beaton, George Cukor, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Rock Hudson."
Hadleigh's book Hollywood Gays is a report on interviews with prominent film personalities, such as Liberace, Anthony Perkins, Randolph Scott, and several others, most of them widely known as homosexual. Publishers Weekly said about the book:
- Hadleigh (is) evidently taking up where the great gossip columnists of yesteryear left off.
- There's nothing very surprising about his choice of subjects--Paul Lynde, Liberace, Randolph Scott, et al. - all of whom, conveniently for legal purposes, are deceased.
- [A] touching interview with producer David Lewis, who talks freely about his longtime companion James Whale, director of the classic 1931 films Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, who committed suicide in 1957.
- [A] talk with William Haines, whose career was destroyed by Louis B. Mayer after Haines refused to marry a woman, and was later caught with another man in his cot at a YMCA. The book's style is suitably straightforward, though Hadleigh's banter often verges on the cute or leering.
The Library Journal said:
- Like his earlier volumes, Hadleigh's work is somewhat suspect. He claims that for most of these interviews, he was not allowed to tape record or take notes, and frequently the questions seem stiltedly reconstructed.
- Still, the interviews are highly entertaining and provide an important, mostly undocumented view of the film industry's social history. Recommended for both general readers looking for dish and scholars of gay history and film studies.
Hollywood Lesbians, according to Movieline "deliciously dishy", is a collection of frank interviews with ten lesbians in the entertainment industry. Publishers Weekly said about the book:
- Fans of Hollywood's golden age will find this collection of interviews conducted over many years revealing though hampered. The principal problem is not so much that all of the subjects - director Dorothy Arzner, designer Edith Head, actresses Judith Anderson, Marjorie Main, Barbara Stanwyck, Nancy Kulp, Capucine, Patsy Kelly, Agnes Moorehead and Sandy Dennis - are now deceased, but that almost all were raised in a generation terrified of voicing support for fellow homosexuals, let alone daring to come out of the closet ... Even with carefully couched questions from Hadleigh (Conversations With My Elders), the respondents dance around the subjects of sex and sexuality. Still, an enlightening picture emerges of Tinseltown, different from that presented in the fanzines.
Hollywood Babble-On: Stars Gossip about other Stars (1994) includes nasty comments by stars on other stars. According to Ellis Hanson, the book
- purports simply to be quoting stars as they gossip about each other, thus attempting to validate the authenticity of the material and claiming truth-value because such gossip is said to have its origins within Hollywood. See Ellis Hanson, Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film (Duke University Press, 1999), p.287.
[edit] Other works
In or Out: Stars on Sexuality is a compilation of celebrity quotes from stars who are homosexual or straight and who are outing others or remain in concealment.
The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films - Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics is a collection of gay and lesbian film lore covering movies with homoerotic themes and more or less openly gay films throughout the history of film.
Gays and Lesbians in the Music World is one of the first books that document the artistic contributions of gay and lesbian musicians and performers. According to Madonna, it "cuts through the role-playing crap and shows the music world as it really ... is! It's camp with a High-C!"
[edit] Questions regarding the authenticity of his writings
Hadleigh cites powerful personal or Hollywood connections that helped him to contact the interviewees. However, his books do not feature photographs of him with his subjects nor did he have tape recordings of his interviews. Therefore, according to Michael Zam, "Some have questioned the accuracy of his printed transcripts, but there's no denying they're impossible to put down..."
Hadleigh claims to have interviewed Randolph Scott despite the fact of Scott's refusal to be interviewed by journalists for the final two decades of his life.
In two different books Hadleigh ascribes the same comment -- that being severely overweight relieves one of having to answer questions about sexuality -- to two different actors, James Coco and Victor Buono.
[edit] Bibliography
Hadleigh wrote the following books:
- The Films of Jane Fonda (under the name "George Haddad-Garcia")(1983)
- Conversations With My Elders (1986)
- The Vinyl Closet: Gays in the Music World (1991)
- Leading Ladies: Conversations with Dame Peggy Ashcroft (1992)
- The Lavender Screen: Gay and Lesbian Films - Their Stars, Makers, Characters and Critics (1993)
- Hollywood Babble On: Stars Gossip About Other Stars (1994)
- Hollywood Lesbians (1996)
- Hollywood Gays: Conversations with: Cary Grant, Liberace, Tony Perkins, Paul Lynde, Cesar Romero, Brad Davis, Randolph Scott, James Coco, William Haine (1996)
- Celebrity Feuds!: The Cattiest Rows, Spats, and Tiffs ever Recorded (1999)
- Sing Out!: Gays and Lesbians in the Music World (1999)
- Hollywood Bitch: The Snippy, Snotty and Scandalous Things Stars Say About Each Other (1999)
- In or Out: Stars on Sexuality: a Collection of Celebrity Quotes (2001)
- Celluloid Gaze (2002)
- Celebrity Lies: Strs, Fibs, Fabrications, Myths and Little White Lies (2003)
- Holy Matrimony! Better Halves and Bitter Halves: Actors, Athletes, Comedians, Directors, Divas, Philosophers, Poets, Politicians" (2003)
- Celebrity Diss And Tell: Celebrities Talk About Each Other" (2005)
[edit] Trivia
- Boze Hadleigh appeared on Jeopardy once as a contestant. He had some success and won several thousand dollars.
- The author once wrote: "Hollywood is where the truth lies...still."
