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Hollywood Lesbians: From Garbo to Foster
"Fans of Hollywood's golden age will find this collection of interviews conducted over many years revealing...an enlightening picture emerges of Tinseltown, different from that presented in the fanzines." ¬Publishers Weekly
"The book is more than it seems because these women are great talkers." ¬Booklist
"I was curious about 'Hollywood Lesbians.' I have now read the book. I am still stunned." ¬ Bea Arthur of "The Golden Girls"
"Riveting!...an eye opener!!" ¬Ellen DeGeneres
Hollywood Lesbians: From Garbo to Foster is the companion volume to Boze Hadleigh’s classic Hollywood Gays. In this rare and no-holds-barred collection of exclusive interviews with Hollywood icons from the Golden Age of movies and TV—Dame Judith Anderson, Barbara Stanwyck, Capucine, Ann B. Davis, Nancy Kulp, Sandy Dennis, Agnes Moorehead, Edith Head, Patsy Kelly — among others—renowned entertainment journalist and historian Boze Hadleigh goes straight to the source and opens the film world’s closet door into the past, and brings this volume full circle to the present with new material.
"The book is more than it seems because these women are great talkers." ¬Booklist
"I was curious about 'Hollywood Lesbians.' I have now read the book. I am still stunned." ¬ Bea Arthur of "The Golden Girls"
"Riveting!...an eye opener!!" ¬Ellen DeGeneres
Hollywood Lesbians: From Garbo to Foster is the companion volume to Boze Hadleigh’s classic Hollywood Gays. In this rare and no-holds-barred collection of exclusive interviews with Hollywood icons from the Golden Age of movies and TV—Dame Judith Anderson, Barbara Stanwyck, Capucine, Ann B. Davis, Nancy Kulp, Sandy Dennis, Agnes Moorehead, Edith Head, Patsy Kelly — among others—renowned entertainment journalist and historian Boze Hadleigh goes straight to the source and opens the film world’s closet door into the past, and brings this volume full circle to the present with new material.
294 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 12, 2017
I had a hard time with this book mostly because I had a hard time with Boze Hadleigh's insensitive interviewing style. It seemed that Mr Hadleigh began each interview with an agenda. He wanted each woman to publicly come out since he felt that they had nothing left to lose. When there was resistance he pushed and pushed. He did the same when they did not want to disclose information about their families and other Hollywood stars that they were close to. . Many of them hung up the phone on him and/or told him to leave. It felt really disrespectful and given his age (which is close to mine) he probably does not have a gut sense of what it was like to be a lesbian in an earlier era and the risks inherent in it. I I felt that he never really deeply listened to them and I found him rude. He also has dated notions about gender and what it means to be masculine or feminine and never questions what these categories even mean.
At times I enjoyed the book too. It left me with deep respect for these formidable women who managed complicated professional and personal lives despite the risks. Just that fact alone made it worth it to read this deeply flawed book.
At times I enjoyed the book too. It left me with deep respect for these formidable women who managed complicated professional and personal lives despite the risks. Just that fact alone made it worth it to read this deeply flawed book.
August 1, 2016
I'm not sure what i was expecting but this wasn't really it. Rather than biography, it's mostly transcripts of interviews with the women. I wasn't a huge fan of that interview format, and the quality of the chapters varied greatly with the interviewee. Also I had almost no familiarity with any of the women interviewed. It was a real snapshot of an era though, to see the struggles these women went through and how painfully closeted most of them were, even at the end of their careers and lives. I'd only really recommend this book to Hollywood buffs though.
February 14, 2017
Amazing, insightful in-person interviews with Hollywood's leading ladies (and some more minor actresses) on how difficult being a lesbian in Hollywood once was, and how much things have changed. You'll never read anything else like this.
January 27, 2008
Interviews with lesbians. I really enjoyed it, especially Ms. Main's interview. Great lady.
June 15, 2013
A series of awkward interviews with closeted ladies from Hollywood's Golden Age. Deeply important literature, obviously.
July 26, 2016
A short note: I'm the copy editor on the Riverdale Avenue Books rerelease of the book, which has quite a bit of new material in the way of interviews and biography. I think the rerelease, in particular, is worth a read. The original content is good, but the revisions and updates do improve the book substantially, in my opinion.
Boze Hadleigh's collections of interviews and biographical notes are interesting, not just as a matter of historically documenting Hollywood, or gay culture, through the second half of the 20th century. Rather, the book is interesting as a matter of human interest and the diversity of ways that queer women interact with the world. It deals with complex issues of outing, closeting, being a celebrity whose sex life is under constant scrutiny, and the influence of varying cultural backgrounds and time periods on queerness amongst women in Hollywood.
In many ways, the book is painfully restricted and dated, the perspective of the interviewer inescapable in both the interviews and the biography sections. His attachment to a somewhat antiquated notion of queerness is frustrating, especially to a younger reader who recognizes a lot of the problems (from inherent sexism to general presumptuousness) of much of the work. But Hadleigh deserves a pass on this front for two reasons; the first is that the interviews reflect one of the more progressive viewpoints of the time, and it seems somewhat unfair to judge him by modern standards, even if the book is being rereleased now. The second, and perhaps more important, is that the conservative nature of his views and assumptions flesh out the context of the interviews in a way that is really useful for the reader; insofar as it intrudes into the interviews, it does so precisely because it is strange to those of us who have grown up in a more modern context.
The historical portions of the book are useful as a guide to the historical guide of dealing with the history of lesbians in film and television; Hadleigh notes in (more recent) the introduction, though, that this book did much better than the counterpart written about gay men. He speculates that the reason this is so has to do with the general social attitudes towards queer women; I think this speculation is not quite right, though that may be a contributing factor. I think that a part of the reason the book is successful is that its subject matter entails the presentation of a number of difficult and relatable issues, e.g. women exploring and expressing their sexuality, handling relationships, marriage, and having children in the high pressure, career driven environment of Hollywood. In a way, the book is a basically a set of interviews and biographies about the condition of women working in entertainment and trying to balance celebrity, career, relationships, and other personal interests. That, in itself, makes the book quintessentially modern, progressive, rich, feminist, and fascinating in a way that books about men (already rife with discussions of the entanglement of those elements of life) are not. The fact that the subjects are queer adds another layer, politicizing and complicating those relationships further; it brings the complexity of those issues into the foreground.
I strongly recommend the book to a wide audience precisely because I believe that the interest goes well beyond the subject matter of queer women in Hollywood, though certainly this is mandatory reading for anyone interested in that subject. Wrestling with closeting and self-expression is a perpetual issue (even in the modern day) for queer people; wrestling with the relationship between one's personal and professional lives, and the constant entanglement of those things that plagues all of us, but in particular women. These are themes of particular interest, and the execution of the book reflects respect for that level of interest and the book's various subjects.
Boze Hadleigh's collections of interviews and biographical notes are interesting, not just as a matter of historically documenting Hollywood, or gay culture, through the second half of the 20th century. Rather, the book is interesting as a matter of human interest and the diversity of ways that queer women interact with the world. It deals with complex issues of outing, closeting, being a celebrity whose sex life is under constant scrutiny, and the influence of varying cultural backgrounds and time periods on queerness amongst women in Hollywood.
In many ways, the book is painfully restricted and dated, the perspective of the interviewer inescapable in both the interviews and the biography sections. His attachment to a somewhat antiquated notion of queerness is frustrating, especially to a younger reader who recognizes a lot of the problems (from inherent sexism to general presumptuousness) of much of the work. But Hadleigh deserves a pass on this front for two reasons; the first is that the interviews reflect one of the more progressive viewpoints of the time, and it seems somewhat unfair to judge him by modern standards, even if the book is being rereleased now. The second, and perhaps more important, is that the conservative nature of his views and assumptions flesh out the context of the interviews in a way that is really useful for the reader; insofar as it intrudes into the interviews, it does so precisely because it is strange to those of us who have grown up in a more modern context.
The historical portions of the book are useful as a guide to the historical guide of dealing with the history of lesbians in film and television; Hadleigh notes in (more recent) the introduction, though, that this book did much better than the counterpart written about gay men. He speculates that the reason this is so has to do with the general social attitudes towards queer women; I think this speculation is not quite right, though that may be a contributing factor. I think that a part of the reason the book is successful is that its subject matter entails the presentation of a number of difficult and relatable issues, e.g. women exploring and expressing their sexuality, handling relationships, marriage, and having children in the high pressure, career driven environment of Hollywood. In a way, the book is a basically a set of interviews and biographies about the condition of women working in entertainment and trying to balance celebrity, career, relationships, and other personal interests. That, in itself, makes the book quintessentially modern, progressive, rich, feminist, and fascinating in a way that books about men (already rife with discussions of the entanglement of those elements of life) are not. The fact that the subjects are queer adds another layer, politicizing and complicating those relationships further; it brings the complexity of those issues into the foreground.
I strongly recommend the book to a wide audience precisely because I believe that the interest goes well beyond the subject matter of queer women in Hollywood, though certainly this is mandatory reading for anyone interested in that subject. Wrestling with closeting and self-expression is a perpetual issue (even in the modern day) for queer people; wrestling with the relationship between one's personal and professional lives, and the constant entanglement of those things that plagues all of us, but in particular women. These are themes of particular interest, and the execution of the book reflects respect for that level of interest and the book's various subjects.
August 20, 2017
I was curious after reading some excerpts on Autostraddle. obviously the author had an agenda, but it seems clear that pretty much all of them knew what it was and was prepared. Barbara Stanwyck might be the lone exception, and was clearly the one he disliked--I thought he only crossed any lines with her. Marjorie Main (Katie in Meet Me In St Louis) was my favorite--she was so funny and engaging--with Agnes Moorehead a close second, but all of the ladies were super interesting. Many spoke widely about being women in Hollywood and the public eye, which was fascinating. A lot of what they had to say is still true, whether they were talking about their heydeys in the 30s-60s, or their present time. Agnes complained about current actresses having to market their personal lives and images rather than just work--imagine what she'd think of things now. Capucine said, "What is worst about invisibility is that it allows the majority to define the minority and to use stereotypes against it, and lies." We still see that in action with people's sexualities, races, nationalities, etc. Nothing ever really changes.
April 2, 2009
All right, I admit it. This book is, by discriminating standards in literature, a trashy, gossipy waste of good paper. However, it was an easy read and
fun, as all good trash should be.
I have to warn others, though; the book does not entirely live up to its title. One expects to read ten affirmations of out and proud women. Of the ten interviews, only one, in her words, announces she was a dyke (and I’m not going to say who). The other nine interviewees never pass the boundary of allusion to admission. They are also all dead and most will not be known by anyone under forty, maybe fifty.
Here and there, tucked in the folds, are interesting tidbits about other Hollywood people . [Buddy Ebsen:] “has been a bitter man since losing the Tin Man role in The Wizard of Oz.”
This is a good book to read on a long train/plane ride. It’ll keep you busy without causing stress. You won’t mind leaving it behind somewhat unread.
I recommend it to anybody who loves celebrity gossip.
I have to warn others, though; the book does not entirely live up to its title. One expects to read ten affirmations of out and proud women. Of the ten interviews, only one, in her words, announces she was a dyke (and I’m not going to say who). The other nine interviewees never pass the boundary of allusion to admission. They are also all dead and most will not be known by anyone under forty, maybe fifty.
Here and there, tucked in the folds, are interesting tidbits about other Hollywood people . [Buddy Ebsen:] “has been a bitter man since losing the Tin Man role in The Wizard of Oz.”
This is a good book to read on a long train/plane ride. It’ll keep you busy without causing stress. You won’t mind leaving it behind somewhat unread.
I recommend it to anybody who loves celebrity gossip.
June 26, 2017
I found this book fascinating. I am only sorry for the way Hollywood was so focused on the stars of Hollywood. The interviews were great though the actresses were reluctant or danced around questions to their sexuality. This is classic Hollywood. Hadleigh did a great job of interviewing and writing this.
It's great to finally know about these women and their lives even though it is only a small picture of the women. Even now, I think it is difficult for lesbian actresses to be out especially if they new to the business. I recommend anyone reading this even if it's only for entertainment.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Net-galley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
It's great to finally know about these women and their lives even though it is only a small picture of the women. Even now, I think it is difficult for lesbian actresses to be out especially if they new to the business. I recommend anyone reading this even if it's only for entertainment.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Net-galley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
June 26, 2017
I found this book fascinating. I am only sorry for the way Hollywood was so focused on the stars of Hollywood. The interviews were great though the actresses were reluctant or danced around questions to their sexuality. This is classic Hollywood. Hadleigh did a great job of interviewing and writing this.
It's great to finally know about these women and their lives even though it is only a small picture of the women. Even now, I think it is difficult for lesbian actresses to be out especially if they new to the business. I recommend anyone reading this even if it's only for entertainment.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Net-galley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
It's great to finally know about these women and their lives even though it is only a small picture of the women. Even now, I think it is difficult for lesbian actresses to be out especially if they new to the business. I recommend anyone reading this even if it's only for entertainment.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Net-galley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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March 21, 2007i just started this book, i'll let you know what i think when i finish it.
December 31, 2016
His stories are filled with fascinating accounts of these hollywood artists. Such a shame they couldn't be honest with their lives. Couldn't put the book down.
October 22, 2017
Very good.book!
I couldn't put it down ! I have admired each and every woman interviewed for this book. I have had many years of crushes on these ladies.
I couldn't put it down ! I have admired each and every woman interviewed for this book. I have had many years of crushes on these ladies.
June 6, 2019
This book is a nice afternoon delight to read,especially if you know of the woman interviewed in here. I mainly didn't so while I enjoyed reading it, it's not a great book to me. On one hand, part of me sides with Boze in wanting these women to be free of restrictions, to be as lesbian or bisexual as they please. And yet, these women grew up in a time where, although a lot of gossip in the book declares otherwise, being out wasn't an option, at least for a megastar at the time. They also deserve the right as women and people to decide what they are and when they feel comfortable talking about it.
January 7, 2020
A series of VERY cringe worthy interviews. I felt terrible for all the folks interviewed due to the author’s intrusive questioning when it’s apparent that the person being interviewed is uncomfortable with the question. The author proceeded to keep being invasive! Ugh!
I read this was a series of interviews and based on the names, I figured these were folks who were perhaps comfortable with their queerness and were forerunners in LGB models. Nope! Once again, an author being invasive based on rumors/gossip.
I read this was a series of interviews and based on the names, I figured these were folks who were perhaps comfortable with their queerness and were forerunners in LGB models. Nope! Once again, an author being invasive based on rumors/gossip.
December 11, 2021
While an enjoyable read, it was sometimes a difficult one. The interview style was at times frustrating, and at time it was extremely dry. The biographies at the beginning of each chapter were interesting and well written. Overall, definitely a book and I’m not sure it’s one I would re-read unless I was looking for something.
April 1, 2021
Okay so everyone was gay
December 12, 2025
actually just a reread. I only read the chapters of Garbo and Capucine too.
August 12, 2016
Not expecting a great piece of literature, this was what I thought it would be...with some twists. The stars were mostly of the golden years of Hollywood, and much of it is in the form of transcribed interviews. Further, some of the women were not exactly admitting that they WERE in fact lesbians. Some of the questioning was a little pushy, and I'd have felt uncomfortable if I were these women. That said...I like to read about Hollywood days gone by, I liked reading some of the tidbits about Hollywood in general that I didn't know, and I found it to ring true. I enjoyed this book. Thanks to Net Galley and Riverdale Avenue Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 13, 2016
I wasn't sure what to expect of this book. There are a lot of books written about gay stars so I was positively surprised by reading about some in this book I didn't knew of. Even if not all stars admitted that they are in fact lesbians it was a very interesting read. If you want to know more about the secret life of the Hollywood stars you really should read this book.
****ARC received in exchange for my honest review***
****ARC received in exchange for my honest review***
April 6, 2018
Wow! When I first got this book, I was just curious as to who all was listed. It was a great read. I learned a lot of new things and about new people that I wasn't sure which way they leaned. It was a very entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews