Boze Hadleigh

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 or if they did follow his agenda in show more each meeting. Many of them hung up 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. show less

This book is fun and hysterical! A great page turner and an interesting look at Broadway history. If you love Broadway this is a must have!

In 1986, writer Boze Hadleigh published a collection of interviews conducted with six major players in the movie industry. Well, not exactly interviews in the normal sense. Hadleigh didn't sit down to chat about the latest gossip or next movie project with his subjects, instead having something like conversations, as the title of the book implies. Very easygoing, relaxed, setting the subjects at ease. And he needed to keep them at ease for these six gentlemen shared something in common: show more actor Sal Mineo, director Luchino Visconti, photographer Sir Cecil Beaton, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, director George Cukor and actor Rock Hudson were all gay and were forced to keep their sexual identities hidden during their successful careers. Thanks to their frankness with Hadleigh, each gives remarkable insight into the Hollywood system and how it affected their lives and their sexuality, whether it was contractual marriages (such as Rock Hudson's to secretary Phyllis Gates) or being removed from a picture (George Cukor's removal due to a rumored homophobic Clark Gable) or even having the freedom to openly tackle homosexual themes in films. I also found it interesting to see the split between nationalities -- 3 Americans and 3 Europeans -- and how the differing film industries treated the subject of homosexuality: the American/Hollywood system wanting to keep things quietly under wraps whereas the European system accepting it as a normal part of society.

"Conversations with my Elders" is a remarkable book that both film buffs and followers of gay/lesbian history will find beneficial and intriguing. show less

Interviews with famous closeted gay stars and a couple who came out. Fascinating reading especially if you go to any other biographical information that totally refutes any possibility of the individual being gay. So who to believe. I remember in the 50s the rumours about Rock Hudson and how no one believed it. Then later it became an impossible irrefutable truth. Interesting reading.