Role models of greatness.

Here you will discover the back stories of kings, titans of industry, stellar athletes, giants of the entertainment field, scientists, politicians, artists and heroes – all of them gay or bisexual men. If their lives can serve as role models to young men who have been bullied or taught to think less of themselves for their sexual orientation, all the better. The sexual orientation of those featured here did not stand in the way of their achievements.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Anthony Perkins: sexually conflicted actor

Anthony Perkins was an actor who had affairs with A-list male celebrities: Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue, Rudolf Nureyev, Paul Newman, Leonard Bernstein, James Dean, and Stephen Sondheim. The one that lasted, however, was with dancer/choreographer Grover Dale, with whom Perkins had a six-year relationship before his 1973 marriage to photographer Berry Berenson, the sister of actress Marisa Berenson. Dale, who had been Perkins’ understudy in the stage musical Greenwillow, also married in 1973 (must have been something in the water that year). Perkins was 41 years old at the time of his marriage and said he had sex with a woman for the first time just a year before that, at age 39, with his co-star Victoria Principal during filming of The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.

Perkins was a veteran of stage, screen and TV, even earning an Oscar nomination for Friendly Persuasion, but he lived in utter fear that Confidential magazine would out him, as it did with Tab Hunter, one of his early lovers. Perkins had two sons with Berenson, but he died of AIDS in 1992 at age sixty; according to the Los Angeles Times obituary, Perkins did not acknowledge that he had the disease until he released a statement shortly before his death, even though the National Enquirer had broken the story two years earlier. According to author Shawn Levy (The Castle on Sunset, 2019) during the 19 years of his marriage and while being a father, Perkins kept a hotel room on hold for himself at Chateau Marmont so that he would have a place for trysts with young men. Hmmm...

Before his marriage Perkins met influential gay men who resided at Chateau Marmont at various times -- Gore Vidal, Christopher Isherwood (and his partner Don Bachardy) among them. Earlier, Perkins had been introduced to Tab Hunter at the hotel's pool. Moments later, Perkins invited Hunter up to his room. Thus began a two-year sexual relationship between Perkins and Hunter. Studio executives tried to quash rumors by "allowing" Perkins and Hunter to go on double dates with studio-provided starlets.

His performance as Norman Bates in Hitchcock’s film Psycho* is unforgettable, but his career went into decline soon afterward. Perkins was known to frequent gay porn stores and gay movie houses in Times Square, NYC, where he watched men have sex in the stairwells.

*Note: Perkins was not filmed in the infamous Psycho shower scene. A double was used. On the day that scene was shot, Perkins was in rehearsals for Greenwillow, a Broadway musical. Source: Stephen Rebello, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.

For over a decade Perkins lived in a platonic relationship with photographer Helen Merrell, a dominating force of a woman fourteen years his senior. Merrell went on to become an influential theatrical agent and philanthropist.

In the late 1950s, Perkins released three pop song albums, but a career as a singer never materialized, although he did have a starring role in Greenwillow, a Broadway musical (closed after 97 performances). Perkins also worked as a stage actor. In 1958, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance in the Broadway play Look Homeward, Angel. During this time he also starred in Green Mansions (1959) with Audrey Hepburn and the college comedy Tall Story (1960) with Jane Fonda.


His widow, Berry Berenson, was tragically killed while aboard American Airlines flight 11 as it crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.


In a role that forever defined him: Perkins (as Norman Bates) with Janet Leigh in Hitchcock's masterpiece PSYCHO:

 

83 comments:

  1. Please mention his roles in ''Goodbye Again'' 1961 with Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand and ''Phaedra'' 1961 with Merlina Mercouri. I was 15 with ''Friendly Persuasion'' and grew up with Anthony Perkins' films. We all loved Anthony Perkins - men and women - the old and the young. He was far too pretty to be a movie starr - he should have been on a wall in the National Gallery in London.

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    1. he was so good looking when he was young RIP

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    2. Doesn't anyone here think there's something fucking wrong with a man who watches other men having sex in stairwells in gay port shops??? WTF???

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    3. I thought the exact same thing. Creepy.

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    4. Agreed very depraved.

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    5. Regarding the last three comments: It's easy to brand someone depraved, but try having a hidden, burning sexuality you've tried to repress for a lifetime... it comes out wherever it can without admission or acknowledgement. Society was not ready in his time. What if you could not admit you are straight? What would you do?

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    6. The most talented actor (and singer) I've ever seen ; but too underrated, I think ; sadly typecast after Psycho ; he could portray every character, from the romantic leading man to the neurotic one (excellent thespian onstage and sometimes director on stage, too) ; very cultured ; not to mention his beauty and charm ; He hadn't been helped by the profession (he lost his dad, the actor Osgood Perkins, when he was only five ; yes, a very hard life, although he came from aristocracy !) ; I'm a woman and I'm not interested in his private life at all ; he was a delicious mix of sensuality and refinement ! a dream for all women ; just what I expect from cinema actors ; I never met another one like him ; God created him,and then broke the mold. RIP, dear Tony !<3

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    7. Yes we hate in others what we see in our selves.

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    8. A biography on Perkins describes him as watching men having sex in movie theater staircases in the 1950s. A lot of gay men came for the "show," which occurred at a different theater every day day. He stopped going once he became well known. He may have watched gay men in bookstore stairwells, etc., later in life, but that's not uncommon for certain gay scenes.

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  2. exelent acctor, a very hard life!!!

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  3. Hitchcock, a highgly reccomended picture. (2013)

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  4. yes watching desire under the elms now and he was such a good actor.

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  5. His leading role as Inspector Javert in the TV version of Les Miserables was superb. Absolutely Masterful! I watch it on video again and again.I never tire of watching it.

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    1. Thank you for mentioning it. He was really wonderful in this.

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  6. Hey, I'm startled that Paul Newman was bi/gay. Obviously I suspected Troy Donahue et al. Much check that out

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    1. When I came to NYC 40 plus years ago, a new kid on the block for the gay scene, I heard many references to Paul as a frequenter of the Baths -- I wasn't into the anonymous encounter -- so I have no first hand knowledge -- but it was considered serious common knowledge. Personally, I did know Larry Kurt of Broadway and Nureyev of ballet and was a bedmate of one of Tony's repeated scores. So many lifetimes ago. Wish that more 'big names' would have acknowledged participation so the stigma would have been blunted sooner.
      For the record -- I'm celebrating my 35th monogamous same-sex lover-husband-whatever in Oct. 2013.

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    2. I HAVE NOT BEEN A FAN OF ANTHONY PERKINS BUT RECENTLY WATCHED HIM IN THE 1960 FILM PSYCO. IN THE SCENE WHERE HE WALKS UO THE STAIRS NEAR THE END, HIS SWITCHING WALK MADE ME RESEARCH. I WAS AMAZED TO WHAT I HAVE UNCOVERED ABOUT THIS TALENTED ACTOR

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    3. I knew tony and always knew he was a conflictedman. He was a great actor and a terrific man.i am also in a marriage of 44 years. God bless those guys.

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    4. Don't believe everything you read. I highly doubt either Paul Newman or Troy Donahue ever did anything sexual with another man. Also, the author says "he did not acknowledge in his lifetime that he had the disease" -- another slice of BS; I remember seeing at least one interview where he said the AIDS diagnosis was the best thing that ever happened to him because it freed him to finally live an honest life openly.

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    5. Your blogger made a correction to the text of this post after reading this comment, but I could find no evidence of an interview in which Perkins acknowledged he had AIDS. His obituary in THE LOS ANGELES TIMES stated that shortly before his death he released a statement admitting that he had AIDS.

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  7. Jack,

    Congratulations on the longevity of your monogamous relationship.

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  8. I don't understand why, if a man has sex with men and women, he is automatically considered gay. Maybe he's really bi!

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  9. Or maybe he was just afraid of having sex with women up until a year before his marriage...

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  10. This is first time I've watched this film. I'm a girl and had my suspicion while watching, but new the truth when he walked upstairs in 'Psyco'! No straight man waggles it, unless you want us to laugh... in a good way ;)

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    1. Remember, there was a Director to define "characters." The camera was placed at such a low angle to make this point, and the action was staged for this purpose. This is what you do when a movie is made.

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    2. LOL! I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that! I think it's so cute the way his hips were swinging when he was walking up the stairs. :')

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    3. For years didn't notice the hip-swing, but when I finally did thought I was just imagining it. Who was walking up the stairs, Norman or Mother?

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    4. Exactly!
      I just re-watched Psycho tonight and noticed that staircase wiggle...then saw your post.
      Yes, He was a torched soul. No one should have to live in fear of who they truly are.

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    5. He was playing a character who was possessed by his mother, that's why he walked that way. Norman Bates was not gay.

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  11. I just adore Anthony Perkins. I'm such a huge fan of his...Fear Strikes Out, Goodbye Again, The Matchmaker, Catch-22, Murder on the Orient Express, Edge of Sanity, and Psycho, of course. I am sad that he's gone, but he'll always remain immortal.

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    1. I met Tony in the late-'90s in NYC at a club called Lone Star Café. I was there to see "The San Francisco All Stars" & had a great time talking to Papa John Creach. Tony walked in casually & installed himself in a dark corner of the club. but he would lean forward once in a while so the light just hit his eyes which was eerie & probably done on purpose. a great sense of theatricality. my friends new I was a fan & urged me to go over & say hello. I walked over & stood next to him & I could tell he was REALLY stoned. so I just said " wanted to tell you I really thought you were great in the movie...",pause, he made a face, expecting the usual (Psycho)& instead I said "Fear Strikes Out." he looked relieved & interested. but really too out of it to have a conversation. so I left him alone after saying that. that was interesting & fun.

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    2. He died in 1992 so...

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    3. hahaha... late nineties...

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  12. I remember when I was in college, I got theatre tickets for Equus. The tickets were for seats on the stage. I remember being a bit surprised when AP was naked on stage. It is irrelevant to me whether AP or any actor is straight, gay or bi. I would hope that the actor was honest with his partners especially when Aids came onto the scene in the 1980s.

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    1. Anthony Perkins played the doctor, not the teen patient who gets naked.

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    2. Perkins played the psychiatrist. He did not have a nude scene. He was briefly naked in the play "Romantic Comedy."

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  13. I feel so bad for their sons to have lost both of their parents so tragically. I lost both of my parents. I know it can be hard. But mine died kind of what would be called natural deaths. First of all having AIDS in the 80's and early 90's was harder for the stigma. AP must have suffered a lot. His sons lost their father when they were just 16 and 18. Then they loose their mother in 9/11. : ( so sad

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  14. I WAS WATCHING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ROCK HUDSON HOME MOVIE'S AND TONY PERKINS WAS IN THERE WITH HIS GUESTS I WONDER IF THEY HAD A SECRET AFFAIR MAKES YOU THINK ? MABY

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  15. HE WAS REALLY GREAT IN MOVIES MISS THAT GUY

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  16. I just re-watched "The Life & Times Of Judge Roy Bean". AP's role as a preacher is one of the best cameos I've ever seen in a movie.

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  17. I think this guy was a basket case. No one wakes up one day and suddenly decides they like women after being exclusively drawn to men.

    That bit that Victoria Principal made him switch teams is a bunch of BS.

    Let's do some math:

    He dies of AIDS in 1992.

    At that time, HIV had and average incubation period of ten years.

    That brings his infection date to around 1982.

    He claims to have had sex with Victoria Principal in 1972 and then marries someone else in 1973.

    That can only mean that he was still messing around with guys until well after he got married.

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    1. Have some respect for his sons and the memory of their mother- those who knew Anthony Perkins tell of a loving husband and father. His beauty inside and out was unique. Truly remarkable and very much loved. RIP Tony

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    2. Have some respect for his sons and the memory of his wife. Those who knew Anthony Perkins tell of a loving husband and father. Tony was beautiful inside and out. He's truly missed by many people. RIP Tony

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    3. That's what I was thinking. If he went to conversion therapy than he just brainwashed himself to think he was straight. Or maybe was bi. But definitely not straight

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  18. After reading about him and all the others it is very disappointing to me ...now when I watch all my favorite old movies ...somehow they will and already have lost so much....it is sad the ugliness in life has to be the reality

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    1. The gayness and other non heterosexuality of all films past and present including producers, casting, directors,makeup,writers,cinematographers,extras,actors,gaffers,catering,drivers,stunts,etc. is the reality.wake up.

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    2. Some stereotypes are true!...I once asked this older guy, who worked with me at the Post Office, about his time in a Catholic Seminary(he gave that up years before I worked with him)...He was openly gay, so I asked him to tell me how many guys in that Seminary were also gay--he said, "Oh, around 50% or so" ....then he smiled and said, "The rest of them were thinking about it!" We both laughed. I was not shocked.

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  19. I loved Anthony Perkins. He was a wonderful actor and will live on in his memorable films.

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  20. being bi or gay does not take the greatness and beauty of that person away. this is as natural for them as being straight! just enjoy life!!

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  21. Gay men have always been in show business. Maybe it's a strength of theirs. People who are watching those dancing, singing, and acting men while thinking they are all having sex with women is called "denial"

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  22. I'm a little upset reading about Paul Newman, not because it meant he was gay or bi, but because it meant he would have cheated on Joanne, who he always said was the love of his life and the filet mignon he had at home and had no need to go for hamburger.

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    1. he went out for hot dogs, not hamburger...........

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  23. I was just thinking the same thing...he died in 1992, but Bobby boy had an encounter in the late 90's...although it was fictional, at least his story was well written.

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  24. If you love Tony or want to understand him more, I think maybe the character he played in "Play It As It Lays" might show you a few things about his real self? Even if not, you'll probably love the movie. Not sure if it's in print, but the whole thing's on YouTube.

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  25. I'm from India and had the maddest crush on Tony Perk (many, many years ago) and wrote him - I wrote my first fan letter and forgot about it - my parents were ready to leave the country - months later not only did I get this enlargement but a typed letter(mistakes and all) from him in which he mentioned he really wanted to be a singer, Now, after all these years I still have his framed picture made out to me but unfortunately misplaced the letter ..... and yes, I still love his shy smile and gentle eyes

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  26. Great actor, but, i saw the gay in tony

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  27. I thought Anthony Perkins was gorgeous! I just saw an episode of Frasier(Room Service). The hotel waiter reminds me of him.

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  28. I thought Anthony Perkins was gorgeous! I just saw an episode of Frasier(Room Service). The hotel waiter reminds me of him.

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  29. I have such admiration for Tony. He left us with some very important works in movies. He has always interested me and especially his mysterious gay lifestyle. Sexy.....

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  30. Tall,dark and Handsome! Creepy in a good way.

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  31. Loved Tony Perkins from the first time I saw him on film. What a great actor! The fact that he was so handsome did not occur to me, but his acting was always the shining reference when his name came up in the cast of a new movie. // Gay/Straight, not my concern or business.// My best friend died of AIDs nearly 30 years ago. Most of his male and female gay friends were in long term gay marriages/relationships. Much longer than more than 70% of my straight friends. //Blessings to all who are willing to work thought the tough times, when possible, be they gay or straight. Getting though life as a couple has many challenges no matter who you are or much you love one another. Leaving bad relationships can often be quite difficult and requires great strength.//No relationship is all easy//// Tony Perkins seems to have found a good partner in Berry Berenson, who apparently, knew about his lifestyle and they apparently shared a loving relationship, all the same. Unusual, maybe, but it seemed to have worked for them//

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  32. I never knew about Anthony Perkins personal life until now. Honestly it makes no difference to me. I saw his films and enjoyed his acting. I feel bad that another perwon has died of AIDS. I hope they find a cure for AIDS. As to his personal life I feel for his family and their personal loss. I choose to make no comments on his personal life because all I know are the opinions I have read here: although, I respect everyone opinions I don't feel it apropiate to make a comment at this time. I will say this despite wheter a person is a movie star, singer, song writer, actor or sex symbol people need to respect their rights to privacy. Everyone needs privacy.

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  33. From your blogger: You need to read the introductory paragraph under the title of this blog. These posts have nothing to do with privacy -- instead, it is my hope that troubled gay and bisexual people might discover the success and achievements of who perhaps struggled with sexual orientation at the onset of their careers. I started this blog during the time many young people were committing suicide as the result of bullying or rejection by their families, churches and peers.

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    1. Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinions on privacy. I respect greatly what your blog is doing reaching out to young people stuggling with their sexuality by writing about prominent people that also struggled with their sexual orientation. This is very admirable and I have the most sincere respect. I spoke of privacy because I lost friend a long time ago he was very nice young man. He was hard working kind considerate a family man. He had good relationwhip with his parents and he was engaged to a woman who was highly educated an coorporate excutive so they had a lot in common see except one thing He was gay. His secret destroyed him and those around him. See he was seen by a coworker leaving a gay bar so she outed him at work. His fiancee quarreld with him and when he admitted to her that he loved her but that he was sexually attracted to men she took off her ring and threw it at him. She ended their realtionship and a lot more. She preceded to get him fired and after working there for 6 years he was fired not because he was gay but because they were no longer happy with his work and if he left quietly he would get 6 weeks severance pay. So he left a broken man that day. He went home to his parents home only to hear from his father mouth Your Not My Son I Dont have a Son. He's dead. Then my friend rented a hotel room and kolled himself . If jos coworker woumd have respected his privacy maybe my friend would still ne alive today. I find that its horrible that people are ignorant about LGBT sexual orientation and that bullying stills happens absolutely shameful.

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  34. I certainly may be wrong, but I don't believe that his sons were conceived through sex with their parents, but that their mother wanted children and she was given his sperm through insemination. They certainly produced a couple of handsome young men. I wonder what happened to them?

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    1. A little far fetched for the times don't ya think? (1970's)????

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  35. Ah he was still messing around with men while married

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  36. Why are people so cruel. Everyone close to him was probably cool about how he lived. If he didn't do any harm to anyone, what's wrong with living a life. The reference to being a voyeur, what's wrong with that...we are all voyeurs in some strange way. Anthony perkins was a sweet man.

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  37. His career went into decline shortly after Psycho because he played a psychotic Homosexual all-too-well, It became his definitive role, henceforth. He was not a particularly charismatic actor and his effeminacy was quite obvious. He was a known Homosexual and it hurt him

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  38. Why are so few people talking about him having aids in the middle of the aids crisis in the gay community? Doesn't that heavily imply that he still had sex with men while married?
    His wife doesn't have it, his kids don't have it.

    How is no one talking about him being a cheater?

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  39. So talented and so beautiful ,his role as Norman Bates is what made me fall in love with horror suspense films. I dont care what he did in the bedroom. He was just a very talented man period.

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    1. I agree.
      He was very talented, great Husband, Father, Son, and Actor.
      Anthony Perkins will always be amazing, bright, beautiful, handsome, well mannered and many people love him to this day. Watch the clip of him in Hitchcock, played by
      James D'Arcy who is also a sweetheart. Anthony Perkins and
      Janet Leigh did a magnificent job in Psycho and Norman Bates is one of the best known characters on screen, of all time and Psycho is always in the Top 5 of Greatest Movies ever.
      Alfred Hitchcock, Tony and Janet all deserved Academy Awards.
      Psycho 2 also is considered the best sequel horror film of all time. It deserves a lot more credit, great cast and crew, story line was also well done.

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  40. Anthony Perkins will always be beautiful, handsome, a wonderful, talented actor. He has 2 handsome and talented sons and he had a beautiful loving wife. His father was a very impressive actor. Anthony and his wife both came from very accomplished families. Anthony's movies, movie clips, documentary from Biography, interviews, music, his son's, Elvis' music, and Oz interviews, are all on YouTube. Excellent.
    Oz directed 3 very good movies, talented actor, writer, director.
    Elvis is also very talented.
    Anthony deserved the Academy Award for Psycho, Psycho 2, and Friendly Persuasion. I also love *How aweful about Allan, *Remember my Name, and all the films he made for the big screen and tv. Anthony you will always be a beautiful star in the heavens. Love you Forever. You will always be missed.

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  41. Anthony Perkins was extremely talented, a real sweetheart in all his work on tv,on game shows like Password and amazing on Stage, in music and in all his movies, catch him on YouTube. He has a beautiful family, children, grandchildren.
    I will always think the world of Anthony. I can watch his movies over and over again and listen to him speak french, play the piano, and listen to him sing all day long. Anthony's work has brought me joy my whole life. He came from a very talented generation of people.
    Love you forever and always Tony.
    This year you turn 90 years old.
    Happy Birthday. You will always be an Angel to me.

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  42. When people get married, they have trust, commitment. A. Perkins married only once, chose a very loving woman whom everyone stated
    was very warm, caring, devoted.
    He was married only to her for almost 20 years, and raised two talented, amazing sons, who I am sure Tony and Berry are very proud of, looking over them from a much better world than the one you live in. No one is perfect, things happen, he paid the price. Judge not lest yee be judged. His wife stayed with him and held his hand till the very end, that is true love, the rest, gossip, books, past relationships do not matter. He made a beautiful family and he will always be missed and was a great soul, family man, better human being than most today. He was always polite, professional, and his wife was a very spiritual person, with all love and forgiveness. Forgiveness, each new day, hope, a beautiful soul is what this imperfect world needs more of.
    Mistakes are made, but they never undo the good that is there. They were a couple that truly loved one another and their sons. That love is all that matters in the end, the bad is gone, the good lives on. I pray everyone in this world, such as it is, finds peace and forgiveness.

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  43. Compassion, understanding, consideration very important.
    A. Perkins was always a sweet, sensitive man. I learned a lot about understanding things more clearly by listening to him in Interviews. He was extremely intelligent and insightful and so are his children. Peace to all.

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  44. Perkins did not have "several successful singing roles in Broadway musicals." The only Broadway musical he was ever in, "Greenwillow (1960)," flopped. He was the lead in a TV musical, "Evening Primrose (1966)," but I believe that was shown only once.

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