William Haines | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Haines in 1928 | |
| Born | Charles William Haines (1900-01-02)January 2, 1900 Staunton, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 1973(1973-12-26) (aged 73) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1922–1973 |
| Partner | Jimmie Shields (1926–1973) |
| Website | williamhaines.com |
Charles William Haines (January 2, 1900 – December 26, 1973) was an Americanactor andinterior designer.
Haines was discovered by a talent scout and signed withGoldwyn Pictures in 1922.[a] His career gained momentum when he received favorable reviews for his role inThe Midnight Express. He was cast in the 1926 filmBrown of Harvard and his performance solidified his screen persona as a wisecracking, arrogant leading man.[citation needed] By the end of the 1920s, Haines had appeared in a string of successful films and was a popular box-office draw.
Haines' acting career was cut short by the studios in the 1930s due to his refusal to deny hishomosexuality. He quit acting in 1935 and started a successful interior design business with hislife partner Jimmie Shields, and his work was widely patronized by friends inHollywood. Haines died oflung cancer in December 1973 at the age of 73.
Haines was born on January 2, 1900 (he claimed he was born on January 1) inStaunton, Virginia,[1] the third child of George Adam Haines, a cigar maker, and Laura Virginia Haines (née Matthews). Two older siblings died in infancy.[2] He had four younger siblings: Lillian, born in 1902; Ann, born in 1907; George, Jr., born in 1908;[3] and Henry, born in 1917.[4] He was baptized at theTrinity Episcopal Church in Staunton at the age of eight, where he later sang in the choir.[5] He became fascinated with stage performance and motion pictures at an early age, spending hours watching early silent films in local theatres.
Haines ran away from home at the age of 14, accompanied by an unidentified young man whom Haines referred to as his "boyfriend".[6] The pair went first toRichmond and then toHopewell, which had a reputation for immorality.[7] They got jobs working at the localDuPont factory, producingnitrocellulose for $50 a week. To supplement their income, they opened a dance hall, which may have also served as a brothel.[8] Haines' parents, frantic over his disappearance, tracked him through the police to Hopewell. Haines did not return home with them, remaining instead in Hopewell and sending money back home to help support the family. The couple remained in Hopewell until most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1915. Haines moved to New York City. Whether his boyfriend accompanied him is unclear.[9]
Following the bankruptcy of the family business and the mental breakdown of George Sr., the family moved to Richmond in 1916. Haines moved there in 1917 to help support them.[4] With his father recovered and employed, Haines returned to New York City in 1919, settling into the burgeoning gay community ofGreenwich Village.[10] He worked a variety of jobs and was for a time thekept man of an older woman[11] before becoming a model. Talent scoutBijou Fernandez discovered Haines as part of theGoldwyn Pictures' "New Faces of 1922" contest, and the studio signed him to a $40-a-week contract (~$700 in 2022 terms). He traveled to Hollywood with fellow contest winnerEleanor Boardman in March of that year.[12]
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Haines' career began slowly, as he appeared in extra and bit parts, mostly uncredited. His first significant role was inThree Wise Fools (1923). He attracted positive critical attention and the studio began building him up as a new star. However, he continued to play small, unimportant parts at Goldwyn. When his home studio lent him toFox in 1923 forThe Desert Outlaw, he got the opportunity to play a significant role. In 1924, MGM lent Haines toColumbia Pictures for a five-picture deal. The first of these,The Midnight Express (1924), received excellent reviews, and Columbia offered to buy his contract. The offer was refused and Haines continued in bit roles for Goldwyn. Haines scored his first big personal success withBrown of Harvard (1926) oppositeJack Pickford andMary Brian. It was inBrown that he crystallized his screen image, a young arrogant man who is humbled by the last reel. He returned repeatedly to that formula for the next several years.[citation needed]
On a trip to New York in 1926, Haines met James "Jimmie" Shields.[13] Haines convinced Shields to move to Los Angeles, promising to get him work as an extra. The pair soon began living together and viewed themselves as a committed couple,[14] though newspapers did not mention their relationship.[14]
Haines found box-office success withLittle Annie Rooney (1925), co-starringMary Pickford, andShow People (1928), costarringMarion Davies. He was a top-five box-office star from 1928 to 1932. He made a successful transition into "talkies" in thepart-talking filmAlias Jimmy Valentine (1928). He was forced to take elocution lessons for the film; he compared the coming of sound to "the discovery ofclap in a nunnery."[15] His first all-talking film,Navy Blues, was released the following year. He starred inWay Out West in 1930. The 1930 Quigley Poll, a survey of film exhibitors, listed Haines as the top box-office attraction in the country.[citation needed]
In 1933, Haines was arrested in aYMCA with a sailor he had picked up in Los Angeles'Pershing Square.Louis B. Mayer, the studio head at MGM, delivered an ultimatum to Haines: choose between a shamlavender marriage, his relationship with Shields or his relationship with the sailor. Haines chose Shields and they remained together in a private relationship for 47 years.[16] Mayer then fired Haines and terminated his contract.[1] He made a few minor films atPoverty Row studios and soon retired from acting. His final films were made in 1934 withMascot Pictures,Young and Beautiful andThe Marines Are Coming.
Haines continued to receive offers for film roles. During production ofSunset Boulevard (1950), he was offered a cameo role in the film, which he declined. He later said, "It's a rather pleasant feeling of being away from pictures and being part of them because all my friends are. I can see the nice side of them without seeing the ugly side of the studios."[17]
Haines and Shields began a successful dual career asinterior designers and antique dealers. Among their early clients were friends such asJoan Crawford,Gloria Swanson,Carole Lombard,Marion Davies, andGeorge Cukor. After a neighbor accused the two of propositioning her son, about 30 local residents including members of awhite supremacist group called "The White Legion" dragged the two men from their home in El Porto near the city ofManhattan Beach (this was before El Porto became a part of that city) and beat them.[1][18] The incident was widely reported at the time, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office never brought charges against the attackers. The child molestation accusations against Haines and Shields were unfounded and the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. In reality, the boy had been chasing Haines' dog on the beach and Haines paid the child six cents to go home; this was misinterpreted as a proposition.[19] WhenJack L. Warner remodeledhis estate in 1937, he hired Haines as interior decorator.[20] He also designed an office forFrank Sinatra and theMocambo nightclub.[21]
The couple finally settled in the west Los Angeles community ofBrentwood and their business prospered until their retirement in the early 1970s, except for a brief interruption when Haines served inWorld War II.[22]
Known for his impeccable taste in interior design and love for vintage pieces, Haines worked closely with his friend Joan Crawford — whom he teasingly called Cranberry — to renovate her Brentwood home. His unconventional choice of an all-white decor for her living room caused a sensation and helped launch his interior design career, working for Carole Lombard next. Later in 1956, he would decorate Crawford’s newly renovated two-floor apartment purchased with her new husband,Alfred Steele.[23]
In the 60s and 70s, their clients includedBetsy Bloomingdale andRonald andNancy Reagan when Reagan was governor of California.[24] Haines andTed Graber designed the interiors ofWalter andLeonore Annenberg's "Sunnylands" estate inRancho Mirage.[25] The Annenbergs also hired Haines to work on the redecoration ofWinfield House in London, where Walter was serving as U.S. Ambassador.[26]
General reference:[28]
Celebrities includingCameron Diaz,Courteney Cox,Anne Heche andEllen DeGeneres purchased pieces of Haines' furniture in 1999.[29]
Haines and Shields (1905–1974)[citation needed] remained together until Haines' death.Joan Crawford described them as "the happiest married couple in Hollywood."[30]
In 1972 Shields and Haines both travelled to Europe. Haines was diagnosed withlung cancer in the summer of 1973. By December, Haines's long-time doctor requested he move intoSt John's Hospital. He would spend the month in hospital until he died on December 26, 1973, at 6:45 pm, ofsudden cardiac arrest with Shields beside him.
Following Haines's death, his partner Shields struggled to cope. At 9:45 pm on March 6, 1974, Shields began drinking and died of acutebarbiturate intoxication. He left a note, inscribed:
"Goodbye to all of you who have tried so hard to comfort me in my loss of William Haines, whom I have been with since 1926. I now find it impossible to go it alone, I am much too lonely."[31][32][page needed][33]
They are interred side by side inWoodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica.[34][35]
For his contribution to the motion-picture industry, William Haines has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame located at 7012 Hollywood Blvd.[36]
William Haines Designs remains in operation, with main offices in West Hollywood and an additional showroom in New York.[37]
In September 2023, Sunnylands Center & Gardens featured an exhibition titled "Variations to a Theme" dedicated to William Haines.[38]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Brothers Under the Skin | Bit part | Uncredited Incomplete film |
| 1923 | Lost and Found on a South Sea Island | Extra | |
| Souls for Sale | Pinkey – Assistant Director | ||
| Three Wise Fools | Gordon Schuyler | ||
| 1924 | Three Weeks | Curate | |
| True as Steel | Gilbert Morse | ||
| The Midnight Express | Jack Oakes | ||
| The Gaiety Girl | Owen Tudor St. John | Lost film | |
| Wine of Youth | Hal Martin | ||
| Circe, the Enchantress | William Craig | ||
| So This Is Marriage? | Lost film | ||
| The Wife of the Centaur | Edward Converse | Lost film | |
| 1925 | A Fool and His Money | John Smart | Lost film |
| Who Cares | Martin | ||
| The Denial | Lover in flashback | ||
| A Slave of Fashion | Dick Wayne | Lost film | |
| Fighting the Flames | Horatio Manly, Jr. | Incomplete film, missing final reel | |
| The Tower of Lies | August | Lost film | |
| Little Annie Rooney | Joe Kelley | ||
| Sally, Irene and Mary | Jimmy Dungan | ||
| MGM Studio Tour | Himself | Short subject made by MGM | |
| 1926 | Mike | Harlan | Lost film |
| The Thrill Hunter | Peter J. Smith | Incomplete film | |
| Memory Lane | Joe Field | ||
| Brown of Harvard | Tom Brown | ||
| Lovey Mary | Billy Wiggs | Incomplete film | |
| Tell It to the Marines | Private "Skeet" Burns | ||
| 1927 | A Little Journey | George Manning | Lost film |
| Slide, Kelly, Slide | Jim Kelly (fictionalized version ofMike "King" Kelly) | ||
| Spring Fever | Jack Kelly | ||
| 1928 | West Point | Brice Wayne | |
| The Smart Set | Tommy | ||
| Telling the World | Don Davis | ||
| Excess Baggage | Eddie Kane | Lost film | |
| Show People | Billy Boone | ||
| Alias Jimmy Valentine | Jimmy Valentine | Lost film | |
| 1929 | The Duke Steps Out | Duke | Lost film |
| A Man's Man | Mel | Lost film | |
| The Hollywood Revue of 1929 | Himself | ||
| Speedway | Bill Whipple | ||
| Navy Blues | Kelly | First Talkie | |
| 1930 | The Girl Said No | Tom Ward | |
| Free and Easy | Himself – A Guest | Alternative title:Easy Go | |
| Estrellados | Himself | ||
| Way Out West | Windy | ||
| Remote Control | William J. Brennan | ||
| 1931 | A Tailor Made Man | John Paul Bart | |
| The Stolen Jools | Bill Haines | ||
| Just a Gigolo | Lord Robert Brummel | Art director | |
| New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford | Wallingford | ||
| 1932 | Fast Life | Sandy | |
| Are You Listening? | Bill Grimes | ||
| 1934 | Young and Beautiful | Robert Preston | Set decorator |
| The Marines Are Coming | Lt. William "Wild Bill" Traylor |
Haines' story is told in the 1998 biographyWisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star byWilliam J. Mann. His designs are the subject of Peter Schifando and Haines associate Jean H. Mathison's 2005 bookClass Act: William Haines Legendary Hollywood Decorator.
World of Wonder producedOut of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life of William Haines, which aired onAmerican Movie Classics in 2001.[39]
In October 2015,Karina Longworth chronicled Haines in the episodeWilliam Haines and Hollywood's First Openly Gay Marriage, which she included in her 15-part series of MGM stories for her podcastYou Must Remember This.[40] Haines was voiced by actorWil Wheaton.
Playwright Claudio Macor created the biographical dramaThe Tailor-Made Man in the mid-1990s in London, telling the story of Haines' discovery in a talent contest, his movie career, its curtailment by Louis B. Mayer, and Haines' re-invention as an interior designer. The play tells the story of his 50-year relationship with Jimmie Shields. The play premiered at London's tiny Hen and Chickens theatre and quickly transferred to Battersea Arts Centre. Over the years the play has been produced at London's Cockpit Theatre, off-Broadway in New York, San Diego's Diversionary Theatre in California in 1995. It was revived in a successful anniversary production in 2017 at London's White Bear Theatre, directed by Bryan Hodgson.[41] In 2013 a musical adaptation ofThe Tailor-Made Man opened at London's Arts Theatre in the West End with pop starFaye Tozer (Steps) asMarion Davies andMike McShane as Mayer.
In 1994,The Tailor-Made Man was chosen for a workshop TV production for Thames Television Masterpiece Pilot Showcase, directed by Golden Rose of Montreux winner Chris Bould. Bould returned to direct the UK radio adaptation of the play starringJudd Hirsch as Mayer. In 2017, to tie-in with the anniversary production, the definitive playscript was published by theatrical publisher Oberon Books.[42]
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