Film Superstar Tab Hunter Speaks About Marilyn Monroe

I had the incredible opportunity to spend some time with Mr. Tab Hunter in his Montecito, CA home yesterday.

Mr. Hunter is a star of stage, screen, and television, and he has appeared in more than fifty films, including Damn Yankees in 1958 and the cult classic Lust in the Dust in 1985. He's also known for his #1 hit record, Young Love, from 1958. One of his "titles" from the 1950s was "The Sigh Guy."

Mr. Hunter talked with me about his experiences working in films in Hollywood, and about the people he'd shared the screen with, including Sophia Loren, Debbie Reynolds, and of course Natalie Wood.

Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Move Star, is Mr. Hunter's autobiographic, and it was released in 2005. In his book, Mr. Hunter reveals what it was like to be a 1950s-era star—to be created, packaged, and sold to the American public, shaped and controlled by the studio system that ran Hollywood until the 1970s.

Watch below Mr. Hunter's appearance on "What's My Line?"

Tab Hunter Meets Marilyn Monroe:

I of course asked Mr. Hunter if he'd ever met Marilyn Monroe, and their paths did cross in the early 1950s at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Both were there for a Hollywood event, and upon meeting, Mr. Hunter told Marilyn, "I loved you in Clash By Night. No one wears a pair of Levis like you," to which Marilyn replied, (spoken in Mr. Hunter's best Marilyn impersonation) "Thank you, Tab."

Below: Mr. Tab Hunter and me in his Montecito home.

Thanks Mr. Hunter!

Summer Beach Movies - Ride The Wild Surf (1964)

I haven't seen this film yet, but it sounds pretty cool.

The story follows three surfers Jody Wallis (Fabian), Steamer Lane (Tab Hunter) and Chase Colton (Peter Brown), who come to Hawaii's Oahu Island to ride the world's biggest waves and compete against surfers from all over the world.

Steamer falls in love with Lily Kilua (Susan Hart), whose mother objects to the romance because she considers surfers to be "beach bums," because her husband -- a surfer -- left home and family to follow the surf circuit. Self-described college drop-out and surf bum Jody falls for the demure Brie Matthews (Shelley Fabares), who challenges him to return to college. In the case of the relatively straight-laced Chase, he finds himself pursued by the adventurous Augie Poole (Barbara Eden).

The main story, though, is the challenge to surf the monster waves at Waimea Bay, and fit in among the champion surfers there. Despite conflicts, injuries and rocky romances, Wallis, Chase and Steamer prove themselves brave -- or crazy -- enough to try to be the last one to ride in the highest wave.

Unlike most of the Hollywood beach movies - whose location was Southern California – Ride the Wild Surf was filmed in Hawaii in 1963 at a time when environmental conditions created exceptionally large waves. In November and December 1962, Waimea broke often. The jet stream had altered its course temporarily and huge west swell surfs became common all the way through the following February, which was when Columbia arrived to shoot the movie.