The Secret Life of Tyrone Power: The Drama of a Bisexual in the Spotlight

by Hector Ace

Tyrone Power died of a heart attack in 1958 at the age of forty-four while shooting a scene on the set of Solomon and Sheba with GIna Lollobrigida in Spain. His father had died the same way — but Ty Power ignored warnings. Later, Dr. Michael De-Bakey, the Houston heart surgeon, told Ty’s friend Mrs. Edie Goetz that open-heart surgery could have cured him completely. But did Ty Power really want to live any longer? It is a question that goes to the core of his secret life, which is explored here for the first time by the author of highly acclaimed authorized biography of Groucho.

On the surface Tyrone Power was oe of he leading masculine sex symbols of the movies, and in his personal life he was known as a gentleman and host of great charm and warmth, a husband, father, and solid citizen in the highly conservative, affluent world of Beverly Hills. But in reality, the star was profoundly unhappy with both his work and his life. He felt his good looks prevented him from getting the serious parts that would stretch his talent and bring credit to the theatrical dynasty whose name he bore. His passional life brought no more fulfillment. He could not express in his sexual liasons with the men he was drawn to, nor could he make relationships last with the ambitious women who came to him for reasons other than love. Sexually, with a foot in both worlds, he was at home in neither.

This book is a revelation of the fate of a bisexual living part of his life covertly and part of it in the glaring Hollywood limelight. Here are his complicated romances with Lana Turner, Judy Garland, and Linda Christian, as well as clandestine affairs with members of the same sex.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

Historical figure Tyrone Power pursued relationships with men and women.