Tony Perkins forever
I was going to write a bunch of other posts about people who lusted after/got/never really got Tony Perkins, but then I thought I'd spare you. It's actually quite funny, if you read any gay memoir from, say, 1956, it will feature some party at which Tony Perkins makes a startling entrance, making everyone there want him, and the memoirist will be completely undone by Tony accidentally stepping on his toe, or some such. I think it's all the more striking because he doesn't have quite that sort of presence onscreen--it's not really the life you imagine for him, watching him act. He plays as somewhat odd in film (or, um, psycho), but I guess it's just his sexuality that makes him seem odd, and in context he was just hot?
Update: Sheila wants more. What I was thinking of specifically was Alan Helms's affair with Tony:
Update: Sheila wants more. What I was thinking of specifically was Alan Helms's affair with Tony:
I told my therapist I was worried that maybe I liked Tony only because he was a movie star. The good doctor said, "I don't see why you're worried, Mr. Helms. I'm treating three people who are frustrated because they can't even get to Tony Perkins."
posted by fortuna at 3:18 PM
6 Comments:
Isn't what makes him odd the fact that he always seems to be holding something back (and that he's gangly and awkward)? And aren't people generally fascinated by people who hold something back (and are a little awkward)?
You can hold something back without being awkward, can't you? I would think the pairing of confidence and reserve would be more universally appealing--in fact, the ideal male type. (A la Steve McQueen?)
Perhaps awkwardness plays better in bohemia, as a resistance to the idealized male type. And I guess that's what I mean--in Hollywood terms, he's not presented as a romantic figure, but he got to be one elsewhere.
I saw "Psycho 2" recently and was surprised by how good it is and by how good Perkins looks in it. He's fifty but his body is at least 20 years younger than him. Lots of outrageous camp-y lines too, as in all the best horror films.
Alice
You can hold something back without being awkward, can't you?
I didn't mean that they necessarily go together. Just that each attracts people.
Alice-- Tony was apparently quite vain, or insecure. Worked out a lot, got plastic surgery, &c.
Ogged-- The one seems more obviously appealing than the other. Although it's true, once someone is attractive to you, awkwardness is sort of a way in.
Enjoyed a lot!
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