Sexual Matchmaker for Closeted Classic Hollywood Stars Has Died

An important figure of the classic Hollywood era has died.

Scotty Bowers made life for closeted Hollywood stars a little bit easier. He was the man that arranged sexual liaisons for a number of celebrities, who were often unable to be out publicly due to “morality clauses” imposed on them by studios.

“His story, which he waited to tell until he was in his late 80s — and for years refused to tell at all — forms an astonishing counter-narrative of Hollywood and exposes the mores of the movie capital in a time when gay men and women were forced to be sexual outlaws and were publicly shunned and often persecuted, or at least forced to live double lives,” said Matt Tyrnauer, who  directed a documentary about Bowers in 2017.

“Scotty was a central figure in the gay underground of Hollywood and served as a trusted protector of his friends’ and associates’ lives when they had no alternative but to live in the shadows.”

While not everyone believes that Bowers’ accounts are true, that didn’t stop him from telling his stories once he decided it was time. Among the stars he claims to have introduced to other LGBTQ people they could hook up with were Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Rock Hudson, and Spencer Tracy.

“Yet, you might say, ‘If they trusted you and liked you, why are you doing this now?’” he said of his decision to finally come forward with the stories. “Well, it’s because everyone is gone, and I do mean everyone… Thinking of them all, how great and kind they were, regardless of what they did in bed. That’s another reason why I did this.”

Bowers passed away on Sunday in his home, at age 96. You can read more about his life over at The Hollywood Reporter.