Times past: Scotty Bowers, a former marine, has penned an explosive memoir about life as a Hollywood rent boy in the 1940s. He claims to have had threesomes with the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson
Duke of Windsor & Wallis Simpson
Last updated at 1:12 PM on 31st January 2012
A former Marine-turned-rent boy for some of Hollywood's biggest names in the 1940s claims to have had threesomes with the Duke of Windsor and his wife Wallis Simpson.
Scotty Bowers, now 88, has opened up 'his little black book' and told all, shedding light on the prostitution ring he claims catered for the royal couple as well as gay and bisexual A-listers including Cary Grant, George Cukor and Rock Hudson.
'Full Service: My Adventures In Hollywood And The Secret Sex Lives Of The Stars' opens the doors of the closeted underworld of old Hollywood through three decades.
Times past: Scotty Bowers, a former marine, has penned an explosive memoir about life as a Hollywood rent boy in the 1940s. He claims to have had threesomes with the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson
Stories in the 286-page book tell of arranging bedroom partners for actresses Rita Hayworth and Katharine Hepburn, who he claims he set up with 'over 150 different women', reports the New York Times.
His own lovers included Edith Piaf, Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh and Cary Grant, says Mr Bowers, who was married in 1984 to his current wife, Lois.
Mr Bowers also says he provided services for the Duke of Windsor - who had abdicated as King Edward VIII - and his wife Wallis, allegedly sharing a series of three -in-the-bed romps with the couple.
He has been inundated with book and film offers but has until now remained tight-lipped over the secret lives of his famous clients.
Old Hollywood rent boy Scotty Bowers claims he shared three in a bed romps with the Duke of Windsor and his wife Wallis Simpson
'I’ve kept silent all these years because I didn’t want to hurt any of these
people,' Mr Bowers told the Times in an interview, adding that he doesn't need
the money.
'And I never saw the fascination. So they liked sex how they liked it. Who
cares?'
He writes in the book's preface: 'Although I'm not a shy man I have always been reticent to reveal details about what I have done, mainly to respect the privacy of those whose lives have intersected with mine'.
He explained his change of heart to the Times: 'I finally said yes because I’m not getting any younger and all of my famous tricks are dead by now. The truth can’t hurt them anymore'.
Mr Bowers, who now lives in Hollywood Hills with his wife of 27 years, said it all started in 1946, when he was just 23.
Newly discharged from the Marines after World War II he got a job at a gas station near Paramount Pictures, reports the Times.
The book is as explicit as it is bawdy. The author describes pumping gas one
day when actor Walter Pidgeon drove up and propositioned him with a $20 bill. It
was to be the start of an era of 'amazing, intoxicating days, wildly erotic and
carefree', he writes in the book.
In its first chapter, Mr Bowers writes that the well-spoken Mrs Miniver star drove him to a large house on that blazingly hot afternoon. The actor and his friend, Jacques Potts, invited him to use the swimming pool: 'It's hot Scotty. Hop in for a swim, I'll join you in a minute ... No need for a suit. There's no one else here.'
Mr Bowers claims he romped with the erstwhile King
Edward VIII, pictured left in 1949, and says he also had threesomes with
Edward and Wallis Simpson, pictured, right, in 1942
He describes then having 'really hot sex' with the married men, who were in
their 50s.
'Neither of them exhibited even a hint of effeminate behaviour. They were
both in remarkably good shape, too, especially when you consider their ages', he
recalls.
The men saw each other off and on over the years: 'We always had a lot of fun
together', writes Mr Bowers.
The author - who admits he did not have a sheltered childhood - had a first wife, Betty, who gave birth to their daughter Donna in February of 1947. He says life at home with his wife 'was pretty dull'.
Life at the Richfield gas station on Hollywood Boulevard - which had turned
into a trendy hang-out - was far more exciting.
'Rock Hudson and one of his gay lovers drove in one night in a brand-new 1947 Chevrolet Coupe, of which he was very proud', he writes in the book's first chapter. 'He filled up and we chatted; every second of third day after that he came back and had me pump five dollars worth of gas into his car. He was living in North Hollywood at the time and, in due course, he and I would get to know one another pretty well.'
A request from a 'middle-aged queen' to meet one of Mr Bowers' 20-year-old
blond friends is what tipped him away from being a casual sexual partner of Mr
Pidgeon's and towards the world of turning tricks.
According to Mr Bowers, he stumbled into a business that he ran from his base
at the gas station, servicing clients himself as well as setting them up with
his handsome Marine friends.
Mr Bowers, whose striking good looks attracted Hollywood's biggest icons, said the station was a 'safer hangout' then gay bars, which were often raided, reports the Times.
Iconic actors Cary Grant, left, and Spencer Tracy,
right, were also allegedly among Mr Bowers lovers when he worked as a
Hollywood rent boy in the 1940s
Mr Bowers claims that he set up sexual encounters with 'over 150 different women' for actress Katharine Hepburn
'Sometimes police would come around, sure. But I think I never got caught partly because I kept everything in my head. There was no little black book', he told the Times.
In his preface, the author writes: 'Whatever folks wanted, I had it. I could make all their fantasies come true. No matter how outrageous or off-beat people's tastes, I was the one who knew how to get them exactly what they were after. Straight, gay, or bi; male or female; young or old - I had something for everyone.'
'Frankly,' he writes, 'I knew Hollywood like no one else knew it.'
However, he quit his job in 1950 and said he supported himself for the next 20 years through prostitution, bar work and working as a handyman.
In his book, Mr Bowers writes that, in addition to his gay clients, he also gained a following among heterosexual actors like Desi Arnaz, who used him as a matchmaking service.
The X-rated revelations come after years of silence on the part of Mr Bowers, who claims, reports the Times, that as he never accepted cash for his services, was 'not a pimp'.
Unsurprisingly, though not yet out, the book has met with mixed reception - with some doubting its veracity.
'If you believe him, and I do, he’s like the Kinsey Reports live and in living color,' Matt Tyrnauer, a Vanity Fair writer who is to make a documentary about the one-time lothario, told the Times.
Playwright and author Gore Vidal has given the explosive tome his seal of approval, writing on his official site, gorevidalnow.com, that he thoroughly recommends the read.
'I have known Scotty Bowers for the better part of a century. I’m so pleased that he has finally decided to tell his story to the world.
'His startling memoir includes great figures like Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Scotty doesn’t lie-the stars sometimes do - and he knows everybody,' he writes.
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, pictured here together in 'Bringing Up Baby' allegedly used Mr Bower's services, the rent boy claims he slept with Grant while organising lesbian sex for Hepburn
American songwriter Cole Porter, pictured, was also among his Mr Bower's clients during his time as a a rent boy
In his praise fro the book, William J Mann, author of Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn and How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, says the story 'is juicy, juicy stuff - but just as importantly, it’s a seminal chapter of American popular culture that gives us a richer understanding of the people, times, and culture of Hollywood’s Golden Age.'
'Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars' opens the doors of the closeted, x-rated under world of old Hollywood over three decades
The shocking tell-all is likely to meet with some rather less supportive
audiences - particularly the relatives and fans of some of those exposed.
The book has been libel-checked and Alan U Schwartz, an entertainment lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, told the newspaper that while some readers 'might be in tears... there’s nothing they can do about it.'
The publishers, however, stand by the chronicle of the bygone era, with
Grove/Atlantic's Morgan Entrekin telling the newspaper that he did not feel Mr
Bowers was being 'meanspirited', and did not 'get the sense that this guy is
trying to exploit these experiences.'
Mr Bowers, who told the Times that he prefers the sexual company of women,
continued his eyebrow-raising and largely hidden sideline until the onset of
AIDS in the 1980s.
The disease 'brought an end to the sexual freedoms that had defined much of
life in Tinseltown ever since the birth of movies,' Mr. Bowers writes.
'It was obvious that my days of arranging tricks for others were over. It was too unsafe a game to play anymore.'
His story is set to be published by Grove Press on February 14 and is written with Lionel Friedberg, an award-winning producer of documentaries.