He helped put the ‘wood’ in Hollywood

"Sex was a major industry during those lean and troubled years. It not only provided a welcome relief from the harsh reality of everyday life but was also a lifesaver for many young people who simply could not find legitimate work elsewhere. I wasn’t the only kid in town turning tricks."

"I became the go-to guy in town for arranging whatever people desired. And everybody’s needs were met. Whatever folks wanted, I had it. I could make all their fantasies come true. No matter how outrageous or offbeat people’s tastes, I was the one who knew how to get them exactly what they were after."



From The Guardian:

Scotty Bowers was a 23-year-old petrol station attendant on Hollywood Boulevard when the actor Walter Pidgeon pulled up to the pump and asked the dimpled blond to jump in his Lincoln. It would be the ride of his life. Pidgeon was gay, claims Bowers in his autobiography Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars, and that afternoon they became lovers. Bowers himself transcended labels. Years later, he startled sexologist Dr Alfred Kinsey by checking off every sex act on his list (and took him to orgies to prove it). Guys, girls, spouses, kings, consorts – and a three-way with Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. Bowers had done it all.

So, farewell then, Scotty Bowers - the man (if his endless tales are all true) who bedded everyone from J Edgar Hoover to Bette Davis to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to George Cukor to Vivien Leigh to Spencer Tracy to Cecil Beaton to Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, and pimped found illicit liaisons for the likes of Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton, Cole Porter, Gore Vidal, and... Katharine Hepburn!



From an article by Michael Strangeways in Seattle Gay Scene:

Though Scotty Bowers has been backed up and verified by many, including authors Gore Vidal and Armistead Maupin and historian William Mann, there were still many who screamed “no proof!” and “Scotty Bowers is a liar!!!” and “NONE OF THIS COULD POSSIBLY BE TRUE!!!!”

Personally, I don’t know how the naysayers can prove that THEY are any more “correct” than Mr. Bowers. How do THEY know that Kate Hepburn wasn’t a lesbian? Because of her VERY carefully controlled image, which she worked very hard to maintain, for the duration of her professional life, promoting her and Tracy as THE Romantic Couple of the Golden Age of Hollywood…despite the fact the pair didn’t actually ever live together and spent YEARS apart from one another. Or the fact that Hepburn lived the majority of her adult life surrounded by lesbian women...

...There’s also those who poo poo the need for the rich and famous to hire some guy who worked at a Richfield gas station and as a part time bartender to service their needs, or hook them up with other sex workers. But, there weren’t very many options for anyone if they were seeking out gay or lesbian encounters in a pre-Stonewall world. Straight men could go to madames (and Hollywood has always had them; still does!) with great ease but if you were a female seeking a male or female bed mate, or a gay man, it wasn’t easy. Picking up people at work/on the street was very dangerous and any bar or club that identified as a queer business was prone to being raided with all the customers thrown in jail. Scotty Bowers, and others, provided a vital service to Hollywood professionals (as well as non famous names including behind-the-scenes people in the industry) seeking companionship and discretion.

I have not read the book, nor seen the film documentary of Mr Bowers' life story, but of course I knew of the man, his notoriety, his "hinted-at" contributions to Hollywood Babylon and numerous other "scandalous exposés" in the gossip columns. He straddled two worlds - the post-War era of moral paranoia and domestic idealism, and also its dark underbelly, where the most outwardly clean-living citizens and stars alike sought to satisfy their secret desires. A remnant of a naughty "hidden society", we mourn his passing - there are so few left to tell the tales any more...

...and speaking of those tales, and that film documentary:

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood trailer

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood - clip - Scotty Was an Urban Legend

RIP George Albert "Scotty" Bowers (1st July 1923 – 13th October 2019)