Clifton Webb

He was very fond of his mother.

He gave a class-A blowjob.

Webb was a huge star in the 40s and 50s. There really hasn't ever been another big star like him. The equivalent today would be a movie in which the hero was a Harvard-educated lip gloss and Prada queen.

Loved him in Sitting Pretty. Fussy old queen.

He haunts the mausoleum hallway where he's buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Right you are, r1. The character of Lynn Belvedere is said to have been very close to his real life—he had an almost Oedipal-like extreme devotion to his mother Mabelle, who was his companion and who lived with him until her death at 91 in 1990.

When Webb's mourning for his mother continued for a year with no signs of letting up, Noël Coward remarked of Webb, "It must be terrible to be orphaned at 71."

He was Robert Wagner's first "mentor" in Hollywood - he and Spencer Tracy (a real closet case). I'm just sayin' that knowing that throws a whole different light onto what happened that night on the Splendour with Chris Walken, when Natalie drowned....

[quote]who was his companion and who lived with him until her death at 91 in 1990.

Which is pretty icky considering Clifton died in 1966.

He is marvellous in "Womans World" in '54 and "Boy on a Dolphin" in 57 with young Sophia Loren.

Also very queeny of course in "Laura" and "The Razors Edge".

Clifton's mother Maybelle died in 1960, Clifton followed in 1966. Libby Holman, trying to console Webb, said something along the lines of "But Cliffy, at last you're free - think of the fun you can have now!" and he cut her off immediately and never spoke to her again.

Miss Priss herself

Clifton and his mom were like Norman and Mrs. Bates.

"The equivalent today would be a movie in which the hero was a Harvard-educated lip gloss and Prada queen." David Hyde Pierce is kinda Webb-ish

As he was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest stars post WWII, I always wondered why he didn't play Addison deWitt in 20th's All About Eve, a role which seemed to be written with him in mind.

Of course, George Sanders was brilliant so maybe Mankiewicz knew what he was doing....

Massive cockhound. Big Roosevelt supporter.

Cliffy was a child star on Broadway, so his stage mother never let go. Webb didn't make a film until he was in his 50s.

I want to like him, but I always found him more obnoxious than amusing.

According to Robert Osborne (and who knows better?) Webb was considered for the role of Addison DeWitt in "All About Eve" - I wonder if he was considered TOO BIG a star at the time to end up in what is a supporting role.

By 1949-1950, he had already been the lead in Mr. Belvedere, and was first-billed over the title in Cheaper By the Dozen. So to have him in a supporting part was probably not what Darryl Zanuck wanted.

Are we sure he was gay? Yes, he played a sort of fussy, prissy type, but it's called ACTING. He could've been just the opposite in real life. Could've a total p-hound who fucked every chorus girl on the lot. Oh I forgot, on DL every actor must be gay until proven otherwise...and even then...

Brava, r 19! Your impression of a Totally Clueless Frau wins the Datalounge Award of Most Inventive Troll Post of the Morning!

r19, uh, Clifton Webb was gay, you dumb cow. There are lots of verifiable stories about it concerning old Hollywood. For instance, Otto Preminger didn't want him for Laura, initially, because he was a known queen and Preminger thought it would overshadow the role of Lydecker. Other directors had similar concerns but the public ADORED him and he became a big star partly DUE to his personality and his prissy line deliveries.

Alls I was saying is that just because someone projects queen on screen, doesn't mean he's a huge flamer IRL. Plus even he was prissy IRL, there are tons of guys like that who are straight. I didn't know his backstory, so maybe he was a gay, sorry, but sometimes you guys accuse people of being gay with much in the way of proof.

Meh, never cared for one-note Webb. And he WASN'T a FDR supporter, but a hard-line Repug. The far more talented (and also gay) Laird Cregar was intended for the role of Lydecker before his tragic death.

r19, "accusing" people of being gay means there is something WRONG with it. The way you write makes it sound like a fucking criminal trial, you know "proving" someone gay to convict them. You have really played your hand. You are not only a dumb cow, you are a dumb cow homophobe.

"Webb didn't make a film until he was in his 50s."

Actually he did a few silent films, then was absent from the screen for about 20 years before doing "Laura"

John Philip Sousa was gay?

Protege Robert Wagner is quite adorable in Stars and Stripes Forever as JP Sousa's cornet man.

You are a fucking idiot R19. Webb was virtually out. He and Noel Coward were lovers for a time, and lifelong friends.

I remember several movies he did where he was married and had a boatload of kids. In other words, he played straight roles, and played them very convincingly. I always thought the dude was straight. I don't recall hearing any nasty gay rumors about him.

He was invited everywhere. And always took his mother.

Apparently, he was in love with a girl when he was a young man. However, his mother was so overbearing that she didn't approve of the relationship of any kind. I think his mother was kind of nuts. However, he was defiantly gay he wasn't straight. Maybe he went through a faze of trying to be straight. His house was haunted for many years after he and his mother died. However, fairly recently, they tore his home down.

I own some of his personal effects. I own his diary and other items. When I purchased the diary I thought, Oh! there is going to be some juicy gossip mentioned in there, LOL. It still precious to me. Not a chance, the diary was written as a schedule diary. He says, I'm having lunch with Ty at this time then I'm going to this person's party, that sort of thing. He mentions having lunch a lot with Tyrone Power I think because they were filming the Razor's Edge together. He mentions many famous names in the dairy of going to this party or that one.

I wish there is a biography on Clifton Webb, but unfortunately there is absolutely nothing that has been written on him, Go figure?! I think he was an under rated actor. To me I think he was sort of over looked in Hollywood history, which is a shame.

Faze?

R9 - I love "Woman's World" and particularly the scene toward the end where Arlene Dahl thusts her giant bullet tits at Clifton Webb and practically eats his face off with a kiss. Webb, needless to say, is not impressed.

And he starred in the Broadway MUSICAL (!!!) "As Thousands Cheer" opposite Broderick Crawford's mother, Helen Broderick.

And he was in Cole Porter's first Broadway musical SEE AMERICA FIRST.

Clifton Webb really was a big star in the 40s and 50s, but today he is only known to old movie queens and people over 70.

R31, considering your interest in Clifton Webb and the fact that you already own some primary souces, such as his diary, maybe you should attempt to write a biography yourself.

Considering the "bestseller mentality" of most major publishers, I doubt there would be a huge market for a book on Webb, but there are smaller presses that might be interested. Greenwood Press pubishes volumes that start off with 60-100 pages of biography followed by a filmography and bibliography of articles, etc.

Might be a worth a try.

Clifton Webb was great in "Titanic" in which he played the estranged husband of Barbara Stanwyck. Given that they were both gay, their kiss at the lifeboats as the ship is sinking is a wonder to behold.

Webb was also a good friend of Libby Holman and appeared with her on Broadway in a couple of Dietz and Schwartz reviews. I believe he was a houseguest for at least part of the weekend during which Holman's husband, Zachary Smith Reynolds, supposedly killed himself though in all likelihood either Lib or his lifelong friend pulled the trigger.

Who was the other prissy little queen who showed up in some of the Mr. Belvedere movies? In Sitting Pretty, he played a nosy neighbor who lived with his mother and gardened.

Richard Haydn was the other priss.

Webb was a racist S.O. B. When he was in the Ziegfeld Follies in the 20's, he and Marilyn Miller refused to share the stage in curtain calls with Ethel Waters. Ziegfeld told them they could share the stage or leave the show. They stayed.

That would have been Irving Berlin not Ziegfeld. But a true story none-the-less.

I wonder if Webb and Miller felt they were the nominal stars of the show and it had nothing to do with racism?

Although I'm sure Ethel Waters probably was the best thing in it, wasn't As Thousands Cheer her breakthrough whereas Webb and Miller had been Broadway stars for at least 10 years?

There are so many gays that seem to be harboring the spirit of Clifton. If I had dime for each one, I'd have a roll of dimes.

[quote] Richard Haydn was the other priss.

And of course Richard Haydn is now best remembered for playing Uncle Max in "The Sound of Music"

"Clifton Webb really was a big star in the 40s and 50s, but today he is only known to old movie queens and people over 70."

Which one are you?

[quote]Clifton Webb really was a big star in the 40s and 50s, but today he is only known to old movie queens and people over 70.

Hmmm...I'm not an old movie queen and I'm only in my 50s, but I know Clifton Webb without much difficulty.

My favorite is "Sitting Pretty" -- he was smart and a master of devastating put-downs in that one, but not heartless. He could also cut a rug on the dance floor and do a headstand. The battle of wills between Belvedere, a bratty baby, and a bowl of oatmeal is a classic.

He was friends with Cole Porter

I love him and have just gotten into his movies. No question he appeared in his share of classics and hits--a major career.

THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN

STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER

TITANIC

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

SITTING PRETTY

THE RAZOR'S EDGE

LAURA

and I'm also partial to THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE.

Not necessarily a trailblazer in terms of activism, but he seems to have lived with his gayness as an open secret in Hollywood--it's just the press was more discreet. Still, for any actor who has ever been told he couldn't be a leading man because he wasn't butch enough...just look at Webb's career and see a gallery of the type of roles one could do.

Plus he had some major successes on the Broadway stage: PRESENT LAUGHTER, BLITHE SPIRIT... I imagine him being excellent in those Noel Coward roles as a kind of Coward doppelganger.

And didn't he introduce EASTER PARADR?

He tried to shoot Laura Hunt in the face with a shotgun! Sadly, he killed Diane Redfern by mistake.

"Cheaper by the Dozen" (the original) is one of my favorite movies from childhood. I always knew it wasn't classically great but I'm grateful to have the DVD and can watch it whenever I'm in the mood.

"Belles on Their Toes," the sequel (without Webb) isn't very good but it does have Jeffrey Hunter who is absolutely gorgeous. (And the actor who played the oldest son was gay and just died last year.)

There is a bit about him in William J. Mann's book about gay Hollywood (forget the title at the moment). Otto Preminger fought to cast him in Laura because the people at 20th Century Fox didn't want him. Mann quotes the casting director at Fox as saying that Webb couldn't play the character because "he flies" (seriously!)

R42 -- you're right -- sorry; thanks for the heads-up.

R43: "This was Marilyn Miller's last show before her death, and the first-ever Broadway show to star an African-American. Ethel Waters received star billing with the Caucasians. She stopped the show with her song, "Suppertime," which is the heartbreaking song of a mother wondering how to tell her children that their father has been lynched. Those were powerful lyrics in those times. In her autobiography Ethel said, "If one song can tell the whole tragic history of a race "Suppertime" is that song."

Verificatia of size meat?

He's one of those film performers who had worked in show business his whole life. Must have had fascinating experiences. I think it's probably too late for a bio of him, R31. Most of his contemporaries are dead, and probably didn't leave much in the way of notes, correspondance, etc.

At the link, the famous portrait of the very young Webb painted by George Bellowes.

At the link: "Becoming Clifton Webb: A Queer Star At Mid-Century."

This is long, but interesting.

Cliffie and Cole Porter were cruising buddies, along with Monty Woolley. They'd all get together and go out and pick up sailors for fun. Porter dearly loved black dick, but he drew the line when it came to taking an African-American as a full-time lover. When Monty Woolley did that, he stopped speaking to him.

Supposedly when Cole and Woolley were out cruising Times Square for service man dick during WWII they approached a sailor and presented their offer. His reply,"I think you two are a couple of cock-suckers."

Wooley replied, "Well, now that we've got the details established shall we go to my place?"

This is [R31], Ah! thank you [R55]. He looks like he was really handsome when he was young. I agree with you, and I was thinking the same thing. Sadly, everyone is dead who worked with him or knew him by now. I agree with you, it is too late to do a bio on him. It would have been an interesting biography no doubt, You’re terrific [R55].

Wow! You’re awesome [R56]! Thanks for posting that info! Very interesting!

He sent white roses to Marilyn's funeral. I think he had a real attachment to her.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr writes in his autobiography, that Clifton made a pass at him as Douglas was driving him to some party in Hollywood. Clifton placed his hand on Doug's thigh and more or less confessed his lusty attraction to Doug.

Douglas writes that he burst out laughing at Clifton and Webb got so insulted that he asked to be let out of the car so he could walk the rest of the way to the party. They were estranged for quite a while, but Douglas eventually got Clifton to forgive him for laughing at him.

I also remember reading that Clifton and his good friend Tallulah Bankhead were out clubbing one night and they got into a contest to see who could get a very handsome bartender to go home with one of them for the night. They both eventually lost out to another customer. I think it was in a Bio of Tallulah.

That was a very shitty thing for Fairbanks to do, if that is true. Of course, depends upon the forwardness of the pass, too. Groping someone is not the best way to really attract someone, either.

"Laura" night on TCM!

I am disappointed that there appears to be no information available about the life of Laura screenwriter Samuel Hoffenstein, who is responsible for creating the Lydecker character.

TCM Bump!

r55 That portrait is reminiscent of a young Michael Palin or John Hurt.

Always liked Webb. Good, solid actor. Gave roles a depth that others couldn't or wouldn't have handled as well. He shone in "Laura." And could hoddle with the best of 'em.

Excellent, mannered actor. They don't make them like that any longer.

Loved Sitting Pretty. Who is the old queen who plays the nosy neighbor attached to his mother?

r68 Richard Haydn. IIRC, he provided the voice for the caterpillar in Disney's animated "Alice in Wonderland." 'And whhoooooo.......... are yuuooooo...........'

Young Clifton.

Loved Haydn with Barbara Stanwyck in the sticks of New Jersey.

I remember there used to be a long thread on here named something like Golden Age Hollywood Queen. Who was that about? Van Johnson?

Huge racist. He (along with Marilyn Miller and Helen Broderick) refused to take bows with Ethel Waters at the curtain call for AS THOUSANDS CHEER.

Irving Berlin told them that unless they shared the stage with Walters there would be no bows. They all took bows together at the next performance, but Webb was not happy about it.

He refused to do promotional events for the revue if Waters would be appearing.

Oh, r41, You are good! You posted that info way before me. I salute you for that!

That sucks about how he treated Ethel. Ugh. I'm the OP of this thread, knowing he was a racist makes me like him less.

OP/R75, I'm glad you're still around after four years. Although he may have been an ugly person, that shouldn't detract from what remains: his precise and wonderful portrayals on film. Thanks for starting this thread.

Van Johnson

No mention of "Woman's World"? Clifton played the president of an automobile company in search of a new CEO from three candidates, whose wives were played by Lauren Bacall, June Allyson and Arlene Dahl.

Miss Webb's grand house! It's currently for sale

I apologize for not reading the threads but I loved him in Laura and Razor's Edge.

No, R79, that is the McMansion that replaced Webb's house.

Not mentioned in the thread was his friendship with Jeanne Eagels.

BTW, biography of Webb written from notes bought at auction. at link.

"Sitting Pretty" must have been pretty successful, as I think it had two sequels.

It takes some creative casting to make him the father of 12 children in "Cheaper By The Dozen", but it worked out well, as he seemed to be having a ball in that film. The ending (the phone call) shook me up, as it was totally unexpected (at least to me).

He reminds me of Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith in "Lost In Space")

When Clifton was at a party he was the total center of attention. All eyes never left him.

Getting back to As Thousands Cheer--Ethel Water sang Harlem On My Mind which is a spoof of La Baker. Always loved these lyrics:

I go to supper with a French Marquis Each evening after the show My lips begin to whisper "Mon Cheri" But my heart keeps singin' "Hi-de-ho"

I've become too damned refined And at night I hate to go down To that high-falutin' flat that Lady Mendel designed With Harlem on my mind

Sorry Ethel that I misspelled your last name omitting the S.

"Poor Clifton, on the other hand, is still, after two months, wailing and sobbing over Maybelle's (sic) death. As she was well over ninety, gaga, and had driven him mad for years, this seems excessive and over indulgent. He arrives here on Monday and I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas. Poor, poor Clifton. I am, of course, deeply sorry for him but he must snap out of it."

More delicious details in the link below.

Mention must be made of Miss Waters'.....

Actor Robert Wagner, who co-starred with Webb in the films Stars and Stripes Forever and Titanic and considered the actor one of his mentors, stated in his memoirs, Pieces of My Heart: A Life, that "Clifton Webb was gay, of course, but he never made a pass at me, not that he would have".[9][10][11] According to a book that was published more than 40 years after Webb’s death, his sexual orientation was frequently alluded to through many veiled references in entertainment newspaper columns, though the book does not provide digital scans of any of them.[12]

Clifton Webb never stood a chance, his mother Mable "Mabelle" A. Parmelee did a number on him before the child was even out of the nursery. It would have been a miracle if Clifton Webb grew up into a normal heterosexual male given his childhood and teenage years.

From above link:

"When Mabelle died in 1960, Clifton began a mourning that lasted until his own death. Playwright and friend Coward noted in a letter: "Poor Clifton ... is still, after two months, wailing and sobbing over Mabelle’s death. As she was well over 90, gaga, and driving him mad for years, this seems excessive and overindulgent." The most famous remark to go the rounds of Clifton’s friends was Coward’s final, acerbic one to him: "It must be tough to be orphaned at 71!" Clifton, who told friends that he’d seen his mother's presence in the house, held frequent seances in attempts to contact her."

More from same:

"In 1967, the house was purchased by Los Angeles Times gossip columnist Joyce Haber and her TV producer husband Douglas Cramer. Several times, while enjoying drinks by the pool, the two caught sight of a swaying figure in the master bedroom. "It was a dark, transparent shadow the size and shape of Clifton," Cramer said. "I never saw it up close, as Joyce did. I only saw it through a window when I was outside. I didn’t see clothes or details, but he always resembled Clifton and he seemed to be ageless."

Cramer also said he saw shadows in the hallway the size and shape of Mabelle. Their dogs reacted to cold spots in that hallway -- where Clifton was said to pace outside his mother’s bedroom. "They would not go near the cold spots in the hallway without barking enormously and often urinating on the spot," Cramer said. A cold presence was said to have attacked a maid on several occasions. On a hunch, Haber brought home one of Clifton's movies: When the dogs saw his image on the screen, all three began howling.

Haber also held a seance with some of Clifton's friends, including playwright Garson Kanin, actress Ruth Gordon, producer Dick Zanuck. "The seance convinced them all that Clifton was in the house," Cramer said. "And the medium, Sybil Leek, did become Clifton in mood and spirit and intent — and most particularly in language and dialect. She told things that only they knew about Clifton, things that Sybil could never have known." When asked why he stayed, he replied: "Because I’m afraid I’ll be forgotten."

After the seance, neither Clifton nor Mabelle were seen in the house again. Even the dogs stopped barking in the hallway. The Cramers divorced and sold the house in the '70s. The house was demolished in the 1990s."

Dear God! How puny and scrawny Clifton Webb was; I mean ewwwwwww.

Scroll down....

For the "tasteful friends" girls, I present Clifton Webb's house (long since demolished)

Scrub that, 1005 Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90210 is not Clifton Webb's house (sorry), but the Rexford Edward estate which is now up for sale.