In a celebrity biography about Clark Gable, author David Bret claims the legendary Hollywood actor was "gay for pay" and "would sometimes scrub his penis until it bled."

Ada Calhoun reviews Bret's biography "Clark Gable: Tormented Star" for the New York Times:

"David Bret's angle on Clark Gable is this: Gable was "gay for pay" and "rough trade," and he enjoyed having sex "for bucks." In addition, he "would sometimes scrub his penis until it bled" and used a device to prolong erections. If these tidbits from the book's first few pages aren't too much information for you, you're in luck. This breathtakingly trashy biography does not skimp on sordid anecdotes."

"For all its smut, the book is painfully unsexy," Calhoun continues. "Bret accuses Gable of having had halitosis, hepatitis, rotting teeth and "shovel-like" hands. With clear disgust, he also calls Gable a hypocrite for maintaining a macho sex-symbol image and for engaging in "homophobic rantings," even though he'd slept with men."

"Why would Gable have been "tormented" by his bisexual past if Hollywood were as overrun by gay stars as the book implies?," Calhoun asks. "If Gable used gay sex for career advancement, why would he have bedded men like the aspiring actor Earle Larimore, who had no more than an aunt on Broadway to his credit, and the "slab of beefcake" Rod La Rocque, hardly a studio bigwig? If a voracious Gable had such "overworked genitals," why should it be so shocking that there were some men among his countless conquests?"

Last update: 03-31-2008 20:56