Scotty Bowers, subject of doc on secret sex lives of closeted stars, gets honor from City of West Hollywood

New film reveals he slept with Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, procured for other leading men and leading ladies

Scotty Bowers (seated), subject of the documentary "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood," holds a proclamation honoring him from the City of West Hollywood. Behind him (in navy blazer) is Matt Tyrnauer, director of the film, and West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John D'Amico. Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Photo by Matt Carey

​Of all the services Scotty Bowers supplied to closeted gay stars during Hollywood's post-war era, perhaps the most valuable was discretion. He never kissed and told -- until recently. The screen legends he slept with, and procured for, are no longer around to protest.

His client list reads like an industry honor roll: Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Spencer Tracy, Laurence Olivier, Rock Hudson, Charles Laughton, George Cukor. He also slept with plenty of Hollywood women, and arranged encounters for other leading ladies who preferred female companionship (like Katharine Hepburn). His career as perhaps the town's foremost gigolo and rent boy supplier was launched out of a Richfield filling station where he pumped gas.

Bowers' bawdy adventures are told in the new film Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, based on his 2013 memoir. The salacious documentary, directed by Matt Tyrnauer (Studio 54, Valentino: The Last Emperor), opens Friday in LA and a week later in New York. Two days before the film hit theaters, Bowers, now 95, received a proclamation from the City of West Hollywood, recognizing his role in helping gay men and women in Hollywood fulfill their desires during a time when being 'out' would have been a career killer.

Watch the ceremony held at The Abbey in West Hollywood, attended by Bowers, Tyrnauer and West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John D'Amico.

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