One day in 1933, MGM producer Louis Meyer issued an ultimatum to actor William Haynes, and in order to quell rumors about Haynes' sexuality, Meyer hoped that he would find an actress to conclude a "lavender marriage" (i.e., a formal marriage) or leave Hollywood.
From 1928 to 1932, Haynes was one of hollywood's top five highest-grossing stars. He is handsome in appearance, has his own literary temperament, and is good at playing an arrogant but not bad young rich man. In 1933, Haynes's box office appeal declined, and because he was arrested once for homosexuality, Meyer chose this time for a showdown, thinking that he had won.
Haynes looked Meyer in the eye and replied, "I'm married." When you give up your wife, I give up Jimmy. ”
Jimmy Shields is Haynes' same-sex partner and the two have been together for 7 years.
Seeing that Haynes had made up his mind, Meyer terminated his contract and arranged for Robert Montgomery to replace the role originally planned for Haynes.
William Haynes
Early career
Haynes was a very assertive child from an early age, knowing who he was and what he wanted. He was born in January 1900 to a wealthy family in Virginia, the eldest son of the family. At the age of 14, he ran away from home and went with her then-boyfriend to a job producing nitrocellulose at a DuPont factory in Hopewell, Virginia, earning $50 a week.
When his anxious parents are tracked down by the police, Haynes convinces his parents to let him stay in Hopewell on the grounds that the family is in financial difficulties and he wants to help earn money to support the family. In 1915, a fire destroyed much of Hopewell, and Haynes had to go to New York.
A year later, his father had a nervous breakdown due to bankruptcy, and Haynes went home to help take care of it. With his father's recovery and comeback, Haynes returned to New York in 1919.
In order to earn a living, Haynes worked a variety of odd jobs, was raised by rich women, and eventually became a model. In 1922, the Godwin Film Company held a new face contest, and Haynes was discovered by scouts.
Haynes signed a $40-a-week contract with Goldwin Pictures and has since stepped into Hollywood.
At Godwin Pictures, Haynes got small roles, and it wasn't until 1923, when he was loaned to Fox Television, that he had a chance to pick the big one. As Godwin merged with two other companies to form MGM, Haynes moved to MGM.
MGM leased Haynes to Columbia Pictures, signed a contract for five films, and the first film was a huge success. In the film, titled Midnight Express, Haynes plays Jack, the son of a railroad tycoon, who works on the railroad in anonymity in order to prove himself to his father. When a criminal tries to get the Midnight Express to collide with an out-of-control van, Jack steps up and prevents the disaster from happening, eventually winning the respect of his father and the love of his girlfriend.
Colombia wanted to buy Haynes, but MGM refused.
In 1926, Haynes played the lead role in the silent film "Harvard Brown" produced by MGM, playing Tom Brown, a self-confident and somewhat arrogant Harvard student, who fell in love with the daughter of a professor and did not abandon weak friends. This film became one of his masterpieces, and in the next few years, his roles were similar and his fame grew.
Haynes and Crawford, stills
Quit show business
Also in 1926, haynes went to New York to promote a film when he met 21-year-old Jimmy Shields. Analysts believe shields were working as a cowboy on the street at the time and were picked up by Haynes.
Haynes persuaded Shields to move to Los Angeles and promised to let him do the extras in Hollywood. From then on, they began to live together, vowing loyalty to each other. Haynes never pretended to be heterosexual, he often appeared at premieres and parties with Shields, and many in the industry knew about his relationship with Shields.
After the advent of the sound film, Haynes continued to maintain his star status with a pleasant voice. In 1930, he became the number one male star at the box office, and his good friend Joan Crawford was the number one female star at the box office.
Haynes starred in a total of 54 films throughout his acting career, most of which starred. After breaking off his contract with MGM, he received invitations from some small studios, but he decided to quit show business anyway.
Create brilliance again
Haynes is known for his taste in Hollywood, his home is so exquisitely furnished that it feels like a showroom, guests are always asking where to buy the same items, and he is always happy to give them free renovation advice.
Haynes' home
In 1930, Haynes and Shields co-founded the William Haynes Interior Design Company. They worked with the most prominent architects of the time to build luxury homes in Los Angeles and New York. Haynes is also a partner in an antique shop.
Joan Crawford became one of their first clients, feeling that her home looked too dark and wanted to transform it into a softer, more refined one. Haynes broke with tradition and used a lot of white in his designs, which was not common at the time.
Joan Crawford in a renovated home
Haynes's ability to control color is extremely strong, never sticking to one style.
In 1935, he renovated the home for the famous stage director George Cook, and Cook was very satisfied with the final result, "This house [the decoration] is very suitable for me, I know I belong here." Dark walls and velvet curtains add drama to the Georgian-style restaurant. ”
In 1969, Walter Annaberg, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, hired Haynes to renovate Winfield Palace, the official residence of the U.S. Embassy in London.
Garden room at Winfield Palace
In 1971, Annaberg again hired Haynes to renovate his home in Pennsylvania.
Hand-painted wallpaper, Ottoman-style tables and low living room furniture are hallmarks of Haynes Studios.
Haynes, together with his designer and heir Ted Graeber, has created many beautifully shaped, functional classics that exude a high quality, exquisite simplicity, and achieve the perfect balance of formality and leisure, style and quality.
The reason why the table and chair are designed to be low is because it can make people look tall.
Haynes's elbow chair, conference chair, Brentwood chair, etc. have all become classics, and in October 2013, a pair of lounge chairs he designed was sold for $43,000.
Many celebrities, including former President Reagan, were Haynes's clients, and some film directors incorporated Haynes' aesthetic into their films, and the set of the film "Gone with the Wind" borrowed some of his personal art collections.
President Reagan introduced Ted Graeber to the visiting Queen
The happiest marriage
The design firm's business was so prosperous that Haynes and Shields did not retire until the early 1970s.
Haynes never returned to film, and in 1950, actress Gloria Swanson asked him to star in the film Sunset Strip, which he declined.
In those days, homosexuality was a taboo topic, and as Hollywood's first openly gay couple, they showed great courage.
Haynes (second from right) and Shields (left stander) with friends
What they need to face is not only gossip, but also physical harm.
In 1936, nearly a hundred members of the Ku Klux Klan found an excuse to break into their home on Manhattan Beach, dragged two men outside and beat them, and the police did nothing. Similar bad incidents occurred many times, but they persisted until the end.
Haynes and Shields lived together for 47 years, and Crawford called them "the happiest marriage in Hollywood."
Haynes died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California, on December 26, 1973, at the age of 73.
One night three months later, Shields wore Haynes's pajamas and took an overdose of sleeping pills. He left a note that read:
"Goodbye to everyone, and you all went out of your way to comfort me when I lost Billy [Haynes's nickname]. I've been with him since 1926 and now feel like it's impossible to live alone and I'm too lonely. Without Billy, everything was not good. ”
They were buried side by side at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica. Some people say that this is a tragic ending, a couple can be together for 47 years, is not a great fortune in life?
postscript
Haynes gave up his career for love, but in his heart, love was not the most important thing.
He once said something very philosophical — "I'd rather taste than love or money." ”
"Taste" here refers to the appreciation, sensitivity and judgment of beauty, which is an inner cultivation that has nothing to do with material conditions and cannot be measured in money.
Only people with high aesthetic ability to a certain extent will have such a feeling.
Haynes tells us that when a person lives for a lifetime, the gender of the beloved is not so important, the money and material are not so important, and what is really important is to be a tasteful person, to have a pair of eyes that can distinguish between beauty and ugliness and the ability to create beauty.
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