EARLY LIFE
Charles William (Billy) Haines was born at the dawn of a new century, in January of 1900. The Haines family was in the tobacco business in Staunton, Virginia. Young Billy was fascinated by the silent pictures, and spent much of his time in local theaters. According to his own accounts, at the age of 14 he discovered his sexuality, and along with his boyfriend moved to Hopewell, Virginia. At the time, Hopewell, an industrial village centered around a DuPont dynamite factory, had a reputation for immorality. Here the young men were employed at the factory and opened their own ‘dance hall’, which was most likely a brothel, for additional income. After being tracked down by his parents, Billy refused to return home. Instead, he sent money to help support the family. They stayed in Hopewell for about a year, until the majority of the village was destroyed by a fire. Billy and his boyfriend took the opportunity to start fresh in New York City.
Just a Gigolo
By 1919 Billy had fled one village for another. As herds of flappers ushered in the Roaring Twenties, he immersed himself in the bourging gay community of Greenwich Village. He took on many small jobs, one of which was to be kept by a wealthy older woman (maybe not such a small job). He became chums with George Cukor and Orry-Kelly. And, was roommates with Archibald Leach, a former circus performer turned aspiring actor who would later be better known by his stage name, Cary Grant. Billy’s good looks landed modeling gigs, and his wisecracking demeanor got him cast in small acting jobs. In 1922 he was discovered by a talent scout and promptly shipped out west to Hollywood.
Tinseltown
Billy arrived on the west coast as the silent film industry was booming. The consistently sunny weather and range of natural landscape made southern California the ideal backdrop for filming. Hollywood had become not just a place to live, but a lifestyle. Post-war energy in America was buzzing and electric. WWI was a time when queer people started to discover that other queer people existed. After the war there was a great sense of sexual liberation. Mass culture through media was on the rise, and queer identities began to be seen, although mostly used as comic relief. Billy had been cast in many roles, but it was his performance in “Brown of Harvard” that catapulted him to star status.
In 1925 Billy took a trip back to New York City. While walking down a street in the Village he locked eyes on a handsome ex-sailor named Jimmy Shields. And, when Billy was set to return to California, Jimmy came along. The couple lived openly, entertaining stars and studio execs in a large home that Billy decorated. The house was dubbed “Haines Castle” by Tallulah Bankhead.
The film industry, at that time, controlled the press, encouraging them to spin stories of how they wanted their stars to be portrayed. Thinly veiled euphemisms were applied to actors who were living together as couples. “Confirmed bachelors” Cary Grant and Randolph Scott were famously photographed for a magazine spread highlighting their domestic bliss —making breakfast, playing the piano, and working out. The two lived together off-and-on for twelve years, although during this time they were both married a combined seven times.
Lavender Marriage
With the economic bust in 1929 came The Great Depression. Though most industries stalled during this time, Hollywood continued to thrive, offering the country bouts of escapism through film. Many believed that the excesses and frivolity of the 20’s contributed to this economic and moral downturn. This caused a panic, and what had been considered colorful before was now seen as subverse. Homosexuality was beginning to be considered a mental illness. The gender ambiguity of leading men and women of the previous era started to be replaced by macho personas for actors and enhanced femininity for actresses. Studios began to arrange “lavender marriages” to further encourage this perception. And, in 1933 Billy was offered an ultimatum from Louis B. Mayer; get married or get off the lot. Billy chose to live authentically. He chose love. This marked the end of his momentous career in film.
“The only real freedom we have left is the home. Only there can we express anything we want.” -Billy Haines
Not only had Billy’s career ended, but he had become a social pariah. Cue Joan Crawford. The two had been steadfast friends since Joan’s arrival in Hollywood. They acted in five films together, starting with the first in 1925. She reached out to Billy to ask him to redecorate her home, not only because he needed work, but because he had done such a wonderful job with his own. He knew how to create an environment that would, in effect, become a stage highlighting a person to the best possible advantage. Billy transplanted ideas that he had seen used on movie sets. He completely transformed Joan’s dark, traditional Spanish Colonial mansion into something modern, bright, airy, and glamorous. Working to create a style that would famously come to be known as Hollywood Regency. During the renovation, Joan invited Billy everywhere with her in order to keep him in the public eye.
Knowing that she played host to many of the industries most successful players, Billy offered to redecorate the home of Carole Lombard free of charge. He assumed that this would afford him the best possible exposure and could publicize his new decorating endeavor. The plan worked, and by 1936 commissions began to pour in. His list of clients included Gloria Swanson, Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst, Tallulah Bankhead, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra, and Jack Warner. And, in a full circle moment, the movies that had once influenced his designs had now began to mimic his work.
By the 1960’s his reputation as a decorator had surpassed that of his acting. As his business grew, so did his office. He hired an assistant, Ted Graber, who would work with him until his death. Ted had a background in antiques and furniture design. Custom pieces began to be seen as staples in a Haines-designed space. Surviving designs are highly coveted. As hiring Billy became a show of status at the time, collecting his furniture now is, too. The firm had become fully embraced by not only movie stars, and those adjacent, but by many conservatives and politicians as well. Eventually leading to Ted designing the personal home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, as well as their private apartment in the White House.
The End
As Billy retired, Ted took over. Shortly after, Billy was diagnosed with lung cancer. Near the end of his life, he visited the site of a project that Ted had just finished. Surveying the rooms, Billy proclaimed with pride that the student had surpassed the teacher.
He and Jimmy spent Christmas day together in 1973, and Billy died the next day. Obituaries around the country named his brothers and sisters as sole survivors, with no mention of Jimmy Shields, who had been his love and companion for almost 50 years. Joan Crawford had once been quoted as saying that they were “the happiest married couple in Hollywood”. Less than three months later Jimmy, wearing Billy’s pajamas, swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. Jimmy’s suicide note read: “Goodbye to all of you who have tried so hard to comfort me in my loss of William Haines, whom I have been with since 1926. I now find it impossible to go it alone, I am much too lonely.”
William Haines’ life is one of an enduring love story, and of perseverance. He was witty, creative, trailblazing, brave, and authentic. When faced with the condition to choose either fame or love, he chose love and was awarded fame.
