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Tab Hunter
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==Early life== Arthur Andrew Kelm was born in Manhattan, New York City,<ref name =NewYorkTimes/> the son of Gertrude ({{Nee|Gelien}}) and Charles Kelm. Kelm's father was Jewish, and his mother was a German immigrant from [[Hamburg]].{{Efn|A 2003 interview with ''The New York Times'' states that Hunter's parents were both German immigrants, and that his mother was Lutheran.<ref name="nyt2003/09/09"/> However, his obituary from ''The Guardian'' states that only his mother was a German immigrant and adds that she was Catholic.<ref name="Tab Obituary"/>}} He had an older brother, Walter. Kelm's father was reportedly abusive. Within a few years of Kelm's birth, his parents divorced. He was raised in California, living with his mother, his brother, and his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Ida (nΓ©e Sonnenfleth) Gelien; the family resided in San Francisco, [[Long Beach]] and Los Angeles.<ref name="nyt2003/09/09">{{cite news|last=Weinraub|first=Bernard|date=September 9, 2003|title=A Star's Real Life Upstages His Films; Tab Hunter Looks Back on Sadness and Success and Ahead to a Book|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/movies/star-s-real-life-upstages-his-films-tab-hunter-looks-back-sadness-success-ahead.html|access-date=March 8, 2016|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His mother re-assumed her maiden surname, Gelien, and changed her sons' surnames as well. As a teenager, Arthur Gelien (as he was then known) was a [[figure skater]], competing in both [[single skating|singles]] and [[pair skating|pairs]].<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years">{{cite book|last=Tobler|first=John|title=NME Rock 'N' Roll Years|publisher=Reed International Books Ltd|year=1992|edition=1st|location=London|page=38|id=CN 5585}}</ref> Gelien was sent to Catholic school by his religious mother.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Tab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMOcNOk4MXUC&q=raised+catholic|title=Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star|date=September 8, 2006 |orig-date=2005 |publisher=Algonquin|others=With Eddie Muller|isbn=978-1565128460|page=174|access-date=February 25, 2019|via=Google Books |ref={{sfnref|Hunter|2005}} }}</ref> Gelien joined the U.S. Coast Guard at age fifteen in 1946, lying about his age to enlist. While in the Coast Guard, he gained the nickname "[[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]" for his penchant for watching movies rather than going to bars while on liberty.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Piccalo|first1=Gina|last2=Saad|first2=Nardine|date=July 9, 2018|title=Actor Tab Hunter dies at 86; '50s heartthrob's career ranged from ''Battle Cry'' to ''Polyester''|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-tab-hunter-20180709-story.html|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref> When his superiors discovered his true age, they discharged him. Gelien met actor [[Richard Clayton (actor)|Dick Clayton]] socially; Clayton suggested that he become an actor.<ref>{{cite news|last=Feinberg|first=Scott|date=March 13, 2015|title=SXSW: Tab Hunter opens up about life as a closeted gay star during Hollywood's golden age|newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/tab-hunter-opens-up-life-781046|access-date=July 9, 2018}}</ref>
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