| William Haines  AKA Charles William Haines
Born: 2-Jan-1900
Birthplace: Staunton, VA
Died: 26-Dec-1973
Location of death: Santa Monica, CA
Cause of death: Cancer - unspecified
Remains: Buried, Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, CA
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Gay
Occupation: Actor Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Hollywood's first openly gay leading man William Haines won a talent contest judged by Samuel Goldwyn, and went on to become one of the top actors of Hollywood's early years. He came to stardom in 1926's Tell It to the Marines with Lon Chaney. His best-known silent film was the backstage Hollywood comedy Show People with Marion Davies, and his most famous talkie was the con-man comedy New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford with Jimmy Durante.
His career came to a sudden end when studio maven Louis B. Mayer told him to either ditch his unapologetically gay off-screen life and enter a studio-arranged sham marriage, or kiss his career good-bye. Haines told Mayer, "I'm already married" -- referring to his lover, Jimmie Shields -- and watched as Mayer tore up his MGM contract.
He subsequently appeared in a few low-budget films for smaller studios, then had a long and successful career as an interior decorator, with clients including Walter Annenberg when he was Ambassador to England, George Cukor, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, and Frank Sinatra. Haines was offered a chance at a comeback role in Billy Wilder's 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard, but politely declined.
He lived with Shields for nearly fifty years, and their best friend, Joan Crawford, often said they had "the happiest marriage in Hollywood." Haines' died in 1973, and just months later Shields swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills and followed him. They were buried beside each other at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery.
Boyfriend: Jimmie Shields (interior designer, d. 1973, cohabited 1926-73, d. suicide)
Girlfriend: Anita Page (together 1928-29)
Hollywood Walk of Fame 7000 Hollywood Blvd.
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Fast Life (16-Dec-1932)
Are You Listening? (26-Mar-1932)
New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford (3-Oct-1931)
Just a Gigolo (6-Jun-1931)
Remote Control (15-Nov-1930)
Way Out West (2-Aug-1930) · Windy
Free and Easy (22-Mar-1930)
The Girl Said No (15-Mar-1930) · Tom Ward
Navy Blues (13-Dec-1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (14-Aug-1929) · Himself
Show People (11-Nov-1928)
The Smart Set (4-Mar-1928)
West Point (31-Dec-1927) · Brice Wayne
Spring Fever (18-Oct-1927)
Tell It to the Marines (23-Dec-1926) · Pvt. "Skeet" Burns
Brown of Harvard (2-May-1926)
Sally, Irene and Mary (7-Dec-1925)
Little Annie Rooney (18-Oct-1925)
Souls for Sale (27-Mar-1923)
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