Tab & Tony...

Actor Zachary Quinto and director JJ Abrams are to co-produce a movie exploring the love affair between Tab Hunter and Anthony Perkins.

Screen legends Hunter and Perkins rose to fame in the 1950s and early 60s. They had to keep their sexuality a secret at a time when being openly gay or bisexual would have proved career suicide.

Tab Hunter

Tab Hunter was one of Hollywood’s biggest pin-ups of the 1950s. Anthony Perkins is still best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho. The forthcoming movie will be called Tab & Tony.

Hunter, who is now 86, led a secret gay life during the peak years of his film career. Following decades of rumors, he confirmed his sexuality in his autobiography in 2005.

In 2015, the documentary Tab Hunter Confidential re-explored his life on screen. His partner, Allan Glaser, will also have a hand in producing Tab & Tony alongside Quinto and Abrams.

Quinto and Abrams have worked together before on the re-booted Star Trek films, in which Quinto played the role of Spock. Although Abrams’ Bad Robot company is co-producing the movie, it’s not believed he will direct or Quinto will star.

Quinto came out as gay in 2011. He’s currently appearing in a Broadway revival of the late 1960s gay-themed play, The Boys In The Band.

Besides Tab Hunter, Perkins is rumored to have had sexual relations with Rock Hudson, dancer Rudolf Nureyev, and composer Stephen Sondheim. He married photographer Berinthia ‘Berry’ Berenson in the early 70s and the couple had two children. He died of AIDS-related illness in 1992.

H/T: Hollywood Reporter