Hollywood has always been a town full of dirty secrets. The blood of the town is fueled with lies, deceit, bargains, dirty deals, and selfish villains. As is true with the movies it produces, nothing is really as it seems in this land of stars and dreams.
Even in its hey day, Hollywood was home to thousands of stars who would stop at nothing to keep their personal secrets behind closed doors. Stars behind and in front of the camera would do just about anything to give the illusion of a happy marriage, a loving family, or a swinging bachelor lifestyle. Gay men and women would marry for the sake of convenience and were forbidden from embracing their true sexuality at the risk of ruining studio reputations. Many stars, therefore, including Cary Grant, Vincent Price, Edith Piaf, Spencer Tracy, Kathrine Hepburn, and even the Duke of Windsor had to rely on someone to help them achieve in private what they couldn’t achieve in public.
This casinova of sorts, by the name of Scotty Bowers, would arrange sexual escapades for some of Hollywood’s brightest and biggest stars. Working out of a gas station on Hollywood Blvd., Bowers became everyone’s go-to guy for arranging “tricks” with people of all sexual orientations. Now in his 80’s, Bowers looks back on his life as a sexual matchmaker in his tell-all book, Full Service, and doesn’t hold back when it comes to naming names and giving full details of his sexual exploits.
I for one was in a complete state of shock from beginning to end. While this book isn’t exceptionally well-written (it reads more like a diary), the stories in Full Service are engrossing…so much so that, by the end, I was questioning whether this account was actually true. Several well-known stars work their way in and out of Bowers’s life, and nothing is off limits when it comes to discussing what these celebrities enjoyed between the sheets.
In the long run, whether these sexual tales actually happened or not is irrelevant, since many of the celebrities in discussion are no longer alive to attest to these shenanigans…but Full Service is a good trashy read that will give gossip lovers a complete and often crude look into the private lives of some of the most well-loved and highly respected of the Hollywood glitterati.
Looking for a new book to read? Check in every Friday for a “Bee Happy” post, where I share reviews of books I’ve read or other book-themed lists.
The Hob-bee Hive 