The life of a stylish actor and interior decorator – “Class Act: William Haines, Legendary Hollywood Decorator” (2005)
Dear readers, after my previous blog about a book of the late handsome and suave British artist, stage and interior designer, I can’t keep thinking of another legendary male figure, who possessed a similar kind of calibre and charm, with impeccable taste and great eyes on upholstery fabrics, decorative objects, even his style, he is also one of the male actor that I consider as my all-time favorite, my ideal kind of timeless classic style reference for a refined gentleman, and undoubtedly, one of the most handsome man in the world, and that is the late American actor and interior designer, Mr. William Haines. Interestingly, I came across this late handsome interior designer by coincident, it was almost a decade ago when I was doing some research online for work, to look up some “golden Hollywood” men’s style as a reference, and then I was mesmerized by a black and white photo from the pool of pictures that I found on the screen, it was a photo of a dashing young man, who was wearing a crisp and well-tailored three-piece suit, possibly linen in cream color, with both of his hands placing in the pocket of his trousers, his face was looking on one side instead of facing the camera, but for some reason, such melancholic and elusive suave look was deeply imprinted in my mind, as I dug deeper about who that is, that’s how I discovered this forgotten actor and interior designer! This particular portrait has become one of my beloved vintage photograph (even up til this day) which it later appeared in one of the photoshoot of my very first perfume dated a couple of years ago.
Photo source: Pinterest
Before coming across that vintage photograph, I knew nothing about who William Haines was nor his existence, the desire to find out more about him only happened after this coincidental discovery, and it became more fascinating than I expected. Born as Charles William Haines (also known as “Billy Haines”) in Staunton, Virginia USA in 1900, Billy ran away from home in his early teens to pursue his own life accompanied by a male companion, then later he moved to New York city and was discovered by a talent scout, which he embarks on a journey as an actor, and his acting career flourishes throughout the 1920s with positive responses from a couple of movies, in particular, the one called “Three Wise Fools” (1923) which he played a significant role there, subsequently, this paved the way to earn him multiple movie contracts, some of them has become a blockbuster such as “Little Annie Rooney” (1925), “Alias Jimmy Valentine” (1928), and “Navy Blues” (1929), here are just a name of a few, and Billy is one of the actors who transitioned from a silent movie to the all-talking one successfully with top box-office attraction, not only because of his remarkable acting skills, wittiness and his great sense of humor, one of the most valuable assets about Billy is that he is such a charming and attractive man, who can easily make his fellow actors fall under his spells.
Photo source: Pinterest
Of course, the actor also has a great sense of style when it comes to the way of dressing, one can find his dashing character played either in a polished tuxedo or American classic style in those formal scenes, or some high society seaside nautical chic in a well-tailored deep navy blue jacket and crispy white classic trousers, to me, he is not just a talented actor but also a great stylist and taste-maker himself, he has a great eye for all well-made and exquisite things from the discreetly chosen menswear he put on, the way he groomed himself with the sleek hairdo, but also how conscious he was about how he carried himself, whether he’s on-set or not, his respect and caring towards his co-stars, even his significant other.
Photo source: Pinterest
Photo source: Pinterest
Behind the glamour of the silver screen, there’s another side of Billy that was pretty controversial, or at least to the film industry back in the old times; deep down in Billy’s heart, he realized that he’s destined to be with a man in his relationship, and that is the reason why he left home when he was in his early teens, to live a life that he believes that it’s better off for him even it might be disapproved, or rejected by others who are more conservative, and live life in the societal norms and values. Before becoming an actor, the charming young Billy encountered a debonair-looking young man named James “Jammie” Shields, during his trip to New York in 1926, their relationship grew, and finally, they became a lifelong partner and lived together.
Photo source: Pinterest
While juggling between a successful acting career, and managing his relationship, the life of Billy was not an easy one as the stress started to mount due to his sexual orientation which was not widely accepted morally, either by the film industry or by the public back then, especially towards his acting career in the 1930s, which the then-head-of-the-studio of his even urged him to make a choice, either to live in a life of lies to keep his career, or choose to live his honest life however leaving his acting career for good, eventually, Billy chose the latter.
Photo source: Pinterest
Photo source: Pinterest
Life after being a popular movie star has never been easy for Billy either, but he realized that he has another talent on his sleeves, and that is his taste and sensibility for beautiful things; after retiring from the glitzy Hollywood movie world, he branched out to do something about tasteful design, firstly becoming a part-owner of an antique shop, then later, he devoted himself fully into interior decorating. Thanks to his movie-star days, he befriended some of the remarkable actresses of his time, in particular, the late Ms. Joan Crawford, who they met in the movie named “Sally, Irene and Mary” (1925), both Joan and Billy became great friends ever since; the actress even asked him to decorate her own home in considering the exquisite taste and artistic talent that Billy possessed, she also helped to spread the word around to her inner circle, which contributed to the success of Billy’s interior decorating business, and eventually, the formation of William Haines Inc.
There’s one famous quote by Billy that still lingers in my head up to this day, he once said: “I would rather have taste than either love or money”, which attests how significant it is about having sophisticated style and exquisite taste in his work, it also shows how determine and resilient (or some might say how stubborn and naïve that is) he is by not surrendering for mediocrity or the mass-market just to be accepted or to blend-in, such persistence and bravery which makes me admire him even more, besides his remarkable acting skills, charming face, and his impeccable taste of how he dress and groom himself, in my opinion, he almost has all the incredible attributes and qualities of what a refined gentleman should have.
Even though he served in WWII, then returned and underwent a traumatic period of being mobbed and beaten up badly by his neighbor, he still dedicated himself and stayed true to his core value, to carry on his life with compassion, humility, and conviction, alongside his great sense of style, his passion over interior design and beautiful things, which made him one of the most sought-after interior decorator and designer, transforming the living space of his long list of elite and tasteful clients, including the late American socialite, fashion icon and philanthropist, Mrs. Betsy Bloomingdale, into a space that is sophisticated, timelessly chic and intimate, with a touch of Hollywood glamour and modernity, the elegance that resembles his very own style and the kind of gentleman suave back to his silent actor heydays of the 1920s.
With Billy's great sense of style, also his legendary and unapologetic motto about how significant having such a great style means to him, sometimes I wonder what fragrance he used throughout his life besides his impeccable menswear? I tried to look it up online but in vain, yet, feel free to leave a comment if any of you out there do know about it.
Throughout the past years, the more I learnt about William “Billy” Haines, the more I craved to have something solid about him, something that I can physically feel his existence, during the search, I realized that there are a couple of musical performances, and one of that named “The Tailor-made Man”, which portraited the life of Billy back in his Hollywood movie-star era, also, there were two books that published in 1998 and 2005 respectively, and I have an eye particularly on the one that was published by Pointed Leaf Press back in 2005, which is a coffee table book titled “Class Act: William Haines Legendary Hollywood Decorator”, written by Mr. Jean H. Mathison and Mr. Peter Schifando, one as the assistant to Billy and his late designer, Mr. Ted Graber; and the latter as a longtime associate of Graber’s; this precious copy could be the only, and first monograph of Billy’s legendary interior design career, with a collection of rare photographs from his acting days in Hollywood back in the 1920s and 1930s, not only one can take a closer look with a selection of interior design projects that Billy did in the past, plus, the iconic furniture pieces which he designed, including the essential Seniah chair #13, the unique abstract Lucite crystal sconces and so on, but also his private life photos which some of them are rare, besides, this book also take one to experience the exquisite taste of Billy, in particular some of the most significant interior projects and sketches, and understand how thoughtful and meticulous it is about his requirement, including the use of hand-painted and hand-printed wallpapers in elegant art themes and pattern, his precision on the design of the lamp and lamp shields, his sensitivity on using different artistic elements from classic Regency to Chinoiserie, while the result seems effortless and simple however it’s how remarkable it is to understand how much details and effort that Billy has put behind, the elegance of a style-savvy and tasteful gentleman who has high standard to himself and to his own work, who never compromise with mediocrity nor conventional social norms but strives to stand by his own value and belief about what sophisticated style and art of living means to him and his particular client, a true artist that is willing to take a leap of faith, even there’s no guarantee of success nor getting support by anyone, and follow his own heart to do it.
Although this dashing and tasteful interior designer is no longer with us now, by having this rare copy of book, it enables readers to take a closer look at his body of work, as a multi-talented gentleman who’s been through so much to achieve that level of success and recognition, Billy will always be one of the most stylish, handsome and dedicated man, at least in my mind, who is determined and audacious enough to go after what he wants and feels right for himself, making efforts to grow out of himself from the inside out, day after day, having a standard in all aspect of his life, no matter it’s his acting skill, his interior design work, his style and his commitment to his loved one; with these admirable traits, in my opinion, make him one of the finest gent in the world, a truly handsome and stylish gentleman that his beauty shines from inside out, leaving one of the brightest and glamorous trails in the world of interior design even men’s style as our reference and inspiration.
Before wrapping up this blog, I would like to share a documentary about William “Billy” Haines that I recently found online, it was produced back in 2001. Perhaps this will be another way to understand more about Billy’s life — his tasteful interior design work derived from the influence of his golden Hollywood movie days, his passion for sophisticated and beautiful things, and his perseverance as well as resilience to live the life he wanted despite the challenges and hard times that he encountered throughout his lifetime.
Photo source: Pinterest
Photo source: Pinterest