Background
Hunter was born in New York to Charles Kelm and Gertrude Gelien. His parents were German immigrants - his father Jewish and his mother Lutheran. Hunter's father was an abusive man and within a few years of his birth, his parents divorced and his mother moved with her two sons to California. She reassumed her maiden surname Gelien and changed her sons' name to that as well. As a teenager Hunter was a figure skater, competing in both singles and pairs, and a horseback rider.
He joined the Coast Guard at the age of fifteen, lying about his age to enlist. While in the Coast Guard he gained the nickname "Hollywood" for his penchant for watching movies rather than going to bars while on liberty.
In later years Hunter's mother was institutionalized and underwent shock treatments, and he supported her financially until her death.
Read more about this topic: Tab Hunter
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