Personal Life
Novarro had been troubled all his life as a result of his conflicting views over his Roman Catholic religion and his homosexuality, and his life-long struggle with alcoholism is often traced to these issues. MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer reportedly tried to coerce Novarro into a "lavender marriage", which he refused. He was a friend of adventurer and author Richard Halliburton, also a celebrity in the closet, and was romantically involved with journalist Herbert Howe, who was also his publicist during the late 1920s.
In 1934, Novarro was one of the victims of the "witch hunt" for "reds" in Hollywood. With Dolores del Río, Lupe Vélez and James Cagney, he was accused of promoting communism in California. That happened after these actors attended a special screening of the film Que viva Mexico! by Sergei M. Eisenstein, which copies were claimed by Joseph Stalin from the Soviet Union to be edited.
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