In 1930 William Haines was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw - a talented, handsome, wisecracking romantic lead. After leaving acting he went on to become the interior designer to Hollywood's elite - everyone from Carole Lombard and Jack Warner to Nancy Reagan - and to such clients as Ambassador Walter Annenberg, who commissioned him for the American Embassy in London.

Through it all, he never disguised who he was: Off-screen, he was openly gay to reporters and studio chiefs alike, and at his side at all times was his lover, Jimmie Shields. In a world where truth is often distorted in the funhouse mirror of Hollywood, Billy Haines lived a completely authentic life.

Here is William Haines's virtually unknown story - rich in detail, revelations, and scandal. As the political climate in Hollywood changed, Billy refused to go along. He bucked studio pressure to stop carousing and get married, leading to skirmishes with Louis B. Mayer and the police; there was even a violent encounter with gay-bashing white supremacists in 1936.

Here, for the first time, the stories of Hollywood's gay stars are seen in context with their times and with one another, revealing a pattern of intimidation by the studios and, ultimately, the establishment of the Hollywood closet. Alone among his contemporaries - Ramon Novarro, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power - Haines refused to play the game, and so was booted out.

In the end, however, he triumphed: In his new profession of interior design Billy gained Hollywood's abiding respect, and his union with Jimmie Shields lasted nearly fifty years.