After I was fired from Disney, I did some of the worst movies ever made.
Disney was a family film studio. I was supposed to be their young, leading man. After they found out I was involved with someone, that was the end of Disney.
Eventually I became involved with somebody, and I was fired.
I had some brief, very passionate encounters. As a teenager I had some affairs, but they were always stolen, back-alley kind of things. They were desperate and miserable.
I knew I was gay, but I had no outlet for my feelings. It was very hard to meet people and, at that time, there was no place to go to socialize.
I said, to hell with the whole thing, to hell with show business. I'm gonna make a new life for myself, and I got off drugs, completely kicked all that stuff.
I started my own little carpet and upholstery cleaning business. I've done it for 20 years. I live well.
I want to be remembered for Swiss Family Robinson and Old Yeller. I think Swiss is probably my favorite film.
I wound up completely broke. I had no self-discipline and I almost died of a drug overdose a couple of times. It's a miracle that I'm still around.
I'm not ashamed of being gay, never have been and never will be. For that I have no apologies.
It wasn't until the early '60s that I began to hear of places where gays congregated. The lifestyle was not recognized and I was very, very lonely.
When I was about 17 or 18, I finally admitted to myself that I wasn't going to change. I didn't know what the consequences would be, but I had the definite feeling that it was going to wreck my Disney career.
I danced with passion to spite the music.
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