Freddy Perkins comes to California hoping to become a movie star. Changing his name to Les Banister, he surrenders his principles as he gives into the demands of a casting director to secure his first role. He relinquishes control of his personal life so the studio can build an image of him as the next American heartthrob. This means giving up Russ, his loving and supportive boyfriend, to hide the truth from his fans. He’s gay.<br><br>These sacrifices pay off for the young actor and he becomes a star. But as Les continues to pay the price for fame, he realizes at the height of his success that it’s cost him too dearly. Will he have the courage to take the chance of losing it all to be true to himself?

The Price of Fame

“The part calls for the character to be shirtless a good portion of the time, and you can understand that we’d be interested in making sure the body that’s going to be flashed across the movie screens of the world will command the response we want.”


“If this is about the electrolysis…Sid already talked to me about that,” Les said as he got up, pulling his long-sleeved turtleneck over his head. “I haven’t scheduled it yet, though. I was hoping that maybe I wouldn’t have…”


Orin didn’t seem to be paying attention. He had gotten up from his desk and walked over to the man now standing half naked in front of him. He slowly walked around behind Les. Les could almost feel Orin’s eyes examining him from head to toe. 


“I’m not sure electrolysis will be necessary,” Orin said in a quiet voice.


Chapter 8