American actor and designer William Haines was BOTD in 1900. Born in Staunton, Virginia, he was an early fan of theatre and cinema. At 14, he ran away from home with his boyfriend, eventually finding work in dance halls and brothels. He moved to New York in 1919, immersing himself in the underground gay culture of Greenwich Village, becoming the paid companion of wealthy older men and women, and sharing an apartment with Orry-Kelly and Cary Grant. Discovered by a talent scout, he went to Hollywood in 1922, and became a star in silent films The Midnight Express and Brown of Harvard. In 1926, he met Jimmie Shields, who became his life partner. By 1930, Haines was the top box-office attraction in America, transitioning effectively from silent film into talkies. In 1933, he was arrested after picking up a sailor at the Los Angeles YMCA. Put under pressure by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer to save his career by entering into a sham marriage, Haines refused, and his contract was terminated. In 1935, he and Shields started a successful interior design business, becoming Hollywood’s most in-demand cushion fluffers, with celebrity clients including Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard, Marion Davies, George Cukor, Jack Warner and Nancy Reagan. Haines and Shields remained together for nearly 50 years, nicknamed by Crawford as “Hollywood’s happiest married couple”. Haines died in 1973, aged 73. Shields committed suicide three months later, leaving a note expressing the impossibility of his living without Haines. They were buried together in Santa Monica.