Samson De Brier
(March 18, 1909 – April 1, 1995)
Born arthur jasmine in China, De Brier grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He was rumoured (very likely by himself) to have been the bastard off-spring of the King of Bavaria.
The Jasmines moved to Atlantic City when Arthur was a very young child. According, once again, to the very sketchy providence of legend, his father was a corrupt politician in Atlantic City who was eventually stabbed by a jealous mistress. Fleeing the scandal, the Jasmines washed up in Los Angeles, where Arthur enjoyed a brief and undistinguished career as a child/teen movie star, appearing in 22 films between 1915 and 1925.
In 1922, he was given a bit part in the silent film Salomé.
Salome, 1922- There is a long standing rumor, which seems to have started while the film was still in production and has been asserted by chronicler of Hollywood decadence Kenneth Anger, that the film's cast is composed entirely of gay or bisexual actors in an homage to Oscar Wilde, as per star and producer Alla Nazimova's demand. It is, of course, impossible to say, but one of the extras in Salomé reported that a number of the cast members—both featured and extras—were indeed gay.
Nazimova herself was usually thought of as a lesbian (despite occasional flings with men including Paul Ivano), the two guard characters (who, next to Salomé, have the most screen time) are at least played very stereotypically gay, and several of the female courtiers are men in drag.
De Brier also visited Paris as a teenager, and claimed to have met André Gide and Gertrude Stein, among others. He later claimed to have been a lover of Gide, but this has not been substantiated.
André Gide 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951)
was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947).
He befriended Oscar Wilde in Paris, and in 1895 Gide and Wilde met in Algiers. Wilde had the impression that he had introduced Gide to homosexuality, but, in fact, Gide had already discovered this on his own.
In his journal, Gide distinguishes between adult-attracted "sodomites" and boy-loving "pederasts", categorizing himself as the latter.
L'immoraliste – (The Immoralist) - 1902 - The story of a man, Michel, who travels through Europe and North Africa, attempting to transcend the limitations of conventional morality by surrendering to his appetites (including his attraction to young Arab boys), while neglecting his wife Marceline, who has a terminal illness.
The Immoralist is a play 1954- adapted from the novel by André Gide by Augustus and Ruth Goetz.
The original production starred Louis Jourdan, Geraldine Page,, and stage debut of a young unknown actor- - James Dean..
Samson De Brier moved to Los Angeles in 1941.
In the fifties he began hosting a regular salon at his Barton Avenue home in weho. 6026 Barton Ave.
It flourished for many years and was frequented by artists, writers, actors, filmmakers, and occultists. Visitors were attracted by De Brier's knowledge of the occult, and Hollywood lore, and his collections of movie memorabilia and objets d'art.
Among those who attended De Brier's salon were author Anaïs Nin, actors Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper, Steve McQueen, Jane Fonda, Richard Burton and James Dean. filmmakers Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington, (director- Who Slew Auntie Roo,1971, Whats The Matter With Helen?, 1971), Stanley Kubrick, Paul Mazursky, and legendary writer Dorothy Parker. the composer Igor Stravinsky,
and occultists Jack Parsons, Marjorie Cameron, Anton LaVey and L. Ron Hubbard.
In 1954 De Brier played several roles, including the principal role, in Anger's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, which was filmed at his home. Harrington, Nin and Cameron also appeared in the film.
Samson De Brier passed away in 1995, having lived at 6026 Barton for fifty years.
The property went on sale in autumn 2007, described as “the former home of infamous celebrity warlock, and a “relic from Hollywood’s pre-hippy freak show days.”
His papers are housed at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
at the University of Southern California Libraries.
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