Jerrold “Jerry” Asher (July 2, 1903 - July 2, 1967) was a long-time motion
picture publicist and freelance magazine writer.Queer Places:
6650 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Home of Peace Memorial Park
East Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Jerrold “Jerry” Asher (July 2, 1903 - July 2, 1967) was a long-time motion
picture publicist and freelance magazine writer.
Joan Crawford met Jerry Asher at MGM, where he was a gofer and office boy. He was obviously gay, and he brought out Joan's maternal insticts. She was instrumental in getting Howard Strickling, head of MGM's publicity department, to hire Asher as a press agent. Joan frequently invited Asher to her home, and the two became extremely close. Joan was perhaps more indicreet with him than with any other person in those days. When Asher, who died in 1967, told these stories about Joan, he wasn't trying to be nasty, he simply saw nothing wrong in Joan's involvements, homosexual or otherwise. Rather, he found her various sexual entanglements too fascinating to withhold from people he knew were sophisticated enough to deal with them. Also, this was during the 1920s and 30s, before the production code inflicted a more conservative morality on Hollywood. Knowing Asher's own orientation, Joan introduced him to William Haines, and she felt safe in talking about her occasional indiscretions with her own sex, which she never took very seriously. "Joan's main interest was men," Jerry often remarked. If one were to try to place Joan on Kinsey's Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, she would probably rate about a 2.
Jerry Asher was found dead slumped over his typewriter. He had been suffering from a heart condition for some time, but lately he seemed much better. He was one of the nicest guys in the business, liked and respected by everyone. He numbered many top-stars as close friends.
My published books:
