J. Edgar Hoover assembled the largest collection of pornography in history to meet his insatiable sexual demands, according to a new biography.
The former director of the FBI built up a vast stock of adult films made by Hollywood stars before they were famous which he watched for his own titillation – or to blackmail them.
They included one starring a very young Frank Sinatra made in 1934 he shot when he was a penniless wannabe actor slumming it in New York.
Hoover was also partial to ‘classically erotic lithographs’ depicting men with giant phalluses or full frontal nudes which he hung on his bathroom walls
Among the book’s other revelations are that Hoover and one of his close friends both had sex with a male suspect caught by the FBI – before letting him go and making his case disappear.
Hoover has long been the subject of speculation about his private life, in particular that he was a transvestite and enjoyed a gay relationship with his close friend and FBI associate director Clyde Tolson.
Last year saw the release of the Clint Eastwood biopic J. Edgar starring Leonard Di Caprio, although it avoided the question of whether he was even gay.
The new book by contrast goes much further and delves into the most sordid details of the man who did more to shape the morality of America than any other person.
In J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson: Investigating the Sexual Secrets of America’s Most Famous Men and Women, author Darwin Porter writes that Hoover built up what was considered the biggest porn collection in history.
The material was culled from FBI raids and taken by Hoover for his own personal enjoyment. It was especially controversial because at the time pornography was illegal.
In an interview with MailOnline, Porter said: ‘Hoover was especially interested in collecting copies of ‘blue movies’ made by movie stars before they became famous, Joan Crawford being among the most famous instances of this.
