Mimi_milkshake
Member
I’m obsessed with old Hollywood!! The women were so beautiful makes me sad looking at the numptys that are famous now
im parking myself here
im parking myself here
- Notice
Old Hollywood scandals are my jam, I love them. So many stories you think are too weird and incredible to true, yet they actually are true!
One of my favourites coming to mind is the story of Clark Gable and Loretta Young's baby. They had an onset affair (I think he was married at the time, if memory serves), she got pregnant but as a staunch Catholic she didn't want to have an abortion and didn't want to give the child up for adoption either. She left Hollywood for a few months and came back with this tall tale about adopting two infants, but one of the adoptions fell through, so she was just left with little baby Judy. I don't think any Hollywood insiders really believed her, and Judy was teased at school about Gable being her father. She met him twice growing up, but it wasn't until he'd died and she was getting married that Loretta told her the whole truth
One of my favourites coming to mind is the story of Clark Gable and Loretta Young's baby. They had an onset affair (I think he was married at the time, if memory serves), she got pregnant but as a staunch Catholic she didn't want to have an abortion and didn't want to give the child up for adoption either. She left Hollywood for a few months and came back with this tall tale about adopting two infants, but one of the adoptions fell through, so she was just left with little baby Judy. I don't think any Hollywood insiders really believed her, and Judy was teased at school about Gable being her father. She met him twice growing up, but it wasn't until he'd died and she was getting married that Loretta told her the whole truth
Chita
VIP Member
Her husband had a teeny peeny.
He thought she was mocking him about it and kicked her viciously in the stomach.
She suffered internal injuries because of his attack but that wasn't known until she died shortly afterward. She just gritted her teeth and carried on.
Her mother was a 'Christian Science' follower and refused medical treatment for Jean when she became ill and subsequently died.
Also rumours that Joan's daughter wasn't a very nice person ether. So the book is a bit of kettle calling pot black, allegedly.
Frank Sinatra allegedly had a HUGE willy.
Ava allegedly found him a bore and much preferred Spanish men. She had a taste for a famous Matador in particular.
Frank was once found with his head in a gas oven because he was heartbroken that Ava didn't want him anymore.
Lana Turner had a violent husband [Johnny Stompanato] and he was stabbed to death in their home.
Lana's daughter confessed to killing him, but many people believed it was Lana who was guilty. Protecting her daughter from him.
These are all from memory, by the way.
My fave stories.
Oh yes and the rumour about Kirk Douglas was allegedly started by someone trying to discredit him.
Lots of people in Hollywood were blacklisted by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. They were accused of being Communists. Some were.
Most weren't.
There followed a long period of unemployment for hundreds of talented people.
By this time, Kirk Douglas had risen up the pecking order [when he was a budding actor, he was starving and living on the breadline and the young Lauren Bacall bought him a warm winter coat out of her wages earned from modelling.]
He never forgot his impoverished beginnings and discreetly helped a lot of blacklisted people by giving them money.
He also had some clout in the studio system and could pick writers/directors. Even though he could have been blacklisted himself for aiding and abetting [suspected] Comminists, he gave them work on his movies under assumed names until their names were cleared.
Same with Frank Sinatra. He had this bad guy image, but he discreetly paid thousands of dollars over the years to pay the medical bills of other actors/actresses who had fallen on hard times.
My favourite Old Hollywood story is one I use whenever anyone I know is feeling depressed or suicidal.
I use it to try and make them understand that the depression will pass and that the situation will get better.
There was a young actress named Peg Entwhistle. She was British and had enjoyed some success on a small scale and went over to Hollywood to try her hand at making the big-time.
She had little success, and after a while of trying to get movie work, her money was running out.
The chance of a major role came her way. Finally, her Agent got her an audition for a part in a movie that would change her life.
Days passed.
No call from the Agent about the audition and no other work came her way.
She waited and waited. No call came.
She felt desperate.
She felt like a failure.
She couldn't afford to go home to England.
And she couldn't see any way out of her situation.
She made her way up to the famous Hollywood sign in the hills and jumped to her death.
Her Agent was calling and calling her phone to tell her she had been given the movie role.
So, no matter how bad things appear, just be patient, don't do a Peg Entwhistle.
It will get better.
A great story for everyone who is interested in Old Hollywood is the ongoing feud between Joan Fontaine and Olivia De Havilland.
Talk about competitive siblings!!!!!
Their strained relationship is on a par with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.
Makes for great reading.
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FrostyChops
VIP Member
Ooooh great thread.
Probably well known but one of Agatha Christie's books - The Mirror Crack'd - is based on Gene Tierney. She had contact with a fan who had measles whilst she was pregnant. The child had disabilities and was put into care. Gene had a break down as a result. She was incredibly beautiful.
Probably well known but one of Agatha Christie's books - The Mirror Crack'd - is based on Gene Tierney. She had contact with a fan who had measles whilst she was pregnant. The child had disabilities and was put into care. Gene had a break down as a result. She was incredibly beautiful.
JoanieDee
Member
Inspired by this article I read recently:
www.thedelite.com
Old Hollywood was so messed up and there are so many bizarre and scary rumours and stories.
All the stars being fuelled on pep pills to keep up with the gruelling schedules, affairs, abuse, potential murders, the list goes on.
Please discuss...
The Biggest Scandals Of Old Hollywood
Elizabeth Taylor Had An Affair With Debbie Reynolds’ Husband The media labeled Elizabeth Taylor a “homewrecker” when she started dating her close friend Debbie Reynolds’ husband, Eddie Fisher, shortly after her own third husband, Mike Todd, died in a plane crash. “I was the last to find out...
www.thedelite.com
Old Hollywood was so messed up and there are so many bizarre and scary rumours and stories.
All the stars being fuelled on pep pills to keep up with the gruelling schedules, affairs, abuse, potential murders, the list goes on.
Please discuss...
Chita
VIP Member
This account makes more sense - stupid phone wouldnt let me copy and paste so had to screenshot it.
Its the costumes that I love most.I’m obsessed with old Hollywood!! The women were so beautiful makes me sad looking at the numptys that are famous now
im parking myself here
The gowns. The skirt suits.
And how the costume teams knew how to dress the women for their body shapes.
Apparently Crawford's shoulders were really big anyway and the shoulder pad idea was born from them trying to deal with her athletic shape.
They couldnt make her shoulders smaller but they could make everyone elses look bigger.
And Stanwyck had a short torso so they created clothes with a 'waistband' that sat higher up to give the illusion of a longer middle section.
The Wardrobe people are as interesting as the Stars they dressed.
Jelly Bean
VIP Member
I always think Marilyn looked at her loveliest in these beach photos, by photographer George Barras.
FrostyChops
VIP Member
MGM turned Judy Garland into a drug addict. They wanted her to stay childlike so she had diet drugs and l believe puberty delaying drugs. Those interrupted her sleep so she had sleepy drugs...then they couldn't keep her awake, enter uppers. It's unbelievable they got way with doing that to a child.
DCICassieStuart
VIP Member
She was stunningly beautiful.
Jelly Bean
VIP Member
These are the platforms Humphrey Bogart had to wear on his shoes during Casablanca, as the height difference between him and Ingrid Bergmann was so great.
FenellaTheWitch
VIP Member
I think it was David Emanuel who posted something recently which made me sad. He said 'that that dress belonged to Marilyn. KK was the absolute wrong shape for it and that at one time it only had MM DNA on it. Now it will have KK's.' ... he is 100% right. Appalling decision.
Mojojojo67
Active member
I loved the glamour of the era too. In films (and in real life) when STARS (and they were real Stars as opposed to nowadays) went to lunch it was suits, hats and gloves and out for dinner - full evening dress! Can't imagine that in your local Harvester can you?
Jelly Bean
VIP Member
Great thread!
I'm sure this is known but Hedy Lamarr was super clever. Had a part in torpedo technology during the war. Also when she was with Howard Hughes she had worked with him on aeronautical stuff (sorry for vagueness - I read what she did but it is beyond me). She has also been credited with contributing to bluetooth technology.
Frank Sinatra was a strange one. Incredibly kind, loyal and generous. Numerous accounts of helping stars when they had fallen on bad times - he paid for all of Judy Garland's medical bills - but on the other hand a completely ruthless bastard who would cut people off for really minor things.
I'm sure this is known but Hedy Lamarr was super clever. Had a part in torpedo technology during the war. Also when she was with Howard Hughes she had worked with him on aeronautical stuff (sorry for vagueness - I read what she did but it is beyond me). She has also been credited with contributing to bluetooth technology.
Frank Sinatra was a strange one. Incredibly kind, loyal and generous. Numerous accounts of helping stars when they had fallen on bad times - he paid for all of Judy Garland's medical bills - but on the other hand a completely ruthless bastard who would cut people off for really minor things.
NineTails20
Chatty Member
Not sure if anyone remembers an actress from the 30's named Thelma Todd. She was famous as a comedic actress, who'd starred in 'Monkey Business' and 'Horse Feathers' with the Marx Brothers. She'd also been part of an attempt to make a female version of Laurel and Hardy with another actress, ZaSu Pitts. Overall, she was one of Old Hollywood's brightest comedy stars.
Her personal life was......um....colourful. She'd been in a relationship with a man named Roland West, a director. They'd worked together on a movie, 'Corsair', in 1931. Allegedly, the relationship was volatile, with allegations of Roland being possessive and controlling. Her ex husband was Pat Di Ciccio, who was an agent, but also had links to mobster and was violent to Thelma. She divorced him after one beating too many.
Then there was the infamous Lucky Luciano, the mobster. That relationship involved beatings and Lucky getting her hooked on amphetamines. He wanted to open a casino in the rooms over her successful restaurant, 'Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café'. Thelma was having none of it.
I've taken the next section from the fabulous 'Find A Death' directory(run by Graham Norton's ex, Scott Michaels):
'On Saturday, December 14th 1935, Thelma was driven to a party, at which she was guest-of-honor at the Cafe Trocadero at 8610 Sunset Blvd. You can still (apparently) see the three entrance steps at the south-east corner of Sunset Blvd and Sunset Plaza. Roland West had told her to be in by 2 am or he would lock her out. The hosts were British music-hall comedian, Stanley Lupino, and his actress daughter, Ida, a close friend, who had agreed to a request by DiCicco that he be seated next Thelma at dinner.
[N.B.: From now on no two accounts agree on exact times].
DiCicco, however, arrived with actress, Margaret Lindsay, as his date and joined another group instead, leading to a brief spat in which Thelma accused DiCicco of deliberately humiliating her. Just after midnight, DiCicco made a phone call from the lobby and left an hour later with Lindsay. Thelma proceeded to get drunk, and confided to Ida that she was seeing a wealthy San Francisco businessman.
As promised, West locked the door to the apartment at 2 am. Thelma left the Cafe Trocadero about forty-five minutes later, promising to see the guests at a party later that afternoon at the home of Mrs Wallace Reid. She was driven away by chauffeur, Ernest Peters, in a Lincoln Phaeton touring car. They arrived at the doors of the Sidewalk Cafe between 3.15 am and 3.30, depending on accounts, and Thelma refused Peters’ usual service of walking her up the steps that led to the apartment entrance.
Some accounts have Peters seeing a brown Packard with its lights off, parked or approaching, before he left.
West claimed that during the early hours of the morning he heard water running in the apartment, but later said that it might have just been the coolers in the bar below.
At 9.30 a.m. a druggist claims that Thelma came in and asked him to make a call for her but that she then disappeared. That afternoon, several witnesses claimed to have seen her driving with a dark-haired man. Mrs. Wallace Reid claims that at around 4.30 pm, Thelma called her, using the nickname ‘Hot Toddy’ that she herself had coined, apologizing for being late but promising to surprise her with a mystery guest.
In the morning of Monday, 16th December the maid, May Whitehead, came to clean the apartment above the Café. At 10:30 am she climbed the staircase to the garage, where she found Thelma slumped dead at the wheel of her Packard convertible.
The ignition was on, but the engine not running (the car was not “still spewing a noxious fog of carbon monoxide” as some accounts relate) and the door of the garage had been partially open. There were two gallons of fuel inside the car, and a smudged handprint on the door. She was only 29.
Thelma was still gussied up in her Saturday night outfit of silk and tulle dress, mink coat and diamond jewelry. Her high-heeled sandals were perfectly clean, although when a policewoman of similar build later attempted to climb the steps up from the Highway, her sandals were dirty. Her lip was bruised, her face streaked with blood, her nose broken and a dental filling dislodged, but her make-up, unsmudged. Her fingernails were undamaged, indicating a lack of struggle. Her blood revealed a level of alcohol inconsistent with her having been able to do much at all. One account says a .13 blood alcohol reading, and a 75-80% carbon monoxide saturation. There were beans and peas in her stomach, although none had been served at Ida Lupino’s dinner.
L.A. County Surgeon fixed the time of death at between 5 and 8 am on Sunday morning, and explained the blood by suggesting that Thelma had struck the wheel with her head. The inquest threw up a number of theories. One, because she was locked out, Thelma had turned on the engine to keep warm and fallen asleep; however, maid May Whitehead stated that she had given Thelma her key and it had been found in her handbag. West stated that frequently Thelma had woken him up by throwing stones or smashing a window, and after all, the door was open. Another, having decided to go out again, she turned on the motor, passed out, and suffocated. The Cashier at the café slept in a room above the garage and had heard nothing. The Coroner’s report runs to over 100 pages.'
Surprisingly, given Thelma's injuries, a verdict of suicide was returned, and the case was closed. There are several suspects, but all are now dead.
They were:
Roland West, Thelma's ex
Pat Di Ciccio, Thelma's ex husband
Jewel Carmen, Roland West's ex wife and part owner of Thelma's restaurant
Lucky Luciano, her lover at the time she died..........
And then there's Stan Laurel. But that's a whole other post.
Her personal life was......um....colourful. She'd been in a relationship with a man named Roland West, a director. They'd worked together on a movie, 'Corsair', in 1931. Allegedly, the relationship was volatile, with allegations of Roland being possessive and controlling. Her ex husband was Pat Di Ciccio, who was an agent, but also had links to mobster and was violent to Thelma. She divorced him after one beating too many.
Then there was the infamous Lucky Luciano, the mobster. That relationship involved beatings and Lucky getting her hooked on amphetamines. He wanted to open a casino in the rooms over her successful restaurant, 'Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café'. Thelma was having none of it.
I've taken the next section from the fabulous 'Find A Death' directory(run by Graham Norton's ex, Scott Michaels):
'On Saturday, December 14th 1935, Thelma was driven to a party, at which she was guest-of-honor at the Cafe Trocadero at 8610 Sunset Blvd. You can still (apparently) see the three entrance steps at the south-east corner of Sunset Blvd and Sunset Plaza. Roland West had told her to be in by 2 am or he would lock her out. The hosts were British music-hall comedian, Stanley Lupino, and his actress daughter, Ida, a close friend, who had agreed to a request by DiCicco that he be seated next Thelma at dinner.
[N.B.: From now on no two accounts agree on exact times].
DiCicco, however, arrived with actress, Margaret Lindsay, as his date and joined another group instead, leading to a brief spat in which Thelma accused DiCicco of deliberately humiliating her. Just after midnight, DiCicco made a phone call from the lobby and left an hour later with Lindsay. Thelma proceeded to get drunk, and confided to Ida that she was seeing a wealthy San Francisco businessman.
As promised, West locked the door to the apartment at 2 am. Thelma left the Cafe Trocadero about forty-five minutes later, promising to see the guests at a party later that afternoon at the home of Mrs Wallace Reid. She was driven away by chauffeur, Ernest Peters, in a Lincoln Phaeton touring car. They arrived at the doors of the Sidewalk Cafe between 3.15 am and 3.30, depending on accounts, and Thelma refused Peters’ usual service of walking her up the steps that led to the apartment entrance.
Some accounts have Peters seeing a brown Packard with its lights off, parked or approaching, before he left.
West claimed that during the early hours of the morning he heard water running in the apartment, but later said that it might have just been the coolers in the bar below.
At 9.30 a.m. a druggist claims that Thelma came in and asked him to make a call for her but that she then disappeared. That afternoon, several witnesses claimed to have seen her driving with a dark-haired man. Mrs. Wallace Reid claims that at around 4.30 pm, Thelma called her, using the nickname ‘Hot Toddy’ that she herself had coined, apologizing for being late but promising to surprise her with a mystery guest.
In the morning of Monday, 16th December the maid, May Whitehead, came to clean the apartment above the Café. At 10:30 am she climbed the staircase to the garage, where she found Thelma slumped dead at the wheel of her Packard convertible.
The ignition was on, but the engine not running (the car was not “still spewing a noxious fog of carbon monoxide” as some accounts relate) and the door of the garage had been partially open. There were two gallons of fuel inside the car, and a smudged handprint on the door. She was only 29.
Thelma was still gussied up in her Saturday night outfit of silk and tulle dress, mink coat and diamond jewelry. Her high-heeled sandals were perfectly clean, although when a policewoman of similar build later attempted to climb the steps up from the Highway, her sandals were dirty. Her lip was bruised, her face streaked with blood, her nose broken and a dental filling dislodged, but her make-up, unsmudged. Her fingernails were undamaged, indicating a lack of struggle. Her blood revealed a level of alcohol inconsistent with her having been able to do much at all. One account says a .13 blood alcohol reading, and a 75-80% carbon monoxide saturation. There were beans and peas in her stomach, although none had been served at Ida Lupino’s dinner.
L.A. County Surgeon fixed the time of death at between 5 and 8 am on Sunday morning, and explained the blood by suggesting that Thelma had struck the wheel with her head. The inquest threw up a number of theories. One, because she was locked out, Thelma had turned on the engine to keep warm and fallen asleep; however, maid May Whitehead stated that she had given Thelma her key and it had been found in her handbag. West stated that frequently Thelma had woken him up by throwing stones or smashing a window, and after all, the door was open. Another, having decided to go out again, she turned on the motor, passed out, and suffocated. The Cashier at the café slept in a room above the garage and had heard nothing. The Coroner’s report runs to over 100 pages.'
Surprisingly, given Thelma's injuries, a verdict of suicide was returned, and the case was closed. There are several suspects, but all are now dead.
They were:
Roland West, Thelma's ex
Pat Di Ciccio, Thelma's ex husband
Jewel Carmen, Roland West's ex wife and part owner of Thelma's restaurant
Lucky Luciano, her lover at the time she died..........
And then there's Stan Laurel. But that's a whole other post.
Thelma Todd - Celebrity Deaths: Findadeath
Pictures and information related to the deceased Thelma Todd. Dearly Departed Tours and Celebrity Deaths: Findadeath.
findadeath.com
Reverend
VIP Member
Sinatra paid all of Sammy Davis Jr. medical bills and paid for the funeral, as Sammy had lost all his money. Apparently, he also supported Sammy's widow financially.
NOID-phal
VIP Member
Tallulah was at a wedding, as the bride and groom walked down the aisle, she said "I've had them both, they were lousy"Ladies and gents, may I introduce Tallulah Bankhead. She was a wild child before the term was even coined.
She was bisexual and proud of it way back in the 30's and 40's, and wasn't shy about declaring her love of sex. Once gave an interview in 1932 where she said "I'm serious about love. I'm damned serious about it now ... I haven't had an affair for six months. Six months! Too long ... If there's anything the matter with me now, it's not Hollywood or Hollywood's state of mind ... The matter with me is, I WANT A MAN! ... Six months is a long, long while. I WANT A MAN!"
Had an emergency hysterectomy in 1933 due to venereal disease. When she left the hospital, weighing barely 5st, she defiantly yelled at her doctor "Don't think this is going to stop me!"
Among her alleged lovers were Rex Whistler, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Hattie McDaniels.
Tallulah Bankhead - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
shellie
VIP Member
She seemingly had mad parties that everyone loved attending. There was a Roman party where everyone had to wear togas, a 'Hillbilly' theme where she had animals everywhere and the waiting staff were dressed in farm overalls. Once, she even had a hospital-themed event not long after she recovered from the flu where guests were brought to the event in ambulances dressed as doctors and nurses and bedpans were used as plates.
I'm gonna go off on one now so I apologise and feel free to ignore but I have such a soft spot for Carole and even now with all we know, whenever she is talked about, she is often introduced as the wife of Clark even though she had a brilliant career before she even met him and wasn't the 'lucky duck' many thought she was because she had managed to catch him and get his wrong on her finger. Like with Bacall & Bogart of Hepburn & Tracy, the truth was a lot different to what many believed and since this is a thread for old Hollywood and gossip then I figure it's a good place to moan lol.
Carole grew up with brothers and their friends so had quite a mouth on her unlike many other actresses of the time and some said she could even make a docker blush with the kind of stuff she came out with which fittingly earned her the nickname Profane Angel. Years before she got with Clark, they appeared in their only film together called No Man Of Her Own. She always gave other actors presents at the end of filming and her present to Clark was a huge ham with his face on it as she saw him as stuffy and needing to chill out.
They were so opposite that when it was found out they were together, it surprised many. He was a Republican who looked down on most saying you should make your own way in the world which was hilarious considering he was only where he got to because he had married two older wealthy women who paid to sculpt him into the 'King' he became. Carole on the other hand was a Democrat who came from a well-off family but took after her mother who taught her that if you can help someone then you should. There were many stories about her giving people money and help over the years and asking for nothing in return. She was the one who had the change her ways rather than them both doing it...an example is, when they got together, the parties she threw tapered off until they stopped altogether as he was never keen. She also learnt how to fish, hunt and do other things so she would have something in common with him and she did end up enjoying and becoming good at it but he gave very little back to her.
I think he did love her but not even for Carole could he stop the cheating she knew this and put up with it for the most part but on occasion when she heard he was getting too close to another woman and it was becoming more than just casual sex, she would get involved and put her foot down and on occasion even appeared on the sets and made it clear she knew and it was going to stop. Even the trip she was on when she died was down to them getting into an argument and him walking out and refusing to talk to her. Not wanting to let them down, she decided to go instead and for the majority of the trip tried to get in touch but he continued to ignore her and when she heard he was carrying on with Lana Turner on set, she figured out why all the arguments and silences were about before she left as this had happened before and did all she could to get back to LA and well we all know how that turned out...
The pictures of him at the bottom of the mountain where she and the others perished and at the funeral were likely because he was heartbroken but they were also because he was full of guilt knowing the only reason Carole, her mother and his agent and friend Otto were on the plane was because of him. More than likely, if she had survived, they would have split and gone their own ways. Nostalgics say they were the loves of each other's lives but that was never really true. Carole's real love was the singer Russ Columbo who had died years in a gun accident and after his death, she said if he had lived, they would have married and for Clark, it was always Joan Crawford but they were too alike to be together properly but carried on their thing on and off until he died in 1960.
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LaBlonde
VIP Member
same! they’re my favourite photos of her:
she looks so content in them (or sort of happy in her skin at least), which she rarely did elsewhere.