Old Hollywood gossip & stories

[Lumpyspaceprincess]

The Joan thing is complex. My mother in law was horrid, if you asked my brother in law he probably would agree, he certainly agreed. My husband said she was the greatest mum ever (she REALLY wasn’t). You need neutral person to confirm someone’s behaviour.

 

[Misbehaving]

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

Recently though there has been allegations that Clark gable raped Loretta young from what i have read she felt humiliated because of this?

 

[Clovis]

That sad story became the plot device of an Agatha Christie novel, The Mirror Crack'd.

 

[NineTails20]

Wasn’t there a John Wayne films that was filmed on a nuclear testing site and loads of people developed cancer as a result ?

Yep, Agnes Moorehead (Endora from 'Bewitched') was one of them. She died of cancer of the uterus in 1974.

 

[KatLit]

California generally is very varied, so it standing in for all sorts of locations isn't a surprise.

The house in the original Halloween movie was owned by my husband's business partner, chosen because it looked New England ish

 

[cee-bee]

He got periodontitis at some point when he was younger and eventually had to have all his teeth removed and replaced by dentures. That's seemingly why his breath stank. He seemingly thought it was hilarious.
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This was another couple where for so long, it was claimed they were soul mates but as time passed, it came out he had bits on the side, one of them being a MUA. Like many wives, Lauren knew but turned a blind eye. She did get together with Sinatra after Bogey died and according to her bio, they were a proper couple and he did propose but after the news became public (Betty swears she said nothing but Luella Parsons the gossip columnist who posted it said she did) he got mad and dumped her. Reportedly when Ava Gardner asked if it was true, he said 'He was never gonna marry that pushy broad' and made it look like she was gunning for the engagement and he had never wanted it.

Lauren was stunning and so talented. She deserved better than being married to a man who groomed her right out of her teens.

she never seemed to have realised what an asshat he was either. In her memoirs he threw a hissy fit when she told him she was pregnant because he didn’t want to “lose her” to a baby.

instead of being supportive of his young, vulnerable wife he instead focussed entirely on himself and his own feelings. What a prat. I don’t think Lauren ever really questioned that behaviour as a bit toxic. In her memoirs she almost seems touched by it, seeing it as a sign of his devotion to her instead of pure selfishness. Sad but not uncommon for women of that generation who were conditioned that way. Her former manager, the producer Howard Hawks, didn’t like the fact that bogart took on a type of “mentor” role in their first movie together and said that “Bogie fell in love with the character [lauren] played, so she had to keep playing it the rest of her life."

It’s especially sad when Lauren mentions having a crush on someone else - she never got to explore than or enjoy her youth because she was married whilst barely into adulthood. it’s gross that Bogart basically scared her off pursuing anything with this man, because she’s just be a fling - all while having a long term mistress himself. It’s so sad that Lauren knew if she did try and explore, he’d have left her. The double standard is appalling.

And then of course she became his nurse, then widow and single mother, all in her early 30s.

I was pregnant - and Bogie was just livid, by LAUREN BACALL

Lauren Bacall (pictured with her husband Humphrey Bogart) recalls the couple's deep love for one another and Bogart's heartbreaking death from cancer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

bogart did her dirty and I’ve never thought of them as being much of a romantic or aspirational relationship.

 

[D.W's Library Card]

I've been reading the memoir of Hedda Hopper recently, Hollywood's original gossip girl.

My god it's juicy, I'm absolutely loving it. Highly recommend.
Full chapters on Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and the rest... It's called The Whole Truth and Nothing But.

 

[D.W's Library Card]

If it counts for anything, I've read that James Cagney remained faithful to his wife throughout his career. Which they seem to make a big deal out of.

Lauren Bacall is also responsible for coining the term "Rat Pack" as she walked in on Bogie and the rest having a particularly heavy night of drinking.
She apparently made the comment "You look like a damn Rat Pack".

 

[CallMeHollywood]

Ripleys have got a lot to answer for lending that dress out. They saw the dollar signs and didn’t think twice about “scraping” KK and her enormous bottom into such a delicate garment. I hope it doesn’t start a trend.

 

[Clovis]

Talking Pictures has become my absolute favourite TV channel. So many classic British and Hollywood films, Leave Her to Heaven was on the other day. A truly jaw-dropping film that has to be seen to be believed.

 

[LaBlonde]

a lovely watch for my fellow musical fans



he sings it beautifully; i wonder why they chose to dub him in the film (though i know he’s also not the first actor that happened to).

on a side note: captain von trapp

 

[NineTails20]

Tell me more about the Stan Laurel thing!
Ps I’m glad I found another Find a Death fan!

Here is a lovely photo of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard the night they met, playing tennis at a party.

The rumour goes that Thelma was having an affair with Stan Laurel. However, Stan was still married to his first wife, Lois Neilson, but was divorcing her. He was also seeing Virginia Ruth Rogers, and had proposed to her. Thelma then began seeing Roland West. Stan, allegedly, was not happy about this. Thelma was also pissed off at Stan because he'd been stringing her along, and she threatened to tell Virginia about their affair. Stan had also allegedly said he'd marry Thelma.

The night Thelma died, she told Stan that she was going to tell Virginia all about them. Stan was incensed.

Thelma paid Virginia a visit, but was met by Stan, who refused to let her in. Thelma then left.

Meanwhile, Stan drove to where Thelma was living, over her restaurant(with Roland West in the adjoining apartment), and waited for her by sneaking in through a side door in the garage. When Thelma arrived home, Stan then strangled her with a pair of tights, turned the ignition on, and left.


None of this can be conclusively proven, though, so it's all a matter of conjecture.

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

This is great one to follow on twitter for old Hollywood photos and stuff ....

 

[Lalla]

Add Clark Gable to the Republican list. Carole Lombard however was a huge Democrat. There is a funny story about her making Mr & Mrs Smith in 1941. The director was a huge Republican and seemingly during breaks, she would run out to the carpark and put stickers on the director's car promoting the re-election of FDR. She was seemingly a gas and her nickname was the Profane Angel as she swore like a trooper. Many were surprised she got with Clark as he always went around with a stick up his ass and she had themed parties including one where she arrived in the back of an ambulance and drinks were served in bedpans.

As for John Wayne, he got on my bloody nerves. Even with proof of his racism, there are still some who are adamant he didn't say it because they grew up idolising him, my dad included.

Carole Lombard is one of my favourite actresses from that period. Feels like she deserved better than Gable.

 

[Also_smoke_and_mirrors]

It's nuts the obsession some Americans have with being Irish, all while thinking we're some cute backwards nation, and acting like they're here to save our economy with their dad jeans when they visit as tourists. If you're born in American you're American, possible with irish ancestors. I did love being told while in America that I couldn't be Irish as my name wasn't an Irish name, whereas their name was....and so they were Irish.

Americans seem to fall into one of two categories, Irish or Italian, when really they are neither.

 

[CherryAcid]

The whole studio system fascinates me, it really did seem a period where anyone could be a star. I totally get why people dropped everything to go to Hollywood.
I'm a saddo and google map famous houses and imagine what it would be like to live there. It's not really old Hollywood in the same context but is anyone else into the history of Laurel Canyon and all the musicians of the 60s/70s making amazing music there?

 

[Jelly Bean]

Jack Lemmon on the set of Some Like it Hot, 1958.
Apparently one reason Billy Wilder opted for black and white was the makeup on Jack and Tony Curtis was so heavy it looked garish in colour. Looks like he had a point

 

[Miss Taken]

Bars are now fitted to trucks in the States to prevent cars going under if they run into the back of the truck.. They are known as Mansfield bars because they were introduced as a direct result of Jayne Manfeild's tragic death.

 

[Belulah]

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

Do you listen to “You Must Remember This” there’s an episode of CG focusing on him and Carole Lombard and one on Loretta Young.

 

[thegirlscout]

Yeah, it's called On Reflection. This is an extract from the autobiography talking about Joan which I was surprised to see on a Joan site as it didn't exactly paint a great picture of her.

No title

Inserts a blank document layout with no defined style.

www.joancrawfordbest.com

This is where I got the quote from.

I'll never forgive Mommie: Joan Crawford's daughter gives first interview in 10 years

In 1978 Christina Crawford exposed her filmstar mother Joan as a cruel, abusive alcoholic in the memoir Mommie Dearest. On the book’s reissue, she gives her first interview in a decade to Elizabeth Day

www.theguardian.com

Thank you for the links!
I know people disbelieve Christina and to be fair I haven’t properly looked into their relationships a great deal. But I do sympathise with her - to the outside world her Mother was wonderful but at home she was a terror. It was a similar story with my father. When he died I had so many people tell me he was wonderful, he was humorous, a good friend, etc and I haven’t been able to reconcile their version of my father with my experiences. The man who was a great friend was also the same man who terrified his children? It makes no sense!
As for her younger siblings saying that Christina lied, I’m wondering if it was to do with their age difference (she says they weren’t even born when she was adopted) and their temperament.