We often think of old Hollywood and its stars as squeaky clean and pure. It was a more innocent time especially when it came to films and entertainment, with most all films being G-rated and family friendly. Any scandal would have been swept under the carpet and held from the news to protect the image of the pure and innocent celebrities that we came to love. People back then had a much nicer, much more innocent veneer than today’s stars do. Of course, there was no internet and social media and any news stories took days to hit the papers, so that made it much easier to hide it away. But we're in a different era now, and many stars, family members, cast mates, and Hollywood bigwigs are coming forward to show the world what was actually hiding behind the curtains.
Scarily Sordid Old Hollywood Scandals That Everyone Forgot About
#1 Alfred Hitchcock Was A Sadistic Director Who Tortured His Female Leads
Tippi Hedren was selected personally by famed director Alfred Hitchcock to star in one of his most powerful movies ever, The Birds. At the time she was an up and coming actress with hopes of becoming the next 'big thing'. According to sources, Hitchcock had a habit of making all of his female leads do strange things on the set, including posing in sexual ways for his own enjoyment and forcing them into bondage scenes with him alone while being tied to the bed until they bled. He reportedly tried to rape Tippi Hedren and she escaped, with a promise from Hitchcock that she'd never work in Hollywood again, and she didn't.
#2 Charlie Chaplin Was A Sex Fiend
It's hard to imagine that the little funny man of silent movies was anything but sweet, innocent and adorable, but he hid a lot of turmoil behind his tiny mustache and ragged suit. Many of his female co-stars had come forth to talk about how lewd and creepy he was on set. His biggest turn-on apparently was girls who were still only young teenagers, and he actually married actress Lita Grey who was only 15 at the time while Chaplin was 35, after he impregnated her. She was also coerced into performing many sexual acts that were illegal at the time, including several threesomes with other men. The two divorced after just 3 years of marriage and Chaplin went on to have several other partners and even bragged at the time of his death at the age of 88 that he'd slept with over 2,000 women.
#3 Liz Taylor Had A Ton Of Affairs
Everyone knows about her several marriages but she also had several affairs as well. She was a Hollywood darling, growing up in the business, and blossoming into a beautiful adult with emerald green eyes and alabaster skin. She was always a media darling, even through her many affairs. Behind closed doors, she had a lot of very unladylike behaviors that stirred up gossip. One of the worst scandals she had happened shortly after her then-husband, director Mike Todd, died in a plane crash. Sources say that she ended up finding solace in the arms of Eddie Fisher, his best friend and the husband of her best friend, Debbie Reynolds. The four had grown up together on the MGM set and went to school together.
#4 Rock Hudson Had A Tendency Of Cheating On His Wife With Men
Still not something most entertainers are free to admit, though it is much more acceptable now than during the 1950s, being gay was not something that an actor like heartthrob Rock Hudson wanted to let the public know about. Rumors flew around Hollywood for several years about the beefcake actor who often starred opposite Elizabeth Taylor, Doris day, and Sandra Dee. Tabloids never came straight out and reported onHudsons same-sex trysts, but it was pretty well known by the end of the 1960s when he was photographed with several young gay men and famous celebrities out on the town. Hudson eventually came out to the public and admitted that his wife, Phyllis had known about his sexual activities.
Hudson was one of the very first celebrities to ever be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS – and also was one of the first celebrities to die as a result of it.
#5 Errol Flynn Assaulted An Underage Girl
Back in his heyday, he was a womanizer and party animal extraordinaire. He was never considered an innocent young man, and his philandering and partying got him into a lot of trouble over the years. While at a party one evening he met a 17-year-old girl name dBetty Hansen, who he kept filled with alcohol. After she became sick, Flynn took her to his hotel room and sexually assaulted her. She pressed charges and Flynn was arrested but eventually cleared of the claims. He regained his popularity in Tinseltown within months and people simply forgot that he was charged with rape of an underaged girl.
#6 Judy Garland Had Serious Drug Problems
Forever known as Dorothy in the gigantic hit film The Wizard of Oz, Just Garland had a rough time going through her childhood in the spotlight. This became even more difficult for the actress after her bitter divorce from her third husband, Sid Luft. She had to hire Fred Otash to protect her from her husband and ensure he didn’t get too much evidence in divorce court. However, Otash later revealed that Judy was a serious addict. “You wouldn’t believe the cleverness of that woman in stashing her drugs so nobody could find them. And there were all kinds. Uppers, downers, and some I didn’t even recognize,” he said. Her biggest vices, according to the PI, were alcohol and pills of any kind imaginable.
It as later revealed by several sources that the MGM studio heads forced Judt to take barbiturates, amphetamines, and more just so that she could keep her svelte figure. They even had her smoking 80 cigarettes every day to suppress her appetite and keep her thin. She struggled with addiction and eating habits her entire life.
#7 The Munchkins Apparently Molested Judy Garland On Set
Speaking of Judy Garland and her childhood, and her most memorable film, The Wizard Of Oz, the film had numerous rumors flying around over the filming of the movie classic. One urban legend was that a munchkin hung himself on set and it appears in the finished movie, but that is not true. What is true, however, is that many of the munchkins sexually assaulted Judy on set. According to ex-husband Sid Luft (yes, that one), Garland explained that many of the little people who were hired as munchkins were “little drunks” who got plastered every night after taping. He also alleged that they would “make Judy’s life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress.”
#8 Fatty Arbuckle Assaulted And Killed A Woman
Fatty had a huge vaudeville following which later transformed into an extremely impressive $3 million deal with Paramount Pictures. By 1916, it became clear that Fatty Arbuckle couldn’t cope with the fame. The comedy superstar began to drink heavily, party heavily, and binge eat. In 1921 he rented hotel rooms to hold a massive party that was featuring Hollywood actresses and prostitutes, and he invited the elite men to be his guest. One of the women in attendance was a teenage actress by the name of Virginia Rappe. Rappe was found in one of the hotel rooms later on and claimed that Arbuckle had raped her.
She claimed to be ill and was rushed to a hospital where it was found that she had cystitis that was aggravated by the alcohol she drank at the party. She died within hours from a ruptured spleen, reportedly from the weight of Arbuckle laying on top of her while having sex when she was unconscious. He was tried several different times and always maintained his innocence, though he was eventually cleared, he had been blacklisted in Hollywood and never worked again.
#9 Joan Crawford Had An Adult Film Life
Today, Joan Crawford is known as an actress who has a squeaky clean image. Her beautiful curls, feminine eyes, and classy mannerisms would still be enviable today. For the most part, her current legacy is still spot-on. Except, you know, for the fact that she pulled a Sasha Grey before adult films were even mainstream. Back in the 1920s, films involving “soft core” erotica were totally taboo and even banned as obscenity. That didn’t stop Joan Crawford from making a naughty flick of her own and using her feminine wiles to get to the top. And, much like Sasha Grey did, Joan Crawford went from adult star to movie starlet with little issue.
When MGM found out that she had starred in the erotic film Velvet Lips as a possibly underage teenage girl, they actually went so far as to team up with the mafia to get the films back.
#10 Jean Harlow’s Husband Had A Suspicious Death
In the 1930s women wanted to be her and men wanted to be with her. Harlow was the 'IT'girl in Hollywood and was loved by many for her beauty and talent. But she is not without a suspicious history. In 1932, Harlow’s husband’s body had been found naked, next to a gun and a suicide note. Strangely enough, her husband died the night he was supposed to meet his ex-wife. And, his ex-wife, a woman by the name of Dorothy Millette, was found dead only a week later. Police investigation showed that the circumstances were suspicious, but it was officially ruled a suicide. Stranger still, the brass at MGM also stepped in to help Harlow “clean up” things in her studio, too. Many believe the studio, again acting in a mafia manner, was responsible for the 'murders'.
#11 Then, There Were The Studio-Pressured Abortions
With all the wild and crazy sex happening behind the scenes inHollywood, it's no wonder that an occasional "accident" would happen. But in the 1940s and 50s, Tinseltown was not the place for a young pregnant and unwed woman. This is why many women who had gotten knocked up during affairs ended up being pressured by studio bigwigs into having abortions. Hundreds of women were sent to a special hospital to 'get some rest' over the years, including Bette Davis. Along with other actresses of the day like Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, and Joan Crawford, they all came forward to the press years after the fact to state that they had been forced against their will to have abortions or give up their careers forever.
#12 Country Legend Spade Cooley Beat His Wife To Death
If you loved country music in the 1950s and 1940s, then Spade Cooley was probably your favorite singer. Cooley was the all-out king of Western swing, and prior to that, also made a strong name for himself in the world of big band music. At the top of his fame, Cooley had it all – record deals, a loyal fanbase, as well as his very own TV show. Unfortunately, like many people in Hollywood, Cooley really wasn’t capable of handling fame. All the contractual obligations, media appearances, and modern stressors got the already impulsive and hot-headed celebrity to a breaking point. After accusing his wife Ella Mae of an affair, he snapped and beat her for hours on end. Ella Mae lost consciousness and died. Cooley was found guilty of murder, but thanks to celebrity pleas to president Reagan, he was pardoned. Ironically, Cooley died of a heart attack before he ever was able to hear of his presidential pardon.
#13 Loretta Young Hid Her Pregnancy And Then “Adopted” Her Own Child
Loretta Young, a staunch Catholic girl, was one of Hollywood’s first child stars to transform into a full-fledged movie star. Like many actresses, she had a fling with a fellow co-star while taping Call of the Wild. And, as we’ve discussed earlier in this list, most women who found themselves pregnant in Hollywood would be forced to have an abortion in order to keep their jobs. Young, on the other hand, wasn’t having any of it. In an incredibly risky and slick move, she hid her pregnancy and even had a “sick bed” interview to stage herself as sick from a mystery illness. She gave birth in secret, then came out to Hollywood as a lady who had decided to adopt an orphan baby named Judy as a single mom.
#14 Elvis Presley Was Attracted To Teenage Girls
Older women intimidated heartthrob and crooner Elis Presley. He once claimed they frightened him to death, which could explain why all the women he dated were much younger than himself, including his bride, Pricilla. Because most teen girls didn’t really have much experience under their belt, Presley would actually ask managers to round up girls who were under the age of 16. Even back then, this was totally illegal. Oh, and it gets creepier. He’d also ask managers to select girls by how attractive their feet were because he also happened to be a foot fetish. Needless to say, a lot of parents were rightfully leery of letting their daughters near the King of Rock N’Roll.
#15 Jack Ryan Enjoyed Being A Total Creep
If you have ever played with Barbie dolls or enjoyed collecting Hot Wheels, congratulations. You like Jack Ryan’s work. Ryan was most well-known for making beloved toys for what would eventually become Mattel. In the 1950s he became Zsa Zsa Gabor's sixth husband. After he died, strange rumors began to circle about his more intimate habits. According to one book about Hollywood secrets by an author named Scotty Bowers, Jack Ryan was kind of a major creep. He said that Ryan loved to invite women over to his room, scatter rose petals around, then shock the daylights out of them by having them discover him in a coffin while he was pleasuring himself. So yes, we can totally see why Zsa Zsa dumped this creepy dude. And to be fair, Gabor was not sweetheart herself!
