Shocking Old Hollywood Controversies That Are Worse Than Any Of Today's Stories
#1 Natalie Wood’s Whole Life
Natalie Wood's entire life seems to be one big scandalous Hollywood story. Wood started acting as a child (co-starring in Miracle on 34th Street) and transitioned into teen roles with Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story and Splendor in the Grass. Even during her success, things were not sunshine and rainbows. Kirk Douglas had been accused of brutally raping the young actress, though these allegations have not been proven. What was proven was her open affair with the director of Rebel Without a Cause. At just 16 years old, Natalie Wood slept with Nicholas Ray (44 at the time) to secure her role in the film.
#2 Elizabeth Taylor And Eddie Fisher Love Triangle
People were obsessed with the Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie love affair. Yet, way back in the 1950s, Hollywood had an ever juicer love affair. Elizabeth Taylor is known for her many, many marriages but this one was by far the most scandalous. Taylor was married to Mike Todd, a theater and film producer. Todd was great friends with Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds such great friends that they were invited to Todd and Taylor's wedding. In 1958, Todd died in a plane crash, leaving Taylor devastated and alone.
#3 Marilyn Monroe’s Steamy Happy Birthday
The alleged affair between JFK and Marilyn Monroe is pretty much a known fact in our society. Most people know about that and the infamous happy birthday song that Marilyn Monroe sang to JFK. It was, like, the sexiest happy birthday. Ever.
#4 The Alleged Rape That Ruined Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was a huge, huge silent film star back in the day. How huge? Well, in 1918, Paramount offered him a three-year, $3 million contract. In today's money, that's equivalent to a shit ton of cash nearly $50 million.
In 1921, Arbuckle threw a little hotel party. As fate would have it, Virginia Rappe, an up and coming young actress, attended the hotel party. She suffered from chronic cystitis, a condition that drinking liquor didn't help. Rappe was found in one of the rented rooms in a very ill state. A few days later, she died of a ruptured bladder.
#5 Grace Kelly Had Affairs With Everyone
Ice queen on the screen and the real life princess, Grace Kelly is an Old Hollywood legend. Despite the fact that she only appeared in 11 films, Kelly still managed to nab an Oscar and become an international star. This may have something to do with her icy exterior and red hot sex life. That's right, The Princess of Monaco liked to get it on.
#6 Charlie Chaplin Married Teenagers
Charlie Chaplin is best remembered for his onscreen persona of "The Tramp" during the silent film era. People should also remember him for his, uh, interesting marriages. His first marriage was to Mildred Harris, who was 16 years old at the time. Chaplin was 29. So, there's that.
Chaplin moved on from his teenage wife to, err, another teenage wife. He married Lita Grey, 16 years old. At this point, Chaplin was 35, so the 19 year age difference is totally normal, right? The pair had a messy divorce, which tainted the public perception of Chaplin.
#7 Lana Turner’s Boyfriend Was Stabbed To Death By Her Daughter
Lana Turner is quite similar to Taylor in terms of love affairs. She also had eight marriages but those are not the scandals that would cause America's jaws to drop today. Turner's second marriage, to Stephen Crane, produced a child Cheryl Crane. When Cheryl was just 14 years old she stabbed her mother's boyfriend to death. Yes, she stabbed him to death. Apparently, Johnny Stompanto, Turner's boyfriend who was known for violent tendencies, had threatened Lana Turner and in defense on her mother, Cheryl stabbed him. Even though the death was ruled a justifiable homicide, Cheryl was placed in psychiatric therapy.
#8 Loretta Young And Clark Gable’s Love Child
What Loretta Young did was a media move so sly that even Kris Jenner would be impressed.
Loretta Young was an actress and Roman Catholic. Despite her religious beliefs, she engaged in an affair with a married Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. This affair resulted in a pregnancy but Young felt very strongly against an abortion so she concocted another plan. When the pregnancy started to show, she went to England for a long vacation. On this "vacation" she gave birth and lost the weight as quickly as possible.
#9 Olive Thomas Died After Drinking Syphilis Medication
Olive Thomas was a beautiful Ziegfeld Girl, who transitioned into a silent film actress. Olive married Jack Pickford, an actor and brother of the actress Mary Pickford. Mary Pickford was one of the biggest silent film stars, having signed the first $1 million contract and even had the nickname "Queen of the Movies," so brother Jack was always living in her shadow.
#10 Peg Entwistle Killed Herself On Hollywood Sign
You know the iconic Hollywood sign? Yeah, well, did you know a woman killed herself by leaping off of it?
Peg Entwistle was a beautiful 24-year-old actress who, like most beautiful 24-year-old actresses, was struggling to make it. She even had a supporting role in a play, along side Humphrey Bogart, for which she gained some very favorable reviews. Apparently, things were just not going as well as Entwistle has hoped. She climbed on top of the H and jumped to her death, leaving behind a suicide note, which read: "I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."
#11 The Mysterious Death Of Thomas Ince
Despite the fact that Thomas Ince was a pioneer in film making, many people have never heard of him. We're talking about a guy who was responsible for over 800 films and creating the first Hollywood studio. He literally invented the process of film production that we still follow today.
