Old Hollywood Gossip

[Deleted]

I'm always amused by the rumors that Cary Grant was gay/bisexual. If only because he was Cary Grant. It wouldn't be fair for him not to swing both ways-EVERYONE should have had a chance with him.

[esoterica]

I just ordered Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. I have an unhealthy fascination with her, Franchot Tone, Joan Crawford, etc. Old Hollywood gossip is so much more fun than the "let it all hang out" tabloid stuff we see today.

I have a worn copy of My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn. That guy was more entertaining than any of the characters he played!

[petals]

I'm slightly interested in old Hollywood but if you guys keep throwing out such interesting tidbits I know I'll quickly get obsessed.

Keep them coming.

[pomegranate]

petals said:

I'm slightly interested in old Hollywood but if you guys keep throwing out such interesting tidbits I know I'll quickly get obsessed.

Keep them coming.

In Esther Williams book she said she once came across Joan Crawford on an empty stage on the MGM backlot, Joan was past her prime and doing some crappy musical. Esther said she had her arms thrown out in front of her towards the empty seats and was screaming "WHY have you abandoned me!?! Why?"

Cary Grant grew up thinking his mother died when he was a baby. When he was nine he found out she was in an insane asylum.

Ginger Rogers said Katherine Hepburn was always a total bitch to her because they had both been engaged to Howard Hughes. One day Ginger was walking though a set wearing a new fur coat and Hepburn leaned out of her trailer and dumped a huge glass of water on her cackling "Real mink don't shrink!"

Obsessed now Petals?

[huntergrayson]

The whole Cary living with Randolph Scott for so many years is definitely fodder for the bi speculation.

There's this great book called The Girls, which reveals that almost every gal in the 30s/40s had a fling with Dietrich or Garbo.

[ang]

This stuff is GREAT.

Brit/Lohan/the rest of them have got NOTHING on the old Hollywood!

[petals]

pomegranate said:

Obsessed now Petals?

I'm now planning a trip to the bookstore. Thanks. ;D

[esoterica]

huntergrayson said:

The whole Cary living with Randolph Scott for so many years is definitely fodder for the bi speculation.

There's this great book called The Girls, which reveals that almost every gal in the 30s/40s had a fling with Dietrich or Garbo.

If that's the book I'm thinking of, I couldn't finish it. I remember reading that Fatty Arbuckle killed Virginia Rappe. In the book, this was presented as fact. Anyone who's read about the Arbuckle case knows that this wasn't true and I was completely turned off to the rest of the book after that. (I could be thinking of a different book though!)

One of my favorites is The Divine Feud about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. SO many great stories there!

[pomegranate]

For heyalice, from wikipedia:

Olivia de Havilland was the first to become an actress; when her sister, Joan, tried to follow her lead, their mother, who allegedly favoured Olivia, refused to let her use the family name. So Joan was forced to invent a name (Joan Burfield, and later Joan Fontaine, utilizing her own mother's former stage name).

Biographer, Charles Higham, records that the sisters have always had an uneasy relationship, starting in early childhood, when Olivia would rip up the clothes that Joan had to wear as hand-me-downs, forcing Joan to sew them back together. A lot of the feud and resentment between the sisters stems from Joan's perception of Olivia being their mother's favourite child.

Both Olivia and Joan were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1942. Joan won first for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941) over Olivia's nomination for Hold Back the Dawn (1941). Charles Higham states that Joan "felt guilty about winning; given her lack of obsessive career drive..."

Charles Higham has described the events of the awards ceremony, stating that as Joan stepped forward to collect her award, she pointedly rejected Olivia's attempts at congratulating her and that Olivia was both offended and embarrassed by her behaviour. Several years later, Olivia would remember the slight and exact her own by brushing past Joan, who was waiting with her hand extended, because Olivia had allegedly taken offence at a comment Joan had made about Olivia's then-husband.

Olivia's relationship with Joan continued to deteriorate after the incident at the Academy Awards in 1942. Charles Higham has stated that this was the near final straw for what would become a lifelong feud, but the sisters did not completely stop speaking until 1975.

According to Joan, Olivia did not invite her to a memorial service for their mother who had recently died. Olivia claims she told Joan, but that Joan had brushed her off, claiming that she was too busy to attend.

Charles Higham records that Joan has an estranged relationship with her own daughters as well, possibly because she discovered that they were secretly maintaining a relationship with their aunt Olivia.

Both sisters have refused to comment publicly about their feud and dysfunctional family relationships.

[heavenleigh2001]

Does anyone know anything about Lana Turner.