After meeting Charles Chaplin at a dinner party, J. Edgar Hoover began using the resources of the FBI to compile a dossier on what he considered to be the Hollywood stars un-American beliefs and activities. In London, at the Druids Hall (the meeting place for the Ancient Order of Druids and occasionally hired out to non-Druids) during a masked ball, George Campbell, thirty five years old, and John Challis, sixty years old, were apprehended by the police for exciting others to commit an unnatural offense. Both men were dressed in womens clothes. There was, after all, that pesky fact that he was a foreigner (Flynn was Australian) and xenophobia was at its height in the early days of the Second World War. She was never tainted by scandal because she welcomed the controversy, as evidenced by her once saying of cocaine, Cocaine isnt habit forming and I know because Ive been taking it for years., The secret cross dresser J. Edgar Hoover kept personal files on hundreds of people in part to protect himself from blackmail and innuendo. February 14, 2014, When Congress Slut-Shamed Ingrid Bergman. Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images. When he found it beneficial to his own interests, Hoover leaked information, collected but often unconfirmed, to press representatives sympathetic to his views, which were anti-communist, anti-Semitic, and often anti-feminist. Lana Turner, in a publicity photo from the 1940s. A jump from the H in the Hollywoodland sign ended the life of actress Peg Entwistle. Nonetheless, Taylor maintained a relationship with actress Mabel Normand, and on February 1, 1921, he entertained her at his home, where he was found dead the following morning. With the Wall Street crash of 1929, the prosperity that had funded the rise of get-rich-quick schemes vaporized. When William Charles Yelverton met, wooed, and ultimately became twenty year old Theresa Longworths lover, he ruined her in the eyes of Victorian society because they werent married. Turners daughter, Cheryl, was acquitted, though the scandal remained for many months, with numerous reports that Lanas testimony (she was the only eyewitness to the killing) had been nothing more than an example of her practicing her craft as an actress.
Babylon: The truth behind the outrageous Hollywood epic The collective skirts of Victorian society were practically blown off by the news that married socialite Lady Harriet Mordaunt had been carrying on with the Prince of Wales and other partners in 1870s Warwickshire. Paul Feldman, Los Angeles Times. The long affair between Katherine Hepburn and the married Spencer Tracy was an open secret in Hollywood. Protestants, Progressives, and women all spearheaded the drive to institute Prohibition. Online, Gloria and Joe: The Star-Crossed Love Affair of Gloria Swanson and Joe Kennedy. She was arrested in 1907 for subjecting fellow beach-goers in Massachusetts to such horrors. A jury found the work indecent but preferred not to hold them responsible for it. Annie Besant, a noted feminist, Theosophist, and womens rights activist, and Charles Bradlaugh, an infamous atheist, published The Fruits of Philosophy: the Private Companion for Young Married Couples, a pamphlet by an American doctor, Charles Knowlton, and previously judged obscene.
Warren G. Harding - Scandals | Britannica By 1904, his spending had so far outpaced his bank account that he sold most of his belongings to pay off his debtsnot even his parrot was safe from creditors. To understand famed Australian swimmer Annette Kellermans bravado, you have to have a grasp on how hopelessly proper the beaches of the early 1900s were. But it was no mannequin. And put it off, and put it off until years later, she met and fell in love with another man, John Everett Millais, a Pre-Raphaelite painter and Ruskins protg. Another found that 62 percent of women surveyed thought the practice was essential in order to be popular. Most of the information he collected and held secretly was intended to be used for his personal benefit, and the vast majority of the information was collected without regard to its accuracy or its relevance to the mission of the FBI, as were most of Hoovers personal files. So much so that when Haynau visited a brewery during a trip to London in 1850, the draymendrivers of the wagons used to deliver the barrels of beerattacked him with whips, brooms, and stones. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Many wanted to use this valuable oil source. The case of Saurin v. Starr and Kennedy stirred up English anti-Catholic sentiments as well as selling a great many newspapers and scurrilous pamphlets. But they also came to an end because the flappers who dared to pet in public helped make open sexual expression more commonplace. 1952, Secretary Says She Destroyed Hoovers Letters on his Orders. When a policeman stopped to question a fifteen year old telegraph boy about why he had eighteen shillings in his pocket in todays money, thats about 77 or $122 USD), he kicked off a scandal that reached all the way to the British royal family. Wall Street offered its share of get-rich-quick schemes as well. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. The ensuing scandal was multi-pronged. Hepburn was from upper-crust New England stock, presenting a prim, proper, and athletic image to her fans, who had for several years been involved in a relationship with Howard Hughes. His arrest had the newspapers dubbing him, the Boy Jones. Despite increased security, he would cause more furor over an apparent inability to stay away from the palacehe was caught again in 1841 and sentenced to hard labor. For most people, the Roaring 20s conjures up images of flapper dresses, sparkles, and bootleggers wearing fedoras. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Campbell claimed hed only gone to the party in a dress so he could witness the vice for himself and later preach against it. When police arrived on the scene, they found Taylor lying on the living room floor with at least one bullet in the back. Although he escaped the rape charge, he was convicted of committing an indecent assault. One study found that by 1924, 92 percent of college women had tried petting. A scene from the film The Soul of Youth, the director of which, Desmond Taylors murder was never solved. Just days after Grover Cleveland won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1884, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph published a shocking expose. Actor Vic Morrow (right) with Ric Jason on the set of the popular 1960s series Combat!. It turned street-corner thugs such as Al Capone into millionaires.
11 Jaw-Dropping Scandals from the Turn of the Century It involved the secret leasing of federal oil reserves at Elk Hills, California, and Teapot Dome, Wyoming, by Albert Bacon FallU.S. Hoover used, or rather abused, his position as head of the FBI to keep files on stars, directors, producers, and reporters indeed on anyone whom he considered possibly subversive or anti-American.
18 Salacious Scandals from the Golden Age of Hollywood - History Collection Gloria Swanson, in her heyday as a silent film star, circa 1921. Still others, cognizant of the fact that Mary Pickford despised her sister-in-law, believed Mary arranged for Olive to ingest the mercury through means not fully explained.
Eve Blue, a college undergraduate, was there for the fun. Susan Saurin (formerly Sister Mary Scolastica) sued her mother superior, Mrs. Starr, for libel and conspiracy, claiming shed been unfairly expelled from the convent. She abandoned her unhappy marriage to Ruskin in 1854 and filed for annulment on the grounds that she was still a virgin. Flappers of the 1920s were young women known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. Young female wannabe stars were frequent guests to his office so that he may evaluate their skills. Kirn Vintage Stock/Corbis via Getty Images. Their trial was a sensation. The Twenty-first Amendment, ratified in December 1933, repealed Prohibition. In 1949 the married Bergman (her husband was neurosurgeon Petter Lindstrom) began an affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini (an earlier affair she had with American actor Gregory Peck was kept hidden at the time). December 2, 1975, Fatty Arbuckle and Hollywoods First Scandal. Sargent was demonized: His career in tatters, he headed for a fresh start in London. Olive Thomas was a former Ziegfeld Girl, called the Most Beautiful Woman in the World (if so existing photographs dont do her justice), and soon Pickfords bride, though their marriage was what today would be called a long-distance relationship. Parisian culture took one look at her naked shoulders and wedding ring and assumed the worst. LAPD. Wilful Peggy (1910), The New York Hat (1912), Tess of the Storm Country (1914), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917), Stella Maris (1918), Daddy-Long-Legs (1919), Pollyanna (1920), Sparrows (1926) FURTHER READING Balio, Tino. In April 1958, after a heated argument in her home during which Stompanato allegedly threatened to kill her, Turners daughter came to her mothers defense with a kitchen knife. The Life and Times of a Leading Lady. Learn more at erinblakemore.com. Gangster Bugsy Siegel was implicated by some.
9 Old Hollywood Scandals That Reveal Tinseltown's Ugly Side French artist John Singer Sargent hoped his work would draw notice, but he could never have imagined the hysteria that followed his Portrait of Madame X. Flappers reputations were made worse by petting, but the practice also reflected traditional values by avoiding premarital sex. Franchot Tone derailed his own career by becoming enmeshed in several scandals in the 1930s and 40s. Clinton vehemently denied the allegations, which were later revealed to be true. She neither confirmed nor denied her sexuality, referring to herself in one interview as ambisexual. Check out 11 scandals that caused more than one decent citizen to nearly drop her hand fan. 1988, Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow. 1. From adulterous affairs yielding secret children to hotel break-ins and secret gun deals, scandal has always followed American politicians. He also carried on a long-term affair with the wife of a local dry goods store owner who blackmailed him for $50,000 and a cruise to China during the 1920 election. The press eventually went on to other things, but Flynns image was permanently damaged, and he never again enjoyed the reputation of being a romanticized gentleman, cultured and debonair. The scandal remained at the tip of Hollywoods wagging tongues for months, and is still considered from time to time in various media today, though the probability of solving the crime was destroyed by the LAPD nearly a century ago. He operated his grandly named Bayano Syndicate swindle for almost 20 years, far longer than any Ponzi scheme survived until Bernie Madoffs multi-billion-dollar fraud was exposed a decade ago.. The trial played to a packed courtroom. The growing demand for petroleum to fuel automobiles also led to oil drilling schemes concocted by promoters who mailed out literature and handed out flyers that promised a fabulous return. Most have been generally dismissed as urban legends, but Clara did give rumourmongers grist for the mill. She succeeded in trashing Chaplins reputation while relieving him of $800,000 (about $11 million today). Married in 1924, by 1926 they were headed to divorce court, and Lita presented an image of Chaplin far removed from his popular public persona. Normands cocaine use and resulting connections to organized crime figures were also considered, but no firm evidence could be found. Couples drank, mingled, and eventually started kissing, moving from partner to partner. In the 1940s the namesake of the phrase, Errol Flynn, found himself in a position neither enviable nor likely to lead to success. And Topeka, Kansas, police told the Times in 1923 that they intended to break up petting parties to clean up college campuses. At least occasionally, those business leaders fretted about the potential threat posed by Soviet communism.. Gloria Swanson was one of the leading actresses in Hollywood, on her third husband when she met Joseph P. Kennedy. In addition to keeping his affair with Hepburn under wraps, MGM helped quell reports of Tracys long battle with alcohol, barbiturates, and Dexedrine, including at least two arrests for alcohol-related incidents. This bombshell resulted in the infamous Mordaunt divorce trial. Landis continued his career with little negative impact, but he found several long-term friendships with other filmmakers ended as a result of his evident cavalier attitude towards the accident and its causes. April 2008, The Sunset Strip: The Story of a Hollywood Icon. Some even chartered buses to round up potential investors and drive them out to the oil fields for a look-see. His cabinet members, known as the Ohio Gang because of their wanton corruptness, were involved in so many shady dealingsthe Teapot Dome Scandal stands at the top of that listthat Harding left office with a reputation as one of the worst presidents in U.S. History. UPI, The New York Times. Arbuckle was formally barred from acting by a newly formed censorship board, and the press and public subjected him to continuous condemnation, as well as ridicule over his substantial girth. The latter was soothed by Payton and Tone marrying after he recovered. That eagerness played right into the hands of the Roaring Twenties legions of fast-talking promoters, charlatans and outright swindlers, who enticed the would-be wealthy with scores of seemingly foolproof schemesfrom stock in companies that didnt really exist, to speculation in Florida real estate or California oilfields, to Boston-based conman Charles Ponzis promise that investors could make a 50 percent return in 90 days time by investing in a bizarre plan to redeem overseas postal coupons. William Desmond Taylor. To many Americans, petting parties epitomized everything that was evil about the Jazz Age. and being excited in the presence of a visiting priest. He was so material-minded that his wife, Lilian, demanded an annulment, allegedly because he preferred to cover her naked body in jewels rather than make love. In 1941 actor Spencer Tracy, one of Hollywoods most successful and in-demand leading men, began seeing actress Katharine Hepburn. That can be arranged, Lucky reportedly replied. But not everyone approved of the fashions and fads of these newly liberated young women. But after U.S. postal inspectors started probing his scheme, it collapsed, and Ponzi went to prison. Mustaches bristled when a gaming scandal involving the Prince of Wales become the talk of Britain in 1890.
Prohibition (article) | 1920s America | Khan Academy She probably didnt mind that much, since she and Millais had eight children together. She enjoyed drugs and alcohol, and didnt attempt to hide the fact from the public. Hollywood obliged, with both steamy rumors of illicit affairs and reports of sexual activities which were at the time illegal. The prince was playing at the estate of Arthur Wilson, who hosted a card game that also included army officer William Gordon-Cumming. Prohibition led directly to the rise of organized crime. Especially popular with children, Arbuckle had given comic star Buster Keaton his big break, and was a friend and supporter of Charles Chaplin. Talullah: My Autobiography. (This was not unexpected, as previous publishers had been arrested; and indeed, getting their case to trial was their goal, in order to challenge a new obscenity law.) NY Daily News Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle, Acquitted For Murder Of Virginia Rappe In 1922, Never Recovered From All The Bad Press, Timeline The Mysterious Death Of The Most Beautiful Woman On Earth, Medium The Death of William Desmond Taylor, Factinate Dramatic Facts About Gloria Swanson, Hollywoods Iconic Diva, FBI to keep files on stars, directors, producers, and reporters. In some ways, the get-rich-quick schemes were the inevitable by-product of an optimistic era in which anything seemed possible. What Happened In Room 1219? The Boston-based Ponzi told investors that hed discovered a way to make a fortune by buying Spanish mail coupons and redeeming them for U.S. stamps, to take advantage of the weakness of Spanish currency. This gave the lie to the LAPD theory that she had exited the car to insert a hose into the exhaust pipe, the other end feeding into the cabin in which she died from carbon monoxide inhalation. As the games continued, the party noticed Gordon-Cumming was altering his bet after the cards had been dealt. He denied the adultery.
Al Capone: A Famous Gangster In The 1920's | ipl.org Dina Di Mambro, Classic Hollywood Bios. The morning of January 15, 1947, saw the beginning of one of Hollywoods greatest scandals as well as one of its most famous unsolved mysteries. When Lady Harriet Mordaunts daughter was born, doctors thought she might be blind. What had started as a wild bohemian party was now something more intimate. It was also pointed out that prosecutors had coordinated both cases when presenting their accusations. After the divorce was final Lita remarried at least three times more, and in the 1960s published a partial autobiography entitled My Life With Chaplin in which she revisited many of the old allegations.
14 Classic Hollywood Scandals You May Have Never Heard Of