Once citizens had crossed that moral line and started frequenting illegal speakeasies and buying black-market booze, they naturally became more receptive to sleazy but enticing pitches to invest in get-rich-quick schemes., READ MORE: How Prohibition Put the Organized in Organized Crime. Tallulah Bankhead was born into wealth and privilege, and though she was mainly known as a stage actor, she became a symbol of Hollywood extravagance in her lifetime. According to acquaintances when together they fought constantly and with equal exuberance. Here are some of the juiciest Old Hollywood scandals that are just as jaw-dropping to read about today as they were back then. Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast. READ MORE: Americas Forgotten Mass Imprisonment of Women Believed to Be Sexually Immoral, Flappers dancing while musicians perform during a Charleston dance contest at the Parody Club, New York City, 1926, The gatherings may have raised eyebrows, but petting parties werea far cry from orgies, historian Paula S. FasstellsNPR: They both encouraged experimentation and created clear limits.. While the British press kept his name out of the papers, American and French reporters werent so circumspect. At the trial, Dickenson alleged that the colonel had tried to raise her skirts, put his hand in her underwear, and kiss her many times on the lips. Gustavo Turner, Discover Los Angeles. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. To make matters worse, many small investors were enticed into buying shares of companies on marginessentially, with loans that they had to repay out of their pockets if the stock price went down. Historic Hollywood scandals were mired in filth, debauchery, and depravity. Teapot Dome Scandal. During the 1920s, three Republicans occupied the White House: Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. He also managed to convince many of his investors to reinvest their paper profits in more worthless Bayano stockin effect, conning them twice. Eyman, Scott. 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 two took it upon themselves to republish a work titled Fruits of Philosophy: or The Private Companion of Young Married Couples, a how-to in contraceptive habits. Courage is good. But when it came to relationships with the opposite sex he was less gifted. Like the Rhett Butler character he portrayed, Clark Gable was fond of patronizing brothels, as did many of Hollywoods leading men. In 1941 actor Spencer Tracy, one of Hollywoods most successful and in-demand leading men, began seeing actress Katharine Hepburn. 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. Some even chartered buses to round up potential investors and drive them out to the oil fields for a look-see. Many of his investors refused to believe theyd been conned, and hung on to his worthless certificates. Flynn was eventually acquitted in both cases, and during the trials, his attorneys managed to point out both girls had been previously involved with other married men, of lesser fame and wealth. 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. Over the next four years, they tried to have children with no success; Crawford suffered two miscarriages and their marriage dissolved when his drinking became out of control. Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle was one of Hollywoods biggest stars in 1921, the first to pocket $1 million per year, and well known around town for his hedonistic pursuits. Her role in The Postman Always Rings Twice established her as a serious actress at the same time her well-publicized personal life called her morals into question among those inclined to do so. The notion that anyone can be a millionaire was strong in the 1920s, Hendley says, and never went away.. Banks were . Edward Jones, seventeen years old, son of a tailor and by all accounts as unattractive as homemade sin, was discovered in Buckingham Palace in the dressing room next to Queen Victorias bedroom. Tune in to Comedy CentralTuesdays at 10:30/ 9:30con Comedy Centraland on the Comedy Central app to see what they're up to next. But the reality wasnt as simpleor as scandalousas it seemed. 2007, William Desmond Taylor: The Unsolved Murder. After her husband responded to the affair by committing suicide (by gunshot, though according to the police he took the time to strip naked before shooting himself), the press speculated whether Jean had been involved in some manner or another. Tallulah simply didnt care what anyone, including her father, an 11 term member of the US House of Representatives and Speaker of the House for two terms, said of her. The scandal involved ornery oil tycoons,. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. While Reagan was never charged with a crime, several members of his administration were convicted of crimes in what became known as the Iran-Contra Affair. The divorce became a scandal which the newly-minted entertainment tabloids and the mainstream press couldnt get enough of. It was among the most well-known and popular brothels in Hollywood, with several of the leading stars of the day counted among its satisfied clientele. After some likely exclamations of I say! and protracted harrumphing, both Gordon-Cumming and the prince were dragged through public mud. 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. March 25, 1987, Katherine Hepburns 25 Year Affair with Spencer Tracy Being Developed for a Movie. Paget went on to build a playhouse so he could perform with a hired repertory company: His specialty was a fluid, vaguely erotic dance routine. The existence of a large insurance policy on her life, with Jack the beneficiary, gave credence to the former belief. 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. Cheating was bad, but gambling was no better: It was illegal. He liked them young, both his first and second wives were sixteen when he married them, and the second, Lita Grey, convinced Chaplin that she was pregnant with his child, leading to a hasty marriage (he could otherwise have been imprisoned for having sex with a minor). Tracy was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, alongside his wife Louise. Once word got out, Pickfords career might have been derailed if not for the fact that Moore was reported to be abusive. Just days after Grover Cleveland won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1884, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph published a shocking expose. 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. An oil painting completed in 1884, Sargent used socialite Virginie Gautreau as his model, depicting her wearing a black dress held up by two narrow straps. She probably didnt mind that much, since she and Millais had eight children together. , 1877 was not a good year to argue against sexual repression. In 1998, news broke of President Bill Clintons clandestine affair with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. READ MORE: How the Ponzi Scheme Got Its Name. Check out 11 scandals that caused more than one decent citizen to nearly drop her hand fan. It was a party that proved to be his downfall. One study found that by 1924, 92 percent of college women had tried petting. The proliferation of get-rich-quick scams in the 1920s was so intense that titans of industry began to worry about the con artists and fly-by-night firms corrosive effect on the system, even if they were willing to look the other way at the misrepresentations that their own kind sometimes perpetrated. Warren G. Harding's secretary of the interiorto oil tycoons Edward L. Doheny and Harry F. Sinclair.Fall, who had received as much as $400,000 in bribes, became the first . She cut her hair short, wore dresses that showed off her fashionably slender figure, used daring slang and dated multiple men before marriage. The 1950s slang In Like Flynn, meaning one had it made, failed to take into account his legal difficulties over underage women. Michelle Vogel. Guests (friends of Arbuckles) who found the 30-year-old actress claimed that she was fully clothed at the time; her friends later claimed she was raped, by Arbuckle, though a subsequent physical examination revealed no physical evidence of sexual assault. Widespread press reports speculated that she had been murdered, fed by the fact that her car was parked in an area thick with sticky mud, though her shoes were clean. It was particularly egregious if you happened to be a feminist or an atheist, which Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh were, respectively. At the same time, many people lacked the financial literacy to understand the difference between investing in a legitimate company and a scheme such as the one operated by Ponzi, an Italian immigrant who claimed to have become a wealthy man through sheer ingenuity and hard work. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. During her acting career, she also became well-known to the authorities, being involved in numerous automobile accidents, to the point that her studio bosses provided her with a chauffeur and insisted that she use him. April 2008, The Sunset Strip: The Story of a Hollywood Icon. The two had tried to keep their affair a secret, as Fairbanks was also married. Petting was a means to be safe and yet not sorry, writes Fassa way to explore ones sexuality without experiencing things like the loss of virginity, pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. Divorced again, Tone began pursuing Barbara Payton, another actress who was also involved with an actor and former boxer named Tom Neal. During her short career, she was linked romantically with Clark Gable, William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Hughes, Baer, Paul Bern, Louis B. Mayer, Franchot Tone, Lee Tracy, James Stewart, and others, including Talullah Bankhead, Clara Bow, and Joan Crawford. Their declining popularity can probably be explained by the maturation of flappers and their petting partnerswho needs a petting party when youre already married? The LAPD also investigated the murder as part of a lesbian affair, identifying one suspect only as Queer Woman Surgeon in their files. Some of the nations greatest film heroes were subject to damaging tales, some true, some speculative, and some criminal. The First Trial of the Century Evelyn Nesbit arrived in New York City in 1900 as a 15-year-old. (The judge disagreed, sentencing them to 6 months inprison, but that got overturned on a technicality.) Tone, well-connected with powerful MGM, used his influence to ensure that Neal was unable to find acting roles in Hollywood. All Rights Reserved. She was 30 years old. Eventually, though, the market stalled, prices fell, and many were stuck with properties worth far less than theyd expected. Many of the purchasers couldnt afford to actually pay off the loans; instead, they were gambling that land prices would rise even more, so that they could resell and walk away with a profit. Debauchery, skullduggery, and other erys were rampant in late 19th and early 20th century society. In reality, Hendley explains, what Ponzi actually did was simply take money from new investors and give it to old investors, without actually investing in anything tangiblein other words, he merely recirculated cash.. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 against the Austrian Empire, a man stood out for his violent tactics in suppressing the revolutionaries: Julius Jacob von Haynau, an Austrian general who earned the nickname, the Hyena. News of his brutality, particularly against Hungarian women, excited much anger in the English public. It turned street-corner thugs such as Al Capone into millionaires. In the 21st century amateur and professional criminologists continue to search for the killer of Elizabeth Short. Warned by her father to avoid men and alcohol in New York, she told an interviewer, He never said anything about women and cocaine. It was she who uttered one of the most deflating political put downs of all time, referring to Republican Presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey as resembling the little man on the wedding cake. D.H. Lawrence, author of the controversial Lady Chatterleys Lover, also faced criticism for an earlier novel depicting sexual acts, 1915s The Rainbow. According to Halpins affidavit, when the child was born, Cleveland used his political influence in the city to have Halpin committed, and sent the child to an orphanage. For most people, the Roaring 20s conjures up images of flapper dresses, sparkles, and bootleggers wearing fedoras. On September 5, 1921, Arbuckle attended a gala party on the twelfth floor of San Franciscos famed St. Francis Hotel. When she was introduced to film director Irving Thalberg, for whom she was to star in a Hollywood production, she asked him, How do you get laid in this dreadful place? Supposedly a sneering Thalberg told her to ask anyone. Despite President Ronald Reagan's vow not to negotiate with terrorists, National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane went to Iran to make a deal, sending weapons in exchange for the Middle Eastern countrys help brokering the release. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Harding's campaign slogan, "A return to normalcy," aptly described American politics for the entire period. Eventually, the file grew to over 1900 pages and was instrumental in Chaplins long exile from his adopted country. and more. Hollywood obliged, with both steamy rumors of illicit affairs and reports of sexual activities which were at the time illegal. The accident caused a scandal over working safety, particularly for children on film sets, and years of litigation which kept the story on the front pages of trade papers for a decade. Others claimed Olive committed suicide after learning of the reason her husband carried the mercury with him on his travels. Identify the areas of the American economy that were in decline even before the 1929 stock market crash. He called Rossellini vile and unspeakable and demanded that the couple, not set foot on American soil under our immigration laws. Flynns acquittal did not restore his reputation in much of the publics opinion. 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. Tracy was a married man who presented the public persona of being a devout Catholic, though, in fact, he did not follow the practices of the religion as piously as his image indicated. Another found that 62 percent of women surveyed thought the practice was essential in order to be popular. Tone and Neal encountered each other one evening at Paytons home, and with the actress providing an enthralled audience, the two men attempted to settle the issue with fisticuffs. 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. It was the body of Elizabeth Short, who became known as the Black Dahlia in the sensationalized aftermath of her murder. Hollywood, Americas longtime seat of wealth and conspicuous consumption, has long been a fount of sordid stories which held the attention of an enraptured public, happily tsking and tutting over the amoral activities of the spoiled denizens of Americas Babylon. Her funeral was studded with Hollywood celebrities and her ghost is said by some to haunt the New Amsterdam Theater in New York, where she had first gained attention as one of Flo Ziegfelds girls. Throughout the decade, there were murders, explosions, kidnappings, and disappearances, many of which were never solved. The woman who found the body thought that the scene was so grisly that it had been set up using a mannequin for the purpose of shocking the police and witnesses. In one interview she claimed that the only thing wrong with her was that she needed a man, and it had been too long since shed had one. Julian attracted $2 million from 40,000 small investors, and actually used it to drill wells and open a chain of gas stations. They were let off with stern warnings. As it turned out, this wasnt the first time Jones had made himself at home in the palace. 26 Famous Gangsters From The Height Of The Public Enemy Era View Gallery One of the greatest scandals in Hollywood's, indeed in all of American history, was the abuse of power routinely practiced by the man who considered himself to be the greatest lawman in America throughout his long and self-serving career. His magnificent moustaches were torn, his clothes ripped off, and the dread Hangman of Arad, abandoning his dignity, fled to a nearby inn for sanctuary. 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. September 4, 2011, Olive Thomas: The Life and Death of a Silent Film Beauty. When police arrived on the scene, they found Taylor lying on the living room floor with at least one bullet in the back. Erin Blakemore is an award-winning journalist who lives and works in Boulder, Colorado. The proliferation of get-rich-quick scams in the 1920s was so intense that titans of industry began to worry about the con artists' and fly-by-night firms' corrosive effect on the system, even if. United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars . But they also came to an end because the flappers who dared to pet in public helped make open sexual expression more commonplace. Library of Congress. Almost a century after the event, the mystery of what really happened that Labor Day remains unanswered, though Fatty Arbuckles reputation as a rapist and worse is still whispered about in Hollywood. Future: Heaven only knows what.. Hollywood studios did not again employ her until 1956, six years after the scandal, when she appeared in the film, Anastasia. New England Historical Society. 'Petting parties' added some steam to Jazz Age soirees. 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. Wikimedia. The prince was playing at the estate of Arthur Wilson, who hosted a card game that also included army officer William Gordon-Cumming. Technically, the trial was meant to settle whether Lady Mordaunt was sane enough for a divorce to proceed. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Dina Di Mambro, Classic Hollywood Bios. Franchot Tone derailed his own career by becoming enmeshed in several scandals in the 1930s and 40s. The list of suspects was long and colorful, including an allegedly gay Englishman who turned out to be neither gay nor English following police inquiries; fellow director and creator of the Keystone Kops Mack Sennett, another paramour of Normands; and Mary Minters mother. 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.. Public discussion of sex was regarded as disgraceful. But it was no mannequin. Explore American politics in the 1920s to understand why this was a period of transition and corruption. READ MORE: The First Birth Control Pill Used Puerto Rican Women as Guinea Pigs, Flappers at the bar of Isa Lanchesters nightclub in London, 1925. Thaw was committed to a mental institution before being released in 1915. Sargent was demonized: His career in tatters, he headed for a fresh start in London. Public outcry in America was strong, and Senator Edwin Jackson railed against her in the US Senate. The Teapot Dome was the biggest political scandal of the 1920's. The Teapot Dome was an oil field that belonged to the U.S. Navy. Instead, she ended up, as they say in movieland, on the cutting room floor, her part eliminated, her work rejected (according to most stories of her suicide, in fact, she wasnt cut out of the final print of the film until after her death, though her fourteen-minute appearance had been reduced to four). Koretz was an accomplished actor who lived a lie for most of his life, playing the role of millionaire oil baron who was willing to share his success with his relatives and friends, explains Dean Jobb, a journalism professor at University of Kings College in Nova Scotia and author of the 2015 book Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated a Nation. Others, however, have faded into obscurity, even though the public indulged in their salaciousness during their heyday. The legend that she was discovered by a Hollywood mogul at Schwabs Pharmacy has long been debunked, but the scandal which surrounded her in 1958, after her daughter stabbed to death reputed mob figure Johnny Stompanato, has not. After his departure from the scene Swanson was nearly broke, virtually unemployable following the debacle of her most recent film, and soon to be divorced by her irate husband. In 1921, Fatty Arbuckle was accused of raping and killing Virginia Rappe. But Kellerman rejected this notion, preferring a tighter one-piece suit that left the arms and legs bare. Both her marriages became tabloid fodder as a result of her physical and alcohol-fueled public brawls with her husbands. Verdict for the plaintiff; 500 damages awarded. During their lengthy affair, Tracy was also unfaithful to Hepburn, having an affair with actress Gene Tierney which made the tabloids, and speculation was often rife over others. The crime was never solved and the sensational nature of the murder, widely covered by an ill-informed and voracious press, was a scandal in Hollywood for years. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. William Desmond Taylor. The latter was soothed by Payton and Tone marrying after he recovered. The jury found him not guilty; he resumed his pulpit, and spent the next decade campaigning for presidents and commenting on public affairs. 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. 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. What Happened In Room 1219? Criminal conversation, beastly behavior, sexual shenanigans its all here in these ten shocking scandals that rocked nineteenth century society to its well-bred core. Petting parties only added to this reputation. Young female wannabe stars were frequent guests to his office so that he may evaluate their skills.