Thursday, August 9, 2012

Allow themselves to introduce...themselves...


Another cool part of the book of old gossip  magazines was that they had a "Who's Who in Hollywood" section that I thought was neat. Unfortunately, it only went up to the letter "H." It said that the rest would be continued in the next issue...and for some reason the book decided not to print the rest of it which is really lame in my opinion.

ARTHUR, JEAN - Never mentions her unhappy, month long first marriage, which ended in annulment. Married since June 11, 1932 to Frank Ross Jr. (She divorced Ross in 1949, and to be fair, if you had a marriage that only lasted a day, would YOU want to talk about it?)

ASTOR, MARY - Widowed when director Kenneth Hawks was killed in an air crash. Dr. Franklyn Thorpe restored her health. She married him in 1931, had a daughter, Marylyn, who became center of bitter custody battle in 1936. Eloped to Yuma February 18, 1937, with actor-writer Manuel Del Campo. (Hmmm, I notice a big, glaring omission of the diary scandal that took place during her and Thorpe's divorce trial. That kind stuff would be front page news nowadays!)

BALL, LUCILLE - Still single, but that romance with director Alexander Hall looks serious. (No mention of Desi as of yet! And that romance with Hall apparently didn't get too serious because they never made a trip down the aisle)

BARRIE, WENDY - Hasn't made The Great Decision yet. (Their capitals, not mine. Good Lord, it makes it seem like she is making a decision of biblical proportions. As far as marriage goes, Wendy never did marry.

Wallace Beery and his daughter, Carol Ann

BEERY, WALLACE - In February, 1916, married Gloria Swanson. It lasted about a year. His present marriage (to Rita Gillman) looks perpetual. Has an adopted 6-year-old, Carol Ann, around whom his world revolves. (Carol Ann was actually the daughter of Rita's cousin. Wallace and Rita divorced in 1939. Another interesting side note is that after the divorce, he adopted another little girl named Phyllis Anne. But, it seems she just kinda disappeared after that. She wasn't even mentioned in his obituary. Hmmm....)

Constance Bennett and Marquis Henri de la Falaise

BENNETT, CONSTANCE - Her first marriage, to Chester H. Moorhead, University of Virginia student - was annulled. Her second - to Philip Plant, millionaire playboy - ended in divorce and a handsome property settlement. On January 9, 1932, she adopted a child, Peter. On November 22, 1932, she married Marquis Henri de la Falaise, who now makes travel pictures. Contrary to popular impression, they are not divorced - yet. (I love the 'yet' at the end of the sentence. Their prediction was correct. The pair split in 1940)

Joan Blondell and Dick Powell

BLONDELL, JOAN - When she married cameraman George Barnes on January 4, 1933, she wanted to change her screen name to Joan Barnes. They had a son, Norman. Then, in September, 1936, they had a divorce. The same month, she married Dick Powell - and they had Hollywood's most hectic honeymoon. (And then a 'hectic' divorce in 1944. Norman was later adopted by Powell and is still alive and working as a television producer.)

BRADY, ALICE - Love Alice, and you have to love her dogs. Maybe James L. Crane didn't. Anyway, their marriage lasted only two and a half years. (I guess that ruined the idea of marriage for her because she never married again. Alice and Crane did a have a son together, Donald)

BROWN, JOE E. - Claims he has been married as long as he can remember - and to the same woman, Kathryn McGraw. They have two grown boys, and two little girls, one adopted to replace baby they lost. (I'm sorry....to 'replace' the baby they lost? What the hell?? Excellent journalism there. Anyways, both sons have passed away, but his daughters, Mary and Kathryn, are both still alive.)

James and Frances Cagney

CAGNEY, JAMES - It was love at first sight with Jimmy and his actress-wife, Frances Vernon - and that was almost more than a decade ago. (What a great story with these two, they married in 1922 and remained together until his death in 1986. They adopted a son, James Cagney Jr., and a daughter, Casey. What is really amazing is that he never cheated on his wife. He almost did while on tour entertaining troops when Merle Oberon tried to seduce him. Good for you, Jimmy! And, I don't blame you, Merle!)

Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard

CHAPLIN, CHARLIE - No one was certain he had married Mildred Harris in 1918 until she divorced him in 1920. His second marriage - to Lita Grey - was no secret. She gave him two sons, Charles Jr., and Sydney, before their divorce in 1927, when she won boys' custody. Everybody suspects Paulette Goddard is Wife No. 3 - but they won't talk. (Suspicions proved correct! Paulette and Charlie married in 1936...and then divorced in 1942. His fourth and final marriage was to Oona O'Neill in 1943. They remained married until his death in 1977. Oona and Charlie had EIGHT children together: Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Annette, and Christopher. All eight of these children are still living, but his son with Lita Grey both passed away. Charlie Jr. died in 1958 from a pulmonary embolism and Sydney died in 2009 from a stroke)

Betty Grable and Jackie Coogan

COOGAN, JACKIE - "The Kid" has grown up. A married man since November 20, 1937, when Betty Grable said "I do." (Betty said "I don't" in 1939).

Bing and Dixie Lee Crosby

CROSBY, BING - Sang "I Surrender Dear" to Dixie Lee, for keeps, in 1932. Son Gary born 1933. Twins, Phillip and Dennis, born 1934. Expecting again! (Another son, Lindsay, was born in 1938. It has become pretty well known that Bing's boys had a rough childhood after one of the brothers wrote a book talking about how cold their father was to them. Only son, Phillip, claimed he was not a monster. Lindsay and Dennis both committed suicide by shotguns in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Gary died in 1995 from lung cancer, and Phillip in 2004 from a heart attack. )

DE HAVILLAND, OLIVIA- Love requires leisure. And Olivia is busy. (Her life seemed to 'slow down' in 1946 when she married author and screenwriter, Marcus Goodrich. They had a son, Benjamin in 1949. Olivia and Goodrich divorced in 1952. Her second and last marriage was to journalist Pierre Galante in 1955. They had a daughter, Gisele in 1956. The couple divorced in 1979. As you know, Olivia is still living! She outlived her son, who died in 1991 from cancer)

DRAKE, FRANCES - Popular with the boys, but elusive. (She managed to be 'caught' by Lt. Cecil Howard in 1939. They remained married until his death in 1985. Frances married again in 1992 in to David Brown, and they stayed married until she passed away in 2000)

ELLIS, PATRICIA - Of all the suitors rather favors Fred Keating. (The favor ran out it appears because they never married. Patricia only married once, in 1940 to businessman, George O'Malley. They remained married until her death in 1970.)

FAYE, ALICE - Honeymooning in Hollywood since September 4, 1937, when she finally said "Yes" to patient, persistent Tony Martin. (Someones patience didn't last very long because the two divorced in 1940.)

FAZENDA, LOUISE - Married ten years last Thanksgiving to producer Hal Wallis. Son born April, 1933. (Louise and Hal remained married until her death in 1965. Their son, Brent, later became a psychologist.)

FIELDS, W.C. - Unhappily married once, and only once. Under pressure, he has also admitted to having a grown son. (Oh Good Lord, Fields! His one and only wife was Harriet Hughes, with who he had a son, William Claude Jr,  with in 1904. He did in fact have another son named William, in 1917 with girlfriend, Bessie Poole. The latter son was later put into foster care. W.C. Jr. died in 1971 and was buried with his mother and father.)

Lili Damita and Errol Flynn

FLYNN, ERROL - Despite their battles - or, perhaps, because of them - Errol and Lili Damita still like matrimony, after two years. Gossipers have them calling it "quits" every other day. (Well, they did call it quits, in 1942. They had a son named Sean in 1941. Sean disappeared while working in Cambodia in 1970 and was later declared dead in 1984. His remains were never found, and is generally assumed that he was killed by communist guerrillas.)

FONTAINE, JOAN - At 20, intent on career, discouraging willing suitors. (Well, it seems that she quickly grew out of that state of mind because Joan married four times. Her second marriage produced a daughter, Deborah, in 1948.)

GEORGE, GLADYS - Ex-husbands: Ben Erway and Edward Fowler. Present husband: Leonard Penn, who has given up factory management for acting, to be with her. (He should have thought twice, because they divorced in 1944. Gladys married one more time in 1946 to Kenneth Bradley, but they too divorced, in 1950)

HOPKINS, MIRIAM - First married to Brandon Peters. Then to writer Austin Parker, whose divorce was one of Hollywood's friendliest. Adopted baby, Michael, May 4, 1932. Eloped to Yuma with director Anatole Litvak, September 4, 1937. They plan to live in separate houses on same estate. (Apparently Miriam and Anatole's alternative marriage didn't make things easier because they divorced in 1939. She married one more time, in 1945 to war correspondent, Raymond Brock. They remained married until 1951. Michael Hopkins passed away in 2010)

HOWARD, LESLIE - During World War leave married Ruth Evelyn Martin. They have a son, Ronald, a daughter Leslie. (Such a sad story. Leslie and Ruth remained married until 1943 when Leslie's plane was shot down over the Bay of Biscayne. There are a few conspiracies about what happened exactly, but I am not going to get into that here. Conspiracy theories are just...wow!)

HUDSON, ROCHELLE - Still collecting proposals. (She stopped collecting proposals at one point and started collecting husbands. She married four times, but never had children.)

2 comments:

  1. Las hermanas Olivia de Hallivand y Joan Fontaine todavía viven. Son ambas leyendas del cine.
    Me encanta su página. Un saludo desde España.

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  2. I've reached Spain! Amazing!!

    And you are right mi amigo, they are still both living. I have always heard conflicting reports about their relationship. I have heard they hated each other and then I have heard that they were okay, just had spats like regular siblings.

    Thank you so much for stopping by!!

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