Buzz
In today’s world, scandals are produced faster than ever, thanks to the 24/7 news cycle and the prevalence of social media. As a result, the shock factor has diminished. In the past, however, a celebrity scandal was not only newsworthy for what happened, but also for who it happened to. Hollywood stars were adored by the public, and their fall from grace had a much deeper impact. It was a time when the public’s love for these stars gave their scandals far more weight.
Perhaps Hollywood has always been a fantasy world, filled with stories that have long since faded from memory. Here are a few that have been lost to time.
10. Elizabeth Taylor: A Love Triangle Gone Awry
Imagine the Brangelina saga unfolding 50 years ago, in a time when Nikita Khrushchev was named Time's 1958 Man of the Year, Dwight D. Eisenhower occupied the White House, and Captain Kangaroo ruled television. Back then, Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor took the idea of marriage to extremes, marrying eight times. Her two unions with Richard Burton have become legendary, but it was her affair with Eddie Fisher that truly shook Hollywood. Compared to Brangelina, this was something entirely different.
In 1957, Taylor married mega-producer Mike Todd. Tragically, Todd passed away in a plane crash just one year into their marriage. He became the only husband that Taylor didn’t divorce. This event, though heartbreaking, opened the door for Todd's close friend, singer Eddie Fisher, to step in as a source of comfort. Even though Fisher was married to actress Debbie Reynolds, it wasn’t long before the two found solace in each other’s arms, and they wed the following year.
The union between Taylor and Fisher didn’t last long, unraveling within five years when Taylor met Richard Burton. Despite the drama, Reynolds eventually forgave Taylor. Reflecting on her many marriages, Taylor once quipped, “I am a very committed wife. And I should be committed, too—for being married so many times.”
9. Lana Turner: The Sweater Girl and the Scandal That Shook Hollywood
The story of Lana Turner’s rise to fame is one you might know: discovered while sipping a soda at a local fountain, she became a sensation. Known as the 'Sweater Girl,' she matched Elizabeth Taylor in the number of marriages but gained a different kind of notoriety for a scandal involving a dangerous lover from the underworld.
In 1957, Lana Turner became involved with Johnny Stompanato, a small-time gangster connected to mobster Mickey Cohen. Their intense relationship reached a tragic climax on April 4, 1958, when a fierce argument between the couple escalated at their Bel Air home. When Stompanato threatened Turner, her 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl, intervened, grabbing an eight-inch carving knife and fatally stabbing him. The death was ruled justifiable homicide. Within a week, personal letters, including one from Stompanato which read 'You know, baby, I’m so lonesome for the touch of you, I could die,' were leaked to the press.
After the incident, Cheryl was sent to live with her grandmother, while Turner went on to star in the 1959 box-office hit Imitation of Life. Meanwhile, Stompanato’s son, John II, filed a lawsuit for $750,000, claiming his father's death was unjustified. Turner and Cheryl settled the case out of court for $20,000.
8. Ingrid Bergman: Romance, Italian Style
Ingrid Bergman was meant to be above the trivialities of scandal. She had earned an Oscar for Gaslight in 1944 and portrayed Joan of Arc in 1949. Yet, an affair? And pregnancy? Was this really the same Joan?
Bergman’s meeting with director Roberto Rossellini in 1949 on the set of Stromboli led to an affair that ended her 13-year marriage to Petter Lindstrom. She left her 10-year-old daughter Pia behind as her son with Rossellini, Robert, was born just days before her divorce was finalized.
Rossellini remained silent when questioned in Italy, despite the growing rumors. Once the story made its way to the United States, the self-styled moral protectors had a field day. Religious groups, censorship boards, and government officials rallied together, claiming that the affair “glorifies adultery,” and demanded that Bergman be removed from the cinematic landscape.
Even the U.S. Senate joined the fray. Edwin C. Johnson (D-Colo.), the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, sharply criticized Bergman, Rossellini, and the RKO film studio. The senator accused Bergman of taking a “nosedive from the pinnacle of respectability, fame, and glory to the status of a mere mistress,” while condemning Rossellini as “vile and unspeakable” and “a common love thief.”
After six years, two more children, and one divorce, Bergman made a powerful return to Hollywood. She divorced Rossellini in 1956, the same year she starred in Anastasia, winning her second Academy Award. In 1972, Sen. Charles H. Percy formally apologized to Bergman by entering an apology into the Congressional Record.
7. Jean Harlow: The Honeymoon Is Over
Paul Bern’s suicide note was brief but poignant:
“Dearest Dear, sadly this is the only way I can right the terrible wrong I’ve done to you and erase my total humiliation. I love you. Paul. You’ll understand that last night was just a comedy.”
On September 5, 1932, the butler found the producer’s body, nude, with a pistol in hand and a gunshot wound to his head. His wife of just two months, Jean Harlow, was left shattered by the news.
The actress, known as The Blonde Bombshell, said, “I can’t understand why this awful thing happened. As for the note Paul left, I don’t know what it means.” But that explanation wasn’t sufficient for the police, reporters, or the public in 1932. Everyone was desperate to understand why the 42-year-old man chose to make a widow of the sexy 21-year-old star. Oddities weave through the tale. Bern, who had been seen with some of the most iconic actresses of the time, was seen by many as an incomplete man. There was much to read between the lines, including the fact that he never consummated his marriage to Harlow.
Then there was Dorothy Millette, Bern’s common-law wife from his time in New York. Millette’s body was found in the Sacramento River two days after Bern’s suicide. Rumors circulated that she had visited his home shortly before his death, along with whispers that studio executives and assistants had effectively tampered with the death scene to remove any compromising evidence long before the police arrived.
Years later, playwright, screenwriter, and former journalist Ben Hecht took on the story in the pages of Playboy. His November 1960 article ignited enough controversy to prompt District Attorney McKesson to revisit the original investigation, though he found nothing worth pursuing. Hecht himself admitted to Toronto journalists, “My story was based on rumor and gossip. I have no concrete evidence. My report was based on a tale that’s been circulating in Hollywood for quite some time.”
6. Jackie Coogan: Stealing From A Baby
Can you imagine Uncle Fester as a child star? Actor Jackie Coogan first gained fame 43 years before the Addams Family TV series. He became a sensation at just seven years old, starring alongside Charlie Chaplin in the 1921 classic The Kid. More notably, he helped change child labor laws by taking his parents to court.
Coogan’s childhood fame brought in a lot of money. Beyond his acting fees, he earned a substantial sum from product endorsements. In 1938—married to starlet Betty Grable and seeking a comeback—he demanded his parents show him the money. He filed a lawsuit against his mother and stepfather, seeking an accounting of his earnings. By his calculations, he should have saved $4 million.
The story made headlines in Life magazine. The publication supported Coogan’s stance, quoting his mother as saying, “No promises were ever made to give Jackie anything.” His stepfather was even more direct: “Every dollar a kid earns before he is 21 belongs to his parents. Jackie will not get a cent of his earnings.”
Coogan didn’t come out ahead. He eventually settled for around $125,000, far less than the millions he believed he was owed. Nevertheless, his legal battle set an important precedent. The California Child Actors Bill, better known as The Coogan Law, was passed in 1939.
5. Errol Flynn: In Like You-Know-Who
Bad publicity isn’t always a setback. At least not for Errol Flynn, the swashbuckling star of Warner Bros. On October 16, 1942, Flynn was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting 17-year-old Betty Hansen. The actor managed to regain his freedom by posting a $1,000 bond.
Hansen, eager to make her mark in Hollywood, told authorities about her journey from Lincoln, Nebraska, where she worked as a drugstore waitress, to Hollywood. She confessed to having illicit relationships with several studio employees in hopes of securing an invite to a September 27 gathering in Bel Air. “It was an afternoon party with swimming and dancing. My boss wouldn’t let me off, so I quit my job to attend.” Hansen claimed that after a brief rest from too many drinks, she allowed Flynn to take her to an upstairs bedroom where they became intimate. “With my consent?” Hansen wondered aloud. “Why, of course, with my consent.”
The minor insisted she had no intention of pressing charges. However, her sister, with whom she lived, reported the incident to the police. The case escalated when statutory rape charges were added from a previous incident on Flynn’s yacht, Sirocco, in August 1941, filed by Peggy La Rue Satterlee.
A jury, composed of nine women and three men, deliberated for 13 hours before acquitting Flynn. The actor expressed his thoughts saying, “My faith in American justice has been vindicated. I truly mean it. I didn’t become a citizen for nothing. The fairness I received during the trial proves that. I want to thank everyone who supported me throughout the trial.”
Following the trial's conclusion, Hansen was sent back to her parents in Lincoln, Nebraska. Before leaving Applegate, California, Satterlee told a reporter, “I hate Flynn more than anybody else in the world. Maybe it worked out for the best, but I never wanted it to happen this way.” She added, “I knew those women on the jury would acquit him. They just stared at him with adoration, as if he were their son or something. They never believed he was guilty.”
Despite the trial and the media frenzy, Flynn’s career and reputation remained unscathed. In fact, it even gave birth to a new phrase: “in like Flynn.”
4. Charlie Chaplin: A Boot For The Tramp
Charlie Chaplin’s illustrious career in filmmaking began in 1914 and continued until 1967. With his lasting fame and success, the beloved “Little Tramp” garnered both positive and negative press throughout his life, but nothing topped his expulsion from the United States.
In September of 1952, Chaplin headed to Europe to promote his latest film, Limelight. Just two weeks after he left, the US Attorney General instructed immigration officials to deny the actor-director re-entry, pending an inquiry into his political activities.
By October, Chaplin gave up his re-entry permit. He expressed, “I have been the victim of lies and malicious propaganda by influential conservative groups who, with the help of America’s sensationalist media, have fostered a climate in which people with liberal views are unfairly targeted and persecuted. I now find it nearly impossible to continue my filmmaking career, and thus, I’ve renounced my residence in the United States.”
Chaplin returned to a more lenient US government and a nostalgic Hollywood in 1972. That year, he was honored with an honorary Oscar, overshadowing the likes of Jane Fonda and Gene Hackman. Simultaneously, Limelight was finally given a full release in the US, including in Los Angeles, and became eligible for Academy Award nominations. In 1973, Chaplin won his only competitive Oscar when Limelight took home the award for Best Music Score.
3. Peg Entwistle: The Dream Is Over
Oscar Levant once remarked, “Behind the fake glitter of Hollywood lies the real glitter.” The tragic death of actress Peg Entwistle is a haunting reflection of this sentiment.
On September 16, 1932, Entwistle, at the age of 28, faced a career collapse. In the previous two years, she had managed only one film role, and RKO had chosen not to renew her contract. That night, she made her way to the iconic Hollywood sign for one final time. After neatly folding her coat and placing her purse on the ground, she climbed the maintenance ladder to the top of the 'H.' Then, she jumped to her death.
Two days later, a hiker stumbled upon the tragedy and found a note in Entwistle’s purse that 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.”
2. Fatty Arbuckle: A Bad Rappe
Scandals can be fatal, even when the charge is reduced to manslaughter. For Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, the scandal didn’t just affect his reputation—it obliterated his career.
The portly comedian had reached the pinnacle of Hollywood fame in just five short years. In 1918, he secured a staggering $3 million contract for three years, but his rapid ascent came crashing down a mere three years later. A high-profile court case, filled with melodrama, would mark his downfall—a case involving a Hollywood icon, murder allegations, an ambitious district attorney, questionable witnesses, and an abundance of sexual insinuations.
On September 11, 1921, Arbuckle was arrested by police after Virginia Rappe fell gravely ill during a party he hosted on September 5. Four days later, she passed away in a nearby hospital. Initially charged with murder, Arbuckle faced allegations of violent sexual assault, and he spent three weeks in jail before being granted bail on a reduced charge of manslaughter. Over the course of the next seven months, three trials resulted in Arbuckle's acquittal.
The jury deliberated for just six minutes, with only one minute of discussion. As foreman Edward Brown remarked, 'Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle.' Unfortunately, this statement proved to be accurate. The studios distanced themselves from him, and his legal expenses drained his fortune. A failed attempt to reconcile with his wife left him even more isolated.
For the next decade, a broken Arbuckle struggled to find success, whether in Hollywood or overseas. However, after completing a series of two-reel films that caught the attention of Warner Bros., there was a glimmer of hope. The studio offered him the chance to direct a feature film on June 28, 1933. That same evening, Arbuckle tragically passed away in his sleep from a heart attack, at the age of 46.
1. Thomas H. Ince: Remembered By Rumor
Thomas Ince’s legacy is forever overshadowed by his mysterious death. Despite his influential contributions, such as playing a pivotal role in the creation of the studio system, defining the producer’s role, and pioneering the continuity script, Ince’s name is often remembered not for his achievements, but for the tragic and curious circumstances of his death.
The official account states that Ince attended a gathering aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht on November 16, 1924. Alongside Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin, movie columnist Louella Parsons, author Elinor Glyn, and Dr. Daniel Carson Goodman, Ince fell gravely ill during the evening. Presumed to be suffering from severe indigestion, Dr. Goodman helped him leave the yacht. They made their way to Los Angeles by train and stopped in Del Mar, where Ince’s condition worsened. His wife, Nell, was notified, and a second physician attended to him before he was taken home. Ince passed away on November 19 from a heart attack.
While the events seem odd, they hardly seem to warrant scandal, conspiracy theories, or accusations of foul play. However, that’s exactly what has surrounded the death of Thomas Ince—whispers of something darker at play.
Legend suggests that Hearst grew suspicious of the relationship between Marion Davies and Charlie Chaplin. In a chaotic scene aboard the yacht, Hearst allegedly mistook Ince for someone else and shot him. Given Hearst’s immense power as a media mogul, it’s believed he could have easily covered up such an incident. The bizarre sequence of events—moving from the boat to the train, then to the hotel and eventually home—doesn’t fit the clean narrative of a conspiracy, but the strange details are hard to ignore.
The death certificate attributed Thomas Ince's death to natural causes, leading to no inquest or autopsy being conducted. His funeral took place on November 21, followed by his body being cremated. Afterward, Nell Ince left for Europe, where Hearst had arranged a trust fund for her. In a strange turn of events, Louella Parsons, one of the guests, was granted a lifetime contract by Hearst, along with increased syndication. With conflicting accounts from nearly every attendee and the intrigue surrounding the event, this incident grew into a legend too big to ignore, overshadowing the true achievements of one of Hollywood’s pioneers.
