Hollywood’s Golden Age was a time of glamour and intrigue, but beneath the surface lay a web of scandals that shook the industry to its core. From hidden pregnancies to mysterious deaths, these stories reveal the darker side of Tinseltown.
One of the most enduring scandals involved the legendary Loretta Young and her secret daughter, Judy Lewis. In 1937, Young brought home a 19-month-old child, claiming she had adopted her from Europe. The truth, however, was far more complex. Young had hidden her pregnancy during a long trip overseas and placed Lewis in various orphanages until she could pass her off as adopted. The press was suspicious, and rumors swirled that Young had had an affair with the married Clark Gable while shooting Call of the Wild.
The Truth About Loretta Young and Clark Gable
Young refused to address the rumors and even kept the truth from her daughter. It wasn’t until after Young’s death that the truth came out in her posthumous memoirs. Judy Lewis later revealed that she had confronted her mother about the subject, leading Young to run into the bathroom and vomit. Young confirmed the truth to Judy but not to the world. Gable was never involved in Judy’s life and would not even acknowledge her existence.
The real story goes beyond shocking and sad to even more messed-up territory. According to Young’s daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, in the ’90s, Young had asked her what date rape meant after hearing the term on Larry King Live. After Lewis explained, Young replied, “That’s what happened between me and Clark.” On the train ride back from shooting Call of the Wild on location, Gable had allegedly snuck into Young’s compartment. Gable was not then alive to confirm or deny this occurred.
The Scandal That Almost Ended Ingrid Bergman’s Career
Today, Ingrid Bergman is known as one of the most famous and celebrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. But her career came into serious jeopardy in 1950 due to one of that era’s biggest scandals. Bergman, who was married to neurosurgeon Petter Lindströmwas off in Italy on the set of Stromboli when it was revealed that she was having an affair with the film’s director, Italian filmmaker Roberto Rosselliniwho was also married. It gets even more scandalous: Bergman, who already had a daughter with Lindström, was pregnant.
Her reputation was so bad that she was called a “powerful influence for evil” on the floor of the US Senate, and talk show host Ed Sullivan declined to have her on the show a full seven years later, after viewers sent thousands of angry letters. The film also tanked as a result of the affair, and Bergman’s Hollywood career disappeared overnight. As far as her personal life, she attempted to immediately divorce Lindström so she could marry Rossellini (who secured a divorce from his wife), but he refused to do so until her son with Rossellini was born, forcing him to be born out of wedlock. The custody battle for their daughter, Piawas also ugly, and Bergman did not see her daughter with Lindström for seven years.
Bergman stayed away from the US for almost a decade, continuing her career in Europe. Her Hollywood comeback was not until 1956’s Anastasia. Though the film was not even made in the US, it was within the Hollywood studio system, and it earned Bergman a Best Actress Oscar. She did not attend the ceremony, though, and it would be a few more years before she truly returned to Hollywood (and even after that, she continued much of her work in Europe). By then, she had long since divorced Rossellini. Her career continued, and her legacy was safe, but the scandal remains one of the biggest of that time in Hollywood. Perhaps what’s most messed up about it, though, is the complete and utter blacklisting and vitriol Bergman received, for so many years after the affair, in comparison to Rossellini.
The Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor
Another early Hollywood murder that the press ran wild with was the murder of prominent silent film director William Desmond Taylor. Just a year after Fatty Arbuckle‘s case began a national frenzy, Taylor was found dead in his LA house, having been shot in the back. When police arrived, the scene was already vastly disturbed, as starlets, press, and other Hollywood insiders went through his stuff. They did, however, find several clues: a love letter from young actor Mary Miles Minterwho had starred in many of Taylor’s films. Her nightgown was also found there, though there was speculation that these were planted. Still, this led to strong speculation that Minter was involved, especially as Minter had previously attempted to kill herself using a similar style gun.
Minter was also very young — still a teen star — and her mother, Charlotte Shelbywas not happy that Minter appeared to be having an affair with an older man; she had once threatened another director for trying to flirt with Minter. Shelby had an alibi, but suspiciously, the person providing it was later paid a bunch of money; Shelby was also apparently close to the district attorney at the time. Another director later claimed that Minter had admitted to him that Shelby had carried out the murder, but that’s just hearsay, and the murder was never solved…though Minter did later admit to being present with her mother on the night of the murder.
Also present that night? Mabel Normandanother actor and comedian (far more well-known than Minter), who had actually worked with Fatty Arbuckle a number of times. She came so he could give her a book and left around 8. It was speculated that they, too, had a romantic relationship; Taylor had paid for her care at a sanatorium, ostensibly for tuberculosis (which she eventually died from), but really for an addiction to cocaine.
This led to the theory that Taylor was actually killed by a narcotics syndicate assassin angry at Taylor over Normand quitting cocaine; there was speculation he may have been encouraging her to talk to the police about her suppliers. Normand herself fell under suspicion and even testified in court about the murder, but was cleared. Authorities seemed no closer to finding the murderer, and the murder is still unsolved today.
Making the whole thing even more odd, while on her deathbed in the ’60s, former silent film star Margaret Gibson claimed she had killed Taylor. Gibson had her own share of Hollywood scandals. She’d initially had a strong career in silent films, but legal trouble, including allegations of vagrancy, blackmail, and extortion, led to her career cooling, despite her being acquitted and all charges being dropped. She moved abroad for many years, then returned to Hollywood, where she became a recluse. After a heart attack at age 70, she revealed that she had killed Taylor, though she did not offer any proof before dying. It’s possible, given Gibson’s alleged history with blackmail, that she was involved, but considering how many other suspects there were and the lack of evidence, it’s flimsy.
