Three Tales of Hollywood Scandal of the 1920s and 1930s

Hollywood scandals are nothing new. While many of them wouldn't be given a second thought by modern day standards, the '20s and '30s played by a different set of rules and held their celebrities to a higher moral standard than the regular Joe. The Lindsay Lohan's and Charlie Sheen's of today have nothing on these stars and their scandals.

According to 'America in the 1920s' author Edmund Lindop, Hollywood's finest (actors and directors) were caught up in all sorts of scandal involving murder, rape, and drugs.

Lindop quoted a U.S. senator of the time who wanted the movie industry to clean up its act as saying, "Hollywood is a colony of ... people where debauchery [moral corruption], riotous living, drunkenness ... [and] free love seem to be the conspicuous."

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle:

Actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was second only to Charlie Chaplin who he mentored. Arbuckle had signed a three-year deal with Paramount for $1 million, making him the highest paid star of the time.

Arbuckle had a lot going for himself and there is no telling how far he would have gone if it hadn't been for one fateful night on Labor Day 1921 that landed the actor in the middle of what would be Hollywood's first major scandal.

Arbuckle was arrested and charged with the death and rape of Virginia Rappe in San Francisco. Rappe didn't die that night but was hospitalized for a few days with a ruptured bladder before dying on September 9, 1921.

Hollywood madam Maude Delmont claimed Arbuckle sexually assaulted Rappe and his weight - a whopping 266 pounds - caused her bladder to rupture. Newspapers jumped on the Arbuckle-bashing bandwagon claiming Arbuckle had sexually abused Rappe with various foreign objects. This was not so and the truth could be as simple as an innocent knee to the midsection during horseplay.

Although evidence in the case pointed to Arbuckle's innocence, it was difficult for him to get a fair trial:

There were two hung juries in this case, but the third jury took just six minutes to acquit Arbuckle. They also issued an apology to the actor but nonetheless, his career was effectively ruined with the help of newspapers running stories about his supposed guilt.

Arbuckle died of a heart attack on June 30, 1933 at the age of 46, just hours after wrapping up his sixth Warner Brothers comedy short.

The Curious Case of Olive Thomas:

Olive Thomas was a Ziegfeld Girl and won the Most Beautiful Girl contest. She began working in films ca. 1915 and it's thought she slept her way into the business. Her first film was 'Beatrice Fairfax' in 1916.

In ca. 1918, she married the handsome Jack Pickford, famed actress Mary Pickford's brother. Although she was the love of his life, they fought a lot when they were together and being on opposite sides of the country didn't help. He was known to be unfaithful and eventually came down with syphilis.

While on vacation in Paris in September 1920, the couple returned to their hotel room after a night out on the town. Pickford fell asleep and for whatever reason, Thomas took his bichloride of mercury prescribed by doctors for syphilis. The thing about bichloride of mercury is that, unknown to doctors of the time, it would either cause a disintegration of the insides or it slowly burn through the skin. So when Pickford woke up, it was to the sound of his wife screaming in excruciating pain and agony. She died within the hour.

No one knows for sure if Thomas' death was accidental, intentional, or if she was murdered.

Interesting Tidbit: Olive Thomas' ghost is said to haunt the theater that gave her a start as a Ziegfeld Girl, the New Amsterdam Theater in New York.

Hollywood's First 'It Girl' Clara Bow:

Forget the fact Clara Bow found herself in the middle of messy divorces (not her own) and being sued successfully for alienation of affections by a doctor's wife. That was small potatoes compared to the scandals that would soon plague her.

In 1930, Bow sued a former secretary for embezzlement. The secretary was bent on revenge and went to the press with shocking, scandalous accusations against Bow. This person was relentless as she told stories about the actress. She alleged Bow had sex in public, had sexual encounters with other women when a man wasn't available, and so forth. Some of the allegations were truly outlandish, even by today's standards.

In 1931, Paramount dropped the actress. This, coupled with the negative press surrounding the scandals and a horrid childhood in which her own father sexually assaulted her, proved to be too much for Clara Bow and she had a nervous breakdown. In 1949, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Bow married handsome cowboy star Rex Bell when she was 26 and soon retired from making movies. Her last was 'Hoop-La' in 1933.

Clara Bow died on September 26, 1965 of a heart attack in Los Angeles. She was just 60-years-old.

Interesting Tidbit: Bow carried on an affair with actor Bela Lugosi ('Dracula' fame) in the late '20s. Lugosi kept a nude portrait of the actress hanging on his bedroom wall.

Sources:
Edmund Lindop, 'America in the 1920s', pg. 101
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle - Biography (IMDb)
Olive Thomas - Biography (IMDb)
Clara Bow (I) - Biography (IMDb)