1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: Hollywood sex scandals are kind of a guilty pleasure, but 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: guess what, they're nothing new. Back in the nineteen fifties, 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: there was a massively popular leading man who was forced 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: to marry his agent secretary to hide the fact that 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: he was gay. And how about the affair between the 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: nineteen forties and fifties Oscar winning movie star and her 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: Oscar nominated director that led to marriage and then to 8 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: divorce after he caught her in bed with his son 9 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: who was just thirteen years old. Can't make this stuff up. 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. Sex cells, especially when it's off screen. 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: Next on the backstory. The backstory is back. Hollywood sex 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: scandals always titillate us, even if we don't want to 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: admit it. We've heard about those involving movie superstars, and 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: we love a peek inside that beautiful, sexy, moneyed world. 15 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: But some of those stories go beyond a little flirtation 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: or even a more intense liaison, have led to broken 17 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: marriages and some to crimes that destroyed careers and lives. 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: Let's start with the silent film comedy legend Fatty Arbuckle. 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 1: It was September of nineteen twenty one, Fatty had it all. 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: He just signed a million dollar a year deal for 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: three years the equivalent today of about seventeen million bucks 22 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: a year to star in eighteen silent films. A friend 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: planned a three day celebration for him at the Saint 24 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: Francis Hotel in beautiful San Francisco. So there are private rooms, 25 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: lots of food, and plenty of liquor despite prohibition, and 26 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: lots of uninvited guests begin to show up, including a 27 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: woman named Maud Delmont and a twenty five year old 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: named Virginia. Repe At first, Fatty tells friends he doesn't 29 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: want those women there because it might tip the cops 30 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: off to their quote unquote gin party. Maud was a 31 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: madam in Virginia, was a model, clothing designer, want to 32 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: be actress, and especially a party girl. So the party 33 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: heats up. Matty isn't worried about anything at this point 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: other than being alone with Virginia. They have a few 35 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: drinks together, and according to Maud, Fatty pulls Virginia into 36 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: a nearby room, saying I've waited for you and now 37 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: I've got you. Half an hour goes by and then 38 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: Maud so she hears Virginia screaming the door is locked. 39 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: She kicks at it until Fatty finally opens the door 40 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: with a big grin on his face, and Maud sees 41 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 1: Virginia sprawled on the bed, moaning in pain. They call 42 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: a doctor, who treats her and then leaves. Virginia stays 43 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: at the hotel for a few days, but she gets 44 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: worse and is finally taken to a hospital. She dies 45 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: there a few days later of a ruptured bladder. Faddy 46 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: was arrested and sat in jail without bail for three 47 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: weeks while the newspapers had a field day with him. 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: He finally told his side of the story, saying that 49 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: after he had a few drinks with Virginia, she became hysterical, 50 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: complaining she couldn't breathe. He said, she then started to 51 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: tear off her clothes, said he thought she was drunk, 52 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: and that he actually was never alone with her and 53 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: had witnesses to prove it. Fatty was charged with manslaughter 54 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: and went to trial. Now, the problem is the key 55 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: witness for the prosecution was Maud the Madam, and she 56 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: had a pretty crummy reputation, including a criminal history involving 57 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: fraud and extortion. Turns out she'd bring young women to 58 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: parties to entertain wealthy men, and later she'd accuse them 59 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: of rape and then blackmail them. To make the case 60 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: even worse for the prosecutor, The defense had telegrams that 61 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: Maud had sent to lawyers in San Diego and Los 62 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: Angeles that said, we have Fatty Arbuckle in a hole here, 63 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: chance to make some money out of him. Eventually, after 64 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: three trials, the case against Fatty was dismissed, but his 65 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: career was destroyed. Then there's Rock Hudson, gorgeous superstar of 66 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: the fifties, sixties, and seventies. He was the dreamy guy 67 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: in classic movies like Giant, Magnificent, Obsession, and rom coms 68 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: like Pillow Talk. By the seventies and early eighties, he 69 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: starred in hit TV shows like McMillan and Wife and Dynasty. 70 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: But his career hit a snag back in nineteen fifty 71 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: five when a gossip magazine called Confidential started sniffing around 72 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: his private life. They wanted to do a bombshell story 73 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: about Rock being gay, which in those days could have 74 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: destroyed his career. His agent decided something had to be 75 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: done now. Back then, to protect their moneymakers, studios and 76 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: their fixers, like agents, would arrange what were called lavender marriages. 77 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: That meant they would pay somebody off who was willing 78 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: to get married to a star who was in the 79 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: closet and wanted to stay there. Rock's agent persuaded his 80 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: own secretary, Phyllis Gates, to marry Rock right away. It worked, 81 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: and it kept Rock's career intact, although the pair divorced 82 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: a few years later. While there are recordings taken by 83 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: a private eye of Phyllis a using Rock of picking 84 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: up boys, he managed to keep his secret until he 85 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:15,679 Speaker 1: was diagnosed with AIDS in nineteen eighty five. And finally, 86 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: there's the story of Gloria Graham. Now funny enough. While 87 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: you might not know her name, you would definitely recognize 88 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: her if you like classic flicks. She starred in movies 89 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: like It's a Wonderful Life, The Big Heat Oklahoma, and 90 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: The Greatest Show on Earth. And she won an Oscar 91 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: for the Bad and the Beautiful. But Gloria had a 92 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: thing for men. She couldn't get enough of them, and 93 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: it cost her her reputation. While working on a film 94 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty nine, she fell for her director, Nicholas Ray, 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: who later would get an Oscar Nod for directing the 96 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause. Gloria wound up pregnant. 97 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: Problem was she was already married, so she got a 98 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: fast divorce in Vegas so she could then marry Nicholas 99 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: before the baby arrived. So what happened to them? Well, 100 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: of course, the excitement petered out, as it sometimes does, 101 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: and the marriage ended in nineteen fifty two when Nicholas 102 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: walked in on Gloria in bed with another man, or 103 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: actually a boy named Anthony, who happened to be Nicholas's 104 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: son and who happened to be just thirteen years old 105 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: at the time. Jeez, how crazy is that? Weirdly, it 106 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: didn't end there. Right after the divorce, Gloria quickly married 107 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: somebody else for about five minutes, and then when young 108 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: Anthony turned twenty one, he became Gloria's fourth and final husband, 109 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: staying with her for fourteen years. That marriage way outlasted 110 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: her other marriages and certainly outlasted her career. It was 111 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: a crazy life for those early Hollywood stars. While the 112 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: movie studios did everything to protect them and make them 113 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: look more beautiful and larger than life. The press and 114 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: the public loved seeing them fall apart, and that's when 115 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: the studios got tired of them and abandon them. You 116 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: got to wonder why we get a thrill out of 117 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: watching these stars rise and just as much of a 118 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: thrill out of watching them fall. Do you have a 119 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: story you'd like me to take a deeper dive into 120 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: and share. Please DM me on Facebook at Patty Steele 121 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: or on Instagram at reel Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 122 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis 123 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 124 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 125 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 126 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at real Patty 127 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 128 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history 129 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.