1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Right. Imagine your career in Hollywood is just launching. When 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: you make a film with a huge heart throb, a 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: mutual flirtation turns into a night of unwanted sex leading 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: to a baby, and you have to hide the pregnancy 5 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: and the child's origin for decades. I'm Patty Steele. Loretta Young, 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,600 Speaker 1: huge mid century movie star, date raped by another superstar. 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory now. 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: OI live in a time when anything goes when it 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,319 Speaker 1: comes to sex, religion, social expectations. At least we think 10 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: we live in that time, but not all that long ago. 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:42,959 Speaker 1: It was a whole different world, and if you were 12 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: a well known figure, you had to maintain your image 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,639 Speaker 1: as though your career and even your life depended on it. 14 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: Because it did. Loretta Young was a superstar actress of 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: the mid twentieth century, both in film and later on TV, 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: but she could have lost it all due to a 17 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: very early incident in her Hollywood career. Born Gretchen Young 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen, her mother launched her three daughters into 19 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: show business to make an extra buck after her divorce. 20 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: Who was a rough life at first. Her mother even 21 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: gave her only son up for adoption to a wealthy 22 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 1: woman she'd met. He eventually became a successful lawyer, but 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: he didn't have much contact with his sisters. Loretta was 24 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: in her first silent movie at the age of three. 25 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: Between fifteen and seventeen, she starting twenty two movies with 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: stars like Lawn Cheney. At seventeen, she eloped with her 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: co star on a film, but that was a null. 28 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: The year later, in nineteen thirty four, just twenty one 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: years old, she co starred in a steamy story about 30 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: an udwed mother with Carrie Grant. Loretta now is becoming 31 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: a Hollywood sex symbol. Tall, slender, sultry, beautiful with big 32 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: green eyes. She's red hot. But her mother had sent 33 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: the girls to a convent for school and regularly had 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: their priests over for dinner. So Loretta is also a 35 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: devout Catholic, but she also loves men, and she has 36 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: a number of relationships that end sort of badly. Then, 37 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: when she's twenty, she meets Spencer Tracy. He's also a 38 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: devout Catholic, but he's married. Although separated, the pair openly date, 39 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: albeit without sex, but it becomes pretty clear Spencer will 40 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: not get a divorce. Of course, he went on to 41 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: have a long relationship with Catherine Hepburn while still remaining 42 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: married to his wife. Kate apparently didn't mind that, so 43 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty five, Loretta makes The Call of the 44 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: Wild with an even bigger superstar of the era, Clark Gable, 45 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: and also with a dog who actually steals the movie, 46 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: but whatever. She's twenty two years old. Clark's thirty four 47 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: and once again married, but he is a huge womanizer, 48 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: constantly at war with his wife over his cheating with 49 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: co stars like Joan Crawford. He'd also been involved in 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: a drunk driving accident a year earlier that killed a pedestrian. 51 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: MGM Studio's legendary team of fixers already had their hands 52 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: full when Clark, Loretta, and the rest of the cast 53 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: and crew head to the mountains in Washington State to film, 54 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: things heat up. Even as the film set is in 55 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: a freezing place, they're caught in a blizzard for almost 56 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: two weeks. It's eleven degrees below zero, and Loretta does 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: multiple takes for an outdoor scene where she's doused with 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: water to the point where she's chattering her teeth so 59 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: much she starts to cry. She needs somebody to warm 60 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: her up, and she and Gable have fun together and 61 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: are flirting wildly. In nine weeks on the set, they 62 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: were only able to film for six days, so there 63 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: was lots of downtime. Years later, Loretta's daughter said, my 64 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: mother always claimed that every performance involved falling a little 65 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: bit in love with her co star, and with the snow, 66 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: cold and isolation, a feeling was amped up. There were 67 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: rumors in Hollywood that Gable had betted yet another costar, 68 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: but Loretta said she didn't feel any guilt because nothing 69 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: sexual happened between them while out there in the wilderness. 70 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: Then it was time to head back to la she 71 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: thought the flirtation would end. But on the overnight train back, 72 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: while the film crew was seated or sleeping elsewhere on 73 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: the train late at night, Gable comes walking into Loretta's 74 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: sleeping compartment. She didn't share what happened that night with 75 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: anyone for a long time, but the end result, Loretta 76 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: gets pregnant. It's a situation that if it came to 77 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: light in that time, would have ended her career and 78 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: Gables as well, so she kept her mouth shut. Anyway, 79 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: what she have said sex wanted or unwanted was something 80 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: women did not talk about. If it was unwanted and 81 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: happened on a date, the word rape didn't seem appropriate 82 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: in those days. That was something that happened to women 83 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: who were attacked by strangers. If it happened on a date, 84 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: you probably were asking for it. That was what they thought. 85 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 1: The term date rape wasn't used until the late nineteen seventies. 86 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: Loretta was eighty five years old and heard that term 87 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: on TV. She asked her son and daughter in law 88 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: about it, and they explained it, and Loretta said, that's 89 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: what happened with Clark and me. After she found out 90 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: she was pregnant, she didn't tell her movie studio fixers 91 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: because they would have arranged an abortion, which she would 92 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: see as a mortal sin. But she did tell her 93 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: sisters and eventually her mother, and they came up with 94 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: a plan. First, she did two more films with plenty 95 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: of public appearances. She hosted some parties and then publicly 96 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: claimed she was simply exhausted. She and her mom sailed 97 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: to Europe for the summer. When she came back, her 98 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: doctor claimed she needed at least two months of bed rest. 99 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: In order to relieve her boredom, she'd go to the movies, 100 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: but only late at night to drive ins where no 101 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,919 Speaker 1: one would see her. There was some talk around town 102 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: that she might be ill, so Loretta finally gave an 103 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: interview to a gossip columnist while in bed with pillows 104 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: strategically piled all around her. She said, while I'm sad 105 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: that I'll be missing my sister's upcoming wedding, I still 106 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: got my books, my thoughts, and my cigarettes. Meantime, her 107 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: mother got busy soundproofing the house for the home birth 108 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: so no one would hear her screams as she went 109 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: into labor. Then, on November sixth, nineteen thirty five, Loretta 110 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: started screaming and her doctor chloroformed her as she gave 111 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: birth on her sister's massage table. She had a baby 112 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 1: girl named Judy. Someone no one knows who actually sent 113 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: Gable the following telegram, beautiful blue eyed, blonde baby girl 114 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: born eight fifteen this morning, where it is Gable tore 115 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: it into pieces. At first, the baby stayed nearby with 116 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: a nurse named Frenchie, but when Frenchie started talking blackmail, 117 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: the baby was taken and put in a Catholic orphanage. Finally, 118 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: when Judy was two, Loretta made a big public show 119 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,919 Speaker 1: of adopting Judy she could raise the baby herself. Gable 120 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: never acknowledged fathering the baby, and Loretta believed she was 121 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: the only person responsible for the pregnancy, so she invited 122 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: Clark to visit little Judy, which he did but only once. 123 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: She also opened a bank account so he could contribute 124 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: to raising her, but he never gave a nickel, and 125 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: because Judy looked so much like Gable, including his protruding ears, 126 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: she kept the baby in bonnets until she was five 127 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: or six, not really a baby at that point, and 128 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: then had her get surgery to pin her ears back. 129 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: Judy never found out who her father was until right 130 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: before her wedding when she was twenty three. Loretta and 131 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: Judy had a falling out years later over Judy's memoir, 132 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: in which she went after her mom for lying to 133 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: her all those years. On the first page, she wrote, 134 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: my life has been filled with hypocrisy and deception from 135 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: the moment I was born. The story of Loretta's pregnancy 136 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: by Clark Gable quietly made the rounds in Hollywood for years, 137 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: with Loretta finally confirming it in her autobiography, which was 138 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: released as per her wishes only after her death in 139 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: two thousand. The story of the date rape only came 140 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: out after Judy's death through Loretta's son and her daughter 141 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: in law, who said that the story needed to be 142 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: told as encouragement to other women who had gone through 143 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: the same thing. Linda Lewis said, too many women have 144 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: believed that in relationship, the guy tries to get what 145 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: he wants and the woman's job is to fight him off. 146 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: That game is over. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with 147 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to get new 148 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if 149 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 150 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 151 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia from 152 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: networks the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our 153 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have 154 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach 155 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: out to me with comments and even story suggestions on 156 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: Instagram at real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 157 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the 158 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.