1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy and Sarah and 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: I got an email from a listener named Katia this 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: morning who was suggesting we do a podcast on William 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,479 Speaker 1: Randolph Hearst, which was funny because of the time I 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: was researching that very man. Yeah, Hurst has actually been 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: on our short list of podcast topics since we talked 9 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: about the news Ease a few months ago. If you've 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: heard of Heirst, it's probably because of a little film 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: called Citizen Kane, which often tops the list of best 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: movies ever made. But it's a very hostile depiction of 13 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,160 Speaker 1: Hearst as a ruthless, corrupt man who's greedy for power. 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: And although Hurst was rich and powerful, was he also 15 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: permanently damaged and corrupt from that wealth and power. Well 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: you might also know him for his yellow journalism, sensationalized journalism, 17 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,559 Speaker 1: his Hollywood mistress, or for the castle that he named 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: after himself, but maybe that's not the whole story. In fact, 19 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: hl Mankin once wrote Hurst deserves more and better of 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: his country than he will ever get it is the 21 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: fashion to speak of him the contemptuously with dark references 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: to matters that are nobody's business. I think there's a 23 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: great deal of envy and all this. Not many Americans, 24 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: even among millionaires, have ever been accused so beautifully. So 25 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: what is the truth behind William Randolph? First, we're going 26 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: to find out. He was born in April eighteen sixty 27 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: three in San Francisco to George and Phoebe Hurst. And 28 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: George Hurst was a prospector and minor. He helped develop 29 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: the Anaconda copper mine in the Home State gold Mine 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: and he's also a U S Senator. And George has 31 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: a pretty good education. He goes to a nice prep 32 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: schools St. Paul's Prep School in New Hampshire, and from 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: there he goes to Harvard, where he has a pet 34 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: alligator named Charlie. We thought this was a nice companion 35 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: to Lord Byron's pet, the other guy who always pops 36 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: up in our podcast, right, And he goes on academic 37 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 1: probation at Harvard. As far as classes go, he's not fantastic. 38 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: As far as social life goes, he's amazing at it. 39 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: Because although he is seen as a bit of an 40 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: our beast. They do have plenty of money, and he 41 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: can buy friends at will can entertain in style. Um, 42 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: he joins the Hasty Pudding theater group, and um he 43 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: even since chamber pots to his professors, which that's not 44 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: going to help you when your own academic probation. No, 45 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: but it sings. It's stories like that that he loves 46 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: to tell about himself, the childhood pranks where he would 47 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: set off fireworks in his own room to get his 48 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: parents attention, or also in college when he throw various 49 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: huge parties at Harvard. Yeah, he's a real He's a 50 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: real econoclast. But William does leave college and he has 51 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: to find a way to make his name because that 52 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: is important to him. So he decides he'd like to 53 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: get into the newspaper business. And luckily for him, his father, George, 54 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: had bought the San Francisco Examiner as a way to 55 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: curry some poll clitical favor, and William asked for it 56 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: and got it at age four. It's a struggling paper, 57 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: but he turns it around and manages to make a 58 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: profit with it, and not too long after, with money 59 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: from his mother, he buys the New York Journal for 60 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty thousand. Again, this is not a 61 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: successful paper until he gets his hands on it, and 62 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: he hires the stable of very talented writers and illustrators, 63 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: including Stephen Crane and the guy who drew the Yellow 64 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: Kid cartoons, who he notoriously hired away from Joseph Pulitzer's 65 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: New York World, and he makes this paper very successful too. 66 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: They add lots of illustrations, he adds color, crazy headlines, 67 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: articles on crime and pseudosciences, kind of more like what 68 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: you would think of today is a paper, or at 69 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: least as a tabloid, except you've got the addition of 70 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: lots of political and foreign affairs kind of stories. And 71 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: it's cheap too. It's only a cent, which of course 72 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: we touched on in our Newsies podcast. So the circulation 73 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: wars between Hurst and Pulletz are go crazy, and it 74 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: all becomes about who has the best scoop, who has 75 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: the better headline, and who can sell more papers. And 76 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: this kind of leads to the rise of yellow journalism. 77 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: And as a good example of that, the competitors of 78 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: the journal called it a chamber of horrors, a brothel, 79 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: a rattle snake, and a moral disease. So they're being 80 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: just as sensational as hers. Right. And to give you 81 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: an idea of how powerful and influential both Herst hand 82 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: pullets are were one Herst biographer Kenneth White compares them 83 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: to Google and Microsoft. But in addition to having these 84 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: incredibly successful businesses, they were also very politically involved. So 85 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: imagine if the Google guys got into politics. Yeah, you know. 86 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: And and Hurst puts his full weight behind William Jennings 87 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: Bryan and the presidential election of eight and he goes 88 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: really populous for this candidate. His paper is actually the 89 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: only one who supports Brian right. The other ones were 90 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: calling him a rattle painted, vapid Mouther of rotten nous, 91 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: among other in saults. So Hurst, compared to them, was 92 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: much less sensational, and he came he started at that 93 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: point kind of championing the underdog. That was another part 94 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: of yellow journalism. And it works because the day after 95 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: the election his paper sells over a million copies. A 96 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: year before that it had been selling fifty thousand a day. 97 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: So do the math. Yeah, and by eight both Hurst 98 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: and Pulitzer are selling each about seven fifty thousand papers 99 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: a day. So that's Hirst as a newspaperman. But of 100 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: course we want to get into some of the great 101 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: myths surrounding him. Right. The accepted idea of Hurst is 102 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: that he coursened the news. That he was completely shameless, 103 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: more so than his competitors, and more sensationalistic and just 104 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: interested in these lurid stories. But it was all the 105 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: papers who were doing that. He didn't start this, right, 106 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: he was just the best at it um. What he 107 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: was really good at two was hiring more newsboys. That's 108 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: a good way to increase your circulation, more a little 109 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: kids out on the street walking your papers. He runs 110 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: more additions, and he's an audacious promoter of his papers, 111 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: and he's also better at figuring out what the public 112 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: wants to read. He knew how to entertain, he knew 113 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: how to pique their interests, and he knew how to provoke. 114 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: But unlike some of the other newspaper men, he didn't 115 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: use ethnic slurs, which is something they were known for. 116 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: Charles Dana of the Sun called Pulitzer Joey the Jew 117 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: and Judas Pulitzer, and Pulletzer said that Dana was Greek, 118 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: which he wasn't and then called the Greek race a 119 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: treacherous and drunken one. Yeah. And another charge often leveled 120 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: against Hirst is that he stole writers away from Pulitzer, 121 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: when in reality a lot of writers just found Pultz 122 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: are very hard to work with and came to Hurst 123 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: on their own. And Hurst was notoriously good at managing 124 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: high strung writers who liked to drink, which, if you've 125 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: met any, that's a real talent um. And he's got 126 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: a little humanitarian edge to his beverage to a lot 127 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: of times they'll um be reporting on a fire or something, 128 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: and he'll send people with blankets and food so they 129 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: get the scoop. They're fulfilling the demands of yellow journalism, 130 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: but they're helping out a little too. But the greatest 131 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: charge leveled against Hearst or in favor of him, depending 132 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: on which side you are, is that he started the 133 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: Spanish American War at least had a major hand in it. 134 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: And supposedly he said to someone in a telegram, you 135 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: furnish the pictures and all furnish the war. He probably 136 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: didn't say this, he himself called it clotted nonsense, which 137 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: I think would be a wonderful name for a band, 138 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: but he certainly was involved, so let's get a little 139 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: context on that. Yeah, so Cuba had been revolting against 140 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: Spain for a while. Um Americans were sympathetic, but to 141 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: isolationists to want to get involved with it. And although 142 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: all the papers are doing a little war drumming, Hearst 143 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: is definitely at the front of the pack as far 144 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: as that goes. He publishes one head feeding Prisoners two sharks, 145 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: that's about Spain. But I'd spend a penny on that, 146 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: I totally would. But it's not entirely true. They were 147 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: feeding already dead prisoners to sharks, which isn't quite as bad, 148 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: but you know, it's still interesting, and he romanticizes it 149 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: to his coverage of Adolpho Rodriguez with these beautiful sketches 150 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: by Frederick Remington. Really gets people's hearts involved in this 151 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: in this story going on in Cuba. Right, there's another 152 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: story that's illustrated that's about these naked young American women 153 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: being examined by Spanish officers. But again it's exaggerated because 154 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: it was female officers who were doing the examining. But 155 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: in the story, well, it's so much more sensationalistic if 156 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: you have a man doing it. And then we have 157 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: the story of Evangelina Si Narrows, who was a seventeen 158 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: year old who was involved in the revolutionary movement and 159 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: Spain wanted to send her to an African prison for 160 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: twenty years, and Hurst, here's the story and thanks Jack Pott. 161 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: So he actually puts out a petition to send to 162 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: Maria Christina's Spain. And the signeese include President McKinley's mother 163 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: for some reason, Julia Ward how who wrote the Battle 164 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: Him of the Republic. So all these famous people who 165 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: are saying no, you know, she shouldn't be imprisoned a 166 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: great story. So they play the story out for as 167 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 1: long as possible and then figured they need to come 168 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: to a resolution. So the journal ends up bribing a 169 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: bunch of guards, rescuing Evangelina and taking her back to 170 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: the United States, branding her the Blameless Flower of Cuba, 171 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 1: making her stay hero. The really big event that hers 172 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: gets involved with in the war, though, is the explosion 173 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: of the USS main in Havannah's Harbor, which killed two 174 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty six US sailors right, and no one 175 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: knew what happened at the time, We're still not entirely sure, 176 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: although modern forensics points to it being a problem with 177 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: the ship itself. But at the time Hers paper and 178 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: other papers jumped on it and said that it was 179 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,559 Speaker 1: Spain attacking us, and so we should enter the kind 180 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: of thing that gets the war going, right. So Hurst 181 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: goes to Cuba himself and reports right in the combat zone. 182 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: At the same time he's managing to get both Spanish 183 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: and English editions of the paper produced. The rebels give 184 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: him their flag and appreciation for all that he's done 185 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 1: for them, And we have the competitors, like the Post 186 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: even saying that it was Hurst who blew up the 187 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: main So this story is just sensational in every respect, 188 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: and it's selling two point seven million copies for the 189 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: journal every day. So was his coverage of the war exaggerated? Yes, definitely, 190 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: And was it dishonest? Maybe? But did the end justify 191 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: the means? As the question, because some people have made 192 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: the point, including biographer Kenneth White, that three hundred thousand 193 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: Cubans died in those last thirty years of Spanish rules, 194 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: So really did the US help step in and save them? Aside, 195 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: that's up to you. So Hurst wasn't just involved in 196 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: the politics of Cuba, though he also had a fairly 197 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 1: unsuccessful career in the US. He was elected to the 198 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,439 Speaker 1: House of Representatives from New York in nineteen o two 199 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 1: and re elected in nineteen o four, although to be honest, 200 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: he didn't do all that much. He ran for governor 201 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: and lost, He ran for New York City near and lost, 202 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: and politically throughout his life he's a bit of a 203 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: flip flopper. He starts off, like we said, as a 204 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: populist and someone who's very anti trust. Later he goes 205 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: anti war and kind of pro German for World War One, 206 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: and then he turns isolationists in the thirties, but in 207 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: the forties becomes this rabid anti communist crusader. But I 208 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 1: think from there we're going to move on to his 209 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,719 Speaker 1: personal life, which is full of salacious scandals. Oh yes, 210 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: one of them that's not a scandal. He married a 211 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: chorus girl named Millicent Wilson in nineteen o three, and 212 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: they had five children together, all boys, and remained married 213 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life, although not necessarily together. 214 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: But her most famous relationship is not with his wife, 215 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: it's with his mistress, Marion Davies, who's born Marian Durross. 216 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: They have a thirty four year long relationship. So Marian 217 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: becomes a chorus girl at age thirteen and by nineteen 218 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: seventeen she meets the fifty four year old Hurst while 219 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 1: she's performing in the zig Field Follies and they start 220 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: their relationship that lasts until his death in nineteen fifty one. 221 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: And her likes Davies so much because she's kind of 222 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: fun and irreverent and doesn't um, doesn't suck up to 223 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: him like so many of the people around him. She 224 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: calls him Pops or the old bum Um, and he 225 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: spends a lot of money trying to launch her film career, 226 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: which isn't isn't as successful as UM as it should 227 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: have been with how much funding went into it. She 228 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: she was good at the comedies though, like she was 229 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: in The Patsy and Show People, and those were considered 230 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: good and did fairly well. Um, but it's not a 231 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 1: it's not a classic gold digger chorus girls story though. Um. 232 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,359 Speaker 1: Towards the end of hers life, when he's offering financial difficulties, 233 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: she actually supports him with really sound investment. She made 234 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 1: over the years, gives him a check for a million 235 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: dollars right and again. He is going through financial difficulties 236 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: at the end, but she stays around. She doesn't leave. 237 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: In his bedroom where he spends his final years, it's 238 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: very bare, but one thing he does have is a 239 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: picture of Marian Davies with an inscription from Romeo and Juliet. 240 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: My bounty is as boundless as the sea. My love 241 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: is deep. The more I give to thee, the more 242 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: I have for both our infinite um. After his death, 243 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: though she's rejected by his family and marries UH Sea 244 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: captain surprisingly and um and has a has a successful 245 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: post Hollywood life. Like I said earlier, she's really good 246 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: um at business investments and um. When she dies thirty 247 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: two years after her death, this woman, Patricia van Clive 248 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: Lake dies. I mean you might be thinking, okay, well, 249 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: who is she. She's supposed to have been the child 250 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:04,839 Speaker 1: of Mary, Arian's sister Rose, but Lake's relatives say that 251 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 1: she's the only child of Davies and Hearst, and that 252 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,680 Speaker 1: she was supported by them for most of her life. 253 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: She was left a lot of money by Davies and 254 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time with the two as well, 255 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: which is a pretty cool sidebar. Yeah. But as for 256 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: the rest of his life, the parts not involving love affairs, 257 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: he had a huge art collection. He spent a ridiculous 258 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: amount of money on it. It was a museum quality 259 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: everything from paintings to antique ceilings. And in the nineteen 260 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: twenties he started building Hurst Castle. But that I think 261 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: is a subject that deserves its own podcast, definitely. Hurst 262 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: was a bit of a strange character too. He had 263 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: some weird habits. Apparently, when he was working at the paper, 264 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: he would appear at someone's door and grab both sides 265 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: of the frame, and then he would start soft shoeing 266 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: until he decided what he wanted to say, which is, 267 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: you know, I think a good way to buy some time. 268 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: I was I was asking Katie if it would bother 269 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: her if I started to dance and snap my fingers 270 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: in my cube, which is right next to hers while 271 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: I was working. Just let me know, and I'll put 272 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: my headphones on first. But let's switch gears just a 273 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: little bit. And while the Spanish American War was probably 274 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: the biggest I don't know if you'd call it scandal, 275 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: but the biggest story of his professional life. The biggest 276 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: story of his personal life may have been the death 277 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: of a man named Thomas Inns. Yeah, this is a 278 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: really strange history mystery. UM. Thomas Ince was a pioneer 279 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: American motion picture director. He was he sometimes considered the 280 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: father of the Western, but he's more known for his 281 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: mysterious death UH that came shortly after an ill fated 282 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: trip on Hurst's yacht. UM. Hurst was throwing him a 283 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: birthday party, and the guests included Marion Davies, herst mistress 284 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: Charlie Chaplin, the columnist Luella Parsons, and Dr Daniel Carson Goodman, 285 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: who was hers film production manager. UM. And weirdly enough, 286 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: It's actually misses the boat literally for his own. The 287 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: yacht leaves without him and he has to join the 288 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: group the next day, So Sunday they all party together, 289 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: but Monday is taken from the yacht and brought ashore, 290 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: accompanied by Dr Goodman, who is a licensed although nonpracticing 291 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: position and employee of Hearsts. By Tuesday, in is dead 292 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: and Dr Ida Glasgow, who's his personal physician, signed a 293 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: death certificate saying that heart failure was the cause. But 294 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: Wednesday morning papers say movie producer shot on Hearst yacht 295 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: and this is so strange. These headlines, these sensational headlines, 296 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: are gone by the evening. The story is totally dropped, 297 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: so the implication is that somebody shut it down. No 298 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: coroners inquest is held, the body is cremated, so we 299 00:16:54,360 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: can't exhume. Unfortunately, Um and the first stories that one 300 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: in her own papers are totally fake. It's you know, 301 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: oh Um in Scott's sick visiting hers ranch. But too 302 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: many people saw in getting on the on the yacht, 303 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: so they can't stick by these stories. And chaplain's secretary 304 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: claims that he saw a bullet hole and in his 305 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: head as he was removed from the yacht only further 306 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,360 Speaker 1: fuels the rumors flying around, so it gets so bad 307 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: that the DA of San Diego has to get involved. 308 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: The only person who he calls to testify though, is 309 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: Dr Daniel Goodman, who is a Hearst employee, and he says, 310 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: oh has always been talking about his heart pains and 311 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: his heart trouble, so it's been a long established issue 312 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: with him. Um. The rumor that gets tossed around is 313 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: that Hearst found Marian and Charlie Chaplin together that they 314 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: were having an illicit affair or maybe about to start one, 315 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: and there's a scuffle, Marian screams. Other people come to 316 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 1: the area because they hear the commotion, and somehow Hearst 317 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,959 Speaker 1: shoots in not chaplain. So we might not have an 318 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: answer to that one. But as a sketchy kind of 319 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: follow up, colonists, Duella Parsons is rewarded a lifetime contract 320 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: with the Hearst Corporation and her syndication is expanded. So 321 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: maybe miss Parsons knew something she wasn't supposed to know. 322 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: I need to go rewatch the cats now. But speaking 323 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: of Herst papers, his business dealings weren't just about newspapers. 324 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: He also had magazines, He published fiction, he produced movies, 325 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: especially one starring his mistress Marion Davies, and nineteen thirty 326 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: five was probably the peak of his fortune. Yere right. 327 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: He owned twenty eight major papers, eighteen magazines, radio stations, 328 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: movie companies, and news services. And he's also an early 329 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 1: pioneer of TV and pretty much started comic strip syndication. 330 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: And this is my favorite part. He was really an 331 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: early adopter of synergy and every single time I say 332 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: this picture Jack Donneghie from thirty Rock, but he was 333 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: good at media tie in. So a good example would 334 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: be The Perils of Pauline, which if you're into silent 335 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: film or film history you've probably heard of. But it 336 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: was a silent film cereal that not pioneered but made 337 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: the Damsel in distress extremely popular. She fought gypsies, she 338 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: fought rats, she was tied to railroad tracks and hung 339 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: off of cliffs. Poor Pauline really did have a lot 340 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: of perils to get through, but her signed a deal 341 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: to distribute the films and promote them in his papers, 342 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: So whenever a new episode came out of Pauline, he 343 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: would make sure to have some sort of print tie 344 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: in in the paper. Yeah, he had this synergy. Even 345 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: telling his magazine editors make sure that every story will 346 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: be fit for moving pictures sounds a lot like make 347 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: sure every article will be fit for seo um. So 348 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: he's got Hollywood in mind all the time, right, But 349 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: when the Great Depression hits, that's the beginning of the 350 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: end for her fortune and also his own extravagant spending habits. 351 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: He ends up having to sell off bits of his empire, 352 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: and even having to sell a lot of his art, 353 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: and by nineteen forty he's on the fringes of that 354 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: of his own Hearst Empire that he set up. He 355 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: retreats into the collusion basically at the end and dies 356 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 1: at age eighty eight on August fourteenth, nineteen fifty one, 357 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: in Beverly Hills. And bringing up Marion Davies again. In 358 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: those last years, a lot of the time they would 359 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: just watch her old films and he would tear up, 360 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: which is so sad. All of his children went into media, 361 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,239 Speaker 1: and maybe you've heard of one of his descendants. Her 362 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: name is Patty Hearst, and we're going to cover her 363 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: in a podcast soon. But I'm sure we haven't covered 364 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: everything about William Rendolf's first life, So if there is 365 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: a favorite story that you've missed, please email us at 366 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. You could 367 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: also search for tabloids on our home page at www 368 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: dot how stuff works dot com for more on this 369 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics because how stuff works dot com, 370 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: and be sure to check out the stuff you missed 371 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: in History Class blog on the how stuff works dot 372 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: com home page.