I was not aware of Rita's early background (only that she was a dancer...). Monroe, Garland, Farmer & Turner's tragedies have been well-documented, so I was familiar with them. The mysterious & aloof Garbo
(also well-documented)probably did herself a favor by retiring to seclusion from the media.
This dark underbelly of Hollywood in exploiting its female stars stretches all the way back to the silent era. "It Girl" Clara Bow was the most celebrated case
(father sexually abused her; mother tried to kill her with a butcher knife), Louise Broooks (also sexually
molested by a neighbor; her mother never believed her), John Gilbert (locked in closets, sometimes for days) while his mother (a provincial stage actress) partied with men. Wallace Reid suffered the same exploitation (to drugs) by his studio that Garland suffered. Drug abuse (Mabel Normand, Barbara LaMarr, & numerous others) & alcohol abuse (Keaton)was ramant during the 1920's. Drug pushers, pimps & criminals
attached themselves to the film industry like leeches
& fed off the stars (& their money & bodies) while the industry pretty much looked the other way...
It was really a disgraceful situation that the industry allowed to exist...
To me there are two Hollywoods: the glamorous, mystical side (it's stars), & the dark, exploitive side (the studios & producers). Given what many of these stars suffered in their childhood &/or adulthood
its a wonder that they turned out as good as they did... I prefer to think of the talented stars & their wonderful films, though I know there was another story going on off-screen as well...
I also agree with you, Kerry, on the strong female stars in Hollywood; add Mary Pickford to that list... She was another resilient star who more than held her own...
Agreed, and I'd add Barbara Stanwyck (and Kate Hepburn for that matter..athough with her it was probably a too-healthy-ego-to destroy :-)! to that stable lot. Gotta love Davis, as well :-)!
I think Rita H. probably did have some problems with her father but it seems like the Barbara Leeming bio. is the only time that this info. came out (before or since; kinda strange although there is validity to it in all likelyhood). Have you heard it from another source?
Garland would have burned out early even if it wasn't for MGM apparently, but MGM was a big culprit (if not entirely responsible!)
Good point, Joanne. I'll bet if we all put our heads together on this forum we could come up with a list of about a dozen "Golden Age" female stars (like Stanwyck, Hepburn (Kate) & others, like the great Bette, who took no 'guff' from the studios... Kudos to them all!
Missed the Brando doc; not one of my faves, but I admire his talent, as well as the colorful off-screen stories about him.. He worked with everyone from Chaplin ("A Countess from Hong Kong")to Johnny Depp ("Don Juan DeMarco"). Kevin Spacey does a spooky right-on Brando impersonation. My fave Brando pics are probably off-mainstream for most folks: "The Freshman"(with Matthew Broderick; hilarious!) & "Last Tango in Paris."
Re: re: silents...Bill, we've fallen off the cliff......
...butting in here between Melody's posts, but just to let you know that the "silents" posts have been pushed to the second page--click on "next" at the bottom or click the last msg. (below)...IF you're still inclined that is :-)!
