Random Outrageous Abuses Of Old Hollywood's Studio System (12 items)

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  (#9) Paramount Fired Clara Bow After Her Nervous Breakdown

  Clara Bow, the very first "It Girl," became silent cinema's hottest sex symbol. Tales of her wild sexual adventures quickly became public gossip: a threesome with Mexican prostitutes, a slew of engagements, and the wild rumor that she slept with the whole starting lineup of the 1927 USC Trojan football team. Despite her escapades, Bow worked tirelessly. She made 58 films from 1922-1933. However, Hollywood was not keen on the bad rep that Bow created. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Paramount fired her.

  She would make her final film at the age of 28. Afterwards, Bow was able to marry and have two children. However, a long family history of mental illness (her mother tried to slit Bow's throat one time) finally caught up with the beauty. Bow attempted suicide in 1944 and ultimately wound up in a psychiatric hospital. She wrote when she was older, "A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt, and bewildered."
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  (#1) Judy Garland Was Forced To Have Two Abortions

   

  It's bad enough when a movie studio forces an actress to have abortion, but in Judy Garland's case, her mother played a part in it, as well. Judy Garland took the world by storm in 1939 at the age of 17 with her star-making portrayal as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Just a couple years later, the actress married bandleader David Rose, without getting consent from MGM, who was not happy that the star they wanted to remain young in the eyes of movie-goers was acting like an adult.

  When Garland became pregnant, her mother worked with the studio to make arrangements for her daughter's abortion. When Garland once again became pregnant, this time from an affair with Tyrone Powers, Garland had another abortion. Of course, we all know Garland's eventual issues with drug and alcohol abuse. She eventually had three children (including actress Liza Minnelli) and a total of five husbands, but died in 1969 at the age of 47 from an overdose of barbiturates. 
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  (#4) Judy Garland Was Forced To Take Dangerous Drugs

  By the time 16-year-old Judy Garland finished filming The Wizard of Oz, she was already addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines. MGM reportedly ran all their child stars into the ground. They were forced to shoot film after film without a break, so studios could get as much as possible from the young talent.

  In order to keep these teens spunky and awake, they were given "pep pills." Then, when they couldn't sleep, they were given barbiturates and sleeping pills. Garland was part of this dangerous upper/downer cycle. Additionally, Garland always thought of herself as chubby compared to the other ridiculously thin screen sirens of the day. The studio not only put the actress on an unsafe diet, but they also made her take dangerous drugs to lose weight.
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  (#6) Louis B. Mayer Purposefully Ruined John Gilbert's Career

  Louis B. Mayer was the co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios. He had a great eye for talent and made MGM one of the biggest movie studios of old Hollywood. Mayer was also totally ruthless. When silent cinema was transitioning to sound, Mayer needed to dump actor John Gilbert - he was too expensive and the men often clashed over both creative and financial matters.

  In order to make sure that Gilbert did not make the transition to talkies, Mayer planted stories in fan magazines stating that the actor's high-pitched voice was causing great distress on the movie lot. Mayer also cast Gilbert in several films that he knew were complete bombs. After the bad press and poor reviews, Gilbert left MGM in 1933. He is considered one of the most popular actors to never make the talkie transition.
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  (#2) Loretta Young Hid Her Pregnancy, Then "Adopted" Her Own Daughter

  Child star-turned-Academy Award-winning actress and devout Roman Catholic Loretta Young was one of the few Hollywood stars who refused to have an abortion. Young fell in love with Hollywood lothario Clark Gable while the pair were filming the 1935 movie Call of the Wild. She later admitted to her biographer Joan Wester Anderson that Gable "pressured her a lot," and she only "slipped once."

  The "one slip" led to pregnancy. Gable was married. To cover up the pregnancy, Young claimed that she had a "mysterious illness," that even included a sick bed interview with a gossip columnist. She secretly had the baby, then staged an adoption. She later told the press that she would be raising an orphan baby named Judy as a single mother.

  There's some real bad stuff going on in the movies this year, check them out here.
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  (#11) Bette Davis Had An Abortion For A Role In A Film

  Several actresses were forced to have abortions to save their careers. Veteran actress Bette Davis knew the score and realized that if she had the child she was pregnant with in 1934, it would permanently damage her career. Davis admitted to her biographer Charlotte Chandler in The Girl Who Walked Home Alone that if she didn't have the abortion she would have "missed the biggest role in her life thus far."

  Davis was most likely correct. She landed the part of Mildred in Of Human Bondage (1934), and was rewarded with her first of eleven Academy Award nominations. She won the Oscar the following year for her role in Dangerous and in 1939 for Jezebel.

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