The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals

by Michelle Morgan

  Unfortunately for Jean, she would never discover what Powell’s true intentions were as on 29 May 1937, while working on the film Saratoga with Clark Gable, she fell desperately ill. Complaining to crew members, the actress told them, “I don’t know what’s the matter. I feel so ill, I haven’t the strength to hold my hand to remove my make-up.”

  Worryingly, the day before she had complained to director Jack Conway that she did not feel quite herself and people began to worry that there was something very wrong with “The Baby”. Earlier that morning, Jean had sat back in the make-up chair and allowed artist Violet Denoyer to attend to her face. “You know, Violet,” the star suddenly said, “I have a feeling I’m going away from here and never coming back.”

  “She felt the end was coming,” Denoyer later told reporters.

  When it became clear that she was not going to be able to work that day, Jean was sent home to rest. A true professional, she did not go easily, however, and assured crew members that she would return the moment she felt better. She even telephoned the studio in the days ahead to assure them she would be back as soon as possible.

  The illness seemed to come on very suddenly, but looking back there had been signs that the actress had not been well for some time. Early in 1937 Jean had attended the presidential inaugural ball in Washington, DC, but on the return journey had become unwell and arrived home suffering from flu. Then in April she was admitted to hospital for treatment on a wisdom tooth, and at the time friends noted that she had recently appeared bloated and her skin was sallow and grey. She was drinking heavily at times, something which worried them, particularly when the alcohol seemed to make her ankles swell quite considerably. Photographers even started to notice dark lines under her eyes that needed to be covered by thick makeup before they could shoot her.

  When she left the set of Saratoga on 29 May, Jean did not go immediately home. Mother Jean was out of town, holidaying with friends on Catalina Island, so rather than be on her own, the actress chose to stay at her boyfriend William Powell’s house until she felt better. Unfortunately, over the coming days her condition only worsened, and a concerned Powell phoned her mother in Catalina, who returned to Los Angeles immediately.

  Once back in town, Mother Jean hurried to Powell’s house, bundled up her ailing daughter and took her back home to 512 North Palm Drive, where she was put immediately to bed. Being a Christian Scientist who thus did not believe in the reality of disease, Mother Jean initially consulted her religion in an effort to help the situation. When that did not work, she called in Dr Ernest C. Fishbaugh, who examined Jean while she was lying in her bedroom. He was not sure what was wrong; while the actress had the symptoms of a bad cold, he was unable to identify why she had severe pains in her stomach, too.

  After tests and further examinations, it was obvious to everyone that Jean was bloated and retaining water, but instead of draining the fluids, Dr Fishbaugh unbelievably insisted on giving Harlow more and more to drink. This decision was to have a hugely detrimental effect on his patient’s ultimate health in the days to come. Indeed, when Clark Gable came to visit her, he was extremely shocked at the sight of his dear friend and said afterwards that it was like conversing with a rotting body; that when he bent down to talk to her, Jean Harlow’s breath smelled of urine. This was definitely not a good sign.

  However, for a short while it did look as though Harlow was rallying, and she actually sat up to read a little of her favourite book, Gone with the Wind. Then on 4 June 1937 a news report appeared in the Los Angeles Times that stated she was on the mend and the scare was over. According to reports, Dr Fishbaugh had nursed Jean through a heavy cold but she was very definitely now over the worst.

  On the surface this was great news, but the newspapers were quick to point out that when she collapsed, her mother had described her illness as being related to her gall bladder, not a cold. This was true, and her problems in that area were worrying Mother Jean a great deal. When Jean’s condition then began to go downhill fast, she knew it was more than just a severe cold, but being a Christian Scientist, she ignored calls to take her daughter to the hospital.

  Mother Jean was the mother of all controlling mothers and if anyone dared say she was doing the wrong thing for Jean, she would ban them from the house. However, although she declared herself a Christian Scientist, she was quite happy for medical staff to continue to work on her daughter at home, and even begged the family doctor Dr Chapman to come and see if he could diagnose exactly what was the problem.

  When Dr Chapman finally arrived at North Palm Drive, he was able to identify what was wrong with his patient almost immediately – kidney failure brought on over the years after a childhood bout of scarlet fever. Unhappily for everyone involved, the misdiagnosis and treatment that she had experienced in the days prior to Dr Chapman’s visit meant there was little he could do to save her life. Despite her mother’s reluctance, Jean Harlow was finally transferred to the Good Samaritan Hospital where she was given two blood transfusions and placed in an oxygen tent. Sadly, it would seem that while everyone was still trying desperately to keep the star alive and praying that she would make a miraculous recovery, Jean herself knew it was impossible. When one family member told her to get well soon, the actress shook her head. “I don’t want to,” she replied.

  Jean Harlow passed away on 7 June 1937, surrounded by relatives and friends such as Mother Jean, her ex-stepfather Marino Bello (whom her mother had divorced the year before) and the love of her life, William Powell. She was just twenty-six years old.

  In the halls of the Good Samaritan Hospital, reporters waited for news, their pens poised over their notebooks whenever anyone went to or from Jean’s room. It was a wait that seemed to go on forever, until finally the door swung open and out ran a distraught William Powell, heading for a nearby room. He did not say anything to reporters, but they knew a grieving man when the saw one and immediately feared the worst.

  Finally Dr Fishbaugh came out to break the sad news. “She’s gone,” he told reporters, while inside the room family members tried desperately to come to terms with the hand they had been dealt. Jean’s mother was particularly upset; her baby was gone; her reason for living had disappeared; and she had to be sedated to such an extent that MGM announced it was necessary for them to step in and take over all arrangements for the funeral.

  After the news of Harlow’s death became public knowledge, Hollywood was devastated. The press tried to get a statement from co-star Clark Gable but with his last visit to Jean still fresh in his mind, he declared himself too devastated to speak about his friend’s death. However, dozens of other stars, studio heads and crew members queued up to release statements to the press, all anxious to let the world know just how much they would miss her.

  Perhaps the longest statement was issued by Jean’s boss at MGM, Louis B. Mayer, who described how this was the end of a personal friendship, and described Jean Harlow as “one of the loveliest, sweetest persons I have known in thirty years of the theatrical business. I have lost a friend. The world has lost a ray of sunlight. She was a delight to handle as a star. She was one of the most charming, thoughtful and reasonable players with whom I have been associated.”

  Actress Jeanette MacDonald remembered the actress as a friend: “Jean was my next-door neighbour. Our dressing rooms were right together. I am terribly shocked. She was so sweet, I shall miss her so much.” Her last director, Jack Conway, was shocked beyond compare and stated that the industry had lost a great, unique star; the world had lost laughter, “and I have lost a friend”.

  Carole Lombard was deeply saddened and told reporters that her friend was a “vital, sweet and charming girl. We all feel the tragedy of her passing.” The experience of Harlow’s passing and the way she was mourned deeply disturbed Lombard. She insisted that when her time came, Clark Gable should give her a quick, quiet funeral, which he did, just under five years later when she was tragically killed in a plane crash.

  But back in 1
937, the funeral of MGM’s brightest star was arranged for 9 June at the Wee Kirk o’ the Heather in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The ceremony was very private, with entrance only allowed to those invited to attend. This did not stop fans mourning, however, and such was the show of public grief that guards and police officers were placed around the chapel, blocking entrances and walkways in order to keep the crowds at bay. People complained that there was so much protection that it was harder to see Jean in death than it had ever been in life, but it fell on deaf ears and the doors remained closed.

  One fan, twenty-seven-year-old Henry Conner, was the first to arrive. He told reporters, “I left Riverside yesterday morning and hitch-hiked to Los Angeles. I had to walk twelve miles of the way and slept last night in a Hollywood park . . . I have an autographed photograph of her and honestly, I think she was swell.” Conner was just one example of the people who travelled to Forest Lawn that day and in the end the police turned away a thousand spectators, all of whom had come specifically to have one last look at “The Baby”. “She was a regular on the screen,” cried one fan. “Everyone says she was regular in real life. We wish we could see her – one more time.”

  Inside the chapel, Nelson Eddy sang one of Jean’s favourite songs, “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life”, while Jeannette MacDonald performed “Indian Love Call”. Friends and family piled into the building, and many were visibly upset and close to collapse. Jean’s last lover William Powell was helped by a friend and his mother Nettie Powell, while Mother Jean appeared in a dazed state, supported on both sides and clearly devastated. Even Jean’s third husband, Hal Rosson, arrived at the chapel along with his new wife, though the couple shunned photographers and refused to answer reporters’ questions. The funeral was most certainly a Hollywood spectacle, and the pall-bearers included luminaries such as Clark Gable and Louis B. Mayer, while overhead, a low-flying plane scattered rosebuds on to the ground below.

  Meanwhile, back at MGM, a minute’s silence took place in order to honour the lost star, though in reality nobody much felt like talking anyway. The level of grief around the studio was unprecedented, the sense of loss profound and the sadness unbearable. Such was the despair around the world that the Hollywood Reporter even painted a picture of the MGM lion carrying a wreath, with his head bowed before a picture of a smiling Harlow.

  To this day, over a hundred years since her birth, the girl known as “The Baby” – who never had the chance to fully grow up – is still remembered with fondness and laughter. Due to the sheer volume of fans still celebrating her life through books and fan clubs, it is clear that while her life may have been far too short, her legend will live on forever.

  20

  The Sad Death of Marie Prevost

  In January 1930, Afton Place in Hollywood was abuzz with news that a Spanish-style apartment block, the Aftonian, was set to open at number 6230. Employees of nearby film studios quickly filled the apartments inside, and the place became synonymous with the film industry, its residents all seeming to have something to do with the business. The building was seen as a delightful place to live, but it was not until several years later that it would become infamous as the unfortunate last residence of tragic film star Marie Prevost.

  Born as Mary Bickford Dunn in Sarnia, Ontario, on 8 November 1898, she moved to Denver with her family while still a young child. However, they soon discovered that Colorado was not quite what they were looking for, and it wasn’t long before they moved once more to settle finally in Los Angeles, California. Mary grew up to work as an office secretary, but being in Hollywood meant that acting ambitions were never far from her mind. She did not have to wait long to be discovered, and when the opportunity of working at the Mack Sennett studio arose, Mary jumped at the chance to further her dreams, and left her secretarial days behind her for good.

  Becoming known as a bathing beauty under the name Marie Prevost, her star began to rise rapidly, and between 1915 and 1921 she appeared in movies such as Secrets of a Beauty Parlour, His Hidden Purpose and Uncle Tom Without a Cabin. Marie was an ambitious woman with ideas of a great career in films, so by 1921 she had decided to draw a line under her bathing-beauty days, and was then taken under the wing of Irving Thalberg and signed to Universal. Marie worked hard at the great studio and made several movies there, but a desire to move on was never far away, and she soon dumped Universal in favour of Warner Brothers, where she signed a two-year contract at a staggering $1,500 a week.

  Unfortunately, just as things were really looking up for Marie, her career threatened to end in scandal before it had properly begun when, in August 1923, a gentleman by the name of Sonny Gerke filed for divorce from his estranged wife, Marie Gerke. It was revealed that the pair in question had married in 1918 and separated in 1922, but while this very run-of-the-mill divorce should not have even caused a ripple in the newspapers, there was something about it that had the reporters intrigued.

  The name Sonny Gerke was familiar and a quick glance in the newspaper archives revealed that he had once squired Marie Prevost around town. It was thought at the time that Gerke was no more than a devoted admirer – a beau who took Marie to the occasional dinner or film screening, but nothing more than that. However, it was intriguing that he was divorcing a woman who just happened to have the same first name as the actress, and it was not long before reporters were digging deep into their files to uncover who the mysterious Marie Gerke really was.

  They didn’t have to search for long when they discovered that not only was Sonny Gerke the same man who had once dated Marie Prevost, but that his estranged wife Marie Gerke was indeed the now famous actress. The reporters were in shock. They knew that Marie’s current squeeze, actor Kenneth Harlan, was still married but that had been the only thing they knew. Nobody had any inkling that Marie was married and the idea that she had secretly tied the knot – and was now trying quietly to untie it – created a sensation.

  Knowing that this revelation was going to cause a major scandal, the press grabbed their notebooks and raced to Coronado where the actress was casually spending some spare time visiting friends. Banging on the door, they were surprised when Marie opened it herself; and they had no hesitation in happily sharing news of the divorce with her.

  Marie stood on the doorstep with her mouth open, not knowing exactly what to say; she had been keeping the marriage a secret for years but how could she continue to do so while confronted by hungry newspapermen? In the end, she decided that she had no choice but to confirm that, yes, she was indeed married to Sonny Gerke and it was true that she was now going through what she hoped to be a very private divorce.

  Several days later, with revelations of her private life flooding the papers, Marie finally sat down and opened up to a Los Angeles Times reporter. “Really there isn’t anything to tell,” she said. “We were just two foolish children who ran away and married and then separated immediately. And now it’s all over.”

  This was not quite the truth, since she had been spotted with Sonny on more than one occasion in the past, but even so, Marie tried to make it clear that everything was very straightforward in both the marriage and the separation. Still, in spite of that, she managed to raise eyebrows by flippantly declaring that she could not even remember the date of the wedding or the name of the minister. She did, however manage to recall that they had met in 1918 and “he was in the Navy at the time”.

  “You see,” she explained, “It was during the war and everybody was marrying, but immediately the ceremony was over we both realized what a silly thing we had done.” She then went on to say – quite bizarrely – that even though she had gone through with the ceremony, she had never actually realized she was married. “I never thought about it,” she admitted.

  The actress obviously wanted to make light of the marriage and the circumstances surrounding it, but her comments most certainly were not truthful. The marriage had played on her mind and for three months after the ceremony she had wondered how exactly to tell her mother, Hughlina, w
hat she had done. She knew she would not be pleased, and was sure she would be absolutely appalled at the spontaneity of her decision, but finally Marie knew she had to come clean.

  Taking a deep breath the young actress opened her mouth and admitted everything to her previously uninformed mother. The woman was astonished at what her foolish daughter had done, and plans for an annulment were immediately arranged. However, for reasons known only to them, it never came to anything, so the couple decided that they would just continue to be friends and occasionally date, though it was agreed that they would never actually live together.

  As Marie’s star continued to rise, the fear of a scandal stopped the couple going through with a divorce, as they did not want the newspapers to find out about their secret marriage. However, at one point their cover was almost blown when a reporter got hold of a rumour that the two were actually betrothed. “Don’t be silly,” laughed a nervous Marie, while her concerned mother took it upon herself to issue a complete denial.

  Finally, while Marie was happily trying to pretend she wasn’t married, Gerke had had enough of being just good friends, and telephoned the actress to tell her that he’d had enough; he would finally be going through with a divorce. “I knew he was going to sue, but nevertheless I was surprised, and yes – frightened,” she told reporters. Several weeks later Gerke was true to his word and went to court to obtain the official separation. While there he told the judge that Ms Prevost/Mrs Gerke would not object to the proceedings, and admitted that “my wife’s aversion to having the fact that she was married known for fear of injuring her career, was an insurmountable barrier to our domestic happiness”.