17 Really Messed-Up Old Hollywood Scandals That Are Not Talked About Enough

1. One of the most shocking, longstanding Old Hollywood rumors was that Loretta Young’s daughter was fathered by Clark Gable. And folks…this is one rumor that’s actually 100% TRUE. Let’s break it down. In 1937, Young brought a 19-month-old child home, saying she had adopted her from Europe. In reality, her daughter, Judy Lewis, was her biological daughter; she’d hidden the pregnancy on a long trip overseas, then put Lewis in various orphanages and under others’ care until she could convincingly pass her off as adopted. Even with this ruse, the press was suspicious. It had long been rumored that Young had had an affair with the married Gable while shooting Call of the Wild. Young refused to address the rumors and even kept the truth from her daughter.

The truth didn’t even fully come out until Young’s death; she finally admitted in her posthumous memoirs that the rumors were true. Her daughter Judy later revealed that she had confronted her mother about the subject, leading Young to run into the bathroom and vomit. Young later confirmed the truth to Judy, but not the world. Gable was never involved in Judy’s life and would not even acknowledge her existence.

The real story goes beyond shocking and sad to even more messed-up territory. While Young never spoke publicly about the circumstances of Judy’s conception, according to her daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, in the ’90s, Young had asked her what date rape meant after hearing the term on Larry King Live. After Lewis explained, Young replied, “That’s what happened between me and Clark.” On the train ride back from shooting Call of the Wild on location, Gable had allegedly snuck into Young’s compartment. Gable was not then alive to confirm or deny this occurred.

2. Today, Ingrid Bergman is known as one of the most famous and celebrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. But her career came into serious jeopardy in 1950 due to one of that era’s biggest scandals. Bergman, who was married to neurosurgeon Petter Lindström, was off in Italy on the set of Stromboli when it was revealed that she was having an affair with the film’s director, Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, who was also married. It gets even more scandalous: Bergman, who already had a daughter with Lindström, was pregnant. As Bergman was particularly known for her pure image, having once played Joan of Arc, this especially shocked the American people.

Her reputation was so bad that she was called a “powerful influence for evil” on the floor of the US Senate, and talk show host Ed Sullivan declined to have her on the show a full seven years later, after viewers sent thousands of angry letters. The film also tanked as a result of the affair, and Bergman’s Hollywood career disappeared overnight. As far as her personal life, she attempted to immediately divorce Lindström so she could marry Rossellini (who secured a divorce from his wife), but he refused to do so until her son with Rossellini was born, forcing him to be born out of wedlock. The custody battle for their daughter, Pia, was also ugly, and Bergman did not see her daughter with Lindström for seven years.

Bergman stayed away from the US for almost a decade, continuing her career in Europe. Her Hollywood comeback was not until 1956’s Anastasia. Though the film was not even made in the US, it was within the Hollywood studio system, and it earned Bergman a Best Actress Oscar. She did not attend the ceremony, though, and it would be a few more years before she truly returned to Hollywood (and even after that, she continued much of her work in Europe). By then, she had long since divorced Rossellini. Her career continued, and her legacy was safe, but the scandal remains one of the biggest of that time in Hollywood. Perhaps what’s most messed up about it, though, is the complete and utter blacklisting and vitriol Bergman received, for so many years after the affair, in comparison to Rossellini.

3. Let’s take it back to some even bigger scandals from the burgeoning movie industry back in the 1920s. One huge scandal centered around Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, a silent film star who had skyrocketed to fame in the 1910s, mentoring Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, creating his own production company, and securing a $1 million/year film deal with Paramount. And then Arbuckle’s career came screeching to a halt in 1921 when he was arrested for the rape and murder of 30-year-old Virginia Rappe, an aspiring actor.

Arbuckle was out of town on vacation and had decided, with two friends, to host a party in their hotel room. Rappe was at the party, but became sick and died a few days later of complications from a ruptured bladder. A fellow party guest claimed Arbuckle had raped Rappe, and the scandal began. Arbuckle claimed that he had simply happened upon Rappe in one of the bedrooms as he headed to the bathroom, finding her drunk on the floor. He said he tried to carry her onto the bed, but she fell off. When guests came in, they saw a fully dressed Rappe, screaming in pain on the bed. She insisted, “He did this to me,” of Arbuckle. Tabloids claimed that Arbuckle had killed Rappe by lying on her with his weight.

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It’s possible something nefarious occurred, but the idea is contested to this day. Rappe was known to have flare-ups of chronic cystitis, a bladder inflammation. When she was eventually brought to a hospital days after the party, doctors did not find evidence of sexual assault, though, of course, this was days later. And the friend who claimed that Rappe had been raped was a convicted criminal who admitted to planning to extort money from Arbuckle, according to the BBC. The prosecution was also accused of participating in witness intimidation when it came to finding people to testify against Arbuckle. There were three trials, ultimately ending with an acquittal, but the damage to Arbuckle’s career was done. He attempted a comeback and appeared to secure one in 1933, but died shortly after of a heart attack.

4. Another early Hollywood murder that the press ran wild with was the murder of prominent silent film director William Desmond Taylor. Just a year after Arbuckle’s case began a national frenzy, Taylor was found dead in his LA house, having been shot in the back. When police arrived, the scene was already vastly disturbed, as starlets, press, and other Hollywood insiders went through his stuff. They did, however, find several clues: a love letter from young actor Mary Miles Minter, who had starred in many of Taylor’s films. Her nightgown was also found there, though there was speculation that these were planted. Still, this led to strong speculation that Minter was involved, especially as Minter had previously attempted to kill herself using a similar style gun.

Minter was also very young — still a teen star — and her mother, Charlotte Shelby, was not happy that Minter appeared to be having an affair with an older man; she had once threatened another director for trying to flirt with Minter. Shelby had an alibi, but suspiciously, the person providing it was later paid a bunch of money; Shelby was also apparently close to the district attorney at the time. Another director later claimed that Minter had admitted to him that Shelby had carried out the murder, but that’s just hearsay, and the murder was never solved…though Minter did later admit to being present with her mother on the night of the murder.

Also present that night? Mabel Normand, another actor and comedian (far more well-known than Minter), who had actually worked with Fatty Arbuckle a number of times. She came so he could give her a book and left around 8. It was speculated that they, too, had a romantic relationship; Taylor had paid for her care at a sanatorium, ostensibly for tuberculosis (which she eventually died from), but really for an addiction to cocaine.

This led to the theory that Taylor was actually killed by a narcotics syndicate assassin angry at Taylor over Normand quitting cocaine; there was speculation he may have been encouraging her to talk to the police about her suppliers. Normand herself fell under suspicion and even testified in court about the murder, but was cleared. Authorities seemed no closer to finding the murderer, and the murder is still unsolved today.

Making the whole thing even more odd, while on her deathbed in the ’60s, former silent film star Margaret Gibson claimed she had killed Taylor. Gibson had her own share of Hollywood scandals. She’d initially had a strong career in silent films, but legal trouble, including allegations of vagrancy, blackmail, and extortion, led to her career cooling, despite her being acquitted and all charges being dropped. She moved abroad for many years, then returned to Hollywood, where she became a recluse. After a heart attack at age 70, she revealed that she had killed Taylor, though she did not offer any proof before dying. It’s possible, given Gibson’s alleged history with blackmail, that she was involved, but considering how many other suspects there were and the lack of evidence, it’s flimsy.

5. Mabel Normand’s story is not only connected to Arbuckle’s and Taylor’s; her chauffeur, Joe Kelly (an alias; he actually was the convict Horace A. Greer), later shot the wildly rich oil tycoon Courtland S. Dines at a NYE party, using her gun (which Normand had said he must’ve taken from her attic). Greer said he’d heard that Dines was not allowing Normand to leave, so he’d gotten her gun and driven to the party to retrieve Normand, but after he asked that Normand be allowed to leave with him, Dines “sneered and reached for a bottle” (which Dines, who survived, denied).

Police believed he’d acted out of jealousy and a secret admiration of Normand, but Greer denied this. This caused Normand to have a nervous breakdown, and her films to be banned in some cities just by her association to the event, despite the fact that she had never been a suspect and had not even been there at the time of the shooting. Her career — and health — never recovered.

6. Yet another Hollywood murder trial involves pin-up model and actress Lana Turner, though she was neither perpetrator nor victim of the crime. What was the crime, you ask? The murder of Turner’s boyfriend, suspected mobster Johnny Stompanato. Who killed him? Turner’s daughter, then-14-year-old Cheryl Crane. Turner was reportedly in an abusive relationship with the violent, “hyper-possessive” (as Turner called him) Stompanato, and one 1958 night, as they argued, Crane stepped in and stabbed Stompanato to death.

Crane said that her mother told her to remain upstairs doing homework, warning Crane that she was going back downstairs to tell Johnny to leave, and it might result in an argument. This did, in fact, occur, and Crane claimed she heard Stompanato threaten to not only disfigure Turner but also to ruin her family. “I ran down the stairs into the kitchen. I don’t know what I was looking for but I found a knife,” Crane said of the fateful evening. “I ran back upstairs, the door burst open and mother was there looking at me and John was coming toward me. I stepped through the door and he literally ran into the knife.” Crane was arrested and spent two weeks in a juvenile detention center before being brought to trial, where her mother testified on her behalf.

Turner said that she’d tried to break up with Stompanato that night, but Stompanato had become violent. “He grabbed me by the arms and started shaking me and cursing me very badly, and saying … I would have to do anything and everything he told me or he’d cut my face or cripple me. And if … when it went beyond that, he would kill me and my daughter and my mother.” She said she then “broke away” and saw Cheryl, telling her to go back to her room. Cheryl did so, according to Turner, and Turner told Stompanato they were done and to leave. She said she then went toward the bedroom door and opened it, with Stompanato behind her — which is when Crane entered. “I swear it was so fast, I … I truthfully thought she had hit him in the stomach. The best I can remember, they came together and they parted. I still never saw a blade.” The trial ruled it was a justifiable homicide, and Crane was let go.

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All seems pretty cut and dry, right? Maybe not. A friend of Stompanato claimed Crane had been in love with Stompanato. Stompanato’s son believed Turner had actually carried out the stabbing. But this is all just speculation. As for Turner, her career continued, but her reputation was certainly affected. The press slammed her parenting for exposing Cheryl to a man such as Stompanato in the first place. Quick note: Turner’s lawyer was Hollywood “fixer” Jerry Giesler. Remember him; he’ll come up a LOT in this post.

7. Errol Flynn was a bona fide star after his movie career began in the 1930s. But he, too, became the center of a Hollywood media circus after he was accused of statutory rape in the early ’40s. Police brought the charges against Flynn after two complaints: one, in 1941, stated that he had invited then-15-year-old Peggy Satterlee onto his boat before drugging her drink and raping her. Then, in 1942, 17-year-old Betty Hansen reportedly met Flynn at a party. Her sister went to the authorities to report Flynn after hearing that he had seduced the newly 17-year-old aspiring actor. The police charged him with statutory rape, and he went to trial in 1943.

Flynn denied the accusations, saying of Hansen, “I hardly touched the girl.” Flynn’s lawyer was Jerry Giesler, the “fixer” I just mentioned, who made sure to get a mostly-female jury, as Flynn was extremely popular amongst American women. (Satterlee later said she “knew those women would acquit him” because “They just sat and looked adoringly at him as if he was their son or something.”) In fact, fans flooded the courtroom just to see Flynn. During the trial, Giesler tore Satterlee and Hansen’s reputations to shreds, bringing up their alleged past sexual history and painting them as harlots. Flynn was cleared of the charges and went on to continued massive success in Hollywood.

8. Giesler was also the defense lawyer in another prominent rape trial: that of theater magnate Alexander Pantages (yes, that Pantages — of the Pantages Theatre in LA). In 1929, 17-year-old dancer Eunice Pringle accused then-54-year-old Pantages of rape. In an early example of the casting couch, she said this occurred while discussing her audition with him at one of his theater offices. She ran out of the office with a ripped dress, shouting about her assault at the hands of “the beast” — which was witnessed by passersby.

Pantages denied this occurred, and claimed Pringle had actually assaulted him, trying to get a part in one of his films. While Pantages was initially found guilty, he sought a retrial and was acquitted just two years later, with Giesler again attacking Pringle’s character. This did cause Pantages’s career to suffer, as the press was largely sympathetic to Pringle in his initial trial, but legally, Pantages got off scot-free.

9. Comedy actor Thelma Todd died mysteriously at only 29 in 1935. The famous blonde was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in the front seat of her car (a convertible), in the garage of director Roland West, with whom Todd shared an on-again, off-again relationship. Their relationship was even more complicated than it sounds; West was married to another movie star, Jewel Carmen, throughout his affair with Todd. And the three — Carmen, West, and Todd — owned a restaurant together called Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café. West and Todd lived in apartments above it, while Carmen lived in the home she owned with West.

Todd’s body was found in the garage of West’s home, where Carmen was living, about 270 stairs up from where the restaurant and apartments were located. She was found dressed to the nines in diamonds and an evening gown; she had gone to a nightclub the night prior, and her chauffeur testified that he’d dropped her off at her apartment/the café just before 4 a.m. Police, while at first suspecting suicide (this theory was dropped after nothing was found to suggest suicidality), came to believe her death was accidental. They surmised she’d been locked out, so she had climbed the steps to her car in the garage, and turned it on to keep warm…leading to her accidental death.

But several details seemed odd. First, the autopsy revealed a broken nose and two cracked ribs. Throat damage — which suggested that a hose may have been forced in — was also discovered. Second, the car’s tank had fuel left, which shouldn’t have been the case if it had been on all night. Third, there were multiple reports of Todd still being alive after her reported time of death; a friend claimed Todd had called her, and Carmen said she’d seen Todd in her car with a strange man. Fourth, it seemed unlikely that Todd would have climbed the 270 stairs it took to get to the garage in her evening gown, especially considering her mother said she had a “weak heart,” and her shoes did not show signs of the journey.

Todd also had associations with violent men and had previously been married to mob enforcer Pat DiCicco; she’d also had a suspected affair with mobster Lucky Luciano. Both had reportedly abused her, and both became suspects, particularly Luciano, who had wanted to use the restaurant Todd owned with West as an illegal casino; Todd apparently refused, which provides a motive. Todd’s affair partner, West, was also a suspect, and apparently told a friend on his deathbed he had both locked her out of the apartments on purpose, and then also locked her in the garage, but that he hadn’t realized she’d turn the car on and die. And, being that this occurred where Carmen was living, she also became a suspect, particularly as Todd’s mob connections were draining their shared restaurant of money, providing a different motive. But police stuck with their accident theory; the rest is simply speculation.

10. In another suspicious death, MGM director, screenwriter, and producer Paul Bern died by suicide in 1932, only two months after marrying the star Jean Harlow. This caused widespread media gossip…particularly after it was revealed that Bern’s marriage to Harlow was actually not legally sound. Bern had actually still been married to a woman named Dorothy Millette, whom he’d met in a theater company many years prior. They’d separated amidst Millette’s health issues, which caused her to end up in a sanitarium. They never divorced and even kept in touch; he created a trust fund for her and sent her a weekly stipend. The two also exchanged fond letters.

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Upon hearing of Bern’s death, Millette boarded a Delta King riverboat and was last seen at 2:30 a.m. crying on the top deck; her coat and shoes were found there, left behind. Her body was later found floating in the river. This seemed a pretty obvious suicide, particularly as her financial support had just ended; Harlow was Bern’s will’s beneficiary. Still, the press had a field day. They called her the “ghost wife” and said she’d killed Bern then faked her death. However, this was all baseless; Bern had dealt with depression and suicidal ideation, according to his doctor (who said he knew the cause of Bern’s suicide, and that it did not involve either woman). Rumors continued to abound, however, especially considering MGM had access to the scene of the suicide for two hours before cops arrived, as household staff had called them first. They could easily have affected the evidence. Still, all signs point to a suicide.

11. George Reeves also reportedly died from suicide, but many fans found this fishy. Reeves, who was best known for his role as Superman, died from a gunshot wound in 1959. In his mid-40s at the time, he was engaged to the wealthy Leonore Lemmon. The two had gone out the night before Reeves’s death, after which Reeves had gone to bed in the home they shared; Lemmon stayed up, inviting three friends over. Around 1 a.m., Reeves came out of his room, asking the group to lower their volume. After he left, Lemmon apparently said, “He’s going upstairs to shoot himself.” (Suspicious factor #1) He did just that moments later, and though Lemmon and her guests heard something, it took a while for anyone to call the police (Suspicious factor #2), according to People.

When police arrived, there was little evidence, including no fingerprints on the gun or gunpowder residue on Reeves’s hands (Suspicious factor #3). Also, they said they’d heard one shot, despite police finding three bullets (only one had hit Reeves) (Suspicious factor #4). Police also found a shell casing underneath Reeves, which should not have happened in a suicide (Suspicious factor #5). Overall, pretty fishy, if you ask me!

However, it’s still perfectly plausible he killed himself. Some found it surprising that an actor with so much going for him would do such a thing; however, others claimed it made sense, given that he was having difficulty landing roles. Helen Bessolo, Reeves’s mother, was also suspicious and called for a second autopsy. This led to the discovery of unexplained bruises; still, she was eventually convinced or gave up on her investigation a month later.

Still, speculation that he was murdered abounds due to the suspicious circumstances. Some think he was murdered or accidentally killed in an argument with Lemmon over her guests and their relationship. Others point to an alleged affair he was having with the wife of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer general manager, Toni. This had ended a year prior, affecting Toni and her husband Eddie’s relationship, potentially leading either one of them to commit the murder (Eddie also reportedly knew members of the mob). A publicist who knew Toni later claimed he’d heard her confess to the murder. And one of Reeves’s Superman costars claimed Toni had called her hours after the death to state that Reeves had been murdered. Since this was so long ago, the truth will likely never come out.

12. Singer Sam Cooke, the “King of Soul,” died under much more suspicious circumstances back in 1964. Cooke was only 33 when he was killed at the Hacienda Motel after the motel’s manager, Bertha Franklin, shot him. Franklin claimed that Cooke had come to the hotel with a young woman and tried to rape her, then threatened Franklin’s life. The murder was later ruled a justifiable homicide.

The woman Franklin claimed Cooke tried to rape, Lisa Boyer (called Elisa in other sources), corroborated Franklin’s claim, saying Cooke offered her a ride home from a bar. She agreed, but then Cooke kidnapped her, taking her to the motel. She said she grabbed her clothes while he was in the bathroom and ran, accidentally also taking his clothes (which held his wallet). She fled to a nearby phone booth, calling police, while Cooke, wearing only a coat, then allegedly kicked in Franklin’s door, thinking she was hiding Boyer. He then punched her twice; she later testified that “he grabbed both of my arms and started twisting them.” She shot three times, one bullet hitting Cooke in the chest.

However, Cooke’s alleged behavior seemed out of character for him, according to family and friends, and the circumstances of his death were suspicious. Thus, rumors flew, and three main theories for what actually happened to Cooke developed.

A) Boyer was a sex worker who had actually lured Cooke to the motel as part of a setup with Franklin, with the goal of robbing him. Evidence: The motel was known for being popular with sex workers and pimps; Cooke would probably have stopped somewhere else before the motel if not specifically directed there. Also, Boyer was later arrested for sex work, and she was later involved in another shooting, leading to her conviction for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend. Her version of events made no mention of a nightclub they definitely did stop at (friends saw them), casting doubt on her credibility. And Franklin, who was far from squeaky clean legally, had once been a madam for sex workers. Perhaps most damningly, the cash in Cooke’s wallet — $5,000, which friends saw him wave around at a bar earlier in the night — was never found.*

B) Someone — perhaps someone working with Boyer and Franklin, perhaps Cooke’s money-hungry business manager, Allen Klein, possibly even mobsters* — killed Cooke at a different location, then brought his body to the motel. Evidence: While Franklin did state she’d hit him with a bat after shooting him, his body appeared to be beaten beyond what 55-year-old Franklin would have been capable, according to fellow singer Etta James. She wrote in her memoir that at his funeral, he had poorly-concealed bruises, crushed bones, and that his head was “practically disconnected from his shoulders.” This suggested multiple people had potentially beaten Cooke.

Supporting this theory, it seemed odd that Franklin would’ve hit him with the broom, given the fatal shot, and the fact that she had more bullets in her gun if she still felt threatened. Franklin did not appear injured days after the murder, which didn’t line up with Cooke’s alleged violent behavior. And the gun that killed Cooke did not match the gun registered to Franklin. Also, no other motel guests heard the struggle. Still, police stuck with justifiable homicide, despite what the press or fans might say.

13. Thomas Ince was one of Hollywood’s first producers and studio magnates, and he was famous for pioneering many of the processes in the burgeoning Hollywood business. In 1924, he met with William Randolph Hearst, the mega-famous and mega-rich newspaper mogul, to discuss a potential deal; rumors stated that Ince was nearing bankruptcy and needed Hearst’s money. Hearst invited him on a short cruise; a week later, Ince was dead. So what happened on the boat?

First, let’s set the scene: William Hearst had long been engaging in an affair with Marion Davies, who was also present on the ship. Who else was there? Silent film star Charlie Chaplin…who apparently had his eyes on Davies. In the wake of Ince’s mysterious death — which was officially reported to be from “heart issues” — newspapers ran sensational headlines declaring that Chaplin and Davies had been caught together, and Hearst, overcome with anger and jealousy, had attempted to shoot one of them…but hit Ince instead. Other rumors claimed Hearst stabbed or poisoned Ince, or even that an assassin had been involved; and that it was Ince, not Chaplin, who had been caught with Davies.

Adding fuel to the flame was the fact that Hearst’s papers barely mentioned Ince, pointing to a potential cover-up. Hearst and Chaplin initially claimed not to even be on the ship, and were found to be lying. Other boat guests claimed they’d been sworn to secrecy about the events of the trip (though this was likely due to alcohol on the boat in the time of Prohibition). Giving credence to the murder theory were rumors that Toraichi Kono, Chaplin’s valet and secretary, had seen Ince bleeding from the head when he came off the boat via stretcher.

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All of these rumors have been disproven. Ince had long been dealing with ulcers and angina pectoris, and had eaten and drunk to his heart’s content on Hearst’s boat, including almonds and champagne, which were forbidden by his doctor. He began vomiting blood and suffered a heart attack; after departing the boat, he suffered two more. Ince’s death from heart issues was obvious. There was no evidence of any bullet wound. Still, there continues to be debate and rumors about what happened to Ince.

14. Speaking of Charlie Chaplin…Lita Grey was only 8 when she met Charlie Chaplin, and the two later reconnected during the casting process for his film The Gold Rush when Lita was 15, and Chaplin was in his mid-30s. They began “dating,” and Grey got pregnant…so Chaplin secretly married her to avoid criminal charges, according to Vice. But the real scandal came when they divorced. This resulted in an ugly court battle where Grey accused Chaplin of “cruel and inhumane treatment,” infidelity, sexual coercion, and trying to convince her to have an abortion (which was then illegal and dangerous). These allegations blew up, and people started calling for boycotts of Chaplin’s films.

This all caused Chaplin to have a nervous breakdown, not in the least because his money was at stake. The court froze his $16 million in assets and later awarded $625,000 to Grey with an additional 200K for their kids: This amount was unprecedented in those days. Grey lived to 87 and raised their two kids alone.

Chaplin was again the subject of controversy when he was found not to be a US citizen. The London-born filmmaker was traveling when he was informed that if he returned to America, he would be detained and investigated for “moral turpitude” — aka, deviant behavior so bad it shocks the public. This had its roots not only in his attraction to young women (he also had an affair with a 22-year-old, resulting in a paternity suit that put Chaplin in legal hot water, though he was proven not to be the father), but also because he was a communist sympathizer. This all served to cool his career. His third marriage was to an 18-year-old (only a month after her birthday), which lasted until his death in 1977.

15. In another gross example of child marriage, “Great Balls of Fire” singer Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin once removed (so the daughter of his cousin), Myra Gale Brown, in 1957, when he was 22. This was a scandal even at the time. The marriage wasn’t publicized until 1958, when a reporter noted Brown amongst his staff and friends. She introduced herself as his wife, leading to widespread press condemnation, particularly due to the fact that they were related. Also, Lewis was still married to his last wife. Lewis’s most recent single, “High School Confidential,” also added fuel to the fire.

After 13 years of marriage, the cousins divorced in 1970. Brown, then 26, accused Lewis of “every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable.” Lewis, for his part, married four more times: once to the ex-wife of Myra’s brother. His career actually made a recovery after he switched to country music.

16. Another rock singer whose career derailed and then made a recovery? Chuck Berry. He was 33 years old when he was arrested for transporting 14-year-old Janice Escalante for “immoral purposes” in 1959. She alleged that he had raped her 14 times while she traveled with him over two weeks. While his initial trial suffered from racism, causing a retrial (where he was again convicted), Berry himself admitted to transporting the teenager over state lines (though he said he thought she was in her 20s) and to taking photos of Escalante and sharing hotel rooms with her, though he denied any sexual interactions occurring. He was sentenced to three years in prison. This did not end his career; he continued to release hits. Still, the scandal had stained his career, and he was not the superstar he once was.

17. And finally, we’ll end on Marilyn Monroe, whose final years were marked by scandal. Mass media attention had followed Monroe, particularly in relation to her three marriages, but the most sensational coverage related to rumored affairs with the President, John F. Kennedy, and his brother, the politician Robert F. Kennedy. In 1962, she fanned the flames of the rumors by seductively singing “Happy Birthday” to JFK. She had reportedly threatened to go to the press and finally reveal the affairs. However, she never got the chance; a few months later, she was dead.

Her death was ruled a “probable suicide” by barbiturate overdose, but there are plenty of details that seem odd. Her last known phone call was with actor Peter Lawford, who was a brother-in-law to Robert and John F. Kennedy, as he had married their sister, Pat Kennedy. He stated she ended the call with, “Say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to Jack, and say goodbye to yourself, because you’re a nice guy.” Jack was in reference to JFK. There are also rumors that Robert F. Kennedy visited her that night, though this was denied by the Kennedys.

When Murray found Marilyn dead around 3:30 a.m., she was reportedly holding her phone, and then-LA chief of detectives Thad Brown reportedly claimed she was found with a crumpled-up piece of paper with the number for the White House on it.

Besides her connections to the Kennedys, there were other suspicious details around Monroe’s death. Murray initially called Monroe’s psychiatrist, Dr. Greenson, who called the doctor who had prescribed the pills, Dr. Engelberg, before calling the police. The police did not arrive for close to an hour after Murray initially saw Monroe’s body. Lawford later claimed that he’d heard about her death at 1:30 a.m. The wife of Monroe’s press relations manager Arthur Jacobs also later claimed that her husband had received the call that Marilyn was dead at 10:30.

With so many details not lining up, it certainly seems there is more to the story. However, we’ll likely never know what came to pass that night; the Kennedy brothers were both assassinated not too long after Monroe’s death, and most of the others involved have died. Still, Monroe’s life and death continue to be the subject of speculation nearing infamy.

What’s the biggest Old Hollywood or Golden Age of Hollywood scandal you’ve heard of? Let us know in the comments below!

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