Hollywood's Cheating Hearts

Cheaters. They’re saturating the news so much right now, it’s just plain unavoidable. The most recent example being Jesse James, the Monster Garage scumbag who dared cheat on America’s sweetheart and recent Best Actress Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock. Granted, she married a tattooed, motorcycle riding bad boy with a porn star ex, so she basically got what she paid for – but that doesn’t make the situation suck any less. Who cheats on Miss Congeniality?! Jesse better watch his back – we hear Sandy’s got Betty White on her side.

Jesse James isn’t first (and he certainly won’t be the last) celeb to give in to his roving eye and amped up libido. In Old Hollywood, illicit affairs were rampant. Let’s look at some of the most infamous philanderers from back then, shall we?

Spencer Tracy

The number one spot has to go to Spencer Tracy. He was one-half of one of Hollywood’s most famous couples – the other half of course being Katharine Hepburn. But there was actually one other fraction to that equation that a lot of people might forget – Tracy’s wife. He stayed married all throughout his 25-year relationship with Hepburn. His Catholic faith prevented him from seeking a divorce, but not from breaking the commandment about adultery, obviously.

Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

Well I guess if you’re gonna cheat, you do it with one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood - Elizabeth Taylor. It’d be like someone having an affair with Angelina Jolie - you just don’t pass that up (methinks Brad Pitt knows what I mean). Burton was married with kids when he and Taylor first hooked up on the set of Cleopatra. But let’s not forget about Taylor, who wasn't exactly a saint. She was married at the time too, to Eddie Fischer (who had left his wife, Debbie Reynolds, for Taylor!) Oh what a tangled web…

Clark Gable

Ooh this is a juicy one. Good ole Clarkie was married to a woman named Maria Franklin Printiss while he had an on-set affair with Loretta Young in 1935. Their affair produced a love child, but Young hid this fact from the world, pretending her daughter Judy was adopted. Judy herself believed this lie throughout most of her life and she met Gable only once, as a teenager, with no idea that he was her real father. She didn’t find out this fact until 20 years later. Pretty messed up, huh?

Ingrid Bergman & Roberto Rossellini

Talk about a scandal! Bergman and Rossellini were both married when they began their affair in 1949. In 1950, Bergman gave birth to Rossellini’s son – sparking outrage. (You have to admit, it was pretty brazen for such a huge star.) The affair almost ruined the actress’ image completely, and she was exiled for the U.S. for a time because of it.

Matinee Man: Sir Richard Burton

Richard Burton was a notorious Hollywood drunk. And that’s no joke. In fact, he was one of the four actors written about in the book Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed, described as “the story of four of the greatest boozers who ever walked – or staggered – off a film set and into a pub.”

You may be asking why I would choose such a character to be today’s Matinee Man. Simple, really. I was inspired by Jack Bauer, who has proven to me that it is possible to save the world (and Brooke Shields), one stiff drink at a time. Unless, of course, you’re an unsuspecting Christmas tree minding your own business in a hotel lobby.

Anyway, Richard Burton.

The man began drinking his way through film sets in 1949 with The Last Days of Dolwyn all the way through 1984, when he finished up with Nineteen Eighty-Four. Of course, the almost forty years of booze had caught up to him by then. He was reportedly in terrible shape and had to wear a neck brace around set. But the man was married to Elizabeth Taylor twice so, you know, all that drinking may have been a necessity.

I don’t care what any of you say, though. There’s a direct correlation between a guy’s looks and the amount of crap he can get away with. Burton was hot enough in his day to make the constant flow of alcohol permissible. And with that, here he is (was?): Sir Richard Burton:

“When I played drunks I had to remain sober because I didn’t know how to play them when I was drunk.”

“I have to think hard to name an interesting man who does not drink.”

“I rather like my reputation, actually, that of a spoiled genius from the Welsh gutter, a drunk, a womanizer, it’s rather an attractive image.”

Hollywood Headlines

We’re constantly hearing from celebs today about how the tabloids are out of control. As if this is something new. Check out this Photoplay magazine from April 1964 (personally scanned by yours truly). It’s the same gossip and speculation that goes on today. Except instead of Brad and Angelina they had Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. (Alas, one thing they didn’t have was a cool mashed-up moniker like “Brangelina.” Let’s make one up now. How about Richliz? Lizard? Hmm...I’ll keep working on it.)

Ah, headlines back then. So blunt. So pointed. So...totally asking for a libel suit.

Click on each of the scans to read insider "evidence" of Liz and Dick's pattern of self-destruction. My favorite excerpt: "Richard Burton confronted by Liz after he's been out drinking in Puerto Vallarta with writer Budd Shulberg, snaps at her, "If you don't watch out, I'll marry him."

On the next page, Liz gets him back with this zinger: "I've been sitting here for half an hour just waiting for you to say hello to me once, you boozed-up burned-out Welshman." If this was today, there'd be many reports of Burton in and out of rehab, I'm sure.

And just for fun, here's an advertisement from the mag. Gee, how come we don't paint our shoes anymore? And why doesn't she seem to be worried about her nice, white rug?

It's All Relative!

Hollywood is full of famous parents who spawn famous children. Whether it’s because of nepotism or just plain inherited talent, the acting family tree has branches that are widespread. Many of these family connections you might already know. Kirk Douglas is, obviously, Michael Douglas’ father. Tony Curtis and Janet Lee had Jamie Lee Curtis. Jane and Peter Fonda are Henry Fonda’s kids. Judy Garland spawned Liza Minnelli. And Drew Barrymore is part of the acting Barrymore lineage that includes acting greats Lionel and Ethel Barrymore. But what about the blood relations we young people may not know? Here are a few, FYI.

Richard Burton and daughter Kate Burton
This is one I just recently discovered. While still married to Kate’s mother, Richard had an infamous affair with Elizabeth Taylor on the set of their disastrous flick, Cleopatra. He later married and divorced Liz—twice. You probably know Kate from her role as Meredith Grey’s Alzheimer’s-ridden mother on Grey’s Anatomy.

Tippi Hedren and daughter Melanie Griffith
Hedren was one of Hitchcock’s go-to blondes in films like The Birds and Marnie. Griffith has had her fair share of career ups and downs (A quick search on her IMDb page reveals she was nominated for one Oscar, for Working Girl, and seven Razzies!). She also hasn’t aged quite as naturally as mom.

Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie Fisher
Reynolds made her movie debut in the classic musical Singin’ in the Rain. In yet another marriage destroyed by Liz Taylor, Reynolds’ husband (and Carrie’s dad) singer Eddie Fisher left the family for Taylor when Carrie was three. Carrie, of course, became famous as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies.

Ingrid Bergman and daughter Isabella Rossellini
Ok, so you probably already knew that one (I mean, they look virtually identical). But did you know this piece of scandalous information? Bergman began seeing Italian director Roberto Rossellini while filming Stromboli in 1949 and became pregnant with his child…while she was married to another man! Her pregnancy caused a huge scandal in Hollywood and tarnished her image. A week after her son was born she divorced her husband and married Rossellini. In June 1952, she gave birth to twins Isabella and Isotta.

Jayne Mansfield and daughter Mariska Hargitay
This one’s no secret either, but the tragedy makes it worth mentioning. In 1967, Mansfield was killed in a car accident in Louisiana. Mariska, then three-years-old, was asleep in the backseat. The accident left her with a zig-zag scar on the side of her head. Instead of going the pin-up route like her mom, Hargitay favored serious drama and won accolades for her role on Law & Order: SVU.