The Munchkin Suicides And Other Stories, Pt.1
From deaths on the set of The Wizard Of Oz to Cary Grant's extensive drug experimentation, urban legends have been spinning around the studio back lots for eons. Here I sort Hollyfact from Hollyfib.
Cary Grant Regularly Used LSD
TRUE
Ever since his death, Bristol’s favourites on has endured various bouts of speculation. There’s talk of an oedipal relationship with his mother. There’s whispers about homosexual trysts with, among others, his housemate Randolph Scott. There there’s the small matter of Grant taste for psychedelic drugs.
Thing is, while other stars used narcotics as an escape, Grant only took them for ‘medicinal purposes’. Frustrated at his inability to form meaningful relationships
(he was married five times), the actor spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on revolutionary LSD therapy - or acid tests, for the sake of a bad pun.
There’s been little written about whether the treatment provided Grant with any fresh insight although, in his later years, it was noticeable that he spent less time chasing women and a lot more time wrestling pink alligators.
We’re joking of course, but there’s no doubt Grant’s acid habit had some impact on him - how else do you explain the erstwhile Archibald Leach’s bizarre hobby of assembling and indexing a gigantic collection of unusual newspaper headlines?
Sean Young Stalked James Woods After An Affair Went Bad
FALSE
1988’s The Boost, directed by Howard Becker, tells the story of a wired yuppie who loses his career, house and wife through an out-of-control coke habit.
We only mention this because the things most people know about the movie are i) co-stars Sean Young and James Woods had an on-set affair, ii) they subsequently split, and iii) Young mutated into a glassy-eyed stalker.
Except of course, none of this is true. It’s probable there wasn’t even a relationship between the two. And as for Woods’ claims that Young dug up his flower beds and sent him a Barbie doll with a severed head, if the court had laughed at the actor’s $6 million lawsuit any louder, you’d have assumed the legal proceedings had been scripted by the Farrelly Brothers.
Despite being completely exonerated, Young never fully recovered from the smear - hence here appearances in tripe like Evil Has A Face and Motel Blue.
DreamWorks Boss David Geffen Married Keanu Reeves
FALSE
David Geffen might be a powerful studio honcho and record exec (whether we wanted them or not, he’s the man who gave us The Eagles) but to the greater world he’s still The Guy Who Wanted To Marry Keanu Reeves.
During the mid-90s, Geffen’s supposed affair with his Dudeness received the sort of press attention usually reserved for royal weddings. That the pair hadn’t even met did nothing to stifle the tabloids’ creativity, resulting in a sludge of speculation about the millions the DreamWorks co-founder was spending on his new boyfriend.
As scurrilous as the accusations were, Geffen could have done more to scotch the rumours - when Geffen’s autobiography came out, publishers featured a photo of everyone’s favourite Hawaiian-Canadian film star on the spine. Still one imagaines the incident was considerably less embrassing for Keanu than his performance in Dracula.
The Ghost Of A Dead Boy Appears During Three Men And A Baby
FALSE
We’ve heard some truly ridiculous Hollywood ghost stories (the “warm presence” of a spectral Cary Grant in Brighton’s Rottingdean nightclub is a particular favourite), but spooky aapparitions on film? That’ll be Three Men And A Cardboard Dead Boy.
Back in 1990, Leonard Nimoy’s comedy remake enjoyed a second life on video when rumours spread about the presence of a ghost in the movie. Fast forwarding to the scene where Ted Danson’s mother visits his apartment, would-be ghost hunters found themselves squinting at a shadowy entity lurking behind a curtain.
Despite displaying all the hallmarks of a classic urban legend, the story grew.
As Chinese whispers gnawed away at common sense, several backstories were born, the most popular being that the figure was the ghost of a nine-year-old-boy.
As the charming tale had it, the boy was involved in a shotgun suicide and the apparition was caught on film when the crew filmed in the kid’s apartment. Optional embellishments included a frazzled mother either suing the studio or being committed to a mental asylum.
The truth? The ‘ghost’ is, in fact, a life-size cutout of Danson’s struggling actor character wearing top hat and tails. Confirmation that the scene was shot on a soundstage rather than a haunted location nailed the myth?
Conclusion? The only undead thing you’re likely see in Three Men And A Baby is Ted Danson’s toupee.
Jack Nicholson’s Sister Was Really His Mother
TRUE
If you like your film stars to live up to their demented reputations, then look no further than the Easy Rider boys. First up there’s Dennis Hopper, who once told an interview he’d like to be a lesbian. Then there’s Peter Fonda who didn’t find out that his mother had committed suicide until several years after the event.
And finally there’s John Joseph Nicholson who was abandoned by his father and left to be raised by his mother and sisters. At any rate, that’s what he’d always been lead to believe…
It wasn’t until decades later that a researcher from Time magazine contacted the star to tell him the unbelievable truth: the woman Nicholson had always assumed was his mother was actually his grandmother. And as if that bombshell wasn’t explosive enough, Jack then discovered that his supposed sister was actually his mother.
You see, Lorraine Nicholson had given birth to Jack out of wedlock and had then persuaded her parents to play along with the charade in order to provide the boy with a more moral life. And how did Mad Jack react to the news? No tempers. No trauma. Just tender diplomacy. “I was very proud,” Nicholson glowed.