Top 10 Biggest Old Hollywood Scandals of the 1940s

In 1948, Robert Mitchum was at the height of his career. After a string of successful movies that established him as a star of the film noir genre, Mitchum hit the headlines for a whole different reason. Together with actress Lila Leeds, he was busted for possession of marijuana at a party in the Hollywood hills. Mitchum admitted that he knew he “would get caught sooner or later” and that he felt he was “ruined.” The story was reported far and wide, but Mitchum’s career survived the scandal. He served most of a fifty-day jail sentence at a prison farm in Los Angeles County before returning immediately to work.

Hollywood sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine won recognition and renown thanks to roles in a host of classic films from “Rebecca” to “Gone with the Wind”. However, they never shared the screen. This was reportedly due to a fierce sibling rivalry and strong dislike for one another. Undoubtedly, it was blown out of proportion by the press but, by their own accounts, the sisters were established rivals. According to Fontaine, the tensions were there almost from the beginning, with the two seemingly in competition with one another and constantly pointing fingers. Whatever the truth of their relationship, the family feud was fuel for the Hollywood gossip and fascinated fans for years.

From Grace Kelly to Meghan Markle, a beautiful actress and a handsome prince always make headlines. Rita Hayworth’s relationship with Prince Aly Khan, a socialite and Pakistani diplomat, caused a wave of publicity across the globe. The couple met in Cannes in 1948 and married a year later. However, at the beginning of their relationship, Hayworth was still technically married to actor/director Orson Welles. The marriage had broken down, but some fans still condemned Hayworth’s perceived infidelity. Plus, as the gossip columns never ceased to remind the public that Khan was a Muslim and a foreigner. Despite the drama, the actress made a triumphant return to Hollywood in the early 1950s.

British actors, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, were at the height of their Hollywood careers when the news of their relationship broke. Leigh was fresh from her Oscar winning role in “Gone with the Wind”, while Olivier had recently starred as Heathcliff in “Wuthering Heights.” Their affair began in 1937 and, by 1940, they had each divorced their former spouses and married each other. In a letter to Leigh, Olivier wrote: “We are a popular scandal, or rather a public one.” The adulterous beginnings were condemned by many but their love story was ultimately tragic, partly due to Leigh’s struggles with her mental health. Nevertheless, the pair became one of Hollywood’s most iconic couples.

In the 1930s, Hollywood actress Frances Farmer made a name for herself, both in theater and the movies. She starred opposite some of the biggest names of the day, including Cary Grant, Bing Crosby and Tyrone Power. However, as the decade turned, her career began to suffer due to bouts of depression, erratic behavior and alcohol use disorder. In 1942, Farmer was arrested after she was pulled over and suspected of driving under the influence. Over the next year, further charges followed - of assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was eventually admitted to mental health hospitals, where she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and subjected to treatment. Although Farmer later returned to acting, this period of her life became a major part of her legacy.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall first met on the set of “To Have and Have Not” in 1944. She was a young girl from the Bronx taking on her first leading role. He was a forty-five-year-old married man, raised on the Upper West Side and already established as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Within a year, the iconic duo were married. They remained so until Bogart’s death in 1957. The “Casablanca” actor and his previous wife had been dubbed “the battling Bogarts” by the media and the gossip columns eagerly followed the break-up of their relationship. Bogart and Bacall, meanwhile, were soon hailed as one of Hollywood’s greatest love stories.

An icon of the silent film era, Charlie Chaplin’s popularity took a knock during the 1940s, as details of his torrid personal life began to hit the headlines. Chaplin was married four times. He was in his late twenties when he married the much younger Mildred Harris; his mid-thirties when he wed an even younger Lita Grey; his late forties with twenty-one-year-old Paulette Goddard and, finally, he tied the knot with Oona O’Neill at the age of fifty-four. At this time, he was already embroiled in a scandalous paternity suit with a young actress named Joan Barry. As the actor was suspected of Communist leanings, the FBI fed information about the Barry case to the press. When it was all over, Chaplin and O’Neill went on to have eight children together.

African-American actress Hattie McDaniel took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1939, making her the first Black Oscar winner. But her triumph was not the breakthrough moment it should have been. She may have been applauded for her stellar performance in “Gone with the Wind” but she was barred from the Atlanta premiere, along with all of her Black cast-mates. Their images were also removed from all posters and promotional materials in the South, which was still governed by the Jim Crow segregation laws. At the Oscars, McDaniel was seated at a separate table from the rest of the cast, and was once again discriminated against when they went out afterwards to a ‘white-only’ club. The next Black woman to win an Oscar would be Whoopi Goldberg in 1990.

This infamous actor was best known for his swash-buckling roles in films such as “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and “Captain Blood.” He also had a scandalous reputation as a womanizer. In 1942, the dark side of Flynn’s character was brought into the public’s consciousness when he found himself facing two separate charges of sexual assault. The trial was highly publicized and the two underage girls who had come forward were shown no mercy by Flynn’s defenders. Their characters were dragged through the mud and the actor was eventually acquitted. One of the victims later described how the jury had looked adoringly at Flynn “as if he was their son or something.”

During the 1940s and ‘50s, a ‘red scare’ swept America, promoted by Senator Joseph McCarthy, among others. Fear and propaganda led to the persecution of many left-leaning individuals, in government and beyond. In Hollywood, an entertainment industry blacklist barred many creatives from working, due to their political affiliations - whether real or suspected. In the fall of 1947, a group of writers and directors who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee were charged with contempt of court, fined and jailed. This group - who became known as “The Hollywood Ten” were fired from their jobs, ostracized from Hollywood and used as an example to others who refused to toe the line. The blacklist finally ended in 1960, but many careers had been irreparably damaged.

Which Hollywood scandal shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments!