The Dark Side of the Hollywood Star System

Two face statue Mazatlán, Mexico

By Kathy Kovach

At the turn of the twentieth century, the silent film industry was exciting and new. There was no big name recognition because producers didn’t want their actors to demand higher salaries. To them, the technology of developing moving pictures trumped the actors themselves. Some of those performers had gotten their start on the New York stage and considered movies a step down, therefore they had no problem hiding their identities.

In fact, it wasn’t until this newfangled entertainment was a couple of decades old when actors’ names were included in ending credits. Audiences were picking out their favorites, purposely visiting their local nickelodeon to see the cowboy, or the swashbuckler, or the sweet, yet tragic, lass in rags. They demanded to know their names and learn about their private lives.

Florence Lawrence

Recognizing the public’s need, producer and co-founder of Universal Pictures, Carl Laemmle used unconventional marketing methods to promote his stars. One such example was concerning the actress considered to be the first movie star. Florence Lawrence was known to fans only as the Biograph Girl before her name became known. Biograph was a film production company operating from 1895-1916. Laemmle spread a rumor that Lawrence was killed in a streetcar accident, leaving her adoring public devastated in their grief. He then revealed the story wasn’t true, and that she was alive and well . . . and starring in his next movie. I’m sure they flocked to the theater, relieved to see their darling living and breathing.

The Hollywood Star System, also known as the Star Machine, was borne of such manipulative tactics. The goal was to groom, exploit, and market their product, which unfortunately, was of the human variety.

The following video depicts the Hollywood Star System perfectly.

From the 1920’s to the 1960’s, the System churned out thousands of movie stars. It created fictional characters out of flesh and blood. What the public saw were happy, shiny actors and actresses with their perfect hair, straight teeth, and glamorized lifestyles. And the fans lapped it up, like a thirsty MGM lion in the Serengeti.

While a fraction of performers thrived in the artificial spotlight, others wilted behind the scenes, becoming substance abusers in order to cope. Some lived debauched lifestyles in rebellion of the system. A tragic few succumbed and took their own lives.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

One such tragedy involved Frances Gumm, known to us as Judy Garland. Her story is well-known now, vividly portrayed in the 2019 biopic, Judy, starring Renee Zellwegger. When Garland was the fresh-faced teenager, hoofing and warbling with Mickey Rooney in the ‘30s, and later becoming MGM’s greatest asset in movie musicals, the System kept her busy lifestyle afloat by pumping her with amphetamines to combat her tiredness. Her weight fluctuated, so more pills were given to keep her the perfect size. She was starved during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, reportedly forced to eat nothing but cottage cheese and chicken soup to keep her size acceptable.

Garland married band leader David Rose and became pregnant, however, the System, along with her mother and husband, urged her to get an abortion because they wanted to maintain her innocent image. Judy Garland’s life ended in tragedy on June 22, 1969, as her depression lead her to an accidental overdose of barbiturates.

Admittedly, the Star System wasn’t the only factor in Garland’s eventual demise. Her personal struggles surrounding a failed marriage and other factors also came into play. But one wonders, if she’d had better support from her employers, if she would’ve had a better life.

It Happened One Night, 1934, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert

Let’s talk about the King. No, not the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, although he also fell victim to a star system created by his handler, Colonel Tom Parker. I’m referring to the man, the myth, the legend, the King of Hollywood, Clark Gable.

Gable began as a struggling stage actor. Once discovered for film, his image was carefully sculpted to that of a romantic leading man. Not your typical leading man, however. His character was known for his savage treatment of women. His persona on screen could go from insult to an embrace in a heartbeat.

Nothing but a commodity, Gable churned out movies for MGM, never being allowed to play anything more than what his image called for. He rebelled for being typecast and was sent on loan to Columbia Pictures as a punishment. That feature was It Happened One Night with his co-star, Claudette Colbert, a move that proved lucrative as it garnered him a Best Actor Oscar.

The Hollywood Star System had become an entity not to be messed with, going as far as suspending an actor without pay if they violated the numerous rules. It controlled every aspect of an actor’s life. From doing their laundry to setting them up in the perfect, and no doubt, photogenic, mansion on Mulholland Drive. It told them what to wear in public in order to maintain their image. It told them who they could date, who they could marry, or more specifically, who they couldn’t marry. No dedicated, starry-eyed fan wanted to see the romantic lead wedded to someone else.

And it spied on them. It wasn’t unusual for a studio head to enlist someone low on the food chain—a housekeeper, a chauffeur, a personal chef—to spy on the stars and report back their activities. Once again, Judy Garland fell victim of such practices, devastated when she learned that her trusted assistant, Betty Asher, had informed on every aspect of her life.

The system even went as far as altering appearances. As I mentioned in a previous article, The Manufacturing of a Hollywood Star, Rita Hayworth went from a dark-haired, Latin beauty to an Irish redhead using electrolysis to raise her hairline by an inch. Plastic surgery was common, as well. One horrifying technique was to fill the nasal cavity with molten hot wax and literally reshape the nose. Rhinoplasty was also common, and several actors underwent the nose-altering surgery, including Dean Martin and Marilyn Monroe.

United Artists founders

Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and director D.W. Griffith rebelled against the System and created their own studio, United Artists. This assured more control given to the stars.

Although the Hollywood Star System seemed horrifying in many ways, one must keep in mind, it had been set up as a thriving business. Everything produced by the major studios had to be perfectly maintained and, yes, controlled. Of course, much of the overbearing practices could have used more empathy, but many of the positives must be recognized for shaping the industry into what it is today.

And I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to watch my favorite film stars on the silver screen. Do you have a favorite star or movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood?

Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal

A TIME-SLIP NOVEL

A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection.

Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart.

To buy: Amazon

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother and a great-grandmother—though much too young for either. Kathleen has been a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

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