While the golden age of cinema often conjures up images of sulky leading men and glamorous Hollywood bombshells, the era was also a scandalous time of Hollywood cougars and unscrupulous seductresses. These female movie stars did what they wanted when they wanted, and only got more willful from the gossip their affairs stirred up.
This however, often left innocent third parties under the bus in shocking ways, by the standards of any era. So who were these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping around? Join Facts Verse as we take a deep dive into these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping, their raunchy ways and the often damaging aftermath of their actions.
Elizabeth Taylor
Possibly the most famous name on this list, Elizabeth Taylor claimed the love of fans around the world with her unique beauty and dramatic talents. Not only that, Taylor was also known for being one of the most notorious seductresses in Hollywood. The actress claimed her most scandalous prize when she fraternized with singer and actor, Eddie Fisher. What was most controversial was that Fisher was then married to Taylor’s best friend, Debbie Reynolds.
But it turned out to not just be a one-off hook up as Taylor and Fisher later wed, but ultimately divorced. Taylor apologized to Reynolds years later, and the two once again became friends.
Taylor had seven husbands throughout her life, but married who she believed to be the love of her life, actor Richard Burton, twice. After her final divorce in 1996 to construction worker Larry Fortensky, Taylor claimed to have had enough of men, and remained single until her death in 2011.
Diana Dors
English actress and singer, Diana Dors, first came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Marilyn Monroe. She made tabloid headlines with the parties reportedly held at her house. Later, she showed a genuine talent as a performer on TV, and gained new public popularity as a regular chat-show guest.
With her ostentatious mansion, kitschy decadence, and debauched parties, Dors was the definition of notorious. She married three times, had numerous lovers, and even called a wayward hussy by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It wasn’t just her roles in low-budget films that she was famous for, but filming people having sex in her house. Dors’s guests would watch grainy footage of an unsuspecting couple who had chosen to cavort in one of the dimly-lit upstairs bedrooms.
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead was a one-of-a-kind sex symbol. Not only was she beautiful, rebellious, and witty, but she was never afraid to occasionally alienate people by speaking her mind. Not only that, but Bankhead’s sexual appetites were legion. An actor named John Emery, picked up by Bankhead on the summer circuit and the two were casually married. Emery bore a strong resemblance to John Barrymore, and not merely in profile.
This bode well for Bankhead. Years earlier, Barrymore revealed himself to her in his dressing room, and Tallulah swore to herself that she would never sleep with any man who wasn’t hung like Barrymore. She then claimed that she had stuck to her word. But she may not have always been so picky, having claimed over five hundred conquests.
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Clara Bow
American actress, Clara Bow rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to “talkies” in 1929. Bow was one of cinema’s first starlets, and one of its most luridly famous ones. She retired in 1931 amid a tangle of scandals at the age of 28. But most of these so-called scandals that developed around her name and persona came from the result of old-fashioned romanticism, which Bow believed in as much as anybody.
Bow, like many female stars of the time, treated her boyfriends like engagements. This optimistic approach to relationships led to a series of quickly formed and broken engagements. These included actor Gary Cooper, director Victor Fleming, and actor Gilbert Roland.
Bow suffered a case of nerves in the late 20s, and developed a crush on her Hollywood doctor. The doctor’s wife sued for divorce, and named Bow as cause for alienation of affection.
Jayne Mansfield
Known as the naughtier version of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield is probably more associated with raunchy and fabulous fun times than any other actress in the history of Hollywood. The famous photo of Sophia Loren side-eyeing Mansfield’s prominent cleavage is a perfect example of Mansfield’s impact in Tinseltown.
The blonde bombshell is remembered for having countless lovers and erotic romps. It’s even rumored that she’s a mistress of JFK. But Mansfield’s most notorious association was with the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey. Mansfield was apparently not above tormenting the obsessed Satanist. While denying knowing LaVey intimately, she would ridicule her Satanic suitor by calling from her Los Angeles home and seductively teasing him while her friends listened in on the conversation.
Vivien Leigh
British actress, Vivien Leigh, won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice in her career. First for her definitive performances as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind and then as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. But alongside these great achievements, Leigh also known for her intensity and her beauty. But her notoriously volatile marriage to actor and director, Sir Laurence Olivier didn’t come easily or, in point of fact, ethically.
Leigh watched Olivier in a play, and declared, “That’s the man I’m going to marry.” The fact that Olivier already married didn’t stop Leigh. She followed him and his wife to where they were vacationing in the Italian Island of Capri. Leigh and Olivier got together, even though his wife at that time, actress Jill Esmond, was pregnant. The less-than-honorable Olivier gave her the boot, and married Leigh soon after.
Lupe Vélez
Mexican actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood films, Lupe Vélez, was known as the Mexican spitfire. But she had mostly become known for the bizarre urban legends surrounding her death. Vélez’ rumored to have died with her head in the toilet after having committed suicide in response to her lover abandoning her and their unborn child. But the truth of the matter is that she actually discovered in her bed, by her secretary.
Vélez dated actor Gary Cooper for many years, and called him the love of her life. But she was also jealous of him. This led to accusations of him having an affair with actor Anderson Lawler, among other people. She supposedly unzipped Cooper’s pants at social gatherings to sniff at his crotch. She would then claim that she smelled Lawler’s cologne.
Vélez rumored to have had hundreds of lovers, and perfume lude acts like revealing herself. However, most of these reports were likely exaggerated as Vélez said to have deliberately encouraged gossip. Join Facts Verse as we take a deep dive into these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping.
Louise Brooks
American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s, Louise Brooks’ film career was extraordinarily brief, but impactful. She hated Hollywood, but did like to have a good time. She left her first husband, British film director and actor Eddie Sutherland, after she fell in love with George Preston Marshall, owner of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.
Brooks then left Marshall to marry someone else. She left them after less than six months.
Brooks’s life in film was over by the time she was 26. But, though her subsequent poverty caused a lot of problems, she never showed regret for leaving the limelight. Join Facts Verse as we take a deep dive into these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping.
Daisy And Violet Hilton
Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins best known for starring in Tod Browning’s cult masterpiece Freaks and Henry L. Fraser’s exploitation flick Chained for Life. They rose to fame during the 1920s and ’30s vaudeville scene. The twins, who joined at the lower back and spine, allegedly had dozens of affairs. They supposedly welcomed by A-list America and promptly took advantage of all its hedonistic pleasures. They partied hard and took a string of lovers. They also married, divorced and even had a baby.
Their first of several affairs was apparently with a married friend, which caused his divorce. Daisy later sought to marry musician Jack Lewis, but after 21 states refused to grant him a marriage license he eventually left her. This was technically because marrying Daisy and her sister would have counted as bigamy. After the twins became too old to work in show business, they descended into poverty, and eventually died under tragic circumstances. Join Facts Verse as we take a deep dive into these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping.
Barbara La Marr
Silent movie star Barbara La Marr was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. While she may not be as well known as her contemporaries, her story is without a doubt just as compelling. Born Reatha Dale Watson in Yakima, Washington, she moved to Hollywood driven by the desire to be, in her words, a great tragedienne and wield a dagger.
While being labeled, “too beautiful to be in a big city,” by a judge, La Marr, started out seeking fame by traveling across the country with her second husband, Philip Ainsworth. She eventually left him to marry her third spouse, who was a dancer and check forger. Eventually, La Marr made it to Hollywood. She noticed by Douglas Fairbanks, an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Join Facts Verse as we take a deep dive into these old Hollywood actresses infamous for sleeping.
La Marr left her husband in 1921, and became famous for her wild love life and her dramatic, liberated bon mots, which excited the lost generation of flappers and philosophers. La Marr described herself as taking lovers by the dozen and stated that she loves to live only because she lives to love. Her luck eventually ran out. La Marr died, possibly of tuberculosis, at the young age of 29. She is dubbed thereafter, screenland’s beautiful lady of sorrow.
Which act of these old Hollywood actresses did you find the most shocking and immoral? Let us know in the comments section below and don’t forget to subscribe to Facts Verse for more. Click the bell icon to stay updated on all our latest content.
