Shows / Hollywood Stars and Secrets
Hollywood Stars and Secrets
So, everyone knew the star on the screen—but what was happening when the cameras stopped rolling? Behind the premieres, glamorous photographs and carefully managed public images were rivalries, secret romances, broken friendships and stories Hollywood preferred to keep quiet. Hollywood Stars and Secrets explores the hidden side of famous careers and the private lives that existed beyond the spotlight.
From Old Hollywood scandals and unexpected relationships to career-changing controversies…
Episodes
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Five-Year Contract That Erased Her Name
A child star is built by Golden Age Hollywood, given a five-year contract and a new identity. But what happens when the dream factory moves on? The Five-Year…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The safety that grounded a mother's gun and freed her daughter
A mother pulls a gun on police to free her daughter's new husband, but the safety is on. This vaudeville child star's life is about to change. The safety that…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The refusal that made Francis Ford quit - and toppled her credit as star
A grocery clerk's daughter from Ohio becomes an early Hollywood powerhouse, writing, directing, and starring in films. But the system that needed her more than…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
Loretta Young's Secret: The Unspoken Truth of Hollywood's Golden Age
Loretta Young's secret life began to crack when her daughter's ears became a topic of conversation-what was she hiding? Loretta Young's Secret: The Unspoken…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
A prop tree that broke her back grounded a career
A Hollywood career spans six decades, yet a single Academy Award nomination arrives only at the very end. This is the story of an actress who gave everything…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The .22 rifle that discharged and turned her life upside down
A Hollywood star, nominated for an Oscar, finds her life irrevocably altered by a .22 rifle accident. Her journey from fame to a hospital bed reveals the…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The unlocked door that shattered an Oscar dream
An Oscar-nominated actress finds a man dead in her Arizona motel room, sparking a public frenzy over whether it was murder or suicide. The unlocked door that…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The limerick that defined a career, then watched it disappear
A British actor arrives in Hollywood, poised for stardom, but a circulating limerick about his acting ability threatens to define his entire career. The…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The tin can he held that made him step off a film set
A silent film star's career takes an unexpected turn when a tin can, collecting coins for an injured extra, becomes a pivotal moment. This act of kindness sets…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Paperwork That Freed a Star and Ended a Career
At the height of her fame, Hollywood star Deanna Durbin vanished-what was her true identity? The Paperwork That Freed a Star and Ended a Career This episode…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Mirror Room: Hollywood's Secret Price of Survival
A malnourished dancer from Paris is discovered by Hollywood - can she survive when glamour demands the highest cost? The Mirror Room: Hollywood's Secret Price…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The offhand joke at the radio mic cost her the stardom she'd built
No description available. The offhand joke at the radio mic cost her the stardom she'd built To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The contract he walked from set his Burgtheater fall
A Viennese engineer abandons his clear path to become a cowboy, then an actor, defying all norms to reach the Burgtheater stage. How does one rise so high…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The wig he removed at curtain that made the applause ask its question
A performer becomes a Broadway sensation for his convincing portrayal of women, but his greatest illusion hides a truth that could unravel his career. The wig…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The single sentence that erased the King of the Movies
A Los Angeles Times sentence erases the King of the Movies, a man who built the industry. How does a titan fall so far? The single sentence that erased the…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Haynes she bought a month early that sped her from star to silence
A rising Hollywood director buys a 1915 Haynes and, at the peak of her power, walks away-how do you fall from that high? The Haynes she bought a month early…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The night she filled in for Rioton that made Paris forget her fall
A young Scottish soprano, an opera house in Paris, and a voice that suddenly gives out. Her big break is a high-wire act. The night she filled in for Rioton…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The unproduced screenplay grounded a career
A child actress hailed as a genius watches her custom screenplay vanish-what happens to the girl who once lit up Hollywood? The unproduced screenplay grounded…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The shattered teacup that signaled Spencer Tracy's final fall
A teacup shatters in Beverly Hills, revealing a Hollywood icon's death. His studio lies, hiding the truth of Spencer Tracy's final moments. The shattered…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Two Years She Subtracted Sank Her Public Image
A First Lady's lavish spending on White House china clashes with proposed school lunch cuts, sparking a public image crisis. How did she fall from that high?…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The husband who told her to quit MGM and cost her Hollywood
A silent film star is found wandering St. Louis, disoriented and alone, searching for a bus ticket that has been disappearing for decades. How did the "Girl…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
Okinawa's Secret: The Hollywood Star Who Filmed Hell
A Hollywood actor filmed the worst of WWII in Okinawa and returned a changed combat vet - what did the film industry do with him? Okinawa's Secret: The…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The girl barred from the audience ended up with her name on the building
A teenage girl sings for strangers in a velvet-roped room where she is barred from the audience. This is the story of a Broadway legend. The girl barred from…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The photograph in the window launched her contract - and erased her voice
A photograph of a young woman in a New York studio window catches the eye of a man who claims to represent MGM. This chance encounter launches her into…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
Welles's Words: "You'll Never Make It" - How a Star Fell from the Top
Hollywood's most sought-after actor performed free magic tricks for 48,000 soldiers in 1943. He was a star, yet the Academy never nominated him. Welles's…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The salary that disappeared her name
In 1931, Constance Bennett earned an unprecedented $30,000 a week in Hollywood, yet her name is barely remembered today. How did such a meteoric career fade…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Silent Star Who Walked Away From Everything
A silent film star reaches the pinnacle of Hollywood success, only to walk away from it all. This is the story of a man who redefined winning. The Silent Star…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
A stockbroking gamble that cost Henry Hallam everything he had saved
A Victorian stage performer crosses oceans for a new life in Australia, only to lose everything in a stockbroking gamble. Can he rebuild his life? A…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Star Who Vanished: Hollywood's Cruelest Trick
A college football hero turned MGM leading man watches his star wobble on a Tuesday afternoon in Hollywood-how do you fall from that high? The Star Who…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Zuvembie Credit That Erased a Fifty-Year Career
A seventy-one-year-old actress with a fifty-year career in Hollywood receives her most visible screen credit, but it's not her name. It's a monster's. The…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Borrowed Melody That Silenced a Child Star
A child star's voice on a 1919 shellac disc contains a borrowed melody - was this the first audio sampling? The Borrowed Melody That Silenced a Child Star This…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The credit "Mrs. Maurice Costello" pushed her career - then erased it
A woman works six years in early cinema, appearing in seventeen films, yet her name never appears on screen. How could she be so completely inside the machine…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The Contract Clause That Wrote Her Out of Hollywood
A young actress arrives in Hollywood with a contract and a list of demands, setting a record for Academy Award nominations. But her refusal to conform will…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The sidewalk that pushed him to the top, then pulled him down
A child selling newspapers on a cold sidewalk dreams of getting inside the theater. This is the origin story of a comedy legend and a secret empire. The…
- Hollywood Stars and Secrets
The review that built a ceiling for a fifty-year career
A Hollywood career spans fifty years and touches greatness, yet a single review builds a ceiling that keeps a talented actress from breaking through. The…