21 Maude Adams Lighting Patent Inventor
Early 20th-century actress Maude Adams wanted to create a film version of Peter Pan but refused to shoot it in black and white. Because color film and adequate lighting technology did not yet exist, she began working with engineers and technical experts to solve the problem. Adams devoted years to researching theatrical lighting and stage illumination. Her work eventually led her to earn several electric-light patents during the 1930s.
22 Catherine Zeta-Jones Bingo Breakthrough
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones grew up in a working-class family in Swansea, Wales. When she was young, her family won £100,000 in a bingo competition. The unexpected money allowed her parents to pay for dance and ballet lessons and send her to a private school. Those opportunities helped launch her early training in performing arts.
23 Naomi Watts Pink Floyd Support
Actress Naomi Watts’ father, Peter Watts, worked as a road manager and roadie for the band Pink Floyd. In 1976, he died from a heroin overdose when Naomi Watts was just 7 years old. After his death, members of Pink Floyd provided financial support to help the family. The band’s assistance helped Watts’ mother raise her children following the tragedy.
24 Jan Sterling Hindenburg Escape
Actress Jan Sterling once had a plane ticket to travel to the United States but spent the last of her money on lingerie she liked. She traded the airfare for passage on a steamship instead. During the voyage, she learned that the aircraft she had originally been booked on, the German airship Hindenburg, had been destroyed in a catastrophic fire in 1937. Her impulsive decision had unintentionally saved her life.
25 Rachel McAdams Mean Girls Age Gap
Actress Rachel McAdams was 25 years old when she played 17-year-old Regina George in the 2004 film Mean Girls. In the same movie, actress Amy Poehler portrayed Regina’s mother, the famously “cool mom.” Poehler was only 33 years old at the time. Despite playing mother and daughter, the casting placed the actresses just 8 years apart in age.
26 Mary Pickford First Movie Star
In the early silent film era, actors usually went uncredited because studios believed audiences did not care who appeared in the films. In 1910, actress Mary Pickford became so popular with viewers that theaters began advertising movies specifically because she appeared in them. Her growing fame forced studios to recognize the power of star appeal in marketing. The sudden popularity earned Pickford recognition as the world’s first true movie star.
27 Ava Gardner Hemingway Pool Story
Actress Ava Gardner once swam naked in a swimming pool owned by writer Ernest Hemingway. The moment amused Hemingway so much that he reportedly instructed that the water in the pool should never be changed.
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15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
28 Carol Burnett Family Guy Lawsuit
Actress Carol Burnett sued the creators of Family Guy after the show depicted a character resembling her cleaning the floor of a porn shop. Burnett argued that the parody damaged her image and misused her likeness. A U.S. judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2007, asserting that the First Amendment protected the depiction as parody. However, the judge also remarked that the character Burnett created in her own comedy work was far more creative than anything the Family Guy team had produced.
29 Carrie Fisher Star Wars Costume Tape
Actress Carrie Fisher had to use gaffer’s tape to hold down her breasts while filming the original Star Wars trilogy. Director George Lucas reportedly did not want her to appear “too aggressively feminine” in the costume. Fisher later quipped that “no breasts bounce in space” and that there was “no jiggling in the Empire.”
30 Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday Breakthrough
Actress Audrey Hepburn landed her first starring film role in Roman Holiday (1953). Actor Gregory Peck, who co-starred in the movie, insisted that Hepburn’s name appear before the film’s title in lettering as large as his own in the credits. Peck reportedly warned the studio that Hepburn would become a major star and that he would look foolish if she were not properly credited. Hepburn soon proved him right by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role.
RE: Fact #32 (Emily Blunt Missed Black Widow) – If that role let her play a total badass in “Edge of Tomorrow”, I say it is a massive win.
Just got around to seeing that. It was fantastic, even the parts that caught me off guard, like getting annoyed watching him go through the same motions a thousand times.
She would have raked in so much more cash with Marvel, though, plus she’d be a total legend by now.
RE: Fact #22 (Catherine Zeta-Jones Bingo Breakthrough) – It’s almost like being wealthy gives you more opportunities to succeed. And by extension, being poor means you’re all but assured to stay that way. But sure, cancelling student debt would be “unfair” to all the people who already succeeded.
The problem is that by literally every metric, people that went to college are the ‘future wealthy’ in about 95% of cases, so paying off student loansis just a transfer from the poor to the future rich. There’s tons of studies floating around – by left wing groups/people- talking about how canceling student debt is net regressive and has a monetary spending multiplier of 0. It’s just a bad policy despite being *very* popular with the young left. And if you want to play the ‘fairness’ game, here’s a policy that would tackle equity issues: when the govt subsidizes student loans, you are basically getting a taxpayer gift in the amount of your lifetime earnings above the median earning of a high school graduate. A progressive way to tax this would be to levy an incremental tax on all people that went to college using Fed subsidized loans in their income above the high school mean income. For example, say the median high school income is $30K. If you went to college and make $100K, you’d owe, say, 10% ofor $7000. This would fund a free cash grant to all people who *didnt* go to college and didn’t utilize the subsidized loan scheme. This has a *huge* monetary multiplier effect and is massively progressive and deeply reduces income inequality. However, the young left – who spends a ton of time screeching about fairness – freak out screaming ‘OMG THATS NOT FAIR TO ME.’ Which tells you this isn’t about fairness at all – this is all about ‘I want something extremely valuableand I don’t want to pay for it despite receiving all the financial benefits.’ EDIT: I’m going to add to why I don’t have a ton of sympathy for people carrying student loan debt. All this data is from the Fed Res Bank of NY: The average student loan debt balance is about $31, 000 in 2019. At a 15yr payback and 6% interest rate, that’s $260/mo payment pre-tax. The median starting pay for a college grad is about $55k/yr and the median pay for a high school gradis about $24Kand is only paying $260/mo for all that excess income. *What are college grads so upset about?????* You have $1700/mo MORE income!! Why are you entitled to a tax break at the expense of people making a sh*t load less than you???? Also keep in mind that your loan payments are roughly fixed but your income goes up a little each year. College-educated wage growth has been about 4%/yr for a while now, so when our college grad makes that last payment of $260/mo their income will have grown from $55k to about $100k. Even if you feel like your loan payments are too high now, they ‘shrink’ each year. There is one policy proposal that I *strongly* support: portionsof college debt should be able to be discharged in bankruptcy. However, the schools that arranged the debt should be forced to cover the loan costs for the tax payers. This should help people out when they are down on their luck, and also give schools an incentive to not give massive loans to people unlikely to be able to pay them back. It forces the schools to have some skin in the game whereas right now they have none.
RE: Fact #28 (Carol Burnett Family Guy Lawsuit) – The actual legal claim was this:
I bet if they had cast her as a hero saving the world, she would have let it slide. It really seems like the adult store setting is what set her off.
RE: Fact #23 (Naomi Watts Pink Floyd Support) – He wasn’t just a roadie, he was the road manager and sound engineer. There’s a huge difference!
That’s also his laughter on Brain Damage and Speak to Me off Dark Side of the Moon.
Wild. I never actually knew the guy’s identity, but I’ve heard his laugh a million times. It’s kinda eerie.
RE: Fact #34 (Whoopi Goldberg Missing Eyebrows Habit) – It’s weird how people claim not to notice when it was the first thing I saw in Sister Act or Ghost. Might just be because I was younger. She had them in The Color Purple, but they looked painted on.
RE: Fact #48 (Tina Fey Flintstones Ban) – She could watch The Honeymooners but not The Flintstones? Did her folks really hate knockoffs that much?
Actually, yeah. The wiki page mentions it:
It makes more sense that she was banned over a weird personal vendetta rather than some made-up moral crisis. Though maybe disliking a ripoff is its own kind of morals.
RE: Fact #8 (Rita Hayworth Bikini Bomb Fury) – I love that she was so furious about it. So many folks were just fine with that destruction.
She was ticked off because she thought the studio set the whole thing up for PR.
Yeah, because it was a nuke. That was the real reason she was so mad. Studios did stunts all the time, but this one was offensive for a pretty obvious reason.
RE: Fact #25 (Rachel McAdams Mean Girls Age Gap) – Angelina Jolie was Colin Farrell’s mom in Alexander, despite only being a year older.
Wait, did they actually make it romantic? I figured it was just bad casting, but I didn’t think the discomfort was intentional.
I mean, it was the “Greeks”after all, didn’t they all have some sort of Freudian deal with their mothers in the ancient world?
RE: Fact #38 (Gillian Anderson Scully Effect Influence) – It’s funny how Scully became the go-to trope for the super-logical person who keeps trying to explain away weird supernatural events.
RE: Fact #12 (Keira Knightley Anorexia Lawsuit Victory) – Always had respect for Keira calling that out. I’ve got a similar build, just as a guy, and caught so much sh*t for it growing up. Some people are just naturally skinny despite eating like everyone else.
RE: Fact #42 (Dana Plato Video Store Robbery) – People were incredibly cruel to her when she called into the Howard Stern show a day before she passed. Such a tragic story, and losing her only son to suicide on top of that.
Since her own death was eventually ruled a suicide, I wonder if those nasty callers played a part in her state of mind.
RE: Fact #7 (Tilda Swinton Rejects Harry Potter) – I saw a wild documentary about British boarding school life. The schooling is top-tier and helps kids get into great colleges, but the emotional cost is brutal. Moms were devastated leaving their young kids, and some children were clearly having a mental breakdown from the homesickness. Definitely worth a watch if you have the time.
And they are just eight which is crazy. I thought the local boarding schools were intense starting at thirteen, though it seemed like a mix of academics, athletes, and kids who were just acting out.
Some of my family went to a missionary boarding school in Africa for American kids. Being sent off at six and not seeing your parents for months? That is serious trauma.
My dad was sent away even younger. Between that and the whole keep your chin up and don’t complain vibe, the trauma really messed him up later in life, contributing to his breakdown and suicide.
RE: Fact #7 (Tilda Swinton Rejects Harry Potter) – Understandable. Harry Potter wasn’t meant to be pro-boarding schools, Hogwarts was just a convenient setting for magical shenanigans, but the books still inadvertently romanticized that type of environment. So I get why an aristocrat like Swinton, who attended boarding schools herself as a child, would have a problem with it.
Reading it as teenager, I was taken aback by the house competition points system. That just seemed so completely inappropriate for a learning environment.
British schools use house points all the time. It’s not a boarding school thing.
Especially when teachers could pull points out of mid air during the celebration ceremony and change the winner to their favorite house.
RE: Fact #46 (Diana Ross Coming Out Confusion) – People love making up their own backstories for stuff. Saw a clip online claiming Ross was a huge gay rights icon because of that track, but she didn’t write it and had no clue what the lyrics even implied.
When folks talk like that, they mean the whole brand surrounding her. If they don’t, they’re forgetting she’s just the vocalist, while an entire team handles the writing, style, and business side.
Ross really wasn’t a big ally for most of her run. Unlike people like the Weather Girls who backed Sylvester or Whitney, who really adored her gay fanbase.
RE: Fact #26 (Mary Pickford First Movie Star) – She started as Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto, 1892. After her widowed mom took in a stage manager as a boarder, Gladys and her sister started acting at age seven. She moved into films around 1909. By 1916, Mary snagged a million dollar contract and co-founded the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, later helping start United Artists with Chaplin, Fairbanks, and Griffith. She was one of the folks who launched the Academy and nabbed an Oscar for her first talkie. She appeared in 52 films before dying in 1979.
Pickford seemed like the first to realize where the industry was headed and how to use publicity. Maybe she borrowed a few tricks from others, but she was the first to really turn film actors into massive icons. There were plenty of talented people back then, but Mary was on another level.
RE: Fact #14 (Marilyn Monroe Einstein Wish List) – So, as long as I invent a time machine and solve the grand unified field theory, there’s a chance for me too.
RE: Fact #44 (Kate Rooney Mara NFL Dynasties) – After missing a Super Bowl win, Kate put a clause in her contracts so she can take off work if the Giants or Steelers are playing in the big game.
Producers won’t have to stress about her missing work for a Super Bowl appearance anytime soon.
RE: Fact #27 (Ava Gardner Hemingway Pool Story) – A guy needs to hold onto things. A bit of advice, a photo in his wallet. You keep those private or you lose yourself. And if Ava Gardner ever takes a dip in your pool, get rid of the pool guy immediately. You don’t need him.
RE: Fact #16 (Lena Horne Bogart Neighborhood Defense) –
Good guy, that Humphrey fellow.
Great guy and a stellar actor. Not the best influence if you’re trying to quit smoking, though. That’s where the saying “Don’t Bogart that joint” comes from.
Whoa, that term actually came from his name? I never knew it meant cigarettes originally, I just thought it was about being greedy with communal stuff. A lot of folks I grew up with called people “Deebo” for the same reason, pulling it from that Friday character.
RE: Fact #18 (Judi Dench Confused Riddick Role) – I used to think Vin Diesel was kind of a tool, but I actually gained some respect for him when I found out he took the Fast and Furious role just to get the rights to Riddick.
Met him once. It was a quick signing event, but he just seemed like a huge guy who’s still a nerdy 15-year-old at heart. We talked DnD and Riddick, and you can tell he loves his hobbies. I’d love to see him on a DnD podcast. He wasn’t arrogant at all, honestly one of the celebs I respect the most.
RE: Fact #45 (Marilyn Monroe JFK Rolex Gift) – Monroe died that year, Kennedy was gone the next, and his aide drank himself to death. Life moves fast, grab what you can while you can.
RE: Fact #46 (Diana Ross Coming Out Confusion) – It’s funny how many disco singers were actually super religious and started out in church. Diana wasn’t any different.
RE: Fact #8 (Rita Hayworth Bikini Bomb Fury) – “While Gilda was in release, it was widely reported that an atomic bomb that was scheduled to be tested at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands would bear an image of Hayworth, a reference to her bombshell status. Although the gesture was undoubtedly meant as a compliment, Hayworth was deeply offended. Orson Welles, then married to Hayworth, recalled her anger in an interview with biographer Barbara Leaming: “Rita used to fly into terrible rages all the time, but the angriest was when she found out that they’d put her on the atom bomb. Rita almost went insane, she was so angry. … She wanted to go to Washington to hold a press conference, but Harry Cohn wouldn’t let her because it would be unpatriotic.” Welles tried to persuade Hayworth that the whole business was not a publicity stunt on Cohn’s part, that it was simply homage to her from the flight crew.”
RE: Fact #6 (Tiffany Haddish Mother Brake Sabotage) – This is exactly why you rarely see people using car wrecks for murder. There are just too many variables. There’s really no such thing as a perfect crime so don’t even try. Plus, Tiffany Haddish is a total legend.
RE: Fact #17 (Sarah Jessica Parker Salem Ancestor) – Weren’t the witch trials in the 1600s? I’d imagine that makes her a great-great-great-great-great-grandmother at the very least.
RE: Fact #26 (Mary Pickford First Movie Star) – Did the crowd really not care, or did the industry just assume they wouldn’t? People had been obsessed with stage actors for ages by then.
Early 1900s films were mostly just short clips of performers like circus acts, so nobody really cared who was on screen. Plus, actual actors felt it was beneath them and worried that doing movies would kill their stage careers, so they didn’t want their names attached anyway.
RE: Fact #3 (Rebel Wilson Malaria Oscar Vision) – Cool trivia: James Cameron got the vision for The Terminator during a fever dream and wrote it all down immediately after waking up.
RE: Fact #5 (Kathleen Turner Jessica Rabbit Voice) – She chose to be uncredited, not that it was forced. She still got paid, but she was super pregnant and didn’t want the spotlight. Plenty of stars like Robin Williams or James Earl Jones have done this, so it’s not some huge secret.
Big stars doing voice work wasn’t really a trend back then, and they didn’t want to steal the show from professional voice actors.
Actually, Robin Williams didn’t mind being uncredited, he just hated that Disney used his work to push merchandise. They broke their deal because he wouldn’t bail on his role in Ferngully.
Games rarely bring back the original voice actors anyway.
RE: Fact #49 (Allison Janney Political Pundit Offers) – Is The West Wing worth a watch? It was before my time, but I keep hearing it mentioned.
Definitely. I missed the boat initially too, but I binged the whole thing on Netflix last year and started over this summer. It hits on both politics and human connection. It’s really deep and sincere.
Just be warned, it might bum you out because it makes politics look so idealistic.
Exactly. It was inspiring once, but now you need a drink just to get through an episode.
RE: Fact #8 (Rita Hayworth Bikini Bomb Fury) – Never mind the bomb, wait, Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth were married? What?
RE: Fact #35 (Laura Dern Jurassic Park Engagement) – Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher kept their fling on the set of Star Wars quiet for over 40 years. Mark Hamill knew about it but stayed tight-lipped out of respect even after she finally talked about it.
RE: Fact #45 (Marilyn Monroe JFK Rolex Gift) – JFK must have had serious game. The most famous woman in the world is buying you Rolexes as your mistress.
If your side piece showed up to your birthday and started hitting on you right in front of your family, you’d probably start avoiding her too.
RE: Fact #36 (Keira Knightley Child Star Rise) – She was in Star Wars? Wait, that wasn’t Natalie Portman the whole time? I know doubles are used, but I assumed it was just her.
They looked so much alike that even their moms couldn’t tell the difference on set. Casting was spot on.
RE: Fact #14 (Marilyn Monroe Einstein Wish List) – Imagine if they really hooked up. That would make the most iconic physicist ever eskimo brothers with JFK.
She was with Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio, so why not aim for the 50s hat trick?
RE: Fact #48 (Tina Fey Flintstones Ban) – My parents let me watch whatever growing up. I was around five when I saw Robocop and stuff like that. It’s weird looking back that they sold toys based on R-rated movies for little kids.
Those are action figures and they are for adult men to keep sealed in packages to preserve the collector’s value.
RE: Fact #12 (Keira Knightley Anorexia Lawsuit Victory) – Anorexia nervosa honestly sounds like some kind of spell from Harry Potter.
RE: Fact #39 (Uma Thurman Grandmother Statue) – That random fact caught me so off guard I actually laughed out loud and scared an old lady walking nearby.
Haven’t checked, but I bet it follows the same pattern where kids of the elite stay elite. Uma’s mom was actually hitched to Timothy Leary back in the day.
RE: Fact #47 (Bea Arthur Two Million Painting) – Shouldn’t this get treated the same as AI fakes or photoshopped images if she didn’t sign off on it?
Deepfake tools just make it faster, they don’t really change the game. People have been faking celeb photos for ages. I don’t see why it’s a huge deal now just because GPUs make it simpler.
RE: Fact #17 (Sarah Jessica Parker Salem Ancestor) – Wait, SJP was the hot witch? I’m just now putting that together after all these years, wild.
RE: Fact #10 (Angela Lansbury One-Take Disney Song) – Her voice maturing really adds to the song. Even past the beautiful singing, it has this warm, sweet, grandma-like feel to it.
Feels like a lullaby to me. It makes me miss my mom, but in that painful yet good way. I just realized that bit about being bittersweet and strange hits the nail on the head.
I totally agree. The “tale as old as time” lyric wouldn’t hit the same way with a younger voice. You’re hearing it from someone who has lived through young love and is looking back on it with empathy.
Celine Dion’s version during the credits is great too, but yeah, Angela Lansbury’s performance in the film is just perfect.
RE: Fact #24 (Jan Sterling Hindenburg Escape) – I get that feeling whenever I’m rushing for a flight. You wonder if this is the one that goes down or if the missed one was the disaster. Makes finally landing feel great.
RE: Fact #34 (Whoopi Goldberg Missing Eyebrows Habit) – Eyebrows are bizarre. Without them, some people look normal and others look like aliens.
I think it isn’t obvious with her because she has the facial musculature that creates the appropriate shadows when she uses facial expressions that rely on eyebrows.
RE: Fact #13 (Marilyn Monroe Dress Met Gala Damage) – It’s actually worse it was originally custom-made for Marilyn’s specific frame.
That’s not quite right. She used that fur wrap on the carpet because the back wouldn’t close. She switched to a copy once she went inside.
If she had a copy for inside, why not just wear that the whole time? So dumb.
It’s actually a mix of both. Even with the tailoring, it didn’t close, which is why she had the wrap. It ended up ripping and losing a bunch of beads. Seeing the before and after shots is honestly gutting for anyone who cares about fashion history. I’m shocked they allowed that.
RE: Fact #40 (Esther Williams Navy Photo Trophy) – According to the write-up, there’s a trophy copy and a fighting one. The real deal stayed in a safe spot, while the fighting version was put out to be taken by other crews. If it got swiped, they’d hand over the official trophy. People actually got into brawls over this, like when the USS Boxer crew tried raiding the HMAS Warramunga and four people ended up in the hospital.
Not sure if getting hospitalized over an Esther Williams picture gets you a medal, but it feels like it should count.
Three officers down and they still failed? This is why you leave it to the enlisted guys.
RE: Fact #31 (Octavia Spencer Keanu Reeves Rescue) – Glad to know the vehicle was nasty. It really makes the story complete.
Not just nasty, covered in bird droppings. I personally will not touch someone’s computer if it is covered in poop, so I totally get it.
RE: Fact #3 (Rebel Wilson Malaria Oscar Vision) – Malaria is the worst. I’m in an area where I catch it almost monthly. I’ve got it right now, actually, though the symptoms get a bit more manageable every time.
RE: Fact #3 (Rebel Wilson Malaria Oscar Vision) – That’s tricky since most of South Africa doesn’t have malaria.
RE: Fact #13 (Marilyn Monroe Dress Met Gala Damage) – I don’t really care about fashion, but why wear a vintage piece made for someone else? Just get a replica or something unique so you’re remembered for it. It just feels silly.
She actually had a copy made for the later part of the night; the original was only out for the runway walk. I still get it though. The point was supposed to be that perfect, nude, skin-tight fit, but since their complexions and bodies are totally different, she couldn’t pull off the same vibe. She should’ve just had one made for her own body, but that wouldn’t have generated as much drama, and that was clearly the goal.
RE: Fact #29 (Carrie Fisher Star Wars Costume Tape) – This seems to clash with the classic “no bras in space” rumor that has been around forever. Why bother with tape if you do not want her wearing a bra?
You do not want a visible bra, but you also cannot have nipples showing or things bouncing everywhere. That just would not work. It was a different era back then. Showing straps was a no-go, and they were supposed to blend in with the outfit. These days, people show off bright bras on purpose. I usually picture the sci-fi characters I dream about in push-up bras or high-tech armor that highlights them, but I try to keep it practical when space travel is involved.
RE: Fact #1 (Linda Hamilton’s Terminator Hearing Damage) – I feel you, I’ve got permanent ringing too. Seriously, protect your ears at concerts or with loud speakers. It never heals, so don’t end up needing aids like I do.
My dad once thought it was smart to let me hear a shot without protection as a kid. I trusted him because he was usually super careful, and I figured if he let it happen, it couldn’t be that bad. My ears rang for ages, and it really broke that trust for me.
That fu*king blows. My dad did the same thing with a shotgun when I was ten, and I’ve dealt with constant ringing for 36 years now. Haven’t had real silence since.
RE: Fact #45 (Marilyn Monroe JFK Rolex Gift) – I bet that aide’s kid ended up with a pretty rare, one-of-a-kind collectible hidden away.
RE: Fact #50 (Carole Landis Rachel Roberts Tragedies) – I initially figured he looked pretty sharp back in the day. Checked him out though and, well, he is just kinda average.
Marc Anthony is a trip. He ditched a Miss Universe for JLo, traded her for a model in her early twenties, then bounced to another pageant winner. And he looks like Skeletor with AIDS throughout the whole thing.
My mom actually had a crush on the guy. She used to refer to him as Sexy Rexy.
RE: Fact #37 (Suzy Amis Married James Cameron) – Linda Hamilton walked away with about 50 million bucks after the divorce because he cheated.
RE: Fact #30 (Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday Breakthrough) – It is also pretty clear she was the lead while he was the supporting actor. Peck almost walked away because of it:
Still, you have to respect how much of a class act he was for the 1950s.
He ended up meeting his future wife on set too, so I bet he felt it paid off, haha.
RE: Fact #15 (Maureen O’Hara Trailer Protest) – Why the fu*k would they not provide her a decent trailer? The woman was an absolute legend.
RE: Fact #18 (Judi Dench Confused Riddick Role) – Watched it again recently, such a blast. It’s definitely too long, but it has some killer scenes, great world-building, and Colm Feore and Thandie Newton are totally chewing the scenery. That ending is absolutely insane.
RE: Fact #5 (Kathleen Turner Jessica Rabbit Voice) – Took me forever to realize she was named that just because she took her husband Roger’s last name, not because she was a bunny.
Valiant made that same mistake and thought she’d be a rabbit too, which is why he was so confused about the whole thing.
Your comment finally made it click for me. I never got why they called her a rabbit since she clearly isn’t one.
RE: Fact #6 (Tiffany Haddish Mother Brake Sabotage) – Her childhood was rough. After her mom had brain damage and got abusive, she spent time in foster care where she used comedy to handle the stress. She eventually lived with her grandmother, survived a terrible assault, and even lived out of her car early in her career.
How tragic. I liked her before, but her story is incredible. Nothing beats a solid comeback tale.
You should check out her book, “The Last Black Unicorn.” It’s both funny and sad, especially if you listen to the audiobook version she narrates.
How do you even keep going when life hits you that hard? It feels like way too much to handle, I’d just want it to fu*king end.
RE: Fact #46 (Diana Ross Coming Out Confusion) – I always heard the lyrics as coming up and never saw anything off about it.
RE: Fact #10 (Angela Lansbury One-Take Disney Song) –
RE: Fact #44 (Kate Rooney Mara NFL Dynasties) – Basically everyone in Hollywood under 30 is a nepo baby. You kind of have to be if you want to afford to live in LA while trying to make it.
It’s less about money and more about the sheer number of actors fighting for a handful of spots. If your family knows a producer, you’re getting in. Even with tons of cash, making it on your own is nearly impossible because of how connected everyone is.
Exactly. Money keeps you in the room. A producer isn’t going to turn down the chance to schmooze with someone who could be a future investor.
Plus it’s a time issue. If you’re wealthy, you can spend every waking hour auditioning. If you’re stuck working a day job just to survive, you’re missing out on way more opportunities.
RE: Fact #24 (Jan Sterling Hindenburg Escape) – To be fair, a ticket back then ran about $450, which is over 8 grand now. I doubt that underwear was her entire net worth, likely just the price difference between the airship and a boat.
Checking the sources, she was a student in London and her dad sent the cash for the trip home. So, that might’ve been all the money she had on hand, though it probably wasn’t a total disaster for the family. The thing is, she admitted the lingerie buy meant she couldn’t afford the travel from London to Frankfurt. Since she needed to reach the airship departure point on her own dime, she just swapped the ticket. Typical college student move.
Her old man must have been terrified once he caught the news about the Hindenburg.
So, darling, how was the flight? Your mother says you arrived a bit late. Oh, it was lovely, Father! Thanks for the cash! [Smiles] Victoria’s Secret.
RE: Fact #24 (Jan Sterling Hindenburg Escape) – Most folks on the Hindenburg actually made it out alive, so it wasn’t exactly a death trap for everyone. Still, she was definitely lucky to dodge that whole nightmare.
RE: Fact #25 (Rachel McAdams Mean Girls Age Gap) – Angela Lansbury was only three years older than Lawrence Harvey, yet she played his mom in The Manchurian Candidate and even grabbed an Oscar nom for it.
Estelle Getty was the mom to Bea Arthur on The Golden Girls, even though she was a year younger than her.
K Callan acted as Christopher Plummer’s mother in Knives Out, even though she’s seven years his junior. Makeup and styling can do wonders.
RE: Fact #36 (Keira Knightley Child Star Rise) – I’d say the real key is that she was born to the right parents.
RE: Fact #37 (Suzy Amis Married James Cameron) – Did he have an affair with Linda Hamilton while filming Terminator and then marry her? Or was it the other way around?
RE: Fact #30 (Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday Breakthrough) – Audrey Hepburn was one of the most talented and beautiful stars of the 1900s. From the source:
RE: Fact #11 (Jennifer Lopez South Park Backlash) – I can’t hear someone say taco or burrito without breaking into the taco taco taco, burrito burrito burrito song. It’s a real issue because people around me have no clue what I’m talking about and just assume I’m being weird or offensive.
Whenever I’m grabbing a taco, that song starts playing in my head automatically. Also, can we just talk about how Cartman gave Ben Affleck a handjob in that same story?
As a 42-year-old Latino guy, I’m not speaking for everyone, but this is easily my top South Park bit. Is it racist? For sure, that’s the point, but it isn’t really punching down at us. The humor isn’t targeting Latinos; it’s poking fun at how much of a tool Cartman is and how he manipulates folks. His racism is so incredibly dim-witted that it’s hard to link it to real stereotypes. He’s mostly just mocking Jennifer Lopez. If he started ranting about border walls, it would be different, but chanting about food is just stupid, which keeps the focus on him being a clown.
RE: Fact #43 (Jodie Foster Assassination Plot Abandoned) – What was the deal with everyone obsessing over Jodie Foster back then? Why all the negative energy directed at her?
She was in a role as a child prostitute. Some guys just lose their grip on reality when they see that stuff.
The whole John Hinckley Jr. thing is just bizarre. He actually tried to take out Reagan just to impress her.
Probably the ones who felt weirdly drawn to her and couldn’t handle their own feelings. We do a pretty sh*tty job of teaching guys how to process emotions, especially when it comes to attraction.
RE: Fact #21 (Maude Adams Lighting Patent Inventor) – She actually had one of the first celebrity stalkers! She managed to get him committed, and nobody knows what became of him. Newspaper mentions stopped after a doctor said he shouldn’t ever be released.
I wonder if he’s in the census records? If he was in an asylum, he would’ve been listed as an inmate there.
RE: Fact #45 (Marilyn Monroe JFK Rolex Gift) – JFK supposedly shoved that watch somewhere private during his time in Vietnam before it went to his son.
RE: Fact #28 (Carol Burnett Family Guy Lawsuit) – Some judges have a great sense of humor. Just look at the Bradshaw v. Unity Marine case. The judge basically roasted the lawyers for writing their court filings like they were using crayons on placemats, then sarcastically talked about how brave it was to process such a mess.
That is the moment you stop playing attorney. I dislike Civil Procedure as much as the next law student, but man, that is rough. I do not think I could ever look that judge in the face again. You know they would roast you with something like, “I see you have graduated to colored pencils for your filings. They are almost between the lines. Terrific work.”
This judge just absolutely torched these attorneys. If you want to dive into the full opinion, it is a total riot.
RE: Fact #40 (Esther Williams Navy Photo Trophy) –
i hope to god we never go to war with australia
RE: Fact #21 (Maude Adams Lighting Patent Inventor) – Adams was a massive star back then, especially for her Peter Pan role. The wikipedia entry covers her life after she retired from the stage following the 1918 flu. There’s a lot more on her stage lighting work elsewhere. Arc lights were bright, but they popped and crackled like welding torches, which ruined the mood. Early electric bulbs were super fragile too. From what I’ve read, Adams actually patented ways to make those 30kW bulbs tougher for theater use.
RE: Fact #12 (Keira Knightley Anorexia Lawsuit Victory) – Vera Ellen is another one who comes to mind. Good on Keira for speaking up. The industry creates plenty of body issues, but nobody deserves shaming based on appearance without any facts. I’m a heavier person and I hate these assumptions just as much as I hate people acting like fat folks are just constantly gorging themselves. Everyone is built differently and there are tons of reasons for how people look.
RE: Fact #6 (Tiffany Haddish Mother Brake Sabotage) – I’m a pro technician and I don’t think I could even figure out how to rig brakes to fail perfectly. You’d need the person to be completely clueless. Once your brakes feel mushy, you’ve got a massive safety issue.
A tiny pinhole leak means they might last a mile or two then just quit. If the driver doesn’t know to use the manual emergency brake, they aren’t stopping.
I’m betting you aren’t actually a master technician like the person you’re talking to.
RE: Fact #40 (Esther Williams Navy Photo Trophy) – Being a junior officer on a ship with that thing was nerve-wracking. People played for keeps. The stories about snatching it involve full-on stealth missions with small boats, decoys, and all sorts of chaos. I never got the obsession, but I loved watching it vanish for a year whenever a sub crew grabbed it.
RE: Fact #20 (Katie Holmes Eleven-Day Divorce) – Tom Cruise went from Nicole Kidman to Penelope Cruz and then Katie Holmes. Always found his taste a bit strange. He’s got serious charisma though, who’s he with these days?
RE: Fact #50 (Carole Landis Rachel Roberts Tragedies) – I looked up Rachel Roberts and immediately regretted it. Apparently, Richard Burton wrote about how she got totally wasted and started barking like a dog before… well, you get the idea. That’s a whole different level of being hammered. 🙁
There’s regular drunk, and then there’s “Richard Burton is embarrassed by your behavior” drunk.
The 50s and 60s were probably the final era where stars could act that wild. If someone like Ryan Gosling showed up on socials as blasted as Burton was, everyone would lose their minds.
RE: Fact #27 (Ava Gardner Hemingway Pool Story) – Bummer, but you’ll lose that water to evaporation eventually. That’s just life, I guess.
The water might vanish, but those skin particles are hanging around for a bit longer.
Yeah, exactly. The evaporation would actually help by condensing the skin essence until you’re left with a concentrated residue you could lick, snort, or soak in.
Plus, she could’ve had the same effect with a swimsuit on. You’re basically naked underneath anyway, and water goes everywhere. Basically, anyone who hits a pool in a suit is essentially swimming nude.
RE: Fact #33 (Catherine Russell 15, 000 Show Record) – I feel bad for the understudy. Why even show up?
RE: Fact #41 (Louise Fletcher Deaf Parents Childhood) –
I remember how intimidating her performance as Nurse Ratched was when I watched the movie in high school. Usually during a movie, some people would just tune out, but this one had everyone hooked.
RE: Fact #1 (Linda Hamilton’s Terminator Hearing Damage) – Indoor gunfire is miserable. Being in an elevator would be brutal because the pressure wave feels like getting hit in the skull, not just the noise.
RE: Fact #33 (Catherine Russell 15, 000 Show Record) – Her wiki says she teaches at NYU and Baruch plus manages the theater. Does Perfect Crime only play on weekends? Managing two other careers alongside that seems wild.
The math seems off. 13, 800 shows in 37 years averages to about one daily. Sounds like a stretch, though I’m no expert on theater biz.
They perform twice on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Most Broadway runs do eight shows weekly, usually Tuesday through Sunday with Monday being the day off.
Actually, Catherine Russell owns the venue where Perfect Crime has run since 2006. Usually, general manager just means she’s the final boss. She probably has staff handling the day-to-day operations. Plus, teaching college classes doesn’t always take up that much time during the week. It’s definitely a packed schedule, but doable. Also, the theater used to be a partnership with Snapple until 2016, so she basically got them to fund her own space, which is pretty epic.
RE: Fact #32 (Emily Blunt Missed Black Widow) – Constance Wu threw a massive fit online when Fresh Off the Boat got picked up for more episodes. People were saying she wanted a part in Eternals that ended up going to Gemma Chan.
RE: Fact #44 (Kate Rooney Mara NFL Dynasties) – I don’t get the hate for nepo babies. They’re born with the freedom to pick their path and get elite training without ever worrying about rent. Sure, some of them are talented and make good art. The problem isn’t the individuals, it’s the massive wealth inequality that leaves the rest of us scrambling just to eat.
You basically nailed it. The anger is because 99 percent of people don’t have that option. It shuts out voices that actually understand what the average person goes through.
RE: Fact #29 (Carrie Fisher Star Wars Costume Tape) – I heard she would peel off the tape at the end of the day and hand it to some crew member. There is probably some nerd who was hanging lights on set who has a collection of gross tape that touched Carrie Fisher’s chest. Have fun with that, factrepublic.
I wasn’t sure if the “teen” thing was legit, but you are right. Fisher was born in October 1956 and they started filming in March 1976. She was around 19 or 20 when they shot those Death Star scenes.
Plus she was doing weed and hooking up with Ford. Definitely check out her final book, preferably the audio version. The Princess Diarist is basically her journal entries from when they were making A New Hope.
RE: Fact #31 (Octavia Spencer Keanu Reeves Rescue) – I recall a comedy bit about Keanu that framed him like he was involved in some huge Hollywood scandal, but then every interview was just people talking about how decent he is.
I just picture some sad tabloid reporter wandering around with a microphone, shirt untucked, muttering to themselves that they thought they finally had something on him.
RE: Fact #31 (Octavia Spencer Keanu Reeves Rescue) – Back in 94, Keanu Reeves was on a bus with Sandra Bullock rigged to blow if it dropped below 50. Keanu stepped up, put his neck on the line, and saved almost everyone. There is even a movie about it.
RE: Fact #2 (Alicia Witt Parents Freeze Tragedy) – People were so toxic on her social media, even blaming her for her parents’ deaths. She actually tried so hard to get them help, but they were hoarders who wouldn’t let anyone, even repair crews, inside the house.
I deal with parents like that too. They refuse any help and then complain later that I wasn’t there for them. They’ve gotten pretty banged up recently, so I worry about them constantly.
It’s so tough when elderly family members are like that. We basically have to stage surprise visits just to ensure they’re okay, since they won’t let us know when they need help. It’s hard to intervene when they resist, especially since forcing someone to give up their independence is such a legal nightmare.
We were used to seeing my dad in the hospital for various issues, so we showed up for his first chemo session. We were shocked to find out it was actually his second round. He just said he didn’t want to cause any drama even though the doctors told him he might not make it.
RE: Fact #30 (Audrey Hepburn Roman Holiday Breakthrough) – Hepburn wasn’t really a household name yet, while Peck was already a massive deal.
That is exactly why he insisted on shared billing. He could tell she was headed for greatness. It is all mentioned in the fact.
RE: Fact #4 (Grace Kelly Four-Year Hollywood Reign) – The four main ones are High Noon, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief.
RE: Fact #17 (Sarah Jessica Parker Salem Ancestor) – She was totally gorgeous in that flick, and that was basically it. Kinda like Cameron Diaz in The Mask. There really should be a term for this specific vibe.
YES! Been saying this forever. Maybe they didn’t look too skinny in those roles? Only other one that comes to mind is Gwyneth in Shallow Hal.
RE: Fact #26 (Mary Pickford First Movie Star) – Florence Lawrence is generally tagged as the first real movie star. When she dipped in 1913, Mary Pickford grabbed the spotlight. Florence eventually became an inventor and sadly passed away after dealing with a tough illness.
RE: Fact #37 (Suzy Amis Married James Cameron) – Does anyone else get the vibe that grabbing a drink with James Cameron would be a nightmare?
Not really. He probably has some cool stories and tells them well. I imagine he’d be a terrible husband, though. People aren’t just one thing.
RE: Fact #50 (Carole Landis Rachel Roberts Tragedies) – I mentioned this on another fact lately: one of Rex Harrison’s marriages happened because of some bizarre medical etiquette back then. He found out Kay Kendall was dying, but she didn’t know. So he divorced his wife to care for her without ever telling her she was terminal.
They were already seeing each other, she wasn’t just his co-star. Lilli Palmer went along with the divorce since she had a boyfriend too. Rex wanted to go back to her later, but she chose her new partner instead. The whole thing is tragic, especially since her partner took his own life years after she died. 😔
It’s infuriating how women were treated like they didn’t know better back then.
It wasn’t just women, though. Keeping cancer news from patients was just standard doctor behavior until the mid-70s.
RE: Fact #39 (Uma Thurman Grandmother Statue) – Smygehuk translates to Sneaky Crouching, apparently. Sneaky Crouching Naked Grandma is a classic movie title.
RE: Fact #16 (Lena Horne Bogart Neighborhood Defense) – Nat King Cole was told by neighbors they didn’t want the wrong people moving in, and he hit back with, “Me neither! If I hear of any I’ll let you know.”