Actresses have always carried some of Hollywood’s strangest stories, both on screen and far away from the cameras. In this tenth part, we look at Aaliyah’s tragic final flight, Sharon Stone’s anger over “Basic Instinct,” Marilyn Monroe’s strange power to switch fame on and off, Betty White’s television firsts, Grace Kelly’s handbag legend, and dozens more surprising moments from film, TV, music, and old Hollywood. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, and some show just how strange fame can become when private lives, studio decisions, accidents, scandals, and career-defining choices collide.
Missed the earlier parts? Check them out here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9.
1 Aaliyah Feared Her Final Flight
On August 25, 2001, American singer and actress Aaliyah finished filming parts of her “Rock the Boat” music video in the Bahamas and prepared to fly back to Florida. Aaliyah feared the small, overloaded Cessna 402B and refused to board, then took an unidentified pill with water before falling asleep and being helped onto the plane. The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 9 people on board, and investigators later found that it exceeded its maximum takeoff weight and carried one more passenger than it was certified to hold.
2 Cheryl Crane Defended Lana Turner
In 1958, 14-year-old Cheryl Crane stabbed Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of her mother, Hollywood actress Lana Turner, at Turner’s rented home in Beverly Hills, California. Stompanato, a former Marine and Los Angeles crime family associate, had a violent relationship with Turner and allegedly threatened to kill Turner, Crane, and Turner’s mother during a bedroom argument. Crane heard the fight, grabbed a kitchen knife, and later said she acted to defend her mother. A coroner’s inquest ruled the death a justifiable homicide, and Crane was cleared of wrongdoing.
3 Brenda Song Chose Disney Stardom
At 15, actress Brenda Song received an early acceptance letter from Harvard University, the college she had always wanted to attend. Around the same time, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Song booked the role of London Tipton on Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.” Her father encouraged her to take the acting job, and Song later said she had no hesitation choosing the role over Harvard. The decision turned London Tipton into one of Disney Channel’s most recognizable characters of the 2000s.
4 Winona Ryder Faced Gibson’s Slur
In a 2020 interview, Winona Ryder, who was born Winona Laura Horowitz and has Jewish family heritage, said Mel Gibson once made an antisemitic remark to her at a Hollywood party. Ryder said the incident happened around 1995, when Gibson allegedly made a homophobic comment to her gay friend and then asked her if she was an “oven dodger” after Jews came up in the conversation.
5 Jerry Stiller Created Comedy Marriage
In 1953, American actor and comedian Jerry Stiller met Anne Meara, and they married in 1954. Meara had not considered doing comedy until Stiller suggested it, and the two became the comedy team: Stiller and Meara. Before Stiller became widely known as Frank Costanza on “Seinfeld,” he and Meara built a successful comedy career in the 1960s and 1970s. Their marriage lasted more than 60 years, until Meara’s death in 2015.
6 Aaliyah Kept Perfect Grades
American singer and actress Aaliyah graduated from the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts in 1997 while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Even as her music career grew, she said she did not want kids to think they could “just sing and forget about school.” She contended that education was important because young performers required a backup plan.
7 Oprah Winfrey Found Loyal Sister
In 2011, American talk show host Oprah Winfrey revealed that she had a half-sister named Patricia, whom she had not known existed for most of her life. Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee, placed Patricia for adoption in 1963, and she later spent years attempting to reach her biological family. Winfrey said Patricia never tried to sell the story or take it to the press.
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8 Kate Winslet’s Scene Waited Legally
During production of the 2008 film “The Reader,” the filmmakers delayed the sex scenes between German actor David Kross and British actress Kate Winslet until Kross turned 18. Kross was 17 when filming began, so the production scheduled those scenes for after his birthday. The decision let the film include the scenes without shooting them while Kross was still legally a minor.
9 Marilyn Monroe Triggered Egyptian Ban
In 1956, Marilyn Monroe married American playwright Arthur Miller and converted to Judaism as part of joining his family. The conversion carried a political consequence overseas, because Egypt responded by banning all of Monroe’s films. The ban did not last permanently, and Egypt lifted it after Monroe and Miller finalized their divorce in 1961.
10 Judi Dench Remembers Shakespeare Forever
British actress Judi Dench built her career on Shakespeare, starting with the Old Vic Company in 1957 and later working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has said her eyesight problems now make scripts harder to handle, but her memory still helps her hold on to the Shakespeare she performed for decades. In a 2024 interview about her book “Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent,” Dench said she could still remember “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Twelfth Night,” and a few sonnets, even when she could not remember what she did the day before.
RE: Fact #10 (Judi Dench Remembers Shakespeare Forever) – So she remembers every detail of shooting the movie Cats? That sounds like a living nightmare.
People assume having a memory like that is a blessing, but I remember every mistake I’ve ever made. I wouldn’t call it photographic, but it’s definitely accurate.
RE: Fact #37 (Estelle Getty’s Older-Mother Illusion) – That hair was definitely a wig. I remember seeing them at an awards show once where the other Golden Girls had their usual show hairstyles, but she had all this red hair and looked like 20 years younger than everyone else. It was so weird.
Whenever they did flashbacks, they’d just ditch the wig and the old-age makeup so Estelle could play the younger version of Sophia.
RE: Fact #1 (Aaliyah Feared Her Final Flight) – The pilot was on his first day and lied about his flight hours to land the job. In reality, he didn’t have experience with that aircraft. The plane was carrying nine people when it was rated for eight, and it was overloaded by 900 pounds with the weight shifted too far back. It stalled and crashed just 60 to 100 feet after takeoff, breaking apart on impact. Maybe it was a mercy that she was sedated, so she was spared the terror of those final seconds and the fire.
It’s tragic that her hairdresser and bodyguard weren’t as lucky. They were awake for those final moments and suffered through the crash, burns, and trauma before passing away on the ground while waiting for help.
RE: Fact #9 (Marilyn Monroe Triggered Egyptian Ban) – Well, at least they didn’t hold a grudge after the divorce.
Yeah. After they split, she actually described herself as a “Jewish atheist.”
What does that even mean? You follow the traditions but don’t believe in the deity? That seems weird.
RE: Fact #20 (Betty White Broke Television Firsts) – People always call current generations lazy for living with their parents, but Betty White accomplished all that while living at home.
RE: Fact #45 (Georgia Tennant Married Doctor Who) – David Tennant’s original last name is actually McDonald. Since that name was already registered with the actors’ union, he picked ‘Tennant’ as his stage name after seeing the Pet Shop Boys’ frontman, Neil Tennant.
That’s a cool bit of trivia. It would’ve been funny if his name was Peterson; then she’d be the daughter of Peter Davison and married to David Peterson.
RE: Fact #35 (Shirley MacLaine’s Powerhouse Baseball Swing) – She and her brother Warren Beatty both went to my high school. If she was playing in the late 40s, it would have been for the W&L team, but I don’t remember ever hearing she played for us, so it was probably little league. Sandra Bullock went to that school, too.
RE: Fact #42 (Roseanne Barr Rejected Peggy Bundy) – Katey Sagal was just perfect as Peggy. I don’t think Roseanne Barr could have pulled that character off.
RE: Fact #4 (Winona Ryder Faced Gibson’s Slur) – To be accurate, he didn’t just call her that; he asked her if she was one while they were discussing Jewish people. Quote: Ryder recalled: “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking, and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?'”
It sounds so absurd, like a scene from a parody movie where a celebrity is acting cartoonishly villainous. It is just bizarre that it was actually him and he had no idea he was being exposed.
RE: Fact #18 (Bette Davis Ran Free Canteen) – I only found one place in LA that offers a military discount. NYC is definitely better for that.
RE: Fact #5 (Jerry Stiller Created Comedy Marriage) – It was a big deal back then that he was Jewish and she was Irish Catholic, especially when people were still getting barred from places like country clubs for being Jewish.
RE: Fact #26 (Olivia Colman Changed Her Name) – This is a SAG policy thing too. Look at Michael Keaton. People old enough to remember know there was already a fairly famous person using that name.
SAG policy states that while they strongly discourage picking a professional name that conflicts with an existing member, they can’t stop you from using your legal name. They just make you sign a waiver acknowledging that any confusion is on you.
RE: Fact #19 (Woo In-hee’s Fatal State Secret) – She was scrubbed from every film she appeared in, which makes those movies confusing to watch now. It is wild what lengths those people will go to.
RE: Fact #33 (Dolores Costello’s Lisp Returned Later) – Chuck Palahniuk wrote about this in “Snuff”. The idea was that when talkies took over, many silent film stars couldn’t hack it. I’m not sure if he made up the claim that some were so despondent they killed themselves, but he used it to compare how HD cameras exposed porn stars, making them look ‘gross’ once the resolution got too high.
It wasn’t necessarily that dramatic. Many stars just retired, and even those who struggled with the transition, like Clara Bow, didn’t do that poorly. Early sound recording was just brutal, the technology was primitive, cameras had to be locked in sound-proof boxes, and actors couldn’t move off their marks. It was a massive technical shift for everyone. Plus, the HD porn comparison is overblown; most people aren’t watching Blu-rays on 4K TVs anyway.
RE: Fact #2 (Cheryl Crane Defended Lana Turner) – Imagine being an abusive, ex-marine criminal and getting taken down by a 14-year-old girl. He should have treated women with some respect.
It’s hard to wrap your head around a 14-year-old girl stabbing a Marine veteran to death without getting a mark on herself. People have to go through so much training just to kill, and even then, it can be devastating. Think about a Hollywood star pushed to the edge, finally snapping after years of abuse. If she were the one who did it, it would have been a career-ending scandal, but the daughter taking the fall would make it a much shorter story. There are reports that a drunk Lana Turner later boasted about being the one who actually killed him, and that theory feels way more likely to me.
I’m with you. I’ve always thought Lana was the one who killed him and the daughter just took the rap, both to avoid the scandal and to keep Lana out of prison.
Wait, what do you mean he was sleeping? The report said they were in the middle of a fight. Is there a different version of the story claiming he was asleep when the daughter stabbed him?
RE: Fact #13 (Miley Cyrus Lost Name Control) – Technically, she was still Destiny Hope Cyrus when she started at Disney; Miley was just a nickname. She didn’t legally change it until years later.
Was her dad trying to raise a stripper? ‘Destiny Hope’ sounds like a name ripped straight from a joke book about trashy baby names.
People give their kids these kinds of names all the time. It is pretty annoying.
RE: Fact #6 (Aaliyah Kept Perfect Grades) – Aaliyah managed to sell over 15 million albums before even finishing high school, yet she still kept her 4.0 average.
Man, I wish she were still with us. I never really listened to her stuff, but she seemed like the type who would have done some incredible, charitable things. Nicki Minaj did that awesome move where she covered student loans for a bunch of students, and I could totally see Aaliyah doing something like that.
I’m not a fan of her music either, but that was a seriously badass thing for her to do. We could use more people like that.
RE: Fact #17 (Carol Burnett Received Lucy’s Goodbye) – My grandmother passed away on my birthday, and I actually got a present from her in the mail the day after. We didn’t live near each other, so it arrived late.
My grandmother was amazing at sending cards to all 43 of us, every single year. She got really sick, but at 91, she decided to spend her last days at home. My cousin’s birthday was a few weeks after she passed, and she still got a card. My aunt found it on the kitchen counter, all signed and ready to go. Even while she was dying, she didn’t forget. When my cousin told me, I lost it.
RE: Fact #22 (Minnie Riperton’s Daughter Became Maya) – I think it is about her husband. By ‘hang out, ‘ she probably meant finding some private time together.
RE: Fact #47 (Sandra Bullock’s Wild Awards Weekend) – Sandra Bullock is one of the few celebrities I’d marry in a heartbeat because she seems like such a good sport.
RE: Fact #30 (Amy Schumer’s Reduced Theft Charge) – I’m not exactly a fan, but wouldn’t anyone use a ‘get out of jail free’ card if they had one?
I don’t think I’d be out committing grand larceny in the first place, but that’s just me.
RE: Fact #22 (Minnie Riperton’s Daughter Became Maya) – She also sang ‘Inside My Love.’ She was an incredible singer and such a gorgeous woman. If she had lived past 31, I think she would have had a massive career. I will always have a soft spot for Minnie. Merv Griffin once showed a clip of her almost getting eaten by a lion during a photo shoot.
RE: Fact #1 (Aaliyah Feared Her Final Flight) – I was aware of the plane crash, the overloading issues, and the suspicious pilot, but the claim that she was drugged is new to me. That is just heartbreaking.
I guess the only small comfort is that she might have been asleep and unaware of what was happening at the end.
Back when it happened, the narrative was that it was her fault for wanting to pack too much gear. That was complete nonsense, but people love a story that paints someone as materialistic or greedy.
RE: Fact #17 (Carol Burnett Received Lucy’s Goodbye) – The backstory is that in 1966, they became friends and mentors to each other. They stayed close for decades, and Ball sent her flowers every year for her birthday. When she woke up on her 56th birthday and heard the news that Ball had passed away, she later received those final flowers with the note: ‘Happy Birthday, Kid. Love, Lucy.’
RE: Fact #43 (Eliza Dushku’s Buffy Emancipation Deal) – She also played the daughter in True Lies. I remember it being really messed up that she broke her ribs during a stunt just a day after she complained about a coordinator touching her inappropriately.
She was also fired from Bull after reporting that her costar suggested he wanted to spank and rape her. She ended up with a $10 million settlement.
That whole situation was awful. She brought it up to Weatherly privately, asking him to stop harassing her, and he turned around and told the showrunner she had no sense of humor to get her fired. The showrunner even tried to dismiss her concerns by bringing up her past modeling work. It’s just gross, blatant misogyny in the industry. I’m glad she got that settlement, but you know she’s probably blacklisted by all those guys now.
She wrote a powerful op-ed about what happened after CBS and Michael Weatherly tried to minimize the situation.
RE: Fact #32 (Farrah Fawcett Explained Angel Success) – Charlie’s Angels was a massive hit and a big part of the ‘Jiggle TV’ era. It featured several actresses, but Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and especially Farrah Fawcett were the best-known. Also, fun fact: some U.S. spy satellites were named after actresses. Before meeting Reagan, the NRO was nervous about mentioning projects codenamed URSULA, RAQUEL, and FARRAH. Reagan just said, “Those are friends of mine! I love those names!”
RE: Fact #49 (Rinko Kikuchi’s Gummi Bear Secret) – I think everyone is just jealous they don’t have their own giant robots to fight monsters with.
RE: Fact #8 (Kate Winslet’s Scene Waited Legally) – I picture the crew just standing by, watching the clock until the exact second he turned 18, and then someone yells, “Action!”
“Wait for it… wait for it, keep your pants on! Alright catering, bring out the cake! Blow out the candles! Keep those pants on! Cut the cake! Sing happy birthday! Everybody sing! Pants are still on! Okay… go!”
RE: Fact #24 (Tallulah Bankhead’s Ladder Problem) – >In 1933, Bankhead nearly died following a five-hour emergency hysterectomy due to venereal disease. Only 70 poundswhen she left the hospital, she stoically said to her doctor, “Don’t think this has taught me a lesson!”[39]. In 1934, after recuperating in Alabama, she returned to England. >Bankhead circulated widely in the celebrity crowd of her day and was a party favorite for outlandish stunts, such as doing cartwheels in a skirt while wearing no underwear or entering a soirée stark naked. >Bankhead never publicly described herself as being bisexual. She did, however, describe herself as “ambisextrous”
‘My father warned me about men and booze, but he never mentioned a word about women and cocaine.’ – attributed to Bankhead.
Other memorable quotes: ‘I will come and make love to you at five o’clock. If I am late, start without me.’ ‘Cocaine isn’t habit forming. I should know, I have been using it for years.’ ‘I am as pure as the driven slush.’ And her last words: ‘Codeine… bourbon.’
Her last coherent words were reportedly ‘Codeine… bourbon.’ She was a class act.
RE: Fact #7 (Oprah Winfrey Found Loyal Sister) – Isn’t it great that a billionaire is in a position to help a family member out with money?
RE: Fact #38 (Linda Fiorentino’s Vanishing Film Career) – Dogma was packed with so many A-listers. It’s wild that she had a bigger role than almost everyone else in it and then just kind of disappeared.
Well, you don’t exactly find talented women like that everywhere.
She fell off the map because she allegedly tried to help her boyfriend by getting involved with an FBI agent. Aside from that mess, she was definitely a hottie. She had that mature quality that a lot of younger actresses just didn’t have.
That FBI thing was about a decade after Dogma, though. It seems more like the ‘difficult’ label followed her around. There’s a rumor Tommy Lee Jones wouldn’t work with her on Men in Black II, and Kevin Smith even mentioned on the Dogma commentary that he thought Janeane Garofalo should have been the lead (though he did apologize for saying that later). She also had a Georgia O’Keeffe project fall through after she got into a fight with the producer.
RE: Fact #12 (Margot Robbie’s Painful Money Scene) – a pile of cash has to be one of the grossest places to hook up.
My wife and I once took out a bunch of cash to buy a car and had sex on the stack just to feel rich for a minute. We ended up not buying the car, so we had to drag our ‘sex money’ back to the bank. It was fine.
RE: Fact #19 (Woo In-hee’s Fatal State Secret) – As a parent, I can’t even imagine having to sit there with my children while they watch their mother get murdered. That is truly dark, twisted, sociopathic behavior. Screw those dictators.
If it helps at all, they likely didn’t carry that trauma for very long. In North Korea, the immediate family of someone convicted of a crime is usually sent to re-education camps, where they are typically starved, tortured, or executed within a few years.
RE: Fact #15 (Judith Barsi’s Tragic Final Roles) – I remember hearing that the animators for The Land Before Time were still working on it when she was murdered. They had to play back her voice lines constantly to sync the animation, so they had to listen to a girl they knew who had just died over and over. Many of them said it completely destroyed them emotionally.
Ducky was my favorite. It is such a sad situation, and I bet it is something a lot of people go through.
RE: Fact #45 (Georgia Tennant Married Doctor Who) – She was also in that Doctor Who episode called The Doctor’s Daughter, where she played a clone of the Tenth Doctor.
She has also voiced that character for some Doctor Who audio dramas. I was always hoping they’d bring her back for the main show.
RE: Fact #16 (Sharon Stone’s Leg-Crossing Shock) – She was more upset that he didn’t give her a heads-up rather than the shot itself. She said that while it was right for the character, she would have had the courtesy to show her actor if it were her, even if she still kept it in the movie. That is a fair point.
Wait, I have seen other interviews with editors and directors where they say she knew what was being filmed, and they only fought because she regretted it later and wanted it cut. It is from an editing documentary on YouTube that uses this as a prime example of how editors create stars. The director claimed she knew exactly what he was shooting and took her underwear off without him having to explicitly state what would be visible.
I am pretty sure the director’s mindset was just that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
RE: Fact #15 (Judith Barsi’s Tragic Final Roles) – Her mother actually had a plan to escape that guy and start over, but she couldn’t get her affairs in order fast enough.
RE: Fact #7 (Oprah Winfrey Found Loyal Sister) – So her sister never stopped trying to reach her billionaire sister, and we’re calling that loyalty? At that rate, maybe Bill Gates will drop his restraining order against me someday!
RE: Fact #49 (Rinko Kikuchi’s Gummi Bear Secret) – I wonder if that explains why she looked like she was daydreaming through her performance.
RE: Fact #24 (Tallulah Bankhead’s Ladder Problem) – I heard a story that when she first arrived in Hollywood, she went to a party attended by the Marx brothers. Chico Marx had a reputation for hitting on every new starlet, so he made a beeline for her. Groucho intervened and reminded him that she was the daughter of the Speaker of the House and told him to behave. Groucho then introduced them, but he nearly fainted when Chico blurted out, ‘Miss Bankhead, I would love to sleep with you.’ She just laughed and responded, ‘And so you shall, my dear, so you shall!’
RE: Fact #18 (Bette Davis Ran Free Canteen) – The saddest story from the Hollywood Canteen is definitely about Gene Tierney. While pregnant, she went there once and caught German measles, which she then passed to her unborn baby. The child was born prematurely and with severe disabilities, eventually requiring institutional care. Later, a fan came up to her for an autograph and mentioned she had snuck out of quarantine to visit the Canteen while sick. It is a heartbreaking story.
Wow, I wonder if that is where Agatha Christie got the idea for ‘The Mirror Crack’d From Side To Side’?
That story was so upsetting that I actually shouted ‘Are you kidding me?’ at my empty room when I heard it.
RE: Fact #6 (Aaliyah Kept Perfect Grades) – I knew she died young, but I hadn’t realized she was only 22. That is so tragic. Since I was a teenager then, 22 probably felt like she was ancient.
RE: Fact #1 (Aaliyah Feared Her Final Flight) – Such a talented, beautiful woman gone way too early, and after everything she suffered with R. Kelly.
Things really went from bad to worse for her. It’s just one tragedy after another. The world really didn’t deserve her. RIP.
RE: Fact #14 (Margot Robbie Discovered Tonya Truth) – That makes sense. It was huge news when it went down, but she would have only been three years old at the time.
RE: Fact #25 (Susan Sarandon’s Forced Cello Lesson) – The comments here prove that nobody actually reads the fact. She was hired to play the sculptor, but they changed her role to the cellist after the fact and threatened to sue her if she quit, even though they were the ones who broke the contract.
Huh. I think I would have said, ‘I am not quitting, but I am also not learning the cello.’
I would love it if a movie studio threw resources at me to learn a new skill or instrument.
I wouldn’t be happy about it either. I think I’d end up resenting the instrument if I were forced to learn it under threat of a lawsuit.
RE: Fact #8 (Kate Winslet’s Scene Waited Legally) – I definitely thought this was about David Cross, and I was just sitting here thinking, “Wow, he’s way younger than I realized, ” and “He’s definitely a bold choice for a sex scene.”
RE: Fact #4 (Winona Ryder Faced Gibson’s Slur) – I feel bad saying it, but that phrasing is actually kind of wild to hear. I’d never encountered that specific insult before.
As someone who is Jewish, I dealt with that kind of garbage growing up. I didn’t fully grasp the weight of how antisemitic it was until I was older.
RE: Fact #42 (Roseanne Barr Rejected Peggy Bundy) – It’s hard to imagine how annoying that show would have been if they both starred in it. They’d likely just be screaming at each other the entire time.
RE: Fact #39 (Marilyn Monroe’s Color Contract Exception) – The censors in the 21st century seem like they’re really trying to bring back the Hays Code.
RE: Fact #11 (Geena Davis’s Older Dottie Trick) – You mean at the end when the tears start building until you’re bawling your eyes out during the credits… This Used to Be My Playground…
RE: Fact #26 (Olivia Colman Changed Her Name) – Every time I see her, I think, “You know she was in Peep Show, right?” Her career path is really something else.
RE: Fact #48 (Marilyn Monroe Switched Fame On) – If Marilyn Monroe had asked me that, I definitely would have been confused and asked, ‘See who?’
RE: Fact #12 (Margot Robbie’s Painful Money Scene) – Then she probably just rolled around in the real money she earned from the role to make herself feel better.
RE: Fact #13 (Miley Cyrus Lost Name Control) – The character was almost named Alexis Texas until they found out that name was already taken by a porn star.
That doesn’t track, since the person you’re talking about didn’t start filming until after Hannah Montana already premiered in 2006.
RE: Fact #8 (Kate Winslet’s Scene Waited Legally) – Exactly what every guy wants: to fake losing his virginity on camera while fifty people watch on his 18th birthday. Talk about pressure.
RE: Fact #3 (Brenda Song Chose Disney Stardom) – Degrees can wait, but acting opportunities usually don’t. Plus, that gig probably helped fund her tuition later on. Seems like a smart move.
RE: Fact #6 (Aaliyah Kept Perfect Grades) – Keep in mind she was at a performing arts school. If anyone is going to pull off a 4.0, it should be a professional performer.
I went to a performing arts magnet school. Sure, the arts classes might be weighted differently, but we all still had to pass the standard core academic classes. The fact that she had a perfect GPA means she was nailing those core subjects too.
Given the test scores and the general focus of those schools, those classes are a lot easier than what you get at a regular public school. That’s my point, I know they have to take them, but those classes are a joke.
RE: Fact #4 (Winona Ryder Faced Gibson’s Slur) – Mel Gibson has made his views on Jewish people pretty clear over the years, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.
He is nearly 70 and clearly feels entitled to act with total disdain toward anyone he thinks is beneath him. It seems like he resents that Jewish people in Hollywood haven’t just handed him whatever he wants, so he’s decided they’re the villains.
My dad is also nearly 70 and came from a similar background, but he’s actually a wonderful person. Sometimes people just choose to be awful.
RE: Fact #40 (Lena Horne Defied Segregated Seating) – German POWs weren’t exactly given front-row tickets at USO shows, but they were definitely seated ahead of the Black U.S. servicemen by the very generation that calls itself ‘the greatest.’
RE: Fact #26 (Olivia Colman Changed Her Name) – Wait until you see how many entertainers changed their names from their original Jewish surnames. There are so many examples like Winona Horowitz, Allen Konigsberg, and Robert Zimmerman.
RE: Fact #12 (Margot Robbie’s Painful Money Scene) – If you are making fake money, you can just toss it in the dryer with some poker chips to give it that realistic texture.
RE: Fact #23 (Natalie Portman Chose Final Exams) – Natalie Portman is the reason I started working out. I have this fantasy where we start talking at the Vanity Fair Oscars party. We exchange pleasantries, she asks what I do, and I say I loved her in New Girl. I walk away to get a drink, knowing I have her attention. Later, she finds me on the balcony and asks for a cigarette. We talk about what she would do if she weren’t an actress, and she mentions teaching. I ask what she would teach me, and she says ‘discipline.’ When she asks where I am from, I tell her Bermuda. She calls it lovely, and I respond, ‘It is okay. I don’t like sand. It is coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.’
RE: Fact #16 (Sharon Stone’s Leg-Crossing Shock) – I remember that scene so well. I was a kid when the movie came out, and everyone was buzzing about that shot. When my family finally rented it from Blockbuster, I was excited. My mom told me not to look, but I did what any kid would do and peeked through my fingers. It was honestly a big deal back then. If you wanted that kind of material, you had to hunt for a random VHS or try to catch a clear picture on fuzzy late-night TV. That scene was everything to kids back then. Thanks for the sacrifice, Ms. Stone.
RE: Fact #28 (Cloris Leachman’s Emmy Record) – I loved her in History of the World, Part I. “We are so poor, we do not even have a language! Just this stupid accent!”
RE: Fact #35 (Shirley MacLaine’s Powerhouse Baseball Swing) – She’s one of my all-time favorite actresses. If you haven’t watched The Apartment yet, do yourself a favor and watch it. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine together is just unbeatable.
RE: Fact #19 (Woo In-hee’s Fatal State Secret) – That is brutal. She was told she could leave, then dragged to a pole and strapped in, forced to face a firing squad with 6, 000 people watching. Her husband and two young daughters were sitting right in the front row.
RE: Fact #50 (Carrie Henn Left Hollywood Forever) – I met her at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo during an Aliens reunion. I had a custom poster for the cast to sign, and I got to chat with her for a while. She seemed so excited to be signing the same items as Bill Paxton and Sigourney Weaver. Her husband was showing off all the random Aliens merch he’d picked up, and she was even taking photos of her line of fans to show her friends back home that she really was a movie star once. She was incredibly humble, sweet, and genuinely happy to see the fans.
RE: Fact #2 (Cheryl Crane Defended Lana Turner) – It is pretty shocking that there weren’t any repercussions for her, given that Johnny Stompanato was a known crime figure.
RE: Fact #37 (Estelle Getty’s Older-Mother Illusion) – Estelle Getty had a massive fear of death, so she always asked for the writers to go easy on jokes about Sophia dying. She also struggled with intense stage fright and really dreaded performing in front of a live audience.
RE: Fact #21 (Veronica Lake Changed Wartime Hair) – There is a concept called total war where a country shifts its entire focus and resources to the war effort. It is fascinating to see how World War II touched every part of American life, even women’s hairstyles.
Have you seen photos of what happens to people with long hair when they operate lathes? It is not pretty. Safety PSAs are no joke.
RE: Fact #32 (Farrah Fawcett Explained Angel Success) – “Came because of acting, stayed because no bra…” , anonymous viewer
RE: Fact #24 (Tallulah Bankhead’s Ladder Problem) – In her birthplace of Huntsville, Alabama, we have a plaque remembering her as one of the original bombshells of the silver screen.
In Mobile, we have a long, filthy tunnel called the Bankhead tunnel. It is not named after her, but we can pretend it is.
In Atlanta, there is an entire neighborhood called Bankhead. It is also not named for her, but it is gritty and rough, so let’s count it.
RE: Fact #36 (Brooke Shields Won NBC Over) – She was hilarious on Friends. She really committed to that obsessive fan role in a way I didn’t see coming. The scene in the restaurant was brilliant.
Her time on The Middle was great, too. She played that ‘white trash’ character so well.
She’s also super funny as the diva soap star River Fields on Jane the Virgin. There’s even a whole plot about her insuring her famous eyebrows.