Front Row Dress Circle

In 1986 the ground-breaking film about the Vietnam War – Platoon – introduced movie fans around the world to a very talented young actor by the name of Charlie Sheen. The surname was familiar enough; Charlie was the son of actor Martin Sheen. Platoon made Charlie a huge star and rightly won him fans all over the world, many predicted at the time that the young actor would one day win an Oscar. So what happened…? When you are a famous and successful actor Hollywood falls at your feet, nothing is beyond your grasp – whatever you want is yours…the women, the money, the fame, the best tables in the best restaurants. You can imagine a young man living such a life as if it would never end. But that’s the thing, it CAN end and very quickly and tragically too; think River Phoenix, think John Belushi, think Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger. All as talented as Charlie Sheen, all living the Hollywood dream and all dead before the age of 40. The common thread…? drugs. Are you listening Charlie-boy…? I can understand these young guys taking full advantage of the privileges that being a Hollywood star can bring, I can understand if Charlie Sheen wants to avail himself of the services of every two-bit hooker who crosses his path – their lives are on collision-course anyway. I can also respect Mr Sheen’s choice to leave this world at the peak of his career surrounded by dime-a-dozen floozies while lying in a pool of his own drug-induced vomit…if that’s what puts a smile on his face then by all means let him go for it and good luck to him. What a way to go eh guys…?

But after yet another drug-fuelled-orgy episode which has recently seen him left fighting for his life – again – I think someone needs to read this moron the riot act. This man, who treats life as though it were like a bottomless jar of marshmallow fluff, is the father of several young children. Like it or not this 40-something juvenile has responsibilities and obligations to people other than himself – very young people who need their father a hell of a lot more than he needs blow jobs from his series of rent-a-bimbo’s. Charlie Sheen needs to decide once and for all does he want to live or does he want to die. He has long since crossed the line from being young and reckless to being middle-aged and increasingly pathetic. It ain’t attractive Charlie. I suggest he make up his mind pretty damn fast because I feel his luck is quickly running out – and I would not be surprised if the obituaries have already been written.

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The two have gone together, sadly, since the small backwater orange-growing town became the movie capitol of the world. The list of stars who topped themselves is a long one and, for those of you who are interested, here’s a sample of some of them…

Olive Thomas: 1894-1920

Olive was married to Jack Pickford brother of America’s Sweetheart Mary Pickford. However both Olive and Jack were both cocaine addicts. Olive was a young actress well loved by audiences of the silent film era and once married to Jack travelled extensively together. In Paris, staying at the The Ritz, she took a fatal overdose of mercury chloride which had been prescribed to treat Jack’s syphilis. Jack claimed it was an accidental overdose but many claimed she had been depressed and had in fact killed herself intentionally.

Lupe Velez: 1908-1944

Known as The Mexican Spitfire she enjoyed a tempestuous lovelife with her husbands including Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. She had an affair with Gary Cooper however this ended as he refused to marry her. In 1944 Lupe was involved with German actor Harald Ramand (also known as Harald Maresch) when she discovered she was pregnant. Harald refused to marry her leaving her distraught; she swallowed a massive amount of pills in an attempt to end it all. But sadly it did not go according to plan. She regained consiousness and stumbled to the toilet to throw up when she fell and hit her head on the bowl and ended up with her head caught in the toilet bowl where she drowned. She was discovered, dead, in this tragic manner at the age of 34.

George Sanders: 1908-1972

The handsome and suave English actor was married three times: 1) Madga Gabor 2)Benita Hume 3)Zsa Zsa Gabor, sister of Magda. He was famed for his beautiful rich voice and his ability to play the high-class cad in his films. He also provided the voice for the villain Shere Khan in the animated film The Jungle Book in 1967. Given to depression throughout his life he once remarked to actor David Niven in 1937 that he intended to kill himself before he grew too old. In 1972, in a hotel in Barcelona Spain, he did just that, with five empty nembutal bottles found by his side and this note: “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored . I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”

Jean Seberg: 1938-1979

The hauntingly beautiful actress of the 50′s and 60′s led a troubled life, particularly where relationships were concerned. She starred in the title role of Saint Joan and rose to prominence in the arty new wave films of French director Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless). She committed suicide in Paris in 1979, her body was discovered eleven days later in the back of her car in the 16 arrondissement after she had imbibed a massive combination of drugs and alcohol.

But this actress set a precedent in 1932 for ‘going out in true Hollywood style’…

Peg Entwistle: 1908-1932

Peg Entwistle achieved the legend and fame in her death in a way that she never would have as a struggling actress trying to crack the bigtime in 1930′s Hollywood. She became despondant and depressed at being unsuccessful at becoming the huge star she desperately dreamed of being – one of the many thousands who travelled to Hollywood from all over America in the hope of being A Star. On September 18th, 1932 at the age of just 24 she got into her car and drove to the top of Mount Lee, the slope overlooking Hollywood and which held the giant sign, which back then read, Hollywoodland.

She used a workmans ladder to climb to the top of the letter H and leapt to her death 100ft below in the ravine. It was found she did not die immediately, but slowly over two days from multiple fractures to her pelvis. Peg set a precedent; she represented the loss and failure of the hopes and dreams of all those young hopefuls who arrived in the town each week to become a star. Following in her steps, other young hopefuls who despaired of never making it killed themselves in the same manner as Peg Entwistle – from the top of the Hollywood sign. The letters, land, were removed in 1949 and the sign has stood as Hollywood to this day.

Carole Landis: 1919 – 1948

Carole Landis was one of the golden girls of Hollywood in the late 1930′s and 1940′s. She was nicknamed The Ping Girl’  and ‘The Chest’ due to her impressive 36 DD inch bust. Although she desperately wanted to be taken seriously as an actress she was willing to pose for endless cheescake photos if it helped her career. Carole’s trademark was a gold cross she always wore around her neck. The cross had been a gift from her friend Diana Lewis.

Landis appeared in a string of successful films in the early forties, usually as the second female lead. In a time when many actresses were dubbed in their singing roles, Landis’ own voice was considered good enough and was used in her few musical roles. Carole landed a contract with 20th Century Fox and began a relationship with Darryl F. Zanuck. She had roles playing opposite fellow pin-up girl Betty Grable in ‘Moon Over Miami‘ and ‘I Wake Up Screaming‘, both in 1941. When Carole ended her relationship with Zanuck, her career suffered and she was assigned roles in B-movies.

 Landis became a popular pin-up with servicemen during World War II. In 1942, she toured with comedienne Martha Raye, dancer Mitzi Mayfair and actress Kay Francis with a USO troupe in England and North Africa. Two years later, she entertained soldiers in the South Pacific with Jack Benny. Carole traveled more than 100,000 miles during the war and would spend more time visiting troops than any other actress. She nearly died from amoebic dysentery and malaria she contracted while traveling overseas.

She wrote about these experiences later on and they became the basis of a film ‘Four Jills in a Jeep’. Carole, who had suffered increasingly from depression, began an ill-fated affair with British actor Rex Harrison which ended bitterly when he refused to leave his wife, Lilli Palmer. Landis had threatened to expose their affair which threw suspicion on Harrison after Landis was found dead in her bathroom. Her death was declared suicide as she had left a note:

“Dearest Mommie – I’m sorry, really sorry, to put you through this but there is no way to avoid it – I love you darling you have been the most wonderful mom ever And that applies to all our family. I love each and every one of them dearly – Everything goes to you – Look in the files and there is a will which decrees everything – Good bye, my angel – Pray for me – Your Baby.”

However her family always maintained Harrison had a direct hand in her death claiming she was still alive when he discovered her collapsed.

RIP to all these people.

Above: Peg Entwistle and the Hollywood sign.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Divorce in Hollywood is as common as dieting but the one thing about modern day marriage breakups between the stars is that all the juiciest details tend to be kept under wraps. Libel laws…remember? but when the stars divorced back in the twenties, thirties and forties there was always a certain amount of scandal involved and some of the details were so juicy that they still make great reading even today!

* Charlie Chaplin Vs Mildred Harris (1920 )was a divorce scandal involving certain details that both delighted and shocked the public. Chaplin had married Mildred Harris, a young starlet, when she was just 16 and he was 29 years old and she had supposedly fallen pregnant to him. Almost 9 months to the day after the marriage Mildred gave birth to an extremely deformed baby who only lived for 3 days and was buried with a headstone marked ‘The little mouse’. Chaplin quickly tired of his child-bride; she had very little education and was not given to intellectual conversation. The marriage last one year and during the divorce proceedings each made a series of scurilous accusations against each other with Mildred making the most sensational one of all: she charged that her husband forced her to perform a certain sex act beginning with ‘f’ which had most of the population running for their dictionaries.

* Mary Astor Vs Franklin Thorpe was a divorce that went pretty straightforward in 1935 until the famed actress sued for custody of their young daughter. Then came The Diary! Mary Astor had previously enjoyed a passionate affair with playwright George Kaufman and wrote about it, and him, in her diary in extremely graphic detail. Her husband found the diary and used it in the case against her. The details titillated most of America!

* Debbie Reynolds Vs Eddie Fisher was legendary in that the named mistress was goddess Elizabeth Taylor. Reynolds and Fisher were the darling young couple of Hollywood with two very young children, the essence of happy wedlock, until the death of producer Mike Todd, husband of Taylor, in a plane crash in 1958. Todd had been Fisher’s mentor and closest friend and the resulting grief drew Fisher and the widow Taylor together into a passionate affair. Fishers and Reynold’s marriage folded with Debbie getting miles of sympathetic publicity from the papers and Taylor being painted and reviled as a homewrecker. Reynolds often was photographed speaking to reporters at the door of her home with a nappy pinned to her blouse and a babies bottle in her hand. She milked it for all it was worth.

Popularity: 72% [?]