Friday, July 01, 2011

Old Hollywood Blind Item

This actress had one of the longest careers ever. She starred in what is considered by some to be the best movie ever made. She was also an Academy Award winner/nominee. The thing about our actress is she never got married. She also never really had that many relationships. Maybe one or two that might have happened when the whispers got louder. Oh yes there were whispers about something. Why would I write about something if there were no whispers. It seems that our actress did have a lover. A lifetime lover actually. Not so strange or whisper inducing right? Well, it is if your lover is also your sister.

72 comments:

rareavis said...

Holy.Crap!!

rareavis said...

Holy.Crap!!

MISCH said...

How far back are we going....to the silents, like maybe Lillian Gish...?

jbdean_79 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Murphy Brown 2020 said...

I'm gonna go with Judy Garland or Vivien Leigh -- with Garland edging out Leigh.

The Wizard of Oz = The Greatest Movie of All Time. Period.

Oh, and also, NAS-TAY. Don't they make pornos with this kind of scenario, though?

MISCH said...

jbdean_79

But they didn't even speak to each other.

B626 said...

Katharine Hepburn had sisters Marion & Margaret.

M said...

Holy Mother of triscuits! I actually said "Holy Mother of Triscuits" out loud when I read that! I've got nothin'.

jpovis said...

Says she never married! I'll go with Garbo!

bits of moxy said...

Viviene Leigh

M said...

@Ida those are good choices, but this actress never married! That's what makes it so puzzling. EVERYBODY got married back then, which should leave a very short list of choices...

califblondy said...

Ida, Judy had several marriages, even though some of her husbands were Gay, she was still married. Vivian was married to at least Sir Lawrence, so it can't be her either.

Olivia and Joan were the first to come to mind, but I don't know about the love life of either one. But, I do remember that they supposedly did not get along. Maybe that was just a ruse?

nataliesinger said...

I thought "Citizen Cane" was considered the greatest film of all time. And this revelation makes me a little queasy.

Ms Cool said...

Olivia and Joan hate each other. I think they've been married and their hate stems from infidelity with one's spouse. I could be foggy on that memory, though.

Kate?

Murphy Brown 2020 said...

Hmmm. The "greatest movie of all time" thing is throwing me off, personally.

Could it have been a lesser star in Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz?

feathersmcgraw said...

I say it's Lillian Gish---she starred in Birth of a Nation, was nominated for an oscar and won an honorary one and never married. She is buried beside her sister Dorothy.

Ms Cool said...

I'd say Diane Keaton (The Godfather) but the post makes it sound like the actress is dead and I don't know about her sister status.

Ms Cool said...

Ooh - feathersmcgraw -good one!

cheesegrater15 said...

Holy shit! My mouth is still hanging wide open!

Cecilia00 said...

Olivia & Joan both have numerous marriages under their belts.

I like feathersmcgraw's guess :-)

Crystalrope said...

Agnes Morehead.

Crystalrope said...

That should be Moorehead.

jpovis said...

feathersmcgraw...changing from Garbo (never won an Oscar) to Gish...

redhotpepper said...

Butterfly McQueen was never married and acted from 1939 to 1986.

Murphy Brown 2020 said...

Ooooh! I like the Lillian Gish guess, too!

Birth of a Nation might not be the most watchable movie, but it's *definitely* one of the most important films ever made.

Merlin D. Bear said...

Greatest movie ever?
Gone With The Wind.

Olivia De Haviland & Joan Fontaine.
Both were Oscar winners, Joan winning in 1941 (the same year Olivia was nominated in same category), however Olivis didn't win until 1946.
It was the Oscar win that triggered the feud, by all accounts something that was never resolved.
If (and I'm really going with a humongous *IF*) this is who the blind's about, the fact that they were able to successfully maintain such an act (the feud) for so many years is mind blowing.
And testament to their acting abilities.
I'm not even going near the ick factor of the incest.

Cecilia00 said...

Btw Gish's wikipedia page mentions her sister Dorothy and their "close friendship"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Gish

M said...

I'm jumping on the scissoring Gish sister bandwagon. I've never seen Birth of a Nation but I know the significance of the film.

Merlin D. Bear said...

Additionally, both Olivia and Joan had multiple marriages.

jpovis said...

Moorehead was married

Patty said...

I have often heard that "Birth of a Nation" 1915 was considered the greatest film, and it is silent. Lillian Gish starrred. Never married and won an honorary Academy Award. Not sure if she had a sister. But, this is my guess.

jpovis said...

Lillian GISH,
rhymes with FISH!
get it?

Cecilia00 said...

Gish's career also spanned 75 years...

Merlin D. Bear said...

After checking IMDB, I'm now on the Gish bandwagon.
Although I have to disagree heartily about calling "Birth Of A Nation" the best movie ever made.
Iconic? I'll give it that.
But best? No.

SusanB said...

Sounds like Gish, but IMHO, Casablanca is the greatest film ever made. And we know it's not Ingrid Bergman.

Patty said...

I just re-read the Wiki page on Gish and saw the part about her sister.

Gish, FTW

And YUCK!

redhotpepper said...

I'm on the Gish train now too.

jbdean_79 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gypsytrill said...

Two of the Gabors

cheesegrater15 said...

It does mention on Gish's wiki page that "The Wind" is considered one of the "most distinguished works of the late silent period". That could be stretched to say it's one of the greatest movies ever. She was also in Broken Blossoms. Widely considered one of the best silent movies ever.

Ms Cool said...

We could have a whole thread on what movie we think is the best. I can't decide but off of the top of my head, Casablanca, GWTW, The Godfather, and All About Eve.

Angela said...

Birth of a Nation wasn't as important as Intolerance, in which Lilian Gish also starred. She was also in another great movie, Night of the Hunter.

bluebonnetmom said...

I am on the Gish train. That makes perfect sense to me. Major ICK factor, wow.

amazonblue said...

Well, I consider Citizen Kane the best picture ever made and Ruth Warrick portrayed the first Mrs. Kane. She also played Phoebe Tyler on All My Children for 35 years.
But no oscar nomination and she had 6 husbands.

I'm with the Gish crowd.

Patty said...

3 more days to REVEALS!

hoosierlady said...

feathersmcgraw-Gish for the win

ms snarky said...

boy, it sure sounds like it's Lil. That is so disturbing.

JoElla said...

OHMYGAWD!
I think my head just about exploded with this blind!!

Jason Blue Eyes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
peawry said...

@JPovis .. no I DON'T GET. Explain please.

RenoBlondee said...

Wowza, YUCK!
I'll go with Gish as well!

The Black Cat said...

Vivien Leigh was married to Laurence Olivier for a while so that rules her out.
I love these old Hollywood blinds :)

kitty lee said...

this is supposed to be Lillian Gish, birth of a nation is considered one of the greatest movies ever made, this was a rumor that went around hollywood and was documented previously in Hollywood Babylon...

Binky Melnik said...

Folks, check the third post to this item. MISCH suggested Lilian Gish, beating feathersmcgraw by a good margin. Props go to MISCH.

Respect, MISCH!

selenakyle said...

Amen to the Holy Craps up there!

Dang. Did not see that coming!

FrenchGirl said...

Lilian Gish seems a great guess

Salon deWinchester said...

Lillian Gish, with "Intolerance" being the film masterwork if that is included in the reveal.

ardleighstreet said...

Lillian & Dorothy Gish.

Naomi said...

Greta Garbo had a sister

Goodgrief said...

She starred in what is considered by some to be the best movie ever made.

It just says "what is considered by some", which could be true of any of the movies suggested. Gish does fit perfect, 75 yrs is a long time.

Robin the Mad Photographer said...

My very first thought was Lillian Gish, with my second thought being "NO, not Lillian! Please!" She does sound like the best candidate, though...

sandman said...

most overrated movie ever, gone with the wind, next up, titanic...good god, time won't be kind to that crap.

Mango said...

For decades the Gish sisters were rumored to be "unusually close". I think the blind is about them, but I'd like to believe that they were (sadly) just hugely emotionally and psychologically dependent on each other and not sleeping together.

MadLyb said...

Lillian Gish w/Dorothy Gish and the move is Birth of a Nation.

Wil said...

Team feathersmcgraw!

I got chewed out in my college Film History class .. I feel asleep during "Birth of a Nation".. if I had only known I might have tried to stay awake.

Yikes .. "Whales of August" is changing in my mind even as I type!

Robert said...

Sadly, all of the elements point to Lillian Gish. God damn it, another Hollywood icon in broken pieces at my feet.

Luv said...

Gross! I do not have a clue,and I hope it was just rumors...Or maybe they weren't really sisters.

margo said...

Luv - BRILLIANT! They might not have been sisters at all - the studio might have concocted the whole sister thing as an excuse for co-habitation. I know a prominant same-sex couple who did the same thing here in Texas; the wealthy one arranged for his family to "adopt" his partner so they could live together without public scrutiny.

Priscila said...

that is wrtten in one of Hollywood Babylon´s books.....Lillian and Dorothy Gish for that matter. Not really a blind here, and not even true. If you buy one of those books, you can see 80% is either exagerated or simply a lie to shock you and sell more....bad work, Enty

Priscila said...

btw, nobody at the time ever comented on her private life and lack of male companionship, as women were often regarded as no sexual beings and she, among all, was higly respected as a serious actress, who never socialiazed and only though about her art.
Her sister Dorothy was married twice to men, and was a known party girl kind. It is not like Dorothy never had a life and was her sisters´s lover.
They became actresses at very early age and were always touring with their mother, much like Mary Pickford´s family they became strangely attached, as one could imagine, and Lillian was not interested in sex. DW Griffith would spent the evenings with Lililan and her mother and even in Hollywood everybody felt so strange that sex was not involved in their relationship.
Moreover, she was very conservative and the wonly men she though about marrying was a half jewish man, which was more than she could handle it.

Prime_Cut said...

I agree with Priscilla. Showbiz families are cut from a different cloth, especially former generations.
Hell, incest was encouraged, ask a Kennedy.
I'd like to think that CDAN made some kids aware of a movie age before the '80's though...
;}

Rachel said...

I think whoever posted Diane Keaton might be right! Many boyfriends, no marriages, academy award nominee/winner, and she has 2 sisters.

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