Monday, October 23, 2017

Today's Blind Items - Left For Dead - Old Hollywood

It was the part of a lifetime. Every actress in the world wanted to nab the role. It was a franchise when there not that many franchises to go around back in the early days of Hollywood. Our actress was probably A list during the franchise. Prior to that, she did this and that but never was a huge star. When she landed the role in the franchise, the movies had been going on for years. She was a replacement for someone who didn't want the role when offered after a few year absence for an actress in the role.

Our actress loved the role. It took up most of her time. She was either prepping for the role or shooting the role or publicizing the role before the whole thing started again. Once a year the studio cranked them out like clockwork. The first few were great. Then, the actor who played the lead had enough and a replacement was found.

The replacement was an up and coming actor who had a distinguished military career in WW2. He had been injured and that injury in the head made him susceptible to very big mood swings. He and our actress never really clicked. He assumed because he was the lead that she would want to sleep with him and didn't understand why she didn't.

After the film wrapped there was a party. At the party, the lead actor slipped the actress a drug. To her death, she was still not sure how he slipped the drug in her drink. She says she never was distracted. In any event, the next thing she knew she was on a bed inside a set on the studio lot and she was being beaten by the actor and raped. She said it lasted for almost 24 hours and that he would alternate beating her and raping her. When he finally punched her one last time, she blacked out. She woke up in a hospital.

She had broken bones all over her body. She had internal bleeding. She had huge clumps of her hair missing from her head. Doctors said she could have died if she hadn't been found. The studio wrote her a very very large check to stay quiet. She never acted in anything again after that movie. The world never had any idea why she would just walk away from acting or such a long running franchise.

There were several more installments made of the franchise. Each had a different actress. No actress lasted longer than one movie. The studio kept a close eye on the actor and tried to never leave him alone with his lead actress but inevitably they would get groped or assaulted, if not raped and the studio would write a check and they would stay quiet. It is interesting to me that the studio just didn't find a new lead actor but apparently he was popular and they decided checks to women was just something built into the cost of production.

21 comments:

No Wuckin' Furries said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alexandria said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MontanaMarriott said...

The Bond franchise?

Unknown said...

Audie Murphy

RSLG said...

Brenda Joyce and Lex Barker?

auntliddy said...

This is all levels of awful. This man shld be in jail! Infuriating!!

Just4Fun said...

It has to be after WWII. Franchise sounds like it was mid-late 40/early 50s.

Venus90 said...

Franchise - Tarzan
Actor- Lex Barker
Actress - Brenda Joyce

SeeingClearly said...

@RSLG That is my very strong guess. I'd say it's a sure thing. And what an awful horrible man.

LJNDawson said...

Some quick Googling told me that Lex Barker had a head injury during WW2, that Brenda Joyce had been in 3 Tarzan movies prior to working with Barker, that the Tarzan movie she did with him was her last acting job.

Fits like a glove.

AKA said...

His wiki page says he was married to Lana Turner and her daughter said that he molested and raped her from the ages of 10-13. What a creep.

D Brown said...

I believed most of the blind until I got to the "it lasted almost 24 hours". At the time of their last Tarzan movie Brenda Joyce was married and had at least two if not three children. I rather doubt she could go missing for 24 hours without anyone following up.

Wombat said...

Good job

JMC7r said...

I didn't know about the Tarzan change. When I read this, I wanted to say "Boston Blackie."

just sayin' said...

d brown: the tarzan movies were filmed at silver springs resort in florida. if the wrap party was held there she would have been away from home and family, so maybe they didn't realize anything was going on?

side note: poor cheryl crane, lana turner's daughter, to have not only been through the famous johnny stompanato incident but to have previously suffered rape by one of her mother's husbands. i'm thinking lana turner may not have been the best mother.

Sd Auntie said...

+2 just sayin. Always felt sorry for Cheryl.

8==D KermitGosnellKnobjob said...

At least that lex barker sob died at 54, he was not punished in this Earth by man, but (a little) by God.

Himmmm said...

Yes, definitely Lex. Lana should've pulled the trigger that morning. She would've gotten away with it then too.

Spider Rico said...

Lex Barker. He also repeatedly raped Cheryl Kane at the age of 10. Lana Turner's daughter

Lala said...

Wow, this is a terrible story. I'd say for sure it's Lex Barker and Brenda Joyce. Every detail fits. I hope he's suffering eternal torments.

Jackie said...

At least Brenda had a long life. Mostly happy, I hope.

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