Friday, November 29, 2019

Blind Items Revealed #9 - Old Hollywood - Anniversary Month

August 6, 2018

This beloved deceased permanent A list male star was one of the biggest predators in Hollywood.  We'll call him Mr. R.  Every female he worked with experienced some kind of predatory or inappropriate behavior from this person.  Because of the times and his power in the industry, it was impossible back in those days to stop him.  At least half a dozen actresses were alleged to have been assaulted, and there are probably more that did not share their experiences with anyone out of fear. His adoring fans had no idea.

One young actress (we'll call her Ms. L) was subjected to repeated assault attempts from Mr. R.  Our actress valiantly fought off Mr. R's advances on a film they made together and fortunately had family members on set who also helped shield her from being raped.  Our actor was so enraged that he could not get Ms. L alone during the making of this movie that in retaliation he did everything he could to make her miserable during filming.  Mr. R would kick her, pinch/slap her breasts while ridiculing her and would stomp on/smash her feet with his shoes in between and during takes. Eventually the nightmare of this movie ended, and Ms. L was finally able to get away from our actor, even though he issued parting threats that he'd find her someday and "finish the job".  Ms. L shared her horrifying experiences with a friend, also an A-list Hollywood actress we will call Ms. C.  Ms. C. also had a scary encounter with Mr. R (when she was a teenager) and was not surprised that the awful stories that had filtered out from crew about Mr. R's behavior on the movie were true.

Years went by, and Ms. C. was invited to attend an extremely important event, and was told that Mr. R was also going to be invited too. Mr. R was pretty much retired from the business by then, and was slated to be one of the honored guests at this gathering.  Ms. C had become an even more powerful celebrity in her own right by this time, so she immediately contacted the organizers with her concerns.  She stated that if Mr. R  was included in this event, she would publicly withdraw.  When she was asked why she so vehemently opposed his attendance at this event, she stated in no uncertain terms that Mr. R had attempted to rape her as a teen and had assaulted other actresses he'd worked with. This resulted in Mr. R being dropped immediately from the event and from any future events--and caused the story to spread like wildfire through the industry rumor mill.

Because of this, Mr. R figured out immediately what had taken place and was able to manipulate a mutual friend into giving him Ms. C's telephone number.  He wasted no time making a threatening phone call to her about his dis-invite to the event.  Ms. C was no shrinking violet and managed to record the call, turning the recording over to her lawyers right away.  One of Ms. C's lawyers had an extremely tough reputation and immediately contacted Mr. R's lawyers with a cease and desist order, threatening to take the recording public.  Since Ms. C was a such a mega-star by this time, there was no way that Mr. R was going to be able to explain this telephone threat if it was released to the public and he knew it.

Ms. C's legal team made a deal to destroy the tape (and keep quiet about it) in exchange for a large payout from Mr. R.-- which of course was paid immediately.  In spite of the gag order, Ms. C still discussed this saga with her close female friends, many of whom had been his targets.  Word spread about the incident and is still discussed by old-timers in the business.  And what about the settlement money?  Ms. C. arranged to have those funds anonymously donated to help establish several of the very first rape crisis centers in North America.

Mr. R: Gene Kelly
Ms. L: Debbie Reynolds
Movie: "Singin' in the Rain"
Ms. C: Elizabeth Taylor (uncredited cameo appearances by Gene Kelly in "Love Is Better Than Ever")

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is actually terrifying. Gene Kelly was freakishly strong, like chimpy strong.

IndieRaga said...

Debbie Reynolds remarked many years later that making this movie and surviving childbirth were the two hardest things she's ever had to do......IMDb trivia
Read this long time ago, I knew he's a bit of a Psycho instantly !

IndieRaga said...

Donald O'Connor admitted that he did not enjoy working with Gene Kelly, since Kelly was somewhat of a tyrant. O'Connor said that for the first several weeks he was terrified of making a mistake and being yelled at by Kelly.

longtimereader said...

Damn, a real juicy reveal at last.

YummyBoogers said...

Holy shit, I had no clue Gene Kelly was such a louse. I love Singing in the Rain, this is heartbreaking and infuriating. Anywhere I can read more into this?

Sunspirit said...

Jesus Christ

Sd Auntie said...

Had a crush on him but no more. Don't mess with Liz!! Poor Debbie !!

MargotBarnes said...

Elizabeth Taylor is considered A-? Seriously?

gauloise said...

A list with a hyphen, not A- Although I would even put her in perm A++ territory

Clark Green said...

New found respect for Ms. Taylor.

notthisagain said...

I think it’s important to expose him now posthumously. There’s gotta be SOME ppl left to talk about it right? They’re not all dead? How about relatives or friends who were confided to?

It’s too late for legal justice, the only justice that can be had is to destroy his legacy by releasing all of this info & exposing him. Make ppl wince when he’s mentioned or when they have no clue he is, google will let you know how awful he was. That’s all he gave a damn about - himself & his work alone - and he can’t come back to do a damn thing about it cause he’s in the ground. GOOD. expose & ruin his image & canon. Oh Gene, you might already be dead, but we’re about to kill you in a worse way 😂🙌

Erik said...

So what was the extremely important event?

Sd Auntie said...

A+++++. She was the biggest thong on the planet for 60's , 70s and part if 80s. Jewelry collection, 8 hubby's, drop dead beauty until she gained weight. Perfume still smells great. Nobody comes close to her popularity right now. Nobody

Here ButnotThere said...

Monster/asshole, quite possibly yes. "Freakishly strong" at 5'7" and under 150lbs, I'm gonna say no

Aoife said...

Wow> I used to love "Singing In The Rain".

I will stan Ms Reynolds and Ms Taylor for this.

zerooptions said...

Good for Miss Taylor.....it's just...uh..I can't stop thinking about john belushi when i hear her name!

CarolMR said...

I'll never be able to watch SINGING IN THE RAIN with such enjoyment ever again. Ironic that Gene Kelly was a very liberal progressive.

Cindy said...

@CarolMR what the hell does his politics have to do with this???

CarolMR said...

Because liberals/progressives paint themselves as being pro-women's rights, that's why, Cindy.

Rosie riveter said...

I'm curious.. Why do you say "they only care about the life until it's born, then they hate it"
?

Cindy said...

@Rosie riveter conservatives fight for abortion bans, but if a woman (who cannot afford to raise a child) decides NOT to get an abortion, based on the pro-life arm-twisting, and has the baby -- that woman gets condemned for having babies they can't afford, condemned for putting another child on the taxpayers dime, etc. Conservatives certainly don't adopt that child -- especially if it's not a white baby. Therefore, they should identify as pro-fetus and not pro-life.

bookworm at play said...

I read Debbie Reynolds' autobiography years ago, and she writes of being intimidated and terrified of Gene Kelly, scared of making mistakes, wary of his temper. She tells only half the story, though - so he just comes across as an extreme perfectionist and not a rebuked, frustrated sexual predator.

Damn.. Dammit, Gene.

Cindy said...

There is only her side of the story, since Gene Kelly (who was absolutely a hard driving perfectionist) is dead. I've never seen anything else about GK that suggests he's a predator -- that doesn't mean it's not out there, I just haven't seen it. If anyone has links, I'd appreciate the sharing.

AbbyRock said...

With most good actors/actresses, you forget they are playing a part but I never did with Kelly. He always struck me as an okay actor who was really lucky to get the parts he got. Now, he could dance and I cannot say anything detrimental about that ability except he was not as good nor as natural a dancer as Fred Astaire was

Then, one afternoon, Kelly was on either The Mike Douglas Show or The Merv Griffin Show, whichever it was, Kelly came across as a complete asshole. Vindication of my feelings about him. Hope he's roasting on a spit.

AbbyRock said...

Umm, Cindy sorry to burst your liberal bubble. I know this first hand because my husband and I adopted our biracial daughter 26 years ago. There were 100 other couples lined up to adopt mixed race babies and more couples were waiting to get on the list. In case you have preconceived liberal ideas about supposedly racist areas of the country, this was in south Louisiana.

Gator said...

"Liberal" this, liberal" that. Who gives a shit if anyone here is a liberal? This is an entertainment website, so get a fucking life and leave politics out of it.

AuntBee said...

Abby Rock, 👍🏽

Cindy said...

@AbbyRock that was 26years ago -- when conservatives were decent people. They aren't anymore.

AbbyRock said...

I find liberals entertaining, Gator. Now, if they could only learn to make good memes.

GentleBreeze said...

Even though 5'7", a dancer of his ability would be freakishly strong. Why would he jeopardize the movie by injuring his partner, though? The sexual assaults I'm not questioning.
He was reportedly very caring with Judy Garland and her 'troubles' during filming of some movie, and gave Leslie Caron a break because of her limitations due to war-caused malnutrition.

Hamish said...

@Cindy, get your head out of your ass. The current crop of NPC liberals are only identifiable by their hated of white people, their determination to kill babies at full term and their insistence that LGBT values should be foisted on our children. Total scum and looking to lose in 2020 and well beyond at this rate.

Cindy said...

@HS hatred of white people? Liberals? you're delusional and not worth the time it took to type this. Seriously, you're as delusional as that Creamsicle in the White House

Fifi LaRue said...

Here's hoping Gene Kelly is still burning in hell.

emeraldcity said...

Can't say I've ever heard about Kelly as predator but several auto biographies have said he was very rough on his dance partners. Tony Martin said that he always knew if his wife, Cyd Charise had been filming with Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly , because she was always covered with bruises after dancing with Gene.

Cheryl said...

'Shrinking Violet' :)

Mystique99 said...

But we're those bruises really from dancing or possibly fighting him off? She may not have wanted to say anything because she may have been worried her husband might assault/kill the bastard. :-(

Vita said...

Firstly -- Liz Taylor was a genuine, renegade badass, God love her!

Secondly -- Gentlebreeze-- Gene Kelly made The Pirate with Judy Garland during one of her roughest patches. I love that silly movie! And you're right, according to TCM, he was exceptionally patient and kind with her during the shoot. She missed or was unable to perform during almost 2/3 of production schedule, or something insane like that!

Thirdly -- I hate knowing this! Intimidating schmuck behavior. So many great films and dances wont be erased from my heart, but I'll be throwing my love to Donald OConnor and Fred instead.

Finally -- Have you seen his thighs? Any dancer/gymnast that can hurl their body through the air under its own power has tremendous strength. And 19 year old Debbie Reynolds was probably 5 ft and under 100 lbs soaking wet.

MnGddess said...

Not Gene Kelly...noooooo

Gene Kelly - you bastard.

Cocobean said...

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/799001/Gene-Kelly-Singing-In-The-Rain-An-American-In-Paris-biography

Nonya Bidness said...

Um, that's still going to give him a huge physical advantage over any actress he worked with - duh.

Paint Chips said...

Crazy thought - Maybe Judy had so much trouble getting through The Pirate because of Gene.🤷‍♀️

M said...

I'm sorry but I don't believe this one one bit. He was a notorious hard ass who made a difficult work partner, but that's probably it. He was in attendance at Liz wedding to Hilton, and if you google you can find photos of them next to each other at the same social events later in their lives. Alsox if he did assault Liz as a teen, since they were so close, wouldn't sje have warned Debbie beforehand? This smells like classic enty bs.

clemesso said...

How come we can't upvote and reply to posters on this site. Make it more interactive.

Wine Wahine said...

This does not surprise me. Debbie also stated that Gene was very rough when dancing and ridiculed her for not picking the moves up fast enough. She went to go cry under a piano while the movie was being shot. She heard a soft voice ask what was wrong. She looked up and saw Fred Astaire. She told him what was wrong and he spent a great deal of time teaching her the moves, quite patiently. I am a former ball room dancer (too young to have danced with either of these guys) but I have always preferred Fred over Gene simply b/c of Gene's reputation in Hollywood.

BelleDame said...

I never liked Liz as a person but...seriously...?? Guessing you only know of her as she was when she was older. Geez

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