12 Outrageous Abuses of Old Hollywood's Studio System

The lights, the glitz, the glamor! When we think of Old Hollywood, we think of blonde bombshells and handsome leading men living an extravagant, amazing life of wealth and celebrity. However, that’s not really how it was. Back then, the major studios ruled Hollywood. They controlled every part of their stars' lives, from what they wore to whom they married. But there’s much more to the story. Here are some of the most outrageous abuses of old Hollywood's studio system.

An anonymous actress once said, “Abortions were our birth control.” That’s how common they were in the time of the classic Hollywood studio system. And most of the time, actresses were forced to get them because of the contract they signed. Studios wanted to keep their sex symbols - well, sexy. So pregnancy and even marriage were often completely off the table.

Studios forced men to cover up their sexuality with sham marriages. Child actors were force-fed uppers to keep them peppy, then given downers to make them sleep. Actors with "ethnic" names or backgrounds were forced to make up entire new identities. The audience just got to see the motion picture in the theater; the literal blood and sacrifice of the actors and actresses on the big screen was all left on the cutting room floor...

By the time 16-year-old Judy Garland finished filming The Wizard of Oz, she was already addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines. MGM reportedly ran all their child stars into the ground. They were forced to shoot film after film without a break, so studios could get as much as possible from the young talent.

In order to keep these teens spunky and awake, they were given "pep pills." Then, when they couldn't sleep, they were given barbiturates and sleeping pills. Garland was part of this dangerous upper/downer cycle. Additionally, Garland always thought of herself as chubby compared to the other ridiculously thin screen sirens of the day. The studio not only put the actress on an unsafe diet, but they also made her take dangerous drugs to lose weight.

It's bad enough when a movie studio forces an actress to have abortion, but in Judy Garland's case, her mother played a part in it, as well. Judy Garland took the world by storm in 1939 at the age of 17 with her star-making portrayal as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Just a couple years later, the actress married bandleader David Rose, without getting consent from MGM, who was not happy that the star they wanted to remain young in the eyes of movie-goers was acting like an adult.

When Garland became pregnant, her mother worked with the studio to make arrangements for her daughter's abortion. When Garland once again became pregnant, this time from an affair with Tyrone Powers, Garland had another abortion. Of course, we all know Garland's eventual issues with drug and alcohol abuse. She eventually had three children (including actress Liza Minnelli) and a total of five husbands, but died in 1969 at the age of 47 from an overdose of barbiturates. 

If you think this is bad, then you'll be shocked by how this scandal unfolded.

Clara Bow, the very first "It Girl," became silent cinema's hottest sex symbol. Tales of her wild sexual adventures quickly became public gossip: a threesome with Mexican prostitutes, a slew of engagements, and the wild rumor that she slept with the whole starting lineup of the 1927 USC Trojan football team. Despite her escapades, Bow worked tirelessly. She made 58 films from 1922-1933. However, Hollywood was not keen on the bad rep that Bow created. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Paramount fired her.

She would make her final film at the age of 28. Afterwards, Bow was able to marry and have two children. However, a long family history of mental illness (her mother tried to slit Bow's throat one time) finally caught up with the beauty. Bow attempted suicide in 1944 and ultimately wound up in a psychiatric hospital. She wrote when she was older, "A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt, and bewildered."

One of the original "blonde bombshells," Jean Harlow signed a morality clause with MGM that forbade her to get married to William Powell - the obvious theory being a woman is much sexier to the common man if she remains single.

The actress also reportedly became pregnant from an affair. According to E.J. Fleming's The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling, and the MGM Publicity Machine, someone by the name of "Mrs. Jean Carpenter" checked into Good Shepherd Hospital, "to get some rest." In the name of total Hollywood discretion, "Mrs. Carpenter" was only seen by private doctors.

Child star-turned-Academy Award-winning actress and devout Roman Catholic Loretta Young was one of the few Hollywood stars who refused to have an abortion. Young fell in love with Hollywood lothario Clark Gable while the pair were filming the 1935 movie Call of the Wild. She later admitted to her biographer Joan Wester Anderson that Gable "pressured her a lot," and she only "slipped once."

The "one slip" led to pregnancy. Gable was married. To cover up the pregnancy, Young claimed that she had a "mysterious illness," that even included a sick bed interview with a gossip columnist. She secretly had the baby, then staged an adoption. She later told the press that she would be raising an orphan baby named Judy as a single mother.

There's some real bad stuff going on in the movies this year, check them out here.

The studio forced Hollywood hunk and sex symbol Rock Hudson to marry Phyllis Gates in 1955. Hollywood insiders knew that Hudson was a homosexual; however, it was kept a secret in order to preserve Hudson's leading-man status. Hudson was a box office star and dreamy romantic lead - if the news got out about his sexuality, it would definitely ruin his bankable career.

Hudson's marriage to Gates lasted only three years. He was one of the first major celebrities to die from AIDS. Before his death in 1985, the actor publicly admitted that he was a homosexual.

Louis B. Mayer was the co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios. He had a great eye for talent and made MGM one of the biggest movie studios of old Hollywood. Mayer was also totally ruthless. When silent cinema was transitioning to sound, Mayer needed to dump actor John Gilbert - he was too expensive and the men often clashed over both creative and financial matters.

In order to make sure that Gilbert did not make the transition to talkies, Mayer planted stories in fan magazines stating that the actor's high-pitched voice was causing great distress on the movie lot. Mayer also cast Gilbert in several films that he knew were complete bombs. After the bad press and poor reviews, Gilbert left MGM in 1933. He is considered one of the most popular actors to never make the talkie transition.

Lana Turner entered the film world at the age of 17. The 1938 movie Love Finds Andy Hardy captured the hearts of America and the bombshell quickly became known as the "Sweater Girl" for how well her curvy figure filled out a sweater. However, Turner's personal life outweighed the drama of her movie life. The actress was married eight times.

In 1941, Hollywood fixer Howard Strickling made arrangements for Turner to have an abortion in Hawaii, while she was doing a publicity tour. The procedure reportedly occurred in the actress's hotel room, without anesthesia. Turner's mother was responsible for covering the mouth of her daughter to muffle her cries. The abortion, carried out by a studio doctor, cost $500.

The most nauseating part of the ordeal? The expense was deducted from Turner's paycheck.

Ava Gardner had an abortion when she was married to Frank Sinatra (her third husband, they were married from 1951-1957). Old Blue Eyes reportedly did not know about the procedure. Gardner was forced to have the abortion because of MGM's penalty clauses against their star actresses having babies.

According to Jane Ellen Wayne's tell-all, The Golden Girls of MGM, Gardner said, "If I had one, my salary would be cut off. So how could I make a living? Frank was broke and my future movies were going to take me all over the world. I couldn’t have a baby with that sort of thing going on. MGM made all the arrangements for me to fly to London. Someone from the studio was with me all the time. The abortion was hush hush...very discreet."

Many called the beautiful Dorothy Dandridge, "the black Marilyn Monroe." The flawless-looking actress became a star in the Otto Preminger film Carmen Jones (1954). The relationship between actress and director became sexual and resulted in a pregnancy.

Preminger refused to leave his wife in order to marry his pregnant mistress. According to Scandals of Classic Hollywood, the studio demanded that Dandridge get an abortion. The studio wanted Dandridge to remain a sex symbol. Additionally, she was mixed race and Preminger was white. Miscegenation laws in 1955 were still in existence in several states, making it illegal for mixed race couples to marry.