10+ Facts About Classic Hollywood Actresses That Show the Flipside of Their Glamorous Life

It might seem that we know literally everything about the life of the divas of the Golden Age of Hollywood: from the moments of fame to the smallest details of their personal life. But some facts from the biographies of the beauties of the past are not so well known and show their lives in a slightly different way.

Grace Kelly was not the first candidate for the role of Princess of Monaco.

By the time she met Prince Rainier, Grace Kelly had built a successful movie career and was engaged to designer Oleg Cassini. The man boasted that it was he who created a unique image of the actress, and before meeting him, she looked like a teacher.

However, Grace’s parents were strongly opposed to this marriage. The actress met the Prince of Monaco during the Cannes Festival and after 2 meetings with him broke off her engagement to Cassini, and then accepted Rainier’s marriage proposal.

In fact, the Prince was purposefully looking for a wife among Hollywood actresses. At that time, the principality was in a poor state, and Rainier’s friend, the tycoon Aristotle Onassis, advised the Prince to look for a celebrity wife. According to him, it would attract a lot of tourists to the principality, and therefore, money.

At first, Onassis’ choice fell on Marilyn Monroe, but she flatly refused to meet with Rainier. Marilyn Monroe boasted that she could easily make the Prince of Monaco fall head over heels for her in a couple of days. On the day of the couple’s wedding, Monroe sent a telegram to Kelly that read: “I’m SO happy you found a way out of this business.” However, Kelly missed the film industry for many years and regretted that she couldn’t film anymore.

Gina Lollobrigida managed to outsmart Howard Hughes himself.

When billionaire Howard Hughes, one of the most influential people in Hollywood, saw a photo of the young Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida in a magazine in 1950, he was simply captivated by her beauty and immediately offered her to meet. Gina was sure that this was purely a business meeting, and hoped that this acquaintance will open new doors for her acting career. But Howard Hughes invited Gina to Hollywood not for work, he actually wanted to marry her.

After she refused him, the tycoon tricked her into signing a bondage contract. But Gina managed to outwit the annoying suitor. She was able to find a loophole in the legal document.

She didn’t need Howard’s permission if the shooting was held in Europe. So in 1953, the movie Beat the Devil where the actress played alongside Humphrey Bogart was released. This movie was the first one in her Hollywood career.

Katharine Hepburn made the costume designers give back her trousers.

Unlike other actresses of the Golden Era of Hollywood, Hepburn preferred casual style in clothing, avoided glamorous parties and refused to give interviews. In addition, Katharine was one of the first women to wear trousers. Apparently, this style was not liked by everyone, because the actress’s trousers disappeared right from her dressing room once. This made Hepburn so angry that she defiantly refused to dress and walked around the film set in underwear until her trousers were returned.

However, her unusual style and assertiveness once played a bad joke with Hepburn. The actress dreamed of the role of Scarlett O’Hara, which eventually went to Vivien Leigh. Katharine, desperately trying to get into the project told David Selznick, “I am Scarlett O’Hara! The role is practically written for me.” Selznick reportedly replied, “I can’t imagine Rhett Butler chasing you for 12 years.”

Ingrid Bergman owed her Hollywood career to an elevator operator.

By the age of 25, Ingrid starred in 11 movies in Sweden and didn’t particularly think about a career in Hollywood, as she didn’t know English. However, everything changed because of a happy accident.

A Swedish couple living in New York told their son about the talented young actress, Bergman. The young man worked as an elevator operator in the house where one of the employees of the famous producer David Selznick lived, who was engaged in the search for young talent.

As a result, 6 months later, Ingrid was invited to Hollywood to participate in her first movie, Intermezzo. Initially, Selznick wanted the actress to change her name, put crowns on her teeth and get her eyebrows plucked, but Bergman flatly refused and was ready to immediately fly back to Stockholm. David backed down, and he didn’t regret it one bit.

Vivien Leigh hid her hands all her life.

Vivien Leigh was considered one of the most beautiful actresses of her time, and directors diligently emphasized this in all the movies where she starred. At the same time, contemporaries noted that because of her beauty, many people didn’t notice her outstanding acting talent.

At the same time, Vivien was very embarrassed of her hands, considering them huge. Therefore, the actress tried to disguise her hands all her life, including with the help of gloves. Leigh had more than 150 pairs of them.

Filming in Gone with the Wind became a real challenge for the actress. The film creators thought that Vivien’s bust looked too modest on the screen. Therefore, before putting a dress on the actress, costumers glued her breasts and lifted them.

As a result, the actress could hardly breathe on set and even wanted to break the contract at one point. Only the threat of prosecution made her change her mind.

Rita Hayworth had to sacrifice a lot for her first big contract.

Rita Hayworth’s father, Eduardo Cansino, dreamed of his daughter’s success in Hollywood. When her first contract failed, Cansino hired an experienced manager, Edward Judson for his daughter. The man had to fulfil an ambitious task — to get a long-term contract for Rita.

Judson managed to achieve this, but Hayworth had to drastically change her appearance for this. She was forced to change the color of her hair to red and undergo several painful procedures of electrolysis, which raised the hairline and made the forehead higher. At the time, the girl was not yet 20 years old.

Elizabeth Taylor had to spend quite a lot of time in hospitals.

After the actress fell from a horse at the age of 12 during the filming of National Velvet and injured her back, Taylor had serious health problems that have haunted her all her life. Before the age of 30, she suffered many serious illnesses and often ended up in hospital.

Moreover, the studio forced Elizabeth to have a rhinoplasty when she was in her early twenties. The management thought that her nose looked a little thick at the bottom. For many years, the actress did not want to admit that she had undergone this surgery.

Veronica Lake couldn’t understand how she managed to succeed in the movie industry.

Although Veronica Lake was considered one of the most attractive women of the time, and women copied her famous hairstyle, the actress herself was surprised by her own popularity. Firstly, Lake believed that she is completely devoid of acting talent. Secondly, Veronica doubted her own attractiveness.

After the actress married the film director André De Toth, the number of offers from studios began to steadily decline. Lake was sure that the public lost interest in her. But after 8 years of marriage, she learnt that her husband simply rejected many scripts behind her back. After that, Lake filed for divorce.

Sophia Loren’s career almost ended when she was 22 years old.

One of the first Hollywood films of the actress was Legend of the Lost, where she starred alongside the king of westerns John Wayne. Sophia didn’t speak English too well, and the film crew often laughed at her. However, Wayne always stood up for her and sought to cheer her up. Despite the star status of the actor, John turned out to be a very nice and caring person.

Shooting the film was a real challenge for Sophia. Once, Loren almost suffocated in the hotel. The hotel had an old gas cooker, and one night she woke up with a severe headache. Almost losing consciousness, she got to the door, opened it and collapsed. She was found by another actor who sounded the alarm.

Jane Fonda’s father wasn’t too kind to her.

Jane’s father was the famous actor Henry Fonda. Although the girl adored him, it was difficult to call Henry a loving and caring parent. As Jane later recalled, it was her father who put into her head the idea that only the appearance matters for a woman.

According to her, Henry often sent her messages like this, “Unless you look perfect, you’re not going to be loved.” So, many film directors at first did not notice her acting talent behind her beauty, and therefore offered her appropriate roles.

Audrey Hepburn was crazy about pasta.

Although the actress was famous for her slim figure, her favorite food was spaghetti with tomato sauce. Moreover, Audrey could eat exclusively this dish, and, according to her son, she literally couldn’t live without pasta. Wherever Hepburn traveled, there was always a stock of spaghetti in her suitcase, and the first thing she did on arrival was cooking it.

Another of her guilty pleasures was dark chocolate. In the actress’s house, there was a special cabinet where she kept this treat, and other members of the family were forbidden to touch her stash. If Audrey discovered that someone had touched her chocolate, she became genuinely upset.

And this is how the style of some Classic Hollywood stars changed over the years.