35 Rules You Probably Didn't Know Old Hollywood Stars Had to Follow
Their perks came with plenty of strings attached.
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Old Hollywood is known for its glitz and glamour, and that's largely due to its shining stars. But celebrities during this time put up with a lot to make it big. You see, the Golden Age of Hollywood was a time between the '20s and '60s when the studio system ruled, meaning the Big Five studios controlled the film industry. These companies created stars like Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland, but due to strict contracts, they controlled them in many ways too. Find out what actors and actresses agreed to in order to become rich and famous.
They had to sign long-term contracts.
Today, actors and actresses can work on one movie with one studio, then move on to a new studio for their next movie. But it was common during the Golden Age for film studios to discover talent and sign them to four- to seven-year contracts.
They couldn't work with other studios while on contract.
Depending on the projects an actor's studio backed and the opportunities they pegged for that star, this stipulation could make or break a career.
But talent could be loaned to other studios.
Elizabeth Taylor was known for instigating loans from her studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), so that she could work on more complex films, including Giant, A Place in the Sun, and Suddenly, Last Summer.
Actors couldn't refuse parts. Period.
During the studio system, it was unheard of for an actor to refuse a part, because doing so often had severe consequences. In fact, Bette Davis was suspended by Warner Brothers for turning down roles.
Even if studios knew the movies were bombs.
When Louis B. Mayer, cofounder of MGM, wanted to break his contract with actor John Gilbert, he planted rumors about the star and reportedly intentionally put him in bad movies. As a result, Gilbert's career tanked.
They had to be willing to change their names.
Many of the Old Hollywood stars you know and love—Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Judy Garland, the list goes on—use stage names picked by the studios. MGM even held a contest to find pick a name for their new star, Lucille LeSueur. The winner? Joan Crawford—and she reportedly hated it.
And women often had to change their appearances.
Beyond just dying their hair (some starlets reportedly got plastic surgery), studios went to great lengths to make their new starlets marketable in their eyes, and actresses had to abide by their decisions.
They had to take acting classes.
Sometimes studios saw potential in an actor or actress even before they could prove their acting chops. So it was common for up-and-coming stars who'd already signed contracts with major studios to take acting classes.
And voice lessons.
Lauren Bacall went through a series of voice lessons when she first signed with film director Howard Hawks at Warner Bros. It was through these sessions that the actress developed the sultry low voice she became known for and that set her apart from her peers.
Minor roles in movies usually came first.
While being groomed to become Hollywood's newest star, studios tested their young actors with small parts to see how they did. That's how Sharon Tate ended up in The Beverly Hillbillies and Ava Gardner in Hitler's Madman.
Every actress was given an image to uphold.
Women were primarily limited to all-American girl next door or sexy bombshell typecasting. Studios went to great lengths to market those images to their audience, sometimes even making up fake backstories for their talent.
Appearance was everything.
Studios wanted to make sure their actresses were always ready to be photographed, as Hollywood had a looks-over-talent philosophy at the time. It was standard for weight maintenance to be included in contracts.
Women wearing pants was frowned upon.
Katharine Hepburn famously rejected her studio's guidelines on dress code and reportedly walked around set in her underwear, refusing to get dressed, after someone in the costume department at RKO Radio Pictures took her pants away.
Men had to act like gentlemen.
Male actors weren't exempt from the studio's rules and regulations. They were expected to exude the ideals of a gentleman at all times. As a result, messy divorces, womanizing behavior, or anything illegal could have a serious impact on their careers.
They had to pander to the press.
One of the many responsibilities of Old Hollywood film stars was that they had to cater to the press. Staged photo ops were inevitable, and movie stars were expected to shine when the occasion arose.
Their love lives were often arranged.
Sham dates, as they were called back then, were a way for a studio to drum up publicity for upcoming pictures featuring their stars. While promoting Babes in Arms, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland acted like a couple, but in real-life Rooney was a well-known playboy.
Even some marriages were orchestrated.
Sadly, studios forced many LGBTQ actors into heterosexual marriages. Rock Hudson was forced to marry his agent's secretary, Phyllis Gates. It wasn't until he publicly announced his AIDS diagnosis that he revealed he was homosexual.
And sometimes unions were forbidden.
Jean Harlow was told that becoming a wife would alter her sex appeal, and, due to the morality clause in her contract with MGM, the studio was allowed to deny her marriage to William Powell.
Studios had rules against children too.
Actresses knew that becoming pregnant was against most studios' rules, and, as a result, some women, like Ava Gardner, had abortions to prevent penalties. "MGM had all sorts of penalty clauses about their stars having babies," Gardner revealed in her autobiography, Ava: My Story.
But there were some loopholes.
Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor both adopted children, as it allowed them to continue working, while Loretta Young kept her pregnancy and birth a secret from the public and later adopted her biological daughter, Judy Lewis.
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