Today's Blind Items - The Secret Love Child - Old Hollywood
Even in the Internet age, this has been one of the oldest kept secrets from back in the day. This A-list actress (at least I consider her A-list because she was my Grandma's favorite actress) was considered one of the most beautiful and talented actresses of her generation. She was groomed by the old studio system, as many were- hair changed, face changed, name changed. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent on grooming her for stardom by the studio. You know the drill. In the beginning, our actress (who I'll call Ms. D) was compliant with the studio's control over her life, but underneath that she had a big time subversive streak.
At first, she was able to hide it, but eventually studio people became aware of it and knew they had a major problem on their hands. Our actress loved to party and had lots of friends. She also loved men, especially men who came from backgrounds that the studio honchos deemed very inappropriate for her. Not only did she love men, but she also loved women. Lots of them. And was not afraid to be seen in public with some of her female lovers. Ms. D was also politically outspoken, which was a big no-no in those days. Since this was a different time, Ms. D's behavior became a big public relations problem for her studio who struggled to keep a lid on her activities. Unlike other actresses at this time, Ms. D was able to get away with most of her behavior in spite of the studio's concerns about her. One of the reasons is because one of Ms D's lovers was the wife of a very highly placed studio boss. Ms. D was also smart and kept photographic proof of her liasons with the wife of the studio boss, which the studio knew she would use as leverage. Ms. D was pretty smart and was able to beat the studio goons at their own game - at least for a little while.
As time went on, Ms. D fell deeply in love with a man in the entertainment business who was deemed "inappropriate" for her. We'll call this man Mr. V. There were lots of rumors about the relationship floating around at that time, and the studio was becoming very nervous about the situation. Then Ms D. got pregnant with Mr. V's baby. And naturally, they were in love and decided to get married. Studio bosses, of course, lost their minds over this potential marriage and went into overdrive to contain the situation. Rumor has it that they staged a break-in to Ms. D's home and were able to get their hands on incriminating evidence she had saved to use as leverage for herself, related to her female lovers. They then told Ms. D that if she did not get an abortion and break off the relationship with Mr. V, they would make use of that stolen evidence to out her publically as a lesbian. Ms. D told them to pound sand and also refused to get an abortion. She went into hiding until her baby was born. Ms. D was also lucky in that she had the body type that made concealing the pregnancy easy. (Very few people suspected anything was amiss until she was about six months along and she went on an extended "vacation").
Once the baby (a little girl) was born abroad, Ms. D made sure she was placed with an affluent family. Ms. D and Mr. V visited the child regularly and when she was old enough, the child was told all about her adoption and paternity. What is interesting is that the child is now a grown woman and is also a well known actress herself, who I'll call Ms. B. Since she is foreign born, no one suspects any connection to her birth parents. But if you were to know the background of this story and look at Ms. B., she looks exactly like her biological parents. It's actually amazing that no one has noticed this before and connected the dots. Ms. B and Ms. D have agreed that when Ms. D dies, Ms. B will go public with the story. Ms. D is older and unwell, so it will be interesting to see how soon after her passing the story is revealed.
Ms. D is still alive so the only person from that era I can think of who's still around is Olivia De haviland but I can't make her fit here.
ReplyDeleteShirley McLaine and somebody?
ReplyDeleteNo idea.
ReplyDeleteCate Blanchette for 'Ms. B?'
This is a good blind!
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna say Doris Day
Mitzi Gaynor? Kim Novak?
ReplyDeleteOther notables, Doris Day, Arlene Dahl, Dolores Hart, Anne Margaret. Kim Novak, Mitzi Gaynor, Angie Dickinson
ReplyDeleteI was digging the KN guess because I recall of her affair with Sammy Davis junior and for the time that interracial relationship was taboo.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm Angie Dickinson had an affair with JFK when he was President.....could be
ReplyDeleteAnn Margret and somebody?
ReplyDeleteMs. D-Kim Novak?
ReplyDeleteMr V- Sammy Davis Jr. ?
Ms. D is older and unwell, not dead.
ReplyDeleteI cant figure this out, but I am going to focus on the love child/daughter. Let's assume she is bi-racial or mixed ethnicities. Who is a foreign born multi-ethnic actress born during the era when the studios still controlled things? I'm gonna guess whoever the daughter is was born in the mid to late 60s (?) We should also focus on actors. The female child could be a red herring
ReplyDeleteFirst thought was Angie Dickenson.
ReplyDeleteI think this is correct, but who is the daughter?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking maybe Thandie Newton, born in 1972, and maybe Sidney Poitier who was single 1965 - 1976. He played Virgil Tibbs in In the Heat of the Night.
ReplyDeleteThis definitely sounds like Kim Novak. There's a piece about her relationship with Sammy Davis Jr. here: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/1999/03/sammy-davis-kim-novak-dating
ReplyDeleteKim had a subversive streak, and she is still alive but in her mid-80s. No idea who the actress might be, though.
Thandie Newton!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Thandie Newton, born in 1972, and maybe Sidney Poitier who was single 1965 - 1976, although he's Bahamian.
ReplyDelete(sorry for the double post)
ReplyDeleteAll fake as usual.
ReplyDeleteWow, How interesting.
ReplyDelete+3
ReplyDeleteI am thinking Sidney Poitier, father, Thandie Newton, daughter, and Joan Collins, Mother.
ReplyDeleteJust for kicks and giggles: Faye Dunaway. She once dated Lenny Bruce who might have seemed undesirable at the time.
ReplyDeleteBut who would the daughter be?
ReplyDeleteMs. "D" - Dynasty
ReplyDeleteMr. "V" - Virgil Tubbs
Ms. "B"- Beloved
Looking at it another way, How about Diahann Carroll for the actress, and David Frost for the man in the entertainment business. And their relationship lines up perfectly with Thandie's birthdate, if she's the daughter. Diahann's acting resume is also blank for that same period (1972).
ReplyDeleteGoogle 'Joan Collins Thandie Newton'
ReplyDeleteCollins once slammed Thandie's claim she (Thandie) had been subjected to the casting couch early in her career.
Very interesting.
Collins married Ron Kass in March of '72. Thandie was born in November.
ReplyDeleteThandie Newton was born in 1972 and the Sammy Davis/Kim Novak thing happened in the late 50s.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great guess.
ReplyDeleteDiahann Carroll was also on Dynasty. And Thandie looks a lot like the young Diahann.
ReplyDeleteThandie Newton was born in 1972 and the Sammy Davis/Kim Novak thing happened in the late 50s.
ReplyDeletediahann and david had a very public relationship tho, including engagement. don't see her being bought off by the big bosses over this. and i sure hope thandie newton's not getting upset with all of this presumption. she's got some very respectable british parents who sure look like her. http://www.arogundade.com/Resources/thandie-parents.jpg
ReplyDeletefaye dunaway was born dunaway...not a studio name change.
ReplyDeletei'm feeling the kim novak/sammy davis guess. they meet the scandal description, she meets the studio transformation description. they were together in the late 50's so their daughter would be close to 60 years old.
ReplyDeleteAnd Maury Wills?
ReplyDelete* born dorothy faye dunaway.
ReplyDeleteTotally left field...Catherine Zeta Jones. Only thought of her because of the mysterious bingo win (100,000 pounds) that her parents won that paid for her dance lessons when she was a kid. That is a lot of money to win at bingo.
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't look like Novak or Davis
ReplyDeleteNewton is too young also
ReplyDeleteKim Novak
ReplyDeleteSidney Poitier
Thandie Newton
All of the pieces in the comments already.
I think this must be it.
The way I read it, the baby was probably born during the big studio system era, which was in decline and probably ended sometime in the 1960s. Maybe the child was born during this era. By the time the 1970s rolled around, actors could work in whatever movie they were offered, no matter which studio was producing it.
ReplyDeleteWow, even if Thandie and Joan aren't related, they sure do look alike.
ReplyDeletehttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Joan_Collins_-_Monte-Carlo_Television_Festival.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Thandie_Newton_2%2C_2010.jpg/220px-Thandie_Newton_2%2C_2010.jpg
Same smile and eye shape.
Wow! I don't know who wrote this blind, but bravo! An actually interesting, intelligent blind - and no one in the closet or on heroin! We need more juicy blinds like this one!
ReplyDeleteIf it's Kim Novak, I'm not surprised she wouldn't get an abortion - she came from a strict Catholic family.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Beals as the daughter? Born in 1962 which lines up with Davis/Novak?
ReplyDeleteHmm interesting! She does look quite different from her legal parents, more "exotic"... I used to think she was part Asian or Latina, while her parents look like any other European. Maybe that's the scandal part of Ms D and Mr. V??... Ms D was white and Mr. V was some other ethnicity (not necessarily black like most here have assumed), which would explain Catherine's appearance. Question is, who would the non-white, probably not black either father be?? Don't know many celeb men from that era who fit that criteria.
ReplyDeletebtw here is catherine on the left with her parents:
ReplyDeletehttp://starschanges.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/catherine-zeta-jones-family-4.jpg
D: Kim Novak
ReplyDeleteV: Sammy Davis Jr.
B: Rachel Ward
That ish weird, wild stuff, bay-bee...
ReplyDeleteI think it's Kim Novak and Sammy Davis, Jr. An interracial relationship in that time period would have been shocking. As for the daughter - Novak went into hiding in the early months of 1958 as their relationship became somewhat known and Davis's life was threatened for it. I looked up some actresses born in 1958 (assuming that Novak was six months pregnant when she hid), but none of them are foreign born - Angela Bassett, Roxann Dawson, Renee Jones. I'm assuming the daughter would appear biracial, but we don't know.
ReplyDeleteAnother guess for Ms. B: Sophia Loren? Name changed. Beautiful and talented. Famous for having a very curvy body type (the type that could hide pregnancy as the blind says). This BI makes it seem like Ms. B is American, but if you read it through considering Italian Sophia and the daughter being born/raised in a foreign country other than Italy, it still makes sense.
ReplyDeleteMore guesses for Ms. B that I don't think have been mentioned already: Tippi Hedren, Mamie van Doren, Eva Marie Saint.
ReplyDeleteI looked up various actresses on one browser, and put images of them next to both Davis and Novak images on another browser. Zeta Jones is too statuesque, Beals maybe like Novak, but not like Sammy. The actress would not have a long neck and would be average height. Beals might be too tall. Actress possibly passing. Not an impossible task. Someone could get it.
ReplyDeleteBonet could work, but her heritage would probably be more obvious.
ReplyDeletejoan had an abortion with Warren Beatty.
ReplyDeleteSammi and Kimwere actually married. I do remember when Dihanne and David broke up and was shocked since they were so prominent about their devotion to each other. Dihanne broke barriers and her failed engagement to David seemed like another one she wished to conquer. never heard about her lovin the ladies. Good guesses folks.
ReplyDeleteCan't get it. All look a-likes too young or not actresses. You'd think Sammy's daughter would stand out. Someone take over. Someone's hiding in plain sight.
ReplyDeleteRachel Ward good guess. Just so I can get some sleep. Sorry to take your time
ReplyDeleteAngie Dickinson
ReplyDeleteKirk Douglas
Catherine Zeta Jones
It all fits! It's all kindsa wrong
But she is Welsh so as Tom Jones said 'it's not unusual'
sorry about that horrible url mistake: compare kim https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQFg1VI5gpgtHlcZzlMbRE_ckzAp2pd53LvrOvc5YpqTQzR0Z_a
ReplyDeleteand liz http://1.fwcdn.pl/p/78/86/397886/341303.1.jpg
ReplyDeleteOpps. Sammy was married to another lady and they did have children
ReplyDelete[…] *Here’s a pearl-clutching Blind Item straight from the vault of OLD HOLLYWOOD. According to the Entertainment Lawyer (Enty) behind this edge of your seat CDNA post: […]
ReplyDeleteHow about...
ReplyDeleteKim Novak
Ramfis Trujillo
Helena Bonham Carter
I think if it were Doris Day Enty would have mentioned that she had a very wholesome reputation in the public eye. That would make it even crazier that Ms. D was so subversive
ReplyDeleteHelena looks so much like her mother, don't think it is her.
ReplyDeleteCatherine Zeta Jones looks like Olivia De Havilland. Despite her public image, she had an adventurous love life.
ReplyDeleteAnd Catherine Zeta Jones does look like young Olivia.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be it- the photos of them are wild when you compare them
ReplyDeleteOh- and Kim Novak was "Miss Deep Freeze" when she first moved to Hollywood (according to google)- because she was a freezer model- Ms. D.
ReplyDeleteNovak + Sammy - For the daughter...Angela Bassett was born in 1958 (but not foreign born)
ReplyDeleteDaughter born in '58 - Jennifer tilly?
ReplyDeleteRae Dawn Chong fits, if you ignore the famous parents.
ReplyDeleteJane seymour?
ReplyDeleteThandie Newton - Joan Collins/Sidney Poitier is interesting
ReplyDeleteCatherine Zeta Jones - Kim Novak/Sammie Davis, Jr.; don't see CZJ likeness to Davis exactly, but she does lie about her age by 11 years which would put her in the right pocket for this version - with her being born more like in 1958ish instead of the her imdb birthdate of 1969.
Thandie Newton? Was born around the time of SDJ's second wedding though, not first. Saw her picture in the photos of the day - 05/31 and she looks like Kim Novak. Raised overseas in England.
ReplyDeleteTrying to make Ms. B work for Thandie: from wikipedia, her first nominations were for two consecutive films, Besieged and Beloved.
ReplyDeleteCZJ lies about her age. She is 11 years older than she states. That would put her in the right range.
ReplyDeleteJulie Newmar
ReplyDeleteAngela lansbury
Foreign born, right year but does she look like either Novak or Davis?
ReplyDeleteMaria Conchita Alonso
It's most likely Rachel Ward, though I hadn't heard of her either.
ReplyDeleteMay Britt + Sammy Davis Jr = Thandie Newton
ReplyDelete??Carole Raphaelle Davis was born in London, England on February 17, 1958 to a French mother and an American father. ..??
ReplyDelete?? Catherine "Kate" Bush, CBE (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. ??
ReplyDeleteNovak and Davis began their affair after meeting at a party hosted by Tony Curtis. All the major Hollywood columnist's wrote about it. They applied for a marriage license in Aurora, IL but never filled it. Harry Cohn,the head of Columbia Studio's and her boss, found out and in January of 58, ordered a hit on Davis via the West Coast Mafia hitman Mickey Cohen. Cohen contacted Sinatra first, out of respect, then told Davis if he married a black woman within 48 hours the hit would be cancelled. Davis married an actress/dancer in a 2 minute ceremony on January 10th. The columnist's wrote about Novak's visible pregnancy, she then left Hollywood or England and was not seen again until the end of summer in '58, with no child, it was gossipped Tha she must have had am abortion. Harry Cohn died of a heart attack in February of '58 after finding out Novak was pregnant. So the approximate date for the child's birth would be late June or early July of 1958. The child is female, born in England and is a well known actress. My guess is Jennifer Saunders, birthday is July 6th 1958. Saunders has a strong resemblance to Novak, has mixed race curly hair, that she now straitens, now almost 60 she looks even more like Novak. Her stated father was a RAF officer and became a British Aerospace manager, the family moved constantly as a child. She has 3 daughters, 2 are actresses and 1 is a singer/songwriter/dancer.
ReplyDeleteHere's my guess, after doing a lot of reading and with the help of clues here.
ReplyDeleteMs D = Olivia D.H.
Mr V. = Errol Flynn who according to wikipedia moved to europe in the early 50s
Love child: Fanny Ardant born in France in 1949
ODH is very coy about EF in this video too.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Q8tphR2xw
she also sued one of the studios. = subversive back then. wonder who her female lovers were :)
ReplyDeleteshe's 90 in this interview. wow
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1fHzz5rl00
She looks like the winner. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0204316/mediaviewer/rm912206592
ReplyDeleteSabrina La Beauf?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is:
ReplyDeleteMs B is Catherine Zeta Jones
Ms D is Kim Novak
Mr V is Sammy Davis Jr
Novak was an A list movie star in the 50's as the top box office earner for the studios.
Davis was a highly popular and famous entertainer. They were in love and applied for a marriage licence but it was never filed.
Their union created quite a stir, tons of media coverage.
Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Film was connected to the mob and did not want this union to take place as he deemed it would ruin his meal ticket, "I mean Novak's career".
Davis was threatened by the mob to marry a black woman in 24 to 48 hours or else. Davis hastily married Loray White, January 1958, paid her $$$ for a 12 month contract for a sham union.
Its rumoured he continued to see Kim while legally married to White.
Catherine (Ms. B) a very well known actress was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Monarchy of the United Kingdom in 2010 for her film and charity work.
Catherine and Kim are both bi polar.
Its reported that Catherine is actually 11 years older then what her bio says, which would place her birth in 1958. She was born in September.
The rumour goes that when she and Michael Douglas visited the White House, a security background check revealed that she was 10 years older than claimed when he looked at her ID.
See Catherine as a child, she looks bi-racial.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/53/ce/08/53ce0816c58b37688c77495659bfb6ca.jpg
Its rumoured that Kim was with Davis at the hospital before he died (he was married to wife #3 at the time).
Wife #2 looked very similar to Novak.
Its reported that Davis always claimed that Novak was the love of his life right up to his death.
Novak is 84, diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and is not a big fan of Hollywood.
If this is true its sad for all parties involved.
I feel like you got it 100%
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret.
ReplyDeleteCheck out these images of all 3 parties:
Kim N:
http://www.meredy.com/meredysplacewallpaper/wpnovak01.jpg
Sammy D:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c4/1e/9a/c41e9aa9d070b8ff54fe222304812f62.jpg
Catherine ZJ:
http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/galleries/x701/Catherine-Zeta-Jones-72123.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/53/ce/08/53ce0816c58b37688c77495659bfb6ca.jpg
https://www.pkbaseline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Catherine-Zeta-Jones.jpg
Olivia DH - sued Warner bros and won
ReplyDeleteErrol Flynn - Google their "unrequited love a fair
CZJ- looks like BOTH of them.
Also... CZJ played Oliva on "Feuds". She sued FX. But not CZJ. We should have put the pieces together.
Ms. D - Doris Day
ReplyDeleteMr. V - Maury Will's
Ms. B - Thandie Newton
She looks just like Doris and Maury...