They were both A-list during their peak of popularity. One of the most famous screen teams of all times, appearing in a string of musicals that were big money makers for their studio. There’s a small contingent of fans who insist that they were romantically involved as well and that they continued their clandestine affair all through their later marriages right up until one half of the team’s passing away. All of that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, they fought behind the scenes over something or another but they were also very good friends. He was in the closet for the entirety of his career, and she was bisexual but preferred men. There was that one time where the male half of the duo got busted in a bathhouse raid and not only did the studio pay off the authorities to keep it out of the gossip columns, but the female half of the duo paid for his bail. Then there’s the matter of her longtime husband, which will be discussed soon. To be continued..
Rogers and Astaire?
ReplyDeleteJeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy? I think that was a PR relationship.
ReplyDeleteVan Johnson and Esther Williams and hubby Fernando Lamas?
ReplyDeleteProlly Fred and Ginger, tho
ReplyDeleteGene Kelly and Rita Hayworth?
ReplyDeleteI think they are permanent A list and that's also why I didn't use Gene Kelly and Cyd Charrisse.
ReplyDelete+1 Fred and Ginger, it just seems so obviouus
ReplyDeleteThe only other big partnership I can think of is Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse
Also, Ginger Rogers' longest marriage was 8 years, not sure if that is "longtime"
ReplyDeleteCyd was married to Tony Martin for 60 years
NM, I think this is Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Ginger Rogers never was married for more than 8 years, Jeannette was married for 28 years, from 1937 until her death.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was Judy Garland and Donald O'Connor.
ReplyDeleteBacall and Bogart
ReplyDeleteOn board with Jeannette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. Had 8 musicals together, definitely a "string", and her husband was Gene Raymond---rumored to be bisexual.
ReplyDeleteA good friendship is worth a hundred boinks.
ReplyDeletechange to +1 McDonald/Eddy it says musicals, not "dancers"
ReplyDeleteJeannette McDonald's husband had numerous affairs with men,including being arrested and allegedly beat her.
ReplyDeleteJeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
ReplyDeletehttps://maceddy.com/biography/biography-3/
Definitely not Fred and Ginger.
ReplyDeleteThey dated briefly when they were both very young Broadway hoofers, but by the time they got to Hollywood they were work colleagues only - Fred had a very jealous wife, which is why they almost never kiss in their movies. (I believe that there is just one kiss in all the films they did together, and it is one of their last movies.)
Ginger went through five husbands, and said later that her greatest regret in life was not trying hard enough to make it work with husband #1.
Definitely McDonald/Eddy. My mother was such a fan I know more than I should about these two, lol
ReplyDelete"Nelson Eddy was seen in gay bath houses in NYC" (Darwin Porter, "The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart, page 87)
ReplyDeletehttps://books.google.it/books?redir_esc=y&id=1zLFxp3EncMC&q=Eddy+was+seen+in+gay+bath#v=snippet&q=Eddy%20was%20seen%20in%20gay%20bath&f=false
I vote for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Ginger was a lifelong Christian Scientist and was married FIVE TIMES. Holy smokes. She did not have children from what I could Google. She seems a bit mannish looking in photographs. Both Fred and Ginger are odd looking but divine dancing together.
ReplyDeleteJust read the blind again- refers to the female's "longtime husband" so definitely not Ginger!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Jeanette MacDonald (married to Gene Raymond, who will be the subject of the next blind) and Nelson Eddy.
ReplyDeleteOk, Im sold on the Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy guess, and look forward to part two!
ReplyDeletekatherine hepburn and spencer tracy
ReplyDeleteNot Bogart and Bacall as they were married to each other. Not Hepburn and Tracy because she wasn't not married to any one during their relationship.
ReplyDeleteDuring WW2 David Niven - very much against Sam Goldwyn's wishes - rushed off back to Blighty to jion up to fight the Nazis. He had been a professional soldier, a lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry, in the 30s before resigning his commission after being caught screwing a superior officers wife and moving to America.
ReplyDeleteHe had, like Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart, a 'good' war, meaning he was right in the fight with the enemy, not cosseted behind the lines in some PR or admin role.
By Christmas 1944 he was working in military intelligence as a liason between Montgomery's British 8th Army HQ and the nearby US 12th Army, who were then frantically heroically holding out against the German onslaught in the Ardennes at the battle of the Bulge.
He had a US driver (who told this story to Niven's biographer nearly half a century later) and Jeep and had to shuttle back and forth between the HQs much of the time behind German lines.
He and his driver were stopped by a US patrol. SS troops masquerading as GIs had been used at the start of the battle so the US patrol was very wary of someone in a US jeep wearing an unfamiliar uniform.
According to the driver the GIs pretty roughly made them both lie face down in the road and started plying them with questions of the sort used to find out where they were from.
"Who won the world series in 1938?" Niven - whose only sporting love was cricket - was asked.
"I have absolutely no idea," he replied, "as I spent most of that summer fucking Ginger Rogers."
A few autographs later and they were back on their way.
Definitely Astaire. And Gene Kelley was a friend of Dorothy, also.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.
ReplyDeleteit says A- at their peak. that is NOT fred and ginger. and she doesn't fit anyway. gene kelly is permanent A also. i like sandy's guess best. van johnson fits and so does esther williams.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great story Flashy Vic, I always liked Niven, read a couple of books he wrote and he sounded so hilariously witty and awesome and have seen some of his films too--such an interesting guy!
ReplyDeleteFrankie Avalon / Annette Funicello - Beach Party Series
ReplyDeleteLove that story, Flashy! Always enjoyed David Niven and his suave insouciance.
ReplyDeleteBacall and Bogart...Tracy and Hepburn weren't known for musicals.
ReplyDeleteHow about Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney?
ReplyDeleteLol. I thought it was Judy and Mickey too. But married 8x with that last evil wife and her scummy son
DeleteThis is Doris Day and Rock Hudson. She was bi and he was gay. I think they were very sympathetic towards each other as neither could come out of the closet in those days! They seemed to have on-screen chemistry too, which is always a big plus.
ReplyDeleteVan Johnson and June Allyson??
ReplyDeleteThis is Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Today is Doris Day's 97th Birthday.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Hepburn too, Squirrel
ReplyDeleteSnuggz Bear, Ginger was not odd looking, she was gorgeous in her teens to mid 30's but did not age well due to the type 1 diabetes she was diagnosed with at 22 and refused to ever treat with insulin, she had multiple strokes and died wheelchair bound, barely able to talk and almost blind because of it, she is a classic case of what happens re untreated type 1 diabetes.
ReplyDelete@ Sandy.....do you mean Arlene Dahl, Esther Williams wasn't married to Lamas.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ginger her marriages probably didn't work because she spent 30years of her life hooking up with Walt Disney on and off, divorce and marriage was never a part of that picture but she kept going back.
Regarding Esther Williams, possibly, she was engaged to Jeff Chandler but his need to cross dress to get sexual satisfaction, as she wrote in her biography, pretty much killed that relationship. Not Van Johnson , everyone in Hollywood loved Van because he was always such a sweety, he never had a bad word to say about anyone, let alone argue with his co-stars. There was the Keenan Wynn bust up but that had to do with how Keenan abused his wife, who Van later married.
Not Rock Hudson because i don't think he could be called 'in the closet his entire career', he was 'out' towards the last few years.
I think this is Jeannette and Raymond, odd how much Gene looked like Nelson Eddy.
Oops!....sorry Sandy , Esther was indeed married to Lamas amongst her 4 or 5 husbands.
ReplyDeleteActually it was Jeanette's husband that was caught in the bathhouse.
ReplyDeleteDoris Day and Rock Huson.
ReplyDeleteDoris and Rock were not a musical team. Come on, folks, read the blind.
ReplyDeleteJeannette's husband was busted 3 times for homosexual activity.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nndb.com/people/886/000042760/
Not sure if Nelson was ever picked up but books I've read stated he was bi.
It was Jeanette MacDonalds who paid a 1,000 bail money for her husband not. Nelson Eddy.She also was pregnant by Nelson Eddy and had a miscarriage, but he did not believe her because she had told Mayer and he told her to get rid of it.She was very upset and had heart problems,that led to losing the baby but headlines said she was hospitalized for ear problem.They broke up and he got another opera singer pregnant,that is when she married the homosexual,he wasn't bi.She said she realized on her honeymoon,they would never have children.My mom loved them and knew much about hollywood behind the scenes.
ReplyDelete