Nowhere else on Earth do people whisper as loudly as the do in Hollywood; here's some of the best examples of their brand of "hush-hush."
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Gossip. Dish. Rumor. Innuendo. By any name, inside information, whether true or false, is Tinseltown's coin of the realm. So much so that Hollywood often seems like a giant breeding ground for juicy, salacious rumors--a platinum-trimmed, palm tree-lined, BMW-and-beeper-clogged petri dish crawling with multiplying colonies of open secrets. No wonder--name any other company town outside Washington, D.C. packed with as many outsized personalities or as much money, power and out-of-bounds behavior. Here's a look at 50 of the juiciest Hollywood rumors of all time. Some have the ring of truth, some sound like pure hooey. Some have names attached. Some are still "blind items." Go ahead and test your powers of belief.
1. The American Gigolo and the Rodent. Throw a stick in Hollywood and you'll hit somebody who swears they personally know someone who was working at the major L.A. medical center that night in the late '80s when heartthrob Richard Gere required the ER staff to remove a gerbil from where the sun don't shine. The outlandish rumor has attained urban-legend status and become a comic staple of movies, TV and stand-up routines, even though it was confirmed Gere was in India on the evening of the supposed "event."
2. The Godfather: The Prequel. When Marlon Brando was young and about to become a sex icon in A Streetcar Named Desire, he roomed with nerdy comic actor Wally Cox (TV's "Mr. Peepers"). According to rumors, they were more than roomies, and photos still circulating today allege to capture Brando orally pleasuring Cox, who, anatomically speaking, was certainly no "Mr. Peepers."
3. The Secret Wedding. Nobody ever saw an invitation, but that didn't keep rumors from flying for months that openly gay billionaire David Geffen had, after lavishing fab gifts on youngster Keanu Reeves, married him. This nutso hoax cropped up after Reeves played a druggy gay hustler in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho if that helps you understand how false rumors get started.
4. Crème de la Crème. Of the many wacky tales to emanate from the set of that household name director's recent epic, here's our favorite: that Oscar-nominated actor wasn't fired for the usual "creative differences," but because he became so aroused in the midst of a sex scene that he ... well, let's just say he let his famous technique run amok.
5. House Party. It is a fact that in the '30s, screen sex gods Cary Grant (the romantic sophisticate) and Randolph Scott (the rugged, sexy outdoor star) shared a Santa Monica beach house. That bachelor pad arrangement sparked a rumor they were also longtime secret lovers. Publicity photos the two did at home seemed innocent in their day, when studio publicists got stars up to all kinds of photo ops, but today the shots are eyebrow raisers.
6. Super Mario. Mario Lanza's tenor voice made him a movie and recording giant in the '50s, and his over-the-top personality made him a great subject for dish. One story insists that when a mighty MGM producer rejected Lanza for a starring role, he drove to the producer's home and defecated on the front stairs.
7. The Ruthless Romancer. One of Hollywood's sex symbols is said to screw his coworkers, literally and figuratively, whenever it's advantageous to do so. Years ago he supposedly conducted a torrid romance with the female costar of the movie that made his name, and then coldly dumped her at the end of the picture. When he later landed a lead by seducing the male director (who'd promised the role to a lesser-known thesp), he quickly turned his attention to his hunky costar. At the wrap-party dinner for that film, he sat with his wife by his side and coldly ignored the guy.
8. Funny Girl. Porn fans once insisted that the large-nosed performer who appeared in a raunchy sex flick that first made the rounds in the 1970s was a young, hungry Barbra Streisand. Anyone who's viewed the grainy flick could tell you it wasn't Streisand, and Streisand's management long ago confirmed the tale was "totally fallacious."
9. The Wild Party. During a boozy party at San Francisco's Hotel St. Francis in 1921, obese comedy star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle raped 25-year-old starlet Virginia Rappe with a champagne bottle/a Coke bottle/a shard of ice, causing her death. Or did he crush her with his massive girth? So raged the rumors when the starlet died from a ruptured bladder. Arbuckle went through a trio of court trials that ended in his acquittal, but his career was extinguished and he died 12 years later a penniless drunkard.
10. Potty Training. In the '50s, this comedian was a king of TV comedy and a favorite in top nightclubs. Offstage, the family man is said to have paid working girls to relieve themselves on a glass-topped table while he lay underneath with his grateful face pressed to the glass.
11. Diva for a Day. It's an age-old scenario, but one case stands out because of the star involved. The gifted actress was not really a diva, but when, in the midst of her own dearly great performance in the now famous movie from the '80s, she began hearing of Oscar-talk about her costar, she was so threatened she quietly had that actress's performance cut down to size. The star won an Oscar; her costar, despite great reviews, didn't even get nominated.
12. Drop Kicked. When '20s MGM star William Haines suddenly dropped out of films it was rumored that much-feared MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer was responsible. The story goes that when Mayer commanded that Haines show up at a gala party sans his male partner, Haines told his employer the only way he'd do that was if Mayer didn't bring his wife. Haines was promptly dropped by MGM. Shunned by other studios, Haines's livelihood was revived by friends Joan Crawford and Carole Lombard, among others, who launched his successful interior-decorating career.
13. Nobody Wins. After the 1993 Oscars, many in Hollywood theorized that an off-in-the-stratosphere Jack Palance was merely repeating the last name on the alphabetical list of nominees instead of announcing the true winner when he called out Marisa Tomei as the Best Supporting Actress winner for My Cousin Vinny. That's how impossible it seemed that Tomei could have won over world-class fellow nominees Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave.
14. The Sweater Girl Unravels. The 1958 fatal stabbing of Johnny Stompanato, the gigolo lover of Lana Turner and the former bodyguard of gangster Mickey Cohen, sparked a firestorm of rumors. Although Turner's 14-year-old daughter Cheryl was exonerated after a lurid trial on the grounds of "justifiable homicide," rumors had it that Turner herself knifed the jealous and abusive thug.
15. Where's Poppa? When this A-list superstar and family man handpicked a young European beauty to costar with him, critics and audiences grooved to their screen chemistry. But when the actress emerged months later visibly pregnant, tongues wagged that the daddy was the good-looking star. If the rumor is true, it might explain why the actress never lets photographers snap a pic of the kid's face.
16. Tooting His Own Horn. Town talk has long had it that a certain greatly endowed, great-looking dude has such yogic dexterity that his very favorite form of nonprofessional performance is to orally pleasure himself while others, including girlfriends, watch in amazement
17. The Movie Star and the President. Speculation that Marilyn Monroe and President John F. Kennedy had a torrid affair has persisted so long it's often spoken of as simple fact. The two had plenty of opportunity, and there is that "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" performance on record, not to mention tales of wiretap recordings of trysts at JFK's brother-in-law Peter Lawford's beach house. But there's about as much chance of proving this as there is of proving there really was a gunman on the Grassy Knoll.
18. The Movie Star and the President's Brother. With JFK preoccupied with presidential concerns, stories have it, Marilyn sought comfort from Bobby Kennedy, the Attorney General, and when he blew her off it was the end of her.
19. The Movie Star and the CIA. If you believe the last two items, you're supposed to accept as a given that Marilyn was killed by the CIA for knowing too much about the Kennedy brothers. Her death was officially listed as suicide and she'd long been emotionally unstable, but that didn't slow the rumors--or stop the bad movies.
20. The Movie Star and the President II. By now the world knows that Bill Clinton has strayed here and there from monogamy, but can it be true that early in his presidency, he wanted so badly to be compared to JFK that he hounded a certain sexy superstar to appear at his nationally televised birthday celebration and croon, in the manner of Marilyn Monroe, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President ..."?
21. Jack and Jessica. Rumors circulated during the production of 1981's The Postman Always Rings Twice to the effect that when Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange were shooting the sex-on-the-kitchen-table sequence, things got very steamy. Eye-popping outtakes were said to be a hot item on the Beverly Hills underground screening circuit for years afterward. We've never seen them. Have you?
22. Indecent Proposal. The persistent rumor that's dogged a long-married, glamorous household-name couple for years claims that studio bosses paid her $5-million to lend him heterosexual credibility by marrying and raising kids with him--with yearly bonuses so long as he remained box-office attraction worth protecting. The longevity of the rumor has more to do with the very real tradition of studio-arranged marriages (for such stars as Barbara Stanwyck and Rock Hudson) than with any evidence that this particular union is less than the real thing.
23. The Big Change. The much-repeated tale goes that when this second generation star was born she was hermaphroditic, and that her parents chose to have her surgically altered to be exclusively a girl. The story is so prevalent it's been openly discussed on radio and the Internet with names attached.
24. Superman. The perennial rumor about just who reigns as Hollywood's most prodigiously endowed guy constantly changes. Among the contemporary names widely mentioned are David Duchovny, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, James Woods, Michael Bay, Dolph Lundgren, Andy Dick, Peter Weller, Norman Reedus, Eric Lutes, Chris Isaak, Carl Weathers, John Schneider and Ed Begley Jr.
25. The Screen Sex Queen Who Would Be King. During the '30s, it was rumored that one of the box-office sex queens of the day was actually a man by birth. Post-mortem examinations of screen legends Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Mae West, the most-mentioned suspects, proved that none of them was the cross-dressing icon.
26. Hair Apparent. Hair rumors are perennial favorites, especially the ones about desperate cover-ups. The latest tale, which has long been proven false, has Bruce Willis getting costly digital effects to fill in the gap on his dome.
27. Leading Lady. Accolades follow this star's every career move, but so too do rumors that, on every film, she calculatedly seduces her leading man--not for sexual pleasure, mind you, but to gain power over him.
28. My Latest Protégé. Tongues wagged all over town when this hit-making, very married filmmaker became mentor to a boyishly good-looking fledgling director. More tongues wagged when the established talent dropped the mentoree. Half the gossip said it was because he realized the romantic feelings he'd developed for his protege. The other half said it was because the kid turned out a bunch of so-so movies.
29. Don't Drink The Water. Rising star Sharon Stone was so disliked by coworkers on the back-to-back shoots for King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold in Africa that one day before she arrived on the set for a scene that required her to immerse herself in a water barrel, members of the crew peed in it. This is one of the few rumors you can rest assured is true--Stone herself confirmed it in Movieline.
30. Disney on Ice. According to a sacred urban legend, Walt Disney was, at the time of his death in 1966, cryogenically frozen and placed beneath the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland, awaiting medical/scientific breakthroughs that would restore him to life. Saner sources suggest that Disney was cremated at Forest Lawn cemetery.
31. When You Wish Upon a Star. Those who knew this salty beauty thought her an odd choice to star in wholesome Disney flicks in the '60s. Sure enough, if you believe the story, Uncle Walt discovered her making out with another young actress in a seldom-used office and banished her forever from the lot.
32. Chopper One. One recent delicious rumor claims that a certain tall, blonde, sexy drink of water has false upper teeth that she removes on special occasions, rendering herself especially adept at giving oral pleasure.
33. What's the "It" This "It" Girl's Got? This hot contemporary rumor claims that one of Hollywood's now girls is secretly agonized by a mother who's a boozer and a father who's a self-centered screamer given to belittling her.
34. "Gypsy" Love. Loud-mouthed, brassy Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann purportedly carried on a volatile love affair with louder-mouthed, brassier Broadway legend Ethel Merman (later the inspiration for a monstrous character in Valley of the Dolls).
35. The Closet Case. One of Hollywood's favorite current rumors recounts how a certain very married, long-in-the-tooth Oscar-winning master thespian spent quality time in a bathroom at last springs Academy Awards with a curvaceous, young Oscar-winning actress.
36. The King of the Movies. When Clark Gable made a smash sensation out of a disregarded little comedy called It Happened One Night, the irony was complicated by the rumor that he was forced to make the low-budget movie to repay the studio for hushing-up the ugly the ugly fact that he'd struck and killed another driver and fled the scene.
37. The King of the Movies II. What's the real reason George Cukor was fired from Gone With the Wind? The gay filmmaker knew, gossip said, that when Gable was a struggling young actor, he allowed studio executives, including a close friend of Cukor's, to sexually service him in exchange for career advancement.
38. Death of a Living Legend. Ever since Bruce Lee's death, which Hong Kong authorities attributed to an allergic reaction to a painkiller, stories have claimed he was either a) targeted by the secret Kung Fu society called the Black Hand, or b) the victim of a brain hemorrhage suffered while shooting an action scene.
39. Eve's Ribs. Everyone wondered what had gone on when this Oscar winner reemerged from a screen absence looking like a stacked sex goddess. She swore it was diet and exercise, but rumors said she'd undergone head-to-toe cosmetic surgery that included removal of some of her ribs to make her waist tiny.
40. The Man Who Fell to Earth. George Reeves, TV's Superman, purportedly came to believe he could fly and leapt out a window to his death. Actually, he was found dead from a self-inflicted bullet wound at his apartment and had been despondent over his failure to reactivate his movie career after his cape-and-tights act ended.
41. Like Father, Like Son. Armageddon director Michael Bay is rumored to be the illegitimate son of The Manchurian Candidate and Ronin director John Frankenheimer, which Bay won't confirm or deny.
42. Dazed and Confused. One of America's beloved A-list superstars has long been rumored to be a big honking pot addict.
43. Hooked. A hot bit of dish has it that one beautiful, well-respected and happily married movie star was briefly a high-ticket Vegas call girl years ago when her career hit lean times.
44. Puppy Love. This actress copped a well-deserved Oscar nomination when she toiled for a multi-Oscar-winning director with a reputation for wildly eccentric, unpredictable behavior. But their love/hate relationship sparked world-class rumors, too. Weirdest of all is the tale of how the actress returned late to her trailer only to find the director having sex with her dog. Woof.
45. The Roman Conquest. Who was the underage girl Roman Polanski had sex with at Jack Nicholson's house in the 1977 incident that sent him permanently back to Europe? Two well-known actresses, Justine Bateman and Valerie Bertinelli, dodged that rumor for years. Then a 34-year-old mother of three publicly stated she was the victim.
46. These Two. People have been talking since the '80s about the two actresses who, while costarring in a movie, had a rocky love affair. When a third star got involved, a vicious catfight erupted. Whatever actually happened, one of the actresses nipped her then-promising career in the bud, and the other has never had another romantic relationship of any consequence.
47. Sweet Baby James. Fifties screen sensation James Dean was supposedly so into having his male sex partners treat him rough that he even enjoyed having his beautiful flesh singed with lighted cigarettes.
48. The True Adventures of Robin Hood. Errol Flynn, the screen's studly, ravishing swashbuckler of the '30s and '40s, was accused by biographer Charles Higham of spying for the Nazis during World War II.
49. The "It" Girl and the Football Team. Box-office giant and original "It" girl of the silent screen Clara Bow's career was damaged, around 1930, by tales that she had such a healthy sexual appetite, she occasionally took on the entire University of Southern California football team, including the "Thundering Herd"'s young tackle, John Wayne. Her most recent biographer trashed the rumor.
50. Come Up and See Me Sometime. Sex queen Mae West supposedly kept her skin baby soft by frequent applications of protein-rich semen, supplied by her stable of muscle men.
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