In this article, we’ll listing the net worth of the richest classic actors, who amessed a fortune during their fulfilling and rewarded careers.
Keep reading to find out much their wealth would be in today’s financial climate ? according to their net worth at the time of their death, this is what their wealth would be in 2023 numbers.
Greta Garbo – $90 million
Net Worth At The Time Of Death: $32 million.
Net Worth Adjusted To Today’s Inflation: $90 million.
At the time of her death on April 15, 1990 at age 84, Garbo had a net worth of $32 million.
Swedish-American actress Greta Garbo was an international movie star, and an icon during the 1920s and 1930s. Starring in famous films such as “Grand Hotel” and “Anna Karenina.”
Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, she was nominated three times for an Academy Award for best actress.
Garbo starred in both silent films and talkies, her enigmatic beauty and powerful on-screen presence made her one of the most successful and on-demand leading actresses of her time.
Her immense talent and international fame made her a huge asset to MGM studios.
By the 1930s, her immense success allowed her to dictate the terms of her contracts and her salary with MGM studios and she became increasingly selective about her roles.
Her last film was the 1941 film Two Faced Woman, she retired from acting at the age of 35 after staring in a total of 28 films.
She decided to never return to screen even declined all offers, stepped away from the public’s eye, and led a private life as an art collector.
The actress refused to reveal the reason why she decided to retire at a young age, even to her freinds. But four years before she died, she told Swedish biographer Sven Broman: “I was tired of Hollywood. I did not like my work. There were many days when I had to force myself to go to the studio … I really wanted to live another life.”
Audrey Hepburn – $100 million
Net Worth At The Time Of Death: $55 million.
Net Worth Adjusted To Today’s Inflation: $100 million.
The original fashionova, a hollywod legend whose grace and elegence made her an immortial icon in both the entertainment and the Fashion world.
She sparked fashion trends over the decades, and many classic films that are still remembered today, including “Roman Holiday”, “Funny Face” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
When you think of the glamor, elegence, and the immense talent that characterized the golden age of hollywood, you think of Audrey Hepburn. The icon had it all, she was a dancer( ballerina), a singer, actor, and a fashion legend.
She received dozens of award nominations, including an Oscar and two Golden Globes.
Her performance in the romantic comedy film Roman Holiday (1953) alongside Gregory Peck shot her to stardom and made her the first actress to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for a single performance.
In addition to winning awards for her on-screen performances, the actress also won awards for her on stage performances, including a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine in 1953.
She was ranked as the third greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List.
Her last performance was in the 1990 documentary television series Gardens of the world with Audrey Hepburn when she was 61 years old, which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement.
In her final years she dedicated her life to working with UNICEF, between 1988 and 1992, she worked in Africa, South America, and Asia.
She died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland, on Jannuary 20, 1993 at the age of 63.
Cary Grant – $130 million
Net Worth At The Time Of Death: $60 million.
Net Worth Adjusted To Today’s Inflation: $130 million.
named the second greatest male star of the Golden Age Of Hollywood by the American Film Institute in 1999. The hearthrob leading man died on November 29, 1986 at the age of 82.
Handsome and charismatic, the actor captivated the hearts of many woman on and off screen in films like like “An Affair to Remember” and “Bringing Up Baby”.
The British-American actor had 74 films under his belt at the time of his death, including classics like : The Philadelphia Story, North by Northwest, and Charade.
He was nominated twice for the Academy Award, and was honored with an Academy Honorary Award in 1970, and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Grant became close to the famous director Alfred Hitchcock, who casted him in four films including his most rememberable, North by Northwest in 1959.
At the time of his death he had a net worth of $60 million, that fortune had nearly doubled with inflanation.
In addition to being a successful actor he was also a successful businessman who made a lot of investments throughout his career.
Even when retired from film acting in 1966 at the age of 62, he pursued other business interests, like representing cosmetics firm Fabergé and sitting on the board of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
George Randolph Scott – $220 million
Net Worth At The Time Of Death: $100 million.
Net Worth Adjusted To Today’s Inflation: $220 million.
Eventhough he appeared in a variety of genre, he was more memorable and successful for his western movies. He appeared in over 100 film, over 60 of those were Westerns.
George Randolph Scott is best known for his image as western hero, due to his incroyable physic, charistma, and good looks.
During the early 1950s, Scott was a consistent box-office draw. He rapidly became one of Hollywood’s top ten box office draws in western movies. He starred in many western classics such as ; “Go West, Young Man” and “Follow the Fleet.”
His career spanned over 40 years from 1928 to 1962. Adding to that a savvy financial investments, you’ve got a very rich actor.
Randolph Scott died on March 2, 1987 at the age of 89. At the time of his death he had a net worth of $100 million which equivalent to $220 million in today’s money.
Randolph was a very successful investor too, he had his hands on everything from real state, oil, gaz, to stocks. A skill that he devoloped while working as an accountant at his father’s firm at an early age.
Charlie Chaplin – $400 million
Net Worth At The Time Of Death: $100 million.
Net Worth Adjusted To Today’s Inflation: $400 million.
A perfectionist, a legend, an icon, a comedic genius, art revolutionist, visionary, charlie chaplin has been giving every honorably title you can think of. His fame and legacy has survived almost 12 decades and counting, even today’s youth recongnize him and even the kids still dress like him in Halloween.
An English comedian, actor, filmmaker, and composer, Chaplin rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon because of his screen persona that he created, The Tramp.
Chaplin literally run the silent film and was a household names during a career that spanned more than 75 years.
Talk about talent, the perfectionist wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films.
In addition to all of this Chaplin was also a smart businessman who collected a significant fortune during his career.
Chaplin continued working well throughout his seventies, he was re-editing and scoring his old films for re-release, along with securing their ownership and distribution rights.
The Comedic genius died in his sleep in his home in Switzerland in the early morning of Christmas Day in 1977, at the age of 88.
At the time of his death Charlie had an estimated net worth of at least a $100 million, that’s the same as around $400 million in today’s dollars.
His fortune is a testomony of his incroyable career that spanned over 75 years, creating over 80 films including Classics like “The Kid,” “The Gold Rush,” and “City Lights.”
He his the true meaning of the word international, his ability to overcome language barriers and connect with audiences from all over the world made him a universal star, and a very rich one too.
]]>It was a different time then, not like today with the paparazzi and social media, nothing is a secret anymore.
With that being said, there were scandalous affairs in the old Hollywood between A-list stars, that turned into a world phenomene.
From Eddie Fisher And Elizabeth Taylor to Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kenned, these are the 5 most scandalous affairs that shook the entertainment industrie during the golde age of Hollywood.
1/ EDDIE FISHER AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR
Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher’s affair in the 1950s was one of biggest scandals in Hollywood history.
Their relationship started when Fisher was still married to Taylor’s best friend, Debbie Reynolds, and had two children.
It all started when Taylor’s third husband and Fisher best friend, Mike Todd died in a plane crash in 1958. To support her through this sad time, Fisher moved in with Taylor.
One month later, however, Fisher left his wife and kids for Taylor. And a year later in 1959, they got married.
Neither to say, The world was stunned. Both Taylor and Fisher’s image was destroyed by the public. Fisher was labeled as an opportunistic loser, and Elizabeth as a home-wrecking sl*t.
Debbie Reynolds on the other hand, was labelled as the sweet, innocent, trusting victim. And was globally embraced with love and sympathy.
However, just five years later Taylor divorced Fisher for her Cleopatra co-star Richard Burton. They were married in 1964.
2/ INGRID BERGMAN AND ROBERTO ROSSELLINI
Their love affair began in the 40s with a letter that Ingrid Bergman, who was married at the time to Petter Lindstrom and have one child with him, send to the director.
The letter read; “I saw your films Open City and Paisan, and enjoyed them very much. If you need a Swedish actress who speaks English very well, who has not forgotten her German, who is not very understandable in French, and who in Italian knows only “ti amo,” I am ready to come and make a film with you.”
And because of this letter, he decided to work with her in the film, Stromboli. Their relationship started growing when they were trying to secure funds for the film.
They even went as far as travelling together throughout Italy prior to the shooting against Bergman husband’s wishes.
While shooting the film, their affair started to become public. Rossellini didn’t really care if the two of them were seen together in public or not. He not only didn’t attempt to hide the affair, he was happy to be photographed with her being intimate.
He was photographed holding her hand, sitting on his lab, even giving statements to the press regarding Bergman’s broken marriage.
After the affair became public, Bergman begged Lindström for a divorce and contact with their daughter Pia, but he refused.
Towards the end of shooting the film, Bergman became pregnant with Rossellini’s child. In the same month Stromboli was released, she gave birth to a boy, Renato Roberto Ranaldo Giusto Giuseppe (“Robin”) Rossellini.
A week after her son was born she divorced Lindström, and married Rossellini in 1950. the pair had another two children together-a twin- before divorcing in 1957.
The affair became front-page news, and it was all over the American airwaves. In consequences, Bergman was cast off by the American film Industry after she was denounced in the media as “evil.”
She couldn’t find a job in the industry for more than seven years. After winning her second Academy Award in 1957 for Anastasia, she famously said, “I’ve gone from saint to whore and back to saint again, all in one lifetime.”
3/ FRANK SINATRA AND AVA GARDNER
Frank Sinatra was known for his affairs, he even got arrested once in 1938 on charges of adultery.
Sinatra married Nancy Barbato in 1939 and they had three children together. But in 1948, he began publicly dating Ava Gardner while he was still married. In the 50s, The scandal became a legendary affair when the entire world found out about them.
The scandal came with a price, Gardner’s image and career suffered, she was labeled everywhere as a home-wrecker and gold digger.
Sinatra’s career on the other hand suffered the most, his shows got effected, he lost his recording contract, and even his voice was failing.
He eventually divorced his wife, Nancy, and married Ava in 1951. Their marriage, however, was short lived. The singer was unfaithful to Gardner throughout their marriage.
Eventually, After a few public arguments, jealousy outburst, and two abortions later, their union ended in 1953. The divorce was finally finalized in 1957.
4/ HUMPHREY BOGART AND LAUREN BACALL
You might know these couple as One of Hollywood’s greatest love stories, but their union began as a marital affair.
Humphrey Bogart met Lauren Bacall while filming To Have and Have Not in 1944. He was 44 and married to actress Mayo Methot at the time, and she was only 19.
Bogart was smiting with the young actress right away, but it wasn’t the same for Bacall. it was his patience with her as a new actor that caught her attention. Their off-screen chemistry was so strong, that writers made changes in the script, so it will show on-screen.
When their director Howard Hawks found out about their relationship, he reportedly tried to end it by threatening to destroy Bacall’s career.
Despite his strong feelings for Bacall, Bogart didn’t want to give up on his struggling marriage and wanted to wtry to work it out. His wife, Methot, however, was battling alcoholism, and after a failed trip to rehab, the couple split for good.
The divorce was finally divorced in 1945. And Bogart and Bacall married despite their 25-year age gap. the couple stayed married Bogart died in 1957.
5/ Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy
There are several conflicting suggestions as to when they first entered each other’s life. But the majority of the biographers believe that the actual affair began in March 1962, at Bing Crosby’s Palm Springs house.
Rumors about Monroe’s alleged affair with JFK really started to spread after her sultry “Happy Birthday” performance for the commander-in-chief at his 45th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962.
That famous performance was just months before the film star’s death.
It was also rumoured that Monroe had an affair with JFK’s brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
“What happened to Marilyn Monroe is one of the great mysteries of the 20th century,” her biographer James Spada told PEOPLE in 2012.
Although Spada knew that there is no proof that the Kennedys were responsible for Monroe’s death, he said, “It was pretty clear that Marilyn had had sexual relations with both Bobby and Jack.”
According to him, actor Peter Lawford introduced Monroe to JFK in 1954. But when Kennedy got tired of her around the spring of 1962, he passed her off to his brother.
There were witnesses who claim to have heard a disturbing tape from the bugged Monroe home the night of her death, where they’ve heard voices of Lawford, an angry Bobby and a screaming Monroe are audible.
White photographer took this rare picture of Monroe and the Kennedies after the birthday performance during a party at the home of movie executive Arthur Krim. Stoughton kept it a secret for decades before releasing it in 2010.
In J. Randy Taraborrelli new biography “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret,” he noted that in April 1962, Jackie Kennedy received a phone call to her bedroom from Monroe while at the family’s Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, residence.
Jackie recongnized her voice instintly, The actress, asked her “Is this Jackie?” , before asking her to pass a message to her husband that she has called.
That phone call wich happened just four months before Monroe’s death left Jackie with a lot of quaestions.
While talking to family memebers about the phone call, Jackie decribed Monroe’s voice as “sad” and “ethereal, little-girl-lost quality.”
According to to “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret,” it remains a mystery how Monroe even obtained the number, because the bedroom’s phone line was the only one in the house not intercepted by the Secret Service.
It was just one month after the phone call that Monroe performed her famous “Happy Birthday” to JFK.
]]>The Golden Age of Hollywood was ruled by five studios, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), RKO, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures.
MGM was the biggest and the most successful of the five major studios and often reigned as the box office king throughout the 1930s.
Led by movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, MGM created a successful ‘star making system’ producing logends like : Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Gene Kelly, and the list goes on.
These stars were the money making machine. At the hight of the sudio MGM had 16-18 pictures shooting at the same time. This also meant the studio fully controlled his stars both on and off-screen.
Behind the scenes, however, the glamorous stars were living lifes that were anything but impeccable. And it was down to real-life fixer MGM’s general manager Eddie Mannix to clean up their mess, and keep it from going public.
And to do that MGM’s owned doctors, reporters, police force and lawyers, who were often on the scene of a crime or scandal before the Los Angeles police were even informed.
which meant that the studio could spin a story whichever way they wanted to make the scandalous stories disappear.
Clark Gable allged murder cover up
Mannix became a close friend to the megastar Clark Gable due to the number of times he got him out of trouble.
In 1933 Gable was reported to have run over and killed actress Tosca Roulien, and it is alleged that Mannix paid MGM screenwriter John Huston to take the blame.
Luckily, Huston was never charged due to lack of evidence.
Loretta Young had to Adopte Her Own Child
The successful, beautiful, and Academy award winning actress Loretta Young had a secret to hide.
In 1934, while shooting The Call Of The Wild, the actor Clarke Gable allegedly se**xually assaulted his co-star Loretta Young, and got her pregnant.
To prevent a scandal and protect the then married Gable’s image, MGM’s fixer Mannix helped Loretta to ‘adopt’ her own daughter publicly before her second birthday.
After she finished shooting The Call of the Wild in 1935, Young disappeared from view. When she returned to public life 18 months later, she announced that she adpted a daughter named Judy, which was actually her own.
Young refused to abort the child due to her strict Catholic religion. With the help of MGM’s fixer Mannix the secret was kept from everyone, including her daughter, for 31 years.
The truth finaly came out in a memoir published after Young’s death.
Joan Crawford’s pre-fame adult film
MGM’s biggest stars Joan Crawford, was known to be ruthless in her pursuit of stardom. And that lead to winning an Oscar, receiving two other Oscar nomination, and several other awards.
Her blind ambition also made her constantly surrounded by rumours and scandal, but Nothing was more scandalous than the pornographic film Joan starred in at the begining of her career.
She is said to have starred in a film called Velvet Lips. Crawford’s first husband, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., confirmed that she was blackmailed for it, even receiving threatening calls when they were on their honeymoon.
Even her own brother was selling copies of the film to the highest bidders.
When a copie of the film was sent to the studio, the company’s lawyer denied that the woman in the film was Crawford. And the work to barry the whole thing began.
Mannix allegedly tracked down and destroyed every last copy, and paid $100,000 of the studio’s money to buy the original negative.
George Reeves death, sui**cide or murder for hire.
The actor was best known for his role in the 1950s hit TV series ‘Adventures of Superman’. He was found dead in 1959 at his home with a gunshot wound to the head. The official cause of death was sui**cide by shooting himself in the head.
However, there were rumours going around saying that Mannix allegedly ordered a hit on Reeves when he found out that the actor was having an affair with his wife, Toni. This rumour was never confirmed or dismissed.
This mystery surrounding Reeves’ death made it to the big screen in 2006’s ‘Hollywoodland’ where Ben Affleck played Reeves.
Paul Bern’s death mystery
In 1932 Director Paul Bern married the studio’s biggest star blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow. The catch was he was alrealy married, he had a wife in New York.
One night, Bern’s neighbours heard a man and woman arguing. They heard a sound of breaking glass and then a gunshot.
Bern was found dead in his bathroom with a bullet through his head. Mannix arrived first and knew instantly what had happened. Bern’s first wife came to town, they met and ended up arguing, which lead to her killing him.
The scandal would have ruined the studio and the studio’s gold star Jean Harlow. So with the help of the police (who were on Mannix’s payroll) they staged the murder as a sui**cide.
No one suspected or even questionned his ex-wife, who days later took her own life.
Patricia Douglas Was Ra**ped
In 1937, Patricia Douglas was a wannabe star and one of the studio’s young actresses. At 20 years old, she answered a casting call from the studio requesting her to show up for an audition at the studio lot on 5 May.
When she arrived, she and several other girls, were given a very short cowgirl outfits, boots, and a full makeup and hair makeover. And were promised a hot meal and payement of $7.50 for a day’s work.
Unknown to her, the “audition” was a party thrown by Louis B. Mayer for MGM’s sales executives. And she was hired as a female element at a private party.
The party lasted for days, and in that time around 120 young women were bused in to “entertain” approximately 300 drunken executives at a remote ranch. With no means of transport or telephones.
Douglas was a naive small town girl, a virgin from Kansas City, Missouri, who had big dream of making it big in Hollywood.
The night sadly ended with Douglas allegedly being brutally ra**ped. she refused to be bought off, she tried to take legal action against MGM salesman David Ross. The studio went into damage-control mode, by hiring the Pinkerton Detective Agency to dif up dirt on the actress.
When they couldn’t find any, the studio allegedly paid for statements from the other guests saying Patricia was a promiscuous woman who had a sexually transmitted disease, and she was “uncontrollably drunk” at the party.
At the time of the rape trial, no lawyers turned up. And the judge was forced to dismiss the case.
Douglas’s character was publicly destroyed, and her raper got away with it.
Jean Harlow Was Forced to marry her third husband
The original blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow had a tumultuous personal life. She married her first husband when she was only 15 years old, and divorced a few years later.
Her second husband was killed in a gunshot accident, their were speculation that she was the one who killed him.
When the studio found out that she was having an affair with a married boxer. They had to keep the scandal from going public, by forcing her to marry cinematographer Harold Rosson. However, the marriage was only a show, and they quietly divorced a few months later when the scandal was forgotten.
Tallulah Bankhead Had Multiple Abortions
The beautiful Actress was as famous inside Hollywood for her sexual activity as she was for her beauty around the rest of the world. At one point, she was said to have had 185 notches on her bedpost and she hadn’t finished counting.
Knowing that the studios would not have tolerated a pregnancy out of wedlock, Bankhead had four abortions by age 30.
But she wasn’t the only one. The studios had established protocols for situations like this, they booked the actresses into hospitals under false names for vague procedures. They were attended only by their own doctors, and visitors were strictly prohibited.
Actually, Bankhead was one of the few regular visitors to the hospital.
Her promiscuity was legendary. She had multiple affairs with both man and woman, she welcomed visitors to her house naked, and even flashed an audience during a play, just to count a few.
Even though she was very popular among man, no one wanted to marry her. She even accepted a man’s proposal once just because “he’s the only one who ever asked me.” Needless to say, the marriage didn’t last.
Bankhead is said to have regretted her abortions later in life when she found herself unable to have children due to a hysterectomy performed after she contracted gonorrhea.
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We are remembering 15 classic hollywood actors who tragically died way too young. It’s so sad to see a life ended too soon, a career that could have been, but tragically cut short.
1/ KARYN KUPCINET , 22
(1941-1963)
Age : 22 years old.
Cause Of Death : Murder.
Kupcinet had a brief acting career during the early 1960s, known for The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Gertrude Berg Show (1961) and G.E. True (1962).
Six days after the assassination of Joh F.Kennedy, her body was found at her home in West Hollywood (she was found nude lying on the couch).
Coroner concluded that due to the fracture of the hyoid bone in Kupcinet’s throat, she had been strangled.
Her death was officially ruled a homicide (still unsolved).
2/ JAMES DEAN, 24
(1931-1955)
Age : 24 years old.
Cause of death : car accident.
James Dean redefined what it meant to be ‘cool’ on screen. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement.
As expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (in 1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark.
Dean died in a car accident on September 30, 1955, in California, when it was involved in a head-on collision with another car.
3/ PEG ENTWISTLE, 24
(1908 – 1932)
Age : 24 years old.
Cause of death : sui**cide.
Peg Entwistle was a British stage and screen actress who found success working on Broadway in New York. But the one film she acted in, Thirteen Women, wasn’t released until after her death.
Entwistle gained notoriety after she jumped to her death from the “H” on the Hollywoodland sign in September 1932.
She left a sui**cide note in her purse which read :
I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain.
The cause of death was listed by the coroner as “multiple fractures of the pelvis.”
4/ OLIVE THOMAS , 25
(1894-1920)
Age : 25 years old.
Cause of death : Poisoning.
The silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. She went on to star in more than twenty films over the course of her four-year film career.
In September of 1920, thomas and her husband actor Jack Pickford traveled to Paris for a second honeymoon.
After a night spent partying at the bistros in the Montparnasse Quarter, they returned to the Hotel tired and intoxicated.
Thomas entered the bathroom, and accidentally ingested the mercury bichloride which was prescribed to her husband for syphillis.
The label on the bottle was in French, and she may have mistook the medicine for something else in her compromised state.
After drinking the liquid she screamed, “Oh, my God!” and Pickford rushed to assist her. She was taken to the Hospital where she died five days later, her death was ruled accidental.
5/ SHARON TATE, 26
(1943-1969)
Age : 26 years old.
Cause of death : murder.
During her prime, the 26-year-old was a burgeoning star in the industry, Sadly, all of the promise was for naught in the end.
The American actress was one of serial killer and cult leader Charles Manson’s victims.
On August 9, 1969, Tate was found dead in the home she shared with husband director Roman Polanski.
she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant and was murdered alongside four other friends.
The three main people who actually committed the Tate murders, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Tex Watson, were all sentenced to death.(none of them were executed).
Manson spent 40 years in prison before his death in 2017.
6/ JEAN HARLOW , 26
(1911-1937)
Age : 26
Cause of death : Kidney Failure.
Jean Harlow was Known for her portrayal of “bad girl” characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema.
A number of somewhat bizarre and physical ailments had sidelined Harlow from acting. Unfortunately, her condition got worse due to several misdiagnosis which led to her passing in 1937.
In the doctor’s press releases, the cause of death was given as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure.
7/ THELMA TODD , 29
(1906-1935)
Age : 29 Years Old.
Cause of death : Poisoning.
Silent film star Thelma Todd—nicknamed “Hot Toddy” and “The Ice Cream Blonde”—appeared in about 120 feature films and shorts throughout her nine-year career.
Slapstick comedy was her forte, as she often starred alongside Wheeler and Woolsey, Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers.
Todd owned a restaurant with her lover film director Roland West and his wife Jewel Carmen, called Sidewalk Café in Los Angeles, California. The three of them also lived in the same duplex above the restaurant.
On the morning of December 16th, 1935, Todd was found dead in her car, parked in West’s garage. The garage was closed and the car was running. She had a broken nose, two cracked ribs, and bruises around her throat.
The coroner determined Todd died of carbon monoxide poisoning. And the case was declared as “accidental with possible suicide tendencies”.
No charges have ever been laid regarding Todd’s 1935 death.
8/ CAROLE LANDIS , 29
(1919-1948)
Age : 29 Years Old.
cause of death : Sui**cide.
Actress and singer Carole Landis was known as “The Ping Girl” and “The Chest” because of her curvy figure. Her breakout role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C. from United Artists.
Landis began a relationship with actor Rex Harrison, who was then married to actress Lilli Palmer. And The affair became an open secret in Hollywood.
Landis was reportedly crushed when Harrison refused to divorce his wife for her; unable to cope any longer, she committed sui**cide in her home by taking an overdose of Seconal.
Harrison was the last person to see her alive, having had dinner with her the night before she died.
According to some sources, Landis left two sui**cide notes, one for her mother and the second for Harrison, who instructed his lawyers to destroy it.
9/ VIRGINIA RAPPE, 30
(1891 – 1921)
Age : 30.
Cause of death : ruptured bladder.
Model and silent film star Virginia Rappe died in 1921, after attending a party with actor Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.
The 26-year-old was invited to the party at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco, when she suffered a “trauma” and was taken to hospital.
Four days later, Rappe died from a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis.
Witnesses at the party claimed Rappe was subject to a violent assault by Arbuckle, while others claim the actress died from complications associated with a venereal disease.
After three manslaughter trials, Arbuckle was acquitted in 1922 of Rappe’s murder.
10/ CAROLE LOMBARD, 33
(1908-1942)
Age : 33 Years Old.
Cause of death : Plane Crash.
Actress Carole Lombard was particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies.
In the early morning hours of January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother and Winkler boarded a plane to return to California from Indiana.
The plane crashed in las vegas and All 22 aboard, including Lombard, her mother, and 15 U.S. Army soldiers, were killed instantly.
11/ JAYNE MANSFIELD , 34
(1933-1967)
Age : 34 Years Old.
Cause of death : Car Crash.
One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, She was the first major American actress to appear nude in a motion picture.
In 1967, Mansfield was involved in a deadly car crash. Her three young children in the back seat survived with minor injuries.
One of those kids turned out to be actress Mariska Hargitay.
12/ MARILYN MONROE , 36
(1926-1962)
Age : 36 years old.
Cause of death : Drug Overdose.
Marilyn Monroe remains as one of the biggest sex symbols over the last 100 years. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million by the time of her death in 1962.
Her interests also included being involved in high-profile relationships (Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, John F. Kennedy).
On August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died in her Brentwood home due to a drug overdose.
Her housekeeper and psychiatrist discovered Monroe naked in bed with an empty bottle of sleeping pills nearby.
13/ LUPE VELEZ, 36
(1908- 1944)
Age : 36 years old.
Cause of death : sui**cide.
The Mexican-born actress was pregnant when she committed sui**cide in 1944, by downing sleeping pills and brandy.
In her sui**cide note adressed to her then married lover Harald Ramond , she said she would rather die with her baby than suffer the shame of raising him as an illegitimate child.
14/ SAL MINEO , 37
(1939-1976)
Age : 37 years old.
Cause of death : murder.
Actor Salvatore Mineo Jr. was best known for his role as John “Plato” Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy award for best supporting actor at age 17.
After parking his car in the carport below his West Hollywood apartment, he was stabbed in the heart by a mugger. He died immediately.
Lionel Ray Williams, a young pizza delivery man with a long criminal record, was convicted and sentenced to 57 years in prison for killing Mineo.
Williams was paroled in 1990 after serving 12 years.
15/ BARBARA PAYTON , 39
(1927-1967)
Age : 39 years old.
Cause of death : Heart Failure.