15 Wild Wikipedia Pages About Old Hollywood Actors, Movies, And Scandals

The on-set rivalry between Veronica Lake and Fredric March was WILD.

We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the most fascinating Wikipedia pages about Old Hollywood. Here are the ones that'll keep you entertained for days.

Warning: Some submissions include topics of sexual assault and suicide.

1. Bobby Driscoll

Wikipedia / Fair Use / en.wikipedia.org / Disney

Bobby Driscoll was a Juvenile Academy Award winner who voiced Peter Pan and served as the model for the character. He made over $50,000 a year as a teenager but spent most of it on drugs. He died penniless, unclaimed, and unidentified in an abandoned apartment building in New York City at the age of 31.

Because no one could claim his body, he was buried in an unmarked grave. It wasn't until over a year later that his mother (and everyone else) discovered what actually happened to him, thanks to a fingerprint match from the police station. This heartbreaking Wikipedia page recounts all of those events.

—cocopa

2. Hollywood Blacklist

ABC / youtube.com

In the late '40s and '50s, there was basically a witch hunt against anyone in the industry who may have been associated with the Communist Party. There were actual investigations, and a guilty verdict (or simply refusing to take part in the trials) meant that the movie studio would terminate your contract, and your career would be over. Playwright Lillian Hellman, who had contributed to a number of screenplays before she appeared on the blacklist, did not work for a studio again until the 1960s.

Some writers, like Dalton Trumbo, wrote screenplays under pseudonyms. Other people, like director Jules Dassin, moved to Europe and never came back. More heartbreakingly, some people even killed themselves. This Wikipedia page goes into detail about how everything unfolded, who didn't back down, and what happened after Hollywood changed its ways.

—Nora Dominick

3. Harold Russell

RKO Radio Pictures / The Academy / youtube.com / oscars.org

Harold Russell was a nonprofessional actor who lost both of his hands in World War II. He played a soldier returning from war in the 1946 drama The Best Years of Our Lives and became the first and only actor to receive two Oscars for the same performance. He's also the only performer to ever sell his Academy Award. His Wikipedia page does a deep dive into how all of that happened, and it's truly fascinating.

—Spencer Althouse

4. I Married a Witch

United Artists

I Married a Witch was a 1942 rom-com that starred Veronica Lake and Fredric March, but the best part of its Wikipedia page actually focuses on the behind-the-scenes rivalry between its two stars. March called Lake a "brainless little blonde sexpot, void of any acting ability" during preproduction, so Lake called him a "pompous poseur." The situation got even more heated while filming, so Lake hid a 40-pound weight under her dress during a scene when March had to carry her. Truly iconic.

—sabrinaslaughter

5. Hedy Lamarr

Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org / MGM

Hedy Lamarr was the ultimate Hollywood bombshell. She starred in 30 movies and was even the inspiration for Snow White and Cat Woman, but her contributions outside of the film industry are what make her so special. Lamarr helped develop a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes at the beginning of World War II. That technology basically led to the inventions of Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi, so, yeah, she's an iconic badass. You can check out her Wikipedia page and the documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story to see just how smart and influential she was.

—sethaaronk

6. Peg Entwistle

Wikipedia / Creative Commons / en.wikipedia.org, Wikipedia / Public Domain / James Zeruk, Jr. / en.wikipedia.org

If you've watched Netflix's new series Hollywood, then you've definitely heard about Peg Entwistle. She was a moderately successful stage actor who appeared on Broadway (she's even the reason Bette Davis wanted to become an actor), but her transition to film was extremely difficult.

Entwistle got a role alongside Humphrey Bogart and Irene Dunn in the movie Thirteen Women, but she was ultimately let go from her RKO contract. Because of this, she climbed atop the giant "H" of the iconic Hollywood sign and leaped to her death. This Wikipedia page details the events that led to her suicide, along with her impact on pop culture.

—tessafahey

7. The Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Scandal

Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org, Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was one of the world's most famous silent film stars. He successfully transitioned into talkies, making him one of the highest-paid actors in the business, but he quickly became the headline of Hollywood's first real scandal. Arbuckle was accused of raping Virginia Rappe while at a party, and she died the following day from a ruptured bladder. This engrossing Wikipedia page recounts all of the events at the party, what happened at the three trials that took place after Rappe's death, and how it all affected Arbuckle's career.

—sp00kt

8. Cary Grant

Wikipedia / Modern Screen / Dell Publications / en.wikipedia.org, Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org

Think of Cary Grant as the Old Hollywood version of George Clooney, only your mom and grandma had crushes on him. He was the ultimate leading man, starred in several Hitchcock films, received an honorary Oscar, and was nominated for a few others. However, Grant's personal life is what makes this Wikipedia page so interesting.

Grant experimented with LSD over 100 times to "feel better about himself and get rid of all his inner turmoil stemming from his childhood and failed relationships" (Debbie Reynolds even enlisted Grant's help when her daughter, Carrie Fisher, started doing drugs). And, most famously, there were gay rumors involving Grant and fellow actor Randolph Scott, whom he lived with for the better part of 12 years. If you want to learn more about this legend, you have to read it for yourself!

—bunnyday

9. The Wizard of Oz

MGM

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is one of the world's most beloved films, but most people don't know what happened behind the scenes. Practically everything that could have gone wrong during production did go wrong: There were dozens of on-set injuries, near-death experiences, absolutely horrific treatment of cast members, and enough drama to last a lifetime. This Wikipedia page details all of it, so get reading.

—google_112706733778149358688

10. Clara Bow

Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org

Clara Bow was the original It girl of Hollywood, a box office queen, and a gigantic sex symbol of the '20s. However, her personal life was far from perfect. Bow's mother tried to kill her with a butcher's knife when Bow was 16, and the attack resulted in severe mental health issues that lasted decades. Bow was even diagnosed with schizophrenia in her mid-forties (though she rejected this claim) and largely secluded herself in a bungalow until her death at age 60.

—laurenw4dae2ffe1

11. Tallulah Bankhead

Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org, MGM / Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org

Tallulah Bankhead was an all-around knockout, finding success in the theater, movies, radio, and television. She grew up in the South within an extremely political family (some of whom even held office) and wasn't afraid to be vocal about things like civil rights. She described herself as "ambisextrous" and had romantic relationships with men and women (including, allegedly, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Hattie McDaniel). Her Wikipedia page addresses all of this, including her struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction.

—Bagel

12. Judy Garland

MGM, NBC / youtube.com

You might think that you already know about Judy Garland's life, but you'd be wrong. This truly heartbreaking Wikipedia page gives an in-depth look at her early days in vaudeville as Frances Ethel Gumm, her torturous treatment while under contract with MGM, her attempt to shed that girl-next-door image, and the lasting effects of superstardom on her mental, physical, and emotional health.

—yaaasgawd

13. List of Academy Award Records

Columbia Pictures / United Artists

If you're a history buff, movie fan, or bar trivia nerd, then this will quickly become your new favorite Wikipedia page. It includes hundreds of Academy Award records, everything from the youngest nominee for an acting award (Justin Henry for Kramer vs. Kramer, age 8), the shortest Oscar speech (Patty Duke simply said "Thank you" upon winning Best Supporting Actress in 1963), and the first and only X-rated film to win Best Picture (1969's Midnight Cowboy).

—Kayla Yandoli

14. Rita Hayworth

Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures / A. L. Schafer / Wikipedia / Public Domain / en.wikipedia.org

Rita Hayworth, born Margarita Carmen Cansino, was one of the top box office attractions in the '40s. She was the first of six women to dance with both Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire on film, and the second of her five marriages was to Orson Welles.

Hayworth later broke her contract with Columbia Pictures and sailed to France to be with Prince Aly Khan, which was especially scandalous because technically, she was still married to Welles at the time. She and Khan eventually married, making Hayworth the first Hollywood actor to become a princess. Her full Wikipedia page is absolutely wild, ending with her death from Alzheimer's complications in 1987, which helped bring awareness and funding to the then–relatively unknown disease.

—Bagel

15. And Hattie McDaniel

youtube.com

Hattie McDaniel was the first black person to be nominated for an Oscar. She won Best Supporting Actress for her work in 1939's Gone With the Wind, even though the hotel that hosted the ceremony in its nightclub had a strict "no black people" policy and almost didn't even let her inside.

McDaniel's Oscar was bequeathed to Howard University after her death, but no one actually knows its whereabouts anymore. One theory claims the Oscar was thrown into the Potomac River in the '60s by a civil rights protester; another says the Oscar was stashed away in a random filing box on campus, which has yet to be uncovered; and another insists that Howard University never received the Oscar in the first place. I guess you'll have to read the Wikipedia page to draw your own conclusion.

—alim48134f1e5