“What kind of person is a star?” The question, asked here by Screen Stars (April 1964), was a constant in the midcentury fan magazines. Were Hollywood stars “normal people? Just like you and me?” the article asked. Or were they, as Jane Wilkie wrote in her memoir, Confessions of an Ex-Fan Magazine Writer (1981), “a race apart because they are part gypsy, part child and, almost without exception, exhibit varying degrees of insanity”?
Ordinary or extraordinary? Normal or abnormal? Like the rest of us, or not so much? Read enough fan mags and you’ll find the answer: All of the above, often simultaneously. The Hollywood dream factory needed fans to consider their stars special, anointed, in a firmament of their own — and yet somehow, at the same time, relatable, achievable. After all, what drove fandom above all else was not the desire to have but the desire to be. So, on the one hand, the studios emphasized the perks and the glamour, to the point that, as writer Bill Davidson (The Real and the Unreal, 1961) noted, they sometimes issued edicts “such as a recent one from Warner Brothers, which said, in effect, ‘From now on you will do no stories showing the home lives of our stars in kitchens, taking care of children, watering the lawn, shopping in supermarkets. Your stories will show our stars leading glamorous and exciting lives, not as simple homebodies just like everyone else.’”
Of course, along with the glamour shots the fan mags are filled with the kids, the kitchens — and the pets. Few things made stars more relatable than their beloved creatures. Dogs and cats populated the gossip columns in tandem with their humans: “Irene Dunn’s cocker spaniel deserves nomination for the canine heights of something-or-other. He chewed up her ration book — all except the [less valuable] red points!” (Hedda Hopper, Motion Picture, May 1945). “Tuesday Weld takes her giant snow-white Shepherd dog everywhere; he sits beside her in her car, he’s on the sound stage and even goes on locations” (Hedda again, in Motion Picture, Aug 1961). “When Peter Sellers married 23 year old Miranda Quarry, stepdaughter of the second Baron Mancroft of London, her bridesmaids were her two dogs” (Cal York, Photoplay, Dec 1970). “In the James Masons’ split-up, wife Pamela got custody of their 10 cats” (Fred D. Brown, Movieland and TV Time, April 1963).
Sometimes the creatures were a bit more exotic: “Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee’s hamster gave birth to two offspring. Sandy swore the ‘little rats’ had to go! So Bobby called me frantically and asked if I would dispose of them. I took them straight to Mike Landon’s hacienda where I discovered several other ‘new’ arrivals — a monkey, cat, fish pond and a snake curled up in the guitar box” (Rona Barrett, Motion Picture, Aug 1961). “Jayne Mansfield says her pet chimp, Sam, is much better, thanks to the clever diagnosis of a vet. He told her Sam needed a wife!” (Steve Williams, Movie Mirror, Aug 1961). According to “Hotline from Hollywood” (TV Radio Movie Guide, July 1964), Mansfield even “took her Manx cat to a nightclub, and let the feline run wild.” Another big cat merited a photo in Cal York’s gossip column (Photoplay, Apr 1965), with caption: “This man’s best friend is his lion. He’s the new Tarzan — Mike Henry, a former football player. Friend answers to ‘Major.’” And rounding out the exotics category, “Dale Evans will welcome any suggestions as to how she can stunt the growth of an alligator. The baby Sabrina which her soldier brother sent her from the South Pacific is outgrowing its welcome — and the outdoor fish pond” (Hedda Hopper, Motion Picture, May 1945).
The four-legged — and, occasionally, feathered — friends made it into feature articles as well. An early profile of newcomer Lauren Bacall (Motion Picture, May 1945), noted, “She was wearing a tan slack suit, and as she sat in a large armchair, with her feet on its seat and her knees as high as her head, eating her breakfast of coffee and waffles, she looked more like a college girl than a movie actress. Beside her, waiting for food, was Droopy, a cocker spaniel whose owner says he has the most beautiful face in the world. (Humphrey Bogart, please take notice.) If hunks of waffle were not dropped often enough, Droopy barked, and several times in his enthusiasm almost upset a vase filled with dark-red roses.” A feature introducing Gisele MacKenzie, one of the breakout stars of television’s “Your Hit Parade” (TV Radio Mirror, Jan 1956) included photos of her dogs, Brunhilde and Wolfgang von Bagel, named, according to MacKenzie, “‘because they look like straightened-out bagels.’” The article describes the pair as “Gisele’s constant companions”; they “often accompany her to Hit Parade rehearsals” and will “keep her from being lonely until that ‘tree-like’ man appears.”
Pet mishaps were a popular topic. Photoplay (Nov 1946), for example, reported this story: “Turning the pages of a fashion magazine, Barbara Stanwyck spied a hat that instantly held her interest. What makes this unusual is that Barbara doesn’t like hats, never buys or wears one. Even in pictures Barbara tries to avoid wearing hats. Well, she fell so hard for this chapeau she secretly sent for it and, waiting until the moment arrived to wear it, she told husband Bob Taylor to be prepared for a surprise. Tenderly placing the hat on a chair in the dressing room she went to the bedroom to pat her hair in place and when she returned, there lay the beloved hat on the floor, a tattered wreck. From behind the chair the Stanwyck pooch peeped out guiltily. ‘Where’s the surprise?’ Bob asked a few minutes later. ‘I’m not wearing a hat and don’t look so confused,’ Barbara said. ‘I almost wore one.’ Bob still looked stumped an hour later.”
An animal story could work wonders to soften the image of a prickly star. Connie Stevens, for example, had a run of publicity that highlighted her power struggles with Warner Bros. and her (supposed) feuds with everyone from Debbie Reynolds to Troy Donahue. But then came this poignant item about a devastating phone call she received on set: “The call told her that her best friend had died. For the last few years, Connie had lived with three companions, all canines. A bruiser of a dog of unknown origin, a small Shetland collie, and the favored Nui, Connie’s Yorkshire terrier. Coming home after a hard day of shooting, Connie was always greeted by her pups. And while she loved all three, Nui was undisputedly her special dog, her special pal. Now he was dead. Connie once said, ‘I hope all my dogs will go to heaven. If they could, I wouldn’t mind dying nearly so much’” (Movie Life, Dec 1962).
Sometimes the pets themselves were the story. Movie Life seemed particularly fond of pet photo essays: “Dogs in Their Lives” (Nov 1949) featured photos of Lucy and Desi, Edmund O’Brien and his wife, child star Margaret O’Brien and others, all doting on their pups. And in a four-page cover spread, “Hollywood Pet Show” (Jan 1950), “the real bosses of stars’ households go on parade — animal aristocrats whose success has left them unspoiled and regular as the pup next-door.” The pets on parade included dogs, of course, kittens, a parakeet — and a rooster.
Image credits for initial photo collage, clockwise from upper left: (1) Rita Moreno with unnamed cat, Photoplay Sep 1956; (2) Joan Crawford with her dog Cliquot and (3) Shirley Temple with Rags, both from “Hollywood Pet Show,” Movie Life June 1950; (4) Tab Hunter with his dog, Screen Album May-July 1960; (5) Gregory Peck with Perry, Photoplay Aug 1946; (6) Gisele MacKenzie with Brunhilde and Wolfgang von Bagel, TV Radio Mirror Jan 1956.
Image credits for second photo collage, clockwise from upper left: (1) Mike Henry with Major, Photoplay Apr 1965; (2) David Niven and his wife with poodles Baba and Suzu in their swimming pool, from “Hollywood Pet Show,” Movie Life Jan 1950; (3) Shirley Jones with her two dogs, Screen Stories Aug 1962; (4) Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with their dachshund, from “Dogs in Their Lives,” Movie Life Nov 1949.
Image credits for third photo collage: left, Sandy and Bobby with their dog, Screen Stories March 1961; Connie Stevens with her two surviving dogs, Movie Life Dec 1962.
Were any of the Hollywood stars into horses?
Tab Hunter was seriously into horses; he’s the main one who comes to mind. And Dale Robertson, who wanted to be a rancher more than he wanted to be an actor. I’m sure there were others; I’ll start paying more attention. Many, many midcentury stars could ride — it was often a job requirement. Then again, Troy Donahue got into a bit of trouble for doing his own riding in Susan Slade, because it was a dangerous shot and the studios didn’t want to risk their star investment.