Old Hollywood - a writer's snapshot of Hollywood and stardom

We've all (well, some of us anyway) seen old Hollywood films of many different genres. Stardom began with becoming famous, and if you were female, being sexualized in front of a camera. The sexualized role of women both has, and hasn't, changed in today's movie business (based on what movies and directors you watch), but Hollywood itself has changed.

First I need to clarify that the 'golden age' of Hollywood is what I mean when I say 'old Hollywood'. This was 1915 to 1963. This includes the silent movies and "talkies" of any genre. The term "t
alkies" was used when sound in movies first became possible, and many actors had to get with the change or find another career. In that time period film provided an escape from reality (mostly an escape from the reality of the great depression and several wars)  and people fixated on entertainment.

Because of the focus on entertainment actors and actresses got the spotlight and lots of money, as well as scandal, large homes, and parties. This is probably the origin of celebrity status and tabloids. If you look up "old Hollywood" on google you'll find no end to the scandal references. Every move they made was public.

Being an actor/actress in the golden age

From here on I'm going to focus on the lives of a few hand-picked, well-known people and how they lived. I could talk about gender differences in film, but I'd be writing forever, so I'm saving that for another time. That subject may be touched on here and there, but the next blog will explore it far more.

Marilyn Monroe is sexualized to the max in every film I've seen her in. She is known for her body and her hair color. She was a very good actress, and like some actresses and actors today, she died young (36) of an overdose and had several husbands. Those husbands included Jimmy Dougherty, Joe Dimaggio, and Arthur Miller. She had a rough childhood, to say the least, and was in the foster system. Her real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson.

John Wayne is a name anyone who watches Encore Westerns knows well. He's known mostly for western genre films and being a masculine, tough hero with a good heart.  He battled lung cancer, survived, then died of stomach cancer. He's nicknamed the "duke" because that was the name of his dog and he spent so much time with that dog. Unlike Marilyn, he had a nice childhood. His real name was Marion Robert Morrison. 

These two famous people are just two examples of the golden age of Hollywood lifestyles. I didn't go into detail, but I can do a complete blog on anyone, so comment if you want to see that. 

In summary, celebrity status has not changed, but the way films are produced has. Television ended this era because nobody wanted to go to theatres as much, especially when you can see the film from your living room. Celebrity lifestyle, as crazy as this sounds, hasn't changed much based on looking at the stars of the golden age. They still have big homes, money, several marriages, and parties. 

As always, comment what you want to read about and God bless!

John wayne picture - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne

Marilyn Monroe picture - https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/suite-marilyn-monroe-lived-us-smile/story?id=60752810

Main picture -  https://www.tes.com/lessons/N1nShoeX7__Zzg/the-golden-age-of-hollywood

www.biography.com

http://www.american-historama.org/1929-1945-depression-ww2-era/golden-age-of-hollywood.htm