One of the best - or worst - things about the internet is that urban legends - including those about Hollywood - that used to be transferred by some mysterious osmosis can be circulated quickly and endlessly. They can also be changed, debated and sometimes debunked, though no amount of evidence can change some people's views. However, the large number of satirical sites wherein the "information" is not intended to be taken seriously means there are even more possibilities for nonsense to spread.
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The "real" legends are those that are spread by word of mouth, or via books such as Kenneth Anger's entertaining but often dubious Hollywood Babylon, or through reputable publications or websites. It doesn't necessarily make them true, of course.
We all like gossip, relish the feeling that we have "insider" knowledge, and maybe there is sometimes an element of looking for clay feet on icons.
How do these stories come about? Sometimes they're jokes that got out of hand, or gossip or pranks (malicious or otherwise) that get taken as gospel, or tall tales told by celebrities for a bit of fun that have a shred of truth but get heavily embellished. And sometimes church groups get in a tizzy over something that may or may not be true.
Often stories' details are muddled, exist in multiple versions, vague as to the sources or seem too good to be true - all signs that they are probably legends.
It might be the one about that movie star who allegedly did something gross with a rodent. Or that [insert celebrity name here] is or was gay or lesbian or bisexual or kinky. Did James Dean like having cigarettes stubbed out on him and thus earn him the nickname "The Human Ashtray"? Did director Stanley Kubrick fake the 1969 moon landing? Was Marisa Tomei given an Oscar for best supporting actress in My Cousin Vinny by mistake when Jack Palance read out the wrong name at the Academy Awards? The answer to all these is no.
One story - definitely untrue - was that (closeted) actors Jim (Gomer Pyle) Nabors and Rock Hudson got married in the early 1970s and the latter changed his name to Rock Pyle. It came from a joke invitation by a group of gay men to a party but the rumours that the marriage took place (despite being legally impossible) kept circulating for a long time. Hudson ended his friendship with Nabors over it, saying they couldn't be seen together any more.
One funny story exists in different forms. Star Loretta Young did, apparently, keep a swear jar on set with different small sums for different swear words - 10 cents for "hell" and so forth. But the best part seems to be, alas, untrue: that one fed-up co-star snapped, "Here's 10 bucks, Loretta. Now f--- off!"
Then there are the stories about the male stars who are, um, particularly well endowed. You can probably find evidence on the internet if you're so inclined.
Some rumours do get confirmed as true. You have to start somewhere as an actor, and for some it is allegedly porn. While a couple of Oscar-winning female stars' participation in such projects is fuzzy, Sylvester Stallone, desperate for money, did indeed star in a 1970 porn movie called The Party at Kitty and Stud's (guess which role he played). After he became famous it was reissued as Italian Stallion.
When the Disney animated film The Rescuers was released in the US on VHS, sharp-eyed viewers saw - and confirmed with the pause button - in one scene, a couple of glimpses of a topless woman in a window. This was real - Disney said the photos had been inserted at some stage during production and recalled the millions of videos (how many were returned is unknown). But thanks to the internet, the images can still be seen. Walt Disney would have been horrified.
But what would he make of the urban legend about him that claims after after his death in 1966 he was cryonically frozen (his body was, in fact, cremated)? It's a story that, uh, refuses to die.
Then there's the supposed S-E-X formed in the sky during one scene of the original film of The Lion King. Or is it S-F-X, the special effects team giving themselves a nod?
The story that the marriage celebrant in The Little Mermaid was, um, aroused, during the ceremony isn't true (it's his knobby knee) and a tower on the film's poster was not, apparently, deliberately phallic.
A recent rumour concerns a supposed "butthole" cut of the musical Cats with some CGI views of cats' front and back nether regions that had to be removed. According to a story in Vanity Fair, a technician said that during production there appeared to be some (unintended) shots where the way the "fur" fell resembled the front and back bits. A crew member was assigned to remove the offending imagery. Not that this was anywhere near the misbegotten movie's worst problem.
One story that persists despite being demonstrably untrue is that one of the Munchkin actors in The Wizard of Oz hanged himself from a tree in the background on camera during the We're Off to See the Wizard number with Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man (while Oz has its share of continuity errors and other mistakes, it's impossible to believe a dead person hanging on the set would not have been noticed).
Another version is that a crew member was accidentally caught in the shot (which does happen). Viewed at higher quality resolution it is pretty obvious the "Munchkin" (or crew member) was simply a large bird moving its wings.
Old or new, true or false, these stories and new ones will continue to circulate, online and by word of mouth, part of the fascination we have with show business.
