Jamie Lee Curtis also has the whole “are you a genetic male or female” thing that Unca Cecil covered in a column.
Patty Duke has always insisted that John Astin is her son Sean’s biological father, and never had DNA tests done. Sean himself insisted on the tests, probably in view of the Lucille Ball inheritance. The DNA tests proved Tell was the father, but Duke still denies it.
Maybe this doesn’t count because he apparently didn’t know himself, but I believe Jack Nicholson didn’t find out until he was an adult that the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother. She became pregnant at an early age and Nicholson’s grandmother subsequently pretended he was her son instead.
Charo apparently managed to do something I didn’t think was possible; she had her birthdate legally changed.
THANK YOU!!! I cobbled that from vague memories of the Rolling Stones article a few years back & if I recall correctly (I have the mag somewhere but darned if I can dig it out now) his full name was Howard Stanton Levey (the middle name being the source of the “Anton”).
And I am trying to recall… was Diane the mother of Zeena?
and what’s up with her?!? (Zeena, I mean- I saw her on video years ago with Nikolas Schreck being interviewed by Bob Larson.)
This is also true of Ted Bundy. His "parents’ were really his grandparents, and his sister “Louise” was actually his mother.
Yes, Diane is Zeena’s mom. And I have no idea what’s up with Zeena. The relationship is through my father’s family and I haven’t had any contact with anyone from that side of the family in 21 years. When I was a kid, Anton was at the height of his celebrity and most of my knowledge of him is from hearing adults at family functions talk about his goings-on. Somewhere on the web is a page that Zeena put together that debunks her father’s entire life, but I’m not looking for it this minute. You should be able to find it easily.
Add to the list of formerly closeted gay stars:
Van Johnson
While he was intially marketed as the desire of teen girls everywhere, he was living quite comfortably as a queer (as they were known back then. Now, too, I guess).
My Dad (you know that story) told me about this years ago while we were watching some old war film of his. Go For Broke! I think. Dear old Dad told me about how all his bi/gay military buddies used to laugh at the persona he showed in public appearances, while they had “partied” with him themselves.
I’m not really sure that he counts as being closeted, tho, since he didn’t hide it, the studio did.
When Prince was big on the scene in the early 80s, he told the press that he was biracial: his mom white and his father black. Recently, Prince revealed that this was a lie to protect the identity of mother, who is black (albeit very light-skinned).
This isn’t a lie, exactly, but Mark Lenard was born Lenard Rosensen and gave his birthdate as 1927 when it was really 1924.
I thought he was wicked young to be a paratrooper during WWII, but he really wasn’t!
Fascinating actor with I believe the most beautiful voice ever to issue from a human being. Even if his age was 72 instead of 68 when he died, it was way too early 
It’s also true of the singer Bobby Darrin.
Ugh…why do people do this? I remember Douglas Adams telling the UL about the punk at the train station eating his cookies and then when he got up to catch his train he picked up his newspaper and there was HIS package of cookies. He was terribly bad at telling it and by the time he was finished Dave was like “yes, yes…that’s nice.” I would’ve expected Douglas Adams to have an actual interesting story about his real life to tell - or at the very least make up something original!
W.C. Fields told so many lies about his life that it took a long time for the truth to surface. The author of the biography, “The Man on the Flying Trapeze,” gained access not only to Fields’ papers, but to his scrapbooks, where he methodically kept track of his appearances, clippings, etc.
Fields liked to tell that he was thrown out of the house at an early age, lived on the streets and left Philadelphia as soon as he could. He actually grew up in more comfortably circumstances (lower middle class) and got along with his parents. He didn’t stash money in hundreds of accounts around the world. He had several mistresses throughout his life, one of whom bore him a son, which he refused to acknowledge even privately.
Well, since you twisted my arm…
**Pregnancies
Documented Facts:**
In 1991, Madonna concieved a child with model/actor Tony Ward. She was in love with him and decided to have the child. A few weeks later, serious defects were detected in the fetus, coupled with complications in the pregnancy. Dr. Randy Harris, an OB at Cedars-Sinai who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, advised that she terminate the pregnancy. She thought about it for 3 days, then agreed.
Her publicist denied that she was ever pregnant. A reporter impersonating a health care worker was able to get Madonna to discuss the pregnancy in question with him directly (Andersen, 1992. Victor, 2001. Morton, 2001). BUSTED!
In November of 1997, Madonna told boyfriend Andy Bird that she was pregnant. She later terminated the pregnancy. Her publicist denied the whole can of worms, although Andy tells a different story.
In December of 1999, Madonna concieved again, this time with director Guy Ritchie. The pregnancy was detected in February and in March, Matt Lauer asked Madonna point-blank on the Today Show, “Are you pregnant?” She said, point-blank, “No.”
A week later, this happened. No one will ever believe her again, not after a blatant fiasco like that.
Rumours and anecdotal evidence:
I have a source inside Camp Madonna who tells me that she was actually pregnant when all of these rumours were flying (and being denied). She had a miscarriage.
**Drug Use:
Documented Facts:**
It is a common litany among Madonna’s fans that she is anti-drug. She has said things like; “I don’t need drugs to feel high,” and “I like to keep it real.”
In a 1994 interview with Spin magazine, Madonna discussed the effect taking X had on her mood. In a 1998 interview with Q magazine, she talked about the kind of high she got from Ketamine.
Rumours and anecdotal evidence:
Both of my Sources have seen Madonna take “club” drugs while out with friends. She was spotted snorting coke in now-defunct Twilo. One of my Sources has seen her overdose.
So now you have the dirt. Satisfied?
And, IIRC, Eric Clapton.
Just to interject here –
If I had a name like “Paul Georg Julius Hernreid Ritter von Wassel-Waldingau” I would insist that I be addressed as such at all times. Such a collection of syllables marching across the page must be appreciated for its awesome majesty. As my IRL name consists of 2 four-letter words, I must say I’m a little jealous. That is all.
On the other hand (regarding the first post on Madonna), while she was comfortably white middle class, living in far western Avon or else Pontiac township, her neighborhood was close enough to various mixed (Anglo-Mexican) neighborhoods that she probably had friends from there by junior high and could easily have been familiar with the territory. Not that anything in Pontiac Township could be remotely compared to a South Los Angeles barrio, but it had its seedier elements.
I’m not a fan, but I’d have to see her exact statement before I judged it a lie.
(Of course, now Avon Township is the tony Rochester Hills and Pontiac Township is Auburn Hills, home of The Palace, so tales of “rough” neighborhoods from 30 years ago are harder to credit.)
Frank Hopkins claimed to have been the son of an Indian princess, a Pony Express courier at the age of 12, a performer in the Wild West Show, and the winner of a trans-Arabian horse race, when in reality he never rode a horse in his life. None of that, however, stopped Disney from billing the movie based on his fictional exploits, Hidalgo, as a “true story”.
On a related note to the River Phoenix ‘Just Say No’ hypocrisy, Tobey Maguire claimed to be a vegetarian health food freak who neither smoked, drank nor did drugs. He may be a vegetarian, but there are photos of him smoking and he was temporarily relieved of his SPIDERMAN 2 job due to substance abuse of some type (either alcohol, drugs, or some combo thereof).
Juliette Lewis’s latter-day-honesty got her into some financial trouble. She sued the National Enquirer for reporting that she had a drug problem which has caused major problems on the set of Evening Star. She claimed in court that she had never had a drug problem and she won.
Later she gave an interview in which she admitted to having gone to rehab when her drug use got out of control and even admitted that it had- guess what?- caused problems on the set of Evening Star. The Enquirer sued her for their money back (settled out of court) and perjury charges were considered but I don’t believe ever filed.
On the subject of nobility, IIRC Audrey Hepburn (though she never actually denied it) downplayed the fact that she was a baroness.
You are aware that Arthur Dent tells this story in “So long, and thanks for all the fish”?
My pastor used this story in a sermon. The synod must have spread this UL!
Hey, you can’t dismiss that part entirely. I’ve accidentally cursed dozens of people in my lifetime. Only a few have died, though.
Your list of “Christian ex-occultist hoaxsters” reminded me of Jeff Fenholt, some mullethead who made the rounds on Christian talk shows in the early 90’s and claimed to be the lead singer for Black Sabbath. It turns out that he did audition for the band (and even recorded some demos, which proved at least that much of his story) but in no way was ever considered as a member.
Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers, claims his novel is a true story, but has since been discredited.
And nobody’s yet mentioned Michael Jackson?? “No, I’ve never had plastic surgery! No, I’ve never slept with boys! And my (extremely white) child has a black mother!”
It was early in her career and her label reps had already tried to pass her off as black to the radio stations by not putting her on the cover of her first single. That entire interview (conducted in the back of a limousine in 1983) was pretty much all bullsh*t. She was trying to look more “street” than she was.