# Gene Tierney, rubella, and the obsessed fan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022 "2009-07-23T18:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/41 "2009-07-29T01:16:26Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > Wow. > > Count me in as yet another person who had no idea that the tragedy that befalls the filmstar in Christie’s novel was directly based on a real case, to the extent that it seems like all she did was change the names. And, uh, the part about the murders… ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/42 "2009-07-29T01:29:46Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > FYI, snopes board is investigating this also. If they come up with anything, will you post here about it, please? I’ll never remember to seek it out. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/43 "2009-07-29T01:33:58Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > If they come up with anything, will you post here about it, please? I’ll never remember to seek it out. Will do! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/44 "2009-07-29T01:36:16Z")
I had not heard (nor can tell from a casual search) that there was ever a mandatory quarantine for people with rubella. We’re not talking smallpox or even leprosy here, but a typically rather mild disease whose major consequence is severe birth defects when women are infected during a critical period of pregnancy. The first report of congenital rubella syndrome came out in 1941, and it’s unclear that word would have spread so fast for anyone to have been quarantined anywhere in the U.S. simply for being sick with rubella. I’d like to see further documentation on this score before ruling out an element of urban legend here. Incidentally, the last big epidemic of rubella in this country was in 1964, with 20,000 cases of congenital rubella syndrome resulting. Nothing on that scale has been seen again here, thanks to the rubella vaccine. However, in that time new generations have grown up without fear of the disease but with unwarranted fears of vaccines, so a resurgence is far from impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/45 "2009-07-29T05:13:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > FYI, snopes board is investigating this also. Yeah, I’m the OP over there - I asked Bricker if he’d mind and he said go for it 🙂 If they get anywhere, I’ll report back. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/46 "2009-07-29T16:59:18Z")
Thinking about this, myself and at least one of my brothers had rubella (it was called “german measles”) in the sixties and I don’t recall a quarantine. I may be misremembering of course, or we may have been quarantined and I wasn’t aware of it. I’ll have to ask my mother. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out if people actually were quarantined for it in the forties. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/47 "2009-07-29T17:41:28Z")
Jeez, I miss **Eve**. She’d be able to set the record straight without even putting down her spoon of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/48 "2009-07-29T17:43:31Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Jeez, I miss **Eve**. She’d be able to set the record straight without even putting down her spoon of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. ☹ What happened to her? I’ve noticed people mentioning she was gone, for a long time, but I wasn’t sure why. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/49 "2009-07-29T17:51:32Z")
If memory serves, a new job with added responsibilities that prevented coming here on any kind of a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/50 "2009-07-29T18:31:52Z")
I watched a DVD of “Laura” a few months ago; among the DVD’s special features was a “Biography” (produced for broadcast on that network, I believe) documentary on Gene Tierney. It went into quite a lot of detail about the rubella contact and its consequences – I don’t believe it’s an urban legend. Really a very sad story. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/51 "2009-07-29T18:37:31Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > I watched a DVD of “Laura” a few months ago; among the DVD’s special features was a “Biography” (produced for broadcast on that network, I believe) documentary on Gene Tierney. It went into quite a lot of detail about the rubella contact and its consequences – I don’t believe it’s an urban legend. > > Really a very sad story. It isn’t being disputed that the poor lady contracted Rubella in early pregnancy and that her daughter was born with the associated mental and physical handicaps of congenital rubella syndrome. The bit that it would be very interesting to confirm is the story of the fan coming up to her years later and, in essence, without realising it, boasting about infecting her. Does the biography go into much detail about that aspect? ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/52 "2009-07-29T18:46:24Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > It isn’t being disputed that the poor lady contracted Rubella in early pregnancy and that her daughter was born with the associated mental and physical handicaps of congenital rubella syndrome. The bit that it would be very interesting to confirm is the story of the fan coming up to her years later and, in essence, without realising it, boasting about infecting her. Does the biography go into much detail about that aspect? I apologize – I thought my message made it clear, but on re-read, it didn’t. The documentary did say, as I remember, that Tierney was approached by the fan (some years) later, and that the fan said that she’d broken quarantine to meet her (not in a boasting manner, but simply to demonstrate how badly she wanted to meet Tierney). Because I watched it via Netflix, I can’t review the DVD’s documentary again. Maybe someone on this thread has it at home. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/53 "2009-08-01T18:22:15Z")
I bring progress from the thread on this on the snopes message board. Several people added info but pride of place probably goes to poster **Bonnie** who, as usual, has dug up a very impressive set of cites and makes a compelling case for the story being true, really. Or at least more plausible than I thought previously. [Link to snopes](http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=1013227#post1013227) Some key things discovered: [ul] [li]The story was reported as early as 1958 in Time Magazine and widely reported in 1959 in, amongst other papers, The Washington Post.[/li][li]German Measles quarantining was a regular occurrence in the 1940s and indeed it was something of a raging epidemic.[/li][/ul] The link to the thread contains cites for the above and much more. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/54 "2009-08-02T16:36:40Z")
A couple of things from that linked thread: 1. One story has the encounter between the mystery woman and Tierney as follows: "A female Marine who was there told me she had skipped quarantine that night just to come and meet me. A year later, I met the same girl again on the tennis courts at a friend’s home in Hollywood. She reminded me of the night she had broken quarantine. “I got the German measles,” she said. “Did you get them, too?” That account makes it sound like both Tierney and the other woman contracted rubella from a third source (it would be possible, of course, that someone exposed to a person with rubella might be confined to prevent them coming down with the disease and spreading it). 1. A number of the anecdotes reference “measles” and not “German measles”. 2. I’d still like to see solid evidence that German measles cases were officially quarantined during that era. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/55 "2009-08-02T20:32:07Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Wikipedia says rubella was often a fairly mild illness. If it was, I could see someone thinking (wrongly, of course) that the quarantine was an over-reaction. Was, and is, except for the teratogenic effects. The reason only women are vaccinated is not that men don’t catch rubella: it’s that men don’t catch pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/56 "2009-08-02T23:48:15Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > 1. I’d still like to see solid evidence that German measles cases were officially quarantined during that era. If it helps, here’s a handful of reports of military quarantines issued in first half of 1941 aimed specifically at halting the spread of German measles. > [@](#): > > Due to a mild form of measles, Chanute field [Rantoul, Illinois] here, housing the air corps technical school, was under quarantine today as a precautionary measure against spread of the disease. > > […] > > The quarantine was ordered when the disease, described as “three day” or German measles, became evident. Post theaters were closed, all athletic events canceled, and there will be no religious services Sunday. [From “Chanute Field Quarantined by Measles Wave,” _The Chicago Daily Tribune_, 26 January 1941, Pg. 10.] > [@](#): > > An outbreak of German measles at this Army air base [Mitchel Field] on Long Island prompted officers today to quarantine the entire field and place 3,000 fliers and ground workers under strict observation. [From “Air Base Quarantined – It’s German Measles,” _The Washington Post_, 30 January 1941, Pg. 2.] A report in \*The Los Angeles Times \*indicates that a drill instructor at the San Diego Marine Corps had been diagnosed with German measles. Medical officers “\*mmediately ordered him confined to the base dispensary for a two weeks’ quarantine period.” [“German Measles Invade Marine Base,” 18 March 1941, Pg. 14.] Three cases of German measles were reported to have hit the 43rd Division at Camp Blanding, Florida. “Officers of the [118th Medical Regiment] did not fear that the disease would amount to an epidemic, although as a precautionary measure, both units were placed under a working quarantine.” [“Rifle Range Practice to Come Next,” _The Hartford Courant_, 3 April 1941, Pg. 2.] Rubella popped up among 15 members of the 209th Coast Artillery at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, in April, 1941. The commanding officer of the 208th Medical Detachment noted that “while we thought it best to establish a ‘working quarantine’ for the regiment as a whole, this is merely a precautionary measure to prevent the further spread of German measles.” [“15 Measles Cases Spotted at Edwards,” _The Hartford Courant_, 18 April 1941, Pg. 2.] > [@](#): > > A strong “German force” is holding the 1,050 officers and men of the 62d Coast Artillery, anti-aircraft of Ft. Totten, L.I., prisoner at their temporary training camp at Cape Henlopen. The explanation is that three cases of German measles broke out among the enlisted men, and Lieut. Col. Harold E. Small, commanding officer, put the camp under quarantine this morning. [“Measles Quarantines 62nd Artillery,” The New York Times, 13 May 1941, Pg. 12.] ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/57 "2009-08-03T02:10:30Z")
Where is Eve when we need her? If anyone could get to the bottom of this Eve could, I am sure… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/58 "2009-08-03T02:31:44Z")
Thanks, **Tammi** for digging out that information. I suppose it makes sense even in not-quite-yet wartime, for military units to maintain preparedness by limiting the spread of even a relatively mild form of infectious disease. I am somewhat more inclined to believe the Tierney story now. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/59 "2009-08-03T02:39:56Z")
I just remembered that the first name of the actress in _The Mirror Crack’d_ was Marina, and the woman IRL is supposed to have been a Marine… I think that just might point to the story being true. If it were the other way around, I’m not sure Gene Tierney would’ve made that particular connection. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022/60 "2009-08-03T03:03:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Thanks, **Tammi** for digging out that information. I suppose it makes sense even in not-quite-yet wartime, for military units to maintain preparedness by limiting the spread of even a relatively mild form of infectious disease. > > I am somewhat more inclined to believe the Tierney story now. That might be a holdover from the 1918 flu outbreak, with infected soldiers being sent out and spreading the disease. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-tierney-rubella-and-the-obsessed-fan/504022.md?page=4)