I guess you all know by now that Loretta Young died this weekend, at 87. I was never a big fan of her “Atilla the Nun” personality, but she WAS a good actress, AND a Star. She’s going to have some fast talking to do to her good pal God this week about her and Clark Gable. “But God—it was Clark GABLE!”
Probably apocryphal story about Loretta’s “Cuss Box.” It’s true that on the set of her films, she put a Cuss Box. Anyone who said a naughty word had to drop in a quarter, to be donated to a Catholic charity. Story is, one day Barbara Stanwyck walked on the set and said, “Here’s a twenty, Loretta—go fuck yourself!”
So what stars of the 1920s–'30s are left? We just lost Doug, Jr., too. There’s Fay Wray, Kate Hepburn, Anita Page (just truend 90), Livvy De Havilland (heard from her the other day, she’s a doll), Mary Brian . . . Not that many left.
Actually, NPR reported that she objected to taking the Lord’s name in vain and using “hell” and “damn.” You could say go fuck yourself all you want. She didn’t mind those–it was the others she objected to, on religious grounds.
Which reminds me of the little neighbor kids getting whupped for saying “Geez!” because their mom took it for a contraction of “Jesus!” (I always thought it was a contraction of “Gee Whiz!”). I’m probably bound for hell.
Um, actually, Crank, the neighbors’ Mom was right—“Geez” is an offshoot of “Gee Whiz” which in itself was a polite way of saying “Jesus!” Ditto “Jiminy Cricket!”
My mother always used to say–with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek–that Loretta was one of those uniquely lucky people who had the good fortune to adopt a child who happened to look just like her. What are the chances of that? Hmmmmm…