Hollywood's Biggest Drunks That Had Talent
Richard Burton
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MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Hollywood's Biggest Drunks That Had Tale...
Dick Van Dyke
shareWilliam Holden
shareErrol Flynn
shareCharlie Sheen
shareJan-Michael Vincent
Robert Shaw
Robert Mitchum
Jean-Claude van Damme
Russell Crow
the aptly-named Andy Dick, provided that we drastically lower our standards for the word "talented"
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Yeah Charlie...
Tragic
Love that guy...he seems to be doing well tho...fingers crossed
Faye Dunaway
Frances Farmer
Gail Russell
Veronica Lake was also a big boozer, but I wouldn't consider her especially talented. Just...effective. (And very beautiful.)
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Veronica Lake had many issues and a horrible ending.
Her talent is a fair assessment. She was typecast for sure.
She was mesmerizing on the screen.
I will add Alan Ladd.
It's impossible not to feel sorry for Veronica Lake : ( She was breathtaking to look at, and had a compellingly brusque yet vulnerable manner. Somehow I don't get the sense that she HERSELF saw her ending as tragic. And that's heartening. It also puts a classy endnote on her life that Kim Basinger did such a great job playing her lookalike in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, even winning an Oscar. All high class callgirls should look like Veronica Lake!!
If anyone here is unfamiliar with Lake, THIS is a clip from what's probably her best movie, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02A2a-aEvmI
THIS is an interesting article about how costume designer Edith Head made her look taller onscreen. (At 4'11", she was "the smallest normal adult" the designer had ever seen.)
http://www.glamamor.com/2014/11/VeronicaLake-ThisGunforHire-EdithHead.html
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This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing Cookie.
I wonder how much of Lake's size had to do with her getting the roles with Ladd ?
She obviously had the looks but seeing as he was only 5'6 himself I wonder if they
were looking for a woman smaller than him.
There are plenty of "tricks" to make the men seem taller than what they were but maybe
they just just got lucky that Lake had everything they were looking for.
<< I wonder how much of Lake's size had to do with her getting the roles with Ladd ? >>
I've never read anything about that, actually. It's an interesting question. I know Ladd's wife was his manager and was very influencial in his career. Maybe she pushed for him to be cast with small actresses to make him a more viable romantic lead, long term.
My offhand guess is that the first time they were partnered, it wasn't because of their (shared, minescule) height. But then when the studio saw how well their naturally cool and somewhat detached manners played off each other, it solved several issues at once. So they kept reteaming them.
I read this about them at another site:
"Lake and Ladd had more in common than their series of films together – they were both golden-haired, both petite in stature, both attractive. Both were known better as movie stars than acclaimed thespians. Both struggled with alcohol, both experienced well-publicized ups and downs on and off screen, and – in an odd and intriguing twist of fate – both died at the age of 50.'
It's odd they died early at the same age. Lake wrote that they never socialized offscreen, and weren't particularly close.
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They both had sad tragic deaths. I wouldn't wish Veronica Lakes ending and after her death
on my worst enemy.
Imagine Ladd's wife pushing him to star with Veronica Lake. That's a lot of trust. Especially back
in this time of Hollywood where it seemed that everybody was sleeping with everybody.
Amazing they had such similar lives.
They were legendary on screen together.
<< I wouldn't wish Veronica Lakes ending and after her death
on my worst enemy. >>
There were news stories that they found a container of her ashes in an antique (of thrift?) shop in Maine, or something (!) But I don't know if they were tested to confirm, or anything (or if one can.)
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EDIT: sorry, it was New York.
SEE: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/veronica-lakes-ashes-for-sale/
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I remember reading her body was unclaimed because she had nobody to get it.
She had an ex husband in Europe I think, but couldn't afford to come over.
A bunch of friends took a collection to get her or something along those lines.
Even after her death she couldn't get peace.
<< her body was unclaimed because she had nobody to get it. >>
Well, to be fair....usually when someone's alienated almost everyone who was once in their life, it means they were rather abrasive. (Or had bad "people skills", to put it in the gentlest way possible.)
She was an alcoholic, after all. And those people are impossible to be around.
She had two kids, Anthony Michael de Toth III and Diane (Elaine) De Toth....maybe one should start by looking at where they were and why they didn't show up. (Her son may have died of a drug overdose, if I recall correctly.) (Or maybe I'm imagining that...)
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Her son died in 1991. He would have been about 46. Not sure how.
She also suffered from schizophrenia and sever paranoia
It looks like when she died he would have about 17. He wanted to got to Vermont
but his father wouldn't give him the money so he had to borrow it. Then her ashes
sat at the funeral home for 3 years until a friend paid them. Then her ashes were scattered .
In 2004 they found her ashes in the shop. This is the part that is confusing.
Maybe they scattered some and somebody kept the rest. All parties involved swear they are correct.
Either way It's a sad sad story.
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Where is/was her daughter?
shareHer son was in Hawaii at the time of her death. Not sure if he was living with
his father or not. I can't find anything about her at all. She was born in 1948 I believe.
So it is possible she's still alive.
Her ex Andre De Toth who apparently was a bit of of a d-bag died in California in 2002.
It says he was married 7 times and had 19 children.
Looks like the year after he divorced Lake he was married again. None of this is confirmed.
#JusticeForRonnie
This is a radio (?) interview from a few years before she died. She's much more articulate than I imagined her to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSHsXnJ6jb0
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WTF is wrong with this fucking world.
The maximum penalty is six months' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine
6 months for abuse and murder ?
We need unlimited fines for abandoning Veronica Lake.
shareWere you kidding ? LOL.
#JusticeForRonnie- This is an actual thing. This one got me all fired up.
She seemed very articulate and coherent. Especially considering the
point she was at in her life.
<< Were you kidding ? LOL. #JusticeForRonnie - This is an actual thing. >>
I didn't know that : o
Ronnie is a nickname for Veronica.
I think it's what her friends called her.
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That's what I thought at first.
Then I googled it.
It's an actual thing about a man in England who killed his dog.
They're trying to get him prosecuted. Ronnie was the dogs name.
I have 4 dogs and this got me going. I actually signed the petition.
https://www.change.org/p/ronnie-was-beaten-on-an-essex-train-by-his-owner-he-died-3-days-later-as-a-result
LMAO !!!! What are the chances ?
I don't know if the tears are from the story or from the laughing.
dear lord...! I'm afraid to even read it : o
Well, we better seek justice for doggie Ronnie first, I guess. We can't petition Lake's daughter to go claim her ashes NOW.
But, we will get to her...oh yes. We will.
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You're too much Cookie. LOL.
Yes one battle at a time.
We will indeed get to her.
"From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered"
I love this discussion! I had no idea Veronica Lake had such a sad life. I wondered why she didn't make many movies, especially considering how popular she was. I can really only think of two movies I've seen her in, the two mentioned above, Sullivan's Travels and I Married a Witch. Preston Sturges was such a great director and she's perfect in Sullivan's Travels. She was breathtakingly beautiful in that.
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