Marilyn Monroe was under FBI surveillance for years over suspected communist ties, with a new look at the agency’s files revealing that her own housekeeper may have reported on her activities. The surveillance reportedly began in 1955 when Monroe applied for a visa to visit the Soviet Union as part of a cultural exchange program, and it continued until her death in 1962. The FBI files on Monroe span more than 80 pages and extend as late as 1973, a full decade after her passing. Agents took note of her relationship with playwright Arthur Miller, who was suspected of communist sympathies during the McCarthy era, when Cold War tensions and fears of Soviet espionage ran high across the United States.
According to the records, Monroe’s inner circle—including her hair stylist, interior decorator, and therapist—observed her growing fascination with communist ideas and worked as informants. One file describes a visit Monroe made to Mexico in February 1962, where she met Frederick Vanderbilt Field, an American ex-patriot who had been disowned by his wealthy family for his leftist beliefs. Field later wrote in his autobiography that Monroe expressed strong support for civil rights and racial equality, praised China’s achievements, and voiced anger against McCarthyism and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
One FBI report claimed that a mutual infatuation developed between Monroe and Field during that visit, a situation that caused considerable dismay among her entourage. The source for that report was identified in the records as Eunice Murray, Monroe’s housekeeper, who was introduced to her by the actress’s psychiatrist. Murray reportedly told the FBI that Monroe felt like a forgotten sex symbol after her split from Miller and was heavily influenced by his leftist views. She also said Monroe was vulnerable after being rejected by Miller, Joe DiMaggio, and Frank Sinatra, and that Sinatra refused her calls for comfort.
Some have disputed the reliability of the FBI files, noting that the agency sometimes fabricated or exaggerated information. Still, the records remain a significant part of the public record on Monroe’s political associations. While Monroe’s rumored affairs and death have been widely discussed, another Golden Age star faced a different kind of scandal: Ava Gardner was labeled a nymphomaniac. The rumor, which followed her for years, was reportedly started by her own studio as a marketing tactic to build her image as a sex symbol.
Gardner, known as one of the most irresistible women in Hollywood, was linked romantically with Howard Hughes, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway, and Clark Gable, among others. She was also connected to bullfighters and millionaires, and she did not shy away from blunt remarks about powerful men. She admitted that on her first day at MGM, she met Mickey Rooney, who told her he wanted to have sex with her the moment he saw her. After a year of courtship, they married, and Gardner later said she remained a virgin on her wedding night.
She credited Rooney with educating her in the art of lovemaking, but also described him as a rampant womanizer who cheated on her openly. Gardner also spoke candidly about Hughes, saying she never loved him despite his generosity in paying for her mother’s medical care. She described him as a racist whose jealousy and paranoia pushed her away. Her marriage to bandleader Artie Shaw ended abruptly a week after their first anniversary, when Shaw left her for another woman.
Her most famous relationship was with Frank Sinatra, who left his wife for her. Gardner called him the best lover she ever had, describing him as passionate, giving, demanding, and possessive. At the same time, she was involved in an affair with the married Robert Mitchum, who ended things after learning about Sinatra, reportedly saying he did not want to risk a fight with him. Gardner’s own words, collected in a book of private conversations, suggest that much of her sexual reputation was cultivated and repeated as part of her public persona.
The nymphomaniac label was likely a studio-driven story, but the details of her many relationships remain part of her legacy. Joan Crawford faced an even darker rumor: that she was a sadistic mother who abused her adopted children. The claim became public after her death, when her eldest adopted daughter, Christina, published a memoir accusing Crawford of years of physical and emotional abuse. Christina wrote that Crawford woke her in the dead of night to berate her for using wire hangers, reportedly yanking her by the hair and striking her with a hanger while screaming.
She also claimed Crawford tore apart a cherished dress and forced her to wear it for a week as punishment, and that she was starved for days after refusing to eat a rare steak. According to the memoir, Crawford made the children clean messes they did not create and forced them to write thank-you notes for each of many Christmas gifts while allowing them to keep only one. Christina said she attempted to end her life by overdose at boarding school after years of mistreatment, and that her mother never addressed the situation. Some of Crawford’s friends disputed the account, with one saying that Christina wanted to be Joan Crawford and that the book reflected a fantasy world.
It was also rumored that Crawford was aware of the memoir before her death but never discussed it with Christina. In her will, she left her estate to her twin daughters and excluded Christina for reasons she said she knew. The most scandalous rumor to emerge from the era, however, targeted one of Hollywood’s biggest icons: Clark Gable. Despite his marriages to five women and his well-documented romances with stars like Joan Crawford and Lana Turner, speculation about his sexual orientation has persisted for decades.
Some accounts claim that in 1925, when Gable was a struggling young actor, he had an affair with William Haines, a Hollywood star who was openly homosexual. Witnesses reportedly saw them together on the studio lot and at a party hosted at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where they engaged in intimate activities. Joan Crawford allegedly confirmed to others that Gable had shared something romantic with Haines, and she was in a position to know, as she was close friends with Haines as well. The speculation extended into the 1940s, when Gable reportedly joined hunting trips with writer William Faulkner and director Howard Hawks, with whom he shared a fondness for drinking.
A remark made during the production of Gone with the Wind added fuel to the rumors. When director George Cukor, who was known to be homosexual and a close friend of Haines, was set to direct the film, a fellow industry figure made a snide comment about Cukor directing “one of Billy’s old tricks. ” Gable reportedly stormed off the set, insisting he would not be directed by a fairy and that he had to work with a real man. Victor Fleming was brought in to finish the film.
Some biographers point to Gable’s birth certificate, which mistakenly marked him as female, and to his father’s habit of belittling him as effeminate during his early years, as possible sources of his sensitivity around masculinity. Others have repeated remarks attributed to Marlene Dietrich, who reportedly said that in his early years, Gable seemed open to anything that had a hole and the promise of a couple of dollars. There were also rumors of a relationship between Gable and actor Nils Asther, with some saying Gable often played the submissive role in his relationships. The term “lavender ladder” has been used to describe the practice of trading sex for career advancement in Hollywood, and some have suggested Gable used such relationships as a means to an end.
Stories also circulated about Gable’s close friendship with Ben Maddox, who reportedly acted as his confidant and sometimes lover, and who helped keep other men’s affairs out of the press in exchange for secrecy about Gable’s own private life. Even Gable’s third wife, Carole Lombard, reportedly made a snide comment about his manhood, joking that if he were an inch shorter, people would be talking about the queen of Hollywood. After Gable’s death, some of those closest to him dismissed the rumors outright. One acquaintance insisted that the speculation was nonsense, saying that Gable had a profound appreciation for women of all ages and types.
Others maintain that in an era when homosexuality was heavily stigmatized, many stars felt compelled to hide their true selves to protect their careers. What remains certain is that Gable stands as one of the most enduring icons of the Silver Screen, remembered for his talent, charisma, and striking good looks. Regardless of the rumors that circled him, his legacy in the film industry is firmly established. The Golden Age of Hollywood was a time of glamour, but it was also shaped by studios that controlled nearly every aspect of their stars’ lives.
Fixers worked behind the scenes to bury scandals and crush dangerous rumors that could have destroyed careers. Sometimes, as with Gardner, studios planted rumors themselves for the sake of publicity. But no matter how tightly those secrets were guarded, many of them eventually surfaced.