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Staged

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The yes-no of this article have to be almost identical, because celebrities often pull deliberate stunts to get publicity. At other times, the same overindulged people are just plain irresponsible drunks or druggies who have too much money and too little intelligence. However, I believe in most instances, the public shenanigans are staged.

My showbiz memories go back two generations or more from today's celebrity misbehaviors. Two big stars who were always in the public eye were Mae West and Dean Martin. Mae flaunted her sexiness in an era when it was very shocking. In fact, when she was in a Broadway play entitled, appropriately enough, "Sex." She arranged for police raids and an overnight stay in jail. In real life, she was a small, rather dumpy business woman who bought up big blocks of the choice Beverly Hills real estate.

Dean Martin was a sober family man, but after he broke up with partner, Jerry Lewis, he established a persona of a party-loving drinker. On his famous Las Vegas stage appearances with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford, the seemingly spontaneous ... but fully scripted ... insult bouts with Frank Sinatra were based on his false reputation as a falling-down drunk. The booze glasses he waved were full of grape juice.

Back in the days when there was no TV, two of the most popular radio stars were Jack Benny and Fred Allen. Benny was portrayed as a cowardly, snobby skinflint, while Allen's character was that of a complaining, penny-pinching cynic. Their characters hated each other, and the scripts of both their programs emphasized their feud. The bickering became much fodder for the gossip columnists of the day. In reality, they had been great personal friends since their vaudeville days, and both were very generous contributors to many charities.

When TV took over, the two stars who resumed the tradition of sniping at each other were Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Their fake bad relationship was so effective, they made a string of hugely-successful "Road" movies together. Their film characters, based on the radio and TV feuds, portrayed Bob as a somewhat mentally-challenged stooge, while Bing was a conniving con man who always exploited Bob's stupidity.

In real life, they were not the best of friends, but obviously saw the profit of perpetuating the screen images at the many public functions they attended together. Even as they aged into their 60s and 70s, they always acted out their appearances as if they were wisecracking college boys. Of course, both were extremely intelligent performers and millionaire businessmen.

As for vintage deliberate misbehavior in public that can be comparable to today's spoiled rock stars and bimbo movie actresses, several names seem to rise to the top. Male movie heroes, Errol Flynn, Robert Michum and John Barrymore, had similar run-ins with the law for public drunken behavior and paternity troubles. Since they were certified medical alcoholics, I'm not sure how many of their public displays were stage, if any.

Today's blondes, real or bleached, are no more notorious than earlier ones, including Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Much of their public appearances, activities and utterances were staged for maximum shock and publicity value. The fact that all three died very young should be a warning to those who are emulating their lifestyles today.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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