A frequent co-star of Roscoe Arbuckle’s, Mabel Normand was the definitive female screen comedienne of her generation. But it wasn’t her association with Arbuckle that brought Normand’s career to an abrupt close and her life to an early end. Today we’ll interrogate Hollywood Babylon’s claim that Normand was a cocaine addict, explore Normand’s involvement in v ... Show More
Aug 2018
Wallace Reid (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 6)
According to Hollywood Babylon, actor Wallace Reid—a morphine addict who died in an asylum at the age of 31—was the first sacrificial lamb of the post-scandal era, and Reid’s wife, a former teen star named Dorothy Davenport, was the ultimate opportunistic hypocrite. What made Rei ... Show More
57m 56s
Aug 2018
Will Hays and "Pre-Code" Hollywood (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 7)
Who was Will Hays, and how did he come to put his name on the censorship “Code” that would shape the content of movies more than any other single force from the early 1930s into the 1960s? How much power did Hays really have in 1920s Hollywood, how corrupt was he, and why did it ... Show More
49m 43s
Aug 2018
Peggy Hopkins Joyce and Charlie Chaplin (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon, Episode 8)
The Kim Kardashian of her day, Peggy Hopkins Joyce was famous for being rich and famous—and for her marriages and involvements with rich and famous men, including Charlie Chaplin. Did Peggy really ask Chaplin on their first date if he was “hung like a horse?” We’ll investigate th ... Show More
1h 1m
Jun 2021
Hollywood Scandals: Marilyn Monroe
To some, Marilyn Monroe was a goddess. To others, she was little more than a bimbo. But deep down, Marilyn was a desperate woman trying to escape the tragedy of her childhood. She built a career like no actress before her, thriving on scandals… until they would eventually overwhe ... Show More
46m 6s
Apr 2021
New series: Death of a Film Star (Marilyn Monroe)
From the makers of We Didn't Start The Fire, this is Death of a Film Star. If you'd like to hear more, search for 'Death of a Film Star' in your favourite podcast platform, or click here: https://podfollow.com/1562008537. WARNING: this episode contains references to suicide. It’s ... Show More
31m 56s
Dec 2024
Demi Moore - 'The Substance' & 'Landman'
The 40-year veteran of movie stardom reflects on her difficult childhood and path to acting, the backlashes that she faced after her pregnant Vanity Fair cover and becoming the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, and what it's like aging in Hollywood, both in her hit new film and ... Show More
1h 15m
May 2022
Next up: The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe
Next up on You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about "The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes." She was Hollywood's biggest star and her 1962 overdose rocked the nation. Hear directly from those who knew her work, her personal life, and secrets about her death. In our ... Show More
6m 34s