Celebrity Scandals From the 1960s You Forgot About
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Under the ever expanding media panopticon, celebrities like Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe refined the art of the publicity stunt throughout the 1960s to produce a mythology surrounding themselves that ascended beyond tabloid fodder. As the media’s power and influence in entertainment became increasingly apparent, celebrities in turn weaponized tabloids in what could become a symbiosis still in effect today - propelling their careers with sensational headlines and manufactured scandals whilst offering media outlets enticing narratives to feed the clamoring public. Media coverage oscillated wildly between sycophantic applause and puritanical scrutiny - celebrities made to traipse an ephemeral, razor thin line between public adoration and detestation. As media-driven mythology began to dominate the public consciousness, celebrities surpassed their roles as thespians, musicians, and filmmakers to proxies of virtue and sensibilities of our culture at large.
Joan Baez is arrested alongside her mother
During a 1967 anti-draft protest staged outside the Oakland Army Induction Center, legendary folk singer Joan Baez was arrested for trespassing alongside her mother and more than 70 others during a demonstration protesting the ongoing draft for the war in Vietnam. Baez, a central figure in many high profile protests against the Vietnam War, was arrested twice that year and spent more than a month in jail. After founding the Institute for the Study of Non-Violence with activist Ira Sandperl in 1965 (later the subject of an essay in Joan Didion’s seminal work Slouching Towards Bethlehem), Baez’s social and political demonstrations became central to her public identity, later participating in protest movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Catalan independence movement.
Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra divorce
Farrow and Sinatra married at the Las Vegas home of entertainment executive Jack Entratter on July 19, 1966 when Farrow was just 21 years-old - less than half the age of Sinatra who was 50 at the time they wed. Sinatra initially demanded Farrow give up her acting career and she acquiesced for a time, though she resumed acting when she grew bored and took a role in Roman Polanski’s magnum opus Rosemary’s Baby. When production of Rosemary’s Baby ran longer than expected, Sinatra was infuriated and replaced Farrow with actress Jacqueline Bisset as a lead in his 1968 film The Detective. Sinatra’s lawyer served Farrow with divorce papers on the set of Rosemary’s Baby shortly after in November 1967. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 1968, though the pair remained close friends until Sinatra’s death in 1998 after he’d suffered 2 heart attacks.
Pete Best is fired from The Beatles
Sometimes referred to as “the 5th Beatle”, English drummer Pete Best was removed from the pop rock group after just 2 years with the band in 1962 after record producer George Martin decided the group needed a more experienced drummer for their recording sessions. The Beatles manager Brian Epstein fired Best in August 1962 at the direction of the remaining members of the group (John, Paul, and George), then replacing Best with the band’s drummer for the remainder of their career, Ringo Starr. McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison later expressed regret for the way Best’s departure was handled, admitting it was cowardly and unfair to Best. Best was deeply depressed after being let go from The Beatles and left show business altogether for more than 25 years, working as a civil servant until returning to music in 1988 with The Pete Best Band.
Jayne Mansfield’s tragic death
A pioneer of the publicity stunt and one of the reigning sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, Mansfield was tragically killed in an automobile accident in the early hours of June 29, 1967 following a performance at the Gus Stevens Supper Club in Biloxi, Mississippi. Just after midnight, Mansfield and her 3 children (one of whom was Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay) left the club alongside her attorney, Sam Brody, and their driver, 20 year-old Ronnie Harrison, for New Orleans where Mansfield was due for an appearance the following day. Around 2:30 AM, the group’s vehicle collided with the rear of a tractor trailer, instantly killing the three adults in the front seats of the car. Mansfield’s children, asleep in the backseat at the time of the crash, all survived with only minor injuries. The accident spawned an grisly urban legend that Mansfield had been decapitated in the crash, though authorities later disputed this, stating though Mansfield died from severe brain and head trauma sustained in the crash, she was not decapitated.
Judy Garland is fired from Valley of the Dolls
Garland signed on to star as Helen Lawson in the film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann’s sensational novel Valley of the Dolls in 1967 after a stretch of more than 5 years without making a film. At the time she was cast, Garland’s career and finances were in a precarious position and Valley of the Dolls was poised to be the star’s big comeback. Shortly after production began, Garland’s lifelong drug and alcohol addiction began to interfere with filming, leaving the star unable to film and inevitably leading to her being fired by the studio. Garland begged the studio to give her another chance but they refused, casting actress Susan Hayward in her place instead. Actress Patty Duke, cast in the role of Neely O’Hara, stated at a 2009 screening of the film that director Mark Robson had intentionally sabotaged Garland, forcing her to spend long hours waiting to film knowing she’d be irritated and intoxicated by the time he called her to set for her scenes. Duke stated the film studio had exploited Garland for press, only to discard her after they’d felt they’d gotten the good coverage they’d hoped for.
The Doors are banned from The Ed Sullivan Show
The legendary rock group were banned from The Ed Sullivan show after failing to make production’s requested lyric changes for their September 1967 live performance. Prior to their appearance, production on the show requested the group change the lyrics in their hit song “Light My Fire” to omit the line “girl we couldn’t get any higher” to avoid any possible reference to drug use. Lead vocalist Jim Morrison and the group originally agreed to the changes, but decided prior to their performance they would be performing the song as it was originally written, despite production’s insistence on censoring any potentially controversial lyrics. Sullivan and his production team were enraged, canceling the groups 6 appearance contract and subsequently banning them from ever appearing on the program again. When producers confronted Morrison and informed him he’d never perform on the show again, he allegedly responded “Hey man. We just did the Ed Sullivan Show.”.
The Chappaquiddick incident
Senator Ted Kennedy was accused of gross negligence after fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in the death of 28 year-old Mary Jo Kopechne after driving his car off a bridge and into a tidal pond in the early hours of July 19, 1969. Kennedy and Kopechne left a party on Chappaquiddick late on Friday July 18 to drop Kopechne at a ferry landing before crashing into the murky water sometime between 11:30 PM and 1 AM. Kennedy claimed he attempted to free Kopechne from the car before swimming to shore but was unable to, leaving the 28 year-old to drown trapped inside the overturned vehicle. Kennedy fled the scene and failed to report the accident until after 10 AM on July 19, hours after Kopechne had drowned and her body had been recovered by a diver. The senator pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident at a July 1969 hearing and was given a 2 month suspended jail sentence. The accident effectively placed a moratorium on Kennedy’s promising political career, leading him not to run for President in 1972 and 1976 before launching a failed bid for the Democratic nomination in 1980.
The Rolling Stones’ drug bust
The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards were arrested for drug possession during a raid of Richards’ Redlands estate in Sussex county in February 1967. The raid was predicated by a series of lurid stories run by the now-defunct tabloid News of the World (with whom Mick Jagger was presently suing for libel) that accused the group of extensive recreational drug use, potentially jeopardizing their ability to obtain US visas to tour the States. The group was consumed by unwavering paranoia in the weeks leading up to their trials, unable to pinpoint precisely where the tip to authorities had originated. Despite their inevitable conviction, Jagger and Richards were widely supported by the public, their charges and penalties largely understood to be the authorities' attempt to make the Stones an example to legitimize stringent drug laws in England consonant with the musicians’ arrests.
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