Loretta Young

Trivia of Loretta Young (6 January 1913 – 12 August 2000)

*By the time Loretta was four she had started appearing as a child extra in silent films. She appeared in ‘The Only Way’ in 1917 as a weeping child lying on an operating table.She also appeared briefly in ‘The Sheikh’ in 1921 starring Rudolph Valentino.

*Young had a low tolerance for foul language, so much in fact that whenever she went to set she brought with her a "swear box". Her swear box was used to hold money from cast and crew members who swore within her presence who in return would put money in the box. Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Mitchum put large sums of money in the swear box on a regular basis, telling Young: "This should just about cover what I'm about to say to you!".

*Had an illegitimate daughter by Clark Gable. For years, this was covered up in Hollywood, and was presented as an adoption.Behind closed doors, Loretta Young called her daughter “a walking mortal sin”—a reminder of her shame and moral failings. By the time Judy found out about her father, Clark Gable had already passed away. Judy never had the opportunity to find closure, get answers, and learn the entire story. The daughter's resemblance to both parents is uncanny. The daughter Judy Lewis later dabbled in acting before becoming a psychologist. Judy Lewis wrote a book "Uncommon Knowledge" with the truth of her parentage.

*The Bishop's Wife (1947)" was her favorite movie for two reasons. First, she had been a longtime friend of David Niven’s. He had stayed at the Young house when she had first come to England, and Loretta and her sisters helped him get into the movie business. She was always delighted to work with him. Second, she found Cary Grant to be a very interesting person, because he was seeking a spiritual life, and he and she had many very interesting conversations on the set about that. Cary also had a terrific sense of humor, and Loretta did too. She was a person who laughed a lot, so she said he could give her a look and make her laugh, and that always added a lot of fun to her work.

*Loretta Young's third husband was Academy Award winning clothing and costume designer, Jean Louis. He was well known for designing for the stars at Columbia Studios, Universal and in his own salon in Beverly Hills. His most famous creations included the strapless gown for Rita Hayworth in the film Gilda (1946) as well as Marilyn Monroe's white sequined gown she wore to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy. Jean Louis married Loretta after the death of his first wife, Maggy, who was a personal friend of Loretta for over 50 years.

*She retired from films in 1953 and began a second, equally successful career as hostess of Letter to Loretta (1953), a half-hour television drama anthology series which ran on NBC from September 1953 to September 1961. In addition to hosting the series, she frequently starred in episodes. Although she is most remembered for her stunning gowns and swirling entrances, over the broadcast's eight-year run she also showed again that she could act.

*In 1972, Young sued NBC for violating her contract in allowing reruns of "The Loretta Young Show" (1953) (better known as "The Loretta Young Show") to be shown, wherein audiences might have ridiculed her gowns and hairstyles, which were by then 10 or even 20 years out of date. The court awarded her more than a half-million dollars.