Forgotten Hollywood Scandals

3. Elizabeth Taylor’s many lovers

Taylor is of course known for her eight marriages, including two to the same man, but there’s more to her love life than just her sheer number of lovers. In the late 50s, Taylor’s third husband, director Mike Todd, died in a plane crash. It’s said that, soon after, Taylor began an affair with Todd’s good friend, Eddie Fisher — which would have been fine, but Fisher was at the time married to actress Debbie Reynolds. Fisher subsequently divorced Reynolds to marry Taylor — but as you may have guessed, that marriage also ended in divorce, when she left Fisher for Richard Burton. The affair was a big scandal at the time. Taylor and Reynolds had long been friends until then but seemed to have buried the hatchet eventually. In an interview after Taylor’s death, Reynolds joked that “She liked him [Fisher] well enough to take him without an invitation!” Ouch.

4. Errol Flynn and the underage girl

For most of his career, Flynn was known as a playboy and a womanizer. In 1942, at the height of his career, Flynn met a 17-year-old girl named Betty Hansen who was an aspiring actress. After some partying, Hansen became sick from drinking and vomited. Hansen alleged that Flynn had taken her to a room under the guise of helping her clean up but then had seduced her. A complaint was filed and the actor was arrested. The trial was a huge scandal and the public was captivated. Flynn was ultimately cleared of the charges. His career did bounce back, once again proving that all can be forgiven by the public. It’s said that the slang phrase “in like Flynn” is inspired by the actor.

5. Florence Henderson and Barry Williams alleged date

She was Carol Brady. Her oldest on-screen son was Greg Brady. And the actors who played them dated?! In his 1992 autobiography, Williams first talked about taking Mrs. Brady out on a date. Williams said that at the time, Henderson, 20 years his senior, was twice his age. Williams went into great detail, talking about how he picked Henderson up for the date, and even kissed her good night — “Which was like, big stuff for me,” Williams said. The revelations raised eyebrows — but Henderson has always insisted the date was “blown way out of proportion.”