Source: http://www.crazydaysandnights.net

Old Hollywood

GET ME THE LIBRARIAN

She wasn’t really a librarian.

She was an actress.

Probably almost A list at her peak.

The thing is though she loved books and generally had a handful with her at all times.

So, to those closest to her she was called the librarian.

It was also a code word.

No one used her name out loud when they wanted something else for her. Her peak was during silent films.

She worked with nothing but A+ listers and was always by their side.

Besides being a decent actress, she also had connections in the medical industry.

Those connections allowed her to be almost the only source of c*caine in Hollywood.

Besides being the only source for c*caine, she provided a service no one else did.

She would come to the studio or the home of a star and have them lie down.

She would then personally supervise the injecting of c*caine into their body.

While the star enjoyed the effects of the dr*g, our actress would stay there reading a book or talking to them or whatever else they needed.

When the rush ended, our actress would collect her fee and exit.

Oh, and just because she was tiny and beautiful didn’t mean you could get away without paying.

Between her gun and her bodyguard, everyone paid or they ended up in the hospital.

A couple of people ended up dead.

One person who ended up dead was not even her fault, but it ruined her career in front of the cameras and as a dealer.

She tried to make a comeback a few years later as an actress and had some success, but her husband was jealous of the attention so she stopped.

She died a short time later.

Mabel Normand

Through out the 1920s, her name was linked with widely publicized scandals, including the 1922 murder of William Desmond Taylor and the 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines, who was shot by Normand’s chauffeur using her pistol. She was not a suspect in either crime. Her film career declined, and she suffered a recurrence of tuberculosis in 1923, which led to a decline in her health, retirement from films, and her death in 1930 at age 37.

Scandals

Taylor’s murder

Director William Desmond Taylor shared her interest in books, and the two formed a close relationship. According to author Robert Giroux, Taylor was deeply in love with Normand, who had originally approached him for help in curing her cocaine dependency. Based upon Normand’s subsequent statements to investigators, her repeated relapses were devastating for Taylor. According to Giroux, Taylor met with federal prosecutors shortly before his death and offered to assist them in filing charges against Normand’s cocaine suppliers. Giroux expresses a belief that Normand’s suppliers learned of this meeting and hired a contract killer to murder the director. According to Giroux, Normand suspected the reasons for Taylor’s murder, but did not know the identity of the man who killed him.

According to Kevin Brownlow and John Kobal in their book Hollywood The Pioneers the idea that Taylor was murdered by drug dealers was invented by the studio for publicity purposes. There is no evidence that Normand was an addict, despite the fact that this is often repeated as if it were established fact.

On the night of his murder, February 1, 1922, Normand left Taylor’s bungalow at 7:45 p.m. in a happy mood, carrying a book he had lent her. They blew kisses to each other as her limousine drove away. Normand was the last person known to have seen Taylor alive. The Los Angeles Police Department subjected Normand to a grueling interrogation, but ruled her out as a suspect. Most subsequent writers have done the same. However, Normand’s career had already slowed, and her reputation was tarnished. According to George Hopkins, who sat next to her at Taylor’s funeral, Normand wept inconsolably.

The Dines shooting

In 1924, Normand’s chauffeur Joe Kelly shot and wounded millionaire oil broker and amateur golfer Courtland S. Dines with her pistol.

The Roscoe Arbuckle trials

Normand’s co-star in many films, Roscoe Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Although Arbuckle was acquitted, the scandal destroyed his career, and his films were banned from exhibition for decades. Since she had made some of her best works with him, much of Normand’s output was withheld from the public by default.- Source


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