Hollywood Babylon is a book by avant-gardefilmmakerKenneth Anger, which details the purported scandals of famous Hollywood denizens from the 1900s to the 1950s. The book was banned shortly after it was first published in the U.S. in 1965, and remained unavailable until reprinted ten years later.[2] Upon its second release in 1975, The New York Times said of it, "If a book such as this can be said to have charm, it lies in the fact that here is a book without one single redeeming merit."[3]The Daily Beast described Anger's book as "essentially a work of fiction. There is no doubt that many—if not all—of the stories Anger shares in his slim bible have no merit."[2] Film historian Kevin Brownlow repeatedly criticized the book, citing Anger as saying his research method was "mental telepathy, mostly".[4][5]
Contents
Originally published in French in 1959 by J.J. Pauvert (Paris) as Hollywood Babylone,[6] the first U.S. edition of Hollywood Babylon was published in 1965 by Associated Professional Services of Phoenix, Arizona.[7] A second U.S. edition was published by Rolling Stone′s Straight Arrow Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster, released in 1975 after a series of copyright conflicts.[8]
The book's 1975 edition featured graphic images such as the scene of the traffic accident that killed Jayne Mansfield,[9] a photograph of Carole Landis after her suicide, images of director and screenwriter Paul Bern following his suicide, a photograph of Lewis Stone as he lay dying on a sidewalk, and uncensored images of the Black Dahlia's mutilated corpse.
Falsehoods
Although many of Anger's claims have been denounced as untrue since the book's initial publication,[3][2] it is nonetheless responsible for many oft-quoted urban legends. For example, it claimed that Clara Bow engaged in sex with the entire USC football team, including a young John Wayne, a fallacy which has been debunked several times.[3] Bow's sons considered suing Anger at the time of the book's second release.[10]
The book also claimed that Lupe Vélez was found drowned in her own vomit with her head in a toilet after she committed suicide by swallowing more than 500 sleeping tablets.[11] There was no basis to the story; in 2013, the first publication of a death photo showed Vélez had been found on her bedroom floor.[12]
Other debunked urban legends started by the book include claims that impoverished film star Marie Prevost's body was partially eaten by her dachshund after she died in her Hollywood apartment in 1937, and that Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in her fatal 1967 car accident.[13]
The fallacies, myths, and exaggerations of Hollywood Babylon were the focus of season 10 of Karina Longworth's podcast You Must Remember This: "Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon".[14]
Sequels
Hollywood Babylon II was published in 1984.[15] It was greatly expanded in format but was not as well received as the first book. It covered stars from the 1920s to the 1970s.
For years Anger said he intended to write a Hollywood Babylon III,[8] and in a 2010 interview he claimed that the book had been finished but was placed on hold, explaining, "The main reason I didn't bring it out was that I had a whole section on Tom Cruise and the Scientologists. I'm not a friend of the Scientologists."[16] In 2008, a book titled Hollywood Babylon: It's Back! was published. Written by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, the book had no participation or association with Anger.[8] Anger was reportedly so upset he placed a curse on the authors. (He was a self-proclaimed magician of the school of Thelema.)[17]
A television series based upon the books was produced for syndication in 1992–1993. Hosted by Tony Curtis, the series featured dramatic reenactments of stories from Anger's books, augmented by veteran actor Curtis relating Hollywood-based anecdotes of his own.
