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November 03, 2009
Esther Ralston: Why Do All My Husbands Want To Kill Me? Part III
Hollywood star Esther Ralston at the height of her fame, 1920's.
To read Part I of this series, please click here.
To read Part II, please click here.
Broke, with her second marriage in shambles and blacklisted by studio boss L.B. Mayer—Esther wouldn't trade amorous favors for movie roles—Esther Ralston flees to New York in 1939 to find work and rebuild her shattered career.
Esther, in her slim but resonant 1985 memoir, Some Day We’ll Laugh, tells us that she was forced to leave her daughter Mary behind in California with her mother.
Working in Summer Stock and radio, Esther meets a young entertainment columnist named Ted Lloyd. Everywhere she plays, Ted is in the audience. With characteristic understatement Esther notes that Lloyd “seemed to follow me.”
Clearly, Esther has an admirer. Not surprising in that Esther Ralston, dubbed The American Venus, was a famous Hollywood beauty. One would hope that coming on the heels of two ex-husbands who were not only unreliable, but also somewhat homicidal, Esther would steer clear of another hasty romantic entanglement, but —
To read the concluding post in my three-part series, please head on over to Big Hollywood.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at November 3, 2009 03:32 PM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
I left a couple of comments on BH that disappeared - and tonight I am learning that they are having hardware problems.
I'd like to thank you Robert for taking your valuable time and talent and educating us about so many Hollywood stars who, forgotten today, were household names decades ago.
On Esther I am thinking if it weren't for her affliction of not being able to objectively judge the opposite sex - and affliction that seems to affect a bit of mankind - her movie career would have soared - L.B. Mayer notwithstanding (refusing to use the casting couch with him) - but 3 bad husbands dragged her down.
Posted by: Bill Brandt at November 4, 2009 08:41 PM
I totally agree with Bill. This education is wonderful -- this is one of the good things about the internet!
Posted by: ProphetJoe at November 5, 2009 05:44 AM
Bill:
Thanks so much for the kind words. I hesitated a bit before writing a three part series because Esther is such an unknown. But I decided that her life, in and out of Hollywood, is a tale that goes from the silent era right up into television, and that is pretty darn compelling.
Her bad taste in men definitely hobbled her career. An entire book could be devoted to Hollywood starlets who loved bad men.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 5, 2009 03:30 PM
Joe:
The internet is like a weapon. It can be a tool of abuse or a ray of light. I'm gratified that you like my Esther Ralston post.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at November 5, 2009 03:32 PM
Thanks for this interesting series! I hope to see more like it.
Posted by: Frayda at November 6, 2009 10:43 AM