20 Hollywood Actors of Yesteryear with Well-Hidden Secrets

Behind her image as a sex symbol, Hedy spent her nights inventing in the hope of helping the Allied troops during World War II. She patented a “frequency-hopping” signal with a team that helped prevent enemy forces from jamming torpedo signals. Not only was she as brilliant as she was beautiful, but she also helped develop the technology we know today as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Cary Grant was actually born Archibald and had a turbulent childhood. He spent his youth trying to escape his circumstances—first by running away to join a troupe of acrobats as a teenager, and then by honing his skills as a slapstick comedian alongside them. It wasn’t until later in life that he trained relentlessly to perfect the cool, neutral British accent we know today.

To achieve her legendary “swaying” gait and perfectly sculpted appearance on screen, Marilyn reportedly used a few clever tricks involving sewing. She was known for having marbles or even small buttons sewn into her bras to ensure she always looked a certain way, regardless of the temperature on set. It was a subtle trick that helped create the image of a sex symbol that the studios were desperately trying to sell to the public.

Joan used boric acid almost every day to help her eyes look more “open” and bright on screen. She would pour the irritating crystals into a small bowl of water and soak her eyes in it before filming began. Although no actress likes to look tired on screen, she went to extra lengths to look young, even if it caused her pain during every shoot.

During his difficult early days as a young actor in New York, Christopher Walken worked as an assistant lion tamer in a circus. His favorite animal was Sheba, whom he still describes today as gentler than her fellow lions. He recalls that summer job with fondness; he believes it inspired the fearlessness that is evident in his acting today.

Being the world’s biggest child star wasn’t always a bed of roses, as Shirley later revealed, explaining that the studio had a very cold-hearted way of making the children obey. If the child actors misbehaved or forgot their lines, they were supposedly sent to a “black box” where they had to sit on a large block of ice. This serves as a chilling reminder that the “Good Ship Lollipop” enforced some pretty strict disciplinary measures behind the scenes.

In the movie It Happened One Night, Clark Gable took off his shirt to reveal his bare chest, which caused a scandal at the time, since most men wore undershirts. That single scene is said to have caused a massive drop in undershirt sales across the United States, as all the men wanted to look like the ruggedly handsome movie star. The industry reportedly resented him for accidentally causing an entire clothing market to collapse simply by being himself.

Despite her petite stature and graceful appearance, Hepburn loved Italian cuisine more than anything. She loved pasta so much that she always traveled with dried noodles in her suitcase. If she found that her destination didn’t offer good-quality spaghetti, she would simply boil some noodles at her hotel.

Katharine was known for her stubbornness and her refusal to wear traditional dresses, often showing up at the studio dressed in “unfeminine” pants. On one occasion, the costume department even hid her pants to force her to wear a skirt, but she simply walked around the set in silk underwear until they were returned to her. She ultimately won the battle, proving that her personal comfort was more important to her than the studio’s rigid dress codes.

Jimmy wasn’t always the boy next door. In fact, he served as a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve during World War II. He was a bombardier and never failed a mission, despite extremely difficult conditions. He received numerous medals for his service and was a bona fide war hero behind his patriotic classic.

Legend has it that she had her back molars surgically removed so that her cheeks would appear hollow under the spotlights and her jawline would look more angular. This is said to be her signature look, which would come to symbolize the femme fatale for generations to come. She paid a heavy price for it, with missing teeth and pain that can only be described as excruciating.

During the filming of a famous scene in a water tower in Sherlock Jr., a massive jet of water hurled Buster onto the railroad tracks and broke his neck. Surprisingly, he didn’t even realize how serious his injury was at the time and continued to work for years despite excruciating headaches. He didn’t find out until years later, when he had an X-ray taken for another issue and a doctor immediately noticed it.

Everyone was always commenting on Liz’s electric purple eyes, but few knew that she was born with a condition called distichiasis. She had an extra row of eyelashes growing on her upper eyelids. When she started filming, the crews would send her back to the makeup room to have her “false eyelashes” removed, but her makeup artist, deeply moved, would come out in tears because they were actually real eyelashes!

The studio pressured Rock to marry his agent’s secretary in order to save face. Sham marriages were common in classic Hollywood, where male and female celebrities would secretly marry to save face. Many have speculated about the couple’s relationship.

When she arrived in the United States from Sweden, MGM Studios deemed her too heavy and put her on a strict diet. Her meals consisted mainly of spinach, which she was allowed to eat for only three weeks straight. This experience contributed to her famous desire to “be alone” and her general distrust of the Hollywood machine.

When the famous adventurer was forbidden from drinking on set, he found a very creative and fruity way to get around the rules. He used a syringe to inject vodka into fresh oranges, then ate them during his breaks, right under the directors’ noses. No one suspected a thing, because he simply looked like a health-conscious actor taking his daily dose of vitamin C.

Executives thought the public wouldn’t accept Rita’s "too Spanish" look, so they insisted that she have her hairline raised. She underwent electroshock therapy on her scalp for nearly a year, which burned her hair follicles so they wouldn’t grow back. In addition to dyeing her curls red, this made her almost unrecognizable to everyone who had known her before.

Standing 1.73 m tall, Bogey had to resort to a few tricks to appear taller than his female co-stars. He wore heel lifts in his shoes and placed cushions on chairs so he would be higher up in front of the camera. Watch some of his walking scenes and you’ll notice that he moves awkwardly, since he wears 10 cm heels all the time.

Fred Astaire was one of the most graceful dancers of all time, but he was such a perfectionist that he would rehearse his choreography until his feet turned red. He even had an entire film recalled and destroyed because he had noticed a minor flaw in his steps. His secret wasn’t magic, but rather relentless and obsessive hard work.

Whenever life got him down, President John F. Kennedy would call Judy and ask her to sing for him. He was such a big fan of hers that whenever he wanted to relax, he’d pick up the phone and ask her to sing “Over the Rainbow” for him. You could say she had a hidden talent.