Alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs. In the dream factory, all of this can break a career or ... push it forward. Success depends on a good PR specialist. Preferably one who knows history and is not afraid to follow the example of a long deceased Hollywood drug addict ...
Wallace Reid is one of the few actors who both elicit cries of admiration in women and admiration in men.
He had the image of a somewhat crazy boy next door who loves car racing and has a torso like a Greek god, and after work ... he politely returns to his beloved wife Dorothy Davenport and little son. But what was it really like?
He was the first Hollywood star whose recovery from drug addiction became a public affair. Thanks to the cleverness of several people around him, Reid was not hailed as a degenerate junkie.
Wallace Reid features the famous opera singer Geraldine Farrar on set.
Instead, he became poor Wali who was just very sick and courageously faced his problems ...
Take cover as long as possible
Born on April 15, 1891, Wallace was doomed to success. He came from a family associated with the entertainment industry and also performed on stage from an early age.
With time, a boy with the appearance of a typical American prom king and the stature of a giant (190 cm is a lot today, let alone at the beginning of the 20th century!) Began to act in short films. The turning point in his career was the role of a blacksmith in "The Birth of the Nation" from 1915.
It was not a complicated creation, but the actor had to perform without a shirt, which immediately won over a crowd of female fans.
The fact that it was one of the loudest and most groundbreaking films in the history of American cinematography did not hurt him either ...
The following years were a series of triumphs for Reid. As Anne Hellen Petersen, author of the book "Scandals of the golden age of Hollywood" writes:
Reid has appeared in many car racing movies, doing stunts personally and convincingly confirming his masculinity ... At the same time he played the favorite of women in many exotic romances , headed by the most famous performance with the opera singer Geraldine Farrar.
Wallace Reid (left) is consulting the script.
Blame it on colleagues… you don't know at all
Imagine the surprise of the fans when this golden Hollywood boy suddenly landed in the hospital on October 22, 1922. It had been rumored in the film studio for months that an audience favorite had drug problems.
They were so serious that Reid was under the care of doctors, and Dorothy and his friend took him to the mountains to recover in isolation.
The press reported all the time that Wallace was ill. The truth came out two months later. Dorothy wasn't going to give up though :Together with other people around her husband, she managed to precisely direct what happened next.
Send the wife to the front lines
The family told sweet stories about how bad company had dragged the actor into addiction. According to Reid's mother-in-law, there were some people he did not invite, and they were drinking in his house, and the host was too kind to throw them out.
The wife kept repeating like a mantra that her husband, despite his great willpower and strong character, fell into the clutches of a drug disease through no fault of his own. Fortunately, he began to recover. She said:
My husband is a very sick boy. I don't know if he will recover, but he quit and emerged victorious from this battle. He stood up to this clash out of his free will and won it with the strength of his mind and his own will (Quoted after:Anne Hellen Petersen, "Scandals of the golden age of Hollywood").
This is how the drug addict became a hero. It was impossible to turn away from him, in the end he began to overcome his illness himself! The beloved star, who performed stunts for his fans in his films, often suffered accidents.
In order not to disappoint the studios and viewers, even if he was injured, he acted out new scenes. A morphine injection was enough. It was the constant pressure that pushed him to addiction ... he was a junkie to please you, your wife and your children!
Don't talk about cocaine sugar bowls
The idealized image of Reid, recovering in front of newspaper readers, only wavered when the young star Evelyn Nesbit Thaw got the floor. She talked about drug dealers waiting for their victims in Hollywood, about her own addiction, and parties where cocaine was so abundant it was served in sugar bowls.
Reports began appearing in the press that Wallace Reid was addicted not only to morphine but also to cocaine. It really changed things completely. The first drug in the early 1900s was still a commonly prescribed and available drug at any pharmacy. The second - just as now was illegal and condemned by society.
Wallace Reid and Dorothy Davenport in 1912.
Tell your mother-in-law you don't like taking drugs
The actor's wife insisted that the husband attended only one or two parties where cocaine was present. He was sad to say to his mother-in-law:
Mom, I don't like this. You can't look for pleasure that way. This is all so fake (quoted after:Anne Hellen Petersen, "Scandals of the golden age of Hollywood")
All the media hype was intended only to confuse the media and create an appropriate message. We can observe exactly the same actions today.
Wallace Reid with his wife and little son. At that moment, nothing foreshadowed the tragic end.
There is a drug or alcohol scandal in Hollywood involving a young star. Her manager informs that she has understood that her life is not going well and is asking fans for support. The star goes to a luxury drug rehabilitation center and from time to time informs the media that she feels better, thanks for help and kind words. She comes out of rehab and says it's all because of the pressure, the bad company she fell into. Sounds familiar? Of course! In the end, everything happens according to the pattern devised by Reid.
Unfortunately, it did not help him much. Wallace Reid died on January 18, 1923 of complications from drug starvation.
Source:
The article is based on the book by Anne Helen Petersen entitled Scandals of the golden age of Hollywood. As a reader of "Historical Curiosities" you can buy it as much as 30% cheaper!