Wallace Beery
Toronto Daily Star, December 3 1934
Wallace Beery (1885-1949) was not only one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars at the time of this photograph - he might have been the highest-paid star, as his contract with MGM called for him to be paid $1 more than any other actor on contract with the studio. However, if his Wikipedia page is to be believed, he was a horrible person (possible trigger warnings ahead):
- He married Gloria Swanson in 1916 when he was 30 and she was 17. According to her autobiography, he raped her on their wedding night and tricked her into aborting her fetus when he got her pregnant. They divorced in 1918.
- On set, he never bothered to learn his lines and would take from other actors' characters.
- He refused to leave tips at the MGM commissary because, as he put it, tips are for special service and he already got this because he was a movie star.
- He had special difficulty getting along with child actors and children in general. When future author Ray Bradbury approached him for an autograph, Beery cursed him and spat on him.
On the other hand, Mickey Rooney always spoke very highly of him. When Rooney's father, vaudeville performer Joe Yule, passed away, he arranged for him to be buried next to Beery, as he thought it fitting that two old comedians should be buried side by side.
Created October 9, 2025.