Samantha Henman articles

Jean Harlow had one of the strangest trajectories to superstardom in Hollywood history. For one thing, she wasn’t in it for the money. She was already a millionaire before she started in Hollywood. Secondly, her acting was uniformly ridiculed by critics for her first films. Yet somehow Harlow rose to the top and made over 30 feature films all before her tragic passing at the age of 26. This “Platinum Blonde” has one of the most fascinating stories in Hollywood.

If you were a teenager or a young adult in the early 1990s, you knew the music of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon. Their hit single “No Rain” was a gentle ode to depression, accompanied by an iconic video featuring the “Bee Girl”. But as Hoon’s story proves, stardom can take a devastating toll.

Hollywood chews up starlets and spits them out—but no one knew this better than the silver screen’s original vamp, Barbara La Marr.

The cruel injustices of Judy Garland’s childhood only led to her fall from grace—an adulthood filled with suffering and depression. Despite her overwhelming talent, Garland's celebrity lifestyle never gave her a fighting chance. With no yellow brick road in sight, she took a darker path—one that led her far from home and straight into unforeseen danger.

Patsy Cline was a trailblazer who was destined to make country music history—but sadly, she met a shocking and early end.

Claudine Longet had a singing voice that was soft and ethereal. But after hearing her story, it can sound absolutely demented. You see, after Longet lost one romantic partner, she decided she would do whatever it took to keep the next. The mystery surrounding what happened to him sent Longet into a courtroom for one of the most talked about trials of the 20th century.

Sondra Locke had an extraordinary Hollywood career that refused to follow any typical playbook. She lived a mysterious life—one which included questions about her real age and her unorthodox marriage. When she hooked up with a major Hollywood star, it seemed like her career was ready to truly take off. Instead, Locke’s life began a downward spiral leading to an almost complete disappearance from Hollywood. Locke’s life is a cautionary tale like no other.

Marilyn Monroe had nothing on Gene Tierney. This angular, green-eyed brunette traipsed from high society all the way to the silver screen, but after years on the top, Hollywood chewed her up and spat her out.

Marilyn Maxwell enjoyed a stellar run as a classic Hollywood actress, but her life behind the scenes was much more shocking, dramatic, and downright provocative than any film or tv show she ever starred in.