Video: The flip side of the glory of Veronica Lake: What was hidden behind the facade of the well-being of the brightest Hollywood star
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Veronica Lake was one of the Hollywood legends of the 1940s. - she not only became a star on the screen, but also introduced into fashion the style of "peekaboo" (long wavy hair covering one eye), which was later imitated by many Hollywood celebrities. However, the second half of the actress's life became a payback for the success of the first, and the last years were really terrible. Why the US government asked Veronica Lake to change her hairstyle, because of which the directors refused to work with her, and how she ended up on the edge of the abyss, all alone and in poverty - further in the review.
Veronica Lake's real name is Frances Constance Marie Okelman. The pseudonym appeared when she started acting in films. Producer Arthur Hornblow considered that the name Veronica is more suitable for a girl with classical beauty, and the last name Lake (translated as "lake") was born as an association with her deep blue eyes.
By the age of 20, Veronica Lake was a real star. After her first role, she attracted the attention of the producer of the Paramount studio, and a contract was signed with her. After the actress starred in several film noir in the images of fragile, defenseless and at the same time vicious women, she began to be called the "queen of noir". During the years of popularity, the bright blonde was courted by the magnates Aristotle Onassis and Howard Hughes. And she herself later said about the other side of her glory: "".
The hallmark of the actress, which ensured the recognition of her image, was the shining wavy blonde hair that covers half of her face and falls on her shoulders. This style was called "peekaboo" ("game of hide and seek") and became so popular in America that during World War II, the US government even had to ask Veronica Lake to change her hairstyle - thousands of women working in military factories, imitating the screen star, did the same styling, and their hair was pulled into the looms.
The audience idolized her, and the directors and fellow actors hated her. The actress had a very nasty, capricious and quarrelsome character. One of her partners on the set, actor Eddie Bracken, said: "". Many, having worked with her once, later refused to even hear her name. Due to the constant scandals initiated by Veronica and the disruption of filming, Paramount studio refused to renew the contract with her. From this began the rapid fall of the Hollywood star.
Professional failures were compounded by personal problems. In 1940, the actress married artistic director John Detley, gave birth to a daughter, but after 3 years this marriage broke up. Once during the filming, Veronica, being pregnant, fell and was badly injured, which led to the death of the child. Soon after, she and her husband divorced, and the actress began to seek solace in alcohol.
In the early 1950s. Veronica Lake left Hollywood, finally attracting attention to herself with another scandal: from the plane, the actress shouted the phrase "". However, Hollywood answered her the same - yesterday's star was quickly forgotten. She was replaced by new idols. True, the pikabu style has not lost its popularity for many years. It was borrowed to create the image of Jessica Rabbit from the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", and Veronica Lake, apparently, became the prototype of the heroine Kim Basinger in the movie "Los Angeles Secrets". And today, Hollywood stars often exploit this image.
Its sunset was as swift as its takeoff. After the end of her film career, Veronica Lake tried to work on television and in the theater, but did not achieve great success. In the 1960s. one of the journalists accidentally met the former screen star in a New York hotel and could not believe his eyes - the film star was standing behind the bar, offering drinks to visitors.
Then a new scandal erupted: the mother of the actress admitted that her daughter had symptoms of schizophrenia in her youth, and over the years Veronica could no longer control her behavior on her own. After the divorce from her third husband, Veronica's alcohol dependence worsened, she was arrested several times for hooliganism and drunkenness in public places. Because of this, her mental state deteriorated, which ultimately led to the development of paranoia. By the end of 1960, Veronica was admitted to the clinic, where she was diagnosed with a mental disorder.
However, after that she tried to return to normal life. In 1970, in an interview, the actress said: "".
In July 1973, it became known that 53-year-old Veronica Lake had died of hepatitis and kidney failure caused by alcoholism. In recent years, even her children did not communicate with her, and the Hollywood legend passed away in complete loneliness and poverty.
Thanks to photographer George Harell, we can still admire unattainably beautiful images of Hollywood beauties of the 1930-1940s.
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