The concept of rich and powerful people employing ‘fixers’ to repair or shade their public reputation from (often their own) misdeeds is not new.
The biggest Old Hollywood studios most often had a small team of fixers on their staff.
Their prize assets — their movie stars — were after all, only human and therefore, fallible.
So when one of their money makers went afoul, one or more of their fixers were called in immediately to suppress the story from the media.
Below is a picture of Loretta Young and Clarke Gable. Eddie Mannix helped to cover up their scandal which led to a secret love child. More details below…
EDDIE MANNIX
One of the most famous Hollywood ‘fixers’ was Eddie Mannix, a powerful executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Although officially he managed production and studio operations, he became legendary for handling the crises and messes MGM’s stars got into — out of the newspapers.
Mannix worked during the height of the studio system. This was the time when major studios controlled their actors’ careers and public images.
Hollywood gossip columnists could be highly influential back then — much like today’s social media influencers do today. The biggest difference being the way people would spend their money based on an influencer’s opinion.
Then people would keep spending their money to see movies where their stars were thought to be upstanding people off camera.
Today, it’s the influencer themselves that the people they influence spend money on.
This distinction put Old Hollywood studios in a precarious postion which why they made sure they had enormous leverage over newspapers and fan magazines.
BELOW IS A PICTURE OF EDDIE MANNIX
DURING HIS TIME AT MGM
ONE OF HOLLYWOOD’S BEST FIXERS
Mannix’s reputation was this — if one of their stars got into trouble with either an affair, an arrest, an unwanted pregnancy, a drunken incident etc. —he would find a way to make the problem disappear.
It’s difficult to know exactly how Mannix worked his cover up magic because many stories about him come from memoirs rather than actual records.
However, there is one juicy example of Mannix’s studio worth and it involves actress Loretta Young.
BELOW IS A PICTURE OF LORETTA YOUNG
The Loretta Young & Clark Gable Pregnancy Cover-Up
In 1935, during the filming of The Call of the Wild, Young became pregnant.
She was having an affair with the magnetic and irresistible Clark Gable.
It’s important to note that at the time —→ Gable was married, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy could have severely damaged both careers.
This would have x-times the crash and burn risk of this event.
BELOW IS A PICTURE OF YOUNG AND GABLE WHILE WORKING TOGETHER
MGM’s — and therefore Mannix’s response
was swift and heavy handed —>
- They made Loretta Young disappear from public view for a number of months
- Public explanations were given for her absence that sounded plausible (illness in family etc.)
- Young gave birth to the daughter she conceived with Gable privately born on November 6, 1935.
- Later, their daughter, Judy Lewis (nee Young), was presented publicly as an adopted child.
The studio – with Mannix’s help – kept this scandalous story and the true parentage of the girl largely secret for decades.
MORE THAN JUST MANNIX
Of course, with a scandal of this magnitude, Mannix was not the sole player of the deep secret.
In fact, multiple studio and media people were involved.
Old Hollywood historians often cite the Young-Gable case as a classic example of how the studio system could control public narratives surrounding their stars.
What’s especially interesting is that this was not just the quelling of nasty gossip.
This scandal required cool, underground coordination between publicists, executives, reporters, medical staff and at times—- even religious institutions and lawyers.
It really wasn’t until daughter – Judy Lewis – wrote a book later in her life about how exactly she discovered her true lineage that the truth about the scandal emerged.
Why Mannix Became a Legend
Mannix’s reputation grew because Old Hollywood insiders gave him credit for countless cover-ups to him.
Mannix’s scandal suppression skills ranged from affairs and pregnancies to full out criminal activities.
By the time the big studio era ended, the term “call Eddie Mannix” had become shorthand for getting yourself a fixer, Fast!
*** Stay tuned for another fixer —- Howard Strickling —- who is often best known for his role in managing the cover up of actress Jean Harlow’s illness, as well as, many other MGM crises.
Strickling is often considered the real master mind of movie star reputation management. Even more than Mannix.
Look for it right here!***
A PICTURE OF GABLE AND YOUNG
DURING THE FILMING OF ‘CALL OF THE WILD’
