Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.
Carole Landis was a gifted comedienne, a decent singer, and -- once she dyed her natural brown hair blonde -- perhaps the most luminous beauty in movies of the early 1940s. Plus, she was one of the most dedicated USO performers of WWII, and her elopement with an Air Force pilot on her travels became the inspiration for a book, movie and long running tabloid narrative. But then Landis fell into an affair with Rex Harrison -- and this affair turned out to be Landis’ last.
Carole Landis with World War II troops
Show notes:
Sources specific to this episode:
Carole Landis: A Most Beautiful Girl, by Eric Gans
Fatal Charm: The Life of Rex Harrison, by Alexander Walker
Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley, by Jeffrey Spivak
Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann, by Barbara Seaman
This is the issue of TIME Magazine mentioned in the intro.
The book containing the claims about Pat DeCicco’s violent involvement in Carole Landis’ changed nose is Carole Landis: A Tragic Life In Hollywood by EJ Fleming. Other than citing this one specious claim, I did not use this book as a source precisely because Fleming has a tendency to phrase conjecture as though it is fact.
Credits:
This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.
Rex Harrison and Carole Landis
