Friday, September 21, 2007

And the Mystery is Solved!

For all of you that were following Intigator’s blog the other day about the Timmy/Shimmy mystery (or wanted to, but didn’t have the time to invest) you’ll be glad to know that the secret has been revealed. According to Entertainment Lawyer, this is how it went...

Film star Alice Brady was the daughter of William Brady, a big time movie mogul. She wanted very much to act, but was plagued with illness and would often have to back out of acting roles because of broken bones or other ailments. One day, William Brady saw a young actress perform that looked very much like his daughter and approached her about helping his daughter as a stand-in for roles when she didn't feel well. He went backstage to find the actress was in fact a female impersonator - Arthur Blake. As the story goes, Brady asked Arthur to spend time with his daughter and perfect his 'act' then assist her by taking over for her when she couldn't act. This started with with Gay Divorcee and continued on through her film career. As she grew sicker, Arthur had to take on larger parts of the films. He even started a secret relationship with Cesar Romero, who was his co-star in Metropolitan. Toward the end of filming In Old Chicago, Alice became very sick and could do almost none of the later scenes. When she was nominated for an Academy Award for the role, she broke her foot and was unable to attend. Its rumored that Arthur's lover attended in their place and accepted the award, although one was never found. When she died shortly after, Arthur returned to his career as a female impersonator.

Read EL's blog for the full story.

Crazy. Of course, I doubt there’s much proof to back it up, but it would be interesting if it were true. Entertainment Lawyer threw in a bunch of red herrings to make it harder to figure out and even made it seem like this was a man who invented a female character and won an AA for it when it was in fact only a stand-in situation. I was a little disappointed, but it was a fun ride. I have to say its inspired me to write something about the days of old Hollywood. After I finish my current one, of course.

Now that its all over, I can return to my regularly scheduled life already in progress. Thank you for your time. Back to the writing challenge. I’m over the hump and on my way down. I hit page 300 yesterday. If only I wasn’t running out of scenes to write. I think the last 20 or 30 pages are going to be the result of revisions and edits. Boo.

So, did you get wrapped up in the Life and Times of Timmy? Do you believe the story is true? Are you going to log onto Netflix and get a copy of In Old Chicago? Have you heard any good Hollywood legends that you could share? I’m a little let down that its all over now.

SP

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning!

I only spent a few minutes looking over the article...and didn't have time to really get into it. I have a website that i go to when i'm feeling the need to rack my brain around something other than writing, students, and middle school. It's called Weffriddles.com......and I drove myself crazy for a long time on there. I finally finished it a few months ago. We're waiting for Jeff to come up with more riddles.

I can't say if it's true or not, didn't spend enough time...

No, i won't watch Old Chicago to see what's what...

Hollywood legends? I love the ghost stories about hauntings around old hotels or such. They're really cool and i'd love to sleep in one.

Congrats on the writing! I've tried to make time, and have had the opportunity to sit quietly and write, maybe not for the 20 or 30 minutes, but i have given myself a few minutes here and there.

Now i'm off to get gas before heading to school to teach the kids how to narrow down topics. They're using their inner navigation system. I've got them as Captains of their own ship on a treasure hunt. We're beginning with: The World and then narrowing down where the treasure is.

Nini :)

Todays verification: nghdqky

Blech!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for wrapping it up. I was intrigued, but didn't go out to the site. Poor Mary. That was one sick chick.

Rhonda Nelson said...

Thanks for sharing, SP. Like Jen I didn't get too wrapped up, but was intrigued.

Linda Winstead Jones said...

I got totally wrapped up in the story, and was very glad to see it explained fully. Of course I believe it.

I did more research than I had time for, and did come up with Alice Brady/Arthur Blake as my pick, but my reasoning was off. I chose her because I had eliminated everyone else in my mind, and in the pictures I could find her throat was covered. (yes, I was online looking at photos of women looking for an adam's apple.) But since there were two of them, and any pictures were probably of the real Alice, that was just chance.

I don't usually get wrapped up in stuff like this, but it was fascinating.

LJ -- Off to finish a book today!

Lynn Raye Harris said...

I didn't get wrapped up, but did a cursory look through the Oscars and determined that the only one who I thought fit was Alice Brady. I didn't even have a clue who the guy could be! Didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him too, LOL. It was an entertaining mystery, and certainly plausible enough. Still, the solution isn't quite what I'd envisioned -- a guy living as a woman and making it big as an actress. No, he did stand in work for an actress who was already working. Still very entertaining though!

Word verification: adflam. Now why does that make me think of flimflam? :)

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I got so wrapped up in this it wasn't funny. And I'm with Lynn - the answer wasn't exactly what I'd wanted and expected but I have no doubt that it actually happened. Very interesting stuff.

Instigator - who is joyfully through jury duty now!! Maybe I can get my desk cleaned off just a little.

Katherine Bone said...

Fascinating stuff, SP! I enjoyed hearing you talk about this lately but never went to the site because I was afraid I'd get addicted. The photo of Alice Brady and talk of ol' Tinseltown reminds me of the Tower of Terror for some reason or The Shining and the parties ghosts were throwing for good ol' Johnny. Don't ask why.

(adflam, Lynn? Did I hear a duck? That reminds me of Aflak. LOL.)

I'm in agreement with Jenn. Alice was one sick lady. How the heck do you break your bones all over the place? Thankfully, Alice doesn't live here anymore! Aside from cut fingers and knee surgeries, the playfriends don't have to worry about falling to pieces. LOL.

So this poor guy, Arthur, was a stand-in. Point in fact: Isn't anyone else freaking out about Cesear Romero being his secret friend? Blech!!! I used to love Cesear Romero as the Joker in the Batman series. Double Blech!!!!!

Kathy
ztgluz = z clues anyone?

Playground Monitor said...

I was intrigued, read a little of the site and then waited anxiously for the reveal. Very interesting and I'd like to believe it's true.

I've always been fascinated by the death of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman on TV. There was lots of mystery and scandal surrounding his alleged suicide. And of course the death of Marilyn Monroe is still a topic of discussion. Overdose or murder?

PM

Katherine Bone said...

Both are interesting cases, PM. I firmly believe that George Reeves and Marilyn Monroe were murdered. What about OJ? LOL.

Kathy

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I've always been interested in the Black Dahlia murder. So many weird rumors floating around about her being a hermaphrodite and other crazy stuff. Just odd. You don't find a bisected bloodless naked body in your front yard very often. Gotta wonder what happened there.

Angel said...

And don't forget we'll be adding our own 1920s party and murder mystery at our chapter retreat this fall. What fun!

Angel