Myths About Carole
MYTH #1 - Carole worked as a prostitute in San Francisco FALSE! She never worked as a prostitute. When she was 16 she moved to San Francisco to become a singer. It took her just 2 weeks to find a job as a hula dancer. Soon she was earning more than $100 a week singing with Carl Ravazza's band. Carole always had a good job and plenty of money. She hated the attention she got from sleazy men and wore her wedding ring so the "wolves" would leave her alone. Some actresses didn't like Carole because she got a lot of attention from men and she had a brief affair with her boss Darryl Zanuck (so did every other actress at Fox). This rumor was started by jealous women like Lilli Palmer who wanted to hurt Carole's reputation. Unfortunately an unauthorized biographer wrote that Carole was a prostitute and has really damaged her legacy.
MYTH #2 - Someone else wrote Carole's book Four Jills In A Jeep FALSE! She wrote Four Jills In A Jeep all by herself. Carole was very smart and had experience from writing many magazine articles. Her friend Edwin Seaver helped her but he was not her ghostwriter. Those were her stories in her own words. In an interview she said "Such wonderful experiences as I had overseas just had to written in a book. When I came back from Africa I sat down at a typewriter and started pounding it out. But that didn't work. So I hit upon the happy idea of having an expert stenotypist in and for hours upon hours I just talked words like crazy. Then all I had to do was cut, assemble, and rearrange. I don't think I should take any great bows - all I had to do was tell about the many thrilling experiences I had overseas." The book got rave reviews and was made into a movie.
MYTH #3 - Carole was broke and in debt when she died FALSE! She was not broke when she died. In June she sold her mansion for more than $60,000. Her divorce from Horace Schmidlapp was almost final and he agreed to pay her $30,000 in the settlement. She was supposed to get the check on July 5 (the day she was found dead). Carole was also going to make $7500 by starring in 2 new movies for Eagle-Lion. In September she would have started filming The Amazing Mr. X. It is true that her checking account only had $400 in it but she was not worried about her finances. She knew she would be making enough money to pay her bills. Two days before she died she went on a shopping spree in Beverly Hills. This rumor was started by people who were trying to cover up the real facts surrounding her death. They wanted everyone to believe that she was so depressed about money that she killed herself.
MYTH #4 - All of Carole's things was sold at an auction after she died FALSE! My family still has a lot of Carole's clothes, jewelry, and even some of her furniture. Carole's will left everything to her mother Clara. Unfortunately Carole's estranged husband Horace demanded a large portion of her estate and Clara had to give him more than $20,000! She also had to pay for the funeral and a lot of legal fees. The estate ended up in debt and Clara did not inherit any money. To make matters worse she was forced to hold an auction was held in the Spring of 1949. Most of Carole's furniture and household items were sold. When Clara tried to save some mementos from the auction she was threatened with a lawsuit. However my grandma Dorothy spent all of her savings buying items at the auction so they would remain in the family. Over the years some of Carole's belongings have been lost or given away but we cherish what we still have.
MYTH #5 - She was promiscuous and dated a lot of men FALSE! Carole had a lot feminist views but when it came to sex she was an old-fashioned girl. All she ever wanted was to be married and have a family. When she dated someone it was serious - she was never interested in casual flings or one night stands. The press made it seem like Carole was a party girl because she enjoyed going out to nightclubs. Most of the men she was photographed with were only friends. Because Carole fell in love so quickly there were numerous marriages and failed romances. She made a lot of mistakes in her love life but she was not a tramp. She also never cheated on anyone! When she met Rex Harrison she was separated from her husband. Carole once said she was on a "never-ending search for true love" but sadly she was never able to find it.
MYTH #6 - Carole was really born on January 2 FALSE! There is a mistake on her handwritten birth certificate but we know from other sources that her birthday is definitely January 1. Because of this mistake she had to put January 2 on some legal forms. Her official death certificate confirms that January 1 was her birth date. MYTH #7 - Carole was pregnant with Rex Harrison's baby when she died FALSE! Her autopsy showed that she was not pregnant. She always wanted to be a mother. Carole confided to her sister that she could not have children because of endometriosis. MYTH #8 - She was buried wearing her butterfly dress from Secret Command FALSE! Carole was buried wearing a simple blue dress. My mother and uncle saw her wearing that dress in the casket. One of my relatives has Carole's butterfly dress. MYTH #9 - She was fired from Blood And Sand because she refused to color her hair red FALSE! Carole wanted to be in the movie and never refused to color her hair. She changed her hair color all the time! Darryl Zanuck fired her because she ended their affair. MYTH #10 - She had a nose job to help her career FALSE! Carole did have a nose job in early 1940 but it was not for cosmetic reasons. Her boyfriend Pat DiCicco broke her nose and she had to have it fixed. She never had any other plastic surgery. MYTH #11 - She was Bi-Polar FALSE! Carole did not have any bi-polar symptoms. Most of the time she was very happy and rarely suffered from depression. Her "suicide attempts" were never serious.
My favorite quote from Aunt Carole is "Don't gossip - particularly about other women. Don't make sarcastic and catty remarks. Kindness is the secret to true femininity." Facts About Carole / Myths About Carole / Young Carole / Our Family Tree / Carole's Great Love / Carole - The Patriot / Carole's War Photos / Pictures of Carole / Carole's Jewelry Collection / Inside Carole's Closet / Memorabilia / Sharon's Memories Of Carole / Carole and Her Sister / Carole and Her Mother / Remembering Diane Carole / Carole's "Children" / Was Carole Murdered? / Visiting Forest Lawn / The Fans / Watch Carole's Movies / Carole On The Radio / Magazine Articles / The Family Today / Links, Books, and More / Homepage