Some Of The Most Iconic Actors Of All Time Were Actually Hiding Peculiar Personality Quirks

Sure, many of the hottest silver-screen stars could act like total professionals while the cameras were rolling. But when the filming stopped, they could be just as gross and weird as the rest of us – or worse! Yep, even timeless legends like Marlon Brando and Grace Kelly had their stranger sides. Read on to hear about all of the odd, obnoxious and even downright disturbing personality traits of your favorite Hollywood icons.

20. June Lang loved baths

Before the days of Instagram and social media, movie stars had to get creative with how they reached out to their fans. Some actors would give their beauty tips to newspapers, for example, to allow readers to emulate a bit of movie magic at home. And one such generous celeb was June Lang. In 1932 she shared the secret of her sumptuous skin with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Twice a day!

Lang told the newspaper, “Frequent baths — say twice a day — are my beauty hint.” With all that time soaking, who knows how she got anything done! The actress also revealed, “Soaping and scrubbing with a brush cleanses the pores, I find, and increases the circulation, which lays the foundation for a healthy skin.” It seemed to work for her, anyway.

19. Elvis' chimpanzee

At the height of Elvis’ career, he was offered a chimpanzee named Scatter as a pet. Yes, really! The chimp had previously been a fixture on a local Memphis TV station, but his handler wanted rid of him. So, the King valiantly stepped up and moved Scatter into Graceland. And this kicked off one of the weirdest animal-human relationships in showbusiness.

Furious George

Cute as Scatter and Elvis’ bond sounds, their time together was a rough ride. First off, the furry fella would tear up the curtains, torment visitors, bite people, and do that rather, er, unhygienic throwing thing that chimpanzees tend to do. By many accounts, Elvis did a pretty poor job of looking after the primate. Tragically, Scatter died while still in the “care” of the King and his staff.

18. Natalie Wood's old injury

Ever noticed that Natalie Wood always seems to be wearing a thick bracelet in photographs? Well, you’re not imagining things! When the actress was just ten years old – and filming 1949’s The Green Promise – a bridge rigged to collapse fell down too early. Wood, who had been on top of the structure at the time, plummeted into the water below and broke her wrist.

She never healed

Sadly, that wrist injury never healed properly. Some biographers claim that this was because Wood’s mother refused to get it treated. In any case, the incident left a protruding bone above Wood’s left hand. And it was this scar that drove the actress to keep her wrist concealed. She apparently despised the injury and would don a bracelet, watch or long-sleeved gloves when on screen.

17. Elizabeth Taylor's long lashes

The reason for Elizabeth Taylor’s striking eyes? She had been born with a genetic mutation known as lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome. That tongue-twisting condition also gave Taylor an extra set of eyelashes, arguably adding to her beauty. But not all of the symptoms of the condition were so enviable.

The devastating side effects

Taylor’s syndrome also caused her a fair share of grief. Yes, the actress suffered from health problems all her life because of the condition. She endured diabetes, seizures and even a brain tumor, for example. And when she passed away, it was from congestive heart failure – another possible consequence of the devastating disorder.

16. Jayne Mansfield's "accidental" wardrobe malfunctions

They say that when you’ve got it, flaunt it. And one Hollywood actress definitely took that to heart. Blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield would go out on the town, wait for the photographers, and then conveniently allow part of her outfit to come off. Once, she even dove into a swimming pool... and surfaced without her top!

She made headlines

If Instagram had been a thing back in Mansfield’s day, she would have surely been the queen of it. Every move the actress made seemed to grab headlines, from her tendency to disrobe to her infamous rivalry with Marilyn Monroe. And though the star was stolen from us too soon, her wild side most definitely won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

15. James Dean was unhygienic

James Dean was a teen idol of his era. Equal parts cool and charismatic, the young actor was the type of man you wanted to be. That is, until you encountered him in real life. Dean apparently had a few hygiene habits that were a bit off-putting, you see. He would go out in filthy clothes, for example... and sometimes without any shoes on, too!

Gross!

According to some of Dean’s old friends and coworkers, the actor would show up to rehearsals in jeans held together with safety pins. He’s also said to have occasionally worn the same unwashed T-shirt for two weeks. Gross! In May 1955 the Detroit Free Press wrote of the movie star, “Jimmy dresses like an unmade bed.” That’s harsh, but probably fair.

14. Audrey Hepburn's unusual pet

When it came to animals, Audrey Hepburn was as loving as she was lovable. That’s especially true of her relationship with her cherished pet deer, Pippin. The two met on the set of the 1959 jungle romance Green Mansions and sparked up an adorable friendship. And when filming wrapped, Hepburn couldn’t help but take little “Ip” home.

Four doe eyes

Of course, deer don’t always make great pets. But Hepburn was more than up for the challenge of raising one. She often had Pippin by her side, bringing the furry friend along on shopping trips and outings. The pair’s bond was so strong, in fact, that even after Pippin was given her own bathtub to sleep in, she still shared Hepburn’s bed from time to time!

13. Peter Sellers' bizarre phobia

Peter Sellers was by all accounts a difficult man to get along with. And that’s putting it lightly! On movie sets, he would reportedly have people fired on the slightest whim. He also threw tantrums whenever things weren’t going his way. But it wasn’t just Sellers’ tetchy temper that sent him into screaming fits. All it took was the color purple.

No green or purple allowed

Yes, Sellers feared purple. He deemed it to be a harbinger of death, you see, and would even have his staff clear rooms of its presence before he entered them. And the actor’s irrational phobias didn’t stop there. You may find this hard to believe, but he also hated green. No kidding! If someone was wearing the color on set, Sellers would refuse to act with them.

12. Doris Day loved Vaseline

Doris Day had a pretty peculiar trick she liked to use to keep her skin beautiful. Unfortunately, it’s one that’s fairly complicated – and more than a little bit gross – to pull off. In her 1975 autobiography Doris Day: Her Own Story, the actress explained that once a month she slathered her entire body in Vaseline. Yes, you read that right! Then, once she was all jellied up, she would pull on her pajamas and hop into bed.

Met with ridicule

Unsurprisingly, this revelation was met with ridicule from columnists at the time. In 1977 Jean Kerr wrote for The New York Times, “What I want to know is where [Day] sleeps. In a bed? Suppose she turns over in the middle of the night. In her slippery condition, wouldn’t she skid right out of the bed, knocking over lamps and alarm clocks and possibly damaging herself, wiping out the improvements?”

11. Lauren Bacall was difficult

Lauren Bacall was a no-nonsense kind of woman in an era that didn’t always react well to them, and her contemporaries didn’t always approve of her attitude. In 1945 the Hollywood Women’s Press Club voted for the year’s “Least Cooperative Actress,” and Bacall came in second to Greer Garson. Other people have discussed her combative personality more recently, too.

She's no wallflower

In 2014 the former president of Israel, Shimon Peres, told Haaretz that he was distantly related to the actress. When he had met her, though, he hadn’t been in for an easy ride. Peres said, “[Bacall] told me a bit about acting, about love, but she was not an easy woman. She had very strong opinions, was protective of her dignity and was not easy to converse with.”

10. Grace Kelly's wild side

Grace Kelly was known for being poised, classy and endlessly sophisticated. Some say, though, that the actress had a hidden wild side. In fact, if her biographers are to be believed, the Hollywood icon may have gone to bed with several of her costars – including James Stewart, Cary Grant and Clark Gable.

Rumors about Grace

According to TV and theatre director Don Richardson, who was interviewed for the 1987 biography Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess, Kelly indeed had plenty of affairs. He revealed, “Ironically, her Catholicism, which she believed in, didn’t prevent her from being promiscuous. She would jump out of bed on Sunday morning, wearing nothing but the crucifix, go to church, come back in an hour and jump into bed.”

9. Orson Welles hated his nose

Orson Welles was extremely insecure about one part of his face. In 1955 he wrote, “You may have wondered why I look so peculiar on the television. And it’s partly, I must confess to you, the fact that you see my nose as it is. In most of the films that I appear in, I put on a false nose. Usually as large as I can find.”

False noses

And Welles wasn’t kidding. After finishing shooting his 1948 flick Macbeth, he then flew to Rome to act in another movie. But upon arrival, as biographer Barbara Leaming notes, “Orson seemed far more worried about the supply of false noses he had inadvertently left in Hollywood than about his unfinished picture.” Ah, the priorities of a world-famous director!

8. Greta Garbo's strange diet

Hollywood legend Greta Garbo was known for championing some pretty crazy diets in her time. And this should go without saying, but please don’t try them at home, folks. First off, there was the period when the actress apparently ate nothing but spinach to stay trim. At another point in her life, the starlet supposedly survived on just dried apricots, brown beans, biscuits and chicken. But it didn’t stop there.

Odd eating habits

Garbo had some other odd eating habits as well, mostly involving strange combinations of food. Sometimes she would eat raw eggs mixed with orange juice, buttermilk mixed with yeast or cornflakes mixed with lingonberry jam and coffee. Some enthusiastic foodies have reported that that last one is actually pretty tasty.

7. Marlon Brando wouldn’t memorize lines

There’s no doubt that Marlon Brando was a great actor, but he definitely wasn’t perfect. The Hollywood star was a bit rusty when it came to learning lines, you see, and that’s a pretty vital part of the job. At least he found a sneaky shortcut to help with the issue. Basically, Brando would have cue cards hidden around the movie set.

Hidden cue cards

Yes, when Brando was filming a scene, he’d have his lines stashed all around him. They were sneakily concealed in places where he could read them in a natural way — taped to walls off camera and the like. But that wasn’t all. Apparently, for the 1996 movie The Island of Dr. Moreau, Brando had his lines fed to him through an earpiece — a problematic situation, as it would sometimes pick up police radio messages.

6. Tippi Hedren's exotic pets

Tippi Hedren didn’t exactly display good judgment when she bought a dangerous animal home. The beast in question was a massive male lion named Neil, who was soon followed in turn by more big cats. Hedren believed she could care for them, too, after working in the field of conservation. But, sadly, she thought wrong. Neil, like all lions, simply wasn’t meant to be confined to a house.

"Stupid beyond belief"

Hedren even let the lions and her own daughter, Melanie Griffith, sleep in a bed together. And this relationship ended exactly how you’d expect: Griffith was attacked and needed surgery on her face. In 2014 Hedren told the Daily Mail that she now considered her actions “stupid beyond belief.”

5. Charlie Chaplin's disturbing alter ego

To most of us, Charlie Chaplin is remembered as a pioneering silent movie star with a brilliant brain and a trademark mustache. But behind the scenes, there was some pretty unpleasant psychology at play. You see, Chaplin considered his most famous character, the Tramp, to be a manifestation of his own father. Not only that, but the comedian is also said to have indulged in some distinctly unfunny behavior.

Chaplin was "sadistic"

According to those who knew him, Chaplin would prey on young women and mistreat them once they had fallen under his spell. His marriages were generally disastrous, then, and his co-stars didn’t much like him either. In Marlon Brando’s 1994 autobiography he called Chaplin “probably the most sadistic man I’d ever met.” So much for the comedian’s universal appeal!

4. Marilyn Monroe loved reading

When Marilyn Monroe married Arthur Miller, it was seen as a comical mismatch. Variety responded to the news with the rather insulting headline, “Egghead Weds Hourglass.” But in truth, Monroe was far from a dumb blonde. She read so extensively, in fact, that she was once advised to stop looking at “radical” books while on set.

Marilyn's personal library

Before her tragic death, Monroe had apparently collected up to 400 books for her personal library. These included Ulysses, A Streetcar Named Desire, and the children’s book The Little Engine That Could. She also enjoyed taking literature classes and writing for herself. And it seems Monroe had some talent on the page as well as the screen, as some critics have recognized the merits of her work.

3. Alec Guinness hated Star Wars

Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy, really wasn’t a fan of the flicks. Yes, while the franchise may have introduced Guinness to a whole new generation of fans – and earned him a tremendous amount of money in the process – he simply loathed Star Wars. He ultimately grew furious that young children knew him only as Obi-Wan.

He hated fan mail

Guinness made no attempt to hide his contempt, either. If he received fan mail about Star Wars, he attempted to send it back. He also pleaded with George Lucas to give him a way out of the movies. And in one of his autobiographies, the actor recounted a story about making a young fan promise to never watch Star Wars again. Don’t meet your heroes, kids.

2. Alfred Hitchcock was disturbingly obsessed

After casting Tippi Hedren in The Birds, Hitchcock put her through something far more terrifying than anything in the movie. He made an advance on her and she said no, so he tormented her as revenge. He would throw live birds at her instead of fake ones and pay people to track her off set. It’s awful stuff, but that’s not even the worst of it.

Terrorizing children

Hitchcock’s creepy behavior even extended to Hedren’s own children. The Psycho director had a mask made of Hedren’s face and then created a realistic-looking doll out of it. He would later seal that figurine in a coffin and send it to Hedren’s daughter Melanie Griffith. Unsurprisingly, the poor girl grew up to despise Hitchcock.

1. Cary Grant loved LSD

Cary Grant didn’t handle fame very well. He was desperate to find something, anything, that would give him inner peace. So, when more traditional pursuits such as yoga didn’t work for him, he turned to LSD. And he loved it. Grant apparently went on to drop acid around a hundred times throughout his life.

Telling the world

This little-known aspect of Grant’s life became the basis for a documentary, Becoming Cary Grant, in 2017. That year the director Mark Kidel told The Guardian, “[Cary] claimed he was saved by LSD. You have to remember that Cary was a private man. He rarely gave interviews. And yet, after taking acid, he personally contacted Good Housekeeping and said, ‘I want to tell the world about this.’”