Tinseltown tales of terror

Hollywood actors talk about the lewd tests they had to give before making it to the big screen.

KARACHI:

Whoever thought Hollywood was all about glitz and glamour may as well also believe that in a bizarre world somewhere, oompa loompas are bringing a revolution by chanting songs of death and justice. Time and again, the representation or rather the congregation of the most fortunate looking, Hollywood, has shown us the lascivious side of it as well.

Recently an article published in the controversial British newspaper, The Sun, quoted former starlets who exposed the magnitude of child sex abuse in Hollywood. Two leading female actors spoke about their horrific experiences after Tinseltown started investigating about three showbiz figures that preyed on aspiring hopefuls.

Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson in 1970s TV hit, “Little House on The Prairie”, blames Hollywood for abuse she endured from the age of six to nine. Arngrim said casting agents and managers lured children and their parents with promises of fame.  The actor, who told her ordeal in her book Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, said, “For a sexual predator showbiz is the biggest free candy store. You have kids and their parents throwing themselves at you,” the sun.co.uk reported.

Another diva Mary McDonough, who starred as Erin in television series “The Waltons”, was driven to eating disorders after sexual humiliation. McDonough, now 50, who detailed the danger to child stars in her own book Lessons From The Mountain, told The Sun, “There are a lot of predators out there. There was a crew member who made me kiss him every day.”

Both women now work to protect child actors from predators who groom them with parties and sleepovers and encourage them to think abuse is normal behaviour, according to thesun.co.uk

Last month “Sesame Street” composer Fernando Rivas, 59, appeared in court after being accused of child pornography. And casting agent Jason James Murphy, 35, was exposed as having been convicted of kidnapping and molesting an eight-year-old boy.

The concept of casting couch flooded into mainstream Hollywood during the 1900s when comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbunckle and
director Roman Polanski were clawed down for alleged child abuse and underage porn.

According to about1900.com, at a raucous, three-day party in 1921, a young starlet became severely ill and died four days later. Newspapers went wild with the story that suggested that popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while raping her.

In March 1977, film director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged with a number of offenses against Samantha Geimer, a 13-year-old girl who was the reported victim of his perversion and
lascivious acts.

Polanski underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, however, upon learning that he was likely to face imprisonment, fled to France in February 1978.

Even in the subcontinent, actors like Shakti Kapoor have been accused of asking for unreasonable favours from young actors.

A video leaked in March 2005 by India TV shows Kapoor asking for sexual favours in return of making a covert reporter into a star. As a result the actor was banned from TV and film but after support groups confirming that he was being framed, the actor was allowed screen space, according to news.bbc.co.uk.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2011.