Page 6 - conlon1960_hart

BILL HART
picture he made for Famous Players-Lasky and in which he
and the little horse performed several thrilling stunts. How
people used to rave about the pinto pony - he even had a
fan club. With Bill, it was love me, love my horse."
Speaking of "love," Bill Hart, like so many prominent
male stars of the period, had more than his share of troubles
with movie-struck women who imagined they were in love with
him. Scoop cites an example:
It was always possible for a person without principles to
accuse a movie star of practically anything and make it stick.
This invariably resulted in bold, black headlines. If the star
wasn't ruined, he or she was close to it. You were, in effect,
guilty until proven innocent.
Bill Hart was accused once by a famous _ Chicago judge's
spinster sister of being the father of her child. The story
became wonderful material for yellow journalism, crowding
more conventional news off the front pages. Bill doled out
munificent sums to attorneys and detectives. William Randolph
Hearst came to his support. Yet his vindication was a slow and
bitter fight.
Only a miracle saved him. One of the secretaries at Bill's
studio, who was in charge of answering fan mail, strolled into
his dressing room one afternoon with a crumpled letter in her
hand.
"Mr. Hart," she said timidly, "I threw this letter away at
first, and then when I realized it might be important, I went
back and got it. It's from some crazy woman."
She handed the letter to Bill. The words were scribbled on
cheap paper, and the signature was that of the real mother of
the child. She explained that she was a poor immigrant woman,
and she wanted Bill to help her force the judge's sister to return
her baby. The child, she said, had only been borrowed.
That was all of the evidence Bill needed. It smashed the
case wide open. Bill was cleared of all charges. The damage was
done, however. The newspaper stories telling of Bill's vindica-
tion were printed in smaller type and did not enjoy the same
front-page space the accusing stories had. Consequently many
decent Americans failed to read of Bill's innocence, and they

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