 Confidential sinks its teeth into the juiciest celebrity secrets. 
Confidential magazine had two distinct periods in its life—the fanged version and the de-fanged version, with the tooth pulling done courtesy of a series of defamation lawsuits that made publisher Robert Harrison think twice about harassing celebrities. This example published this month in 1955 is all fangs. The magazine was printing five million copies of each issue and Harrison was like a vampire in a blood fever, hurting anyone who came within reach, using an extensive network spies from coast to coast and overseas to out celebs' most intimate secrets.
In this issue editors blatantly call singer Johnnie Ray a gay predator, spinning a tale about him drunkenly pounding on doors in a swanky London hotel looking for a man—any man—to satisfy his needs. The magazine also implies that Mae West hooked up with boxer Chalky White, who was nearly thirty years her junior—and black. It tells readers about Edith Piaf living during her youth in a brothel, a fact which is well known today but which wasn't back then.
The list goes on—who was caught in whose bedroom, who shook down who for money, who ingested what substances, all splashed across Confidential's trademark blue and red pages. Other celebs who appear include Julie London, Jack Webb, Gregg Sherwood, and—of course—Elizabeth Taylor. Had we been around in 1955 we're sure we would have been on the side of privacy rights for these stars, but today we can read all this guilt-free because none of it can harm anyone anymore. Forty panels of images below, and lots more Confidential here.                                       
 Sherwood be nice to enjoy the same good fortune she did. 
American actress Gregg Sherwood pretends to have been caught mid-change in her dressing room in this photo from around 1950. If you look up Sherwood anywhere on the internet you're almost as likely to see her described as a socialite. Though she had a reasonably active showbiz career and had appeared in movies, on stage, and in magazines, she gained her socialite status by marrying rich—in her case automotive heir Horace Dodge, Jr. At the time she was thirty and he was fifty-three. The couple indulged lavishly, appeared in the society pages, and generally lived the high life, but finally hit the rocks in 1961. Dodge initiated divorce proceedings but died in 1963 before the split became final. Because of this Sherwood inherited $11 million, which would be $85 million and change in today's money. We have a feeling she led an even more lavish lifestyle from that point forward, and really who would blame her? As her husband proved, you can't take it with you. We have another photo of Gregg we found inside a 1947 issue of Police Gazette, and you can see that here.
 She won’t quit till she’s a star on Broadway. 
This issue of The National Police Gazette published this month in 1947 has a really nice cover starring a beaming Jean Palmer, billed here as a beautiful and promising songstress making her Broadway debut. We found nothing on her, so it’s possible that debut was a flop. Then again, it’s equally possible she took the Great White Way by storm. Since she was a Broadway performer, we bet there’s at least some info about her in New York City, but if it hasn’t been put online that info might as well be on the dark side of the Moon. We live in a state of semi-reality, all of us on our computers, with access only to what has been uploaded into the continuum. Anyway, if we ever run across any Palmer info, we’ll be sure to share it. The Gazette is filled with other personalities whose existence we were able to confirm, such as wrestler Mildred Burke, 1946 Mrs. America Beauty Pageant co-winners Connie Spradlin and Kay Kiefer, famed model/socialite Gregg Sherwood, and actresses Marilyn Maxwell, Angela Green, Mary Meade, and Marion Davis. All of those pages are below, along with a few others of interest. And to see our entire collection of Gazette covers and interiors, which is the most extensive on the internet, click its keyword at the bottom of this post.         
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1947—Heyerdahl Embarks on Kon-Tiki
Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and his five man crew set out from Peru on a giant balsa wood raft called the Kon-Tiki in order to prove that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia. After a 101 day, 4,300 mile (8,000 km) journey, Kon-Tiki smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947, thus demonstrating that it is possible for a primitive craft to survive a Pacific crossing. 1989—Soviets Acknowledge Chernobyl Accident
After two days of rumors and denials the Soviet Union admits there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Reactor number four had suffered a meltdown, sending a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area. Today the abandoned radioactive area surrounding Chernobyl is rife with local wildlife and has been converted into a wildlife sanctuary, one of the largest in Europe. 1945—Mussolini Is Arrested
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci, and fifteen supporters are arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, Italy while attempting to escape the region in the wake of the collapse of Mussolini's fascist government. The next day, Mussolini and his mistress are both executed, along with most of the members of their group. Their bodies are then trucked to Milan where they are hung upside down on meathooks from the roof of a gas station, then spat upon and stoned until they are unrecognizable. 1933—The Gestapo Is Formed
The Geheime Staatspolizei, aka Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established. It begins under the administration of SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police, but by 1939 is administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, or Reich Main Security Office, and is a feared entity in every corner of Germany and beyond. 1937—Guernica Is Bombed
In Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the Basque town of Guernica is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, resulting in widespread destruction and casualties. The Basque government reports 1,654 people killed, while later research suggests far fewer deaths, but regardless, Guernica is viewed as an example of terror bombing and other countries learn that Nazi Germany is committed to that tactic. The bombing also becomes inspiration for Pablo Picasso, resulting in a protest painting that is not only his most famous work, but one the most important pieces of art ever produced.
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