Gene Tierney Was One of the First Celebs to Give Birth to a Special Child, and Her Story Became the Base for an Agatha Christie Novel
Gene Tierney was one of the brightest movie stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Despite what her parents thought, she chose an acting career, became extremely successful, and was a movie icon of the 1940s. Her talented acting in countless movies and her elegant beauty won the love of millions of fans. But the sincere love of the fans became the reason for the main tragedy in her life.
We at CHEERY decided to find out what stopped the actress’ career at the very peak, and how she managed to restore her health and peace of mind.
The story of her first marriage was like a Shakespearean drama.
The future Hollywood star first saw Oleg Cassini at the famous Mocambo nightclub, but she was too young to even consider a romance. Several years later, the actress and the costume artist met at a party, and Gene was charmed by him. They started dating and were discussing getting married. The girl was 20 years old, and Cassini was 27, and he had been married before, but he said his first wife was attracted to his title.
Gene’s family didn’t like the fiancé. They thought he was a fortune hunter. The “Fox” studio insisted that Tierney dated only the actors that worked for them. But the young people were adamant and got married on June 1st, 1941. The wedding didn’t calm down Gene’s relatives. The parents even tried to sue for a part of her income. Oleg also had to pay for this decision — he was fired by Paramount.
A single encounter clouded the rest of her life.
The beginning of Tierney’s and Cassini’s life didn’t only have family scandals. World War 2 was going on, and the US was soon part of it. Tierney had her contribution to the support of soldiers. She took part in charity concerts and social events.
In 1943, when Gene was pregnant with her first child, she decided to attend the charity organization Hollywood Canteen one last time for going on maternity leave. That night, she was talking to fans going to war and signing autographs. Several days after the event, she had a rash on her body and was diagnosed with measles.
The couple was looking forward to having their first child.
In the 1940s, it was believed to be a “baby” disease, and not so dangerous. There was no vaccine at the time. After a week in bed, Gene fully recovered and went to Kansas with her husband. The couple devoted their time to prepare the house for their first child.
Some time before the labor, Gene went to Washington, and Oleg, who was in military service, got a new important task and couldn’t have any contact with his family.
The diagnosis of her daughter changed the actress’ entire life.
Cassini found out that his daughter was born prematurely in the newspapers and went to Washington. Some bad news was there for him: even though Gene felt okay, the doctors were concerned about the girl’s health. The baby weighed just over three pounds and was probably blind.
Besides, because of the measles the pregnant woman had, the nervous system of the baby suffered serious damage. According to the doctors, the girl would be severely disabled her entire life. Gene couldn’t believe it, because the baby looked absolutely normal.
Gene desperately fought for her daughter’s health.
The girl was named Daria, after Oleg’s great-grandmother. The parents refused to believe there was nothing they could do to help the girl. Gene and Oleg saw different specialists, and even though they gave the same diagnosis over and over again, they didn’t lose hope. Gene was even sure that she saw some positive change in the baby’s development.
When the girl was just over a year old, Gene was at an event. A woman came up to her and reminded her about their first meeting at the Hollywood Canteen. It turned out that the girl ran off to this event even though her camp was in quarantine because of measles. Gene couldn’t even reply to anything, she just turned around and left.
Tierney and Cassini hid the truth from each other for a long time.
It’s amazing, but 10 years later, that same woman met Cassini and told him the same story. Oleg was shocked and said nothing. He couldn’t share this discovery with Gene. Only some time later, they found out that the other one knew, but they couldn’t share it because they didn’t want to hurt each other.
The older Daria became, the most care she needed. She required care 24/7 and the parents couldn’t handle it. Several doctors told them that her mental state would stop at around 19 months. Her vision and hearing would become worse over time, and she would never speak again.
The actress had to make the hardest decision of her life.
When Daria was 4 years old, it was clear that being outside a medical facility was dangerous for her health. Gene and Oleg agreed to have her hospitalized. They chose one of the best medical centers for her.
The day when the actress took her daughter there was the worst day of her life. She’d visit her all the time and try to spend as much time with her as she could, but this tragedy affected her mental state, and she couldn’t get rid of the guilt. Their marriage was on the rocks, and they decided to break up.
Even their second daughter didn’t save their marriage.
The actress found peace in her work, and after some time, Oleg and Gene were together again, and in 1948, they had their second daughter, Christina. But even having a healthy child couldn’t save the marriage, and they broke up again. They remained good friends for the rest of their lives. They took care of the daughters and tried to support each other.
In 1962, Agatha Cristie’s The Mirror Crack’d novel was released. The detective plot was inspired by the tragic story of Gene and Daria that suffered because of the carelessness of a fan. But Cristie made a different ending for the story.
The actress almost married a prince.
Later, Tierney said that she’d never had problems with portraying other people. It was the hardest for her to be herself. After breaking up with Oleg, she met Prince Aly Khan of Pakistan. They were happy together and were even going to get married, but the relationship ended with a tough breakup. The new bad romance only made her condition worse. When Humphrey Bogart noticed her emotional state, he convinced Gene to seek professional help.
Even though the treatment almost cost Gene her career and health, she didn’t give up.
The treatment was hard, Gene didn’t give up and attended different clinics. Later, she said that at some moments, she felt like a lab mouse. Specialists tried to treat her with electric shocks and ice wraps.
These procedures didn’t help much and even caused memory lapses. Her career went downhill, and she had to turn down some projects due to her health condition.
New love was therapeutic for her.
Everything changed when Tierney met William Howard Lee, a famous Texas businessman. Gene and Howard had a deep love and in 1960, they got married. Her husband supported her during all the stages of the treatment and helped her overcome her pain.
Gene still had some breakdowns from time to time. So, once, Howard found her at the neighbor’s door, where she was looking for her daughter. But the spouses didn’t give up. The actress accepted the fact that her condition was recurring. She realized that she could deal with it.
Tierney abandoned her career in the name of family life.
The spouses lived together for over 20 years. After getting married, Gene left the world of cinema almost completely, preferring a quiet life with Howard. She once said, “I tried to work harder and harder, thinking that work would cure everything. All it did was make things worse.”
Gene was with her husband on his business trips and took part in different charity events for the support of disabled children. She said, “I learned that the mind is the most beautiful part of the body. “And I am grateful to have mine back.”
How do you think her life would go if she was young today?