The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals (15 page)

Instead of putting the whole thing behind her and moving on with her life, DeVoe started grumbling that she wanted answers to why she was fired from Clara’s employ. This was surprising considering she had just been relieved of Bow’s personal belongings from her safe, and she must have been able to remember the numerous quarrels, the mutual dislike between her and Bell, the conversation she had overheard which explained most of her questions, and finally the threats of blackmail after she had heard her fate. Yet, quite bizarrely, none of this seemed to provide DeVoe with any idea of why she was no longer required in Bow’s home. It was all quite astonishing, particularly when, in a misguided effort to gain attention from Clara, DeVoe decided to contact the press to tell them her story – leaving out the parts about blackmail and theft, of course.

“For two years I have pulled Clara out of plenty of messes and saved her plenty of money,” she joyfully told them. She then turned her attention to the gambling debts in Nevada, claiming that, sure enough, Clara did indeed have debts there, as well as approximately $12,000 more at other resorts. And still the revelations went on: “She suffers from insomnia and she doesn’t sleep,” a gleeful DeVoe revealed. “As a result she kept me awake all night. I worked twenty-four hours a day for her and if there were forty-eight hours in a day I would have worked forty-eight . . . I could never leave her alone at any time.”

The reporters were riveted. “Crisis a Day Clara” was always good press, but with an insider now on their side, they were in heaven. Once the press conference was over, the reporters scuttled back to their typewriters to pen what they hoped would be the first of many juicy articles on the It Girl’s private life. The first article was published the next day and, needless to say, Clara was blindsided. Not only was she shocked that there were revelations about her private life in the papers, but also she was utterly gobsmacked that her former secretary could spill the beans in such a way.

Never one to be quiet when it came to commenting in the press, Clara decided to issue a short statement of her own, claiming:

The more I talk the worse it gets, so I’m not saying much. If I cannot let go a secretary without a lot of fuss why should I talk? I fired Daisy for a personal reason and this reason is nobody’s business but my own. So that’s that.

The star also denied a recent rumour that she had now employed a male secretary, and then privately hoped very much that the whole sorry affair could now be forgotten once and for all. But it was not going to be that easy. DeVoe was a woman scorned and she took no time in telling reporters that if the actress refused to see her and give an explanation about why she was fired, she would have no option but to visit a lawyer.

Sure enough, the very next day Daisy hired attorney Nathan O. Freedman, who was instructed to file a suit against District Attorney Buron Fitts and his aides. This was a bold gesture, especially when it was revealed that the reason she hired him was to recover jewellery and items that she claimed had belonged to her, but were taken from her safety deposit box during the raid for Clara Bow’s belongings.

“I have returned everything that belonged to Clara,” she grumbled. “I also gave her back her fur coat, but why do they keep my cash and jewels and insurance papers? My attorney has made demand for them and they will not return them. We are going to sue.” She also assured reporters that not only would she go after the District Attorney’s office, but Clara Bow too, who she claimed had kept back salary and expenses owed to her.

In the end, the persistence of Daisy DeVoe led not to a lawsuit against Bow and Fitts, but to the arrest and prosecution of the secretary herself, who was accused of thirty-seven counts of grand theft, adding up to $16,000 in total. She was absolutely astounded and determined to fight her corner with all her might. She had lost her job; been accused of theft; and had her safety deposit box rummaged but DeVoe was a fighter and this time she was determined that if she was going to fall, she would be taking Clara Bow down with her.

The much publicized trial of Daisy DeVoe began in January 1931 and from the very beginning of proceedings, the world and waiting press were transfixed. DeVoe seemed to revel in the attention her stories brought, but for Clara, the trial would reveal much more about her personal life than she ever feared, and from day one, it was a stressful and at times hurtful episode.

From the very outset, Clara’s finances were brought into the frame when it was revealed that in a period of twenty months, the actress had spent $350,000 on everything from household expenses to cars to tips in restaurants and much more. This raised eyebrows, but audible gasps were heard when it was also argued that some of the money was not spent by Bow herself, but by Daisy DeVoe, who was accused of ordering jewellery for herself using her employer’s own money. This wasn’t all. It also transpired that a cheque for $400 was cashed for her benefit, and a glamorous fur coat had been purchased – all at the actress’s expense.

Clara Bow arrived at court wearing dark glasses, which friends later claimed were to hide a recent operation on her face. She was also suffering from a bad cold and was seen crying and frequently coughing during the proceedings, while the ex-secretary glowered and smirked from her position in court. It inevitably wasn’t long before Clara looked over and saw the faces being pulled by her former friend, and this drove the short-tempered actress to the point of explosion. Much to the shock of everyone, the actress suddenly shot forward in her chair and dramatically shouted at DeVoe, “Go ahead and sneer Daisy, that’s all right!” This impromptu outburst caused the shocked Deputy District Attorney to shoot to his feet in order to caution Bow for interrupting the court.

Once it was her turn to take to the stand, Clara was asked if she had ever authorized cheques to be written by Daisy DeVoe and in particular if she gave permission for a series of whisky purchases. “I authorized Miss DeVoe to spend whatever was necessary to maintain the household,” she replied, before adding, “I trusted her. If she wanted to buy whisky, why, I supposed she made out the checks and signed them.”

“Didn’t you ever check the books?” DeVoe’s attorney asked. To which Clara replied sadly, “No, that’s why I was so silly. I trusted her.”

When asked if her ex-secretary had ever spent her own money on household expenses, Clara could not believe her ears, resorting to her Brooklyn slang in order to answer the question.

“She never spent anything out of her dough for me!” she replied. “She didn’t have a cent until she worked for me.”

At one point Clara broke down when asked about the birthday present that had been bought with her own money, and a cheque for $825 which had been signed by the actress and used by DeVoe to buy herself a fur coat.

“That is my cheque, I signed it myself,” Clara sobbed. “But Miss DeVoe brought it to me and said it was to go on my income tax and I signed it because I trusted her.”

More sorrow and embarrassment came when the telegrams from various beaus were introduced into evidence and read aloud in court. Why the private contents had to be revealed was a mystery, and much to her dismay, Clara found that not only were the telegrams heard by everyone in attendance, but there were also plans to reproduce them in the newspapers the next morning. The actress was in obvious dismay; her private life with ex-partners were about to be made public and there was nothing at all she could do about it. But that wasn’t all, as later came a dramatic turn of events when a document was read to the court which apparently showed Daisy DeVoe being asked how much of Clara’s money she had appropriated for her own use. Shockingly she had boldly replied:

“About $35,000. I can’t tell exactly.”

When the unapologetic woman was asked when she started to acquire the money, she revealed in the document that it had been around September or October 1929, and gave a halfhearted attempt at an explanation:

“It’s so hard to see a girl like Clara with everything and no respect for anything. It was her fault. If she had paid attention to business I wouldn’t have taken a dime from her because she would have known about everything.”

The woman then went on to complain that the actress refused to write her own cheques and as a result, “she put me in a position to take everything I wanted. Of course I didn’t blame her.”

One example of the “no respect” that DeVoe attributed to Clara came in the shape of a diamond-studded vanity case which the actress was said to have cared so little about that she let her dogs play with it. The secretary was horrified to see such an expensive item treated this way and took it upon herself to rescue it from their canine clutches and place it in her safety deposit box. It would appear, of course, that this was not after any negotiation with Bow, who seemed oblivious to the case ever being taken.

Then more damning testimony came when it was claimed that shortly before her arrest, DeVoe had arrived at the bank and drawn out $22,000 from the “Special Account”. She then told staff that she was withdrawing the money as she did not wish Clara to invest in any of Rex Bell’s “wild schemes”. “I’m going to place it in the safe deposit box where Clara can’t find it,” the secretary told an officer at the California Bank. It would appear that in this instance, the safety deposit box she was referring to belonged to Clara, though the money did not appear to have ended up there, as when Clara requested to see the box several days later, it was apparently empty.

All these revelations and titbits of information were compelling and the court was transfixed by what they had heard. However, this was nothing, as when Daisy DeVoe took to the witness stand herself, all hell broke loose. In the space of an hour Clara’s world imploded when the secretary declared that her employer played poker at least six nights a week; drank extreme amounts of alcohol; and bought jewellery as presents for a variety of different men. Of the latter, Daisy claimed that her ex-employer had spoiled married Earl Pearson with a $4,000 watch, while Harry Richman received a $2,000 ring. She also claimed that Clara bought herself a $10,000 engagement ring, though declined to tell the court to which man she planned to become betrothed.

All these revelations were too much for the fragile actress, who was still suffering from a serious cold. Sent to bed by her doctor, Wesley Hommel, her condition was described as “not serious”, though she was revealed to be running a high temperature and suffering from nervous exhaustion. Sadly, the emotional distress put upon Clara during the trial was very much the shape of things to come and it would seem that she never fully recovered from her days in court.

On 23 January 1931, after dozens of revelations about Clara Bow’s love life, personal habits and financial affairs, as well as two days of deliberation and disagreements, the jury were ready to give their verdict. It had been a hard slog, with many arguments behind the scenes, but finally Ralph H. Boynton, foreman of the jury, stood up to speak.

“Have you reached a verdict?” asked the judge.

“Yes sir, we have, your Honour,” replied Boynton.

Thirty-five slips of paper were then handed over to the judge, who read them to himself over the course of the next few minutes. Finally the drama of the court case and the stress of waiting for the verdict took its toll on the normally bolshie DeVoe, who lay her head on the table and sobbed uncontrollably to herself.

After reading the outcome, it was announced that the former secretary was not guilty of thirty-four of the counts brought against her, but was guilty of one: the charge that Daisy had bought herself a fur coat with money Clara believed was to pay her income tax bill. The jury pleaded for a recommendation of leniency, but even this was too much for DeVoe to handle. As the verdict was read out, her sobs became even more violent and then, unbelievably, members of the jury dissolved into tears too.

The entire episode was like something from a bad movie, and at this point many spectators jumped on to the backs of their seats in order to get a better look at what was going on. The whole court was erupting into hysteria and bailiffs tried to restore order and get people to sit down, but it was an almighty task. As bedlam ensued, Daisy’s sobs could be heard echoing all around the courtroom.

Then finally, her sobs began to turn into disgruntled words, and Daisy began shouting her displeasure between the tears.

“If they were going to convict me at all why didn’t they convict me of everything? I’m just as guilty on all counts as I am on one.”

Then the time came for her to leave the courtroom, which she did while leaning heavily on the arm of a bailiff and a newspaper reporter.

“I can’t stand it; I can’t stand it,” she cried, as she was led to the jail.

When the room eventually emptied, one of the jurors earned her fifteen minutes of fame by speaking to reporters outside the courtroom; telling them that “I’m sorry for Miss DeVoe, but I felt that pity should not be allowed to interfere with the necessity of upholding the laws of the State of California.” She then went on to speak for many minutes, declaring that DeVoe needed to be made an example of and that justice would only ever be served by a conviction. She then added, “In the end, Miss DeVoe will see herself that it was best for us to convict her”, though in reality it was pretty clear to everyone that Daisy would never agree with that remark.

Back in Beverly Hills, Clara was still ill as a result of flu and stress. Contacted by reporters, her statement was short and sweet: “I harbour no ill will against Miss DeVoe,” she said. “For Daisy’s sake, I hope the court will be lenient.”

For the next few months, Daisy DeVoe tried to obtain her release from prison and at one point was let out on bond, though she was soon carted back after she failed to win an appeal. Clara, meanwhile, was going through hell in her Beverly Hills home, fighting depression and collapsing on set – a move which was to lead to her being replaced in at least two separate movies. Then another disaster came when it was revealed that publisher Frederick Girnau had been arrested for sending an obscene article about Clara through the US mail service.