The Ugly Truth About The Girl With The Perfect Face

Stories about child actresses seldom have happy endings, and Linda Darnell’s case is no different. Darnell grew up adored by Hollywood but soon learned its many dangers.
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[@debhayes2822]

Her mother was living vicariously through her poor daughter.

[@ellamaeloftus3493]

We are a product of how we are raised. This poor girl being forced into the limelight and then only to be betrayed by the very same people would compound any unhealthy mental issues. Such a beauty.

[@noorgonzalez1076]

Isaiah 35:5,6

[@normanduke8855]

It's good to hear a human narrator.

[@beaetheljackson-terry4095]

Amen!!

[@kellyholladay1687]

Nice voice!

[@LaurenceDay-d2p]

She was part Cherokee, which accounted for her lovely cheekbones, dark hair and dark eyes. Beautiful lady!

[@cocoaorange1]

I think I read she was Native American and Italian.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Yes...and discovered by Dale Evans in Oklahoma. 🎉

[@alexhaggerty39]

i like to think of her as that striking beauty in mark of zorro showing that likeable wholesome person that she truly was

[@LaLa9422WGC]

Not. The cheek bones come from spain

[@carolinemacrae6227]

Bad childhood attracts bad adulthood. It's hard to shift.

[@justyne8627]

Perfect!

[@SlimyLotusKing]

Yes exactly! Probably about 90+% of all criminals, homeless, drug addicts, etc. had abusive childhoods. I think many artists, actors, comedians, musicians, writers fit into this category as well. That's not to mention serial killers who as far as I can glean, just got the worst possible roll of the DNA and environmental dice! If we look at their childhood there are always major problems and red flags that went unaddressed or probably more often than not, the problems were evident but they were inadequately addressed, or handled in a way which only exacerbated the problem.

[@carolinemacrae6227]

@SlimyLotusKing yes, like blaming a child for all the crimes against them. Then people say they will go to hell for their reaction to it. Not as likely as the people pointing fingers, but Christianity was cannibalised by Constantine. Everyone gets through shit eventually. It's just horrid going through it, and remembering it. We are told what to think by outside intervention, and its often wrong.

[@emmap1159]

Darnell's mother sounded like a narcissist. D. Zanuck (sp.) was a cruel and manipulative man by all accounts. With those two targeting her, poor Linda didn't stand a chance.

[@noorgonzalez1076]

Isaiah 35:5,6 Isaiah 65:21

[@daveyvane]

Zanuck was a cool ladies man!

[@eilenekellogg-ki2br]

Preditors mobbed her.

[@willemvandeursen3105]

They should have changed the name Hollywood into 'Toxicwood'...

[@cj200jax9]

I had never heard this story, very sad. Beautiful lady. I love the film A Letter To Three Wives.

[@lt7378]

That was a good movie for sure.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

💯

[@northernmemaw4036]

Such a sad, lonely story for such a beautiful, trusting lady💔 Some people long for that true fairy-tale like love & romance so much that they're too blinded to see the reality of the person they're clinging too, because it would be too hurtful 💔💔 Thank you for sharing. I appreciate your videos😊

[@noorgonzalez1076]

😮😢😭💔 Isaiah 35:5,6 Isaiah 65:21

[@ginacaradonna8063]

The person who was supposed to protect her, was her nemesis; her mother. Very sad life and tragic ending.

Not all sad.

[@amaranthinevision3450]

Apart the story, I appreciate a human narrator! Thank you!

[@patriziaszymanowicz8554]

I always loved her movies, and was shocked in the way she died. She also had a very sad life.

[@noorgonzalez1076]

Isaiah 35:5,6

[@cocoaorange1]

She died at the hospital I was born at, Cook County Hospital.

[@justyne8627]

Darnell is the actress my aunt preferred to be compared to in her youth, rather than Gina Lollobrigida. Seeing this video, I can now see the resemblance btw the 2 actresses - and to my aunt, a beauty for sure. Luckily my aunt never had to fight off Hollywood creeps. Goodness help them if they had somehow messed with her. But then, she never had a psycho mother who sacrificed her welfare. Through the Depression, they kept their noses above trouble without sacrificing decency. And that is the secret - when life deals you a blow at its root, as with an abusive parent, it is almost impossible to overcome such a blow. RIP Miss Darnell. You've earned the right to have peace on the other side. And beauty - even greater than yours.

[@brandyyolidio4213]

You did an exceptional job covering this, she was strikingly beautiful, but went through far too much in her short life...Rest well ❤❤

[@kellypilon2422]

What a face! It didn’t matter who else was in the shot - your eyes were on her. Sad end.

[@noorgonzalez1076]

Isaiah 35:5,6

[@autodidact537]

Hedy Lamar was also called: "The woman with the perfect face."

[@afwalker1921]

My father dated Linda Darnell when they were in school together at Sunset High in Dallas, before she went Hollywood. I know it sounds crazy, but it makes perfect sense to me. She looks like my mother...

[@dianacryer]

That’s wild. It sounds like he dodged a bullet. Could you imagine having her mother in your family?

[@afwalker1921]

@@dianacryer I live in terror at the thought. I am a filmmaker. I know what real stage mothers are like! OMFG...

[@ViolettaD1485]

​@afwalker1921 her mother sounds a lot like Brooke Shields' mother.

[@afwalker1921]

@@ViolettaD1485 Behind every child star is a hellion of such character, to be sure!

[@annettev8362]

I enjoyed watching her movies Zorro was my favorite. Sad like so many actresses the personnal life was not happy... Hello 👋🏻 from Alhambra Southern California 🌴

[@noorgonzalez1076]

♥️🕊️ From Bronx New York 🕊️♥️ Isaiah 35:5,6 Isaiah 65:21 🕊️♥️

[@amberlights1]

Hello from someone that grew up in Alhambra for 14 years. She was good in A Letter to Three Wives,

[@IOSARBX]

Factinate, you're on a roll with your videos

[@Factinate]

Thank you! 😉

[@noorgonzalez1076]

@@Factinate 🕊️♥️🙏🏽

[@LaurenceDay-d2p]

Preminger was a mean and sadistic director. Most actors hated him, with good reason.

[@katehughes1860]

A letter to three wives. She was awesome

[@RoseFranco-i1u]

Her mother was a monster, who only knew greed and selfishness, not only with Linda, but with her other children. Zanick was a disgusting creep. Everyone took advantage of this young girl.

[@DarrylRuiz-s1w]

I admire her decision not to play house with the sleazy Zanuck She was gorgeous

[@carolmanning8367]

Unfortunately she hit the trifector, stage mother, unscrupulous men, & life in hollywood. Beauty, but at what cost.r.i.p.

[@rexnegron1778]

Poor girl. Bad childhood. Horrible parents

[@rosemaryfranzese317]

Sadly child actors being exploited by both their parents and Hollywood isn’t new and to some extent still going on today. If anyone wants to learn about an even more distressing case, look up silent actress Lucille Rickson. Lucille was a child star who was moved on to adult roles at 12 years old. There is no real evidence of sexual harassment in her case but she was overworked and frequently had to stay in inadequate accommodation while on location shooting. She died of TB at the age of 14. Linda’s fate was that she was cast adrift at too young an age in Hollywood. Mankiewicz did at least give her one the best roles of her career in Letter to Three Wives, Darnell and Paul Douglas starred in the best of the three interlinked stories and gave excellent performances. Linda Darnell was not only beautiful but she became a fine actress too. Her tragedy was that she didn’t going looking for Hollywood stardom and it brought her no personal happiness.

[@Lindamartin-ml1nv]

I was named after Linda Darnell because of her beauty ! I resembled her some with black hair and pretty eyes.

[@mariannepereira7270]

Someone so beautiful could find the right man to make her happy. She fell in love with the wrong people who couldn’t reciprocate her affections properly. It happens to a lot of people I guess.

[@aprilrich807]

Such a sad and tragic story. ❤️🙏

[@noorgonzalez1076]

Isaiah 35:5,6

[@jenniferhatton4387]

Bad childhood and lack of parenting

[@jovjira]

Thanks for posting this you tube. Never knew about her life and tragic ending. I may be a conspiracy theorist, but Linda that evening watching her whole life before her in her early films cause her to start the fire? Did police ever find the cause? For people who think movie stars have it so good, this story really shows how their lives are a facade. So sad she had everything but really nothing.

[@feleciamorris3197]

She is beautiful and an excellent actress...heartbreaking

[@jillmarshall4718]

VERY SAD, THAT HER MOTHER FORCED INTO SHOW BUSINESS. LINDA APPEARED IN WONDERFUL FILMS. HER DEATH WAS SUCH A TRAGEDY, RIP MS. LINDA ALWAYS!

[@bettinakatze1]

As a kid, I allways longed to be a childstar/ actress! So I would've longed for a mother, who'd support me! Little did I know, how you'd get exploited. Thanx for open my eyes to this, now I'm quiet glad I didn't have to go through this. Still I'd love beeing an actress, only ever managed to get extra parts 😢😂

[@lindaolsen7828]

She never really transcended the child stage of life. I would think that was the effect of a mother who wasn't an adult herself.

[@tharold8639]

Beautiful and talented. That was Linda Darnell.

[@junewilson1629]

I always thought a face should not be "perfect" or "pretty" but interesting. And what child does not have insecurities? Isn't it the job of a parent to raise the child and equip it with the coping mechanisms and stress management skills to conquer different challenges and hurdles??? How many parents fail their children because they instill their own insecurities into the child? How many parents muck up their child because they force the child to live the life they themselves wished to have at one point? So they live their own dreams through their offspring and miserably fail at their parenting. The ones paying the real price are ultimately the children. Sadly.

[@DarleneCoon-f9t]

😢❤😢 InDeeD 😢

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Linda was THE FACE of the FORTIES! She was "DISCOVERED" by Dale Evans....Her mother Pearl was very eccentric and caused Linda much humiliation on early movie sets. 🎬 Most tragic life in Hollywood. 😢

[@CPACK1]

She was Beautiful.

[@57buickcentury]

The location of the fire was in a neighborhood of townhouses just off Waukegan Road in Glenview, IL. The entrance was across from the McDonald's where our family went, and my parents told us Linda had tried to hide behind a couch. I think they were trying to give us a lesson in fire safety. More recently I've read she was trying to save the over $1000.00 she had in her purse to pay her income tax...

[@karendaniels1963]

I watched for ever amber, 20 years ago I cried all Thursday it,one of the best movies I ever saw, love her she was so beautiful...

[@dianacryer]

When Hollywood is concerned about you, there’s a serious problem.

[@GrisellA.Larrea]

Didn’t she star with Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth in Blood and Sand?

[@ValleyoftheRogue]

Yes.

[@deborahd6142]

terrible mother, worse childhood.

[@Sirianstar10]

And people want to go back to the "good old days?" Yeah. No thanks. I'm 70 yrs old. It wasn't all that.

[@dalhousieDream]

😅😅😅

[@dilberta6046]

Then it sux to be you, I guess.

[@Sirianstar10]

​@dilberta6046 you can guess all you want. I really don't give a flying crap about what you think. Ok?

[@ckotcher1]

I never thought i’d hear a 70 year old say “all that” lol

[@Sirianstar10]

​@@ckotcher1 I'm sure there are plenty of things this 70 yr old says that you might be surprised by. As my grandkids tell me, "Nini, you're not like other grandmas. You're pretty cool!" Lol. I am, thank you very much. Ex: I spilled a whole tumbler of coffee in my car yesterday because the frigen top didn't stay on. I'm pretty sure if another 70 yr old heard my tirade? They might have had to run to church to pray for my soul. 😅.

[@pallen49]

Dang, and she was sooo pretty too..As we know, a 'pretty face' can only take you so far.. No one stay young forever, and then you add in temptation, bad decisions, all that can lead you down a wrong path and into a bad situation.. And I'm sure Hollywood in those days can be brutal, and imagine starting there at a young age too.. Sad and tragic all around for her..

[@laraoneal7284]

She resembled Ava Gardner. Both beautiful.

[@caraqueno]

And both very troubled.

[@Porsche996driver]

Sounds familiar - but she was gorgeous. Those high cheekbones and wide-set eyes wow. Alcohol is terrible. Don’t drink. 🙏🏽✨

[@kathrynoneill5862]

Her mother was a monster.

[@dw3992]

So very sad. She was absolutely gorgeous.

[@CCBahBah]

The first time I ever hear the term”casting couch” was in reference to Linda Darnell. I clearly recall my mother saying that about Forever Amber so, the obvious reference was to Linda Darnell. So the bad publicity scheme Linda’s mother perpetrated against her worked. Such a sad story but at least I now know the truth.

[@CCBahBah]

*heard

[@CCBahBah]

One last thing: the implication was that many actresses CHOSE this route rather than being victims of it.

[@emmadiaz4185]

Such a beautiful movie it was always one of my favorites. And a tearjerker for me for sure..

[@oxanareymers7521]

Quite often mothers with endless ambitions use their beautuful daughters. Same happened with my beloving Romy Schneider whose mother controlled and used her talent and beauty. So sad.

[@ABeautfulMess]

Oh the hell a mother can make..I loved her in A letter for 3 wives.

[@leannemaria11]

Incredibly sad ...

[@algie-t2w]

I've always loved the films from the golden age of Hollywood. All illusion as the place was a moral cesspit.

[@MichaelB5150]

Mesmerizing eyes. Wow.

[@coloradorocky1298]

Her face wasn’t perfect, but angelic 😇👼

[@logiciskey7]

Great video, thanks

[@AnnacolleenEtters]

Those who would fence the future in, between two walls of well laid stones, but lay a ghost walk for themselves, a dreary walk for dusty bones. Thank you so much, for not using AI, but your own wonderful VOICE. There is only so much one can blame on childhood. There are too many of us, who go on to live fulfilling lives, who had really awful beginnings. At some point, we assumed responsibility for the lives we lived, and raised families, got married, remained married, did not look outside of those marriages. Too many people want to whine about childhood, and when you think about the instances that are whined about, we're talking minutes. Its silly that so many let people get away with it.

[@beentheredonethat5495]

You put that perfectly, thanks

[@ValleyoftheRogue]

Marriage and family life aren't necessary for happiness. Not everybody is like you, and you seem to think there is "one size that fits all" way to live. Not true and never was.

[@volemole]

I don't think you can talk about Linda Darnell without mentioning Fallen Angel and Hangover Square, two supreme film noirs and for me the zenith of her acting and gorgeousity.....

[@ruthienelson3682]

Wow! What a beautiful woman living a tragic life. We all handle adversity in life differently. Some people grow up with the best upbringing and fall in with the wrong people and their lives spiral out of control. Then we have others coming from horrible households who rise above their beginnings and turn out to be better, stronger, wholesome people. Human behavior just show us ONLY THE STRONG survive. The rest just become bitter and hateful. We all need Jesus! Life is a rollercoaster.

[@cocoaorange1]

So true!

[@janeaparis]

Most people have problems. Those without are the exception, and probably this isn't the truth that they are without problems, as the problems probably are just not apparent. She was a gorgeous woman. I will have to check out some of her films.

[@Judith-zf5xz]

I think she would not have thought she could do anything right. I doubt if at a cross road she would know to go left or right, she needed a positive caring person to enable her to recognise her good.

[@margaretbuckley9309]

SUCH A TRAGIC STORY SHE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL THANK YOU FOR TELLING US ABOUT HER 🙏🌹

[@mariehunter8220]

That poor girl xxx

[@LaurenceDay-d2p]

Beautiful woman. Life ruined by a stage mother, like so many others. Too bad her life had to end so tragically.

[@rhvoriginals3083]

The toxic nature of Hollywood is at long last coming to focus and is being punished. The sweet irony is, they are inflicting the damage on themselves. It’s the most entertaining show to come out of Hollywood in decades.

[@glorialange6446]

Always love her movies and I am saddened by her tragic end. I greatly admired her and even on screen you could see that she knew what bad things life can dish out even to those who are supposedly placed outside the norm into stardom.

[@ruthjames715]

Linda was one of my favourite actresses. I blame her mother for pushing her into becoming an actress, she was far too young and certainly met some awful people who exploited her.

[@hollygolightly8048]

Sounds like Darnell had the “Terry Shields mother syndrome”.

[@ckotcher1]

I wish i had a perfect face 😢 All people care about are looks.

[@70sLibragrl]

I thought I had read over the years that she had married Tyrone Powers at some point or had a relationship with him?

[@trueloveingod2691]

Sad story from day one. A shame she couldn’t have had a more nurturing upbringing rather than that insatiable stage mother and fighting at home.

[@TheMartinick]

She played the Virgin Mary in Song of Bernadette.

[@janinehoare2266]

No she didn’t.That role was played by Jennifer Jones who became David’O Selznick’s wife

[@caraqueno]

@@janinehoare2266 Yes, she did. Jennifer Jones played Bernadette Subriroux, the French farm girl who discovered Our Lady of Lourdes, aka the Virgin Mary, played by Linda Darnell.

[@sandraciufi5590]

She was in the tv western the high chaparral…

[@dalehoward3704]

That was Argentine actress LINDA CRISTAL in The High Chapparal. Though they looked a lot alike! Cristal died in 2020.

[@ValleyoftheRogue]

She couldn't be because she was already dead by the time that show went on the air.

[@lindamari1000]

I was named after moms favorite actress; Linda Darnell.

[@rexnegron1778]

Linda needed ME in her life

[@carolcollins4546]

Pearl(her so_called mother) is totally to blame for this beautiful young ladies demise. Shame on her evil selfish mother.

[@Mary-h8m5r]

A beautiful woman so talented and died so tragically but left a legacy of movies my fav for Zorro

[@lf1496]

She was passing. I knew an old black woman who worked for her. She said she was from a whyt passing black family and told her so. She looks like Dorothy Lamour who was known to be black Creole from New Orleans. Passing was big in Hollywood Google Dona Drake

[@Susanr124]

I'm so sorry for her 😢🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🙏🙏

[@auntkaz815]

She was a lamb led to the slaughter. First by her mother and then by a series of an agent, studios and husbands. She was too young and naive from the start and everyone wanted to use her instead of help/protect her.

[@Alan-yn9fk]

Linda Darnell perished in that fire because she thought the child was still in the apartment and ran back looking for her. Anyone watching this I suggest taking it with a 50 pound grain of salt. First rule in writing: Write what you know about.

[@nelsonmorales9765]

A VERY SAD LIFE , EVERYONE USED HER AND TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HER.😮

[@BrothaReef]

R I P sad tale.

[@eilenekellogg-ki2br]

Mother probably used up her monies.

[@eilenekellogg-ki2br]

The mother should of never had children.

[@sukijay4990]

When I was about 19 years old I read the book ‘Forever Amber’ and absolutely loved it. My mum told me they’d made the film years before and I eventually managed to rent the video. How disappointed I felt at the time! Victor Mature as Lord Carlton and Linda Darnell as Amber. I thought they were totally miscast. I’ve never found Linda Darnell particularly attractive and still don’t. I wish they’d remake Forever Amber now, although with all the woke stuff they’d most certainly miscast it again. Anyway, this video has been very interesting thanks.

[@michaelwallace2487]

I loved the book Forever Amber, too, but didn’t think Linda was all that miscasted. I thought the main problem was script and production, didn’t take advantage of how epic and how sweeping the narrative is. I truly think one day someone in Hollywood is going to read the novel and either make a movie on a streaming service, or a great movie for the theater. For those who haven’t read it, take the time to do so. It’s a great book, even though a long one. The woman who wrote it was obviously trying to emulate “Gone With The Wind, and in many ways succeeded. Also, I think you meant Cornell Wilds, not Victoria Mature. Mature was not in the movie.

[@sukijay4990]

@@michaelwallace2487 oh gosh yes, Cornell Wilde. My mistake. I think when I read the book I had an image in my mind of who Amber and Lord Carlton looked like and the two actors they cast just didn’t fit my image at all. I can’t see a film of the story being made now. Times have changed.

[@caraqueno]

@@sukijay4990 Cornel Wilde, not Cornell Wilde.

[@sukijay4990]

@@caraqueno omg.

[@caraqueno]

@@sukijay4990 His name was "Cornel Wilde". That's a fact, no insult.

[@earlwest3502]

I always thought her head was too large surprised the moniker was considered for linda darnell. Respect her acting talent abilities.

[@standupphilosopher7059]

Otto priminger is a director I believe...

[@puoesseremostrato1584]

It's a shame that Linda Darnell never met a great guy like *Donald* *O'Connor.* Nice guys never get the girl.

[@ConnieinVirginia]

Such a beautiful woman, I have a few of her movies.

[@dilberta6046]

Unclear at the end as to what happened during the fire, confusingly presented. I’ll have to look it up on Wikipedia for the straight story.

[@josierye9389]

She wasn`t Latin. One of her maternal great grandparents was Cherokee.

[@ankhpom9296]

So the mother tried to live through her daughter?

[@ek7796]

How. Sad

[@markcardwell]

She was damaged

[@whitehorse1959]

❤❤❤❤

[@eddiea1213]

Hard to tell. Wish she had gotten help with her alcoholism, I had success with the AA Fellowship.

[@bethelshiloh]

Another tragic Hellywood bio.

[@dfinite1111]

Um, you just said that Darnell’s mother exposed her husband, the stepfather of her daughters, as being inappropriate with one or more of the girls? And you framed it as the mother making family trouble, upsetting the dynamic??! For protecting and defending her daughter? What planet are you from, that you took that stance? It’s appalling.

[@naelyneurkopfen9741]

You are completely lacking in comprehension! OP did not say "being inappropriate", he said that the mother accused him of having a relationship with one of her daughters! It's not uncommon for aging mothers whose looks have faded, to be jealous and accuse their husbands or boyfriends of being involved with her younger, prettier daughters. They accuse their daughters of "stealing their man", because they no longer see the girl as their child, but instead they're rivals! She was accusing them both of "cheating on her" with each other! Your comment leads me to question what planet you're from! Shame on you! You owe OP an apology and your need to delete this nonsense! You're embarrassing yourself! I'm a woman,btw and the crap that you've said here is way out of bounds!