1950s film producer ‘possessed by jealous rage’ shot dead movie star’s wife’s agent: book
Walter Wanger suspects his movie star wife is having an affair, and he’s had enough.
On December 13, 1951, the once-famous film producer fell into trouble and picked up a gun, determined to teach Joan Bennett and her Hollywood agent Jennings Long a lesson. Wanger went to Long’s agency, MCA, where he saw his wife’s Cadillac convertible parked outside.
A few hours later, after the sun had set, the couple arrived in Lang’s car. Wanger, “possessed by jealous rage,” jumped out of the car and confronted the two men. After a verbal spat, Wanger shot Long twice. One bullet grazed the agent’s thigh, and another hit him in the groin.
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin’s Beverly Hills brawl nearly resulted in famous millionaire’s death: author
Jennings Lang was recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted by film producer Walter Wanger. His wife and lawyer paid him bedside visits. (Getty Images)
Author and longtime People contributor Scott Huver writes about the shooting that rocked Hollywood’s golden age in his new book, “Beverly Hills Black: Crime, Vice, and Scandal of 90210” . It explores some of the most shocking events in this star-studded city.
“when [Wanger] He was in dire straits financially and emotionally when he decided to get into a physical altercation with his wife and her agent,” Hoover told Fox News Digital.
Scott Huver’s book “Beverly Hills Noir” is out now. (Post Hill Press)
“He was on top of the world in Hollywood,” Howell shared. “He was a very influential, respected producer. When things started going bad, his whole self-image started to crumble.
Writer Scott Huver claims Walter Wanger “lost his mind” after his career took a nosedive. (Harry Benson/Daily Express/Getty Images)
“When he realized his wife was involved with her representatives, he certainly hinted that he was willing to take some kind of action. But I think what really pushed him over the edge was actually receiving the private investigator’s report: confirming all of his Suspect.
Together with Walter Wanger, Joan Bennett became the breadwinner of the family. (Keystone/Getty Images)
“Once he found out, it haunted him,” Howell continued. “It was a compulsion. He had to be in front of them. Look how sloppily he did it – he did it outside the talent agency in the parking lot, which happens to be right next to the Beverly Hills City Hall and Across the street from the police station.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wanger had declared bankruptcy at the time, although creditors did not believe him. Hoover noted that Wanger came to rely on Bennett to pay the bills.
Click here to subscribe to the Entertainment Newsletter
Joan Bennett’s femme fatale image comes back to haunt her. (Helton Files/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, he hired a private investigator to follow her, and it was later revealed that she and Long spent time together in New Orleans, the Caribbean, and at the Beverly Hills apartment of agent Jay Cantor, one of Wanger’s friends. .
Jennings Long is a hot-shot Hollywood agent. (Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
“As Walter Wanger’s fortunes were on the decline, Joan Bennett and Jennings Long became increasingly close,” Hoover explains. “She became the breadwinner when they were in danger of losing their house… which was originally a house she built with money she earned from making movies. So as she tried to provide for their family and their children, she became Increasingly dependent on Jennings Lang, he is indeed a great agent… and he is a good-looking guy.
“They became so close, and yes, there was a passion between them, but I think she became very dependent. [Lang] She was emotional when her husband wasn’t there for her because he was having trouble with his business.
WATCH: 1950s Filmmaker Films Movie Star Wives’ Agents: Book
Wanger and Bennett were married in 1940.
“He’s a powerful man in Hollywood and he wants everything to go his way,” Hoover explained. “Now, he was married before, and that marriage was reportedly an open marriage, and there were no issues with any relationship he and his wife had outside of it.
“This was not a clandestine operation. This was the act of a desperate man.”
Walter Wanger pleaded temporary insanity as an excuse. (Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
“But Joan was very insistent on traditional marriage, even though she had been married several times… She wanted a traditional family. She wanted stability.”
Like what you’re reading? Click here for more entertainment news
Walter Wanger and his wife Joan Bennett in London. They seemed like a perfect couple, but privately they had different stories to tell. (Fred Ramage/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Hoover noted that Wanger and Bennett seemed to have a “perfect marriage” and were a Hollywood power couple. But when Wanger began to lose control of his stardom and finances, it “pushed him over the edge.”
During the scandal, Joan Bennett went head-to-head with investigators. (Helton Files/Getty Images)
“They used the blue flashes in his brain as a defense to push him to this point,” Hoover said. “And… in a way, that’s what… happened. He finally broke out… Even though what was good for him on paper was bad for her, he decided not to tolerate it anymore.”
While Bennett sought comfort from Long, Hoover said he wouldn’t call the relationship a “full-blown relationship.”
Jennings Long and actress Joan Crawford in Coconut Grove, Los Angeles. (Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“This seems to be something they are all invested in,” he explained. “This went on for a long time. But once the clampdown started, they made no attempt to recover it. They didn’t spend time together after that. There [weren’t] Love letters passed back and forth that anyone knows about.
When the bleeding Lang was taken to hospital, police were “just steps away.” Bennett, who “opened his eyes in horror,” quickly regained his composure and got down to business.
“She made sure Jennings … would be taken care of and then showed up at the police station to face … whatever music she needed to face,” Hoover said. “The chief of police in Beverly Hills was a very tough guy, and she went toe-to-toe with him and stuck to her guns. She both impressed him and earned his grudging respect.”
Click here to get the Fox News app
In the photo, photographers and reporters are approaching Joan Bennett. (Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
“Then she faced the media,” Hoover said. “She knew that hiding and trying to evade would not be an effective strategy. She would be hunted and followed. So, she welcomed the media to her home for a press conference. While somewhat dismissive of the idea that Walter had any reason to take action, She also told the public that she hoped they would not have a bad opinion of Hollywood people because of this incident.
“That’s how the old Hollywood system worked, trying to put your best foot forward, put your best foot forward and not alienate the ticket-buying public,” Hoover said. “It was…a master class. She handled it really well.”
Lang survived. According to The Hollywood Reporter , Wanger is on trial for assault with a deadly weapon. Wanger, who pleaded temporary insanity, received help from “superlawyer Jerry Giesler and a group of Hollywood A-listers,” the outlet reported.
Beverly Hills Police Department Capt. Walter White (left) holds a gun and District Attorney S. Ernest Rolle holds a knife carried by Walter Wanger. (Getty Images)
Wanger was sentenced to four months in prison, the New York Times reported.
Hoover said Bennett’s relationship with Long ended instantly. When Long recovered, the two “began to repair the damage they had done to their family.”
After Wanger was released from prison, he enjoyed a brief Hollywood comeback.
30-something sex icon Mae West had ‘hot love’ with man 40 years younger before leaving to serve God: Pre-order
Walter Wanger served several months in prison. (Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
“His determination to make socially conscious prison movies like I Want to Live!, which won Susan Hayward an Oscar, really put him back on top,” Hoover said.
Susan Hayward won an Oscar for her role as Barbara Graham in the 1958 film “I Want to Live.” (Getty Images)
Wanger’s career was ruined by his final film, which was also his biggest ever – 1963’s “Cleopatra.” It nearly bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox.
“At the heart of the film’s failure was the behind-the-scenes adultery of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, which caused the public to lose interest,” Hoover said.
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had a high-profile romance on the set of Walt Wanger’s last film, “Cleopatra.” (Sunset Strip/Corbis via Getty Images)
Long also thrived after the shooting. Hoover said his agency purchased Universal Studios, where he became a senior executive.
Jennings Lang attends the 4th Annual Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis Championship at the Beach and Tennis Club in Pebble Beach, California on July 7, 1973. (Fairchild Archive/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
“Essentially, he saw the invention of the television movie,” Hoover said. “he [also] The big disaster movie of the 1970s was filmed… and it caused a huge stir.
Bennett was once a hot siren, but was shunned by Hollywood.
Private investigator wiretap confirms Marilyn Monroe-Kennedy romance, files claim
After the scandal, Joan Bennett had trouble finding work in Hollywood. (Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)
Vanity Fair quoted her as saying: “In a very short period of time, it became painfully clear to me that I was a professional outcast, one of the ‘pariahs’ in Hollywood.” “I was cast out. Church. The proof is that I made 65 movies in 23 years before December 13, 1951. And in the next ten years I made 5 movies.”
Bennett was forced to sell her home, the outlet reported. Wanger threatened a custody battle when she expressed her desire to divorce and move to New York to pursue a theater career, the outlet reported. They divorced in 1965.
“She stayed in the marriage for a while, although it eventually became loveless,” Hoover said. “She did come back with a couple of cool horror projects later in her career. She starred in the TV soap opera Dark Shadows, which was [still] A huge cult hit.
JonBenét continues to star in Dark Shadows. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney Universal Entertainment via Getty Images)
Wanger died in 1968.
“In 1951, it ruined their whole lives, but they managed to put everything back together so they could enjoy their lives later,” Hoover said.
