Thanks to social media, we now have an insider’s look at the lifestyles of famous actors and actresses. From what they do each day, to what they like to read, and the foods they love to eat on the daily, it isn’t difficult to do a little Instagram research to learn about how celebrities live their lives.
This wasn’t always the case, however. When the movie industry first took off, fans relied on exclusive magazine interviews with the stars of the silver screen to find out what their lives were really like. Sometimes, the people they were close to or their coworkers on set would share a bit of gossip, too, but classic movie actors may have had an easier time maintaining their privacy. To this day, there are still things we don’t know about some of the most beloved people in Hollywood history.
Can you imagine the excitement of learning your favorite star was on the cover of the next issue of a magazine? Their candid sharing was probably a lifeline, and it would have been so thrilling to learn a new tidbit about what they like and dislike. Looking back, we can learn a lot from these interviews, even down to what these icons liked to eat each day. Food can tell us a lot about who a person is and how they spend their time.
Consequently, these old Hollywood diets offer entirely different perspectives on the stars of the silver screen.
1. Bette Davis
A vintage magazine article reveals what foods Bette Davis liked to cook for the people she loved.
A legend who is often called “The First Lady of The American Screen,” Bette was largely known for her larger-than-life personality, longtime feud with Joan Crawford, and mesmerizing eyes. According to Modern Screen Magazine, published in 1940, one of Bette’s favorite foods was baked beans.
Bette Davis not only loved to eat baked beans.
She also shared the recipe she used to cook them for herself and her loved ones. Apparently, she once even had 21 pounds of beans flown from Boston. The actress specifically wanted to serve them at a fancy Hollywood party. The recipe includes pea beans, fat salt pork, molasses, and dried mustard. For the step-by-step recipe, check out the Silver Screen Suppers blog.
2. Cary Grant
A lucky find gives us insight into what this dreamy actor loved to eat.
Well-known for his roles in movies like North by Northwest, Bringing Up Baby, and Notorious, Cary Grant’s favorite food was featured in a vintage cookbook called What Actors Eat When They Eat!, alongside the favorite foods of other classic actors and actresses. Included with the recipe is a snap of his headshot and signature. In addition, PBS also gives us the details of his favorite meals.
Cary Grant’s Oven-Baked Barbeque Chicken sounds really quite delicious.
According to the recipe, making Cary Grant’s favorite food starts with three chickens cut up into pieces. After the chicken is browned, it’s tossed in a sauce of sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and A1 sauce along with corn starch. It sounds pretty delicious, but Cary offers a little caveat explaining it isn’t actually his recipe but the year’s national prize winner.
3. Joan Crawford
Vogue documented all of Joan Crawford’s favorite foods.
And Ugli fruit, a citrus fruit typically grown in Jamaica, was reportedly the actress’s favorite fruit. Despite the exotic nature of this snack, the recipes Crawford shared in her Vogue interview remind us a lot of down-home cooking: a spinach salad topped with bacon, a kidney bean salad, and boiled beef flanks.
There is one recipe that really makes our mouth water.
And it’s simple enough for any cook to make in their kitchens. Enter a batch of fried apples. Crawford shared that she was a big fan of fried apples. But they had to be prepped a particular way.
So how does one recreate Crawford’s snack?
Cut green apples into thick slices and then sprinkle them with lemon juice. Next, toss the fruit in butter and add heat. While the slices cook, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar should be added on top. We can’t help but think these apples would taste great topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
4. Clark Gable
This silver screen actor had some strange eating habits that got him in trouble with his co-stars.
According to Purple Clover, Clark Gable liked to eat raw onions like a snack. It’s hard to imagine anyone enjoying an uncooked onion, but he was a big fan of this root veggie. His co-stars, especially those who played on-screen romantic interests, were not a fan of his onions, however. Apparently, there were complaints about Clark’s bad breath.
It was Clark Gable’s wife, Ria Gable, who shared the star’s favorite foods with Modern Screen Magazine.
In an interview in the movie star’s home, Ria told reporter Marjorie Deen that Clark preferred typical home-cooked meals over fancy cuisine.
And that’s not all.
Ria went on to say, “If you expect me to tell you that Clark likes truffles and caviar you are going to be disappointed… He is, after all, just a person, you know.” In fact, her husband’s day often started with pancakes and sausage. At lunchtime, he liked to eat stuffed pears and sandwiches. His favorite dinner was pot roast. For dessert, he preferred a bit of homemade cake.
5. Judy Garland
The star started her career in show business while she was still in diapers.
But she didn’t become a household name until 1939. Judy had a difficult relationship with food. She was put on a diet during Wizard of Oz, and was only allowed to eat chicken soup. She was only 15 years old at the time. Despite all of this, Judy did share about her favorite foods. According to What Actors Eat When They Eat!, Judy loved a vegetable salad made with green peas and endive that was topped with French dressing.
The well-known actress also loved a hearty, home-cooked meal.
She was said to love mashed potatoes served alongside steak and kidney pie. It was also reported that she loved eating chocolate cake and ice cream. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say what is true about Judy’s life, because MGM regularly had lies published about her in magazines and papers.
6. James Dean
The only cooking James Dean did was for his furry friend.
According to the author of Recipes for Rebels, James Dean wasn’t much of a cook. Though, he did have a recipe he relied on for feeding his cat, Marcus, who was a gift from Elizabeth Taylor. The night before he left for the car race that would end his life, he dropped off his cat with a friend along with this recipe: one tablespoon of Karo syrup, a can of evaporated milk, distilled water, and egg yolk were the simple ingredients fed to his well-loved cat.
Dean may not have been a cook, but he did love to eat.
The earliest documentation of his favorite food was an interview for his high school newspaper, in which he shared that he loved Aunt Ortense’s Banana Salad. As he rose to fame, he was known to frequent a few different spots in Hollywood, including eating brick oven pizza at Villa Capri and lunch at Hamburger Hamlet.
7. Elizabeth Taylor
Her love of food became a source of criticism, but Elizabeth handled the negativity with class.
Cavier was said to be her favorite food, which just goes to show just how much Elizabeth Taylor enjoyed the finer things in life. Despite negative press — like being told Debbie Reynolds used an Elizabeth Taylor “fat picture” as inspiration for disciplined eating, and Saturday Night Live parodying her choking on a chicken bone in 1978 — Elizabeth continued to enjoy good food.
Elizabeth Taylor was an example of a life well lived in an industry obsessed with thin bodies.
Women should be allowed to eat without shame or criticism, and it’s great to hear that Elizabeth Taylor enjoyed good food as much as she did. In addition to champagne and caviar, she loved eating quintessential American foods like cheeseburgers and French fries. When she was really indulging, she turned to fried chicken and mashed potatoes as well as chocolate cake.
8. Marlon Brando
This legendary actor’s eating habits have been called everything from odd to absurd.
When Marlon Brando indulged, he really went for it, sometimes eating an entire jar of peanut butter in a single sitting. He loved a big breakfast, which included pancakes, eggs, sausages, and bananas. He was known for his extravagant eating, even being reported to break a refrigerator lock his wife had installed when she suspected food was being stolen by their staff. (Spoiler alert: It was Marlon the whole time.)
Following crash diets, Marlon would indulge in his favorite foods.
He was said to eat two steaks at a time, paired with potatoes and two apple pies. He loved Pepperidge Farm cookies and eating chocolate melted over the fresh coconuts grown on his personal island. He was also known to have a thing for Burger King Whoppers in the 1980s. It was ice cream, however, that he loved the most, and continued eating it even when he lost 70 pounds later in life.
9. Marilyn Monroe
Every morning, the iconic actress would drink a glass of warm milk mixed with two eggs.
When it came to eating, Marilyn Monroe appeared to be a creature of habit. She loved to cook and she loved delicious food, but was often found eating a few things over and over again. For lunch and dinner, she ate a lot of meat, and her favorite was grilled steak, according to Fine Dining Lovers. Alongside meat, she liked a variety of vegetables, but carrots were said to be her favorite.
Marilyn cooked for herself, even while staying in hotels.
She would pick up her favorite meats and vegetables at a nearby market and bring them back to her hotel to cook on an electric oven. When she did eat out, it seems it was to stop for dessert. She liked to end the evening with an ice cream sundae or a piece of cake. Many credit what appeared to be a really healthy and balanced relationship with eating normal foods for her ability to maintain her figure. No crash diets for Marilyn!
10. John Wayne
An iconic actor who starred in old Westerns, John Wayne’s diet seems fitting for the type of characters he played on the screen.
To put it simply, John Wayne really loved old-fashioned, homecooked meals. The movie star really loved to grill and had a large grill in his home. In addition to steaks, he also loved an egg casserole that included green chiles, Monterey jack and cheddar cheeses, and tomatoes. One specific recipe of his has become well-known — similar to a shepherd’s pie, it’s a beef casserole topped with biscuits.
John liked to indulge in sweet treats and whiskey.
Famously a huge candy lover, John Wayne is said to have favored Tootsie Rolls. Near the end of his life, he really hated that his deteriorating health kept him from indulging in his favorite treats, like candy and alcohol. He was known to be a big drinker, preferring tequila, whiskey, and brandy.
