Trivia

Had an illegitimate daughter by Clark Gable. For years, this was covered up in Hollywood, and was presented as an adoption. The daughter's resemblance to both parents is uncanny. The daughter Judy Lewis later dabbled in acting before becoming a psychologist. Lewis wrote a book "Uncommon Knowledge" with the truth of her parentage.

Loretta Young's third husband was Academy Award winning clothing and costume designer, Jean Louis. He was well known for designing for the stars at Columbia Studios, Universal and in his own salon in Beverly Hills. His most famous creations included the strapless gown for Rita Hayworth in the film Gilda (1946) as well as Marilyn Monroe's white sequined gown she wore to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy. Jean Louis married Loretta after the death of his first wife, Maggy, who was a personal friend of Loretta for over 50 years.

She was the first actress to ever model makeup products for Max Factor.

She died at the home of her sister Georgiana Montalban and Georgiana's husband, actor Ricardo Montalban, in the early morning of August 12, 2000.

In her posthumously published autobiography, she admitted that her "adopted" daughter, Judy Lewis, was her biological daughter by Clark Gable.

Cast members in the film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) included not only Loretta Young but, portraying her character's sisters, her real-life, actress sisters as well: Polly Ann Young and Sally Blane. Further, portraying the fourth on-screen sister was a fourth real-life half-sister, Georgiana Young, although the latter was not a professional actress. (Years later, Georgiana, whom Loretta dubbed "Georgie", would appear occasionally on Loretta's television show The Loretta Young Show (1953).

Marlene Dietrich said of her: "Every time she 'sins,' she builds a church. That's why there are so many Catholic churches in Hollywood.".

Young had a low tolerance for foul language, so much in fact that whenever she went to set she brought with her a "swear box". Her swear box was used to hold money from cast and crew members who swore within her presence who in return would put money in the box. Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Mitchum put large sums of money in the swear box on a regular basis, telling Young: "This should just about cover what I'm about to say to you!".

In 1972, Miss Young sued NBC for violating her contract in allowing reruns of The Loretta Young Show (1953) to be shown, wherein audiences might have ridiculed her gowns and hairstyles, which were by then 10 or even 20 years out of date. The court awarded her more than a half-million dollars.

Godmother of Marlo Thomas.

Country singer Loretta Lynn was named after her.

Turned down the part of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934). Claudette Colbert was then given the role and won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

Caused a buzz when she was photographed for the April 1999 Vanity Fair magazine, looking a lot younger than her 86 years. "Today's air brushing techniques can do wonders" was her explanation.

Miss Young's return to the screen following convent school came about rather fortuitously. A casting call was sent out by the producers of Naughty But Nice (1927) for her sister Polly Ann Young. Answering the telephone, the young Gretchen replied that her sister was unavailable and wondered if she herself might substitute. And so she did. It was merely a bit part, but it led to a movie contract and eventual stardom for Loretta Young.

Owned a successful cosmetics company in the 1960s that was headquartered in New York.

In 1976, there was talk of a comeback role for Loretta, as Mother Cabrini in a biography of the first American to attain sainthood to be directed by Martin Scorsese. The project unfortunately never materialized.

Loretta's family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1915. Shortly after, her father abandoned the large family. Her brother John R. Young ("Jack"), was adopted by two sisters who changed his surname to Lindley. He later became an attorney and the father of five. He had little contact over the years with his blood family.

She was the mother of singer/songwriter Peter Lewis (Peter Charles Lewis) (B. July 15, 1945), a former member of the infamous 1960s San Francisco rock band Moby Grape, and Christopher Lewis, a film director.

She chose her own middle name, "Michaela" at the time of her confirmation as a teen. She was raised as a Catholic, and Catholics are able to choose the name or names of a saint or saints whom they most admired and add it onto their own. She simply liked the name Michaela. Apparently, her mother never actually gave her one at birth.

Loretta and older sisters Sally Blane and Polly Ann Young worked as extras during school vacations while young. Their mother ran a boarding house to support the family.

Starred in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: The House of Rothschild (1934), The White Parade (1934) and The Bishop's Wife (1947).

Was considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), which went to Vivien Leigh.

Sister of John R. Young. All the Young children were child extras in silent films.

Sister of Polly Ann Young and Sally Blane, half-sister of Georgiana Young, sister-in-law of Norman Foster, half-sister-in-law of Ricardo Montalban, mother of Judy Lewis.

The daughter she had with Clark Gable was put in an orphanage then Loretta went back and adopted her. She was named Judy Lewis.

Judy Lewis discovered the truth about herself but Loretta Young remained steadfast in her refusal to acknowledge that Judy is indeed her biological daughter and not an adopted one as she had proclaimed. Because of this, Judy became estranged from her mother for many years and only reconciled a few years before Loretta died. After Judy wrote her autobiography detailing her parentage, Loretta remained ashamed and embarrassed of what happened to her, even 50 years later.

Despite her death in August 2000, she was still able to endorse George W. Bush for president in that year's November election by means of absentee ballot.

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6100 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6135 Hollywood Boulevard.

Was voted America's Sweetheart of the 1930s.

Miss Young was a pro-business Republican. She appeared in print and radio ads in support for such presidents as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. She even donated money to the Republican National Committee, and like close friend Irene Dunne, she was active in an array of conservative Republican causes.

Was four months pregnant with her daughter Judy Lewis when she completed filming on Shanghai (1935).

She and her second husband, Tom Lewis, were married on July 31, 1940 and honeymooned in Hawaii. During their last weekend there, they were the honored guests of Admiral Isaac Kidd aboard the battleship U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Arizona was sunk during the Japanese attack and Admiral Kidd was killed.

Is one of 3 actresses to have won the Best Actress Oscar (hers being for The Farmer's Daughter (1947)) and the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy (hers being for The Loretta Young Show (1953)). The other actresses are Shirley Booth and Helen Hunt.

She was posthumously awarded a Golden Palm Star at the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on May 19, 2011.

Was the 30th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Farmer's Daughter (1947) at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948.

Aunt of Robert Foster who, from 1975 to 1978, played the role of Grimsley, the vampire-mortician horror host of Fright Night (1970) on Channels 9 (then KHJ-TV) and 5 (KTLA) in Southern California.

She turned down roles in The Innocents (1961) and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

Was three months pregnant with her son Christopher Lewis when she completed filming on And Now Tomorrow (1944).

Was three months pregnant with her son Peter Lewis when she completed filming on Along Came Jones (1945).

She was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month for January 2013.

Had turned down 3 roles which eventually went to French actress Claudette Colbert, they are It Happened One Night (1934), Under Two Flags (1936) and The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987).

Returned to work two months after giving birth to her son Peter Lewis to begin filming The Stranger (1946).

Returned to work three months after giving birth to her daughter Judy Lewis to begin filming on The Unguarded Hour (1936).

Wampas Baby Star of 1929.

Is one of 25 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for The Farmer's Daughter (1947). The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night (1934)), Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday (1950)), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday (1953)), Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower (1969)), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class (1973)), Lee Grant (Shampoo (1975)), Diane Keaton (Annie Hall (1977)), Maggie Smith (California Suite (1978)), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard (1980)), Jessica Lange (Tootsie (1982)), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck (1987)), Cher (Moonstruck (1987)), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King (1991)), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny (1992)), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway (1994)) Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite (1995)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets (1997)), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love (1998)), Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook (2012)).

Her image appears on the cover of the 2012 music CD Electro Swing V.

Returned to work three months after giving birth to her son Christopher Lewis to begin filming Along Came Jones (1945).

In Italy, unlike other major Hollywood actresses, she didn't have an official dubbing voice. She was in turn dubbed by Lydia Simoneschi, Rina Morelli, Renata Marini (in her Oscar-winning performance in The Farmer's Daughter (1947)) and Giovanna Scotto most notably in the much-loved The Bishop's Wife (1947). Dhia Cristiani, Lia Orlandini and Andreina Pagnani also lent their voice to Young at some point.