Classic Hollywood Marriages the Studios Fought to Keep Secret

MGM head Louis B. Mayer flat-out forbade Mickey Rooney from marrying rising starlet Ava Gardner in 1942. He was convinced that the marriage would destroy Rooney’s wholesome Andy Hardy image, which was a box-office goldmine. When Rooney defied the order and married her anyway, the studio banned them from being photographed together in public for almost a year.