Hollywood on Trial

This week, associate editor Nicole Polisar revisits the 1936 Mary Astor custody trial, the Hollywood courtroom spectacle that turned a private diary into a national obsession. Set in Los Angeles at the height of the studio era, the episode reconstructs the drama of a movie star fighting her ex-husband, Dr. Franklyn Thorpe, for custody of their four-year-old daughter, Marylyn. As tabloids and subpoenas threaten to swallow the proceeding whole, the courtroom begins to resemble a public stage as much as a forum for justice. Nicole examines how “fitness” was argued and weaponized in a courtroom culture that treated a mother’s private relationships as evidence of parental unworthiness. The episode explores how media frenzy, moral judgment, and evidentiary battles transformed a child-welfare proceeding into reputational warfare. If you're interest in the episode's topic please check out these resources to learn more: https://archive.org/details/mystoryautobiogr00asto https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-12-me-a2anniversary12-story.html