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Hollywood has been a place where dreamers can reach for the stars, and then become one themselves. It has also been full of heartbreak, tragedy and mystery. Paul Bern's story illustrates all of that and much more.
Paul Bern: Hollywood’s Father Confessor
Paul Bern (born Paul Levy in Wandsbek, Germany) came to the USA with his family in 1898. Following his acceptance into New York’s American Academy Dramatic Arts, he decided to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He rose through the ranks until he was a director at MGM, producing big budget films for the studio.
Bern was known throughout the industry as a kind man, “Hollywood’s Father Confessor”. A number of destitute children were apparently fed through his efforts, and frequently, down-and-out actors had their medical bills paid by the Hollywood mogul. In 1932 he married one of the studio’s biggest stars, Jean Harlow, an actress that he had helped sign to the company.
On the 5th of September, only 10 weeks after their wedding, Bern’s nude body was found by the butler in the couple’s Beverly Hills home. A .38 revolver lay on the floor, the weapon that had delivered the shot to his head. The butler had worked for important families before, and he knew the protocol of the day, so he called MGM first before any talk of police. The MGM executives combed the residence for anything that might be incriminating to them and arranged evidence; after two hours the police were finally called. When the police arrived studio head Louis B. Mayer had a suicide note in hand that he “found” in the home. MGM launched a smear campaign to suggest that Paul Bern was impotent and that he was abusive to his new wife, with Jean Harlow portrayed as the victim of the tragedy.
The suicide theory contradicted the scene that MGM security head Whitey Hendry saw, before all of the evidence was compromised, “He was lying in the closet and the gun was on the floor halfway across the room. Whoever killed him threw it there, it didn’t walk there.”
Reporter’s discovered that Paul had met onetime actress Dorothy Millette back in 1911, in New York, and had lived with her for years. Though they had never married, Paul considered himself morally married. Dorothy became increasingly haunted by voices that only she heard, and heartbroken, he took the decision to admit her to a sanitorium. In 1920 Bern moved to California to pursue his movie career and eventually Dorothy was released, presumed harmless, and she moved into the Algonquin Hotel in New York under the name Mrs. Paul Bern. She remained there for ten years, and the MGM producer covered her expenses. In the spring of 1932 Dorothy left New York and moved into San Francisco’s Plaza Hotel. Paul confided to his friends that he was disturbed by her arrival.
On the night of the murder Paul’s cook and neighbour said they heard violent argument between Paul and a female voice, with the cook identifying Dorothy as the woman that visited him before his death. According to the cook’s statement, there was a loud scream and he saw her bolting from the house and jump into a waiting limousine that sped away. Fishermen found Dorothy’s body in a Sacramento River tributary on the 14th of September-an apparent suicide.
Hollywood has been a place where dreamers can reach for the stars, and then become one themselves. It has also been full of heartbreak, tragedy and mystery. Paul Bern's story illustrates all of that and much more.
Paul Bern: Hollywood’s Father Confessor
Paul Bern (born Paul Levy in Wandsbek, Germany) came to the USA with his family in 1898. Following his acceptance into New York’s American Academy Dramatic Arts, he decided to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He rose through the ranks until he was a director at MGM, producing big budget films for the studio.
Bern was known throughout the industry as a kind man, “Hollywood’s Father Confessor”. A number of destitute children were apparently fed through his efforts, and frequently, down-and-out actors had their medical bills paid by the Hollywood mogul. In 1932 he married one of the studio’s biggest stars, Jean Harlow, an actress that he had helped sign to the company.
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| Paul Bern from behind his typewriter. He was influential at MGM. |
On the 5th of September, only 10 weeks after their wedding, Bern’s nude body was found by the butler in the couple’s Beverly Hills home. A .38 revolver lay on the floor, the weapon that had delivered the shot to his head. The butler had worked for important families before, and he knew the protocol of the day, so he called MGM first before any talk of police. The MGM executives combed the residence for anything that might be incriminating to them and arranged evidence; after two hours the police were finally called. When the police arrived studio head Louis B. Mayer had a suicide note in hand that he “found” in the home. MGM launched a smear campaign to suggest that Paul Bern was impotent and that he was abusive to his new wife, with Jean Harlow portrayed as the victim of the tragedy.
The suicide theory contradicted the scene that MGM security head Whitey Hendry saw, before all of the evidence was compromised, “He was lying in the closet and the gun was on the floor halfway across the room. Whoever killed him threw it there, it didn’t walk there.”
Reporter’s discovered that Paul had met onetime actress Dorothy Millette back in 1911, in New York, and had lived with her for years. Though they had never married, Paul considered himself morally married. Dorothy became increasingly haunted by voices that only she heard, and heartbroken, he took the decision to admit her to a sanitorium. In 1920 Bern moved to California to pursue his movie career and eventually Dorothy was released, presumed harmless, and she moved into the Algonquin Hotel in New York under the name Mrs. Paul Bern. She remained there for ten years, and the MGM producer covered her expenses. In the spring of 1932 Dorothy left New York and moved into San Francisco’s Plaza Hotel. Paul confided to his friends that he was disturbed by her arrival.
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| Jean Harlow and Paul Bern. |
On the night of the murder Paul’s cook and neighbour said they heard violent argument between Paul and a female voice, with the cook identifying Dorothy as the woman that visited him before his death. According to the cook’s statement, there was a loud scream and he saw her bolting from the house and jump into a waiting limousine that sped away. Fishermen found Dorothy’s body in a Sacramento River tributary on the 14th of September-an apparent suicide.
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