You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm & Mild

from Erin Manky.

The most beautiful girl in New York City was, according to the judges of the contest that

decided such matters, a dark-haired blue-eyed young woman by the name of Olive Duffy.

It was 1914, and with her newly minted title and all of the attention that came with it,

Olive was on her way to fame and fortune.

She worked first as a showgirl on Broadway before moving on to the silver screen, the

public's newest and most exciting form of mass entertainment.

Olive was a natural fit for the Hollywood set, a studio darling with both a foul mouth

and a mischievous air.

She seemed to be living out the fantasies of so many young girls.

She got jobs, and eventually she got them in.

Olive and John Pickford, one of the most eligible bachelors of the day, began carousing,

partying, and gaining quite the reputation around the sets.

They were madly in love, yes, but they were also wildly volatile.

They're pairing rife with a magnetic passion that bound them together, and seemingly endless

passionate affairs that tore them apart.

In September of 1920, Olive and Jack set sail for Paris.

It was supposed to be a reconciliation of sorts, and attempted to quiet their quarrels and

quell their tempers.

Once they got to town, they checked into the hotel rits, and went off to explore the city.

And there they drank and danced as the night ticked on, as stumbling back to their room

...