Short Suck #38: Hollywood’s Biggest Forgotten Scandal: Patricia Douglas

Timesuck with Dan Cummins

Dan Cummins

True Crime, Society & Culture, Religion, Conspiracies, History, Biographies, Education, Adult Humor, Comedy, Dark Humor, Conspiracy, Cults

4.7 • 21.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Patricia Douglas was a young dancer and an extra working in Hollywood during its so-called Golden Era when she was tricked into attending a party Tinseltown's most powerful studio, MGM, was throwing for the salesmen who were making it rich on May 5th, 1937. At this party, she was dragged into the parking lot and brutally raped by one on of those salesmen. The studio would bury her assault... but decades later her truth would finally come to light and help lead to much needed change in the movie industry.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to another edition of Time Suck Short Sucks.
0:03.7	I'm Dan Cummins, and today I'll be sharing the story of Patricia Douglas,
0:06.9	who worked as a young dancer and as a movie extra during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
0:12.2	She, like the other women she worked with, they dream big, glamorous Hollywood dreams, I'm sure.
0:17.9	But her dream would die in especially painful in public death, the kind I sadly
0:22.4	imagine that many other young women's Hollywood dreams have endured privately over the years.
0:27.8	Showbiz can be such a dirty business.
0:32.7	Words and ideas can change the world. I hated her, but I wanted to love my mother.
0:37.6	I have a dream.
0:38.7	I'll plead not guilty right now.
0:40.2	Your only chance is to leave with us.
0:46.3	Patricia Dorothy Douglas was born in Kansas City, Missouri, March 5th, 1917.
0:51.7	She later moved to Hollywood around the age of 12 or 13 with her mother
0:55.7	Mildred Mitchell who wanted to design gowns for movie stars. She had a turbulent childhood to say
1:01.3	the least. Patricia later said she believed her mother was married a total of eight times.
1:07.1	After they moved to L.A., her mom did open up her own shop. She did work for studios, designing gowns for actresses, so that part worked out.
1:14.1	She also designed evening wear for other women as well.
1:17.6	According to a Vanity Fair article, Mildred made gowns for, quote, high-end call girls.
1:23.1	Patricia would grow up with a very complicated relationship with her mother.
1:26.6	She would say,
1:32.7	Never ever was I nurtured. I think my mother was the type that wanted the child, and once you had them, and the cuteness was up, and it was like a toy, you'd get tired of it. Growing up, she often
1:38.8	felt alone and ignored. And one of her favorite things to do was go to the movies, where she
	...

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