Warren Beatty’s Scandals Go Deeper Than We Thought

Good afternoon. This is a Baron gang. Now, if everybody will just take it easy, nobody will get hurt. While they were dating, Joan Collins said she could barely keep up with Warren Beatty’s bedroom needs. However, his virility was the least of her problems. Years later, she laid bare his darkest secret, and when it came to the details, she didn’t hold back.

Considering the level of stardom that both Warren Beatty and his sister Shirley MacLaine have reached, you’d think they’d have been born into a Hollywood dynasty. But their origins are as ordinary as they come.

Beatty was born in Virginia, where his parents were teachers. Growing up, it was MacLaine who was the performer in the family. Beatty grew from an introspective bookworm into a strapping young high school football star, but it was clear that both siblings wanted to strike out on their own, far away from Virginia. Despite their many differences, Warren saw how quickly his sister moved through the ranks of Broadway and then Hollywood, and was intrigued. He hoped that an education at Northwestern might lead him there, but he only found disappointment. He wanted to quit, and his parents were horrified, but they knew that trying to stop him would only make him rebel more.

After dropping out, he moved to New York to study under the legendary acting coach Stella Adler. Beatty may have seemed focused on his career, but he had much more scandalous things on his mind. You don’t become one of the most legendary Playboys in Hollywood by mistake. However, despite his reputation, he was something of a late bloomer, claiming he only lost his virginity at the age of 20. But he would more than make up for lost time.

Against the odds, he turned a few bit parts on TV and in plays into a supporting role on Broadway. That was remarkable enough, and then he got the surprise of a lifetime. His role garnered him a Tony nomination. With it came the invitation to Hollywood for a screen test. He was just 22 years old and quickly catching up to his big sister.

Beatty was determined to make his mark on the big screen, and he wouldn’t let anything stand in his way. The Vietnam War was ramping up, and although it was years before the US would begin to draft young men, Beatty saw the writing on the wall. So, he came up with a plan. In February of 1960, he joined the California Air National Guard. It was a strange plan for someone who wanted to avoid service, but it was all part of his strategy. A year later, he was dishonorably discharged, making him ineligible for military service. This allowed him to pursue an acting career without the worry of being drafted.

After spotting a young Joan Collins at a number of Hollywood parties, Beatty took the plunge and called her for a date. She was four years older than him and well-established, but couldn’t deny the attraction. They began a passionate romance, but Collins quickly realized she was in over her head. She was no prude, but she couldn’t keep up with Beatty’s tireless libido.

Finally, producers cast Beatty in his first film role, the lead in a picture called Splendor in the Grass. He was to perform opposite Natalie Wood, a former child actress who had been looking for the film that would make her a megastar. The two couldn’t have been more different. He was still in a relationship with Joan Collins but had a wandering eye, while she was a young newlywed. It was his first film, and she’d been in more than 30. He was a rising star, and many considered her washed up. The success of the film hinged on their performances as romantic leads, and director Elia Kazan knew it, pushing them to the brink in their scenes. As he forced them into embrace after embrace, their respective significant others watched from the sidelines. Before long, the gossip columns were writing about how Beatty and Wood were practicing for their love scenes a little too intently and a little too far from set. When Collins heard the news, she rushed back from Europe and confronted Beatty. They had an argument, and he proposed.

Collins went back to Europe with a ring on her finger, content that she’d shut down whatever was happening between Beatty and Natalie Wood. His next role was opposite screen legend Vivien Leigh. She may have been more than two decades older than Natalie Wood, but the two had a lot in common. Immediately, the pattern repeated itself, and the tabloids speculated that the two were having an affair. It served as good cover for the actual affair Beatty was having with young actress Susan Strasberg, but he was still thinking of someone else.

Natalie Wood had just hit a brick wall while filming West Side Story, sending her into another anxious tailspin over her career. The phone rang, and there was a familiar voice on the other end: Warren Beatty just couldn’t forget about her. Before long, they were attending parties together, but this time her husband Robert Wagner was less patient with their friendship. Wagner and Wood announced they were separating, and everyone in Hollywood already knew why. Not so coincidentally, Joan Collins kicked Beatty out of their apartment around the same time. He moved right into Natalie Wood’s rented Bel-Air mansion. And this all happened before Splendor in the Grass even came out.

Both actors went on a grueling press tour for the film, which was exacerbated by the laser focus on their relationship. Beatty hated the scrutiny that came with being a star, and he hated talking about himself, his history, and his personal life. He made for a terrible interview, and that didn’t change much in the decades after. Wood and Beatty had been playing house for months, hosting parties for their Hollywood friends. Then, one night when they were out in a group, Beatty simply disappeared. Because he doesn’t tell his own story, no one really knows where he went for the week he disappeared. Either way, when he showed up on Wood’s doorstep after a week of silence, it was the final straw, and she promptly dumped him.

What followed was a career slump marked by critical and commercial disappointments, until French director François Truffaut told Beatty that he had a script for him to read. It was about a notorious pair of criminals, and Beatty was instantly intrigued. He’d been adrift in his career, and his lover du jour, Leslie Caron, suggested that he not only star in the film adaptation of Bonnie and Clyde, but produce it too. Beatty brought the film straight to one of the most legendary figures in old Hollywood, Jack Warner, and went to extreme lengths to convince him to make the film. Not only did he agree to a tiny budget, he got down on the ground to kiss Warner’s shoes before the old man told him to stop embarrassing himself. And with that, at 29, Beatty became not just an actor, but also a producer.

Having total control over a picture gave him the professional fulfillment he’d been searching for since he’d first come to Hollywood. It even gave him the restraint he’d lacked in other ventures. Beatty and his female co-star Faye Dunaway vowed not to get involved with each other for the sake of the film. And surprisingly for him, he actually kept his word. Against the odds and the considerable efforts of Jack Warner, who hated the film and wanted it gone, Bonnie and Clyde became a hit. With that under his belt, Beatty let loose and zeroed in on his next conquest.

When he met Julie Christie, sparks flew. Both were strong, stubborn, and outspoken. It ended up being one of his longer romances, but the couple had a scandalous secret: they essentially had an open relationship, which alleviated the pressure of Beatty’s wandering eye.

Beatty negotiated a generous paycheck to appear opposite Elizabeth Taylor in The Only Game in Town. Taylor’s husband Richard Burton was a fixture on set, perhaps because of Beatty’s reputation, and he kept a very close eye on them. Taylor’s fame was fading fast, as was the popularity of the type of film they had just made. As a result, The Only Game in Town was a financial disaster.

Beatty entered another quiet period in his career, but this time instead of frustration, it was a time of creativity. He began to conceive of two movies that would come to define his career: Shampoo and Reds. But he would take his time making them. For Shampoo, he enlisted his girlfriend Julie Christie. They’d already appeared in one film together, and people loved their chemistry. But there was a problem. Chemistry is a magical, ephemeral thing, and for Beatty and Christie, theirs was fading fast. She had always been in monogamous relationships before, and was much more introverted and happy with a quiet life than Beatty was. Finally, their relationship ended, but it was a breakup with a looming reunion, the pair having already committed to making Shampoo.

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Beatty, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson were all part of a new generation of Hollywood A-listers in the 60s and 70s, and they all became close friends, but they had much more than just that in common. They were all involved with musician Michelle Phillips. Beatty was the last to come along, and the pair even lived together in the first house he ever bought, as a confirmed bachelor. He’d been living mostly in a hotel before that. History repeated itself with Beatty and Phillips. The press attention came, and he hated it, even uninviting her from the London premiere of Shampoo. Back at home, he promised her marriage and babies. And after it ended, it took her two years of therapy to realize that those promises had been empty.

The next person to use Beatty as a rebound was Diane Keaton, fresh out of her relationship with her ex and frequent collaborator Woody Allen. Old habits die hard, and she worked with Beatty on his magnum opus Reds, which came out in 1981. Reds won three Oscars, including Beatty’s only Academy Award for best director. Although the cast might not agree with that statement, Beatty was such a tough director that he once demanded 80 takes for one scene. When an actress snapped at him, the entire crew applauded.

While he was filming Reds, Beatty was so dedicated to the story of the far-left journalist John Reed that he would take the time to explain his story and his political causes so everyone working on the film knew what it was truly about. While filming scenes in Spain, Beatty lectured the Spanish extras on the rights of the working man, which came back to bite him. The extras left the set en masse, refusing to return until they got fair wages for their work. For his part, Beatty agreed to the pay increase, recognizing a great moment of irony.

After Diane Keaton, Beatty went on to date models Stephanie Seymour, Janice Dickinson, Mary Tyler Moore, and Daryl Hannah. He even had a fiery, if short-lived, relationship with Madonna, his co-star in Dick Tracy. Little did he know all these flings would serve as a last hurrah for his bachelor days. He met Annette Bening when she was auditioning to play Virginia Hill in the gangster biopic Bugsy. Reportedly, Beatty saw her audition and promptly called director Barry Levinson and said something that surprised them both. He remarked, “She’s terrific. I love her. I’m going to marry her.” Levinson, knowing Beatty’s reputation, didn’t think he was serious, merely enthusiastic. However, for once, Beatty was true to his word. In 1992, after years of countless affairs and flings, Beatty married Annette Bening. The couple had four children together, and he stayed out of the spotlight for years to help raise them. They’re still going strong today, even through tumultuous times.

Beatty’s eldest child, Stephen Ira, was assigned female at birth, but later came out as transgender in 2006. Beatty has since referred to Stephen as a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children.

Warren Beatty worked with a 17-year-old Carrie Fisher on the 1975 film Shampoo, and years later she revealed the depths of his behavior during production. Not only had he cast his ex-girlfriend and his then-current girlfriend in the film to play his character’s lovers, he also made a pass at Fisher despite their age difference. She rejected him, making her one of very, very few women to say no to the notorious Playboy.

When he was making Bonnie and Clyde, Beatty approached his ex-girlfriend Natalie Wood to see if she would star as Bonnie. She cried and said she couldn’t bear the thought of appearing in any film, let alone one with him. Later that night, she tried to take her own life, and she didn’t act for three years afterward. It was also the last conversation they ever had before her untimely death.

Beatty was also one of the last people to see Marilyn Monroe alive. A 25-year-old Beatty met Monroe at a producer’s home during a party. According to Beatty in a 2016 interview, the two spent the evening together, which involved him playing piano for her and a moonlit walk along the shore, which he described as more soulful than romantic. Monroe died the next day.

His relationship with Joan Collins was a serious whirlwind. In the sheets, their love life was so passionate that she could barely keep up with him. But later in her memoir, Collins confessed a secret that she’d been keeping for years: she had once been pregnant with Beatty’s child. Fearing scandal and a ruined career, Collins opted to terminate the pregnancy. When they called it quits, she walked away and never looked back.

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