Hollywood’s First Weight Loss Surgery: Molly O’Day (Make Me Over, Episode 1)

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts. 

At the age of 18, actress Molly O’Day’s career showed great promise—the only thing holding her back was a bit of pubescent pudge. When diets failed, she became the guinea pig of Hollywood's first highly-publicized weight loss surgery. This was in 1929, and the procedure was, as one fan magazine described it "dangerous...and all in vain." What lead Molly to such desperation? And what happened after the surgery her former lover, actor George Raft, declared “ruined her health, her career, and damn near killed her”?

This episode was written and performed by Megan Koester. Megan Koester is a writer, comedian, and Daughter of the Golden West; LA Weekly (before it was taken over by right-wingers, mind you) listed her as a "comic to watch," saying her "sets are as dark, self-effacing and in-the-moment as they come." She co-authored the Audible Original The Indignities of Being a Woman with Merrill Markoe and recently released her debut stand up album, Tertium Non Datur, on aspecialthing records.

SHOW NOTES:  

This episode touches on an aspect of Buster Keaton’s post-MGM attempt at a comeback. For more context on Buster and how his disastrous stint at MGM left his career crippled at the point that his story dovetails with Molly O’Day’s, listen to our episode on Keaton from 2015.

Sources specific to this episode:

“Diet, the Menace of Hollywood” by Katherine Albert, Photoplay, January 1929 

“The Flesh and Blood Racket: Vanity Drives Hollywood to Suffer the Horrors of the Surgeon’s Knife” by Dorothy Manners, Motion Picture Magazine, April 1929

"Love Scene Recipe is Discovered: Cultivate Mild Infatuation with Leading Man, Advice of Molly O’Day” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1927 

"Does Nicely, Thank You: Sally O'Neil is Irish, Lovely and 18, and Well on Way to Stardom” by Alma Whitaker, Los Angeles Times, March 13, 1927 

“‘Kid’ Nearly Flawless Film: Richard Barthelmess Gives Great Performance” by Marquis Busby, Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1928

“Molly Has Own ‘Slogan’ as She Plans Comeback” Mansfield News Journal, January 21, 1937

“‘Vagabond’ Nominates Its Baby Star; Defies Wampas Selections” Hollywood Vagabond, March 31, 1927

“Hollywood High Lights” by Edwin and Eliza Schallert, Picture-Play Magazine, December 1928

“Starving Back to Stardom: The Sad Story of Molly O’Day, Whose Career Was Blighted by Ice Cream and Candy” by Lois Shirley, Photoplay, August 1928

“Molly Gives Up ‘Three Squares,’ Two Very Meager Meals Every 24 Hours Now Miss O’Day’s Limit” by Dan Thomas, Syracuse Herald, June 3, 1928

“3 Mos for 25 Lbs” Variety, October 26, 1927

“F.N. Abandons Molly to Own Weight Fight” Variety, July 4, 1928 

“Sliced Hips and Legs Save Miss Molly O’Day” Variety, September 19, 1928

Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture by Heather Addison

“Reducing Herself to Riches: Doris Dawson’s Soul-Struggle is Caused by a Hunger for Both Cake and a Career” by Dorothy Manners, Motion Picture Classic, July 1928

“Avoirdupois is Stern Foe for Film Actresses” Indiana Evening Gazette, August 8, 1928

“Liposuction — the Evolution of the Classical Technique” by Yves-Gerard Illouz, PMFA Journal, April 1, 2014

“Surgeon Carved Off Mollie O’Day’s Fat — But It Came Back” San Antonio Light January 20, 1929 

“Beauty Doc Sued Again for ‘Error’: Dr. Griffith Once Paid Minnie Chaplin $30,000 — Now W.H. Scott Wants $100,000” Variety, August 10, 1927

George Raft by Lewis Yablonsky

“Weight-Reducing Molly O’Day is Losing Out” Variety, December 12, 1928

“Gossip of All the Studios” by Cal York, Photoplay, April 1929

“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” by Jane Stewart, The Modern Screen Magazine, November 1930

“Easy Come, Easy Go in Movies; Sisters Now Are Bankrupt” Albuquerque Journal, November 10, 1930

“R-K-O Does Everything But Act for Picture Duo” Variety, May 14, 1930 

“Sally O’Neil and Molly O’Day: Talk and Singing”, Variety, June 4, 1930

“One-Day Stars: Were These Players Equipped for One, and Only One, Great Role?” by Madeline Glass, Picture Play Magazine, April 1932

My Wonderful World of Slapstick by Buster Keaton

“Hot From Hollywood...With the News Sleuth” by Hal E. Wood, Hollywood Magazine, May 1934

“Hollywood’s Film Shops” by Alanson Edwards, South Haven Daily Tribune, May 21, 1934

“Scene as Flames Rage in Motion-Picture Plant: Actors Flee for Their Lives as Fire Sweeps Film Studio” Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1937

“Divorces” Billboard, July 28, 1951

“Sand Doin’s” Palm Springs Desert Sun, December 15, 1950

“Molly O’Day Hit By Egg, Gets Decree” Long Beach Press Telegram, August 9, 1956 

“Divorce, Molly O' Day” Los Angeles Examiner Photographs Collection, July 10, 1951

Silent Stars Speak: Interviews with Twelve Cinema Pioneers by Tony Villecco

For more information on Molly O'Day, check out "Reels and Rivals: Sisters in Silent Films" by Jennifer Ann Redmond

Music:

The music used in this episode was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.  

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode: The Black Dahlia - Paul Martin Pritchard

Devil Heart -  Daniel Horacio Diaz, Andre Paul Marie Charlier
The Silver Screen - David Francis
Life is Harsh - Sophia Lydie, Ginette Domancich
Maze - Piotr Moss
Exotique - Paul Lenart, Bill Novick
Dreamy Reflection - Lorne David Roderick Balfe
Mysterioso Melancholia - Howard Lucraft
Le Clair, l'Obscur - 1st movement - Denis Jean, Maurice Levaillant
Lost In Paris - Geoffrey Peter Gascoyne
La Mondaine - Daniel Horacio Diaz & Andre Paul Marie Charlier
Dixie Blues - Geoffrey Peter Gascoyne
Blue Moan - Keith Charles Nichols

Credits:

Make Me Over is a special presentation of You Must Remember This. It was created and directed by Karina Longworth, who also edited the scripts.

This episode was written and performed by Megan Koester. 

Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.

Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Producer: Tomeka Weatherspoon. 

Editor: Jared O'Connell.

Audio engineers: Jared O'Connell, Andrea Kristins and Brendan Burns. 

Supervising Producer: Josephine Martorana. 

Executive Producer: Chris Bannon. 

Logo design: Teddy Blanks and Aaron Nestor.

Make Me Over - You Must Remember This Companion Series Coming January 21

In this companion series to You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth will introduce eight stories about Hollywood’s intersection with the beauty industry. Told by writers/reporters known for their work at The New Yorker, The New York Times and other publications, Make Me Over will explore a range of topics, including Hollywood’s first weight loss surgery, the story of the star whose unique skills led to the development of waterproof mascara, black beauty in the 1990s, and much more. Join us, won’t you?