My father was a movie star when he was a kid. Everywhere he went, people recognized him and asked for his autograph. His family lived in New Bedford, Mass., but he had to live in New York City with his manager, a quick-tempered woman who beat him for the smallest goof. He didn’t tell his parents about the way this woman treated him – not until years later, when she had long since passed from their lives.

When I was a child listening to his stories, nothing about them struck me as odd. I assumed everyone’s parents had made movies and been beaten. As I grew older, it dawned on me that my dad’s past was unusual. But only when I had sons of my own did I begin to comprehend what it must have been like to be in my father’s position: wanting to do something he loved, knowing he had to earn money so support his family, and knowing, too, that he must keep secret the violence in his life. This went on for two years, starting when he was only seven.

Thus was born the character of Billy O’Dwyer.

Acting Innocent takes place in1932, a difficult year for Americans. The disastrous Constitutional amendment known as Prohibition, which made it illegal to produce or sell alcoholic drinks, had been in force since 1920, spurring the rise of organized crime. It was the worst year of the Great Depression, a time when many businesses closed and millions of people lost their jobs and homes. My grandparents (the models for Billy’s parents) were among those millions.

The mysterious death in Acting Innocent is based on a real-life case from the early 1920s. Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, one of the biggest stars in silent films, was accused of killing an actress. Three trials and a media frenzy later, a jury declared Arbuckle not guilty. But his movie career had been wrecked, and a decade passed before he got another on-screen movie role.

That 1932 movie was called “Hey, Pop!” and my father was Arbuckle’s co-star. The opening scene in Acting Innocent is based on a scene from the movie.

I combined the stories of my father’s movie career and the Roscoe Arbuckle scandal and played the what-if game: What if the falsely accused star had not had to rely on treacherous witnesses and a corrupt judicial system? What if he had had a couple of smart young sleuths on the case, determined to prove his innocence?

You’ll find my answers by reading O’Dwyer & Grady Starring in Acting Innocent.

 

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E-mail Eileen for information on how to order autographed copies.