Warner Baxter was the highest-paid actor in 1938, but the Oscar winner’s mental health deteriorated as he skyrocketed to fame – resulting in two nervous breakdowns.
The late actor’s rise to stardom and tragic final years are being explored in a new book, “The Accidental Star – The Life and Films of Warner Baxter,” by classic Hollywood author Dan Van Neste.
Baxter died in 1951 after suffering a series of accidents and personal woes. He was 62.
“I realized that Warner Baxter had never been written about, despite being a big star of his era,” Van Neste told Fox News Digital. “His career was very important to Hollywood history. And yes, he has been forgotten with time.”
“Most people don’t recognize his name today,” he shared. “He made 40 silent films, but only 20 have survived. And out of those 20, only less than five are available on DVD. His most famous film, ‘The Great Gatsby,’ is a lost film. He played the title role, and he was the first one to play it.”
“His films today are also rarely screened,” Van Neste continued. “And he died so long ago. . . . When we experienced the renaissance of interest in classic films during the ‘80s, many old stars were still alive and were interviewed about their films. But by then, he was long gone. And it’s a shame – he made over 60 films. But his name has been forgotten.”
Van Neste said that while researching Baxter’s life and having access to his papers, he was stunned to learn of his numerous injuries and near-death experiences.
“I was shocked to read of all the accidents that happened to him or the people around him,” said Van Neste. “He also faced mental challenges through the years. And yet, he was still very popular and treated people with respect.”
The most significant accident in Baxter’s life was in 1930, when he filmed “Such Men Are Dangerous.” On set, he witnessed the fiery death of his director, Kenneth Hawks, cameraman George Eastman and eight other crew members while they filmed an aerial scene. Van Neste said the accident was the most serious of its kind at the time.
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“There was a scene in the film where he’s supposed to jump out of a plane,” Van Neste explained. “Three planes took off from Catalina Island that day. The first one included Warner Baxter and a couple of others, plus the pilot. And the other two were the ones that were filming these difficult aerial scenes. . . . They both got tangled up in each other and went down in flames. All the people were killed.”
“Warner Baxter is watching,” Van Neste continued. “That had to have been a very, very difficult thing because he was good friends with the director.”
Misfortune seemed to follow Baxter. In 1931, Baxter and the cast of “The Cisco Kid” escaped injury when the train they were riding derailed en route. Two men were killed, and many were injured.
The following year, Baxter’s longtime chauffeur was killed instantly in a car accident after returning to the studio to pick him up. The actor chose to walk home from work that day.
Then in 1935, while filming “Under the Pampas Moon,” Baxter was hospitalized when the horse he was riding bit his glued-on wig and attempted to take off with it. It ripped a large piece of Baxter’s scalp.
“It was a bloody mess,” said Van Neste. “Luckily, he didn’t lose part of his ear.”
Despite achieving fame in Hollywood and being “incredibly devoted” to his wife, actress Winifred Bryson, Baxter was quietly struggling mentally. It led to two psychological breakdowns, the first occurring in the late ‘30s, followed by the second in the ‘40s.
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According to the book, Baxter admitted to “losing contact with reality.” While he was fiercely private about his struggles, he admitted seeking help from a doctor.
Baxter would later describe his mental woes as “chasing a rainbow – you never see the end of it. Each part you get has to be better than the last one, and before you know it, you’ve got a nervous breakdown.”
Baxter was simply “not a happy man,” said Van Neste.
“He had more money than he knew what to do with it,” said Van Neste. “And yet, he was always feeling down. He became really depressed. He would often say, ‘I’m done, I’m finished.’ He ended up staying in the business, but signs of a mental crisis started to show. He was very tight-lipped about his problems, but he did admit to those things.”
“I feel he had a long struggle for recognition,” Van Neste continued. “He felt a lot of pressure to stay on top. And as time went on, his whole psyche, his whole image of himself – his self-image – became tied up in his career. And then, when his career began to decline, as it did with many stars, he just didn’t know how to handle it.”
According to Van Neste, Baxter later found happiness working at Columbia Studios, where he was “treated like a king.” But not long after that, he was plagued with problems once more.
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“He began suffering from severe arthritis,” Van Neste explained. “It became progressively worse. . . . He finally had to give up his Columbia contract, because he was in so much pain. He ended up in the hospital in 1950, where they did several tests on him. He was found to be suffering from stage four prostate cancer. And by April 1951, he was just in agony.”
Van Neste described Baxter as “a chance taker” who was willing to do whatever it took to ease his physical pain. During his visits to the hospital, he learned about a procedure, a “lobotomy” in which, according to the book, a surgeon would drill a hole in the skull and sever “certain connections in the prefrontal lobe of the brain.”
It was believed that it would “calm aggressive psychotics, remove delusions, and instantly alleviate depression.”
“It was also used to deal with pain – severe pain,” Van Neste explained. “He reached a point where he was ready to do anything to stop the pain. He felt like he had nothing to lose. He had stage four cancer. He was not going to live long. He underwent this procedure, and it stopped the pain, but it caused him all kinds of problems. He didn’t recognize people. He was having seizures. And he ended up catching pneumonia.”
In May 1951, just over three weeks after his procedure, Baxter died. Van Neste said the official cause of death was pneumonia, a complication from the lobotomy surgery.
Today, Van Neste hopes that Baxter’s films will be discovered by classic Hollywood enthusiasts.
“He was a big star of his era,” said Van Neste. “He didn’t become a big star until he was 40 years old, which at the time, was unusual. He wanted to be recognized in Hollywood. . . . His work mattered.”
