Patricia Douglas

Douglas was born on March 5, 1917, to Mildred Mitchell in Kansas City, Missouri.[1] At some point later, the mother and daughter moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue work in the film industry. Douglas dropped out of school at the age of 14 and focused on pursuing a film career, working as a dancer and extra, and appearing in films such as Gold Diggers of 1933 and So This Is Africa.[2]

On the evening of May 5, 1937, a 20-year-old Douglas was brought to work at an MGM party with more than 120 other young women, most of them dancers. The young women were hired to work that night under the premise that they would be working on a film. At the party, Douglas was targeted by Ross and was forced to drink. When she ran outside to vomit, Ross followed her, dragged her into a car in a nearby field, and raped her.

This is a newspaper cover of Patricia Douglas on the Daily News coming forward with information on her 1937 assault.

After the assault, a parking attendant heard Douglas screaming and saw her staggering as Ross ran away. Douglas was brought to Culver City Community Hospital, where she was douched before being examined by a doctor, thus destroying evidence of the rape.[2]

Douglas filed a criminal complaint with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. The district attorney at the time was Buron Fitts, a personal friend of MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer. When Douglas' case was ignored, she went to attorney William J. F. Brown, who delivered an ultimatum to Fitts' office, insisting that it either investigate the complaint or Douglas would go to the media. The resulting scandal was one of the largest Hollywood had ever faced at the time. MGM responded by creating a smear campaign against Douglas, tarnishing her reputation and framing her as immoral and promiscuous. A newspaper article gave Douglas' name, photo, and home address.[2] The grand jury hearing dominated the news cycle, taking attention over stories such as the marriage of the abdicated Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and the death of actress Jean Harlow.[3]

When the grand jury refused to indict, Douglas filed a civil suit against studio personnel and the other party attendees. Brown failed to appear in court for unknown reasons and the case was dismissed for want of prosecution. A 2003 Vanity Fair article about the case theorized that since Brown was running against Fitts for District Attorney, he may have feared that litigating the case would undermine his campaign.[2]

Douglas retired from the industry after her assault and struggled with her relationships in life as a result of the mental and emotional trauma she experienced from the rape and subsequent smear campaign by MGM.[4] Douglas was married three times and gave birth to one daughter, Patricia (Patti) Minter. Douglas passed away of an unknown illness on November 11, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

More than 60 years after Douglas' assault, it was documented in the film Girl 27 by David Stenn.[5] Her speaking out against her rapist has been reevaluated with the emergence of the Me Too movement.[6] Actresses such as Jessica Chastain and Rose McGowan have praised the film and the telling of Douglas's story.[7]