In an era where the "leaking" of a naughty home-made tape has built entire careers it is easy to forget that not that long ago something similar would have destroyed one.

Clara Bow was a rapidly rising silent screen star when in 1927 a nasty rumour surfaced that she had slept with the entire USC football team.

The story was started by one Daisy Devoe, Bow's private secretary. The secretary had been fired for attempting to blackmail the actress. Devoe got her revenge by selling an "inside scoop" on the private life of Clara to the notorious New York tabloid, "Graphic."

Not only did Devoe start the USC football team rumour, she also stated that Bow was having affairs with Eddie Cantor, Bela Lugosi, and Gary Cooper amongst other celebs of that era.

The tabloid story destroyed Clara's career. Paramount Studios refused to renew her contract with them, and she spent the bulk of her life afterwards suffering from a series of nervous breakdowns in mental institutions.

Author David Stern managed to track down the surviving members of the USC football team while researching his biography entitled: Clara Bow Runnin' Wild. They admitted that they were often invited to Bow's parties, but claimed innocence of the nasty gossip. Bow apparently never even served alcohol.