Shocking: the actress who had Hollywood's first weight loss surgery in the 1920s

Molly O'Day was one of the most talented actresses of her time. But Hollywood did not treat her kindly, and she goes down in history for being one of the first Hollywood actresses to undergo weight loss surgery… And, in those days, it was not as simple as liposuction or Ozempic.

Born in New Jersey in 1909, when that was the center of the US film industry, her father died when she was just an infant. Her family of 11 children was broke. Then, when the film industry shifted to Hollywood, Molly and two of her sisters (pictured) moved out there. Her older sister Sally soon found success.

Molly landed her first role in 1925 in a Laurel and Hardy short and then other shows. Then, in 1927, she beat out 2,000 hopefuls for a role in the 'Patent Leather Kid' when she was just 16 years old. Her performance showed tremendous range and critics were impressed.

The next year, the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers (WAMPAS) picked her as a 1928 Baby Star. This coveted group was made up of emerging stars who were deemed to have a lot of potential.

Image: ear (L-R): Gwen Lee, Sally Eilers, Dorothy Culliver. Front (L-R): Audrey Ferris, Sue Carol, Molly O'Day and June Collyer. (Photo by Phil Burchman/Getty Images)

Just 18 years old, Molly recounted how everything she ate began to stick to her. Despite all the girdles and corsets available, her weight gain was noticeable. The tabloids started gossiping about it, with one pointing out that her weight was putting her career in peril.

The years following WWI ushered in not only Hollywood’s dominance in the film industry but a major style change too. While it had previously been desirable for women to be voluptuous, the roaring 20s and flapper style replaced curves with straight lines.

In Oct 1927, Variety said on its front page that she was getting “dangerously plump,” and her studio, First National, had given the actress three months off to lose 25 pounds (11 kilos). The studio "did not want O'Day to appear in any production while overweight." Her face and physique were part of the contract.

Image: Variety, October 26, 1927

Another woman who tried to cope with Hollywood pressure around this time was Barbara La Marr, known as the 'Girl Who Is Too Beautiful.' She was known for partying and little sleep and eventually crash diets to lose weight. It was even rumored that she ate a tapeworm. Near the end of her life, she was extremely slim, weighing around 80 lbs (36 kg). She died, age 29, of tuberculosis and nephritis, in 1926.

This was another woman put forward as a victim of Hollywood’s intense diet culture of those days. A 1929 issue of Photoplay said: "Pretty, talented - but overweight… The pounds HAD to come off. She went on a diet so strenuous she collapsed and was rushed to a sanitarium. Today you do not see her on the screen. Hollywood has forgotten her. She has dropped out completely from the film world." Grant died at age 32.

Image: Unknown Author, 1922, University of Washington, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs / Wikimedia

Despite threats that she would lose her chance at being an actress, and making a salary, she didn't live up to her studio’s expectations. She was going to be in a role, that was later re-cast, according to a July 1928 Variety article. She had just 12 weeks to be able to fit into her costumes from when she was 16, which entailed losing around 20 lbs.

Image: Screenland Magazine, June 1928

Not wanting to be fired, she resorted to an unprecedented move - experimental weight loss surgery. This was the first publicized instance of an actress undergoing a knife like this… in 1928.

Image: Motion Picture, Feb-Jul 1929

The first weight loss surgery was in 1921 in France. It resulted in amputation. While the discipline had evolved a bit, it was still risky. To eliminate fat, doctors would make incisions, scrape out some larger fat chunks, and then use currents to melt some of the remaining fat. This style of surgery had only existed for two years when Molly opted for it.

Photoplay magazine reported that the knife made a long incision on both of her legs and across her stomach, removing around 12 to 15 pounds of fat. As described, she was "under ether for an hour and fifteen minutes" and then "suffered acutely." As the reporter noted, "Wan and convalescent in the hospital, she smiled and expressed the wish that this drastic measure would allow her to continue her career."

Image: Photoplay Magazine, January, 1929

Despite the surgery and weight loss, her studio inexplicably dropped her anyway. Variety, which had been reporting closely on the case, didn't give a reason why. Her career never came back, despite her trying. Here, she's shown, with her sister, in 1929 shaking hands with director Ralph Ince. The caption in Photoplay says "there’s a little bit of the old fight in Molly's face, but her operation left her wan and wistful."

Image: Photoplay, January-June, 1929

George Raft, a fellow actor, started dating Molly before the whole procedure and said she was one of the sweetest women he’d ever met. In his autobiography, he said the plastic surgery ruined her health and her career, and it almost killed her. He also said the operation left scars all over her body. She also had to use crutches afterward.

With her waning career, Molly and her sister Sally were recruited to perform in vaudeville. But critics panned their show and they were soon dropped. At age 21, she was a has-been. The two sisters had to declare bankruptcy and moved back in with their mom.

At one point, she moved to Florida, where it was so hot, she ended up losing 30 lbs. There, she starred in two films and then re-entered Hollywood to much fanfare. She said she was ready for her comeback. But her last role was soon after and she officially retired in the 1930s.

While she never fulfilled her full potential as an actress, at least Hollywood didn’t kill her. When she was 24, she had her first kid and got married. She had four kids in total, divorced in 1951 (shown), and remarried a wealthy man, but he abused her, and she divorced again in 1956. In her final interview, she said her time as an actress: "bothered and saddened her." She died at age 89 in Avila Beach, California.

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