Dareos: The Hollywood Fortune Teller

I want to share a fascinating side story from classic Hollywood—the career of Dareos, the film industry’s fortune teller to the stars. Each year, Dareos published his predictions for America’s most popular movie stars in Modern Screen magazine, forecasting everything from whirlwind romances to car accidents and nervous breakdowns.

Popular not only among actors but also with studio executives, Dareos became known as Hollywood’s “father confessor.” He first gained entry into the celebrity world after meeting actress Norma Talmadge and offering her insight into her tumultuous love life. Soon after, she invited him to a party attended by Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and Thomas Ince, where the surprise guest was Dareos himself. He captivated the partygoers with thrilling glimpses into their futures.

“That night, I made a forecast that later helped establish my reputation. Schenck drew me aside, as the others did, for a reading. Suddenly, he turned, pointed toward a man I didn’t know, and asked, ‘What about him?’

As I looked at the man he indicated, I began speaking—‘I see yachts, wealth, position—but it all goes black and dark in about a year. I see nothing but blackness beyond then.’

Well, that man was Thomas Ince. A year later, there was a party on his yacht. Prominent people were there. That night, Ince died. Heart failure, it was reported. There were investigations, questions. But the mystery, if there was any, still remains in the public records.”

It was another Hollywood tragedy, however, that truly catapulted Dareos to fame. In 1926, he made headlines when he publicly stated that he could no longer see actor Rudolph Valentino’s future beyond the end of the year. When Valentino passed away on August 23, Dareos became known as "the man who predicted Valentino’s end."

By 1933, Dareos was a household name, regularly meeting with Hollywood’s elite to help them navigate their careers and personal lives. That year, Movie Mirror magazine published an article titled "Confession of a Hollywood Fortune Teller," in which Dareos recounted how he first discovered his extraordinary abilities:

“My family was wealthy from businesses on the coast that flourished after my grandfathers pioneered from the East to the early West. I went to college; my family had picked out a business career for me. But it was not destined so to be. Fate had other plans…

When I was in my early teens, my sister May came home from school with a group of girls one afternoon. As I saw them arrive, something happened inside my head. I can’t describe it any more than you could adequately convey to a blind man how you see; I only know that I saw what I told my sister. I pointed to one of her friends.

‘What’s her name?’ I asked.

‘Helen Johnson. Why?’ my sister replied.

‘She’s going to be killed within half a year,’ I said.

It startled them, but in a moment, like children, they forgot it.

Five months later, an automobile—I even remember that it was a Pope-Hartford!—ran over Helen Johnson and killed her.”

Dareos’ yearly predictions continued to appear in Modern Screen through 1938, and he was regularly featured in newspapers into the 1950s.

So, let’s dive into Dareos’ predictions for 1935. Some of our favorite classic-era stars had rather grim fates foretold—but don’t worry, I’ve done the research, so we’ll find out just how accurate he really was!

What Will Happen to them in 1935. . .?

(from Modern Screen December 1934)

Once again, Dareos, Hollywood's fortune-teller-to-the-stars, makes his annual predictions for Modern Screen.

Readers who have followed his forecasts for the past four years have witnessed the astonishing accuracy of his prophecies. He has predicted marriages, births, deaths, and divorces. He has foretold, with uncanny precision, the fortunes of the screen's great and near-great, both professionally and personally.

For many years, he has been a confidant to some of Hollywood’s most glamorous figures. There are certain producers who refuse to make major business moves without first consulting him. Some of the industry's biggest stars—both men and women—visit him regularly, and in their homes, he is treated as "one of the family."

As a result, he knows the real truth about these people—their hopes, their plans, their dreams, and their secrets. His annual forecasts for Modern Screen are based not only on his knowledge of these stars but also on what the celestial stars and his crystal ball reveal.

Predictions for Hollywood’s Biggest Stars

Greta Garbo

Garbo will leave MGM to make independent films. She will return to Sweden due to her mother’s fatal illness, and her own health will suffer. No great roles await her, and her career will show clear signs of decline. There will be no love affair and no marriage.

Garbo didn’t walk away from MGM, nor did her career take an immediate nosedive. She went on to star in enduring classics like Camille and Ninotchka. And for the record, her mother passed away in 1947. Dareos was correct, there was no marriage.

John & Dolores Barrymore

The year will bring accidents and theft. The stars predict a serious accident for John—either aboard his yacht or while driving. He will make one major English production. Their domestic life will remain happy and serene.

John Barrymore didn’t have an accident on his yacht—or behind the wheel, for that matter. He also didn’t appear in any films, at home or abroad, in 1935. And as for his marriage to Dolores? That ended in 1934.

Lionel Barrymore

His wife will face the most severe illness of her life in 1935. Lionel himself is at risk of a physical breakdown.

Lionel Barrymore’s wife suffered from anorexia and passed away from complications from the disease in 1936.