The Stalking of Bebe Daniels

In January 1933, 32-year-old actress Bebe Daniels and her husband, actor Ben Lyon, appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom for a trial that laid bare the unsettling cost of fame in the early days of the. The defendant was Albert F. Holland, a man whose fixation on Daniels had evolved from an unwelcome curiosity to a persistent threat.

Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels in the courtroom

Daniels’ ordeal began in 1931 when Holland, a former soldier and World War One veteran, began sending series of incoherent letters to Daniels. His obsession intensified when he showed up at the couple's home. Initially, Daniels and Lyon responded with compassion. “The first time we caught him in the patio of our home, we let him go," Daniels said in her court testimony. "We learned he was an ex-soldier and drove him out to Sawtelle (veterans care home) in the hope he would receive treatment. But in two days, he was back.”

In November 1931, while Daniels was in San Francisco performing in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Holland appeared at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, demanding to see her. He was promptly arrested, and police soon discovered he had escaped confinement in Los Angeles, where authorities had been searching for him.

In San Francisco, the lunacy board deemed Holland a threat. Daniels testified, “When police took him into custody in Los Angeles, I tried to talk to him. He said I held his hand all through the war. He believes we’ve always been in love with each other.”

By January 1933, the situation had escalated beyond anything Daniels and Lyon could handle privately. In court, as the trial unfolded, Holland was granted the unusual privilege of questioning Lyon directly. Despite the bizarre and tense circumstances, Lyon responded to Holland’s fantastical claims in measured tones, stating that he could not recall any of the events Holland described. At one point, when Holland pressed Lyon about a specific incident that Lyon had no memory of, Holland responded with a wry smile and said, "Now, Ben, pull yourself together.”

Los Angeles Daily News, January 5, 1933