The real people who inspired ‘A Star Is Born’
Once upon a time in Hollywood, music and cinema collided to bring A Star Is Born to the audience. And seven years down the line, Netflix is finally roping in the Academy Award-winning film. A Star Is Born is Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, starring the iconic Lady Gaga, which was nominated a whopping eight times for Oscars. Although the musical drama isn’t officially based on a true story, Cooper and Gaga’s version of A Star Is Born has real-life inspirations.
According to What’s on Netflix, A Star Is Born, directed and co-written by Cooper, will hit the Netflix shelves on July 8th, 2025, alongside Sullivan’s Crossing. The movie is a remake of the 1937 film and is the fourth time the story has been made for the screen. The other two remakes came out in 1954 and 1976, respectively. The ’37 original, directed by William A Wellman, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, was reportedly the first colour film to achieve an Oscar nod for ‘Best Picture.’
Entertainment Weekly reported in 2022 that the ‘37 A Star Is Born may have been heavily inspired by an earlier film, the 1932 What Price Hollywood?. David O Selznick produced both films. However, the similarities were so uncanny that RKO threatened to file a plagiarism lawsuit against the 1937 producer. However, the outline of the ‘37 movie was a cooperative effort between Wellman and screenwriter Robert Carson.
It was only after Wellman brought the idea to Selznick that he agreed after his then-wife’s probe. Ironically, the ‘37 original deviates inherently from the starships of its leads. But it’s indeed full of references from real Hollywood. It nods to actual stars, films, and landmarks. The first A Star Is Born was shot at the Hollywood Bowl and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, among other hallmark places of the then entertainment capital.
In one of the scenes, Gaynor expertly mimics Greta Garbo, Mae West, and Katharine Hepburn to wow industry bigwigs. Wellman also incorporated cameos of Owen Moore and his own ex-wife, Helene Chadwick. While A Star Is Born has a shelf life of multiple reincarnations, What Price Hollywood? is presumably based on silent film star Colleen Moore’s life. But speaking of the ’37 A Star Is Born, there’s abundant speculation that it draws inspiration from Barbara Stanwyck’s life and career.
Lorna Luft and Jeffrey Vance’s book, A Star is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away, suggests silent-screen actors John Barrymore and John Gilbert inspired Norman Maine. Meanwhile, Wellman revealed Maine’s suicide drew directly from John Bowers’ tragic death in the Pacific Ocean. But some scenes are believed to be based on Wellman’s life, like when Maine interrupts Blodgett’s Oscar win after liquid courage.
Although these references and legends are largely speculations, except for some, A Star Is Born carries forward the inspirations.