Breaking quarantine in 1943: A fan breaking quarantine for German Measles in 1943 caused actress Gene Tierney’s baby to be born with birth defects

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““By the way, Ms. Tierney, did you happen to catch the German measles after that night I saw you at the Canteen?” The woman revealed that she had had the measles herself at the time but had broken quarantine just to see Gene at the Canteen.”….Vaccination programs against German measles (Rubella) began in 1969...Laura, IMDB 

May 7, 1979, “Gene Tierney Began Her Trip Back from Madness on a Ledge 14 Floors Above the Street,” people.com, Kent Demaret 

[Parag. 8] “She [Gene Tierney] caught the German measles during a World War II USO tour, and because she was pregnant at the time the consequences were devastating [ie, a baby born with severe birth defects]….More than a year after the little girl was born, Gene was approached at a party by a former woman Marine who said they had met at a USO canteen two years earlier. The woman added that she had been quarantined at the time with the measles but had sneaked out to see Tierney anyway. “I just had to go,” the woman gushed innocently. “You were always my favorite.” Stunned, the actress said nothing….Now 35 [as of 1979], Daria still has the mind of an infant and is confined to an institution in New Jersey.”


“1944: Gene Tierney, as Laura, dressed in a raincoat and rainhat, stares solemnly at co-star Dana Andrews who plays Detective McPherson in the film ‘Laura’ directed by Otto Preminger.”
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Additional source, cites 2005 Tierney biography: ““By the way, Ms. Tierney, did you happen to catch the German measles after that night I saw you at the Canteen?” The woman revealed that she had had the measles herself at the time but had broken quarantine just to see Gene at the Canteen.” 

“Posts tagged Gene Tierney and measles,” Lisa’s History Room, where the past is always present” 

“In 1943, there was no vaccine to prevent contracting the measles. That would not be available for 22 more years. Obstetricians advised patients to avoid crowds in their first four months of pregnancy, to avoid contracting the measles. At the time, it was believed that measles was a harmless childhood disease…. 

On the morning of October 15, 1943, Gene gave birth to a premature baby girl, weighing only two and a half pounds. Oleg flew to Washington and joined his wife at Columbia Hospital. They named their baby “Daria.”

[Image: Laura, 1944, IMDB] 

Doctors informed them that Daria was not in good shape. She was premature and going blind. She had cataracts in both eyes. After reviewing Gene’s medical chart, the doctors concluded that Gene’s measles were responsible for the baby’s defects. They cited the studies done by the Australian eye doctor, Dr. Gregg. 

Daria continued to have health problems and delayed development. She had no inner ear fluid and became deaf. It was clear that she suffered from mental retardation. Gene and Oleg hoped against hope that a doctor somewhere could cure Daria. But, after consulting one specialist after another (much of it paid for by Howard Hughes), they had to face the fact that Daria was permanently disabled and needed more care than they were capable of giving her at home. 

When Daria was about two years old, Gene got an unexpected jolt. She was at a tennis function. A fan approached her. 

““Ms. Tierney, do you remember me?” asked the woman. 

Gene had no memory of having met the stranger. She shook her head and replied, “No. Should I?” 

The woman told Gene that she was in the women’s branch of the Marines and had met Gene at the Hollywood Canteen. Gene never would forget what the woman said next.
 
“By the way, Ms. Tierney, did you happen to catch the German measles after that night I saw you at the Canteen?” 

The woman revealed that she had had the measles herself at the time but had broken quarantine just to see Gene at the Canteen. 

Gene was dumbstruck. That woman had given her the measles! She was the sole cause of Daria’s disabilities. Gene said nothing. She just turned and walked away.” 

When Daria was four, Oleg and Gene made the difficult decision to institutionalize Daria (1943-2010). Daria spent most of her life at the ELWYN, an institution for specially disabled in Vineland, NJ. 

 

Gene Tierney never fully recovered from the blow that Daria was disabled. Although she gave birth to another daughter that was healthy, her marriage to Oleg ended in divorce, and her mental health began to deteriorate. She couldn’t concentrate. On the movie set, she would forget her lines. She began to fall apart and live a life of “stark misery and despair,” said ex-husband Oleg…. 

If Daria had been born after 1965, Gene Tierney would have been vaccinated against the German measles and Daria would have been born healthy. 

Currently, in Mexico and California, there is an outbreak of measles due to the antivaccination movement. Some parents in the western part of the United States have decided not to vaccinate their children due to unfounded worries about it causing autism. These few anti-vaxers are putting our whole population at risk. 

Make no mistake. Measles is a highly contagious disease and is anything but harmless.”... 

“SOURCES: 

(1) Vogel, Michelle. Gene Tierney: A Biography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2005.”…




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