Tinseltown Takedown: Kidnapping Plot Foiled for Hollywood’s Darling

In a shocking turn of events, two Los Angeles men, Claude Holcomb and Charles Z. Stephens, were sentenced to ten years to life in prison for plotting to kidnap the beloved actress Mary Pickford. This was the verdict handed down by a superior court jury on August 14, 1925, after a six-week police investigation. The dramatic plot twist unfolded when detectives eavesdropped on secret conferences between the trio, where they discussed abducting Jackie Coogan, the 6-year-old grandson of the famous actress and child star Baby Peggy.