'Golden Age' stars paid thousands to smoke

Hollywood stars of the 1930s and '40s were paid thousands of dollars by tobacco companies to endorse their brands, research has found.

More than 200 stars benefited from the arrangement, with one firm paying more than £1.6 million in today's money every year.

John Wayne, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy are among those said to have reaped the cash rewards. In return, the tobacco firms funded print and radio adverts for the studios, stars and their films.

The University of California study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, claimed that more young people took up smoking because they were influenced by the era's stars.

The researchers, led by Professor Stanton Glantz, said the effects of the millions poured into Hollywood by the firms could still be felt today, despite a recent self-imposed ban on promotion in films.

Gable, Tracy, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford were all top earners in 1937, each taking $146,583 (£80,000) in today's money for a year's sponsorship from one company alone.

The research, which concentrated on the period between 1927 and 1951, highlighted films such as Casablanca and Now Voyager for their prominent smoking scenes. Glamorous poster campaigns helped to "perpetuate public tolerance", the study found.