IMDB Trivia is a Hive of Scum and Villainy: A Movies of the 80s Debunk

A viral IMDb trivia claim says Kim Basinger and Kevin Costner were passed over for Purple Hearts (1984) in favor of Cheryl Ladd due to nepotism. The story is compelling — but the evidence says it never happened.

For the record, we are not at war with the IMDb Trivia section.

But lately it might look that way.

Over the past few months here at Movies of the 80s, we’ve repeatedly run into trivia entries that spread misinformation about the very films we cover. The lack of fact-checking in many IMDb trivia sections is staggering. These entries are often repeated across Reddit threads, blogs, and fan discussions until speculation hardens into something resembling fact.

And once that happens, the myth becomes almost impossible to kill.

Recently we investigated whether Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had actually criticized the 1984 sci-fi comedy The Ice Pirates.

We love The Ice Pirates here at Movies of the 80s. We even recently told the deeply unlucky story of the film’s screenwriter Stanford Sherman.

So when we saw a supposedly brutal quote from Roddenberry about the film, we wanted to know the context.

It turns out there was no context.

Someone simply made it up.

The story originated in an IMDb trivia entry and slowly spread through Reddit threads and blog posts. Fans repeated it because it sounded like something Roddenberry might say — witty, dismissive, and perfectly suited to a cult oddity like The Ice Pirates.

But after digging through interviews, publications, and historical records, we found no evidence Roddenberry ever said anything about the film at all.

A New IMDb Myth: Purple Hearts (1984)

The latest questionable IMDb claim centers on another 1984 film — the largely forgotten Vietnam romance Purple Hearts.

We have a video coming soon about Purple Hearts on our Movies of the 80s YouTube channel, so we won’t dive too deeply into the film here. The basics are simple enough.

The movie stars Ken Wahl as a doctor drafted into the Vietnam War. On the journey from medical school to the jungle, he meets a nurse played by Cheryl Ladd. The two fall in love amid the chaos of war.

At the time, Ladd was still riding the fame she earned on the hit TV series Charlie’s Angels.

And that’s where the controversy begins — or at least where the internet claims it begins.

The IMDb Claim

One IMDb trivia entry states:

“Kim Basinger was originally the lead actress for the Cheryl Ladd role in the film. The producers which included Alan Ladd, Jr. decided to cast his niece instead of Basinger which caused a lot of controversy at the time. Had Basinger been cast she could’ve co-starred with Kevin Costner instead of Ken Wahl, but he too was rejected like she was.”

It’s a juicy Hollywood story.

There’s just one problem.

Almost none of it is true.

Cheryl Ladd Is Not Alan Ladd Jr.’s Niece

The most obvious error involves Cheryl Ladd’s relationship to producer Alan Ladd Jr..

IMDb trivia refers to Ladd as his niece.

She wasn’t.

Cheryl Ladd had been married to Alan Ladd Jr.’s brother, actor David Ladd. The couple married in 1973 but divorced in 1980 — three years before Purple Hearts went into production.

There was no family relationship by the time the film was made.

More importantly, Cheryl Ladd didn’t need nepotism to get work.

By the early 1980s she had already built a successful television career and even recorded music that performed well internationally. At the time Purple Hearts was being cast, she was also preparing to play Grace Kelly in an ABC television film — a project that even claimed the support of Princess Grace herself before her tragic death in 1982.

In other words, Cheryl Ladd was already a bankable television star trying to transition into feature films.

For a modestly budgeted romantic drama, she made sense.

The Kim Basinger Claim

The IMDb entry also claims the role was originally intended for Kim Basinger.

But there is no evidence supporting that claim.

Searches through newspaper archives, interviews, and industry trade publications turn up no connection whatsoever between Basinger and Purple Hearts. No casting announcement. No audition story. No development rumor.

Nothing.

Where the idea came from remains a mystery.

The Kevin Costner Legend

The story gets even better — or worse — with the inclusion of Kevin Costner.

According to the legend, Costner was rejected in favor of Ken Wahl.

This part of the myth is irresistible to Hollywood storytellers. The irony of producers passing over a future megastar — especially one later named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive — because he 'wasn't sexy enough' is the kind of anecdote audiences love.

But again, there is no evidence Costner was ever involved with Purple Hearts.

None.

Why These Myths Spread

Stories like this survive because they are entertaining.

They remind us of another classic entertainment legend: the music executive who supposedly dismissed The Beatles in 1962 by claiming guitar groups were finished

Whether that story is entirely accurate hardly matters anymore. It’s simply too good not to repeat.

And the Purple Hearts myth works the same way.

It’s fun to imagine a Hollywood producer choosing his “niece” over a future Oscar-winning actress. It’s amusing to picture producers rejecting Kevin Costner — a man whose movie star charisma would later dominate the box office for decades.

But entertaining stories are not the same thing as true ones.

What Actually Happened

The real story is far less scandalous.

Alan Ladd Jr. produced a modestly budgeted film and cast Cheryl Ladd — the former wife of his brother — at a moment when she was a recognizable television star trying to break into movies.

Her salary fit the film’s budget.

Her fame offered some marketing appeal.

The decision made practical sense.

Unfortunately, the film itself didn’t succeed. Despite a production budget of a little over $2 million, Purple Hearts failed to break even at the box office.

Why the Myth Matters

It may sound harmless, but stories like this have consequences.

The nepotism narrative unfairly diminishes Cheryl Ladd’s career, suggesting she only got the role because of family connections that didn’t even exist at the time.

It also turns Ken Wahl into a punchline — the “wrong choice” compared to Kevin Costner — when in reality Costner was never part of the casting conversation.

These myths endure because IMDb trivia entries face almost no editorial scrutiny.

Once posted, they spread.

They get quoted in Reddit threads.

They get repeated in blogs.

And eventually they become “Hollywood history.”

But sometimes Hollywood history deserves a second look.