Old School Misinformation - Urban Myths

Before the internet, did you hear any urban myths and factless rumours? What were they?

Here are some I remember:

Mikey (a kid in a popular cereal commercial) died of eating Pop Rocks and drinking Coke at the same time.
Rod Stewart had his stomach pumped after collapsing during a concert and they found dog semen in his stomach contents.
Richard Gere got a gerbil stuck up his ass.

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DrWatson · 70-79, M

And there were a number of rumors about the TV show "Leave it to Beaver".
The actor who played Eddie Haskell became a porn star named John Holmes. (Not true. There was such a porn star, but these were two different people.)
The actor who played the Beaver (or was it the one who played Wally?) supposedly was a fighter pilot who got shot down and killed in Vietnam. (Not true.)

I once read an analysis of this. The commentator observed that the generation that grew up on this show, which promoted "wholesome" values, was the generation which became the radicals of the late 60's and early 70's, and so we somehow had a psychological need to "destroy" the innocence that we grew up with.

LordShadowfire · 46-50, M

@DrWatson I've heard of that theory.