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Celebrity News and Gossip

Celebrity Alley - Celebrity News and Gossip

Old, Old Hollywood Gossip Discussion in 'Celebrity News and Gossip' started by angelbaby, Apr 7, 2010.

TRENDING . . . Amber Rose Ain't Thick No More! Posted By Chynaking in forum Paparazzi Alley Kylie Jenner Seen For the First Time Since Welcoming Daughter Posted By Naya Rivera in forum The Kardashians Two BW Approached by Cops After Being Falsely Accused of Stealing Chicken by Applebee’s Employee

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Apr 20, 2010

#631 missmaya99 said: ­

Posted By iSaidWhatIsaid in forum The Front Porch!

Jerry Giesler is little known now, but he was once Hollywoods lawyer-to-the-stars. He represented the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Edward G. Robinson, Marilyn Monroe, Shelley Winters, Lili St. Cyr, Busby Berkeley (from triple manslaughter charges), Zsa Zsa Gabor, Errol Flynn, and too many more to name. But of all his exploits, the most famous was his sensational defense of fourteen year-old Cheryl Crane from murder charges. Its one of the most lurid stories in Hollywood history. Crane was the daughter of megastar Lana Turner, and had endured many difficulties early in life, including alleged molestation and rape by Turners fourth husband, actor Lex Barker. Turner had an abusive situation of her own with mob enforcer Johnny Stompanato, a violent man who slapped her around but clung onto her for dear life no matter how hard she tried to dump him. On April 4, 1958, Cheryl Crane stabbed Stompanato to death. She claimed the mobster was beating her mother and she had no choice but to attack him. Jerry Giesler convinced a jury she was right and Crane was acquitted Already famous enough to command what were at the time enormous retainers, Giesler's reputation was forever sealed after the Crane trial. He was simply the best, the go-to attorney for celebrities in a town that was always boiling with trouble. As a result of his exploits, Hollywood coined a catchphrase, a collection of magic words believed to possess the power to solve even the toughest problems. The phrase? "Get me Giesler."

Outback server stiffed by church on $735 order loses job over Facebook post Posted By MoonPie in forum News Flash! News Flash!

20

angelbaby Well-Known Member

New York (Tiffany Pollard) debuts new face Posted By emile20 in forum Celebrity News and Gossip

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

+4,872 / 0 / -0

Yes, this is a good one. I remember his name being mentioned and characterized in several movies about Marilyn and other movies about Hollywood. Thanks.

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Apr 20, 2010

#632

One driver is 100 and the other 99. They didn’t stop for the teens on the road.

Susan Hayward

Summer Sweetie posted Feb 11, 2018 at 3:57 PM

Dreamers are Americans especially A.-A.s Nightmare (Libs. and Dems. are Tricking U)

Born Edythe Marrener on June 30, 1918, to a poverty strickenfamily in Brooklyn, New York, Hayward's childhood was difficult.She was hit by a car at the age of seven and stranded at home ina body cast for months. The experience left Hayward with a limpand painful memories of a debility she would never forget.

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missmaya99 Well-Known Member

NYPD precinct removes #BlackLivesMatter from Tweet amid backlash

3,513

EYEdentity posted Feb 11, 2018 at 2:48 PM

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1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

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Hayward's life took an unexpected turn when she was cast as thelead in a school play at age twelve. The attention she receivedquickly turned her into a compulsive ham. By 1935, a sexy swagger had replaced Hayward's childhood limp, and the gorgeous seventeen-year-old possessed an hourglass figure, a brassy Brooklynaccent and a burning desire for fortune and fame. She beganworking as a model to help support her family, and when she wasfeatured in the Saturday Evening Post in 1937, all of America wasintroduced to the red-headed siren from Brooklyn. The same year,David O. Selznick offered Hayward an audition for the part ofScarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Though her lack ofexperience took her out of serious consideration, Hayward decidedto trade in her return ticket and stay in Hollywood. Aftersigning a contract with Warner Brothers, she changed her name toSusan Hayward.

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Hayward was driven to succeed as an actress and worked virtuallynon-stop. Offered the starring role in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman in 1947, Hayward dazzled both audiences and critics,receiving her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.Hayward received four more nominations over the next twelve years,eventually winning for her work in the wildly successful I Want to Live in 1958. Sadly, the actress's happiness was eclipsed by the death of her husband Eaton Chalkey. And in 1972, just as shewas emerging from her despair, she was diagnosed with cancer.

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Refusing to surrender to the illness without a fight, SusanHayward even managed to present the Academy for Best Actress in1974. On March 14, 1975, at age fifty-six, the irrepressible Brooklyn Bombshell died, leaving behind legions of fans all over the world.

LATEST LOUNGE ALLEY THREADS She was a maid at 9, wrote a hit song at 11— and won a Grammy at 93

Edit:This article doesn't mention the fact that Susan was also the mother of twin boys from her first husband, Jess Barker. They were named Gregory and Timothy.

Ruperta posted Feb 11, 2018 at 6:38 PM

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Thanks x 1

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Apr 20, 2010

#633

Louise Brooks (November 14 1906 – August 8 1985) was an American actress and one of the most famous faces of the silver screen. Born Mary Louise Brooks in Cherryvale, Kansas, this beautiful dark-haired actress is primarily known for her roles in silent films made during the late Roaring Twenties in the United States and three films made in Europe in 1929 and 1930, as well as her trend-setting "bob" hairstyle.

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missmaya99

Barbara Roberts posted Feb 11, 2018 at 4:30 PM

OkCupid is so LAME now!

Well-Known Member

S A T A N posted Feb 11, 2018 at 4:11 PM

Spineless POS Dad (Vent)

3,513

incogneato posted Feb 11, 2018 at 3:45 PM

How do you qualm negative self-sabotaging thoughts and flashbacks? incogneato posted Feb 11, 2018 at 3:28 PM

1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

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Her parents were somewhat "ethereal", and although they inspired her with a love of books and music—her mother was a talented pianist who played the latest Debussy and Satie for her - they failed to protect her from childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a neighborhood predator. This single series of events was a major influence on her life and career—she once claimed she was incapable of real love. A natural actress and dancer, she was destined for great highs and lows.

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She began her entertainment career as a talented dancer, appearing in her teens with the revolutionary Denishawn modern dance company whose members included Martha Graham, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn. After leaving Denishawn under a cloud (her soon-to-be-famous obstinacy did her a disservice here), she turned to her influential friends, and she was quickly a featured dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway, where she was immediately noticed by the then New York-based movie studios for her great beauty. Signing with Paramount Studios, where she stayed for most of the remainder of her American film career, her film debut was in the silent The Street of Forgotten Men in an uncredited role in 1925. Soon, however, she was playing the lead female role in a number of silent light comedies and "flapper" films over the next few years, starring with Adolphe Menjou, and W. C. Fields among others. She was noticed in Europe for her pivotal vamp role in the Howard Hawks directed silent "buddy film", A Girl In Every Port in 1928.

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Her best American role was in one of the last silent film dramas, Beggars Of Life (1928), as an abused country girl on the run with Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery playing hoboes she meets while riding the rails. Much of this film was shot on location, an unusual practice for the time, and the boom microphone was invented for this film by the director, William Wellman, who needed it for one of the first experimental talking scenes in the movies. At this time in her life, she was rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, and was a regular guest of William Randolph Hearst and his mistress, Marion Davies, at San Simeon. Her pageboy bob haircut had started a sensational trend, as many women in the Western world cut their hair like hers. Soon after this film was made, Louise, who loathed the Hollywood "scene", refused a request to record voice-over tracks for The Canary Murder Case, and left for Europe to make films for G. W. Pabst, the great German Expressionist director, effectively ending her Hollywood Studio career.

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She starred in the 1928 film Pandora's Box, in which her waiflike role as the doomed flapper, Lulu, who meets her fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper after a series of salacious escapades, made her an icon of life and death in the Jazz Age. This film is notorious for its frank treatment of modern sexual mores, including the first screen portrayal of a lesbian. Louise then starred in the controversial social dramas Diary Of A Lost Girl (1929) and Prix de Beaute (1930), the latter being filmed in France, and having a famous, but mesmerizing, shock ending. All these films were heavily censored, as they were very "adult" and considered shocking in their time for their portrayals of sexuality, in addition to being highly critical of society. Although overlooked at the time because "talkies" were taking over the movies, these three films were later recognized as masterpieces of the Silent Age, with her role of Lulu now regarded as one of the greatest performances in film history.

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Louise is considered one the first "natural" actors in film, her acting being subtle and nuanced compared to many other silent performers. The close-up was just coming into vogue with directors, and Louise's almost hypnotically beautiful face was perfect for this new technique. Louise had always been very self-directed, even difficult, and was notorious for her salty language, which she didn't hesitate to use whenever she felt like it. In addition, she had made a vow to herself never to smile on stage unless she felt compelled to, and although the majority of her publicity photos show her with a neutral expression, she had a dazzling smile. By her own admission, she was a sexually liberated woman, not afraid to experiment, even posing nude for "art" photography, and her liaisons with many film people were legendary, although much of it is speculation.

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She was also a notorious spendthrift in her later years, but was kind and generous to her friends, almost to a fault. When she returned to Hollywood, she found herself effectively blacklisted, and never again enjoyed her previous success. Rumours purportedly sent out by the studios claimed she had the wrong voice for the new sound films, but she actually possessed a hard-won beautiful and cultured voice. After the humiliation of being cast in B pictures by studio executives as punishment for her outspokenness and disdain for ill-written scripts, in 1938, she retired from show business, briefly returning to Wichita, where she was raised. "But that turned out to be another kind of hell," she wrote. "The citizens of Wichita either resented me having been a success or despised me for being a failure. And I wasn't exactly enchanted with them. I must confess to a lifelong curse: My own failure as a social creature." She returned East and worked as a sales girl in a Saks store in New York City for a few years, then eked out a living as a companion to a few select wealthy men. Louise unfortunately had a life-long love of alcohol, and was an alcoholic for a major portion of her later life, although she exorcised that particular devil enough to begin writing about film, which became her second life.

35104621, member: 257291"]Say what you want about Meghan and her race/identity... But she's...

Her many lovers from years before had included a young William S. Paley, the founder of CBS, who quietly provided for her while she was an outcast from the entertainment world, and living frugally. French film historians rediscovered her films in the early 1950s, proclaiming her as an actress who surpassed even Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo as a film icon, much to her amusement, but it would lead to the still ongoing Louise Brooks film revivals, and rehabilitated her reputation in her home country. James Card, the film curator for the George Eastman House, discovered Louise living as a recluse in New York City about this time, and persuaded her to move to Rochester, New York to be near the George Eastman House film collection. With his help, she became a noted film writer in her own right. A collection of her witty and cogent writings, Lulu in Hollywood, was published in 1982. She was famously profiled by the noted film writer Kenneth Tynan in his essay, "The Girl With The Black Helmet", the title of which was an allusion to her fabulous bob, a hair-style claimed as one of the 10 most influential in history by beauty magazines the world over.

She rarely gave interviews, but had a special relationship with John Kobal and Kevin Brownlow, the film historians, and they were able to capture on paper some of her amazing personality. She had lived alone by choice for many years, and Louise passed away quietly in 1985, after suffering from arthritis and emphysema for many years.

After her death, an excellent biographical film, ', was made in 1998. She was married twice, but never had children—she referred to herself as "Barren Brooks". Her first husband was director Edward Sutherland; they later divorced. Her second husband was Chicago millionaire Deering Davis; they married in 1933, Deering left her five months later, and they divorced in 1937. Louise Brooks is a still a major style influence, is considered one of the great actresses of the movies, an indispensable writer about film, and one of the sexiest stars ever photographed.

Apr 20, 2010

#634

The Murder Of actor Bob Crane (Hogans Heroes) 1928-1978 Actor Bob Crane was beaten to death in 1978 with a blunt object, most likely a camera tripod. The weapon was not found at the crime scene (or anywhere else), so it's fairly safe to take suicide off the table. Unfortunately, thats about as far as we can go towards dispelling the mystery surrounding Cranes death, which as far as the Scottsdale, Arizona, police department is concerned officially remains an unsolved homicide.

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

+4,872 / 0 / -0

Crane, it turned out, was into sex. Crane was into sex pretty much the way Ben and Jerry are into ice cream. In addition to being an inveterate womanizer he kept extensive records of his exploits. Years before the portable camcorder made filming sex a sport of the masses; Crane videotaped his encounters with hundreds of women. He was assisted in this endeavor by his friend John Carpenter (no relation to the film director of the same name). Carpenter, an electronics enthusiast, supplied Crane with taping apparatus; Crane, in turn, apparently was a source of women for Carpenter, and the pair would often double date. Their close friendship extended to the bedroom, where they at least once engaged in a threesome; this encounter, like so many in the Crane boudoir, was videotaped. As of June 28th, 1978, however, something may have happened to strain the relationship. Crane and Carpenter were in Scottsdale, where Crane was appearing in a touring dinner-theater production of a play called Beginners Luck. A waitress who served the pair lunch that day claimed that the mood at their table was tense; Cranes fellow cast members said that the actor seemed slightly distracted during the evening's performance. At 2:00 PM on June 29th, one of those cast members, actress Victoria Berry, arrived at Cranes apartment for what she told police was an appointment to redub a recorded voice track for a scene in the play. (Berry initially claimed her relationship with Crane was brother-sister, but later conceded she had slept with him twice). After knocking and getting no answer, she tried the door, discovered it was unlocked, and entered the apartment, where she found Cranes body. The whole wall was covered from one end to the other with blood," she told police. "And I just sort of stood there and I was numb. He was curled up in a fetus position, on his side, and he had a cord tied around his neck in a bow." A forensic investigation would show that the killer had struck Crane, who had likely been asleep, at least twice with powerful blows from a blunt instrument, and then, after he was dead, tightly knotted a cut electrical cable around his neck. While police had no shortage of possible suspects possible scorned lovers and jealous husbands numbered in the triple digits they quickly focused their attention on Carpenter. He had hastily left Scottsdale the previous evening for Los Angeles, and from there had called the Crane apartment twice while police were there; when a police detective answered the phone, Carpenter didnt ask where or how Crane was or why the detective was there. And the scorned-lover theory took a backseat after medical examiner Heinz Karnitschnig opined said that the force needed to deliver the fatal blows suggested a very strong and thus presumably male killer. Police examined the rental car Carpenter had used in Arizona and found tiny spots of dried type-B blood a match for Crane and about 10 percent of the rest of humanity. In 1978, of course, DNA testing wasn't yet a possibility. Although police continued to suspect Carpenter, they had no additional evidence and didn't then charge him with the crime. In 1989, DNA science having improved in the intervening years, police revisited the blood sample and tried to link it to Crane, but the test was inconclusive. Finally, in 1992, coldcase detectives reviewing photographs of the rental car noticed a small speck on the door panel, which they concluded was human brain matter. The speck itself was no longer available, but the prosecution found experts willing to testify that it was in fact brain matter, and Carpenter was indicted for murder. At trial, Carpenter's lawyers countered with experts of their own who testified that there was no way to know what, if anything at all, that speck was. The defense argued that the rest of the prosecution's evidence a tense mood at lunch as observed by a waitress and Carpenter's behavior on the phone as interpreted by the detective did not meet the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard, and the jury agreed, finding Carpenter not guilty. He died in 1998, still professing his innocence. http://www.nndb.com/people/450/000026372/bob-cranesized.jpg Thanks x 2

Apr 21, 2010

#635 angelbaby said: ­ WOW! What a story. I tell you I never heard of this one. What people won't do for the Benjamin. Sick and disgusting.

I think Mary Tyler Moore played Georgia Tann in a tv movie years ago

Leo The Lion Roaaaar!!

24,982 885 Oct 30, 2008 Ratings: +30,814 / 297 / -309

Apr 21, 2010

#636

Delete Changed my mind.

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

+4,872 / 0 / -0

Apr 21, 2010

#637

William Harrison Hays was born on November 5, 1879, in Sullivan, Indiana. His parents, John T. Hays and Mary (Cain) Hays, were strict Presbyterians, and Will Hays became steeped in small-town values. John Hays ran a law firm in Sullivan after moving the family from Ohio. In 1900, Will Hays graduated from Wabash College and was admitted to the bar. He joined his father's law firm.

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Hays married Helen Louise Thomas on November 18, 1902. In 1904 he received his master's degree from Wabash College. He practiced law in Indiana until 1920 while becoming prominent in politics. Hays was a staunch and active Republican. His strict, conservative upbringing made him an attractive figure for the party. He did not smoke or drink, was a brilliant speaker and excelled at public relations. Before he was 21, he was elected precinct committeeman. From 1904 to 1908, while still practicing law with his father, he served as chairman of the Republican Committee of Sullivan County. During this same period, he also was a member of the Republican State Advisory Committee. From 1906 to 1908, Hays served as chairman of the speakers' bureau of the Republican State Committee. Hays found satisfaction in his growing political activities and community responsibilities. In 1910 he became a state district chairman for the Republican Party, a position he held until 1914. He was also elected city attorney for Sullivan County in 1910 and served in that post through 1913. He soon began to stretch his political power from local committees to statewide activity. From 1914 through 1918 he was chairman of the Republican State Central Committee in Indiana. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Hays became chairman of the Indiana State Council of Defense, a post he held until 1918. Hays' reputation soon spread beyond Indiana and he became a prominent national Republican figure. In 1918 he was named chairman of the Republican National Committee. Hays was a dark-horse candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920, and ended up playing a key role in the election of the party nominee, Warren G. Harding, to the White House. Harding appointed Hays as postmaster general of the United States on March 5, 1921. Three months later, he resigned as chairman of the Republican Party. Hollywood's White Knight Morality became a divisive issue during the 1920s in the United States. One focal point of the cultural debate was Hollywood and its movies. Known for promiscuity, gambling and alcohol, Hollywood developed an image as a hotbed of immoral behavior. In the early 1920s the town was rocked by a series of scandals which brought widespread condemnation from civic, religious and political organizations. In 1921, one of America's most popular movie stars, comic Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, was accused of raping a young actress, Virginia Rappe. After she died of internal injuries, he was indicted for manslaughter. Arbuckle was eventually acquitted, but the public outcry about Hollywood's lack of morals became deafening. Women's clubs, church organizations, youth movements, and various reform groups demonstrated across the country, calling for censorship of Hollywood films. By 1922 the federal government and 36 states were considering enacting laws against the industry. Banks began to rescind movie companies' credit lines. The media fed the frenzy by blowing minor scandals out of proportion, with the encouragement of many European business interests. The European movie industry, decimated by the war, was eager to rebuild itself and break Hollywood's near-monopoly on feature films. Besides these attacks, the American film industry was concerned about declining attendance at movies and competition from radio. Nervous about the growing backlash toward the industry and fearing censorship, the movie industry decided to regulate itself. Industry leaders sought the right man to help them fend off censorship. The choice came down to three: Herbert Hoover, Hiram Johnson and Will Hays. Hays had met many of the movie industry leaders while campaigning for Harding. His political background, skill in public relations, legal and religious authority, and his connections with well-placed people made him the top choice. Hays was a shrewd judge of political opinion, a successful executive and, most importantly, a master communicator to mass audiences. On December 8, 1921, movie moguls Lewis J. Selznick and Saul Rogers approached Hays. On January 14, 1922, less than a year after becoming Postmaster General, Hays became head of the newly formed Motion Picture Producers and Directors Association (MPPDA), at a salary of $100,000 a year. Hays insisted that his job be defined as "spokesman" for the industry, yet he was granted veto power over decisions by the MPPDA's board of directors. The Hays Office The Motion Picture Producers and Directors Association soon became known as the "Hays Office." Hays kept his office and staff in New York, removed from the Hollywood atmosphere, yet near the headquarters of movie production companies. As spokesman for the industry, Hays used his powers of persuasion to mollify the public. Within three months of taking office, Hays established relationships with major banks, which resumed giving loans to the film industry. Hays met with dozens of influential critics of the industry, from the Boy Scouts of America to the National Council of Catholic Women. Hays persuaded these and other organizations to drop their calls for censorship and instead join an industry public relations committee to advise the movie companies. A representative of the committee was assigned to the Hays Office and paid a salary. Some of the organizations eventually dropped out of the committee, calling it a smokescreen for the industry. Will Hays was a passionate and persuasive speaker. When he was overtaken by emotion, his voice would rise and he would wave his hands, pounding on his desk for emphasis. He had a strong memory for faces, situations and circumstances and a passion for minute detail. Hays possessed a quick political mind; he was able to take multiple bits of information, categorize them and make an evaluation within moments. He garnered the respect of the leaders of the industry he was hired to save as well as the conservative leaders who were trying to establish strict moral codes governing Hollywood. Hays directed much of his attention to improving the public image of Hollywood movies. Hays got publicists to eliminate references to movie star luxuries that common people associated with immorality, such as expensive cars and champagne baths. Some prominent actors known as partygoers soon disappeared from movies altogether, women with questionable reputations were dropped from the lists of extras, and certain romantic relationships between stars were publicized as marriages. "Morals clauses" soon began to appear in actors' contracts, giving studios the power to terminate contracts if actors were involved in scandals. President Calvin Coolidge felt the Hays Office efforts were so effective that he scuttled efforts for federal regulation of Hollywood in 1926. The Production Code On November 27, 1930, Will Hays married his second wife, Jessie Herron Stutsman. By then Hays had authored the Production Code, a detailed description of what was morally acceptable on the screen. The code listed every subject that was forbidden in movies. It prohibited profanity, "lustful embracing," and "illegal drug traffic." It allowed no negative representation of the United States government. Producers were required to summarize their screenplays for approval from the Hays Office. If a movie did not meet the Hays Production Code, it was not released. Rather than face censorship, the movie industry accepted the code, which remained in effect for three decades until it was supplanted in 1966 by a voluntary ratings system. As the Great Depression took hold in the United States in the 1930s, attendance at films began to decline. The American public looked to the movie industry to provide escape from daily troubles, and films became more overtly sexual. Movie stars such as Mae West pushed the Production Code as far as possible, prompting a renewed backlash against Hollywood immorality. In the mid-1930s, the Legion of Decency was formed by a group of Catholics bent on reforming films. The Legion pledged to review all movies and recommend which were acceptable for viewing by good Catholics. This pressure forced the MPPDA to reaffirm the Production Code and announce it would levy a $24,000 fine against any production company that did not meet it. The "Purity Seal" of the Hays Office was created, and a movie was required to have this stamp of approval before it could be distributed through MPPDA-affiliated theatres. Hays also put into effect an Advertising Code. First presented in 1930, it became binding in 1935. It forbade distributors and producers from using objectionable material in publicity campaigns for films, with fines of $1,000 to $5,000 for violations. In the late 1930s, the United States government tried to sue the movie industry for alleged violation of anti-trust laws, but failed. Hays remained unaffected, having risen to become the industry's virtual czar. He was given a new five-year contract in 1941. Although he continued to face minor uprisings by various conservative groups, Hays successfully oversaw the activities of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America until 1945, when he retired as its president. He remained as an advisor to the MPPDA until 1950. During that time he used his influence to work against the spread of Communism in America, laying the groundwork for the Hollywood blacklisting of the 1950s. During his life Hays was active in the American Red Cross, Kiwanis Club, the Masons, the Rotary Clubs and the Boy Scouts of America. He died on March 7, 1954, in his hometown of Sullivan, Indiana.

Apr 21, 2010

#638

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

The title of actress Joan Bennett's 1970 autobiography is The Bennett Playbill, in reference to the fact that she came from an old and well-established theatrical family: her father was stage star Richard Bennett and her sisters were screen actresses Constance and Barbara Bennett. Though she made an appearance as a child in one of her father's films, Joan Bennett did not originally intend to pursue acting as a profession. Honoring her wishes, her father bundled her off to finishing school in Versailles. Alas, her impulsive first marriage at 16 ended in divorce, leaving her a single mother in dire need of an immediate source of income. Thus it was that she became a professional actress, making her first Broadway appearance in her father's vehicle, Jarnegan (1928). In 1929, she began her film career in the low-budget effort Power, then co-starred with Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond. She was inexperienced and awkward and she knew it, but Bennett applied herself to her craft and improved rapidly; by the early '30s she was a busy and popular ingénue, appearing in such enjoyable programmers as Me and My Gal (1932) and important A-pictures like Little Women (1933) (as Amy). During this period she briefly married again to writer/producer Gene Markey. It was her third husband, producer Walter Wanger, who made the decision that changed the direction of her career: in Wanger's Trade Winds (1938), Bennett was obliged to dye her blonde hair black for plot purposes. Audiences approved of this change, and Bennett thrived throughout the next decade in a wide variety of "dark" roles befitting her brunette status. She was especially effective in a series of melodramas directed by Fritz Lang: Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), and The Secret Beyond the Door (1948). In 1950, she switched professional gears again, abandoning femme-fatale roles for the part of Spencer Tracy's ever-patient spouse in Father of the Bride (1950). Though her personal life was turbulent in the early '50s — her husband Walter Wanger allegedly shot and wounded agent Jennings Lang, claiming that Lang was trying to steal his wife — Bennett's professional life continued unabated on both stage and screen. Her television work included the 1959 sitcom Too Young to Go Steady and the "gothic" soap opera Dark Shadows (1965-1971). In failing health, Joan Bennett spent her last years in retirement with her fourth husband, media critic David Wilde.

Apr 21, 2010

#639

James Whale was born on July 22, 1889 in Dudley, England. He had six siblings and his father worked at a foundry, while his mother worked as a nurse.

Although most of his brothers went on to work in factories, James was not physically strong enough for that type of work. He eventually started work as a shoe cobbler, repairing and shining leather shoes. His work made him enough money to attend the Dudley School of Arts and Crafts.

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

When World War 1 started, he decided to join the British Army in October of 1915. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and sent to the front. Unfortunately, he was captured by the enemy in August of 1917 and sent to a POW camp. While there, he helped pass the time by directing plays with the other POWs. After the war ended, he returned to the city of Birmingham and began pursuing a career on the stage. In late 1928, he was given the opportunity to direct the play "Journey's End", starring notable actor Laurence Olivier. The play proved to be a success both critically and financially and made over 600 performances over England. That play also jump-started his career in Hollywood when he was hired by movie studios to direct the film version in 1930. In 1931, he was allowed to direct the film adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". He cast Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster after Bela Lugosi declined and the film was a massive box office hit. It was also one of the first notable horror films produced by Hollywood. In 1933, Whale directed another landmark film, "The Invisible Man". The film was based on the novel by H.G. Wells and starred Claude Rains as the lead character. The film was a huge success and featured some of the most amazing special effects ever used in film. In 1935, he followed up Frankenstein with "Bride of Frankenstein". The story follows Frankenstein's Monster as he seeks an undead bride. Boris Karloff reprised the leading role and Elsa Lachester was cast as the intended bride of the monster. The film was an instant classic and spawned numerous sequels by other directors. Whale directed his final film in 1941, entitled "They Dare Not Love". He decided to retire from motion pictures to live a rather isolated life. He suffered a bad stroke and became depressed and very lonely at his mansion. On May 29, 1957, he committed suicide by drowning himself in his pool. Over his lifetime, Whale directed 19 motion pictures, most of which were successful. He has been credited as a major influence on the industry, particularly the horror genre. Many other directors have cited his films as inspiration for their own works. It later became public information that Whale was a closet homosexual. The film "Gods and Monsters" in 1998 focused on this part of his personality, starring Ian McKellen as Whale.

Apr 21, 2010

#640

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

The Story of Ciro's It's been the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard for over twenty years now, but in the 1940's and 1950's, it was Ciro'sthe hottest nightclub on the planet. From the time that Herman Hover took over management of Ciro's in 1942 until it closed in 1959, it was as important to the development of the civilized world as The Sands in Las Vegas. It spawned the career of legends not once but twice, first with the partnership of a skinny Jewish comedian and his Italian crooner sidekickJerry Lewis and Dean Martin-in 1950. Then, in 1951 an opening act for Janis Page-the Will Mastin Trio-tore the house down thanks, in large part, to the presence of arguably the most versatile entertainer in history, Sammy Davis, Jr. It was also the site of Sammy's return to the stage following the car accident in which he lost his right eye. Even when giants of our culture weren't being created on their stage, it hosted a profusion of top entertainers-Joe E. Lewis, Andy Williams, Xavier Cugat, Nat King Cole and on and on.

The names that frequented Ciro’s were a ‘who’s who’ of the American entertainment pantheon, starting at the very top with Frank Sinatra and including other A list stars like Anita Ekberg, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner, George Burrns, Jack Benny, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford and too many others to mention. They came to drink, to see and be seen among a collection of other Hollywood illuminati, served by leggy cigarette girls in short skirts and heels. In a more civilized time, there was a circuit of world renowned nightclubs that featured the best entertainment in the country in an atmosphere of indulgent luxury. In Las Vegas, the Copa Room at the Sands became the place to be in the 1960’s but before that there was the Coconut Grove in Miami, the 500 Club in Atlantic City, the Sam Giancanna owned Villa Venice in Chicago. Even during the early 1940’s, Ciro’s was part of this top tier of clubs. What would later become the “Holmby Hills Rat Pack” was already holding court nightly at Ciro’s, then owned and operated by Billy Wilkenson. From Bogie and Bacall to George Raft and Betty Grable, it was L.A.’s hottest spot. Like most clubs, however, it began to “cool off” a couple of years later and by 1942 owner Wilkenson was hard pressed to provide worthy entertainment for the celebrities that patronized his club. Customers were defecting in droves to the jungle themed Mocambo across the street. For a time, Ciro’s closed its doors. It wasn’t dark for long when Herman Hoover put together a plan to reopen the club. Hoover, who had a background in running a nightclub—he was lured away from Columbia University’s Law School by the potent mix of wiseguys and chorus girls at New York’s “Silver Slipper”, which was a prohibition era joint owned by Arnold Rothstein and Charles “Lucky” Luciano among others. Hoover became a fixture at the club, along with Harlem’s Cotton Club before moving to Los Angeles in 1936. Ciro’s reopened on December 26, 1942 with longtime Sinatra pal Joe E. Lewis on stage and such stars as Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Joan Crawford and Cary Grant in the audience. Xavier Cugat (who’d later marry a Latin dancer named “Charo” became a regular headliner at the club, preceding the arrival of Martin, Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr. Hoover had hosted Dean Martin’s wedding in 1949, and Martin and Lewis debuted at Ciro’s in 1950. They always felt a deep debt of gratitude to Hoover and his club, and even when they were pulling down an astounding (for the 1950’s) $100,000 a week to perform they insisted on holding their fee at Ciro’s to what they were originally paid--$7,000 a week. In 1951, Sammy Davis, Jr., along with his uncle and father—the Will Mastin Trio—tore down the house. Several years later, in what may have been the biggest event ever at the club, Davis returned to the stage following a car accident where he lost his right eye and nearly lost his life. Following an introduction by Frank Sinatra, Davis put on a scorching performance before an adoring and emotional crowd of the biggest stars on the planet. Ironically, it was the growth of Las Vegas that would spell the beginning of the end for Ciro’s and nightclubs like it nationwide. With coffers flush from gambling profits and mob revenues, the nightclubs just couldn’t compete with the money that Las Vegas casinos were able to offer. Headliners didn’t have to travel as much to make big money, and they were able to “live the life” 24/7 in the southern Nevada desert. As Hoover struggled to stay afloat, the IRS caught up to hundreds of thousands of dollars he owed in unpaid taxes. Ciro’s closed its doors in 1957. Hoover filed for bankruptcy in 1959, and Ciro’s was sold at public auction for $350,000. It also represented the end of an era in Los Angeles. Sunset Boulevard remained a vital commercial artery, but the glamorous strip of adult entertainment that became part of American mythology gave way to a tacky mishmash of restaurants, strip clubs, and tattoo parlors intermingled with more upscale businesses. Although another revolution would emerge from Sunset Boulevard—a culinary superstar named Wolfgang Puck, and his restaurant Spago—the world became a little less civilized with the passing of Ciro’s. The building has been the Comedy Store for the past 26 years, and has started its own crop of stars along the path to fame.

Apr 21, 2010

#641

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

HOLLYWOOD, CA - Hollywood, land of bright lights, movie stars and broken dreams. Is it any wonder that a place which inspires such passion, such ultimates in highs and lows would also be a place that some souls find difficult to leave, even after death? Many people hope to spot a celebrity when they visit Tinseltown, but if you know where to look, you just might spot a celebrity ghost! Stories of restless spirits abound in Los Angeles. We thought it would be interesting to explore the legends surrounding some of the area's most famous shades. Our tour of Haunted Hollywood will put you on the trail of such luminaries as Marilyn Monroe, Clifton Webb, Orson Welles, Rudolph V., Ozzie Nelson, Lon Chaney and Montgomery Clift. Hollywood Park Memorial Cemetery Our search begins, where else, Hollywood Park Memorial Cemetery. The park at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. is the last resting place of many of Hollywood's elite, including Charlie Chaplin Jr., Rudolph V., and Douglas Fairbanks. Actor Clifton Webb, however, seems to have made the cemetery his permanent home. Best known for his roles in Laura and the original Mr. Belvedere, Webb's restless spirit has been seen lurking in the foyer of the Abbey of Palms Mausoleum (free maps are available at the administration Building). Webb might prove to be an indecisive spirit, as his ghost has also been reportedly seen at his former Hollywood Hills home. While at Hollywood Memorial Park, you might also want to check out the grave of Virginia Rappe. For those who are too young, or don't remember, Virginia is the girl who died in the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal in the days of silent film. Although Arbuckle was acquitted of any wrongdoing in the starlet's death, the scandal, nevertheless, ruined his career. The sound of phantom sobbing has been reported near Virginia's last resting place. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel A stop at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a must, as at least two famous -- and several not so famous -- ghosts reside there. The hotel's most famous haunting concerns a mirror which sits outside the elevators in the lower level. Hundreds of tourists pass the full length mirror each day without knowing its strange history. The mirror was originally part of the furnishings in a room which was frequently used by Marilyn Monroe. Several people have reported seeing the tragic actress' image reflected in the glass of this particular mirror. Upon turning around, of course, no one was there. While we're on the subject of Marilyn, it is of interest to note that her ghost has also been spotted hovering near her tomb at Westwood Memorial Cemetery, which is located at 1218 Glendon Ave, Westwood. Room number 928 of the Roosevelt has a permanent guest that often shares his quarters with the more temporary visitors. Actor Montgomery Clift lived there for three months while filming From Here To Eternity. Hotel guests and employees alike have reported feeling the actor's presence. Some of these "feelings" have even been tactile. One guest felt a hand patting her shoulder and others claim cold spots in the room. In addition to its' two famous spirits, The Roosevelt also sports some lesser known ghosts. Guests visiting the Blossom Room, which played host to the first Academy Awards banquet, have reported cold spots and several witnesses have spotted a spectre dressed in a white suit on the balcony above the mezzanine. When they approach, the ghost simply vanishes. More Hollywood Haunts Across the street from the Roosevelt, Mann's Chinese Theatre is the home of a couple of spirits. The ghost of actor Victor Killian is said to search the sidewalk outside the theatre for the man who bludgeoned him to death in his nearby apartment in 1982. Employees of the theatre have also told of strange sounds and movement coming from behind the theatre's curtain, often after hours when no one else is there. Heading east down Hollywood Blvd., you will reach the famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine. Appropriately, one of horror's greatest stars, Lon Chaney, lives on here as the departed actor's form was often seen sitting on a bus bench at the intersection. Although reports of his ghost ceased when the bench was removed a few years back, you never know when it might return. The caped figure of Chaney is also said to haunt sound stage 28 at Universal Studios (a bit of trivia you're not likely to hear on the tour). Several Universal employees have reported strange activities (apparitions, noises, cold spots) around the Jaws lagoon as well, especially after hours. The identity of this shade is unknown. Paramount Studios at 5451 Marathon Ave. in Hollywood is reportedly host to the spirit of Rudolph V.. The Sheik's shimmering spectre has been seen floating among old garments in the costume department. In addition, an unidentified ghost is said to roam the catwalks above Studio five. America's favorite father Ozzie Nelson reportedly haunts the home where he lived for over twenty five years, now a private residence at 1822 Camino Palermo Rd. in the Hollywood Hills. When Harriet Nelson sold the house in 1980, the new owners discovered many mysterious activities going on including faucets and lights that turned themselves on and off, doors that opened and closed themselves and loud footsteps when no one was there. Dessert with Mr. Welles While touring Haunted Hollywood, you're likely to get hungry, so why not combine lunch or dinner with some additional ghost hunting. SweetLady Jane's Restaurant at 8360 N. Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles serves great food and exquisite desserts. They also play host to the ghost of actor Orson Welles. Customers and employees have reported seeing Welles' caped apparition sitting at his favorite table. The scent of his favorite brandy and cigars have often accompanied these sightings. This is merely a taste of what's available for those wishing to explore Hollywood's macabre side. Visit some more old Hollywood haunts and start questioning the employees. I'll bet you uncover even more famous Hollywood ghosts!

Apr 21, 2010

#642

Mickey Cohen: Los Angeles Gangster Born: September 4, 1913 - Brooklyn, New York Died: July 29, 1976 - Los Angeles, California

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Mickey Cohen - The Boxer When Meyer "Mickey" Cohen was six years old his family moved out of Brooklyn and headed to Los Angeles to live in what was formerly the Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Although almost 100% Hispanic today, the neighborhood was once home to the famous Jewish delicatessen, Canters. His parents ran a pharmacy but at an early age Mickey was already delivering booze for his older brother, a gin mill operator. He also sold newspapers from a street corner. Evidently he was hustling from the get go. Later on he became passionate about boxing and started competing in illegal prize fights in Los Angeles. At 15 he left for New York to begin a career as a professional boxer. He was soon matched up against fighters such as Patsy Farr, Chalky Wright and Baby Arizmendi. With a less than stellar record of 76 wins, 29 losses and 16 draws, Cohen hung up his gloves in 1933. Cohen moved to Chicago and became an enforcer Al Capone's gang. He also began running card games and engaging in other illegal activities. While there he survived arrests, prison and at least one assassination attempt. After this attempt on his life he moved back Los Angeles.M In Los Angeles, Cohen partnered with Bugsy Siegel acting as the extension of the East Coast syndicate. There they controlled narcotics, gambling and union operations. Cohen also helped Siegel create and then run The Flamingo Hotel. After Siegel's murder in 1947, Cohen became the top West Coast mobster although not to the liking of rival Jack Dragna who had made his way back to Los Angeles after Siegel's death. During the wars between Cohen and Dragna, he survived numerous attempts on his life and even a bombing of his Brentwood house. One of his bodyguard's was infamous mobster Johnny Stompanato, who was murdered by Lana Turner's daughter. Cohen himself was said to have bedded numerous Hollywood starlets including Ava Gardner.

Mickey Cohen - The Gangster In the early 1950's after being investigated by the Kefauver Commission, Cohen was sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion. After his release he became a media celebrity, even appearing on the Mike Wallace show in the late 1950s. In 1961 he was again convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 15 years. First sent to Alcatraz, he was soon attacked with a lead pipe by another inmate, causing Cohen's partial paralysis. After his final release from prison in 1972, Cohen came to be thought of as an elder statesman and "gentleman mobster." He associated with luminaries such as Richard Nixon, Sammy Davis Jr, Billy Graham and Randolph Hearst. He even appeared on the Merv Griffin Show. Although, no doubt still engaging in nefarious activities. Cohen died in 1976 of natural causes. He was most famously portrayed by Harvey Keitel in the 1991 movie Bugsy. See also: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel

Mickey Cohen never drank alcohol or smoked. Was played by Harvey Keitel in the 1991 movie Bugsy. Some of these sites were used as source material for this entry and may be of interest to those looking to learn more about this person/topic. . Crime and Investigation Network - Mickey Cohen Hollywood Movie Capital of the World - Mickey Cohen's Grave The Biography Channel - Mickey Cohen

Apr 21, 2010

#643

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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Lya De Putti (January 10, 1899 November 27, 1931) Born as Amalia de Putti in Hungry, she was one of the four children of Julius de Putti, a cavalry officer, and his wife, the former Countess Maria Katarina Hoyos. She had two brothers, Geza and Alexander, and a sister, Mitzi. Lya De Putti was a Hungarian actress. She got married in 1913 and had two children. For unknown reasons she eventually took some acting classes and partook in Hungarian Vaudeville, eventually rising to German Vaudeville where she performed ballet. In 1918 she made her film debut, which was apparently only a mild success because she didn't perform in film again until 1920. By 1924 she was the top dancer at the Berlin Winter Gardens. She continued to make a handful of films her breakthrough was either in 1921 or 1924. I'm inclined to believe 1921. All agree by 1925 her performance in "Variety" was her peak. She made films in Germany until 1926, at which time she ventured to the America to find fame there (whatever became of her kids and husband is a little unknown here, she and hubby apparently divorced in 1918). She acted in D.W.s "Sorrows of Satan" and continued to play vampy roles. In 1927 she made two English films, went back to Germany to shoot her first German one in sometime, and injured herself by FALLING OUT A WINDOW. The press thought she tried to kill herself, but she recovered and returned to the US where she shot her last film (a silent) "The Informer" in 1929. The following year, De Putti went to Hollywood, but found little success there. Despite working with such distinguished actors as Adolphe Menjou and Zasu Pitts, she failed to make it big, and left the screen by 1929 to attempt to re-start her career on Broadway. Her Hollywood efforts were inhibited by her foreign accent. Later she went to England to make silent movies and studied the English language. She returned to America ready to take on talkies, but in November 1931 she apparently (somehow) choked on a chicken bone so badly it had to be surgically removed from her throat. She contracted a throat infection and had to be moved from the Hotel Buckingham, to a Sanitarium in New York. She got out of bed and eluded nurses and hid in a corridor. She developed Pleurisy in her right side, and eventually pneumonia in both lungs. She died in 1931, aged 32, in the Harbor Sanitarium. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Lya_De_Putti_19 28-1929.jpg Thanks x 1

Apr 21, 2010

#644

Miss Maya, thank you so much for your continued support of this thread. I see you are still keeping the home fires burning with all of your wonderful posts. I am still loving it. LOL Thanks x 1

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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Apr 22, 2010

#645

Mickey Rooney (Joe Yule Jr.) 1920Born on Sept. 23, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York, he joined his family in their vaudeville act from the age of 17 months and made his film debut playing a cigar-smoking midget con man in 1926. He starred in 50 RKO short comedies as Mickey McGuire (1927 33) and won praise for his roles in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and Boys Town (1938). From 1937 he played the cocky, energetic Andy Hardy in a series of popular films, often teamed with Judy Garland

angelbaby Well-Known Member

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While Rooneys off-screen romances often got him into trouble, his on-screen relationship with Judy Garland became one of the most famous partnerships in film history. First appearing together in Love Finds Andy Hardy, where the then starlet had a guest appearance, they starred together as equals in the musical Babes in Arms (1939), directed by the great Busby Berkeley. The movie was a hit and the couples chemistry and bright-eyed enthusiasm was real. They became friends and stayed close until her tragic death in 1969. Together they made numerous popular features together. Ironically Andy Hardys squeaky-clean image was quite a contrast to the real-life Rooney. As he became more famous, the actor became more reckless, known around Hollywood for his late night carousing and numerous affairs. The most scandalous liaison came to light years later in Rooneys autobiography, in which he claimed that in 1938, when he was just 18, he had a relationship with the A-list actress Norma Shearer, then 38, and the widow of MGMs Boy Wonder production chief, Irving Thalberg. Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM and a mentor to Thalberg, used his considerable influence to end the affair and keep it from the press, whether this was out of loyalty to his late protégé or merely a cynical attempt to keep Rooneys public image more in line with that of Andy Hardy, was impossible to say, but it definitely allowed the actor to continue starring in MGMs cash cow franchise without any backlash from his adoring fans. From 1939 through 1941, Rooney was the number one box office actor in the United States, as he would proudly continue to remind the world even years later. As America entered World War II, his Andy Hardy films continued to be wildly popular and Rooney worked steadily. He somehow found the time to marry and divorce the gorgeous then-starlet Ava Gardner (the future Mrs. Frank Sinatra) between 1942 and 1943 before hitting his professional peak opposite Elizabeth Taylor in the horse racing drama, National Velvet (1944). But when Rooney was drafted into the military, everything changed. During WWII, Rooney went to war to entertain the troops, only serving 21 months. But while he did not suffer any physical harm while abroad, when he came home his career was damaged. Post-war America was less innocent than the one that had embraced Andy Hardy. Moreover, Rooney was now 26 years old and thus, a little too long in the tooth to continue playing teenagers. His professional life started a long, slow slide. While he was never at a loss for work, the quality of the material was inferior to his earlier films. To make matters worse his on-screen partnership with Judy Garland came to a close with the musical Words and Music (1948). Rooney gamely soldiered on, while his former co-stars career eclipsed his. Not only because he loved to work but also because he had to. He fit in a few more failed marriages, including one to actress Martha Vickers, while trying to find good parts to pay his alimony. There were bright spots like the Korean War drama The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), but more often than not Rooney did whatever slop he was offered, (1954). Like many movie stars before him whose stars were starting to fade, he turned to television. Rooneys latest marriage his fifth was falling apart during this period. He had married the beauty queen and B-movie actress, Barbara Ann Thomason (a.k.a Carolyn Mitchell), in 1958. While Thomason had put her career on hold to raise the kids, Rooney worked non-stop to support his ex-wives, his gambling habit, and a growing family. He tried directing but it didnt work. . TV work kept the money rolling in, and there was a cinematic bright spot with his supporting turn in the drama Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), but lightweight fluff like How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) was more representative of Rooneys output at the time. Now in his forties, he nevertheless continued his extra-marital affairs; a favor returned by his young wife. When Rooney was in the Philippines filming the war movie Ambush Bay, he was literally ambushed by tragic news: Thomasons jealous lover had murdered her in the Rooneys Brentwood home. Rooney returned to the states and a cauldron of controversy. The sordid and dysfunctional personal life of the man who had played the All-American boy became fodder for the tabloids and permanently tarnished Rooneys image. He continued plugging away in mediocre movies like Skidoo (1968) in an attempt to keep the demons at bay, but Judy Garlands death from an accidental overdose of barbiturates in 1969 was an even worse punishment. Nearing fifty and rocked by personal tragedy and professional disappointment, it would have been easy for Rooney to pack it in. But Rooneys vaudeville training had instilled in him a powerful ethos that the show must go on. He kept working throughout the 1970s, seemingly in any production that would pay him. Wary of more controversy, he passed up the role of the racist Archie Bunker in the TV classic All in the Family. An inveterate gambler and horse racing aficionado, his love of the ponies found artistic triumph in the film classic The Black Stallion (1979. Rooney received some of the best reviews of his career for a role that was a metaphor for his own creative resurrection. Rooney followed up his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Black Stallion with a starring role opposite dancer Ann Miller in the long running Broadway hit Sugar Babies (1970-1982). Earning a Tony nomination for his stage work, he scored again with an Emmy win playing a mentally handicapped man in the TV drama Bill (CBS, 1981). He continued working steadily in TV and movies, as well as the theater. He even traveled the world in a multi-media live stage production called Lets Put on a Show! recounting his long, eventful life in show business to his still sizable fan base. http://i.fanpix.net/images/orig/7/r/7rbc5u0dife85c07.jpg Thanks x 3

Apr 22, 2010

#646

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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Carolyn Mitchell (Barbara Ann Thomson) 1937-1966 5th wife of Mickey Rooney Carolyn Mitchell was born Barabara Ann Thomason on January 25, 1937 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Don and Helen Thomason. While attending Emerson Elementary School in Phoenix, she became known as the prettiest girl in Phoenix. Her family moved to Inglewood, California in 1951. While attending Inglewood's Morningside High School, she began entering beauty pageants, and in October 1953, her dreams came true when she won several beauty pageants. In 1954, she was crowned "Queen of the Championships of Southern California." Later that year, she won the "Miss Muscle Beach" and "Miss Surf Festival" titles. After graduating from school, she became a dance instructor for Arthur Murray. As "Tara Thomas," she became a model, appearing in "Modern Man" in December 1957. Early in 1958, Fate intervened in the guise of car salesman Bill Gardner, who introduced her to Hollywood legend Mickey at a nightclub. The smitten Rooney bought her a $4,500 fur coat. On April 12th, 1958, she reportedly took an overdose of sleeping pills. The day after the incident, she told the press that the Mick tried to resuscitate her by pushing her into his swimming pool. The incident later was revealed to be a publicity stunt. By June, Mickey had separated from his fourth wife, actress Elaine Devry and bought a new house in Sherman Oaks which she moved into to play house with the diminutive movie star. Thomason and Mickey were secretly married in Mexico on December 1, 1958. In March of 1959, the three-monthspregnant Thomason threatened to commit suicide if Rooney didn't get a divorce and marry her, though Mickey tried to convince here that they were already married. On September 13, 1959, Barbara Ann Thomason Rooney gave birth to a daughter, Kelly Ann, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. Rooney announced he had wed Thomason in a Mexican ceremony. Later that year, she appeared in the November 1959 issue of "Gala" magazine. Due to the dubious nature of their Mexican marriage, Mickey remarried Thomason in 1960, with the Reverend Douglas Smith presiding at his Los Angeles church, making their marriage legal. Their second daughter, Kerry Yule, was born on December 30, 1960. They would have two more children, a son Michael Joseph, born on April 2, 1962, and a third daughter, Kimmy Sue, born four years to the day after their first, on September 13, 1963 by cesarean section. In August 1963, the heavily pregnant Barbara accompanied Mickey to Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, for the filming of "The Secret Invasion." According to his second autobiography, Mickey had been cheating on her, and on July 4th, 1964, Mickey had met a stripper and movie extra in Atlantic City. In late August, his new girlfriend created a row when Barbara Ann accompanied Mickey to the set for the filming of his television series, "Mickey." After the incident, Barbara had a massive fight with Mickey, and in September '64, they both were in contact with divorce attorneys. However, they didn't divorce but decided to move out of Beverly Hills. They sold their Beverly Hills home and moved into a Brentwood house they bought relatively cheap for only $65,000 as both of the previous two occupants had died at the house in freak accidents. It would prove equally unlucky for Barbara. Alain Delon, who was in Los Angeles in the fall of 1964 to try to make a go at Hollywood, it was Delon who introduced Mickey and Barbara to his stand-in Milos Milosevics, a 24year-old Yugoslavian actor Delon has brought with him from Paris. Mickey had to go on location to the Philippines to film a picture, and he made the fatal mistake of asking his new friend Milosevics to look after his his wife. Milosevics agreed. With the cat away, the mice did play. Barbara reportedly took Milosevics as a lover to get back at Mickey for his philandering. While Mickey was in the Philippines, Barbara Ann accompanied her new lover Milosevics to northern California, to the location shoot of "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," in which he has a bit part. They were still having an affair when Mickey returned and moved out of the Brentwood house after finding out. The couple filed for an official separation on December 1965, after which Milosevics moved into the Brentwood house to live with Barbara and her four children by Mickey. After learning she was planning to file a lawsuit for separate maintenance, Mickey filed for divorce on January 19, 1966, citing mental cruelty. In his suit, Mickey asked the court for a restraining order to keep Milosevics out of the Brentwood house. Barabra began to panic when she learned that she might lose her children in a custody battle due to her adultery. On his part, Milosevics became jealous when he realized she was considering returning to Mickey. He was even more incensed when he heard a tape recording of a conversation between Barbara and Mickey, discussing the divorce suit. On the tape, made by a private detective on January 20, 1966 with the help of Barbara and Milosevics, she tells Mickey that she will not see Milosevics again, even as a friend. Afterwards, Mickey checked in to the hospital for treatment of an exotic blood disease he has picked up on location. That night, she went out with Milosevics and her friend Margie Lane for dinner at the Daisy on Rodeo Drive. They returned to Brentwood and bid her friend goodnight at 8:30 p.m. Three of the children were at home; three-year-old Kimmy Sue was visiting her grandparents in Inglewood. The following day, her friend Wilma Catania and the maid forced open the locked door of the master bedroom with a screwdriver. In the bathroom, they found the bodies of Barbara and Milosevics. She was laying on her back, shot through the jaw, Milosevics beside her, face down, a bullet hole in his temple. Milosevic had shot Barbara with Mickey's chrome-plated .38 caliber revolver, then turned the weapon on himself. When Mickey learned about the murder-suicide, he went into shock and was forced to stay another day in the hospital. Reverend Douglas Smith, the minister who had married her and Mickey in 1960, presiding. Barbara's four children were put into the custody of their grandparents in Inglewood. In his autobiography, Mickey said of the murder-suicide, I died when she did. I am furious at what happened to her." On the rebound, Mickey married Barbara's close friend Marge Lane. That marriage failed after 100 days. http://s11.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/c/5/c5ad5p4j5zcij4zd.jp g

Thanks x 2

Apr 22, 2010

#647

Paul Johnston McCullough (27 March 1883 - 25 March 1936) Born in Springfield, Ohio, McCullough met Clark at a local YMCA when they were boys. Their childhood friendship grew into an adult partnership, and the pair appeared in circuses and vaudeville revues before achieving mainstream stardom in the 1922 Irving Berlin Broadway show Their Broadway hit "The Ramblers" was filmed in 1930 as The Cuckoosa vehicle for Wheeler & Woolsey. Clark and McCullough went to Hollywood in 1928 and starred in 35 short films produced over a sevenyear period.

angelbaby Well-Known Member

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In their act, Clark was the dominant, motor-mouthed comedian and McCullough was the quieter straight man. In many of their films, McCullough input was severely limited to a supporting role as Clark generated the bulk of the humor. In the Biography of Paul McCullough their occupations in the films usually dictated what Clark's character name was: when photographers, Clark was named "Flash"; when chefs, Clark was "Cook"; when lawyers, Clark was "Blackstone", etc. Paul McCullough was always named "Blodgett," regardless of the role. He was enthusiastic on film, punctuating scenes with a cackling laugh. His antics were much subtler than the bombastic Clark's; McCullough would fiddle with props or react quietly while the action was centered on Clark. In 1935, having completed their last short for R.K.O., Clark and his partner Paul McCullough went on tour in a version of "George White's Scandals." The frenetic pace of touring emotionally discombobulated McCullough and, suffering from nervous exhaustion, he entered a sanitarium in Medford, Massachusetts. In March 1936, he was released. As he was driving home with a friend, he decided to have a shave. They stopped at a local barber shop where McCullough struck up a friendly conversation with the barber. Without warning, as the barber's back was turned, McCullough grabbed a straight razor and slashed his own throat and wrists. In critical condition, he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died several days later. Clark was emotionally devastated by the loss of his old friend. http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NxmZtHK-Pt4/0.jpg

Apr 22, 2010

#648 angelbaby said: ­ Miss Maya, thank you so much for your continued support of this thread. I see you are still keeping the home fires burning with all of your wonderful posts. I am still loving it. LOL

missmaya99

I am thoroughly enjoying this, but I guess we better chill with all of our gushing. We don't want to, um, offend anyone, now do we? LOL

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Apr 22, 2010

#649

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Mabel Normand was the first great comedienne of American cinema and one the most important -- and popular -American silent film actresses. By the time she first showed up at the Biograph studio in 1910, Normand was already a "Gibson Girl" (a model for illustrator Charles Dana Gibson) and a champion swimmer, and she was not yet 18. Biograph published a photo of Normand with the phony name "Muriel Fortescue," leading some sources to believe this her real name, but nevertheless it was Mabel Normand. She was from a French Canadian family and born on Staten Island on November 9, 1892. Normand worked for Biograph only a few months, then joined Vitagraph for about a year while the Biograph Company wintered out West. After they returned, so did she, working under the direction of D.W. Griffith. Griffith cast Normand as the "second girl" in melodramas and in tomboy roles; Griffith's protégé, Mack_Sennett, primarily made comedies and would exploit Normand's natural comic abilities and athleticism through casting her in the lead. A Dash Through the Clouds (1912) featured Normand escaping with her beau in a new gadget, a Wright Brothers-styled airplane. This, and other, short comedies made by Sennett helped establish Mabel Normand as a girl who could take care of herself -- willful, powerful, and seemingly without fear. Sennett broke with Biograph to found Keystone Comedies, and Normand joined him in California; she starred in the first Keystone, The Water Nymph, released in September 1912. Apparently, a personal relationship between Sennett and Normand blossomed about this time as well, and though it was once the source of a popular musical, +Mack and Mabel, the true nature of their relationship remains unclear. Normand was the Sennett studio's most significant female star, and as Sennett also discovered and introduced Gloria_Swanson, Phyllis_Haver, Betty_Compson, and Carole_Lombard, that's saying a lot. Normand also began to direct in 1914, although more out of necessity than any artistic need. One reason Charlie_Chaplin was allowed to direct so early in his Keystone career was that he objected to taking direction from Normand, complaining about it to Sennett. Normand entered into an immensely popular series of films co-starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle as sidekick, with titles such as Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) and Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915) being among the best remembered. It is said that the relationship, such as it was, between Sennett and Normand foundered in the summer of 1915, nevertheless, Sennett decided to produce a feature starring Normand and built the Mabel Normand Studio next door to Keystone; it was a necessary move, as the Keystone studio didn't have the right infrastructure to make such a film. Normand was 24 years old at the time; the studio with her name above the gate made only one film, Mickey (1918), a sentimental melodrama in the style of Griffith, spiced with comic touches. Mickey was tied up in post-production so long that by the time it was released, Normand had already left Sennett for the Goldwyn Studio and had been working there a year. Mickey, aided by a hit song and a successful merchandising campaign, proved Normand's most successful film, but Sennett had lost legal control of it, and neither shared in its profits. Normand's sojourn to Goldwyn resulted in disappointing returns, and in 1920, Sam_Goldwyn was happy to sell Sennett back her contract. During this time, Normand had become dependant on cocaine and began to suffer months-long periods of illness where she could not work. Once back at Sennett, she made Molly_O' (1921), a property more or less modeled right after Mickey; it was enormously successful. However, on February 1, 1922, director William_Desmond_Taylor was shot in the back and killed, and Normand was unfortunate enough to be the last person to see him alive. Although she had nothing to do with Taylor's murder, her name was added early on to a long list of suspects in the still unsolved case. Although her reputation was sullied, Normand made one more feature with Sennett, The_Extra_Girl (1923), which remains the most frequently seen of her films, and one of her best. Although it opened to enthusiastic crowds and good reviews, at a New Year's Eve party in 1923, Normand was witness to yet another shooting, this time of playboy Courtland S. Dines, by Normand's chauffeur, with her gun. Dines survived, but Normand's reputation was mortally wounded. Although publicly Sennett declared that he planned to continue making films with Normand, in private they agreed to end their association. In 1926, Normand married actor Lew_Cody and made five films with Hal_Roach. These were her last, for in February 1927 Normand fell prey to her final bout with illness, which claimed her at the age of 37 after three years of slowly declining health. Though tuberculosis was given as cause, research in the late 20th century revealed that Normand may have died from a disease that was carried congenitally through her family line. Altogether Mabel Normand appeared in about 230 films and directed 16 of them; roughly 45 percent of her titles survive. It is not as generous a bequest as it sounds; a third of that total consists of 1914 films in which she co-starred with Chaplin, and the remainder includes only two of her Goldwyn features and one Vitagraph. At her peak, Normand was worshipped by scores of women who admired her for being wealthy, independent, fashionable, and flamboyant -- not to mention well read and eloquent in interviews. She remains one of the most captivating and unique figures among American silent-screen stars. David Lewis, All Movie Guide

Apr 22, 2010

#650

Florence Lawrence (January 2, 1886 (her birth date has also been reported as 1890) - December 28, 1938) was an inventor and actress, and was one of Hollywood's first movie stars.

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Born Florence Annie Bridgwood in Hamilton, Ontario, she was the child of Charlotte Bridgwood, a vaudeville actress who went by the name Lotta Lawrence. Florence's surname was changed at age four to her mother's stage name. She was one of several Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood who made their way to Hollywood, attracted by the rapid growth of the fledgling motion picture business. In 1907, at twenty-one years of age, she made her first motion picture. The next year, she appeared in 38 movies for the Vitagraph film company. During these formative years in Hollywood, silent screen actors were just faces because studio owners refused to list the names of the film's cast members, fearing that fame might lead to demands for higher wages. D.W. Griffith, the head of Biograph Studios, saw one of Vitagraph's films with a beautiful blonde-haired girl whose screen presence captured his interest. Because the film's actors received no mention, Griffith had to make discreet enquiries to learn she was Florence Lawrence and a meeting was arranged. With the Vitagraph Company, she had been earning $20 a week but over and above acting, she was required to work as a costume seamstress. Griffith offered her a job acting only and with a raise to $25 a week that Florence jumped at. Ms. Lawrence quickly gained much popularity but because her name was never publicized, fans began writing the studio asking for her name. But, even when her "anonymous" face had gained wide recognition, particularly after starring in the highly successful Resurrection, Biograph Studios only labeled her as "The Biograph Girl." In 1910, Carl Laemmle, who later founded Universal Pictures, started his own motion picture company. Needing a star, he lured Lawrence away from Biograph by promising to give her a marquee, making her the first performer to be identified by name on screen and in film advertising. First though, Carl Laemmle organized a publicity stunt by starting a rumor that Lawrence had been killed by a street car in New York City. Then, after gaining much media attention, he placed ads in the newspapers that included a photo of Ms. Lawrence, declaring she was alive and well and was making The Broken Oath, a new movie for his IMP Film Company to be directed by Harry Solter. Laemmle then had Ms. Lawrence make a personal appearance in St. Louis, Missouri with her leading man to show her fans that she was very much alive. As a result of Laemmle's ingenuity, the "star system" was born and before long, Florence Lawrence became a household name. However, her fame was such that the studio executives who had concerns over wage demands soon had their fears proved correct. By late 1910, Lawrence left IMP to work for Lubin Studios, advising her fellow young Canadian, the 16year-old Mary Pickford, to take her place as IMP's star. During her lifetime, Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies. Nicknamed "The Girl of a Thousand Faces", at the height of her career, she was earning a great deal of money and could afford an automobile, something that at the time was still a luxury for most people. Born with a curious mind, she invented the first turn signal, a device attached to a motor vehicle's rear fender. Dubbed as the "auto signaling arm", when a driver pressed a button, an arm raised or lowered, with a sign attached indicating the direction of the intended turn. Following this, she developed a brake signal based on the same concept where an arm with a sign reading "STOP" was raised up whenever the driver stepped on the brake pedal. However, Ms. Lawrence's inventions were not patented, and others in the rapidly expanding auto industry developed their own versions. In 1915, she was badly burned in a studio fire after an attempt to rescue someone from the flames. Although still only 29 years old, after her recovery, she never regained her stature as a leading film star. In 1908, she had married Harry Solter, the director of her first film at IMP Studios, but he died in 1920. The following year she married Charles Byrne Woodring, but he died in 1930, and in 1933 she married for the third time to Henry Bolton but this union lasted less than a year. When Lawrence's mother died in 1929, she had an expensive bust sculpted for her mother's tomb. By then, in her midforties, demand for her in films had long since disappeared and the stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression saw Ms. Lawrence's fortune decline. Alone, discouraged, and suffering with chronic pain from a rare bone marrow disease, she committed suicide in Beverly Hills, California. Just nine years after she had paid for an expensive memorial for her mother, Florence Lawrence was interred in an unmarked grave not far from her mother in the Hollywood Forever Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood, California. She remained forgotten until 1991, when an unnamed benefactor donated the funds for a proper memorial to be erected to her memory that reads: "The First Movie Star". In 1999 a biography written by Kelly R. Brown was published under the title Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl: America's First Movie Star (ISBN 0786406275)

Apr 22, 2010

#651

Mia Farrow was born Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow on February 9, 1945, in Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of hard-living director John Farrow and the actress Maureen O'Sullivan, best known as "Jane" in the Tarzan films of the 1930's. Despite being one of the most notorious womanizers in Hollywood, John Farrow was a devout Catholic and the author of several critically acclaimed books on the Church.

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Mia's childhood was interrupted by a bout with polio, from which she fully recovered. Her father died when she was a teenager, and she suddenly felt financially responsible for her large family. Her money problems were solved when she landed the role of heroine Alison MacKenzie on the primetime soap opera "Peyton Place," costarring with Ryan O'Neil. She moved on to film, and was cast by director Roman Polanski in "Rosemary's Baby," a horror film about a woman who gives birth to the child of Satan.

In the mid-Sixties, she met Frank Sinatra, who was thirty years her senior. Despite their age difference, they married in 1966, causing a scandal and becoming the butt of many jokes. Problems soon arose when Sinatra wanted Mia to give up her career and devote her life to travelling with him. Mia also had difficulty relating to his middle-aged, Las Vegas entourage. Like many people her age, she preferred marijuana to martinis. The marriage was over in a few years. She met and fell in love with conductor Andre Previn while he was still married to his wife, Dory. Dory resisted divorce, and Mia gave birth to several of Previn's children before they were finally able to wed. They also adopted several children, most fatefully, a Korean orphan named Soon-Yi. The honeymoon didn't last long. Mia was bored living at Previn's country estate in England, and suspected him of infidelity when he traveled, which was almost constantly. They parted amicably in the late Seventies. In 1982, Woody Allen cast Mia in his film, "A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy." The two fell in love, and began a very successful creative partnership. Allen tailored roles to fit Mia's ethereal beauty and quirky personality. She starred in "The Purple Rose of Cairo," the film many critics consider to be his masterpiece. Others, such as "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" were box office hits. However, there were always problems in the Allen-Farrow relationship. Mia felt that Allen exploited her family for material, a charge that seems undeniable in the case of "Hannah and Her Sisters." Allen cast Mia's mother in the film, shot it in her apartment, and even used her children to play Hannah's children. The movie got raves from both critics and audiences, but the portrait was not flattering. O'Sullivan was caricatured as a washed-up show-biz floozy, and Mia was portrayed as an overbearing martyr. In 1991, the situation exploded when Farrow found nude photographs of her teenage daughter, Soon-Yi, in Allen's apartment. She sent soon-Yi off to school, but, amazingly, continued to work with Allen on their latest film, "Husbands and Wives." Her hopes of a reconciliation were shattered when she found out that Allen and Soon-Yi were still in communication and planning a future together. In the huge scandal and legal battle that followed, Allen lost custody of two adopted children and the biological son he shared with Farrow. Allen and Soon-Yi married, and eventually adopted two daughters of their own. Mia Farrow continues to work in film and television. She wrote a best-selling memoir, "What Falls Away." Mia devotes most of her time to her thirteen children, many of whom are physically handicapped. A fourteenth child, Tam, died at the age of 19 in 2000.

Apr 22, 2010

#652

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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John Huston, Actor, Director 1906-1987 Was born John Marcellus Huston of Scottish and Irish heritage in Nevada, Missouri, on August 5, 1906. The age-old story goes that the small town of his birth was won by John's grandfather in a poker game. John's father was the equally magnanimous character actor Walter Huston and his mother, Rhea Gore, was a newspaperwoman who traveled around the country looking for stories. The only child of the couple, John began performing on stage with his vaudevillian father at age 3. Upon his parents' divorce at age 7, the young boy would take turns traveling around the Vaudeville circuit with his father and the country with his mother on reporting excursions. A frail and sickly child, he was once placed in a sanitarium due to both an enlarged heart and kidney ailment. Making a miraculous recovery, he quit school at age 14 to become a full-fledged boxer and eventually won the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Championship of California, winning 22 of 25 bouts. His trademark broken nose was the result of that robust activity. John married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Harvey, at age 18, and also took his He tried acting on and off Broadway plays. John soon grew restless with the confines of both his marriage and acting and abandoned both, taking a sojourn to Mexico where he became an officer in the cavalry and expert horseman while writing plays on the sly. Trying to control his wanderlust urges, he subsequently returned to America and attempted newspaper and magazine reporting work in New York by submitting short stories. He was even hired at one point by mogul Samuel Goldwyn as a screenwriter, but again he grew restless. During this time he also appeared unbilled in a few films. By 1932 John was on the move again and left for London and Paris where he studied painting and sketching. The promising artist became a homeless beggar during one harrowing point. Returning again to America in 1933, he played the title role in a production of "Abraham Lincoln," only a few years after his father Walter portrayed the part on film for DW Griffin. John made a new resolve to hone in on his obvious writing skills and began collaborating on a few scripts for Warner Brothers. He also married again. Warners was so impressed with his talents that he was signed on as both screenwriter and director for the mystery yarn The Maltese Falcon. The movie classic made a superstar out of Humphrey Bogart and is considered by critics and audiences alike. During WWII John served as a Signal Corps lieutenant and went on to helm a number of film documentaries for the U.S. government. The end of WWII also saw the end of his second marriage. He married third wife Evelyn Keyes, of "Gone with the Wind" fame, in 1946 but it too lasted a relatively short time. Hollywood glory came to him again in association with Bogart and Warner Brothers'. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) A classic tale of gold, greed and man's inhumanity to man set in Mexico, won John Oscars for both director and screenplay and his father nabbed the "Best Supporting Actor" trophy. With the momentum in his favor, John hung around in Hollywood this time to write and/or direct some of the finest American cinema made including Key Largo and The African Queen (both with Bogart),The Asphalt Jungle, The Red Badge of Courage and Moulin Rouge. Later films, including Moby Dick), The Unforgiven, The Misfits, Freud, The Night of the Iguana, and The Bible in the Beginning were, for the most part, well-regarded but certainly not close to the level of his earlier revered work. He also experimented behind-thecamera with color effects and approached topics that most others would not even broach, including homosexuality and psychoanalysis. Disgusted by the Hollywood blacklisting that was killing the careers of many talented folk; he moved to St. Clerans in Ireland and became a citizen there along with his fourth wife, ballet dancer Enrica (Ricki) Soma. The couple had two children, including daughter Anjelica Huston. Huston and wife Ricki split after a son (director Danny Huston from his relationship with Zoe Sallis was born in 1962. They did not divorce, however, and remained estranged until her sudden death in 1969 in a car accident. John subsequently adopted his late wife's child from another union. The ever-impulsive Huston would move yet again to Mexico where he married (1972) and divorced (1977) his fifth and final wife, Celeste Shane. Huston lived the macho outdoors life without restrictions, and is often compared in style or flamboyancy to an Ernest Hemmingway. He was, in fact, the source of inspiration for Clint Eastwood in the helming of the film White Hunter Black Heart which chronicled the making of "The African Queen." Illness robbed Huston of a good portion of his twilight years with chronic emphysema the main culprit. As always, however, he continued to work tirelessly while hooked up to an oxygen machine if need be. At the end, the living legend was shooting an acting cameo in the film Mr. North for his son Danny, making his directorial bow at the time. John became seriously ill with pneumonia and died while on location at the age of 81 in 1987. John Huston Pictures - John Huston Photo Gallery - 2010

Apr 22, 2010

#653

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

A gorgeous, pneumatic blonde rival to pouty sex kitten AnnMargret, singer/dancer/actress Joey Heatherton was a product of the swinging 60s and taunted the film and TV variety scenes with her own version of a purring young sexpot. Born in 1944 as Davenie Johanna Heatherton and the daughter of veteran song-and-dance man Ray Heatherton (1909-1997), Joey trained in ballet as a youngster and started her career off as a teen performer on the New York stage as one of the children in "The Sound of Music." She also began recording about that same time. She went on to gain national exposure as a regular on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall portraying an innocent young coed who developed a crush on the star. The gimmick worked and Joey eventually parlayed this success into an acting career. The payoff worked. She started to appear in such TV dramas as "The Virginian," "The Nurses" and "Route 66." For a time she showed extreme promise playing troubled, vulnerable, often neurotic young girls opposite cinema's established or upand-coming talent of the day, including the films Twilight of Honor with Richard Chamberlain and Nick Adams, Where Love Has Gone starring Bette Davis and Susan Hayward, and My Blood Runs Cold opposite Troy Donahue. The promise was short-lived, however, but since music was deemed her forte anyway, Joey wisely refocused on her musical gifts and went on to project a mod, sulky Lolita image fully decked out in mini-skirts and go-go boots. A much better singer than AnnMargret and an equally good dancer, she appealed to the male masses in droves with her high-octane dance moves and saucy glances as huge selling points. By the late 60s the talented, all-round entertainer had developed into a solid Vegas showroom and TV variety favorite. On the plus side as well, she had soldiers swooning on both land and sea as she toured with Bob Hope on his USO tours. She proved quite fetching in the TV movie The Ballad of Andy Crocker with Lee Majors, and was part of the eclectic casting in _Of Mice and Men (1970) (TV)_ that toplined George Segal and Nicol Williamson. On top of all this, she was seductively pitching RC Cola and Serta mattresses in TV ads on a regular basis. Joey's problems began in 1971 stemming with a major tabloidtroubled marriage and divorce. The 70s also saw a radical change in audience taste as witnessed by her diminishing popularity. Despite showing extreme potential as a Billboard chart maker with a "Top 40" pop hit in the Ferlin Husky song "Gone" in 1972, Hollywood made it nearly impossible for her to escape the blast from the past image, finding herself more and more unemployable as the decade wore on. She did enjoy a fun, short-lived fling on a summer variety series that costarred her beloved dad (Joey & Dad). Unfortunately, Joey encountered other problems in the throes of her career decline with a life-threatening substance addiction and eating disorder which deeply hindered any game attempts to climb back into favor. She was crassly featured in the critically-panned Richard Burton starrer Bluebeard; portrayed Xaviera Hollander in the lurid The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington to little fanfare; and then pretty much disappeared, except as eccentric tabloid fodder or popping up unexpectedly in the cult John Waters film Cry-Baby or the April 1997 Playboy spread. On her side, however, she is a survivor and Hollywood has always encouraged big comeback stories. If anybody has ever proven to be a certifiable talent deserving of such, it's Joey Heatherton. She remains, however, a prime example of how devastating and destructive a fickle entertainment business can be.

Apr 22, 2010

#654 missmaya99 said: ­ I am thoroughly enjoying this, but I guess we better chill with all of our gushing. We don't want to, um, offend anyone, now do we? LOL

You know I was waiting for someone to say the same thing. But, it's odd to me that it would offend anyone. I guess I say I am loving it because I really do enjoy research and posting all of these stories. I love it when people say that they enjoy reading our posts. I have spent so much time researching that I have let my work suffer, but, I digress.

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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Can't we all just get along. Now back to the regularly scheduled program. Thanks x 2

Apr 22, 2010

#655 missmaya99 said: ­ I am thoroughly enjoying this, but I guess we better chill with all of our gushing. We don't want to, um, offend anyone, now do we? LOL

Well I just thought about what you said miss maya. I have to live up to my name. I am an angel that looks like a cute baby. So, I will stop saying the 4 word phrase. LOL

angelbaby Well-Known Member

5,416 885 Jun 3, 2007 Ratings:

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Apr 22, 2010

#656

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Helen Chandler was born in Charleston, South Carolina on February 1, 1906. By the late 1920s she had become a hugely popular actress on the New York stage. That Hollywood should beckon was inevitable, but unfortunately whatever quality made Chandler a success on the stage did not survive the transition to film. Chandler is probably best remembered by movie fans as the fragile Mina, pursued and nearly vampirized by Bela Lugosi in the original "Dracula" (1931). In 1937 Chandler left Hollywood to return to the stage, but a dependency on alcohol and sleeping pills haunted her subsequent career, and in 1940 she was committed to a sanitarium. Ten years later she was disfigured in a fire, apparenty caused by smoking in bed. Helen Chandler died (following surgery for a bleeding ulcer) on April 30, 1965. Her body was cremated, and as no relative ever came forward to claim the remains, her ashes now repose in the vaultage section (off limits to visitors) of the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. IMDb Mini Biography By: Peter W. Many, Jr. Spouse Bramwell Fletcher (14 February 1935 - 1940) (divorced) Cyril Hume (3 February 1930 - 1934) (divorced) Walter Piascik (? - 30 April 1965) (her death)

Apr 22, 2010

#657 angelbaby said: ­ Well I just thought about what you said miss maya. I have to live up to my name. I am an angel that looks like a cute baby. So, I will stop saying the 4 word phrase. LOL

Yeah, I'm just going to use the word "enjoy" while I search for more stories.

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Apr 22, 2010

#658

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

The amazing and dynamic person who was John Gilbert was born John Cecil Pringle in Logan, Utah, on July 10th, 1897, into a dysfunctional, itinerant show business family. His mother was a stage actress and his father a comic with the Pringle stock company. John's early life was hard; he was often separated from his mother and sent to live with relatives, but his personal trials made him strong and ambitious for success. Young John (or Jack as he was more often called) dreamed of becoming a movie star from an early age. By 1915 he was in Hollywood, playing bit parts for film producer Thomas Ince, and by 1917 he was becoming noticed by the industry and considered more often for lead roles, such as a romantic one opposite Mary Pickford in her film vehicle "Heart of The Hills" (1919). In addition to acting before the camera, John also enjoyed writing screenplays for films. By the early 1920's he was playing dashing young heroes in films such as "Monte Cristo" (1922), and by the time John won a contract with M-G-M he was an outright Star, playing a wide variety of roles. Gilbert starred in the financially successful silent film hits "The Merry Widow" (1925), and King Vidor's World War One classic "The Big Parade." (1925). This last movie in particular made a fortune at the box office. Over the years John appeared in films with the top leading ladies of the silent screen era, including Renee Adoree, Billie Dove, Barbara La Marr, Mae Murray, Lillian Gish and Norma Shearer. His reputation as a ladies' man was established through the romantic films he made with Greta Garbo. Rumors of a romantic relationship between them sent the audience attendance and the profits of their films together skyrocketing. John Gilbert was married and divorced four times, the last three times to actresses: Leatrice Joy, Ina Claire, and Virginia Bruce. He had a daughter with Leatrice Joy, also named Leatrice, and a daughter with Virginia Bruce named Susan. Unfortunately for John Gilbert's long term career in pictures, he managed to inspire the animosity of M-G-M head Louis B. Mayer. When sound came in John was placed in films that were often not up to his talents. An exception was the precode drama "Downstairs" (1934), in which he played a manipulative scoundrel with flair and relish, impressing the critics. Hollywood lore says that Jack's voice was the reason for his "fall from grace" upon the advent of sound films, but in reality his voice was distinctive and pleasant, perhaps slightly nasal, but certainly not feminine or high-pitched. It was more likely that the revenge of Louis B. Mayer, combined with the overall poor writing of the scripts he was offered during that transitional time in Hollywood, conspired to hurt John's career. John Gilbert died suddenly, at age 38, of a heart attack, on January 9th, 1936. He had been so full of energy that his candle simply was destined to flicker out far too soon.

Apr 22, 2010

#659

Al Jolson (1886-1950) Al Jolson was a master entertainer and his performing career spanned 50 years. Jolson made a break in his career by deciding one evening to perform in "black face" at a San Francisco club; this soon became his trademark in show business. missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2010 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved-Reproduction is prohibited. He performed for US soldiers during four separate wars: The Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. He was the first person to speak in a feature film "The Jazz Singer" based on his life. His first words were the famous lines "You ain' t heard nothing yet."This is a collection of Al Jolson guest appearances and his starring role on the Kraft Music Hall radio program. Al Jolson was a staunch Civil Rights activist and helped open opportunities for African-Americans on Broadway. For more interesting reading, see also: article on the history of Minstrel Shows and Old Time Radio. All text on OTRCAT.com are ©2010 OTRCAT INC - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited. http://www.otrcat.com/z/aljolson.jpg

Apr 23, 2010

#660

Delete this post

missmaya99 Well-Known Member

3,513 1,035 Aug 14, 2005 Ratings: +3,204 / 103 / -64

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