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Who was he? And who was his first wife, pictured above? And who was his more famous second wife? Clue — he was a test pilot. It was just after World War II and he invaded Hollywood. Stay tuned for the answer to our Thursday riddle. Did you like this? Share it:Tweet
There are several stories about Lana Turner and Van Johnson‘s one night stand. One is that when MGM boss Louis B.Mayer heard early rumors of Johnson’s supposed homosexuality, he decided to find out for himself once and for all. He promptly assigned an actress to sexually “test” the actor. Who better than Lana Turner for […]
How much did you know about the woman who never wanted to be a star, only an actress? A strong argument can be mounted that in the end Teresa Wright was both. Note the huge publicity coup above, the cover of Life magazine in 1946, the year that Wright appeared opposite Dana Andrews in William Wyler‘s […]
Ok, we admit it. We fell head over heels for Teresa Wright after seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s magnificent thriller, Shadow of a Doubt, in which she plays a feisty young woman who learns her beloved uncle is a serial killer. What a combination of righteous spirit and, yes, coltish sexiness. Wright was never a glamourpuss but […]
He started his film career late in life. He worked in movies for only a decade but his impact was enormous. His most famous movie line: Well, if you lose a son it is possible to get another. There is only one Maltese Falcon. The actor who uttered them is Sydney Greenstreet, perhaps the greatest character actor […]
The fellow in the photo with Donald Gordon in yesterday’s blog was sometime East Side Kid, Stanley Clements. Here’s a publicity shot of him around the same time he and Donald knew each other. Clements is sometimes mistaken for being one of the original Dead End Kids. He wasn’t. But he did play in a […]
This photo is courtesy of the Donald Gordon Collection, which, through a circuitous route, Joe inherited. This amazing never-before-seen collection comprises the kind informal photos often taken at parties, outings and family events of one kind or another. But these were not the usual shots of forgotten relatives at their leisure. No. The subjects in […]
1) Question: Growing up in Manhattan, Bendix worked as a bat boy for both the New York Yankees and Giants. He claimed he fetched hot dogs for which one of the following players? a) Hack Wilson; b) Bill Dickey; c) Lou Gehrig; or d) Babe Ruth. 2) Question: Bendix was nominated for a best supporting […]
He was an odd star, William Bendix, not a leading man, not quite a character actor. And despite the pronounced Brooklyn accent he employed in many roles, he hailed from Manhattan in New York City. He excelled in a broad range of roles: unsavory thugs, taxi drivers, cops, battle-scarred G.I.’s, shady gumshoes and various types […]
Yes, last week we ran a photo of Clark Gable with his second wife, Maria Langham. That’s them above. It was his second marriage. Hey, she had money, and he drank a lot back then. In his early years Gable gravitated to women who could help his career. Below he and his first wife, acting […]