Archive for the Category »Old Movie Stars «
For this week’s Saturday State Post, I decided to highlight some actors and actresses from my neighbor to the west, Minnesota since I recently watched a few movies with two of the actors on this list, Lew Ayres in Remember? (1939) and The Unfaithful (1947) and Warren William in The Case of the Howling Dog (1934).
A few of the actors and actresses from the state of Minnesota are:
Warren William
Born: December 2, 1894 in Aitkin, MN
Died: September 24, 1948 (age 53)
Married once – to his wife Helen for 25 years before his death in 1948
Known for the Movies: Three on a Match, Employees Entrance, Gold Diggers of 1933, Lady for a Day, Imitation of Life, Satan Met a Lady, The Wolf Man
My Favorite Warren William Movie: Three on a Match
Interesting Facts About Warren William:
- He was the first actor to portray the character of defense attorney Perry Mason on the big screen, the first time was in the movie The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) which I recently watched on TCM. He played the character in a total of four movies.
- He is sometimes referred to as “The King of Pre-Codes” because of his frequent portrayal of amoral, ruthless, and heartless businessmen in movies made in the early 1930s before the advent of the Production Code.
- He was an amateur inventor who created items such as a lawn vacuum, a recreational vehicle, a rolling picnic table, and custom barbecue grills, receiving patents for a few of his inventions.
- If you would like to learn more about Warren William, be sure to check out Cliff’s blog devoted solely to the actor! Continue reading »
I think I’ve mentioned a few times on my blog that I lost both of my parents in recent years. I don’t mention it to elicit sympathy, it’s just that they were such a huge influence on my life and did so much to shape the person that I am today, that I can’t help but reminisce about them on occasion. I often get nostalgic for the past because I have so many great memories of spending time with them that I will always cherish.
One of the things I did a lot of growing up as an extremely shy kid without much of a social life was watch tv with my parents, especially my mom since my dad was often either at work or sleeping in preparation for his next work shift.
I can still picture the two of us sitting on the living room couch together watching one of our many favorite shows, which included (in no particular order and boy, am I dating myself!) Dallas, Falcon Crest, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, The Incredible Hulk, Knots Landing, Amen, Highway to Heaven, Remington Steele, Diagnosis Murder . . . Well, I could probably keep going, but let’s just leave it at that impressive list. 
Usually when the nostalgia really kicks in I’ll get really sad and wish I was back sitting on that couch watching tv with my mom. Sometimes I’ll actually go ahead and watch one of the shows to relive some of my memories, something I did recently with another show that I often watched with her when I was a teenager, the soap opera Days of Our Lives. I’ve long since stopped watching it regularly, but one time I will watch it is around Christmas time when they sometimes include flashbacks to older episodes. Continue reading »
This post is an entry in the Gene Kelly Centennial Blogathon, hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association. Please visit the CMBA site to read all the other great entries.
I was fortunate to become a member of the CMBA earlier this year, and when I discovered they were hosting a blogathon honoring Gene Kelly, I jumped at the chance to participate.
I mean who wouldn’t want a ready made excuse to watch another Gene Kelly movie? Well okay, I guess people who don’t know or like Gene Kelly. But thankfully that’s not me. I love him as an actor, and he is my favorite dancer. I truly could watch him dance all day long!
When I saw that all of the Gene Kelly movies I was interested in covering had already been spoken for, I chose to watch the movie Deep in My Heart (1954) just because I had never seen it before. Excited to see Gene in something new, I was disappointed to say the least when I checked out the DVD from the library and realized that he is only in the movie for a whopping 2 minutes!
So I admit, I struggled with what to do for this post since it is meant to honor Gene Kelly, and to devote the whole post to a movie he barely appeared in didn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Yes, I know I could have picked a different movie, but as long as I had it in my possession and didn’t have much time to find something else, I decided to stick with it, especially when I discovered all the talented actors, dancers, and singers that star in the movie.
So I decided to write the following review of the movie and then follow it up with a list of some of my favorite Gene Kelly dance partners. Continue reading »
In this week’s Saturday State Post, I will be highlighting actors from my neighbor to the south, the state of Illinois, simply because there are so many great names to choose from.
And . . . I kind of like it that most of them were born in my favorite city in the whole world, Chicago, and one is from a city with the same name as one of my cats, Quincy.
A few of the actors and actresses from the state of Illinois are:
Beulah Bondi
Born: May 3, 1888 in Chicago, IL
Died: January 11, 1981 (age 92)
Never Married
Known for the Movies: The Gorgeous Hussy, Of Human Hearts, Make Way for Tomorrow, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Penny Serenade, It’s a Wonderful Life
My Favorite Beulah Bondi Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life Continue reading »
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads reading this!
Last year on Mother’s Day, I did a post listing my favorite movie and television moms, so this year I thought I would do the same with dads.
As with the moms on my list, I tried to chose dads that had some of the same special qualities as my late father who was the best dad anyone could ever ask for!
Instead of pictures this time, I’ve included links to some relevant YouTube videos for a few of these wonderful dads!
My Favorite Movie and Television Dads (in no particular order):
- Judge James K. Hardy from the Andy Hardy series of movies – played by Lewis Stone – Judge Hardy was a bit like my own dad in that he was stern when he needed to be but was really a softy at heart. One of my fondest memories I have of my dad is when he used to ground us and then 20 minutes later un-ground us and apologize for yelling at us.
- George Bailey from the movie It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – played by Jimmy Stewart – Of course I had to include my favorite actor on this list. Even through his fear and despair, you can see the love George Bailey has for his children in this touching scene from the movie. Continue reading »
For this week’s entry in my Saturday State Post series, I chose the state of Kentucky because it is the home state of an actress I’ve recently been learning more about, Patricia Neal.
As I mentioned in my post about movie podcasts, I’ve been listening to interviews that were conducted by Turner Classic Movies’ host Robert Osborne as part of the TCM series called Private Screenings. I found the interview he did with Patricia Neal to be very inspirational, and I admire the courage she showed in dealing with the many difficulties in her life, some of which you can read more about below.
A few of the actors and actresses from the state of Kentucky are:
Irene Dunne
Born: December 20, 1898 in Louisville, KY
Died: September 4, 1990 (age 91)
Married once for 27 years until her husband’s death in 1965
Known for the Movies: Cimarron, Roberta, Show Boat, Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth, Love Affair, My Favorite Wife, Penny Serenade, Life with Father, I Remember Mama
My Favorite Irene Dunne Movie: The Awful Truth Continue reading »
Let’s Connect!