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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 »
As mentioned in my post from a few weeks ago about classic movie actors from Wisconsin, I decided to start a series highlighting the birth states of other well known classic movie stars, eventually covering the remaining 49 states over the course of this year. Not wanting to play favorites, I came up with a way to randomly assign a number order to the other states. So next up in the series . . . the Lone Star State, Texas.
Here are just a few stars from that state:
Joan Crawford
Born: March 23, 1905 in San Antonio, TX
Died: May 10, 1977 (aged 72)
Married five times including marriages to actors Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Franchot Tone
Known for the Movies: Grand Hotel, The Women, Mildred Pierce, Humoresque, Daisy Kenyon
Interesting Facts About Joan Crawford:
- Her real name was Lucille Le Sueur. MGM did not feel that was a fitting name for a star so they held a contest in Photoplay magazine asking readers to vote on a new name for her, which is how she became known as Joan Crawford. In private however, she preferred to be called by her childhood nickname, Billie.
- She married the Chairman of the Board of the Pepsi-Cola Co. in 1956 and continued on as an executive and spokesman for the company even after her husband died in 1959.
- She was Fred Astaire’s first onscreen dance partner, appearing with him in the movie Dancing Lady (1933). Continue reading »
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