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Betty Farrington
Betty Farrington (May 14, 1898 – February 3, 1989) was an American character actress active from the 1920s through 1960. Career overview Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Betty Farrington played mostly supporting and minor roles during her career, although she occasionally was given a featured or leading part, appearing in almost 100 films during her career. Some of the more notable films she appeared in include: Preston Sturges' ''The Lady Eve'' (1941), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda; 1942's ''My Favorite Blonde'' and 1947's ''My Favorite Brunette'', both starring Bob Hope; the classic film noir ''Double Indemnity'' (1944), starring Fred MacMurray, Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson; 1944's '' The Uninvited'', starring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey; Cecil B. Demille's '' Unconquered'' (1948), starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard; the epic ''Samson and Delilah'' (1950), with Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles; ''Father of the Bride'' (1950), directed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after. Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about , making ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unconquered (1947 Film)
''Unconquered'' is a 1947 American historical epic adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard. The supporting cast features Boris Karloff, Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Howard Da Silva, Katherine DeMille (the director's daughter), C. Aubrey Smith and Mike Mazurki. Released by Paramount Pictures, the film depicts the violent struggles between American colonists and Native Americans on the western frontier in the mid-18th century during the 1763 Pontiac's Rebellion, primarily around Fort Pitt (modern-day Pittsburgh). The film is characterized by DeMille's lavish style, including colourful costumes and sets, thousands of extras, violence, and sensationalism. Plot In London in 1763, Abigail "Abby" Hale (Paulette Goddard) is tried for the death of a Royal Navy officer which occurred when she tried to save her sick brother from the press gang. The judge condemns her to be hanged, then offers her the "king's mercy": transpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilities as a dancer, and she was paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; her films include ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), ''The Band Wagon'' (1953), ''Brigadoon'' with Gene Kelly and Van Johnson (1954) and '' Silk Stockings'' (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film and television, and in 1991 made her Broadway debut. In her later years, she discussed the history of the Hollywood musical in documentaries, and was featured in ''That's Entertainment! III'' in 1994. She was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities in 2006. Early life Cyd Charisse was born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, the daughter of Lela (née Norwood) and Ernest Enos Finklea Sr., who was a jeweler. Her nick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, he was known for his uncanny sense of rhythm, creativity, and tireless perfectionism. Astaire's most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, whom he co-starred with in 10 Hollywood musicals during the classic age of Hollywood cinema. Astaire and Rogers starred together in ''Top Hat'' (1935), '' Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). Astaire's fame grew in films like ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), '' Easter Parade'' (1948), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), '' Funny Face'' (1957), and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Band Wagon
''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of the ''Faust'' legend and brings in a ''prima ballerina'' who clashes with the star. Along with ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), it is regarded as one of the finest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals, although it was a modest box-office success on first release. The songs were written by the team of composer Arthur Schwartz and lyricist Howard Dietz. Schwartz was a prolific Hollywood composer who teamed with numerous lyricists over the years, while Dietz, a studio publicist, generally collaborated with Schwartz. Some of the songs in the film had been created for the original 1931 Broadway musical by Schwartz and Dietz, also titled ''The Band Wagon,'' with a book by George S. Kaufman a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh- greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema. Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film ''There's One Born Every Minute'' (1942), but the studio ended her contract after a year. She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in ''National Velvet'' (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy ''Father of the Bride'' (195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 films from the era of silent films, well into the sound era. She is best remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz Lang's films—including '' Man Hunt'' (1941), '' The Woman in the Window'' (1944) and ''Scarlet Street'' (1945)—and for her television role as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (and ancestors Naomi Collins, Judith Collins, and Flora Collins PT) in the gothic 1960s soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', for which she received an Emmy nomination in 1968. Bennett's career had three distinct phases: first as a winsome blonde ingenue, then as a sensuous brunette femme fatale (with looks that movie magazines often compared to those of Hedy Lamarr), and finally as a warmhearted wife-and-mother figure. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Tracy first discovered his talent for acting while attending Ripon College, and he later received a scholarship for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of stock companies and intermittently on Broadway. His breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in ''The Last Mile'' caught the attention of Hollywood. After a successful film debut in John Ford's ''Up the River'' (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''The Band Wagon'' (1953), and '' Gigi'' (1958). ''An American in Paris'' and ''Gigi'' both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Minnelli winning Best Director for ''Gigi''. In addition to having directed some of the best known musicals of his day, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas.Obituary ''Variety'', July 30, 1986. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; the couple were the parents of Liza Minnelli. Early life Lester Anthony Minnelli was born on February 28, 1903, to Marie Émilie Odile Lebeau and Vincent Charles Minnelli. He was baptized in Chicago, and was the youngest of four known sons, only two of whom survived to adulthood. His mother's stage name was Mina Gennell, and his father was the musical cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Father Of The Bride (1950 Film)
''Father of the Bride'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli about a man trying to cope with preparations for his daughter's wedding. The film stars Spencer Tracy in the title role, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, and Leo G. Carroll. It was adapted by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from the 1949 novel by Edward Streeter. ''Father of the Bride'' was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay. Plot Following the wedding of his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor), Stanley T. Banks (Spencer Tracy), a successful suburban lawyer, recalls the day, three months earlier, when he first learned of Kay's engagement to Buckley Dunstan ( Don Taylor). At the family dinner table, Kay's casual announcement that she is in love with Buckley and has accepted his proposal makes Stanley feel uneasy, but he soon comes to realize that his daughter has grown up and the wedding is inevit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actresses of all time. After a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial '' Ecstasy'' (1933), she fled from her first husband, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer, and secretly moved to Paris. Traveling to London, she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood. She became a film star with her performance in ''Algiers'' (1938). Her MGM films include ''Lady of the Tropics'' (1939), ''Boom Town'' (1940), '' H.M. Pulham, Esq.'' (1941), and ''White Cargo'' (1942). Her greatest success was as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's Bible-inspired ''Samson and Delilah'' (1949). She also acted on television before the release of her final film, '' The Female Animal'' (1958). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darling Clementine'' (1946), '' Kiss of Death'' (1947), ''Samson and Delilah'' (1949), and ''The Robe'' (1953). He also appeared in many musicals opposite such stars as Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable. Early life Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His father, Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, was a cutler and knife sharpener from Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol (now Trentino in Italy, but at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His mother, Clara P. (Ackley), was Kentucky-born and of Swiss heritage. An older brother, Marcellus Paul Mature, died of osteomyelitis in 1918 at age 11. His only sister, Isabelle, born and died in 1906. Victor attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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