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Gladys Blake
Gladys Blake (born Gladys Timmons, May 12, 1910 – May 21, 1983) was an American character actress from the 1930s to the 1950s. Biography Blake was born on January 12, 1910 in Luray, Virginia. Her mother, Ada Timmons, died when Gladys was less than a year old. At fourteen, she entered the theater world in a stock company, before moving on to vaudeville. In vaudeville, she met her husband, Lee Gresham, and the two formed an act together. While performing in Los Angeles, they were noticed by producer Edward Small, which led to her beginning in the film industry. Blake made her film debut in a small role in ''I Have Lived'' (1933), directed by Richard Thorpe. She had her first featured role later that same year in ''Rainbow over Broadway'', which Thorpe also directed. Over her 20-year career, she appeared in over 100 films. She was noted for playing very talkative supporting roles. Appearing mostly in supporting or bit parts, she was occasionally given a featured role, as in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Career Girl (1944 Film)
''Career Girl'' is a 1944 American musical film directed by Wallace Fox and starring Frances Langford. It was PRC's answer to Columbia's ''Cover Girl''. This film is in the public domain. Plot summary Kansas City girl Joan Terry has come to New York to conquer Broadway as thousands have before her. Advised to maintain an appearance of wealth, she has been living in an expensive hotel until she is discovered. With no offers coming in she moves to an economical women's boarding house full of equally unsuccessful actresses, singers, and dancers. However, when Joan demonstrates her ability in the traditional newcomer's show for the residents, the girls recognise her considerable talent and form a corporation to support her until she is discovered and can pay them back from her earnings. Joan has a further problem when her impatient fiancée, a Kansas City coal mines owner, orders her to return home in failure to become his meek housewife. When she carries on in her plans, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling medicine show. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, and then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The "Doughnut Dunkers" pantomime sketch, which he wrote together with his wife, launched a career for him in vaudeville, radio, and films. His radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on ''The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'', which led to his becoming the host of ''Avalon Time'' in 1938. He became t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
By Appointment Only (1933 Film)
''By Appointment Only'' is a 1933 American pre-Code film directed by Frank R. Strayer. Successful doctor Michael Travers (Lew Cody) juggles a busy schedule of patients, one of whom is the mother of 14-year-old Judy (Sally O'Neil). After Judy's mother dies, Travers and his fiancé, Diane Manners (Aileen Pringle), take responsibility for Judy's care. Upon returning from a three-year trip to Europe, Travers finds himself falling in love with Judy, despite her engagement to Diane's younger brother, Dick. Tensions rise as the four become aware of each other's feelings. Travers finally realizes how things must be, and the film ends with the marriage of Judy and Dick. Cast *Lew Cody as Dr. Michael Travers *Aileen Pringle as Diane Manners *Sally O'Neil as Judy Carroll *Edward Morgan as Richard "Dick" Manners *Edward Martindel as Judge Barry Phelps *Wilson Benge as Withers, the Butler *Marceline Day as Miss Brown aka Brownie *Claire McDowell as Mrs. Mary Carroll *Pauline Garon as Gwen R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leadership The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO, film historian Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens Jr. (from the organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007). History The American Film Institute was founded by a 1965 presidential mandate announced in the Rose Garden of the White House by Lyndon B. Johnson—to establish a national arts organization to preserve the legacy of American film heritage, educate the next generation of filmmaker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Morgan
Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner, December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obituary, he was "a twinkly-eyed handsome charmer with a shy smile and a pleasant tenor voice in carefree and inconsequential Warner Bros musicals of the forties, accompanied by Jack Carson."Too slick to play Rick Obituary:Dennis Morgan Bergan, Ronald. The Guardian October 18, 1994. Another said, "for all his undoubted star potential, Morgan was perhaps cast once too often as the likeable, clean-cut, easy-going but essentially uncharismatic young man who typically loses his girl to someone more sexually magnetic." David Shipman said he "was comfortable, good-looking, well-mannered: the antithesis of the gritty Bogart." Life and career Early life Morgan was born in the village of Prentice in Price County in northern Wisconsin, the son of Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally-known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison". After an absence of nearly two years fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Woman Is Dangerous
''This Woman Is Dangerous'' is a 1952 American film noir crime drama by Warner Bros. starring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Dennis Morgan in a story about a gun moll's romances with two different men. The screenplay by Geoffrey Homes and George Worthing Yates was based on a story by Bernard Girard. The film was directed by Felix E. Feist and produced by Robert Sisk. Cast * Joan Crawford as Elizabeth 'Beth' Austin * Dennis Morgan as Dr. Ben Halleck * David Brian as Matt Jackson * Mari Aldon as Ann Jackson * Richard Webb as Franklin * Philip Carey as Will Jackson * Ian MacDonald as Joe Grossland * Katherine Warren as Admitting Nurse * George Chandler as Dr. Ryan * Sherry Jackson as Susan Halleck Production Since the script of a gangster who saw the light had become trite by the 1950s, some sources suggest that studio head Jack L. Warner offered Crawford the role hoping the expensive star would turn it down so he could put her on suspension. That could also be the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Greatest Show On Earth (film)
''The Greatest Show on Earth'' is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring and Charlton Heston as the circus manager. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his makeup, and Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles. In addition to the actors, the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus' 1951 troupe appears in the film with its complement of 1,400 people, hundreds of animals and 60 railroad cars of equipment and tents. The actors learned their circus roles and participated in the acts. The film's storyline is supported by lavish production values, actual circus acts and documentary-style views into the complex logistics behind big-top circuses. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
