Irene (1940 Film)
''Irene'' is a 1940 American musical film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox. The screenplay by Alice Duer Miller is based on the libretto of the 1919 stage musical '' Irene'' by James Montgomery, who had adapted it from his play ''Irene O'Dare''. The score features songs with music by Harry Tierney and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. Plot Upholsterer's assistant Irene O'Dare meets wealthy Don Marshall while she is measuring chairs for Mrs. Herman Vincent at her Long Island estate. Charmed by the young girl, Don anonymously purchases Madame Lucy's, an exclusive Manhattan boutique, and instructs newly hired manager Mr. Smith to offer Irene a job as a model. She soon catches the eye of socialite Bob Vincent, whose mother is hosting a ball at the family mansion. In order to promote Madame Lucy's dress line, Mr. Smith arranges for his models to be invited to the soiree. Irene lets her friend Jane dance around holding up the gown she was given to wear, the “Flaming Rosebud”. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife Anna Neagle. Early life Wilcox's mother was from County Cork, Ireland, and Wilcox considered himself Irish, but he was born in Norwood, south London.7 Dagmar Villas, Gipsy Road. ''Mr Michael Thornton'' re Mr Herbert Wilcox. ''The Times'', Thursday, 19 May 1977; p. 18; Issue 60007; col F His family moved to Brighton when Wilcox was eight years old; he was one of five children. His family were poor and Wilcox had to do a number of part-time jobs, including some work as a chorus boy at the local Hippodrome. His mother died of tuberculosis when she was 42. Wilcox left school before the age of fourteen to find work. Shortly afterwards, his father died at the age of 42. Wilcox began earning money as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ''upholder'', which referred to an artisan who makes fabric furnishings. The term is equally applicable to domestic, automobile, airplane and boat furniture, and can be applied to mattresses, particularly the upper layers, though these often differ significantly in design. A person who works with upholstery is called an ''upholsterer''. An apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an ''outsider'' or ''trimmer''. Traditional upholstery uses materials like coil springs (post-1850), animal hair (horse, hog and cow), coir, straw and hay, hessians, linen scrims, wadding, etc., and is done by hand, building each layer up. In contrast, today's upholsterers employ synthetic materials like dacron and vinyl, serpentine springs, and so on. Histor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Jean Heydt
Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sources have it) in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of German parents George Frederick Heydt, a jeweler and the secretary and executor for Louis Comfort Tiffany, and the former Emma Foerster.''The New York Times'', August 18, 1928 He was educated at Montclair High School, Worcester Academy. and Dartmouth College, graduating from the latter in 1926. He initially wanted to be a journalist and worked as a reporter for ''The New York World''. Career Stage Heydt received his start in the theatre while visiting a classmate backstage while ''The Trial of Mary Dugan'' was in rehearsal. As an actual reporter, he caught the attention of the producers and was offered the role of a reporter in the play. He made his stage debut therein and went on to a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nella Walker
Nella Walker (March 6, 1886 – March 22, 1971) was an American actress and vaudeville performer of the 1920s through the 1950s. Biography The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walker, she was born and raised in Chicago. In 1910, she married Wilbur Mack. In 1912, they formed the vaudeville team Mack and Walker. By 1929, she had launched a film acting career, her first film role being in ''Tanned Legs''. She appeared in three films in 1929 and easily transitioned to sound films, appearing in another four films in 1930, possibly making the smooth transition because she was never an established actress in silent films. In 1931, her film career took off, with appearances in 10 films that year, five of which were uncredited. Her marriage ended not long after her film career was on the rise, and from 1932 to 1933, she appeared in 15 films, only five of which were uncredited. In 1935, her career improved, and from this year to 1938, she had 23 film appearances. Her biggest film app ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Juliette Compton
Juliette Compton (May 3, 1899 – March 19, 1989) was an American actress whose career began in the silent film era and concluded with ''That Hamilton Woman'' in 1941. Career Compton was born in Columbus, Georgia, on May 3, 1899. She was a model for illustrator Harrison Fisher, and perhaps his favorite model. Compton's show business career began when she acted in ''The Kiss Burglar'' in New York. That was followed by a season in the Ziegfeld Follies. In London, she appeared on stage for three years, including acting in ''The League of Notions'' and went on to act in British films for five years. Financial problems On January 4, 1927, a bankruptcy court in London, England, appointed an official receiver for Compton after presentation of evidence that she had no assets and had liabilities of $37,500. A news brief distributed by International News Service said that a nervous breakdown suffered by Compton was "attributed to difficulties in which she finds herself over debts." ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were '' Ceiling Zero'', ''Marked Woman'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', and ''Gone with the Wind''. Early life Born in Shoshoni, Wyoming on July 19, 1907, Jewell was the daughter of Emory Lee Jewell and Livia A. Willoughby Jewell. Her father was "a prominent...doctor and medical researcher." She was educated at St. Mary's Academy in Minnesota and at Hamilton College in Kentucky. Career After years in theater stock companies, including an 87-week stint in Lincoln, Nebraska, she got a part on Broadway in ''Up Pops the Devil'' (1930). She received glowing critical reviews for ''Blessed Event'' (1932) as well. Jewell's film debut came in ''Blessed Event'' (1932). She had been brought to Hollywood by Warner Brothers for the film version of ''Up Pops the Devil''. Jewell gained other supporting roles, appearing in a variety of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marsha Hunt (actress, Born 1917)
Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress, model, and activist, with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism. She appeared in many films, including '' Born to the West'' (1937) with John Wayne, ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, ''Kid Glove Killer'' (1942) with Van Heflin, '' Cry 'Havoc''' (1943) with Margaret Sullavan and Joan Blondell, ''The Human Comedy'' (1943) with Mickey Rooney, '' Raw Deal'' (1948) with Claire Trevor, ''The Happy Time'' (1952) with Charles Boyer, and Dalton Trumbo's ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971). In the midst of the blacklist era, she became active in the humanitarian cause of world hunger and in her later years aided homeless shelters, supported same-sex marriage, raised awareness of climate change, and promoted peace in Third World countries. Early life Hunt was born ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet character Jeeves (''Thank You, Jeeves'', 1936) and the kind butler Andrews opposite Shirley Temple in ''Heidi'' (1937). In the 1960s, he became well known on American television as an announcer/sidekick to talk show host Merv Griffin, and as the support character Constable Jones in Disney's ''Mary Poppins'' (1964). He lent his name to the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain of restaurants. Personal life Treacher was the son of Arthur Veary Treacher (1862–1924), a Sussex solicitor; his mother was Alice Mary Longhurst (1865–1946). He was educated at a boarding school in Uppingham in Rutland. In 1936, he married Virginia Taylor (1898–1984). Acting career Treacher was a veteran of World War I, serving as an officer of the Royal Gar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musical '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). Burke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in '' Merrily We Live'' (1938). She is also remembered for her appearances in the '' Topper'' film series. Her unmistakably high-pitched, quivering and aristocratic voice, made her a frequent choice to play dimwitted or spoiled society types. She was married to Broadway producer and impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. from 1914 until his death in 1932. Early life Burke was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Blanche (née Beatty) and her second husband, William "Billy" Ethelbert Burke. She toured the United States and Europe with her father, a singer an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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May Robson
Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she is remembered for the dozens of films she appeared in during the 1930s, when she was in her 70s. Robson was the earliest-born woman, and the first Australian to be nominated for an Academy Award (for her leading role in ''Lady for a Day'' in 1933). Early life Mary Jeanette Robison was born 19 April 1858 at Moama, in the Colony of New South Wales, in what she described as "the Australian bush". She was the fourth child of Julia, née Schlesinger (or Schelesinger) and Henry Robison; her siblings were Williams, James and Adelaide. Henry Robison was born in Penrith, Cumberland, England and lived in Liverpool. He served 24 years in the foreign trade of the British Merchant Navy as a mate and a sea captain. He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gossip Columnist
A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities from show business (motion picture movie stars, theater, and television actors), politicians, professional sports stars, and other wealthy people or public figures. Some gossip columnists broadcast segments on radio and television. The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and innuendo about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems. Gossip columnists have a reciprocal relationship with the celebrities whose private lives are splashed about in the gossip column's pages. While gossip columnists sometimes engage in (borderline) defamatory conduct, spreading innuendo about ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east. Park Avenue's entire length was formerly called Fourth Avenue; the title still applies to the section between Cooper Square and 14th Street. The avenue is called Union Square East between 14th and 17th Streets, and Park Avenue South between 17th and 32nd Streets. History Early years and railroad construction The entirety of Park Avenue was originally known as Fourth Avenue and carried the tracks of the New York and Harlem Railroad starting in the 1830s. The railroad originally ran through an open cut through Murray Hill, which was covered with grates and grass between 34th and 40th Street in the early 1850s. A section of this "park" was later renamed Park Avenue in 1860. Park Avenue's original southern terminus was a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |