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Virginia Grey
Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and a number of radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Biography Grey was born on March 22, 1917, in Edendale, California, the youngest of three daughters of Florence Anna Grey (née Pauly; 1890—1930) and director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of 10 in the silent film ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1927) as Little Eva. She continued acting for a few more years, but then left movies for three years to finish her education. Grey gave up on training to be a nurse and returned to films in the 1930s with bit parts and work as an extra. She eventually signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and appeared in several films, including '' The Hardys Ride High'' (1939) with Mickey Rooney, '' Another Thin Man'' (1939) with William Powell, ''Hullabaloo'' (1940), and '' The Big Store'' (1941) with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edendale, Los Angeles
Edendale is a historical name for a district in Los Angeles, California, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, in what is known today as Echo Park, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. In the opening decades of the 20th century, in the era of silent movies, Edendale was known as the home of most major movie studios on the West Coast. Among its many claims, it was home to the Keystone Kops, and the site of many movie firsts, including Charlie Chaplin's first movie, the first feature-length comedy, and the first pie-in-the-face. The Edendale movie studios were mostly concentrated in four-block stretch of Allesandro Street, between Berkeley Avenue and Duane Street Allesandro Street was later renamed Glendale Boulevard (and a smaller nearby street took on the name Allesandro). Edendale's hilly streets and nearby lake lent themselves to many silent movie gags. The district's heyday as the center of the motion picture industry was in the 1910s. By the 1920s, the studios had moved elsewhere, mostly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hullabaloo (film)
Hullabaloo is a 1940 American musical comedy film directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Nat Perrin. It stars Frank Morgan, Virginia Grey, Dan Dailey, Billie Burke, Donald Meek, Reginald Owen, and Connie Gilchrist. Jack Albertson, Leo Gorcey, and Arthur O'Connell appear in bit roles. Plot Morgan is the star of the film, as fading actor Frankie Merriweather, who is trying to revive his career by starring on a radio program. When his most recent broadcast, a science fiction invasion from Mars story, panics the nation, he is fired. He decides to jumpstart his career by creating a new show which features his talented children. Cast * Frank Morgan as Frankie Merriweather * Virginia Grey as Laura Merriweather * Dan Dailey as Bob Strong * Billie Burke as Penny Merriweather * Nydia Westman as Lulu Perkins * Ann Morriss as Wilma Norton * Donald Meek as Clyde Perkins * Reginald Owen as Buzz Foster * Charles Holland as Singing Bellhop * Leni Lynn as Judy Merriweather * Virginia O'Brien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvia Ashley
Sylvia, Lady Ashley (born Edith Louisa Hawkes, 1 April 1904 – 29 June 1977) was an English model, actress, and socialite who was best known for her numerous marriages to British and Georgian noblemen and American movie stars. Early life Ashley was born as Edith Louisa Hawkes on 1 April 1904, at 112 Hall Place, Paddington, London, England, the elder daughter of Edith Florence Hyde and Arthur Hawkes. The family moved to nearby Wharncliffe Gardens, Lisson Grove, before 1910. She later renamed herself Sylvia and preferred giving her year of birth as 1906. Her 1927 marriage certificate records her name as Edith Louisa Sylvia Hawkes and her father as Arthur Hawkes (deceased), gentleman. Her father was a livery stable employee, latterly porter in a block of flats and doorman at a restaurant. When he died, his younger daughter administered his estate. Ashley's sister, Lilian Vera Hawkes married British film producer Basil Bleck on 18 December 1929. Professional career As Sylvia H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Lombard was born into a wealthy family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but was raised in Los Angeles by her single mother. At 12, she was recruited by director Allan Dwan and made her screen debut in ''A Perfect Crime'' (1921). Eager to become an actress, she signed a contract with the Fox Film Corporation at age 16, but mainly played bit parts and was dropped after a year. Her career came close to ending shortly before her 19th birthday when a shattered windshield from a car accident left a scar on her face, but she overcame this challenge and appeared in fifteen short comedies for Mack Sennett between 1927 and 1929, and then began appearing in feature films such as ''Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man. Gable died of a heart attack at the age of 59; his final on-screen appearance was as an aging cowboy in '' The Misfits'', released posthumously in 1961. Born and raised in Ohio, Gable traveled to Hollywood where he began his film career as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926. He progressed to supporting roles for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his first leading role in '' Dance, Fools, Dance'' (1931) was alongside Joan Crawford, who requested him for the part. His role in the romantic drama '' Red Dust'' (1932) with reigning sex symbol Jean Harlow, made him MGM's biggest male star. Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Frank Capra's romantic comedy '' It Happened One Night'' (1934), co-starri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madame X (1966 Film)
''Madame X'' is a 1966 American drama film directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Lana Turner. It is based on the 1908 play ''Madame X'' by French playwright Alexandre Bisson. Plot Holly Parker, a lower-class woman, marries into the rich Anderson family, and her husband Clayton is a diplomat with strong political aspirations. Her mother-in-law Estelle looks down on her and keeps a watchful eye on her activities. Lonely and reclusive during Clayton's long, frequent assignments abroad, Holly forms a relationship with a well-known playboy, Phil Benton. Clayton suddenly returns and informs Holly that he has secured a promotion in Washington, D.C., where he wishes to take Holly and their son Clay to begin a regular family life. Holly agrees and goes to Phil's apartment to end their relationship. Phil reacts by trying to physically force Holly to stay, but tumbles down a staircase in the struggle and dies. Holly panics and leaves the scene. She is confronted by Estelle, who had hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Back Street (1961 Film)
''Back Street'' is a 1961 American Eastmancolor drama film directed by David Miller, and produced by Ross Hunter. The screenplay was written by William Ludwig and Eleanore Griffin based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Fannie Hurst. The music score is by Frank Skinner, who also scored the 1941 version. The film stars Susan Hayward, John Gavin, and Vera Miles. The story follows two lovers who have limited opportunities to get together because one of them is married. Hedda Hopper claims Hunter was considering Gregory Peck and William Holden for the lead until she suggested John Gavin. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color (Jean Louis). Unlike the previous film versions, this one gives Susan Hayward plenty of opportunity to appear in Jean Louis's spectacular gowns. This was a trademark of Ross Hunter's remakes of older "weepies"; he employed the same method in Lana Turner's versions of ''Imitation of Life'' and ''Madame X.'' Of all three screen v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All That Heaven Allows
''All That Heaven Allows'' is a 1955 American drama romance film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter, and adapted by Peg Fenwick from a story by Edna L. Lee and Harry Lee. It stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in a tale about the social complications that arise following the development of a romance between a well-to-do widow and a younger man, who owns a tree nursery. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Plot Cary Scott is an affluent widow in the town of Stoningham, in suburban New England, whose social life revolves around the weekend visits of her college-age son and daughter, her best friend's country-club activities, and a few men vying for her affection. Feeling stuck in a rut, she becomes interested in Ron Kirby, her arborist. He is an intelligent, down-to-earth, and respectful, yet passionate, younger man, and she discovers he is content with his simple life outside the materialistic society in which the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ross Hunter
Ross Hunter (born Martin Terry Fuss; May 6, 1916 or 1920 – March 10, 1996) was an American film and television producer and actor. He is best known for producing light comedies such as '' Pillow Talk'' (1959), and the glamorous melodramas '' Magnificent Obsession'' (1954), ''Imitation of Life'' (1959), and '' Back Street'' (1961). Over the course of his career, Hunter produced films of various genres but found his greatest success with light-hearted comedies, musicals and melodramatic "tear jerkers" that were high on romance and glamour. Biography Early life Hunter was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His birth year is unclear, with sources indicating that he was born between 1916 and 1926, and even 1929. Given the fact that he worked as teacher before his service in World War II, then a 1916 or 1920 birth year are the most likely He was of Austrian Jewish and German Jewish descent. He attended Glenville High School where he later taught English and drama (he also taught these su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Movie Studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production company. Most firms in the entertainment industry have never owned their own studios, but have rented space from other companies. There are also independently owned studio facilities, who have never produced a motion picture of their own because they are not entertainment companies or motion picture companies; they are companies who sell only studio space. Beginnings In 1893, Thomas Edison built the first movie studio in the United States when he constructed the Black Maria, a tarpaper-covered structure near his laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, and asked circus, vaudeville, and dramatic actors to perform for the camera. He distributed these movies at vaudeville theaters, penny arcades, wax museums, and fairgrounds. The first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chico Marx
Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx (; March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, actor and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his brothers Adolph ("Harpo"), Julius ("Groucho"), Milton ("Gummo") and Herbert ("Zeppo"). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood (first-born was his older brother Manfred Marx who had died in infancy). In addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years. Early years Chico (pronounced as Chicko) was born in Manhattan, New York City, on March 22, 1887.During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harpo Marx
Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of vaudeville, clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish blond wig and was silent in all his movie appearances, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate. Marx frequently employed props such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn. Early life Harpo was born on November 23, 1888, in Manhattan, New York City. He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill (known at the time as Yorkville) on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue. The turn-of-the-century tenement that Harpo later called "the first real home I can remember" was situated in a neighborhood populated with European i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
