Author Archives: Hannah K.

Classic Hollywood #144 – Lucy & Desi 4 Years After Filing For Divorce – 1948

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Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz At The Brown Derby Restaurant – 1948

Lucille Ball flashes her best smile as her husband, Desi Arnaz fumbles with a corsage as they dine at the Brown Derby. photo: Acme 3-6-48

In 1948 Lucille Ball was starring in the CBS radio program My Favorite Husband. With the success of the show CBS proposed that Lucy develop My Favorite Husband for the growing medium of television. That show would become I Love Lucy starring Lucy and real life husband Desi Arnaz.

Let’s then contemplate that Lucy’s phenomenal success may never have occurred had she gone through with the divorce she filed against Desi Arnaz on September 7, 1944. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #143 – Cary Grant & Randolph Scott, “Eligible Bachelors”

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Cary Grant & Randolph Scott At Home -1935

Two Male Stars Share A House

“Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That”

Did the two “eligible bachelor” movie stars living together have more than a roommate experience?

Here is what Continue reading →

Amelia Earhart When She Was A Child

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The Young Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart As A Girl
Boston- Amelia Earhart, the daring Boston aviatrix who with Wilmer Stultz and Lou Gordon is at Trepassey, Newfoundland waiting for favorable weather to hop off in her tri-motored Fokker plane for England, is pictured above as a young girl. At left she is shown at the age of 3 with her sister Muriel Curtis Earhart, who is now a school teacher, and at the right Amelia is shown at the age of 7 years. photo: International Newsreel 6-5-1928

Amelia Earhart (b. 1897) disappeared on July 2, 1937. But she remains today arguably the most famous woman pilot in history. The newspapers that ran this photo back in 1928 were caught up in the birth of Earhart-mania. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #136 – Sylvia Sidney 1933

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Sylvia Sidney In An Unusual Pose

Caption on rear of photograph: “Sylvia Sidney is appearing in Paramount Pictures.” photo: Paramount Pictures 1933

Sylvia Sidney (1910-1999) was born in the Bronx as Sophia Kosow. Sylvia’s father and mother divorced soon after her birth. Her mother married Sigmund Sidney and he adopted her. By the time she was 15 Sylvia had decided she wanted to be an actor and started taking lessons at Theater Guild’s School For Acting. Appearing on stage in an amateur production a New York Times critic who happened to catch the performance gave her rave reviews. More stage roles lead to Hollywood talent scouts knocking on her door.

By the 1930s Sylvia was starring in major films such as Fury (with Spencer Tracy), Sabotage (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) and Dead End (with Humphrey Bogart).  Sylvia married Random House publisher Bennett Cerf in 1935. The marriage lasted less than seven months. In his autobiography, Cerf states Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #134 – Rita Hayworth

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RIta Hayworth – 1947

Gorgeous Rita Hayworth plays Terpsichore, glamour goddess of classic Greece in Columbia’s Technicolor musical “Down To Earth” photo: Ned Scott (Columbia Pictures)

To say Down To Earth (1947) has a bizarre plot-line is an understatement. The goddess Terpsichore comes down from the heavens to earth when she finds out there will be a Broadway play about Greek mythology. She then gets a part in the play and suggests changes to the producer. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #133 – Louise Henry

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Louise Henry MGM Ingenue

After appearing in an uncredited role in the 1934 Laurel and Hardy picture Hollywood Party, Louise Henry was signed by MGM to a long term contract. The Hollywood Reporter described Louise as a “New York society girl.”

Over the next five years Louise made 21 films.  Despite her beauty, Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #132 – Robert Preston & Dorothy Lamour

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Romantic Couple Robert Preston & Dorothy Lamour Bid Adieu 1940

ROMANTIC COUPLE SEPARATES
But not for long, perhaps. Here are Robert Preston and Dorothy Lamour, who met and fell in love during the making of the Paramount production, “Typhoon,” together at a farewell party for Dorothy before she left for a vacation in Honolulu. Friends gathered at the Cocoanut Grove to bid her bon voyage, Preston abandoning his work in the San Jacinto mountains on Northwest Mounted Police” to keep the date. Photo: Paramount, May 11, 1940

As many co-stars do, Preston and Lamour did have a love affair during the filming of Typhoon. Despite the intimation that this vacation break was temporary, the young and glamorous couple did soon permanently separate.

Dorothy Lamour

Dorothy Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton (December 10 1914) in New Orleans, LA.

Lamour was three years older than Robert Preston, so maybe age and life experience differences would hasten the end of the relationship.

Robert Preston & Dorothy Lamour, Cocoanut Grove nightclub Ambassador Hotel Los Angeles 1940. photo: Paramount

Soon after the love affair was over Preston married actress Kay Feltus (professionally known as Catherine Craig) on November 8, 1940 in Las Vegas. The two had met while studying acting together at the Pasadena School of the Theatre. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #131 – John Wayne & Wife Pilar Pallete

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John Wayne & Pilar Pallete Attend A Fundraiser – 1961

While recently visiting my 14-year-old nephew who lives in Orange County, CA, I asked him when he travels what airport does he fly out of?

He replied,” John Wayne Airport.”

It then occurred to me, “do you know who John Wayne is?” I queried him.

The answer should not have surprised me. The answer of course was no. “A politician,” he guessed.

I mean fame is fleeting but for goodness sake, John Wayne? Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #129 Titanic’s “Old Rose” Gloria Stuart When Young

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Gloria Stuart

Gloria Stuart (b. July 4, 1910) played “Old Rose” in James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) and was nominated for Best Actress in A Supporting Role. She did not win.

This is what Gloria Stuart looked like in the early 1930s.

Gloria Stuart 1930sVivacious and pretty, Gloria Stuart was a movie star throughout the 1930s appearing in 43 films. Continue reading →