Category Archives: Classic Hollywood

Series: Photographs of Hollywood’s Cinema Stars

Classic Hollywood #32 – Busby Berkeley & Joe E. Brown

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Busby Berkeley and Joe E. Brown Check Out A Stripper – 1935

(l-r) Busby Berkeley Esther Burke Joe E Brown

(l-r) Busby Berkeley, Esther Burke, Joe E Brown

Stripper may not be the word for what Esther Burke did. But in the 1930’s it was close to it.

The women in the background are portraying burlesque performers and were part of the chorus of the 1935 Busby Berkeley comedy Bright Lights starring Joe E. Brown, Ann Dvorak, Patricia Ellis and William Demarest.

The caption to the publicity photo reads:

Esther Burke, burlesque queen is all ready to contribute her talents to the opening chapters of “Broadway Joe”, Joe E. Brown’s latest starring vehicle for Warner Bros., with Joe playing a comic with a burlesque troupe. (credit: International News Photo June 8, 1935)

Esther Burke was uncredited in the film, yet was featured singing a song, Powder My Back. Very little information could be found on her, except that she was indeed a burlesque performer during the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Director Busby Berkeley created some of the great images of the silver screen with overhead shots of intricate dance numbers featuring chorus girls.

Joe E. Brown is immortal for saying one of the greatest closing lines in movie history in Billy Wilder’s, Some Like It Hot (1959).

Warning: spoiler to follow if you have never seen the movie –

Jack Lemmon, who plays Daphne, a man masquerading as a woman, informs Brown’s character millionaire Osgood Fielding III, several reasons why they cannot marry, Brown is unperturbed.

Exasperated, Lemmon finally confesses he is a man to which Brown responds “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

Classic Hollywood #31 – Julie Newmar, Barbara Eden & Tina Louise

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Julie Newmar, Barbara Eden and Tina Louise (Catwoman, Jeannie and Ginger) Before TV Super-Stardom

In the mid 1960’s three television shows debuted that have achieved pop culture immortality status: Gilligan’s Island; I Dream of Jeannie and Batman. The beautiful women associated with these shows are forever young in TV re-runs.

Before they went on to become pop-culture legends, Julie Newmar, Barbara Eden and Tina Louise each posed for cheesecake photos in the 1950’s that displayed their natural assets.

Julie Newmar had appeared in films, television and on Broadway winning a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Marriage-Go-Round. Everlasting fame came to Julie Newmar playing Catwoman on Batman.

Barbara Eden starred in a number of television shows and some movies throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s before landing the title role in I Dream of Jeannie in 1965. The show ran for five seasons on NBC and is still seen today in syndication.

After modeling and appearing on Broadway in the 1950’s Tina Louise became a movie star in her film debut God’s Little Acre (1958) . When she took the role of Ginger Grant in Gilligan’s Island, Louise mistakenly thought via her agent that she would be the lead in the ensemble cast show according to series creator Sherwood Schwartz. Tina Louise believed Gilligan’s Island ruined her acting career and forever typecast her as a sex symbol rather than a serious actress. The show has been broadcast all over the world constantly ever since its CBS network run ended in 1967.

It’s hard to believe all three glamorous women are now in their early 80’s. Ironically, Tina Louise who believed her career was ruined by her participation in Gilligan’s Island, is the only one still actively seeking and getting acting roles.

Classic Hollywood #30 – Alec Guinness Predicted James Dean’s Death

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The Strange Tale Of How Obi-Wan Kenobe (Sir Alec Guinness) Eerily And Accurately Told James Dean He Was Going To Die In His New Car

James Dean Ursula Andress 1955 8 29 ph Earl Leaf

James Dean and Ursula Andress attend a benefit, one month before Dean’s death in a auto crash

James Dean is seen here talking to one of his “girlfriends,” the 19-year-old Swiss actress Ursula Andress. This photograph was taken at a benefit for the “Thalian’s Ball” on August 29, 1955 at Ciro’s in Hollywood and shows them in a non-combative mood. The sexually ambiguous Dean may have been set up on dates with Andress by the studio publicity department. Regardless, press accounts at the time refer to Andress and Dean as dating one another.

Even though Andress spoke very little English, their relationship was considered very stormy.  At one time it was reported by a tabloid that Dean was said to be taking German language lessons so that they could “argue in another language.” Andress would go on to fame as Honey Ryder, the first “Bond Girl” in 1962’s Dr. No.

Dean, an avid auto racer, agreed to purchase a new sports car on September 21 1955, a silver Porsche 550 Spyder that he nicknamed “Little Bastard” which was then painted on the car.

Two days later on September 23, Dean was eating at the trendy Villa Capri Restaurant on McCadden Street in Hollywood and spotted actor Alec Guinness trying to get a table without any success. Guinness was exhausted having just arrived from London on a 16 hour flight for his first trip to Hollywood. As Guinness and his companion, screenwriter Thelma Moss exited the restaurant, Dean ran after them to intercede. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #28 – Norma Talmadge

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Norma Talmadge

portraits Norma Talmadge on set

Norma Talmadge, was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era. She was born on May 26, 1894 in Jersey City, NJ, and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Norma had two sisters, Constance Talmadge, also a major star, who was in 83 films and Natalie Talmadge who appeared in nine films.

Norma appeared in over 200 silent pictures, most of which are now considered lost films. In 1916, Norma married film producer Joseph Schenck who became head of United Artists and would go on to become the chairman of 20th Century Fox.

As with many of the silent stars, Norma’s career ended with the advent of sound. By 1928 her career had already stalled to one film per year. There was talk in 1928 of reissuing her favorite film Smilin’ Through (1922), but Norma was staunch in her refusal to re-release it. Norma said, “I thought it was a lovely picture and the fans liked it. Why reissue it? I would rather people only had the peasant memory of it.” This attitude was similar to the screen’s biggest star Mary Pickford, who had said she would never allow any of her films to be released again.

Norma made two sound films, New York Nights (1929) and Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930). The Du Barry film was widely panned by critics and public alike. Norma then waited for the right script for her next movie. She said she was “favoring playing a comic role.” She never appeared in another film.

Instead, Norma Talmadge travelled the world and invested wisely in real estate, becoming very wealthy.

Legend has it that Norma Talmadge has the distinction of being the first to leave her handprints, footprints and signature at the would famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The apocryphal story Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #27 – Elsie Ferguson

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Elsie Ferguson Broadway And Silent Film Star

Elsie Ferguson 11 11 1918

Saying Elsie Ferguson (1883-1961) was “just” a star of the stage and screen is like saying Mickey Mantle was “just” a switch-hitting outfielder.

Elsie was one of the most beautiful and biggest stars on Broadway. “She is the shadow of beauty rather than beauty itself. She does not glow, she haunts,” a journalist said in 1914.

Elsie started her acting career in 1902 at the age of 16, and within just seven years, she made her way from the chorus to leading lady, starring in Channing Pollock’s 1909 comedy Such A Little Queen. In December 1916, an unnamed leading Broadway producer said, “There can be no doubt as to Elsie Ferguson’s supremacy on the stage.” He added that the actress had beauty, ability and versatility. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #26 – Jimmy Stewart & Ginger Rogers

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Jimmy Stewart & Ginger Rogers Win Oscars – 1941

James Stewart Ginger Rogers Oscars 1941

February 27, 1941 – the Oscars are awarded at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. This was the first time sealed envelopes were used to keep the winners names secret. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #25 – Dolores Costello

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Dolores Costello

Dolores Costello

The beautiful Dolores Costello (1903-1979) was nicknamed “The Goddess of The Silent Screen.”

Dolores’s father, Maurice Costello was a Broadway stage and early silent screen star, and her mother was stage actress Mae Costello. With that parentage, and her natural beauty, Dolores had access to enter motion pictures in New York at the age of six in 1909. After 1915 she took a break from films for the next eight years. She did some modeling and appeared on the stage. Famous illustrator James Montgomery Flagg who had used Dolores as a model described her beauty as the most perfect for his illustrations. Dolores returned to the screen briefly for some bit parts in 1923.

Dolores had a fairy tale rise to stardom after being “discovered” in Chicago in April 1925 by Jack Warner of Warner Bros., who was sitting in the audience watching Dolores in the chorus of George White’s Scandals.  A screen test followed, and she was signed to a motion picture contract.

In just under eight months after her arrival in Hollywood, Dolores appeared in a few supporting roles and then landed a big starring role opposite the legendary John Barrymore in The Sea Beast in 1926.

John Barrymore reportedly said of Dolores, “I have just seen the most beautiful woman in the world. I shall not rest or eat until I have seen her again.”

Barrymore and Costello appeared in a couple of films together and were married in 1928. The couple had two children, John Jr. and Dolores. Their marriage was tumultuous and they divorced in 1935.

Even though she had a lisp, Costello made a successful transition to sound films. Her most notable starring role was as Isabel, the widowed mother in Orson Welles 1942 drama, The Magnificent Ambersons. Her final film appearance was in 1943. Dolores spent the remainder of her life running an avocado ranch in Fallbrook, CA near San Diego.

Classic Hollywood #24 – W.C. Fields In Color

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W.C. Fields In A Rare Color Photograph Circa 1940

WC Fields color

W.C. Fields or Bill Fields to his friends, was one of the most talented comedians of the first half of the 20th century. He began his show business career in vaudeville as a juggler and worked his way up to top billing in the Ziegfeld Follies for a ten year stretch. From there he went on to become a major film star during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. Today, upon viewing his films, many people do not understand why he was considered funny. But I assure you there is a subtle brilliance in Fields’ portrayals of the henpecked husband, disreputable man and misunderstood misanthrope.

One of the more popular, yet apocryphal stories about Fields, was that he had hundreds of bank accounts spread across the country, many under ridiculous pseudonyms such as Otis Criblecoblis; Mahatma Kane Jeeves; Aristotle Hoop; Ludovic Fishpond; Figley E. Whitesides and so on. After Fields died in 1946, his mistress Carlotta Monti claimed that there was over $1.3 million in unclaimed funds in banks under the fake names. An assistant hired to solve the dilemma of Fields estate found only 24 accounts all under Fields real name. Continue reading →