Nelson Eddy, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner, Rosemary Clooney, Jayne Mansfield

Due to travel...there will be no blog entries from June 30 -July 8th

Who was born on this date:

Actor Nelson Eddy was born on June 29, 1901 in Providence, Rhode Island. He appeared in 19 musical’s during the 1930’s and 1940’s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred with Jeanette MacDonald.

Eddy was "discovered" by Hollywood when he substituted at the last minute for the noted diva, Lotte Lehmann, at a sold-out concert in Los Angeles on February 28, 1933. He scored a professional triumph with 18 curtain calls, and several film offers immediately followed. After much agonizing, he decided that being seen on screen might boost audiences for what he considered his "real work," his concerts. Eddy signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where he would make the first 14 of his 19 feature films. He appeared and sang one song each in Broadway to Hollywood and Dancing Lady, both in 1933, and Student Tour in 1934. Audience response was favorable, and he was cast as the male lead opposite the established star Jeanette MacDonald in Naughty Marietta (1935). This film was a surprise hit and its key song, "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life," became a hit and earned Eddy his first Gold Record. The film was nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture.

After Eddy and MacDonald left MGM in 1942, there were several unrealized films that would have reunited the team. Eddy signed with Universal in 1943 for a two-picture deal. The first was Phantom of the Opera and the second would have co-starred MacDonald. She filmed her two scenes for Follow the Boys then both stars severed ties with Universal, as Eddy was upset with how Phantom of the Opera turned out. Eddy visibly aged after the death of Jeanette MacDonald in January 1965. On January 31, 1960, he told Jack Paar on The Tonight Show that "I love her,” and he broke down when interviewed after her death. In March 1967, Eddy was singing "Dardanella" at the Sans Souci Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, when he was stricken on stage with a cerebral hemorrhage. His singing partner, Gale Sherwood, and his accompanist, Ted Paxson, were at his side. He died a few hours later in the early hours of March 6, 1967, at the age of 65. He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Who died on this date:

On June 29, 2003, actress Katharine Hepburn died. She is considered the first lady of American cinema, Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her father Thomas Houghton Hepburn was a prominent surgeon and her mother Katharine Martha Houghton was a renowned suffragette. The actress had strong family ties and spoke highly of her parents, she is quoted as saying “the single most important thing anyone needs to know about me is that I am totally, completely the product of two damn fascinating individuals who happen to be my parents.” Her upper-class upbringing helped with her on-screen character development; she often played the femme fatale or the slightly pretentious woman on a mission. She was a very unique person, head strong with plenty of arrogance that went against the traditional Hollywood starlet mold.
Her legendary film career spanned six decades (1932-1994), with over fifty feature motion picture credits. Hepburn was the winner of four best actress Academy Awards, Morning Glory (1932), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). Hepburn was also nominated for eight additional best actress awards, Alice Adams (1935), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Woman of the Year (1942), The African Queen (1951), Summer Time (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), and Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962).

Romantically, Hepburn was linked to many of the leading men of the era, they included; Howard Hughes, Leland Howard, and the self professed love of her life Spencer Tracy. The on and off screen chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn was very apparent in the nine films in which they both starred. Tracy was a married man who never divorced his wife because of his devout Catholicism. Hepburn and Tracy’s unconventional twenty-seven year romance ended with his death in 1967. In her 1991 memoir, Hepburn wrote about the romance, “I have no idea how Spence felt about me. I can only say, I think that if he hadn’t liked me, he wouldn’t have hung around. As simple as that. He wouldn’t talk about it, and I didn’t talk about it. We just passed twenty-seven years together in what was to be absolute bliss. It is called LOVE.”

One of the last true, iconic legends of the golden age of cinema, Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 at her home in Sunnybrook, Connecticut from complications of Parkinson’s disease and old age. A notoriously private person in life, her funeral was a private affair. She is buried in the family plot with her parents and other siblings at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut, section 10.

On June 29, 1995, actress Lana Turner died. She was born on February 8, 1921in Wallace, Idaho. She was discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget (1937). She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). During the early 1940s she established herself as a leading actress in such films as Johnny Eager (1941), Ziegfeld Girl (1941) and Somewhere I'll Find You (1942). She is known as one of the first Hollywood scream queens thanks to her role in the 1941 horror film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and her reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her performance in the film noir The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her popularity continued through the 1950s, in such films as The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Peyton Place (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

In 1958, her daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death. A coroner's inquest brought considerable media attention to Turner and concluded that Crane had acted in self defense. Turner's next film, Imitation of Life (1959), proved to be one of the greatest successes of her career, but from the early 1960s, her roles were fewer. She gained recognition near the end of her career with a recurring guest role in the television series Falcon Crest during 1982 and 1983. Turner made her final television appearance in 1991, and died from throat cancer on June 29, 1995. Her cremated remains are with family members.

On June 29, 2002, actress/ singer Rosemary Clooney died. She was born on May 23, 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky. She came to prominence in the early 1950’s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan. In 1954, she starred, along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen, in the movie White Christmas. She starred, in 1956, in a half-hour syndicated television musical-variety show The Rosemary Clooney Show. The show featured The Hi-Lo's singing group and Nelson Riddle's orchestra. The following year, the show moved to NBC prime time as The Lux Show Starring Rosemary Clooney but only lasted one season. The new show featured the singing group The Modernaires and Frank DeVol's orchestra. In later years, Clooney would often appear with Bing Crosby on television, such as in the 1957 special The Edsel Show, and the two friends made a concert tour of Ireland together. On November 21, 1957, she appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, a frequent entry in the "Top 20" and featuring a musical group called "The Top Twenty." In 1960, Clooney and Crosby co-starred in a 20-minute CBS radio program aired before the midday news each weekday. She guest-starred in the NBC television medical drama, ER (starring her nephew, George Clooney) in 1995; she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Clooney suffered for much of her life from bipolar disorder. She revealed this and other details of her life in her two autobiographies. Clooney was married twice to the movie star José Ferrer who was sixteen years her senior. They were first married from 1953 until 1961 and, despite his open infidelities, again from 1964 to 1967. She was diagnosed with lung cancer at the end of 2001. Despite surgery, she died six months later on June 29, 2002, at her Beverly Hills home and she is buried at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Maysville, Kentucky.

On June 29, 1967, actress Jayne Mansfield died. She was born on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950’s, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, hourglass figure and cleavage-revealing costumes. While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes. She won the Theatre World Award, a Golden Globe and a Golden Laurel. She's well-known for her starring roles in, The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the 1960’s, Mansfield was relegated to low-budget film melodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity. Her most noted film in the '60s was the romantic-comedy, Promises! Promises! (1963), in which she appeared nude in four scenes. In her later career she continued to attract large crowds in foreign countries and in lucrative and successful nightclub tours. Mansfield had been a Playboy Playmate of the Month and appeared in the magazine several additional times. She died in an automobile accident on June 29, 1967 at age 34 and is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Polly Moran

Who was born on this date:

Actress Polly Moran was born on June 28, 1883 in Chicago, Illinois.  She started out in vaudeville, and toured North America as well as Europe and South Africa. An attractive Irish beauty in her youth she left vaudeville in 1914 after signing for Mack Sennett at Keystone Studios where she honed her comedic talents. She proved effective at slapstick and remained with Sennett for several years until she was signed by MGM. She partnered with the famous Broadway star Marie Dressler in The Callahans and the Murphys (1927), and the two went on to appear in several films together such as Chasing Rainbows (1930) and Caught Short (1930). After Dressler's death in 1934, Moran's career declined, and she only starred in low budget comedies or B-movies, though she still maintained an active Hollywood social life, throwing large and well-publicized parties. She died on January 25, 1952 from a heart attack and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

John McIntire, Alberta Vaughn, Moroni Olsen, Jack Lemmon, Mona Barrie

Who was born on this date:

Actor John McIntire was born on June 27, 1907 in Spokane, Washington. A graduate of USC, McIntire began acting in radio and on stage, before embarking on a lengthy film and TV career as a character actor. He was already 40 when he made his big-screen debut in 1947, but went on to appear in over sixty films, often playing police chiefs, judges, crazy coots and western characters. His films include The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Psycho (1960), and Elmer Gantry (1960), but some of his more memorable roles were in western such as the acclaimed Winchester '73 (1950), The Far Country (1955), The Tin Star (1957). He also played a judge in Rooster Cogburn (1975), the sequel to True Grit featuring John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn. His final film role was in 1989's "Turner and Hooch."

In the mid-'50s, McIntire moved into television, appearing in anthology series, sitcoms and dramas, including a regular role on ABC's Naked City, before his character was killed off. Though McIntire had never had the lead role in a film, TV earned him his most prominent and long-running role when in 1961 he replaced the late Ward Bond in the popular NBC-ABC series Wagon Train, played trailmaster Chris Hale in more than 150 episodes between 1961 and 1965. He subsequently replaced actors Lee J. Cobb and Charles Bickford on NBC's The Virginian in 1967, playing Bickford's character's brother. Prior to his Wagon Train role, he guest starred as William Palmer in the series finale, "The Most Dangerous Gentleman", of the short-lived 1960 NBC western Overland Trail, starring William Bendix and Doug McClure, his subsequent co-star on The Virginian. He died from emphysema and lung cancer in Pasadena, California on January 30, 1991 and is buried at the Tobacco Valley Cemetery in Eureka, Montana.

Actress Alberta Vaughn was born on June 27, 1904 in Ashland, Kentucky. Her movie career began in 1921 and continued until 1935. She often co-starred with actor Al Cook in comedies of the late silent era. In 1934, she starred opposite John Wayne in Randy Rides Again. Her last film was in 1935’s, The Live Wire opposite Richard Talmadge. Scandals plagued Vaughn’s career and in March of 1949 Vaughn was jailed on an intoxication violation in Pasadena. She chose incarceration instead of paying a $25 fine. Her jail term was twelve and a half days. A previous drunken charge, then pending, would have added an additional four months to her sentence. Vaughn was arrested after an argument with her husband, John R. Thompson. The incident followed her release after serving eight months of a one year sentence on the earlier instance. She died in Studio City, California on April 26, 1992 and is buried at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.

Actor Moroni Olsen was born on June 27, 1889 in Ogden, Utah. In 1923 Olsen organized the "Moroni Olsen Players" out of Ogden. They performed at both Ogden's Orpheum Theatre and at various other locations spread from Salt Lake City to Seattle. After having worked on Broadway he made his film debut in a 1935 adaptation of The Three Musketeers. He later played a different role in a 1939 comedy version of the story, starring Don Ameche as D'Artagnan. One of his most famous roles was as “the voice” of the Magic Mirror in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Olsen died from a heart attack on November 22, 1954 and is buried at the Ogden City Cemetery in Ogden, Utah.

Who died on this date:

On June 27, 2001, actor Jack Lemmon died. He was born on February 8, 1925 in Newton, Massachusetts and starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger (for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Missing, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men.

Lemmon's film debut was a bit part as a plasterer/painter in the 1949 film The Lady Takes a Sailor but he was not noticed until his official debut opposite Judy Holliday in the 1954 comedy It Should Happen to You. He became a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, starring in his films Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, The Fortune Cookie, Avanti!, The Front Page and Buddy Buddy. He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards, starring in My Sister Eileen (1955), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Great Race (1965) and That's Life! (1986).

Lemmon pictured in the center with Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot"

Lemmon won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1956 for Mister Roberts (1955) and the Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973). He was also nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the controversial film, Missing (1982) and for his role in Some Like it Hot. He often appeared in films partnered with Walter Matthau. Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple, as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau). They also starred together in The Fortune Cookie (for which Matthau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), The Front Page and Buddy Buddy. In 1971, Lemmon directed Matthau in the comedy Kotch. It was the only movie that Lemmon ever directed and Matthau was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. In 1993, the duo teamed up again to star in Grumpy Old Men. The film was a surprise hit, earning the two actors a new generation of young fans. During the rest of the decade, they would go on to star together in Out to Sea, Grumpier Old Men and the widely panned The Odd Couple II. Lemmon died of colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder on June 27, 2001 and is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. His grave is near that of his good friend and co-star, Walter Matthau, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon.

On June 27, 1964 actress, Mona Barrie died. She was born Mona Barlee Smith on December 18, 1909 in London. She made her professional debut as a ballet dancer in Sydney at the age of sixteen. This led to a solo act in musical comedies. In 1933 she immigrated to the U.S. and was given a screen test, which led to a movie contract with 20th Century Fox Studios. She made her film debut in 1934’s Sleepers East using the stage name Mona Barrie. While her lack of a glamorous beauty resulted in her generally being cast in important but secondary roles, during a film career spanning almost twenty years she appeared in more than fifty motion pictures. She co-starred with Buck Jones in 1942's Dawn on the Great Divide. She died on June 27, 1964 in Los Angeles, California and is buried at the Knox United Church Cemetery in Agincourt, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Peter Lorre, Jeanne Eagles, June Preisser

Who was born on this date:

Actor Peter Lorre was born on June 26, 1904 in Hungry. He is best known for playing sinister roles and appearing in crime dramas. Lorre began acting on stage in Vienna at the age of 17, and then moved to Breslau, and Zürich. The German-speaking actor became famous when Fritz Lang cast him as a child killer in his 1931 film M. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Lorre took refuge first in Paris and then London, where he was noticed by Ivor Montagu, Alfred Hitchcock's associate producer for The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). He also was featured in Hitchcock's Secret Agent, in 1935.

Eventually, Lorre went to Hollywood, where he specialized in playing sinister foreigners, beginning with Mad Love (1935), and then a series of Mr. Moto movies, a parallel to the better known Charlie Chan series. In 1940, Lorre co-starred with fellow horror actors Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff in the Kay Kyser movie You'll Find Out. Lorre enjoyed considerable popularity as a featured player in Warner Bros. suspense and adventure films. Lorre played the role of Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and portrayed the character Ugarte in the film classic Casablanca (1942). Lorre branched out into comedy with the role of Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). In 1946 he starred with Sydney Greenstreet and Geraldine Fitzgerald in Three Strangers.

For many years Lorre suffered from chronic gallbladder troubles, for which doctors prescribed morphine. He became trapped between the constant pain and addiction to morphine. Overweight and never fully recovered from his addiction, Lorre suffered numerous personal and career disappointments in his later years. He died on March 23, 1964 of a stroke and his ashes are interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.

Actress Jeanne Eagels was born on June 26, 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri. She was a former Ziegfeld Follies Girl, who went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films (she only appeared in 9 motion pictures). She began her acting career in Kansas City, appearing in a variety of small venues at a very young age. She left Kansas City at age 15 and toured the Midwest with the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling theater show. At first, she was a dancer, but in time she went on to play the leading lady in several comedies and dramas. Around 1911, she moved to New York City, working in chorus lines and eventually becoming a Ziegfeld Girl. In 1915, she appeared in her first motion picture and for the next decade plus she moved back and forth between film and stage performances.

In 1927, she appeared opposite John Gilbert in the MGM film, Man, Woman and Sin (1927). A notoriously fickle actress, she was banned by Actors Equity from appearing on stage for 18 months, after failing to appear for a performance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This ban did not stop Eagels from working in film, and she made two "talkies" for Paramount Pictures, including The Letter and Jealousy (both released in 1929).

On October 3, 1929, just before she was to return to the Broadway stage, Eagels died suddenly in New York City. Medical examiners disagreed on the cause of death, there were three separate coroner's reports, all reaching different conclusions but the available evidence pointed to the effects of alcohol, a tranquilizer, or heroin. She is buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. She was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress (the first ever such consideration) for her role in The Letter (1929), but lost to Mary Pickford for the film, Coquette.

Actress June Preisser was born on June 26, 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her parents sent her to an athletic club at an early age, in an attempt to build her strength. There she, and her sister Cherry, learnt acrobatics. When Preisser was nine years old an actor noticed the two sisters performing acrobatics on a sidewalk near their home, and his interest in them eventually led to them working in vaudeville, and later for the Ziegfeld Follies in 1934 and 1936.

In the late 1930’s, June was signed to a contract by MGM and her first film was Dancing Co-Ed (1939). Her next film, Babes in Arms (1939), gave her a significant role opposite Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. She performed with Rooney and Garland again in Strike Up the Band (1940), and with Rooney in two "Andy Hardy" films, Judge Hardy and Son (1939) and Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941). Other notabel film credits include Gallant Sons (1940), Henry Aldrich for President (1941), and Sweater Girl (1942). Her final film was Music Man (1948), after which she retired from acting. On September 19, 1984, she was killed in car accident in Florida and is buried at the Atkins Cemetery, Blountstown, Florida.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Anne Revere, Colin Clive

Who was born on this date:

Actress Anne Revere was born on June 25, 1903 in New York City. She was a graduate of Wellesley College and is a direct descendant of American Revolutionary hero, Paul Revere. She began her show business career on the Broadway stage and graduated to film in 1934’s Double Door. During her film career (1934-1977), which included nearly forty motion pictures, she often played the role of the strong, maternal figure. Her major film credits include: Men of Boys Town (1941), Remember the Day (1941), and A Place in the Sun (1951). She won the 1946 Oscar for best supporting actress in National Velvet (1945), and was nominated for the same award for The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Gentlemen’s Agreement (1947).

In 1947, a year after winning the Oscar, she refused to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities, was blacklisted and did not appear in another motion picture for twenty years. Unable to find work in films, she returned to the Broadway stage, where in 1961, she won a Tony Award for her performance in Toys in the Attic. She also made numerous television appearances during this period and her last role was in the soap opera, Ryan’s Hope (1977). Anne Revere died on December 18, 1990 at her home on Long Island, New York from pneumonia. She is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts in lot 11002, azalea garden wall.

Who died on this date:

On June 25, 1937, actor Colin Clive died. He was born on January 20, 1900 in Saint-Malo, France and is best remembered for his portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein in two Universal Frankenstein films, Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Although Colin Clive made only three horror films, the two Frankenstein movies and Mad Love (1935), he is widely regarded as one of the essential stars of the genre. His portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein has was an inspiration for scores of other mad scientist performances in films over the years. Clive was also an in-demand leading man for a number of major film actresses of the era, including Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Corinne Griffith, and Jean Arthur. He also starred in the 1934 adaptation of Jane Eyre opposite Virginia Bruce.

Clive with Elsa Lancaster in "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)

Colin Clive suffered from severe chronic alcoholism and died from complications of tuberculosis on June 25, 1937 at the age of thirty-seven. His cenotaph is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, but his ashes were scattered at sea in 1978 after they spent over 40 years unclaimed in the basement of the funeral parlor where his body was brought after his death.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Irving Pichel

Who was born on this date:

Actor/ director Irving Pichel was born on June 24, 1891. Among his most notable screen roles were as the servant Sandor in Dracula's Daughter (1936) and as Fagin in the 1933 adaptation of Oliver Twist. He directed several films, including The Miracle of the Bells (1948), Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), and Destination Moon (1950). His voice was heard as narrator in How Green Was My Valley (1941), and as the voice of Jesus in the film The Forgotten Commandments (1932). By the mid 1940’s, Pichel played small parts in several of the films that he directed, performed on radio, and was the narrator of John Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). His last films as a director were sectarian church-basement favorites Martin Luther in 1953, and Day of Triumph in 1954.

In 1947, Pichel was one of 19 members of the Hollywood community who were subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the United States' second Red Scare. This group became known as the "Hollywood Nineteen" and the "Unfriendly Nineteen.” While Pichel was ultimately not called to testify, he was blacklisted, although he got around the blacklist by leaving the United States. He died on July 13, 1954 and is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Dennis Price, Maureen O' Sullivan, Nigel Stock

Who was born on this date:

Actor Dennis Price was born on June 23, 1915 in Twyford, Berkshire, England. He is best remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets. He studied acting at the Embassy Theatre School of Acting and made his first appearance on stage at the Croydon Repertory Theatre in June 1937, followed by a London debut at the Queen's Theatre on September 6, 1937 in Richard II.

His first film role was A Canterbury Tale in 1944, and the high point of his film career came in 1949’s, Kind Hearts and Coronets. Other films included Tunes of Glory and The Amorous Prawn. Price later appeared in a series of 'B movie' horror films such as Horror Hospital, Twins of Evil and Theatre of Blood. Although some of these films have acquired a cult following, they are far from the more intellectual roles with which he was originally associated. One of his last film appearances was in a star-studded 1972 version of Alice in Wonderland with Ralph Richardson, Robert Helpmann, Peter Sellers and Dudley Moore, among others.

Price was married to the actress Joan Schofield from 1939 to 1950. He struggled to lead a conventional life, during a period when homosexuality was still a criminal offense in the United Kingdom. In April 1954 he tried to commit suicide by gas in a London guest house. However, his private life, which included heavy gambling and an increasing reliance upon alcohol, began to affect his health, looks and career. Price's private anguish may have led to his role in the film Victim (1961), controversial at the time, which portrayed the dilemma faced by a group of gay men who were being blackmailed for their sexuality. In 1967, Price was declared bankrupt; he attributed his financial distress to "extravagant living and most inadequate gambling.” He then moved to the tax haven of the Channel Islands, France. This coincided with an escalation in his alcoholism and he died there of heart failure on October 6, 1973 and was buried at the St. Peter’s Church Graveyard, Guernsey, France.

Who died on this date:

Actress Maureen O'Sullivan died on June 23, 191998. She was born on May 17, 1911 in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. Her film career began when she met motion picture director Frank Borzage, who was doing location filming on Song o' My Heart for 20th Century Fox. He suggested she take a screen test. She did and won a part in the movie, which starred Irish tenor John McCormack. In 1932, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After several roles there and at other movie studios, she was chosen by Irving Thalberg to appear as Jane Parker in Tarzan the Ape Man, opposite co-star Johnny Weissmuller. Besides playing Jane, she was one of the more popular actresses at MGM throughout the 1930’s. In all, O'Sullivan played Jane in six features between 1932 and 1942. She also starred with William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man (1934) and played Kitty in Anna Karenina (1935) with Greta Garbo and Basil Rathbone. She appeared as Molly Beaumont in A Yank at Oxford (1938), which was written partly by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At her request, he rewrote her part to give it more substance. Other notable films included Pride and Prejudice (1940) with Laurence Olivier and Maisie was a Lady (1941).

O'Sullivan as "Jane" with Johnny Weismuller

After appearing in Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), O'Sullivan asked MGM to release her from her contract so she could care for her ill husband John Farrow who was suffering from typhoid. She then retired from show business, devoting her time to being a wife and mother. Her daughter is actress Mia Farrow. O'Sullivan died in Scottsdale, Arizona, of complications from heart surgery on June 23, 1998 and is buried in the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Schenectady, New York.

On June 23, 1986, actor Nigel Stock died. He was born on September 21, 1919 in Malta. He was a British character actor who appeared in numerous films during the golden age of Hollywood. He made his debut stage appearance in 1931. His film career began with uncredited bit parts in The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1938) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). In 1937 he made his first credited film appearance in Lancashire Luck. Other film's included popular releases such as Brighton Rock (1947), The Dam Busters (1955), The Great Escape (1963), The Lion in Winter (1968), The Lost Continent (1968), and Russian Roulette (1975).

Between 1964 and 1968, Stock became a household name in the UK for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of Sherlock Holmes dramas for BBC television. Later in life, he portrayed the mentor of Sherlock Holmes in Young Sherlock Holmes. His television credits included Danger Man (1965), The Avengers (1964, 1966), and many other. He died on June 23, 1986 from a heart attack and his ashes are interred at Golders Green Crematorium in London, England.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950. The book was honored with a silver medal in the 2011 Readers Favorite International Book Awards in the music and entertainment category and was the winner of the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards in the arts and entertainment category. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Fade-Black-Graveside-Memories-Hollywood/dp/0764337092/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&qid=1372523990&sr=8-35&keywords=michael+thomas+barry

Billy Wilder, Michael Todd, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, David O. Selznick

Who was born on this date:

Writer, director Billy Wilder was born on June 22, 1906 in Sucha, Austria-Hungry (now Poland). His first foray into show business came at the end of a pen as a screen writer for UFA studios, one of Germany’s top movie producers of the 1920’s. He remained in high demand as a writer in Germany, but eventually fled the country in 1933, when Adolf Hitler took power. Sensing that dangerous times were ahead, he first moved to Vienna, then Paris. It was while in France that Wilder wrote a screen play for Columbia Pictures and his American film career was launched. Arriving in Hollywood in 1934, he was unable to speak English and soon found himself out of work and money. Sharing a room with actor Peter Lorre, Wilder taught himself English by watching baseball games and movies. In 1936, he landed a job as a writer for Paramount Studios and was paired with fellow writer Charles Brackett. The pair of Wilder and Brackett would produce 14 consecutive hit movies.

In a film career that would span four decades (1936-1981), Wilder would write over seventy screen plays, direct twenty-seven feature motion pictures, and produce dozens of other films. His directorial career highlights include; Ninotchka (1939), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Ball of Fury (1941), The Major and the Minor (1942), Double Indemnity (1944), The Emperor Waltz (1948), A Foreign Affair (1948), Ace in the Hole (1951), Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Fortune Cookie (1966), and The Front Page (1974).

One of the most successful film writer/ directors in Hollywood history, Wilder was nominated for twelve best writing and eight best directing Oscars. He won both awards in 1946 for The Lost Weekend (1945) and repeated the double victory again in 1961 for The Apartment (1960). Wilder also won for best writing in 1951 for Sunset Blvd. (1950). The acclaimed director died on March 27, 2002 from pneumonia at his Beverly Hills home. He had been in failing health for a few years prior to his death. Wilder is buried at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles in the chapel estates section near actors Caroll O’Conner and Walter Mathau. His tombstone epitaph reads; “I’m a writer but then nobody’s perfect.”

Producer Michael Todd was born on June 22, 1909 Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best best known for his 1956 production of Around the World in Eighty Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. He is also well-known as the third of Elizabeth Taylor's seven husbands and he was also married to actress Joan Blondell. His first success in show business began on with a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado with an all African-American cast. The Hot Mikado, starring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, opened on Broadway March 23, 1939. Todd went on to produce thirty Broadway shows during his career. Todd's business career was volatile, and failed ventures left him bankrupt many times.

In 1952, Todd made a production of the Johann Strauss II operetta A Night in Venice, complete with floating gondolas at the then-newly constructed Jones Beach Theatre in Long Island, New York. It ran for two seasons. In 1950, Mike Todd formed Cinerama with the broadcaster Lowell Thomas and the inventor Fred Waller. The company was created to exploit Cinerama, a widescreen film process created by Waller that used three film projectors to create a giant composite image on a curved screen. The first Cinerama feature, This is Cinerama, was released in September 1952. Before its release, Todd left the Cinerama Company to develop a widescreen process which would eliminate some of Cinerama's flaws. The result was the Todd-AO process, designed by the American Optical Company. The process was first used commercially for the successful 1955 film adaptation of Oklahoma!. Todd later produced the film for which he is best remembered, Michael Todd's Around the World in 80 Days, which debuted in cinemas on October 17, 1956. Costing $6 million to produce, the movie earned $16 million at the box office. In 1957, Around the World in 80 Days won the Best Picture Academy Award.

Todd's third marriage was to the actress Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he had a tempestuous relationship. The couple was married on February 2, 1957. On March 22, 1958, Todd's private plane Lucky Liz crashed near Grants, New Mexico. The plane, a twin-engine Lockheed Lodestar, suffered engine failure while being flown, grossly overloaded, in icing conditions at an altitude which was too high to sustain flight with only one working engine under those conditions. The plane went out of control and crashed, killing all four on board. His son, Mike Jr., wanted his father's body to be cremated after it was identified through dental records and brought to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but Taylor refused, saying he would not want cremation. Todd was buried at Waldheim Jewish Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.

Post script, years later Todd’s remains were desecrated by robbers, who broke into Todd's coffin looking for a $100,000 diamond ring, which, according to rumor, Taylor had placed on her husband's finger prior to his burial. The bag containing Todd's remains was found under a tree near his burial plot. His remains were once more identified through dental records and were reburied in a secret location.

Who died on this date:

Judy Garland's biography was previously discussed on the June 10, 2011 blog - she was born on June 10, 1922 and died on June 22, 1969.

On June 22, 1987, actor Fred Astaire died. He was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films. According to Hollywood folklore, a screen test report on Astaire for RKO Pictures, now lost along with the test, is reported to have read: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." The producer of the Astaire-Rogers pictures, Pandro S. Berman, claimed he had never heard the story in the 1930s and that it only emerged years later. Astaire later insisted that the report had actually read: "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances.” In any case, the test was clearly disappointing, and David O. Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, stated in a memo, "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." However, this did not affect RKO's plans for Astaire, first lending him for a few days to MGM in 1933 for his Hollywood debut, where he appeared as himself dancing with Joan Crawford in the successful musical film Dancing Lady.

Astaire with Ginger Rogers

Astaire and Rogers made ten films together, including The Gay Divorcee, Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and Carefree (1938). Six out of the nine Astaire-Rogers musicals became the biggest moneymakers for RKO; all of the films brought a certain prestige and artistry that all studios coveted at the time. Their partnership elevated them both to stardom. Astaire received a percentage of the films' profits, something extremely rare in actors' contracts at that time; and complete autonomy over how the dances would be presented, allowing him to revolutionize dance on film. Astaire died from pneumonia on June 22, 1987 and is buried at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

On June 22, 1965, producer/ director David O. Selznick died. He was born on May 10, 1902 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is best known for producing Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940), both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture. He studied at Columbia University and worked as an apprentice for his father until the elder's bankruptcy in 1923. In 1926, Selznick moved to Hollywood, and with the help of his father's connections, got a job as an assistant story editor at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928, where he worked until 1931, when he joined RKO as Head of Production. His years at RKO were fruitful, and he worked on many films, including A Bill of Divorcement (1932), What Price Hollywood? (1932), Rockabye (1932), Our Betters (1933), and King Kong (1933). While at RKO, he also gave George Cukor his directing break. In 1933 he returned to MGM to establish a second prestige production unit, parallel to that of Irving Thalberg, who was in poor health. His unit's output included Dinner at Eight (1933), David Copperfield (1935), Anna Karenina (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935).

Despite his successes at MGM, Paramount Pictures, and RKO Pictures, Selznick longed to be an independent producer with his own studio. In 1935 he realized that goal by forming Selznick International Pictures and distributing his films through United Artists. His successes continued with classics such as The Garden of Allah (1936), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), A Star Is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), The Young in Heart (1938), Made for Each Other (1939), Intermezzo (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939), which remains one of the all-time highest grossing films (adjusted for inflation). It also won seven additional Oscars and two special awards. Selznick also won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that same year.

In 1940, he produced his second Best Picture Oscar winner in a row, Rebecca, the first Hollywood production for British director Alfred Hitchcock. Selznick had brought Hitchcock over from England, launching the director's American career. Rebecca was Hitchcock's only film to win Best Picture. After Rebecca, Selznick closed Selznick International Pictures and took some time off. His business activities included the loan of his contracted artists to other studios, including Alfred Hitchcock, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh and Joan Fontaine. He also developed film projects and sold the packages to other producers. Among the movies that he developed but then sold were almost all of Hitchcock's films through to 1947, except for two that he released through Selznick International Pictures or Selznick Releasing Organization, Spellbound and The Paradine Case. In 1944 he returned to producing pictures with the huge success Since You Went Away, which he wrote. He followed that with Spellbound (1945), as well as Portrait of Jennie (1948), a vehicle for Jennifer Jones. In 1949, he co-produced the Carol Reed picture The Third Man with Alexander Korda.

Selznick with his 2nd wife, actress Jennifer Jones

Gone with the Wind overshadowed the rest of Selznick's career. The closest he came to matching it was with Duel in the Sun (1946) featuring future wife Jennifer Jones in the role of the primary character Pearl. With a huge budget, the film is known for causing moral upheaval because of the then risqué script written by Selznick. And though it was a troublesome shoot with a number of directors, the film would turn out to be a major success. Selznick spent most of the 1950’s nurturing the career of his second wife, Jennifer Jones. His last film, the big budget production A Farewell to Arms (1957) starring Jones and Rock Hudson, was ill received. But in 1954, he ventured into television, producing a two hour extravaganza called Light's Diamond Jubilee, which, in true Selznick fashion, made TV history by being telecast simultaneously on all four TV networks: CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont. Selznick was married Irene Gladys Mayer, daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, in 1930. They separated in 1945 and divorced in 1948. In 1949 he married actress Jennifer Jones and they had one daughter, Mary Jennifer Selznick. Selznick died in 1965 following several heart attacks, and is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Jane Russell, Dorothea Kent

Born on this date:

Actress Jane Russell was born on June 21, 1921 in Bemidji, Minnesota. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In 1940, Russell was signed to a seven-year contract by film mogul Howard Hughes and made her motion picture debut in The Outlaw (1943), a story about Billy the Kid that went to great lengths to showcase her voluptuous figure. Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released for a limited showing two years later. There were problems with the censorship of the production code over the way her ample cleavage was displayed. When the movie was finally passed, it had a general release in 1946. During that time, she was kept busy doing publicity and became known nationally. Contrary to countless incorrect reports in the media since the release of The Outlaw, Russell did not wear the specially designed underwire bra that Howard Hughes constructed for the film.

In 1947, Russell attempted to launch a musical career. She sang with the Kay Kyser Orchestra on radio and recorded two singles with his band, "As Long As I Live" and "Boin-n-n-ng!" In 1950, she recorded a single, "Kisses and Tears," with Frank Sinatra and The Modernaires for Columbia. During this same period she performed in an assortment of movie roles. She played Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface (1948) on loan out to Paramount, and Mike "the Torch" Delroy opposite Hope in another western comedy, Son of Paleface (1952), again at Paramount. Russell played Dorothy Shaw in the hit film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) opposite Marilyn Monroe for 20th Century Fox. She appeared in two movies opposite Robert Mitchum, His Kind of Woman (1951) and Macao (1952). Other co-stars include Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx in the comedy Double Dynamite (1951); Victor Mature, Vincent Price and Hoagy Carmichael in The Las Vegas Story (1952); Jeff Chandler in Foxfire (1955); and Clark Gable and Robert Ryan in The Tall Men (1955).

In Howard Hughes's RKO production The French Line (1954), the movie's penultimate moment showed Russell in a form-fitting one-piece bathing suit with strategic cut outs, performing a then-provocative musical number titled "Lookin' for Trouble." In 1955, Russell and her first husband, former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Bob Waterfield, formed Russ-Field Productions. They produced Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), The King and Four Queens (1956) starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker, Run for the Sun (1956) and The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957), which was a box-office failure. [5] She also starred in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes alongside Jeanne Crain, and in The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956).

Her film career began to decline in the 1960’s and after Fate Is the Hunter (1964), she made only four more movies. In 1971, she starred in the musical drama Company, making her debut on Broadway in the role of Joanne, succeeding Elaine Stritch. Russell performed the role of Joanne for almost six months. Also in the 1970’s, she started appearing in television commercials as a spokeswoman for Playtex "'Cross-Your-Heart Bras' for us full-figured gals.” Russell resided in the Santa Maria Valley along the Central Coast of California. She died at her home in Santa Maria of a respiratory-related illness on February 28, 2011 and is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery in Santa Barbara, California.

Actress Dorothea Kent was born on June 21, 1916 in St. Joseph, Missouri. She appeared in forty-two films between 1935 and 1948. Major film credits include 1948’s The Babe Ruth Story. She died on August 23, 1990 from breast cancer and is buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Errol Flynn, Dona Drake

Born on this date:

Actor Errol Flynn was born on June 20, 1909 in Hobart, Tasmania. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle. His film career began in 1933 with In the Wake of the Bounty, directed by Charles Chauvel and the following year appeared in Murder at Monte Carlo, produced at the Warner Bros. Teddington Studios, UK. During the filming of Murder at Monte Carlo, Flynn was discovered by a Warner Brothers executive, signed to a contract and immigrated to America as a contract actor.

Flynn was an overnight sensation in his first starring role, Captain Blood (1935). Quickly typecast as a swashbuckler, he followed it with The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). After his appearance as Miles Hendon in The Prince and the Pauper (1937), he was cast in his most celebrated role as Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). He went on to appear in The Dawn Patrol (1938) with his close friend David Niven, Dodge City (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Adventures of Don Juan (1948).

Errol Flynn with Olivia DeHavilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood

Flynn co-starred with actress Olivia de Havilland in eight films: Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Four's a Crowd (1938), Dodge City (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and They Died with Their Boots On (1941). During the shooting of The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Flynn and co-star Bette Davis quarreled off-screen, causing Davis to allegedly strike him harder than necessary while filming a scene. Although their relationship was always strained, Warner Bros. co-starred them twice. Their off-screen relationship was later resolved. By the 1950’s, Flynn had become a parody of himself. Heavy alcohol and drug abuse left him prematurely aged and bloated, but he won acclaim in The Sun Also Rises (1957), and in Too Much, Too Soon (1958). Flynn starred in a 1956 anthology series The Errol Flynn Theatre that was filmed in England, where he presented the episodes and sometimes appeared in them. About this time he also guest starred on NBC's comedy/variety show, The Martha Raye Show.

Flynn had a reputation for womanizing, consumption of alcohol and brawling. His freewheeling, hedonistic lifestyle caught up with him in November 1942 when two under-age girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee, accused him of statutory rape. The trial took place in January and February 1943, and Flynn was cleared of the charges. The incident served to increase his reputation as a ladies' man, which led to the popular phrase "in like Flynn." In the late 1950’s, Flynn met and courted the 15-year-old Beverly Aadland at the Hollywood Professional School, casting her in his final film, Cuban Rebel Girls (1959).

Flynn with Beverley Aadland

According to Aadland, he planned to marry her and move to their new house in Jamaica, but during a trip together to Vancouver, British Columbia, he died of a heart attack at the age of 50. Flynn had flown with Aadland to Vancouver on October 9, 1959, to lease his yacht Zaca to millionaire George Caldough. On October 14th, Caldough was driving Flynn to the airport when Flynn felt ill. He was taken to the apartment of Caldough's friend, Dr. Grant Gould and a party ensued, with Flynn regaling guests with stories and impressions. Feeling ill again, he announced "I shall return" and retired to a bedroom to rest. A half hour later, Aadland checked in on him and discovered him unconscious. Flynn had suffered a heart attack and died. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.

Who died on this date:

On June 20, 1989, actress Dona Drake died. She was born Eunice Westmoreland in Miami, Florida, on November 15, 1914. Entering show business in the 1930’s, she used the names Una Velon, Rita Rio and Rita Shaw. She settled on the stage name Dona Drake in the early 1940’s. Studio publicity during her heyday incorrectly stated that Drake was of Mexican origin and was born Rita Novella (Novella was actually her mother's first name). Because of her dark hair and Latin-looking features, Drake generally played Latin or other "ethnic" types. She is probably best known for playing the American Indian maid of Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest. She also appeared as an Arab girl opposite Bob Hope in Road to Morocco in 1942. Her biggest "non-ethnic" role was the second female lead in the 1949 comedy The Girl from Jones Beach, playing opposite Eddie Bracken. She died on June 20, 1989 and her ashes were scattered at sea.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"

Moe Howard, Pat Buttram, Charles Coburn, Jean Arthur, Frank Borzage

On this Father’s Day 2011, I want to write and reflect on the most important and influential man in my life, my father, Thomas F. Barry. He was born on February 25, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois and was the only child of Edmond and Nell Barry. Thomas graduated from Marmion Military Academy in 1956 and then enlisted in the Marine Corp. He spent two years on active duty and six as a reservist and he always looked back on his years in the service with fondness. My dad was a man’s man; he was a tough Marine with a heart of gold. He worked hard, had many friends, had a great sense of humor, was always the life of the party, was ready to lend a helping hand at a moment’s notice, and loved his family. In his late 30’s, he was diagnosed with a debilitating disease that took away his body and strength but never his mind. He suffered in silence for almost a decade and died on August 4, 1986. As I set out today for Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play the Yankees, I will reflect on the many summer days in my youth that we spent together at this beautiful old ball park. I can sit in the same seats that we use to sit in and journey back with great fondness to bygone years. It is hard to believe that he has been gone almost 25 years and he has been missed every single day since. I am proud to be his son and often long for one more game of catch in the back yard. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.

Born on the date:

Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975) - Best known as the lead stooge in the “Three Stooges”

Pat Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994) - Best known as the side-kick of singing cowboy, Gene Autry.

Charles Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) - Won a best supporting actor Oscar for 1943’s “The More the Merrier.”

Who died on this date:

Jean Arthur (October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) - Comedic actress who appeared in numerous Frank Capra films. She was nominated for a best actress Oscar for 1943’s “The More the Merrier.”

Frank Borzage (April 23, 1894- June 19, 1962) - Director who won a best director Oscar for 7Th Heaven (1927) and Bad Girl (1931).

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memeories of Hollwood Greats, 1927-1950"

Jeanette MacDonald, Maggie McNamara, Ethel Barrymore

Who was born on this date:

Actress, Jeanette MacDonald was born on June 18, 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for her musical films of the 1930’s with Maurice Chevalier in Love Me Tonight, and The Merry Widow; Nelson Eddy in Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime. During the 1930’s and 1940’s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars, The Love Parade, One Hour with You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco, and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of the most influential sopranos of the 20th century, introducing grand opera to movie-going audiences and inspiring a generation of singers.

In 1929, famed film director Ernst Lubitsch was looking through old screen tests of Broadway performers and spotted MacDonald. He cast her as the leading lady in his first sound film, The Love Parade, which starred the Continental sensation Maurice Chevalier. In the first rush of sound films, 1929–30, MacDonald starred in six films, the first four for Paramount Studios. In hopes of producing her own films, MacDonald went to United Artists to make The Lottery Bride (1930) but the film was not successful. MacDonald next signed a three-picture deal with 20th Century Fox and was more successful. She took a break from Hollywood in 1931 to embark on a European concert tour. She returned to Paramount the following year for two films with Maurice Chevalier. In 1933 MacDonald left again for Europe and while there, signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her first MGM film was The Cat and the Fiddle (1934), her co-star was Ramon Novarro. The plot about unmarried lovers shacking up just barely slipped through the new Production Code guidelines that took effect July 1, 1934.

Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy

Naughty Marietta (1935), directed by W.S. Van Dyke, was MacDonald's first film in which she teamed with newcomer baritone Nelson Eddy. Victor Herbert's 1910 score, with songs like "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "I'm Falling in Love with Someone", "’Neath the Southern Moon", "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp", and "Italian Street Song", enjoyed renewed popularity. The film won an Oscar for sound recording and received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

MacDonald followed Eddy to Universal, where they were scheduled to make one film together after he finished Phantom of the Opera (1943). MacDonald marked time by appearing as herself in Follow the Boys (1944), an all-star extravaganza about Hollywood stars entertaining the troops. After MacDonald and Eddy left MGM in 1942, they appeared frequently on radio together while planning several unrealized films that would have reunited them onscreen. MacDonald returned solo to MGM after 5 years off the screen for two films. Three Daring Daughters (1948), and The Sun Comes Up (1949), teamed MacDonald with Lassie, this proved to be her final. Offers continued to come in but things never moved beyond the discussion stages partly because of MacDonald's failing health.

MacDonald suffered in her later years with heart trouble. She worsened in 1963 and underwent an arterial transplant at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Nelson Eddy, in Australia on a nightclub tour, pleaded illness and returned to the States at word of MacDonald's surgery. After the operation she developed pleurisy and was hospitalized for two-and-a-half months. Her friends kept the news from the press until just before her release. MacDonald was again stricken in 1964. On Christmas Eve she was operated on for abdominal adhesions. She was able to go home for New Year's, but in mid-January flew her back to Houston. It was hoped that pioneer heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, who had recently operated successfully on the Duke of Windsor, could perform the same miracle for her. She checked in on January 12, and a program of intravenous feedings was begun to build her up for possible surgery. MacDonald died two days later on January 14, 1964. MacDonald is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Actress, Maggie McNamara was born on June 18, 1928 in New York City. She became one of the most successful models of John Robert Powers' modeling agency. In 1951, she began her acting career when she took over Barbara Bel Geddes' role as Patty O'Neill in the stage production of The Moon Is Blue. Later that year, she made her Broadway debut in The King of Friday's Men. In 1953, she went to Hollywood to reprise her role in Otto Preminger's film version of The Moon Is Blue. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her second film role was in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). Although her career started off well, she made only two more films after Three Coins. In the early 1960’s, she appeared in several television shows including an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Ring-a-Ding Girl." McNamara's last onscreen role was in a 1964 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour entitled "The Body in the Barn."

McNamara was married to actor/director David Swift. The marriage ended in divorce and McNamara never remarried. After her last onscreen role in 1964, McNamara fell out of public view and spent her later years working as a typist in New York City. On February 18, 1978, she was found dead after a deliberate overdose of sleeping pills. According to police reports, she had a history of mental illness and left a suicide note. McNamara is interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.

Who died on this date:

On June 18, 1950, actress Ethel Barrymore died. She was born Ethel Mae Blythe August 15, 1879 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was member of the famous Barrymore family of actors. She was the sister of actors John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore, and the great-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was a highly regarded stage actress in New York City and a major Broadway performer. Her first appearance in Broadway was in 1895, in a play called The Imprudent Young Couple which starred her uncle John Drew, Jr. and Maude Adams.

She appeared in her first motion picture, The Nightingale, in 1914. Members of her family were already in pictures; Uncle Sidney and Lionel had entered films in 1911 and John made his first feature in 1913. She made 15 silent pictures between 1914 and 1919 most of them for the old Metro studio. In the 1940’s, she moved to Hollywood, California. The only two films that featured all three siblings—Ethel, John and Lionel were National Red Cross Pageant (1917) and Rasputin and the Empress (1932). She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1944 film None but the Lonely Heart opposite Cary Grant, but made plain that she was not overly impressed by it. She appeared in The Spiral Staircase (1946) directed by Robert Siodmak, The Paradine Case (1947) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and Portrait of Jennie (1948), among others. Her last film appearance was in Johnny Trouble (1957). She also made a number of television appearances in the 1950’s, including one memorable encounter with comedian Jimmy Durante on NBC's All Star Revue . In 1949, Barrymore appeared in the Academy Award winning film Pinky for which she was awarded an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Barrymore married Russell Griswold Colt (1882–1959), grandnephew of American arms maker Samuel Colt on March 14, 1909. Barrymore's marriage to Colt was a precarious one from the start, with Barrymore filing divorce papers as early in the marriage as 1911, much to Colt's surprise. At least one source claims that Colt abused her and also that he fathered a child with another woman while married to Barrymore. They divorced in 1923 and, quite surprisingly, she did not seek alimony from Colt, which was her right. Ethel Barrymore never remarried. On June 18, 1959, Barrymore died of cardiovascular disease at her home in Hollywood, California and is interred at Calvary Cemetery.

http://www.michaelthomasbarry.com/, author of "Fade to Black: Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950"