Ronald Colman, Carmen Miranda, Gabby Hayes & Vera Ralston

Who was born on this date:

Actor Ronald Colman was born on February 9, 1891 in Richmond, Surrey, England. A veteran of the First World War, Colman gravitated to the English theater and vaudeville circuit. Feeling that the America held more opportunities for an actor, he arrived in New York City in 1920. Virtually penniless, and after two years of struggles, Colman got his big break as a supporting actor in the Broadway hit, La Tendresse. Motion picture director, Henry King saw Colman and cast him alongside Lillian Gish in The White Sister (1923). Colman was an immediate hit in film, becoming one of Hollywood’s greatest romantic leading men. In a film and television career that spanned thirty four years (1923-1957), Colman appeared in over forty feature motion pictures. His greatest film credits include; The Dark Angel (1925), Kiki (1926), The Night of Love (1927), The Rescue (1929), Arrowsmith (1931), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and Kismet (1944). Due to his smooth and cultivated voice he was able to successfully cross the barrier from silent film to talking pictures and became one of the greatest actors of the golden age.  

In 1930, he was nominated for two best acting Oscars for Condemned (1929) and Bulldog Drummond (1929). He was nominated again in 1943 for the best acting honors for his portrayal of Smithy in Random Harvest (1942). In his third attempt at Oscar gold, Colman finally took home the coveted statuette for A Double Life (1947). After this award winning performance in 1947, Colman made only one more full length film, 1950’s Champagne for Caesar. He instead focused on The Halls of Ivy, a radio show and later a television program of the same name.  

Colman had a dislike for the Hollywood lifestyle and near the end of his life retired to his ranch in San Ysidro, California. He was married for twenty years to actress Benita Hume. On May 19, 1958, the veteran actor died at St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, California from pneumonia. Fibrosis of the lungs and pneumonia plagued the actor most of his adult life. While serving in the British armed forces during World War I, he contacted the illness and never fully recovered. His funeral service was held at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Montecito, California. More than two hundreds mourners were in attendance for the short service (only fourteen minutes). Among the Hollywood dignitaries present were long time friend William Powell, Jack Benny, Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, and George Sanders. Ironically, less than nine months after Colman’s death, Sanders would marry his widow Benita Hume. Colman is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Actress Carmen Miranda was born on February 9, 1909 in Marco de Canavese, Portugal. She was noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang’s All Here. Though hailed as a talented performer, her movie roles in the United States soon became cartoonish and she grew to resent them. Miranda made a total of fourteen Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953 and was dubbed “The Brazilian Bombshell.” Her image was one of a generic Latina that blurred the distinctions between Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, and Mexico. It was carefully stylized and outlandishly flamboyant. During a visit to Brazil in 1940, Miranda was heavily criticized for giving in to American commercialism and projecting a false image of Brazil. After returning to the United States, Miranda made her final film appearance in the 1953 film Scared Stiff with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. On August 4, 1955, Miranda suffered a heart attack during a segment of the live NBC TV program, The Jimmy Durante Show. After completing a dance number, she fell to her knees, but quickly pulled herself together and finished the show. She died later that night after suffering a second heart attack at her home in Beverly Hills. In accordance with her wishes, Miranda's body was flown back to Rio de Janerio where the Brazilian government declared a period of national mourning and more than half a million Brazilians escorted the funeral cortège to her final resting place at the Cemitero Sao Joao Batista.  

Who died on this date:

On February 9, 1969, actor Gabby Hayes died. He was born on May 7, 1885 in Wellsville, New York. He was best known for his numerous appearances in Western movies as the colorful sidekick. In his early career, Hayes was cast in a variety of roles, including villains, and occasionally played two roles in a single film. He found a niche in the growing genre of western films, many of which were series with recurring characters. Hayes played the part of Windy Halliday, the sidekick to Hoplong Cassidy from 1935 to 1939. He was cast as a sidekick to western icons Randolph Scott (6 times) and John Wayne (15 times, some as straight or villainous characters). The western film genre declined in the late 1940s and Hayes made his last film appearance in The Cariboo Trail (1950).  Hayes died on February 9, 1969 from a heart ailment and is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

On February 9, 2003, actress/ skater Vera Ralston died. She was born on July 12, 1919 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. She competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she placed 17th. During the games, she personally met and insulted Adolf Hitler. Hitler asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later recalled, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika. She moved to Hollywood in 1943 and signed a contract with Republic Pictures. Here notable film credits include Dakota (1945), The Fighting Kentuckian (1949), and A Perilous Journey (1953). She retired from films in 1958. Ralston died on February 9, 2003 in Santa Barbara, California after a long struggle with cancer and is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Vera Ralston and Lon Chaney, Jr.

Who was born on this date:

Actress Vera Ralston was born on July 12, 1919 (the year is questionable) in Prague, Czchoslovakia. She competed at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 15th. Later that season, she competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she placed 17th. During the games, she personally met and insulted Adolf Hitler. Hitler asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later recalled, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika. She immigrated to the United States in the early 1940s and became a naturalized citizen in 1946 and moved to Hollywood with her mother. She signed a contract Republic Pictures in 1943.

During her film career she was known as both Vera Hrubá Ralston and later Vera Ralston. She normally played an immigrant girl, because of her limited English skills. Her film credits include Storm over Lisbon (1944), Dakota (1945) and The Fighting Kentuckian with John Wayne (1949), A Perilous Journey (1953), and Fair Wind to Java (1953). She retired from films in 1958.

In 1952 Ralston married the head of Republic Studio’s, Herbert Yates. Yates was nearly 40 years her senior, and had left his wife and children to be with Ralston. Yates used his position to obtain roles for Ralston, and at one point was sued by studio shareholders for using company assets to promote his wife. Yates died in 1966, leaving his $10 million estate to Ralston. She suffered a nervous breakdown shortly thereafter, then remarried and lived quietly in southern California until her death from cancer on February 9, 2003. She is buried at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

Who died on this date:

On July 12, 1973, actor Lon Chaney, Jr., died. He was born Creighton Tull Chaney on February 10, 1906 in Oklahoma City and is the son of silent film legend, Lon Chaney. He is best known for his roles in monster movies. From an early age, he worked hard to get out of his famous father's shadow. In young adulthood, his father discouraged him from show business, and he attended college and became successful in a Los Angeles appliance corporation. It was only after his father's death that Chaney started acting in movies, beginning with an uncredited role in the 1932 film Girl Crazy. He appeared in films under his real name until 1935, when he began to be billed as "Lon Chaney, Jr."

Chaney first achieved film stardom and critical acclaim in the 1939 feature film version of Of Mice and Men, in which he played Lennie Small. In 1941, Chaney starred in the title role of The Wolf Man for Universal Pictures, a role which would typecast him for the rest of his life. He maintained a career at Universal over the next few years, replaying the Wolf Man in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein, Kharis the mummy in The Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Ghost and The Mummy's Curse. He also played the title character in Son of Dracula. Chaney is thus the only actor to portray all four of Universal's major monsters: the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, and the vampire son of Count Dracula. Universal also starred him in a series of psychological mysteries associated with the Inner Sanctum radio series. He also established himself as a favorite of producer Stanley Kramer, taking key supporting roles in the western High Noon (1952), Not as a Stranger (1955), and The Defiant Ones (1958). In later years, he battled throat cancer and chronic heart disease after decades of heavy drinking and smoking and died on July 12, 1973 in San Clemente, California. His body was donated to medical research.

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