Tag: film history

The Man in the White Suit

The Man in the White Suit, Film Gif, Computer Graphics

The 1951 film “The Man in the White Suit” is a satirical comedy film made by Ealing Studios in London. The film was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starred Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, and Cecil Parker.

The plot of the film involves a brilliant research chemist who has an obsession with creating an everlasting fabric which repels dirt and never wears out. Lauded for his efforts at the success of the fabric’s creation, Sidney Stratton, played by Alec Guinness, is chased, at the climax of the movie, through the streets when the textile industry realizes this creation marks the inevitable decline of the industry.

“The Man in the White Suit” opened at the Marble Arch Odeon cinema in London on the 10th of August in 1951. It became one of the most popular films of the year in Britain. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay Writing.

 

Calendar: July 20

A Year: Day to Day Men: 20th of July

A World of Blue Tiles

July 20, 1938 was the birthdate of English actress, Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg in Yorkshire, England.

Diana Rigg’s career in film, television and theater has been wide-ranging. Her professional debut was in the production of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” at the York Festival in 1957. She made her Broadway debut with the play “Abelard and Heloise” in 1971, earning the first of three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Play. She received her second nomination in 1975 for her role in “The Misanthrope”.

In the 1990s, Diana Riggs had triumphs with roles at the Almeida Theater in Islington, England, including “Medea” in 1992, which moved to Broadway where she received the Tony Award for Best Actress, “Mother Courage” at the National Theater in 1995, and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at the Almeida Theater in 1997. In 2011 Riggs played Mrs. Higgins in “Pygmalion” at the Garrick Theater in the West End of London; in February of 2018 she returned to Broadway in a non-singing role of Mrs. Higgins in “My Fair Lady”.

Diana Rigg appeared in the British 1960s television series “The Avengers” from 1965 to 1968 opposite Patrick McNee as John Steed, playing the secret agent Emma Peel in 51 episodes. Rigg auditioned for the role on a whim, without ever having seen the program. Although she was hugely successful in the series, she disliked the lack of privacy that it brought. Also, she was not comfortable in her position as a sex symbol, She also did not like the way that she was treated by the Associated British Corporation (ABC).

In 2013, Diana Rigg secured a recurring role in the third season of the HBO series “Game of Thrones”, portraying Lady Olenna Tyrell, a witty and sarcastic political mastermind popularly known as the Queen of Thorns, the grandmother of regular character Margaery Tyrell. Her performance was well received by critics and audiences alike, and earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013.

Diana Rigg reprised her role in season four of “Game of Thrones” and in July 2014 received another Guest Actress Emmy nomination. In 2015 and 2016, she again reprised the role in seasons five and six in an expanded role from the books. The character was finally killed off in the seventh season, with Rigg’s final performance receiving critical acclaim.

Alexandre Volkoff, “The Green Spider”: Film History Series

Vintage Movie Poster: “The Green Spider”, Directed by Alexandre Volkoff, 1916

“The Green Spider”, a short film released in 1916, was directed by Russian actor and screenwriter Alexandre Volkoff. Volkoff established his career in Russia, and was one of a significant number who fled Russia following the Bolshevik Revolution. The bulk of his work was done in France; he also made films in Germany and later Italy. “The Green Spider” is one of two short films he made in his early career which lasted until 1941.

Calendar: July 16

A Year: Day to Day Men: 16th of July

Summer Heat

July 16, 1911 was the birthdate of actress, dancer and singer Ginger Rogers.

Ginger Rogers had two films in the 1933 that have now become classics. The public was enamored by her in the song and dance “Gold Diggers of 1933”, She did not have top billing but the public remembered her beauty and voice. One song she popularized in the film was the now famous “We’re in the Money”. Rogers played the character of Ann Lowell in “42nd Street”, a musical film with big stage choreography by Busby Berkeley. The film became one of the most profitable ones of the year and received two Academy Award nominations.

Ginger Roger’s real stardom occurred when she was teamed up with actor and dancer Fred Astaire becoming one of the best cinematic couples ever to hit the silver screen. They first appeared in the 1933 “Flying Down to Rio”, a film with marvelous dance numbers, including a breathtaking dance number on the exterior of a formation of airplanes flying over the audience.

Rogers and Astaire did two films in 1935. The first was “Roberta”, an RKO production costarring Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott. The second film of that year was probably the best remembered of her films, “Top Hat”, a screwball musical comedy with a music score by Irving Berlin and the famous dance scene with Rogers wearing a white ostrich-feather dress.

Ginger Rogers made several dramatic pictures; but it was the 1940 “Kitty Foyle” that won her an Academy Award for portrayal in the title role of Kitty Foyle, a working girl facing life-changing decisions. Rogers followed this film with a comedy in 1941 “Tom, Dick, and Harry”. playing a woman who has to decide which of three men she wants to marry. Through the rest of the 1940s and early 1950s she continued to make movies but none of them near the caliber of those before World War II.

After “Oh Men, Oh Women” with David Niven in 1957, Ginger Rogers didn’t appear on the silver screen for seven years. In 1965, she had appeared for the last time in the film “Harlow”, a Paramount production about the life of Jean Harlow. Afterward, she appeared on Broadway and other stage plays traveling in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. After 1984, she retired and wrote an autobiography in 1991 entitled, “Ginger, My Story” recounting her more than sixty films including those with Fred Astaire. On April 25, 1995, Ginger Rogers died of natural causes in Rancho Mirage, California. She was 83.

Segundo De Chomon, “Le Grenouille”: Film History Series

Segundo De Chomon, “La Grenouille (The Frog)”, 1908, Pathé Films

“La Grenouille” is a short early silent film that was released in France in 1908.  It was created and directed by Segundo De Chomon. The story follows a magical frog and a young woman whom upon climbing unto a fountain rock initiates a series of spectacles.  It was a rather unusual film for the era; it employed film illusion techniques used only by a few directors at that time of early filmmaking .

Segundo Víctor Aurelio Chomón y Ruiz was born on October,17 in 1871, He  was a pioneering Spanish film director who produced many short films in France while working for Pathé Frères. De Chamon has been compared to Georges Méliès, due to his frequent camera tricks and optical illusions.

The soundtrack is contemporary, not the original score.

Calendar: July 14

A Year: Day to Day Men: 14th of July

Black Pants and Gray Cap

Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director and writer, was born on July 14, 1918.

Ingmar Bergman’s film career began in 1941 with his work rewriting scripts. His first major accomplishment was in 1944 when he wrote the screenplay for “Torment”, a film directed by Alf Sjöberg. Along with writing the screenplay, he was also appointed assistant director of the film. The international success of this film led to Bergman’s first opportunity to direct a year later. During the next ten years he wrote and directed more than a dozen films, including “Prison” in 1949, as well as “Sawdust and Tinsel” and “Summer with Monika”, both from 1953.

Bergman first achieved worldwide success with his 1955 “Smiles of a Summer Night”, which won for “Best Poetic Humor” and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes the following year. This was followed by “The Seventh Seal” and “Wild Strawberries” released in Sweden ten months apart in 1957. “The Seventh Seal” won a special jury prize and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and “Wild Strawberries” won numerous awards for Bergman and its star, Victor Sjöström. Bergman continued to be productive for the next two decades.

Bergman usually wrote his films’ screenplays, thinking about them for months or years before starting the actual process of writing, which he viewed as somewhat tedious. His earlier films are carefully constructed and are either based on his plays or written in collaboration with other authors. Bergman stated that in his later works, when on occasion his actors would want to do things differently from his own intention, he would let them. As his career progressed, Bergman increasingly let his actors improvise their dialogue. In his latest films, he wrote just the ideas informing the scene and allowed his actors to determine the exact dialogue.

Bergman’s films usually deal with existential  questions of mortality, loneliness, and religious faith. In addition to these cerebral topics, however, sexual desire features in the foreground of most of his films, whether the central event is a medieval plague as in “The Seventh Seal”, the upper-class family activity of early twentieth century Sweden in “Fanny and Alexander”, or contemporary alienation in 1963’s “The Silence”. His female characters are usually more in touch with their sexuality than the men, and unafraid to proclaim it, sometimes with breathtaking overtness.

Ingmar Bergman retired from filmmaking in December 2003. He had a hip surgery in October of 2006 and was making a difficult recovery. He died in his sleep at the age of 89; his body was found at his home on the island of Fårö, on July 30, 2007. (It was the same day another renowned film director, Michelangelo Antonioni, also died.) The interment was private, at the Fårö Church on Fårö Island, Sweden, on August 18, 2007.

Buster Keaton, “The Bell Boy”: Film History Series

Buster Keaton: “The Bell Boy”, 1918, Silent Film

“The Bell Boy” is a 1918 American two-reel silent comedy film produced by the Comique Film Company. It was written by actor and director Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle with starring roles by Arbuckle and Buster Keaton as bell boys in the Elk’s Head Hotel. The cinematography was done by Elgin Lessley, an American hand-crank cameramen of the silent film era,  and cameraman George Peters. “The Bell Boy” was released by Paramount Pictures on March 18, 1918 with a running length of thirty-three minutes. 

Much of the material in the film was later re-used by Buster Keaton in his 1937 “Love Nest On Wheels”, one of the rare films in which Keaton appeared onscreen with his family, with whom he had performed on the vaudeville stage. The mop sequence in the film was reused by Keaton in his last film appearance in the 1966 comedy short “The Scribe”, filmed shortly before his death from lung cancer on February 1, 1966. 

Buster Keaton was recognized as the seventh-greatest film director by Entertainment Weekly in 1996 and the American Film Institute ranked him in 1999 as the 21st greatest male star of the classic Hollywood cinema. Keaton was presented in 1959 with an Academy Honorary Award to celebrate his achievements in the film industry. 

Calendar: July 12

 

A Year: Day to Day Men: 12th of July

Small Flowers

July 12, 1908 was the birthdate of American comedian Milton Berle.

Milton Berle, born Mendel Berlinger, appeared as a child actor in his first silent film “The Perils of Pauline, filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and released in 1914. He continued to play child roles in many other films: “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” with Mary Pickford; “The Mark of Zorro” with Douglas Fairbanks Sr.: and “Tillie’s Punctured Romance” with Charlie Chaplin and Marie Dressler.

By the early 1930s, Milton Berle was a successful stand-up comedian. Berle was hired in 1933 by producer Jack White to star in the short musical theatrical film, “Poppin’ the Cork”, about the repeal of Prohibition. Berle co-wrote the musical score for that film and also the title song for the RKO 1940 “Lil Abner”, starring Buster Keaton. The Philip Morris company sponsored “The Milton Berle Show” which aired on NBC starting March 11, 1947. It teamed up Berle with comedian Arnold Stang, later a familiar face as Berle’s sidekick. This show, which lasted until April 13, 1948, became a major stepping stone for Berle’s television career.

His first television series was “The Texaco Star Theater” on ABC, showcasing Berle’s highly visual style, characterized by vaudeville slapstick and outlandish costumes. After the show moved to NBC, it dominated Tuesday night television for years and won two Emmy Awards the first year. Berle’s autobiography notes that in Detroit, “an investigation took place when the water levels took a drastic drop in the reservoirs on Tuesday nights between 9 and 9:05. It turned out that everyone waited until the end of the Texaco Star Theatre before going to the bathroom.” Television set sales doubled after Texaco Star Theater’s debut.

Like his contemporary Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle proved a solid dramatic actor and was acclaimed for several such performances, most notably his lead role in “Doyle Against the House” on the Dick Powell Show in 1961, a role for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also played the part of a blind survivor of an airplane crash in “Seven in Darkness”, the first in ABC’s popular Movie of the Week series.

During this period, Berle was named to the Guinness Book of World Records for the greatest number of charity performances made by a show-business performer. Unlike the high-profile shows done by Bob Hope to entertain the troops, Berle did more shows, over a period of 50 years, on a lower-profile basis. Berle received an award for entertaining at stateside military bases in World War I as a child performer, in addition to traveling to foreign bases during World War II and the Vietnam War.  The first charity telethon was hosted by Berle in 1949.  A permanent fixture at charity benefits in the Hollywood area, he was instrumental in raising millions for charitable causes.

In 1979, Milton Berle was awarded a special Emmy Award, titled “Mr. Television” He was in the first group of inductees into the Television Hall of Fame in 1984. Milton Berle has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, placed on February 8, 1960, for his work in television and radio.

Calendar: July 11

A Year: Day to Day Men: 11th of July

State of Equilibrium

July 11, 1931 was the birthdate of actor Tab Hunter.

Tab Hunter, born Arthur Kelm in New York City, grew up in California. His fetching handsomeness and trim, athletic body eventually steered him toward the idea of acting. An introduction to talent agent Henry Wilson, specializing in “beef cake” male stars, had Tab Hunter signing a contract and receiving the stage name of Tab Hunter. With no previous experience, Hunter had his first film debut, though a minor one, in the 1950 drama “The Lawless” with only one line in the film (cut upon release of the film). He co-starred two years later in the British-made film “Island of Desire”, set in WWII on a deserted tropical island, playing opposite Linda Darnell.

Signed by Warner Brothers, Tab Hunter achieved stardom with another WWII epic, the 1955 “Battle Cry”, in which he played a boyish soldier sharing torrid scenes with Dorothy Malone, playing an older already married, love=starved Navy wife. He appeared in three more military films, keeping his fans, male and female, satisfied: “The Sea Chase” in 1955; a western army fort drama in 1956 titled “The Burning Hills”; and the 1956 “The Girl He Left Behind” opposite Natalie Wood,

The most notable success in Tab Hunter’s film career was his leading role as baseball fan Joe Hardy in the 1958 classic Faustian musical “Damn Yankees”, playing opposite Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston. Musically Tab Hunter was overshadowed; but he brought with him major star power and the film became a big hit in the theaters. He starred next in the WWI military movie “Lafayette Escadrille”, again playing a wholesome soldier. This was followed in 1959 with an adult comedy-drama “That Kind of Woman” with Sophia Loren.

Tab Hunter eventually left his Warner Brothers contract and appeared in several television series. He starred in 1961 with Debbie Reynolds in the film comedy “The Pleasure of His Company”; however after that, his film roles were in minor “beach films” and other popular light movies. They included “Operation Bikini”, “Ride the Wild Surf”, “City in the Sea” and “Birds Do It”.

In the 1980s, Tab Hunter bounced back- more mature, less wholesome, but still the handsome guy. He gamely spoofed his old clean-cut image in 1981, appearing as the romantic dangling carrot to heavyset Divine in the John Water’s delightfully tasteless “Polyester”, the first mainstream hit for Waters. Hunter went on to team up with Alan Glaser to co-produce and co-star a Waters-like western spoof “Lust in the Dust”, released in 1985.

In 2005, Tab Hunter released his memoir, “Tab Hunter Confidential”.  He had met his partner Alan Glaser in 1983, together producing two movies: “Lust in the Dust” and Hunter’s final film, the 1992 “Dark Horse”, the plot revolving around a horse ranch, a passion of Hunter’s life.  He died on July 8, 2018 at his Santa Barbara residence in California, three days shy of his eighty seventh birthday. Hunter and Glaser were together as a couple for thirty-five years.

Calendar: July 10

A Year: Day to Day Men: 10th of July

Wet Patterns on Tile and Skin

July 10, 1926 was the birthdate of American actor, Fred Gwynne.

New York City born, Fred Gwynne joined the Brattle Theater Repertory company after graduating from Harvard in 1951. He worked as a copywriter for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, leaving the company after being cast in a play. Gwynne appeared as a gangster for his first Broadway role in the comedy “Mrs. McThing”, starring Helen Hayes.

In 1954, Fred Gwynne had an uncredited role, playing “Slim” in the Oscar-winning drama “On the Waterfront”. Shortly afterwards, actor Phil Silvers, impressed by Gwynne’s role in “Mr. Mc thing”, sought him out for his television show. Gwynne portrayed Corporal Ed Honnergar in the “Phil Silvers Show”, a military based comedy, gaining him national recognition for his comedic acting.

Writer and producer Nat Hiken from Warner Brothers Studio cast Fred Gwynne in the situation comedy show “Car 54, Where are You?” as Patrolman Francis Muldoon, opposite comic actor Joe  E. Ross. The series which ran for two years was about two New York City police officers based in the fictional 53rd precinct of the Bronx. Car 54 was their squad car. The show was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, and won one. During this series Gwynne met and established a longtime friendship with Al Lewis, a co-star in the near future.

In September of 1964, “The Munsters” started on television. It was a sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters and starred Fred Gwynn as the Frankenstein-like monster Herman Munster. The costars were Yvonne De Carlo as his wife and old friend Al Lewis as Grandpa, the aged vampire who pines for “the old days”. For his role, Gwynne had to wear forty pounds of makeup, padding, and four-inch asphalt-spreader boots. After this role, because of its popularity, he found himself typecast for two years.

A talented vocalist, Fred Gwynne sang in a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, “The Littlest Angel”, shown on television in 1969. He also appeared on Broadway in a revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” playing big Daddy Pollitt. The following years he appeared in the plays: the 1975 “Our Town” at the American Shakespeare Theater in Stratford and “A Texas Trilogy” on Broadway in 1976. In his last film “My Cousin Vinny” Gwynne played Judge Chamberlain Haller, using a Southern accent in his verbal sparring with Joe Pesci’s character, Vincent “Vinny” Gambini.

On July 2, 1996, Fred Gwynn died of complications from pancreatic cancer at his home in Taneytown, Maryland. He is buried at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg, Maryland.

Calendar: July 8

A Year: Day to Day Men: 8th of July

Red Towel and Mirror

July 8, 1934 was the birthdate of British comedian, comedy writer, and actor, Martin Alan “Marty” Feldman.

Marty Feldman was born in the East End of London, the son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine. He suffered in childhood from thyroid disease and developed Graves’ ophthalmopathy, causing his eyes to protrude and become misaligned. By the age of twenty, he had decided to pursue a career as a comedian.

In 1954, Marty Feldman first met Barry Took, a West End revue performer, forming an enduring writing partnership with him which lasted for twenty years. Together they wrote most of the shows of “Bootsie and Snudge”, a situation comedy for the ITV Network, and the BBC radio show “Round the Home” from 1964 to 1967. Feldman became chief write and script editor for the 1966-67 “The Frost Report”, which introduce John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television.

Marty Feldman’s appearance on the sketch comedy series “At Last the 1948 Show” as the fourth cast member of the group raised his profile on television. His character, frequently a harassing pest, interacted with fellow comedians John Cleese, Tim Brook-Taylor, and Graham Chapman. Thirteen series were made during the ten-month run, of which eleven complete shows survive.

On film, Marty Feldman is best known for his portrayal of Igor  (pronounced Eye-Gore) in the now-comedy classic by Mel Brooks “Young Frankenstein”, released in 1974. The screenplay was written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, who had Feldman in mind when he wrote the part. Feldman improvised many of his scenes’ lines during the shooting.

Feldman later in his career, appeared as a guest on “The Dean Martin Show”, ventured into Italian cinema in the sex comedy “Sex with a Smile”, appeared with Gene Wilder in Wilder’s directorial debut “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother”, played Marty Eggs in Mel Brook’s “Silent Movie”, starred in his own written and directed comedy “The Last Remake of Beau Geste”, and showed up in a cameo role with the Cookie Monster on “The Muppet Show”.

Marty Feldman died from a heart attack in a hotel room in Mexico City on December 2, 1982 at the age of forty-eight, while filming “Yellowbeard”. He is buried in Forest Lawn- Hollywood Cemetery near his idol, Buster Keaton, in the Garden of Heritage.

Calendar: July 4

A Year: Day to Day Men: 4th of July

Seeking New Horizons

July 4, 1924 was the birthdate of American actress and producer, Eva Marie Saint.

Eva Marie Saint’s introduction to television began working as an NBC page, the internship program where pages rotate through assignments in the media environment. She appeared in the very early live NBC TV show “Campus Hoopla” in 1946. Her performances on this program are recorded on rare kinescope and audio recordings of these telecasts are preserved in the Library of Congress.

Eva Marie Saint won the Drama Critics Award for her Broadway stage role in the 1953 Horton Foote play, “The Trip is Bountiful”, in which she co-starred with such experienced actors as Lillian Gish and Jo Van Fleet. She received her first Emmy nomination, a Best Actress award, for playing the young mistress of E. G. Marshall in “Middle of the Night”. She won another nomination for her role in the 1955 television musical “Our Town”, co-starring with Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra.

In the 1954 “On the Waterfront”, Eva Marie Saint made her first feature film appearance in the role of Edie Doyle- a performance for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated by the British Academy of Film in the category of ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ for this role of Edie Doyle. “On the Waterfront” starring Marlon Brando was a major success and launched Saint’s movie career.

Director Alfred Hitchcock surprised many by choosing Eva Marie Saint over dozens of candidates for the femme fatale role in the 1959 suspense classic “North by Northwest” starring Cary Grant and James Mason. The change in Saint’s screen persona, coupled with her adroit performance as a seductive woman of mystery who keeps Cary Grant off balance, was widely heralded. The film became a box office hit and an influence on spy films for decades.

In the 1960s, Eva Marie Saint continued to distinguish herself in both high-profile and offbeat pictures. She co-starred with Paul Newman in the1060 “Exodus”, directed by Otto Preminger, a historical drama about the founding of the state of Israel adapted from Leon Uris’ novel. She also portrayed a tragic beauty in John Frankenheimer’s 1962 film “All Fall Down”, with Warren Beatty, Karl Malden and Angela Lansbury.

Eva Marie Saint has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6624 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for her television work at 6730 Hollywood Boulevard. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she is now 94 years old.

Calendar: July 3

A Year: Day to Day Men: 3rd of July

A Luxurious Sprawl

July 3, 1945 was the birthdate of American actor, Michael Cole.

Michael Cole was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, beginning with his first role in the 1961 film drama “Forbid Them Not”. In 1966 Cole had the role of Mark in the 1966 science fiction film “The Bubble”, later re-titled “Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth”, which introduced the Space-Vision 3-D system. He played  the character Spivey in the 1967 western “Chuka”, known for Cole’s military-fort flogging scene. He later starred in the 1971 science fiction movie “The Last Child” which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

Cole also appeared in many television shows. He played Kipp in the 1966 season of “Gunsmoke”. During the 1970s, he made guest appearances on “Wonder Woman”, “The Love Boat” and “CHiPs. He also worked on “Murder, She Wrote”, “Fantasy Island”, and Diagnosis Murder”. Cole later appeared in Stephen King’s 1990 two-part television movie “It”, playing the older version of Henry Bowers.

The role that made Michael Cole an international celebrity was his role as Pete Cochrane, a troubled youth turned crime fighter in the 1968-1973 “The Mod Squad”. Cole’s boyish good looks and brooding, deep voiced personality meshed perfectly with his character’s background. Aaron Spelling, the executive producer of the show, thought Cole was perfect for the part of Pete. Cole, however, originally balked at taking the part; but he was persuaded to do it after reading the script and realizing the show’s potential appeal. “The Mod Squad” resonated with the counter-culture-era viewers and ran for a total of 123 episodes over five seasons.

Michael Cole is also known for an incident in 1973 which was broadcast live on Australian television during the annual TV Week Logie awards.  Stepping on stage to accept an award, Cole, described later as drunk or “emotionally tired”,  gave a barely coherent “thank you” speech that ended with the actor saying, “Oh, shit.” This was the first time this profanity had been heard on Australian television.

Michale Cole continues to act in film and television projects. He appeared as Charles Hadley in a 2006 episode of the television series “ER”. He also made an appearance in the 2007 psychological thriller “Mr. Brooks” as the attorney for Demi Moore’s character Tracy Atwood. The film was directed by Bruce Evans and showcased performances by Kevin Costner,  Demi Moore, Dane Cook, and William Hurt.

Calendar: June 29

A Year: Day to Day Men: 29th of June

The Amazing Technicolor Man

June 29, 1995 marks the passing of one of MGM’s biggest stars: Lana Turner.

Born to working-class parents in northern Idaho, Lana Turner spent her early life there before her family relocated to San Francisco. In 1936, while still in high school, she was discovered while purchasing a soda at the Top Hat Malt Shop in Hollywood. At the age of 16, she was signed to a personal contract by Warner Brothers director Mervyn Le Roy who took her with him when he transferred to MGM in 1938.

Turner attracted attention playing a murder victim in her first film in 1937, LeRoy’s crime drama “They Won’t Forget”. During the early 1940s, Turner established herself as a leading actress and one of MGM’s top performers, appearing in such films as the film noir “Johnny Eager”, the musical “Ziegfeld Girl”, and the horror film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, all in 1941. She starred in the 1942 romantic war drama “Somewhere I’ll Find You”, one of several films opposite Clark Gable.

At the advent of World War II, Turner’s increasing prominence in Hollywood led to her becoming a popular pin-up girl and her image appeared painted on the noses of U.S. fighter planes, bearing the nickname “Tempest Turner.” In June 1942, she embarked on a ten-week war bond tour throughout the western United States with her co-star Gable. Throughout the war, Turner continued to make regular appearances at U.S. troop events and area bases.

Turner’s reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her critically acclaimed performance in the 1946 film “The Postman Always Rings Twice”, a role which established her as a serious dramatic actress. Her popularity continued through the 1950s in dramas such as “The Bad and the Beautiful” and “Peyton Place”, the latter of which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Turner’s 1959 film, “Imitation of Life”, proved to be one of the greatest financial successes of her career. Her last starring role in the 1966 “Madame X” earned her a David di Donatello Award for Best Actress. Turner spent most of the 1970s and early 1980s in semi-retirement, making her final feature film appearance in “Witches’ Brew”, released in 1980. She accepted in 1982 a much publicized and lucrative recurring guest role in the television series “Falcon Crest”, which afforded the series notably high ratings.

Turner maintained her glamorous image into her late career; a 1966 film review characterized her as “the glitter and glamour of Hollywood.” While she consistently embraced her glamorous persona, she was also vocal about her dedication to acting and attained a reputation as a versatile, hard-working actress. One of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s biggest stars, Lana Turner earned the studio over $50 million during her eighteen-year contract with them.