Gloria Grahame

 Cecil B. DeMille was always demanding of his actors and actresses. He insisted that everyone in "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) truly learn to perform the circus stunts they were supposed to be performing. This meant that Gloria Grahame had to let an elephant rest its foot an inch from her face.

Given the film's mammoth structure and episodic nature, one element that is often overlooked is the caustic performance of Grahame in her first comic role. This was not DeMille's brainstorm from the start; his original casting ideas were thwarted when Lucille Ball became pregnant and second choice Paulette Goddard refused to perform the elephantine stuntwork herself.

Grahame was in the midst of what would be the most productive period of her career; in addition to her ongoing film noir roles in films like "Sudden Fear" (1952), she also dazzled critics with her work in MGM's "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952). As an eleventh hour replacement in "The Greatest Show on Earth," the role of Angel was, comparatively, a lark for Grahame, who spouts sassy dialogue originally written with Ball and/or Goddard in mind. By year's end, the versatile actress copped a supporting Oscar for "The Bad and the Beautiful," but it was largely understood that she received the award for her collective body of work from 1952 -- which offers explanation as to why the marvelous Jean Hagen went home empty-handed despite her iconic performance as the hilariously doomed Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). It was Grahame's year.

Though Grahame returned to drama with several hard-hitting performances following this film, it was her acerbic performance in "The Greatest Show on Earth" that led Rodgers and Hammerstein to personally select her to portray Ado Annie Carnes in the film version of "Oklahoma!" (1955) three years later. It would mark Grahame's only performance in a musical.

Happy Birthday, Gloria Grahame!