Kirk Douglas

 Kirk Douglas landed the lead role in "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953) after Clark Gable had turned it down. In conferences with Douglas, director Vincente Minnelli suggested he downplay his character's explosive side and focus on charm instead. Douglas agreed, but throughout shooting, whenever he finished a scene, he would say, "I was very charming in that scene, wasn't I?" After filming was completed, Douglas sent Minnelli a note complimenting him for "(getting) out of me a much more quiet quality than I have ever been able to get in any picture."

Minelli: ""People who read the script asked me why I wanted to do it. It was against Hollywood, etc. I told them I didn't see the man as an unregenerate heel—first because we find out he has a weakness, which makes him human, and second, because he's tough on himself as he is on everyone else, which makes him honest. That's the complex, wonderful thing about human beings—whether they're in Hollywood, in the automobile business, or in neckties."

Douglas later recalled being on set with Francis X. Bushman, who had a small part as the paid eulogist of Hugo Shields. He says Bushman told him his career faded away because "at the height of his fame, he inadvertently offended the all-powerful Louis B. Mayer by keeping him waiting a few minutes. Mayer, in turn, banned him from MGM and blackballed him in the industry. This was his first time on the lot in 25 years. Bushman's story gave me some useful insight into the ruthless, selfish character I was playing—still another tough-guy antihero. I was doing well with these roles."

"The Bad and the Beautiful" was created by the same team that later worked on another film about the seedy film business, "Two Weeks in Another Town" (1962): director (Minnelli), producer (John Houseman), screenwriter (Charles Schnee), composer (David Raksin), male star (Douglas), and studio (MGM). Both films also feature performances of the song "Don't Blame Me," by Leslie Uggams in "Two Weeks in Aother Town," and by Peggy King in "The Bad and the Beautiful." In one scene of "Two Weeks in Another Town," the cast watches clips from "The Bad and the Beautiful" in a screening room, presented as a film that Douglas's character in Two Weeks, Jack Andrus, had starred in. "Two Weeks in Another Town" is not a sequel, however, as the characters in the two stories are unrelated.

Happy Birthday, Kirk Douglas!