Walter Pidgeon

 Walter Pidgeon on Hollywood: "It was like an expensive, beautifully-run fan club. You didn't need to carry money. Your face was your credit card--all over the world."

Pidgeon had a notoriously poor memory for names, referring to anyone whose name he could not remember as "Joe." This became such a habit that, for his birthday one year, the cast and crew of the picture he was working on bought him a present: A director's chair enscribed "Joe Pidgeon."

During his early performances on stage, Pidgeon played a Mountie in the play "Rose Marie." After playing this character on stage, Pidgeon became so enthusiastic that he actually applied to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Unfortunately he was medically rejected due to his earlier injuries in the Canadian Army.

Pidgeon appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners in consecutive years: "How Green Was My Valley" (1941, below) and "Mrs. Miniver" (1942). He also appeared in three other Best Picture nominees: "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941), "Madame Curie" (1943) and "Funny Girl" (1968), and was a narrator in one more: "Quo Vadis" (1951).

"I didn't demand any vetoes over the films I didn't like, as they do today. I asked nicely and discovered a secret that has stayed with me for my entire career -- that a request spoken softly usually brings results and demands rarely do."