My Life , My Blog

Trivia of Jeanne Crain (25 May 1925 - 14 December 2003) *Crain began winning leads in school plays at 14 and beauty contests at 15.An excellent ice skater, she first attracted attention when she was crowned Miss Pan-Pacific at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. *While still in high school, she was asked to take a screen test with Orson Welles for the role of Lucy Morgan in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), but she did not get the part.At age 18, she appeared in a bit part in the film The Gang's All Here (1943). *Although frequently cast in musicals, she was not a singer. Louanne Hogan was specifically under contract so that she could dub the singing in all her musicals. *Crain married former RKO contract player Paul Brinkman on New Year’s Eve against her mother’s wishes. Crain took a break from acting in 1947 when she had her first of seven children with Brinkman. She returned to work the following year, appearing in You Were Meant for Me (1948), and Apartment for Peggy (19...

  Trivia of Betty Grable (18 December 1916 - 2 July 1973) *Betty made her debut as a chorus girl in the film ‘Happy Days’ in 1929 when she was 12 years old. Later, she was chosen for the chorus in ‘Let’s Go Places’. The law at that time required the girls to be over 15 to dance in the chorus. Betty was just 13 but her mother arranged for her false identification papers so that she could perform. However, the deception was found out and she was disqualified. *She signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in the late 1930s. She appeared in a number of B-movies like ‘Pigskin Parade’ (1936), ‘This Way Please’ (1937), ‘College Swing’ (1938). She played college students in most of these films and was thus typecast in this role. *In her iconic pin-up photo, Grable has her back to the camera as she looks over her shoulder, smiling coyly. While it may seem like the pose is an artistic moment of genius, the pose was actually done for a very practical reason: Grable was pregnant and flaunting...

  Trivia of Ann Miller (12 April 1923 - 22 January 2004) *Miller began dance classes at the age of 5 in an attempt to strengthen her legs after suffering from rickets (a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children).She came to be considered a child dance prodigy.She said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration. *At age 13 in 1934, Miller became a showgirl at the Bal Tabarin. Due to laws regarding employment at establishments that sold liquor, Miller lied about her age and said she was 18. While working at Bal Tarbin, Miller was discovered by Lucille Ball and talent scout/comic Benny Rubin there.This led to a contract with RKO, who were under the belief that Miller was 18. When they discovered her true age later, her father provided a fake birth certificate with the name Lucy Ann Collier, made herself four years older, when she began working in Hollywood. *Miller made her film debut in 1934 with a minor role in the musical comedy “The Devil on Horseback.” Throughou...

  Trivia of Alice Faye (5 May 1915 - 9 May 1998) *Her entertainment career began in vaudeville as a chorus girl. She failed an audition for the Earl Carroll Vanities when she was found to be too young, then moved to Broadway and a featured role in the 1931 edition of George White's Scandals. By this time, she had adopted her stage name "Alice Faye". *She became a popular film star for audiences of the 1930s, particularly when Fox production head Darryl F. Zanuck made her his protégée. He softened Faye from a wisecracking showgirl to a youthful, and yet somewhat motherly figure, such as her roles in a few Shirley Temple films.She received a physical makeover, going from a version of Jean Harlow to a wholesome appearance, in which her platinum hair and pencil-line eyebrows were swapped for a more natural look. *Darryl F. Zanuck resisted casting Faye as the female lead in "In Old Chicago (1938)" as the role had been written for Jean Harlow.But finally Alice Faye wa...

  Trivia of Miriam Hopkins (18 October 1902 - 9 October 1972) *At age 20, Hopkins became a chorus girl in New York City; she also acted regularly on the stage throughout the 1920s, including in the 1926 stage adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. *In 1930, Hopkins signed with Paramount Pictures and made her official film debut in American pre-Code romantic comedy Fast and Loose along Carole Lombard. *Her first great success was in the 1931 horror drama film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where she portrayed Ivy Pearson, a prostitute who becomes entangled with Jekyll and Hyde.In the first place Miriam Hopkins originally turned down the role of Ivy Pearson, saying she wanted to play Muriel Carew instead. She soon changed her mind when the director informed her many actresses in Hollywood could be cast in her place. *Hopkins' early films were considered sexually risqué; produced in the years before the Motion Picture Production Code was rigorously enforced, they featured...

  Trivia of Carole Landis (1 January 1919 - 5 July 1948) *At the age of 15, Lilian Francis (later Carole Landis) dropped out of San Bernardino High School and set forth on a career path to show business.She started out as a hula dancer in a San Francisco nightclub, where she was described by her boss as a "nervous $35-a-week blonde doing a pathetic hula at her opening night at the old Royal Hawaiian on Bush ...that'll never get her anyplace in show business". He apparently employed her only because he felt sorry for her; she later sang with a dance band. She bleached her hair blonde and changed her name to "Carole Landis" after her favorite actress, Carole Lombard.After saving $100, she moved to Hollywood. *In 1937 she landed a contract with Warner Bros. However, Warners gave her mostly bit parts in B pictures and in the chorus of Busby Berkeley pictures for the 15 films she made for them.Her "break" came when Hal Roach cast her as the skin-clad lead i...

  Trivia of Fay Wray (15 September 1907 - 8 August 2004) *Fay Wray, fully names Vina Fay Wray was a famous actress of Canadian/American origin. She was nicknamed The Queen of Scream, a term used to describe an actress who is well known and/or influential in horror films. *Wray made her first screen appearance in 1923 at the age of 16. She landed a role in a short historical film named Gasoline Love which was sponsored by a local newspaper.In 1926, Wray was signed to Universal Studios where she got her first lead role in the film The Wedding March which was produced by Paramount Pictures.Her first project was a failure and she slowly transitioned from making silent films to talkies that had become a global phenomenon in the 1930s.The contract with Paramount was then terminated in 1931 and she became a free-lancing actress. *She had starred in horror films including Doctor X(1932), Mystery of Wax Museum (1933), and The Vampire Bat(1933). Her best-known films were under RKO Radio Pict...

Trivia of Jennifer Jones (2 March 1919 - 17 December 2009) *Her parents, both aspiring stage actors, toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show they owned and operated. Jones accompanied them, performing on occasion as part of the Isley Stock Company.It was her father who arranged her to Hollywood.She landed two small roles, first in the 1939 John Wayne Western New Frontier, which she filmed in the summer of 1939 for Republic Pictures and the serial titled Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), also for Republic. In both films, she was credited as Phylis Isley. *When she learned of auditions for the lead role in Rose Franken's hit play Claudia in the summer of 1941, she presented herself to David O. Selznick's New York office but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading.However, Selznick had overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview, she was signed to a seven-year contract.She was carefully groomed for st...

  Trivia of Myrna Loy (2 August 1905 - 14 December 1993) *When her father was travelling by train in early 1905, he went through a small station called 'Myrna' - he eventually named her after that station. *In 1923, she was photographed by Henry Waxman, who showed the pictures to Rudolph Valentino. Impressed with Myrna, Valentino arranged for a screen test for his upcoming film, Cobra (1925). She failed it. But in next project, Valentino's wife Natacha Rambova hired Loy for a small but showy role opposite Nita Naldi in What Price Beauty , a film she was producing. *In 1936 Myrna Loy was named Queen of the Movies and Clark Gable King in a national poll, winning a crown of tin and purple velvet. in her autobiography, she says that she did not get on with Gable in her earlier films with him. However, in her later films he developed a respect for Loy and they became good friends.Loy and Clark Gable co-starred in seven feature films: Night Flight (1933), Men in White (1934), Ma...

  Trivia of June Allyson (7 October 1917 - 8 July 2006) *When Allyson was 8, a tree branch fell on her while she was riding her tricycle with her pet terrier in tow. Allyson sustained a fractured skull and broken back, and her dog was killed. Her doctors said she never would walk again and confined her to a heavy steel brace from neck to hips for four years.She ultimately regained her health, but when Allyson had become famous, she was terrified that people would discover her background from the "tenement side of New York City", and she readily agreed to studio tales of a "rosy life", including a concocted story that she underwent months of swimming exercises in rehabilitation to emerge as a star swimmer. *As a teen, Allyson memorized the trademark dance routines of Ginger Rogers. She claimed later to have watched The Gay Divorcee (1934) 17 times. She also tried to emulate the singing styles of movie stars, but never mastered reading music.Her first $60-a-week job w...

  Trivia of Joan Bennett (27 February 1910 - 7 December 1990) *Younger sister of actresses Constance and Barbara Bennett.Her father Richard Bennett and mother Adrienne Morrison also actors.Bennett first appeared in a silent movie as a child with her parents and sisters in drama The Valley of Decision (1916). *By the time she turned 20 she had become a movie star through such roles as Phyllis Benton in Bulldog Drummond (1929) starring Ronald Colman, which was her first important role. *In 1932 she starred opposite Spencer Tracy in She Wanted a Millionaire (1932), but it wasn't one she liked to remember, partly because Tracy couldn't stand the fact that everyone was paying more attention to her than to him.It's first of four movies co-starring Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. The others were Me And My Gal (1932), Father Of The Bride (1950), and Father's Little Dividend (1951). *Director Tay Garnett persuaded her to change her hair from blonde to brunette as part of the plo...

  Trivia of Patricia Neal (20 January 1926 - 8 August 2010) *Neal grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended Knoxville High School, and studied drama at Northwestern, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. At Northwestern, she was crowned Syllabus Queen in a campus-wide beauty pageant. *Made her film debut with Ronald Reagan in John Loves Mary (1949).The casting of Patricia Neal was something of an upset at the time.In order to provide its new contract player with the screen credit "and introducing Patricia Neal," the opening titles awkwardly read "Warner Bros. presents 'John Loves Mary' starring Ronald Reagan and Jack Carson." *During the filming of The Fountainhead (1949), Neal began an affair with her married co-star Gary Cooper, whom she had met in 1947 when she was 21 and he was 46. At one point in their relationship, Cooper persuade Neal to abort their unborn baby. Neal acquiesced to his demands and later expressed overwhelming regret...

  Trivia of Mae West (17 August 1893 - 22 November 1980) *Mary Jane West a.k.a Mae West began entertaining people right from the time she was only 5 years old.Her professional on-stage performance began in 1907 at Hal Clarendon Stock Company. At this time, she was 14 years old and had the professional on-stage name “Baby Mae.”She made her Broadway debut as a singer and acrobatic dancer in the revue A la Broadway in 1911. *Mae is credited with single-handedly saving movie studio Paramount. They were close to filing for bankruptcy when Mae signed a contract with them. Her first film, She Done Him Wrong (1933), cost them $200,000 and made $2 million. This would be over $140 million in today’s money. *During World War II, United States Navy and Army pilots named their inflatable life vests after Mae, supposedly because of her curvy figure. The term ‘Mae West’ for a lifejacket continues to this day. *Despite her glamour style, Mae was no party girl.She hated big crowds, didn’t drink or ...

  Trivia of Norma Shearer (11 August 1902 - 12 June 1983) *Was meticulous about her appearance. Early in her career, she spent money she could barely afford on the services on an eye doctor, who trained her to strengthen a weak eye. She swam everyday, had massages to firm her figure, and dieted religiously. She experimented with make-up until she decided on a light tone that would illuminate her face on screen. *Norma Shearer once made an embarrassing mistake by mistaking the Vice President of Louis B. Mayer Pictures, Irving Thalberg, for an office boy.Irving Thalberg who had seen Norma Shearer early acting efforts didn't mad of her mistake, rather gave her a five year contract. Thalberg and Shearer married in 29 September 1927. Thalberg thought she should retire after their marriage, but she wanted bigger parts. They made movie projects together, including : Let Us Be Gay (1930), Strange Interlude (1932), and Marie Antoinette (1938). *Norma Shearer casted by her for the role Eliz...

  Trivia of Dorothy Malone (29 January 1924 - 19 January 2018) *Was one of five children. Two older sisters died very young of complications from polio, and another younger brother was struck and killed by lightning while on a Dallas golf course. When she won the Oscar for Written on the Wind (1956), she dedicated the award to her late brother. *She originally considered becoming a nurse.While performing in a play at Southern Methodist University,she was spotted by a talent scout, Eddie Rubin,who had been looking to find and cast a male actor.Malone was signed by RKO at age 18 as Dorothy Maloney and made her film debut in Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943). *When RKO lost interest of her, Warner Bros stepped up to the plate and offered the actress a contract. She billed as Dorothy Malone with the studio finally injected some adrenaline into her floundering young career.She earned the small role of a seductive book clerk in the Bogart/Bacall classic The Big Sleep (1946). Director Howar...

  Trivia of Janet Gaynor (6 October 1906 - 14 September 1984) *Gaynor got her start in films through her sister, a secretary for movie producer Hal Roach. In 1925-1926, she appeared in a number of shorts (including several Glenn Tryon Westerns) and as an extra in features. Her first break was a supporting role in "The Johnstown Flood" (1926). *In her early career, Gaynor was romantically involved with friend and frequent co-star Charles Farrell during their work together.She and Charles Farrell were in twelve films together: 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), Lucky Star (1929), Happy Days (1929), Sunny Side Up (1929), High Society Blues (1930), The Man Who Came Back (1931), Merely Mary Ann (1931), Delicious (1931), The First Year (1932), Tess of the Storm Country (1932), and Change of Heart (1934). *She was the first actress to win the Academy Award as best actress. In the early years, actors could receive one Oscar for several films. Gaynor won for Sunrise: A Song of Tw...

  Trivia of Arlene Dahl (11 August 1925 - 29 November 2021) *As a child, Dahl took elocution and dancing lessons and was active in theatrical events at school.After graduating from high school, she held such jobs as performing in a local drama group and briefly working as a model for department stores.She then traveled to New York and worked as a model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, where she successfully auditioned for a part in the broadway musical Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945). *Dahl was selected to be a Rheingold Beer Girl for an ad campaign, and studio head Jack Warner spotted her and signed her to a contract at Warner Bros. She had an uncredited part in the William Powell starrer Life With Father (1947). *After play in some uncredited role in Warner Bros, she moved to MGM and promoted to leading lady in My Wild Irish Rose (1947) with Dennis Morgan, a big hit that led to an offer from MGM for a long-term contract.Play as Rose Donovan, this is Arlene Dahl’s first cre...

  Trivia of Gloria DeHaven (23 July 1925 - 30 July 2016) *DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers. A 1983 newspaper article reported, "Miss DeHaven ... says that her real family name was O'Callahan before her father legally changed his name to DeHaven." *With her father's help (who was assistant director and a friend of Charles Chaplin), she began her career as a child actor with a bit uncredited part in Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936).Her first visible role was in the Susan and God (1940) opposite Joan Crawford. *Before be a movie star, Gloria concentrated on her singing career. She developed her own nightclub act over the years and also enjoyed considerable success as a solo vocalist with the orchestras of Bob Crosby, Jan Savitt and Muzzy Marcellino. It was her singing which prompted Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to sign her under contract in 1940. ...