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Up to now, I’ve always hesitated to do a piece on this enduring icon and casualty of Hollywood, simply because so much has already been written on her tragic life and tumultuous career — reportedly well over 500 books. Finally, I resolved to focus on the details of her early life which shaped the fragile, tortured person she’d become.

As so often happens in Hollywood, the most famous and beloved dance team in the history of movies was the result of a happy accident. The year was 1933, the studio was the financially strapped RKO, the film a Dolores Del Rio vehicle called “Flying Down to Rio.”

One quality about Dean Martin you had to love: he never played second banana to anyone. Not to Frank Sinatra, not to Jerry Lewis — both complicated men with big egos. What made him so cool was the fact that he sought and required no one’s approval. Even better, he knew how to use his abundant charm to make you love him for it.

I was lucky enough to know Gene Wilder. That’s not to boast but to affirm a tired old cliché: to know him was to love him. He was surprisingly reserved, but once comfortable with you, he readily displayed that trademark twinkle. His keen wit and intelligence made him excellent company, and unlike some actors, he listened as intently as he spoke.

Any serious student of film will recognize Japan’s outsize contribution to advancing this most vivid and powerful of art forms. Just consider the legacy of Ozu (“Tokyo Story”) and Kurosawa (“Rashomon”) for a start. Of course, over the years many lesser-known Japanese directors have also done brilliant work.Happily, that tradition of excellence has extended well into this century. Below are eight of my favorite Japanese entries made over the last fifteen years.  Each in their own way explores a vastly different culture from ours, while shedding light on human issues and emotions we all share.

Gloria Grahame never quite became a star in Hollywood, but she sure left her mark. If you’re a fan of film noir, you know her already. This shadowy world of double-and triple-crosses was where she thrived. Still, even casual fans of older films will remember that face, that voice, that look.

In the 1930s, when so many women in America were still relegated to the kitchen and nursery, one actress in Hollywood became a star playing independent women who worked for a living, competing with men in a man’s world. Her name was Jean Arthur.

You may not remember their names, but you will certainly remember their faces, their voices, and the characters they played.

He was not the most exciting, dynamic star of his day. He had a casual air, a matter-of-fact delivery, and looked like a Regular Joe: tall, nice looking, but hardly sexy. He never took an acting lesson, and was never nominated for an Oscar.