Actors
Everything You Need To Know About Anouk Aimée: Exquisite French Actress and Muse
For me and legendary French actress Anouk Aimée, it was love at first sight. Distinctly one-sided, mind you, since we never actually met. Yet precisely which of her films made me fall, suddenly and hard, I can’t recall.
Actors
That Voice: How Laurence Olivier Romanced the Spoken Word
“Who’s the greatest actor of all time?” When that unanswerable question gets asked in my circles, I tend to hear four names repeated: Marlon Brando, Spencer Tracy, Laurence Olivier, and Daniel Day-Lewis.
Directors
Why Jean Gabin Is Still France’s Greatest Film Export
As most of you know, I spend my life being picky about movies. There are just a few actors I’ll watch in almost anything. Jean Gabin makes that very short list. Some reading this may have forgotten him, or never even heard of him. His heyday, after all, was nearly eighty years ago, and he’s been gone for over forty. Yet in his prime, no one could touch him.
Actors
Dancing like a Man: The Masculine Moves of Gene Kelly
It always irked Gene Kelly that dancing was considered an effeminate activity for men. When his mother first enrolled him and his brother in dance classes when Gene was still a boy, he had to endure taunts from his classmates which he promptly settled with his fists.
Actors
What Made Alan Bates Such a Generous Talent
I have always been a huge fan of the late Alan Bates. His profound talent made him a joy to watch in most anything. Still, I’ve often wondered, why wasn’t he a bigger star? Eventually, I learned it was a matter of choice. He simply preferred to be a working actor.
Actors
How Actor Joel McCrea Created His Own Stardom
Joel McCrea was always clear-eyed about his place in the Hollywood firmament. He once said that he got offered the comedies that Cary Grant passed on, and the Westerns Gary Cooper rejected.
Actors
How Greer Garson Combined Refined Beauty With Raw Talent
During the Second World War, there was no bigger female star in Hollywood than Greer Garson. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar five consecutive times over that period, from 1941-1945. (Only Bette Davis matched Garson’s record, between 1939-1943).
Biographical
How Vivien Leigh Persevered as an Actress While Fighting Mental Illness
The actress who in 1938 came out of nowhere to win the most coveted role in Hollywood once said: “I'm not a film star; I am an actress. Being a film star is such a false life, lived for fake values and for publicity… Actresses go on for a long time and there are always marvelous parts to play.” Vivien Leigh was first and foremost a creature of the theater who only made twenty films. Still, over the course of her career she managed to win two Best Actress Oscars, becoming the first British player to do so.
Actors
Gone Too Soon — Why the Sudden Death of Carole Lombard Still Hurts
At age 33, Carole Lombard had it all. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, and happily married to its biggest male star: Clark Gable. She had proven herself one of the industry’s top comediennes, but her beauty and talent could extend to serious roles too. Only good things lay ahead.