Holidays
Anthony Hopkins: A Star Is Born on New Year’s Eve
Sir Anthony Hopkins, the scarily brilliant actor who played the scarily brilliant Hannibal Lecter in 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs,” turns 80 this New Year’s Eve.
Actors
Diane Keaton: Why We Feel Like We Know Her and Wish We Really Did
At the outset, many in Hollywood pigeonholed her as “kooky.” As most of us now realize, she was — and is — considerably more than that: smart, funny, complex, and yes, quirky, but in a thoroughly winning way. She is, in short, wonderfully human.
Actors
All About Anne Baxter, The Actress Who Played “Eve”
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “All About Eve” is often cited as the best film ever made about the theater, and I believe it earns that distinction. It also stands one of the most literate dramas ever to come out of Hollywood, a caustic, cautionary tale about how the dark side of our natures can emerge in the pursuit of bright lights and fame.
Actors
Chaplin: Why the Little Tramp Remains Such a Big Deal
In 1910, the prestigious Fred Karno theatrical troupe in England got the chance to tour America. Its star attraction, a twenty-one-year-old performer named Charles Chaplin, was on-board that first ship crossing the Atlantic.
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.
Directors
How Saul Bass Transformed Opening Movie Credits Forever
His name is seldom invoked today, but if you compiled any list of innovators who’d actually changed the shape of movies, it would have to include Saul Bass.
Actors
Firecracker: Why Shirley MacLaine’s Special Flame Keeps Burning
Actress Shirley MacLaine once observed: “An actor has many lives and many people within him. I know there are lots of people inside me. No one ever said I'm dull.” That’s for sure. Over the years, this irrepressible lady has sparked considerable bafflement and controversy over her outspoken views on reincarnation, extraterrestrials, and other New Age thinking.
Actors
The Sizzle of Cyd Charisse — Hollywood’s Dynamite Dancer
Fred Astaire called her “beautiful dynamite.” After nearly a decade in films, it was hardly surprising that she finally broke through playing a vamp who ensnares Gene Kelly in the immortal “Gotta Dance” sequence from “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Actors
Why Vanessa Redgrave’s Radiance Will Never Fade
On the night of January 30, 1937 in London, Laurence Olivier took the stage during the intermission of “Hamlet” to announce the birth of his co-star Michael Redgrave’s first child. Addressing the audience, he said: “Tonight a great actress is born.” His words were prophetic.