Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...
- 8/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Los Angeles (AP) — Mickey Rooney, the pint-size, precocious actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater, died Sunday at age 93. Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith said that Rooney was with his family when he died at his North Hollywood home. Smith said police took a death report but indicated that there was nothing suspicious and it was not a police case. He said he had no additional details on the circumstances of his passing. Rooney started his career in his parents' vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking up film and TV credits more than 80 years later — a tenure likely unmatched in the history of show business. "I always say, 'Don't retire — inspire,'" he told The Associated Press in March 2008. "There's a lot to be done.
- 4/7/2014
- by Anthony McCartney (AP)
- Hitfix
Anthony McCartney, AP Entertainment Writer
Los Angeles (AP) - Mickey Rooney, the pint-size, precocious actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater, died Sunday at age 93.
Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith said that Rooney was with his family when he died at his North Hollywood home.
Smith said police took a death report but indicated that there was nothing suspicious and he had no additional details on the circumstances of his passing. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office said it was not their case because Rooney died a natural death.
There were no further immediate details on the cause of death, but Rooney did attend an Oscar party last month.
Rooney started his career in his parents' vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking...
Los Angeles (AP) - Mickey Rooney, the pint-size, precocious actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater, died Sunday at age 93.
Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith said that Rooney was with his family when he died at his North Hollywood home.
Smith said police took a death report but indicated that there was nothing suspicious and he had no additional details on the circumstances of his passing. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office said it was not their case because Rooney died a natural death.
There were no further immediate details on the cause of death, but Rooney did attend an Oscar party last month.
Rooney started his career in his parents' vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking...
- 4/7/2014
- by The Associated Press
- Moviefone
I was saddened to hear of Bob Thomas’ death on Friday at the age of 92—as a lifelong fan, admirer, and friend. His health had been failing in recent years, and he filed his last story for AP in 2010, I’m told. I doubt that anyone will ever come close to his “service record” in years to come, whether they’re covering Hollywood or any other news beat. Bob Thomas was a first-rate reporter and biographer, and a truly decent man. To commemorate his passing, I’m reprinting a tribute I wrote in 2009, without any changes or updates. Hollywood is poorer for his passing.You’ll see lots of people clutching awards at this time of year but I was particularly happy to see Bob Thomas honored at...
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- 3/17/2014
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
This is sad news for me. As a former Associated Press writer-editor I had the pleasure of working with Bob Thomas, a legend not only at the AP but throughout the entertainment industry. Thomas died today of age-related illnesses at his Encino, CA home, his daughter Janet Thomas told the AP. He was 92. From the time he began working as an entertainment reporter for the wire service in 1944, he covered a record 66 Oscar ceremonies, interviewed stars ranging from Lucille Ball to Elizabeth Taylor, and also made his mark outside of entertainment, filing the bulletin that Robert F. Kennedy had been shot. (He actually joined the AP in 1943 with hopes of becoming a war correspondent, but left after a year after he was named the Fresno, CA correspondent. “It gets so damn hot in Fresno in the summer and nothing much ever happens there,” he once told a colleague, according to...
- 3/14/2014
- by DENISE PETSKI
- Deadline TV
Bob Thomas, the Associated Press veteran who presided over generations of Hollywood reporters, covered a record 66 Oscar ceremonies, and broke the news of Robert F. Kennedy's shooting, has died. He was 92. Thomas interviewed Hollywood legends from James Dean to Marilyn Monroe, from Walt Disney to Bob Hope. His daughter, Janet Thomas, told the AP that he died of age-related illnesses Friday at his home Encino, Calif. Also read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2014 (Photos) His visits to the Los Angeles AP offices in the mid-2000s were a delight to a generation of reporters covering stories like the Michael Jackson trial.
- 3/14/2014
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Bob Thomas, the tireless, longtime Associated Press reporter who kept the world informed on the comings and goings of Hollywood's biggest stars, from Clark Gable to Tom Cruise, died Friday. He was 92. Thomas died of age-related illnesses at his Encino, Calif., home, his daughter Janet Thomas said. A room filled with his interview subjects would have made for the most glittering of ceremonies: Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Groucho Marx and Marlon Brando, Walt Disney and Fred Astaire. He interviewed rising stars (James Dean), middle-aged legends (Humphrey Bogart, Jack Nicholson) and elder institutions (Bob Hope...
- 3/14/2014
- by Associated Press
- PEOPLE.com
London — When Ray Harryhausen was 13, he was so overwhelmed by "King Kong" that he vowed he would create otherworldly creatures on film. He fulfilled his desire as an adult, thrilling audiences with skeletons in a sword fight, a gigantic octopus destroying the Golden Gate Bridge, and a six-armed dancing goddess.
On Tuesday, Harryhausen died at London's Hammersmith Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for about a week. He was 92.
Biographer and longtime friend Tony Dalton confirmed the special-effects titan's death, saying it was too soon to tell the exact cause. He described Harryhausen's passing as "very gentle and very quiet."
"Ray did so much and influenced so many people," Dalton said. He recalled his friend's "wonderfully funny, brilliant sense of humor" and love of Laurel and Hardy, adding that, "His creatures were extraordinary, and his imagination was boundless."
Though little known by the general public, Harryhausen made 17 movies that...
On Tuesday, Harryhausen died at London's Hammersmith Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for about a week. He was 92.
Biographer and longtime friend Tony Dalton confirmed the special-effects titan's death, saying it was too soon to tell the exact cause. He described Harryhausen's passing as "very gentle and very quiet."
"Ray did so much and influenced so many people," Dalton said. He recalled his friend's "wonderfully funny, brilliant sense of humor" and love of Laurel and Hardy, adding that, "His creatures were extraordinary, and his imagination was boundless."
Though little known by the general public, Harryhausen made 17 movies that...
- 5/7/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Minneapolis (AP) — Pauline Friedman Phillips, who under the name of Abigail Van Buren, wrote the long-running "Dear Abby" advice column that was followed by millions of newspaper readers throughout the world, has died. She was 94.
Publicist Gene Willis of Universal Uclick said Phillips died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Phillips' column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but later they regained the close relationship they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa.
The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant one-liners.
Phillips admitted that her advice changed over the years. When she started writing the column, she was reluctant to advocate divorce:
"I always thought that marriage should be forever," she explained. "I found...
Publicist Gene Willis of Universal Uclick said Phillips died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Phillips' column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but later they regained the close relationship they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa.
The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby's replies were often flippant one-liners.
Phillips admitted that her advice changed over the years. When she started writing the column, she was reluctant to advocate divorce:
"I always thought that marriage should be forever," she explained. "I found...
- 1/17/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
It's 2012. We've seen enough to know how stories like Marilyn Monroe's end. Even a half-century ago—Monroe was found dead 50 years ago this Sunday—they knew. "I can't say I'm surprised," Mad Men's Don Draper says flatly in the elevator in "Six Month Leave." And while Draper is a fictional character, his refusal to feign shock is grounded in something real. "Somehow the pieces seemed to fit into place," the longtime Hollywood correspondent Bob Thomas wrote for the Associated Press just days after Monroe's death. "It looked inevitable in retrospect that her 36-year-old life would end so tragically." It...
- 8/4/2012
- E! Online
Los Angeles — He was a tubby tough guy with a pug of a mug, as unlikely a big-screen star or a romantic lead as could be imagined.
Yet Ernest Borgnine won a woman's love and an Academy Award in one of the great lonelyhearts roles in "Marty," a highlight in a workhorse career that spanned nearly seven decades and more than 200 film and television parts.
Borgnine, who died Sunday at 95, worked to the end. One of his final roles was a bit part as a CIA records-keeper in 2011's action comedy "Red" – fittingly for his age, a story of retired spies who show that it's never too late to remain in the game when they're pulled back into action.
"I keep telling myself, `Damn it, you gotta go to work,'" Borgnine said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. "But there aren't many people who want to put Borgnine to work these days.
Yet Ernest Borgnine won a woman's love and an Academy Award in one of the great lonelyhearts roles in "Marty," a highlight in a workhorse career that spanned nearly seven decades and more than 200 film and television parts.
Borgnine, who died Sunday at 95, worked to the end. One of his final roles was a bit part as a CIA records-keeper in 2011's action comedy "Red" – fittingly for his age, a story of retired spies who show that it's never too late to remain in the game when they're pulled back into action.
"I keep telling myself, `Damn it, you gotta go to work,'" Borgnine said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. "But there aren't many people who want to put Borgnine to work these days.
- 7/9/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and the film "The Big Lebowski," has died at age 81.
Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.
Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.
In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...
Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.
Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.
In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...
- 2/4/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and the film "The Big Lebowski," has died at age 81.
Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.
Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.
In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...
Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.
Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he's playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.
In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt,...
- 2/4/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York — President John F. Kennedy had just one critique when he saw photos of the actor set to play him in a World War II drama.
The year was 1963 and actor Cliff Robertson looked convincing in his costume for "Pt-109," the first film to portray a sitting president. Kennedy had favored Robertson for the role, but one detail was off.
Robertson's hair was parted on the wrong side.
The actor dutifully trained his locks to part on the left and won praise for a role he'd remain proud of throughout his life.
Robertson, who went on to win an Oscar for his portrayal of a mentally disabled man in "Charly", died of natural causes Saturday afternoon in Stony Brook, a day after his 88th birthday, according to Evelyn Christel, his secretary of 53 years.
Robertson never elevated into the top ranks of leading men, but he remained a popular actor...
The year was 1963 and actor Cliff Robertson looked convincing in his costume for "Pt-109," the first film to portray a sitting president. Kennedy had favored Robertson for the role, but one detail was off.
Robertson's hair was parted on the wrong side.
The actor dutifully trained his locks to part on the left and won praise for a role he'd remain proud of throughout his life.
Robertson, who went on to win an Oscar for his portrayal of a mentally disabled man in "Charly", died of natural causes Saturday afternoon in Stony Brook, a day after his 88th birthday, according to Evelyn Christel, his secretary of 53 years.
Robertson never elevated into the top ranks of leading men, but he remained a popular actor...
- 9/11/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Los Angeles — She was the voluptuous pin-up girl who set a million male hearts to pounding during World War II, the favorite movie star of a generation of young men long before she'd made a movie more than a handful of them had ever seen.
Such was the stunning beauty of Jane Russell, and the marketing skills of the man who discovered her, the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.
Russell, surrounded by family members, died Monday at her home in the central coast city of Santa Maria. Her death from respiratory failure came 70 years after Hughes had put her on the path to stardom with his controversial Western "The Outlaw." She was 89.
Although she had all but abandoned Hollywood after the 1960s for a quieter life, her daughter-in-law Etta Waterfield said Russell remained active until just a few weeks ago when her health began to fail. Until then she was active with her church,...
Such was the stunning beauty of Jane Russell, and the marketing skills of the man who discovered her, the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.
Russell, surrounded by family members, died Monday at her home in the central coast city of Santa Maria. Her death from respiratory failure came 70 years after Hughes had put her on the path to stardom with his controversial Western "The Outlaw." She was 89.
Although she had all but abandoned Hollywood after the 1960s for a quieter life, her daughter-in-law Etta Waterfield said Russell remained active until just a few weeks ago when her health began to fail. Until then she was active with her church,...
- 3/1/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Los Angeles — Blake Edwards, the director and writer known for clever dialogue, poignance and occasional belly-laugh sight gags in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "10" and the "Pink Panther" farces, is dead at age 88.
Edwards died from complications of pneumonia late Wednesday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said publicist Gene Schwam. Blake's wife, Julie Andrews, and other family members were at his side. He had been hospitalized for about two weeks.
Edwards had knee problems, had undergone unsuccessful procedures and was "pretty much confined to a wheelchair for the last year-and-a-half or two," Schwam said. That may have contributed to his condition, he added.
At the time of his death, Edwards was working on two Broadway musicals, one based on the "Pink Panther" movies. The other, "Big Rosemary," was to be an original comedy set during Prohibition, Schwam said.
"His heart was as big as his talent. He was an...
Edwards died from complications of pneumonia late Wednesday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, said publicist Gene Schwam. Blake's wife, Julie Andrews, and other family members were at his side. He had been hospitalized for about two weeks.
Edwards had knee problems, had undergone unsuccessful procedures and was "pretty much confined to a wheelchair for the last year-and-a-half or two," Schwam said. That may have contributed to his condition, he added.
At the time of his death, Edwards was working on two Broadway musicals, one based on the "Pink Panther" movies. The other, "Big Rosemary," was to be an original comedy set during Prohibition, Schwam said.
"His heart was as big as his talent. He was an...
- 12/16/2010
- by AP
- Huffington Post
The William Castle Film Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $80.95) includes eight pictures produced and directed by master showman Castle. In Part One of this lengthy DVD review, I dissected four of them—13 Ghosts, Homicidal and the two best, The Tingler and Mr. Sardonicus. Believe you me, it was a ghastly business! As Sardonicus would say, “I have known a ghoul—a disgusting creature that opens graves and feeds on corpses.” Like a DVD reviewer. See here.
In this epic conclusion, I am fitted out with a Strait-jacket (about time!) and also chronicle Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls and The Old Dark House, the three Castle entries new to DVD (which lack the short, individual “making of” documentaries accompanying the other five). Only two of these eight flicks were shot in color (Girls, House); theatrical trailers are included with all of the movies. And that’s all you need to know as we continue—in amazing Screamarama,...
In this epic conclusion, I am fitted out with a Strait-jacket (about time!) and also chronicle Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls and The Old Dark House, the three Castle entries new to DVD (which lack the short, individual “making of” documentaries accompanying the other five). Only two of these eight flicks were shot in color (Girls, House); theatrical trailers are included with all of the movies. And that’s all you need to know as we continue—in amazing Screamarama,...
- 10/21/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (David McDonnell)
- Starlog
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