Mary Pickford was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. During the silent film era she became one of the first great celebrities of the cinema and a popular icon known to the public as “America’s Sweetheart.” She was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting. Pickford won two Academy Awards in her lifetime, one for Coquette (1929) and one in 1975. She was born on this day in 1892.
Jackie Chan is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, martial artist, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons and innovative stunts. He is one of the few actors to have performed all of his film stunts. Chan has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 150 films. An operatically trained vocalist, Chan is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He was born on this day in 1954.
Note: Chan was the only child of Charles and Lee-Lee Chan and reportedly spent 12 months in the womb before being removed surgically at 12 pounds in weight. This can’t be true, unless it somehow is.
Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in cinema history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was reputed for her performances in a range of film genres. Davis was the first person to secure 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, winning two. Some of her most celebrated films include All About Eve (1950), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Now, Voyager (1942). Davis was born on April 5, 1908 and died on October 6, 1989.
Elizabeth “Betty” Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer. She appeared in several smash-hit musical films in the 1940s, including Mother Wore Tights (1947). Grable was celebrated for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood and studio publicity widely dispersed photos featuring them. Her iconic bathing suit poster for Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943) made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the Life magazine project 100 Photographs that Changed the World. Grable’s legs were famously insured by her studio for a million dollars with Lloyds of London. She was born on this day in 1916.
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright and musician whose career spans more than 50 years. He worked as a comedy writer in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, using the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish. By the mid-1960s Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies before moving into dramatic material influenced by European art cinema during the 1970s. He is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers. Allen often stars in his films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. Of his more than 40 films, three of his best are Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979) and Midnight in Paris (2011). Allen has won four Academy Awards and nine BAFTAs. He performs regularly as a jazz clarinetist at small venues in Manhattan. Allen was born on December 1, 1935.
Note: While Woody Allen’s birthday isn’t until Sunday, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have collided today. This hasn’t happened since 1888 and may never happen again (unless you think the United States of America, Jewish people and the human race will still be around in 70,000 years or so). On that note, Happy Thanksgivukkah. Or Happy Thanukkah. Or whatever.
Greta Garbo was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during Hollywood’s silent and classic periods. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her “luminous and unforgettable screen performances.” She is best known for starring in Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939). In 1941, she retired at the age of 35 after appearing in 28 films. Although she was offered many opportunities to return to the screen, she declined all of them. Instead, she lived a private life, shunning publicity. She was born on this day in 1905.
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and the Tony Award for Best Actress. Bergman is best remembered for her starring roles in Casablanca (1942) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946). She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. Bergman was born on this day in 1915 and died in 1982 on her 67th birthday.
Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Born in St. Louis, she became a citizen of France in 1937. Fluent in both English and French, Baker was an international icon, perhaps best known for her infamous banana dance. She was the first African-American female to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), integrate an American concert hall and become a world-famous entertainer. Baker is also noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement in the United States, for assisting the French Resistance during World War II and for receiving the French military honor, the Croix de guerre.
Note: Baker was offered the unofficial leadership of the civil rights movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., but turned it down.
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and was best known as Fred Astaire’s romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of 10 Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940) and was Hollywood’s highest paid star of 1942. She was married and divorced five times. During the last years of her life Rogers retired in Oregon and bought a ranch in the Medford area because she liked the climate. She was born on this day in 1911.
Ginger Rogers was one of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in 1943. That picture, along with other photos and newspaper cuttings of WWII-era stars and heroes, can still be seen on the walls of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Heidi and I and visited the Anne Frank House, located on the Prinsengracht canal, in October 2012. The experience elicited both fascination and sorrow; the building is charged with strong emotional energy.
John Wayne (born Marion Morrison) was an American film actor, director and producer. An Academy Award-winner, Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades. An enduring American icon, he epitomized rugged masculinity and is famous for his demeanor, including his distinctive calm voice, walk and height. Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa but grew up in the greater Los Angeles area. His role as the Ringo Kid in John Ford’s breakthrough Stagecoach (1939) made him an instant superstar. Wayne would go on to star in more than 160 movies, primarily typecast in Western films. Among his most acclaimed films are The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959) and True Grit (1969). Wayne was on born on May 26, 1907.
George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio and supposed cause of widespread panic; and Citizen Kane (1941), which is consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Welles is regularly voted the greatest film director of all time in surveys of directors and critics alike. He was born on this day in 1915.
Groucho Marx was an American comedian and film and television star. He was known for his quick wit and is widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included slapstick quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. Marx made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. The famous “Groucho glasses” are a one-piece novelty disguise consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
Charlie Chaplin was a British comic actor and filmmaker who rose to fame in the silent era. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona “the Tramp.” A legendary figure in film history, Chaplin’s career spanned more than 75 years, from a child in the Victorian era to close to his death at the age of 88. Raised in London, his childhood was defined by poverty and hardship. At 19, Chaplin was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which took him to America. By 1918, he was one of the most famous men in the world. In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists, giving him complete control over his films, which included The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). He was born on this day in 1889.
Jenny Lewis is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley and has released two solo albums. Lewis currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice. As a child actor in the 1980s and 1990s, she appeared in a number of TV shows, movies and commercials. Lewis was born on this day in 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We’ll all be portions for foxes.
Veronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan’s Travels and for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s. Lake was well known for her peekaboo hairstyle. She died of complications of alcoholism in 1973.
Note: Lake was one of the models for the animated character of Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, especially for her hairstyle.
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who garnered fame during the 1940s as one of the era’s top stars. Appearing first as Rita Cansino, she agreed to change her name and dye her hair dark red to attract a greater range of roles. She was featured on the cover of Life magazine five times, beginning in 1940. Hayworth appeared in a total of 61 films over 37 years.
Sophia Loren is an Italian actress. In 1962, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won several international awards, including a Golden Globe, a Grammy, a BAFTA Award and a Laurel Award. She was born on this day in 1934.
Note: The risqué negligee worn by 8-bit Sophia Loren is from an iconic photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The controversial shot appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1966. It caused many Life readers to cancel their subscriptions. See more beautiful Eisenstaedt photos of Loren from 1961.
Mae West was a controversial American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades. Known for her bawdy double entendres, she made a name for herself in burlesque and vaudeville, and on the stage in New York, before moving to Hollywood in 1932. The American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of all time. She was born on this day in 1893.
Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and television producer. During the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred in The Cosby Show (1984-1992), which is considered one of the decade’s defining sitcoms. He is also known for The Electric Company, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and A Different World. Cosby is a notable spokesman for Jell-O and other products. He was born on this day in 1937.
Ginger Rogers – No. 647
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and was best known as Fred Astaire’s romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of 10 Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940) and was Hollywood’s highest paid star of 1942. She was married and divorced five times. During the last years of her life Rogers retired in Oregon and bought a ranch in the Medford area because she liked the climate. She was born on this day in 1911.
Ginger Rogers was one of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in 1943. That picture, along with other photos and newspaper cuttings of WWII-era stars and heroes, can still be seen on the walls of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Heidi and I and visited the Anne Frank House, located on the Prinsengracht canal, in October 2012. The experience elicited both fascination and sorrow; the building is charged with strong emotional energy.