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Post by Andrea Doria on Aug 11, 2024 12:14:26 GMT
My favorite Donna Reed part. The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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Post by topbilled on Aug 11, 2024 14:23:45 GMT
Peter Falk
The title of Peter Falk’s autobiography was ‘Just One More Thing: Stories from My Life.’ It referred to a catchphrase used by the popular detective character Columbo, which he played for decades on television. But Peter was more than a rumpled crime solver– he was an actor, an artist, and an observer of human nature. He brought all those sensibilities to Detective Columbo, and to the countless other characters he created on stage and on screen. In the early days he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, so Peter joined the Merchant Marines. Afterward he returned home and earned two degrees in college. He took a job in Connecticut, and decided he would spend the evenings learning how to act with a group of professionals. During this period (the mid-50s) he developed his performance skills, and soon he was appearing on television programs and in low-budget films.
He didn’t make much of an impact until he turned up as a gangster in Fox’s crime drama MURDER, INC. His idiosyncratic work as an amusing but vicious killer earned him praise from critics and an Oscar nomination. Peter followed this up by playing a more comical gangster in Frank Capra’s POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES, for which he earned another Oscar nomination. Peter was also nominated for an Emmy during the same year. He would keep busy throughout the 60s doing guest roles on a variety of programs, and at one point, he had a short-lived series of his own.
His success as Columbo didn’t occur until near the end of the decade, when Universal hired him to play the character in a telefilm. It was a huge hit, and a regular series of Columbo TV movies aired until 1978. One of these featured Peter’s good friend John Cassavetes, with whom he worked on several motion pictures. The Columbo franchise went on a lengthy hiatus until the late 80s. During the time in between the two runs of the show, Peter took various film roles. He appeared in a spoof of sleuthing, called THE CHEAP DETECTIVE. He also had what was probably his best movie role, alongside Alan Arkin, in the frenetic comedy THE IN-LAWS. A few years later Peter was the narrator in THE PRINCESS BRIDE, directed by Rob Reiner. After Peter’s death in 2011, Rob described him as a truly unique performer– and of course, he was.
 Suggested Viewing:
MURDER INC. (1960)POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961)ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS (1964)THE GREAT RACE (1965)PENELOPE (1966)CASTLE KEEP (1969)HUSBANDS (1970)MURDER BY DEATH (1976)THE CHEAP DETECTIVE (1978)THE IN-LAWS (1979)
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Post by christine on Aug 11, 2024 19:46:58 GMT
TCM has ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS 1964 on it's September schedule.
So tune in and watch Peter Falk have fun with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bing Crosby during the 1920's Chicago Prohibition.
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Post by topbilled on Aug 12, 2024 14:49:01 GMT
Joan Collins
Joan Collins was destined to be a star. Her mother worked in a nightclub and taught dancing, her father was an agent (who represented many important British celebrities), and of course her sister was a writer. Joan was focused on screen success, and she attained it by a relatively young age. At 17, she was signed to the Rank Organisation. After a short time paying her dues in small roles, she was given a lead in TURN THE KEY SOFTLY, and of course it opened the door to more important films. Joan’s roles quickly typecast her. But it was a type she was able to do with remarkable ease and believability. In TURN THE KEY, she played a young prostitute returning from a stint in jail, trying to re-assimilate into society with two other female parolees. Rank followed this hit by putting Joan into other top-drawer productions in a variety of genres. It wasn’t long before Howard Hawks noticed and cast her in his big scale production LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. Soon after this executives at 20th Century Fox decided to buy her contract from Rank. In the mid-to-late-50s, Joan worked in Hollywood, and she appeared in several important ‘A’ pictures for Fox. She teamed up with Robert Wagner in STOPOVER TOKYO; hung around with Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward in RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS!; costarred with Rod Steiger and assorted other crooks in SEVEN THIEVES; and she worked with Gregory Peck in THE BRAVADOS. Most of these did well with audiences and critics. Also, she was loaned out to MGM for its remake of THE WOMEN (known as THE OPPOSITE SEX). After Joan’s contract ended with Fox in 1960, she costarred with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in the last ROAD picture at United Artists, then returned to her native Britain. In England during the 60s and 70s, Joan focused on marriage and motherhood. In addition to these responsibilities, she took roles in British horror films. Plus there were appearances in several cult TV series, like the original Star Trek; Space: 1999; The Persuaders!; and Mission: Impossible. But by the mid-70s, her career was stalling and she tried to reinvent herself by playing the lead in two steamy adaptations of her sister’s bestselling books. It wouldn’t be until 1981, though, when Joan would truly reinvent herself on Aaron Spelling’s hit series Dynasty. The part of Alexis, the show’s scheming diva, had been intended for Sophia Loren. But when contract issues could not be resolved, Spelling decided Joan might be the perfect substitute for the role– and she was. She remained front and center until Dynasty went off the air eight years later. In the meantime, she became lifelong friends with many of her costars on the program and was involved in a reunion movie later on.
Besides on-going film and television appearances, she took a page from her sister’s book and published several of her own novels. Joan would also devote herself to charity work and as a result of those tireless efforts, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II. Alexis Carrington may not have a had a prayer of getting into heaven, but Joan Collins certainly does.
 Suggested Viewing:TURN THE KEY SOFTLY (1953)LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING (1955)THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956)STOPOVER TOKYO (1957)
SEA WIFE (1957)THE BRAVADOS (1958)RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG BOYS! (1958)SEVEN THIEVES (1960)
THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (1962)
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Post by christine on Aug 12, 2024 20:19:33 GMT
Here's a cute couple minutes of THE ROAD TO HONG KONG 1962 - Hope and Crosby are singing their song 'teamwork' to Joan Collins and a couple of Italians land! LOL
All the guys want Joan!
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Post by topbilled on Aug 13, 2024 14:38:55 GMT
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards had already played the title role in the independently produced comedy MR. UNIVERSE when he was signed to a contract at Columbia. The Mr. Universe movie capitalized on his boyish charm and allowed him to show off his physique. He had been a championship swimmer and trained for the Olympics in college. He decided to study acting, learning the craft with other future Hollywood notables (including Grace Kelly). His acting career took off and his aspirations for the Olympics were set aside.At first Columbia typecast Vince in crime dramas. His looks made him a natural for film noir, usually cast in bad boy roles.
While most of these pictures were hits, and they established him as a leading man, they didn’t exactly do a whole lot to make him a household name. That wouldn’t happen until he began to work on television. In 1961 Vince signed on to play the lead role in a medical drama series– Ben Casey.
The show was a huge success with audiences, even if the formula had been borrowed from MGM’s more successful Dr. Kildare series starring Richard Chamberlain. For five seasons, Vince played Dr. Casey, and he began to gain more control behind the scenes. In addition to acting, he would direct episodes of the program. When his hit TV show ended production, it went into syndication. But Vince wasn’t one to sit around and not work, so he looked for other projects. Instead of jumping back into the weekly series grind, he returned to movies full time. He experienced a career resurgence when he appeared in several big budget hits for his old studio Columbia in the late 60s. After this, he made several popular TV movies in the 70s and 80s.
 Suggested Viewing:CELL 2455, DEATH ROW (1955)THE NIGHT HOLDS TERROR (1955)RIDE OUT FOR REVENGE (1957)MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958)CITY OF FEAR (1959)TOO LATE BLUES (1961)THE VICTORS (1963)HAMMERHEAD (1968)THE DEVIL'S BRIGADE (1968)THE DESPERADOS (1969)
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Post by topbilled on Aug 14, 2024 7:31:42 GMT
Irene Ryan
Her given name was Jessie Noblitt– Irene was her middle name, and Ryan was her husband’s last name. She was born in Texas and before she was a teen, she was winning amateur contests for her singing. As she got older, she performed professionally on stage. And during her early days in vaudeville Irene Ryan honed her skills as a comic actress. At the age of twenty she married Tim Ryan, and they had their own act. In some ways, their silly routines and banter resembled George Burns and Grace Allen. And like Burns & Allen, the duo started their screen careers doing comedy shorts. By the early 40s, they had become regular comic relief in a series of features at Monogram Pictures. Tim wrote all of their material, and he was used as a script doctor on a lot of Monogram’s releases, injecting humorous bits in the studio’s movies to make them crowd-pleasers with audiences. Irene continued to perform professionally with Tim, even after they divorced. But by the late 40s, she had remarried and began working independently at RKO, where she appeared in films like THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH and BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE. When she wasn’t on movie sets, she found jobs on radio, like many others did. And of course, she would transition to television where she would eventually become a household name. In 1962 Irene landed her most popular role, as Granny Clampett on the long-running CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. She earned two Emmy nominations for her portrayal, and she crossed over to a few other rural comedies, where she also played Granny (as a guest star). Nine years later, when the Hillbillies show came to an end, she went to Broadway. Before her death, she was nominated for a Tony– at the time, she had been playing a supporting role in Bob Fosse’s ‘Pippin,’ where she sang and once again made audiences laugh.
 Suggested Viewing:O MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1943)SARONG GIRL (1943)MELODY PARADE (1943)
HOT RHYTHM (1944)
SAN DIEGO I LOVE YOU (1944)THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (1946)THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947)HALF ANGEL (1951)THE WAC FROM WALLA WALLA (1952)BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE (1952)
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Post by christine on Aug 14, 2024 18:13:24 GMT
Yes, Irene Ryan was a guest on 'The Dean Martin Variety Show'.
Here she is part of a skit with Van Johnson and others - just to have fun.
Most of the time it was pure silliness. 
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Post by sagebrush on Aug 14, 2024 22:48:06 GMT
Yes, Irene Ryan was a guest on 'The Dean Martin Variety Show'.
Here she is part of a skit with Van Johnson and others - just to have fun.
Most of the time it was pure silliness. Gosh, I miss variety shows! As you stated, christine, pure silliness, but so much fun.
About 10 years ago, Carrie Underwood had a Christmas variery special which aired on TV. It was silliness, too, but really nice to watch. Of course, the performances were center stage, but there were fun skits too!
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Post by topbilled on Aug 15, 2024 7:27:15 GMT
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason went from poverty to immense wealth, and the extremes of his life were often represented in the types of roles he played. In fact, most of the roles on his television series were based on characters he knew growing up in a working class Brooklyn community. The hard lessons Jackie learned as a child stayed with him– even when he was living the good life at a Florida resort. Both his parents were deceased before he was twenty, and he had no other relatives to lean on. So a tough ‘can do’ attitude took over. With persistence Jackie forged ahead in his chosen career of show business. He and some pals developed comedy routines, and Jackie also landed a job as a master of ceremonies in a theater. Later on there was a gig entertaining guests in a posh club, where Jack Warner noticed him. Warner signed him to a movie contract in the early 40s, and Jackie went to Hollywood. He appeared in several B films but did not make much of an impression. Soon Jackie was back on the east coast working in nightclubs again and finding his way on Broadway. Then in 1949, he got his ‘big break’ by winning the role of Chester A. Riley in the first television version of Life of Riley, based on the hit radio series.Though the Riley program only lasted one season, it led to opportunities for Jackie to work for the DuMont network. Then eventually, he moved over to CBS where he made history with The Honeymooners.
When he wasn’t doing sketch comedy, he took serious dramatic roles on live anthology programs. And there were occasional returns to the movies. In the early 60s, he earned plaudits (and an Oscar nomination) for his supporting role in THE HUSTLER.
Jackie also had a memorable turn in the feature film adaptation of Rod Serling’s REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. Other motion pictures in the 60s and early 70s were not quite as successful. But when he roared on to the screen as Buford T. Justice in the SMOKY AND THE BANDIT films of the late 70s and early 80s, a star was born all over again. Suggested Viewing:LARCENY INC. (1942)THE DESERT HAWK (1950)
THE HUSTLER (1961)GIGOT (1962)REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962)PAPA'S DELICATE CONDITION (1963
SOLDIER IN THE RAIN (1963)SKIDOO (1968)SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977)NOTHING IN COMMON (1986)
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Post by christine on Aug 15, 2024 20:56:30 GMT
Here's another - believe it or not - for you topbilled!
Jackie Gleason made a Christmas Album with Dean Martin - LOL 
Can you believe those apples - as they say in the mid-west!
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Post by topbilled on Aug 16, 2024 2:38:18 GMT
What are the odds of that happening?!
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Post by topbilled on Aug 16, 2024 14:51:29 GMT
Amanda Blake
While some sources credit Amanda Blake with playing Miss Kitty for the entire run of Gunsmoke, the truth is she left at the end of the 19th season. For almost 20 years on television, she played Miss Kitty, the saloon proprietress of Dodge on CBS’ long running western. She became an international star because of her participation in the series. But as it did for the rest of the cast, small screen success pretty much curtailed a blossoming movie career. There are worse things than being typecast in a hugely popular weekly TV series, and I’m sure Amanda realized that. Before she became Kitty, she had come to Hollywood like so many other hopefuls, determined to be a movie star. At the age of 20 she was signed by MGM. In fact Metro dubbed her their ‘young Greer Garson.’ Probably because of the resemblance in hair color (both ladies were redheads), though their acting styles and overall demeanor were hardly similar.Interestingly Greer was still making pictures at the studio, but Amanda was never put in any of those. Instead Amanda’s assignments at MGM found her appearing in a musical with Esther Williams; two musicals with Leslie Caron; and a western with Joel McCrea. STARS IN MY CROWN also happened to costar a young James Arness. He was billed considerably lower than Amanda in this film; and little did the two know they would work together on Gunsmoke just five years later.While she was still under contract with her home studio, Amanda made films on loan out in a variety of genres. The most notable of these would be her starring role in the 20th Century Fox adventure drama MISS ROBIN CRUSOE, in which she played the scantily clad lead opposite George Nader. But she was never really on the cusp of major stardom on the big screen. And it wasn’t until she agreed to do Gunsmoke that things really clicked for her. After she left her role as Miss Kitty in 1974, Amanda devoted herself to the preservation of wildlife. She was known for being an animal rights activist, and fellow cast mates from the TV series could recall occasions when she brought a pet lion on to the set.In her later years, she had small roles in two feature films; and she also returned to television for one of the Gunsmoke reunion movies before her death in 1989.
 Suggested Viewing:
STARS IN MY CROWN (1950)DUCHESS IN IDAHO (1950)SCARLET ANGEL (1952)CATTLE TOWN (1952)LILI (1953)SABRE JET (1953)MISS ROBIN CRUSOE (1954)THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA (1954)A STAR IS BORN (1954)THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955)
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Post by topbilled on Aug 16, 2024 16:01:43 GMT
Group 8: Precode stars
George Raft; Helen Twelvetrees; Robert Armstrong; Gloria Swanson; Will Rogers; Fifi D'Orsay; Jack La Rue; Joan Blondell
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Post by topbilled on Aug 17, 2024 15:51:08 GMT
George Raft
George Raft was born in a tough section of New York (Hell’s Kitchen), and a lot of his pals were members of the local gangs in that area. George could have gone into a life of crime, but fortunately for us, he went into show biz. He demonstrated great skill as a dancer in his teens and when he was old enough, he was hoofing professionally. He quickly became one of the more popular guys on and off the dance floor. During the mid-20s he became part of Texas Guinan’s nightclub act. In 1929 he made his first film in support of her– Warner Brother’s aptly titled QUEEN OF THE NIGHT CLUBS. George followed this up with two other pictures without her as an unbilled dancer. In 1931 he had small roles in several pictures at Fox but still hadn’t yet caught on with the moviegoing public.
A year later he went back to Warners and had a good scene as a dancer in a Jimmy Cagney movie called TAXI! He also had a remarkable supporting role in SCARFACE, probably drawing on what he had been exposed to in his old neighborhood. Paramount noticed George’s on-screen charisma, and he was offered a contract. Within a year he was starring in his own films, and they were smash hits. Throughout the 1930s George increased his box office clout. He did comedies, gangster pictures, musicals where could show off his dancing, and adventure yarns. He worked with Mae West, Alison Skipworth, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard and other major stars. His career was hot during this decade, and after he left Paramount in the late 30s, he went back to Warner Brothers.
At Warners he enjoyed more hits– he teamed up with Cagney again in EACH DAWN I DIE; he appeared alongside Marlene Dietrich in MANPOWER; and costarred with William Holden and Humphrey Bogart in INVISIBLE STRIPES. But in 1943 he left Warners, dissatisfied with the parts being offered. He became a freelancer and as an independent producer made films that were often exhibited through RKO. He continued to turn out hits in the mid-to-late 40s, usually appearing in film noir and romance dramas. By the early 50s, George’s movie career went into decline.
He headlined a radio program and then a weekly television series, still taking parts in films but now usually in supporting roles. He had also invested in a Cuban casino and when he wasn’t working as a movie actor he was a visible presence in the world of gambling. Life was one big gamble and when George Raft rolled the dice, he came out a winner.
 Suggested Viewing:
NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1932)SCARFACE (1932)BOLERO (1934)SOULS AT SEA (1937)EACH DAWN I DIE (1939)INVISIBLE STRIPES (1939)THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)THE HOUSE ACROSS THE BAY (1940)JOHNNY ANGEL (1945)NOCTURNE (1946)
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