April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967
Ah, the Hollywood machine of the 1950s and ’60s. The golden age of studio-driven film making. Every studio had its own stable of actors, directors and writers. There were film crews on every backlot and a blonde bombshell on every corner. With the rise in popularity of quintessential bombshell, Marylin Monroe, 20th Century Fox hedged their bets…and got themselves a second one. Continue reading
September 26, 1932 – January 1, 2015
Doris Ione Smith – known professionally as Donna Douglas (and pop-culturally as Elly May Clampett) – was born and raised outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The local beauty queen moved to New York to pursue a career in modeling and acting. By the time she was 25, her television career was underway. After appearances on shows like The Steve Allen Show and The Perry Como Show, Douglas eventually made her way to Los Angeles and gave a crack at movies.
For the next several years, she appeared in films like Career and Li’l Abner and numerous TV shows including The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Twilight Zone. In 1962, she landed a starring role on the new situation comedy, The Beverly Hillibillies, and the rest was history. Continue reading
November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991
In Hollywood during the 1940s, sensational good looks could get you pretty far; almost as far as raw talent alone. Fortunately for Gene Tierney, she had both. Born in New York and raised in high society Connecticut, a chance trip to California as a teen and a visit to the famous Warner Bros. film studios instantly grabbed young Gene’s attention. She knew from that moment she wanted to be an actor. Acting classes in New York City led to stage appearances and by the time she was 20, she had already made a critical splash on Broadway – the “legitimate theatre” which her father all but demanded she exclusively strive for. From that point, it was an easy jump to Hollywood where – “legitimate” or not – a film career awaited.
April 19, 1935 – March 27, 2002
What Dudley Moore lacked in stature, he more than made up for in talent. The diminutive English actor/comedian was also a brilliant musician who learned to play organ and piano at a young age. His musical ability led to scholarships and eventually to Oxford, where he fell in love with jazz…and comedy.
July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was a highly-regarded American stage and screen actor. Born in 1922, Robards’ father was a silent-era Hollywood actor who struggled during the transition to “talkies” and, though Jason initially resented Hollywood’s treatment of his father, sometimes the acting gene just prevails. Following a harrowing Naval service in World War II, Robards launched his own acting career in New York in the late 1940s. Continue reading
December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017
Groundbreaking actress and producer, Mary Tyler Moore, changed the game. Though, she was already enjoying some working success in her young career, she blasted into the national eye when Carl Reiner cast her opposite Dick Van Dyke in 1961’s The Dick Van Dyke Show. Moore’s Laura Petrie not only provided a brilliant comedic compliment to Van Dyke’s energetic Rob, but also re-imagined the role of the “housewife” as something more than just dinner and slippers. Moore would win her first Emmy for her work on the show, and she wasn’t about to slow down.
February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003
Tony and Emmy award-winning dancer, singer and actor, Gregory Hines, was always on the stage. From a young age, Gregory (along with brother, Maurice, and sometimes their father) would entertain audiences in nightclubs throughout their native New York City. Especially adept at tap dancing, young Gregory eventually headed to Hollywood and found work as a musician and actor. Continue reading
December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010
Once a “Lost Boy”…
1980’s teen heartthrob, Corey Haim, got into acting at a young age when he was discovered at one of his sister’s auditions. By the time he was 15, he was already playing lead roles (Lucas, Stephen King’s Silver Bullet), but it was 1987’s vampire teen classic, The Lost Boys, that launched Haim – and a fair number of other young stars – into the limelight. It was on the set of Boys where Haim met his lifelong on-and-off-screen friend, Corey Feldman. The two Coreys would dominate the teen box office together for the next several years, churning out hits like License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream. And dream, they did. Continue reading
January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018
Gerard Marenghi, aka Jerry Maren, was an actor who was notable as the last surviving adult munchkin from the 1939 MGM classic film, The Wizard of Oz. Maren appeared as a member of the memorable “Lollipop Guild” during Dorothy’s introduction to the land of Oz. At the time of his death at the age of 98, he was also the last surviving actor with a speaking part in the movie. Continue reading
September 7, 1923 – December 24, 1984
Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford was a successful actor, to be sure. The English actor dutifully rose through the Hollywood ranks, eventually landing lead or supporting roles in hits like Easter Parade and Royal Wedding. He appeared on television throughout the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s and his later career found him not only appearing in popular movies like Exodus and The Longest Day but also acting as producer on a number of films. It was, however, his off-screen life that garnered by far the most attention. Continue reading
Celebrity Graveland 