Celebrity Graveland

December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000

Being the son of a Hollywood legend is a great way to get your start in the movie business. Being a decent actor is a great way to have a long and successful career making movies. Fortunately for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., he was both. As a very young man, he struggled to make a name for himself for a while before breaking out opposite Edward G. Robinson in 1931’s Little Caesar and in 1939’s Gunga Din. He went on to work in films in both Hollywood and in England leading up to World War II. During the war, Fairbanks was commissioned as a reserve officer and became a decorated Captain in the Navy for creating the Beach Jumpers special deception unit. Continue reading →

May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006

“Fra-gee-lay” …it must be Italian!”

Darren McGavin’s career spanned more than 40 years. He appeared in films ranging from 1955’s Summertime with Katharine Hepburn to Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison in 1995. His second most well-known role was that of Carl Kochak in the TV movie The Night Stalker and its subsequent sequel and spin-off series. McGavin’s MOST well-known role was, of course, as the comically gruff and oblivious old man in the 1983 holiday classic, A Christmas Story. Continue reading →

June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964

Born in Vienna, Peter Lorre (László Löwenstein) was already on his way to stardom in Europe appearing on the German stage as well as in films including – most notably – Fritz Lang’s 1931 chiller, M. Then in 1933, the Nazis took control of Germany and Lorre fled to England where he was able to continue his career. He appeared in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much before sailing to the United States. In Hollywood, Lorre found success in bit roles and B-movies usually playing sinister foreign characters. In 1941, he went to work for Warner Bros. in the John Huston classic The Maltese Falcon. The film changed the trajectory of Lorre’s career and he went on to appear in numerous films with co-stars Humphrey Bogart, Claude Raines and Syd Greenstreet including the all-time opus, Casablanca. Continue reading →