BORN: May 8, 1895
DIED: August 23, 1926
AGED: 31 yrs from peritonitis from a burst appendix
REAL NAME: Ruolpho Alfonzo Rafaelo Filbert Guglielmi Di Valentina D'antonguolla-Whew!-What a mouthful!!
MARRIAGES: Twice-Jean Acker-She wouldn't let him into the bedroom on their wedding night. Natasha Rambova (AKA Winnifred Shaunessy)-she turned out to be a lesbian-this guy could pick 'em or what!
ENGAGED: Pola Negri-She flung herself on the coffin-it is all about her after all
AFFAIRS: "Just a Gigolo, everywhere I go..."
He came to this country penniless and even slept on park benches. He moved up from being a male prostitute to a gigolo where rich women paid for him to dance with them(I am certain the dancing was on the ball room and in the bedroom). He got paid for these meetings with the socialites-busy boy:). He moved out to California and due to his excellent dancing and looks got his start and broke out in The Four Horsemen. Unfortunately he was not the best in picking women and they seemed to rule over him. Others of the time said he loved just to be known as Rudy and was shy. From his movies he became known as "the Great Lover" but men didn't care for him and called him the "Pink Powder Puff" I think they were jealous because all their wives swooned over him. When he died, suddenly, thousands flocked to the funeral and some women actually committed suicide. There was one woman known as the lady in black who went to his grave every year and placed a red rose at his grave until she passed away in the 1980's or '90's.
FILMS: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Camille, Blood and Sand, The Sheik, Son of the Sheik, The Eagle
BORN: April 16, 1921
DIED: March 28, 2004
AGED: 82 yrs from heart failure
MARRIED: 3 times
He had an interesting lineage-Russian, German, French, Spanish etc.... This man was no dummy! He was fluent in many languages. He was not only an actor but a director, writer and an interviewer. He made a great Hercule Poirot. He was in India sitting in the gardens waiting for Indira Ghandi as he was going to interview her and as she was making her way to him she was assassinated. Wow I think this is the only coloured image I have of my list.
OSCARS: Spartacus, Topkapi
FILMS: Quo Vadis, We're No Angels, Billy Bud, Death On The Nile
BORN: April 5, 1900
DIED: June 10, 1967
AGED: 67 by a heart attack brought on by years of alcohol abuse
MARRIED: Once
AFFAIRS: Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn
FAMOUS PARTNERS: Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn
A Great actor. "Learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture". Irascible, cantankerous later in life, a staunch catholic. Would never think of divorcing his wife, but adultery-sure, why not...oops more guilt for him to drown in. His son was born deaf (his wife started the John Tracy Clinic for the deaf) and he was eaten up by guilt over this as well. He seemed to feel huge guilt over many things and this made him drink more. Spencer would go on binges and the studio would have to find him usually holed up in some seedy hotel that he destroyed. They kept this from the papers because he did play a priest a couple of times on screen and one cannot lose the image. When he met Katherine Hepburn she said he seemed to be a bit short, the director said-"don't worry, he'll cut you down to size". When they would go over to friends, like Bogie and Bacall, she would sit on the floor next to him-Honest! He was plagued by ill health later in the 50's and 60's and Katherine Hepburn cared for him and disregarded her career. He loved to disrupt in a gleeful way-When Frederic March had a great scene in Inherit The Wind, Spencer Tracy picked his nose to throw good ole Freddie off. For his last film, the director(Stanley Kubrick) and Katherine Hepburn promised to put up their own money so Spencer could have the part. He died 10 days after completing his scenes.
OSCARS: Captain's Courageous, Boys Town
FILMS: A Man's castle, San Francisco, Boys Town, Woman of the Year, Pat and Mike, Father of the Bride, Bad Day at Black Rock, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
BORN: May 20, 1908
DIED: July 2, 1997
AGED: 89 yrs from old age
MARRIED: Once and he loved her deeply-happy marriage
DATED: Oh he was a happy man-Ginger Rogers, Olivia De Havilland, Marlene Dietrich
UNREQUITED LOVE: Margaret Sullivan
GREAT FRIENDS: Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper
An all around nice guy and my favourite film actor. Henry Fonda and Jimmy met doing theatre with Margaret Sullivan. Henry married Margaret(didn't last) and poor Jimmy just carried a torch. Many said she was his greatest love and there is a resemblance between Margaret and his wife Gail Hatrick McLean. He was one of the first to volunteer for war when America entered this horrible drama. He was too thin-over 6ft(I think 6' 3" but not sure right this moment) and only 136lbs-thin bugger eh? He ate a lot of peanut butter and banana sandwiches and just scraped by. He flew 20 missions over Germany and won flying cross. He is the highest ranking actor to this day (got to be Brigadier General). While in the war, he still sent his agent 10% of his wages-I thought that quite funny. Walter Matthau was in his company during the war and he stated all the men respected Mr. Stewart as he stood up for them. When he came back he placed it in his contract that he would not make any war films and the studios could not use his experiences he had of the war. It came out, after his death, that he flew combat missions in Vietnam as well. Shrewd in business and was the first star to get a percentage of the profits. He loved to write poems and would recite them on Johnny Carson-I have his book of poems which I cherish. He loved Africa and tried to help the plight of the elephants. Comics love his voice and it is often imitated. It is even placed in a song by Jon and Vangelis-"The Friends of Mr. Cairo". He, accidentally, broke the news at the 1960 Oscars when he accepted an honorary Oscar for Gary Cooper and he broke down. People realized then that Mr. Cooper was terminal with cancer and shortly after Mr. Cooper died. When his wife passed away he was devastated and, later, often wished he could still see his old friends and was lonely. He was great in comedies, dramas and westerns. He had a wonderful life.
OSCAR: The Philadelphia Story
FILMS: The Shopwarn Angel, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's A Wonderful Life, Winchester '73, Harvey, Rear Window, Vertigo, Flight of the Phoenix.
BORN: June 4, 1907
DIED: November 28, 1976
AGED: 69 yrs from cancer. Suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis
MARRIED: Once and happily!
Great gal! One of the boys but beautiful and down to earth. a quick wit who was a pleasure to work with. had a son who loves her deeply and had a great home life. I know! From Hollywood?? It's true though. She often gave to charity and when she was struck with arthritis helped with that and there is a hospital in her name dedicated to arthritis and trying to cure it. She was equally famous in theatre as well.
FILMS: Night Must Fall, Craig's Wife, The Women, His Girl Friday, Morning Becomes Electra, Auntie Mame.
BORN: April 21, 1915
DIED: June 3, 2001
AGED: 86 yrs from pneumonia. he also had cancer
REAL NAME: Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn
MARRIED: Twice-the first to Katherine De Mille-Cecil B DeMille's dad-how'd you like that guy for a father in law
AFFAIRS: This guy loved to do the hubba, hubba and boasted about it. In fact fathered many kids including one in 1977 and another in 1993.
Passionate actor and a excellent one to boot. A talker of his many conquests he also, apparently when, on his wedding night, he found out his first wife was not a virgin he punched her in the face. A real woman's man wouldn't you say. ASS! I would have given him the spoon.....
OSCARS: Viva Zapata, Lust For Life
FILMS: Blood and Sand, La Strada, Guns of Navarone, Zorba the Greek, Only the Lonely
BORN: July 29, 1892
DIED: March 5, 1989
AGED: 96 yrs-old age
MARRIED: Twice-once to Carole Lombard
ENGAGED: Jean Harlow
FAMOUS PARTNER: Myrna Loy
Suave, comedic gentleman with a little devil thrown in for good measure. Played the villain earlier in life but that all changed with the Thin Man series. Moved easily from silent to sound due to his mellifluous voice. Was devastated when Jean Harlow died at the height of her career (she was only 26). He made his parts his own.
FILMS: Canary Murder Case, The Thin Man Series, The Great Ziegfeld, My Man Godfrey, Life with Father, Mister Roberts.
