*CANDIDS*

[mongoII]

Thank you, Stone. I appreciate it.

[mongoII]

Between shots from The Nun´s Story, Peter Finch plays with Audrey Hepburn´s dog, Famous

[mongoII]

Jay Silverheels and Jeff Chandler on the set of "War Arrow"

[mongoII]

With the European location of To Catch a Thief over, Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville
return to the United States on the ship Liberté. January, 1955

[mongoII]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

GLORIA DeHAVEN is 87 today
Child then juvenile then leading-lady actress at MGM in Hollywood. During her long and varied career she would also perform as nightclub singer, as stage actress in Broadway and London theatre and as TV actress and hostess. Once married to John Payne, they had 2 children.
In 1944 De Haven came into the makeup and hair department at MGM to wash her hair in prep for a scene she was going to shoot. Halfway into the endeavor she felt a hand push her head into the bowl and began washing her hair. When she was finished she looked up and saw that it was Marlene Dietrich who had washed her hair. Dietrich had entered the room to pick up the gold paint she was using for to cover her left leg in "Kismit" (1944) and figured that since she was there she would give De Haven a quick hairwash. De Haven was so stunned that she could hardly utter a thank you.


SANDRA GOULD (1916 - 1999)
Short and with a very familiar chubby, chipmunk-like face and even more familiar abrasive tone, Brooklyn-born comedienne Sandra Gould kicked into high gear at a fairly early age.
In 1947, Sandra had breezed into minor filming, appearing in dozens of small bits. Typically, the unhelpful telephone operator, gabby receptionist or curt saleslady with a New York flair, she was glimpsed in such fare as June Bride (1948), Romance on the High Seas (1948) and My Dream Is Yours (1949)(both with Doris Day), Fourteen Hours (1951), The Great American Pastime (1956), Teacher's Pet (1958) (again with Doris Day), Imitation of Life (1959), Honeymoon Hotel (1964) and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966). Seldom rising to feature status in films, TV comedy proved more to her liking.
In 1966, her biggest break arrived when she was hired to replace the late Alice Pearce (who had died of cancer) as "Gladys Kravitz", the neighborhood snoop, in the classic sitcom "Bewitched" (1964). Sandra stayed with the role for five seasons.
Sandra died in 1999 of a stroke following bypass surgery, three days before her 83rd birthday.


KURT KREUGER (1916 - 2006)
He made his film debut in a small role in Edge of Darkness (1943), a war film about the Nazis in Norway starring Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn. He had a bit part in Action in the North Atlantic (1943), another war film, Humphrey Bogart. Feeling he was becoming typecast as a Nazi, after a quarrel with his studio he walked out on his contract and traveled to Germany, playing leading roles in several movies, something that always eluded him in Hollywood. After an automobile accident in 1955, he returned to the US. Kurt had a lot of on-screen time in The Enemy Below (1957) with Curd Jürgens and Robert Mitchum. Krueger was the number three man on the U-boat. One severe disappointment came when Marlon Brando was cast in the role in The Young Lions (1958) that Krueger wanted badly. His last film was The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). He then retired to split his time between homes in Beverly Hills and Aspen, Colorado. He was a good friend of Joan Caufield and Helmut Dantine. Kurt invested his film money into luxury homes, renovating or renting them to other celebrities. This kept him living comfortably until his death in 2006.
Kreuger was once the third most-requested male pinup at 20th Century Fox, after Tyrone Power and John Payne.


GALE PAGE (1913 - 1983)
Although she was consigned mostly to decorative roles in such potboilers as Crime School (1938), Indianapolis Speedway (1939), and They Drive by Night (as Bogarts wife), she was handed the role of her career as one of musical sisters in the classic tearjerker Four Daughters (1938) co-starring the three Lane sisters (Rosemary, Priscilla, and Lola) and appeared in its sequels Daughters Courageous (1939), Four Wives (1939) and Four Mothers (1941). She also won the lead femme role as the altruistic wife in the bio-pic Knute Rockne--All-American (1940), starring Pat O'Brien in the title role and Ronald ("Win just one for the Gipper") Reagan. Gale's career was decidedly shortlived, however, when she retired from the limelight in 1949 for family life, reappearing just once in Shirley Booth's showcasing film About Mrs. Leslie (1954).


MICHAEL WILDING (1912 - 1979)
An urbane leading man of the British screen who burned at a lower magnitude of star-power than did his contemporary James Mason, Michael Wilding achieved cinematic immortality of sorts by becoming the second of the 20-years-younger Elizabeth Taylor's seven or eight husbands.
Though never a star of the first rank, he had leading roles in numerous films, including a part in the classic In Which We Serve (1942). Wilding often co-starred with Anna Neagle.
Wilder moved to Hollywood and was featured in two of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts, Under Capricorn (1949) and Stage Fright (1950). Overall, Wilding's Hollywood career was less successful than his British career had been.His best friend was the British actor Stewart Granger. The Wildings (Elizabeth Taylor) and the Grangers (Jean Simmons) were often seen on the town together in the 1950s.


HANK WORDEN (1901 - 1992)
Raised on a cattle ranch in Montana. Educated at Stanford and the University of Nevada as an engineer. Washed out as an Army pilot. Toured the country in rodeos as a saddle bronc rider. Broke his neck in a horsefall in his 20s, but didn't know it until his 40s.
Chosen along with Tex Ritter from a rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York to appear in the Broadway play "Green Grow the Lilacs", the play from which the musical "Oklahoma" was later derived. Drove a cab in New York, then worked on dude ranches as a wrangler and as a guide on the Bright Angel trail of the Grand Canyon.
Recommended by Billie Burke to several movie producers. Became friends with John Wayne, Howard Hawks, and later John Ford, all of whom provided him with much work.
Appeared in 17 movies with John Wayne, including "The Searchers" with his rocking chair.
Survived by adopted daughter Dawn Henry.


ARTHUR TREACHER (1894 - 1975)
Born Arthur Veary Treacher in Brighton, East Sussex, England, he was the son of a lawyer. He established a stage career after returning from World War I, and by 1928, he had come to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations. When his film career began in the early 1930s, Treacher was Hollywood's idea of the perfect butler, and he headlined as the famous butler Jeeves in Thank You, Jeeves! (1936) and Step Lively, Jeeves! (1937)--based on the P.G. Wodehouse character. He played a butler in numerous other films including: Personal Maid's Secret (1935), Mister Cinderella (1936), Bordertown (1935), and a few with Shirley Temple including Curly Top,
Stowaway, and Heidi.
By the mid 1960s, Treacher was a regular guest host on "The Merv Griffin Show" (1962). The image of the proper Englishman served him well, and during his later years, he lent his name to a fast-food chain known as Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips.

[pvitari]

Clyde Lucas (singer/songwriter/director/producer/business partner and friend of Harry Carey Jr.) made a wonderful documentary about Hank Worden called "Thank Ya, Thank Ya Kindly" which I highly recommend. It's available on Amazon instant video. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... +ya+kindly. Also, don't forget his fabulous swan song as "The world's oldest waiter" in Twin Peaks. How I remember him shuffling in and out, delivering room service... you could practically watch paint dry. It was hilarious in that deliciously bizarro way that was so distinctively Twin Peaks.

When I think of Arthur Treacher, it's always in the part that introduced me to him: the constable in Mary Poppins. :)

[mongoII]

Sisters, sisters
There were never such devoted sisters,
Those who've seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us (yeah, sure).

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Ha! That was pretty funny, Joe!

Paula, I loved Arthur Treacher in Mary Poppins, too, but have such fond memories of how funny he was on The Merv Griffin show also.

[mongoII]

Thanks, SueSue. Also glad I was able to bring Arthur Treacher to you today.

[mongoII]

James Dean carches a ride with Elia Kazan during the making of "East of Eden"

[mongoII]

Sabu visits the set of Made for Each Other and gets advice from director John Cromwell in 1939

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Great shot of Sabu and John Cromwell. I also adored that photo of Jeff Chandler and Jay Silverheels. What profiles! Lovely, Joe!

[mongoII]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MIIKO TAKA is 87 today
Japanese American actress best known for co-starring with Marlon Brando as Hana-ogi in the 1957 movie Sayonara.
After director Joshua Logan's first choice for the role of Hana-ogi, Audrey Hepburn, turned him down, he looked to cast an unknown actress. Taka, who at the time was working as a clerk at a travel agency in Los Angeles, was discovered by a talent scout at a local Nisei festival. Although she had no previous acting experience, Variety gave her a positive review in their review of the film. Warner Bros. gave her a term contract as a result of her performance in Sayonara.
After Sayonara, she steadily worked in various movies starring James Garner, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, and Toshirō Mifune (whom she also worked alongside of in the 1980 television miniseries, Shõgun). She also served as a translator for Mifune as well as Akira Kurosawa when they visited Hollywood).
Taka married Dale Ishimoto in Baltimore in 1944, and they had one son and one daughter. They divorced in 1958.
She married Los Angeles TV news director Lennie Blondheim in 1963.


CONSTANCE DOWLING (1920 - 1969)
Born in New York City, Dowling was a model and chorus girl before moving to California in 1943. She was the elder sister of actress Doris Dowling.
Dowling began her screen career appearing in Up in Arms (1944) for Samuel Goldwyn. She appeared in a few films after that, including the film noir Black Angel (1946) but her film career did not advance.
Dowling had been involved in a long affair with married director Elia Kazan in New York. He couldn't bring himself to leave his wife and the affair ended when Dowling went to Hollywood under contract to Goldwyn. She was later linked with Italian poet/novelist Cesare Pavese who committed suicide in 1950 after being rejected by Dowling.
In 1955, Dowling married film producer Ivan Tors, with whom she had three sons: Steven, David, and Peter Tors, as well as a foster child, Alfred Ndwego of Kenya. She retired from acting after this marriage. On October 28, 1969, Dowling died at the age of 49 of heart attack.


FRANK SILVERA (1914 - 1970)
He was a highly successful black actor/director in the 1950s and 1960s who - because of his light-skinned appearance - transcended race and ethnicity in his performances. In motion pictures, Frank Silvera was cast as black, Latino, Polynesian and "white"/racially indeterminate.
In films and on television, he was also cast without regards to his color, though mostly as Latinos, even appearing as a Polynesian in the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, with whom Silvera co-starred in Viva Zapata!, One-Eyed Jacks and The Appaloosa as Mexican characters. He appeared in two Stanley Kubrick-directed films, Fear and Desire (1953) and Killer's Kiss (1955).
On June 11, 1970, Silvera was electrocuted while attempting to repair the garbage disposal unit in his kitchen sink. A Navy veteran of World War II, Silvera was buried with honors at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.
Morgan Freeman, director/actress Billie Allen and journalist Clayton Riley honored Frank by co-founding the Harlem-based Frank Silvera Writer's Workshop Foundation, Inc., in 1973 which sponsored up-and-coming playwrights.


ROBERT EMHARDT (1914 - 1994)
Heavy-set American character actor who learned his craft in London. Appeared frequently on the Broadway stage, and in film often portrayed sinister types, in the manner of Sydney Greenstreet.
He made his film debut in "The Iron Mistress" (1952), a fictionalized life of Jim Bowie starring Alan Ladd. Among his other memorable movies were "3:10 to Yuma" (1957), "Underworld, USA" (1961), and "The Stone Killer" with Charles Bronson (1973). His favorite, and probably his best, film role was as Shirley Knight's paunchy, gracious, but ultimately insane father in "The Group" (1966).
Emhardt had a busy career. He also acted in 125 summer stock productions and 250 television shows such as "Have Gun, Will Travel," "The Untouchables," "Perry Mason," "Bonanza," and in six episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." He had a recurring role on the soap opera "Another World."
The father of four children died of heart failure on December 29, 1994 in Ojai, California.


ALAN CURTIS (1909 - 1953)
Born Harry Ueberroth in Chicago, he began his career as a model before becoming an actor, appearing in local newspaper ads. His looks did not go unnoticed in Hollywood. He began appearing in films in the late 1930s (including a Technicolor appearance in the Alice Faye-Don Ameche film Hollywood Cavalcade and a memorable role in High Sierra (1941). He is probably best known as one of the romantic leads in Abbott and Costello's first hit movie Buck Privates.
His chance for leading-man stardom came when he replaced the unwilling John Garfield in the 1943 production Flesh and Fantasy. Curtis played a ruthless killer opposite Gloria Jean. However, the studio cut their performances from the final film version. The footage was later expanded into a B-picture melodrama Destiny. The film failed to establish Curtis as a major-name star, but it did typecast him in hardbitten roles, like the man framed for murder in Phantom Lady (1944) and the detective Philo Vance.
Alan Curtis was married four times, including actresses Priscilla Lawson and Ilona Massey.
Curtis had a routine kidney operation on January 28, 1953, at Saint Clare's Hospital in New York City. Several hours after the surgery, as he sipped some tea, he "died" for four minutes when his heart failed. He was revived and seemed to be improving but died five days later, aged 43.
Curtis starred in over two dozen movies and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


MABEL ALBERTSON (1901 - 1982)
Albertson was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Russian-born Jewish immigrants.
Her brother was actor Jack Albertson. Their mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory.
Although she appeared in motion pictures, she was best known as Phyllis Stephens, Darrin's neurotic, interfering mother on the television sitcom Bewitched. She also played Donald Hollinger's mother on That Girl, Howard Sprague's mother on The Andy Griffith Show, Dick Preston's mother on The New Dick Van Dyke Show, and Mrs. Van Hoskins, a wealthy woman whose jewels are stolen, in the screwball comedy, What's Up, Doc? (1972).
She died of Alzheimer's disease on September 28, 1982, at the age of 81, in Santa Monica, California. Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

[charliechaplinfan]

I adored Miko Taki in Sayonara, I had no idea that she wasn't a professional actress, it was a wonderful perfromance, thanks for facts Joe.

[mongoII]

Alison, I too admire Miss Taka. She was smooth as silk in "Sayonara".