Who died on this date:

On January 25, 1990, actress Ava Gardner died. She was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina. She was one of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses and was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several high-profile films from the late 1940s to 1970s, including The Killers (1946), The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), The Snow of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Barefoor Contessa (1954), Bhowano Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976).

Soon after her arrival in Los Angeles, Gardner met fellow MGM contract player Mickey Rooney; they married in 1942; she was 19 years old and he was 21. Rooney and Gardner divorced in 1943. Gardner was close friends with Howard Hughes in the early to mid-1940s and the relationship lasted into the 1950s. Gardner’s second marriage was brief and to jazz musician and band leader Artie Shaw from 1945 to 1946. Her third and last marriage (1951–1957) was to singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She would later say in her autobiography that he was the love of her life. Sinatra left his wife, Nancy, for Ava and their subsequent marriage made headlines. The Gardner-Sinatra marriage was tumultuous and they divorced in 1957.

After a lifetime of smoking, Gardner suffered from emphysema and an auto-immune disorder (which may have been lupus). She suffered two stokes in 1986, which left her partially paralyzed and bedridden. Although Gardner could afford her medical expenses, Sinatra wanted to pay for her to visit a specialist in the United States, and she allowed him to make the arrangements for a medically-staffed private plane. Her last words (to her house keeper), were reportedly, “I’m so tired,” before she died of pneumonia on January 25, 1990 in London. After her death, Sinatra’s daughter, Tina, found him slumped in his room, crying, and unable to speak. Gardner was not only the love of his life, but also was the inspiration for one of his most personal songs, “I’m a Fool to Want You.” Garner was buried at the Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield, North Carolina, next to her brothers and parents.
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Moneyball

Nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill)

Baseball is the quintessential national game, with its own mystique and built-in traditions, but it is also a cut-throat business where change and innovation are important. Moneyball brings these elements together. In one of his better performances, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, a failed former Major Leaguer, and current general manager of the Oakland Athletics. His best players are constantly being poached by wealthier clubs, earning the A’s the reputation of being “organ donors to the rich.” During a moment of insight and despair after losing three major stars, Billy is intrigued by a quietly spoken, overweight, bespectacled adviser working for the Cleveland Indians.

The man is Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill), an economist from Yale who’s never played the game but keeps whispering obscure advice to the Cleveland pros. He believes a winning team isn’t necessarily made up of individual stars but of a combination of certain talents who together add up to runs. Such people are much cheaper to buy, probably easier to handle and certainly simpler to unload. Billy’s immediately hooked on the idea that he might use Brand’s complex formula to transform the A’s into a truly winning combination rather than relying on luck, intuition and conventional wisdom. He hires Brand and sets about selling the idea to Oakland’s old-fashioned scouts and coaches.

The movie is a brilliant study of group dynamics. Billy doggedly pursues his new obsession, attracting ridicule and probable disaster. He wins in the end, though not in a triumphant manner, and not permanently, but his life is changed. Moneyball has few scenes set on the playing field, none of them sustained. It’s a film about baseball that demands little knowledge of the game. The moral of the film is fairly simple: Everyone’s value is subjective. Players not highly regarded by one team could become incredible assets to another. Numbers geeks not appreciated by baseball in general could prove invaluable to managers looking to change the game and the system. It’s not the kind of movie everyone will find priceless but Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill give good performances. Moneyball makes statistical analysis as fascinating as a pennant race and is an inspiration for underappreciated folks everywhere.

Released through Columbia Pictures (2011)
Runtime – 2 hours 13 minutes
Director – Bennett Miller
Cast – Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Chris Pratt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Stephen Bishop, Tammy Blanchard

Watch trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QPVo0UIzc.

Midnight in Paris

Winner of the 2012 Golden Globe for Best Screenplay
Nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Orginal Screenplay

Woody Allen’s, Midnight in Paris is a romantic, funny, quirky, quasi-comedy set in Paris. The film begins with a beautiful montage tribute of picture-postcard images of Paris set to a traditional jazz score. In this film, Owen Wilson takes on the role as Gil, a disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter who comes to Paris with his gorgeous fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. Idolizing the bohemian Paris of the 1920s, Gil finds that the city has revived his dormant longing to be a serious novelist. One night, while strolling alone in the city, Gil sees a mysterious antique vehicle roll up and its champagne-swilling occupants urge him to jump in. He travels back in time with them to a party where he encounters F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter and falls in love with Picasso’s mistress, played by Marion Cotillard. Wilson plays the role exactly right: bemused and excited, while Cotillard has delicacy and charm. There are real laughs and enchanting cameos but when the action returns to the present, the movie begins to fizzle, and I have to say the final, crucial confrontation between Gil and Inez isn’t believable. But for simple pleasure, the sort of reliably stimulating pleasure Allen use to deliver in his films – sophisticated wit … Midnight in Paris does well. In the present, the film disappoints a bit but in the past, it zips along quite nicely. So perhaps it’s the fantasy/ nostalgic theme of this movie, the retreat from the present day that has restored Allen to past days of brilliance. This film may not be a return to those days for Allen, but it’s a vivid reminder of them.

Release – 2011 by Sony Pictures
Run time – 1 hour 34 minutes
Written/ director – Woody Allen
Cast – Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, Owen Wilson, Tom Hiddleston

Watch trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLg2wQQxvU.

The Artist

Winner of the 2012 Golden Globe for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy; Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Jean Dujardin); Best Original Score

The Artist is set in the late 1920s and the story centers on George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a famous movie star who is truly on top of the world. His movies are some of the biggest in Hollywood and he is constantly surrounded by fans who heap praise upon him. One day, by pure chance, he meets a young extra named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), with whom he has an instant connection. What he doesn’t know is that his career is about to be turned upside down. He ignores warnings from producer (John Goodman) that talkies are about to become the “next big thing.” George refuses to change up his act, and watches his career sink lower and lower as Peppy rides the talkie wave and becomes a huge star. Much like actors in early films, star Jean Dujardin must over-emote in order to compensate for his inability to express himself verbally. But in doing so, he puts on a wonderful performance. A challenging role, to say the least, Dujardin never pushes himself so far that it becomes over done and we always know exactly how he feels. What’s more, the French actor looks as though he’s been ripped straight out of the era. He sells the drama, makes us laugh and is, in short, perfect as George Valentin.

The Artist presents George’s life as the very kind of silent film he’s trying to keep alive, allowing the audience to both re-discover the joys of silent film and fully understand George’s plight. The character is so set in his ways it would actually hurt the film to hear George speak, and The Artist allows the viewer to see George as though his entire life is a silent film, which is how he would actually prefer it. This is only reinforced by the fact that the first time we see the character is on screen and through the 1927 audience’s eyes. George is so attached to his movie identity that his dog co-star is even with him in real life, performing little skits at the dinner table (the dog’s performance is actually one of the film’s greatest highlights). While the presentation and performances are terrific, The Aritst’s unoriginal story line prevents it from being a truly great film. The story of the silent film actor being pushed aside to make way for talkies is not a new concept. Despite its flaws, The Artist really is a charming film. A love letter to the age of the silent film, and it recaptures the spirit of that era. The movie isn’t revolutionary but it is great entertainment.

Release Date: 2011-11-23
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Length: 100 min
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller, and James Cromwell
Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
Produced by: Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat
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Who was born on this date:

Actor Randolph Scott was born on January 23, 1898 in Orange County, Virginia. Scott appeared in a variety of film genres; however, his most enduring image is that of a Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film appearances more than 60 were in Westerns. Around 1927, Scott developed an interest in acting and decided to make his way to Los Angeles and seek a career in the motion picture industry. Fortunately, Scott’s father had become acquainted with Howard Hughes and provided a letter of introduction for his son to present to the eccentric millionaire filmmaker. Hughes responded by getting Scott a small part in Sharp Shooters (1928). In the next few years, Scott continued working as an extra and bit player in several films, including The Virginian (1929) with Gary Cooper.

In 1931 Scott played his first leading role in Women Men Marry and followed that up with a supporting part in, A Successful Calamity. Following that, however, Paramount cast him as the lead in Heritage of the Desert (1932), his first significant starring role and also the one that established him as a Western hero. By 1935 Scott was firmly established as a popular movie star and, thus, following the release of Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935), Paramount moved him up to a star of “A” features. Scott married twice. In 1936 he became the second husband of heiress Marion Du Pont, the daughter of William Du Pont. Reputedly the couple spent little time together and the marriage ended in divorce three years later. Prior to and between his first and second marriages Scott was romantically linked with several prominent film actresses, including Lupe Velez, Sally Blane, Claire Trevor and Dorothy Lamour. In 1944 Scott married Patricia Stillman, with whom he adopted two children. The marriage lasted until Scott’s 1987 death.

His most notable feature films include Roberta (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), The Last of the Mohicans (1936), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), Jesse James (1939), Virginia City (1940), and My Favorite Wife (1940). Following Ride the High Country (1962), Scott retired from film at the age of 64. Scott died of heart and lung ailments on March 2, 1987 in Beverly Hills, California and he is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Who died on this date:

On January 23, 1992, child actor Freddie Bartholomew died. He was born on March 8, 1924 in Willesden, England. He was one of the most famous child actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. His best known films were David Copperfield (1935), Captains Courageous (1937) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936). Despite his great success and acclaim following David Copperfield, Bartholomew’s childhood film stardom was marred by nearly constant legal battles and payouts which eventually took a huge toll on both his finances and his career. In adulthood, after World War II service, Bartholomew’s film career dwindled rapidly, and he switched from performing to directing and producing in the medium of television. Suffering from emphysema, Bartholomew retired from television by the late 1980s. He died on January 23, 1992 from emphysema in Sarasota, Florida and his cremated remains were given to family with final disposition being unknown.
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Who was born on this date:

Actor/ singer William Warfield was born on January 22, 1920 in West Helena, Arkansas. He was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and appeared in two Hollywood films, including a star-making performance as Joe in MGM’s Show Boat (1951), in which he sang “Ole Man River.” His other film was an overlooked movie called “Old Explorers.” By 1976, Warfield, although still making various stage and television appearances, was not singing as much as he had in the past. He served as narrator in various orchestral works, such as Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, for which he won a Grammy in 1984. Warfield died on August 26, 2002 in Chicago, Illinois and is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.

Post script: I had the distinct honor of performing with and meeting Mr. Warfield on two occasions; in 1981 while I was a member of the Wheeling High School Wind Symphony and in 1983 while a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. On both occasions, Mr. Warfield performed “The Lincoln Portrait” and “Ole Man River.” He was a consummate professional and very gracious.

Who died on this date:

On January 22, 2010, actress Jean Simmons died. She was born on January 31, 1929 in London, England. She was discovered by Val Guest, who cast her in Give Us the Moon (1944). She then went on to appear in Great Expectations (1946) and Hamlet (1948) for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. Other film credits include Uncle Silas (1947), Black Narcissus (1947), Adam and Evelyne (1949). The Actress (1953), The Robe (1953), Young Bess (1953), Desiree (1954), The Egyptian (1954), Guys and Dolls (19555), Elmer Gantry (1960), Spartacus (1960), All the Way Home (1963), and The Happy Ending (1969), for which she received her second Oscar nomination. In 1950, she married actor Stewart Granger, with whom she appeared in several films, the couple divorced in 1960. By the 1970s Simmons turned her focus to stage and television acting. Simmons died from lung cancer on January 22, 2010 in Santa Monica, California and her cremated remains are interred at Highgate Cemetery in London.
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Who died on this date:

On January 21, 1959, director Cecil B. DeMille died. He was born on August 12, 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies. Among his best-known films are Cleopatra, Samson and Delilah, The Greatest Show on Earth, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and The Ten Commandments, which also won best picture was his last and most successful film. DeMille began his career as an actor on the Broadway stage in 1900. DeMille also served as producer and/or director for many plays and found success in the spring of 1913 producing “Reckless Age” by Lee Wilson. That same year directed dozens of silent films, including Paramount Pictures first production, The Squaw Man (1914).

Cecil B. DeMille was known for being an instrumental catalyst for the rising status of many struggling or unknown actor such as Richard Dix, Richard Cromwell, and Horace Hahn. DeMille displayed a loyalty to certain supporting performers, and also cast leading actors such as Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, and Charlton Heston in multiple pictures. He was not known as a particularly good director of actors, often hiring actors whom he relied on to develop their own characters and act accordingly. He had a reputation for tyrannical behavior on the set, and he despised actors who were unwilling to take physical risks. DeMille was one of the first directors in Hollywood to become a celebrity in his own right.
During on-location filming in Egypt of the Exodus sequence for 1956’s The Ten Commandments, the then-75-year-old DeMille climbed a 107-foot ladder to the top of the massive Per Rameses set and suffered a near-fatal heart attack. Though DeMille completed the film, it proved to be his last, for he never fully recovered from this episode, and died on January 21, 1959 of heart failure. He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

On January 21, 1927, child actor Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer died. He was born on August 7, 1927 in Paris, Illinois. He is best known for appearing in the Our Gang series as Alfalfa, one of the series’ most popular and best-remembered characters. In 1934 on a sightseeing excursion Switzer and his family visited the Hal Roach Studios. Following a public tour of the facility, 6-year-old Carlbegan an impromptu performance and Producer Hal Roach was present that day and was impressed by the performance. He signed both Switzer to appear in Our Gang. He first appeared in the 1935 Our Gang short, Beginner’s Luck and by the end of the year; Alfalfa was one of the main characters in the series. Switzer’s tenure on Our Gang ended in 1940, when Carl was twelve. He continued to appear in movies in various supporting roles. In the early 1950s, Switzer moved to Kansas and lived and worked on a farm near Wichita. On January 21, 1959 in Mission Hills, California, Switzer got into a fight with an acquaintance over some money and was shot to death.

On January 21, 1967, actress Ann Sheridan died. She was born on February 21, 1915 in Denton, Texas. She made her film debut in 1934 in Search for Beauty, and played un-credited bit parts in Paramount films for the next two years. Paramount made little effort to develop Sheridan’s talent, so she left, signing a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936. Her career prospects began to improve. She gained the nicknamed “The Oomph Girl,” and was a popular pin-up girl during the 1940s. Her notable film credits include Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Dodge City (1939), Torrid Zone (1940), They Drive by Night (1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Kings Row (1942), Nora Prentiss (1947), and The Unfaithful (1947). In 1966, during filming of the TV series Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats, Sheridan became ill and died from esophageal and liver cancer. She was cremated and her ashes were stored at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were permanently interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005.
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Patricia Neal was born on January 20, 1926 in Packard, Kentucky. She was best known for her film roles in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), and Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1949, Neal made her film debut in John Loves Mary. That same year, she co-starred with Ronald Reagan in The Hasty Heart. It has been widely alleged that Neal had numerous love affairs with many of her leading male co-stars. Most notably during the filming of The Fountainhead (1949), Neal had an affair with her married co-star, Gary Cooper, whom she had met in 1947 when she was 21 and he was 46. By 1950, Cooper’s wife, Veronica, had found out about the relationship and sent Neal a telegram demanding they end it. She suffered a nervous breakdown around this same time, following the end of her relationship with Cooper, and left Hollywood for New York, returning to Broadway. Her health took another turn in 1965, when she suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms during pregnancy, and was in a coma for three weeks. Neal worked sparingly in the following years. She returned to the big screen in The Subject Was Roses (1968), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Having won a Tony Award in her inaugural Broadway production (1947) and eventually becoming the last surviving winner from that first ceremony, Neal often appeared as a presenter in later years. Her original Tony was lost, so she was given a surprise replacement in 2006. Neal died at her home in Edgartown, Massachusetts on August 8, 2010 from lung cancer and was buried at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut.

Actor Colin Clive was born on January 20, 1900 in Saint-Malo, France and is best remembered for his portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein in two Universal Frankenstein films, Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Although Colin Clive made only three horror films, the two Frankenstein movies and Mad Love (1935), he is widely regarded as one of the essential stars of the genre. His portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein was an inspiration for scores of other mad scientist performances in films over the years. Clive was also an in-demand leading man for a number of major film actresses of the era, including Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Corinne Griffith, and Jean Arthur. He also starred in the 1934 adaptation of Jane Eyre opposite Virginia Bruce. Colin Clive suffered from severe chronic alcoholism and died from complications of tuberculosis on June 25, 1937 at the age of thirty-seven. His cenotaph is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory, but his ashes were scattered at sea in 1978 after they spent over 40 years unclaimed in the basement of the funeral parlor where his body was brought after his death.

Who died on this date:

On January 20, 1993, actress Audrey Hepburn died. She was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. She remains one of the world’s most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play GiGi, Hepburn gained instant Hollywood stardom for playing the Academy Award winning lead role in Roman Holiday (1953). Later performing in Sabrina (1954), The Nun’s Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), Hepburn became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Although she appeared in fewer films as her life went on, Hepburn devoted much of her later life to UNICEF. Her war-time struggles inspired her passion for humanitarian work and, although Hepburn had contributed to the organization since the 1950s, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia in the late eighties and early nineties. Upon return from Somalia to Switzerland in late September 1992, Hepburn began suffering from abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so decided to be examined while on a trip to Los Angeles. Doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer. Hepburn died in her sleep on the evening of January 20, 1993, at her home in Switzerland. After her death, Gregory Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favorite poem, “Unending Love” by Rabindranath Tagore. She is buried at Tolochenaz Cemetery in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, a small cemetery that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.

On January 20, 1990, actress Barbara Stanwyck died. She was born on July 16, 1907 in Brroklyn, New York. She was nominated for the Academy Award four times, and won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. In 1923, a few months short of her 16th birthday, Ruby auditioned for a place in the chorus at the Strand Roof, a night club over the Strand Theatre in Times Square. A few months thereafter she obtained a job as a Ziegfeld girl in the 1922 and 1923 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.

Stanwyck’s first film was The Locked Door (1929), followed by Mexicali Rose in 1929. Neither film was successful; nonetheless, Frank Capra chose Stanwyck for his Ladies of Leisure (1930). Numerous memorable roles followed, among them the children’s nurse who saves two would be juvenile murder victims in Night Nurse (1931), the ambitious woman from “the wrong side of the tracks” in Baby Face (1933), the self-sacrificing mother in Stella Dallas (1937), the con artist who falls for her would-be victim (played by Henry Fonda) in The Lady Eve (1941), the woman who talks an infatuated insurance salesman (Fred McMurray) into killing her husband in Double Indemnity (1944), the columnist caught up in white lies and Christmas romance in Christmas in Connecticut (1945) and the doomed wife in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948).

When Stanwyck’s film career declined in 1957, she moved to television. Her 1961–1962 series The Barbara Stanwyck Show was not a ratings success but earned her first Emmy Award. The 1965–1969 Western series The Big Valley on ABC made her one of the most popular actresses on television, winning her another Emmy. Years later, Stanwyck earned her third Emmy for The Thorn Birds.

In 1936, while making the film His Brother’s Wife, Stanwyck met and fell in love with her co-star, Robert Taylor. Following a whirlwind romance, the couple began living together. Their 1939 marriage was arranged with the help of Taylor’s studio MGM, a common practice in Hollywood’s golden age. Taylor reportedly had affairs during the marriage. When Stanwyck learned of Taylor’s fling with Lana Turner, she filed for divorce in 1950 when a starlet made Turner’s romance with Taylor public. The decree was granted on February 21, 1951. After the divorce, they acted together in Stanwyck’s last feature film The Night Walker (1964). Stanwyck never remarried and collected alimony from Taylor until his death in 1969. Stanwyck was no angel she also had an affair with actor Robert Wagner, whom she met on the set of Titanic. Wagner, who was 22, and Stanwyck, who was 45 at the beginning of the affair, had a four-year romance, as described in Wagner’s 2008 memoir, Pieces of My Heart. Stanwyck broke off the relationship. Stanwyck died of congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Saint John’s Health Center, in Santa Monica, California on January 20, 1990. Her body was cremated, and her ashes scattered in Lone Pine, California.
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Who died on this date:

On January 19, 2000, actress Hedy Lamarr died. She was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9, 1913 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star for MGM. Louis B. Mayer signed the actress to a film contract in 1937. At his insistence, she changed her name Hedy Lamarr, choosing the surname in homage to a beautiful film star of the silent era, Barbara La Marr. In Hollywood, she was usually cast in glamorous and seductive roles. Her American debut was in Algiers (1938). Her notable film credits include Boom Town (1940), Ziegfeld Girl (1941), White Cargo (1942), Tortilla Flat (1942), and making 18 films from 1940 to 1949. After leaving MGM in 1945, she enjoyed her biggest success as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille’s, Samson and Delilah. However, following her comedic turn opposite Bob Hope in My Favorite Spy (1951), her career went into decline. She appeared only sporadically in films after 1950, one of her last roles being that of Joan of Arc in The Story of Mankind (1957). The publication of her autobiography Ecstasy and Me (1967) took place about a year after accusations of shoplifting, and a year after Andy Warhol’s short film, Hedy (1966). In the ensuing years, Lamarr retreated from public life, and settled in Florida. She was married five times. She died on January 19, 2000 from natural causes in Casselberry, Florida and her ashes were scattered in the woods near Vienna, Austria..

Who was born on this date:

Actor Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18, 1904 in Bristol. England. Nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Heart (1944). Grant was named the second greatest male movie star of all time by the American Film Institute. Noted particularly for his work in comedy but also for drama, Grant’s best-known films include The Awful Truth (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gunga Din (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), An Affair to Remember (1957), North by Northwest (1959) and Charade (1963). Grant remained one of Hollywood’s top box-office attractions for almost 30 years. Grant was the first actor to “go independent” by not renewing his studio contract, effectively leaving the studio system. Grant was preparing for a performance at the Adler Theater in Davenport, Iowa on the afternoon of November 29, 1986 when he sustained a cerebral hemorrhage (he had previously suffered a stroke in October 1984) and he died later that day at St. Luke’s Hospital.

Legendary comedic actor, Oliver Hardy was born on January 18, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia. He was best known as one half of the famous comic duo of Laurel and Hardy. Whixh began in silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955. In 1910, a movie theater opened in Hardy’s home town in Georgia, and he became the projectionist, ticket taker, janitor and manager. He soon became obsessed with the new motion picture industry, and became convinced that he could do a better job than the actors he saw on the screen. A friend suggested that he move to Florida, where some films were being made. In 1913, he did just that, where he worked as a cabaret and vaudeville singer at night. The next year he made his first movie, Outwitting Dad, for the Lubin studio.

His size placed limitations on the roles he could play. He was most often cast as “the heavy” or the villain. He also frequently had roles in comedy shorts, his size complementing the character. In 1917, Oliver Hardy moved to Los Angeles, working freelance for several Hollywood studios. Later that year, he appeared in the movie The Lucky Dog, which starred a young British comedian named Stan Laurel. Between 1918 and 1923, Oliver Hardy made more than forty films for Vitagraph, mostly playing the heavy. In 1924, Hardy began working at Hal Roach Studios working with the Our Gang films.

In 1927, Laurel and Hardy began sharing screen time together in Slipping Wives, Duck Soup (no relation to the 1933 Marx Brother’s film of the same name) and With Love and Hisses. Roach Studios, realizing the audience reaction to the two, began intentionally teaming them together, leading to the start of a Laurel and Hardy series late that year. With this pairing, he created arguably the most famous double act in movie history. They began producing a huge body of short movies. They made their transition to talking pictures with Berth Marks (1929), Blotto (1930), Brats (1930), Another Fine Mess (1930) and many others.

In 1929, they appeared in their first feature, in one of the revue sequences of Hollywood revue of 1929 and in 1931, they made their first full length movie, Pardon Us although they continued to make features and shorts until 1935. The Music Box, a 1932 short, won them an Academy Award for best short film, their only such award. During 1950—51, Laurel and Hardy made their final film. Atoll K (also known as Utopia) and both suffered serious physical illness during the filming.In 1955, the pair had contracted with Hal Roach, Jr., to produce a series of TV shows based on the Mother Goose fables. However, this was never to be. Laurel suffered a stroke, which required a lengthy convalescence. Hardy had a heart attack and stroke later that year, from which he never physically recovered.

During 1956, Hardy began looking after his health for the first time in his life. He lost more than 150 pounds in a few months which completely changed his appearance. Hardy was a heavy smoker, as was Stan Laurel. Hardy suffered a major stroke on September 14, 1956, which left him confined to bed and unable to speak for several months. He suffered two more strokes in early August 1957, and slipped into a coma from which he never recovered. Oliver Hardy died on August 7, 1957 and was buried at the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood. His friend Stan Laurel was too ill to go to his friend’s funeral. He stated, “Babe would understand.”

Actor Danny Kaye was born on January 18, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York. It was the stage production of the musical “Lady in the Dark” in 1940 that brought him critical acclaim. Samuel Goldwyn tried to sign Kaye to a movie contract for two years before he eventually agreed. Goldwyn put him in a series of Technicolor musicals, starting with Up in Arms (1944). His debut was successful, and he continued to make hit movies such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and The Inspector General (1949). In 1954, he appeared with Bing Crosby in White Christmas (1954), which was based on the Irving Berlin song of the same name. In 1955, he made what many consider his best comedy, The Court Jester (1956). In 1960, he began doing specials on television and this led to his own TV series, “The Danny Kaye Show” (1963), which ran from 1963 to 1967. Kaye died on March 3, 1987 from a heart ailment in Los Angeles, California and is buried at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Who died on this date:

On January 18, 1952, comedic actor Jerome “Curly” Howard died. He was born on October 22, 1903 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the rotund, bald Stooge with the high voice and was the most popular member of The Three Stooges. His first stage experience was as a comedic conductor for the Orville Knapp Band in 1928. Curly joined The Three Stooges in 1932, replacing his brother Shemp Howard. He made more than 100 film appearances with the team before a massive stroke on the set of Half-Wits Holiday (1947) forced him to retire. He recuperated enough to appear in Hold That Lion! (1947) and hoped to eventually return to the team. But another series of strokes deteriorated his health until he died from another stroke on January 18, 1952 at the age of 48. He is buried at Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

On January 18, 1954, actor Sydney Greenstreet died. He was born on December 27, 1879 in Sandwich, England. His stage debut was as a murderer in a 1902 production of “Sherlock Holmes”. From then on he appeared in numerous plays in England and the US, working through most of the 1930s with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne at the Theatre Guild. His parts ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare. His film debut, occurring when he was 62 years old and weighing nearly 300 pounds, was as Kasper Guttman in the classic The Maltese Falcon (1941), with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. He teamed with Lorre in eight more movies after that. In eight years he made 24 films, all while beset by diabetes and Bright’s disease. In 1949 he retired from films, and died on January18, 1954 in Hollywood, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale..