The Descendants (2011, Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Winner of two Golden Globes – Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama – George Clooney

Directed by Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar winning “Sideways.”

The movie is set in Hawaii and is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.

The movie explores the fine line between grief and anger, a line that’s even more treacherous when you’re angry at the person you’re grieving. Such somber material could be the basis for a piercing drama, and Payne doesn’t treat it lightly. He does let the comedy seep in, though, in a natural, rewarding way, without turning the King family’s problems into shambles. George Clooney, anchoring the film with his customary rock-solid charm, is also our emotional beacon: We look to him to know whether we should be laughing or crying. Payne likes to put his characters through the wringer but have them come out of it with a hard-won happy (or at least hopeful) ending. That holds true for The Descendants, so you don’t need to worry that the sadness of the story will leave you depressed. Overall, this grown-up, well-acted dramatic comedy is deeply fulfilling, maybe even energizing.

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Who died on this date:

On January 17, 1972, actress Rochelle Hudson died. She was born on March 6, 1916 in Oklahoma Ciy. She was an actress from the 1930s through the 1960s and was a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1931. Hudson is best remembered for costarring in Wild Boys of the Road (1933), playing Cosette in Les Miserables (1935), playing Mary Blair, the older sister of Shirley Temple’s character in Curly Top, and for playing Natalie Wood’s mother in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). During her peak years in the 1930s, notable films included She Done Him Wrong (1933), Life Begins at Forty (1935), and Imitation of Life (1934). On January 17, 1972, Hudson was found dead in her home at the Palm Desert Country Club. Hudson died of pneumonia and complications of a liver ailment. Her remains were cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Thames River in London.

On January 17, 2005, actress Virginia Mayo died. She was born on November 30, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri. After a short career in vaudeville, Mayo progressed to films and during the 1940s established herself as a supporting player in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), White Heat (1949), Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). At the zenith of her career, Mayo was seen as the quintessential voluptuous Hollywood beauty. Mayo remained an A-list actress into the mid-’50s, but then went into semi-retirement. She died of congestive heart failure on January 17, 2005 and is buried at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California..

AMONG THE RUGGED PEAKS: The Carla Laemmle Story

This is a documentary well worth seeing about an incredible actress Carla Laemmle, whose life is the equal of any movie she was in and that includes Bela Lugosi’s 1931 version of Dracula and Lon Chaney, Sr.’s The Phantom of the Opera (1925). One of Hollywood’s last remaining silent movie stars, Carla Laemmle celebrated her 102nd birthday on October 20, 2011.

Carla had the honor of first speaking part in the horror classic, Dracula (1931). The opening line in the documentary, “among the rugged peaks that crown down upon the Borgo Pass, are found crumbling castles of a bygone age.” This is the title of her new documentary film ‘Among the Rugged Peaks – The Carla Laemmle Story’ narrated by Award Winning Actress Sally Kirkland. Carla, whose uncle was Universal Studios founder, Carl Laemmle, first arrived to Hollywood as a classically trained ballet dancer in 1921. Throughout her life she followed her diverse artistic passions, and appeared in a wide array of films like ‘King of Jazz’ in 1930 with George Gershwin, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in 1925 with Lon Chaney, and ‘Night and Day’ in 1946 with Cary Grant. ‘Among the Rugged Peaks – The Carla Laemmle Story’ produced and directed by Tom Tangen, takes Carla back to the original ‘Phantom of the Opera’ stage at Universal Studios to shed light on the risks and rewards of her life in film and dance. Documentarian Tom Tangen does a fantastic job of re-telling Carla’s fascinating life story, through candid interviews with the actress and the people she has known.

The film premiered on January 15, 2012 at the 1st Annual Irvine International Film Festival. Ms. Laemmle made a special appearance and accepted the “Life Time Achievement Award” from the festival organizers. Asked after the screening if she had any advice for up and coming actresses, who are trying to make it in show business, Ms Laemmle paused and with a sheepish grin candidly stated “sleep with everyone.”
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Katy Jurado was born on January 16, 1924 in Mexico City. Jurado had already established herself as an actress in Mexico in the 1940s when she came to Hollywood becoming a regular in Western films of the 1950s and 1960s. She worked with many Hollywood legends, including Gary Cooper in High Noon, Spencer Tracy in Broken Lance, and Marlon Brando. She made seventy one films during her career and became the first Latin American actress nominated for an Academy Award, as Best Supporting Actress for her work in 1954’s Broken Lance, and was the first to win a Golden Globe. She had a torrid affair with the actor Marlon Brando, who at the time was also involved with actresses Movita Castaneda and Rita Moreno. Early in her film career, she claimed to have had an affair with John Wayne. Towards the end of her life, Jurado suffered from heart and lung ailments. She died from kidney failure and pulmonary disease on July 5, 2002 at her home in Mexico and was buried in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Panteón de la Páz cemetery.

Actor Harry Carey was born on January 16, 1878 in Bronx, New York. He is best remembered as one of the first stars of the Western film genre. Carey’s rugged frame and craggy features were well suited to westerns and outdoor adventures. When sound films arrived, Carey displayed an assured, gritty baritone voice that suited his rough-hewn screen personality. He was the logical choice for the title role in MGM’s jungle epic Trader Horn. By this time Carey, already in his fifties, was too mature for most leading roles and the only starring roles that he was offered were in low-budget westerns and serials. He soon settled into a comfortable career as a solid, memorable character actor; he received an Oscar nomination for his role as the President of the Senate in the 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. His son, Harry Carey, Jr., would become a character actor, most famous for his roles in Westerns. Father and son both appear (albeit in different scenes) in the 1948 film, Red River and The Searchers. Harry Carey, Sr., died on September 21, 1947 from a combination of lung cancer, emphysema. And coronary thrombosis and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Who died on this date:

On January 16, 1942, actress Carole Lombard died. She was born on October 6, 1908 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was known as the Queen of the 1930s screwball comedies. Lombard made her film debut at the age of twelve after in A Perfect Crime (1921). In the 1920s, she worked in several low-budget productions. Lombard achieved a few minor successes in the early 1930s but was continually cast in second-rate films. It was not until 1934 that her career began to take off. That year, director Howard Hawks encountered Lombard at a party and became enamored with her saucy personality, thinking her just right for his latest project. Film credits include Bolero (1934), My Man Godfrey (19336), for which she earned a best actress Academy Award nomination, Nothing Sacred (1937), Fools for a Scandal (1938), Made for Each other (1939), Vigil in the Night (1940), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941), and To Be or Not to Be (1942).

In October 1930, Lombard met William Powell. They had worked together in the films Man of the World and Ladies’ Man. Unlike many of Lombard’s other suitors at the time, Powell was urbane and sophisticated. He also appreciated her blunt personality and bawdy sense of humor. They married on June 26, 1931.She did not believe their sixteen-year age difference would present a problem, but friends felt they were ill-suited, as Lombard had an extroverted personality while Powell was more reserved. They divorced in 1933, but remained good friends and worked together without acrimony, notably in My Man Godfrey. In 1934, following her divorce from Powell, she carried on relationships with actors Gary Cooper and George Raft. Also during 1934, Lombard met and began a serious affair with crooner Russ Columbo. Columbo reportedly proposed marriage, but was killed in a freak shooting accident at the age of 26. To reporters, Lombard said Columbo was the love of her life.

Lombard’s most famous relationship came in 1936 when she became involved with actor Clark Gable. They had worked together previously in 1932, but at the time Lombard was still happily married to Powell and knew Gable to have the reputation of a roving eye. They were indifferent to each other on the set and did not keep in touch. It was not until 1936, when Gable came to the Mayfair Ball that Lombard had planned, that their romance began to take off. Gable, however, was married at the time to oil heiress Ria Langham, and the affair was kept quiet. The situation proved a major factor in Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, as MGM head Louis B. Mayer sweetened the deal for a reluctant Clark Gable by giving him enough money to settle a divorce agreement with Langham and marry Lombard. Gable divorced Langham on March 7, 1939 and proposed to Lombard in a telephone booth at the Brown Derby. On March 29, 1939, during a break in production on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard drove out to Kingman, Arizona and were married in a quiet ceremony with only Gable’s press agent, Otto Winkler, in attendance.

When the US entered World War II at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana for a War bond rally with her mother, Bess Peters, and Clark Gable’s press agent, Otto Winkler. After raising over $2 million in defense bonds, Lombard addressed her fans, saying: “Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer! V for Victory!” On January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother, and Winkler boarded a a DC-3 airplane to return to California. After refueling in Las Vegas took off and 23 minutes later, crashed into “Double Up Peak” near the 8,300 ft level of Mt. Potosi, 32 statute miles southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 aboard, including 15 army servicemen, were killed instantly. Shortly after her death at the age of 33, Gable (who was inconsolable and devastated by her loss) joined the U.S. Army Air Corp. Lombard is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Although Gable remarried, he was interred next to her when he died in 1960.
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Who died on this date:

On January 15, 2000, actress Fran Ryan died. She was born on November 29, 1916 in Los Angeles, California. She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago but was not to launch her television career for two decades. Her small screen debut came in an episode on Television’s, Batman in 1966, followed by a bit part in The Beverley Hillbillies. Ryan’s first supporting cast television role was as Aggie Thompson in first several episodes of The Doris Day Show. The same season she was offered the ‘replacement’ role on the hit series Green Acres as Doris Ziffel from 1969-1971. Ryan also starred on the long running TV Western series Gunsmoke during its twentieth and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb). Fran Ryan also played the role of Rosie Carlson in the soap opera, Days of Our Lives (1976-1979) and Sister Agatha on General Hospital in (1979). She also did voices for numerous cartoons. She starred in many feature films, including Flush (1977), Big Wednesday (1978), Take this Job and Shove IT (1981), Pale Rider (1985), and in her scene-stealing cameo in 1981’s Stripes, as a tortured cab fare to Bill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the comedy film. Ryan died on January 15, 2000 and is buried at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Hayward, California. My Great Grandfather Timothy Barry is buried in the plot directly behind, Miss Ryan and his headstone can be seen to the left.

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Who was born on this date:

Actress Bebe Daniels was born on January 14, 1901in Dallas, Texas. She began her film career during the silent era as a child actress, and became the star of musicals such as 42nd Street (1933). She gained further fame on radio and television in Britain. In a long career, she made over 230 films. Daniels retired from Hollywood in 1935 and moved to London. On March 16, 1971, Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London. Her remains were cremated at London’s Golder’s Green Crematorium and the ashes were then interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Who died on this date:

On January 14, 1957, actor Humphrey Bogart died. He was born on December 25, 1899 in New York City. The American Film Institute has ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema. Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. His first foray into movies was in The Petrified Forest (1936), and this led to a period of typecasting as a gangster with films such as Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and others.

His breakthrough as a leading man came in 1941 with High Sierra and the Maltese Falcon. The next year, his performance in Casablanca raised him to the peak of his profession and, at the same time, cemented his trademark film persona, that of the hard-boiled cynic who ultimately shows his noble side. Other successes followed, including To Have and Have Not (1944); The Big Sleep (1946); Dark Passage (1947) and Key Largo (1948), with his wife (Lauren Baccall) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); In a Lonely Place (1950); The African Queen (1951), for which he won his only Academy Award; Sabrina (1954); and The Caine Mutiny (1954). His last movie was The Harder They Fall (1956). During a film career of almost thirty years, he appeared in 75 feature films.

Bogart met Lauren Bacall while filming To Have and Have Not in 1944. When they met, Bacall was nineteen and Bogart was forty-five. He nicknamed her “Baby.” Their physical and emotional rapport was very strong from the start, and the age difference and different acting experience also created the additional dimension of a mentor-student relationship. Quite contrary to the Hollywood norm, it was his first affair with a leading lady. Bogart was still miserably married and his early meetings with Bacall were discreet and brief, their separations bridged by ardent love letters. Yet Bogart was still torn between his new love and his sense of duty to his marriage. Divorce proceedings were initiated by February 1945. Bogart and Bacall then married in a small ceremony at the country home of Bogart’s close friend near Lucas, Ohio.

By the mid-1950s, Bogart’s health was failing. A heavy smoker and drinker, he contracted cancer of the esophagus but almost never spoke of his failing health and refused to see a doctor until January 1956. A diagnosis was made several weeks later and by then it was too late to halt the disease. Bogart had just turned 57 when he died on January 14, 1957 after falling into a coma at his home. His cremated remains are interred in Forest Lawn Glendale and buried with him is a small gold whistle, which he had given to Lauren Bacall, before they married. In reference to their first movie together, it was inscribed: “If you want anything, just whistle.”

On January 14, 2006, actress Shelley Winters died. She was born Shirley Schrift on August 18, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri. She would appear in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006. A two-time Academy Award winner, she most remembered for her roles in A Place in the Sun, The Big Knife, Lolita, The Night of the Hunter, Alfie, and The Poseidon Adventure.

Her first movie was What a Woman ! (1943) and throughout the 1940’s, basically worked in bit parts. She achieved stardom with her breakout performance in George Cukor’s, A Double Life (1947). She quickly landed leading roles in The Great Gatsby (1949) and Winchester 73 (1950). But it was her performance in A Place in the Sun (1951), a departure from the sexpot image that earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Throughout the 1950s, Winters continued in films, including Meet Danny Wilson (1952) and Night of the Hunter (1955). She returned to the stage on various occasions during this time, including a Broadway run in A Hatful of Rain, in 1955-1956. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Diary of Anne Frank in 1960, and another award, in the same category, for A Patch of Blue in 1966. Notable later roles include Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita (1962), Alfie (1966) and Harper (1966). In 1972 she appeared in The Poseidon Adventure (for which she received her final Oscar nomination).

During her 50 years as a widely known personality, Winters was rarely out of the news. Her stormy marriages, her romances with famous stars, her forays into politics and feminist causes kept her name before the public. She delighted in giving provocative interviews and seemed to have an opinion on everything. In late life, she recalled her conquests in her autobiographies. She wrote of a yearly rendezvous she kept with William Holden, as well as her affairs with Sean Connery, Burt Lancaster, Errol Flynn and Marlon Brando. She died on January 14, 2006 of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Center of Beverly Hills and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.

On January 14, 1986, actress Donna Reed died. She was born on January 27, 1921 in Denison, Iowa. Reed appeared in over 40 films and received the 1953, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in From here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas favorite. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Her “girl-next-door” good looks and warm on-stage personality made her a popular pin-up for many GI’s during World War II. She worked extensively in television, notably as Donna Stone, an American middle class mother in the sitcom, The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966). Reed died from pancreatic cancer on January 14, 1986 in Beverly Hills, California and is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

On January 14, 1965, actress Jeanette MacDonald died. She was born on June 18, 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for her musical films of the 1930’s with Maurice Chevalier in Love Me Tonight, and The Merry Widow; Nelson Eddy in Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime. During the 1930’s and 1940’s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars, The Love Parade, One Hour with You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco, and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of the most influential sopranos of the 20th century, introducing grand opera to movie-going audiences and inspiring a generation of singers.

In 1929, famed film director Ernst Lubitsch was looking through old screen tests of Broadway performers and spotted MacDonald. He cast her as the leading lady in his first sound film, The Love Parade, which starred the Continental sensation Maurice Chevalier. In the first rush of sound films, 1929–30, MacDonald starred in six films, the first four for Paramount Studios. In hopes of producing her own films, MacDonald went to United Artists to make The Lottery Bride (1930) but the film was not successful. MacDonald next signed a three-picture deal with 20th Century Fox and was more successful. She took a break from Hollywood in 1931 to embark on a European concert tour. She returned to Paramount the following year for two films with Maurice Chevalier. In 1933 MacDonald left again for Europe and while there, signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her first MGM film was The Cat and the Fiddle (1934), her co-star was Ramon Novarro. The plot about unmarried lovers shacking up just barely slipped through the new Production Code guidelines that took effect July 1, 1934.

Naughty Marietta (1935), directed by W.S. Van Dyke, was MacDonald’s first film in which she teamed with newcomer baritone Nelson Eddy. Victor Herbert’s 1910 score, with songs like “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”, “I’m Falling in Love with Someone”, “’Neath the Southern Moon”, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”, and “Italian Street Song”, enjoyed renewed popularity. The film won an Oscar for sound recording and received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

MacDonald followed Eddy to Universal, where they were scheduled to make one film together after he finished Phantom of the Opera (1943). MacDonald marked time by appearing as herself in Follow the Boys (1944), an all-star extravaganza about Hollywood stars entertaining the troops. After MacDonald and Eddy left MGM in 1942, they appeared frequently on radio together while planning several unrealized films that would have reunited them onscreen. MacDonald returned solo to MGM after 5 years off the screen for two films. Three Daring Daughters (1948), and The Sun Comes Up (1949), teamed MacDonald with Lassie, this proved to be her final. Offers continued to come in but things never moved beyond the discussion stages partly because of MacDonald’s failing health.

MacDonald suffered in her later years with heart trouble. She worsened in 1963 and underwent an arterial transplant at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Nelson Eddy, in Australia on a nightclub tour, pleaded illness and returned to the States at word of MacDonald’s surgery. After the operation she developed pleurisy and was hospitalized for two-and-a-half months. Her friends kept the news from the press until just before her release. MacDonald was again stricken in 1964. On Christmas Eve she was operated on for abdominal adhesions. She was able to go home for New Year’s, but in mid-January flew her back to Houston. It was hoped that pioneer heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, who had recently operated successfully on the Duke of Windsor, could perform the same miracle for her. She checked in on January 12, and a program of intravenous feedings was begun to build her up for possible surgery. MacDonald died two days later on January 14, 1965. MacDonald is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

On January 14, 1961, actor Barry Fitzgerald died. He was one of the all-time great character actors in Hollywood history was born William Joseph Shields on March 10, 1888 in Dublin, Ireland. The diminutive Irishman with the irresistible brogue did not start acting until late in life (age forty). Fitzgerald quit his job as a civil servant in Dublin to perform on the London stage with the Abbey Players. In 1930, he made his Hollywood film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Juno and the Paycock but did not appear in another film for six years, when in 1936, he was coaxed by director John Ford into appearing in The Plough and the Stars. After which his big screen career took off and from 1930 to 1959, Fitzgerald appeared in over forty motion pictures, some of which include: Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Dawn Patrol (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Two Years Before the Mast (1946), The Naked City (1948), Union Station (1950), and The Quiet Man (1952). In his many film roles, Fitzgerald usually played the archetypical Irishman or the affable clergyman and with his scene stealing grin was an audience favorite.

Tragedy struck on March 17, 1944, when the veteran actor hit two pedestrians, (killing one and severally injuring another) while driving his car on Hollywood Boulevard, near Sycamore Street. There was no evidence of drug or alcohol use and it appeared to be just a tragic accident but an overzealous Los Angeles District Attorney’s office still filed a complaint, charging Fitzgerald with vehicular manslaughter. The actor was arrested, booked and a trial date was set for January 9, 1945. At this hearing, Superior Court Judge William McKay dismissed the charges against Fitzgerald for lack of evidence.

Two short months later on March 15, 1945 at the annual Academy Awards ceremony, Fitzgerald was on top of the world when he became the first actor to be nominated for a best lead and supporting actor award for the same movie, Going My Way (1944). He lost the lead actor Oscar to his co-star Bing Crosby but took home the best supporting actor statuette. The following year the Academy board of directors changed the rules, not allowing an actor or actress to be nominated for the same role in two different acting categories in the same movie.

In October of 1959, Fitzgerald underwent a brain operation for an undisclosed illness; this left him incapacitated and unable to care for himself. The last two years of his life were spent in a Dublin area nursing home and he died on January 14, 1961 at Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Hospital from a heart attack at age seventy-two. His funeral was held in Dublin at St. Patrick’s Protestant Church of Ireland; in attendance were numerous personalities of the stage and government. He is buried at Deansgrange Cemetery in Dublin, Ireland and his tombstone epitaph is inscribed with his given name of William J. Shields.
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Tonight 1/12/2012 at 5:00PM and 11:30PM PST on “Real Orange, SoCal PBS KOCE-TV, I discuss my book “Fade to Black Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats 1927-1950” with Maria Hall-Brown at the Claire Trevor Theater on the campus of the University of California, Irvine. We discuss the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the evolution of the awards ceremony, the Golden Age of Hollywood, actress Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Alice Brady, John Huston, Bette Davis and many others.

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Who died on this date:

On January 11, 1981, actress Beulah Bondi died. She was born on May 3, 1888 in Valparaiso, Indiana. Her debut movie role was as “Emma Jones” in Street Scene (1931), this was followed by Rain (1932). She was one of the first five women to be nominated for an Academy Award in the newly-created category of “Best Supporting Actress” for her work in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), although she lost the award to Gale Sondergaard. Two years later, she was nominated again for Of Human Hearts (1938), and lost again, but her reputation as a character actress kept her employed. She would most often be seen in the role of the mother of the star of the film for the rest of her career. Bondi played Jimmy Stewart’s mother in four films: It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Human Hearts and Vivacious Lady. Bondi never married in real life and died from pulmonary complications due to broken ribs suffered when she tripped over her cat on January 11, 1981. Her remains were cremated and scattered in an unknown location..

Who was born on this date:

Actor Ray Bolger was born on January 10, 1904 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). He began his career in vaudeville and his ability to ad lib movement won him many starring roles on Broadway in the 1930s. Bolger’s film career began when he signed a contract with MGM in 1936. His best-known film appearances include The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Rosalie (1937), Sweethearts (1938), and The Harvey Girls (1946). Bolger also appeared in his own television sitcom with a variety show theme, Where’s Raymond? Or The Ray Bolger Show (1953-1955). Bolger died in Los Angeles on January 15, 1987 from bladder cancer and is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Actor Sal Mineo was born on January 10, 1939 in the Bronx, New York. He is best known for his breakthrough performance as John “Plato” Crawford opposite James Dean in Rebel without a Cause (1955). He was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award twice, Rebel without a Cause, and Exodus (1960). His screen debut was in 1955’s, Six Bridges to Cross and other notable film credits include The Private War of Major Benson (1955), and Giant (1956). Mineo made an effort to break his typecasting as a Native American boy in Tonka (1958) and as a Jewish emigrant in Exodus (1960). By the early 1960s, he was becoming too old to play the type of role that had made him famous and was not considered appropriate for leading roles. A small role in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) was Mineo’s last appearance in a motion picture. In the late 1960s, Mineo became one of the first major actors in Hollywood to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality. On February 12, 1976, Mineo was stabbed to death in the alley behind his apartment building in West Hollywood, California. His remains are interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

Who died on this date:

On January 20, 1981, actor Richard Boone died. He was born on June 18, 1917 in Los Angeles, California. He starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gone – Will Travel. After the World War II, Boone used the G.I Bill to study acting at the Actors Studio in New York. Serious and methodical, Boone debuted on Broadway in 1947. In 1950, Boone made his film debut in Hall’s of Montezuma and other notable film credits include, The Robe (1953), The Raid (1954), Man without a Star (1955), The Alamo (1960), The War Lord (1965), Hombre (1967), Big Jake (1971), and The Shootist (1976). Boone died on January 10, 1981 from pneumonia while suffering from throat cancer in St. Augustine, Florida and his cremated ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off of Hawaii.
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen was born on January 7, 1911 in Tampa, Florida. She is best known for her debut role as Prissy, Scarlett O’Hara’s maid in the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind (1939). She also appeared in The Women (1939), Mildred Pierce (1945), and Duel in the Sun (1946). She then grew tired of the ethnic stereotypes and ended her film career. She died on December 22, 1995 at Augusta Regional Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia from burns sustained when a kerosene heater she attempted to light malfunctioned and burst into flames. A lifelong atheist, her body was donated to medical science.

Actor Alan Napier was born on January 7, 1903 in King’s Norton, England. He is best known for portraying Alfred on the 1960s TV series Batman. Though his film career had begun in England in the 1930s, he had very little success before the cameras until he arrived and joined the British community in Hollywood in 1941. Film credits include Cat People (1942), The Uninvited (1943), The Song of Bernadette (1943), House of Horrors (1946), Macbeth (1948) and Joan of Arc (1948). In 1966, he was the first to be cast in the Batman TV series, as Bruce Wayne’s faithful butler Alfred, a role he played until the series’ cancellation in 1968. Napier’s career extended into the 1980s, with TV roles and he finally retired in 1981. He suffered a stroke in 1987, hospitalized since June 1988, and had been gravely ill for several days, before his death of pneumonia on August 8, 1988, in the Berkeley East Convalescent Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His cremated remains are interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

Who died on this date:

On January 7, 1988, actor Trevor Howard died. He was born on September 29, 1913 in Cliftonville, England. His film credits include The Way to the Stars (1945), Brief Encounter (1945), I see a Dark Stranger (1945), Green for Danger (1946), They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), The Passionate Friends (1949), The Third Man (1949),and Sons and Lovers (1960), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Over time Howard easily shifted to being one of England’s finest character actors. Howard’s later works included such films as Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), Von Ryan’s Express (1965), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), and Superman (1978). He died on January 7, 1988, from a combination of bronchitis and influenza and was buried at the St. Peter Churchyard in Arkley, England.
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