Thanks very much for that link, I knew that Jane Withers was still alive, but I never think of her when making list of surviving names from the past because she is even before my time.

I was surprised that Dean Stockwell wasn't included in the last part of the article that listed stars who hadn't quite reached 80. He will be 80 next year and celebrated his 70th year in the business this year, he made his debut with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in Anchors Away. Kathryn Grayson who also starred in th film said that he was the most beautiful chid that she had ever seen.

https://www.thewrap.com/john-guiller...no-dead-at-89/

Sad news and another link to this unique era has left us. I actually loved this film especially Paul Newman in it!

Yes I agree with you Walter it is puzzling about Dean Stockwell but hopefully he will appear in time as the list evolves and develops overtime.

There were a fair few lists online of this kind but this list was definitely one of the much better and more detailed lists of what's on offer, as close to perfection as I could find while satisfying my desire for detail or a long long list that features more than the obvious names that we all know like Olivia De Havilland, Doris Day and Joan Collins.

In terms of Jane Withers it's quite sweet and interesting /striking that another one of the surviving long lived stars starred with Jane in film "Gentle Julia " that being Marsha Hunt.

Perhaps some films and their casts are blessed just as some films like "Rebel without a cause " are reputedly cursed....

I saw The Towering Inferno when it opened in the West End in 1975 and loved it, especially with so many favourite actors, Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones and Bill Holden.

I haven't been able to watch it since 9/11, when fantasy became an awful reality.

Take a look at @CHANNINGPOSTERS's Tweet: https://twitter.com/CHANNINGPOSTERS/...647636993?s=09

Thought you might like this photo Walter and Co of Lauren Bacall, Doris Day and Frank Sinatra I really like it

In terms of your previous post Walter how often did Fred Astaire star in non musical /dancing films?

Great shot, and the first time that I have ever seen Doris with a cigarette.

Fred's last musical Finian's Rainbow filmed in 1968 was a flop. His first straight drama was On the Beach (1959), followed by The Pleasure of His Company, The Notorious Landlady, Midas Run, The Amazing Dobermans, Purple Taxi, and his last screen appearance was Ghost Story in 1981, with two other veteran actors, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.

Fred also appeared as Robert Wagner's father in his successful TV series, It Takes a Thief. Other TV appearances were in The Over the Hill Gang Rides Again, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, The Easter Bunny is Comin' To Town, A Family Upside Down, Battlestar Gallactica, and The Man in the Santa Claus Suit.

For something completely different, take a look at this opening of Forty Guns, in her last film for four years Barbara dressed in black on a white horse, rides ahead of 40 horseman, she was 50 years old, and did all her own stunts, including being dragged along the ground with her foot caught in the stirrup.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUP3GYHRl8

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...-10500655.html

Wasn't sure if fellow golden era /old Hollywood fans were aware of this as I've not heard any mention. Former silent movie child star Jean Darling has died.

LOVED that clip Walter thanks! Boy can Barbara ride a horse and she seemed so able and capable in even that brief introduction clip that it's hard to see how a stuntwoman could have improved /bettered Barbara Stanwyck's performance. So I'm glad that Barbara was a true good sport and did her own stunts.

The black and white introduction and the style and nature of the sequence etc gave me a reminding taste of why I love films from this era especially when their shown in black and white -I can't explain why but I just love it. It's like taste of Film with its original better recipe! 😁

PS THANKS for the detailed information on Fred Astaire -his career was certainly more varied than I'd appreciated.

I must confess that I have never heard of Jean Darling, but even I wasn't around in the days of Silent movies.

Forty Guns came and went without any fuss in 1957, but like so many of Barbara's films, it has become a Cult with many film makers.

Her best Western without a doubt is The Furies, co starring the great Walter Huston in his last role as her ever loving father, almost incestuous in some scenes when they kiss each other on the mouth. Also starring Judith Anderson of Mrs Danvers fame, and Gilbert Roland as Barbara's childhood friend, giving a beautifully moving performance worthy of a Best Supporting actor Oscar.

Filmed by the great Victor Milner in 1950, it won a well deserved Oscar Nomination for the Best black and white photography. It had stiff competition that year, it was up against Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Asphalt Jungle, and the well deserving winner, The Third Man. You can see the complete film on YouTube.

Have you ever seen an hilarious guy called Steve Hayes in "Tired Old Queen at the Movies"? He reviews Classic Movies on YouTube and does a really brilliant job, plus his impressions of Barbara, Bette, and Joan are very funny.

Barbara is a big favourite of his, and he reviews The Lady Eve, Ball of Fire, Christmas in Connecticut, Titanic, and The Furies.

I tried adding a direct link here but for some strange reason it doesn't seem to work, but if you Google Tired Old Queen at the Movies YouTube, you will find him.

Yes Sorry Walter I wasn't trying to imply that you are prehistoric! There are still a few film stars alive from the silent movie era including Mary Carlisle at nearly 102 and one actress who's 105 and has had small roles and cameos in films as recently as just 4-5 years ago!
Thank you for all that additional background information -I love the phenomenon of a film making little impact at the time of its initial release but becoming cult classics and much praised as films years later.
Often films that don't win during awards season infact films that aren't even Nominated stand the test of time better and endure as fans favourites.

Are there any particular other films of Barbara's that weren't even Nominated but actually to your mind stand the test of time better than films that were nominated in the same year?

I recall years ago reading a list of films that I'd assumed were nominated or even won in their time because their so well known and so well regarded yet were wholly lost or neglected at the time of release. I was quite surprised.

There is a marvellous book by Danny Peary that I have in my vast collection of books on the cinema entitled "Alternative Oscars" in which he awards his choice of Oscar's to films and performances from 1927 to 1991. He would have given Barbara Best Actress Oscars for two of the four films that she was Nominated for, Ball of Fire (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944).

Barbara was known as the Best Actress never to win an Oscar, and incredibly she was not Nominated for what I and many of her fans consider her greatest performance, and that was The Lady Eve. That was released in 1941, probably the peak year of her career, she did receive a Nomination for her performance in Ball of Fire that year, but "Eve" was the better role.

If Columbia had been a major studio in 1930 she would have received a Nomination for her first hit film, Frank Capra's Ladies of Leisure, and the following year in another Capra success, The Miracle Woman. But Columbia was known as poverty row, and it wasn't until 1934 when it swept the board at Oscar Night with It Happened One Night, when it won the Oscar for Best Film, Best director for Capra, and Best Actor and Actress for Gable and Colbert, that it became a major studio.

I also think that Barbara deserved Nominations for Clash By Night (1952) Titanic (1953) Executive Suite (1954) and Walk on the Wild Side. (1961).

Thanks for the reply -I especially liked Barbara in The Miracle Woman and I think it would have been wonderful if she had of won an Oscar for that -definitely seems to be one of Barbara's often overlooked films.

May I switch the conversation to Faye Dunaway? I wanted to ask you for your thoughts on how Fayes portrayal of Joan Crawford onscreen affected her career? I ask because I recently read an old opinion piece that suggested that Faye didn't win for this role because at the time anyway Hollywood protected it's legends and an uncomplimentary portrayal of Joan Crawford the legend whether accurate or not was never going to be rewarded by the academy ;The argument was also made that this role made Faye some enemies in Hollywood and in that sense dented her career ;Your thoughts please?

I am not an admirer of Dunaway or the film, with it's many inaccuracies. Thankfully Anne Bancroft, who was the first choice, backed out of the film which she described as, "a hatchet job on Crawford."

It is a fact that Hollywood protects their own, even when they are monsters, especially when they are portrayed by even bigger monsters. Bette Davis said that Dunaway was the most unprofessional actress that she ever had the misfortune to work with, even worse than Miriam Hopkins, who she had clashed with in the late '30's and early '40's.
Dunaway also found herself being shunned by friends of Joan like Myrna Loy who had known her since their early days in Silent films at MGM.

She refuses to discuss the film these days, saying that it was so long ago, and she would rather be remembered for her other films.

As for me, I just couldn't take it seriously after Dunaway as Joan, walks into Louis B Mayer's office in 1943, and on his wall is a giant poster of MGM stars circa 1954 with 22 year old Liz Taylor, who would have been eleven years old at the time.

She sounds an absolute nightmare and Hollywood certainly closed ranks against her over her partaking in the Crawford "hatchet job "-not to mention that relatively speaking the film was only a short 4 years after Joan died which I personally feel is in very poor taste.

Can you think of any other big stars from this era who were many years later slated by their children?
Is Crawfords daughter still alive as I vaguely recall reading she had a major stroke?

Yes, she did have a stroke, but is still alive and kicking, and at 76 has outlived Joan by three years. In 2013 she made a documentary entitled, Surviving Mommie Dearest. She has also been married and divorced three times.

Bette Davis indulged her precocious daughter B.D. with just about everything she ever wanted, including a lavish wedding when she was just 16 years old.

She was rewarded with a warts and all book, My Mother's Keeper, written around the time poor Bette had a mastectomy, followed by a stroke. It seems that her ingrate of a daughter thought that her mother was going to die, and decided to cash in on it. But what else would you expect from a Born again Christian, f###ing hypocrite.

Barbara also had a disastrous relationship with her son, who she adopted when married to her first husband. When that marriage broke up she took her husband to court to sue for custody, and then sent the poor kid to military school when he was about 7. When she got involved with Robert Taylor she didn't seen to have any time for him at all, and after he went in the army in 1952 he never saw her again. He seems to have been a bitter disappointment to her, but I think that he was just an ordinary kid who just could not live up to her high standards. For stars like Barbara and Joan who came from really deprived backgrounds, it must have been tough to see their kids taking everything for granted. I just feel that neither of them knew how to show love to a child, were not maternal, and really should not have adopted children.

Even natural parents in Hollywood did not have a lot of luck with their children. Paul Newman's son Scott died of a drug overdose. Edward G Robinson's son died of booze, Gregory Peck's son committed suicide, as did Ray Milland's son, and Charles Boyer's, and Jennifer Jones daughter threw herself from a skyscraper.

I think your right regarding Joan and Barbara, as sad as it is I think staying childless may have been for the best. However would they have been under pressure from the studio's to adopt and present as having a normal family life as such? Did any other big stars except Jane Wyman adopt children?

I was aware of Jennifer Jones family tragedy as I'd read she campaigned on suicide awareness in later life but I had no idea that Gregory Peck suffered a family tragedy.

Didn't one of Kirk Douglas's sons die of drugs or suicide in the past decade also?

Jane Wyman adopted a son Michael, but she did have a daughter Maureen with husband Ronald Reagan. Both parents outlived their daughter, who died of cancer in 2001.

Bob Hope and his wife of 69 years Dolores, adopted four children, but the marriage was a front for the many affairs that he had for most of those years. One of his lovers Marilyn Maxwell was with him for so many years that he was often called "Mrs Hope." She wanted to marry him, but Dolores wouldn't give him a divorce.

In the 1960's his lover was Welsh beauty queen Rosemarie Frankland, Britain's first Miss World. He moved her to Hollywood, paid for her apartment, and told friends that she was the love of his life. Their affair lasted more than 30 years.

Even in his 80's he had a long term affair which must have been serious because his lover later sued for breach of contract, claiming that Hope had promised to support her for life, the case was settled out of court.

Dolores came to an understanding with Hope. He could play around as long as he never brought his mistresses home, and never embarrassed her in public.

Eric, Kirk Douglas's youngest son died in 2004, caused by a lethal combination of alcohol, tranquilizers, and painkillers.

In an interview in 2009 Kirk said that he and his wife had taken Eric to 20 rehab centres over the years, but "nothing had helped".

On a completely different subject, I took part in my sixth official 10K run this year yesterday, in Ashford, finishing in 1 hour 12 minutes, and collected my 19th medal.

Congratulations Walter your really totting up an admirable collection of medals -How many have you got now? You must live a very disciplined lifestyle to stay so trim!

Thanks for all the additional information regarding the Hollywood couples who adopted. Was their any major animosity between Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan when they divorced and he married Nancy Davis (Reagan)

Were there public spats as such Burton Taylor style? I know they were on good terms by the end of his life but was there any drama feud in the interim?
I do recall reading that Jane Wymans adopted son doesn't speak with his siblings from Ronnie and Nancys marriage due to some family feud since Ronnie died?

Am I also right in thinking that Dolores Hope had her own singing career and released albums?

Sad about Eric Douglas but sometimes when the self destruct button of addiction is on sadly there's not much that anyone can do

Just as a sidenote I was skimming through a 2010 biography of Frank Sinatra yesterday in my local librarys reading room and a couple of things leapt out at me -Barbara Stanwyck and Nancy Sinatra senior used to apparently call themselves the SOB sisters when they were both single and went on nights out together, There's NO mention at all of his last wife and widow Barbara Sinatra in the book despite having been married for over 20 years -I bet there's a story behind that! 😱 and Humphrey Bogart was quite short? I always imagined him as very tall!

Jane never said a word against Reagan, and when he died her only comment was that "America has lost a great President." She did say that his obsession with politics contributed to the break up of their marriage, and she always found the subject a big bore.

Coincidentally, Jane was on hand along with Linda Evans, to help present her friend Barbara with the Los Angeles Film Critics Life Achievement Award in 1981. As Jane was about to leave the stage, another presenter read out a message of congratulations from President Reagan, and there was a noticeable snigger from the largely showbiz audience.

This was the last occasion that I saw Barbara accompanied by her friend Nancy Sinatra, although I know that they were close right up to Barbara's death. They were both dumped by their two timing husbands in 1950. She paid this warm tribute to her friend which is on the back cover of the Victoria Wilson biography published two years ago.

"What you have done is extraordinary. It is an amazing book, brilliantly written, enhancing the whole life, Barbara's life, happenings around her, people of the industry, people in the theatre and in politics. This way you have shown her life to include other situations, all that you interject, it make her life to me, more historically important. My father fell in love with Barbara when he saw her in 'Ladies of Leisure.'
He loved to go the opera and the movies, and the only star that he talked about was Barbara Stanwyck. He used to say that she was an incredible actress, and she was, she really was. You have brought her wonderful career magnificently to life, and as her friend, I thank you." - Nancy Barbato Sinatra, Sr

I don't think that there was much love lost between Sinatra's children and Barbara Marx, but I don't really know anything about her, except that she was once married to Zeppo Marx, who was Barbara's agent in the 1930's.

I have read that Bogart was anywhere between 5' 6'' and 5' 8'' and I do know that he wore three inch lifts when he co starred with lanky Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.

At the age of 83, Dolores Hope released her first CD entitled, "Dolores Hope - Now and Then", and followed this with three additional albums, plus a Christmas album with Bob, "Hopes for the Holidays."

She died of natural causes at the age of 102 in September 2011.

I have two London Marathon medals, one for the Kent Marathon, two for the Kent Half Marathon, and 14 for the various 10K runs that I have completed in the past nine years. A total of 19 medals, plus four plaques presented to me as the oldest veteran runner.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lat...&pid=176117423

Sorry Walter I will reply to your post properly later but just came across this news in the Los Angeles Times- Hollywood Golden era actress Joan Leslie has died aged 90 but it hasn't been widely reported yet.

Starred in" The Revolt of Mamie Stover" and "Man in the saddle" and "Royal Flush" amongst other films.

I remember her best in The Hard Way, as an aspiring musical star, although the film was stolen by Ida Lupino as her ruthlessly ambitious sister.

She also had the lead in Hollywood Canteen, playing herself, and supported by most of the biggest stars of Warner Brothers, including Barbara, Bette, Joan, Ida, Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Jack Carson, Roy Rogers and Trigger, and many others, all guest starring.

http://www.examiner.com/article/actr...eslie-has-died

Take a look at @FilmNoirBaby's Tweet: https://twitter.com/FilmNoirBaby/sta...534130688?s=09

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglopheni...-watch-online/


One for fans of classic golden era Hollywood, British Born actress Angela Lansbury is celebrating her 90th birthday and she still seems in excellent health -One whos a likely contender to live to 100 me thinks!

19 medals Walter is an absolutely fantastic achievement Walter you truly should feel proud and give yourself a pat on the back. I fully expect that you will add to that tally in 2016!
Thanks for answering all of the Golden era questions in such detail -Am I right in thinking that Nancy Sinatra senior is still with us and nearing 100? I think she has rarely given interviews over the years and I expect that Frank appreciated and valued hee discretion. Her loyalty to her good pal Ms Stanwyck after all these years speaks volumes.
I believe that Barbara Sinatra published an autobiography in 2011 one year after the Frank Sinatra biography that basically snubbed her... -And by all accounts Barbara's book was a commercial flop!

Lauren Bacall by contrast was quite tall for a female -So do we know how much taller she was than Bogie?
Kinda reminds me of the short tall contrast between more recent Hollywood couple Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise -She towered over him and incidentally she became a close friend of Lauren Bacall after starring with her in a film called "Birth " in 2004 one of Bacalls last films.


Was Jane, Barbara and Nanny Barbato all friends or was Janes friendship just with Barbara?

Was Dolores Hope British like her husband?

Random fact -I read today in one of Joan Collins autobiographies that she counts Arlene Dahl as one of her closest special friends that she made in Hollywood and our still friends until this day ☺

Bacall was 5' 8'' so probably towered over Bogie when she wore heels.

Dolores Hope was born Dolores L. De Fina in Manhattan's Harlem, and changed her name to Dolores Reade when she became a professional singer. She met Bob in 1933 while she was singing at "The Vogue" a Manhattan night club, and they married the following year.

Nancy and Jane probably knew each other through Barbara, and they all sat at the same table after the L.A. Awards presentation, but I don't believe that they were friends. I can't find out the age of Nancy now, but she must be nearly 100.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/201...merstein-award

Thought same golden era fans would like this -amazing to think Angela has appeared in films since the 1940s and is still going strong!

I've checked about Nancy Sinatra senior Walter and it says she was born in 1917 so 98 this year.

Do you know when Bob Hope moved to the US and was he well known in the UK before he crossed the Atlantic?