On the subject of cursing, there was nobody who could do it better, or funnier than the late, great Coral Browne. Even her biography is called, "This Effing Lady."

Here is just one of the many stories about that fabulous lady, she was in Fortnum and Mason when she was approached by an extremely oily member of staff who in his best Uriah Heep manner said, "What would be Madam's pleasure?"

Looking down her aristocratic nose at him Coral drawled, "Madam's pleasure would be a good FU##,
but meanwhile I'll take a pound of grapes!"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Randall

On this day in 2004 American actor Tony Randall died aged 84 -starred in numerous memorable films including Huckleberry Finn, Pillow Talk as did Doris Day and Rock Hudson and also Let's make love in 1960 with Marilyn Monroe.

I was surprised you were able to find a link between Barbara Stanwyck and Jack Nicholson Ray /Walter but can you find one with Tony Randall?! 😁

Yes we are already 1000th of the way towards meeting our next long range target of 200,000- I'm delighted! 🙌

No, even a photo of them together, although I am amazed at some of the people she did pose with, everyone from Bea Arthur to William Shatner.

I should have mentioned that Jane Fonda had another connection with Barbara, she made her second film appearance in Walk on the Wild Side, playing the newest recruit in "The Dolls House". That was the quaint name of the bordello that was run by Barbara, playing the Lesbian madam with more than a professional interest in another of the girls, played by Capucine,

Take a look at @ClassicalCinema's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ClassicalCinema/...274042368?s=09

Legendary golden era Hollywood film director was born on this day in 1897 which would make him a whopping 119 in the highly unlikely event he was alive today!
Something tells me Walter /Ray won't have a problem making a Barbara Stanwyck connection with this one! 😁 😉
I really do need to see this lesbian film of Barbara's to judge for myself!

Do you think if Barbara had allowed there to be a funeral service for her death that Jane Fonda would have been one of the Hollywood friends who would have attended?

I have mentioned many times in here the importance of Frank Capra in Barbara's life. After two flop films, she became a star in her first Capra film, Ladies of Leisure, and followed that with The Miracle Woman, Forbidden, and The Bitter Tea of General Yen. Their last film together was in Meet John Doe in 1941, which was probably her best year for hit films, including The Lady Eve, and the Oscar Nominated Ball of Fire.

I first met Capra at The National Film Theatre in 1972 when he signed his autobiography for me, the next time I saw him was at Barbara's Lincoln Centre Tribute in 1981.

This is the tribute that he wrote on the back of the best book ever written on Barbara,
"Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck" by Ella Smith.

"Ella Smith has written a love song about a gutsy lady of Quality. A woman who, as a person and an actress, never gave anything less than her best shot, no matter how rough and major the circumstances, or how tough and minor the role.
And all her peers in Hollywood shout Hosanna in this joyous chorale to the First Lady of the Screen - Barbara Stanwyck."

I don't know who would have attended her funeral if she had had one, but I never knew of her attending the funeral's of any of her friends and co stars. The one exception was her ex husband Robert Taylor, and only because she was asked to attend by his widow. She wore a bright yellow dress because he had made her promise when they were married, never to wear black at his funeral. This was the one time when she lost control in public, and sobbed uncontrollably throughout the ceremony.

I can certainly recommend Walk on the Wild Side. After four years away from the screen Barbara came back with a bang, she also stole all the notices. As one critic said, there is only one standout performance in the film, that is from Barbara Stanwyck as the Lesbian Madam, and she acts everyone else right off the screen.

I never realised Barbara had a career hiatus of 4 years off screen!!

I will admit although popular fan opinion isn't with me I think The Bitter Tea of General Yen is one of the films of Barbara that I enjoyed the greatly -not the most but definitely one of the top ones for me. Perfect casting.

Frank and Barbara clearly clicked creatively and worked as a combination. Was this something that studios recognised after their first collaboration and encouraged Capra to sign her up for some of his future films?

On this day in 1901 American film producer Sam Jaffe was born. He worked on a number of golden era films including The fighting Sullivans starring Anne Baxter. He died in the year 2000.

And at one point he was Barbara Stanwycks agent apparently!

I don't think that Capra needed any encouragement to work with Barbara again after their first successful collaboration in Ladies of Leisure. Although they clashed at their first meeting, they soon became very close, and he admitted that he fell in love with her. He understood her so well, and realised that she always did her best work with the first take, so he had multiple camera's set up to catch her first reading, because it was always her best. As she grew in confidence and experience that wasn't necessary later in her career, but it was very important for her at the beginning.

Sadly, like so many actresses in their mid forties, by 1957 Barbara's film career came to a full stop. When asked why she wasn't working, she said bluntly, "Nobody asks me!"

She should have gone back to Broadway like Roz Russell, who had two smash hits with Wonderful Town and Auntie Mame, and who came back triumphantly to have her greatest screen hit with the film version of Auntie Mame. Barbara' problem was that she would not leave Hollywood to work abroad, and was terrified of live appearances.

Fortunately, TV beckoned, and she was offered her first TV series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, although it only lasted for one season, even though it did win her the first of her four Emmy's as Best TV Actress. She should have stayed away from the big screen after Walk on the Wild Side because all she was offered were to stinkers, supporting Elvis in Roustabout, and a terrible William Castle horror The Night Walker, with her ex husband Robert Taylor.

Once again TV came to the rescue with her next TV series The Big Valley, which ran for a very successful four years from 1965 to 1969.

I honestly did not know about Same Jaffe the agent, only the actor with the same name, who appeared in many films from Marlene's The Scarlet Empress to John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle.

Barbara's agent for many years was Zeppo Mark, one of the brothers who preferred to leave the famous act to work behind the scenes.

I see that actor Alan Young has died at the great age of 96, I remember him in Jeanne Crain's Margie, and Androcles and the Lion, in which he played the title role opposite Jean Simmons.

Take a look at @ClassicalCinema's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ClassicalCinema/...134321664?s=09 71 years ago today Hollywood legend's Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall married (1945)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Jaffe_(producer)

Here you are Walter here's the information on who Sam Jaffe represented. Quite an interesting list.

I hadn't heard about Alan Youngs passing so thanks for posting. He's outlived Jean Simmons by quite a few years by reaching the grand age of 96.

Thanks for that Hilda, that just goes to prove that even I don't know everything.

On this day May 23Rd in 1883 silent movie star (and father of a golden era actor by the same name) Douglas Fairbanks was born.

As was American actress Betty Garrett who was born on this day in 1919 but has a relatively "small" filmography due to I believe being blacklisted in the McCarthy Witch-hunt that hit Hollywood. One film "Neptune's Daughter" along with Esther Williams stands out for me. She passed away in 2011.

Betty was multi talented and should have had a bigger film career, she had a chance to replace Judy Garland in Annie Get Your Gun, but didn't want to sign a long term contract with MGM. For me, the highlight of her career was her role as the lady yellow cab driver in On the Town, in which she was not overshadowed by Sinatra, Ann Miller, Vera Ellen, and Jules Munshin. Betty was also memorable in the musical remake of My Sister Eileen with Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh in 1955.

The last time that I saw Betty was when she was a guest star in the popular comedy series, Golden Girls.

Her husband Larry Parks suffered even more because of the Blacklist, he had scored an enormous success playing Al Jolson in The Jolson Story, and the sequel, Jolson Sings Again. Yet within a few years he was out in the cold career wise, although the pair of them did have a big success when they came over here and starred at the London Palladium. They also had time to appear at the annual Sunday Pictorial Film Garden Party.

There is a connection between Barbara and Larry Parks, ironically, he played the small role of a Communist agitator who objects to her millionaire husband Henry Fonda, taking a job as a salesman in a department store in Columbia's You Belong to Me (1941).

Coincidentally, he played the Fonda role in the 1950 remake, Emergency Wedding, opposite another Barbara (Hale).

On this day in 1933 the absolutely divine and unique British Hollywood legend and Queen of glamour Joan Collins was born!

Can't believe she's 83 she looks so damned amazing!

Happy Birthday Joan!! Long may you reign! 🙌👏😘

Amazing indeed! Joan has a youthful quality that seems indestructible, she has outlived most of her contemporaries, and I hope that she goes on forever.

I certainly Joan Collins is a strong contender to live to 100-i have no inside knowledge of her health but I'd say she's a strong contender as she seems so vital, active and " not old "!!

Joan is also a good raconteur full of great anecdotes including about old Hollywood -I recall and recently rewatched on Youtube an edition of Melvyn Bragg in 1999 where the whole programme was an examination of her life in showbusiness. She mentioned about working on a film with Bette Davis and how all the young females on set including Joan were quite terrified of her! Joan got into a mini dispute with her about something minor like a cup of coffee or something inconsequential and Joan stood up to her over the way Bette Davis spoke to her! Bette never spoke to Joan like that again and Joan interpreted that as Bette Davis respecting someone who had the guts to stand up to her -I may have shared this before I can't recall!
I also sensed that Joan's obsession with heavy make up in part stemmed from being given a severe telling off by somebody in Hollywood when she once ventured outdoors without a make up on -you are now a star and you are never seen like that in public Joan the public expect something different from you!

Back to Betty Garrett -it's a shame that anybodys career in film suffered because of a ridiculous political witch hunt and I know a lot of people in Hollywood were hurt by it.
I seem to recall an elderly film director in 1999 who gave up many people's names to the authorities and was instrumental in blacklisting people receiving a lifetime achievement type Oscar and it was very controversial and a lot of Hollywood stars sat down and refused to applaud as part of a protest against him receiving the Oscar were as others went for forgiveness and recognising the art. Very divisive decision and issue.

That was Elia Kazan, director of Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and East of Eden.

Yes Thats him I remember now! I seem to recall that Lauren Bacall was one of the ones who reluctantly stood to applaud and I could be absolutely wrong on this but I think Warren Beatty was one of the ones who refused to.

Anyway on this day in 1911 Famous hollywood horror film actor Vincent Price was born and would have been 105 today! Im guessing a Barbara Stanwyck link is a bit of a stretch?

Got that wrong Warren Beatty stood and clapped!

Sadly he and Barbara never worked together, I only wish that they had, it would have been an interesting casting. His first wife Edith Barrett played Barbara's oldest sister who was the cause of all her problems in The Lady Gambles.

Vincent's third and last wife was the wickedly witty Coral Browne, who when asked about their Wedding night nuptials drawled, It was like trying to shove a marshmallow into an old leather box.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...et-apes-897028

Another actor and thus link with the golden era of Hollywood has died - Buck Kartalian aged 93.

His most famous film was "Cool Hand Luke" were he played inmate Dynamite. It also starred the much more famous Paul Newman and George Kennedy who also passed away earlier this year. I wonder if there are anymore Cool Hand Luke cast members left or whether Buck was the last?

He also starred in a 1961 comedy "Sail a crooked ship" which also boasted Robert Wagner and Dolores Hart in the cast.

Coral Browne sounds a real hoot Walter Ray! Was she merely deliciously naughty with her jokes or was she known for having a sharp Bette Davis style acid tongue with other actors around her?

Now that is a name that I have never heard of, and I have Cool Hand Luke.

Coral was both deliciously witty, and also known for her sharp tongue.

When asked by producer Tyrone Guthrie if she was happy with her wig in the production of Tamburlaine in New York, Coral replied, If you really want to f###ing know, I feel as if I am looking out of a Yak's arsehole.

When an unknown writer dared to criticise the quality of Alan Bennett's writing of his wonderful script for An English Abroad in which Coral played herself opposite Alan Bates as traitor Guy Burges, she was furious.

You didn't care for it, YOU DIDN'T FU##ING CARE FOR IT! you, who couldn't write f##k in the dust on a venetian blind!

When I looked on a web site for Coral, I was thrilled to see a newspaper cutting of Barbara, and husband Bob Taylor visiting Coral in her dressing room at the Savoy Theatre in the Strand, where she was appearing in Lady Frederick. It took me over 60 years to discover that Barbara went to the theatre when she visited London in 1947.

Wow please please tell me Coral wrote an autobiography she sounds absolutely magical and comical!!

See even after all these years it's still possible to get lucky and find out new facts and photos of Barbara!
Hopefully when the next part of her commissioned biography is published there will be some new gems photo wise as well as I expect information wise.

On the 29th May 1903 legendary Hollywood actor and comedian Bob Hope was born -he died in 2003 just a few months after celebrating his 100th birthday

Also on this day in 2015 American actress Betsy Palmer died aged 88. She starred in amongst other films "The long gray line" with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara.


Don't forget casual readers and seasoned observers of this thread please feel free to join in and contribute -the more golden era love the merrier!! 😘

I'd forgotten Hope made his century. Always enjoyed watching his films on TV as I was growing up.