Happy Fourth of July!

(P.S. Hope to start posting more frequently soon!)

Westwood Memorial Park

I mentioned in a post back in November that I had visited the Westwood Memorial Park in October during a trip to Southern California. I put off posting my photos from the park because it seemed like every other post of mine was about an Old Hollywood star dying. I didn't want my blog to appear too focused on the deaths of celebrities rather than their lives and careers. But it's been a while since I wrote about anyone dying so I figured now is a good time to post my photos!

 Westwood Memorial Park (also known as Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park) is a small, intimate cemetery in the middle of Westwood, Los Angeles, surrounded by tall buildings. Compared to other cemeteries in the area such as the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Westwood Memorial Park has very few celebrity interments. However, it's certainly worth visiting, if only to see Marilyn Monroe's crypt in the Corridor of Memories.

The first celebrity grave I came across was Jack Lemmon's.

His gravestone is very shiny but all it says is "JACK LEMMON in". Very clever.

Buried not far from Jack Lemmon is writer-director Billy Wilder, who directed Jack in seven movies, including The Apartment and Some Like It Hot.

Peter Falk of Columbo fame, who only just died in 2011 at the age of 83.

Fanny Brice's grave was behind a locked gate but I still managed to get a decent photo.

It was difficult to get a decent photo of Jane Greer's marker. If you can't make it out, it says "...and then she came out of the sun", which is a reference to her film Out of the Past.

Author Ray Bradbury, who had just died the previous year.

Walter Matthau and his wife Carol. Interesting notes about Carol Matthau: Her personality was the inspiration for the character of Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's. Also, she never knew her father, but according to her mother he was actor Leslie Howard.

Dino! <3

 Marilyn.

The discoloration of Marilyn's crypt was caused by so many people kissing it while wearing lipstick. Also probably by simply being touched a lot.

Natalie Wood's marker is nice and basic.

A beautiful bouquet for Bettie.

Donna Reed. Her husband Grover Asmus died in 2003 and is buried at the US Military Academy Cemetery in New York.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to see all the celebrity graves in Westwood Memorial Park, but I saw the ones I wanted to see the most. Other stars buried here include Janet Leigh, Burt Lancaster, Eve Arden, and Lew Ayres.

Happy 90th birthday, Doris Day!

Photo by Don Ornitz, scanned from the March 1952 issue of Photoplay.

I'm almost too late with posting this, but today was Doris Day's 90th birthday. TCM showed her films all day long. As I write this, I'm enjoying the 1952 Technicolor musical April in Paris, co-starring Ray Bolger.

Miss Day was recently interviewed by Closer Weekly, in which she said "I’ve had an amazing life and wonderful times. And I’m happy!"

Happy Birthdays

Today, February 27th, would have been Elizabeth Taylor's 82nd birthday, as well as Joan Bennett's 104th. Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor played mother and daughter in the 1950 film Father of the Bride, as well as its sequel Father's Little Dividend.

Here they are in a cute publicity still for Father of the Bride:

Other stars that had birthdays today are Franchot Tone and Joanne Woodward. Also John Steinbeck, who wrote many novels that were made into films, such as The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Tortilla Flat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

After Halloween, Valentine's Day is probably my favorite holiday photo theme.

First, a scan of Rita Hayworth on the cover of the March 1943 issue of Modern Screen magazine, made to look like an actual Valentine card.

The "magazine as a Valentine" was something that the fan magazines did fairly often from the 1930s through the 1950s. Modern Screen was especially fond of doing it. Unfortunately this is the only Valentine-themed magazine that I own, but hopefully I'll come into possession of more in the future!

Joan Leslie as the Queen of Hearts in the 1940s.

Adorable Puerto Rican actress Olga San Juan in 1945.

Nancy Carroll in the 1930s.

Lana Turner posing in front of a giant red velvet heart, 1940s.

Betty Grable's leggy Valentine's Day photos are still very popular. Here's a slightly less common one, from the 1940s.

source: flickr.com

And last but not least, Miss Marilyn Monroe, inside a giant heart wearing a bathing suit with hearts all over it! The photo is from the late 1940s.

Rest in Peace, Shirley Temple

 1928 - 2014

Article on nytimes.com.

Vintage Scans: Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard

From the July 1943 issue of Movieland magazine, here's a very cute photo of Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard on the set of the film So Proudly We Hail!

Rest in Peace, Audrey Totter

I only just discovered a few days ago that Audrey Totter passed away on December 12 at the age of 95. Sometimes, unless it's about a huge star such as Peter O'Toole, you just don't hear about these things!

Audrey Totter mostly appeared in films noir of the late 1940s and early 1950s, then went on to appear in various television shows. Her last television appearance, according to IMDb, was in an episode of Murder, She Wrote which aired in 1987.

Audrey Totter and Robert Montgomery in Lady in the Lake (1947).

Here is a link to a New York Times article about her death.

Rest in Peace, Audrey Totter

December 20, 1917 - December 12, 2013

Happy 104th, Luise Rainer

Today is Luise Rainer's 104th birthday! She was born January 12, 1910 in Germany and is currently living England. Luise was the first actor ever to win multiple Academy Awards, which she also won in consecutive years. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1936 for her portrayal of Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld, and the following year she again won the award for Best Actress for her role of O-Lan in The Good Earth. Shortly thereafter, she gave up acting and returned to Europe.

This photo of Luise is scanned from the Summer 1938 issue of Screen Album magazine.

JOANuary!

I've had the flu since Christmas so I haven't been feeling well enough to use the computer much lately, so I'm mentioning this a bit late, but Joan Crawford is TCM's Star of the Month for January and I am so thrilled about it! Joan is one of my all-time favorite stars and there are still quite a few of her films I've yet to see, so now I have the chance to see most of them! She was so beautiful and such an amazing actress, and I highly recommend watching as many of her films as you can.

Joan Crawford with Dorothy Sebastian in Our Dancing Daughters (1928).
Original image via doctormacro.com.

 Last Thursday TCM showed many of Joan's silent films, such as Our Dancing Daughters, as well as a few of her early talkies. Tonight they will be showing many of her pre-code films, such as Grand Hotel and Rain. They will continue showing films all through the night, ending Friday afternoon with 1937's The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, co-starring William Powell and Robert Montgomery. On January 16th, they will show the amazing, all-star film The Women (1939) as well as many of Joan's films from the late 1930s and early 1940s. The evening of the 23rd will start off with Mildred Pierce (1945), for which Joan won her only Academy Award. And on January 30th, things will wrap up with movies she made late in her career, including What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), co-starring Bette Davis.

On another note, I should mention that two stars passed recently. On January 1st, Juanita Moore passed away at the age of 99. Juanita is most known for co-starring with Lana Turner in 1959's Imitation of Life. And on January 3rd, Alicia Rhett passed away at the age of 98. At the time of her death, Alicia was the oldest surviving cast member of Gone with the Wind, in which she played India Wilkes.

New Years Beauty Resolutions

Happy New Year!

The following are beauty tips from the January 1948 issue of Motion Picture magazine attributed to the stars, but most likely were actually written by a magazine staff member.

 

"Irene Dunne" says:

Resolve to attend to all the details that make up the composite of beauty --buttons and snaps sewed on clothes, freshly laundered collars and cuffs, secure straps on slips. Make sure dress hems are straight, likewise heels on shoes. Keep in mind that cleanliness --the daily bath, perspiration control-- even though it may not show, is the keynote to a beautiful woman, makes for a "just-stepped-out-of-the-bathtub" appearance.

 "Rita Hayworth" says:

Resolve always to wear foundation and powder that improve your skintones, never to wear lipstick or nail polish that clash with costume colors. If skin is too ruddy, stay away from face coverings containing pink; do wear them if you're a pale-face or if skin is sallow. Your lipstick wardrobe should hold a rosy red to wear with light neutrals and pastels, a rich blue-red for wine, fuchsia and all shades of blue, a sparkling clear red to complement black, navy, brown, green.

 "Deanna Durbin" says:
Resolve to remove make-up completely and thoroughly every night; most skin faults can be traced directly to improper cleansing. Swish off make-up and surface dirt with cream, rely on soap and water for deep-pore cleansing. If skin is oily, experiment with the new creams that are washed off instead of wiped off; use astringent to subdue oiliness. Dry skin needs lubricating cream after cleansing, always at bedtime.

 "Myrna Loy" says:
Resolve never to be caught with red, roughened hands, with chipped nail polish. Acquire the habit of using hand lotion or cream after every hand-wetting, always dry hands carefully, push back cuticle with towel. Patch up marred nail lacquer immediately, completely change every week. Use one of the new base coats which actually make polish stick for keeps; seal in color with a special top coat. Avoid awkward gestures, use hands with poise and grace.

"Joan Caulfield" says:
Resolve to give locks a thorough brushing every night, wielding your hairbrush from the scalp upward and outward. Shampoo whenever necessary, at least once a week, more often if hair gets oily. Pep up its color with a tinted after-rinse; counteract dryness with cream rinses, cream massages. Give thought to your permanent problems. Consult operator six weeks in advance to see if hair needs treatment, to determine type of wave that's best for you.

Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas! I was hoping to post some of my favorite Christmas-themed photos, but I ran out of time! Oh well, I'll do it next year when I might actually have some followers, haha. For now I'll just post these two amazing photos of Rin Tin Tin.

New Scanner!

I got a new scanner! This is really exciting because my previous scanner was at least a decade old and the glass was all scratched up and dirty and impossible to clean. It would take me a really long time to edit all the dust and scratches out of my scans.

So here are my first vintage magazine scans done with my new scanner. I tried to find something festive and these covers were the best I could come up with.

Ava Gardner on the cover of the November 1953 issue of Modern Screen magazine. They obviously just found a picture of her wearing a green dress and then added a red and white background to make it look Christmas-y!

And here's a Winter-themed photo of Barbara Stanwyck on the January 1948 cover of Motion Picture magazine.

Somewhere I have an issue of Eye magazine with a picture of Marilyn Monroe warming herself in front of a fireplace, but I couldn't find it this evening! Oh well.

Rest in Peace x2

We lost two great stars this past weekend.

Peter O'Toole died December 14 at the age of 81. He achieved stardom playing the title role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and holds the record for the most Academy Award acting nominations (eight!) without a win. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 2003.

Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million (1966)

On December 15, Joan Fontaine died at the age of 96. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 1941 for Rebecca, and won the following year for her role in Suspicion, making her the only actor to receive an Academy Award for a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Joan Fontaine in 1942, photographed by Bob Landry.

Joan Fontaine was the younger sister (by one year) of Olivia de Havilland. The two had a lifelong feud, and supposedly hadn't spoken to each other since the 1970s.

Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland take a break from their lifelong feud to play a card game in 1945.

In 1978, Joan said in an interview, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!"

Olivia issued a statement the day after Joan's death saying that she was "shocked and saddened" by the news of her sister's passing.

TCM will be showing seven of Joan Fontaine's films and three of Peter O'Toole's films on December 29.

Links:
TCM Remembers Joan Fontaine
TCM Remembers Peter O'Toole

Rest in Peace, Eleanor Parker

Three-time Academy Award nominee Eleanor Parker died on Monday, December 9th, of complications from pneumonia. She was 91 years old.

Eleanor Parker in the 1940s.

TCM will be showing seven of Eleanor's films on December 17th, including Of Human Bondage (1946) and Scaramouche (1952). (Article on TCM.com)

Eleanor Parker in the 1950s.

Rest in Peace, Eleanor Parker

(June 26, 1922 - December 9, 2013)