John Barrymore: At first a reluctant actor, this member of the renowned Drew and Barrymore families made his stage debut at age 18 in an early 20th-century play starring his…
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Barbara Stanwyck: Busy Hollywood actress known as a “consummate professional,” Stanwyck never took home a competitive Academy Award even though, over the course of her 35-year film career, she delivered…
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Actress Sandra Dee was a hugely popular – and curious – cross between wholesome teen Deanna Durbin and tormented teen James Dean, going to school, catching waves, falling in love,…
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Carol Lynley movies: In her heyday, the Blue Denim, Bunny Lake Is Missing, and The Poseidon Adventure actress was often cast as dreamy girl-next-door types willing and able to tear…
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Actress Ann Sothern enjoyed belated (second) career peak: In the late 1940s, the former Maisie franchise star was seen in a cluster of A productions – admittedly, not always box…
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Ava Gardner in The Barefoot Contessa: Glamour and charisma mix that should be better appreciated. As former nightclub dancer Maria Vargas, Gardner discovers that the life of a noblewoman isn’t…
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Jimmy Stewart. ‘Jimmy’ Stewart: Unlikely Hollywood star enjoyed decades-long career in a variety of genres The personification of all-American aw-shucksiness – of the sort you find only in bad movies…
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Lena Horne. Lena Horne movies: Velvety-voiced singer generally relegated to specialty numbers during heyday of the Hollywood musical Had things been different, it’s anybody’s guess whether or not three-time Grammy…
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Melvyn Douglas. Melvyn Douglas: From suave leading man to Hollywood’s top female stars to first-rate dramatic actor Unlike Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, or Gary Cooper, Melvyn Douglas couldn’t exactly be…
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The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones: Independence Day movies. Numerous Hollywood musicals have attempted to capture that elusive, reality-averse quality known as “Americana-ness” – e.g., Yankee Doodle…
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John Paul Jones with Robert Stack: 4th of July movies. Although every sign indicates that 2019 is the new 1984, those in the U.S. shouldn’t fret: TCM’s 4th of July…
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Jane Powell. Jane Powell movies: MGM actress in musicals of the 1940s & 1950s Jane Powell, the youthful star of a series of lighthearted Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer color comedy-musicals of the 1940s…