Today is Miss Bankhead's Birthday!

Look who's 106!!!and for those of you who live under a rock, a famous sampling of her later work:

An Appreciation

Today would be Suzanne Pleshette's Seventy-first birthday. Neither I nor Mother want to do schtick about her (just for today, Suzanne, we're not making any big promises for the future). Take a look at some of her work, hey, SHE"D have a Drambuie with Mom:

It all turned to shit Forty-four years ago today

For Alan Ladd (Senior, that is), that is;

Pardon me, but Mother hasn't returned from Mass yesterday. She said something about Cesar Romero taking her to Tiny Naylor's for breakfast after Church, but that was thirty hours ago. Anyway, she must have planned on not being here, because she left a whole bunch of notes that she says that Wikipedia told Dorothy Parker who was looking for Dramubuie in our villa, anyway, I digress: Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American film actor. He was famous for his emotionless demeanor and small stature.In the majority of his films, he played either the hero or a bad guy with a conscience. He appeared in dozens of films in bits and small roles, including Citizen Kane. Most of these barely kept him and his household afloat. (He had married a high-school acquaintance, Midge Harrold, with whom he had a son.) His stepfather died suddenly and then his mother, to whom he was intensely devoted, killed herself by eating arsenic-laden ant paste. Ladd, who had suffered on and off from depression throughout his youth, lost his greatest champion and with her, one of the few strong supports for his fragile self-esteem. He still chafed at the negative effects his height had on his career and his self-image. His marriage was in trouble, too, for he had fallen in love with Sue Carol, his agent – and a married woman.
It was at this point that Carol made Ladd's career. Ladd and family on vacation aboard SS Normandie in the late 40s> She got him a screen test for This Gun for Hire (1942). His performance as a hitman with a conscience made him a sensation. Ladd went on to become one of Paramount Pictures' most popular stars. Even a brief timeout for military service with the US Army Air Corps' First Motion Picture Unit did not diminish his popularity. None of his subsequent films of the 1940s were as notable as This Gun for Hire, but he did appear to good effect in Raymond Chandler's story The Blue Dahlia alongside the similarly diminutive Veronica Lake (5'2" or 1.57 m), with whom he teamed in several films. He also was well cast in the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby.
He formed his own production companies for film and radio and starred in his own syndicated series Box 13, which ran from 1948 to 1949. Ladd became most famous for his starring role as a gunfighter in the classic 1953 western Shane. Ladd made Quigley's Top 10 Stars of the Year List 3 times, in 1947, 1953 and 1954. Age and alcohol began to affect both his appearance and his personal life. In 1962, he nearly died from a self-inflicted gunshot that was explained in various ways at various times.
In 1963, Ladd co-starred in one of the biggest film productions of his career, not as a leading man but as a supporting actor. Although the response to the film, The Carpetbaggers was generally poor, Ladd's performance as the washed-up cowboy star Nevada Smith was generally conceded to be among his finest, and a bright spot in the film.
But Ladd would be dead before the film was released.He died in Palm Springs, California of an acute overdose of alcohol and sedatives at the age of 50, a probable suicide. On his death in 1964, Ladd was entombed in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Mother has turned up

I looked at all the usual places: An obvious first thought-there is a Drambuie ROOM in this place. Not here. I thought we should also look on the way down the hill at the Selznick's, he always has uppers. Nope. Then I remember that someone was probably feeling the need to be pampered (and to play craps all night long) so she checked herself into the Louis B. Mayer Suite at the Hollywood Hotel. Cobina really understands luxury and self-pampering. Architectural drawings from Sam Watter's "Houses of Los Angeles 1920-1934", one of the books I treasure the most

Today is Backstreet Boy Nick Carter's Birthday!!!

I didn't even try to find an image of him. I did have this picture of John Banner, aka Sgt. Schultz laying around. He was born today in 1910. I also had this picture of Vito Scotti, who joined us in 1918 on this date:some of Vito's best work- pay attention for a second, why don't you see who is playing Pinocchio-

While Cobina is at Mass, Let Me Show You a Little Bit of Our Place

Mother is a devout Catholic, as I most likely have mentioned countless times before. Even though she has a perfectly good chapel right here in the villa, she has gone to the high Latin service at St. Victor's this morning. She doesn't really like to have to follow what's going on by understanding what is being said. Anyway, I thought you might like to see a bit more of the villa- there's been a break in the rain and I think you can see the ocean from the sitting room in the spare room on the second floor( I had the chance to paint the ceiling last week, two coats!) and mostly this room belongs to Poppers and Rage, who really aren't getting along very well these days. Rage also appears to be able to speak English, though with a heavy Eastern European accent. He's mother's cat, I'm not asking...My desk area is also and the second floor of the villaI like it because I can only feel creative in a sparse, practically bare space, also from here I can snarf Wi-Fi off of that villa across the pathway that J. Edgar Hoover keeps here at the Garden. Since Cobina will be back very soon, you can sneak a peek, real quick, of the master bedroom suite:

Today is Paul Newman's birthday!

Don't you think he is hot for 83?

It all turned to shit Sixty-one years ago today

It certainly did for one Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Capone or Scarface, was an Italian American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to the smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to southwestern Italian emigrants Gabriele and Teresina Capone, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit (although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer).
By the end of the 1920s, Capone had gained the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation following his being placed on the Chicago Crime Commission's "public enemies" list. Although never successfully convicted of racketeering charges, Capone's criminal career ended in 1931, when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion. He had syphillis for decades, which ultimately led to dementia and his death.

Today is John Belushi's birthday!

uh, nice headstone
Yep, he's 59 today, I just haven't seen him around here lately, although I know he was staying right across the street from us at the Chateau. I should ring over there and see if he's still in town.

It all turned to shit six years ago today

Well, not just for Peggy Lee, who died on this date in 2002, but for us, too. She is probably one of the most remarkable musicians of the twentieth century, and her contribution is immeasurable:

It all turned to shit Four years ago today

Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier in Chireno, Texas, daughter of Clara Emma (née Birdwell) and John Alfred Collier, a criminal lawyer who represented Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow and Baby Face Nelson, among others. Miller's maternal grandmother was Cherokee. Miller's father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie. She took up dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets. She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview featured in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation That's Entertainment III, she said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration.
Miller was given a contract with RKO at the age of thirteen (she had told them she was eighteen), and remained there until 1940. The following year, Miller was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures, where she bumped friend Lucille Ball from the throne as "Queen of the B-Movies". She finally hit her mark (starting in the late 1940s) in her roles in MGM musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate, Easter Parade, and On the Town.
Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing; she claimed to be able to tap 500 times per minute. She was known as well, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.
Miller, who spent some time herself in these villas, passed away on this date in 2004 at the age of eighty.

Today is Piper Laurie's birthday!

Regrettably, I gave Mother and Natalie Schafer all of my Piper photos, so sadly all I had was this picture of that nice Larry Birkhead (with some transvestite), who coincidentally is also born on this date in 1973 with his fraternal twin Lewis, whom you've probably never seen.

It all turned to shit Forty-nine years ago today

For Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, that is:On January 21, 1959, a hot-headed Switzer arrived at Moses "Bud" Stiltz's home in Mission Hills, California, to settle an alleged debt owed to Switzer. Previously, Switzer had borrowed a dog from Stiltz which was lost, but eventually found, Switzer paying the man who returned the dog $50. Switzer went to Stiltz's house to collect the money "owed" him. He banged on Stiltz's front door, demanding that he let him in, flashing a fake police badge. Once Switzer got inside he and Stiltz got into an argument. Switzer informed Stiltz that he wanted the money owed him. However, when Stiltz refused to hand over the money, the two engaged in a physical fight. Switzer bashed Stiltz in the head with a lamp, which caused Stiltz to bleed from his left eye. Stiltz retreated to his bedroom and returned holding a gun, but Switzer immediately grabbed the gun away from Stiltz, which resulted in a shot being fired but neither man being hit. Then Switzer forced Stiltz into a closet, despite Stiltz having gotten his hands back on the gun. Switzer then allegedly pulled out a knife and was attempting to stab Stiltz with it. But just as Switzer was about to charge Stiltz, Stiltz raised the gun and shot Switzer in the chest. Switzer died of intense blood loss while on his way to the hospital. He was 31 years old.
The killing was erroneously held to be a justifiable homicide. Switzer had allegedly pulled a knife; therefore, the shooting was judged to be self-defense. During the trial regarding Switzer's death, it was revealed that what was originally reported as a "hunting knife" was in fact merely a pocket knife. It had been found by crime scene investigators under his body, but with no blade exposed.

It all turned to shit Twelve years ago today

For Sidney Korshak, that is.
Wikipedia told Baby Rose Marie (who has just moved into the villa across the pool), and she told Franklin Pangborn, who told Cobina, who, after a couple of drinks told me: Sidney R. Korshak was a lawyer and "fixer" for businessmen in the upper echelons of power and the Chicago Outfit in the United States. He was born on the West Side of Chicago in 1909. He grew up there and through his law practice interacted with many mobsters like Al Capone, Frank Nitti and Sam Giancana. He was known as "the most powerful lawyer in the world", and his services were used by the upper ranks of both legitimate and illegitimate businesses in the United States. He and his wife played tennis and socialized with stars like Dinah Shore and many others. Korshak was known to have had a long-time affair with Stella Stevens.
He was born on June 6, 1907 and was raised with his four siblings in the Lawndale community of Chicago, attended and graduated from DePaul University College of Law, and, after a period of time relocated to Southern California where he maintained residence until his death on January 20, 1996.
Marrying a beautiful lady named Beatrice [Bea to her friends] and raising two sons, Mr. & Mrs. Korshak had as their primary residence for many years a mansion in the exclusive Bel Air portion of Beverly Hills at 10624 North Chalon Road, with a secondary home in Palm Springs. During the 1960s he had longtime affairs with actresses Stella Stevens and Jill St. John. Some people say he is responsible for their movie careers.
Korshak and his wife quickly made many friends in both locales, and indeed the world over, including many famous Hollywood celebrities, executive, studio heads & leading figures in the entertainment industry, including MCA/Universal chief Lew Wasserman, Paul Ziffren (entertainment attorney who would, in the 1980s be honored for, among many accomplishments, being the driving force behind bringing the 1984 Olympics to Los Angeles), Dinah Shore, Kirk Kerkorian (MGM chief), Charles Bluhdorn (Gulf + Western founder), Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, William French Smith (labor attorney & future United States Attorney General during the Reagan administration], Edmund "Pat" Brown, Edmund "Jerry" Brown (future Governor of California), Gray Davis (future Governor of California), Robert Evans (Paramount Pictures - production chief and independent film producer), Warren Beatty, Barron Hilton, Hugh Hefner and many others of significance in the field of motion pictures.

I'm not sure what it means, but Cobina says that no matter what the menu might say, Sidney always has strawberry shortcake for dessert.

It completely and utterly turned to shit Sixty-six years ago today

For Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, that is: From EJ Fleming's excellent book, "The Fixers"
and this:I found these pictures on Mother's Brownie camera
Forest Lawn Glendale, in case you're wonderingThanks to Find a Grave for these pictures

Today is the Merm's 100th birthday!

Here she is boys, Here she is world, Here's Eth, with some transvestite and JudyIt's not everday you make it to a hundred!and check out this, from the Ed Sullivan show:Television at its very best. Vid quality is low but sound quality excellent. Look how much fun she is having; also, someone tell Ed he is dead. The Ed Sullivan show always had the very best orchestrations. Once again, if your kid shows the least bit of interest in this, he is gay. Like, way gay.

It all turned to shit Sixty-one years ago today

For Elizabeth Short, that is; careful as you watch this, it is occasionally shockingThere is no better telling of the saga of Elizabeth Short than Donald Wolfe's "The Black Dahlia Files". This is truly one of the best Los Angeles stories ever, with Bugsy Siegel and Norman Chandler front and center in the drama surrounding Elizabeth Short's murder. Mother
was yelling at one of the Houseboys for vacuuming in the living room of our villa while she was speaking about this very subject with Elsa Lanchester and Dorothy Parkerplease double click and enjoy the detail of the panels over Mother's fireplace. The cutouts are for the projector behind; we are living on a budget and do not have a separate screening room like many of the nicer villas.

New feature: Today's date in Judy-ism

double click
brought to you by Scott Schechter's way too much info book on the daily goings of JG; your kid is gay if you find this amongst his belongings

It all caught up with him Twenty-one years ago today

I'm speaking of Arthur Lake, I remember him as playing Dagwood Bumstead in the "Blondie" movie series. Over champagne french toast this morning in Natalie Schaefer's villa (Mother is having "only liquids"), I was aghast to be reminded of this, from Donald Wolfe's excellent book "The Black Dahlia Files":
and from John Gilmore's book "Laid Bare"

and this is about seven years before he died at the 1980 premiere of Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times:Natalie Schaefer looked at Cobina, then me and said, "seems like old times". Yeeesh.

Today is the King's birthday

I found this on You Tube; this was billed as his "last concert". Not too sure about that, but he does appear to have "pill-complexion", where your skin gets all dull and bloated. Mother wanted me to make sure that you saw this:you really might want to take a minute to take in all that adorns his remains.

Today is Adolph Zukor's Birthday!

Yup, "Sugar", who was a looker, as you can see, woulda been 135 today, which sounds scary, but he did make it through the first hundred-and-three of it without any help from you or me. from Wiki: Adolf Cukor (I had never seen this spelling before, only Zukor) (January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.
He was born to a Jewish family in Ricse, Hungary, which was then a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In 1889, at the age of 16, he emigrated to America. Like most immigrants, he began modestly. When he first landed in New York, he stayed with his family and worked in an upholstery shop. A friend got him a job as an apprentice at a furrier. Zukor stayed there for two years. When he left to become a "contract" worker, sewing fur pieces and selling them himself, he was nineteen years old and an accomplished designer. But he was young and adventuresome, and the 1892 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, commemorating Columbus's discovery of America, drew him to the Midwest. Once there, he started a fur business. In the second season of operation, Zukor's Novelty Fur Company expanded to twenty-five men and opened a branch.
One of the stubborn fallacies of movie history is that the men who created the film industry were all impoverished young vulgarians. Zukor clearly didn't fit this profile. By 1903, he already looked and lived like a wealthy young burgher, and he certainly earned the income of one. He had a commodious apartment at 111th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City's wealthy German-Jewish section.
He became involved in the motion picture industry when in 1903 his cousin, Max Goldstein approached him for a loan. Mitchell Mark needed investors in order to expand his chain of similar theaters that begun in Buffalo, New York with Edisonia Hall. The arcade salon was to feature Thomas Edison's marvels: phonographs, electric lights and moving pictures. Zukor not only gave Goldstein the money but insisted on forming a partnership to open another one. Another partner in the venture was Marcus Loew.
In 1912, Adolph Zukor established Famous Players in Famous Plays as the American distribution company for the French film production Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth starring Sarah Bernhardt. The following year he obtained the financial backing of the Frohman brothers, the powerful New York City theatre impresarios. Their primary goal was to bring noted stage actors to the screen and they created the Famous Players Film Company that produced The Prisoner of Zenda (1913). The studio evolved into Famous Players-Lasky and then Paramount Pictures, of which he served as president until 1936. He revolutionized the film industry by organizing production, distribution, and exhibition within a single company.
Zukor was also an accomplished director and producer. He retired from Paramount Pictures in 1959 and thereafter assumed Chairman Emeritus status, a position he held up until his death at the age of 103 in Los Angeles. Here is some footage of Zukor on a "This is your Life" honoring Jesse Lasky:

Today is the hundred-fourteenth anniversary of this historic piece of film:Don't sneeze or you'll miss it.

It all turned to shit Forty-six years ago today

For Ernie Kovacs, that is: Mother spent some time in Mr. Benchley's villa this morning searching for a lost bottle of Drambuie (she just loves that crown cork), and while she was there Wiki (and alcohol) told her: Ernie Kovacs (b. Ernest Edward Kovacs, January 23, 1919, Trenton, New Jersey; d. January 13, 1962, Los Angeles, California), was an American comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his tragic, early death in an automobile accident. Such later, iconoclastic shows as Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Uncle Floyd Show, and Saturday Night Live and TV hosts like David Letterman are seen as bearing Kovacs's influence.
At at NBC's Philadelphia affiliate, WPTZ, Kovacs first began to use the ad-libbed and experimental style that would come to make his reputation, including video effects, superimpositions, reverse polarities and scanning, and quick blackouts. He was also noted for abstraction and carefully-timed non-sequitur and for carefully allowing the so-called "fourth wall" to be breached by having cameras show his viewers activity past the show set---including crew members and, on occasion, outside the studio itself. Kovacs also liked talking to the off-camera crew and even introduced segments from the studio control room.
Kovacs helped develop camera tricks still common almost fifty years after his death, one of which became one of his signature gags: his character, Eugene, sitting at a table to eat his lunch, removing items one at a time from a lunch box, and letting them roll down the table "mysteriously" to a man reading a newspaper at the other end, while Kovacs poured milk from a thermos bottle in a seemingly unusual direction. Never seen on television before Kovacs tried it, the gag's secret was using a tilted table in front of a camera tilted to the same angle.
Kovacs constantly sought new techniques and used both primitive and improvised ways of creating visual effects that would be done electronically after his time. One such innovative gag involved attaching a kaleidoscope to a camera lens with cardboard and tape, and setting the resulting abstract images to music. Another involved Kovacs---an inveterate cigar smoker---sitting in an easy chair, reading his newspaper, smoking his cigar, and removing it from his mouth to exhale white smoke. The trick: He was made to seem underwater, with the smoke turning out to be a small amount of milk with which he filled his mouth before "submerging."
He also developed such routines as an all-gorilla version of Swan Lake; a poker game set to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; The Nairobi Trio, three derby-hatted apes miming mechanically to the tune "Solfeggio"; the Silent Show, in which a nerdy character interacts with the world accompanied solely by music and sound effects; parodies of typical television commercials and movie genres; and various musical segments with everyday items (such as kitchen appliances or office equipment) moving in sync to music.
Kovacs could use extended sketches and mood pieces or quick blackout gags lasting only seconds. Some of these could be expensive, such as his famous used car salesman routine with a jalopy and a breakaway floor---it cost a reported $50,000 to produce the six-second gag. He was also one of the first television comedians to use odd fake credits and comments between the legitimate credits and, at times, during his routines.
His most familiar characters included fey, lisping poet Percy Dovetonsils; German disc jockey Wolfgang von Sauerbraten; horror show host Auntie Gruesome; bumbling magician Matzoh Heppelwhite; Miklos Molnar, the sardonic Hungarian host of a cooking show; Frenchman Pierre Ragout; the silent character Eugene (above); and Mr. Question Man, who would answer queries supposedly sent in by viewers.
Kovacs's television programs included Three to Get Ready; Time for Ernie (1951); Ernie in Kovacsland (also 1951); The Ernie Kovacs Show (1952-1953; 1955-1956); a twice-a-week job filling in for Steve Allen as host of The Tonight Show (1956-57); and, a game show, Take a Good Look (1959-1961).
He also did several television specials, including the famous Silent Show (1959)---featuring his character, Eugene, the first all-pantomime prime-time network program---and a series of monthly half-hour specials for ABC in 1961-62. The latter---shot on videotape, using new editing and special effects techniques---are often considered his best television work; he won an Emmy Award for the 1961 series.
But what made Kovacs unique may also have been what made him a hard sell to television viewers used to situation comedies and variety shows. Considered ahead of his time, and having a cult following at best, Kovacs rarely had a highly-rated show. His friend Jack Lemmon was once quoted as saying no one ever understood Kovacs's work because "he was always 15 years ahead of everyone else.
Kovacs married his first wife, Bette Wilcox, on August 13, 1945. When the marriage ended, he fought for custody of their children, Elizabeth 'Bette' and Kip Raleigh 'Kippie'. The courts awarded Kovacs full custody upon determining that his former wife was mentally unstable. This decision was extremely unusual at the time, setting a legal precedent. Wilcox subsequently kidnapped the children, taking them to Florida. After a long and expensive search, Kovacs regained custody."
Kovacs married actress and singer Edie Adams on September 12, 1954 in Mexico City. The ceremony was presided over by former New York City mayor William O'Dwyer, and performed in Spanish, which neither Kovacs nor Adams understood; O'Dwyer had to prompt each to say "Si" at the "I do" portion of the vows. Adams, who had a very white-bread middle-class upbringing in suburban New Jersey, was smitten by Kovacs's quirky way; the couple remained together until his death. (Adams later said about Kovacs, "He treated me like a little girl, and I loved it -- Women's Lib be damned!").
The couple had one daughter, Mia Susan Kovacs born June 20, 1959; Adams also supported Kovacs's struggle to reclaim his two older children after their kidnapping by their mother. But she also became a frequent partner on his television shows, including participating in Nairobi Trio routines. Kovacs usually introduced or addressed her in a businesslike way, as "Edith Adams"; Adams was usually willing to do anything he envisioned, whether singing seriously, performing impersonations (including a well-regarded impression of Marilyn Monroe), or taking a pie in the face or a pratfall if and when needed.
Kovacs found modest success as a character actor in Hollywood movies in his final years, often typecast as a swarthy military officer in such films as Operation Mad Ball and Our Man in Havana. But he also garnered critical acclaim for roles such as the perennially inebriated writer in Bell, Book and Candle and as the cartoonishly evil head of a railroad company (who resembled Orson Welles' title character in Citizen Kane) in It Happened to Jane. His own personal favorite was said to have been the offbeat Five Golden Hours (1961), in which he portrayed a larcenous professional mourner who meets his match in professional widow Cyd Charisse.
Shortly before his death, Kovacs had been chosen to appear as Melville Crump in Stanley Kramer's star-packed comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, with Adams portraying his screen wife Monica Crump. The role eventually went to comedian Sid Caesar.
Ten days before his 43rd birthday, Kovacs was killed in an automobile accident in Los Angeles. After meeting Adams at a party hosted by Milton Berle and his wife, the couple left in separate cars---Kovacs had been working for much of the evening before the party---and, during an unusual southern California rainstorm, the comedian lost control of the Chevrolet Corvair station wagon while turning fast, crashing into a power pole at the corner of Beverly Glen and Santa Monica Boulevards, and being thrown halfway out the passenger side, dying almost instantly from chest and head injuries.
Rumors suggested Kovacs lost control of the car while trying to light a cigar. A photographer managed to arrive moments later, and morbid images of Kovacs in death appeared in newspapers across the United States. Years later, in a documentary about Kovacs, Edie Adams revealed she telephoned the coroner's office impatiently when she learned of the crash, and an official cupped the telephone, saying to a colleague it was "Mrs. Kovacs" and what should he tell her; she became inconsolable upon the confirmation. Jack Lemmon, who also attended the Berle party, identified Kovacs's body at the morgue when Adams became too overcome to do it.
A frequent critic of the U.S. tax system, Kovacs owed the IRS several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes thanks to his simple refusal to pay the brunt of them; up to 90% of his earnings would be garnished as a result. Adams (who married and divorced twice after Kovacs's death) paid the debt off herself, refusing help from celebrity friends (who planned a benefit concert for the purpose), though she did accept film and television work from them, instead.
Kovacs is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His epitaph reads: "Nothing in moderation-We all loved him". Only one of Kovacs's three children survives, his oldest, Elisabeth (from his first marriage); Kippie, his second, died at age 52 after a long illness and a lifetime of poor health July 28, 2001. His only child with Edie Adams, Mia Susan, was killed May 8, 1982---also in an automobile accident; Mia and Kippe are buried close to their father. Keigh Lancaster, Kovacs's only grandchild, was born to Kippie and her husband, screenwriter Bill Lancaster (the son of actor Burt Lancaster).

I want to find Edie and give her a hug, christ, what a life.

Today is Marion Davies birthday!

Take a moment to get aload of some of Marion's work tip of the hat for that tribute to Basil Nelson.

Now from Wiki: Davies was born Marion Cecilia Dovras, you will see this spelled Douras and Douvras and god knows what else in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of five children born to Bernard J. Dovras, a lawyer who moved in New York City political circles, and Rose Reilly, formerly of Jersey City, New Jersey. Her elder siblings included Rose, Reine, and Ethel. A brother, Charles, drowned at the age of 15 in 1906. His name was subsequently given to Marion's favourite nephew, the screenwriter Charles Lederer, the son of Marion's sister Reine Davies.
The Dovras family lived near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The sisters changed their surname to Davies, which one of them spotted on a realtor's sign in the neighborhood. Even at a time when New York was the melting pot for new immigrants, having an Anglo-Saxon surname greatly helped one's prospects. The sisters all hit the Great White Way, and Marion was signed on as a chorine in Florenz Ziegfeld's annual "Ziegfeld Follies" revues.
Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Even during her career, her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career. In her posthumously published memoirs, Davies claimed she wasn't an actress, knew nothing about politics, and described herself as a "silly, giggly idiot."
After making her screen debut in late 1916 in a fashion newsreel, modeling gowns by Lucile (Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon), she appeared in her first feature film in 1917's Runaway Romany. It was a film written by herself and directed by her brother-in-law, the prominent Broadway producer George W. Lederer. The following year she starred in three films, The Burden of Proof, Beatrice Fairfax, and Cecilia of the Pink Roses. Playing mainly light comedic roles, she quickly became a major movie personality, making a small fortune which enabled her to provide financial assistance for her family and friends.
Cecilia of the Pink Roses in 1918 was her first film backed by Hearst. She was on her way to being the most famously advertised actress in the world. During the next 10 years she appeared in 29 films, an average of almost three films a year. By the mid-1920s, however, her career was often overshadowed by her relationship with the married Hearst and their fabulous social life at San Simeon and Ocean House in Santa Monica dubbed the biggest house on the beach, "the beach between San Diego and Vancouver".you know to double click, right? Below is the house they moved to in Beverly Hills after Hearst became too ill to continue living in San SimeonThis is the pool, you may recognize the rounded pergola visible from Beverly Drive today
Hearst had met her soon after she'd started working in movies, and formed Cosmopolitan Pictures solely to produce starring vehicles for her. Hearst's relentless efforts to promote her career instead had a detrimental effect, but he persisted, making Cosmopolitan's distribution deals first with Paramount, then Goldwyn, and then Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Davies, in her published memoirs The Times We Had, concluded that Hearst's over-the-top promotion of her career, in fact, had a negative result.

Hearst loved seeing her in expensive costume pictures, but she also appeared in contemporary comedies like Tillie the Toiler, The Fair Co-Ed (both 1927), and especially two directed by King Vidor, The Patsy and the backstage-in-Hollywood saga Show People (both 1928). That is Marion with Louella Parsons.Yes I know it is in Spanish, deal with it, it's a silent movie, FIGURE IT OUT
The Patsy contains her imitations, that she usually did for friends, of silent stars Lillian Gish, Mae Murray and Pola Negri.
The coming of sound made Davies nervous, because she had never completely overcome a childhood stutter. Her career survived, however, and she made several comedies and musicals during the 1930s, including Marianne (1929), Not So Dumb (1930), The Florodora Girl (1930), The Bachelor Father (1931), Five and Ten (1931) with Leslie Howard, Polly of the Circus (1932) with Clark Gable, Blondie of the Follies (1932), Peg o' My Heart (1933), Going Hollywood (1933) with Bing Crosby, and Operator 13 (1934) with Gary Cooper. She was involved with many aspects of her films and was considered an astute businesswoman. Her career, however, was hampered by Hearst's insistence that she play distinguished, dramatic parts, as opposed to the comic roles that were her forte. She also harboured an increasing dependence on alcohol, hiding bottles of liquor in San Simeon's toilet tanks. However, her body of work has often been praised by contemporary critics.
Hearst reportedly had tried to push MGM executives to hire Davies for the role of Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette (1938). Louis B. Mayer hired producer Irving Thalberg's wife Norma Shearer for the part instead. Hearst reacted by pulling his newspaper support for MGM, and moved Cosmopolitan Pictures to Warner Bros.'s studios, but stayed only a few years. Davies' films there included Page Miss Glory (1935), Hearts Divided, Cain and Mabel (both 1936), and Ever Since Eve (1937), her last film. Cosmopolitan Pictures folded, so she left the screen and retreated to San Simeon.
Hearst and Davies lived as a couple for decades but were never married, as Hearst's wife refused to get a divorce. At one point, he reportedly came close to marrying Davies, but decided his wife's settlement demands were too high.
Davies, although with Hearst for years, also privately dated other actors. In the mid-1920s, Davies became involved in an affair with actor Charlie Chaplin, and in the mid-1930s she was involved with actor Dick Powell. Hearst was incredibly jealous and possessive of her, even though he was married throughout their relationship. Her relationship with Chaplin became the stuff of legend in 1924 when he, Hearst, Davies (among other actresses and actors) were on Hearst's yacht with film producer Thomas Ince when Ince died. In spite of no supporting evidence, rumors have circulated since that time that Hearst mistook Ince for Chaplin and shot him in a jealous rage. The rumors were dramatised in the play The Cat's Meow, which was later made into Peter Bogdanovich's 2001 film of the same name starring Edward Herrmann as Hearst, Kirsten Dunst as Davies, Eddie Izzard as Chaplin and Cary Elwes as Ince. By the late-1930s, Hearst was suffering financial reversals; Davies bailed him out by selling off $1 million of her jewelry. When Hearst died, his family had every trace of Davies' presence in his home removed, and when discussing his life and legacy, made no reference to her.
Ten weeks after Hearst's death, Davies married Horace Brown on October 31, 1951. It was not a happy marriage; he allegedly encouraged her drinking. Davies filed for divorce twice, but neither was finalised. Her friends, and the media, noticed a remarkable physical similarity between Brown and the young Hearst. In her last years, Davies was involved with charity work: in 1952 she donated $1.9 million to establish a children's clinic at UCLA, which still bears her name. She also fought childhood diseases through the Marion Davies Foundation.
She suffered a minor stroke in 1956, and was later diagnosed with cancer of the jaw. She had an operation which appeared to be successful; Davies fell and broke her leg in 1960. The last time Davies was seen by the American public was on January 10, 1960 on an NBC TV special called Hedda Hopper's Hollywood.
Davies died of cancer in Hollywood, California on September 22, 1961. Her funeral was attended by many Hollywood legends including Mary Pickford and Mrs. Clark Gable (Kay Spreckels), as well as President Herbert Hoover. She is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. She left an estate estimated at more than $30 million.
After the death of Davies' niece, Patricia Lake (née Van Cleeve), Lake's family announced that she was in fact the daughter of Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst. Prior to the announcement, it had been said that Lake was the daughter of Rosemary Davies (Marion's sister) and her first husband, George Van Cleeve. Although the claim does not appear to have been verified independently, Lake and her husband — Arthur Lake, who played Dagwood in numerous films — were buried beside Davies in the Dovras family mausoleum.She did a lot of great things anonymously for countless people who needed an angel. She was by most accounts selflessly generous of spirit and despite enormous wealth got the emotional short end of the stick time and again.

It all turned to shit Forty-five years ago today

dead in the morning
dead in the evening
Jack Carson and Dick Powell both died on this date in 1963. Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the golden age of Hollywood, with a film career which spanned the 30's, 40s and 50s. Primarily employed for comic relief, his work in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof proved he could also master dramatic material. During his career, he worked at RKO, MGM (cast opposite Myrna Loy and William Powell in Love Crazy), but most of his memorable work was at Warner Brothers. Carson's trade mark was the wisecracking know it all who eventually and typically was undone by his own over self-confidence.
Carson's success on radio led to a more lucrative contract with Warner Brothers. He was teamed with Dennis Morgan in a number of films, supposedly to compete with the popular Crosby and Hope road pictures. Like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Morgan and Carson enjoyed a genuine off-screen friendship. Their first film together was a dark drama called The Hard Way, which was nothing like their subsequent pairings.
However, despite this auspicious beginning, most of his work at Warner Brothers was limited to light comedies with Morgan and later with Doris Day (who later in her autobiography would credit Carson as one of her early Hollywood mentors). Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was in Mildred Pierce, where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay opposite Joan Crawford in the title role. Another later role which would win accolades for Carson was that of Matt Libby in A Star is Born.
.Carson married four times: Elizabeth Lindy (married 1938, divorced 1939), Kay St. Germain (m. 1941, div. 1950), Lola Albright (m. 1952, div. 1958), Sandra Jolley (1961-1963). He also had an affair between his second and third marriages with Doris Day from 1950-51, but she left him for Marty Melcher, who would become her third husband.In 1962, while rehearsing the Broadway play "Critics Choice", he collapsed and was subsequently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Carson died in Encino in 1963, aged 52. The death of the burly Carson, whose screen image was one of energy and vitality, made front page news, along with the death of fellow actor Dick Powell.

Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, and director. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell.
Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn’t let him. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him, he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range and in 1944, he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit and Dick Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor.
The following year, Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead, appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock and Cry Danger. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept Here, he never sang in his later roles.
From 1949 until 1953, Powell played the lead role in the NBC radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30 minute weekly was a likeable private detective with a quick wit.
In the 1950s, Powell produced and directed several B-movies and was one of the founders of Four Star Television, appearing in and supervising several shows for that company. His film The Enemy Below (1957) based on the novel by Denys Rayner won an Academy Award for special effects.
Powell died on January 2, 1963 from lymphoma at the age of 58. He was one of many cast and crew members of The Conqueror (1956) who died from the same disease. The Conqueror was filmed in Utah near an atomic test site. It has long been rumored, but never proven, that the film's shooting location may have been the cause of the cancers that afflicted the crew. Dick Powell was cremated and his remains were interred in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.