Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers!

Today, A Return to Glamour would like to mention two very special birthdays. Today is not only Barbara Stanwyck's birthday, it is also the wonderful and talented Ginger Rogers birthday.

Barbara had a 60 year career as a film and television actress. She was a true professional with a strong screen presence, and favorite among directors. Frank Capra once said, "In a Hollywood popularity contest she would win first prize hands down." She was nominated for an Academy Award four times, and is listed by the American Film Institute as the number 11 actress on their Screen Legend list .  Some of her best known films include the 1944 noir thriller, Double Indemnity, and the 1945 holiday romance, Christmas In Connecticut. She was married twice, first to actor Frank Fray in 1928. Then in 1936 while making the film, His Brother's Wife, she met and fell in love with her co-star Robert Taylor. Barbara will always be remembered as one of the most dazzling stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Below is a short clip from Double Indemnity.

We can't forget that today is also Ginger Rogers birthday.

 

Ginger is one of my favorite stars from the 30's and 40's. She is best known for her films with Fred Astaire. The two of them together were magic. From 1933- 1939 they made nine films together. Mostly musical screwball comedies. I remember being about five years old and watching Top Hat, and I was so mesmerized by Fred and Ginger's dancing. The scene where they dance outside and sing "Cheek to Cheek" is forever engrained in my mind. Her dress was all feathers on the bottom and during the dance she did some fan kicks and I remember the dress looked so beautiful flying through the air. The whole number was just perfection. Even when I watch it now 20 years later, I am just as awed. 

Bob Thaves once said about the two of them, "Sure he was great, but don't forget Ginger Rogers did everything Fred did, but backwards and in high heels!" I always thought that was great. 

As a team, Fred and Ginger were, as I said before, movie magic. They made everything look so effortless. Together their musical and comedic timing could not be matched. And they were just so elegant. If you haven't seen any of their films, please do yourself a favor and check the TCM schedule or Netflix. Two of my favorites are the aforementioned Top Hat, and Swing Time.  Just classic,  wonderful movies. 

In addition to her films with Astaire, she had a very successful career on her own.  I have to mention my favorite, non Fred movie of hers. The 1941 comedy hit-  Tom, Dick and Harry. In it she has three different men after her, and she has dreams of marrying each one and how her life would be different with each man. I watched it this year on a cold winter night, while I was taking a bubble bath. It was quite fun, I highly recommend it. (Just be careful with electronics around the water, darlings!)

Ginger was married five times in her lifetime, all ending in divorce. She was lifelong friends with Lucille Ball and Bette Davis. She was also on the American Film Institutes Screen Legends list, coming in at number 14. 

Ginger Rogers will forever be remember as one of the most talented, glamourous and hardworking stars of 30's, 40's and 50's. However it is unlikely that a biographical film will ever be made of her and Fred, he had it stipulated in his will that no representation of himself ever be made on film. It's probably for the best however, since I don't think any other performers could ever do justice to their talents. 

The first clip below is the clip number from Top Hat I mentioned before. Oh, I wish I man would sing and dance with me like that..such grace and class.  The second is a fun tap number from Swing Time. 

Enjoy! And Happy Birthday Ladies!

Happy Birthday Dean Martin!

Today is the King of Cool, Dean Martin's birthday. If he were alive would have been 95 today. Dino is my absolute favorite male celebrity of all time; old Hollywood, new Hollywood, future Hollywood- Dean is it for me. He is also, in my opinion, my idea of the perfect man. There was no one more handsome. He was born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian immigrant parents, Guy and Angela. Before he got into show business he worked in the steel mills, as a croupier, delivering bootleg liquor and had a short lived career as an amateur boxer.

Always a talented singer, he began signing in local bars and in the early 1940's began singing with Sammy Watkins band and that's when he changed his name to Dean Martin. He was doing relatively well during the first half of the 40's, singing in various nightclubs in NYC, but it wasn't until he met a young struggling comic, Jerry Lewis, in 1946 that his career, and Jerry's really took off.

Dean and Jerry's chance meeting marked a defining point in both of their careers. In a short amount of time they skyrocketed to superstardom as Martin and Lewis. They performed in nightclubs all over the country, radio, on television on the Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC, and in 1949 they signed with Paramount. While under contract with Paramount Dean and Jerry made 17 comedic pictures. Martin and Lewis were America's most loved comedy team during the 50's and when they broke up in 1956- 10 years to the day of teaming up- the county was not happy, and many critics doubted how well Dean would do on his own.

However, going solo proved to be a great move for both, especially Dean. He starred in some big name films in the late 50's, starring alongside the likes of Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in The Young Lions,  and really proving his dramatic acting skills with John Wayne in Rio Bravo. His solo success continued when he teamed up with pal Frank Sinatra in the Vincent Minnelli hit Some Came Running.

The film roles kept coming, he continued his nightclub appearances in Vegas, his recording career was booming, and all the while Sinatra's Rat Pack was forming. In addition to Frank and Dean there was Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. They referred to themselves as The Clan or The Summit- never The Ratpack. They were IT during the early 60's in Hollywood, everyone wanted to be part of their social circle. They did films together, like the 1960 hit Oceans 11, which they shot in Las Vegas during the day and did their live show at the Sands at night. They also had political influence during the 1960 presidental campaign. Frank Sinatra's relationship with JFK (who was Peter Lawford's brother in law) is legendary.

By the mid 60's Dean was one of the most successful entertainers, having successfully reached the top of every area of entertainment, so why not have a hit prime time TV show? In 1965 NBC approached him to do a weekly variety show, he wasn't crazy about the idea so he told them he'd do it if he only had to show up once a week to tape and asked for a lot of money, thinking they would turn down his request. But no, NBC wanted Dean so his requests were granted. The show was a hit with Dean's easy going and laid back personality, and it played up his boozy, playboy persona. He hated to rehearse, and for anyone else that might be a disaster, but for Dean it was perfect. The loose format of the show was  successful for Dean and his quick wit, often improvising, his guests and the audience loved it, and him.

At one point during the 1960's Dean was the highest paid entertainer in the country. He has three different stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film, one for TV, and one for his recording career.

Dean was married three times, the first in 1941 to Betty McDonald, they had four children together, Craig, Cladia, Gail, and Deana. His second and most successful marriage was to Jeanne Biegger in 1949. They met in 1948 in Miami Beach while he and Jerry were doing a show at the Beach Comber Club. She was a former Orange Bowl Queen, and both she and Dean fell madly in love the first time they layed eyes on each other. Jeanne is one of my seven, so expect a full post on her soon. They had three children together, Dean Paul, Ricci, and Gina. Dean and Jeanne were married for 24 years before getting divorced in 1973. He then married a young woman named Cathy Hawn in 1973, she was 23 and he was 56. They were married for only three years when he filed for divorce. This is what is commonly referred to as a mid-life crisis. Dean and Jeanne eventually reconciled and got back together in the early 80's, and they remained extremely close for the rest of his life.

Dean died at his home in Beverly Hills early Christmas morning in 1995 at the age of 78. The lights on the Las Vegas strip were dimmed for five minutes in his honor.

Dean Martin was a true legend. His music, films and TV show are still popular today. Within the past year The Dean Martin Variety Show has been rereleased to huge numbers. This month another set of Dean goodies go on sale. For the first time The Dean Martin Variety Show will be released UNCUT, full episodes instead of just clips and skits from various episodes. Also on June 12, UMe will release Collected Cool, the first ever career defining box set. It will include all his greatest hits, as well as a DVD of his 1983 London concert, and a very rare audio recording of a 1962 Lake Tahoe show that he did at Sinatra's CalNeva. I believe and I might be wrong, but I am pretty sure this recording was from a late July show, which Marilyn Monroe was in attendance for. It was her last visit to CalNeva, she died less than a week later.

Obviously Dean's popularity is only growing, with each new generation realizing just how cool and talented he really is. For me Dean's music, films and wonderful humor, not to mention his timelessly handsome looks, will never go out of style, and neither will Dean Martin.

To celebrate Dean's birthday I made a quick little video, but for some reason it's not uploading, so while I figure that out, enjoy some of my favorite clips of Dean. Here from the 1967 Christmas Special with Frank Sinatra.

Here at a 1965 Rat Pack Show in St. Louis 

And a little clip from the opening of The Dean Martin Show

Well, a week later and the little video I made for his birthday finally uploaded, I had to take it from youtube..but here it is..enjoy!

Happy Birthday Marilyn!

Today, June 1, 2012 would have been Marilyn Monroe's 86th birthday. She was and is the most recognizable woman on the planet. Even 50 years after her death she is still wildly popular and adored by millions of people. Marilyn is also probably one of the most misunderstood people of the 20th century, but more on that later. Marilyn defines the word STAR, but she was so much more than a movie star, she was highly intelligent, sensitive, determined, hardworking and much more insightful than most people knew. Tonight lets all lift a glass of Marilyn's favorite Dom Perignon and toast to the legend, the icon, the one and only Marilyn Monroe.

Below is a little video I made in honor of her birthday. Enjoy. 

Happy Birthday Katharine Hepburn!

Today would have been Katharine Hepburn's 105th birthday! Katharine was one of Hollywood's greatest leading ladies, and she was well know for her independence and free spirt. She was outspoken, athletic and assertive. She challenged the traditional female norms and did and dressed as she pleased; she wore pants while most women in the 30's and 40's wouldn't be seen in public without a dress or a skirt.  Her career in Hollywood lasted over 60 years, and The American Film Institute has rated her the Number 1 female actress of all time. She was truly one of a kind. Happy Birthday Kate!