When he was 8, his mother enrolled him and his brother in dance class. "We didn't like it, were always in fights with the neighborhood boys who called us sissies. I didn't dance again until I was 15."
He was forced to leave College after the 1929 crash and Depression working to help his family. He later did pursue a career as a dancer, and dropped out of school. He made his Broadway debut as a dancer in 1938.
He starred in Pal Joey (1940) bringing in film offers. Film debut For Me and My Gal (1942) * DuBarry Was a Lady * Cover Girl * Christmas Holiday * Anchors Aweigh * The Pirate * Three Musketeers * Words and Music
On the Town * Summer Stock * American in Paris * Singin' in Rain * Brigadoon * Invitation to Dance * Les Girls * Young Girls of Rochefort * Hello Dolly! (Director) * That's Entertainment/Dancing * Xanadu (1980)
"Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place. Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face. I'll walk down the lane with a happy refrain, and singin', just singin' in the rain."
Drama: Cross of Lorraine (1943) * Black Hand * Its a Big Country * Devil Makes Three * Seagulls Over Sorrento * Marjorie Morningstar * Tunnel of Love (Director) * Inherit Wind * Cheyenne Social Club (Director) * Viva Knievel (1977)
#OTD 1996 – Gene Kelly, 83, US performer, director (b. 1912)
A commercial flop, one of MGM's last dance musicals. Now recognised as important in its inventiveness, created with and starring dancer, choreographer, Michael Kidd.
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He appeared in 8 UK films from Murder in the Family (1938) to You Will Remember (1941). Born in a London suburb, his family moved to the USA in 1940, during WW2. He made his Hollywood debut in Fritz Lang's Man Hunt (1941)
Just William (UK 1940) - Hollywood Fritz Lang's Man Hunt (1941) * This England * How Green Was My Valley * My Friend Flicka * Lassie Come Home * The White Cliffs of Dover * Keys of the Kingdom * Macbeth * Kidnapped (1948)
Midnight Lace (1960) * The Longest Day * Cleopatra * The Greatest Story Ever Told (Judas) * Inside Daisy Clover * That Darn Cat * Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin * Planet of Apes * Night Gallery (TV) Pretty Maids All in Row
#BOTD 1893 – 1956 Sir Alexander Korda, (b. Sándor Keller), 62, (Heart Attack), Hungarian-English filmmaker.
He began his career in Hungary, then Austrian and German silent films, before moving to Hollywood in 1926-30, briefly in WW2, but became a leading figure in British film.
#BOTD 1893 – 1956 Sir Alexander Korda, 62, Hungarian-English filmmaker.
Director: Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927) Lilies of Field (1930) Private Life of Henry VIII * Rise of Catherine the Great * Rembrandt * The Lion Has Wings * That Hamilton Woman * An Ideal Husband (1947)
#BOTD 1893 – 1956 Sir Alexander Korda, 62, Hungarian-English producer.
Scarlet Pimpernel (1934 + co-wrote) * Private Life of Don Juan * Things to Come * Elephant Boy * Fire Over England * Knight Without Armour * Divorce of Lady X * The Drum * The Four Feathers * The Spy in Black
She wrote 66 novels, 14 short story collections, and world's longest-running play The Mousetrap performed W. End since 1952. Created Hercule Poirot + Miss MARPLE, and ..
Mysterious Affair at Styles* Man in Brown Suit * Secret of Chimneys * Murder Roger Ackroyd * Seven Dials Mystery * Murder at Vicarage * Murder Orient Express * Why Didn't They Ask Evans? * Murder Three Acts
A.B.C. Murders * Murder in Mesopotamia * Dumb Witness * Death on Nile * Appointment with Death * Murder Is Easy * And Then There Were None * One, Two, Buckle My Shoe * Evil Under Sun * Body in the Library
Daughter of vaudevillians, she began on stage, age 3. As a child actress, her film debut Westward Passage (1932)
In, These Three (1936), she was OscarNom, age 14. She later starred Nancy Drew film series.
#BOTD 1923 – 1988 Bonita Granville, 65, US actress.
Westward Passage (1932) * Anne of Green Gables * These Three (OscarNom age 14) * Plough and Stars * Nancy Drew, Detective (1938-39) * Mortal Storm * Escape * Wild Man of Borneo * People v Dr Kildare * HM Pulham Esq * Glass Key
#BOTD 1923 – 1988 Bonita Granville, 65, US actress.
Now, Voyager * Hitler's Children * Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble * Suspense * The Guilty * Guilty of Treason * The Lone Ranger (1956) - The Magic of Lassie (1978, producer) * The Legend of The Lone Ranger (1981 cameo, final film)
#OTD 1995 – Donald Pleasence, 75, English-French actor (b. 1919)
Originally a pacifist, he enlisted in 1940 after Blitz. He became a wireless-operator with Bomber Command in 60 raids over Nazi Europe. In August 1944 his plane was shot down, and he became P.O.W in Stalag Luft I.
#OTD 1995 – Donald Pleasence, 75, English actor (b. 1919)
Film debut Privates Progress (1954) Black Tent * Tale of Two Cities * Look Back in Anger * Circus of Horrors * Sons and Lovers * What a Carve Up! * The Caretaker * Great Escape * Dr Crippen * Hallelujah Trail * Cul-de-sac
#OTD 1995 – Donald Pleasence, 75, English actor (b. 1919)
Fantastic Voyage * Night of Generals * You Only Live Twice * Will Penny * Madwoman of Chaillot * Soldier Blue * THX 1138 * Henry VIII and Six Wives * Kidnapped * Beyond the Grave * Black Windmill * Count of Monte Cristo
Served 1943 two Arctic Russian convoys and operations against Tirpitz. Convoy PQ 17, and Mediterranean as part of the invasion of southern France. After WW2 he gained an MA (Hons) English, 1950.
His first novel was HMS Ulysses (1955), Guns of Navarone (1957) Last Frontier (1959) Fear Is Key (1961) Satan Bug (1962) Ice Station Zebra (1963) He bought 'Jamaica Inn', Bodmin Moor #Cornwall to 'retire'.
Film adaptations: Guns of Navarone (1961) * Satan Bug * Ice Station Zebra * Fear Is Key * Force 10 from Navarone * Bear Island (1979) Author/Screenwriter: Where Eagles Dare (1968) Breakheart Pass (1975)