#happy 75th birthday barry

[shinigami-striker]

Barry Gordon | Thursday, 12.21.2023

Happy 75th birthday to Barry Gordon, a veteran voice actor known for his voice talent as the following characters down below, including:

1982

Inky - Pac-Man (1982 TV series; 1982-1983)

1987

Donatello - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996 TV series/ TMNT (2012) (TV series; 2016-2017) / TMNT: Shredder's Revenge (2022 video game) / Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (2022 video game) / Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (2023 video game; Donatello only))

1993

Jake "Razor" Clawson - Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993-1994 TV series)

[the-rewatch-rewind]

Here it is! My most frequently rewatched movie! Thank you for coming on this journey with me.

Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies in a 20-year period. Today, at last, we reach the end of that list as I discuss my number one: MGM’s 1940 comedy The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor, written by Donald Ogden Stewart with uncredited contributions from Waldo Salt, based on the play by Philip Barry, and starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart.

Two years after the disastrous end of her first marriage to childhood friend C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) is preparing for her second wedding, to George Kittredge (John Howard), general manager of her estranged father’s coal mining company. Eager to cover this story but knowing that Tracy loathes publicity, Spy magazine editor and publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) enlists the help of Dexter to get reporter Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth “Liz” Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) to the Lord house the day before the wedding. In those 24 hours before her second marriage begins, Tracy is prompted to rethink not only her choice of husband, but also her entire attitude toward people and life.

This must have been one of the first old movies I saw in 2002 because the only thing I remember about my initial experience of it was that I expected Tracy to accept Mike’s proposal, and if I’d been an experienced old movie watcher by then I would have known that obviously Katharine Hepburn was going to end up with Cary Grant, not James Stewart. I certainly did not immediately fully appreciate this movie, although I was intrigued enough to keep revisiting it until eventually it became my favorite. I watched it five times in each year from 2003 through 2005, four times in 2006, twice in 2007, 2008, and 2009, three times each in 2010 and 2011, five times in 2012, once in 2013, once in 2014, twice in 2015, once in 2017, twice in 2018, four times in 2019, once in 2020, twice in 2021, and once in 2022. Part of why I watch this so much is because it has three stars whose birthdays I celebrate almost every year, so I often watch it for Cary Grant’s birthday and then either Katharine Hepburn’s or James Stewart’s (their birthdays are only about a week apart so I don’t usually watch it for both). I think part of why I didn’t watch it in 2016 is because I watched it in late December of 2015 for the 75th anniversary of its release, so Grant’s birthday in January felt too soon to revisit it, and that May I decided to watch through all the Fred and Ginger movies starting with Astaire’s birthday, so I was less focused on Kate’s and Jimmy’s birthdays that year. And then later in 2016 I was too obsessed with Poe Party to watch much of anything else. But to make up for that, the reason I watched it so many times in 2019 is because Mary Kate Wiles used to host readings of plays and movie scripts with her actor friends for her Patreon, and I offered to transcribe the script of Philadelphia Story so she could do a reading of that one, and even though I knew the movie very well by then I decided to go through it a few more times to make sure I got all the details right, so eventually my love of Poe Party led to more rewatches of this. And the current Shipwrecked project, The Case of the Greater Gatsby, takes place in December of 1940 so there are lots of Philadelphia Story references in it and they make me very happy. Anyway, I’ve put quite a bit of effort into not watching this movie too many times too close together because I don’t ever want to overwatch it to the point of getting tired of it, like I did with a few other movies I’ve mentioned on this podcast, and many more that I burned out before they could make it into my top 40. While the stars’ birthdays have contributed to the view count, mostly this is my number one comfort movie that I know I can always turn to when I need something to watch, and I’m afraid of pushing it to the point where that no longer works. Although the fact that I sat through it 51 times in 20 years – the same number of views as number two plus number 40 on this list – and haven’t come close to getting tired of it yet indicates that I probably never will.

I don’t think I can really articulate what exactly it is about this movie that makes it my favorite to revisit, but I’m going to try. Certainly the fact that it features three of my favorite classic film stars helps, although a big part of why I love those stars so much is because of what they did in The Philadelphia Story. Every single member of the cast gives an absolutely fabulous performance. There isn’t a ton of action, but the dialogue is a perfect example of everything I love about the best Old Hollywood scripts: snappy and witty and clever on the surface, with real human emotion and intriguing philosophy underneath. The movie features many different kinds of brilliantly executed comedy, but the more serious moments still hit without feeling out of place. It deals with taboo subjects like divorce, infidelity, and alcoholism in ways that complied with production codes but still don’t feel too watered down. Basically, it has all the aspects I love about the other old movies on this list, only more so.

Several of my very favorite movie scenes of all time are in The Philadelphia Story. One is when Mike has had a lot to drink at a party and decides to visit Dexter in the middle of the night. The way drunk Jimmy Stewart and sober Cary Grant interact is hilarious and makes me desperately disappointed that the two of them never appeared in another movie together. At one point, Stewart makes a noise that’s kind of a mix of a hiccup, a cough, and a burp. Grant, thinking that Stewart has ruined the take, goes, “Excuse me,” sounding a little annoyed but trying to make a joke out of it, but then Stewart drunkenly responds with, “Huh?” indicating his intention to go on with the scene. Grant looks down, stifling a laugh, and then they continue with the dialogue, and I love that instead of reshooting it, or editing around it, they kept that in the movie. There may not be a blooper reel, but we still get to watch Jimmy Stewart almost break Cary Grant, and that’s good enough for me.

Another of my favorite scenes comes a bit earlier in the film, when Tracy and her younger sister, Dinah, played by Virginia Weidler, meet Mike and Liz for the first time. Tracy immediately saw through Dexter’s story that they were friends of her older brother’s and knows they’re reporters, but agreed to play along when Dexter informed her that Sidney Kidd intends to publish a story about Tracy’s father’s affair with a dancer unless he gets a story on her wedding. To protest the situation, Tracy and Dinah decide to put on a show for Mike and Liz, who don’t know that they know they’re reporters, and it is maybe my favorite comedic scene in any movie. First Dinah dramatically stumbles in wearing pointe shoes and some gaudy jewelry that was a wedding present she previously insulted. She then puts on an overly posh voice as she explains that she spoke French before she spoke English – “C’est vrai absolument!” – and boasts that she can play the piano “and sing at the same time!” She makes her way to the piano with the least graceful toe walk possible, and then bangs out a very silly rendition of “Lydia the Tattooed Lady,” a song mainly associated with Groucho Marx. While Mike and Liz are staring at her in bewilderment, Tracy peeks into the room and beams like she’s never been prouder of her sister. Once the song is finished, Tracy enters and praises Dinah in French, comparing her to Chopin, and then saying Dinah looks ill and she hopes it’s not smallpox, which freaks out Mike and Liz, but the audience knows it’s a private joke because earlier Tracy told Dinah that the only way she could postpone the wedding was to get smallpox. After Dinah leaves, it’s Tracy’s turn to confuse the reporters, and it is truly brilliant. The dialogue and the way it’s read, as Tracy turns the interview around and starts asking them invasive questions, is so good. Like when Tracy’s talking about how they don’t let any reporters in, “except for little Mr. Grace who does the social news. Can you imagine a grown-up man having to sink so low?” or when she’s welcoming them to Philadelphia and says, “It’s a quaint old place, don’t you think? Filled with relics, and how old are you, Mr. Connor?” It’s the seemingly accidental but actually very deliberate insults that get me. And then on top of that, there is some incredible yet subtle physical comedy going on throughout the conversation. Tracy accidentally-on-purpose pushes Mike and Liz into each other as she offers them seats, and there’s a whole very long bit between Tracy and Mike involving cigarettes, matches, and lighters that I didn’t even notice the first few times I watched it because I was too focused on what they were saying. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable scene all the way through, and every time I watch Tracy exit that room, leaving the reporters to ponder their bafflement, I have to applaud.

But the movie also excels at mixing some drama and seriousness in with the comedy. There’s a lot of focus on how Tracy demands perfection from herself and everyone around her, and as a result is missing out on the joys of human messiness. She makes a big deal about never drinking alcohol, although Dexter reveals that she did get drunk one time when they were married, and later remembered nothing about it. But after Dexter tells her that being married to her felt like being a high priest to a goddess, and George tells her that he worships her like a queen, and her father, who showed up uninvited, tells her she might just as well be made of bronze, Tracy gives in and starts drinking heavily at the party the night before her wedding, which was where Mike also got very drunk. Tracy and Mike meet up at Dexter’s house, then go back to her place, and dance and argue for a while until Mike kisses her and tells her that he sees her as a human being, which is a wonderful change of pace for her, so she suggests they go swimming together. Later, Dexter and George see Mike carrying Tracy back to the house, both of them in bathrobes, and George assumes the worst. The next morning, Tracy can’t remember what happened, but Dinah tells her that she saw Mike carry Tracy into her room – which is another excellent scene, Virginia Weidler was one of the best child actors of all time and people barely ever talk about her anymore, but she and Katharine Hepburn do a fabulous job of getting the point across that they both think Tracy slept with Mike the night before without breaking production codes. And then after that when Mike appears, he and Tracy have the most excruciatingly awkward conversation, and it’s so painful but so good. Dexter also shows up trying to comfort Tracy, and I love the way he doesn’t accuse her or condemn her or even ask her what happened, partly because he knows she doesn’t remember, partly because Mike told him nothing happened, but partly because you get the feeling that he wouldn’t think any less of her if she had drunkenly hooked up with Mike. And maybe that’s reading too much into this, but his reaction is certainly quite different from George’s, which I guess makes sense because technically she would have been cheating on George and not Dexter, but George doesn’t even let her explain before breaking up with her by note. He does finally show up in person as she’s reading the note aloud to Dexter, Mike, and Liz, and their confrontation is so well done – I particularly love Liz’s “Say something, stupid!” to Mike, who is just standing there listening to George accuse Tracy of having an affair with him. But after a while, Mike does eventually reveal that their so-called affair consisted of exactly two kisses and a rather late swim. Tracy and George don’t believe him at first, and then Tracy is offended, until he points out that she was very drunk and he didn’t want to take advantage of her. And like, I know that this movie was made in 1940, so the censors weren’t going to let Tracy actually have sex with another man the night before her wedding anyway, but I still can’t help loving the way they handled this. Tracy makes a bit of a fool of herself and learns that George is not the right man for her without going too far, and Mike demonstrates that it’s not that difficult to respect a woman’s autonomy and recognize when she is unable to consent.

I have a lot of mixed and complicated feelings about this story from an aroace perspective. On the one hand, it is very focused on romance and marriage. Also the whole thing about characters describing Tracy using phrases like “virgin goddess” and “perennial spinster, however many marriages” to illustrate her coldness and lack of human understanding is…not exactly an ace-affirming metaphor. On the other hand, I always appreciate stories about adults who have the chance to sleep together and choose not to, even when I know it’s at least partly because of production codes. And somehow, something about the way Dexter, Tracy, Mike, and Liz all interact give me hints of queer found family vibes, even though they end up paired off heterosexually. Maybe it’s the fact that it was directed by a gay man and features at least two probably queer actors that’s giving me that vibe, I don’t know. Another of my favorite scenes – I know, I have way too many – is when Dexter and Liz return to the Lord house after writing a blackmail note to Sidney Kidd. It’s a fairly short scene, but the way the two of them interact as platonic friends who understand each other but clearly don’t like each other romantically is not something I’m used to seeing in a scene featuring a man and a woman alone, and it makes me happy. Mike also has some great moments with Dexter, as does Tracy with Liz. I like to think that the four of them maintain their friendship after the events of the movie, rather than amatonormatively going off and doing their own thing with their spouse and forgetting about their friends. This movie does portray sex and romance as part of the human experience, but I don’t feel like it portrays them as the only important part. The message is all about pursuing the life that’s right for you, and not looking down on people who have different priorities, and when you look at it from that perspective, it actually is kind of ace-affirming, albeit probably unintentionally. But as I’ve indicated multiple times in previous episodes, asexual representation is so rare, and aromantic representation is even rarer, that if you can find an approximation of affirmation by tilting a story and squinting at it, even that feels exciting. That’s how low the bar is.

With that being said, as a teenager I definitely did relate to Tracy Lord, at least in terms of the way I was perceived. I think a lot of my peers thought that I thought I was better than them, when it was mostly that I just didn’t understand them. I don’t remember anyone calling me a goddess or a queen or a statue, but other middle and high schoolers definitely teased me for being “perfect”, which told me that they didn’t really see me as a person, so I felt Tracy’s pain and confusion when she got called out like that. I do think that like Tracy, I had a lot to learn about letting myself make mistakes and not judging other people too harshly for theirs, but I also still strongly feel that some of the criticism leveled at Tracy – and at me – was unwarranted. I can’t tell if the movie wants us to agree with Tracy’s father when he blames his philandering on not having the right kind of daughter, but I think that’s entirely unreasonable of him, and Tracy absolutely does not deserve that. And I’m not sure it’s fair of Dexter to blame her for contributing to his alcoholism, but at least Dexter takes some responsibility for his actions, unlike Seth Lord. I think my peers didn’t understand me any more than I understood them, but I probably could have cut them more slack and tried to get to know them better before writing most of them off as too different for me to possibly get to know. The circumstances in this movie are very different from being a high school misfit, but as a high schooler who often had trouble relating to movies that were actually about high school misfits, somehow this movie spoke to me. It was an escape from high school that also helped get me through high school. The story helped me become a less judgmental and more forgiving person toward others while also helping me feel better about being who I was unapologetically. I also got similar messages from other sources, so I don’t want to give this movie too much credit, but at the same time, I don’t think any single movie affected my teenage years more than this one, so I would certainly be a different person if I had never seen it.

The story of how this movie came about and what it led to is also very important to me. After appearing in several box office flops in the late 1930s – several of which made it onto this list – Katharine Hepburn left Hollywood for Broadway to star in and financially back the stage version of Philadelphia Story, which Philip Barry had written specifically for her. Howard Hughes purchased the film rights as a gift for Hepburn, with whom he had been romantically involved, although it seems like the romantic part of their relationship was over before that, so this is like My Man Godfrey in that it turned out the way it did partly because of exes who were still friends. Katharine Hepburn then sold the rights to Louis B. Mayer for only $250,000 on the condition that she would have input and veto power over producer, director, screenwriter, and cast. She got the director and writer she wanted, but her first choice for the two male leads – Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy – were unavailable. Gable reportedly hated George Cukor and was rumored to be at least partly responsible for the director being kicked off of Gone with the Wind, so it’s probably just as well that he wasn’t involved. Future lovers Hepburn and Tracy hadn’t even met yet at this point, so it would have been interesting if this was their first movie. But ultimately, Cary Grant came on board, under the condition that he would receive top billing, which feels a bit strange to see because Hepburn is clearly playing the main lead, but Grant also donated his entire salary to the British War Relief Society, so we can’t accuse him of too much selfishness. And James Stewart’s performance as Mike would earn him one of the film’s two Oscars, although he apparently thought that Henry Fonda should have won for The Grapes of Wrath, and that he had only received it as belated recognition for his performance in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the previous year. Donald Ogden Stewart also won for Best Screenplay. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and Cukor was nominated for Best Director, and the performances of Katharine Hepburn and Ruth Hussey were nominated as well. The fact that Hepburn didn’t win – and lost to her rival Ginger Rogers, no less – indicates that Hollywood was still a little reluctant to welcome her back. But this movie crucially changed the public’s perception of Katharine Hepburn, transforming her from box office poison to a box office draw. They were calling her a has-been in 1938, but with The Philadelphia Story she showed them that she still had more to contribute, and her career took off in the 1940s, and lasted into the 1990s.

Even now, generations later, twenty years after Hepburn’s death, it’s easy to tell just by watching this movie why it was such a turning point for her. She completely embodies the spoiled socialite, but she makes Tracy sympathetic enough that when she is taken down a few pegs, as she needed to be, the audience feels sorry for her rather than gloating. Tracy is radiant enough that we understand why George worships her, yet she is down to earth enough that we understand her yearning to be seen not as an object of worship, but as a human being. Hepburn nails both the comedic scenes and the more serious dramatic scenes, with no hint of the desperately-trying-too-hard actress who comes across too often in some of her earlier films. While I obviously still love many of those films, watching this one feels like we’re seeing a Katharine Hepburn who has finally come into her own. There certainly was an element of trying to get the public to like her, but there’s no desperation about it. She gets this character, and knows how to make the audience get her too. I don’t think I could have found Tracy so relatable if she hadn’t been played like that. And listen, I’m thrilled that Ginger Rogers won an Oscar, especially because Hepburn would end up with four and didn’t really need this win, but if I had to pick one single all-time favorite film performance, I can’t think of any that would beat Katharine Hepburn’s Tracy Lord. Although I also have to say that I think Cary Grant’s performance as Dexter is incredibly underappreciated. I’ve said before that sometimes I have trouble taking him seriously in dramatic roles, but this was the ideal blend of seriousness and silliness for him, and he nails every emotional beat. He does an excellent job of showing the audience that he has grown and learned from the mistakes of his first marriage and is ready to move forward with healing his relationship with Tracy, which makes this a much better remarriage story than His Girl Friday, for example. There were a lot of movies made around this time about a divorced couple reconciling, mostly because that was the only way the Production Code allowed the scandalous topic of divorce to be addressed on film, but Philadelphia Story feels different from most of those. It’s more like Pride and Prejudice, if Pride and Prejudice started right after Elizabeth turned down Darcy’s first proposal. Both are about a couple who needed to grow and reflect before they could be happy together. I think those are my favorite kind of romances because they have less to do with attraction, which I don’t really understand, and more to do with trying to become the best version of oneself, which everyone can do regardless of how they feel about romance. Anyway, I’m a little sad that this was the last time Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn worked together, but I’m so glad they got to make this masterpiece before their careers diverged.

In 1956, The Philadelphia Story was remade as a musical film called High Society, which I watched 12 times. I enjoy that version too, although obviously not nearly as much as this version. It’s a fun romp, and the Cole Porter songs are great, but it doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch as The Philadelphia Story. Strangely, considering I don’t think anything can touch Hepburn’s original portrayal, my favorite part of that movie is Grace Kelly’s performance as Tracy. She put her own spin on the character and was clearly having fun – probably at least partly because she’d already decided to retire from acting and marry a prince, and was wearing her actual engagement ring in the film. My biggest objection to High Society – and yes, I know I’ve complained about this too many times on this podcast but bear with me one more time – is the age gap between Dexter and Tracy. They’re supposed to have grown up together, but Bing Crosby was 26 years older than Grace Kelly, and their dynamic is just all wrong. The story doesn’t work if Dexter is old enough to be Tracy’s father! Whereas in Philadelphia Story, we’ve got Cary Grant who was born in 1904, Katharine Hepburn who was born in 1907, and James Stewart who was born in 1908. They were all basically the same age! It can be done! John Howard was born in 1913, so he was a bit younger, but I think that works for the way George looks up to and admires Tracy, and still that’s a relatively small gap. Anyway, we can add “getting actors of appropriate ages” to the long list of things The Philadelphia Story did right.

So there we have it. I’ve talked about all of my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies of my first 20 years of keeping track. Thank you so much for listening to all my rambling! I hope you’ve found this entertaining and informative – I know I have. I’m planning to do one more epilogue episode in a few weeks summarizing what I’ve learned from this project, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested. I also have lots of other ideas for movie-related podcasts that may or may not come to fruition, we’ll see. Since I don’t know what the next movie I’ll podcast about will be, I’ll leave you with one last quote from The Philadelphia Story: “We all go haywire at times, and if we don’t, maybe we ought to.”

[littlequeenies]

Why Do We Love…

Charlotte Martin

Our series "Why Do We Love..." published on each muse's birthday are getting to an end, and French former model and artist Charlotte Martin is next!

[Charlotte Martin in 1967 by Robert Whittaker. Sent to us by lovely Kana from Japan for our Family Zepp site, remember?]

We first new about Charlotte when one of us created a website called Family Zepp on piczo back in the day, remember that? We were teenagers and we loved Led Zeppelin, but unlike The Beatles, there weren't any sites for the girls or the children, so one of us started and we became familiar with the names of Maureen and Carmen Plant, Sabel Starr, Lori Mattix ... and Charlotte!

[Charlotte in 1969 by Barry Lategan]

Truth to be told, we had to do a real detective job with Charlotte, because it was said that she was a 1960s supermodel, but unlike Pattie Boyd, we couldn't find anything! And, like her, she had a relationship with Eric Clapton, before having one with Jimmy Page.

[Charlotte and Eric in 1967, by Robert Whittaker]

We also learnt that she had a short relationship with Beatle George Harrison, but never was included anywhere as a "Beatlegirl". Little by little we found (sometimes with a little help from our friends) more and more Charlotte information and photos, including modelling pics, but in every pic she looked different, so we weren't sure if it was her or not!

[For years these were the only Charlotte pics on the net we could find, early 1970s, late 1970s and 1980s...]

Little by little we learned she was on The Beatles "All You Need is Love" video or in Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" film, so we took screencaps of her, to build our collection for the Family Zepp website!

[Left, 1967 "All you need is Love", sitting between Paul McCartney -not shown- and John Lennon. Right, with her baby daughter Scarlet Page in a cameo in "The Song Remains the Same". Our caps]

But we think most of the photos we found came after, maybe thanks to tumblr and later (recently) instagram. We found amazing blogs like Liz Eggleston/Miss Peelpants who find the greatest and rarest Charlotte pics and share them with us all. So we could see Charlotte's beauty and talent once and for all!

[Three of the numerous of modelling Charlotte scans that Liz Eggleston/Miss Peelpants shares in her blog, go and follow her!]

[One of the typical images of Charlotte... thanks to tumblr and instagram we could find out the date and occasion! The 1967 Legalize Cannabis Rally at London's Speaker's Corner]

[Left, another Beatles' connection! Modelling The Fool for The Apple boutique in 1968. Right, Charlotte shared her 1969 modelling image on her instagram]

We respect Charlotte for never selling her stories of the times she spent with The Beatles, Eric, Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin... even if we'd like to know all the details!

[Charlotte, Jimmy, and their daughter, photographer Scarlet, in a Scarlet photography exhibition in 2007. Charlotte is in good terms with both Eric and Jimmy.]

Nowadays she is a very successful artist and painter, and you can see her creating her work on her website or the numerous exhibits she's done.

[Charlotte in 2017 with one of her paintings, from her website]

Today, for her 75th birthday, we wanted to share with all of you, dear followers, how we knew about Charlotte and what made us love her.

Here we share:

OUR BIOGRAPHY OF HER, WITH LINKS TO AMAZING SITES

HER POSTS IN OUR BLOG

OUR PHOTO COLLECTION HOSTED AT GOOGLE PHOTOS (all the photos have been collected from the net, photographers, details, websites etc are credited when known)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BEAUTIFUL ARTIST

[heckyeahbarrygibb]

Happy 75th Birthday to the legend!! Love you, Barry!!

sorry I took so long posting this & that I didn’t get around to making anything fancy this year. I need to post on here more.

Photo by Peter Yang

[edgeofthegibbuniverse]

Happy 75th Birthday/51st Anniversary Barry!! ❤️🥰🥳🥂

[blixtbaby]

HAPPY  75th  BIRTHDAY BARRY !

[megarockradio]

Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (Official Music Video)

Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive (Official Music Video)

Happy 75th birthday to Barry Gibb, born 1 Sept 1946, singer, songwriter, producer, The Bee Gees, (1967 UK No.1 single ‘Massachusetts’, 1978 UK & US No.1 single ‘Night Fever’, plus over 30 other UK Top 40 singles & 9 US No.1’s over 4 decades). In 1994, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with his brothers. In 1997, as a member of the Bee Gees, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll…

[papermoonloveslucy]

FRED MACMURRAY

August 30, 1908

Frederick Martin MacMurray was born in Kankakee, Illinois. His aunt was a vaudeville performer and actress. Before MacMurray was two years old, his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where his father was a music teacher. He later attended school in Quincy, Illinois before earning a full scholarship to Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. At Carroll, MacMurray played the saxophone in numerous local bands. He did not graduate from the college. Before signing with Paramount Pictures in 1934, he appeared on Broadway in Three's a Crowd (1930) and alongside Bob Hope in Roberta (1933).

Fred MacMurray (1908-91) appeared in over 100 films in his career. He is perhaps best remembered for the film Double Indemnity (1944). 

MacMurray’s name was first mentioned by Ethel in 1953 in “The Black Eye” (ILL S2;E20) when flowers arrive for Lucy mistakenly signed “Eternally yours, Fred.” 

LUCY: “Oh, now, Ethel, you certainly don’t think that these are from Fred Mertz, do you?” ETHEL: “Well, this card certainly wasn’t written by Fred MacMurray.”

MacMurray’s 1954 film The Caine Mutiny was often mentioned on “Lucy” sitcoms, often in the context of the film’s source material, a book and a play. In “Lucy Writes A Novel” (ILL S3;E24), Lucy plans to name the sequel to her novel “Sugar Cane Mutiny,” a pun on Cuba’s main export and the title of the (then) recently released film. In “Guess Who Owes Lucy $23.50?” (HL S1;E11) Van Johnson orders security guards to escort Lucy Carter out of the studio. A bitter Lucy says that now she’s glad he got court martialed The Caine Mutiny.

The first time that MacMurray appeared on screen with Lucille Ball was in “Lucy Hunts Uranium” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” set in the Nevada desert and Las Vegas. MacMurray played himself, and was briefly joined by his real-life second wife, June Haver. The storyline has MacMurray competing with Lucy for a claim on Uranium discovered in the desert. 

Lucille Ball later said that MacMurray was “fine enough” in this episode, but she really had to work with him on his comic timing, especially in the telephone booth scene. Ball and MacMurray clearly had different styles.

MY THREE SONS 

MacMurray is perhaps best remembered for playing Steve Douglas on “My Three Sons” (1960-72).

MacMurray and the long-running show was on the cover of TV Guide nine times! 

From 1960 to 1965, MacMurray was joined by William Frawley as Bub O’Casey, the family’s live-in maternal grandfather. 

When Frawley left the show due to ill-health he was replaced by another Desilu alumni, William Demarest, as Uncle Charley. Demarest did three films with Lucille Ball. For Christmas 1959, Frawley and Demarest both appeared with Lucy and Desi in “The Desilu Revue”. At the time, Demarest was working on the Desilu lot appearing in NBC’s “Love and Marriage.” 

On “My Three Sons” two of  Steve Douglas’ “sons” had been seen on “The Lucy Show”: Don Grady (Robbie Douglas) had played Chris Carmichael’s friend Bill and Barry Livingston (Ernie Douglas) had played Mr. Mooney’s son Arnold. Ted Eccles, who assumed the role of Arnold Mooney when Barry Livingston was busy on “My Three Sons,” also did an episode. Ralph Hart (who played Viv Bagley’s son Sherman), Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael) and Candy Moore (Lucy Carmichael’s daughter Chris) were also on the show.

Other “Lucy” performers on “My Three Sons” include: Mary Wickes, Doris Singleton, Shirley Mitchell, Barbara Pepper, Verna Felton, Kathleen Freeman, Jerry Hausner, Reta Shaw, Elvia Allman, Eleanor Audley, Burt Mustin, Olan Soule, Alberto Morin, Herb Vigran, Bill Quinn, Barbara Perry, Nancy Kulp, George Neise, Maxine Semon, Flip Mark, Roy Roberts, Lou Krugman, Ted Eccles, Richard Reeves, Dorothy Konrad, Ed Begley, Gail Bonney, Jay North, Rolfe Sedan, Tyler McVey, J. Pat O’Malley, Paul Picerni, Sandra Gould, Richard Deacon, Mabel Albertson, Joan Blondell, Leon Belasco, Dayton Lummis, Lurene Tuttle, Robert Foulk, Dick Patterson, Jamie Farr, Larry J. Blake, Amzie Strickland, Barbara Morrison, Louis Nicoletti, Frank Gerstle, Willy Lally, Gil Perkins, Tommy Ferrell, Eve McVeagh, Remo Pisani, Dub Taylor, Frank J. Scannell, Ray Kellogg, Romo Vincent, Stafford Repp, Jay Novello, and Leoda Richards.

The show’s Dialogue Coach / Director was Adele Sliff, whose name was used in the dialogue of “In Palm Springs” when Rock Hudson tells Lucy and Ethel a sad story.  Adele was also the “I Love Lucy” script clerk.

In 1961, MacMurray took part in “This is Your Life: William Frawley” in tribute to his co-star. Naturally, Lucille Ball also took part in the show. 

MacMurray was cast as Frank Beardsley in Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) opposite Lucille Ball, but withdrew and the role went to Henry Fonda.

In 1978, Lucy and MacMurray took to the dais to tribute Henry Fonda in “AFI Salutes Henry Fonda”. 

Two months later, Lucy and Fred were both seen in “Happy Birthday, Bob: A Salute to Bob Hope’s 75th Birthday” taped at the John F. Kennedy Center.

In 1986, they were both back for “AFI Achievement Award: A Tribute to Billy Wilder”. Curiously, neither MacMurray nor Ball had ever worked with Wilder. 

The last time Lucy and MacMurray shared the small screen (with June Haver) was at the “All-Star Party for Clint Eastwood” in 1986.

He married Lillian Lamont on June 20, 1936, and the couple adopted two children. 

After Lamont died of cancer on June 22, 1953, he married actress June Haver the following year. The couple adopted two more children in 1956. MacMurray and Haver's marriage lasted 37 years, until Fred's death at age 83 in 1991. 

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Eddie Vedder!

Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday Eddie Vedder! @pearljam

Between the ages of about 12-15 or so, Pearl Jam was among my favorite bands. I can still picture myself walking down a snowy Queens Blvd., near 75th Street with Barry Rothstein singing — more like screaming — some of our favorite songs off Vs. There was a cool thing about Barry: he loved Pearl Jam even more than me. He treated Ten with a religious devotion. And around that time, all of us were…

[dailynewswebsite]

Kate Hudson celebrates Goldie Hawn's 75th birthday: 'I love you to infinity and beyond'

Kate Hudson (R) wished her mom Goldie Hawn (L) a contented 75th birthday. (Photograph: Barry King/Getty Pictures)

Kate Hudson celebrated her mom Goldie Hawn’s 75th birthday with a stunning tribute.

On Friday, the day earlier than Hawn’s birthday, Hudson, 41, shared a black-and-white throwback picture of her mom wearing wide-leg pants and a T-shirt.

“Tomorrow is a special occasion for it marks the day my mama was born. @goldiehawn Goddess, gentle employee, hearth bender, scorpion tailed whirlwind, butterfly mom, love expander, shining star, HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow,” wrote Hudson. “I’m capturing nights so need to get my put up in tonight trigger I can be cross eyed within the morning. I really like you to infinity and past. Be part of me in wishing Mama G a really joyful delivery day. I Love You.”

Learn extra: Kurt Russell says actors are courtroom jesters who ought to keep away from politics

Hawn spent this week selling her Netflix movie The Christmas Chronicles: Half 2, wherein she stars with Kurt Russell, her associate of 37 years. The couple lately opened up about their life collectively in a CBS Sunday Morning interview.

Although they first met in 1968 throughout the filming of the Disney musical The One and Solely, Real, Unique Household Band, Russell was solely 15 on the time. Hawn, at 20, was targeted on relationship older males. However they reunited in 1983 to movie the film Swing Shift, and sparks flew. However that doesn’t imply they have been each able to cool down.

“Matter of reality, after I met Goldie, I used to be at a time in my life, and a interval in my life, after I was going to place my worst foot ahead when it got here to any form of a relationship with the potential for a relationship,” Russell, 69, advised CBS Sunday Morning. “I put my worst foot ahead. Should you can deal with that, then possibly there’s an opportunity of some actuality there of being collectively.”

Watch: Goldie Hawn cries ‘3 times a day’ over pandemic

When Hawn gawked at his response throughout the interview, Russell added that the primary time they met he was “horribly hungover” including, “That’s not an excellent foot ahead.”

Story continues

Learn extra: Kate Hudson poses for journal cowl with daughter Rani and mum Goldie Hawn

Regardless of Russell’s botched first impression, the couple fell in love, and went on to have a son, Wyatt, in 1986. (Musician Invoice Hudson is the daddy of Kate and her brother Oliver Hudson, 44). Whereas Hawn and Russell by no means wed, they insist there’s no secret to sustaining their relationship. As a substitute, it’s about merely liking the opposite individual.

“You each need to be collectively,” Hawn stated. “You’ve acquired to need to be collectively.”

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. (Photograph: Jesse Grant/Getty Pictures for Netflix)

Russell echoed Hawn’s assertion, including, “You’re proper. It’s up, and down, it’s sideways, it’s no matter. On the finish of the day, how do you clarify it? It’s the identical factor as what you’re saying. I name that love.”

After all, that doesn’t imply the couple hasn’t navigated varied struggles all through the years. However nonetheless, they’re decided to maneuver ahead.

“You possibly can really survive a relationship in a method that once you become older you go, ‘[Sigh] I’m so glad I acquired by way of no matter interval that was.’ Relationships undergo durations, generally actually arduous occasions,” stated Hawn. “However there’s nothing sweeter than having a household, and that’s price all the things.”

Watch: Matthew McConaughey opens up on romance scenes with Kate Hudson

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/kate-hudson-celebrates-goldie-hawns-75th-birthday-i-love-you-to-infinity-and-beyond/ via https://growthnews.in

[boopzee]

Happy 75th Birthday Barry ❤️🎂 Glad you're feeling better 😍😘 #copacabana #barrymanilow #barrymanilowvegas (at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino)

[mateproduction-blog]

Barack Obama Pokes Fun At Joe Biden With HIGHlarious Happy Birthday Meme!

Not a day goes by that we don’t miss having Barack Obama and Joe Biden around. On Monday, the former POTUS wished his second-in-command a happy birthday in the most bromantic way possible — with a hilarious and sentimental meme! Dad jokes for days… Related: Joe’s ‘Regret’ Over Not Being President! Taking to Twitter, Barry poked fun at Joe on his 75th birthday by posting (below): ME: Joe, about…

[lorettalivingston6911]

Barack Obama Pokes Fun At Joe Biden With HIGHlarious Happy Birthday Meme!

people always ask me if I've been getting Botox

Not a day goes by that we don't miss having Barack Obama and Joe Biden around.

On Monday, the former POTUS wished his second-in-command a happy birthday in the most bromantic way possible -- with a hilarious and sentimental meme!

Dad jokes for days...

Related: Joe's 'Regret' Over Not Being President!

Taking to Twitter, Barry poked fun at Joe on his 75th birthday by posting (below):

ME: Joe, about halfway through the speech, I’m gonna wish you a happy birth-- BIDEN: IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! ME: Joe.

Happy birthday to @JoeBiden, my brother and the best vice president anybody could have. http://pic.twitter.com/sKbXjNiEjH — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 20, 2017

Laughing -- but also crying.

Enjoy your day, Joe!

[Image via Carrie Devorah/WENN.]

Real celebrity on the items

from LL Celeb Fueads http://ift.tt/2zUFr1O via IFTTT

[latoyarubalcava3546]

Barack Obama Pokes Fun At Joe Biden With HIGHlarious Happy Birthday Meme!

Not a day goes by that we don't miss having Barack Obama and Joe Biden around.

On Monday, the former POTUS wished his second-in-command a happy birthday in the most bromantic way possible -- with a hilarious and sentimental meme!

Dad jokes for days...

Related: Joe's 'Regret' Over Not Being President!

Taking to Twitter, Barry poked fun at Joe on his 75th birthday by posting (below):

ME: Joe, about halfway through the speech, I’m gonna wish you a happy birth-- BIDEN: IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! ME: Joe.

Happy birthday to @JoeBiden, my brother and the best vice president anybody could have. http://pic.twitter.com/sKbXjNiEjH — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 20, 2017

Laughing -- but also crying.

Enjoy your day, Joe!

[Image via Carrie Devorah/WENN.]

[papermoonloveslucy]

RED SKELTON

JULY 18, 1913

Red Skelton was born Richard Bernard Skelton in Vincennes, Indiana. He left school after the third grade to join a traveling medicine show and from there entered vaudeville. He was best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program “The Red Skelton Show.”  The son of a circus clown, he always considered himself more clown than comedian. His most famous character was the tramp Freddy the Freeloader.  He was dubbed ‘America’s Clown Prince’. Lucy and Red were both famous for their hair color, although Skelton’s was real! 

“My mother told me something I've never forgotten: 'Don't take life too seriously, son, you don't come out of it alive anyway.” ~ Red Skelton

His first film was Having Wonderful Time in 1938, which is where he first met Lucille Ball. Note that he used his real name “Richard” in the credits, with (Red) in parentheses. 

The pair went on to appear together in Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), a musical film in which the two sang Cole Porter’s “Friendship” with Gene Kelly. 

That same year, both were featured in Thousands Cheer (1943), a wartime celebration of music and romance in which both played themselves (along with 28 other stars). 

In Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Ball and Skelton were in different segments, she as a showgirl lion tamer and he as a TV spokesman for a miracle tonic laced with alcohol. 

This was this routine that inspired Lucy’s famous Vitameatavegamin routine on “I Love Lucy.” 

Their final film together before their respective television fame was The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) in which Lucille Ball takes over the lead created by Red Skelton in The Fuller Brush Man (1948), and makes a cameo appearance in this comedy sequel. 

On television, Red Skelton ruled Tuesday nights on NBC just as Lucy did Mondays on CBS. 

In 1956, now firmly established as two of America’s favorite small screen celebrities, Ball and Skelton were two of the many stars to help celebrate the eighth anniversary of “The Ed Sullivan Show”.  

A year later, Lucy, Desi and Red appeared on “The Jackie Gleason Show” to mark the 65th Birthday of Eddie Cantor, who Lucille worked with when she first got to Hollywood in the early 1930s. Coincidentally, Lucille is on the cover of TV Guide that week to celebrate TV’s tenth year!  

“I'm nuts and I know it. But so long as I make 'em laugh, they ain't going to lock me up.” ~ Red Skelton

In 1959, Skelton appeared on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” - his first time on a Lucille Ball television show.  The episode was a tribute to Alaska’s statehood and set in Nome, although filmed California and Sun Valley, Idaho. 

Skelton revives his Freddie the Freeloader character in a pantomime and musical number with Lucille Ball especially written for the show. 

Nine years later, on the 1968 “Dean Martin Show” Christmas Show, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball (and may other stars) make brief cameo appearances as themselves promising that toys and gifts will be sent to children’s orphanages and hospitals across North America.  

Two years later, both stars were among a group wishing Dean Martin well on his sixth season opener. Skelton played Willy Lump Lump, Dean’s surprised guest in the closet!  

Two months later, in November 1970, Lucille Ball and Skelton turn up in uncredited cameos to mark “Jack Benny’s 20th Anniversary”. Lucy plays Jack’s maid, Janet, and Red plays a Western Union messenger!  Naturally, he doesn’t get a tip from the famous miser!  Both stars are on screen for less than a minute each! 

Two weeks later, both stars answered the call of mutual friend John Wayne for “Swing Out, Sweet Land” a television celebration of Americana.  Lucy voiced the Statue of Liberty, while Red was a colonial printing process operator.

In 1978, Ball and Skelton hosted segments of “TV: The Fabulous ‘50s”.  It was re-run in 1980.  Ball’s segment was on sitcoms, while Skelton’s was about comedy itself. 

Later that same month (March 1978), they were part of “A Tribute to Mr. Television, Milton Berle” on NBC.  

In 1979, Red and Lucy joined what seemed like half of Hollywood at the Kennedy Center for “Happy Birthday, Bob” - a tribute to Bob Hope on his 75th birthday! 

On September 29, 1979, Red and Lucy turned up on “General Electric All-Star Anniversary” on CBS. John Wayne hosted this program which recalls the music, song, and comedy of the past 100 years and marked the one-hundredth anniversary of the General Electric Company. Lucille sang, danced, and chatted with the host while Skelton was glimpsed as an old man watching a parade. 

At the start of the 1980′s (their last decade of stardom), Red and Lucy (and many others) honored Old Blue Eyes in “Sinatra: The First 40 Years.” 

In 1984′s “Bob Hope’s Unrehearsed Antics of the Stars” Lucille Ball told the story of her audition for Gone With The Wind. Skelton was also on hand. 

At “The 38th Primetime Emmy Awards” on September 21, 1986, Lucille Ball presents The Governor’s Award to Red Skelton. 

In late 1988 (aired early 1989) on Fox, Red Skelton was inducted into the “Television Academy Hall of Fame”.  Lucille Ball (an inaugural inductee) was in attendance.  Skelton was introduced by Burt Lancaster.  This was the last time Lucy and Red would appear on television together. 

Lucille Ball died in April 1989, while Red Skelton (two years younger than Lucy), lived until September 1997, passing away at age 84.  

His last television appearance was on “Inside the Dream Factory” on November 1, 1995, hosted by Faye Dunaway. 

He was married three times and had two children; Valentina and Richard. 

“All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.” ~ Red Skelton

“Good night and may God bless.” ~ Red Skelton