“People always ask me if I’m like Blanche. And I say, ‘Well, Blanche was an oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy, vain Southern Belle from Atlanta — and I’m not from Atlanta!’” – Rue McClanahan
One of my favorite sitcoms of all time is The Golden Girls. The casting is sheer perfection and the chemistry between the actresses was the stuff most television producers only dream of. Like Roseanne, Good Times, I Love Lucy, Beverly Hillbillies, Sanford and Son, and Andy Griffith – this is a sitcom that where you just can’t find a down side.
Rue McClanahan was flawless in her role as Blanche Devereaux. I swear, I’m in a trance any time the woman comes on the screen. Her mannerisms, her voice, the way she loses herself in her character – sheer brilliance. As I watched an episode this morning with my cat, Alexa, it occurred to me that Rue McClanahan doesn’t get nearly enough credit or attention.
Which is exactly why I’m HERE right this minute paying tribute to this hilarious actress!
Rue McClanahan Trivia:
Rue was born in 1934 in Healdton, Oklahoma.
She was a New York stage actress in the 1950’s. She was discovered on stage by Norman Lear and cast in roles on “All in the Family” (1971) and later “Maude” (1972).
Stands 5′3.”
When Rue was cast as Blanche on The Golden Girls, she was reunited with Bea Arthur (whom she’d worked with on Maude) and Betty White (whom she’d worked with on Mama’s Family).
Estelle Getty, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Bea Arthur all won emmy’s for their roles on The Golden Girls
After Bea Arthur left the show after eight seasons, McClanahan, White and Getty returned for a brief spin-off in “The Golden Palace” (1992).
Rue is currently married to her sixth husband.
In 1997, Rue McClanahan was diagnosed with cancer. She had a lumpectomy and underwent five months of chemotherapy.
Is a vegan and dedicated animal rights activist.
An Honorary Director for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
If, like me, you’re a huge fan of Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa), it may surprise you to know that Barefoot Contessa was actually a movie before it was a lovely chef extraordinaire!
Barefoot Contessa was a highly entertaining movie starring Humphrey Bogart and one of my personal favorites, the insanely beautiful Ava Gardner.
In one of the last films before his death in 1957, Humphrey Bogart plays washed-up film director Harry Dawes, who sees another chance at success when he meets Spanish dancer Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner) and recognizes her star potential. Harry’s willingness to let Maria keep her independence, and his steadfast character, wins him her undying friendship; the two weather the Hollywood seas, made stormy by Maria’s own tempestuous spirit and the greedy nature of the film business. Maria’s final break from Hollywood throws her into the arms of a Prince Charming whose secrets lead her down a destructive path. Impatience with Hollywood is evident in every line of director-writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s dialogue (as in the unforgettable ALL ABOUT EVE), but he carefully plants the seeds of Maria’s decline in her character rather than simplistically painting her fate as a reaction to fame. Bogart, in an role atypical for him of platonic friend to his female costar, is the touchstone of the movie and its most sympathetic character, while Gardner’s eyes snap with passion as she searches for her fairy-tale ending.
Film director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart) contemplates, in a series of flashbacks, the life of beautiful Hollywood star Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner). A flamenco dancer at a second-rate club when a trio of film business bigwigs discover her, soon Vargas has acquired fame, riches, and love. On the surface, it seems as if she has it all; but a dark secret in her marriage and Maria’s fiery spirit lead to tragedy. Spicy dialogue from director-writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz and the complex but platonic friendship between Harry and Maria make this film memorable.
When Ina Garten first launched into the food industry, she did so by buying and running a shop named after the movie, The Barefoot Contessa. The name stands for “elegance and earthiness,” which definitely describe the popular Food Network chef and cookbook author – so the name stuck.
Click the image or either one of the links to purchase this wonderful movie. It should be in every movie lover’s collection. Come on, it’s Ava Gardner for crying out loud!
Katharine Hepburn fans, I know you’ll want to own the Katharine Hepburn Dvd Collection. The movies you’ll cherish in this collection (Morning Glory / Undercurrent / Sylvia Scarlett / Without Love / Dragon Seed / The Corn Is Green) cover the amazing Katharine Hepburn’s career – from early on to later.
Co-Stars include Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Adolphe Menjou, and Walter Huston. But, come on,when Lady Hepburn’s on the screen, who notices co-stars? I’ve always been mesmerized with the cool, captivating, effortless, and rapid-fire way she delivered her lines. Totally and completely mesmerized.
The video above is a fantastic “tribute” done by a Katharine Hepburn fan. There are beautiful pictures of Katharine Hepburn that even I’d never seen before – and I honestly thought I’d seen every picture ever taken during Hollywood’s Golden Age.
We all know a more beautiful actress has never graced the earth than Audrey Hepburn. We might as well enjoy a video tribute that supports this fact, right? After you’ve watched the video, be sure to check out the other articles, pictures, and featured stories on one of Hollywood Yesterday’s favorite actresses, Audrey Hepburn. You’ll find all of these and more in the Audrey Hepburn category.
Attention, Katharine Hepburn fans: The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center and Theater will be opening this summer (2009) in Katharine’s beloved seaside town of Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Wow. Talk about making a lasting impression. I never realized it until I loooked into it this morning, but Eartha Kitt was actually in only 3 Batman episodes:
Catwoman’s Dressed to Kill (1967)
The Funny Feline Felonies (1967)
The Joke’s on Catwoman (1968)
It seems like her beautiful face and remarkable voice were around for a lot more. That’s the beauty of syndication.. multiplication.
Sadly, Eartha Kitt passed away yesterday – on Christmas Day.
The 5′ 4″ beauty was born in South Carolina. Her birth was the result of a white plantation owner raping a sharecropper mother of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. I wasn’t going to include that bit of ugliness in this article, but the fact that Eartha came from such unremarkable beginnings, yet ended her life known the world over strikes me as spectacular!
I also wanted to be clear about why her mother would even think about giving her baby girl away – which she did. By the age of 9, Eartha was living in Harlem. She dropped out of school by the age of 15. Eartha was too busy just trying to survive – school didn’t rank up there with finding a place to sleep and something to eat. During this time, she slept at friends houses and on the subway.
While Eartha Kitt was born with a lot of burdens to bear, she was also born with a lot of talent. She literally sang and danced her way to a better life. Eartha performed with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a European tour, and she performed as a solist at a Paris night club, where she became a very big deal. Get this, the infamous Orson Welles called her “the most exciting girl in the world.”
Eartha Kitt never shied away from speaking her mind. I guess when you’ve already seen life’s ugliest, you throw caution aside – sort of like, “What do I need with you?!” She was all but booted from the country after making anti-war statements during a White House luncheon with Lady Bird Johnson in 1968. It wasn’t until 1977, under Jimmy Carter’s administration, that she was welcomed back to the White House.
Eartha Kitt Quotes:
“I have a great need for affection from an audience. I don’t know whether this is because I had such a tough life when I was a child.”
At the White House, 1968: “I am a mother and I know the feeling of having a baby come out of my gut. I have a baby and then you send him off to war. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot.”
“I don’t carry myself as a black person, but as a woman that belongs to everybody”
“Jamie and I were like brother and sister. He told me in fact he thought of me as a sister. Our relationship was strictly platonic and spiritual.” (About her friendship with James Dean.)
Eartha Kitt was 81 when she passed away, but (again) thanks to syndication, she’ll forever live on just as we remembered her.
Bettie Page passed away on December 11, from a heart attack. She was 85 years young.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1923, Bettie was known for her sexy poses and her short bangs. In fact, in the 1950’s, she was considered quite scandalous!
In high school, lovely Bettie was a straight A student and took part in several school plays. Her Hollywood career never quite measured up to her pin up career, but her pictures will live on forever. And beautifully, at that.
You know how some movies are just so special to you they give you goose bumps? My Fair Lady is one that gets me every single time. Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison – how could it not?
This amazingly wonderful movie will be shown on Turner Classic Movies tomorrow afternoon (December 11) at 12:45 – check your listings for the time where you live. BUT… that’s not all TCM has up their sleeve. Immediately before My Fair Lady, they’re showing Gigi (1958 – with Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier) and immediately after My Fair Lady, they’re showing the 1956 The King and I with Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner and Rita Moreno!
You’d think they’d call it a day after that line up, wouldn’t you?
Nah. Starting at 8:00 tomorrow night, they’ll air a few of Bing Crosby’s best movies. First up is The Bells of Saint Mary (1936) co-starring Ingrid Bergman. Bing Crosby is a liberal priest who tries to soften the strict nun (Ingrid Bergman) who runs a boys’ school.
Immediately following The Bells of Saint Mary is 1945’s Pennies From Heaven with Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, and Louis Armstrong. In Pennies From Heaven, a singer gets involved with a grieving family and a haunted house.
After Pennies From Heaven, you can catch one of the best of the best, High Society (1956). In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding. Bing Crosby is joined by none other than Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra in this beautiful movie.
Next?! Road to Bali (1952), starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope (!!!), and Dorothy Lamour. Two song-and-dance men (Bing Crosby and Bob Hope) are on the run. They compete for for a beautiful princess.
If you’re still awake and able to focus your eyes, they’ll show you another Bob Hope movie. I love Bob Hope like nobody’s business, so I know I’ll be taping this one. It’s the 1964 film A Global Affair. Bob Hope is joined by Yvonne De Carlo when a U.N. official tries to locate the mother of an abandoned baby.
I know where I’ll be tomorrow. As in all day. And night!
Edward: And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.
Bella: What a stupid lamb.
Edward: What a sick, masochistic lion.
Before we went to see Twilight Friday night, I was a little nervous. Honestly, I read (just for the heck of it) about 9 reviews that day and they weren’t just all bad – they were hideously bad.
Critics didn’t like the directing, they didn’t like the stars, they didn’t like the dialogue, they didn’t like the action, they didn’t like the close ups (are you even kidding me?).
Bella: Are you going to tell me how you stopped the van?
Edward: Yeah. Um… I had an adrenaline rush. It’s very common. You can Google it.
I was blown away by every single aspect of the movie. I love the fact that there was so much energy and excitement in the lobby. We all had to stand in line for over an hour waiting to go back – even after we had our tickets. It reminded me of the frenzy that surrounded The Dark Knight, the Pirates movies, and I Am Legend.
Some people wore Team Edward tops while a few had on Team Jacob ones. A lot of the girls had their hair fixed like “Bella” and a few guys even attempted the Edward look… at least I think that’s what they were aiming for!
Bella: You know, your mood swings are kinda giving me whiplash.
Everyone clapped as soon as the trailers began, then they clapped again when the actual movie began. It was a grand old time before one word was spoken.
However, the real magic started as soon as Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart shared the screen. The chemistry between these two is something special, and they lookes just as we knew they would… beautiful!
Edward: Hold on tight spidermonkey.
For me, this is more of a love story than anything else – and a great one, at that. As Edward pointed out, it’s like a love story of a lion and a lamb. But, unlike Bella’s words suggest, I think the lamb’s anything but stupid. I also think the casting director is a freaking genius.
Apparently, they’ve made it official, there WILL be a sequel. While we already assumed it, it’s incredible to have it in writing. Hopefully the Cullen’s will be in the next one even more. Each actor/actress did a phenomenal job and I didn’t see one thing to NOT love about this movie.
