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Mid 1980s to mid 1990s I was a waiter at The Russian Tea Room in NYC. At the time the RTR was a major destination for celebrities and other entertainment biz people. That aspect of the job was really fun and energizing. Because I am a fan of classic movies, my most memorable interactions with celebrities were with the older ones who came to the restaurant and two have always stood out: Robert Stack I think this was about 1990. Mr. Stack and his lovely wife came in for dinner. Mr. Stack greeted everyone he came into contact with (coatcheck girls, busboy, maitre d', bartender, even other customers) like an old friend- with a smile, a hello, some handshakes, friendly pats on the arm. They were seated at Table #20 which was one of the showcase booths, up front facing the rest of the dining room. I was lucky enough to have that table in my section that night. Mr. Stack may have been the kindest celebrity I ever served- every time I was at the table he made eye contact, smiled and made friendly chit chat. I think he may have asked me how I was enjoying my night, more often than I asked them! At one point he stood to go the restroom, which was on the second floor. As he made his way though the packed dining room he had a hello and a smile for every customer, waiter, busboy he came into contact with. Occasionally during dinner, customers passed by his table and tried to get his attention to say hi, and he took time for every single one of them. This was not common for stars (the Terminator for example would never acknowledge people doing this). Towards the end of his dinner, Mr. Stack chatted with me for a minute or two, told me that his meal and experience at the restaurant had been wonderful, and asked me if I could share that with the rest of the staff. I told him of course, I was under orders from a federal agent! He laughed. Later as he and his wife left, again he took a moment to thank everyone on the staff that he encountered. One of them was a Dominican busboy who asked me "quien (who is that)?" I said "Roberto Stack". He sort of mimed "who?" I said "Untouchables!" He pointed his fingers like guns and said "Pow pow pow?" "Si!" Kirk Douglas This was on a Wednesday afternoon (Broadway matinee day!) in the late 1980's. Mr. Douglas and maybe one other person were having lunch with Sam Cohn (mega agent, regular customer) on #40 (Mr. Cohn's booth). Table #31 was semi-adjacent, actually the back of one of its chairs was about 6 feet away from Mr. Douglas' back and right shoulder. At table #31 sat four elderly women (70's I guessed), Jewish (definitely), from Long Island (definitely) who came to the city for lunch at The Russian Tea Room and a 2:00PM show. They were already on their way to a great day. It got better. Kirk Douglas, I should mention may have been the most fit and handsome 70ish year old man that I have ever seen. Strong face and chin, immaculately dressed (well-tailored sportcoat and well-chosen necktie). Still broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip. The four ladies on #31 were in awe, swooning. They never took their eyes off of him, even while eating. They actually rotated chairs periodically so that each could stare directly at him. Mr. Douglas and Mr. Cohn were talking business so they were engrossed and I didn't think that Mr. Douglas noticed the attention he was getting from the four ladies on #31. As their waiter, it was almost difficult to serve the ladies because they were so distracted "My God, he's so handsome!" "He still looks like Spartacus!" "Better!". Mr. Douglas at one point, stands, turns right and walks right past #31 without acknowledging the four ladies swooning at him. He walked through the dining room, towards the stairs to the second floor (restrooms). The four ladies twisted and contorted themselves to watch Mr. Douglas and continued to focus their attention towards the back stairs awaiting his return. Several minutes later, the four ladies are still watching the back stairs... and I see Kirk Douglas coming back from the front stairs. He actually snuck up on the four ladies while they were looking away, stood directly at their table, and said "Hi, how are you?". All four spin their heads back and the shock and awe on their faces was unforgettable. All four were basically speechless and paralyzed with shock. "I'm Kirk, it's nice to meet you. What are your names?" Mr. Douglas then spent a few minutes chatting with them and gave each one a hug. He then returned to his lunch with Mr. Cohn. As I approached #31, the four ladies were delirious (like a post-coital bliss?). I tried to renew their focus so they could have dessert and still make their curtain time, but it was difficult.

Man, what I could do with this thread !!! Some regrets about how the encounters were handled –as you’ll see below - Let’s start with my earliest recollection – Leon Ames (Meet Me in St. Louis, Postman Always Rings Twice, Battleground, On Moonlight Bay, etc). I encountered Mr. Ames (born Harry Wycoff) in 1965 (as far as I can recollect; I was 13 at the time) at a performance of a play by the local theater company. The play was called Lo and Behold. It opened on Broadway in 1951, was directed by Burgess Meredith, and starred Leo G. Carroll. By the time the play got to my little hometown in the mid-60s, Ames was more famous among kids my age for playing Wilbur Post’s (Alan Young) nosy and cantankerous neighbor, Mr. Kirkwood in the comedy tv series Mr. Ed. I wanted to get his autograph, and it was a scene right out of a film noir: After the evening’s performance, Ames emerged from the stage door dressed in slacks and a sport coat into a dimly-lit alleyway. I recollect there was sawdust on the ground, as a traveling carnival had recently been in the area. He was alone, carrying a battered suitcase, and was slightly hunched over. I went up to him and asked if he would sign my playbill (after all, what kid wouldn’t want to get the autograph of the famous Mr. Kirkwood from the Mr. Ed tv series !!??) “Well, aren’t you nice !” he said, and signed the program. Many years and several moves later, I have no idea what happened to the signed playbill. Dana Andrews (Laura, Best Years of Our Lives, Where the Sidewalk Ends, etc. etc. etc). This one will be embarrassing. I was working as a park ranger at the Jamestown Historic Site in Virginia during the national Bicentennial in 1976. I was working the desk at the visitors’ center when a man approached wearing a leather jacket and aviator sun glasses. He asked me where something was (what it was, exactly, I can’t recall). I immediately got the feeling that I was dealing with a well-known celebrity, but somehow I just couldn’t recall the name that went with the face. I just drew a blank. Before he left (he was only there a minute or so), I blurted out: “Sir, I’ve seen you on television !” “Dana Andrews,” he replied, and walked out the door. I at the time college-age and probably should have know, but remember, this was LONG before TCM, and now I can reel off a dozen or more of his pictures. Oh, to be able to turn back the clock. But then, there would have been no TCM to help me !! Mickey Rooney- I can thank TCM for this encounter. I attended the 2012 TCM festival. I got the Essentials Pass, so I could attend the opening night film at TCL. I made it a practice of looking for the “Reserved” section on the seats – they were along the aisle for easy access by the celebs and their guests. Then I would take a seat nearest to the reserved section on the row, but of course not in the reserved section itself. Then I would wait to see who showed up. Lo and Behold (see above comment on Leon Ames!), Mickey Rooney and his party came down the aisle and stopped at my row ! Mickey initially sat about 3 seats away from me. I started a conversation with one of his party and mentioned that I worked in Washington, DC. Mickey had recently testified before Congress about “elder abuse,” and apparently he overheard me talking to his guest. Anyway, he changed seats and sat next to me ! The opening night film that year was Cabaret with Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey in attendance. Mickey was complaining about TCM not being able to start stuff on time (I guess I’m OK saying this, now that he’s passed), and at various times in the film said stuff like “What the hell is this ??” and “Oh, no, not this again !” It was amusing to hear his running commentary. Close to the end of the film, he had to leave to get to another film he was introducing or the Gala party, so he stuck out his hand and shook mine Two screw ups on my part with this encounter: 1) when we were chatting, I informed him that, among other things, I’d been touring area cemeteries looking for the stars’ graves (not really appropriate given his age and “associations”), and 2) I missed the chance (because I just didn’t think of it at the time, but had before) about his role as Baby Face Nelson in the movie of the same name. It was quite a character reversal role for him (he always played the nice guy), and I wanted to know what motivated him to do Baby Face. I later saw him on the TCM cruise in 2013, but of course we didn’t have the opportunity to chat. Robert Fuller (Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice, lots of westerns and 60’s and 70’s tv) - Met him at the Williamsburg Nostalgia Festival. No photo op or autograph but did attend and ask questions at Q&A. Autographs/Photo Ops Debbie Reynolds – photo op at the TCM festival in 2011 I believe L.Q. Jones – Major character actor of movies and tv, mostly westerns. Saw him at Rob Word’s taping of A Word on Westerns at the Autry Museum in 2019. Photo op. Shirley Jones - Shirley attended the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention a few years back (before COVID, of course), and I got to chat briefly with her and get a photo op. Tatum O’Neal – (Paper Moon, etc) – Photo op with Tatum at the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Maryland Donna Mills (Play Misty for Me, lots of tv shows)- No photo or autograph, but did chat with her over lunch after the taping of Rob Word’s program at the Autry Museum. Don Murray (From Hell to Texas, Advise and Consent, etc.) - Got to see Don at a showing of A Hatful of Rain (1958) at AFI in Silver Spring, Maryland. No photo or autograph, but did ask questions during the Q&A after the film. Ed Faulker (worked extensively with John Wayne: Green Berets, McClintock, Chisum, Rio Lobo, The Undefeated, lots of tv) - Met Ed and his daughter at the Williamsburg, Virginia, Nostalgia Festival. Photo op/autograph Andrew Prine (The Devil’s Brigade, lots of 60s and 70s tv) - Met Andrew at Williamsburg Nostalgia Festival, autograph – no photo. Other I sent a fan letter to Kirk Douglas just before my mother passed. It was a combination letter of appreciation to Kirk about how much pleasure he had brought to cinema fans around the world and tied in with some reflections about life and my mother in her final years. I had seen Kirk in person at the 2012 TCM festival for a showing of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Imagine my shock when I got a reply from Kirk on his personal stationery. A letter which I will always cherish ! There may be others; I’ll add if I think of them …

Dirk Bogarde @ 100: BBC Culture reflects on why Dirk Bogarde was a truly dangerous film star https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210322-why-dirk-bogarde-was-a-truly-dangerous-film-star My first recollection of seeing Dirk Bogarde was in the 1962 film Damn the Defiant, where Bogarde plays the cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny. Since I had recently seen Mutiny on the Bounty (Brando version) I was thinking that Trevor Howard had to be the evilest man on earth, but Bogarde in Defiant gave him (Howard) a run for his money. This was long before TCM, of course, and my view of Bogarde was revised considerably after I saw him in other films where I could relate (favorably) to his characters: The Spanish Gardener, the “Doctor” series, Campbell’s Kingdom, Blackmailed, They Who Dare, and, of course Tale of Two Cities. Here’s a look back by the BBC on Bogarde’s notable career as we approach his 100th Birthday - From heartthrob to icon of edginess, the actor had an extraordinary career. On the centenary of his birth, Sophie Monks Kaufman wonders if we will see so daring a leading man again. Many actors have undergone transformations from Olivia Colman morphing from a British sitcom mainstay into a serious actress of international repute, to Robert DeNiro trading method-actor intensity for jovial fare like Meet The Fockers – but no-one has made quite such a provocative career turn as Dirk Bogarde. More like this: – A romance that broke taboos – Is Tom Hanks the last great movie star? – Ten films to watch in March The British actor had two distinct phases: from 1948 he lit up screens as a dashing matinee idol, and then, from 1961, he chose roles that challenged received morality and that pushed the scope of cinema. All the while, he stayed alive to the world beyond his forcefield, as revealed by the entertaining letters he wrote to everyone from collaborators to random penpals. Bogarde became a pin-up in the 1950s thanks to his role as dashing medic Simon Sparrow in the Doctor film series (Credit: Alamy) As we approach the centenary of his birth this weekend, it's interesting to reflect on a unique star whose legacy is a clarion call to pursue creative freedom. By the time he became an actor he had experienced enough of the heaviness of life to take fame lightly. In other words: he didn’t believe his own hype, even though there sure was a lot of it not to believe. The crowd-pleasing early days "Presenting Britain's most popular star" shouts the trailer to the 1958 Charles Dickens adaptation A Tale of Two Cities, cutting to a figure who is every inch the romantic gentleman with a cravat, top hat and furrowed brow: "Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton". Bogarde was, as his official biographer John Coldstream tells BBC Culture, "box-office catnip" and had been since 1954's Doctor in the House, a lightweight comedy about hijinx in a London hospital. Bogarde was cast as shy medical student Simon Sparrow, a role he played a further three times in Doctor At Sea (1955), Doctor At Large (1957), and Doctor in Distress (1963). His Simon is quietly dashing, a soulful presence in contrast with brasher peers, whose nurse-ogling is played for laughs and so has not aged well. Sparrow captured the public imagination, and it was rare to find a film magazine in the 50s that didn't feature Dirk frowning under a soft forelock of dark hair. Contracted to British studio The Rank Organisation since 1948, he was busting out movies at a rate of three to four a year, and his status seemed set as a crowd-pleasing A-lister. He had been an above-the-title name since playing a seductive footman in Esther Waters (1948), and by the early 1950s, he was a big face in the celebrity industrial complex, placing highly in best movie star polls – indeed, as relayed by Coldstream in his biography, Olwen Evans, a shorthand typist from Kent "won" a date with Bogarde, in the Daily Mirror's Teen Queen contest. Then, in 1961 with his contract at Rank coming to an end, Bogarde took the role of barrister Melville Farr in Basil Dearden's Victim, a black-and-white thriller about gay men being blackmailed under threat of exposure and jail time, which was made six years before the Sexual Offences Act decriminalised "homosexual acts in private between consenting adults" in the UK. Under the original working title Boy Barrett, Jack Hawkins was cast as Farr. He backed out, and the part was turned down by two more actors, James Mason and Stewart Granger, before the idea dawned on Pinewood bigwig, Earl St John, to offer it to Bogarde. In a letter written by Victim's producer Michael Relph to its co-writer Janet Green at the time, Relph notes: "In spite of the obvious dangers for [Bogarde], he jumped at it." The obvious danger was that Bogarde was gay and living with his partner Anthony 'Tote' Forwood, as he would until Forwood died in 1988. "This was a way of getting out a message" says Coldstream. "He couldn't go on a chat show and say, 'Look, I'm living with Tony Forwood'". Victim was the first British film to use the word "homosexual", and it played a role in helping the 1967 Sexual Offences Act through its 10-year gestation period. Lord Arran, who introduced the legislation that would become the act, wrote to Bogarde in 1968 praising his "courage in undertaking this difficult and potentially damaging part", adding "It is comforting to think that perhaps a million men are no longer living in fear". Back in 1961, on the film's release, the prospect of covering it was not a straightforward matter for critics. Press baron Lord Beaverbrook, owner of The Daily Express, Sunday Express, Evening Standard and The Scottish Daily Express, all but banned the mention of homosexuality in his titles, especially in a sympathetic context. The Evening Standard's lead film critic Alexander Walker was told by his deputy editor "I'd ignore it if I were you." Walker did not ignore it. "At last, after years of playing paper-thin parts in paperweight films, Dirk Bogarde has a role that not only shows what a brilliant actor he is – but what a courageous one he is, too," he wrote. Other impressed reviews rolled in, as did a new kind of audience, more critical, less popular. "He knew his box-office appeal would suffer," says Coldstream. "But by that time, he'd said, 'Come on, I just want to make the work I want to make'".The film ushered in a new and compelling era of Bogarde, by then aged 40 – the Bogarde that cinema-lovers still think of today. Bogarde's 1961 film Victim was the first British production to use the word "homosexual" (Credit: Alamy) He wasn't interested in Hollywood and perhaps Hollywood wasn't interested in him, although he dabbled, starring opposite Ava Gardner in 1960 war drama The Angel Wore Red. Instead, there was a mutual attraction between him and auteurs. One of these was Joseph Losey, whose 1963 film The Servant is an immaculately crafted exploration of the power struggle between the wealthy and clueless Tony (James Fox) and his Machiavellian manservant Hugo Barrett (Dirk). The film was scripted by Harold Pinter, and Bogarde filled those famous Pinter pauses with crafty looks galore. "He conveyed thought and people read his thoughts," said his co-star Fox in a the 2000 instalment of the British TV documentary strand Legends devoted to Bogarde. Tension between the two characters burns slowly, until a climax executed with merciless triumph by Barrett. A motif across Bogarde performances is the capacity to show naked cruelty – all bone, no meat; all blade, no sheath. 1967's Accident, another Bogarde-Losey-Pinter collaboration, is so full of dread that it is nearly unbearable. Bogarde worked with Losey a total of five times (1954's The Sleeping Tiger, 1964's King and Country and 1966's Modesty Blaise were the other three) and had an extensive correspondence with both Losey and Losey's wife, Patricia. Bogarde often had a tone of brotherly exasperation at his friend and collaborator's downbeat nature. "Life is'nt [sic] all that bad, Joe. It can, actually, be fun if you try!" went a postcard dated 16 October 1969 from Villa Berti in Rome, where Bogarde and Forwood had just relocated from the UK. His European era The Losey films marked the start of Bogarde's dive into the more shadowy side of human nature. Once installed in Italy, he worked twice with Luchino Visconti, first on The Damned (1969), and then on Death in Venice (1971). The latter, an adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella, evidences Bogarde's mastery of micro-acting via finickity movements, flare ups of quickly quelled distress, and even the pompous way he eats a strawberry. His sickly composer Gustav Von Aschenbach (based on Gustav Mahler, whose music forms the score) is adrift and alone as he indulges a silent obsession with Tadzio, the embodiment of youth and beauty in the Mann original, lent an overt sexual gauze in Visconti's adaptation. This is particularly troubling in light of the abuses Bjorn Andreson, the 14-year-old Swedish actor playing Tadzio, suffered afterwards, as chronicled in a new documentary, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World – the title that Visconti ascribed to his teenage star while they were promoting Death in Venice at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. For his part of Von Aschenbach, who has fled to Venice after tragedy and humiliation, Bogarde's dialogue is mainly choleric outbursts at hotel staff. Otherwise, his face performs a mute dance of longing and regret; life flashing before his eyes and amounting to less than the flesh and blood boy before him. For the finale, he has a make-over in the clownish bourgeois manner of the time: all white face powder, rosy lips and jet-black hair. As the wretched von Aschenbach lies in a deckchair, dye sweating down his face, it's hard to recall the clean-cut matinee idol who launched a thousand magazine covers. Bogarde did this to himself whole-heartedly, writing to Visconti afterwards: "It seems incredible to me that the film is over only by a few weeks… I am very nostalgic for it and for Gustav... and always for you." The most divisive – and, indeed, my favourite – Bogarde film was yet to come. There could scarcely be a more controversial subject than that of Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter (1974). Set in 1957, it sees Bogarde play Max, a night porter in a Viennese hotel, living quietly, hiding from his past identity as a Nazi officer. One day, concentration camp survivor, Lucia (Charlotte Rampling), visits the hotel and they rekindle a sadomasochistic relationship that began in the camp. What sounds from its top-line like poor-taste pornography is infused with strange powers: although Lucia should hate Max, he makes sense to her somehow. Neither character can move on from this one indelible moment in history which binds them together in abjection. The troubling Death in Venice saw Bogarde play a sickly composer indulging a silent obsession with a teenage boy (Credit: Alamy) Cavani had been impressed by Bogarde in The Servant, she tells BBC Culture: "He gave a performance made of subtlety and skill so, when I was able to make my film, I wanted only him." She was taken by her agent to meet Bogarde at his home, which was now on the Côte d'Azur in France, and realised she had truly found her Max. "He was indeed my protagonist; he exuded intelligence, curiosity and restlessness." There followed a night of enviable bonding and excess. "I had a child's command of English, so we spoke French to each other the whole evening, over dinner and whisky afterwards. On the way back to the airport my agent asked what we had discussed. I told her we had drunk a bit, but with all the lucidity I could muster I declared that he was my main character. The next day he couldn't really remember the conversation either but he agreed to do the film." Bogarde and Rampling were equally well cast, sharing a deep magnetism. "Every actor has his own inner orchestra, a kind of expressive instrumentation that can be very rich, which was the case with Dirk," says Cavani, "Without Dirk's inner richness – and Charlotte Rampling's as well – my film might have become a turbid little story. Instead, Dirk and Charlotte went deep into their characters, holding on to them so tightly, they almost lost themselves." The idea for these characters had fermented in Cavani over time, fuelled by the years she has spent mired in research for other projects: both watching "kilometres of film" on the Third Reich for La Storia del Terzo Reich, a four-episode series broadcast on Italy's RAI TV from 1965-66, and conducting interviews herself for her one-off 1965 documentary on the same channel, La donna della resistenza, about women who had participated in the Resistance struggle. "I interviewed two partisan women who had survived the concentration camps, one in Dachau and the other in Auschwitz," says Cavani. "The Dachau survivor was a teacher from Cuneo who went to Dachau during her holidays in order to not forget and to bear witness. The Auschwitz survivor had left her family and lived alone because she did not want to keep hearing the same advice: 'Forget everything!'" Why did Dirk want to play a character defined by the most horrific act of the 20th Century? "He'd seen a lot of bad stuff," says Coldstream, referring to Bogarde's time in the Allied Forces during World War Two, when he visited the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp following its liberation. "The darker side of humanity had been unveiled to him and he knew how badly people could treat each other in life. He was shielded from a lot of that because he had a very happy relationship himself, but he was fascinated by the depths that people would go to." Bogarde's most controversial career choice was his role as Nazi officer Max in sadomasochistic romance The Night Porter (Credit: Alamy) In an interview for the Legends documentary, Charlotte Rampling says of Bogarde: "He was for me a good and great man, but he wasn't a goody-goody, that's for sure." Her mouth then curves in delight: "He was wicked." This is correct. He was irreverent and unshocked by taboos, drawn to edgy material, not to provoke, but to show a lesser-seen side of human nature. He regularly rejected praise that he was "brave" as he was driven by integrity, acting out his interests with an acid sense of humour, and choosing to collaborate with idiosyncratic greats who also included John Schlesinger (1965's Darling), Alain Resnais (1977's Providence), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1978's Despair) and Bertrand Tavernier (1990's Daddy Nostalgie). Across the final two decades of his life, before his death in 1999, the inveterate letter-writer almost gave up on acting, and instead turned to public penmanship in the form of six novels, ten memoirs, and wide-ranging forms of journalism. His writing is indecently great; crisp, funny, detailed and full of the feelings that powered his acting. After Forwood died from cancer in 1988, Bogarde became a book reviewer for The Telegraph at literary editor Nicholas Shakespeare's suggestion. "Nicholas didn't know it at the time , but it was he who chucked a plank across the ravine for me," wrote Bogarde in the introduction to his journalism collection For The Time Being, When Shakespeare moved on, it was Coldstream, in fact, who became Bogarde's editor. At the beginning of our call, Coldstream says simply of his old friend and colleague: "I miss him". Looking back at his career inspires a sense of loss – not only for Bogarde as an actor, but for a personality that served higher ideals than box-office bottom lines, and deeper truths than a wipe-clean image. Perhaps the modern star most comparable to him is Robert Pattinson, who turned his back on mega stardom after the Twilight franchise to make strange, transgressive films with directors like David Cronenberg, The Safdie Brothers and Claire Denis. Still, Pattinson's choices are artistically niche with a side of nihilism, rather than morally challenging, and hence he is tame by comparison. There is no one today like Dirk Bogarde. Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

I see the points you're making here. As for "never experience unrequited love"; well you know for a fact that isn't the case!

https://deadline.com/2021/03/jessica-walter-dead-actress-arrested-development-1234721873/ Jessica Walter Dies: Emmy-Winning ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Archer’ Actress Was 80 Jessica Walter, the award-winning actress whose career spanned five decades, passed away in her sleep at home in New York City on Wednesday, March 24. She was 80. Walter’s career included everything from a standout turn in Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me, to The Flamingo Kidand her Emmy-nominated turns on Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco. For her performance as Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Walter earned yet another Emmy nomination (Outstanding Supporting Actress) and two SAG nominations. Walter won an Emmy starring in Amy Prentiss, an Ironside spinoff in the mid-1970s about a young San Francisco police detective. She also voiced Malory Archer on FXX’s animated series Archer. Speaking of SAG, Walter served as 2nd National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild, and was an elected member of the SAG Board of Directors for over a decade. Walter began her career in her hometown of New York City where she appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Advise and Consent, Neil Simon’s Rumors, A Severed Head, Nightlife and Photo Finish, for which she earned the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Also on stage, Walter worked at New York’s Playwright’s Horizons and the Los Angeles Theater Center, where she starred in Tartuffeopposite the late Ron Leibman, her Emmy- and Tony-winning husband. She also starred in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which picked up several Tony Awards. Walter is survived by daughter Brooke Bowman, who is SVP Drama Programming at Fox Entertainment, and grandson Micah Heymann. Bowman said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off. While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre.” In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

Gorgeous in Grand Prix.

So, I have had a few encounters with famous celebrities over the years, but they would not fall into the "classic" movie star classification. In October 1982, the college I was attending hosted a sci-fi convention of sorts. They had panel discussions and a few TV stars showed up. The one person that was there who I considered to be very important, at least to me was Star Trek's James Doohan who had portrayed Scotty in the original series. After the discussion was over they formed an autograph line and I got in the line. After about an hour or so it was my turn to meet Mr. Doohan. He was ever so gracious and seemed very happy to meet another fan. I said something to him and he asked me several questions about my background and what my interests were and he then signed a book that had a picture of him in his Star Trek II uniform. It was great that I was able to meet him and shake his hand, the hand that was missing a finger, the finger he so conveniently hid during most of his onscreen appearances. In 1985, my best friend was a journalism major at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and he wrote for the college newspaper. He was given an exclusive pass for a screening of the film White Nights that starred Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines and Helen Mirren. Unbeknownst to my friend and I, after the screening, the film's director Taylor Hackford and one of his cast members' were going to appear for a question and answer session. The cast member was Helen Mirren who at the time was Hackford's main squeeze. We did not know that of course. So after the session was over, they were serving drinks and refreshments and we were all standing around and I just went up to Ms. Mirren and asked her if I could ask a question of her. I asked her what type of lessons and or if she had difficulty learning to speak Russian not only in this film but in the film 2010 which had been released the year before where she portrayed a Russian cosmonaut. She was very interested that I asked her about this and for the next few minutes told me that she had spoken Russian from an early age and that her father was Russian. It was very interesting speaking with her and instead of coming off as a distant movie star, she really engaged with me and I really felt like she was just as common as I was. And then there was the time when the friend who got me in to meet Helen Mirren and I attended a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. After the game we were standing near the ramp where the Cubs radio and TV broadcasters would walk down from the press box to exit the stadium. All of a sudden, Harry Carey, Lou Boudreau, and Vince Lloyd came strolling down the ramp. There they were right in front of us. Of course my friend was a great admirer of Lou Boudreau and Vince Lloyd. They stopped and chatted with us for a few minutes, since we were the only fans around them. Carey had a beer bottle in his hand and appeared already intoxicated, where as Boudreau and Lloyd seemed to appear quite sober. It was a highlight from my youth!!! My wife Annie met Debbie Reynolds at the airport in Philadelphia one year when she had to travel to Erie, PA. Her flight landed in Philly and to get to the other gate she had to request one of those motorized carts to take her there. When she boarded the cart there was another woman seated there and when Annie got in she realized it was Debbie Reynolds. Annie made what she thought was a cute remark by saying that the woman looked a lot like Debbie Reynolds at which point Ms. Reynolds glared back at her and told her that she did not want to be disturbed and that she did not want to be recognized. She was wearing thick sunglasses and had a scarf over her head. My wife told me that anyone could have seen that it was her anyway. My wife said her demeanor was that of a rather rude person. They rode together for about five minutes and when it came time for my wife to exit the cart, she looked at Ms. Reynolds who said nothing to her.

I've met quite a few folks over the years. I had street encounters with Dane Clark (the first was nice, the second very sad as he had lost quite a bit of his awareness), Joseph Wiseman (a wonderful gentleman), George Kennedy (an innoccuous meeting) and several NY actors whom I admired. I hosted a screening of LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN for Joan Fontaine and CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR for Celeste Holm, both at the Players Club in Gramercy Park. Best of all was my visit with Allan Jones. Jones learned I had a print of THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE which he had not seen since 1940. He called me up and asked if I could make him a VHS copy. So I transferred the print and went up to his apartment on Central Park West. He was as nice as could be and, in return for SYRACUSE, he had prepared copies of videos he shot at the Universal Jivin' Jacks and Jills Reunions (2) and Bob Cummings' 80th Birthday Party. I was also privileged to attend the final reunion of the THIS IS THE ARMY Company at Sardi's. The climax of the evening was my screening of a restored 16mm print (long before Warners dug out their original negative).

It would be amusing to watch you try. Omar Sharif and Julie Christie in: Doctor Zhivago (1965). Fur and sheepskin were most used because of their durability, warmth and elegance.

From 1985: La Vaquilla (The Heifer). 1985. Luis García Berlanga. Spain. Comedy. With Alfredo Landa, José Sacristán, Santiago Ramos, Guillermo Montesinos. A small town on the Nationalist side is about to organize a religious festival that includes a bull run and a bullfight; a nearby Republican platoon decides to steal the heifer for food and to ruin the festivities. Hilarious comedy set during the Spanish Civil War that skewers the Spanish conservatives of the time and takes a few funny jabs at the Republican side, too. García Berlanga directs with his usual skill blending farce with social commentary --the absurdity of war no matter on which side we are. Some scenes border on Surrealism, yet Berlanga keeps the movie on track and never lets go. Guillermo Montesinos gives my favorite performance as the impatient soldier whose ex-girlfriend is now conveniently dating a Nationalist Officer. La Vaquilla is not as highly regarded as Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall or La Escopeta Nacional, but it is among my favorites of his movies.

Oh God, do I HAVE to?

The name combination has a law firm ring to it. Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre appeared in 9 films together, most of which are currently streaming on WatchTCM (with April 23rd expiration dates) - The Maltese Falcon (1941) Casablanca (1942) Background to Danger (1943) Passage to Marseille (1944) The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) The Conspirators (1944) Hollywood Canteen (1944) Three Strangers (1946) The Verdict (1946) Always love seeing TCM runs like this one. Got a favorite film with the combo? Recommendation? I'm not sure if the two were even friends but one would assume so given the number of movies they did together within a 6 year period. Having only watched Casablanca I'm looking forward to viewing the rest over the next month.

Tilly, Jennifer

Compared to Don Knotts Tom Lester was Cary Grant. Say what you will about Mary Grace Canfield, but she had a pretty nice rack.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON BAD BASCOMB OREGON TRAIL SANTA FE TRAIL CALIFORNIA TRAIL

Fay Templeton is only on briefly but gets to wear these great hats in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY: and this cool feathered headdress:

My favorite is: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944). It allows Peter Lorre to demonstrate what a fine actor he is when free from bad scripts or secondary roles.

I love TCM Underground because Myra Breckenridge was shown on it. I nearly broke a hip getting to the remote to hit record.

I kinda scooted the bar stool a little to the left and caught her attention. I said, “Look, my friend Dargo is older this year and still likes that movie The Third Man, what do you think?” “I’ve heard of Dargo,” she said, “I like a good film noir myself but I hate to have to read anything into anything.” “That’s what I said to Dargo,” I told her.

I've mentioned this before in a thread a long, long time ago. Met Angela Lansbury, Alexis Smith and Chita Rivera when they were touring in shows. Also Petula Clark after a concert. Nothing exciting to report. Smith and Clark were in autograph lines. Chita (a concert type tour) was backstage. Angela was in her trailer. (I was very nervous to be in such close quarters. I had written to her beforehand and she agreed to meet me). All were nice.

Good Morning, Miss Dove

Night of the Hunter Next: riches to rags

Toldja I had a hat similar to Doris' multicolor straw cone, haha. It's missing a ball in front. My hatboxes 3 to 4 high on top of the closet, filled with stacked hats. I use a legend to locate them: Don't think I'll be wearing either of the furs displayed for another 6-8 months.

Reading that review almost put me to sleep. Reminded me how much I don't miss Vincent Canby. Half the review isn't even about the movie. It could have been the Daily News. They picked it as Best Picture of the Year (Wanda Hale) They used the quote in their ads.

beloved as Ma Kettle... marjorie main

I read a lot of Raymond Chandler during my school years and, though his stories weren't much and were sometimes hopelessly confusing, he had a gift for sharp one liners, as well as lyrical prose. And certainly his most famous character, private eye Philip Marlowe, has left an indelible mark as a cynical lone knight of the streets on the crime genre, including, of course, an influence on film noir films. Here's one of Chandler's most famous introductions, this time to his short story Red Wind. “There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.” That's one of the most beautiful and concise passages of writing I've had the pleasure to read, with more than a touch of sardonic humour tucked in there. Makes me want to read more. An illustration of Chandler's wit that I recall comes from The High Window: "From 30 feet she looked great. From 10 feet she looked like she had enough makeup on to look great from 30 feet."

As Judith Traherne Bette sported a nice variety of stylish headgear, from the dark forward tilt to cute flashy post-brain surgery caps.

ATHENA

SIMON & SIMON

Cecil Next: Hanyu, Yimou, Ziyi

Yes, BUT just look at what a little makeup can do to help make a woman a little more attractive... And which is something that can't be done with us men. (...nope, if a guy's ugly, he's ugly...period)

Please bear in mind that ammunition is expensive. I would have to consider if you are worth the cost. I am Cossack on my father's side. I would be a shame to my heritage if I did not handle a blade well. I keep in mind the family motto of a certain little fuzzy: "If you kill them today then you can not make them suffer tomorrow."

In my news feed I get articles about classic TV, and one that popped up was about Tom Lester, the actor who played Eb Dawson on "Green Acres," which also featured Mary Grace Canfield as one of the Monroe Brothers. Tom said that he saw Don Knotts' success in television and decided he would give it a try himself. He said his friends told him, "You can't be an actor. You're skinny and goofy and sound like a hick." Tom of course knew all that before going to Hollywood for acting work, and figured there must be parts written for skinny, goofy hicks. He was right. I can't imagine that anyone who deluded themselves about their appeal would get much further than the first audition for a sexy lead role before they see the competition is pretty tough, and if they want work, they'll have to recognize their limitations, to turn their liability in one area into an asset in another. It's probably harder for those who got started because of their good looks to come to terms with losing them.

Marie Dressler could stop clocks.

Well folks, like they say: "You can take the girl out of the Ukraine, but you can't take the Ukraine out of the girl." (...but then again, why would anybody want to, right?!)

OK. Nearly every article, review, etc of the film Mank refers to Marion Davies as a starlet. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. https://silentroomdotblog.wordpress.com/2021/03/24/marion-davies-was-no-starlet/

If you look at Jody Gilbert's credits on the IMDb, you'll see she played many parts that were not glamorous. I wonder if it was discouraging for her to be sent by an agent to casting calls, where producers were looking for hefty actresses. What was it like to play parts that often did not have names but were just referred to by size? Any woman dealing with such unflattering descriptions, and succeeding in spite of it, seems like a special person. For example: BRIGHAM YOUNG (1940) Stout woman who can't swim SERGEANT YORK (1941) Fat woman MAISIE WAS A LADY (1941) Curly the bearded lady ICELAND (1942) Fat girl WINGS OVER THE PACIFIC (1943) Native woman with black eye MINESWEEPER (1943) Fat girl in bar MUSIC FOR MILLIONS (1944) Burly woman cab driver TOGETHER AGAIN (1944) Fat woman fleeing nightclub raid LIFE WITH BLONDIE (1945) Buxom woman TWO GUYS FROM MILWAUKEE (1946) Big woman MILLION DOLLAR WEEKEND (1948) Big woman at airline counter BRIMSTONE (1949) Fat lady on stage MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST (1950) Fat woman SLAUGHTER TRAIL (1951) Fat woman at dance HOUDINI (1953) Fat girl BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) Large woman

A Trip To The Moon (1902) Ironclads (1991 TV Movie ) Thunderball (1965)

So he DOES play banjo! I always remember that clip of "The Draft-Dodger Rag" from the 60's Smothers Brothers show, but it always said that was Segal on banjo, and I'd always thought that was young Steve Martin, who got his first break on the third season: (Sure looks like young Steve, before his hair iced over...)

also also also: ME BEFORE QUARANTINE: ME RIGHT NOW:

every single "GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME" discussion NEEDS to have at least one person sitting in the third row scowling with their arms folded muttering "well, I didn't like it" under their breath before everyone else starts hitting them with their rolled-up programs and telling them to hush (the opposite case scenario being that one guy who really liked the Springtime for Hitler number in THE PRODUCERS.) Usually I am that person, so I appreciate the courage it takes. That said, I like THE THIRD MAN an awful lot, I know it was a BRITISH production, but I'm not really sure I'd call it a BRITISH FILM, odd as that may sound. I think of it more as a WORLD FILM or even EUROPEAN FILM.

To be sure, I don't disagree with Ben's views on the blacklist. It was a terrible time in our history and a blight on the entire Hollywood film community (including the guilds). But Ben repeats himself on the topic ad nauseam. No one will forget about the blacklist, believe me. Especially since few people living today have any memory of it. Most of us who know anything at all about the blacklist have either read about it or heard about it from others. Ben's heart is in the right place, but he ought to give it a rest sometimes.

I am asking that the hosts of TCM not use their platforms to push cultural and/or progressive political agendas. Please let the viewers enjoy an old film for the simple entertainment value and let the viewer make their own decisions as to what may be offensive to them. Keep TCM a cherished archive of beloved films of all genres for all people. Please keep this channel family friendly and in line with the intent to entertain and uplift, as when people walked out of movie theaters on a Saturday afternoon upbeat and forgetting their cares. As we watch our nation slowly sink into the abyss of moral decay and government control, preserve for us these treasured glimpses into years that are forever lost.

Bertrand Tavernier died today on the 25th of March.He was a very important French director .lemonde.fle-realisateur-bertrand-tavernier-est-mort_

Yes, I remember. It is one of my favorite films. You know, it's not worth arguing about. I didn't call for a ban on any film or TV show, or say that the word should be banned forevermore. In these cases, it perhaps illuminates the character using the word. I am, however, allowed to feel a slight twinge or "squirm" when I hear it being used, true? I didn't state anyone else had to share that feeling. I did say it's a juvenile jab, and I stand by that.

Turn The Key Softly 1953 next: Joan Collins, Stephen Boyd and Gregory Peck

CROSSFIRE (1947) Next: lots of thieves

The Man Who Laughs (1928) Next: A movie you'd show in a film class

Does it count at all that I did not meet an actress and her renowned actor-husband because I was thickheaded? A boy I had known a few years before was standing near the rear of the car when I boarded a train. It would have been nice to speak with him but he is of the type who reads more into such gestures than is warranted and I had no desire to renew the relationship. He was in a good suit which fit well and there was a man in an identical suit standing behind him. The only other people at that end of the car were an older couple. I felt vaguely as if I should know them but they were of a type who have a common look at that age. I gave the boy a little wave and braced myself to go to say hello but a person in front of me approached him and I took his distraction as an opportunity to slip into a seat unnoticed. I saw at times during the trip that a person would go there and be either turned away by him or allowed to speak to the older couple. I met the boy nearly a month later at a train station. He explained that he had become a bodyguard with Studio Ekran to keep fans at bay while stars travel to film locations. His suit fit so well because it had been made for him by studio's wardrobe department. He was quite proud of it because the fact that he was well-dressed was the only reason a certain girl let him talk to her. She was now his wife and they had a baby girl. I had to ooh and ahh over a good two dozen pictures he carried of them. The couple he had been guarding that day was an actress who I loved despite she had not made a movie which I liked in several decades. Her husband was a considerable name and was making a television movie for the studio because the couple needed the money and had to fulfill a favor. He said that he would have allowed me to speak with them for a little while had I approached them. The fact that I did not recognize two luminaries of the cinema world and I did not want the boy to think I remained interested in him caused me to miss a grand opportunity. It is far from the only time when my thickheadedness proved my undoing but it is high on the list.

CAPOTE (2006)