Princess of Tap

I saw Judy Lewis in a Perry Mason episode. I didn't know she was in the episode or really what she looked like at that stage in her life. But after about 20 minutes I just guessed it was her. She looks so much like both her parents. I don't know how much acting she went on to do - - her obituary on this website said she had become some kind of a psychologist.

Cave Girl-- I made it to a coed dorm at the end of the sixties. That sounds very modern, but all the freshmen girls had curfews. Of course, the freshmen boys did not have a curfew. The first week I was in the coed dorm, a girl on my floor was caught with a boy in her room. She was kicked out of the dorm, no discussion,no questions. And just another cultural note from the late 60s- - in my high school girls were not allowed to wear pants unless it was a special occasion. Times have really changed - - but outside of school, everyone wore pants or shorts anyway, unless it was a special occasion. Maybe we'll talk about white gloves some other time--LOL

Bye Bye Birdie

I saw West Side Story first run at a drive-in theater. It was perfect for Panavision 70 - - But I think you are going to have a hard time finding a drive- in still showing movies in this day and age though. The drive-in I went to is now a Wal-Mart.

Miles, this one's for you--

I think Speed Racer and I are the only two people who have recognized that unbelievable character actor who was on the brink of stardom when he died, Laird Cregar. Has anybody else got a kind word for this great actor who was in the midst of Reinventing himself when he died. I Wake Up Screaming was a memorable performance by Laird Cregar. Unfortunately his greatest role to date, Hangover Square, had to be released postumusly in 1945. I invite you to reconsider this fine character actor in the next few weeks as we discuss Cinema in the 1940's. My own personal favorite portrayal is his menacingly cruel characterization in This Gun for Hire in 1942 against Alan Ladd. He pushed Laddie's buttons to an all time high.

Cave Girl--you're right on target with all this ancient dirt. My favorite story about these people comes around the time they were making Country Girl. One night William Holden and Bing Crosby nearly had a car crash, collision in the driveway of Grace Kelly's house. Reportedly seniority and top billing, i.e., Bing won out. I'll let somebody else tell you about the Mogambo location shoot in Africa, and Clark Gable's false teeth upsetting Grace Kelly, while Sinatra was rushing in to take care of Gable-- fortunately for all of us music fans that wasn't necessary.

Lawrence-- Thanks for doing this. I would never have remembered her name. Madeleine was outstanding in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as the mother of the " no-neck monsters". Looking at her in a photo as that character today-- always pregnant, with all those kids and her attitude in the role-- do you think Tennessee Williams knew Ethel Kennedy very well? I think she even looks like Ethel Kennedy in this still photo.

Miles, when I picked this actress it was because I loved the movie she was in with Broderick Crawford, a murder mystery, where she did comedy and sang. I liked her so much that I bought the VHS and the DVD. Researching her for this question was the first time I realized that she was big in The Westerns. I knew it wouldn't be long before you showed up. So honestly I had no way of knowing that this was gonna be your question--but it's yours and you're up! Go, Miles--

Dargo-- Thing is in the midwest we were in the middle of everything --that is Kansas University, we had a real separation of groups out there. We still had the strong Chi Omega Greek group. And there were alots of people who wanted to do that. But we also had a strong contingent of hippies, some people who probably weren't even in school, who had a strong anti-war mass movement on campus and in the college town. It was a strong Counter Culture that was in the minority - - but there were a lot of them. Somebody blew up the business building. And somebody burned down the Union. They tried to blaim it on SDS, but they never could prove anything For the average student, like myself, there were just a lot of people who joined frats and just as many people who didn't want to have anything to do with it. On campus during my stay, we had Vietnam War riots, we had race riots, we had local Vigilantes who just hated hippies. We had a lot of fun. LOL

Thanx-- I started out as a band singer. But I wanted to be an actress, so I went to Hollywood. I appeared in a murder mystery with comedic over tones, but I ended up mainly in westerns. Do you know me?

June Allyson

I'm going to have to make a confession here - - I once went to a Star Trek convention and I attended a lecture given by Mr. Scott. Full disclosure - - it was only a few blocks from my apartment and I was able to walk and someone gave me a free ticket. Some guy dressed like Spock was sitting next to me. I felt a little uncomfortable but since everybody else was dressed that way, I guess I was the only person who looked odd to them. And the place was full of Kibbles - - I think I spelled that right. Well I found out that Mr. Scott was really James Doohan and that it wasn't from Scotland and he didn't have a Scottish accent. He was from Canada. He talked about his early days in Show Business, as an actor on radio. He was very nice and a regular guy.

When I see questions like these that makes me kind of sad. Because I had grandparents and parents who told me about their experiences and I wasn't so isolated to think that people 50 60 70 80 years ago lived the way people are living now. So much of society that you're seeing today has only been happening in this crudely- open vulgar manner in the last 25 or so years. I think it's called historical perspective - - that may be what's wrong with America today, young people don't even know where America was 30 40 50 years ago. So how can you know where you're going? I'm not as old as the people in your video, but when I went to college pledging a sorority was a very big deal. With the Advent of rock and roll music in the 1950s and 60's - it was very common for girls to dance with other girls at parties and even on American Bandstand on TV. It was no big deal if there were no boys around to dance with - - or, you know, there were no boys who would ask you to dance. Absolutely has nothing to do with anything sexual. All this extreme display of sex in the United States the started in the late sixties. Prior to that people had more, I wouldn't say sexual self control, but I would say self control in terms of what they would say and do in public. Today it's completely the opposite from the way it was in the 1950s. You can say that we have more open discussion about sex, in some regard that's good. But on the other hand we have just a lot of rampant vulgarity in the society. I feel sorry for children who are growing up in this society today. Because they're going to get a very warped idea of sex and have difficulty in having having respect fortheir own body. I apologize for giving you such a long answer when you asked a simple question. Your question made me want to explain the situation in a broad manner. In the 1950s when we were children - - we were sheltered in every way and not exposed to pornography or rampant vulgarity in the society. Not just your parents, but the society wanted to help you to have decent childhood. There were just a number of things you couldn't say and you couldn't do on television not because the adults were prudes, but because children were watching.

Best Supporting Performances in 1941 Best Supporting Actress 1)** Maria Ouspenskaya**- - The Wolfman 2) Mary Astor - - The Great Lie 3) Hattie McDaniel - - The Great Lie 4) Ida Lupino--High Sierra 5) Agnes Moorehead - - Citizen Kane Honorable mention-- Lee Patrick - - The Maltese Falcon Fay Helm - - The Wolfman Best Supporting Actor 1)** Laird Cregar**-- I Wake Up Screaming 2) Peter Lorre - - The Maltese Falcon 3) Walter Brennan - - Meet John Doe 4) Sydney Greenstreet - The Maltese Falcon 5) Charles Coburn - - The Lady Eve (tied) 5) Elisha Cook Jr - - The Maltese Falcon Honorable mention - - Elisha Cook Jr - I Wake Up Screaming Claude Rains - - The Wolfman

My Favorite Performances of 1941 Best Actor 1)** Humphrey Bogart**-- The Maltese Falcon 2) Orson Welles - - Citizen Kane 3) Gary Cooper - - Meet John Doe 4) Lon Chaney jr. - - The Wolfman 5) Cary Grant - - Suspicion (Tied) 5) Herbert Marshall - - The Little Foxes Honorable mention-- Joel McCrea - - Sullivan's Travels Leslie Howard - - Pimpernel Smith Cary Grant - - Penny Serenade Best Actress 1)** Barbara Stanwyck** - - Meet John Doe 2) Barbara Stanwyck - - The Lady Eve 3) Mary Astor - - The Maltese Falcon 4) Bette Davis - - The Little Foxes 5) Irene Dunne - - Penny Serenade Honorable mention - - Bette Davis - - The Great Lie Evelyn Ankers - - The Wolfman

I never studied dance with Tommy Rall, but I had a friend who did. She took tap dancing from him at some northwestern university in Washington or Oregon. I don't know if that's how he ended up his dance career days, teaching dance in higher education. Oh, by the way - - she told me that he thought Fred Astaire was a better dancer than Gene Kelly.

Oh, I don't know Miss Wonderly. If you had a thread about your interest in music, I think I would read it. Miss--I actually met Stevie Winwood once at Midway Airport in Chicago. So I got a chance to tell him how much I liked his music and Spencer Davis. LOL

Oh, my God that's Jason all grown up. I remember when he was born. But, oh, he can sing-- you've just got to hear Jason sing. His mother must be so proud of him!

I left out the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb - - because they're so much a part of my life I don't even think of them as being separate from my spirit. Hopefully everybody knows Joe Cocker is a given. I hope some of the kids on this website know who Joe Cocker is. And I hope the people my age can still remember, who he is. LOL I was into Rod Stewart when he was into the sexy faze and that's about the extent of it. I have the upmost respect and love for Annie Lennox and Chrissie Hynde. And when it comes to the brothers Andy Gibb and Jermaine Jackson, those two were my favorites. I'm sure Bryan Ferry and Bryan Adams ect have their fans and I'm not one of them. The only Brians that I love are Brian Wilson and Brian Jones. And since somebody requested it--what kind of music I really like --I love George Michael I love George Michael-- Queen and Freddie Mercury. C'est Tout!

Her name is Barbra and She's the Greatest Star!

Miss Wonderly - - if I had a fast list my top people in the seventies and eighties would be: *Michael Jackson* Hall & Oates Genesis Don Henley Phil Collins Earth Wind & Fire Robert Palmer Stevie Wonder The Eagles Marvin Gaye Thompson Twins Tears for Fears Jermaine Jackson Gino Vannelli Stevie Winwood I was just saying that David Bowie and Prince are at the top of the line period for a long period Of time. About the people I've listed, those are my favorite artists for the seventies and eighties. Who do you like?

Please include--Jimi, Carl and Dennis Wilson and The Marvelous Marvin Gaye.

Fra & Lawrence-- I like what both of you had to say. Because I could say neither Prince nor David Bowie was part of the soundtrack of my life. However, they were part of the foundational tapestry of rock and roll music in my life. I never bought a Prince record; I think I bought one David Bowie. But they were what kept rock and roll on a High Level after the Beatles broke up-- and we went through so many drug-related deaths. They both were also cultural phenomenons, who didn't give a damn what other people thought of them. I truly admired that. You might say, I took them for granted. They were both perfect and I knew it-- just not a part of my generation. The same can be said for Michael Jackson. Now that I look back on it, I loved their videos, and I would never get out of the car until one of their songs had finished. Sometimes, you have to lose something before you realize how much it meant to you.

I think it was the great non-musician Spike Jones who said, " there's no crime in making bad music, the only crime in show business is being an ignorant a******. PS-- is there room for Miley Cyrus in this group?