Princess of Tap

Georges Guétary

I regret I'm too late to get in on this conversation because it looks like a lot of fun. My mother lived to be 100 years old. And unfortunately in the end she died of colon cancer. I don't have any problems with people making jokes about anyone who lives to be a hundred; it's quite wonderful, my mother was quite lucid till the end. Everyone has some kind of family condition that they have to live with; there's nothing unusual about that. And having a particular family condition doesn't make you special-- or deserving of special consideration - - it just makes you human. But I didn't get on here to talk about my family condition. Several years back they turned our local Auditorium into a Performing Arts Center. And we were fortunate to get a lot of great acts to come and open it like Ben Vereen and Dionne Warwick. But the most memorable opening act was Shirley Jones. She was just as beautiful on stage as she had looked in the movie The Music Man so many decades ago. She told the story of her life - - how when she'd given up all hope of succeeding in Show Business, she was discovered by Rodgers and Hammerstein and put in the Roadshow of South Pacific, of all things! Then they picked her to play the movie lead's in Oklahoma! and Carousel. What a story! But I had come for just one thing-- to hear her sing Till There Was You. I heard Paul McCartney sing it once with The Beatles and he did a pretty good job. But this was even better, after listening to that record all those years. Shirley Jones is truly a great entertainer and a beautiful woman. Hopefully that's the essence of what Fra was trying to say.

Sepia-- Here's the problem with the Patty Duke Show-- For example, if you had a young Laurence Olivier and you could do anything with him, would you star him in Dobie Gillis? As for the show itself - - it was a tour-de-force, who else could have played both those parts so well. It simply was a waste of talent for this girl to be playing situational TV like that at that time in her career.

There's Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge and The Bridge of San Luis Rey-- Song, singer, composer/lyricist and movie

Vic Fleming's last movie helped to Typecast this actress into notoriety, Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc.

Hint#2--This British actor who idolized Richard Burton is very much alive today and still making movies.

Is this a secret heart throb for you Terrence from your childhood? She certainly not a household name. Joan O'Brien appeared in Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant and was in It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis. But she did lot of TV so I know I must have seen her a lot too.

Dick Powell Next: Ida Lupino or Howard Duff?

Shirley tap danced with a lot of great dancers, one of which was Jack Haley.

I really love this song - - Better Luck Next Time from Easter Parade sung by Judy Garland. I forgot to say that it was written by Irving Berlin.

I love him!- - but not quite that young, Marsha.

2) During the 1964 Hard Day's Night summer, Dean Martin knocked the Beatles, The Beach Boys, the Supremes, and the Four Seasons out of the number one Top 40 slot with the hit song Everybody Loves Somebody. Everybody Loves Somebody became Dean Martin's signature tune and sold a million copies. Apparently he recorded the song as bet with his son Dino (Dino, Desi & Billy) that he could kick The Beatles out of the number one spot in spite of the tsunami of the British Invasion summer.

McKellan-- I love James Whale. Next: Tab Hunter or Tony Perkins?

I was always so disappointed that Patty Duke was saddled with that stupid TV show. Her managers just wanted the money. Then there were always those rumors that her managers, who acted as her de facto guardians, had actually sexually molested her. Before she made the movie and got the Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, she had done all that live on Broadway-- An unbelievably demanding role for a child. She had no childhood - -or real family because her mother had given her up to those managers at an early age. She was a Brave, Courageous Survivor, becoming the queen of the made-for-tv movie in the seventies and eighties. It just makes me sad to think of her potential - - she should have been the Katharine Hepburn or the Bette Davis of her generation. FYI concerning Lucille Ball--she knew that Patty suffered from mental illness and she was just trying to protect her son. Lucy was just being a mother.

Going to have to say no on Marlon Brando. Anyone who even had a halting knowledge of his career knew that he started on Broadway in Streetcar Named Desire. And that part of his fame was that he didn't pronounce words like other actors on stage. People were always imitating Marlon Brando on television in the 1950s; it was very common and they still do it. As recently as the 90s, you can see the character Elaine do it in Seinfeld. Also I don't recall in the 50s or sixties Marlon Brando being a heartthrob for young teenage girls. He was a big movie star, but he was no Ricky Nelson type teen Idol.

No. Hint: British actor in a younger generation.

Hint-- this actor was a heartthrob for some of his young fans.

Terrence, that's right , the frenetic and incendiary Miss Betty Hutton. Terrence, you're up!

Azure, I had always known that Irving Pichel had discovered Natalie Wood but doing research for this question, I was quite surprised to discover his amazing career and life. First off he started as an actor and he played The Cult favorite role Sandor,the servant of Dracula's daughter If you take a closer look at your film examples, you'll noticed, obviously, that he didn't direct those films-- you've got a list of films that he appeared in as an actor. This makes him very unique--to go on acting while he was a successful director. Two of his noir films have become legendary - - Quicksand Starring Mickey Rooney and They Won't Believe Me starring Robert Young. Pichel directed the early career of his protégé Natalie Wood from discovering her in Happy Land to featuring her in the Bride Wore Boots and Tomorrow Is Forever. Some of his other notable films are Santa Fe starring Randolph Scott, OSS starring Alan Ladd, and A Medal for Benny, which led to a supporting actor Oscar nomination for J.Carol Naish. Being a Christian socialist, who made fervent anti- Nazi movies, led Pichel to be targeted by the McCarthy Blacklist. This shortened his Hollywood career and forced him to work abroad. Azure-- you're right; it's all yours--

Jane Fonda was not the person I was thinking of but she does fit all of the criteria. It's a well-known fact that Jane Fonda had a career with her first husband director Roger Vadim and other French film directors in France. She also participated in the film industry in England. Vadim positioned her into a sex symbol role with the film Barbarella. Vadim was experienced in this kind of work because he had masterminded the career of his previous wife Brigitte Bardot into the sex kitten symbol of the world. GPF-- it's your turn--

No, Henry Fonda's family was not in Show Business.

No, this actress was best- known as a comedic actress. Some would even say frenetic-comedic actress. June Allyson's dancing in the Vitaphone shorts and in Good News is way above average. The actress we're talking about was critiqued by others for her limited singing and dancing abilities.

This actress started as a singer in a big band, though she wasn't much of a singer. She went on to appear on Broadway in a musical which led to a Hollywood contract. She danced in musicals, but it was said that she wasn't much of a dancer either. She acted in dramas with emotion, but the public preferred her as a comedienne. Her singing and dancing was strictly for kicks. Who are we talking about?

My father was a famous actor. I never thought that I could live up to his name. But I made quite a name for myself in the movies in the late fifties and early sixties. I suppose I was a movie star. In addition to the Hollywood movies, I made movies abroad and I appeared on Broadway. I was even nominated for an Academy Award. Do you know me?

Hint-- this director had to relocate abroad in order to continue working because it was blacklisted.