Careers Cut Short

[alix1929]

Many actors & actresses careers are cut short--by a bad picture, publicity, suicide, voluntary retirement or forced retirement, illness and death.

 

Who, in your opinions, deserved a much longer career than they actually had?

 

I think Clara Bow deserved much more, and definitely better than she received at the hands of her studios. She had so many strikes against her--bad publicity, rotten scripts, emotional baggage--and yet she just shines in the pictures I've seen her in. I think it's a shame her career ended in 1933 with HOOP-LA.

 

Another one is Jean Harlow. She at the time of her death, she was moving into more meaty & less "vamp" roles. What a loss.

[normandie7]

Rudolph Valentino. I always wondered if he would have made a smooth transition to talkies.

[erzbet]

John Gilbert. I always wondered if his screen voice wasn't deliberately sabotaged.

[alix1929]

I wondered about Gilbert too. I've seen three of his talkies, and in all three he seems to have a decent "voice."

 

I sort of think Mayer, or the studio sound techs had it in for him, and messed with his voice.

[alix1929]

Valentino -- I don't know if he would or not. His style of acting was on the way out by 1929. He might, however, turned into a gangster persona. He had the dark good looks, and foreign accent. Another Latin sex symbol, Ramon Novarro, did make the transition, due to his decent singing voice, but didn't last too long after that.

 

[vallo13]

Roscoe "fatty" Arbuckle what ever he supposedly did his career was over,also Carole Landis,only 29 yrs. when she committed suicide.

[normandie7]

Another life and career cut short was Sharon Tate. What a tragic story. I thought her acting career would have gone far..

[alix1929]

Roscoe Arbuckle is a good one. I would desperately like to see the shorts he did in the early 1930's before his death. Supposedly, they were very good, and could have revived his career, had he lived. Of course, by then he was fighting serious depression and alcohol. Who knows.

[richardny4me]

Of all the people caught up in the HUAC blacklist, among the saddest victims were MGM musical star Betty Garrett, and the film and stage actress Marsha Hunt. Both were talented yet both saw their careers come to a virtual standstill, I believe due to who were their spouses. Both are still alive, and Betty Garrett later did a lot of television, but I have seen interviews with each and they each expressed regret about their lost opportunities.

 

John Garfield's death at the age of 39 was a big loss, imagine what kind of roles he would have played in his 40s and 50s.

[allycat1920]

There are a few but the biggest for me is Carole Lombard. She was so good and so funny that I am sure she would have done some amazing films. Another person I wish had done more films is Grace Kelly. She left film more or less voluntarily but I loved her in just about everything and 11 films just isn't enough

[flickerknickers]

Frances Farmer was on her way to major stardom until her inner demons destroyed her career. I often wonder what type of career she would have had if she had only received therapy and had a strong manager/agent? It's like she came to Hollywood in l936 with a giant chip on her shoulder and it only grew larger as her success in films rocketed upwards. Another tragic career was that of bad blonde Barbara Payton. She was also on the path to major stardom until her wild ways took over and she became unemployable. Does anybody remember Jean Seberg? She won a nationwide talent hunt to become Otto Preminger's "Joan of Arc" which bombed. Yet, she managed to find sensational success in Europe until it all collapsed due to mental problems. If only...

[johnnyweekes70]

As alleycat1920 noted, Carole Lombard's premature death is one of the greatest losses film ever had. She was so talented, beautiful and would have probably ended up making some Hitchcock films better with her inimitable presence. Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable all smoked too much and should have enjoyed careers at least into the '70s. Bogart would have made a great cantakerous old man in '70s cinema. Who knows what Ross Alexander or Robert Williams would have done, even Marilyn. And poor Warren Oates should still be flashing that ridiculously toothy grin. And then there's Tyrone Power...

[therealfuster]

took my choice of Barbara Payton, who I really do find some simpatico with..even in her B-vehicles and one wishes she had a Svengali who could have used her to advantage in better films.

 

So...I will nominate Susan Peters, who though a lesser star, did show promise, till a tragic fate took down any hope of a further career.

 

While a student at Max Reinhardt's drama school, Susan was signed by a Warner's scout, and finally after a few false starts in less than important films, was cast in "Random Harvest" as Colman's daughter, and her career seemed finally off to a promising beginning. But it was not to be, when she became permanently paralyzed from the waist down in 1945, due to a hunting accident. Married at the time to co-actor, Richard Quine, they soon divorced, some say because she felt herself to be a burden on him. Finally a film return was made by Susan, in the fascinating study of a seemingly kind hearted woman [who is really a raging control freak] called "The Sign of the Ram" [1948], where Susan portrays a woman as power hungry as Joan Crawford in "Queen Bee". In this film, Susan utilized her own situation as a woman wheelchair bound, and was rivetting.Unfortunately this movie was not well received though if you ever get a chance to catch it, I think any film fan would love it, numerous other offers faded away, including her tv series in the early Fifties, and by 1952 Susan had become a recluse and virtually starved herself into oblivion and an early grave.

 

Another sad story from the Hollywood Pantheon of Broken Dreams....

 

 

[feaito]

I wonder what would have been of Ross Alexander, Robert Ames and Robert Williams, if they hadn't died so abruptly.

[alix1929]

Robert Williams certainly had potential!

[vallo13]

Two actors that had pretty short careers,that came to mind after I already posted are: Victor Bono and Laird Cregar they both died in their late 30's or very early 40's.

 

 

[therealfuster]

that Laird and Victor seemed a lot alike, maybe because of their builds.

 

They could have played brothers onscreen, with the third brother being played by early heavy, Raymond Burr...till he slimmed down for Natalie Wood, as the movie mags "used" to say.

 

Laird Cregar did have more roles as a bit of a romantic roue, than Victor ever did though. Who can forget Victor trying to help Baby Jane sing to his accompaniment on piano?

 

Classic!

[johnnyweekes70]

That Laird Cregar's death was self-imposed is probably more distressing than many other actors' and actresses' careers cut short. There's a great book called "Behind the Screen" about the 'secret' gay life of many of Hollywood's most prominent figures and Cregar's tragic story only deepens with the information supplied in the book.

[johnnyweekes70]

erzbet wondered if Gilbert's career was sabotaged. There's a story that Mayer and Gilbert were in a men's room weeks after Garbo left Gilbert high and dry at the alter and Mayer said something to the effect that Gilbert should've just been satisifed with having his way with her. Gilbert supposedly punched Mayer and the studio chief never forgive him. Interestingly enough, his career declined after that and, given the idiotic lines he spoke in THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 and the negative audience reaction to HIS GLORIOUS NIGHT, there enough to go on to believe his voice was badly recorded at a time when Norma Shearer's was consistent from REVUE, THEIR OWN DESIRE and on. Gilbert's voice in QUEEN CHRISTINA is absolutely fine and no less effective than Douglas Fairbanks Jr or any other mustachioed persona of the time.

 

I think Valentino would have fared well in sound had he lived, not withstanding that not too many people living (if any) can recall what his voice sounded like. I disagree that his style of acting was on the way out by the coming of sound. His subdued performance in COBRA is a testament to what he could really achieve with his acting.

[therealfuster]

Valentino, and think of him every time I see Elvis Presley, being that Elvis supposedly copied his sideburns pre-Sun Records period, and was a big fan of Rudy.

 

Having heard a fine recording of Valentino singing, I believe he had a rich, full voice and might have done fine in films...as long as the pink powderpuff image was dispelled.

 

He also seemed to have a screen sense of humor, and a twinkle in his eye...that many of his Latin imitators did not.

 

Some of Valentino's old films, show him looking a lot like a Latin Don Johnson, and wouldn't he have been great as his dad or gramps on "Miami Vice"[i say with partial tongue in cheek!]?

[alix1929]

Johnny, I've not seen COBRA, but when I said I thought his style was on the way out, I meant all the sensual gazes, and smoldering eyes thing. Perhaps he would have evolved into more of a character actor. I dunno.

[johnnyweekes70]

alix1929, I agree with you on the smouldering eyes bit, and I think Valentino would too. The smouldering eyes and sensual gazes are absent in COBRA and the film, self-produced, is a parody the Valentino image. It's available on DVD from Image-Entertainment in a beautiful print showcasing William Cameron Menzies fantastic sets. Valentino was more than aware of his image and no doubt believed it was ridiculous. You could be right, in that he probably would have evolved into a character actor, maybe like Gilbert Roland. And, the realfuster, what was the record he sang on? I'd love to hear it but I'm sure it's fairly obscure.

[gypsybangles]

Thelma Todd Having only seen her in a couple of films I nonetheless found her funny, appealing, effervescent, and a real "character". The enigmatic circumstances surrounding her death only add to her mystique. Useless to speculate how her career would have progressed, but definitely feel she had "the goods".

 

James Dean He did a particular thing in his films I always found very interesting. While other actors seem to live for the moment when someone says "We're ready for your close-up", he hid his face from the camera in shot after shot. In many of his close-ups his head would be down, turned away, or with his hat low over his face. It may just have been an actor's device on his part, but I never got that impression. While other actors angst about their "best side" etc., he seemed not to care, and I think it was this that added realism to his performances, making him riviting to watch, always leaving the audience wanting more.

[erzbet]

As you'll recall, Mr. & Mrs. "Smithy" lost their only child in RANDOM HARVEST

 

Susan Peters played a sweet young thing who wanted to marry Charles Rainier -- did it quite well too I thought.

[lux0786]

I always had trouble buying the idea that Gilbert's career was sabotaged by Mayer. Yet Maltin says, "Deliberate sabotage, not a high-pitched voice, was the culprit," in Gilbert's downfall. Yet he seems to also indicate that it was only Gilbert's first talking picture, His Glorious Night (1929) where this occurred. I respect Maltin as an historian and he is not one to go out on a limb. So perhaps true, then. It seemed to me, however, unlikely that the studio would do this since JG was under a long and expensive contract and that they couldn't hurt him without hurting themselves, a Gilbert bust to Mayer chops, not withstanding.

 

It seems that he was done for anyway for the simple reason that we couldn't act well while audible. His West of Broadway (1932), shown recently on TCM, was not at all good. He seemed amateurish to me. Any reasonably decent actor could have at least well, and probably better. Had he not the name from the silent area, my feeling is that no one would have touched him.

 

MGM did not renew his contract but brought him back for Queen Christina at Garbo's insistence (taking the role away from Olivier) and he was not impressive in the least, IMO. The only thing that the New York Times review of December 27, 1933 said was the somewhat non-commital but not especially encouraging notice, "John Gilbert is far more restrained than he was in his silent films," while, of course, lavishing great praise on Greta, and still had something nice to say about others in the cast, such as, "C. Aubry Smith is splendid ..." evidence that the reviewer, Mordaunt Hall, was not stingy with accolades.