TopBilled Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Something very interesting happened today as I tuned into TCM for Alexis Smith's 24 hour Summer Under the Stars tribute. I got fat. By got I mean I understood fat. I noticed it-- fat in the movies-- because one of Alexis' films has a very chubby costar in a serious dramatic role (not used for laughs and in fact there is no mention made of her being quite a bit overweight). Usually in classic movies when someone is overweight they are babies or they are older people. They are not young adults, and if they are, they are not females. Most starlets and supporting actresses of a certain age have good looking figures, and if they don't, then they are assigned comic relief roles. But in ONE LAST FLING, there is a young woman who is not perfectly glamorous and does not act like a clown or a freak. How refreshing to see her on screen! I immediately looked up the film resume of this gal to see if she made other movies, and she did. Quite a few of them in fact, mostly in minor roles. And look at the descriptions for some of the characters she played: 1. She's billed as Fat Woman in SERGEANT YORK. 2. She's billed again as Fat Woman in MAISIE GETS HER MAN. 3. She's billed as Large Female Native in WINGS OVER THE PACIFIC. 4. She's billed as Plump Hostess in HI YA, SAILOR. 5. She's billed as Fat Woman in TOGETHER AGAIN. 6. She's Buxom Woman in LIFE WITH BLONDIE. A little bit better. 7. She's Burly Woman Cab Driver in MUSIC FOR MILLIONS. Doesn't sound so good. 8. She's Large Woman in TWO GUYS FROM MILWAUKEE. 9. She's Tiny in DEADLINE FOR MURDER. Someone had a sense of humor that time. 10. She plays a character named Full Moon in HELLFIRE. 11. She's Fat Woman again in MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST. 12. She's Fat Lady in SLAUGHTER TRAIL. 13. She's Fat Girl in HOUDINI. 14. She's Large Woman in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. I don't know about you-- but it must have been discouraging to get sent by an agent to all these casting calls looking for fat actresses, playing characters that often did not have names but were just referred to by their size. This woman, though, seems like a trailblazer. She was overweight and she was there, on screen, making a living in Hollywood. She and women like her in the audience are represented in the movies. Meet Jody Gilbert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Fat movie characters. Darlene Cates in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993) Stacey Halprin as the very overweight mom in "The Dress Code" aka "Bruno" (2000) Like to include Eddie Murphy in his "Nutty Professor" films but the fat there is fake but still funny Norman Chaney as "Chubby" in the Little Rascals. Rusty Pouch as the Gas Station attendant in "Flight of The Navigator" (1986) Max....Hey blimpo...oink, oink! Too many Twinkies, ha ha. Edited August 13, 2014 by hamradio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastet Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Meet Jody Gilbert. I recognize her; she played the girlfriend of one of Nick's colorful associates in Shadow of the Thin Man. She has one line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Nobody likes a fat man except his grocer and his tailor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Actually, there are multiple "Plump Hostesses" in Hi'ya, Sailor, with the other one played by Grace Hayle, who also often was credited as the overweight character. Here she is opposite George Brent in Front Page Woman: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I believe the small picture of Jody Gilbert that TopBilled posted is from THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN, she is the girlfriend of the little skinny guy sitting aside Nick and Nora at the wrestling match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Let's not forget Edie the Egg Lady in John Walters' Pink Flamingos, one of the true classic underground films that demands to be shown on TCM. Oh, and not to mention the divine "Divine" "I JUST LOVE MY LITTLE EGGIES!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistervegan Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 'thin may be in' but 'fat is where it's at'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Now what about Marie Dressler. She was a bit plumper then most actresses of her age, but she was just as big a r as the glamour girls because of her great acting talent. Today, you can be able to act rings around Bette Davis, but if you're fat, all you can be is "comic relief". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 look up the imdb credits for: June Gittelson (1910–1993) She's got some pretty depressing character names too. (There was actually a brief article on gawker.com about it a while back.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 I believe the small picture of Jody Gilbert that TopBilled posted is from THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN, she is the girlfriend of the little skinny guy sitting aside Nick and Nora at the wrestling match. Yes. She's blonde in the Thin Man movie but a brunette in ONE LAST FLING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EugeniaH Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Oliver Hardy was a major star and, though his overweight was comic fodder, he had real acting (and singing) talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Some people of size( how's THAT for euphanism?) can surprise you...Look how fleet of foot or light footed Charles Durning was for HIS size. I couldn't dance that lively at more than HALF his size! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 In Requiem for a Heavyweight the mob heavyweight, Ma Greeny, played by Madame Spivy, is a heavyweight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastet Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I believe the small picture of Jody Gilbert that TopBilled posted is from THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN, she is the girlfriend of the little skinny guy sitting aside Nick and Nora at the wrestling match. Yes, one Mr. Spider Webb. Her line is "Any friend of Spider's is a friend of mine," followed by an extended laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Some people of size( how's THAT for euphanism?) can surprise you...Look how fleet of foot or light footed Charles Durning was for HIS size. I couldn't dance that lively at more than HALF his size! Sepiatone ..and Jackie Gleason was light-footed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 In Requiem for a Heavyweigh the mob heavyweigh, Ma Greeny, played by Madame Spivy, is a heavyweigh. In Requiem for a Heavyweigh the mob heavyweigh, Ma Greeny, played by Madame Spivy, is a heavyweigh. HMMMM??? So, if she dropped a few pounds, she'd have been a LIGH WHEIGH? Sepia one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roverrocks Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Jody Gilbert RIP. Good article on her. Interesting actress. !!http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CD0QFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmorethanyouneededtoknow.typepad.com%2Fthe_unsung_joe%2F2009%2F09%2Fjody-gilbert.html&ei=ltjsU_H-McSEjALOkoHADQ&usg=AFQjCNGYWhGCAoano53IvgdhwBlJ8tZTqA&sig2=phsFGQthHYEiPKao-G1vfw&bvm=bv.72938740,d.cGE&cad=rja 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks Roverrocks for the great article link. Jody Gilbert's greatest performance of all may have been her testimony before the Congressional committee regarding her "Communist sympathies". Bravo, Jody ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 There are many actors of size in film, my favorite probably being Hattie Jacques. Here she is reprising her Carry On Nurse role as Matron in Carry On Doctor, with Kenneth Williams and Bernard Bresslaw: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thanks Roverrocks for the great article link. Jody Gilbert's greatest performance of all may have been her testimony before the Congressional committee regarding her "Communist sympathies". Bravo, Jody ! I agree. It's a sobering article, underscoring the outrageous treatment of Hollywood talent during that time (Red Scare). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet0312 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Is it Jody Gilbert in one of W.C. Fields' pictures where she plays a waitress and tells him there's something awfully big about him and he replies under his breath that there is something awfully big about her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 Is it Jody Gilbert in one of W.C. Fields' pictures where she plays a waitress and tells him there's something awfully big about him and he replies under his breath that there is something awfully big about her. Yes, it's her-- in NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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