Who (in your opinion) were the last "stars" of the "classic" era

[cigarjoe]

You know, stars that were created/discovered while the studios were still functioning. Not a longevity question.  Actors/actresses who got the benefit of the studio publicity machine with success or not. It's hard to come up with parameters, but it would be interesting to see our speculations.

 

What got me thinking about this was seeing Sandra Dee in Portrait In Back, she seems to fit this category but maybe not I'm not that familiar with her or the studio situation at the time..  

[HelenBaby2]

I have to think Rock Hudson might fit this category. I'm sure there were others who were active during the same period but none seemed to get the great push he did.

[lavenderblue19]

I have to think Rock Hudson might fit this category. I'm sure there were others who were active during the same period but none seemed to get the great push he did.

I agree, I was also thinking that Rock fit, you beat me to it Helen I don't think Disney is what CJ had in mind, but if you want to include Disney then Haley Mills had an impressive career in the '60's

[Sepiatone]

Wouldn't this a bit depend on one's definition of "classic film period"?

 

We DO have  one or more individuals who feel 1960 is the "cut off" point in "classic film" definition.  And many others who feel appropriately that it goes beyond that year.

 

Personally, I'd consider some who survived past that year, but whose careers started in that "classic" period that's considered written in stone by a few.....

 

And, it WOULD include Hudson, Taylor, Brando, Widmark, Douglas, Lancaster, McQueen, Gable, Clift, Newman, Poitier, Wayne, Grant, Gardner, Monroe, Bacall, Fonda, Stewart. Rooney.

 

All of THEM found work and recognition past 1960, but had their beginnings in the '30's and '40's (some of them) and are, by many, considered to be "classic" film stars.

 

 

 

Sepiatone

[NipkowDisc]

this fella...

 

 

of course Duke was a giant during and after the studio period ended

[alliehharding]

Michael Caine is definitely a star who has many great classic films to his credit but I'm not sure he was the last.  

[cigarjoe]

Wouldn't this a bit depend on one's definition of "classic film period"?

 

We DO have  one or more individuals who feel 1960 is the "cut off" point in "classic film" definition.  And many others who feel appropriately that it goes beyond that year.

 

Personally, I'd consider some who survived past that year, but whose careers started in that "classic" period that's considered written in stone by a few.....

 

And, it WOULD include Hudson, Taylor, Brando, Widmark, Douglas, Lancaster, McQueen, Gable, Clift, Newman, Poitier, Wayne, Grant, Gardner, Monroe, Bacall, Fonda, Stewart. Rooney.

 

All of THEM found work and recognition past 1960, but had their beginnings in the '30's and '40's (some of them) and are, by many, considered to be "classic" film stars.

 

 

 

Sepiatone

While thinking about it today I came up with maybe Robert Wagner, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier, I think the parameters should be from the 50s and later. 

[JamesJazGuitar]

While thinking about it today I came up with maybe Robert Wagner, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Sidney Poitier, I think the parameters should be from the 50s and later. 

 

I assumed the 'parameters' were actors that got their start in the last decade of what I call "the studio-era" (which ended around 1969 so that would be the 60s) and were still big stars after that.   So I would say Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. 

 

(my assumption is based on the fact you said 'the last stars' and that I define 'classic' as the studio era \ production code era).

[roverrocks]

Somebody already mentioned him but I will state his name again.  Today's birthday boy Kirk Douglas for darn sure: 98 years young!  Amazing!

[NipkowDisc]

Somebody already mentioned him but I will state his name again.  Today's birthday boy Kirk Douglas for darn sure: 98 years young!  Amazing!

of course....the Kirkster!

[cigarjoe]

I assumed the 'parameters' were actors that got their start in the last decade of what I call "the studio-era" (which ended around 1969 so that would be the 60s) and were still big stars after that.   So I would say Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. 

 

(my assumption is based on the fact you said 'the last stars' and that I define 'classic' as the studio era \ production code era).

Yea that's the time frame and Redford and Dunaway are the ones that made it big, how about Paula Prentiss, what about those "stars" (the reason for the quotation marks) that just fizzled out, women are harder to come up with.

[cigarjoe]

Somebody already mentioned him but I will state his name again.  Today's birthday boy Kirk Douglas for darn sure: 98 years young!  Amazing!

I didn't mean a longevity contest. I meant "stars" from the late 50's 60's some made it in films but some didn't.

[Tikisoo]

I think of this topic often: who came into the studio system just as it was fizzling out? I think of Shirley MacLaine-singer, dancer, actress, comedienne. Although she was in several great movies, there was very little left for her to do in her prime years, so she went off to do stage shows. 

This same criteria applies to Debbie Reynolds too.

[HelenBaby2]

Yea that's the time frame and Redford and Dunaway are the ones that made it big, how about Paula Prentiss, what about those "stars" (the reason for the quotation marks) that just fizzled out, women are harder to come up with.

I think Paula had a nervous breakdown after making a film with Preminger directing, so she didn't work much after that. Plus I think she decided to be a stay at home mom.

 

Maybe Barabra Eden might fit. I saw her in the Grimm brothers movie and realized she was in a bunch of movies in the late fifties/early sixties and a lot of tv work before she got I Dream of Jeannie. As it's always been, women sometimes find more success on television than film.

[roverrocks]

I didn't mean a longevity contest. I meant "stars" from the late 50's 60's some made it in films but some didn't.

Kirk made some truly memorable films in the 50's and 60's after having started work in the 40's:  SPARTACUS, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, PATHS OF GLORY.  Later THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER in the 80's.  Just because he is still alive does not detract from the fact that he was a major star.

 

! http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVoCQaohUNewA_YIPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByODJtaWUzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--/RV=2/RE=1418255120/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.biography.com%2fpeople%2fkirk-douglas-9278036/RK=0/RS=b377.SUfeRrfk1RrnNWjhI1LLCY-!

[Wayne]

This thread makes me think of the 'Talent Program' run by Universal-International in the 1950s for its up-and-coming contract players --- Clint Eastwood, David Janssen, Richard Long, Martha Hyer, Leigh Snowden, Mara Corday, Ray Danton, William Reynolds, Dani Crayne, to name a few.  Not all achieved stardom; some later found minor success on the small screen.  But as young hopefuls, they came to Hollywood and found work at a major studio at the tail-end of the studio system.  U-I's 'Talent Program' offered classes in drama, horseback riding, fencing, etc., and also gave young contractees a chance to pose for publicity pictures in fan magazines. 

[JamesJazGuitar]

Kirk made some truly memorable films in the 50's and 60's after having started work in the 40's:  SPARTACUS, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, PATHS OF GLORY.  Later THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER in the 80's.  Just because he is still alive does not detract from the fact that he was a major star.

 

 

Of course Kirk Douglas was a major star,  but he got his start in the 40s.    The 40s  are NOT 'late' in the studio-era.

[Sepiatone]

I suppose byJoe's reformed "parameters", you could include:

 

Bruce Dern

 

Dustin Hoffman

 

Jack Nicholson

 

Peter Fonda

 

AND Jane

 

Jason Robards Jr.

 

Glenn Ford

 

Charlton Heston

 

Charles Bickford

 

Tony Curtis

 

Cesar Romero

 

Richard Conte

 

John Cassavetes

 

Richard Burton

 

James Mason

 

John Geilgud(sic)

 

John Carradine

 

and possibly DAVE

 

 

 

Sepiatone

[JamesJazGuitar]

This thread makes me think of the 'Talent Program' run by Universal-International in the 1950s for its up-and-coming contract players --- Clint Eastwood, David Janssen, Richard Long, Martha Hyer, Leigh Snowden, Mara Corday, Ray Danton, William Reynolds, Dani Crayne, to name a few.  Not all achieved stardom; some later found minor success on the small screen.  But as young hopefuls, they came to Hollywood and found work at a major studio at the tail-end of the studio system.  U-I's 'Talent Program' offered classes in drama, horseback riding, fencing, etc., and also gave young contractees a chance to pose for publicity pictures in fan magazines. 

 

The list of names fits what the OP was getting at with some that made it big (e.g. Eastwood),  and some that didn't do so well or quickly had to move on to T.V.

[Arturo]

I suppose byJoe's reformed "parameters", you could include:

 

Bruce Dern

 

Dustin Hoffman

 

Jack Nicholson

 

Peter Fonda

 

AND Jane

 

Jason Robards Jr.

 

Glenn Ford

 

Charlton Heston

 

Charles Bickford

 

Tony Curtis

 

Cesar Romero

 

Richard Conte

 

John Cassavetes

 

Richard Burton

 

James Mason

 

John Geilgud(sic)

 

John Carradine

 

and possibly DAVE

 

 

 

Sepiatone

Glenn Ford,.Cesar Romero, Charles Bickford,.and John Carradine had been around since the 1930s.

 

Richard Conte since the mid 1940s, Tony Curtis and Charlton Heston since the end of the 40s.

 

I don're think Richard Burton, James Mason or John Gielgud would count, as they were more a product of the British.stage and film Industries, although Burton and Mason especially were snapped up by Hollywood.in hopes of making them major.stars.here. Mason was one of England's biggest stars in the 40s.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Glenn Ford,.Cesar Romero, Charles Bickford,.and John Carradine had been around since the 1930s.

 

Richard Conte since the mid 1940s, Tony Curtis and Charlton Heston since the end of the 40s.

 

I don're think Richard Burton, James Mason or John Gielgud would count, as they were more a product of the British.stage and film Industries, although Burton and Mason especially were snapped up by Hollywood.in hopes of making them major.stars.here. Mason was one of England's biggest stars in the 40s.

 

I agree; only the first three on that list match the parameters mentioned by the OP. 

[Arturo]

This thread makes me think of the 'Talent Program' run by Universal-International in the 1950s for its up-and-coming contract players --- Clint Eastwood, David Janssen, Richard Long, Martha Hyer, Leigh Snowden, Mara Corday, Ray Danton, William Reynolds, Dani Crayne, to name a few.  Not all achieved stardom; some later found minor success on the small screen.  But as young hopefuls, they came to Hollywood and found work at a major studio at the tail-end of the studio system.  U-I's 'Talent Program' offered classes in drama, horseback riding, fencing, etc., and also gave young contractees a chance to pose for publicity pictures in fan magazines. 

I think this is what the op intended. Some others from the latter part.of the studio system would include.Tab Hunter, Aldo Ray, Sheree North,.Hope Lange, Robert.Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Piper Laurie, Carroll Baker, even the teenaged Natalie Wood. All of these, of.course, met varying degrees of the success he studios had been grooming them for. And this is just the 50s. In the 60s, there were names like Carol Lynley, Ann Margret,Pamela Tiffin, among so many others.

[Dargo]

I think this is what the op intended. Some others from the latter part.of the studio system would include.Tab Hunter, Aldo Ray, Sheree North,.Hope Lange, Robert.Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Piper Laurie, Carroll Baker, even the teenaged Natalie Wood. All of these, of.course, met varying degrees of the success he studios had been grooming them for. And this is just the 50s. In the 60s, there were names like Carol Lynley, Ann Margret,Pamela Tiffin, among so many others.

 

Yep Arturo, I too had thought Wayne had hit more upon Joe's original intent for his thread here.

 

And now to add another name to this list I'll include Stefanie Powers, and who during her time as a featured guest of the Sedona Film Festival and during the post-showing chat of "Die, Die My Darling", would recall her experiences as a young actress being "groomed" by the MGM Studio in the early to mid-'60s.

 

Btw, did I show you folks the picture taken that night? Oh, I HAVE?! Well sorry, but here it is AGAIN! LOL

 

 

(...I still can't believe how grey I've gotten...it NEVER looks that grey in my bathroom mirror...well, at least to ME it doesn't anyway!) 

[Arturo]

Yep Arturo, I too had thought Wayne had hit more upon Joe's original intent for his thread here.

 

And now to add another name to this list I'll include Stefanie Powers, and who during her time as a featured guest of the Sedona Film Festival and during the post-showing chat of "Die, Die My Darling", would recall her experiences as a young actress being "groomed" by the MGM Studio in the mid-60s.

 

Btw, did I show you folks the picture taken that night? Oh, I HAVE?! Well sorry, but here it is AGAIN! LOL

 

Dargo, is that you?! For some.reason, I envisioned you closely resembling Groucho, like your avatar. Of course, I should know better, as.I look nothing like Linda Darnell; I have no hair hair on my head, but plenty of facial hair.

[Dargo]

Dargo, is that you?! For some.reason, I envisioned you closely resembling Groucho, like your avatar. Of course, I should know better, as.I look nothing like Linda Darnell; I have no hair hair on my head, but plenty of facial hair.

 

LOL 

 

"Nothin' like Linda Darnell" ya say, eh Arturo?! Yeah, can't say I ever envisioned you that way at all.

 

(...and yeah, that's me there with Stefanie, alright...and no, other than my propensity to "channel" the one, the only Groucho, nobody as far as I can remember has ever walked up to me and said I resemble the guy, and even back when I sported a mustache..though I DO occasionally have people say I remind them of James Coburn and that my voice is even a little like his)