actor/actress

[goagirlmary]

hi guys...

just wanted to know which actor/actress (does not have to be a lead) appeared in the most Oscar movies ( any category )...i think it would have had to be an MGM actor/actress...because so many of the "B" actors were in the MGM Oscar days...i think the Oscar board sould do some research...and on one of the next shows...give this speical Oscar...that would be super...because i watch so much TCM durning Oscar time...it started me thinking (it is so nice to have TCM on On Demand) so i can watch anytime....and the backbone of all the great MGM stars were the B stars...and i find myself looking for them in every picture.

 

mary...

[path40a]

Could be Ward Bond:

 

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/19/31/Ent/film.html

[movieman1957]

Thanks for the link. I have the DVD of "Hondo" and they mentioned he was in more of the AFI 100 Greatest films list, as does your link, but I didn't know he was in more "Best Picture" nominated films. He just turns up everywhere and in every kind of film. He had a most interesting career.

[Ralph]

Thanks in large part to John Wayne.

 

Can you tell me, please - what is TCM on Demand?

 

Thanks, Ralph

[movieman1957]

Ralph:

 

Some cable systems have a feature called "On Demand" which is like an cable library. TCM has, at least on Comcast, about six or eight movies along with trailers that you can watch anytime you want. There are also many other channels that have everything from music to old tv shows to home repair to news rebroadcasts and movies. They change them every few weeks to months. On mine you have to have the digital package. If you have cable you'll have to call to see if it's available.

 

More on Ward Bond; Duke helped but I'd give more credit to John Ford.

 

Chris

[Ralph]

Thanks for the info, Chris. Interesting - I wish I could just order up a movie.

 

Was Ward Bond ever in a John Ford movie in which John Wayne did not appear?

 

Ralph

[coffeedan]

> Was Ward Bond ever in a John Ford movie in which John

> Wayne did not appear?

 

Just off the top of my head: MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, FLESH, ARROWSMITH and UP THE RIVER, for starters. Bond and Ford worked together long before John Wayne came into the picture (literally).

[lzcutter]

Coffeedan,

Were Bond and Wayne on the USC football team at the same time?

[coffeedan]

Yes, they were both on the USC football squad when John Ford cast them in bit parts in his 1929 picture SALUTE.

[movieman1957]

In addition to those from coffeedan the two that came to me were "Wagonmaster", which was made up mostly of Ford's players and "Young Mr. Lincoln".

[path40a]

As a follow-up, here is a list of the movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in which Ward Bond appeared:

 

Mister Roberts (1955)

The Quiet Man (1952)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

sergeant York (1941)

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Dead End (1937)

The Informer (1935)

Lady for a Day (1933)

Arrowsmith (1931)

 

An even dozen, unless I missed one ;-)

[Ralph]

Coffeedan -

 

Is that true - Bond and Ford worked together long before Wayne came into the picture?

 

Ward Bond certainly appeared in a lot of movies; more than 30 in 1935 alone. But many of his appearances were fleeting; if you blinked you'd miss him. If you appear in enough movies, some of them are bound to be hits. Do you remember an old character actress named Norma Varden? She appeared in dozens of movies (some good, some bad) and even had a few lines in some of them. And she always played the same woman - a haughty, society grande dame (I think she was in Hitchcock's "Witness for the Prosecution").

 

I remember Bond as a gruff, larger-than-life actor who mostly played the same character in all his films - gruff, larger than life men. I certainly haven't seen everything he did, but he always seemed the same to me. Even in his very popular TV series, "Wagon Train," he played a gruff old curmudgeon. Is there a sensitive portrayal by Ward Bond that I have missed? A role that he doesn't bluster his way through?

 

Thanks for listening -

 

Ralph

[vecchiolarry]

Yes Ralph,

 

Norma Varden was in "Witness For The Prosecution". She was the lady who was killed and the trial was all about.

 

As I've posted here before - my favourite Norma Varden line is from "The Sound of Music" when she tells Julie Andrews, "The Von Trapp children don't play, they MARCH!!".......

 

Larry

[vecchiolarry]

Hi,

 

Continuing on with Norma Varden:

 

My favourite role of hers is:

"Strangers On A Train" when at a party Robert Walker playfully shows everyone how easy it would be to kill someone. He picks Norma to 'strangle' and as she giggly submits, he continues and she suddenly doesn't know if he's kidding or what.

As the expression on her face changes, you have to say to yourself, "There's an actress!!"......

 

Larry

[Ralph]

Hi Larry -

 

Nice to hear from you! And a belated Happy Birthday (I didn't even know; nobody tells me anything). Anyway, many, many more . . .

 

Norma Varden was always memorable. Even for those who have never heard the name, they would recognize the face. And she often had no lines in a film at all, and seldom more than one or two.

 

Remember Evelyn Varden (related to Norma - I don't think so)? Excellent in "Night of the Hunter" and "The Bad Seed." And she usually played the same character, an old busy-body buttinski. Type casting. A lot of that going around.

 

Getting ready for Russia? Calgary is probably as cold as Moscow right now, isn't it?

 

Take care of yourself.

 

Ralph

[vecchiolarry]

Hi Ralph,

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes; and yes, I'm busy getting all my visa stuff for Russia.

 

I do remember Evelyn Varden and I can tell you she wasn't related to Norma for certain:--

Once in New York City, Dolores Gray and I were walking near Columbus Circle and she spotted Evelyn and hailed her and introduced me. I innocently asked her if she was related to Norma Varden, as I was a big fan of hers? "Certainly not", she yelped and promptly ignored me as she spoke to Dolores.

Later, I said to DG, "I guess I made a faux pas with her".. And, Dolores jokingly told me, "I guess you won't be dating her soon!!"...... Chuckles!!!!!!

 

Larry

[Bunderful]

Before I read the other responses, I'm going to name some character actors who popped up a lot:

 

Harry Morgan

John Carradine

Ward Bond

 

BLU

[Ralph]

Larry -

 

Do you remember the rumor going around many years ago, that Dolores Gray was the mother of a gay porn star (I forget his name, but he was married to - or just living with - Margaret Whiting, the singer)? This was about the time Margaret Whiting was doing "Taking My Turn" off-Broadway. Is she still alive, do you know?

 

I saw Dolores Gray on-stage in "Gypsy" - she was terrific!

 

Ralph

[vecchiolarry]

Hi again Ralph,

 

I can tell you Dolores Gray had no children. She was very proud of her waspish waste and even had gowns designed to show it off........ I never heard that rumour of her being the mother of a porn star, but it is funny!!!!!

 

I think Margaret Whiting is still alive and lives in New York City. She is married to or living with "Jack Wrangler", who was a porn star. She would be in her 80's now, I bet.

 

Margaret's sister, Barbara, was an actress at one time as well as a singer and I saw her on an Esther Williams movie set in the early 50's. But have never cast eyes on Margaret or her porn partner.

I heard that Barbara was once married to a nuclear scientist (????)....... I did hear that Barbara died last year; cancer, I think.....

 

Glad you caught Dolores in "Gypsy". She was a powerhouse - you gotta love her!

 

Great to hear from you!!

Stay well.

 

Larry

 

Message was edited by:

vecchiolarry

[Ralph]

Larry -

 

That's the guy, Jack Wrangler! Both he and Margaret wrote books about their relationship. I remember her saying that she thought he was faithful but found out that he had gone back to making gay movies. I'm surprised to hear they are still together. She was a big lady - about twice the size of Jack. But she was terrific in "Taking My Turn" which I once had an old VHS copy of (with Marni Nixon, Thelma Houston (Whitney's mom) and a bunch of Broadway veterans). A good show with some wonderful songs.

 

Anyway, that rumor was all over NYC in the mid 80's (about Dolores being Jack Wrangler's mother). I don't know where it came from - he probably started it. But I can remember laughing about it with my friends - I lived in NYC at the time.

 

Margaret and Barbara had a sitcom in the early days of TV - I think it was called "Those Whiting Girls" - or something similar.

 

Ralph

[vecchiolarry]

Ralph,

 

I'm laughing about poor Dolores being the mother of Jack Wrangler. I must remember to tell my mother that one... It is funny!!!!!!

I don't know whether she would have laughed or been horrified about that one. She was pretty down to Earth about a lot of things but being "the mother-in-law" of Margaret Whiting may have unhinged her somewhat........

 

Ha, ha, ha.... You've really given me a good laugh for today.....

 

Thanks,

Larry

[makers1313]

i love bond in "the searchers".... the bellowing, "WILL YOU SHUT UP"........i loved his intensity. i love how he annoyed Wayne at the river scene. and Mose got his rocking chair.

[Ralph]

I loved "The Searchers," still do. I'd watch it again today if it was on. I think it's John Wayne's (and John Ford's) best. I know I'm in the minority, but as they say on these boards, IMHO. Unfortunately, some people on these boards won't even watch it 'cause it's not old enough for them to consider it a classic. Too bad.

 

Ralph

[CineSage]

THE SEARCHERS is fifty years old; it's also probably the most influential Western ever made, a deep, disturbing masterpiece, and the pinnacle of john Wayne's and John Ford's careers.

 

If that's not the definition of a classic, I don't know what is.

[movieman1957]

Quite a few years ago "The Searchers" played at our historic movie house "The Senator". Our local film critic at the time wrote a review the read like a thesis on the movie. He thought it was a great film and went to great lenghts to support his view. He did a similar article for "Hondo" and that role as a father figure. I think more think it's a classic than a previuos writer thinks.