| This section is dedicated to the great ones, those early screen performers who showed us how to light up the camera. Likely, we'll never see their ilk again. They were part of an era lost, a style gone and a creative and dramatic philosophy from an age less jaded. Every month, we'll feature a late screen legend with new reviews of their best work and a direct list of existing reviews of their films we've already reviewed. |
| FEBRUARY 2006 HUMPHREY BOGART |
| December 25, 1899 - January 14, 1957 |
| PAST FEATURED STARS |
JUNE 2005 - JAMES STEWART
Born May 20, 1908 - Died July 2, 1997
James "Jimmy" Stewart has gone down in cinema and cultural history as an American Icon, equal in status yet different in nature to the likes of
John Wayne. Whereas those Western film heroes represent that rugged and rough never-say-die aspect of American life, Stewart came to
become a symbol of the earnestness and honesty of the American spirit. In his films, Stewart was easy going and for the most part,
non-threatening. His laid back naturalism on screen endeared audiences to him...
Born May 20, 1908 - Died July 2, 1997
James "Jimmy" Stewart has gone down in cinema and cultural history as an American Icon, equal in status yet different in nature to the likes of
John Wayne. Whereas those Western film heroes represent that rugged and rough never-say-die aspect of American life, Stewart came to
become a symbol of the earnestness and honesty of the American spirit. In his films, Stewart was easy going and for the most part,
non-threatening. His laid back naturalism on screen endeared audiences to him...
JULY 2005 - STEVE MCQUEEN
Born March 24, 1930 - Died November 7, 1980
Steve McQueen came to Earth in 1930. His childhood was fraught with tragedy and dysfunction. He grew up without a father and his mother left
him to live with an uncle until he was around 12 years of age. After getting into trouble with gangs in California, McQueen was sent to a reform
school, the Boys Republic. He was nomadic in his younger years. He enlisted in the U.S. Marines for a time, worked as a carnival barker, a
lumberjack, labored in oil fields and other small jobs. Soon, he was in New York City and learning to be an actor...
Born March 24, 1930 - Died November 7, 1980
Steve McQueen came to Earth in 1930. His childhood was fraught with tragedy and dysfunction. He grew up without a father and his mother left
him to live with an uncle until he was around 12 years of age. After getting into trouble with gangs in California, McQueen was sent to a reform
school, the Boys Republic. He was nomadic in his younger years. He enlisted in the U.S. Marines for a time, worked as a carnival barker, a
lumberjack, labored in oil fields and other small jobs. Soon, he was in New York City and learning to be an actor...
AUGUST 2005 - AUDREY HEPBURN
Born May 4, 1929 - Died January 20, 1993
Half Belgian, half British, the ever-radiant Audrey Hepburn was born May 4, 1929 in Brussels. Her father, a British man, left her mother in 1935.
Though devastated, Hepburn begins taking dance classes, inspired by seeing dancers as a little girl. Her parents formally divorced a few years
later and soon Hepburn was living with her mother in Arnhem. When the war breaks out, the German army invades and soon Arnhem is
occupied with Nazi soldiers...
Born May 4, 1929 - Died January 20, 1993
Half Belgian, half British, the ever-radiant Audrey Hepburn was born May 4, 1929 in Brussels. Her father, a British man, left her mother in 1935.
Though devastated, Hepburn begins taking dance classes, inspired by seeing dancers as a little girl. Her parents formally divorced a few years
later and soon Hepburn was living with her mother in Arnhem. When the war breaks out, the German army invades and soon Arnhem is
occupied with Nazi soldiers...
SEPTEMBER 2005 - INGRID BERGMAN
Born August 29, 1915 - Died August 29, 1982
Ingrid Bergman, considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the 1940s, was almost refused entry into Hollywood because studios allegedly
said she wasn't pretty enough. Of course, back then the ideal Hollywood image was platinum blonde with a pout for a smile...just like now.
Fortunately, a few people in tinsel town saw her screen presence and potential and she quickly became one of the most unique leading ladies of
the golden age of cinema...
Born August 29, 1915 - Died August 29, 1982
Ingrid Bergman, considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the 1940s, was almost refused entry into Hollywood because studios allegedly
said she wasn't pretty enough. Of course, back then the ideal Hollywood image was platinum blonde with a pout for a smile...just like now.
Fortunately, a few people in tinsel town saw her screen presence and potential and she quickly became one of the most unique leading ladies of
the golden age of cinema...
OCTOBER 2005 - GREGORY PECK
Born April 5, 1916 - Died June 12, 2003
Culturally, it's a miracle that Gregory Peck left a pre-med ambition behind at Berkeley to follow an acting obsession. After appearing on
Broadway for a time, Peck soon moved into films. His first film appearance was in "Days of Glory." Soon after, he appeared in "The Keys of the
Kingdom," in which he earned his first Oscar nomination playing a priest in China. This film would set a career-long precedent for Peck to play
the stalwart and upstanding idealist in the face of the jaded. Peck was to become cinema's undaunted hero...
Born April 5, 1916 - Died June 12, 2003
Culturally, it's a miracle that Gregory Peck left a pre-med ambition behind at Berkeley to follow an acting obsession. After appearing on
Broadway for a time, Peck soon moved into films. His first film appearance was in "Days of Glory." Soon after, he appeared in "The Keys of the
Kingdom," in which he earned his first Oscar nomination playing a priest in China. This film would set a career-long precedent for Peck to play
the stalwart and upstanding idealist in the face of the jaded. Peck was to become cinema's undaunted hero...
NOVEMBER 2005 - JOHN WAYNE
Born May 26, 1907 - Died June 11, 1979
John Wayne. The Duke. In American cinema and in world cinema, few names are as universally well-known. For the better part of 50 years,
Wayne defined masculine bravado on the silver screen, and to this day no one has matched his unique cool. The manliest man to ever wear
chaps was the son of a pharmacist in Winterset, Iowa. His famous nickname, Duke, was actually his dog's name when he was a kid. Yeah, let
that one sink in too and prepare to relearn everything you thought you knew about John Wayne...
Born May 26, 1907 - Died June 11, 1979
John Wayne. The Duke. In American cinema and in world cinema, few names are as universally well-known. For the better part of 50 years,
Wayne defined masculine bravado on the silver screen, and to this day no one has matched his unique cool. The manliest man to ever wear
chaps was the son of a pharmacist in Winterset, Iowa. His famous nickname, Duke, was actually his dog's name when he was a kid. Yeah, let
that one sink in too and prepare to relearn everything you thought you knew about John Wayne...
DECEMBER 2005 - GINGER ROGERS
Born July 16, 1911 - Died April 25, 1995
Born Virginia Katherine McMath, she was soon to be known to the world as Ginger Rogers, one of cinema's biggest screen legends and
arguably the greatest female film dancer of all time. She was an icon of American female moxie and innocence all wrapped up in one package.
A daughter of a broken home, Rogers moved with her mother from their home state of Missouri to Forth Worth, Texas in 1920. Fate intervened
for Rogers in 1925, after learning the trendy dance, the Charleston...
Born July 16, 1911 - Died April 25, 1995
Born Virginia Katherine McMath, she was soon to be known to the world as Ginger Rogers, one of cinema's biggest screen legends and
arguably the greatest female film dancer of all time. She was an icon of American female moxie and innocence all wrapped up in one package.
A daughter of a broken home, Rogers moved with her mother from their home state of Missouri to Forth Worth, Texas in 1920. Fate intervened
for Rogers in 1925, after learning the trendy dance, the Charleston...
JANUARY 2006 - MARILYN MONROE
Born June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962
Everyone knows the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway vent in the sidewalk trying to hold her legendary white
dress down as those famous legs are revealed to the world. Because of Monroe, popular culture now knows that diamonds are a girl's best
friend and gentlemen prefer blondes. However, Monroe saw herself as an artist, not a cheesecake pinup on screen and many of her films show
this latent talent that was sadly overlooked by many people then and now....
Born June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962
Everyone knows the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway vent in the sidewalk trying to hold her legendary white
dress down as those famous legs are revealed to the world. Because of Monroe, popular culture now knows that diamonds are a girl's best
friend and gentlemen prefer blondes. However, Monroe saw herself as an artist, not a cheesecake pinup on screen and many of her films show
this latent talent that was sadly overlooked by many people then and now....