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- “I think there is a little of Beckett in everything I have done.” — Monte Hellman
- “Nothing can prevent me from making films.” — Jafar Panahi
- Happy Birthday, Thomas Mitchell
- Happy Birthday, Bruce McGill
- “When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.” — Dorothy Thompson
- “Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your mother.” — Janet Malcolm
- “I’m one of those people who thinks you can have a happy life and still be an artist.” — Shelley Duvall
- “There’s a difference between writing about something and living through it. I did both.” — poet/novelist Margaret Walker
- “I believe what Camus says. When the curtain rings down, your job is done.” — Warren Oates
- Physical Media Booklet Essay podcast interview
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- sheila on June 28, 1914: “But if ever a man went anywhere of his own free will, Franz Ferdinand went to Sarajevo.”
- sheila on “All I actually wanted was for my work to be useful.”–Claudius Afolabi Siffre
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Category Archives: Actors
The Books: “Elizabeth” (J. Randy Taraborrelli)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Elizabeth, by J. Randy Taraborrelli When I was a kid, I saw National Velvet multiple times – probably at my cousins’ house. That’s where I remember watching most of the old movies that I remember … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged A Place in the Sun, Elizabeth Taylor, entertainment biography, Montgomery Clift, National Velvet
5 Comments
Today In History: October 30, 1938
From Simon Callow’s Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu: Focusing on the device of an interrupted programme, he dared to attempt a verisimilitude that had rarely been essayed before. The apparent breakdowns in transmission, the desperate irruptions of … Continue reading
The Books: “Life Is a Banquet” (Rosalind Russell)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Life Is a Banquet, by Rosalind Russell (and Chris Chase) Marvelous book. Laugh-out-loud funny, touching inspiring, serious – with awesome character sketches (her sister Duchess will live on in my memory FOREVER) and just a … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Cary Grant, entertainment biography, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, Rosalind Russell
6 Comments
The Books: “Ginger: My Story” (Ginger Rogers)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Ginger: My Story, by Ginger Rogers This is my kind of celebrity memoir. It is juicy, gossipy, defensive, and full of sentences like, “I need to set the record straight”. In her Introduction, she uses … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, John Ford, Katharine Hepburn
9 Comments
The Books: “‘Tis Herself: A Memoir” (Maureen O’Hara)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: ‘Tis Herself: An Autobiography, by Maureen O’Hara (with John Nicoletti) Maureen O’Hara was one of those “old” movie stars that I grew up knowing about because of the yearly showing of Miracle on 34th Street … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Ireland, John Ford, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, politics, The Quiet Man
15 Comments
More on Mickey Rourke:
More on Mickey Rourke at clarkblog – an extensive piece about the actor. Excerpt: For my money, he never burned brighter than in The Pope of Greenwich Village, an immensely enjoyable character-driven story elevated into the mythic by Rourke’s magnetic … Continue reading
The Books: “As I Am: An Autobiography” (Patricia Neal)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: As I Am: An Autobiography, by Patricia Neal This is one of those rare books where my response to it was, “Dear God, it’s me, Sheila. Could you please give Patricia Neal a break? Hasn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Paul Newman, Roald Dahl
9 Comments
The Books: “Marilyn and Me” (Susan Strasberg)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Marilyn and Me: Sisters, Rivals, Friends, by Susan Strasberg There is much to say here, about the smothering psychodrama of the Strasberg family – and the introduction of Lee Strasberg’s most famous student – Marilyn … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Actors Studio, entertainment biography, Lee Strasberg, Marilyn Monroe, Susan Strasberg
33 Comments
The Books: “Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words : Marilyn Monroe’s Revealing Last Words and Photographs” (George Barris)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words: Marilyn Monroe’s Revealing Last Words and Photographs, by George Barris George Barris claims that these were the last photographs of Mariliyn Monroe before she died. Bert Stern claims … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Actors Studio, entertainment biography, Julia Roberts, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando
4 Comments
Angel Heart (1987): The Faces
Risa Bramon was the casting director for Angel Heart. She also cast Something Wild, Jacob’s Ladder, True Romance, all of Oliver Stone’s pictures, Flirting With Disaster (if there was an Academy Award for “casting”, she should have won it for … Continue reading