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- “You can’t study comedy; it’s within you. It’s a personality. My humor is an attitude.” — Don Rickles
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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: As You Like It
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Tag Archives: Holiday
From Lillian Gish to James Dean: My Interview with Dan Callahan
I had a lot of fun interviewing Dan Callahan about his new book The Art of American Screen Acting, 1912-1960. It’s now up at Slant Magazine: Mystery of Screen Acting: An Interview with Dan Callahan.
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies
Tagged Bringing Up Baby, Cary Grant, friends, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Holiday, Humphrey Bogart, interviews, James Cagney, James Dean, Joan Crawford, Josef von Sternberg, Katharine Hepburn, Kim Stanley, Lillian Gish, Louise Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando
6 Comments
“Try and stop me, someone. Oh, please, someone try and stop me!”
A perfect ending to a perfect movie. And, as Kim Morgan points out in her beautiful post, a perfect movie of Auld Lang Syne. My friend Mitchell, who is a tumbler and has worked in the circus for many years, … Continue reading
Archie Leach day: 5 Favorite Moments
Here are 5 of my favorite Cary Grant acting moments in films: This list is in no way definitive:
Posted in Actors, Movies
Tagged Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Notorious, Only Angels Have Wings, Philadelphia Story
2 Comments
Cary Grant’s Back Flip in “Holiday”
Mitchell, my circus performer best friend, has described to me, in detail, why the back flip of Cary Grant’s in the last scene of Holiday is so unbelievable. Back flips are bread and butter to circus folk – but this … Continue reading
Lew Ayres, A Dissipated Elegance
I love this image. Lew Ayres. Except for film buffs and Dr. Kildare buffs, Lew Ayres is one of those forgotten actors. But he gave some marvelous performances, had a terrific career. In particular, I love his performance as the … Continue reading

