Buster Crabbe quote:
Some say my acting rose to the level of incompetence and then leveled off. I was a lot better actor than people gave me credit for. I didn't have any training, but I feel if I had been given the chance, I could have become a really good, top-rate actor. I didn't make it like a Gable or Boyer. But I wonder what would have happened if things had been different.
In The Spotlight Redux
This is in no way meant to be disrespectful to Mr. Crabbe, but that last paragraph could be echoed by a lot of people. He definitely had the looks, and with some help his acting skills may have improved. It's hard to imagine what was on the minds of the big studio moguls in how they chose someone like Clark Gable with his big ears, and big mouth (physically not figuratively) over a blond babe like Buster. P.S. Blond men are not my type, so if I find him attractive, I don't see why the studio heads didn't.
Anne
Anne
Anne
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I've often wondered why some personalities were pushed forward while others weren't. With the beautiful women, I've thought it was who they slept with (or didn't), or who they could blackmail (or couldn't). For men, we've learned about their sexual proclivities over years, too, and I suppose those same factors worked for them, too.
But HOW did someone like Charles Laughton EVER get out of the '30s and into another 2 decades as a star? We've certainly limited our modern stars to only the Best Looking Set. Whew - what a relief, eh? Who needs good acting like Laughton delivered when we can have great looking people filling up the screens! Boy - aren't we lucky? (cough cough)
Steve Buscemi had a brief flash. Paul Giamatti may have crested his wave, too. The Jack Blacks and Phillip Seymour Hoffmans give me hopes I'll see a Laughton-esque career again in my lifetime.
But for women - ladies, soil yer undies and hand 'em to the nearest paparazzi - ya have to feed the most disgusting publicity machine of all.
That's why my TV has an Off Switch and a TCM channel on it.
But HOW did someone like Charles Laughton EVER get out of the '30s and into another 2 decades as a star? We've certainly limited our modern stars to only the Best Looking Set. Whew - what a relief, eh? Who needs good acting like Laughton delivered when we can have great looking people filling up the screens! Boy - aren't we lucky? (cough cough)
Steve Buscemi had a brief flash. Paul Giamatti may have crested his wave, too. The Jack Blacks and Phillip Seymour Hoffmans give me hopes I'll see a Laughton-esque career again in my lifetime.
But for women - ladies, soil yer undies and hand 'em to the nearest paparazzi - ya have to feed the most disgusting publicity machine of all.
That's why my TV has an Off Switch and a TCM channel on it.
Oh, speaking of these matters... I really enjoyed HOLLYWOODLAND with Ben "Laughton" Affleck (OK OK, I'm kidding) doing the George Reeves story.
The most imaginative thing was the possible death scene. I thought that was a creative way to show how an accident could have happened, and the film constructed that scene to be as likely as any of my boyhood "Superman kills himself" nightmares ever were.
Congrats on that. I thought that film was superior to anything Oliver Stone could ever think of creating. Of course, most toilet-bowls contain superior products, too. Hmmm... so I guess that's not saying a lot.
The most imaginative thing was the possible death scene. I thought that was a creative way to show how an accident could have happened, and the film constructed that scene to be as likely as any of my boyhood "Superman kills himself" nightmares ever were.
Congrats on that. I thought that film was superior to anything Oliver Stone could ever think of creating. Of course, most toilet-bowls contain superior products, too. Hmmm... so I guess that's not saying a lot.
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moira finnie
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Hi Mongo,
Thanks for the profile of Buster Crabbe. My awareness of his *ahem* extraordinary graceful form was recently raised when TCM ran a screwball comedy called We're Rich Again (1934). Mr. Crabbe spent most if not all of the movie as a houseguest clad only in a very brief pair of trunks. Even Edna May Oliver (who was dandy as a polo-playing grandma) raised an eyebrow in appreciation of his nearly silent, but oh, so eloquent presence in her household. I don't think that Buster spoke more than a word or two throughout the film. I don't know if he would have developed into an exceptional actor if given the chance, as your quote of his words mentions, but if they'd had a phrase such as "eye-candy" back then, it might've been applied to B.C.!! Sorry, Mr. Crabbe!
I also have two questions for you, Joe:
1.) Though he'd played Tarzan once, wasn't he seriously considered by MGM for the role that went to Johnny Weismuller?
2.) Recently my awareness of Jean Rogers has been heightened by a perusal of a couple of MGM B movies from the '40s--interestingly, in most of them she plays a bad apple. She was exceptionally beautiful, with a warm speaking voice and perhaps a greater range than I was aware of from her part in Flash Gordon serials. Do you have any thoughts on why she didn't make it big in movies? Was she one of those ladies who chose to step out of the spotlight for a family life?
Thanks!
Thanks for the profile of Buster Crabbe. My awareness of his *ahem* extraordinary graceful form was recently raised when TCM ran a screwball comedy called We're Rich Again (1934). Mr. Crabbe spent most if not all of the movie as a houseguest clad only in a very brief pair of trunks. Even Edna May Oliver (who was dandy as a polo-playing grandma) raised an eyebrow in appreciation of his nearly silent, but oh, so eloquent presence in her household. I don't think that Buster spoke more than a word or two throughout the film. I don't know if he would have developed into an exceptional actor if given the chance, as your quote of his words mentions, but if they'd had a phrase such as "eye-candy" back then, it might've been applied to B.C.!! Sorry, Mr. Crabbe!
I also have two questions for you, Joe:
1.) Though he'd played Tarzan once, wasn't he seriously considered by MGM for the role that went to Johnny Weismuller?
2.) Recently my awareness of Jean Rogers has been heightened by a perusal of a couple of MGM B movies from the '40s--interestingly, in most of them she plays a bad apple. She was exceptionally beautiful, with a warm speaking voice and perhaps a greater range than I was aware of from her part in Flash Gordon serials. Do you have any thoughts on why she didn't make it big in movies? Was she one of those ladies who chose to step out of the spotlight for a family life?
Thanks!
Moira, Buster Crabbe was tested for the Tarzan role by MGM and he was rejected. Frankly, I'm glad that we got Johnny Weissmuller (the best Tarzan in movies).
Regarding Jean Rogers, it looks like the studio system screwed up again. From IMDb:
Unsatisfied with the way her career was going, and the fact that the studio refused to give her a raise, she left Universal for 20th Century Fox in 1939. Two years later the spunky Rogers left Fox for the same reasons she left Universal, and signed with MGM, where she found the treatment more to her liking. She walked off the Culver City lot in 1943 when studio boss Louis B. Mayer discovered that she planned to get married, and forbade her to do so. Althugh she freelanced over the next few years, nothing much really came of it, and after making "The Second Woman" in 1951, she retired to raise her family.
Regarding Jean Rogers, it looks like the studio system screwed up again. From IMDb:
Unsatisfied with the way her career was going, and the fact that the studio refused to give her a raise, she left Universal for 20th Century Fox in 1939. Two years later the spunky Rogers left Fox for the same reasons she left Universal, and signed with MGM, where she found the treatment more to her liking. She walked off the Culver City lot in 1943 when studio boss Louis B. Mayer discovered that she planned to get married, and forbade her to do so. Althugh she freelanced over the next few years, nothing much really came of it, and after making "The Second Woman" in 1951, she retired to raise her family.
Now Ollie:
You have to be fair. I know you didn't name me, but I kind of feel as if your post was a result of mine. As you see, I used Clark Gable (The King), not a Charles Laughton look-alike. Clark was stiff and formal in his first few movies, simply mouthing words like a mannequin, very similar to Buster Crabbe, I was only asking, between the two men, how do they choose someone with obvious physical drawbacks as the leading man, lover boy over a very handsome fellow? Clark was not 'every woman's dream man', when he was younger, so what made him stand out and be given the chance?
Anne
You have to be fair. I know you didn't name me, but I kind of feel as if your post was a result of mine. As you see, I used Clark Gable (The King), not a Charles Laughton look-alike. Clark was stiff and formal in his first few movies, simply mouthing words like a mannequin, very similar to Buster Crabbe, I was only asking, between the two men, how do they choose someone with obvious physical drawbacks as the leading man, lover boy over a very handsome fellow? Clark was not 'every woman's dream man', when he was younger, so what made him stand out and be given the chance?
Anne
Anne
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* * * * * * * * What is past is prologue. * * * * * * * *
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I don't know much about Buster Crabbe, but my guess is that women went for the sort of rough, he-man quality that Gable immediately showed.
Never the biggest Gable fan, I always thought that I didn't tend to like that quality, myself. But I remember reading an excellent essay once in which the writer pointed out that, unlike Gable and Valentino, who revealed in love scenes a vulnerability and tenderness under their forceful exteriors, Fred Astaire revealed in love scenes (read dances) a take-charge forcefulness under a comedic and gentle exterior.
So I guess I DO go for it, in a sense!
Never the biggest Gable fan, I always thought that I didn't tend to like that quality, myself. But I remember reading an excellent essay once in which the writer pointed out that, unlike Gable and Valentino, who revealed in love scenes a vulnerability and tenderness under their forceful exteriors, Fred Astaire revealed in love scenes (read dances) a take-charge forcefulness under a comedic and gentle exterior.
So I guess I DO go for it, in a sense!
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moira finnie
- Administrator
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- Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
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Thank you for your reply about Buster Crabbe, Mongo. I don't think that Buster would have brought the same warmth and likability to the role of Tarzan that Weismuller did, but it would have seemed incredible if he hadn't been considered for the Ape Man.
Thanks for the Jean Rogers info. I thought that she might have been lost in the shuffle back then. I hope her private life gave her more satisfaction than that decidedly bumpy career ride!
Say, guys, could we discuss this Gable-Valentino-Laughton-whoever stuff in a spot on the site other than Mongo's thread, perhaps?
Thanks for the Jean Rogers info. I thought that she might have been lost in the shuffle back then. I hope her private life gave her more satisfaction than that decidedly bumpy career ride!
Say, guys, could we discuss this Gable-Valentino-Laughton-whoever stuff in a spot on the site other than Mongo's thread, perhaps?
mongoII wrote:Moira, Buster Crabbe was tested for the Tarzan role by MGM and he was rejected. Frankly, I'm glad that we got Johnny Weissmuller (the best Tarzan in movies).
Regarding Jean Rogers, it looks like the studio system screwed up again. From IMDb:
Unsatisfied with the way her career was going, and the fact that the studio refused to give her a raise, she left Universal for 20th Century Fox in 1939. Two years later the spunky Rogers left Fox for the same reasons she left Universal, and signed with MGM, where she found the treatment more to her liking. She walked off the Culver City lot in 1943 when studio boss Louis B. Mayer discovered that she planned to get married, and forbade her to do so. Althugh she freelanced over the next few years, nothing much really came of it, and after making "The Second Woman" in 1951, she retired to raise her family.
In the Spotlight: JANE DARWELL
Essential character actress Jane Darwell was born Patti Woodard in Palmyra, Missouri on October 15, 1879. Darwell was the daughter of a railroad president who claimed to be a direct descendant of President Andrew Jackson.
She grew up on a ranch and originally intended to become a circus performer, and nursed ambitions to be an opera singer, but put it off because of her father's disapproval (she eventually changed her name to Darwell from the family name of Woodward so as not to mar the family name). However her family objected and she compromised by becoming an actress.
She began her acting career in theater productions in Chicago.
she was almost 40 when she made her first film, a silent, in 1913. She easily made the transition from silents to talkies, and specialized in playing kindly, grandmotherly types.
She appeared in almost twenty films over the next two years before returning to the stage. After a 15 year absence she resumed her film career wih her first notable performances in talking pictures in 1930 and 1931 when she played the part of the Widow Douglas in the films "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn.", and her career as a Hollywood character actress began.
Short, stout and plain faced she was quickly cast in a succession of films usually as the mother of one of the major characters. A contract player with 20th Century Fox, Darwell occasionally starred in "B" movies and played featured parts in scores of major films.
Jane seated with Paul Kelly in "Blind Date" (1934)
In rear are Ann Sothern and Spencer Charters
A perplexed Jane in "McFadden's Flats" (1935)
Darwell in her San Fernando Valley home (1930s)
Darwell with Don Ameche & Loretta Young in "Ramona" (1936)
Darwell (wearing red ribbon) in GWTW
Darwell (left) as Mrs Merriwether in "Gone With the Wind" with Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat (center)
In "Brigham Young" with Linda Darnell & Tyrone Power (1940)
In "Chad Hanna" with Guy Kibbee, Linda Darnell & Henry Fonda (1940)
Darwell with Roddy McDowall (left) in "On the Sunny Side" (1942)
She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her sterling portrayal as "Ma Joad" in "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), a role she was given at the insistence of the film's star, Henry Fonda. And a role that Beulah Bondi wanted desperately, and was promised and eventually denied.
Oscar winner Jane Darwell in her crowning achievement as Ma Joad with Henry Fonda
Darwell as Ma Joad, Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, & Russell Simpson as Pa Joad
Darwell was also memorably cast against type in "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943), as the shrewish, cackling Ma Grier, one of the leaders of the lynch mob.
(L to R) Anthony Quinn, Dana Andrews, Henry Fonda & Darwell
Darwell as the shrewish, cackling Ma Grier in "The Ox-Bo Incident" (1943)
By the end of her career she had appeared in more than 170 films, including "Huckleberry Finn" (1931), "Roman Scandals" (1933), "Once to Every Woman" (1934), "Little Miss Broadway" (1938), "Jesse James", "The Rains Came", "Gone with the Wind" as gossip Mrs. Dolly Meriwether, (all 1939), "My Darling Clementine" (1946), and "3 Godfathers" (1948).
Other films included, "Ladies of the Big House", "Back Street", "Bondage", "One Night of Love", "White Fang", "Ramona", "Craig's Wife","Brigham Young", "Chad Hanna" as the Fat Lady, "Tender Comrade", "Captain Tugboat Annie", "Caged", "The Lemon Drop Kid" as Nellie Thursday, "Hit the Deck", "Girls in Prison", "The Last Hurrah", and her final movie Disney's "Mary Poppins".
She continued playing character parts into the late 1950s including television guest appearances on shows such as "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "My Friend Flicka," "Maverick," "Wagon Train," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." By the late 1950s illness had forced her to leave the screen.
She had retired in 1959 and was living at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, when she was approached by Walt Disney Pictures to play the Bird Woman in Mary Poppins (1964). She at first refused, but Walt Disney was so set on having her in his film that he personally visited her at the MPCH and eventually persuaded her to take the part.
Despite her advanced age of 87, she kept active and was about to begin work on another film at the time of her death.
There is no record that the lady ever married.
In 1967 Darwell died from a heart attack in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 87, and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
The grand character actress has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures.
Quoted: "I've played Henry Fonda's mother so often that, whenever we run into each other, I call him 'Son' and he calls me 'Ma', just to save time".
Essential character actress Jane Darwell was born Patti Woodard in Palmyra, Missouri on October 15, 1879. Darwell was the daughter of a railroad president who claimed to be a direct descendant of President Andrew Jackson.
She grew up on a ranch and originally intended to become a circus performer, and nursed ambitions to be an opera singer, but put it off because of her father's disapproval (she eventually changed her name to Darwell from the family name of Woodward so as not to mar the family name). However her family objected and she compromised by becoming an actress.
She began her acting career in theater productions in Chicago.
she was almost 40 when she made her first film, a silent, in 1913. She easily made the transition from silents to talkies, and specialized in playing kindly, grandmotherly types.
She appeared in almost twenty films over the next two years before returning to the stage. After a 15 year absence she resumed her film career wih her first notable performances in talking pictures in 1930 and 1931 when she played the part of the Widow Douglas in the films "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn.", and her career as a Hollywood character actress began.
Short, stout and plain faced she was quickly cast in a succession of films usually as the mother of one of the major characters. A contract player with 20th Century Fox, Darwell occasionally starred in "B" movies and played featured parts in scores of major films.
Jane seated with Paul Kelly in "Blind Date" (1934)
In rear are Ann Sothern and Spencer Charters
A perplexed Jane in "McFadden's Flats" (1935)
Darwell in her San Fernando Valley home (1930s)
Darwell with Don Ameche & Loretta Young in "Ramona" (1936)
Darwell (wearing red ribbon) in GWTW
Darwell (left) as Mrs Merriwether in "Gone With the Wind" with Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat (center)
In "Brigham Young" with Linda Darnell & Tyrone Power (1940)
In "Chad Hanna" with Guy Kibbee, Linda Darnell & Henry Fonda (1940)
Darwell with Roddy McDowall (left) in "On the Sunny Side" (1942)
She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her sterling portrayal as "Ma Joad" in "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), a role she was given at the insistence of the film's star, Henry Fonda. And a role that Beulah Bondi wanted desperately, and was promised and eventually denied.
Oscar winner Jane Darwell in her crowning achievement as Ma Joad with Henry Fonda
Darwell as Ma Joad, Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, & Russell Simpson as Pa Joad
Darwell was also memorably cast against type in "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943), as the shrewish, cackling Ma Grier, one of the leaders of the lynch mob.
(L to R) Anthony Quinn, Dana Andrews, Henry Fonda & Darwell
Darwell as the shrewish, cackling Ma Grier in "The Ox-Bo Incident" (1943)
By the end of her career she had appeared in more than 170 films, including "Huckleberry Finn" (1931), "Roman Scandals" (1933), "Once to Every Woman" (1934), "Little Miss Broadway" (1938), "Jesse James", "The Rains Came", "Gone with the Wind" as gossip Mrs. Dolly Meriwether, (all 1939), "My Darling Clementine" (1946), and "3 Godfathers" (1948).
Other films included, "Ladies of the Big House", "Back Street", "Bondage", "One Night of Love", "White Fang", "Ramona", "Craig's Wife","Brigham Young", "Chad Hanna" as the Fat Lady, "Tender Comrade", "Captain Tugboat Annie", "Caged", "The Lemon Drop Kid" as Nellie Thursday, "Hit the Deck", "Girls in Prison", "The Last Hurrah", and her final movie Disney's "Mary Poppins".
She continued playing character parts into the late 1950s including television guest appearances on shows such as "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "My Friend Flicka," "Maverick," "Wagon Train," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." By the late 1950s illness had forced her to leave the screen.
She had retired in 1959 and was living at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, when she was approached by Walt Disney Pictures to play the Bird Woman in Mary Poppins (1964). She at first refused, but Walt Disney was so set on having her in his film that he personally visited her at the MPCH and eventually persuaded her to take the part.
Despite her advanced age of 87, she kept active and was about to begin work on another film at the time of her death.
There is no record that the lady ever married.
In 1967 Darwell died from a heart attack in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 87, and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
The grand character actress has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures.
Quoted: "I've played Henry Fonda's mother so often that, whenever we run into each other, I call him 'Son' and he calls me 'Ma', just to save time".
Joseph Goodheart
In the Spotlight: Tommy Kirk
The scrappy teen was born Thomas Lee Kirk on December 10, 1941 in Louisville, Kentucky to Baptist parents.
Kirk was discovered by talent agents at the age of thirteen in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. Hired by Walt Disney Productions, he was cast as a clean-cut teenager in "The Hardy Boys" serial feature
which was aired in the "The Mickey Mouse Club" television series aired in the 1950s. Kirk played Joe Hardy opposite Tim Considine as older brother Frank Hardy in two serials.
Tim Considine and Tommy as "The Hardy Boys"
Kirk went on to starring roles in a succession of successful Disney feature films, in both dramatic and comedic settings.
Notably he played Travis Coates in "Old Yeller" (1957), an adventure story about a boy and his heroic dog.
Dorothy McGuire, Tommy, and Spike in "Old Yeller" (1957)
Tommy with 'Old Yeller' played by Spike the yellow Lab
Tommy changing into "The Shaggy Dog" (1959)
He then played a dog himself in "The Shaggy Dog" (1959), a comedy about a boy inventor. He had a more straightforward role as elder son Ernst in another adventure film, "Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
Tommy, John Mills, James MacArthur, Dorothy McGuire, & Kevin Corcoran
Tommy making faces along with Deborah Walley, Fred MacMurray, Kevin Corcoran and Jane Wyman in "Bon Voyage!" (1962)
Kirk then played the "scrambled egghead" student inventor Merlin Jones in two comedies, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" (1964) and "The Monkey's Uncle" (1965). Other major Disney roles for Tommy Kirk included that of college student Biff Hawk in "The Absent-Minded Professor" (1961) and its sequel, "Son of Flubber" (1963), and in the fairy tale fantasy "Babes in Toyland".
Tommy & Annette Funicello in "Pajama Party"
Tommy, Annette Funicello, & Elsa Lanchester in "Pajama Party" (1964)
Tommy & Anne Helm in "The Unkissed Bride" (1966)
Tommy with Deborah Walley in "It's a Bikini World" (1967)
In several of these films (5), Kirk played the older brother of child actor Kevin Corcoran, better known as Moochie. Veteran actor Fred MacMurray starred in at least four of Tommy Kirk's films, including "Bon Voyage!" with Jane Wyman. Annette Funicello played the girlfriend of Kirk's character in the two Merlin Jones films, and the girl Wilby passes over in "The Shaggy Dog".
MacMurray once reportedly gave Kirk "the biggest dressing-down of my life" during the filming of "Bon Voyage!", which Kirk says he deserved.
His relationships with other actors produced more positive reactions. "Tommy played my brother in a lot of films and put up with a lot of things that I did to him over the years," Corcoran says in a commentary on the DVD release of "Old Yeller". "He must be a great person not to hate me." Tim Considine calls Kirk "a monster talent".
Quoted: "Even more than MGM, Disney [in the early 1960s] was the most conservative studio in town....They were growing aware. They weren't stupid. They could add two and two, and I think they were beginning to suspect my homosexuality. I noticed people in certain quarters were getting less and less friendly....In 1963 Disney didn't renew my option and let me go. But Walt let me return to do the final Merlin Jones movie, 'The Monkey's Uncle,' because those were moneymakers for the studio."
Kirk also played a part in several of the 1960s Beach Party film and teen movie genres, with appearances in American International Pictures' "Pajama Party" with Annette, and "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" opposite Deborah Walley, and later in the independent "It's a Bikini World" (paired again with Walley); and starred in "Village of the Giants", among others.
Quoted: "In 1965, I'd signed a contract for 'The Sons of Katie Elder' with John Wayne, but a week before shooting I went to a Hollywood party that the vice squad busted because of marijuana. I was handcuffed and photos of me got in the papers with headlines like 'Ex-Disney Child Star Arrested for Pot!' So Wayne and the producers fired me."
In 1966 Kirk starred in "The Unkissed Bride" and in AIP's "Mars Needs Women", released in 1968.
Kirk's career tapered off during the 1960s, and
went into an irreversible tailspin. Depressed and angry, he sought solace in drugs and nearly died at one point. For health reasons, he completely abandoned his career and slowly moved forward as a recovering addict. He put together a successful carpet and upholstery cleaning business which has run steadily for well over two decades.
Tommy Kirk was inducted as a Disney Legend in October 2006, alongside his old co-stars Tim Considine and Kevin Corcoran. (Established in 1987, the Disney Legends programme recognizes people who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.)
He continued to act occasionally, however, including a role in the R-rated spoof "Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold". He has, as of 2006, a total of more than thirty feature films roles to his credit.
Now at age 66, Tommy wants to be remembered for the Disney work, especially "Swiss Family Robinson", his favorite. Kirk today is wiser and has dealt with the issues of his life and their effects. Good for you, kid.
The scrappy teen was born Thomas Lee Kirk on December 10, 1941 in Louisville, Kentucky to Baptist parents.
Kirk was discovered by talent agents at the age of thirteen in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. Hired by Walt Disney Productions, he was cast as a clean-cut teenager in "The Hardy Boys" serial feature
which was aired in the "The Mickey Mouse Club" television series aired in the 1950s. Kirk played Joe Hardy opposite Tim Considine as older brother Frank Hardy in two serials.
Tim Considine and Tommy as "The Hardy Boys"
Kirk went on to starring roles in a succession of successful Disney feature films, in both dramatic and comedic settings.
Notably he played Travis Coates in "Old Yeller" (1957), an adventure story about a boy and his heroic dog.
Dorothy McGuire, Tommy, and Spike in "Old Yeller" (1957)
Tommy with 'Old Yeller' played by Spike the yellow Lab
Tommy changing into "The Shaggy Dog" (1959)
He then played a dog himself in "The Shaggy Dog" (1959), a comedy about a boy inventor. He had a more straightforward role as elder son Ernst in another adventure film, "Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
Tommy, John Mills, James MacArthur, Dorothy McGuire, & Kevin Corcoran
Tommy making faces along with Deborah Walley, Fred MacMurray, Kevin Corcoran and Jane Wyman in "Bon Voyage!" (1962)
Kirk then played the "scrambled egghead" student inventor Merlin Jones in two comedies, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" (1964) and "The Monkey's Uncle" (1965). Other major Disney roles for Tommy Kirk included that of college student Biff Hawk in "The Absent-Minded Professor" (1961) and its sequel, "Son of Flubber" (1963), and in the fairy tale fantasy "Babes in Toyland".
Tommy & Annette Funicello in "Pajama Party"
Tommy, Annette Funicello, & Elsa Lanchester in "Pajama Party" (1964)
Tommy & Anne Helm in "The Unkissed Bride" (1966)
Tommy with Deborah Walley in "It's a Bikini World" (1967)
In several of these films (5), Kirk played the older brother of child actor Kevin Corcoran, better known as Moochie. Veteran actor Fred MacMurray starred in at least four of Tommy Kirk's films, including "Bon Voyage!" with Jane Wyman. Annette Funicello played the girlfriend of Kirk's character in the two Merlin Jones films, and the girl Wilby passes over in "The Shaggy Dog".
MacMurray once reportedly gave Kirk "the biggest dressing-down of my life" during the filming of "Bon Voyage!", which Kirk says he deserved.
His relationships with other actors produced more positive reactions. "Tommy played my brother in a lot of films and put up with a lot of things that I did to him over the years," Corcoran says in a commentary on the DVD release of "Old Yeller". "He must be a great person not to hate me." Tim Considine calls Kirk "a monster talent".
Quoted: "Even more than MGM, Disney [in the early 1960s] was the most conservative studio in town....They were growing aware. They weren't stupid. They could add two and two, and I think they were beginning to suspect my homosexuality. I noticed people in certain quarters were getting less and less friendly....In 1963 Disney didn't renew my option and let me go. But Walt let me return to do the final Merlin Jones movie, 'The Monkey's Uncle,' because those were moneymakers for the studio."
Kirk also played a part in several of the 1960s Beach Party film and teen movie genres, with appearances in American International Pictures' "Pajama Party" with Annette, and "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" opposite Deborah Walley, and later in the independent "It's a Bikini World" (paired again with Walley); and starred in "Village of the Giants", among others.
Quoted: "In 1965, I'd signed a contract for 'The Sons of Katie Elder' with John Wayne, but a week before shooting I went to a Hollywood party that the vice squad busted because of marijuana. I was handcuffed and photos of me got in the papers with headlines like 'Ex-Disney Child Star Arrested for Pot!' So Wayne and the producers fired me."
In 1966 Kirk starred in "The Unkissed Bride" and in AIP's "Mars Needs Women", released in 1968.
Kirk's career tapered off during the 1960s, and
went into an irreversible tailspin. Depressed and angry, he sought solace in drugs and nearly died at one point. For health reasons, he completely abandoned his career and slowly moved forward as a recovering addict. He put together a successful carpet and upholstery cleaning business which has run steadily for well over two decades.
Tommy Kirk was inducted as a Disney Legend in October 2006, alongside his old co-stars Tim Considine and Kevin Corcoran. (Established in 1987, the Disney Legends programme recognizes people who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.)
He continued to act occasionally, however, including a role in the R-rated spoof "Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold". He has, as of 2006, a total of more than thirty feature films roles to his credit.
Now at age 66, Tommy wants to be remembered for the Disney work, especially "Swiss Family Robinson", his favorite. Kirk today is wiser and has dealt with the issues of his life and their effects. Good for you, kid.
Joseph Goodheart
In the Spotlight: PHYLLIS THAXTER
The lovely brunette was born Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter in Portland, Maine, on November 20, 1921.
The daughter of a Maine Supreme Court Justice, her acting talent came from her mother's side who was a one-time Shakespearean actress. Phyllis was educated for a time at St. Genevieve School in Montreal and back at Portland's Deering High School.
She apprenticed in summer stock and had joined the Montreal Reperatory Theatre company by the time she made her Broadway debut at age 17 in "What a Life!" in 1939, the Henry Aldrich play.
She eventually signed an MGM contract in 1944. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the war-time film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".
Similar to Margaret Sullavan, June Allyson, Dorothy McGuire and Teresa Wright, Phyllis was depended on as a stabilizing factor in melodramas, often as the dewy-eyed, altruistic wife, girlfriend or daughter.
Thaxter suffers multiple personality syndrome. With Stephen McNally.
Other important films included a good dramatic role as the girl with a split personality in "Bewitched" (1945), and as a angst-ridden, teary-eyed bride-to-be in "Week-End at the Waldorf" (1945). She was dutifully wholesome as the daughter who reunites Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in the movie "The Sea of Grass" (1947) and evoked tears yet again as little Margaret O'Brien's sickly mother in "Tenth Avenue Angel" (1948).
Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, & Thaxter in "The Sea of Grass"
she usually played the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men,including Robert Ryan in "Act of Violence" (1948). One of her more memorable roles was also in 1948, playing a cattle owner's daughter alongside Barbara Bel Geddes in "Blood on the Moon". She was the key character Patrice Harkness in the noir-melodrama "No Man of Her Own" with Barbara Stanwyck.
Thaxter plays Robert Ryan's girl in this taut film-noir
Thaxter with Robert Preston in "Blood on the Moon" (1948)
Thaxter changed studios in the 1950s, moving to Warner Brothers, but usually played the same type of roles, which included "The Breaking Point" with John Garfield, "Jim Thorpe--All American" with Burt Lancaster, "Come Fill the Cup" with Cagney.
Thaxter with John Garfield in "The Breaking Point" (1950)
Thaxter with Burt Lancaster in "Jim Thorpe All--American" (1951)
Thaxter with Gary Cooper in "Springfield Rifle" (1952)
Thaxter in "Women's Prison" (1955).
She also appeared in "Women's Prison" with Ida Lupino and "Man Afraid" with George Nader.
Thaxter with George Nader in "Man Afraid" (1957)
Thaxter's career stalled after an attack of infantile paralysis, while visiting her family in Portland, in 1952. She, however, made a slow comeback in character parts in television, movies and the stage.
In 1978, Thaxter was cast along with Glenn Ford as Ma and Pa Kent in the spectacular "Superman" movie with Christopher Reeve.
Thaxter with Glenn Ford in "Superman: The Movie" (1978)
While at MGM, Phyllis married James T. Aubrey, Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. The couple had 3 children.
Following their divorce in 1962, Phyllis married Gilbert Lea, who owned Tower Publishing Company in Portland. They eventually retired to Cumberland, Maine, where she involved herself in civic/community activities and dedicated herself to hospital volunteer work.
At age 86 she has been semi-retired for many years, spending her summers in Vero Beach, Florida.
Miss Thaxter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The lovely brunette was born Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter in Portland, Maine, on November 20, 1921.
The daughter of a Maine Supreme Court Justice, her acting talent came from her mother's side who was a one-time Shakespearean actress. Phyllis was educated for a time at St. Genevieve School in Montreal and back at Portland's Deering High School.
She apprenticed in summer stock and had joined the Montreal Reperatory Theatre company by the time she made her Broadway debut at age 17 in "What a Life!" in 1939, the Henry Aldrich play.
She eventually signed an MGM contract in 1944. Her movie debut was opposite Van Johnson in the war-time film "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".
Similar to Margaret Sullavan, June Allyson, Dorothy McGuire and Teresa Wright, Phyllis was depended on as a stabilizing factor in melodramas, often as the dewy-eyed, altruistic wife, girlfriend or daughter.
Thaxter suffers multiple personality syndrome. With Stephen McNally.
Other important films included a good dramatic role as the girl with a split personality in "Bewitched" (1945), and as a angst-ridden, teary-eyed bride-to-be in "Week-End at the Waldorf" (1945). She was dutifully wholesome as the daughter who reunites Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in the movie "The Sea of Grass" (1947) and evoked tears yet again as little Margaret O'Brien's sickly mother in "Tenth Avenue Angel" (1948).
Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy, & Thaxter in "The Sea of Grass"
she usually played the ever-patient wife to a number of leading men,including Robert Ryan in "Act of Violence" (1948). One of her more memorable roles was also in 1948, playing a cattle owner's daughter alongside Barbara Bel Geddes in "Blood on the Moon". She was the key character Patrice Harkness in the noir-melodrama "No Man of Her Own" with Barbara Stanwyck.
Thaxter plays Robert Ryan's girl in this taut film-noir
Thaxter with Robert Preston in "Blood on the Moon" (1948)
Thaxter changed studios in the 1950s, moving to Warner Brothers, but usually played the same type of roles, which included "The Breaking Point" with John Garfield, "Jim Thorpe--All American" with Burt Lancaster, "Come Fill the Cup" with Cagney.
Thaxter with John Garfield in "The Breaking Point" (1950)
Thaxter with Burt Lancaster in "Jim Thorpe All--American" (1951)
Thaxter with Gary Cooper in "Springfield Rifle" (1952)
Thaxter in "Women's Prison" (1955).
She also appeared in "Women's Prison" with Ida Lupino and "Man Afraid" with George Nader.
Thaxter with George Nader in "Man Afraid" (1957)
Thaxter's career stalled after an attack of infantile paralysis, while visiting her family in Portland, in 1952. She, however, made a slow comeback in character parts in television, movies and the stage.
In 1978, Thaxter was cast along with Glenn Ford as Ma and Pa Kent in the spectacular "Superman" movie with Christopher Reeve.
Thaxter with Glenn Ford in "Superman: The Movie" (1978)
While at MGM, Phyllis married James T. Aubrey, Jr., who later became president of CBS-TV and MGM. The couple had 3 children.
Following their divorce in 1962, Phyllis married Gilbert Lea, who owned Tower Publishing Company in Portland. They eventually retired to Cumberland, Maine, where she involved herself in civic/community activities and dedicated herself to hospital volunteer work.
At age 86 she has been semi-retired for many years, spending her summers in Vero Beach, Florida.
Miss Thaxter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Joseph Goodheart
In the Spotlight: JOHNNY ECK
The Wonder Boy was born John Eckhardt, Jr. on August 27, 1911, in Baltimore, Maryland to working class parents, Amelia Dippel and John Eckhardt, Sr., who lived in a rowhouse in Baltimore.
Eck had an older sister named Carolyn and a twin named Robert, neither of whom was born with Eck's congenital birth defects: Eck was born with no lower half. His body stopped just below the ribs. virtually nothing beneath his rib cage, and with his tongue permanently embedded in his cheek. At birth, Eck weighed two pounds and was less than eight inches in length.
Twins Robert and John in 1912
Eck was educated at home by his older sister, and had learned to read and write by 4 years of age. His mother intended that he would go into the ministry, and the young Eck was often called upon to perform impromptu sermons for guests. "I would climb atop of a small box and preach against drinking beer and damning sin and the devil," Eck recalled in an autobiographical fragment. These sermons quickly came to an end when Eck began passing around a saucer for donations.
Eck and his brother enrolled in public school at age 7. He recalled that larger students would "fight each other for the 'honor' or 'privilege' of lifting me up the stone steps" to school, and that school windows were blacked out to discourage throngs of curious onlookers from peering in at Eck during his studies.
Johnny in the early 1920s (eager to perform)
At an early age, Eck developed an interest in painting and woodworking, and would spend hours with his brother carving and painting elaborate, fully articulated circuses. He was also a prolific screen painter.
In December of 1923 Eck and his brother attended a performance of stage magic at his local church. Eck clambered onto the stage at one point to accept a gift from the magician, John McAsian, who was flabbergasted at the sight of the boy. McAslan offered Eck a contract with a local carnival, and his parents signed a one-year contract, which Eck claims the magician later changed to a 10-year contract by adding a zero.
Johnny performing his magic tricks
Eck (his name was shortened by his first manager) was billed as a single-o (solo sideshow act), though he traveled with Robert and used Robert's normalcy to emphasize his own abnormal physique. His performance included sleight-of-hand and acrobatic feats including his famous one-armed handstand.
Johnny and Brother Rob at a carnival
Johnny Eck headliner
Johnny with one of his handmade puppets
He never let his lack of legs prevent him from attempting anything he dreamed up. Someone once asked him if he wished he had legs? "Why would I want those? Then I'd have pants to press." was his reply.
Eck and Robert were recruited by illusionist/hypnotist Raja for his "Miracles of 1937" show. Robert would be "recruited" from the audience for a hypnosis stunt, then kept on-stage for a sawing-in-half illusion. During the illusion, Robert would be switched with Eck and a dwarf wearing trousers that covered his whole body, disguising him as the subject's pelvis and legs. Raja would saw between Eck and the dwarf. Eck would then chase his "legs" across the stage. Stage hands would pluck Eck up, set him atop the dwarf, and twirl them off-stage, replacing them with Robert, who would then threaten to sue Raboid and storm out of the theater.
Though the act met with applause and laughter, Eck would later tell stories of audience members fainting, screaming, or fleeing the theater in terror.
Johnny (lower left) with dwarf Angelo Rossitto
In his beat remembered film role Eck is featured as the "Half-Boy" in Tod Browning's 1932 film "Freaks".
Johnny with Wallace Ford & Leila Hyams in "Freaks"
Johnny (front & center) with the cast of "Freaks" (1932). Oddly enough, blonde actress Olga Baclanova (rear center) appears to be wearing the feathered hen outfit that shocked movie goers at the time.
The recent DVD release of "Freaks" is best enjoyed for its wealth of documentary material, providing excellent background and commentary on the making of the film, and the lives of the remarkable human beings who appeared in it.
He also was a bird creature or 'Gooney Bird' in three Tarzan movies: "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932), "Tarzan Escapes" (1936) and "Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (1941). All four films have been featured on TCM.
He was a voracious letter writer and always kept a diary his entire life. Some oh his letters are as mundane as what the weather was like or who stopped by to see them and how their dogs are feeling. And other, more personal letters, which discuss their hard times getting work, ongoing fueds with their neighbors, future plans, upcoming sideshow adventures, etc.
Johnny's drawings and paintings were done during the winter months when he was at home for the off season, which included a variety of lovely watercolors.
A sample of Johnny Eck's art work:
Also included were drawings that are highly sexually charged and offer an insight into the repressed sexual feelings Johnny felt, although rumor has it that he was once married.
In 1938 Johnny climbed the stairs to the top of the Washington Monument, on his hands.
Johnny at leisure with his pet & a friend
Johnny at home in his beloved Baltimore
Eck resided in Baltimore with his twin brother Robert and pursued his interests in screen painting, race cars, photography, music and model-making.
Johnny in his custom built race car
In 1988, Eck was physically assaulted during a home robbery. Soured by the experience, he and Robert thenceforth lived in seclusion, declining to admit strangers into their home.
Eck died of a heart attack on January 5, 1991 at age 79. His devoted brother Robert died on February 25, 1995. They are buried under one headstone in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore.
During 79 years on this earth Johnny Eck accomplished more than most people with legs. He was a sideshow performer, artist, photographer, magician, Punch and Judy operator, expert model maker, race car driver, swimmer, gymnist, actor, train conductor, traveler and all around Renaissance man...God bless him.
Quoted: "I met hundreds and thousands of people, and none finer than the midgets and the Siamese twins and the caterpillar man and the bearded woman and the human seal with the little flippers for hands. I never asked them any embarrassing questions and they never asked me, and God, it was a great adventure."
The Wonder Boy was born John Eckhardt, Jr. on August 27, 1911, in Baltimore, Maryland to working class parents, Amelia Dippel and John Eckhardt, Sr., who lived in a rowhouse in Baltimore.
Eck had an older sister named Carolyn and a twin named Robert, neither of whom was born with Eck's congenital birth defects: Eck was born with no lower half. His body stopped just below the ribs. virtually nothing beneath his rib cage, and with his tongue permanently embedded in his cheek. At birth, Eck weighed two pounds and was less than eight inches in length.
Twins Robert and John in 1912
Eck was educated at home by his older sister, and had learned to read and write by 4 years of age. His mother intended that he would go into the ministry, and the young Eck was often called upon to perform impromptu sermons for guests. "I would climb atop of a small box and preach against drinking beer and damning sin and the devil," Eck recalled in an autobiographical fragment. These sermons quickly came to an end when Eck began passing around a saucer for donations.
Eck and his brother enrolled in public school at age 7. He recalled that larger students would "fight each other for the 'honor' or 'privilege' of lifting me up the stone steps" to school, and that school windows were blacked out to discourage throngs of curious onlookers from peering in at Eck during his studies.
Johnny in the early 1920s (eager to perform)
At an early age, Eck developed an interest in painting and woodworking, and would spend hours with his brother carving and painting elaborate, fully articulated circuses. He was also a prolific screen painter.
In December of 1923 Eck and his brother attended a performance of stage magic at his local church. Eck clambered onto the stage at one point to accept a gift from the magician, John McAsian, who was flabbergasted at the sight of the boy. McAslan offered Eck a contract with a local carnival, and his parents signed a one-year contract, which Eck claims the magician later changed to a 10-year contract by adding a zero.
Johnny performing his magic tricks
Eck (his name was shortened by his first manager) was billed as a single-o (solo sideshow act), though he traveled with Robert and used Robert's normalcy to emphasize his own abnormal physique. His performance included sleight-of-hand and acrobatic feats including his famous one-armed handstand.
Johnny and Brother Rob at a carnival
Johnny Eck headliner
Johnny with one of his handmade puppets
He never let his lack of legs prevent him from attempting anything he dreamed up. Someone once asked him if he wished he had legs? "Why would I want those? Then I'd have pants to press." was his reply.
Eck and Robert were recruited by illusionist/hypnotist Raja for his "Miracles of 1937" show. Robert would be "recruited" from the audience for a hypnosis stunt, then kept on-stage for a sawing-in-half illusion. During the illusion, Robert would be switched with Eck and a dwarf wearing trousers that covered his whole body, disguising him as the subject's pelvis and legs. Raja would saw between Eck and the dwarf. Eck would then chase his "legs" across the stage. Stage hands would pluck Eck up, set him atop the dwarf, and twirl them off-stage, replacing them with Robert, who would then threaten to sue Raboid and storm out of the theater.
Though the act met with applause and laughter, Eck would later tell stories of audience members fainting, screaming, or fleeing the theater in terror.
Johnny (lower left) with dwarf Angelo Rossitto
In his beat remembered film role Eck is featured as the "Half-Boy" in Tod Browning's 1932 film "Freaks".
Johnny with Wallace Ford & Leila Hyams in "Freaks"
Johnny (front & center) with the cast of "Freaks" (1932). Oddly enough, blonde actress Olga Baclanova (rear center) appears to be wearing the feathered hen outfit that shocked movie goers at the time.
The recent DVD release of "Freaks" is best enjoyed for its wealth of documentary material, providing excellent background and commentary on the making of the film, and the lives of the remarkable human beings who appeared in it.
He also was a bird creature or 'Gooney Bird' in three Tarzan movies: "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932), "Tarzan Escapes" (1936) and "Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (1941). All four films have been featured on TCM.
He was a voracious letter writer and always kept a diary his entire life. Some oh his letters are as mundane as what the weather was like or who stopped by to see them and how their dogs are feeling. And other, more personal letters, which discuss their hard times getting work, ongoing fueds with their neighbors, future plans, upcoming sideshow adventures, etc.
Johnny's drawings and paintings were done during the winter months when he was at home for the off season, which included a variety of lovely watercolors.
A sample of Johnny Eck's art work:
Also included were drawings that are highly sexually charged and offer an insight into the repressed sexual feelings Johnny felt, although rumor has it that he was once married.
In 1938 Johnny climbed the stairs to the top of the Washington Monument, on his hands.
Johnny at leisure with his pet & a friend
Johnny at home in his beloved Baltimore
Eck resided in Baltimore with his twin brother Robert and pursued his interests in screen painting, race cars, photography, music and model-making.
Johnny in his custom built race car
In 1988, Eck was physically assaulted during a home robbery. Soured by the experience, he and Robert thenceforth lived in seclusion, declining to admit strangers into their home.
Eck died of a heart attack on January 5, 1991 at age 79. His devoted brother Robert died on February 25, 1995. They are buried under one headstone in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore.
During 79 years on this earth Johnny Eck accomplished more than most people with legs. He was a sideshow performer, artist, photographer, magician, Punch and Judy operator, expert model maker, race car driver, swimmer, gymnist, actor, train conductor, traveler and all around Renaissance man...God bless him.
Quoted: "I met hundreds and thousands of people, and none finer than the midgets and the Siamese twins and the caterpillar man and the bearded woman and the human seal with the little flippers for hands. I never asked them any embarrassing questions and they never asked me, and God, it was a great adventure."
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Lzcutter
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Mongo,
BenW is going to plotz with joy when he sees this!
BenW is going to plotz with joy when he sees this!
Lynn in Lake Balboa
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Avatar-Warner Bros Water Tower
"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."
"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese
Avatar-Warner Bros Water Tower
A project that never materialized:
In 2001 Fox Searchlight was reported to finance and distribute "Johnny Eck," a dramatic vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to play the star of the 1932 Tod Browning film "Freaks" and his identical twin brother. "Edward Scissorhands" scribe Caroline Thompson was signed to write the screenplay.
Perhaps Johnny Depp will consider the roles.
In 2001 Fox Searchlight was reported to finance and distribute "Johnny Eck," a dramatic vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to play the star of the 1932 Tod Browning film "Freaks" and his identical twin brother. "Edward Scissorhands" scribe Caroline Thompson was signed to write the screenplay.
Perhaps Johnny Depp will consider the roles.
Joseph Goodheart