Although I have not read anything to confirm the news of her death, word is out that 'B' movie blonde siren Beverly Michaels died this past June at age 78.
She is a scorcher and a hoot in "Wicked Woman" (1953), which is aired on TCM, among other films as a femme fatale.
Here is a picture of the 'dame':
http://tinyurl.com/3a7sff
R.I.P.
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Moraldo Rubini
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Sayonara
Though Miyoshi Umeki won her Oscar for Sayonara, I remember her best for Flower Drum Song ("A Hundred Million Miracles!") and as the housekeeping nanny, Mrs. Livingston, in the television show The Courtship of Eddie's Father with Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz.John wrote:Lovely Miyoshi Umeki died at 78. She was long retired, and living near her son and his family, in Licking, MO. She died on August 29th.
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sandykaypax
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- Location: Beautiful Ohio
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Moraldo Rubini
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La Favorita
Earlier today I posted about the failing health of tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Sadly, his death was just announced; his battle with pancreatic cancer is over.
It's been a tough year for opera fans with the recent death of Beverly Sills and the suicide of tenor Jerry Hadley. Like Sills, Pavarotti did much to bring opera to the masses. Suddenly everyone knew the aria that became his theme song: "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot. I attended his debut in the role of Calaf -- a night I'll never forget. In those days (the late 1970's) he could do no wrong. He was a ham on the stage, and stole many a scene from fuming sopranos; but his voice was glorious and his love for the audience was evident. After a San Francisco performance of Aida I went backstage to meet the guy. I wasn't even sure if he would be receiving visitors, and his door was tightly shut as I waited outside his dressing room. After some time, the door flew open and there he was -- bigger than life (if you'll pardon the cliché -- exclaiming, "Where are all the people?!". He saw me waiting and enveloped me in his arms. He thrived on the enthusiam of this public.
He made the cover of Time magazine as the century's greatest tenor, and his army of agents built his career in a grander manner than Caruso, Gigli or Björling would ever have dreamed. He tried to break into Hollywood, starring in a lugubrious romantic comedy called Yes Giorgio, but it was the concert and opera stages where he was truly at home. I'll never forget his sweet interpretation of Mozart's "Un aura amorosa" at a concert in Barcelona fifteen years ago. He was armed with his trademark large white handkerchief, soaking in the love of his public. He sometimes longed for larger, more dramatic roles (like Verdi's Otello), but it was with the lyric pieces (like the Mozart) when he excelled.
It was "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!" from Donizetti's comic La Fille du Régiment that made him a star. This aria includes a record 9-high C's, which he sang with seemingly no effort. The next day's reviews hailed him as the "King of the High Cs".
He made history, he made music. He'll be missed, but thankfully we'll have his recordings to console us.
R.I.P.
It's been a tough year for opera fans with the recent death of Beverly Sills and the suicide of tenor Jerry Hadley. Like Sills, Pavarotti did much to bring opera to the masses. Suddenly everyone knew the aria that became his theme song: "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot. I attended his debut in the role of Calaf -- a night I'll never forget. In those days (the late 1970's) he could do no wrong. He was a ham on the stage, and stole many a scene from fuming sopranos; but his voice was glorious and his love for the audience was evident. After a San Francisco performance of Aida I went backstage to meet the guy. I wasn't even sure if he would be receiving visitors, and his door was tightly shut as I waited outside his dressing room. After some time, the door flew open and there he was -- bigger than life (if you'll pardon the cliché -- exclaiming, "Where are all the people?!". He saw me waiting and enveloped me in his arms. He thrived on the enthusiam of this public.
He made the cover of Time magazine as the century's greatest tenor, and his army of agents built his career in a grander manner than Caruso, Gigli or Björling would ever have dreamed. He tried to break into Hollywood, starring in a lugubrious romantic comedy called Yes Giorgio, but it was the concert and opera stages where he was truly at home. I'll never forget his sweet interpretation of Mozart's "Un aura amorosa" at a concert in Barcelona fifteen years ago. He was armed with his trademark large white handkerchief, soaking in the love of his public. He sometimes longed for larger, more dramatic roles (like Verdi's Otello), but it was with the lyric pieces (like the Mozart) when he excelled.
It was "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!" from Donizetti's comic La Fille du Régiment that made him a star. This aria includes a record 9-high C's, which he sang with seemingly no effort. The next day's reviews hailed him as the "King of the High Cs".
He made history, he made music. He'll be missed, but thankfully we'll have his recordings to console us.
R.I.P.
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moira finnie
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Luciano Pavarotti
I guess I knew that Luciano Pavarotti would probably never grow to be a very old man. Aside from his obvious appetite for life, if you heard his voice when it was at its finest, there was something joyously youthful in its clarity, sweetness, tone and delicate strength that even a casual listener must've been seduced by his love of his gift and the act of sharing that with others. That gift could never belong to a man bowed by life and time.
I like to think that he's now able to run after a soccer ball again as he did in his youth across some elysian field without ever getting winded and, at God's whim, raises his magnificent voice once again. The man could teach the angels how to sing.
An opera giant, yes, but also, due to his worldwide cultural impact, he was a person who embraced billions of people with the warmth of his personality and gave them a sublime gift of music that lifted them out of this world of noise .
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jdb1
I've been recalling all morning somethng I saw in one of Pavarotti's televised master classes: he showed a young singer one of the ways that he controlled his diaphragm to produce such forcefully projected tones. The student looked a bit doubtful, so the Maestro reassured with "Is easy. Only takes 20 years."
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Moraldo Rubini
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Michael Woulfe
Costume designer Michael Woulfe passed away August 30, 2007 of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He was 89.
His first gig came when he was only 25 -- to dress Sylvia Sidney in James Cagney's production of Blood on the Sun. Woulfe later went on to create Judy Garland's gown for the famous scene when she announces, "This is Mrs. Norman Maine" in A Star is Born. He also designed the wonderfully skimpy outfit that Jane Russell donned in The French Line.
He worked under contract to RKO where he was head designer on more than 100 films. He created gowns for Ava Gardner, Janet Leigh, Jean Simmons, Lena Horne and Marilyn Monroe, but he was most proud of Judy's 1954 gown.
Woulfe is survived by his partner David Jervis. Contributions may be made in Woulfe's name to the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills, California.
R.I.P.
His first gig came when he was only 25 -- to dress Sylvia Sidney in James Cagney's production of Blood on the Sun. Woulfe later went on to create Judy Garland's gown for the famous scene when she announces, "This is Mrs. Norman Maine" in A Star is Born. He also designed the wonderfully skimpy outfit that Jane Russell donned in The French Line.
He worked under contract to RKO where he was head designer on more than 100 films. He created gowns for Ava Gardner, Janet Leigh, Jean Simmons, Lena Horne and Marilyn Monroe, but he was most proud of Judy's 1954 gown.
Woulfe is survived by his partner David Jervis. Contributions may be made in Woulfe's name to the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills, California.
R.I.P.
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Vecchiolarry
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- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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moira finnie
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"I'm Bessie Fuffnik. I swim, ride, dive, imitate wild birds and play the trombone."
~Jane Wyman to Dick Powell
After struggling along in movie bit parts from 1932 on, the immortal line above was Jane Wyman's in her first picture at Warner's in 1936. For ten years, Warners did all sorts of terrible things to the girl's hair, usually cast her in parts in which she played a brassy chorus girl, reporter, girl friend, or private detective, and somewhere along the way, the little chorine acquired an education in acting, singing and making the most dismal material work, despite everything.
While I'm sure Wyman may have found it frustrating at times, she learned her lessons well, became quite a pro, & enlivened many a ditsy Hollywood flick, (especially Night and Day (1946), opposite Cary Grant as Cole Porter. When Wyman, who had started out playing a rather risque vaudevillian early in the movie, showed up years later at an audition and seemed to be a much better performer, Grant asked her what happened. "I suffered," she replied pertly.)
Jane Wyman in her utility player years at Warner Brothers.
Fortunately, she endured, and eventually found her own quietly eloquent voice in good parts in The Lost Weekend, The Yearling, Johnny Belinda, So Big, All That Heaven Allows, & even did a fine tv movie as late as 1979 called The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel. Awards, accolades, big time wardrobes and some star vehicles came her way, but she seemed to remain a pretty down to earth, private person. From what I've read in the past, her sense of privacy extended to world famous ex-husbands as well.
Rest in peace, Ms. Wyman.
A more naturalistic Jane Wyman in her award-winning years.
~Jane Wyman to Dick Powell
After struggling along in movie bit parts from 1932 on, the immortal line above was Jane Wyman's in her first picture at Warner's in 1936. For ten years, Warners did all sorts of terrible things to the girl's hair, usually cast her in parts in which she played a brassy chorus girl, reporter, girl friend, or private detective, and somewhere along the way, the little chorine acquired an education in acting, singing and making the most dismal material work, despite everything.
While I'm sure Wyman may have found it frustrating at times, she learned her lessons well, became quite a pro, & enlivened many a ditsy Hollywood flick, (especially Night and Day (1946), opposite Cary Grant as Cole Porter. When Wyman, who had started out playing a rather risque vaudevillian early in the movie, showed up years later at an audition and seemed to be a much better performer, Grant asked her what happened. "I suffered," she replied pertly.)
Jane Wyman in her utility player years at Warner Brothers.
Fortunately, she endured, and eventually found her own quietly eloquent voice in good parts in The Lost Weekend, The Yearling, Johnny Belinda, So Big, All That Heaven Allows, & even did a fine tv movie as late as 1979 called The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel. Awards, accolades, big time wardrobes and some star vehicles came her way, but she seemed to remain a pretty down to earth, private person. From what I've read in the past, her sense of privacy extended to world famous ex-husbands as well.
Rest in peace, Ms. Wyman.
A more naturalistic Jane Wyman in her award-winning years.
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pktrekgirl
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I was very sad to read of Jane Wyman's passing. I have been watching some of her films recently - don't really know why other than I guess Ronald Reagan Day got me thinking about her.
Interestingly, my first exposure to Jane Wyman was not in any classic film. Back in the 80's I was in college, and I was an adamant fan of Falcon Crest, a night-time soap in which she played the wicked matriarch of a prominent Napa Valley Winery family. She was EXCELLENT in that role. So much so that I was surprised when I became a film fan to see her in more likable roles - I had just come to associate her with all sorts of despicable behavior.
Jane Wyman was a great actress - she will be missed.
Interestingly, my first exposure to Jane Wyman was not in any classic film. Back in the 80's I was in college, and I was an adamant fan of Falcon Crest, a night-time soap in which she played the wicked matriarch of a prominent Napa Valley Winery family. She was EXCELLENT in that role. So much so that I was surprised when I became a film fan to see her in more likable roles - I had just come to associate her with all sorts of despicable behavior.
Jane Wyman was a great actress - she will be missed.
My wife said she'd help young people, ... That's what I'd do. Help young people, then buy a big motor home and get out of town.
~ Gary Cooper
~ Gary Cooper
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benwhowell
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Sarah Jane Fulks
I hope we have a Jane Wyman tribute day soon...including "A Kiss In The Dark," "Stage Fright," "The Glass Menagerie," "The Blue Veil," "Lucy Gallant" and "Bon Voyage!"
I also remember her making an appearance on that (slightly religious) TV series-"Insight."
She was also a "party guest" in "My Man Godfrey."
She used to hold the record for the longest screen kiss...with Regis Toomey in "You're In The Army Now."
I also remember her making an appearance on that (slightly religious) TV series-"Insight."
She was also a "party guest" in "My Man Godfrey."
She used to hold the record for the longest screen kiss...with Regis Toomey in "You're In The Army Now."
Another great loss. She made us laugh, and she made us cry. What more could you ask of an actress?
As has been said so many times before, I'm so glad we have these movies to remember all the greats. Such a shame more old TV shows weren't done like I Love Lucy so more of Ms. Wyman, and Loretta Young, and so many others offerings were still available.
Anne
As has been said so many times before, I'm so glad we have these movies to remember all the greats. Such a shame more old TV shows weren't done like I Love Lucy so more of Ms. Wyman, and Loretta Young, and so many others offerings were still available.
Anne
Anne
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