The Silver Screen Oasis

melwalton wrote:Joseph Svoboda

No, Mel. Sorry, Svoboda's not the one.

Our Mystery Guest was American-born. His image appears on a US postage stamp, along with five of his Hollywood colleagues (on individual stamps). Only one other of those was American-born. In their line of work, being born and schooled in Europe was considered an asset.

Our MG's nephew is very successful in their shared field. He is on TV every week as part of the introduction to a show about someone who suffers from OCD.

Aha - this one's proving to be a toughie.

Big hints: Although you rarely saw our MG perform, you often heard him. His name in film credits was very prominent. He is also credited with developing a synchronization technique still in use.

The movie I mentioned in which our MG made a rare on-screen appearance told the story of three very glamorous "gals" on the make in New York.

Alfred Newman...ooopss!! This one had me thinking for days!!

feaito wrote:Alfred Newman...ooopss!! This one had me thinking for days!!

Correct!

The Newman family has been present in film scoring and music arrangements for generations. The nephew I mentioned, is of course Randy Newman (prolific songwriter and movie scorer in his own right; he does the theme song for "Monk").

Newman wrote a theme for the film version of Street Scene - we've all heard it, even if we didn't know what it was - which has been used over and over to indicate an urban setting. The on-screen apperance I alluded to was in How To Marry a Millionaire, in which Newman appears at the beginning, conducting his orchestra in a nice little overture to the action.

Let's welcome a new Mystery Guest:

Do you know me?

I was in a specialty act in vaudeville. I found myself in Hollywood and, when work on the stage was scarce, I took a job as an assistant to a glamorous movie star. Pretty soon my natural charm and sweet looks got me extra and bit parts in a few silents, and before long I had speaking parts in the talkies. I played the same kind of role in almost every movie I made, and I made more than 100. I was on TV, too. I was usually the supporter of some beautiful female star, and many times I was the only one in the film who could get in the last word with her.

In the early 1930s I appeared in a ground-breaking movie, co-starring with one of Hollywood's biggest and most glamorous actresses. Although I was a supporting player, my role was just as big and important as hers. In fact, it has often been said that I deserved a supporting Oscar, only they hadn't yet made that category. If I had been nominated, it would have been a first for the industry, and not just because it was a new category. This movie is still shown, and still discussed, today.

I was generally younger than the characters I played in films. In addition, I was required by the studios to overeat, and to wear as little makeup as possible, even though I was very pretty, so as not to overshadow the glamor girls I co-starred with.

I starred in a ground-breaking early TV show as well; I was one of four who played the lead role at different times.

In real life I was a champion of human rights, and was involved in many charitable activities. At one time, I was involved in a California lawsuit that challenged an injustice; an old-fashioned custom that was widespread, but morally unjustifiable. My side won, and that victory on the state level helped to successfully challenge that injustice at the Supreme Court level.

Having to keep my weight up took a toll on my health, and I passed away at the relatively young age of 60.

Louise Beavers !

Hattie McDaniel? Nope, I think Ken's right, it's Louise Beavers. I think we both posted at the same time.

knitwit45 wrote:Hattie McDaniel? Nope, I think Ken's right, it's Louise Beavers. I think we both posted at the same time.

Yes, Ken's got it - it's Louise Beavers.

Her most famous role was as Delilah, opposite Claudette Colbert, in Imitation of Life. She started in Hollywood as Leatrice Joy's real-life maid, and was tapped to do stand-in and extra work by Joy's studio. On early TV, Beavers was one of the four ladies who played the maid Beulah, and she was the first maid of the Williams family on the Danny Thomas show (replaced both on Beulah and Thomas' show by Amanda Randolph).

Beavers, along with neighbor Hattie McDaniel and others, sued their local government to challenge the validity of exclusionary clauses in real estate contracts. It was common up until not too long ago for jurisdictions to put clauses into deeds and leases forbidding sale or leasing to blacks, Jews, and any other groups they deemed undesirable. Beavers and friends won their suit, and their case was used to successfully argue before the Supreme Court for the abolishment of such clauses in legal contracts.

Please welcome a new MG:

Do you know me?

I was born abroad and studied acting in my native country. I had some stage experience there, and was brought to Hollywood by a studio in the hopes that I would score a big success, as did several of my compatriots. However, I never did become a "star." I did, however, make several movies in Hollywood, and I had some modest success in indie films and on Broadway. On the stage I was a hit in a play about a controversial woman. The role was recreated on the screen by one of my countrywomen, a far bigger star than myself. That star won an Oscar for the performance. However, I was held in high esteem by my peers, and I continued to work well into my senior years, in film, TV and on the stage.

Who am I?

No solutions yet.

Hint: This actress was married to a well-known American director, and to an equally esteemed European screenwriter, who wrote for films in both Europe and Hollywood. One of her sons is an actor, but most of his work has been done in England (and he switches between a British and an American accent, as needed). Although this son is the child of one husband, he uses the surname of the other.

Two of her countrywomen became very big Hollywood movie stars.

Viveca Lindfors

feaito wrote:Viveca Lindfors

Correct, Nando.

Lindfors was Swedish, and whoever brought her to Hollywood was looking for a new Garbo/Bergman. Lindfors starred on Broadway as "Anastasia," a role which was played to great success by Bergman on the screen.

Lindfors was married to director Don Siegel, and to screenwriter George Tabori. Her son Kristofer is Siegel's son, but uses the professional name Kristofer Tabori.

Here's a new Mystery Guest:

At first I thought I might like to be a dentist, but because of my tall, dark, good looks, others convinced me to try my luck in Hollywood. I had to change my name, though, because my first name was one also used by women, and probably not thought suitable for a leading man.

At first, my studio put me into military training films, where I was a perfect representative of the wholesome young recruit. When I started to get larger roles, I was still generally playing the All-American soldier. I never really made it "big" in Hollywood, although I worked pretty steadily. My beautiful wife, although also not a really "big" star, had more of a movie career than I did, and is probably the better known. Our marriage was a happy one, though, and we remained married for over 50 years, until her death.

When TV came along, I jumped in, and got a lot of work. I'm probably best remembered for the series in which I starred in the 1950s. The theme music from that series is still popular today.

Who am I?

Craig Stevens of Peter Gunn fame, long married to Alexis Smith is my guesss.

ken123 wrote:Craig Stevens of Peter Gunn fame, long married to Alexis Smith is my guesss.

And it's a good one. Craig Stevens it is.

(Oh, forgot to add that his real name was Gail Shikles, Jr.)