To see the official National Trust website please click:-

 

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/gawthorpe-hall

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawthorpe_Hall

  

Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in the civil parish of Ightenhill in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. Since 1953 it has been designated a grade I listed building.[1] The hall is financed and run by the National Trust in partnership with Lancashire County Council.[2] In 2015 the Hall was given £500,000 funding from Lancashire County Council for vital restoration work needed on the south and west sides of the house.

  

History

  

Gawthorpe Hall's origins are in a pele tower, a strong fortification built by the Shuttleworths in the 14th century as a defence against invading Scots.[4] The Shuttleworths occupied Shuttleworth Hall near Hapton from the 12th century.[5] The Elizabethan house was dovetailed around the pele tower from plans drawn up by Richard Shuttleworth but carried out after his death by his brother the Reverend Lawrence Shuttleworth. The foundation stone was laid on 26 August 1600.[6] The architect is not recorded, but the house is generally attributed to Robert Smythson.[7]

 

In 1604 Richard Stone, from Carr House in Bretherton, imported Irish panel boards and timber and stored 1,000 pieces in the tithe barn at Hoole until they were needed.[8] The mottoes of the Kay-Shuttleworths are Prudentia et Justitia (Prudence and Justice – Shuttleworth) and Kynd Kynn Knawne Kepe (Kind Friends Know and Keep – Kay).[9] Mottoes are found in the front porch and around the top of the tower.[10] The initials KS, Kay-Shuttleworth occur in decoration throughout the house, on the front door and plaster roundels on the ceiling in the main dining room.

  

An early occupant was Colonel Richard Shuttleworth (MP), who inherited it in about 1607 from his uncle. Colonel Shuttleworth was High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1637, Member of Parliament for Preston (1640 to 1648 and 1654 to 1659) and commander of the Parliamentarian Army of the Blackburn Hundred during the Civil War. After his death Gawthorpe was leased to tenants, the Shuttleworths preferring to live at Forcett Hall near Richmond.

 

After Forcett was sold the Shuttleworths returned to Gawthorpe. In 1818 barrister, Robert Shuttleworth died and his daughter Janet inherited the estate at an early age. Her mother remarried and remained at Gawthorpe to protect her inheritance. In 1842 Janet married Sir James Kay of Rochdale, who adopted the surname Kay-Shuttleworth and commissioned Sir Charles Barry to carry out restoration and improvements to the house in the 1850s.[1] Sir James was made a baronet in 1849 and served as High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1864. Charlotte Brontë, a family friend visited the house. In 1953 Charles Kay-Shuttleworth, 4th Baron Shuttleworth, left Gawthorpe to live at Leck Hall near Kirby Lonsdale and in 1970, after the death of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, Gawthorpe was gifted to the National Trust.

 

The National Trust described the hall as "an Elizabethan gem in the heart of industrial Lancashire". Nicholas Cooper described the hall's plan as an early example in which the main stair is immediately accessible from the main entrance, a feature that became standard.[11] The hall has a collection of 17th and 18th century portraits on permanent loan from the National Portrait Gallery and is notable for its textiles, collected by the last resident family member Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, about a fifth of which is on display.

  

House

  

Porch

  

The porch was rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry in 1851 who replaced the round-headed archway over the door with a four-centred arch on columns set on raised plinths and installed a three-light mullioned window above it to create a tile-floored vestibule. A stone plaque displaying the Shuttleworth, (three weaver's shuttles) Kay and Kay-Shuttleworths arms carved by Thomas Hurdeys in 1605 was retained. The Kay motto was inscribed on the outside of the door lintel and the Shuttleworth's on the inside.[12] The door's decorative ironwork was designed by Pugin and made by Hardman's of Birmingham in 1851 at a cost of £17 1s 6d. The interior is decorated with a carved stone panel bearing Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth's arms and two ceremonial sheriff's javelins and a black oak sword-chest dated to about 1500.[12]

  

Entrance hall

  

The entrance hall was extended at its east end and reordered when the 17th-century mezzanine bedroom, a low-ceilinged pantry and the buttery were removed in the 1850s. The fireplace's stone over-mantel was used in the vestibule. The fireplace was given a marble surround, incorporating family initials in 1856 and an iron grate with lions-head dampers was supplied in 1852.[13] A Renaissance-style panelled and arcaded openwork wooden screen was constructed in 1851 by William Horne. Oak panelling was installed framing two internal windows between which is a Jacobean panel and above it was a gallery for family portraits.[14]

 

An Edwardian photograph shows the hall with a billiard table, upholstered bobbin-turned chairs, two wicker chairs and a Glastonbury armchair. The entrance hall was converted into a kitchen in 1945. The archway blocked, the screen dismantled, panelling removed and an internal window made into a serving hatch. Only the fireplace and geometrical ceiling were left intact. The room was later made into a study. In 1986 the screen was reconstructed, surviving woodwork re-installed and missing pieces re-carved and some stonework was repaired.[15]

 

Portraits from the mid 17th century, include four on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, commemorating Roundheads imprisoned in Windsor Castle. There are portraits of Lord and Lady Derby, and of their contemporaries.[16] Furniture includes a hutch cupboard inlaid with holly and bog oak from 1630 on a late 17th-century cupboard, two panel-back carved armchairs and a blanket chest. An ornate eight-day bracket clock from about 1725 is signed by Louis Mynuel.[15]

  

Great Hall

  

The 17th century Great Hall was used for formal dinners, performing plays, music and dancing and from 1816 became the family dining room. It was refurnished after restoration by Barry in 1852. Its galleried entrance screen was built by Thomas Hurdeys, Hugh Sandes and Cornelius Towndley in 1604-05. Above its doorways is the date 1605 and the initials of Hugh Shuttleworth and his sons - Richard, Lawrence and Thomas. By 1850 the gallery was unsafe and shored up with pillars. An 18th-century over-mantel mirror, from the drawing room, was cut up to provide panels.[16] Barry's 1851 carved stone chimney piece is superimposed on a wider 17th-century fireplace with an elliptical arch. Its sides are concealed with oak panelling and wall benches. The over-mantel has the Kay-Shuttleworth coat of arms, flanked by shields of Shuttleworth, Kay, and their wives - Fleetwood Barton, Jane Kirke, Catherine Clark and Mary Holden. The cast-iron fire grate and andirons were made in 1852 and the encaustic tiles in 1880.[17]

 

Barry intended to retain its 1605 plaster ceiling but replaced it with a design reproducing the old pattern in an enriched form. In May 1852 red flock wallpaper designed to simulate 16th-century Italian velvets was supplied from J. G. Crace & Co. It survived until the 1960s and in 1987 new wallpaper was reprinted from the original "Rutland blocks", using distempered colours. Wool and silk brocade curtains by Crace have a pattern based on 15th-century Italian figured silk velvets devised by Pugin in 1844.

 

An 1850s Renaissance style trestle table was supplied by Crace. Two alabaster models by G Andreoni of Pisa representing the Baptistry and church of Santa Maria della Spina were purchased by Blanche Kay-Shuttleworth in about 1880. An oak dining table with turned legs was made in 1881 by Gillows of Lancaster and the twist-turned oak dining chairs may also be by them. A carved oak Charles II armchair is one of' a pair made in Yorkshire in 1808 with seat panels in petitpoint floral work. The trestle fire screen has an embroidered panel. The mid-19th-century Feraghan carpet is of the same date, style and manufacture as one shown in N. F. Green's 1884 watercolour.[18]

 

The hall contains portraits of Sir Thomas Aylesbury painted in about 1642 by William Dobson, James Harrington and Nathaniel Highmore.[19]

  

Drawing Room

  

Robert Shuttleworth changed the medieval "dyning chamber" into a drawing room retaining its Jacobean panelling and plasterwork. The Italian Renaissance-style inlaid panelling with arabesques in semicircular arcading by the craftsmen who made the entrance screen, was started in 1603 and took a year to complete. The panelling's cornice supports a frieze and ceiling by Francis and Thomas Gunby. The frieze's contains a grotesque in which human, half-human and animal figures are entwined with fruiting stems and foliage. The ceiling is decorated with vines and oak branches in the spaces between strapwork ribbing. The plaster work took five months to complete in 1605. The fireplace arch was renewed by Barry in 1851 retaining the l7th-century hearthstone and stone fender and has a cast-iron gothic fire grate, designed by Pugin. Its andirons have armorial plates and wrought brass finials.The overmantel is dated 1604 above the Shuttleworth arms.

 

Of the Victorian furnishings and decoration, the bright green curtains were replaced by silk and linen brocatelle, re-woven from a fragment of material found in the house, with a pattern of stylised pomegranates and pineapples. A mid-19th-century blue and red Mahal carpet produced by Ziegler & Co. is a replacement and a Shirvan hearthrug dates from the 19th century. Portraits of Sir Ughtred and Lady Kay-Shuttleworth from1884 are by John Collier.[20]

  

Garden and grounds

  

The small ornamental garden was laid out on a terrace overlooking the River Calder at the rear of the house by Charles Barry. The semicircular terrace wall is Grade II listed.[21] The course of the river was diverted away from Gawthorpe Hall in the 19th century because of pollution and again diverted to accommodate an open cast coal scheme north of the river in Padiham in the 1960s.[22]

 

Other listed buildings associated with the hall are the Great Barn (built 1602–04),[23] the old farmhouse (1605–06, now used as the estate offices),[24] the game larder,[25] the coach house (1870),[26] and the lodges and gateways on Habergham and Stockbridge drives (both c.1849).[27][28][29]

 

Burnley F.C. have trained at a centre in the grounds since the 1950s.[30]

 

Gawthorpe is one of the trailheads of the Brontë Way, a 43-mile (69 km) long-distance footpath that crosses the South Pennines to Haworth, continuing to Oakwell Hall, Birstall, West Yorkshire.[31]

Charles G. Learned

 

A native of New York, contractor Charles G. Learned helped build New York City's waterworks system and the Erie Canal. Around 1857, Learned and his brother-in-law purchased several thousand acres of pine land in Michigan's Thumb area.

 

Two years later, Learned and his wife, Maria Raymond, came to Port Austin and bought a house and three acres at this site. Learned's cutover pine land became a 2,000 acre farm where he prospered as an agriculturalist and dairy farmer. With profits from his lumbering and farming enterprises, Learned enlarged and updated this house in the French Second Empire style.

 

In the 1860's Ohio congressman, later president, James A. Garfield, a family friend, was a frequent guest here. From 1931 to 1979 the house served as the Mayes Inn and Tower Hotel. It was listed on the National Register of historic Places in 1984.

 

Bureau of History, Michigan Department of State registered Local Site 815.

  

Charles G. Learned, one of the most extensive agriculturists of the Huron peninsula, resident at Port Austin, was born Dec. 13, 1816, at West Troy, Albany Co., N.Y. His father, Edward Learned, was a native of Roxbury, Mass., and married Betsey Crawford. She was born in Ireland and died in Pittsfield, Mass. The senior Learned was a practical business man and operated many years in the State of New York as a contractor on the public works, building canals, aqueducts, water works and railroads, and died in Albany Co., N.Y.

 

Mr. Learned commenced his career as a business man in 1835. Two years before attaining his majority, he took a contract in his father's name to build one mile of aqueduct on the water-works of the city of New York, at Dobbs' Ferry. When he arrived at the period of his legal freedom he had made his first $10,000. He was one of the builders of the Erie Canal, and constructed two tunnels on the Boston water-works; also five miles of the aqueduct connected therewith. After taking the contract for the latter, his father became interested in its fulfillment. He was also engaged as a contractor in the construction of the dry dock and buildings at Brooklyn, for which he quarried the necessary building material in Maine. He was interested in the building of the Harlem Railroad near Croton Falls, N.Y., and in other similar enterprises until 1859. In addition to his operations as a contractor, he was also interested for a period of five years in farming and lumbering at West Troy, where he owned lumber yards; he also controlled a saw-mill in Rensselaer Co., N.Y.

 

His first knowledge of the pine tracts of the Huron peninsula was obtained in 1857, during a trip to Port Austin to buy lumber of Smith & Dwight, of Detroit, who were conducting their manufactures at this point. The outlook impressed him as promising, and in company with his brother-in-law, Frederick ,I • S. Ayres, of West Troy, he purchased several thousand acres of pine land. Later, he sold a fourth interest to Ebenezer Wiswall. A mill had already been erected on the tract purchased, and they entered largely into the manufacture of lumber, with yards for wholesale and retail traffic at Sandusky, Ohio. As the county developed, the firm extended their business relations, sunk the first salt well in this county and engaged in mercantile enterprises.

 

In 1871 Mr. Learned sold his interest in the affairs of the concern to E.R. Ayres. He is still / the proprietor of a large acreage. His farming lands are of a fine quality, and he has about 2,000 acres in tillage, on which he raises the usual variety of crops. He employs three general managers on his farms and about 20 men. His dairy herd includes 30 cows of established merit, including Jerseys, Short-horns, Holsteins and Ayrshires. He has a thoroughbred Jersey bull, registered "Exquisite," which he purchased in Pittsfield, Mass. A fine grade of butter from his dairy is shipped to Detroit and Philadelphia.

 

The village property of Mr. Learned at Port Austin includes an elegant residence with grounds attached, containing three acres and worth $12,000. The barns adjacent are of a fine type, and are situated on an additional three acres. Six tenant houses and a number of lots also belong to Mr. Learned. He is the owner of 2,000 acres of land in Tuscola County, located in the neighborhood of the Half-Way House, between Sebewaing and Bay City, where they keep a quantity of cattle.

 

The marriage of Mr. Learned occurred in Lewisboro, Westchester Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1838, to Maria Raymond. Only one of their four children survive. Following are the names of three younger children, who are deceased: Sarah, Asa, and Mary Jane.

 

Mr. Learned has had a business career of great extent, making his name prominent in several locations, and he belongs to one of the most substantial families of Eastern New York. While engaged in the lumbering business at West Troy, he resided at Poestenkill, Rensselaer Co., N.Y. At the same time President James A. Garfield was a student at Williams College, and taught writing at Poestenkill. He was an inmate of the family of Mr. Learned during the term of his teaching and made his home with them in the interims of the college terms. His wife, Maria Learned, who during her life had by her prominent and consistent Christian character, example and deeds of charity, endeared herself to the people in this community, died Jan 10, 1881.

 

"Portrait and Biographical Album of Huron County", Chapman Brothers, 1884

  

Port Austin (excerpt from Pioneer History of Huron County)

 

There was no light house then so they had a lamp placed on top of a cedar post just back of where the Maccabee hall now stands in order to guide the vessels into port at night. There was a steamboat up or down the lake almost everyday. Often there were several vessels in the harbor at the same time waiting for loads of lumber or salt. A tramway to draw lumber on ran nearly three and a half miles back into the country.

 

What changes have taken place since then? The entrance of the railroads, the advent of the telegraph, telephone, and electricity. Marvelous has been the progress in the past 50 years.

 

Charles G. Learned, who came to Port Austin in 1857 to buy land for Smith, Austin & Dwight, of Detroit, discovered the value of the pine lands of this county and in company with his brother-in-law, F.S. Ayres, purchased several thousand acres of pine land. They also purchased, as has been stated, the property of Mr. Bird and began the manufacture of lumber. Mr. Learned built one of the finest residences on the shore. Both he and Mr. Ayres had large farms later on, Mr. Ayres' consisting of about 1,000 acres, all in an excellent state of cultivation, and the farm of Mr. Learned's, partially in Port Austin Township, consisted of more than 2,000 acres equally well cultivated.

 

James Ryan also had a large farm here. Of the men who had good orchards in the 70's and 80's we noted the names of R.H. Winsor, W.H. Cooper, Mark Carrington, Timothy Walker and others. The scenery around the village was the most beautiful of any along the lake. The business men of the town at that period were: hardware, John Brett; blacksmith, Robert Allison; general store, James Baldwin; harness shops, Chas, Friers and George F. Jackson; shoes, Taylor & Donley; wagon, carriage, and agricultural implements, W.J. Campbell, whose son became a nationally noted cartoonist and artist. Crevy, Cooper & Razek and the Winsors were also in business here. Richards & Richard, physicians. The lawyers were Engle & Engle, and James H. Hall. John King had a furniture store. William H. Cooper came to the county in 1857 and was the bookeeper for Hubbard & Co. for several years. Went to Grindstone City in 1865 and to Port Austin in 1870. He married Charlotte, daughter of Capt. A. Peer and mother of Mrs. Dr. Herrington, of Bad Axe.

 

"Pioneer History of Huron County", Florence McKinnon Gwinn, 1922. A

All Saints Anglican Church also known as Gostwyck Chapel is part of Gostwyck Station, 11km east of Uralla.

The chapel is located within an avenue of trees planted circa 1856: it was built in memory of Major Clive Collingwood Dangar who died of injuries sustained during World War One. Clive Dangar also served as Lieutenant in the South African War.

 

Major Clive Dangar, of the well known pastoral family, whose flocks are spread over many NSW hills, died in Melbourne the other day, after being invalided home from the front. He was only 36, and the owner of the famous Gostwych [sic] Station. With the Light Horse he won the Military Cross in the Egyptian campaign. [Ref: Camp Chronicle (Midland Junction WA) 25-7-1918]

 

Gostwyck Memorial Chapel

The foundation stone of All Saints' Memorial Chapel Gostwyck, was laid by the Bishop of Armidale (Dr Wentworth-Shields) yesterday morning. The chapel is being erected.to the memory of Major C C Dangar MC, by his widow. The edifice will be of brick, with slate roof. The interior will be carried out in struck brickwork, with open timber Gothic principals to roof. The interior fittings will be of oak. Accommodation is provided for 80 worshippers. Mr C G Cooper, of Uralla, is the contractor.

The plans were prepared by Mr R N Hickson architect of Armidale. [Ref: Armidale Chronicle (NSW) 23-4-1921]

 

Gostwyck Church of England

As briefly mentioned in last issue, the foundation stone of the Church of All Saints, Gostwyck, was duly laid in position on 22nd inst by the Bishop of the Diocese. The ceremony, accompanied by a very impressive service, was participated in by a large number of residents. Appropriate hymns were rendered by the choir, organised by Mr L Evans (organist). The foundation stone bears the following inscription: — “To the glory of God. This Church of All Saints, Gostwyck, was erected in memory of Major Clive Collingwood Dangar MC, late Captain 13th Hussars, by his wife, Nora Dangar. The foundation stone was laid April 22 1921 by the Bishop of Armidale. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

[Ref: Uralla Times and District Advocate (NSW) 30-4-1921]

 

Gostwyck Chapel Wedding

Miss Noreen Dangar and Mr Bertram Wright

The Chapel at Gostwyck Station, built to the memory of her father, was chosen by Miss Noreen Dangar for her marriage on Monday to Mr Bertram Wright, of Sydney.

 

Miss Dangar is the elder daughter of Mrs H K Gordon and the late Major C C Dangar, and the bridegroom is the only son of the late Most Rev John Charles Wright (Archbishop of Sydney) and Mrs Wright, of Wrambledon Close, London.

 

The bride was given away by her mother, and wore a gown of mist blue crepe featuring a side drape, and trimmed with hand beading of dull crystal. Her matching felt hat featured a sweeping pale pink feather, and she carried a bouquet of dark red roses.

 

The bride's step-father, the Rev H K Gordon, officiated. [Ref: Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW) 31-3-1948]

 

Congratulations to my NOTLD extended family, my beloved friends Kyra, Jack, Russ, Gary, Ella Mae on your success and the increasing recognition by society as a whole, and of course I extend the same to all the other current survivors of the crew and cast that participated in the creation of a culturally relevant treasure...to Judy Ridley, Paula Richards and everyone else, to all of you CHEERS!!! Aaaahh there's the first shot!!! Lucky for me there's a few more toasts before I fade to black here.

 

Alright FILL "EM UP SOAKS, er I mean FOLKS. The second drink comes with the second sentiment and that is to honor the memory of two members of the Night Tribe that are no longer physically with us, two very important gentleman whom were clearly cherished by their NOTLD family and remain so clearly by their fellows left behind, that much is clear in the many stories, recollections and spoken tributes that have both publicly and privately been shared by their colleagues, their NOTLD Familia. The respect and affection cannot be feigned by those that knew them well, a point that for as blessed as I have been that the LIVING DEAD TOUR BUS pulled over and pulled me off the side of the road, somewhere on the Highway to Hell, blessed to warm myself by the fire and share in so much goodness together, these two men are the only two among all of the Living Dead O.G.s that I never had the honor or chance to get to know personally and every time they are spoken of, it reminds me how much I missed out on not getting that chance.

 

I am of course speaking of The PROFESSOR and The DOCTOR of course. Yes PROFESSER DUANE JONES and DOCTOR "KEITH WAYNE"(I know but I am not breakin' kayfabe on the names here XD.)

CHEERS!!! That's the second shot. Fill 'em all right back up barkeeps

 

NEXT, I would raise the glass and acknowledge so many other empty seats at the table, all of them of course primaries in the realization of your masterpiece, essential components to your created family and to the results of your efforts For me, unlike with Prof Duane and Doc "Wayne", I was beyond lucky that all of these next Night MAESTROS became very important friends, guides, mentors and extended family to me, no length of time ever passes in my life where each one of them doesn't enter my thoughts or my process, some advice or practical knowledge they gave me, or some emotional point, humor, social complication, creative applications or business methodology. I'll never be able to express my appreciation or the impact adequately. So here's to raising the glass for the third shot, in no particular order, the subjects of this third toast, the Cemetery Ghoul, Zombie Numero Uno, teacher, mentor, friend and so much more to me and so cherished by all of you, his family and his fans BILL HINZMAN. Bill is with me always, still helping me and pointing me forward. Discipline tempered with Love is a powerful thing. KARL HARDMAN aka Harry Cooper from the moment you approached my brother Scott and I, to the very last time we spoke, the phone calls when we were hashing ideas of stories we will sadly never get to tell, every word, every laugh, your warmth, your smile and the mischievous glean in your eye, all are etched indelibly into my brain and heart and I'll have to throw your own words right back at you, NO KARL, NO YOU, you are the KEEN FELLA and a PEACHY DANCER XD. KUS!!! GEORGE KOSANA aka The Sheriff! Man did we have some fun. A bit of everything too, from the ridiculous to the sublime to the serious. Woodsman skills, hunter knowledge, history, script writing, We got to shoot together, both footage and weapons!!! Haha, I still have your last script, still love it, miss you busting my stones about the cancer sticks, I never light a fire outside without thinkin' of you. The LEGEND on uncountable fronts, part of every inhabitant of the Burgh for half a century, unparalleled endurance and drive, equally excelling at all he endeavored , and how great and special you were to me as well, my friend BILL CARDILLE, what an icon, what an inspiration both publicly and to so many of us personally, being treated as a friend by you, was like being given a reward of the highest order, you were not just a legend and icon, you were a pioneeer,and a Prince. What would it all be without the NOTLD Tribe's Fire Keeper, humble, kind, generous, an example and a reminder always that one would be best served by taking pride in their work, so funny, undersold and overly capable, and for obvious reasons CHILLY BILLY and I talked wrestling, from inside the business, but REGIS SURVINSKI and I talked and even watched wrestling together from a point of view of fans, spectators. Last time I was lucky enough to spend time with him, we watched a shit load of CZW stuff, a lot of CULT FICTION, a lot of me dropping F Bombs and getting murdered here and there lmao .Sometimes with no intent or realization probably, Reg made me feel like I was older than him, he had this energy, like perpetual youth. Cherish my times with Reg, even though he tried to blow me up, lmmfao RUDY RICCI what a great surprise and unique man. What an inspiration and as with the rest here so damn funny. How hospitable and engaging you were is hard to relate verbally. And Dammit I really thought we would end up getting to make the Polka Dot Flying Saucer. You I came to realize were such an important component with your friends, your attitude, humility and willingness to work with the benefit of all in mind is never forgotten. And Mister RADIO MAN, we didn't have a fraction of the time together that I had with all the rest of your wonderful Team Mates, but we still had some laughs and I realized you were another REAL DEAL to UMPTH DEGREE, you were a master of words and your own genre' and with your humor I would tell these folks what I told you personally, that wrestling could have used you CHARLES CRAIG...BIG TIME, Gene Okerland might not be a household name if you had gotten in with Vince Sr. back at the same time as Billy did, for real and that's because you share a lot of qualities with Mean Gene, you could have been huge in that role and what a pleasure it was to chew on some words and have a few verbal exercises hah. SO YES THIRD SHOT FOLKS. CHEERS Bill, Karl, Billy,.Kus, Reg, Rudy and Chuck!!!! OKAY fill 'em up again barkeeps.

 

Not much needed to be said for this Fourth toast. To your Chief , your hub, your centralizing figure, your Eldest Brother figure and leader , always cordial and kind to me as an acquaintance and as with the others wish we had more time, RAISE 'EM UP..CHEERS GEORGE!!!!!!!!! Nuff 'said.

 

Fill 'em up for Number Five Folks. CHEERS to the FANS of NOTLD!!!! YOU ALL ROCK!!! One more folks, fill 'em one more time!

 

Okay folks Toast Number Six and that's all she wrote or all I did for now. My esteemed friends , NOTLD Participants and Creators, I raise this last shot to acknowledge the fact, that one hundred years from now, long after I have run out of wind, people will still be buzzing about NIGHT of the LIVING DEAD. THAT is a FACT. Well Done GUYS...CHEERS!! Love ya and now I am off to start my fifth viewing of NOTLD this month , PEACE \m/

 

*P.S.:*Addendum, I penalized myself and hour after I posted and imposed a double shot for not mentioning Vince Survinski right along with Duane and Keith. CHEERS VINCE.

 

I LOVE THE DEAD

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNou0R7rCM0

A 78 Purchased for £1 in a charity shop. My relatives once lived in New Cross. The New Cross Kinema history… Located in the southeast London district of New Cross. Opened on 7th September 1925 with Betty Balfour in “Squibs”, attended by Betty Balfour in person. The main programme was Carlyle Blackwell in “Two Little Vagabonds” and Betty Compson in “The Fast Set”. It was first known as the New Cross Super Cinema with an original seating capacity of 2,300 and was an imposing building located on the main New Cross Road at the corner of Clifton Rise. Designed for pictures and variety, the stage was 30 feet deep and there were three dresssing rooms. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ. The building also contained the Palais de Danse dancehall and a cafe.

 

The name was shortened to New Cross Kinema from 28th February 1927 and it was taken over by Denman/Gaumont in March 1928. In August 1929 a Wurlitzer organ was installed.

 

It was re-named the Kinema from 5th April 1948 and then on 16th May 1950 it was re-named Gaumont.

 

Closed by the Rank Organisation on 27th August 1960 with Charles Chaplin in “The Chaplin Revue” and Harry Dean Stanton in “A Dog’s Best Friend”.

 

The building lay empty and derelict for several years. Eventually the auditorium was demolished and an office block was built on the land. However, the facade and front section of the building remained and was in used first as a supermarket and later as a furniture store on the ground floor, with the Venue Nightclub using the former dancehall and foyer spaces on the upper levels. Today the Venue Nightclub have taken over the entire remains of the building and externally it was restored in 2006, revealing the original glazed tiling which had been painted over in black paint many years ago.

 

New Cross Road 1940 Street Index showing STEMP BROS at 355

 

New Cross road (SE14) (Deptford), continuation of Old Kent road to Deptford broadway

North side

London County council South Eastern Ambulance Station

1 Eppel David, physician & surgeon

... here is Avonley road ...

43 Crown & Anchor, Charles Hickinbottom

43A Harper Sydney, builder

67 Mitchell Charles

67 Mitchell William John, physician & surgeon

79 Levy Isaac & Sons, scrap metal merchants

81 Loparta Miss Hetty, dressmaker

89 Loring Samuel & sons Ltd, dyers

91 Surridge, Dawson & Co Ltd, wholesale newsagents

93 Hill Charles, cycle dealer

... here is Monson road ...

All Saints Church

109 Uden W & Sons Ltd, undertakers

111 & 113 Stern George Hy Frederick, house furnisher

115 Earley Mrs Florence, grocer

117 Wright Hy, oilman

... here is Casella road ...

119 Hemmings A B Ltd, bakers

121 Elliott Sydney Arthur, butcher

123 Giddings Alfred Leonard, confectioner

125 Hamilton Gerald, bookseller

127 Leach Jacob, tailor

129 Goldsmith William Harold, leather goods dealer

131 Turland Mrs Rose, dining rooms

133 Cole Mrs Henrietta Frances, hairdresser

135 Turner George John, greengrocer

141 Hobson John Charles & son, undertakers

... here is Billington road ...

143 Superlamp Ltd, eletrical accessories factors

145 & 147 Harvey & Thompson Ltd, pawnbrokers

147A Martin Albert James, motor engineer

153 & 155 Five Bells, Mrs Gladys & Frank Collins

... here is Hatcham Park road ...

157 London United Grocers Ltd

159 Freemans, butcher

161 Jones & Co (New Cross) Ltd, chemists

163 Tyne Main Coal Co Ltd

163 Charap Leon, watchmaker

165 & 172 Kingston William Ltd, fruiterers

169 East Kent road Car Co Ltd, motor coach station

171 Greenslade Miss Edith Lilian, confectioner

173 Sharp Albert Hy, dining rooms

175 Murray J & Sons (London) Ltd, corn dealers

175 Acme Window cleaning & Insurance Co Ltd

177 Morgans of New Cross gate Ltd, stationers

179 Defew William & Sons, hosiers

181 Wallis John Ltd, bakers

183 Allen Leonard Frank, ham dealer

185 Wild Frank, florist

191 Jacksons Radio Ltd, wireless supplies dealers

193 Carey T J & Co Ltd, tobacconists

195 Clark Fras Dysterre, dentist

195 & 197 Barclays Bank Ltd (branch)

199 Marshall Andrew MB, chB, physician & surgeon

201 Victor Mrs Polly, tailor

207 United Friendly Insurance Co Ltd

209 Cavey & Co, auctioneers

213 Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society

215 Sweatman William, builder

219 Lainson George F T, accountant

229 Martin Norman, ladies tailor

239 Brattle Herbert Thomas, dentist

241 Grudno Hy, MB, chB, physician & surgeon

... here is Nettleton road ..

247 Mikal (The) Foot Clinic

... here is Harts lane ...

253A Wenden William Edward, coffee rooms

257 Champion George, tobacconist

259 Lyons A R & Sons Ltd, decorators

261 Harding James, wardrobe dealer

263 Railway Tavern, William Edward Craigen

263A Barden Leslie Harold, motor car garage

Southern Railway Locomotive & Carriage Department (Entrance)

... here is Brighton grove ...

Esso Motor Spirit Co Service Station

New Cross Gate Station (southern Railway)

Baker Albert & Co (1898) Ltd, tobacconists (New Cross Gate Station)

Premier Shoe Repairing Service Co Ltd

Seymours Surgical Stores

Smith W H & Son Ltd, newsagents (New Cross Gate Station)

Sharland Basil John, tobacconist

Rickett, Smith & Co, coal merchants

Fenner Mrs A, fruiterer

Corrall & Co Ltd, coal merchants

Graham A, hairdresser

267A Heatley William, horse flesh dealer

267 Kiff William, confectioner

269 Dove Shoe Co, boot & shoe dealers

271 Stubbing & Co Ltd, refreshment bar

271 Hudson Albert Arthur, coal merchant

273 Speech & Music Amplifying Co

273 Post, Money Order, Telegraph & telephone Call Office & Savings bank

... here is Goodwood road ...

275 Penistans, fancy drapers

277,279 & 281 Woolworth F W & Co Ltd, bazaar

283,285,287 & 293 Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Ltd

289 Singer Sewing Machine Co Ltd

291 Horne H Ltd, confectioners

293 & 283,285,287 Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Ltd

295 United Dairies (London) Ltd

297 Kennedy Andrew John & Sons, fishmongers

299 Home & Colonial Stores Ltd

301 Kennedy Alex Ltd, ham & tongue dealers

303 Dolcis Shoe Co

305 Grey S & Co Ltd, wireless supplies dealers

307 & 160 & 162 Chalk & Cox Ltd, butchers

307 Coulson Harry, loan office

307 Dannan Charles, turf commission agent

309 Rosin M Ltd, bakers

311 Maynards Ltd, confectioners

313 Greig David Ltd, provision dealers

315 Maloneys Ltd, butchers

317 Hitman Harry, toilet requisites

317A Lush & Cook Ltd, dyers & cleaners

319 Bowers Arthu Edmund & Co, tobacconists

321 Hemmings A B Ltd, bakers

323 New Cross inn, Frank Summers

... here is Clifton rise ...

225 New Cross Kinema Cafe

327 New Cross Kinema

327 Reed bros, wine merchants

327 New Cross Palais de Danse

329 Glover Harry Norman, turf commission agent

329 Higgins Thomas R, turf commission agent

329 London & Manchester Assurance Co Ltd

331 Midland Bank Ltd

333 Loraine Confectionery Co Ltd

335 & 337 Express dairy Co Ltd

339 Wakefield Miss C Ann, fancy draper

341 Cohen Nathan, kosher butcher

343 & 345 Wetton George, fruiterer

Methodist Church & Lecture Hall

353 Shimerlager Phillip, clothier

353 & 355 (back of) Searle Thomas James, brass founder

355 Stemp Bros, cycle agents & dealers

357 Phillips Bernard Ltd, chemists

359 Horwood Nathan Bernard, confectioner

361 Kipps W & Sons, pianoforte dealers

363 Conner Edwin Rd, tailor

365 Measure George M, hosier

367 Pocket Hy Truebridge & William, pawnbrokers

369 Robson Rt, grocer

371 Phillips Walter Lionel, woodworkers supplies

373 Cornwall Edwin A, coal merchant

375 Martell Saverio, boot & shoe repairer

377 West Frederick Thomas, hairdresser

379 Nicholson John, beer retailer

381 Fixed Price Light Co Ltd, electric light & power contractors

... here is Pagnell street ...

385 Glassberg Miss Polly, confectioner

387 Wheeler Fredeick George, oilman

387 (rear of) Bridges & Sharp, motor engineers

389 Taylor Charles, baker

391 Fitch Louis E S, dentist

393 & 458 Beau Brummel Ltd, dyers & cleaners

395 Elite Saloon (The), ladies hairdressers

397 Wetsrens fried fish shop

401 Large Walter, drug stores

401 Post, Money Order, Telegraph & Telephone Call Office & Savings bank

403 Burchill Sidney Hy, wireless supplies dealers

405 Gates Mrs Norah, tobacconist

407 South Eastern Distillery, James Wright - Walpole Arms

... here is Railway grove ...

Decorators Suppy Co Ltd, builders merchants

407A Ward William, confectioner

407B Bishop Herbert Charles, snack bar

407C Chappell William John, hairdresser

407D Levy Mrs Annie, tailor

407E Salmon & Gluckstein Ltd, tobacconists

407F & G Prideaux Walter E, dairy

407H Godbehere Miss Joan, florist

New Cross Station (Southern Railway)

Miller Jack Ltd, tobacconists

Smith W H & Son Ltd, newsagents (New Cross Station)

407I Haddon John Leonard James, refreshment bar

407J Harwood Hy Albert, boot repairer

... here is Amersham vale ...

409 Moss M & Sons, furniture dealers

413 Brereton Miss G K A

417 Purvis & Purvis, architects

423 O'Driscoll McCarthy, Physician & surgeon

425 Kehoe Patrick Edward MB, Bch, BAO Irel, Physician & surgeon

427 Carcoski Alfred, tailor

429 Adams Miss Ada, teacher of music

431 Sayers Joseph D, Physician & surgeon

... here is Mornington road ...

433 Wheeler W J & Sons, builders

435 Deptford Labour Party

437 Francis A, estate agent

439 Douthwaite Harold Seymour, dental surgeon

441 Jacob B & Sons Ltd, lightermen

443 Lindsay Sidney S, MB, BS, physician & surgeon

443 Jackson Charles T E, dentist

445 Hall Frederick B & Co Ltd, sign manufacturers

445A Chapple Charles V, shopkeeper

447 to 453 Allum F A Ltd, house furnishers

453A Cohen Isaac, physician & surgeon

455 & 455A & 410 Corbett Lord Stanley, motor cycle dealer

455B Bray & Bray, opticians

457 Royal Arsenal Co-operative society Ltd (funeral furnishing dept)

457A Hinds Arthur, dining rooms

459 to 463 Times Furnishing Co Ltd

465 Mumby F L & Co, tailors

467 Wedderburn F, scale maker

473 Chappell Fras & Sons, undertakers

475 Gray A J, tobacconist

477 Silk Clifford Guy, confectioner

477A East Surrey Laundry

479 Robbins Arnold, baker

481 Bell Thomas Frederick, fried fish shop

... here is Watson street ...

483 to 489 New Cross Empire

487 Newell & Hamlyn, auctioneers

487 Avery & Wolverson, solicitors

489A Sabels Ltd, ladies hairdressers

489A & 482 Pope Hy William & Co, manufacturing ironmongers

491 Gold Hyman, costumier

491A Meesons Ltd, confectioners

191B Marston Claude, fried fish shop

493 Globe Permanent Benefit Building Society

493 King & Co, accountants

495 Harberd Charles, beer retailer - Little Crown

497 Rickman Cecil, ham & beef shop

499 Barnes W H Ltd, pianoforte dealers

503 Admiral Duncan, E J Rose & Co Ltd

... here are the Broadway & Deptford High street ...

 

South side

2A Ehrenzweig Otto, tobacconist

2 Liman John & Sons, waste rubber merchants

4 South London Motor Tyre Works

... here is Pomeroy street ...

24 Freeman Alfred & Son, builders

30 National Animal Clinics

32 New Cross Social Club

34 St Anthonys Residential Club

... here is Kender street ...

46 Halder Ernest Charles, dentist

52 & 54 Hutchinson Motor Transport Co ltd

58 & 60 Waterman J C & Sons Ltd, saw makers

62 Masters Mrs Amelia Sarah Hayman, beer retailer - Fox

62A & 64 Tucker & Richardson Ltd, tin box makers

... here are Evelyn buildings ...

66 & 68 Greatorex Stan Motors Ltd, motor cycle dealers

... here is Briant street ...

92 Williams Walter George, beer retailer - Hatcham Arms

94 Dunsford Mrs Edith, confectioner

98 Reardon Mrs Annie, furniture dealer

100 Clarke John Hy, boot & shoe dealer

102 Walklin Ernest Rt, tobacconist

104 Wright Stanley Wyatt George, builders merchant

106 Eden George Sydney, hairdresser

106 Shead Alex, grocer

108 Oldman Arthur William, builder

116 & 118 Deptford (Borough of) New Cross Public Library

120 Willard Miss Florence Edith, stationer

120 Post, Money Order & Telegraph & Telephone Call Office

122 Randall Thomas, manufacturing confectioner

124 Harvey Arthur Edwin, butcher

126 Parsons Mrs Edith Maysie, fancy draper

128 Powell Mrs Alice harvey, cafe

130A Boeckel Miss A Van, cleaner

130B Clein Simon, BSC, physician & surgeon

132 Marshall Horace & Son Ltd, wholesale newspaper agents

134 Gates Charles, butcher

136 United Footwear Services (1938) Ltd, boot repairers

138 Butcher G, tobacconist

140 Portland Laundry (London) Ltd

142 Simpson Arthur William, coffee rooms

144 Cooper Mrs Violet, wallpaper dealer

146 Taylor Wilfred Hy, hairdresser

148 Geralds, ladies hairdressers

150 Hardy Mrs Dorothy, confectioner

152 Sayer Charles, dining rooms

154 Hawkins Thomas, oilman

156 Morris Alfred, fried fish shop

158 Service Cleaners, valeting services

... here is Besson street ...

160,162 & 307 Chalk & Cox Ltd, butchers

164 Bradfield James, tobacconist

166 parker George & Son, drapers

168 Wood Miss Eliza, confectioner

170 Boots The Chemists

172 & 165 Kingston William Ltd, fruiterers

174 Essex F W & Son Ltd, grocers

176 Rayners, fishmongers

178 Lipton Limited, provision dealers

178A Barnett & Clark, motor car garage

180 General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corporation Ltd

180 Refuge Assurance Co Ltd

182 New Cross Motor Co, motor car repairers

184 White Hart, John A Davies & John Gilbert Cock

... here is Queens road ...

... here is Pepys road ...

188 Hall Mrs A

190 Gregory Frederick Wright

192 Marriott Miss

194 Cavell Mrs

196 Wandsworth Harold

Fairlawn Mansions :

48 Isaacs S

 

208 LPTB Electric Tram Depot

South-East London synagogue

Fairlawn Mansions

218 Tutching Miss

220 Macguire Misses

... here is Troutbeck road ...

228 Kennedy John

230 Firisen Jacob

232 Crawley John

236 Siebert Mrs

... here is Jerningham road ...

238 Kessel Elias , MB, physician & surgeon

256 Metropolitan Water Board (Deptford Receiving office)

256A Ministry of Health (district office)

256 Stoneman Frank, athletic outfitter

260 Moody Mrs Ada, hairdresser

262 Bedford & Co, chemists

264 Baster Ernest, tobacconist

266 Hardy Arthur Reginald, butcher

268 Seals Percival, grocer

272 Rose inn, Thomas Wilfrid Carroll

Pearce Signs Ltd, sign manufacturers

280 Clamp & Son, auctioneers

252 Sanda (Electrical) Ltd, electrical contractors

... here is St James' ...

282A Green Charles, tailor

282A Deptford (Borough of) ARP Dept

284 Valmency Alx de, dentist

286 Britannic Assurance Co Ltd

286 Dean Rt R Sorrell AMI, MechE, district surveyor (acting) for Camberwell South

288 District Postal Sorting Office

Deptford Town Hall

Deptford Borough of

Church of Christ (Laurie Hall)

302 Wilsons (Brixton) Ltd, motor school

304 Eastman & Son, Dyers & Cleaners

304A Lightfoot Frank, tailor

306 Scott F G, hairdresser

308 Walker W H & Son, estate agents

310 & 312 Russell S C, optician

314 Economic Tyre Co Ltd

... here is Laurie grove ...

316 New Cross House, E J Rose & Co Ltd

318 Trackman Mrs Marie, confectioner

... here is Lewisham High road ...

322 Marquis of Granby, Hy Stonehill

324 Johnsons Ltd, confectioners

326 Martin Leslie, watch maker

328 Cherry Frank, secondhand bookseller

330 Marlborough Press, printers

332 Burroughs George Harold, eel merchant

336 & 336A MVM Ltd, motor car dealers

338 Dean Percy John, cycle maker

344 Povey J, ticket writer

344 Alma Mercantile, debt collecting office

350 New Century Estates Co Ltd

350 Purkis Frederick J, estate agent

352 Windred Edward Hy, hairdresser

360 Chappell Bros, motor car hire

360 Chappell Mrs Alice, dress agency

362 Order of St John & British Red Cross Society Joint council (Emergency Help Fund) (Lewisham Deptford & Greenwich branch)

Borough of Deptford Pension Society

... here is Amersham road ...

388 Amersham Arms, Phillip Rampon & Albert V Ball

390 Deptford Conservative Club Ltd

390 Old Goldsmiths Boxing Club

394 Bench Percy Charles, dentist

410 & 455 & 455A Corbett Lord Stanley, motor cycle dealer

... here is Alpha road ...

416 Nelson Alan Hardy, physician & surgeon

416 Nelson George, physician & surgeon

424 Ballard J & G, accumulator chargers

446 Gaylard & Son, printers

448 Mantella Charles, hairdresser

450 Ferris R H, chemist

454 Sutton G E & Son, ironmongers

456 Automotors, secondhand motor car dealer

458 & 393 Beau Brummel Ltd, dyers & cleaners

... here is Florence road ...

460 Royal Albert, Edwin Charles Stanley Welton

460A Levine Hyman, hairdresser

462 Barham Alfred, house furnisher

464 Nicholas Herbert Leonard, tobacconist

466 Dymond Frank Hy, certified accountant

Zion (Baptist) Chapel

470 New Cross (The) Equitable building Society

472 to 478 Addey & Stanhope Secondary School

480 Post, Money Order & Telegraph & Telephone Call Office & Savings bank

482 & 489A Pope Hy William & Co, manufacturing ironmongers

484 Phyllis, hairdressers

496 Knell Albert Hy, tobacconist

488 Camoccio Antonio & sons, restaurant

... here is Willshaw street ...

490 Ledger Mrs Eliza, beer retailer - Star & Garter

492 & 494 Selman B, outfitter

Broadway Theatre (The)

... here is Deptford broadway ...

Charles G. Learned

 

A native of New York, contractor Charles G. Learned helped build New York City's waterworks system and the Erie Canal. Around 1857, Learned and his brother-in-law purchased several thousand acres of pine land in Michigan's Thumb area.

 

Two years later, Learned and his wife, Maria Raymond, came to Port Austin and bought a house and three acres at this site. Learned's cutover pine land became a 2,000 acre farm where he prospered as an agriculturalist and dairy farmer. With profits from his lumbering and farming enterprises, Learned enlarged and updated this house in the French Second Empire style.

 

In the 1860's Ohio congressman, later president, James A. Garfield, a family friend, was a frequent guest here. From 1931 to 1979 the house served as the Mayes Inn and Tower Hotel. It was listed on the National Register of historic Places in 1984.

 

Bureau of History, Michigan Department of State registered Local Site 815.

  

Charles G. Learned, one of the most extensive agriculturists of the Huron peninsula, resident at Port Austin, was born Dec. 13, 1816, at West Troy, Albany Co., N.Y. His father, Edward Learned, was a native of Roxbury, Mass., and married Betsey Crawford. She was born in Ireland and died in Pittsfield, Mass. The senior Learned was a practical business man and operated many years in the State of New York as a contractor on the public works, building canals, aqueducts, water works and railroads, and died in Albany Co., N.Y.

 

Mr. Learned commenced his career as a business man in 1835. Two years before attaining his majority, he took a contract in his father's name to build one mile of aqueduct on the water-works of the city of New York, at Dobbs' Ferry. When he arrived at the period of his legal freedom he had made his first $10,000. He was one of the builders of the Erie Canal, and constructed two tunnels on the Boston water-works; also five miles of the aqueduct connected therewith. After taking the contract for the latter, his father became interested in its fulfillment. He was also engaged as a contractor in the construction of the dry dock and buildings at Brooklyn, for which he quarried the necessary building material in Maine. He was interested in the building of the Harlem Railroad near Croton Falls, N.Y., and in other similar enterprises until 1859. In addition to his operations as a contractor, he was also interested for a period of five years in farming and lumbering at West Troy, where he owned lumber yards; he also controlled a saw-mill in Rensselaer Co., N.Y.

 

His first knowledge of the pine tracts of the Huron peninsula was obtained in 1857, during a trip to Port Austin to buy lumber of Smith & Dwight, of Detroit, who were conducting their manufactures at this point. The outlook impressed him as promising, and in company with his brother-in-law, Frederick ,I • S. Ayres, of West Troy, he purchased several thousand acres of pine land. Later, he sold a fourth interest to Ebenezer Wiswall. A mill had already been erected on the tract purchased, and they entered largely into the manufacture of lumber, with yards for wholesale and retail traffic at Sandusky, Ohio. As the county developed, the firm extended their business relations, sunk the first salt well in this county and engaged in mercantile enterprises.

 

In 1871 Mr. Learned sold his interest in the affairs of the concern to E.R. Ayres. He is still / the proprietor of a large acreage. His farming lands are of a fine quality, and he has about 2,000 acres in tillage, on which he raises the usual variety of crops. He employs three general managers on his farms and about 20 men. His dairy herd includes 30 cows of established merit, including Jerseys, Short-horns, Holsteins and Ayrshires. He has a thoroughbred Jersey bull, registered "Exquisite," which he purchased in Pittsfield, Mass. A fine grade of butter from his dairy is shipped to Detroit and Philadelphia.

 

The village property of Mr. Learned at Port Austin includes an elegant residence with grounds attached, containing three acres and worth $12,000. The barns adjacent are of a fine type, and are situated on an additional three acres. Six tenant houses and a number of lots also belong to Mr. Learned. He is the owner of 2,000 acres of land in Tuscola County, located in the neighborhood of the Half-Way House, between Sebewaing and Bay City, where they keep a quantity of cattle.

 

The marriage of Mr. Learned occurred in Lewisboro, Westchester Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1838, to Maria Raymond. Only one of their four children survive. Following are the names of three younger children, who are deceased: Sarah, Asa, and Mary Jane.

 

Mr. Learned has had a business career of great extent, making his name prominent in several locations, and he belongs to one of the most substantial families of Eastern New York. While engaged in the lumbering business at West Troy, he resided at Poestenkill, Rensselaer Co., N.Y. At the same time President James A. Garfield was a student at Williams College, and taught writing at Poestenkill. He was an inmate of the family of Mr. Learned during the term of his teaching and made his home with them in the interims of the college terms. His wife, Maria Learned, who during her life had by her prominent and consistent Christian character, example and deeds of charity, endeared herself to the people in this community, died Jan 10, 1881.

 

"Portrait and Biographical Album of Huron County", Chapman Brothers, 1884

  

Port Austin (excerpt from Pioneer History of Huron County)

 

There was no light house then so they had a lamp placed on top of a cedar post just back of where the Maccabee hall now stands in order to guide the vessels into port at night. There was a steamboat up or down the lake almost everyday. Often there were several vessels in the harbor at the same time waiting for loads of lumber or salt. A tramway to draw lumber on ran nearly three and a half miles back into the country.

 

What changes have taken place since then? The entrance of the railroads, the advent of the telegraph, telephone, and electricity. Marvelous has been the progress in the past 50 years.

 

Charles G. Learned, who came to Port Austin in 1857 to buy land for Smith, Austin & Dwight, of Detroit, discovered the value of the pine lands of this county and in company with his brother-in-law, F.S. Ayres, purchased several thousand acres of pine land. They also purchased, as has been stated, the property of Mr. Bird and began the manufacture of lumber. Mr. Learned built one of the finest residences on the shore. Both he and Mr. Ayres had large farms later on, Mr. Ayres' consisting of about 1,000 acres, all in an excellent state of cultivation, and the farm of Mr. Learned's, partially in Port Austin Township, consisted of more than 2,000 acres equally well cultivated.

 

James Ryan also had a large farm here. Of the men who had good orchards in the 70's and 80's we noted the names of R.H. Winsor, W.H. Cooper, Mark Carrington, Timothy Walker and others. The scenery around the village was the most beautiful of any along the lake. The business men of the town at that period were: hardware, John Brett; blacksmith, Robert Allison; general store, James Baldwin; harness shops, Chas, Friers and George F. Jackson; shoes, Taylor & Donley; wagon, carriage, and agricultural implements, W.J. Campbell, whose son became a nationally noted cartoonist and artist. Crevy, Cooper & Razek and the Winsors were also in business here. Richards & Richard, physicians. The lawyers were Engle & Engle, and James H. Hall. John King had a furniture store. William H. Cooper came to the county in 1857 and was the bookeeper for Hubbard & Co. for several years. Went to Grindstone City in 1865 and to Port Austin in 1870. He married Charlotte, daughter of Capt. A. Peer and mother of Mrs. Dr. Herrington, of Bad Axe.

 

"Pioneer History of Huron County", Florence McKinnon Gwinn, 1922.

For the half-marathon (21.1 km) results and photos...here are the local (Ottawa & area) participants -- sorted by cities and first name -- in the September 19, 2010, Canada Army Run held in Ottawa, Ontario. There were 5,452 runners in the 21.1 km race. Thank-you to Sportstats.

 

Click here and enter the bib numbers for the full individual race results.

Enter the bib numbers for race photos here.

 

Lists of local half-marathon race participants:

 

Part A. Ottawa (Click here.)

Part B. Other Communities (Alexandria to Navan) (see below)

Part C. Other Communities (Nepean to Woodlawn) (Click here.)

 

Part B:

 

2262…Cathy Maclean…..Alexandria

6383…John Zawada…..Alexandria

5960…Sue Duval…..Alexandria

1898…Marc Pominville…..Alfred

1330…Adam Hamilton…..Almonte

4284…Al Jones…..Almonte

6326…Alyssa Flaherty-Spence…..Almonte

4331…Bob Mosher…..Almonte

4272…Bob Thomson…..Almonte

5135…Brenda Swrjeski…..Almonte

3318…Christina Kealey…..Almonte

4509…Daphne Lainson…..Almonte

4201…Elaine Azulay…..Almonte

1145…Jenny Sheffield…..Almonte

4483…Judi Sutherland…..Almonte

918…Kathleen Everett…..Almonte

3826…Linda Melbrew…..Almonte

1423…Mark Blaskie…..Almonte

5011…Sherry Burke…..Almonte

5956…Tanya Yuill…..Almonte

3173…Bette-Anne Dodge…..Arnprior

2116…Cody Wise…..Arnprior

1093…Constance Palubiskie…..Arnprior

339…Emily Sheffield…..Arnprior

2067…Jaclyn Patry…..Arnprior

1317…Jane Dowd…..Arnprior

3849…Keri-Lyn Young…..Arnprior

2229…Kevin Smallshaw…..Arnprior

4945…Laura Stellato…..Arnprior

5325…Lynda Jamieson…..Arnprior

4990…Stephen West…..Arnprior

3809…Tara Beselaere…..Arnprior

447…Tracey Harrod…..Arnprior

2255…Mark Peterkins…..Ashton

5359…Paul Burke…..Ashton

3637…Shelley Rossetti…..Ashton

5603…Angela Hartley…..Athens

1188…Christina Ward…..Athens

2703…Desirae Heine…..Athens

981…Heather Johnston…..Athens

3268…Kevin Hartley…..Athens

2379…Annie Delisle…..Aylmer

4017…Chelsea Honeyman…..Aylmer

212…David Michaud…..Aylmer

4216…Francois Camire…..Aylmer

3773…Gerald Lewis…..Aylmer

3871…Julie Reska…..Aylmer

4218…Philippe Camire…..Aylmer

2419…Steve Faulkner…..Aylmer

2740…Alison Seely…..Beachburg

6424…Jacquelyn Macgregor…..Beachburg

1320…Lara Mylly…..Beachburg

364…Michelle Ward…..Beachburg

4416…Natalie Frodsham…..Beachburg

1695…Scott Blain…..Beachburg

2292…Wanda Gagnon…..Beachburg

1004…Luc Lalonde…..Bourget

2875…Pierre Lacasse…..Bourget

5307…Stephen Barry Plotz…..Brockviile

4940…Brenda Young…..Brockville

5346…Brian Kendel…..Brockville

4240…David Cavanagh…..Brockville

4939…Katelyn Cormier…..Brockville

4970…Monica Griffin…..Brockville

5186…Ruth McFarlane…..Brockville

5137…Sheila Appleton…..Brockville

6195…Tina Melbourne…..Brockville

3723…Lynda Cavanagh…..Brockvillle

3087…Clayton Cameron…..Brooklin

5146…Benoit Gosselin…..Cantley

6294…Camille Flipot…..Cantley

4937…Charles Francoeur…..Cantley

6335…Daryl Hargitt…..Cantley

4371…Helene Legault - Cote…..Cantley

6295…Jacky Lepeintre…..Cantley

663…Luc Rodier…..Cantley

1769…Mark Avon…..Cantley

4221…Patricia Robertson…..Cantley

2277…Rene Morin…..Cantley

5401…Richard Bisson…..Cantley

6237…Sylvie Rioux…..Cantley

5212…Danny Gagne…..Cardinal

2575…Stephen Bygott…..Cardinal

1656…Bill Bowers…..Carleton Place

449…Boyd Lemna…..Carleton Place

2520…Cheryl Smith…..Carleton Place

450…Christine Lemna…..Carleton Place

6103…Eric Gervais…..Carleton Place

156…Ivan Straznicky…..Carleton Place

2525…Jennifer Andress…..Carleton Place

5403…Jennifer Blackburn…..Carleton Place

280…Jennifer Derksen…..Carleton Place

541…Jodi Beyer…..Carleton Place

3246…John Graham…..Carleton Place

1722…Kerry Powell…..Carleton Place

991…Leanna Knox…..Carleton Place

148…Lee Warywoda…..Carleton Place

1448…Lois Ann Graham…..Carleton Place

5322…M Smith…..Carleton Place

1449…Mac Graham…..Carleton Place

440…Mary Anne Melvin…..Carleton Place

2595…Murray Dawes…..Carleton Place

3325…Roger Kinsman…..Carleton Place

5822…Ron Romain…..Carleton Place

73…Steve Pentz…..Carleton Place

2287…Timothy Day…..Carleton Place

2868…Tom Kemp…..Carleton Place

4931…Tracy Pentz…..Carleton Place

1655…Trent Bowers…..Carleton Place

4922…Kathleen Mongeon…..Carlsbad Springs

5133…Alain Drainville…..Carp

5067…Alison Green…..Carp

4047…Anna Li…..Carp

1235…Carol O'malley…..Carp

4619…Dayle Mulligan…..Carp

6303…Elizabeth Anvari…..Carp

3201…Elysa Esposito…..Carp

1536…Eric Janveaux…..Carp

3483…Gerard Rumleskie…..Carp

5427…Hans Buser…..Carp

2969…Ileana Tierney…..Carp

682…Jed Byrtus…..Carp

81…Marc Brisebois…..Carp

4544…Olivia Nixon…..Carp

4014…Raina Ho…..Carp

1429…Raymond Moffatt…..Carp

4803…Stephanie Cowan…..Carp

1510…Tracy Shouldice…..Carp

5216…Paul Jarmul…..Cary

1165…Bob Sweetlove…..Casselman

2720…Caroline Ranger…..Casselman

2152…Gillian Castonguay…..Casselman

5880…Mary Sweetlove…..Casselman

2374…Maurice Bonneville…..Casselman

4754…Michelle Phillips…..Casselman

2226…Richard Kosnaskie…..Casselman

2766…Andy Best…..Chalk River

2725…Brian Jozefowicz…..Chalk River

471…Janine Forcier…..Chalk River

6201…Jayson Murray…..Chalk River

1584…Michelle Cameron…..Chalk River

6252…Willard Smith…..Chalk River

2787…Ariane Brunet…..Chelsea

1974…Barbara Falardeau…..Chelsea

2230…Brad Smith…..Chelsea

1583…Catherine Verreault…..Chelsea

360…Christine Tardiff…..Chelsea

108…Daniel Olson…..Chelsea

2553…David Hearnden…..Chelsea

1930…David Hetherington…..Chelsea

529…Dodie Payne…..Chelsea

3294…Ian Hunter…..Chelsea

6099…James Galipeau…..Chelsea

2758…Jeff Bardsley…..Chelsea

2584…John Fahey…..Chelsea

1581…Lisa Kinloch…..Chelsea

1430…Lise Marshall…..Chelsea

256…Marie Ethier-Roy…..Chelsea

5316…Michelle Caesar Findlater…..Chelsea

5411…Murielle Brazeau…..Chelsea

6468…Phil Wright…..Chelsea

3070…Raymond Brunet…..Chelsea

8…Richard Gilker…..Chelsea

6467…Sarah Hebert…..Chelsea

5143…Serge Couture…..Chelsea

5420…Sophie Brunet…..Chelsea

189…Yvan Dion…..Chelsea

1622…Matthew Campbell…..Chesterville

1672…Sarah Derks…..Chesterville

1778…James Thibault…..Clarence Rockland

1458…Donelda Pleau…..Constance Bay

2441…Lee Saunders…..Constance Bay

3215…Abigail Fontaine…..Cornwall

2634…Andre Brunet…..Cornwall

6479…Carolyn McIntosh…..Cornwall

4097…Cathy Richer…..Cornwall

4276…Christine Marceau…..Cornwall

5328…Elizabeth Wattie…..Cornwall

4228…Gilles Gagnier…..Cornwall

4965…Jennifer Deschamps…..Cornwall

6079…Jessica Eamer…..Cornwall

2455…Jill Grant…..Cornwall

4412…Joanne Filliol…..Cornwall

2953…John St. Marseille…..Cornwall

4011…Kathleen Hay…..Cornwall

4930…Lise Irwin…..Cornwall

834…Marc Besner…..Cornwall

2683…Marc Poirier…..Cornwall

266…Marilyn Rand…..Cornwall

3795…Mike Cowden…..Cornwall

3118…Patrick Clarke…..Cornwall

2506…Sandra Contant…..Cornwall

200…Scott Heath…..Cornwall

6435…Sharron Miller…..Cornwall

756…Shawn Crockett…..Cornwall

5662…Stacie King…..Cornwall

5318…Tanya Deeks…..Cornwall

3454…Terry Quenneville…..Cornwall

1335…Thomas Leroux…..Cornwall

4929…Yvonne Commodore…..Cornwall

5952…Melissa Wren…..Cumberland

2138…Rich Boughen…..Cumberland

517…Shelley Slocombe…..Cumberland

159…Ted Lowther…..Cumberland

1961…Greg Mark…..Deep River

5863…John Speirs…..Deep River

1311…Murray Wright…..Deep River

810…Norman Spinks…..Deep River

5371…Christine Andrus…..Dunrobin

4232…Debra Gassewitz…..Dunrobin

5458…Gordon Colquhoun…..Dunrobin

5484…James Dalziel…..Dunrobin

3088…Janet Campbell…..Dunrobin

1511…Jennifer Damiano…..Dunrobin

811…Joanne Montgomery…..Dunrobin

4838…Laurie Spratt…..Dunrobin

5009…Linda Dillon…..Dunrobin

692…Lois Jacobs…..Dunrobin

2078…Marnie Armstrong…..Dunrobin

1625…Matt Gassewitz…..Dunrobin

2515…Neil Wright…..Dunrobin

5459…Pamela Colquhoun…..Dunrobin

2355…Paul Lefebvre…..Dunrobin

2079…Robert Armstrong…..Dunrobin

1802…Wayne Carroll…..Dunrobin

3786…Ben Prince…..Edwards

381…Erin Searson Clouthier…..Eganville

1565…Mike Searson…..Eganville

6073…Garrett Doreleyers…..Elgin

4372…Marianne Lowry…..Elgin

4363…Shannon Clair…..Elgin

2612…Andy Dalcourt…..Embrun

1214…Bertran Labonte…..Embrun

1742…Camilien Lamadeleine…..Embrun

5155…Caroline Poulin…..Embrun

453…Cheryl Desroches…..Embrun

1471…David Ryan…..Embrun

188…Eric Deschamps…..Embrun

639…Guy Gingras…..Embrun

742…Helene Desormeau…..Embrun

2735…Helose Sirois-Leclerc…..Embrun

4510…James Thompson-Slaven…..Embrun

672…Katherine Krenn…..Embrun

1455…Marc Courneyea…..Embrun

4367…Martine Quinn…..Embrun

65…Pierre Boulay…..Embrun

3900…Rachelle Quinn…..Embrun

4290…Richard Quinn…..Embrun

1286…Robert Butler…..Embrun

5692…Robert Lindsay…..Embrun

1976…Roxane Belanger…..Embrun

4204…Stephane Gregoire…..Embrun

5388…Sylvie Beauchamp…..Embrun

775…Yolande Dalcourt…..Embrun

5422…Jay Buhr…..Finch

569…Jean-Luc Leonard…..Finch

4082…Glenda O'rourke…..Fitzroy Harbour

5828…Denise Roy…..Fournier

433…Gregory Long…..Gananoque

5147…Jason Lapierre…..Gananoque

434…Kiera Long…..Gananoque

671…Laura Cunningham…..Gananoque

3985…Pierre Doucette…..Gananoque

985…Steacy Kavaner…..Gananoque

1732…Walter Gamblin…..Gananoque

2400…Adeline Germain…..Gatineau

4806…Agathe Binette…..Gatineau

5302…Alain Bergeron…..Gatineau

2530…Alain Gilbert…..Gatineau

2109…Alex Gagne…..Gatineau

5156…Alex Wright…..Gatineau

3867…Alexander Schwab…..Gatineau

6434…Alexandra Miglietta…..Gatineau

2774…Alexandre Boudreault…..Gatineau

2443…Alexandre Larocque…..Gatineau

3581…Alexandria Wilson…..Gatineau

5947…Allan Wilson…..Gatineau

3907…Andree Laflamme…..Gatineau

1859…Andree Soucy…..Gatineau

550…Andrew Roach…..Gatineau

1993…Anelise Alarcon-Moreno…..Gatineau

4600…Anik Lalonde…..Gatineau

4700…Ankica Djurcic-Jovan…..Gatineau

3764…Anne Pilote…..Gatineau

2800…Anne-Marie Chapman…..Gatineau

5982…Anne-Michele Alain-Noel…..Gatineau

1808…Annie Cloutier…..Gatineau

4773…Annie Guillette…..Gatineau

1763…Annie Lambert…..Gatineau

113…Anthony Chartier…..Gatineau

803…Antoine Langlois…..Gatineau

4631…Antoine Parker…..Gatineau

367…Audrey Vezina Manzo…..Gatineau

5562…Augusto Gamero…..Gatineau

555…Barnabe Ndarishikanye…..Gatineau

4592…Barry Wood…..Gatineau

2150…Benoit Carbonneau…..Gatineau

2842…Benoit Gagnon…..Gatineau

5570…Benoit Genest…..Gatineau

1576…Benoit Guerette…..Gatineau

3018…Bernard Audy…..Gatineau

4844…Bernard Labine…..Gatineau

2708…Blair Mehan…..Gatineau

3977…Brenda Cox…..Gatineau

5327…Brian Piche…..Gatineau

3636…Brigitte Hubert…..Gatineau

1639…Bruno Castonguay…..Gatineau

1631…Carlos Pinera…..Gatineau

1522…Carole Varin…..Gatineau

3724…Caroline Dulude…..Gatineau

5297…Caroline Sauve…..Gatineau

3522…Caroline St-Pierre…..Gatineau

3182…Carolyne Dube…..Gatineau

6470…Catherine Belair-Noel…..Gatineau

668…Catherine Pelletier…..Gatineau

654…Caty Lebreux…..Gatineau

2811…Celine Couture…..Gatineau

1023…Chad Levac…..Gatineau

4845…Chantal Henri…..Gatineau

2743…Chris Duplain…..Gatineau

2777…Christian Bourgeois…..Gatineau

1220…Christian F. Courtemanche…..Gatineau

2113…Christian Jacques…..Gatineau

6415…Christian Renaud…..Gatineau

623…Christian Robert…..Gatineau

5261…Christian Rousseau…..Gatineau

6034…Christina Chirip…..Gatineau

6037…Christine Chouinard…..Gatineau

3901…Christine Hearn…..Gatineau

2136…Christine Vasseur…..Gatineau

5126…Christopher Daniel…..Gatineau

2352…Cinthia Lepine…..Gatineau

2300…Claude Laramee…..Gatineau

1336…Claude Wauthier…..Gatineau

2613…Craig Beckett…..Gatineau

5815…Cristiano Rezende…..Gatineau

3673…Cynthia Savard…..Gatineau

1629…Cyr Lavoie…..Gatineau

946…Dani Grandmaitre…..Gatineau

1815…Daniel Grenier…..Gatineau

6133…Danny Jeannot…..Gatineau

61…Dany Beliveau…..Gatineau

4111…Darya Shapka…..Gatineau

1426…David Blais…..Gatineau

1813…David Currie…..Gatineau

6327…Denis Fugere…..Gatineau

2053…Denis Ladouceur…..Gatineau

4755…Dominique Babin…..Gatineau

1933…Dominique Bernier…..Gatineau

6043…Dominique Cornut…..Gatineau

137…Doug Welsby…..Gatineau

4758…Elaine Laroche…..Gatineau

4598…Elizabeth Sousa…..Gatineau

5627…Emmanuelle Hupe…..Gatineau

6074…Eric Doyon…..Gatineau

2015…Eric Guay…..Gatineau

557…Eric Patry…..Gatineau

1147…Eric Silins…..Gatineau

1237…Estelle Marcoux…..Gatineau

245…Felix Noel…..Gatineau

3856…France Gelinas…..Gatineau

1301…Francois Dionne…..Gatineau

2476…Francois Gagnon…..Gatineau

5673…Francois Laferriere…..Gatineau

6407…Francois Roy…..Gatineau

6374…Francois Toulouse…..Gatineau

3537…Frederic Thibault-Chabot…..Gatineau

6398…Frederick Lafreniere…..Gatineau

1892…Gaetan Lafrance…..Gatineau

585…Genevieve Bolduc…..Gatineau

255…Genevieve Fontaine…..Gatineau

2166…Gerald Turmel…..Gatineau

722…Ghislain St-Laurent…..Gatineau

2160…Gilles Brazeau…..Gatineau

1514…Gilles-Philippe Pronovost…..Gatineau

5596…Gilly Griffin…..Gatineau

2484…Grant Collier…..Gatineau

151…Greg Soucy…..Gatineau

5870…Greg Stainton…..Gatineau

5466…Guy Corneau…..Gatineau

2820…Guy Desjardins…..Gatineau

669…Guylaine Brunet…..Gatineau

334…Heather Escalante…..Gatineau

2343…Helene Le Scelleur…..Gatineau

4725…Helene Tremblay-Allen…..Gatineau

1209…Herve Morissette…..Gatineau

2580…Hugo Trudel…..Gatineau

6025…Isabelle Caron…..Gatineau

3414…Isabelle Moses…..Gatineau

768…Isabelle Phaneuf…..Gatineau

2964…Isabelle Teolis…..Gatineau

2032…Isabelle Veilleux…..Gatineau

4761…J.-F. Gagne…..Gatineau

2350…Jacques De Guille…..Gatineau

1258…James Buell…..Gatineau

2933…Jean-Francois Pouliotte…..Gatineau

2439…Jean-Pascal Paris…..Gatineau

191…Jean-Philippe Dumont…..Gatineau

4824…Jean-Pierre Plouffe…..Gatineau

4326…Jennifer Scarizzi…..Gatineau

1893…Jerome Belanger-Cote…..Gatineau

3580…Jinny Williamson…..Gatineau

1541…Joanne Leblond…..Gatineau

1253…Johanne Audet…..Gatineau

6090…Johanne Finn…..Gatineau

92…Johnny Lemieux…..Gatineau

939…Jonathan Gilbert…..Gatineau

3915…Josee Charette…..Gatineau

5670…Josee Labonte…..Gatineau

1303…Josee Patry…..Gatineau

3739…Judith Parisien…..Gatineau

3619…Julie Breton…..Gatineau

3689…Julie Damboise…..Gatineau

767…Julie Defoy…..Gatineau

897…Julie Demers…..Gatineau

5797…Julie Piche…..Gatineau

5026…Julie-Anne Labonte…..Gatineau

5016…Julien Dufort-Lemay…..Gatineau

5683…Karine Leblond…..Gatineau

1409…Karine Pellerin…..Gatineau

414…Katia Audet…..Gatineau

4139…Katie Webster…..Gatineau

3817…Krista Benoit…..Gatineau

6211…Langis Parise…..Gatineau

4813…Lee Petrin…..Gatineau

882…Lissa Comtois-Silins…..Gatineau

2601…Livain Michaud…..Gatineau

778…Lori Mousseau…..Gatineau

4041…Louis Christophe Laurence…..Gatineau

26…Louis Duchesne…..Gatineau

718…Louis Dupont…..Gatineau

6120…Louis Hebert…..Gatineau

3510…Louis Simon…..Gatineau

2775…Louise Boudreault…..Gatineau

924…Louise Fortier…..Gatineau

3654…Louise Rousseau…..Gatineau

2081…Luc Beaudoin…..Gatineau

1798…Luc Perrier…..Gatineau

11…Luc Santerre…..Gatineau

5694…Lucie Lalonde…..Gatineau

502…Lynda Beaudoin…..Gatineau

2500…Lyne Cholette…..Gatineau

234…Lynn Melancon…..Gatineau

3869…Maja Muharemagic…..Gatineau

5485…Manon Damboise…..Gatineau

1003…Manon Laliberte…..Gatineau

3421…Marc Andre Nault…..Gatineau

4862…Marc Belanger…..Gatineau

5171…Marc Champagne…..Gatineau

4370…Marc Dureau…..Gatineau

5043…Marc Lacerte…..Gatineau

776…Marc Mousseau…..Gatineau

6471…Marc Noel…..Gatineau

1302…Marc Parisien…..Gatineau

1319…Marc Tremblay…..Gatineau

5687…Marc-Etienne Lesieur…..Gatineau

1997…Marcia Jones…..Gatineau

4085…Maria Petropoulos…..Gatineau

4534…Marie Rodrigue…..Gatineau

6117…Marie-France Harvey…..Gatineau

3779…Marie-France Rault…..Gatineau

1421…Marie-Josee Desroches…..Gatineau

437…Marie-Michele Clement…..Gatineau

1860…Mario Dupuis…..Gatineau

3857…Mario Ouellet…..Gatineau

6428…Mark Ellison…..Gatineau

1644…Mark Laviolette…..Gatineau

7…Mark Schindel…..Gatineau

1573…Mark Stocksley…..Gatineau

1254…Martin Corriveau…..Gatineau

2052…Martin Dompierre…..Gatineau

2995…Martin Freniere…..Gatineau

999…Martin Labelle…..Gatineau

4907…Martin Labine…..Gatineau

406…Martin Laforest…..Gatineau

1692…Martin Leduc…..Gatineau

308…Martine Pellerin…..Gatineau

5262…Maryse Mercier…..Gatineau

398…Maryse Robert…..Gatineau

6087…Mateo Farfan…..Gatineau

6236…Mathieu Rioux…..Gatineau

1736…Mathieu Sayeur…..Gatineau

5119…Mathieu Tremblay…..Gatineau

590…Mathilde Cote…..Gatineau

562…Maude Lavoie…..Gatineau

1887…Maurice Tremblay…..Gatineau

3908…Maxim Bellemare…..Gatineau

2724…Maxime Brinck-Croteau…..Gatineau

1558…Melanie Desmarais…..Gatineau

5042…Melanie Gauthier…..Gatineau

5121…Melanie Mercier…..Gatineau

4864…Mia Overduin…..Gatineau

2428…Michel Biage…..Gatineau

1767…Michel Brown…..Gatineau

28…Michel Emond…..Gatineau

1363…Michel Lessard…..Gatineau

3395…Michel Mercier…..Gatineau

162…Michel Ouellet…..Gatineau

5852…Michele Simpson…..Gatineau

685…Michelle Hartery…..Gatineau

1852…Miguel Gagnon…..Gatineau

1120…Mika Raja…..Gatineau

2843…Mikaly Gagnon…..Gatineau

5319…Mike Hotte…..Gatineau

4865…Miriam Lopez-Arbour…..Gatineau

2014…Myriam Godin…..Gatineau

405…Nadia Lavallee…..Gatineau

3301…Nancy Jean…..Gatineau

857…Natalie Brun Del Re…..Gatineau

5419…Nathalie Brunet…..Gatineau

2157…Nicolas Chalifoux…..Gatineau

1480…Nicolas Gagnon…..Gatineau

4680…Nicole Boudreau…..Gatineau

494…Nizar Ayoub…..Gatineau

219…Noel Paine…..Gatineau

777…Olivier Beauchamp…..Gatineau

93…Olivier Lebeau…..Gatineau

125…Pascal Laforest…..Gatineau

3548…Pascal Tremblay…..Gatineau

1547…Pascale Therriault…..Gatineau

6031…Pat Charron…..Gatineau

310…Patrice Forget…..Gatineau

6323…Patrick Duplain…..Gatineau

1640…Patrick Gauthier…..Gatineau

4479…Patty Soles…..Gatineau

1902…Paul Beland…..Gatineau

1946…Paul Eagan…..Gatineau

3244…Paul Gould…..Gatineau

2039…Paul Shea…..Gatineau

6240…Paul-Emile Roy…..Gatineau

5232…Peggy Duarte…..Gatineau

464…Philippe Boutin…..Gatineau

1785…Philippe Lajeunesse…..Gatineau

1488…Pierre Francois Blais…..Gatineau

4134…Pierre Villeneuve…..Gatineau

2789…Ray Burke…..Gatineau

4401…Raymond Desjardins…..Gatineau

594…Raymonde D'amour…..Gatineau

5672…Rejean Lacroix…..Gatineau

1949…Renaud Dunn…..Gatineau

2147…Rene Chabot…..Gatineau

1900…Rene Hatem…..Gatineau

3642…Renee Leblanc…..Gatineau

5991…Richard Audet…..Gatineau

5…Rick Whitford…..Gatineau

3107…Robert Chasse…..Gatineau

6492…Said Irene…..Gatineau

4099…Sandra Roberts…..Gatineau

3556…Sanjay Vachali…..Gatineau

2593…Sean Boushel…..Gatineau

4239…Selena Grinham…..Gatineau

3635…Serge Boucher…..Gatineau

4863…Serge Dussault…..Gatineau

4716…Serge Guindon…..Gatineau

1952…Shawn Robertson…..Gatineau

5743…Shelley Milton…..Gatineau

4336…Shelley Moody…..Gatineau

4480…Somphane Souksanh…..Gatineau

3001…Sonja Adcock…..Gatineau

1467…Sophie Gauvreau…..Gatineau

1524…Sophie Martel…..Gatineau

5407…Stephane Boudrias…..Gatineau

1146…Stephane Siegrist…..Gatineau

561…Stephane Sirard…..Gatineau

500…Stephanie McMullen…..Gatineau

4262…Stephanie Racine…..Gatineau

4108…Stephanie Seguin…..Gatineau

1638…Steve Roussin…..Gatineau

2971…Steves Tousignant…..Gatineau

1148…Susie Simard…..Gatineau

1333…Susi-Paula Gaudencio…..Gatineau

3456…Suzanne Ramsay…..Gatineau

2718…Sylvain Michaud…..Gatineau

1373…Sylvain Sirois…..Gatineau

6371…Tamara Thibeault…..Gatineau

4604…Tammy Rose…..Gatineau

461…Tanya Tobin…..Gatineau

2915…Tayeb Mesbah…..Gatineau

1428…Tena Gallichon…..Gatineau

2943…Terry Sancartier…..Gatineau

4169…Thanh Loan Nguyen…..Gatineau

3930…Tudor Banea…..Gatineau

383…Valerie Morin…..Gatineau

3848…Veronique Simoneau…..Gatineau

4889…Vincent Bolduc…..Gatineau

6227…Vincent Proulx…..Gatineau

5838…Wayne Saunders…..Gatineau

419…Wendy Larose…..Gatineau

4807…Yvan Laforest…..Gatineau

6400…Yves Lafreniere…..Gatineau

1777…Yves Saint-Germain…..Gatineau

1726…Yves Theriault…..Gatineau

5607…Zachary Healy…..Gatineau

1685…Zahida Assari…..Gatineau

4830…Zoe Couture…..Gatineau

3921…Alex Miles…..Gloucester

5476…Allan Crisford…..Gloucester

1364…Amy O'reilly…..Gloucester

5453…Belinda Coballe…..Gloucester

3582…Cam Wilson…..Gloucester

879…Catherine Clifford…..Gloucester

942…Cathy Gould…..Gloucester

3658…Chanel Huard…..Gloucester

4650…Daniel McGarry…..Gloucester

4128…Danielle Thibeault…..Gloucester

1676…Darren White…..Gloucester

5481…Dave Currie…..Gloucester

6265…David Tinsley…..Gloucester

540…Don Day…..Gloucester

4919…Gilles Philion…..Gloucester

5900…Gillian Todd-Messinger…..Gloucester

1074…Jackie Millette…..Gloucester

6163…Jeannie Leblanc…..Gloucester

317…Joel Willison…..Gloucester

4001…John Girard…..Gloucester

1944…John Ledo…..Gloucester

2192…Jonathan Gardam…..Gloucester

3471…Joseph Rios…..Gloucester

4303…Karine Moreau…..Gloucester

2824…Lee Dixon…..Gloucester

636…Linda Simard…..Gloucester

4439…Lisa Macgillivray…..Gloucester

3560…Lucie Villeneuve…..Gloucester

3774…Mariette Ledo…..Gloucester

6068…Matthew Dewtie…..Gloucester

6006…Michael Bergeron…..Gloucester

2620…Michael G. Lepage…..Gloucester

5361…Michael Hook…..Gloucester

2673…Mona Tessier…..Gloucester

5669…Nicole Labelle…..Gloucester

4538…Patricia Suys…..Gloucester

2221…Richard F. Proulx…..Gloucester

63…Savvas Farassoglou…..Gloucester

4096…Sonja Renz…..Gloucester

5390…Tiffany Belair…..Gloucester

4967…Tim Morin…..Gloucester

2838…Tom Fottinger…..Gloucester

1611…Trevor Duff…..Gloucester

3878…Una Beaudry…..Gloucester

5745…Virginia Mofford…..Gloucester

2431…Andrew Downes…..Greely

3710…Angele Vanderlaan…..Greely

3572…Ann Westell…..Greely

356…Brett Reynolds…..Greely

843…Carol Boucher…..Greely

1841…Casey Goheen…..Greely

4023…Claire Johnstone…..Greely

1052…Claire Maxwell…..Greely

1374…Dave Erling…..Greely

5394…David Benyon…..Greely

154…David Harding…..Greely

1384…Jeff Oliver…..Greely

2839…Jennifer Frechette…..Greely

2395…John Baranyi…..Greely

1713…John Sterling…..Greely

359…Jon Hamilton…..Greely

844…Joseph Boucher…..Greely

707…Joseph Clarmo…..Greely

1415…Karin Johnson…..Greely

2734…Keith Decoste…..Greely

1839…Kevin Goheen…..Greely

5213…Michael J. Patrick Anderson…..Greely

4313…Michel Gaudreault…..Greely

252…Patricia Brander…..Greely

2858…Randall Holmes…..Greely

571…Rob Johnston…..Greely

3202…Scott Evans…..Greely

6193…Scott Mcleod…..Greely

5471…Stephanie Courcelles…..Greely

1563…Travis Maxwell…..Greely

1669…Zachary Routhier…..Greely

2430…Annie Jean…..Hull

5008…Jasmine Lefebvre…..Hull

5996…Julie Ballard…..Hull

4236…Debra Marr…..Iroquois

2108…Erika Clow-Hawkins…..Jasper

2224…Tara Lamb…..Jasper

5986…Adam Ashbourne…..Kanata

5410…Adam Boyle…..Kanata

3441…Adam Pelham…..Kanata

3489…Adrian Salt…..Kanata

5887…Afshan Thakkar…..Kanata

5233…Al Daggett…..Kanata

3879…Alicia Gerwing…..Kanata

3196…Alistair Edwards…..Kanata

3447…Allen Piddington…..Kanata

350…Alyson Ferguson…..Kanata

4120…Anand Srinivasan…..Kanata

3091…Andrea Carisse…..Kanata

6207…Andrea Nicholls…..Kanata

1354…Anita Cadieux…..Kanata

881…Anne Collis…..Kanata

1964…Barbara Wiens…..Kanata

337…Barbara Williams…..Kanata

176…Bernie Armour…..Kanata

1379…Bianca Liebner…..Kanata

5007…Bianca Santerre…..Kanata

5574…Bill Gilchrist…..Kanata

1856…Bobbie Nevin…..Kanata

723…Brandon Greening…..Kanata

1544…Brandon Shirley…..Kanata

5788…Brittney Pavlovic…..Kanata

5490…Carmen Davidson…..Kanata

4608…Caron Fitzpatrick…..Kanata

253…Cathi Yabsley…..Kanata

984…Cecilia Jorgenson…..Kanata

3931…Chandan Banerjee…..Kanata

994…Cherie Koshman…..Kanata

2889…Cheryl Levi…..Kanata

2236…Chris Brown…..Kanata

3138…Chris Cowie…..Kanata

2011…Christine Fraser…..Kanata

1114…Christine Pollex…..Kanata

2918…Cindy Molaski…..Kanata

1690…Cindy Southgate…..Kanata

940…Colleen Gilchrist…..Kanata

4428…Colleen Kilty…..Kanata

4775…Conrad Bellehumeur…..Kanata

6338…Copperfield Jean-Louis…..Kanata

3321…Dan Kelly…..Kanata

3495…Danny Schwager…..Kanata

2489…Daryle Smith…..Kanata

2010…David Muldoon…..Kanata

1589…David Ogden…..Kanata

5915…Deanne Van Rooyen…..Kanata

1088…Debbie Olive…..Kanata

5888…Dhanya Thakkar…..Kanata

4385…Diane Boyle…..Kanata

4339…Donna Atkinson…..Kanata

302…Donna Brennen…..Kanata

6315…Donna Clark…..Kanata

528…Donna Gow…..Kanata

4705…Doug Glasgow…..Kanata

802…Douglas Miller…..Kanata

2511…Drew Bursey…..Kanata

3833…Elana Graham…..Kanata

5048…Eva Klassen…..Kanata

3558…Fiona Valliere…..Kanata

5572…Francine Giannotti…..Kanata

315…Gary Woodworth…..Kanata

4590…Genevieve Le Jeune…..Kanata

6381…Gi Wu…..Kanata

5548…Ginette Ford…..Kanata

3179…Greg Dow…..Kanata

3341…Greg Layhew…..Kanata

2911…Greg McNeill…..Kanata

3612…Guy Campeau…..Kanata

6271…Guy Turgeon…..Kanata

1768…Harvey Chatterton…..Kanata

4768…Heather Chanter…..Kanata

2008…Hugh Wright…..Kanata

2013…Ian Govan…..Kanata

1402…J.P. Tremblay…..Kanata

5241…Jaclyn Shepherd…..Kanata

2376…James Derosenroll…..Kanata

2738…James Muldoon…..Kanata

583…James Vieveen…..Kanata

6385…James Wildgen…..Kanata

3176…Jan Donak…..Kanata

6306…Janet Atkins…..Kanata

5442…Janet Chadwick…..Kanata

4486…Janice Tughan…..Kanata

1494…Jared Semenchuk…..Kanata

4897…Jason Hillier…..Kanata

2846…Jeff Goold…..Kanata

5775…Jeffrey O'connor…..Kanata

3721…Jennifer Burn…..Kanata

4975…Jennifer Campbell…..Kanata

3142…Jennifer Croisier…..Kanata

5497…Jennifer Delorme…..Kanata

904…Jennifer Donohue…..Kanata

3419…Jennifer Nason…..Kanata

1117…Jennifer Prieur…..Kanata

472…Jennifer Wilson…..Kanata

246…Jessica Dean…..Kanata

5912…Jody Vallati…..Kanata

887…John Cooper…..Kanata

2962…John Sullivan…..Kanata

5158…Jonathan Letendre…..Kanata

5974…Joshua Childs…..Kanata

5798…Karen Piddington…..Kanata

174…Kathleen Westbury…..Kanata

894…Kelly Ann Davis…..Kanata

3350…Kelly Livingstone…..Kanata

3477…Kelly Ross…..Kanata

5665…Kenneth Klassen…..Kanata

3274…Keri Hillier…..Kanata

1735…Kerry Kennedy…..Kanata

3055…Kevin Boyd…..Kanata

85…Kevin Donak…..Kanata

3458…Kevin Rankin…..Kanata

2510…Kim Duval…..Kanata

1954…Kim Robertson…..Kanata

2771…Kimberley Bohn…..Kanata

5540…Krista Ferguson…..Kanata

1466…Krista Levesque…..Kanata

4948…Kristin Bennett…..Kanata

1443…Lanny Underhill…..Kanata

5491…Laurie Davis…..Kanata

5500…Lesley Dewsnap…..Kanata

382…Lianna Macdonald…..Kanata

993…Lida Koronewskij…..Kanata

4079…Lillian Ng…..Kanata

2397…Lisa Mayhew…..Kanata

4419…Lise Gray…..Kanata

1932…Logan Daley…..Kanata

4429…Lois Kirkup…..Kanata

5661…Louise King…..Kanata

895…Luisa De Amicis…..Kanata

4391…Lynda Ciavaglia…..Kanata

3159…Lyne Denis…..Kanata

2719…M Gabriele Castelnuovo…..Kanata

6206…Man Nguyen…..Kanata

4476…Maneesh Sharma…..Kanata

4406…Manorie Edirisinghe…..Kanata

1399…Marcel Butz…..Kanata

4386…Mark Brownhill…..Kanata

5162…Mark Fagnan…..Kanata

5642…Mark Jorgenson…..Kanata

3482…Mark Ruddock…..Kanata

5367…Marlene Alt…..Kanata

4424…Mary Anne Jackson-Hughes…..Kanata

2424…Mary Campbell…..Kanata

4837…Mary-Anne Sauve…..Kanata

4006…Melissa Hall…..Kanata

1989…Michael Best…..Kanata

2782…Michael Brennan…..Kanata

5879…Michael Sutherland…..Kanata

1803…Michel Gosselin…..Kanata

1017…Michele Lemay…..Kanata

6173…Michelle Lyster…..Kanata

1691…Mike Southgate…..Kanata

2238…Mike Watford…..Kanata

5667…Mikkyal Koshman…..Kanata

330…Miriam Mustapha…..Kanata

1787…Monica Van Dam…..Kanata

1064…Nancy McGuire…..Kanata

5298…Natalie Damiano…..Kanata

4976…Neil Campbell…..Kanata

1218…Neil Marshall…..Kanata

3372…Neil Maxwell…..Kanata

5894…Neil Thomson…..Kanata

466…Nicole Myslivecek…..Kanata

4413…Pamela Ford…..Kanata

855…Patricia Brown…..Kanata

1248…Paul Maskell…..Kanata

4189…Pauline Joly…..Kanata

3116…Peter Clark…..Kanata

4607…Peter Fraser…..Kanata

4200…Peter Johnston…..Kanata

5958…Peter Zimmerman…..Kanata

6310…Philip Boyer…..Kanata

1827…Philip Rushworth…..Kanata

5909…Philip Tughan…..Kanata

1800…Philippe Sauve…..Kanata

5037…Prabhu Vaithilingam…..Kanata

4835…Renata Hogan-Sullivan…..Kanata

4327…Renee Johnston…..Kanata

3375…Rob McAulay…..Kanata

4767…Robert Chanter…..Kanata

1658…Robert Charbonneau…..Kanata

199…Robyn Hardage…..Kanata

5801…Sandra Plourde…..Kanata

2783…Sandy Brennan…..Kanata

2739…Sarah Muldoon…..Kanata

3305…Scott Jewer…..Kanata

1953…Shelley McDonald…..Kanata

4076…Shelly Nesbitt…..Kanata

3101…Sheri Cayouette…..Kanata

190…Sindy Dobson…..Kanata

2831…Sridhar Erukulla…..Kanata

2568…Stephane Bedard…..Kanata

1353…Stephen Cadieux…..Kanata

3139…Steven Cowie…..Kanata

2047…Sue Ackerman…..Kanata

4582…Sue Peck…..Kanata

4584…Susan Harvey…..Kanata

455…Susan Pagnutti…..Kanata

4215…Sylvie Olsen…..Kanata

1637…Taylor Sicard…..Kanata

995…Terry Koss…..Kanata

1702…Terry Mesdag…..Kanata

1219…Theresa Marshall…..Kanata

2772…Tiffany Boire…..Kanata

5752…Tim Moses…..Kanata

3019…Tom Auger…..Kanata

5950…Tom Winter…..Kanata

160…Tommy Des Brisay…..Kanata

4202…Tracey Dunfield…..Kanata

293…Valerie Desjarlais…..Kanata

6250…Vanessa Sloan…..Kanata

5159…Veronique Breton…..Kanata

3884…Victoria Gebert…..Kanata

5161…Vince Fagnan…..Kanata

2836…Vincent_Andy Fong…..Kanata

3600…Wei Zhou…..Kanata

1103…Wendy Patton…..Kanata

2433…Wendy Rostek…..Kanata

4258…Wilf Sullivan…..Kanata

2163…William Matthews…..Kanata

393…William Potts…..Kanata

3712…Celeste St. John…..Kars

4586…Ginny Flood…..Kars

5674…Guy Laliberte…..Kars

5980…Kevin Adamsons…..Kars

6041…Matthew Cook…..Kars

3354…Paula Lund…..Kars

5789…Carole Perkins…..Kemptville

3058…Cheryl Brennan…..Kemptville

5510…Connie Duclos…..Kemptville

2486…Dale Richardson…..Kemptville

3521…Dave Springer…..Kemptville

2781…David Brennan…..Kemptville

2143…Dawn Murray…..Kemptville

4789…Emily Conway…..Kemptville

1111…Gerald Piette…..Kemptville

4833…Glenna Bigras…..Kemptville

4962…Grant Lowe…..Kemptville

5105…Jacob Banks…..Kemptville

2195…Jeff Swrjeski…..Kemptville

4831…Joyce Cavanagh…..Kemptville

5242…Luke Foster…..Kemptville

3888…Mary Mejia…..Kemptville

4666…Michael Munroe…..Kemptville

3034…Paul Bedard…..Kemptville

4986…Rory Blaisdell…..Kemptville

3266…Roxanne Harrington…..Kemptville

1619…Russ Beaton…..Kemptville

3734…Sheri Steeves…..Kemptville

35…Simon Sukstorf…..Kemptville

3405…Stephanie Mombourquette…..Kemptville

1921…Steven De Ville…..Kemptville

3148…Teena Dacey…..Kemptville

421…Valerie Sayah…..Kemptville

1545…Mike Walsh…..Kenmore

563…Angela Stewart…..Kinburn

4230…Debbie Turcotte…..Kinburn

5869…Jackie Stadnyk…..Kinburn

1179…Kathy Twardek…..Kinburn

3524…Ronald Stadnyk…..Kinburn

6500…Aaron Clow…..Kingston

2259…Aaron Dries…..Kingston

5197…Alain Gosselin…..Kingston

678…Alan Cohoon…..Kingston

2600…Alfred Barr…..Kingston

3254…Allan Gudlaugson…..Kingston

121…Allison Mowat…..Kingston

717…Alyson Mahar…..Kingston

6244…Andreas Schabetsberger…..Kingston

6171…Andrew Lloyd…..Kingston

1870…Andrew Wallace…..Kingston

4952…Angela Allen…..Kingston

5165…Arthur Hesford…..Kingston

1819…Audethy Tallack…..Kingston

2426…Barb Parker…..Kingston

1714…Ben Doherty…..Kingston

2959…Benoit Stockless…..Kingston

5907…Bill Truelove…..Kingston

5294…Brenda Flaherty…..Kingston

5795…Brian Phillips…..Kingston

698…Bruno Chagnon…..Kingston

86…Cam Miller…..Kingston

6365…Carsten Sorensen…..Kingston

4868…Chelsey Hutson…..Kingston

4753…Chris Carter…..Kingston

3765…Chris Plaza…..Kingston

6257…Chris Stevenson…..Kingston

4850…Christine Powers-Tomsons…..Kingston

6069…Christopher Doan…..Kingston

150…Christopher Horeczy…..Kingston

1836…Chuck Douglas…..Kingston

6190…Colin McCue…..Kingston

3570…Colleen Webber…..Kingston

2339…Cory Vale…..Kingston

3894…Crystal Parker…..Kingston

3439…Dan Peebles…..Kingston

5494…Dani Delaloye…..Kingston

4827…Daniel Gosselin…..Kingston

5127…Daniel Rondeau…..Kingston

5929…Daryl Watters…..Kingston

3262…Dave Hammond…..Kingston

1620…Dave Johnston…..Kingston

4373…David Mailey…..Kingston

1215…David Robinson…..Kingston

5873…David Steeves…..Kingston

2256…Debbie Hawes…..Kingston

4550…Deborah Hynes…..Kingston

3346…Denis Levesque…..Kingston

5741…Derek Milner…..Kingston

5978…Duart Townsend…..Kingston

3853…Ed Tardif…..Kingston

5349…Elizabeth McQuillan…..Kingston

5916…Elizabeth Vezina…..Kingston

3328…Emily Koolen…..Kingston

3840…Emily Quinn-Black…..Kingston

6480…Etienne Marcoux…..Kingston

813…Frederic Drolet…..Kingston

2258…Frederic Jean…..Kingston

149…Frederick Lavoie…..Kingston

3312…George Jones…..Kingston

695…George Lackonick…..Kingston

3185…Glen Duckett…..Kingston

2367…Greg Phillips…..Kingston

664…Guillaume Proulx…..Kingston

5066…Helga Grodzinski…..Kingston

5995…Hugo Babin…..Kingston

5358…Hugo Boilard…..Kingston

2360…Jacklyn Power…..Kingston

33…James Brown…..Kingston

4741…James Krahn…..Kingston

5949…Jan Wilson…..Kingston

3877…Jason Chor…..Kingston

5611…Jason Hiltz…..Kingston

968…Jason Howe…..Kingston

3252…Jean-Marc Grimard…..Kingston

2313…Jeff Barr…..Kingston

2201…Jeff Teeple…..Kingston

627…Jeffrey Reid…..Kingston

510…Jillian Brenner…..Kingston

5267…Jim Terfry…..Kingston

1065…Jody Mcinnis…..Kingston

124…Joey Steacy…..Kingston

3839…John Black…..Kingston

3952…John Brooks…..Kingston

3850…John Brown…..Kingston

6007…Jon Berrey…..Kingston

6030…Jordan Charboneau…..Kingston

5848…Jordan Shoniker…..Kingston

3165…Joseph Dilworth…..Kingston

6378…Juli Wheeler…..Kingston

3010…Julie Anghelescu…..Kingston

3036…Julie Belanger…..Kingston

5742…Katrin Milner…..Kingston

3855…Kelly Campbell…..Kingston

2496…Kelly Morrice…..Kingston

6267…Kelly Tobias…..Kingston

4185…Kerri Tadeu…..Kingston

3854…Kit Orme…..Kingston

5309…Krzysztof Butkiewicz…..Kingston

616…Lance Marshall…..Kingston

6070…Leslie Doering…..Kingston

6348…Linda McMillan…..Kingston

3741…Line Gosselin…..Kingston

4699…Liza Tzotzos…..Kingston

3295…Louise Hunter…..Kingston

793…Lyne Lefrancois…..Kingston

2921…Marcel Neron…..Kingston

42…Margarita Sviajina…..Kingston

681…Marielle Houle…..Kingston

2799…Mark Chabot…..Kingston

2362…Mary-Anne Macdonald…..Kingston

690…Mary-Elizabeth Irwin…..Kingston

485…Matthew Charlesworth…..Kingston

1901…Matthew Sprague…..Kingston

3385…Melissa McIlroy…..Kingston

2322…Michael Avery…..Kingston

4698…Michael Clarke…..Kingston

5256…Michael Divittorio…..Kingston

2274…Michael Muise…..Kingston

628…Michel Pearson…..Kingston

3628…Michelle Kerr…..Kingston

702…Michelle Simiana…..Kingston

2149…Mike Lapensee…..Kingston

3844…Monica Pereira…..Kingston

6194…Murray McTavish…..Kingston

5176…Nadine Kopp…..Kingston

4738…Noelani Shore…..Kingston

4400…Pamela Decker…..Kingston

849…Pascal Brisson…..Kingston

818…Patricia Ambrose…..Kingston

5111…Paul Daley…..Kingston

5277…Paul Thompson…..Kingston

1738…Peter Vrooman…..Kingston

2363…Ralph Feisthauer…..Kingston

6142…Ray Konigs…..Kingston

5172…Rhonda Murphy…..Kingston

1975…Robert Allen…..Kingston

2031…Robert Bard…..Kingston

2346…Robert Meade…..Kingston

790…Robert Thomas…..Kingston

3650…Robyn Broeders…..Kingston

5372…Roman Antoniewicz…..Kingston

2232…Rosario Messana…..Kingston

6402…Sergio Grice…..Kingston

79…Shane Bourgeois…..Kingston

5249…Shannon Brown…..Kingston

791…Shawn Kadlec…..Kingston

5943…Shelley Williams…..Kingston

1121…Shoba Ranganathan…..Kingston

3852…Sonja Chisholm…..Kingston

2268…Sony Chris Marchal…..Kingston

703…Stefanie Arthurs…..Kingston

792…Stephane Brisson…..Kingston

1075…Stephanie Milner…..Kingston

2851…Stephen Hall…..Kingston

3081…Steve Bycok…..Kingston

2761…Steven Beattie…..Kingston

2179…Steven Doherty…..Kingston

4382…Susan Blake…..Kingston

467…Susan Stark…..Kingston

5110…Sylvie Bouchard…..Kingston

2248…Terri Heffernan…..Kingston

102…Tim Keith…..Kingston

615…Tim Macdonald…..Kingston

2746…Timothy Holmes-Mitra…..Kingston

2697…Tommy Villeneuve…..Kingston

1820…Tony Phillips…..Kingston

6503…Toure Alfa-Toga…..Kingston

2676…Travis Loughery…..Kingston

1357…Trevor Martin…..Kingston

691…Troy Irwin…..Kingston

4871…Victor Lopes…..Kingston

4505…Lucie Dufour…..La Peche

3805…Amy Vanderspank…..Lanark

1433…Scott Shaver…..Lanark

6033…Derek Cheff…..L'ange Gardien

13…Adam Robinson…..L'ange-Gardien

1506…Samuel Chenevert…..L'ange-Gardien

1537…Stephane Gosselin…..L'ange-Gardien

4275…Melissa Lanigan…..Lansdowne

3864…Adelle Brazeau…..Limoges

3791…Alain Giroux…..Limoges

4739…Ann Duguay…..Limoges

2029…Chantel Oshowy-Carvallo…..Limoges

1323…Denis Benoit…..Limoges

614…Joanne Froment…..Limoges

3033…Joey Beaudin…..Limoges

3997…Judy Gagne…..Limoges

4552…Marc Benoit…..Limoges

5097…Serge Froment…..Limoges

4808…Karen McDonald…..L'orignal

6212…Manon Parisien…..L'orignal

152…Patrick Lalonde…..L'orignal

3986…Susan Draper…..Low

2098…Chris Crain…..Maberly

4173…Frederick Barrett…..Maberly

1734…Nancy Villemure…..Maberly

3758…Susan Marble…..Maberly

910…Jennifer Duffy…..Maitland

911…Penny Duffy…..Maitland

3319…Jennifer Kellar…..Mallorytown

5174…Joyce Mills…..Mallorytown

3067…Robert Browne…..Mallorytown

1922…Amy Moustgaard…..Manotick

6291…Brad Ysseldyk…..Manotick

6016…Charles Bruce…..Manotick

1376…Christian Vaillancourt…..Manotick

6071…Emily Donaldson…..Manotick

2370…Gerald Leahy…..Manotick

2764…Guy Beaudoin…..Manotick

6341…Hollee Kew…..Manotick

409…Jocelynn Cook…..Manotick

6072…Karen Donaldson…..Manotick

1597…Laura Wilson…..Manotick

2117…Malcolm Todd…..Manotick

6255…Paul Steers…..Manotick

5531…Robert Fabes…..Manotick

3338…Robert Lange…..Manotick

5059…Sara Wilson…..Manotick

3474…Theresa Roberts…..Manotick

848…Yvonne Brandreth…..Manotick

3526…Michele Steeves…..Maxville

4685…Angus Macdonald…..Merrickville

1238…Barbara Bacon…..Merrickville

4682…Isabelle Paris…..Merrickville

3059…Jodi Brennan…..Merrickville

4740…Krista Jensen…..Merrickville

5383…Michael Barkhouse…..Merrickville

1296…Penny Foxwell…..Merrickville

804…Rick Bowes…..Merrickville

4533…Will Starr…..Merrickville

2881…Andre Lasalle…..Metcalfe

4861…Barb Beiersdorfer…..Metcalfe

307…Brittney Potvin…..Metcalfe

5352…Bruce Bourgeault…..Metcalfe

5149…Erika Morris…..Metcalfe

997…Kazimierz Krzyzanowski…..Metcalfe

3933…Keith Beardsley…..Metcalfe

2009…Luc Aubrey…..Metcalfe

2218…Rob Howell…..Metcalfe

4435…Sylvie J Lapointe…..Metcalfe

6304…Krista Atchison…..Moose Creek

1918…Cindy Waldner…..Morewood

5641…Isabella Jordan…..Morrisburg

4653…Kelly Ryan…..Mountain

59…Raymond Sherrer…..Mountain

5856…Allan Smith…..Munster

418…Colleen O'Connell-Campbell…..Munster

554…Jamie Dumont…..Munster

1154…Nancy Ann Smith…..Munster

514…Norman Watt…..Munster

1960…Shelley Hindle…..Munster

1534…Steve Lachaine…..Munster

153…Alain Gonthier…..Navan

534…Brian Barber…..Navan

5446…Carole Charlebois…..Navan

3359…Marcella Macdonald…..Navan

5058…Marie Labrie…..Navan

5688…Marie-France Levesque…..Navan

4686…Matthew Valiquette…..Navan

5002…Melanie Vetter…..Navan

1412…Mike Rozon…..Navan

4445…Mychele Malette…..Navan

896…Paul De Grandpre…..Navan

826…Rosemary Barber…..Navan

3939…Veronique Bergeron…..Navan

1413…Vicki Rozon…..Navan

 

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Valley, on the northern bank of the River Tees.

 

The Tees was straightened in the early 19th century for larger ships to access the town. The ports have since relocated closer to the North Sea and ships are no longer able to sail from the sea to the town due to the Tees Barrage, which was installed to manage tidal flooding. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, on which coal was ferried to the town for shipment, served the port during early part of the Industrial Revolution. The railway was also the world's first permanent steam-locomotive-powered passenger railway.

 

Stockton is an Anglo-Saxon place name with the common ending ton, meaning farm, or homestead. Stock is thought by some to derive from the Anglo-Saxon Stocc, meaning log, tree trunk, or wooden post. Stockton could therefore mean a farm built of logs. This is disputed because when Stocc forms the first part of a place name, it usually indicates a derivation from the similar word Stoc, meaning cell, monastery, or place. Stoc in place name such as Stoke or Stow usually indicates farms which belonged to a manor or religious house. It is thought that Stockton fell into this category, and perhaps the name is an indication that Stockton was an outpost of Durham or Norton which were both important Anglo-Saxon centres. Stockton was a township in the ancient parish of Norton until 1713, when it became an independent parish in its own right. Norton and Stockton's historic roles were reversed in 1913 when Norton was absorbed into the borough of Stockton.

 

Stockton is reportedly the home of the fossilised remains of the most northerly hippopotamus ever discovered. In 1958, an archeological dig four miles (6 km) north-west of the town uncovered a 125,000-year-old hippo's molar tooth. However, no one knows exactly where the tooth was discovered, who discovered it, or why the dig took place. The tooth was sent to the borough's librarian and curator, G. F. Leighton, who then sent it to the Natural History Museum in London. Since then, the tooth has been missing despite efforts to locate it.

 

Stockton began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement on high ground close to the northern bank of the River Tees.

 

Stockton was described as a manor by 1138, and was purchased by Bishop Pudsey of Durham in 1189. During the 13th century, the bishop changed the village of Stockton into a borough; the exact date the borough was founded is unknown, but it was being described as a borough by 1283. When the bishop freed Stockton's serfs, craftsmen moved to the new town. The bishop had a residence in Stockton Castle, which was a fortified manor house, the first recorded reference to which was in 1376.

 

Stockton's market traces its history to 1310, when Bishop Bek of Durham granted a market charter to our town of Stockton a market upon every Wednesday for ever. The town grew into a small but busy port, exporting wool and importing wine, which was in demand by the upper class. However, even by the standards of the time, medieval Stockton-on-Tees was a small town, with a population of only approximately 1,000, and the town did not grow for centuries.

 

Scotland captured Stockton Castle in 1644, and occupied it until 1646. The castle was destroyed at the order of Oliver Cromwell at the end of the Civil War. A shopping centre, the Castlegate Centre, now occupies the castle area, and this is scheduled for demolition in 2022.[needs update] No known accurate depictions of the castle exist.

 

The Town House (now called the Town Hall) was built in 1735, and Stockton's first theatre opened in 1766. In 1771, a five-arch stone bridge was built, replacing the nearby Bishop's Ferry. Until the opening of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in 1911, this was the Tees's most downstream bridging point. From the end of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution transformed Stockton from a small and quiet market town into a flourishing centre of heavy industry.

 

In 1833 the then Bishop of Durham, William Van Mildert (1765 - 1836) gifted five acres and the land of an existing burial site called "The Monument" (originally a mass grave from a prior cholera outbreak) to the town of Stockton. Upon this land, the process of building of and designing the gothic style Holy Trinity Church began, using funds originally allocated for church building in the Commissioners' church Act of 1818. It was designed by John and Benjamin Green, and construction began in 1834. It was consecrated as an Anglican church on December 22, 1835.

 

Shipbuilding, which had started in the 15th century, prospered in the town through the 17th and 18th centuries, with smaller-scale industries also developing. These included brick, sail, and rope making, the latter now reflected in road names such as Ropery Street in the town centre. Stockton became the major port for County Durham, the North Riding of Yorkshire, and Westmorland during this period, exporting mainly rope, agricultural produce and lead from the Yorkshire Dales. Iron making and engineering entered the local economy in the 18th century

 

The town grew rapidly as the Industrial Revolution started, the population grew from 10,000 in 1851 to over 50,000 in 1901 as workers moved in. The discovery of iron ore in the Eston Hills resulted in blast furnaces lining the River Tees from Stockton to the river's mouth. In 1820, an Act set up the Commissioners, a body with responsibility for lighting and cleaning the streets, and from 1822, Stockton-on-Tees was lit by gas.

 

In 1822, Stockton witnessed an event which changed the face of the world forever, and which heralded the dawn of a new era in trade, industry and travel. The first rail of George Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington Railway was laid near St. John's crossing on Bridge Road. Hauled by Locomotion No 1, Stephenson himself manned the engine on its first journey on 27 September 1825. Fellow engineer and friend Timothy Hackworth acted as guard. This was the world's first passenger railway,[citation needed] connecting Stockton with Shildon. The opening of the railway greatly boosted Stockton's economy, making it easier to bring coal to the factories; however, the port declined as business moved downstream to Middlesbrough.

 

Stockton witnessed another development in 1827. Local chemist John Walker invented the friction match in his shop at 59 High Street. The first sale of these matches was recorded in his sales-book on 7 April 1827, to a Mr. Hixon, a solicitor in the town. Since he did not obtain a patent, Walker received neither fame nor wealth for his invention, but he was able to retire some years before his death. He died in 1859 at the age of 78, and is buried in the parish churchyard in Norton village.

 

The first bell for Big Ben was cast by John Warner and Sons in Norton on 6 August 1856, but it was damaged beyond repair while being tested on site, and it had to be replaced by a foundry closer to Westminster, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

 

To cater to the increased population, a hospital opened in Stockton in 1862, and a public library opened in 1877. Public transport also became important. Steam trams began running in the streets in 1881, and these were replaced by electric trams in 1897.

 

Stockton was still dominated by the engineering industry in the 1930s, and there was also a chemicals industry in the town. Buses replaced the trams in 1931. Public housing also became necessary, and in the 1930s, slums were cleared, and the first council houses were built.

 

On 10 September 1933, the Battle of Stockton took place, in which between 200 and 300 supporters of the British Union of Fascists were taken to Stockton to hold a rally, but they were driven out of town by up to 2,000 anti-fascist demonstrators.

 

In the late 20th century, manufacturing severely declined, with the service industries developed into the town's primary employers.

 

The Ragworth district near the town centre was the scene of rioting in July 1992, when local youths threw stones at buildings, set cars alight, and threw missiles at police and fire crews. The area later saw a £12 million regeneration which involved mass demolition and refurbishment of existing properties, and construction of new housing and community facilities.

 

Stockton lies on the north bank of the River Tees. The town's northern and western extremities are on slightly higher ground than the town centre, which is directly on the Tees. Stockton experiences occasional earth tremors. For example, it was the epicentre of a tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale on 23 January 2020. The town has many areas outside of the town centre; Fairfield, Portrack, Hardwick, Hartburn, Elm Tree Farm, Norton, Roseworth, Newtown, Bishopsgarth and Oxbridge. Norton is the second largest centre in the town.

 

Stockton-on-Tees has an oceanic climate typical of the United Kingdom. Being sheltered by the Lake District and Pennines to the west, Stockton is relatively dry for the U.K., with on average 25 inches (643 mm) of rain a year. Its climate is more continental climate than other parts of the U.K., with above average summer temperatures, and below average winter temperatures. Summer highs typically reach approximately 20 °C (68 °F), while winter lows can fall to several degrees below 0 °C (32 °F). The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate).

 

Stockton town centre is the heart of the borough. The High Street—the widest in the UK—heads north through the town centre from the junction of Bridge Road and Yarm Lane, to Maxwell's Corner, where Norton Road and Bishopton Lane begin. Dovecot Street runs west from the High Street's midway point, and further north, Church Road extends east toward Northshore and the River Tees. At the centre of the High Street stands Stockton-on-Tees Town Hall, dating from 1735, and the Georgian-style Shambles Market Hall. Around the town hall, the largest outdoor market in North East England, which has been in existence since the 1300s, continues to be held every Wednesday and Saturday.

 

Much of the town centre has a Georgian and late medieval influence, with a number of listed buildings and a variety of architectural types, which help to define the town's identity. The shops predominantly have narrow frontages stretching back to gain floorspace. This burgage plot style is particularly evident around the marketplace and on side streets such as Silver Street, Finkle Street and Ramsgate. There is also the surviving ruins of the gothic style church in Trinity Green, which dates back to 1834.

 

Before 2022, the town centre retail was largely concentrated within two shopping centres, Castlegate and Wellington Square. Wellington Square has open shops on pedestrian-only paths whereas the Castlegate, opened in 1972 and currently undergoing demolition, was a building which incorporated a multi-storey car park and an indoor market. Its façade was a dominant feature along the south east of the High Street, its site bounded by Finkle Street, Bridge Road and Tower Street. The Riverside dual carriageway and the River Tees run almost parallel to the rear of the centre. The Teesquay Millennium Footbridge links the Castlegate Quay on the north side of the river to Teesdale Business Park and Durham University's Queen's Campus on the south side in the ceremonial county of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Situated at the north west end of the town centre is Wellington Square shopping centre, built on the old Wellington Street. Opened in 2001 at a cost of £43 million, it houses 46 shop units.

 

The town centre has retained a number of original yards such as Wasp Nest Yard, Hambletonian Yard, and Ship Inn Yard. Most notable is Green Dragon Yard, a courtyard of restored historic warehouses within a series of alleyways. Considered the cultural quarter of the town, this houses the Green Dragon public house, the Green Dragon Studios (recording studios) and Britain's oldest surviving Georgian Theatre.

 

Alongside retail outlets, Stockton town centre also has a variety of services including national banks and building societies, travel agents, a post office, hairdressers, beauticians, cafés, and restaurants. The refurbishment of some period buildings has provided space for small firms including solicitors, recruitment agencies, and accountants.

 

Since the construction of the Tees Barrage in 1995, the level of the River Tees through the town has permanently been held at high tide, creating a backdrop for riverside events and facilitating watersports activities such as rowing, canoeing, jet skiing, and dragon boat racing. Stockton town centre is elevated above the river, and is separated from the riverside by the A1305 Riverside Road, a dual carriageway which runs parallel to the river from Northshore to Chandlers Wharf.

 

From the town centre, Bishop Street, Silver Street, Calvert's Lane, and Thistle Green offer views of the river where it meanders around Teesdale Business Park. Durham University Queen's Campus can be seen on the opposite side, alongside the skyline of Middlesbrough in the middle distance and Roseberry Topping in the Cleveland Hills, approximately fifteen miles (24 km) south east.

 

Chandlers Wharf is situated on the north side of the river where Bridge Road approaches Victoria Bridge. The area is characterised by a mixture of office and residential accommodation, including the colourful twelve-storey Mezzino student apartments at Rialto Court, a Mecca Bingo hall, Burger King and the two-storey Grosvenor Casino, which opened in September 2011. Adjacent to the wharf is Castlegate Quay, which was once the town's main dock. The quayside is still occupied by Georgian warehouses which have been converted into a number of business units, restaurants, and a gym. A full-size replica of Captain James Cook's ship HM Bark Endeavour was once moored at the quayside, but was sold and moved after refurbishment to a mooring in Whitby. The Teesside Princess, a two-deck river boat, is docked alongside, and offers river cruises all year to Yarm via Preston Park.

 

Both the north and south banks of the Tees are retained by steel sheet pile walls, and have footpaths along the river edge. The Tees Walkway on the north bank of the river can be accessed from the town centre by the Teesquay Millennium Footbridge or the Riverside Footbridge, and incorporates a cycle path which forms part of the National Cycle Network.

 

The 11-metre Aeolian Motion wind sculpture stands on a grassy slope overlooking the riverside, which becomes an amphitheatre during large events. From Castlegate Quay, the tree-lined path along the waterfront toward the Princess of Wales Bridge opens into green space and a car park for events. Beyond the Princess of Wales Bridge, the slipway at the River Tees Watersports Centre is situated at the western area of Northshore, which is currently under development, and which leads to the Tees Barrage.

 

The town is served by two main arterial roads: the transpennine A66 (east/west) and the A19 (north/south). The A19 connects Stockton with York in the south, and extends to Peterlee and Sunderland, to the north. East of the town centre is the A1046, a mostly dual carriageway which runs through Portrack as Portrack Lane, a major retail zone, particularly for home furnishings and DIY. From Portrack, the A1046 continues to its northern terminus at Port Clarence. The A139 connects the town centre with the northern suburb of Norton. This was the original route for the A19 before a bypass was built to the east of the town.

 

The A177 runs from Stockton town centre to Durham. Known as Durham Road, it passes Sedgefield en route, and is a major route in to and out of Stockton.

 

The A66 connects Stockton directly to Middlesbrough (8 miles (13 km) to the east) and Darlington (10 miles (16 km) to the west). Beyond Darlington lies the A1(M). The A66 is connected to Stockton centre by the A135. The old A135 was renumbered A1027, and this continues through the town to Billingham. The A135 is named '1825 Way' to commemorate the former Stockton and Darlington Railway's opening; the 1825 Way's northern end is St John's Crossing, adjacent to the old Stockton Railway Station buildings.

 

A number of bus services operate in Stockton, and most services pass through the High Street. The services cover large areas of the region including Middlesbrough, Teesside Park, Thornaby-on-Tees, Billingham, Sedgefield, Durham, Sunderland, Peterlee, and Newcastle upon Tyne. Stagecoach on Teesside and Arriva North East are the major service providers, while six smaller companies also operate in the area.

 

Stockton station, located above the High Street, serves the town; however, more regular and long-distance trains run from nearby Thornaby.

 

Northern routinely serves both stations with local and regional services, whereas at Thornaby TransPennine Express runs an hourly service between Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Manchester Airport via York and LNER stops once both ways every weekday between Middlesbrough and London King's Cross.

 

Teesside International Airport is partially located within the borough, several miles west of the town. The airport offers domestic flights and services international festival destinations, especially in the EU.

 

Stockton is famous as the home of the friction match and the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which operated the world's first steam-hauled passenger train in 1825. The town also has the world's oldest passenger railway station building. Industry and engineering remained central to Stockton's economy over many years, and major industries have included shipbuilding and repair, heavy engineering, steel, and chemicals manufacturing. However, during the twentieth century, Teesside's heavy industry declined dramatically.

 

Since the 1980s, Stockton has seen an increase in service industries. The development of Teesdale Business Park on the south bank of the River Tees has created commercial space with many large service providers opening call centres and offices in the area. Durham University's Queen's Campus is also situated within the Teesdale development, which is linked to the town centre by the Teesquay Millennium Footbridge, Princess of Wales Bridge, and Infinity Bridge.

 

In 1995, after four years' construction, the Tees Barrage was commissioned, permanently holding the upstream river waters at the level of an average high tide.

 

In 2007, funding from the European Regional Development Fund and English Heritage secured the ruins of the Holy Trinity Church, and renovated the site into Trinity Green, removing the site from Historic England's 'Heritage At Risk register'.

 

Work is under way to develop the north bank of the River Tees in Stockton with the £300 million Northshore scheme, which will include new offices, leisure facilities, housing, a 150-bedroom hotel, and a new campus for Durham University.

 

In 2012, a long-term scheme aimed at transforming the town centre area was announced, with investment of approximately £38 million, just over £20 million being contributed by Stockton Borough Council, and the remainder coming from the private sector and grants. The investment programme aimed to attract more retailers, businesses, and shoppers to the town by opening up new spaces and links to the River Tees, providing easier access and parking, and capitalising on the town's heritage and cultural assets.

 

Plans include the introduction of an expansive plaza area 'Infinity View' that will open up the pedestrian area to dramatic views of the award-winning Infinity Bridge. Under the scheme, the banks of the River Tees will be transformed with a series of impressive light installations which will stretch along the waterfront, from the Princess of Wales Bridge to the Millennium Bridge. This permanent colourful illumination is intended to add value to the riverside businesses and restaurants and play an important part in the council's events programme throughout the year.

 

Stockton is one of 12 towns in England to share in £1.2 million of funding, support from retail guru Mary Portas and her own team, as part of the Portas Pilot scheme. Selected from over 370 applications, Stockton's Town Team Consortium, comprising Stockton Council, Tees Music Alliance, Durham University Queen's Campus, town centre retailers, A Way Out and Stockton Heritage in Partnership, will have the opportunity to share in expert advice and guidance from a range of retail experts.

 

The Stockton-Middlesbrough Initiative is a 20-year vision for regenerating the urban core of the Tees Valley, the main focus being the 30 km2 (12 sq mi) area along the banks of the River Tees between the two centres of Stockton and Middlesbrough. The master plan has been drawn up by environmental design specialists Gillespies, the eventual aim being to bring distinctive high-quality city-scale assets to the centre of the Tees Valley, including the town centres of Stockton and Middlesbrough. The project will include the existing developments at North Shore, Stockton and Middlesbrough, with many others over a 15- to 20-year period.

 

In February 2020 it was announced that the Castlegate Shopping Centre is set to be demolished in 2022.

 

The mean weekly income for Stockton residents was £522.70 in 2017. This is below the U.K. mean of £538.70. In some parts of Stockton, most households' income is below the poverty threshold. The mean privately rented house in Stockton cost £525 per month in 2017, compared with a mean of £480 across North East England.

 

The town recorded 125 crimes for every 1,000 people in 2020, higher than similarly sized Darlington and Hartlepool and 29% higher than ceremonial County Durham's 89 out of 1,000 average. The most common crimes in 2020 were "violence and sexual offences"; 4,445 of this type were recorded in 2020. Eight out of 14 crime trends improved compared to 2019. The Eastbourne and Newham Grange Ward recorded the worst crime statistics in the town. The borough came out lower than the four other Tees Valley boroughs in 2017.

 

Stockton comes under Cleveland Police's jurisdiction. There are two police stations in town, town centre main and Newton neighbourhood. Teesside combined courts are located in Middlesbrough.

 

HMP Holme House, in Portrack, is a 1211-capacity Category B prison for male adult prisoners who are either remanded in custody or convicted. It also accommodates a small number of young offenders aged 18–21 years. The prison opened in May 1992 and mainly serves south of county Durham as well as north of North Yorkshire.

 

In the 2021 census, the borough was recorded as having a population of 196,595 with 50.9% being female.

 

For religion, 51.1% identified themselves as Christian, 39.1% having no religion, 3.4% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.4% Sikh, 0.3% Buddhist, and 0.3% answering 'Other' as well as 5% not answering.

 

For ethnicity, those who identified as White were 92.0%, Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh were 4.6%, Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African were 1.1%, Mixed or 'Multiple ethnic groups' were 1.4%, and the 'Other' ethnic group category recorded 0.8%.

 

For sexuality, those who identified as Straight or Heterosexual were 91.6%, Gay or Lesbian were 1.4%, Bisexual was 0.9%, Pansexual was 0.2%, Asexual was 0.0%, Queer was 0.0%, 'All other sexual orientations' were 0.0% and those who did not answer were 5.9%.

 

Stockton centre also has a number of restaurants, amusement arcades, a bingo hall, a snooker club, and health and fitness facilities.

 

Stockton Calling is an Easter Sunday music festival which has taken place across several of Stockton's music venues annually since 2010. In 2019, it celebrated its 11th year, and was headlined by Sophie and the Giants.

 

The Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF), one of Europe's largest open air festivals, has taken over the town once a year since 1988. Spread over a long weekend, for either four or five days, it attracts over 250,000 visitors, and features a variety of acts such as circus, comedy, music, dance and street theatre.

 

The annual riverside firework display happens on the first Sunday closest to 5 November, and is typically attended by up to 100,000 spectators from the wider region. The year's events always conclude with the Stockton Sparkles Christmas festival and associated markets.

 

The ARC Theatre & Arts Centre on Dovecot Street was built in 1999, and comprises a multi-purpose arts centre for cinema, theatre, dance, and music. It has three floors including four venues: a 260-seat theatre, a 100-seat studio theatre, a point/music area accommodating 550 standing, and a 130-seat cinema. It also has exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, a café, and two bars.

 

The Georgian Theatre at Green Dragon Yard is Grade II listed, and is the oldest Georgian theatre in the country. Originally opened in 1766, it fell into disrepair during the 19th century, but later functioned as a sweet factory and then a community building. Between 2007 and 2008, the building was given a full makeover along with the neighbouring Green Dragon Studios, and now serves as an intimate venue for live entertainment with a capacity of 200.

 

The Grade-II listed Globe Theatre built in 1936 is at the north western end of the High Street, the theatre reopened in 2021 following extensive restoration. It was built on the same site as two previous theatres, and has hosted many famous acts such as Buddy Holly, the Platters, Guy Mitchell, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Cilla Black, Carl Perkins, Cliff Richard, the Shadows and Chuck Berry. The Beatles famously played the Globe on Friday 22 November 1963, the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

 

On 12 June 2016, Stockton Council launched The Stockton Flyer, a stylised model of a flying steam locomotive in a plinth on Stockton High Street. The Flyer was unveiled to mark Queen Elizabeth II's official 90th birthday on 12 June 2016. The Stockton Flyer appears from the plinth every day at 1 p.m., and often draws a crowd of people watching the rising and lowering of the structure.

 

Designed by Phil Johnson of Ratho Forge, the wind sculpture Aeolian Motion was constructed at the end of Silver Street in March and April 2001. The design is said to impart a unique identity to the seating area, reflecting the character of Stockton, and creating a sense of place.

 

Public services provided in Stockton include a general hospital, health advice centres, dental and medical surgeries, a library, churches, employment advice centres, youth projects, energy advice centres and an international family centre. A cluster of municipal buildings is concentrated primarily along Church Road. The police headquarters is the only emergency service station located within the centre, next to Stockton Central Library.

 

The University Hospital of North Tees is located in the town and serves south east County Durham. It is part of the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust.

 

Stockton has a number of public parks and nature reserves. Most notable is Ropner Park, a Victorian-style park on the outskirts of the town, near Hartburn village. Opened in 1893 and renovated in 2007, the park has tree-lined avenues approaching an ornate water fountain, surrounded by rockeries and floral displays. Overlooking a lake, a bandstand features live band music on Sunday afternoons in the summer. Seasonal fairs and occasional organised events are staged at the park throughout the year. Close by, there is also the smaller park housing the ruins of the Holy Trinity Church, now called Trinity Green.

 

Further upstream is Preston Park, a 100 acres (40 ha) public park by the River Tees. The park hosts many events each year that attract people from across Teesside and further afield. Preston Hall, once the home of Sir Robert Ropner, is situated within the grounds, and is now a museum. The park also houses 'Butterfly World', an artificial tropical environment housing various species of exotic butterflies and reptiles.

 

Downstream is Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve, a 50 acres (20 ha) nature reserve by the northern bank of the river between the Tees Barrage and the Tees Viaduct near Portrack housing estate. It is the last remaining wetland on the lower Tees. Ownership of the reserve is divided between the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water, but the reserve is managed by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. The western and northern parts of the reserve are mature marsh, while there are a series of man–made ponds in the south east.

 

The town's main leisure facility is 'Splash', a large wet and dry facility on Church Road which includes a 25m pool with a wave machine and flumes, a learner pool, a spa pool, a two-storey fitness facility, dry multi-activity spaces, a café and Sportwall & dance facilities. The Castlegate Quay Watersports Centre also offers opportunities for sailing and paddling on the River Tees.

 

Stockton Central Library on Church Road is the largest public library serving the borough of Stockton-on-Tees. Built in 1967, it was fully refurbished in 2011 at a cost of £1.9m. It occupies two floors: the ground floor incorporates Stockton Borough Council's Customer Services Centre, an adult lending library, and a children's library, while the first floor houses the reference library (the central reference department for the borough), a family history suite, a computer suite with free internet access, and the 'Starbooks' café. The library also has conference facilities and an exhibition area.

 

Stockton is a Church of England deanery of the Archdeaconry of Auckland, in the Diocese of Durham. The churches of St Peter, Stockton Parish Church (St Thomas'), and St Paul are in the town. Holy Trinity Church was built as an Anglican church, later became Greek Orthodox, and was then destroyed by fire in 1991. The ruins remain on site.

 

Stockton is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, and is home to the parishes of St Bede, St Cuthbert, English Martyrs and SS Peter and Paul, St Joseph, St Mary, and St Patrick.

 

Stockton also has a sizable Muslim population (6,675), with mosques such as Farooq E Azam Mosque and Islamic Centre serving this community. The Farooq E Azam mosque is especially of note, due to the recent council decision to allow the call to prayer, or Adhan, to be played once at week at an agreed volume, the first mosque in the north-east of England to do so.

 

Stockton Cricket Club was established in 1816, and has been located at the Grangefield Cricket Ground since 1891. The club currently fields three senior teams at weekends in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the Dukes North East Premier League.

 

Stockton Football Club existed from 1882 until it folded in 1975. They played at the Victoria Ground which also held greyhound racing (one of two venues in the town to do so along with Belle Vue Park). The club's assets were transferred to Norton Cricket Club, who subsequently founded the Norton & Stockton Ancients Football Club. There are two other football clubs in the town. Stockton Town F.C. play in the Northern Premier League Division One East after consecutive promotions winning the Wearside League in 2016 and Northern League Division 2 in 2017. Meanwhile, Stockton West End currently play in the North Riding Football League Premier Division.

 

Stockton Rugby Club, established in 1873, is the local Rugby Union team. Home games are now played at the Grangefield Ground following a community partnership agreement with Stockton Cricket club and Grangefield Academy in 2015.

 

People born in Stockton include:

Francis Arthur Bainbridge, physiologist

Matthew Bates, footballer

Jamie Bell, actor

Neal Bishop, footballer

C. J. Bolland, electronic music producer in Belgium

Daniel Casey, actor

Lee Cattermole, footballer

Ivy Close, actress

Edward Cooper, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross.

Brass Crosby, Lord Mayor of London

Freddie Dixon, motorcycle and car racing driver

Lesley Duncan, pop singer-songwriter

Maurice Elvey, film director

Charles Foulkes, Canadian Army officer who served in the Second World War and became a four-star general

Jonathan Franks, footballer

James Gaddas, actor

Martin Gray, footballer

Will Hay, comic actor

Frank Hawley, Japanologist (1906–1961).

Richard Anthony Hewson, jazz-funk music producer

Thomas Hornby, cricketer

Peter Howells, cricketer

Robert Icke, director and writer

David Ingman, engineer, Chairman of the British Waterways Board 1987–1993

Heather Ingman, Professor of English, novelist and journalist

Jimmy James, comedian

Richard Kilty, sprinter

Macaulay Langstaff, footballer

Jordan Nobbs, footballer

Geoff Parling, England and British and Irish Lions rugby player

Luke Pearson, cartoonist

Colin Renfrew, archaeologist

Joseph Ritson, literary critic and editor

Franc Roddam, film director/producer

Graham Rowntree, England rugby player

Thomas Sheraton, furniture designer

Michael Short, Professor of Engineering and author

Paul Smith, singer in rock band Maxïmo Park

Peter Smithson, architect

Calvert Spensley, American politician

Bill Steer, co-founder and lead guitarist of extreme metal band Carcass

Jeremy Swift, actor

Bruce Thomas, new wave bass guitar backing musician

Denis Thwaites, footballer murdered in the 2015 Sousse attacks

Stephen Tompkinson, actor

Lee Turnbull, footballer

John Walker, inventor of the friction match

Eric Young, footballer

 

Other notable residents include:

Duncan Bannatyne, entrepreneur, moved to Stockton when he was 30, before he made his fortune.

William Christopher, Hudson's Bay Company captain and explorer

Alan Davey, former civil servant, council administrator and BBC Radio 3 controller

Elizabeth Estensen, actress

Don Heath, footballer, winner of the 1968–69 League Cup

Harold Macmillan, MP for Stockton (1924–29, 1931–45), later Prime Minister (1957–63), invested as Earl of Stockton (1984)

Michael Marks, founder of Marks & Spencer, started his business career in Stockton in 1883.

George Orwell, author, resided for a year (1944–45) in Greystones, near Carlton, a village in the borough.

Bill Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, MP for the town (1962–83), co-founder of the SDP

Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, film directors, both lived in Stockton during their youth.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli, Milano, 1939, for Orologi e Cinturini Delgia. Photo: Studio Chaplin.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother, and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda, and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949, and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Swiss-German-British postcard by News Productions, Baulmes / Filmwelt Berlin, Bakede / News Productions, Stroud, no. 56551. Paulette Goddard in Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936), produced by United Artists.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th-century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949 and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest-starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring, and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

American Mirro-Krome postcard by H.S. Crocker Co. Inc., San Francisco, Calif., no. HSC-306. Henry Fonda in the TV series The Deputy (1959-1961). Caption: Henry Fonda keeps himself busy alternating between Broadway plays and his own television series, The Deputy, filmed by Revue Studios. When time permits, Henry also stars in motion pictures, where he earned his reputation as a top-flight star.

 

The American Western series The Deputy (1959-1961) was situated in Silver City, Arizona Territories in 1880. Henry Fonda starred as Simon Fry, the chief marshal. Fonda's character was fully integrated into the plot in only six of the episodes of the first season and thirteen in season two. In all other episodes, he appeared only briefly, generally at the start of the episode and again at the close. Fonda did narrate most episodes. Fonda worked for ten weeks on season one, for example, shooting all of his scenes during that time, which left the rest of the year free for film and theatre work. Allen Case tried hard as the title character, Clay McCord, a storekeeper in Silver City. He is an expert shot but refuses to use his gun because he believes they are the major cause of frontier violence. However, he is persuaded many times to be the Deputy to help keep order when Chief Marshal Simon Fry is out of town. The series is well- known for the substantial differences in quality between what the series producers (and Fonda himself) came to call the "Fonda" and "Non- Fonda" episodes.

 

Blue-eyed American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982) exemplified not only integrity and strength but an ideal of the common man fighting against social injustice and oppression. He is most remembered for his roles as Abe Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination, and more recently, Norman Thayer in On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar for Best Actor in 1982. Notably, he also played against character as the villain 'Frank' in Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Western Once upon a time in the West (1968). Fonda is considered one of Hollywood's old-time legends and his lifelong career spanned almost 50 years.

 

Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1905. His parents were Elma Herberta (Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who worked in advertising and printing and was the owner of the W. B. Fonda Printing Company in Omaha, Nebraska. His distant ancestors were Italians who had fled their country around 1400 and moved to Holland, presumably because of political or religious persecution. In the early1600's, they crossed the Atlantic and were among the early Dutch settlers in America. They established a still-thriving small town in upstate New York named Fonda, named after patriarch Douw Fonda, who was later killed by Indians. In 1919, young Henry was a first-hand witness to the Omaha race riots and the brutal lynching of Will Brown. This enraged the 14 years old Fonda and he kept a keen awareness of prejudice for the rest of his life. Following graduation from high school in 1923, Henry got a part-time job in Minneapolis with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company which allowed him at first to pursue journalistic studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1925, having returned to Omaha, Henry reevaluated his options and came to the conclusion that journalism was not his forte, after all. For a while, he tried his hand at several temporary jobs, including as a mechanic and a window dresser. At age 20, Fonda started his acting career at the Omaha Community Playhouse, when his mother's friend Dodie Brando (mother of Marlon Brando) recommended that he try out for a juvenile part in 'You and I', in which he was cast as Ricky. Then he received the lead in Merton of the Movies and realized the beauty of acting as a profession. It allowed him to deflect attention from his own tongue-tied personality and create stage characters relying on someone else's scripted words. The play and its star received fairly good notices in the local press. It ran for a week, and for the rest of the repertory season, Henry advanced to the assistant director which enabled him to design and paint sets as well as act. A casual trip to New York, however, had already made him set his sights on Broadway. In 1926, he moved to the Cape Cod University Players, where he met his future wife Margaret Sullavan. His first professional role was in 'The Jest', by Sem Benelli. James Stewart joined the Players a few months after Fonda left, but he would become his closest lifelong friend. In 1928, Fonda went east to New York to be with Margaret Sullavan, and to expand his theatrical career on Broadway. His first Broadway role was a small one in 'A Game of Love and Death' with Alice Brady and Claude Rains. Henry played leads opposite Margaret Sullavan, who became the first of his five wives in 1931. They broke up in 1933. In 1934, he got a break of sorts, when he was given the chance to present a comedy sketch with Imogene Coca in the Broadway revue New Faces. That year, he also hired Leland Hayward as his personal management agent and this was to pay off handsomely. Major Broadway roles followed, including 'New Faces of America' and 'The Farmer Takes a Wife'. The following year he married Frances Seymour Brokaw with whom he had two children: Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, also to become screen stars.

 

The 29-year old Henry Fonda was persuaded by Leland Hayward to become a Hollywood actor, despite initial misgivings and reluctance on Henry's part. Independent producer Walter Wanger, whose growing stock company was birthed at United Artists, needed a star for The Farmer Takes a Wife (Victor Fleming, 1935) opposite Janet Gaynor. I.S. Mowis at IMDb: “With both first-choice actors Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea otherwise engaged, Henry was the next available option. After all, he had just completed a successful run on Broadway in the stage version. The cheesy publicity tag line for the picture was "you'll be fonder of Fonda", but the film was an undeniable hit.” Wanger, realizing he had a good thing going, next cast Henry in a succession of A-grade pictures which capitalized on his image as the sincere, unaffected country boy. Pick of the bunch were the Technicolor outdoor Western The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936) with Sylvia Sidney, and the gritty Depression-era drama You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Henry as a back-to-the-wall good guy forced into becoming a fugitive from the law by circumstance). Then followed the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (William A. Seiter, 1936) with ex-wife Margaret Sullavan, the excellent pre-civil war-era romantic drama Jezebel (William Wyler, 1938) featuring Bette Davis, and the Western Jesse James ( Henry King, 1939) starring Tyrone Power. Fonda rarely featured in comedy, except for a couple of good turns opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney - with both he shared excellent on-screen chemistry - in The Mad Miss Manton (Leigh Jason, 1938), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941) and the successful Rings on Her Fingers (Rouben Mamoulian, 1942). Henry gave his best screen performance to date in Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939), a fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case. Henry made two more films with director John Ford: the pioneering drama Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Claudette Colbert, and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the Dust Bowl. In his career-defining role as Tom Joad, Fonda played the archetypal grassroots American trying to stand up against oppression. His relationship with Ford would end on the set of Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) when he objected to Ford's direction of the film. Ford punched Fonda and had to be replaced.

 

The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) set the tone for Henry Fonda’s subsequent career. In this vein, he gave a totally convincing, though historically inaccurate, portrayal in the titular role of The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang, 1940), a rare example of a sequel improving upon the original. He projected integrity and quiet authority whether he played lawman Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) or a reluctant posse member in The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943). In between these two films, Fonda enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II, saying, and served in the Navy for three years. He then starred in The Fugitive (John Ford, 1947), and Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948), as a rigid Army colonel, along with John Wayne and Shirley Temple in her first adult role. In the following years, he did not appear in many films. Fonda was one of the most active, and most vocal, liberal Democrats in Hollywood. During the 1930s, he had been a founding member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, formed in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agenda. In 1947, in the middle of the McCarthy witch hunt, he moved to New York, not returning to Hollywood until 1955. His son Peter Fonda writes in his autobiography Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1999) that he believes that Henry's liberalism caused him to be gray-listed during the early 1950s. Fonda returned to Broadway to play the title role in Mister Roberts for which he won the Tony Award as the best dramatic actor. In 1979, he won a second special Tony and was nominated for a Tony Award Clarence Darrow (1975). Later, he played a juror committed to the ideal of total justice in 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957) which he also produced, and a nightclub musician wrongly accused of murder in The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956). During the next decade, he played in The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton a.o., 1962), How the West Was Won (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, 1962) and as a poker-playing grifter in the Western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Fielder Cook, 1966) with Joanne Woodward. A big hit was the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (Melvillle Shavelson, 1968), in which he co-starred with Lucille Ball. The same year, just to confound those who would typecast him, he gave a chilling performance as one of the coldest, meanest stone killers ever to roam the West, in Sergio Leone's Western epic C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) opposite Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale. With James Stewart, he teamed up in Firecreek (Vincent McEveety, 1968), where Fonda again played the heavy, and the Western comedy The Cheyenne Social Club (Gene Kelly, 1970). Despite his old feud with John Ford, Fonda spoke glowingly of the director in Peter Bogdanovich's documentary Directed by John Ford (1971). Fonda had refused to participate until he learned that Ford had insisted on casting Fonda as the lead in the film version of Mr. Roberts (1955), reviving Fonda's film career after concentrating on the stage for years. Illness curtailed Fonda’s work in the 1970s. In 1976, Fonda returned in the World War II blockbuster Midway (Jack Smight, 1976) with Charlton Heston. Fonda finished the 1970s in a number of disaster films with all-star casts: the Italian killer octopus thriller Tentacoli/Tentacles (Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1977), Rollercoaster (James Goldstone, 1977) with Richard Widmark, the killer bee action film The Swarm (Irwin Allen, 1978), the global disaster film Meteor (Ronald Neame, 1979), with Sean Connery, and the Canadian production City on Fire (Alvin Rakoff, 1979), which also featured Shelley Winters and Ava Gardner. His final screen role was as an octogenarian in On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981), in which he was joined by Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane. It finally won him an Oscar on the heels of an earlier Honorary Academy Award. Too ill to attend the ceremony, Henry Fonda died soon after at the age of 77, having left a lasting legacy matched by few of his peers. His later wives were Susan Blanchard (1950-1956), Leonarda Franchetti (1957-1961) and Shirlee Fonda (1965- till his death in 1982). With Blanchard, he had a daughter, Amy Fishman (1953). His grandchildren are the actors Bridget Fonda, Justin Fonda, Vanessa Vadim, and Troy Garity.

 

Sources: Laurence Dang (IMDb), I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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American postcard by Movie Candid Color Card, Beverly Hills, Calif., no. A18. Photo: Jack Albin (Kodachrome). Publicity still for Bride of Vengeance/A Mask for Lucretia (Mitchell Leisen, 1949). Caption: Paulette Goddard, former Ziegfeld girl, later cavorted for Samuel Goldwyn, and won stardom opposite Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. Paulette really clicked at Paramount, where she teamed with Bob Hope, and followed with several starring roles for C.B. De Mille. Once married to Charlie Chaplin, she is now the wife of actor Burgess Meredith.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th-century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949 and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest-starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring, and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1213a. Photo: Walter Wanger.

 

American actress and singer Ann Sheridan (1915-1967) worked from 1934 in film and later on television. She could both play the girl next door and the tough-as-nails dame. Known as the 'Oomph Girl', she became one of the most glamorous women in Hollywood. Her notable films include Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

 

Clara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton, Texas, in 1915, as the youngest of five children of G.W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart Warren Sheridan, an automobile mechanic and his homemaker wife. She was a self-described tomboy and was very athletic, and played on the girl's basketball team for North Texas State Teacher's College, where she was planning to enter the teaching field. She was active in dramatics and also sang with the college's stage band. In 1932, her sister Pauline sent a photograph of Clara Lou in a bathing suit to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won the 'Search for Beauty' contest, with part of her prize being a screen test and a bit part in a film by that name. She left college to pursue a career in Hollywood and, aged 19, made her film debut in Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934), starring Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino. For the next two years, she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films, starting at $75 a week (equivalent to $1,400 in 2020). Sheridan can be glimpsed in 13 films in 1934, including Come On Marines! (Henry Hathaway, 1934) still billed as 'Clara Lou Sheridan', Murder at the Vanities (Mitchell Leisen, 1934), College Rhythm (Norman Taurog, 1934), and One Hour Late (Ralph Murphy, 1934). Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Mouise and performed plays on the lot with fellow contractees, including 'The Milky Way' and 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. 'When she did The Milky Way', she played a character called Ann and the Paramount front office decided to change her name to 'Ann'. Sheridan had a part in Behold My Wife! (1934), which she got at the behest of director Mitchell Leisen, who was a friend. She had two good scenes, one in which her character had to commit suicide. Sheridan attributed Paramount's keeping her for two years to this role. Twelve more bit parts followed in 1935 in such films as Enter Madame (Elliott Nugent, 1935) starring Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, the drama Home on the Range (Arthur Jacobson, 1935) starring Jackie Coogan, and Rumba (Marion Gering, 1935,) an unsuccessful follow-up to George Raft and Carole Lombard's smash hit Bolero (Wesley Ruggles, 1934). Sheridan's first lead came in Car 99 (Charles Barton, 1935) with Fred MacMurray. She had the female lead in Rocky Mountain Mystery (Charles Barton, 1935), a Randolph Scott Western. She then appeared in Mississippi (A. Edward Sutherland, 1935) with Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields, The Glass Key (Frank Tuttle, 1935) with George Raft, and (having one line) the historical adventure The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) with Loretta Young. Paramount lent her out to Talisman, a small production company, to make the Western The Red Blood of Courage (John English, 1935) with Kermit Maynard. After this, Paramount declined to take up her option. Sheridan did one film at Universal, Fighting Youth (Hamilton MacFadden, 1935) with Charles Farrell, and then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936.

 

Ann Sheridan's career prospects began to improve. Her early films for Warner Bros. included the musical Sing Me a Love Song (Ray Enright, 1936), and the crime drama Black Legion (Archie Mayo, 1937) with Humphrey Bogart. Her first real break came in the crime film The Great O'Malley (William Dieterle, 1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart. She sang for the first time in San Quentin (Lloyd Bacon, 1937), with O'Brien and Bogart. Sheridan then moved into B picture leads such as The Footloose Heiress (William Clemens, 1937), Alcatraz Island (William C. McGann, 1937) with John Litel, and She Loved a Fireman (John Farrow, 1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow. She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (Bobby Connolly, Crane Wilbur, 1937) and its sequel Mystery House (Noel M. Smith, 1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (John Farrow, 1938) and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (Lloyd Bacon, 1938). Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl. For John Farrow, she was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932). Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros. executives. She began to get roles in A pictures, starting with the gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 1938), wherein she played James Cagney's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles. The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed. Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (Busby Berkeley, 1938) starring John Garfield. She was third-billed in the Western Dodge City (Michael Curtiz, 1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was another notable success. In March 1939, Warner Bros. announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most "oomph" in America. Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest." She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week. Now tagged 'The Oomph Girl'—a sobriquet which she reportedly loathed —Sheridan was a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s. She was top-billed in Indianapolis Speedway (Lloyd Bacon, 1939) with Pat O'Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces (Ray Enright, 1939) with O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan. Castle on the Hudson (Anatole Litvak, 1940) put her opposite John Garfield and Pat O'Brien.

 

Ann Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (Lewis Seiler, 1940), a musical comedy co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn. She introduced the song 'Angel in Disguise'. Sheridan and James Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (William Keighley, 1940) with Pat O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft, Bogart and Ida Lupino in the Film Noir They Drive by Night (Raoul Walsh, 1940), a trucking melodrama. She was in a lot of comedies and a number of forgettable films, but the public liked her, and her career flourished. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (Anatole Litvak, 1941) and then made Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a comedy with George Brent. Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a musical comedy, and The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1941), wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence. She then made Kings Row (Sam Wood, 1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan. It was a huge success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films. Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (Curtis Bernhardt, 1942). She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (Lloyd Bacon, 1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny, George Washington Slept Here (William Keighley, 1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (Lewis Milestone, 1943) with Errol Flynn and was one of the many Warners stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (David Butler, 1943). She was the heroine of a novel, 'Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx', written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as 'Whitman Authorized Editions', 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine. Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (David Butler, 1944), playing Nora Bayes, opposite Dennis Morgan. She was in a comedy The Doughgirls (James V. Kern, 1944). Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China. She returned in One More Tomorrow (Peter Godfrey, 1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the Film Noir Nora Prentiss (Vincent Sherman, 1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (Vincent Sherman, 1948), a popular remake of the crime drama The Letter (William Wyler, 1940) starring Bette Davis, and Silver River (Raoul Walsh, 1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn. Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (Leo McCarey, 1948). She then left Warner Bros., saying: "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me." Her role in the screwball comedy I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks, 1949), co-starring Cary Grant, was another success at Fox. In 1950, she appeared on the musical television series Stop the Music, and in Stella (Claude Binyon, 1950), a comedy with Victor Mature.

 

Ann Sheridan made Woman on the Run (Norman Foster, 1950), a Film Noir, which she also produced. Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal, and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there, she made Steel Town (George Sherman, 1952), Just Across the Street (Joseph Pevney, 1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy directed by Douglas Sirk. Sheridan supported Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (Jacques Tourneur, 1953). She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (R. G. Springsteen, 1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (David Miller, 1956). Her last film, The Woman and the Hunter (George P. Breakston, 1957), was shot in Africa. Sheridan later said she wished the movie "had been lost somewhere in Kenya". She went to New York to appear in a Broadway show, but it did not make it to Broadway. She did stage tours of 'Kind Sir' (1958) and 'Odd Man In' (1959), and 'The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair' in 1958. In all three shows, she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married. In 1962, she played the lead in The Mavis Grant Story on the Western series Wagon Train. In the mid-1960s, Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World (1965-1966). Her final work was a TV series of her own, a comedy Western entitled Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966-1967). Her career was taking off again, but the success was short-lived. The 19th episode of the series, Beware the Hangman, aired, as scheduled, on the same day that she died. Sheridan had married actor Edward Norris in 1936, in Ensenada, Mexico. They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. In 1942, she married fellow Warner Bros. star George Brent, who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941). They divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from Brent, she had a long-term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan, that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan’s estate bequeathed Miss Sheridan $218,399 ($2.1 million in current dollars). On 5 June 1966, she married actor Scott McKay, who was with her when she passed away, six months later. She died of gastroesophageal cancer with massive liver metastases at age 51 in 1967, in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were stored at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005. For her contributions to the film industry, Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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Big German card by Ross Verlag. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th-century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949 and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest-starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring, and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. P 193. Photo: Paramount. Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936).

 

Blue-eyed American actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982) exemplified not only integrity and strength but an ideal of the common man fighting against social injustice and oppression. He is most remembered for his roles as Abe Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), for which he received an Academy Award Nomination, and more recently, Norman Thayer in On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar for Best Actor in 1982. Notably, he also played against character as the villain 'Frank' in Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Western Once upon a time in the West (1968). Fonda is considered one of Hollywood's old-time legends and his lifelong career spanned almost 50 years.

 

Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1905. His parents were Elma Herberta (Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who worked in advertising and printing and was the owner of the W. B. Fonda Printing Company in Omaha, Nebraska. His distant ancestors were Italians who had fled their country around 1400 and moved to Holland, presumably because of political or religious persecution. In the early1600's, they crossed the Atlantic and were among the early Dutch settlers in America. They established a still-thriving small town in upstate New York named Fonda, named after patriarch Douw Fonda, who was later killed by Indians. In 1919, young Henry was a first-hand witness to the Omaha race riots and the brutal lynching of Will Brown. This enraged the 14 years old Fonda and he kept a keen awareness of prejudice for the rest of his life. Following graduation from high school in 1923, Henry got a part-time job in Minneapolis with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company which allowed him at first to pursue journalistic studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1925, having returned to Omaha, Henry reevaluated his options and came to the conclusion that journalism was not his forte, after all. For a while, he tried his hand at several temporary jobs, including as a mechanic and a window dresser. At age 20, Fonda started his acting career at the Omaha Community Playhouse, when his mother's friend Dodie Brando (mother of Marlon Brando) recommended that he try out for a juvenile part in You and I, in which he was cast as Ricky. Then he received the lead in Merton of the Movies and realized the beauty of acting as a profession. It allowed him to deflect attention from his own tongue-tied personality and create stage characters relying on someone else's scripted words. The play and its star received fairly good notices in the local press. It ran for a week, and for the rest of the repertory season, Henry advanced to assistant director which enabled him to design and paint sets as well as act. A casual trip to New York, however, had already made him set his sights on Broadway. In 1926, he moved to the Cape Cod University Players, where he met his future wife Margaret Sullavan. His first professional role was in The Jest, by Sem Benelli. James Stewart joined the Players a few months after Fonda left, but he would become his closest lifelong friend. In 1928, Fonda went east to New York to be with Margaret Sullavan, and to expand his theatrical career on Broadway. His first Broadway role was a small one in A Game of Love and Death with Alice Brady and Claude Rains. Henry played leads opposite Margaret Sullavan, who became the first of his five wives in 1931. They broke up in 1933. In 1934, he got a break of sorts, when he was given the chance to present a comedy sketch with Imogene Coca in the Broadway revue New Faces. That year, he also hired Leland Hayward as his personal management agent and this was to pay off handsomely. Major Broadway roles followed, including New Faces of America and The Farmer Takes a Wife. The following year he married Frances Seymour Brokaw with whom he had two children: Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda, also to become screen stars.

 

The 29-year old Henry Fonda was persuaded by Leland Hayward to become a Hollywood actor, despite initial misgivings and reluctance on Henry's part. Independent producer Walter Wanger, whose growing stock company was birthed at United Artists, needed a star for The Farmer Takes a Wife (Victor Fleming, 1935) opposite Janet Gaynor. I.S. Mowis at IMDb: “With both first choice actors Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea otherwise engaged, Henry was the next available option. After all, he had just completed a successful run on Broadway in the stage version. The cheesy publicity tag line for the picture was "you'll be fonder of Fonda", but the film was an undeniable hit.” Wanger, realizing he had a good thing going, next cast Henry in a succession of A-grade pictures which capitalized on his image as the sincere, unaffected country boy. Pick of the bunch were the Technicolor outdoor Western The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936) with Sylvia Sidney, and the gritty Depression-era drama You Only Live Once (Fritz Lang, 1937) with Henry as a back-to-the-wall good guy forced into becoming a fugitive from the law by circumstance). Then followed the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (William A. Seiter, 1936) with ex-wife Margaret Sullavan, the excellent pre-civil war-era romantic drama Jezebel (William Wyler, 1938) featuring Bette Davis, and the Western Jesse James ( Henry King, 1939) starring Tyrone Power. Fonda rarely featured in comedy, except for a couple of good turns opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney - with both he shared an excellent on-screen chemistry - in The Mad Miss Manton (Leigh Jason, 1938), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941) and the successful Rings on Her Fingers (Rouben Mamoulian, 1942). Henry gave his best screen performance to date in Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939), a fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case. Henry made two more films with director John Ford: the pioneering drama Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) with Claudette Colbert, and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the Dust Bowl. In his career-defining role as Tom Joad, Fonda played the archetypal grassroots American trying to stand up against oppression. His relationship with Ford would end on the set of Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) when he objected to Ford's direction of the film. Ford punched Fonda and had to be replaced.

 

The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) set the tone for Henry Fonda’s subsequent career. In this vein, he gave a totally convincing, though historically inaccurate, portrayal in the titular role of The Return of Frank James (Fritz Lang, 1940), a rare example of a sequel improving upon the original. He projected integrity and quiet authority whether he played lawman Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) or a reluctant posse member in The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, 1943). In between these two films, Fonda enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II, saying, and served in the Navy for three years. He then starred in The Fugitive (John Ford, 1947), and Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948), as a rigid Army colonel, along with John Wayne and Shirley Temple in her first adult role. The following years, he did not appear in many films. Fonda was one of the most active, and most vocal, liberal Democrats in Hollywood. During the 1930s, he had been a founding member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, formed in support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agenda. In 1947, in the middle of the McCarthy witch hunt, he moved to New York, not returning to Hollywood until 1955. His son Peter Fonda writes in his autobiography Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1999) that he believes that Henry's liberalism caused him to be gray-listed during the early 1950s. Fonda returned to Broadway to play the title role in Mister Roberts for which he won the Tony Award as best dramatic actor. In 1979, he won a second special Tony, and was nominated for a Tony Award Clarence Darrow (1975). Later he played a juror committed to the ideal of total justice in 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957) which he also produced, and a nightclub musician wrongly accused of murder in The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956). During the next decade, he played in The Longest Day (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton a.o., 1962), How the West Was Won (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, 1962) and as a poker-playing grifter in the Western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Fielder Cook, 1966) with Joanne Woodward. A big hit was the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours (Melvillle Shavelson, 1968), in which he co-starred with Lucille Ball. The same year, just to confound those who would typecast him, he gave a chilling performance as one of the coldest, meanest stone killers ever to roam the West, in Sergio Leone's Western epic C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) opposite Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale. With James Stewart, he teamed up in Firecreek (Vincent McEveety, 1968), where Fonda again played the heavy, and the Western omedy The Cheyenne Social Club (Gene Kelly, 1970). Despite his old feud with John Ford, Fonda spoke glowingly of the director in Peter Bogdanovich's documentary Directed by John Ford (1971). Fonda had refused to participate until he learned that Ford had insisted on casting Fonda as the lead in the film version of Mr. Roberts (1955), reviving Fonda's film career after concentrating on the stage for years. Illness curtailed Fonda’s work in the 1970s. In 1976, Fonda returned in the World War II blockbuster Midway (Jack Smight, 1976) with Charlton Heston. Fonda finished the 1970s in a number of disaster films wilth all-star casts: the Italian killer octopus thriller Tentacoli/Tentacles (Ovidio G. Assonitis, 1977), Rollercoaster (James Goldstone, 1977) with Richard Widmark, the killer bee action film The Swarm (Irwin Allen, 1978), the global disaster film Meteor (Ronald Neame, 1979), with Sean Connery, and the Canadian production City on Fire (Alvin Rakoff, 1979), which also featured Shelley Winters and Ava Gardner. His final screen role was as an octogenarian in On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981), in which he was joined by Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane. It finally won him an Oscar on the heels of an earlier Honorary Academy Award. Too ill to attend the ceremony, Henry Fonda died soon after at the age of 77, having left a lasting legacy matched by few of his peers. His later wives were Susan Blanchard (1950-1956), Leonarda Franchetti (1957-1961) and Shirlee Fonda (1965- till his death in 1982). With Blanchard he had a daughter, Amy Fishman (1953). His grandchildren are the actors Bridget Fonda, Justin Fonda, Vanessa Vadim and Troy Garity.

 

Sources: Laurence Dang (IMDb), I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 50. Photo: Warner Bros.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with from throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

American postcard by Rizzoli International Bookstore, New York, 1984. Photo: Ruth Orkin. Caption: Lauren Bacall at the St. Regis, NYC, 1950.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 150. Photo: Columbia.

 

British-American actor Louis Hayward (1909-1985) was a protégé of Noël Coward and began his career in London in such plays as 'Dracula' and in British films. After appearing on Broadway, he had a long career in Hollywood. Hayward was the first screen incarnation of Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint in New York (1938) and had a dual role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) under the direction of James Whale. His debonair charm and athletic good looks made him one of Hollywood’s most successful swashbuckling heroes of the 1930s and 1940s.

 

Louis Charles Hayward was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1909, a few weeks after his mining engineer father was killed in an accident. Hayward was taken first to England and then to France, where he attended a number of schools under his real name, Seafield Grant. He received early training in legitimate theatre, appeared for a time with a touring company playing the provinces in England and then took over a small nightclub in London. He became a protégé of playwright Noël Coward with whom he was also romantically involved. He began appearing in London in plays such as 'Dracula' and 'Another Language' and was also in the Sir Gerald du Maurier stage play, 'The Church Mouse'. He started being cast in some British films, such as the drama Self Made Lady (George King, 1932) with Heather Angel and the crime film The Man Outside (George A. Cooper, 1933) starring Henry Kendall. He had the lead role in the quota quickie Chelsea Life (Sidney Morgan, 1933) and supporting parts in Sorrell and Son (Jack Raymond, 1933) and the comedy I'll Stick to You (Leslie S. Hiscott, 1933) with Jay Laurier. On stage, he appeared in a Coward musical 'Conversation Piece' (1934) with the French star Yvonne Printemps and in the cinema, he had the lead in the romantic comedy The Love Test (1935), directed by Michael Powell. Hayward went to Broadway in 1935 with a production of Coward's 'Point Valaine' working with Alfred Lunt and his wife Lynn Fontanne. The play, described as one of Coward's worst and poorly received critically and popularly, only ran for six weeks and was considered a failure. However, Hayward won the 1934 New York Critics Award. It was Hayward's only Broadway venture, but it brought him a Hollywood contract. He signed a four-picture deal with MGM. Hayward first played a supporting role in The Flame Within (Edmund Goulding, 1935), starring Ann Harding and followed that film with the melodrama A Feather in Her Hat (Alfred Santell, 1935), billed after Pauline Lord and Basil Rathbone. His first Hollywood efforts were moderately successful, moderately well-received and almost instantly forgotten. Hayward's career started to gain momentum when he was cast in the extended romantic prologue of the expensive blockbuster Anthony Adverse (Mervyn LeRoy, 1936). William McPeak at IMDb: "As dashing officer Denis Moore, he was Anthony's father, rescuing his soon-to-be mother Maria from an arranged marriage to the Marquis Don Luis, brilliantly played by Claude Rains. Shot with gauze focus in part to increase the dreamlike romantic interlude of the lovers, the prologue played to a bitter end with Hayward dispatched in a sword duel with the outraged Don Luis, and Maria, now pregnant, forced to return to her husband. However, Hayward had had his defining moment. " Hayward's profile also was raised by his marriage to Ida Lupino. He was the male lead in the comedy The Luckiest Girl in the World (Edward Buzzell, 1936) with Jane Wyatt. Then he went to support Paul Muni and Miriam Hopkins in a love triangle in The Woman I Love (Anatole Litvak, 1937) and played the male lead of Midnight Intruder (Arthur Lubin, 1938) and Condemned Women (Lew Landers, 1938). Hayward was then cast as the first screen incarnation of Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint in New York (Ben Holmes, 1938). The film was a hit and would eventually lead to a long-running series. However, the next five films in the series starred George Sanders as Templar. Hayward would eventually reprise the role in the British crime thriller The Saint's Return (Seymour Friedman, 1953). Hayward supported Danielle Darrieux and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Rage of Paris (Henry Koster, 1938). In 1938 Hayward starred in the drama The Duke of West Point (Alfred E. Green, 1938) for producer Edward Small, who signed him to make three films over the next five years. This meant that Hayward was unable to reprise his part as the Saint. However, Small started building Hayward into a star, casting him opposite Joan Bennett in a dual role as the good and evil royal twins Louis XIV and Philippe in the third volume in the Alexandre Dumas musketeer trilogy, The Man in the Iron Mask (James Whale, 1939). The Swashbuckler was a notable success. Hayward's good looks were complemented by an airy manner of speaking, which worked as both hero and rogue or occasional suave villain. Small put Hayward into My Son, My Son! (Charles Vidor, 1940) with Madeleine Carroll and Brian Aherne. In the comedy-drama Dance, Girl, Dance (Dorothy Arzner, 1940), he appeared with Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball. The film was a critical and commercial failure but later garnered a reputation as a feminist film. Small then put him in The Son of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee, 1940), another Swashbuckler with Bennett and a sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee, 1934) starring Robert Donat. However, his swashbuckling efforts did not pan out as well as they did for Errol Flynn. Hayward then co-starred with his wife Ida Lupino in the Film Noir Ladies in Retirement (Charles Vidor, 1941). A bad break was his 1941 casting in a pivotal role in Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), but his part was edited out of the final print.

 

Louis Hayward had become a naturalised U.S. citizen the day before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbo. In July 1942, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. During World War II, he commanded a photographic unit that filmed the invasion of the Japanese-held island of Tarawa for the documentary With the Marines at Tarawa (Louis Hayward, 1944). The battle was one of the bloodiest in Marine history - three days of fighting cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties. Over 4,500 Japanese were killed. The carnage Captain Hayward saw would lead to depression and a complete physical collapse. His documentary won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and Hayward was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for courage under fire. Overcoming the psychological stress of his war experiences, Hayward returned to the Hollywood spotlight. He played Philip Lombard in the Agatha Christie thriller And Then There Were None (René Clair, 1945), which was a hit. For Hunt Stromberg, Hayward co-starred with Jane Russell in Young Widow (Edwin L. Marin, 1946) and supported Hedy Lamarr in the melodrama The Strange Woman (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1946). He returned to the Swashbuckler genre for Edward Small with Monte Cristo's Revenge (Henry Levin, 1947). Hayward made a Film Noir, Repeat Performance (Alfred L. Werker, 1947), then did another Swashbuckler, the Robin Hood-like Robert Louis Stevenson adventure The Black Arrow Strikes (Gordon Douglas, 1948). He played in Ruthless (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1948) with Zachary Scott, and then he did the anti-communist, Cold War Film Noir Walk a Crooked Mile (Gordon Douglas, 1948) for Small. Hayward went to Italy to make The Masked Pirate (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1949) for United Artists. He developed one of the first percentage-of-profits deals, ensuring him a steady income in perpetuity for both the theatrical and TV releases of his post-1949 films. Fritz Lang cast him in the lead of House by the River (1950) and he did the adventure films Fortunes of Captain Blood (Gordon Douglas, 1950) and The Lady and the Bandit (Ralph Murphy, 1951) with Patricia Medina. He also starred in the horror film The Son of Dr. Jekyll (Seymour Friedman, 1951), Lady in the Iron Mask (Ralph Murphy, 1951) opposite Patricia Medina, and Captain Blood, Fugitive (Ralph Murphy, 1952), a sequel to Fortunes of Captain Blood. Hayward began appearing on TV in Crossed and Double Crossed for The Ford Television Theatre (1952). He starred in and helped produce Storm Over Africa (Lesley Selander, 1953), and then he reprised his role as Simon Templar in The Saint's Return (Seymour Friedman, 1954), shot in Britain. In 1954, Hayward produced and starred in the 39-week television series The Lone Wolf (1954) after buying exclusive rights to several of Louis Joseph Vance's original 'Lone Wolf' stories. He did episodes of Matinee Theatre, Climax!, The O Henry Playhouse, The Highwayman, and Decision. In films, he was in The Search for Bridey Murphy (Noel Langley, 1956) with Theresa Wright. The film was inspired by the story of American Virginia Tighe, who believed herself to formerly have been Bridey Murphy, a nineteenth-century Irishwoman, in a case believed to be that of cryptomnesia. Hayward guest starred on series such as Riverboat and was in a TV production of The Picture of Dorian Gray (Paul Bogart, 1961) with George C. Scott. Hayward's work onstage included Noël Coward's 'Conversation Piece' and the national tour of 'Camelot' in which he appeared as King Arthur. Hayward also produced the British series The Pursuers (1961) and the American soap opera Harold Robbins' The Survivors (1969). Hayward's other television work includes the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Rawhide, and Burke's Law. Hayward's last films included the Westerns Chuka (Gordon Douglas, 1967) and The Christmas Kid (Sidney W. Pink, 1967). He also had roles in the film comedy The Phynx (Lee H. Katzin, 1970), and the mystery horror film Terror in the Wax Museum (Georg Fenady, 1973) with Ray Milland. His last appearance was in an episode of The Magician, titled The Illusion of the Lethal Playthings (1974). For his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Hayward was honoured in 1960 with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 and 1680 Vine Street, respectively. Hayward married actress/director Ida Lupino in 1938 in a quiet civil ceremony held in the Santa Barbara courthouse. After he returned from the war, he was drastically different, which caused a strain on the marriage. They were divorced in 1945. He then met socialite Peggy Morrow, and after dating for a while, they married in 1946. They divorced four years later in 1950. Hayward had one son, Dana, with his third wife, June Hanson. Louis Hayward died in 1985 at the age of 75 in Palm Springs, California from lung cancer. Hayward publicly stated that his more than five-decade-long habit of smoking three packs of cigarettes daily was the likely cause of his cancer.

 

Sources: William McPeak (IMDb), Ted Thackrey Jr. (Los Angeles Times), AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Wharf Street Maryborough and the city museums and the Kanaka memorial.

1. Brennan and Geraghty’s Store. Irishmen Patrick Brennan and Martin Geraghty arrived in Maryborough in 1862. He established a carpentry shop and undertaker’s business on the museum site. He soon married Catherine Brennan. Her brother opened a store two doors along the street in 1869 before opening a new store with his brother-in-law Geraghty in 1871. That store is now the museum and it was used as a trading store by a son of Martin Geraghty until 1972. The store had all its business records of goods imported from around the world, old grocery stock from the 1920s and later and the original shop fittings. The National Trust bought the property in 1975 and open it as a “living” museum. Open daily 10 am to 3 pm. Located at 64 Lennox Street.

2. The Bond Store Museum is located in Wharf Street. This is one of the oldest buildings in Maryborough and was built in brick in 1863 to a design by the QLD Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin. As it housed mainly imported goods (alcohol etc) waiting for valuation it was located next to the Customs House which was built in 1861 when Maryborough was declared an international port. The Bond Store was enlarged greatly in 1870 when an entrance on Wharf Street was created and part of it made two storey. It was enlarged again in 1883 with another two storey wing which made it an L shaped building. The museum covers shipping and industrial history of Maryborough.

3. The Customs House and Customs House residence museum. This museum located beside the Bond store concentrates on the story of the city of Maryborough. The original Customs house was built in 1861 but it was replaced with a more modern building Edwardian style brick and terracotta roof building in 1899. The Customs master’s house was also rebuilt at the same time and both buildings cost nearly £6,000. It was returned to the City of Maryborough from the Commonwealth government in 1995.

4. The Military and Colonial Museum at 106 Wharf Street. This museum is privately owned and operated in J E Brown’s warehouse built in 1879. It is sometimes known as the Gataker warehouse. It is a fine two storey structure showing the Brown’s warehouse was established in 1857. The museum has the most Victoria Cross medals in any private museum in Australia and it has the only Cross of Valour medal on public display from the 2002 Bali bombings. The Kent Street part of this building was built in 1868. It also contains a Cobb and Co replica coach and a three wheeler Girling car made in England around 1911.It contains a Gallipoli room and a Second World War room etc, trench art displays, paintings, silver, china, buggies etc. Entry fee about $10. Behind it is the Gataker Art Gallery.

 

At the top of Wharf Street is Maryborough St Mary’s Catholic Church. The complex includes a convent which was built in 1892. The church was designed by architect Francis Stanley and built between 1869 and 1872. It was enlarged in 1885 and again in 1936. It is heritage listed.

a. At top of Wharf Street is the impassive colonial towered Post Office built in 1866. The clock tower added 1879.

b. The Post Office Hotel. Built in 1889. The original one storey was built in 1870. The land title was granted in 1852.

c. The Government Office Building was built in neo Georgian style and erected in 1940. It is not as old as it looks.

d. The Heritage Centre was built as a Bank of New South Wales in 1878. Built with surrounding verandas. It handled lots of gold from the Gympie gold rush.

e. The Customs House Museum.

f. At the end of Richmond St is the Maryborough Kanaka Memorial. It provides information and symbols of the Kanakas on black marble boulders from the Chillagoe region of north western QLD. The symbols from New Caledonia, the Solomon Island and Vanuatu were cast in bronze and selected by the Daralata South Sea Islanders.

g. Maryborough Courthouse. Built in 1877. Architect was the Colonial Architect Francis Stanley. It replaced an earlier 1860 courthouse which was demolished. It is an unusual building with tower like rooms on the corners and a large triangular pediment and gable and the two ends. It cost nearly £7,500 when built.

h. The Customs House Hotel. It was built in 1868 and extended during the gold rushes in 1870 and again in 1883. Note its fine cast iron lace work and its Art Deco stained glass windows.

i. The Colonial and Military Museum 1879.

j. The Bond Store Museum.

k. The Criterion Hotel. It was built by the Cooper brothers between 1878 and 1883. It is now on the QLD heritage register. One of only two three storey brick buildings in Maryborough. The timber framed Melbourne Hotel of 1868 on this site burnt down in 1877.

l. Queens Park. It was gazetted as a park and botanic garden in 1873. The historic band stand was exhibited at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888 and then shipped to Maryborough and erected in 1890 as a memorial to Andrew Melville, a newspaper man and former mayor. The park contains the 1922 War Memorial, a life-sized, bronze statue of Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, a fountain, a fernery and the Gallipoli walk opened in 2018.

m. Riverside Apartments. This Queenslander style building overlooking the Mary River was built as a boarding house in 1891.

n. The quaint unmarked wooden building is the Maryborough Waterside Workers building. Built in 1918 during the big international waterside workers strike.

o. At the end of Wharf St on the river level is where Walkers built ships.

 

These trucks come through Congleton on a regular basis. This is one of the smaller set ups.

 

This is ALE transport, a specialist logistics contractor to the beer industry. On this occasion the cargo is a huge cask of Scottish beer known as "Heavy"

 

It is generally held that the classic Scottish ALE is referred to as an 80/- (eighty shilling) while a stronger Scotch ale of today is often known as a 90/- (ninety shilling) or "Wee Heavy". These terms are familiar to many acquainted with the ales of Scotland but how did this unique system of labelling come about? This short article will hopefully shed some light on the historical basis for what is known as the "shilling terminology" or the shilling system.

The shilling system started to be used some time in the mid 19th century. According to Charles McMaster, Scottish brewing historian and former archivist at the Scottish Brewing Archive, the "shilling terminology" started just after 1880 when the previous taxes on malt and sugar in the United Kingdom were replaced by Beer Duty. Scottish Craft Brewers member Bill Cooper has additionally pointed out that the research of Dr. John Harrison and the Durden Park Beer Circle indicates that at least the brewers were using this naming convention as much as fifty years prior to 1880. The names referred to the invoice price of ale per barrel (36 U.K. gallons or about 43.2 U.S. gallons) or hogshead (a cask holding 54 U.K. gallons or about 64.8 U.S. gallons). This dual application of pricing applied to two different liquid measures brought about complications: a 60/- ale in the barrel was a 90/- ale in the hogshead even though it was the same product. The actual price of the ale could be as little as half of the invoice cost once the calculated duties and the discounts allowed by the brewers were subtracted.

During this period the majority of Scottish brewers were producing a number of beers of differing styles and alcohol content. Light beers such as table beer ranged from 42/- to 48/-. Mild and pale ales were 54/- and 60/- while export beers were sold as 70/- and 80/-. Strong ales were usually sold as a twelve guinea or fifteen guinea (although the guinea coin - worth 21 shillings at the time - was phased out after the Coinage Act of 1816). The strong ales were typically sold in bottles in "nips" of 6 fluid ounces which equates to 1/3 Imperial pint. These "nips" were also known as "Wee Heavy", hence the origin of this term. As can be seen, these values gave a rough indication of the alcoholic strength of the product. However, they were far from consistent but did certainly drop in strength over time. Dr. Harrison's book "Old British Beers And How To Make Them" lists 60/- shilling ales from both J.&T. Usher and William Younger (both in Edinburgh) in the range of 1.060-1.062 O.G. in the 1870s and 1880s. Curiously, Usher also made a 68/- Mild ale in 1885 with an OG of 1.080. Also documented are ales from Younger's brewery in the 1870s ranging from an 80/- of 1.070 O.G. to a 160/- measuring a whopping 1.126 O.G. By the early twentieth century, original gravities had dropped significantly. A brewing book from J. & T. Usher dating to 1920 researched by the author at the Scottish Brewing Archive notes beers from various (and sometimes unnamed) breweries and their original gravities. In it there is listed a 54/- at 1.034, a 60/- from Ballingall's of Dundee (1922) at 1.040 and one from MacLachlan's (1929) at 1.033, a 70/- from Deuchar's of Edinburgh (Craigmillar/Duddingston) (1928) at 1.056, an 80/- Export Stout at 1.067 (1920), and 90/- ales ranging from 1.040 to 1.045 O.G. including ones from Ballingall's of Dundee, Murray's of Edinburgh (Craigmillar/Duddingston), and Aitchison's of Edinburgh. Clearly by this time the system had lost most if not all of its meaning.

The shilling system was carried on through World War II but gradually declined in use thereafter. The terms "Light", "Heavy" and "Export" took the place of the previous shilling terminology as the breadth in range of beers offered shrunk. Light, a low gravity ale, replaced Mild although was typically still dark in color much as what most of the few Mild ales still available today in the U.K. are. Heavy was a medium gravity beer that was sweeter than Light but still fairly light in color. Export beer, along with the increasingly popular India Pale Ale, were beers of the highest quality, were stronger and darker than Heavy and were normally brewed for the export market.

Today, few brewers use the terminology but those that do have for the most part adhered to labeling beers of increasing alcoholic strength and flavor profile with increasing "values" in shillings. It is somewhat admirable that the terminology has outlived the currency unit itself. This system was unique to Scotland and as such provides one of the purely Scottish contributions to the overall history of brewing. So, the next time you approach the barman in the pub and order a "pint of eighty", pause before you take that first sip and raise your glass in salute to all the great brewers of the past and present that have contributed to this truly Scottish tradition.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 810. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

 

American film and stage actress Jean Parker (1915–2005) landed her first screen test while still in high school. She played the tragic Beth in the original Little Women (1933), starred as the spoiled daughter of an American chain store millionaire who persuades her nouveau riche father to transport a Scottish castle in the hilarious British fantasy-comedy The Ghost Goes West (1936), and she was a perfect stooge for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as an innkeeper's daughter with whom Ollie falls in love in The Flying Deuces (1939).

 

Jean Parker was born Lois Mae Green in 1915. Her father was Lewis Green, a gunsmith and hunter, and her mother was Pearl Melvina Burch. Later, her mother worked at MGM in the set department and created magnificent flowers, trees and other greenery for such notable films as National Velvet (1944), known professionally as Mildred Brenner. Lois was an accomplished gymnast and dancer. At age 10, she was adopted by the Spickard family of Pasadena when both her father and mother were unemployed during the Great Depression. She initially aspired to be an illustrator and artist. At 17, she entered a poster-painting contest and won for portraying Father Time. After a photograph of her was published in a Los Angeles newspaper, Ida Koverman, the assistant to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, contacted the would-be starlet and had Mayer offer her an MGM contract. She made her feature film debut in the pre-code drama Divorce in the Family (Charles Reisner, 1932), before being loaned to Columbia Pictures, who cast her in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933). Parker made several important films in the following years, including Little Women (George Cukor, 1933) with Joan Bennett and Katharine Hepburn; Sequoia (Chester M. Franklin, Edwin L. Marin, 1934) with Russell Hardie, shot in the Sequoia National Forest near Springville, California; Operator 13 (Richard Boleslawski, 1934) with Marion Davies and Gary Cooper; and The Ghost Goes West (René Clair, 1935) with Robert Donat.

 

Jean Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s. Parker later starred in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939), followed by the sports film The Pittsburgh Kid (Jack Townley, 1941), and the Film Noir Dead Man's Eyes (Reginald Le Borg, 1944), opposite Lon Chaney Jr. After several successful cross-country trips entertaining injured servicemen during World War II, Jean Parker wed and divorced Curt Grotter of the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, and moved on to New York to star in the play 'Loco'. She also starred on Broadway in 'Burlesque' (1946-1947) with Bert Lahr, and in the hit 'Born Yesterday' (1948), filling in for Judy Holliday. Parker's fourth and last husband, actor Robert Lowery, played opposite her as Brock in the play for a short stint. By this marriage, Parker bore her only child, a son, Robert Lowery Hanks. By the 1950s, Parker's film career had slowed, though she continued to appear in supporting parts in the Westerns The Gunfighter (Henry King, 1950) with Gregory Peck and Toughest Man in Arizona (R. G. Springsteen, 1952), and the Film Noir Black Tuesday (Hugo Fregonese, 1954) opposite Edward G. Robinson. Parker made her final film appearance in Apache Uprising (R. G. Springsteen, 1965) starring Rory Calhoun. Later in her career, she played in the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach. Parker died in 2005 at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 90, from a stroke. She lived there from 1998 until her death. Jean was survived by her son and two granddaughters, Katie and Nora Hanks.

 

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Wharf Street Maryborough and its museums and the Kanaka memorial.

1. Brennan and Geraghty’s Store. Irishmen Patrick Brennan and Martin Geraghty arrived in Maryborough in 1862. He established a carpentry shop and undertaker’s business on the museum site. He soon married Catherine Brennan. Her brother opened a store two doors along the street in 1869 before opening a new store with his brother-in-law Geraghty in 1871. That store is now the museum and it was used as a trading store by a son of Martin Geraghty until 1972. The store had all its business records of goods imported from around the world, old grocery stock from the 1920s and later and the original shop fittings. The National Trust bought the property in 1975 and open it as a “living” museum. Open daily 10 am to 3 pm. Located at 64 Lennox Street.

2. The Bond Store Museum is located in Wharf Street. This is one of the oldest buildings in Maryborough and was built in brick in 1863 to a design by the QLD colonial Architect Charles Tiffin. As it housed mainly imported goods (alcohol etc) waiting for valuation it was located next to the Customs House which was built in 1861 when Maryborough was declared an international port. The Bond Store was enlarged greatly in 1870 when an entrance on Wharf Street was created and part of it made two storey. It was enlarged again in 1883 with another two storey wing which made it an L shaped building. The museum covers shipping and industrial history of Maryborough.

3. The Customs House and Customs House residence museum. This museum located beside the Bond store concentrates on the story of the city of Maryborough. The original Customs house was built in 1861 but it was replaced with a more modern building Edwardian style brick and terracotta roof building in 1899. The Customs master’s house was also rebuilt at the same time and both buildings cost nearly £6,000. It was returned to the City of Maryborough from the Commonwealth government in 1995.

4. The Military and Colonial Museum at 106 Wharf Street. This museum is privately owned and operated in J E Brown warehouse built in 1879. It is sometimes known as the Gataker warehouse. It is a fine two storey structure showing the Brown’s warehouse was established in 1857. The museum has the most Victoria Cross medals in any private museum in Australia and it has the only Cross of Valour medal on public display from the 2002 Bali bombings. The Kent Street part of this building was built in 1868. It also contains a Cobb and Co replica coach and a three wheeler Girling car made in England around 1911.It contains a Gallipoli room and a Second World War room etc, trench art displays, paintings, silver, china, buggies etc. Entry fee about $10.

 

At the top of Wharf Street is the Maryborough is St Mary’s Catholic Church. The complex includes a convent which was built in 1892. The church was designed by architect Francis Stanley and built between 1869 and 1872. It was enlarged in 1885 and again in 1936. It is heritage listed.

a. At top of Wharf Street is the impassive colonial towered Post office. Built in 1866. The clock tower added 1879.

b. The Post Office Hotel. Built in 1889. The original one storey was built in 1870. The land title was granted in 1852.

c. The Government Office Building was built in neo Georgian style and erected in 1940. It is not as old as it looks.

d. The Heritage Centre was built as a Bank of New South Wales in 1878. Built with surrounding verandas. It handled lots of gold from the Gympie gold rush.

e. The Customs House Museum.

f. At the end of Richmond St is the Maryborough Kanaka Memorial. It provides information and symbols of the Kanakas on black marble boulders from the Chillagoe region of north western QLD. The symbols from New Caledonia, the Solomon Island and Vanuatu were cast in bronze and selected by the Daralata South Sea Islanders.

g. Maryborough Courthouse. Built in 1877. Architect was the Colonial Architect Francis Stanley. It replaced an earlier 1860 courthouse which was demolished. It is an unusual building with tower like rooms on the corners and a large triangular pediment and gable and the two ends. It cost nearly £7,500 when built.

h. The Customs House Hotel. It was built in 1868 and extended during the gold rushes in 1870 and again 1883. Note its fine cast iron lace work.

i. The Colonial and Military Museum 1879.

j. The Bond Store Museum.

k. The Criterion Hotel. It was built by the Cooper brothers between 1878 and 1883. It is now on the QLD heritage register. One of only two three storey brick buildings in Maryborough. The timber framed Melbourne Hotel of 1868 on this site burnt down in 1877.

l. Queens Park. It was gazetted as a park and botanic garden in 1873. The historic band stand was exhibited at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888 and then shipped to Maryborough and erected in 1890 as a memorial to Andrew Melville, a newspaper man and former mayor. The park contains the 1922 War Memorial, a life-sized, bronze statue of Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, a fountain, a fernery.

m. Riverside Apartments. This Queenslander style building overlooking the Mary River was built as a boarding house in 1891.

n. The quaint unmarked wooden building is the Maryborough waterside Workers building. Built in 1918 during the big international waterside workers strike.

o. At the end of Wharf St on the river level is where Walkers built ships.

 

Walkers of Maryborough.

The Union Foundry was established in 1868 by John Walker. It was a branch of the Union Foundry of Ballarat. The foundry supplied materials and engineering items for the mining industry and the equipment for the sugar mills in the district. The gold mines at Gympie (1867) and the Maryborough Sugar Company (which was formed in 1865) were major clients. John Walker was joined by Mr W Harrington in 1872 and the firm was expanded and floated as a public company. The firm had its own wharf in Maryborough and more partners joined the firm. The foundry started building river dredges, barges and ships. In 1884 it changed its name from the Union Foundry to Walker and Co. Ltd. This company survived until amalgamated with another company in 1981. Ten aces was purchased on the Mary River to construct the ships. Ship building was developed in three periods. The first period from 1877 to 1898 saw 13 ships built; then from 1918 to 1928 a further 3 were built; and from 1939 to 1974 some 59 vessels were built. The ship yards closed in 1974 but the Walker engineer works continued. Walkers specialised in ships for the Australian navy building frigates (three built) and corvettes (seven built) and minesweepers during World War Two. During the 1960s and 1970s Walker built ten naval patrol boats and eight army landing boats. From 1900 Walkers also built steam engines for the Queensland railway system. They got their first government contract to engineer a steam engine in 1897. From then until 1958 they produced 449 steam engines mainly for the Queensland railways but also for other state railways.

Maryborough buildings and structures not in wharf of Kent Streets.

1. The cemetery was established in 1873. It is noted for its fine mortuary built in 1883 by the architect Willoughby Powell. The section near the northern end was reserved for paupers, Kanakas and non-Christians. Located in Walker Street.

 

2. The old railway station now not used. It was built in 1878 in timber with a station master’s residence next to it. Lennox St. Look for the World War Two air raid shelter to the south of the old railway station.

3. Opposite the railway station is the Anglican Church. The first two Anglian churches were timber and replaced by this magnificent towered brick church in 1879. The QLD Colonial Architect Francis Stanley designed the church as a private commission. The impressive parish hall was designed by architect P Hawkes in 1921 and faces Adelaide St. That first Anglican Church was erected for £30 in 1852. It was part of the Diocese of Newcastle at that stage. The free standing bell tower was added in 1887. It is heritage listed.

4. Fred Monsour’s silk warehouse. Another fine building with lots of Art Deco features. Built in 1923. Located at 203 Adelaide St. His cousin’s warehouse store is almost next door. Dated 1908 and marked Joseph Monsour. Monsours came to QLD from Beirut Syria ( at that time) in the 1890s.Fred and Joseph were naturalised in 1921. By the 1920s they had gift stores with jewellery, clocks, handbags, frocks, ladies slippers etc. Fred died in 1950 born 1886.

5. Stellmachs. 209 Adelaide Street is a well-detailed classic revival building erected in 1914 to the design of the prominent Maryborough architect F. H. Faircloth. Constructed for Stellmach's, who were bakers.

6. Kings café next door to Stellmachs at 211 Adelaide St. A superb Art Deco building. King’s Cafe was constructed in 1914 for King Bros, who were connected with the fish and oyster trade. King Bros was formed by Mat King. King’s business was so brisk that the earlier building could not cope, hence the remodelling of it in an art deco design in 1938. King’s cafe operated until 1972.

7. Former Commonwealth bank in neo classical style. At 232 Adelaide St. Note the Ionic columns with volutes.

8. Baddow House. At 366 Queen Street. Quite visible from the road. A grand Georgian Queenslander style house. Built for shopkeeper and merchant F Kinne who had a major store in Kent Street. The house was designed by architect Willoughby Powell. Built in 1883. It overlooks the Mary River.

8. Watson House. At 25 Churchill St on the corner with John St. A Queenslander with a difference. This house was constructed around 1910 to 1912 for Maryborough dental surgeon Harry Watson and his wife Olive. The octagonal-shaped room and turret was added at a later date.

9. Oonooraba House. At 50 Pallas St. The house was built in 1892 with extensive decorative wood work. It has a garden with some significant trees. It was built for local dignitary James Stafford. The name of the house is a local Aboriginal word. The property covered 6 acres. He planted the Araucaria trees (Norfolk Island pines.)

10. Eskdale House. At 53 Pallas St. The main two storey colonial house was built in 1864. A large water tank was built at that same time. Part of the garden was re-landscaped in 1915 with a glasshouse etc. It is heritage listed with an encircling veranda, French doors to the veranda and cast iron lacework.

 

French postcard by E.D.U.G., no. 54. Photo: publicity still for Carmen de la Ronda/The Devil Made a Woman (1959, Tulio Demicheli).

 

Spanish singer and actress Sara Montiel (1928) is also known as Sarita Montiel and Saritísima. She is still a much-loved and internationally known name in the Spanish-speaking cinema. In the late 1950’s, Montiel achieved the status of mega-star in Europe and Latin America with El Último Cuple/The Last Torch Song (1957). This film and La Violetera/The Violet Peddler (1958) netted the highest gross revenues ever recorded for films made in the Spanish speaking film industry. She was the first woman to distill sex openly in Spanish cinema at a time when even a low cut dress was not acceptable.

 

Sara Montiel was born as María Antonia Alejandra Vicenta Elpidia Isidora Abad Fernández in the village of Campo de Criptana in the province of Ciudad Real, Spain in 1928. Her parents were Isidoro Abad, a peasant who later operated a bar, and Maria Vicenta Fernández, a door-to-door beautician. At 15, Montiel won a beauty and talent contest held by Cifesa, the most influential film studio at that time in Spain. The next year, she made her film debut in Te Quiero Para Mí/ I want you for myself (1943, Ladislao Vajda), credited as Maria Alejandra, a shortened version of her real name. In spite of the small part, the young actress caught the attention of producers and directors who realized her enormous potential. By the end of 1944 she was given the starring role in the film Empezó En Boda/It Started at the Wedding, (1944, Raffaello Matarazzo) which introduced her with a new image and a new name: she was now a sophisticated blonde named Sara Montiel. In the next four years she appeared in 14 films. Soon her colleagues started calling her Sarita (Little Sara) due to her youth. The nickname caught on with the press and the public consequently, since then, both Sara and Sarita have been used in credits and publicity. In 1947, she played the role of Antonia, the niece of Don Quixote, in in Don Quijote de la Mancha/Don Quixote (1947, Rafael Gil) , the Spanish film version of Cervantes's great novel. Her first international success was her role as an Islamic princess in Locura de Amor/The Mad Queen (1948, Juan de Orduña) with Fernando Rey. Locura de Amor led to a contract in Mexico where she established herself as one of the most popular film actors of the decade. She made a total of 13 films between 1950 and 1954. Due to her popularity in Mexico, Hollywood came calling, and she was introduced to American filmgoers in the Western Vera Cruz (1954, Robert Aldrich) co-starring with Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster. She was offered the standard seven-year contract at Columbia Pictures, but she refused, afraid of Hollywood's typecasting policies for Hispanics. Instead she free-lanced at Warner Bros. in Serenade (1956, Anthony Mann) with Mario Lanza and Joan Fontaine, and at RKO in Run of the Arrow (1957, Samuel Fuller), opposite Rod Steiger and Charles Bronson. Director Anthony Mann became her first husband.

 

Back in Europe, Sara Montiel became the most commercially successful Spanish actress during the mid-20th century. The film musical El Ultimo Cuplé/ The Last Torch Song (1957, Juan de Orduña) was an unexpected success. It played for a year in the same theaters in which it opened. A similar reaction followed in the other European countries and in Latin America. El Ultimo Cuplé turned Montiel into an overnight sensation both as an actor and a singer. Then she achieved the status of mega-star with La Violetera/The Violet Peddler (1958, Luis César Amadori) with Raf Vallone. It broke the box-office records set by El Ultimo Cuplé. She won the Premio del Sindicato (at the time Spain's equivalent to the Oscar) for best actress two years in a row for her performances in El Último Cuplé and La Violetera. From then on she combined filming highly successful vehicles, recording songs in five languages and performing live all over the world. Among the films that continued her immense popularity were Carmen, la de Ronda/The Devil Made A Woman (1959, Tulio Demicheli) with Jorge Mistral, Mi Ultimo Tango/My Last Tango (1960, Luis César Amadori), and Pecado de Amor/ Sin of Love (1961, Tulio Demicheli). By 1962 she had become a legend to millions worldwide reaching markets that had previously been ‘uncharted territory for the Spanish cinema. La Bella Lola (1962, Tulio Demicheli ) a new version of Camille with Antonio Cifariello and Maurice Ronet, La Reina del Chantecler (1963), and Noches de Casablanca/ (1963, Henri Decoin) with Maurice Ronet spread Sarita's popularity to Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Japan. Samba (1964, Rafael Gil) wuth Italian actor Fosco Giachetti, La mujer perdida/ The Lost Woman (1966, Tulio Demicheli) with Massimo Serato, Tuset Street (1967, Jorge Grau, Luis Marquina) with Patrick Bauchau, and Esa Mujer/That Woman (1969, Mario Camus) followed . In 1973, her film Varietés (1971, Juan Antonio Bardem) was banned in Beijing. By then she had become a legend to her millions of fans but became dissatisfied with the film industry when producers started offering her roles in soft core porno films. In 1974 Montiel announced her retirement from movies but continued performing live, recording and starring on her own variety television shows in Spain.

 

Sara Montiel has been married four times: to American film director Anthony Mann (1957-1963), industrial attorney José Vicente Ramírez Olalla (1964-1978), attorney-journalist José Tous Barberán (1979-1992), and Cuban videotape operator Antonio Hernández (2002-2005). With José Tous Barberán, she adopted two children: Thais (1979) and Zeus (1982). Before, during and after these marriages she had countless affairs. During the Franco dictatorship, Spanish stars were forbidden to behave in any way that could be perceived at odds with Christian principles and morality, consequently they kept their private lives very private. Montiel was no exception. Pre-marital or out of wedlock relationships were never mentioned and her civil marriage to Anthony Mann was underplayed along with the divorce. After starring in the film Cinco Almohadas Para Una Noche/ Five pillows for a night (1974, Pedro Lazaga), Montiel announced her retirement from the cinema. She complained about the almost pornographic turn taken by the Spanish film industry after censorship was abolished in the post-Franco era. For a long time she concentrated on stage musicals which were highly successful: Sara en Persona (1970-1973), Saritísima (1974-1975), Increible Sara (1977-1978), Super Sara Show (1979-1980), Doña Sara de La Mancha (1981-1982), Taxi Vamos Al Victoria (1983-1984), Nostalgia (1984-1985), Sara, Mes Que Mai !! (1986), Sara, Siempre Sara (1987-1988) and Saritízate (1989-1990).

 

In the 1990’s, Sara Montiel surprised everyone by branching out into television: Sara y Punto (1990), a mini-series of seven one-hour episodes, included a serialized biography of the star, many popular guests including Luciano Pavarotti and Charles Aznavour, and Montiel singing her greatest hits in addition to new songs written especially for her. Next came Ven al Paralelo (1992), taped in a Barcelona theater where Montiel hosted, sang and acted in comedy sketches in front of a live audience. In 2000, she published her autobiography Vivir es un placer (Memories: To Live Is A Pleasure), an instant bestseller with ten editions to date. A sequel Sara and Sex followed in 2003. In these books Montiel revealed other relationships in her past including one-night stands with writer Ernest Hemingway as well as actor James Dean. She also claimed a long term affair in the 1940’s with playwright Miguel Mihura and mentioned that science wizard Severo Ochoa, a Nobel Prize winner, was the true love of her life. Currently she remains one of the highest paid celebrities in Spain's TV talk and reality shows. She was portrayed in the Pedro Almodóvar film La mala educación/Bad Education (2004) by Gael García Bernal as the transsexual character Zahara, and a clip from one of her films was used as well. In 2009, the pop group Fangoria invited Montiel to record a track for the re-release of the band's album Absolutamente. The title track Absolutamente became an instant Top 10 hit. After almost 40 years without making a film, she accepted a role in the comedy Abrázame/Hold (2011, Óscar Parra de Carrizosa). The film was shot on location in Montiel's birth place in La Mancha. According to the star, in this film she dares to do "a parody of her old screen image, just for fun."

 

Sources: InfoMontiel, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4993/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Fox.

 

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1904-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian, and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.

 

Lily (also Lili) Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France (north of Bordeaux), on 10 July 1904 (according to her birth certificate). She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain, and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris. By the age of 16 she was performing in popular music-halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris under the name Lily Deslys. She also worked as a photographic model. Then a life of mundanity started. When in Biarritz, the Spanish King wanted to be presented to that 'damita dal maillo rojo' (that little lady in the red bathing costume). Lily liked the compliment so much that she kept her nickname and appeared under the name Damita del Rojo. In 1921 she won a beauty contest by the journal Cinémagazine. The French company Société Cinématographique offered her a role in the silent film La belle au bois dormant/Sleeping Beauty (Stéphane Passet, 1922). She was praised for her beauty and freshness in this film. Soon other French films followed, including the serial L'Empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922), La Voyante/The Clairvoyant (Leon Abrams, Louis Mercanton, 1923) with the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, and the drama Corsica (René Carrère, Vanina Casalonga, 1923).

 

Lily Damita went to Vienna to act next to Max Linder in Der Zirkuskönig but left the role to Vilma Banky. Instead, she played in Mihaly Kertesz' (the later Michael Curtiz) Das Spielzeug von Paris/Red Heels (1925), which knew a huge international success. At the time, she was reportedly engaged to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, grandson of the ex-Kaiser. Count Kolowrat, the owner of the Viennese Sascha Film, made her a fabulous offer, partly on the instigation of the prince: directors to choose by herself, scripts written especially for her, and ways to turn her into one of Europe's biggest film stars. Thus happened. Lily's films may not have reached canonical film history but they were huge hits at the box office. They included Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926), both directed by Michael Curtiz. The latter film, based on a story by P.G. Wodehouse and largely shot in London, probably contained one of Lily's best performances. She and Curtiz married in 1925 and divorced a year later. Damita continued appearing in European productions directed by G. W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love; 1926), British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927), and Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin/The Amateur Adventure; 1928).

 

After several Hollywood offers, it was MGM mogul Sam Goldwyn who took Lily Damita to California to perform in The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929) with Ronald Colman, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929, Charles Brabin), which were rather tedious. Things went better when Lily played a siren of the tropics in The Cock-Eyed World (Raoul Walsh, 1929) opposite Victor McLaglen. In the meantime, sound cinema had arrived. Lily didn't master English too well, so she was put in French versions of American films before dubbing became normal. She was cast with the young Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931), and with the young Laurence Olivier in Friends and Lovers (Victor Schertzinger, 1931). She returned to France and played a young adventuress in On a Vole un Homme/Man Stolen (1933) from the great Max Ophüls. According to Hal Erickson at All Movie, this lighthearted romance was "gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations". On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. In 1935 Lily married an unknown actor who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn. She reportedly retired without complaints, but their marriage was rather tempestuous, hit the press, and finished in divorce in 1942. In 1970, their only son Sean Flynn, a 28 years old photojournalist for Time Magazine and a dead ringer for his father, went missing in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He was captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. In spite of the huge investments by Lily, he was never found and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. Lily married three times, the last time to retired dairy owner Allen Loomis (1962-1983). All three marriages ended in a divorce. In 1994, Lily Damita died of Alzheimer's disease in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. In March 2010 media reported that remains, that may be those of Sean Flynn (1941-1970), have been found in a mass grave in Cambodia. Tests were scheduled to be conducted on the jaw and femur bone found and were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh. However, the results, released 30 June 2010, by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.

 

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Helen Kennedy (Daily News), C. Parker (Starlet Showcase), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Italian postcard by G.B. Falci Editore, Milano, no. 522. Photo: United Artists.

 

English gentleman-actor Ronald Colman (1891 - 1958) was a top box office draw in Hollywood films throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. ‘The Man with the velvet voice’ was nominated for four Academy Awards. In 1948 he finally won the Oscar for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947).

 

Ronald Charles Colman was born in 1891 in Richmond, England. He was the fifth of six children of silk importer Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. Ronald was educated at a boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered he enjoyed acting. When Ronald was 16 his father died of pneumonia, putting an end to the boy's plans to attend Cambridge and become an engineer. He went to work as a shipping clerk at the British Steamship Company. He also became a well-known amateur actor and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society (1908-1909). In 1909, he joined the London Scottish Regiment, a territorial army force, and he was sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. Colman took part in the First Battle of Ypres and was severely wounded at the battle at Messines in Belgium. The shrapnel wounds he took to his legs invalided him out of active service. In May 1915, decorated, discharged and depressed, he returned home with a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career. He tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in the London play The Maharanee of Arakan (1916). He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre. Producers soon noted the young actor with his striking good looks, rich voice and rare dignity, and Colman was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He worked with stage greats Gladys Cooper and Gerald du Maurier. He made extra money appearing in films like the two-reel silent comedy The Live Wire (Cecil Hepworth, 1917). The set was an old house with a negligible budget, and Colman doubled as the leading character and prop man. The film was never released though. Other silent British films were The Snow of the Desert (Walter West, 1919) with Violet Hopson and Stewart Rome, and The Black Spider (William Humphrey, 1920) with Mary Clare. The negatives of all of Colman's early British films have probably been destroyed during the 1941 London Blitz. After a brief courtship, he married actress Thelma Raye in 1919. The marriage was in trouble almost from the beginning. The two separated in 1923 but were not divorced until 1934.

 

In 1920 Ronald Colman set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. His American film debut was in the tawdry melodrama Handcuffs or Kisses? (George Archainbaud, 1920). He toured with Robert Warwick in 'The Dauntless Three', and subsequently toured with Fay Bainter in 'East is West'. After two years of impoverishment, he was cast in the Broadway hit play 'La Tendresse' (1922). Director Henry King spotted him and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (Henry King, 1923), filmed in Italy. The romantic tear-jerker was wildly popular and Colman was quickly proclaimed a new film star. This success led to a contract with prominent independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, and in the following ten years, he became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films. Among his most successful films for Goldwyn were The Dark Angel (George Fitzmaurice, 1925) with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky, Stella Dallas (Henry King, 1926), the Oscar Wilde adaptation Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925) and The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926) with Gary Cooper. Colman's dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability led reviewers to describe him as a ‘Valentino type’. He was often cast in similar, exotic roles. The film that cemented this position as a top star was Beau Geste (Herbert Brenon, 1926), Paramount's biggest hit of 1926. It was the rousing tale of three brothers (Colman, Neil Hamilton and Ralph Forbes), who join the Foreign Legion to escape the law. Beau Geste was full of mystery, desert action, intrigue and above all, brotherly loyalty. Colman's gentlemanly courage and quiet strength were showcased to perfection in the role of the oldest brother, Beau. The film is still referred to as possibly the greatest Foreign Legion film ever produced. Towards the end of the silent era, Colman was teamed again with Vilma Bánky under Samuel Goldwyn. The two would make a total of five films together and their popularity rivalled that of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.

 

Although Ronald Colman was a huge success in silent films, with the coming of sound, his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice made him even more important to the film industry. His first major talkie success was in 1930 when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles - Condemned (Wesley Ruggles, 1929) with Lily Damita, and Bulldog Drummond (F. Richard Jones, 1929) with Joan Bennett. Thereafter he played a number of sophisticated, noble characters with enormous aplomb such as Clive of India (Richard Boleslawski, 1935) with Colin Clive, but he also swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell, 1937) with Madeleine Carroll. A falling out with Goldwyn in 1934 prompted Colman to avoid long-term contracts for the rest of his career. He became one of just a handful of top stars to successfully freelance, picking and choosing his assignments and studios. His notable films included the Charles Dickens adaptation A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 1935), the poetic classic Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937), and If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938) with Basil Rathbone as vagabond poet Francois Villon. During the war, he made two of his very best films - Talk of the Town (George Stevens, 1942) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and the romantic tearjerker Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942), as an amnesiac victim, co-starring with the luminous Greer Garson. For his role in A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947), an actor playing Othello who comes to identify with the character, he won both the Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1947 and the Best Actor Oscar in 1948. Colman made many guest appearances on The Jack Benny Program on the radio, alongside his second wife, British stage and screen actress Benita Hume. Their comedy work as Benny's next-door neighbours led to their own radio comedy The Halls of Ivy from 1950 to 1952, and then on television from 1954 to 1955. Incidentally, he appeared in films, such as the romantic comedy Champagne for Caesar (Richard Whorf, 1950), and his final film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957) with Hedy Lamarr. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "a laughably wretched extravaganza from which Colman managed to emerge with his dignity and reputation intact." Ronald Colman died in 1958, aged 67, from a lung infection in Santa Barbara, California. He was survived by Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman (1944). In 1975, Juliet published the biography 'Ronald Colman: A Very Private Person'.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Julie Stowe (The Ronald Colman Pages), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Newstead House is a large mid-nineteenth century house located on a ridge of parkland overlooking the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River at its confluence with Breakfast Creek, and is four kilometres north-east of the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD). The core of the house is the oldest known surviving residence in Brisbane, established by Patrick Leslie in 1846. The house has undergone numerous structural changes, particularly between 1846 and 1867. It was the first heritage property in Queensland to be protected by an Act of Parliament. Newstead Park was acquired by Brisbane City Council and formally opened in 1921. It was designed according to landscaping principles of the early 20th century and has retained the layout and plantings initiated by the Superintendent of Parks Harry Moore from 1915.

 

John Oxley explored the Brisbane River in 1823 and 1824 and recommended the area around the confluence with Breakfast Creek would be an ideal place to establish a settlement. The local indigenous people had been given the name of the ‘Duke of York's Clan' by European residents and the area was known as ‘Booroodabin', meaning 'place of oaks'.

 

Following the 1839 closure of the penal settlement, Brisbane town was surveyed and offered for sale from 1842. Land on the banks of the Brisbane River near Breakfast Creek was purchased by brothers-in-law Patrick Leslie and John Clements Wickham in April 1845. Leslie purchased Eastern Suburban Allotments (ESA) 63 and 64 (sold as ESA 13 at the time), while Wickham purchased ESA 62.

 

Captain John Clements Wickham served in the Royal Navy under Philip Parker King (son of NSW Governor Philip Gidley King). He settled in New South Wales in 1841 where he married Anna, the daughter of Hannibal Macarthur, nephew of John Macarthur who had established a merino flock at Camden Park. Patrick Leslie had married another daughter of Hannibal's, Catherine (Kate) in 1840. Philip Gidley King (son of Philip Parker King) married another sister, Elizabeth Macarthur (his cousin) in 1843, while George Leslie married a fourth sister, Emmeline Macarthur in 1848. Wickham was appointed Police Magistrate for Moreton Bay in January 1843, living in the Commandant's Cottage in George Street.

 

Patrick Leslie, the second son of William Leslie, ninth laird of Warthill and eighth of Folla in Scotland, came to Australia in 1834 to work on his uncle Walter Davidson's property Collaroi in the Upper Hunter. To gain experience, he went to work on John Macarthur's property at Camden, and by 1839 moved to Philip Parker Kings' property Dunheved near Penrith.

 

Explorer Allan Cunningham told him of the Darling Downs to the north that he had discovered in 1827. Patrick, his younger brothers George and Walter and their sheep, headed north in 1840 selecting runs which became Toolburra and Canning Downs Stations. Still financially indebted to his uncle, Leslie was eventually assisted by his father to clear some debts and purchased two parcels of Brisbane riverfront land in 1845 in his father's name.

 

By the end of 1845, Patrick Leslie was sourcing building materials for a house he was planning for himself and his wife Kate and son Willy. He named it ‘Newstead', and the family moved in between April and July 1846. Patrick Leslie wrote to his father providing a detailed description of the house, as well as floor plans and a site plan. Constructed from brick, stone and timber, the original house was two storeyed, with living rooms and bedrooms on the upper floor and servants' rooms, cellars and kitchen on the lower floor. A steep staircase in what is now the entry vestibule connected the two floors, and other utilitarian structures were located to the rear (western side) of the house. An 8ft (2.4m) wide verandah on the first floor eastern side, adjoining the sitting room and main bedroom, faced the best views of the river.

 

He wrote a lengthy description of the setting of the house and the plants grown in the garden, including Kate's garden on the southern side of the house. There was a well, milking yard, and cow pen, and a road following a gully to the west. In the same letter, he told his father that he had purchased a run adjacent to Canning Downs in his son's name, and kept his stock on his brother's property. The family had barely settled into the house at Newstead when he decided to return to the Downs. The Leslies departed Newstead on the 10th of October 1846, leaving it under the management of two employees.

 

In June 1847 Newstead House was sold to Captain John Clements Wickham for £1000, although not formally transferred by deed until the 1st of February 1854. The sale was a mutually beneficial arrangement as John and Anna Wickham were about to build on their adjoining lot at Newstead.

 

Wickham undertook extensions in late 1847 when they moved in. A sketch dated 1848 by Owen Stanley, shows the building was light in colour, (indicating it had been rendered) with verandahs extended to the north and south with the bedrooms extended onto the verandahs.

 

In April 1853, Captain Wickham was appointed Government Resident for Moreton Bay, having served in the role since January that year. The house then became the unofficial government house. A servants' wing adjacent to the house is evident in a painting produced in July 1853.

 

In April 1854 the Governor General, Sir Charles Fitz Roy, came to Moreton Bay on an official visit, staying at Newstead. Following a public dinner, Wickham arranged for a meeting on the subject of separation from New South Wales, between the Governor General and key citizens. While Wickham supported separation meetings, the actual event led to the abolition of his position. The new Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, arrived in Brisbane on the 10th of December 1859. Wickham left the new colony of Queensland in January 1860 and returned to England.

 

Newstead House was offered for sale from September 1862, having been occupied by the Attorney General, Ratcliffe Pring, from February 1860. By December 1862 George and Jane Harris advertised for servants for Newstead, presumably indicating their occupation of the house. George Harris, a member of the Legislative Council of Queensland, had married Jane Thorn, daughter of Member of the Legislative Assembly and businessman George Thorn, in Ipswich in 1860. George Harris' brother John had initiated a mercantile and shipping business in Brisbane in the 1840s. George joined the business in 1848 and the firm J & G Harris was formed in April 1853, with John as an agent in London. The Harris brothers established a store in Short Street at North Quay and operated a fleet of ships, a fellmongery, tannery, and a boot and harness factory. The town of Harrisville, south of Ipswich, evolved from J & G Harris's cotton plantation and gin. George Harris commissioned architect James Cowlishaw to design Harris Terrace in George Street in 1865 - 1867. He also called for tenders for repairs and additions to Newstead House in 1865 and 1867.

 

George Harris had acquired the Newstead property (Lots 62, 63, and 65) in 1867, mortgaged for the sum of £4000 to the trustees of the estate of JC Wickham, having previously leased the property. The repairs and additions undertaken by Cowlishaw in 1865 and 1867 led to a major re-design of the house, building four new rooms on both the northern and southern sides. Each of these extensions included new double fireplaces and chimneys. The staircase to the lower floor was removed and replaced by a trapdoor in the verandah floor. A new entrance was created by building a retaining wall which supported the extended front verandah. Fill was deposited to create a gently sloping lawn on the western side, taking water away from the basement structure. Sandstone steps were built, providing a new western entrance to the house. This made a basement of the ground floor of the Leslie structure. The verandahs were extended to 10 feet (3m) in width, provided with railings, new posts, gutters and rainwater heads. The roof shingles were replaced with slate, although sheet metal was used on the verandahs. A marble floor was installed in the entry foyer and marble mantelpieces built into the formal rooms. A substantial new kitchen and servants' quarters were also built during the Harris era.

 

George Harris arranged for a new certificate of title under the Real Property Act in May 1874. The property was then mortgaged for 10 years to James Taylor of Toowoomba for £10,000. Further building work was required when the stables burnt down in November 1873. Harris declared his business to be insolvent in August 1876 and both Newstead and Harris Terrace were transferred to James Taylor by December 1876.

 

The Harris's continued to lease the property for many years. Their financial position may have been buoyed by the distribution of the estate of Jane's father, George Thorn, who died in April 1876, with extensive property interests including the Claremont Homestead, land in Ipswich and Cleveland (Thornlands), and Normanby Station which were offered for sale in 1878 - 1879. James Taylor subdivided much of the estate into housing lots, retaining 11 acres (4.5ha) on which Newstead House was located. The estate was advertised for sale in July 1878.

 

A further lease for Newstead House was drawn up to George Harris in March 1887, which was surrendered in November the following year. Liquidators were called in to wind-up the affairs of J and G Harris. An attempt was made to sell the property, now reduced to 4.5 acres (8200m2) in December 1888. The newspaper advertisement referred to the main house as being built of stone and brick with a slate roof, comprising an extra large drawing room, dining room, breakfast room, principal bedroom, library, three bedrooms and bathroom with 10ft (3m) verandahs all round; a wooden wing with a slate roof comprising four large bedrooms, a workroom, two storerooms and bathroom; a kitchen wing built of brick with a slate roof incorporating a kitchen, pantry, large storeroom, two servants' rooms, scullery and man's room; and an outhouse consisting of a four stall stable, man's room, harness room, large coach house and laundry. Also on the property was another four stall stable, fowl house, landing jetty, boathouse, bathing house, two 20,000 gallon (90,000 litre) underground tanks and various other tanks; and a magnificent flower, fruit and vegetable garden.

 

Further subdivision of the surrounding land into suburban lots occurred in 1888 and in 1890, after it was transferred to the Federal Building Land and Investment Society Ltd. An auction sale of all of the Harris's furnishings and belongings was held on the 22nd of April 1890, and George and Jane departed the following day.

 

Newstead House played host to numerous important visitors over the years, including high ranking members of the clergy, the Governor General, and royalty, as well as hosting large events such as weddings, dinners, balls and boating events on the river, particularly during the occupation of the Harris's. Daughter Evelyn Harris married RG Casey, manager of her grandfather George Thorn's former property, Normanby Station. The 1888 wedding was followed by a lavish reception at Newstead House. Her son Richard, born in 1890, was Governor of Bengal from 1944 - 1946 and in 1960 was appointed life peer to the House of Lords, the Upper House of the United Kingdom. Lord Casey became Governor General of Australia in 1965 to 1969.

 

The departure of the Harris family was the end of an era for the house, in that no subsequent owners or tenants occupied the dwelling for any substantial length of time. The sale of furnishings of a tenant in March 1896 indicated that the substantial servants' quarters and kitchen of the Harris era had been replaced with the building now referred to as the Annex. It included a kitchen, pantry laundry and possibly one other servants' room. The property was owned by Lysaght Brothers and Company for several years from August 1896. Lysaghts had plans for a wire netting and galvanised iron factory on the site that were never realised. Newstead was briefly run as a boarding house in 1906.

 

Newstead House was sold in October 1908 to Caroline Amelia Heaslop, wife of Thomas Heaslop, a wholesale grocery merchant, and by November 1909 a major refurbishment had been undertaken. The house continued to be leased to tenants. The Council of the City of Brisbane began negotiations with Mrs Heaslop to purchase the property in 1915 and it was formally acquired by the Council of the City of Brisbane in 1918.

 

The Council had been keen to acquire this prime riverfront site for parkland, and were influenced by the international town planning movement of the time. The Queensland Town Planning Association had formed in March 1915, advocating the need for more metropolitan parks, particularly along the river. In 1918, the property that comprised most of the original ESA 63 including Newstead House was transferred to the Council. This was later devested to the Brisbane City Council (BCC) in 1933 under section 30 of The City of Brisbane Act 1924. A number of options for the use of the house were proposed, including availing the property to returned soldiers as a hostel. Parks Superintendent Henry (Harry) Moore moved into Newstead House in late 1917 or early 1918. The slate roof was replaced at this time, with red painted concrete tiles.

 

Harry Moore was appointed as Superintendent of Parks in September 1912, initially based at Bowen Park which had recently been vacated by the Acclimatisation Society. From 1909 Moore had been curator of Canterbury Park in Eaglehawk, near Bendigo in Victoria. He had a distinctive style of park layout with a preference for circular garden beds. He preferred the fluidity of gently curving walkways radiating from a few entrance points. His influence can be seen in one remnant section of Canterbury Park, as well as in his other works in Queensland including New Farm Park, Bowen Park and Gympie Memorial Park. He is also well known for using dry stone walls to create raised garden beds, examples of which can be found in Centenary Place, Yeronga Memorial Park, and in the streets of Kangaroo Point and Spring Hill. For shade trees, he favoured a bold mix of palms, pines, and dramatic flowering species such as poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) and jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia).

 

Moore's appointment occurred during the time of the nascent town planning movement which, among other things, promoted the building of roads in relation to the contours of the land. This is evident in Moore's path layout in Newstead Park. His design included the removal of all riverbank vegetation and the creation of stone revetment walls, removal of old fences, construction of paths, path lighting, and planting additional trees in front of the house. He planted about 150 trees, palms, and shrubs initially and then prepared trenching and beds for 700 roses. Newstead Park was officially opened in January 1921.

 

In 1923, the centenary of the arrival of John Oxley was celebrated in Newstead Park with a band for entertainment. The band rotunda appears to have evolved from a temporary platform provided in 1921, becoming a bandstand by 1925. A World War I trophy cannon was unveiled in the park, near the rotunda, in November 1922. In 1924 the Council announced further resumptions of contiguous land. Twelve buildings were auctioned for removal, from Newstead Avenue, Breakfast Creek Road, and Newstead Drive, in March 1926. Stone entrance pillars with lamps mounted on top were built in November 1927. The park also features a large draughts board installed in 1929. A newspaper report in 1929 discussed Harry Moore's ten years of work in the park. Mature trees he retained included bunya pines, Moreton Bay ash, silky oaks, white Cyprus and the Flacourtia ramoutchi of East India. He also planted avenues of Queen Palms, here and in other parks and streets of Brisbane, and was responsible for introducing the distinctive tropical character to Brisbane's open spaces. The large fig tree (Ficus infectoria) within the circular drive dates to the occupation by the Wickhams, and appears to be the oldest tree remaining on the property. Moore and his family continued to live in Newstead House until late 1938.

 

In 1927 the BCC Tramways Department announced plans to build a substation at Newstead Park. Brisbane Tramways had evolved from a private company which established horse drawn trams in 1885 and a subsequent company delivering electric trams from 1895. The first power station for trams was built in Countess Street in 1897. Various arrangements with the City Electric Light Company continued to supply power until the Brisbane Tramways Trust was initiated by an Act of Parliament in 1922. After the establishment of Greater Brisbane City Council in 1925, which included the acquisition of the Brisbane Tramways Trust, there was an expansion of electricity supply and public transport.

 

Substation No. 5 in Newstead Park was designed by BCC architect and construction engineer Roy Rusden Ogg, and opened in June 1928. Ogg designed at least 10 of the city's substations up until 1936, as well as the first two stages of the New Farm Powerhouse, which provided electricity to the city's tram network. A total of 10 tramways substations: Russell Street South Brisbane (1927); Ballow Street, Fortitude Valley (1928); Logan Road, Woolloongabba (1928); Petrie Terrace (1928); Windsor (1927); Paddington (1930); Norman Park (1935); Kedron Park Road, Kedron (1935); and Ipswich Road, Annerley (1936), were built through to the mid-1930s, seven of which survive. Many had additions enabling equipment upgrades and a further 5 were built after World War II. Only Newstead and Petrie Terrace substations retain the BT (Brisbane Tramways) logo. To help integrate the industrial substation buildings into their often residential settings, Ogg used neo-classical detailing to ornament the facades.

 

By the late 1920s Brisbane City Council could not foresee a potential use for Newstead House except as a museum. In September 1931 the Queensland Historical Society (founded 1913) approached the Lord Mayor, Alderman Greene, proposing that Newstead House be made available as an historical library and technological museum. In May 1932, the Society was given use of 3 rooms, although Harry Moore still occupied the house until late 1938. Between 1934 and 1938 a number of proposals were made in relation to the use of the house as a museum. In March 1938 the Queensland Historical Society appointed a special committee to prepare a draft scheme for the creation of a Trust to control the proposed museum.

 

In February 1939, the Finance Committee of BCC recommended that Newstead House be placed under trust for the use of the Historical Society of Queensland. The Trust would administer the Newstead House Trust Fund and receive donations, bequests, legacies, and grants. The Newstead House Trust Act came into force on the 1st of March 1940, with the State Treasurer, Mr Cooper as chairman, and the Lord Mayor, Alderman Jones, and the President of the Historical Society, Mr Fergus McMaster, as trustees. In preparation for its role as a museum, fire proofing of two rooms and repairs to the house were undertaken to the specification of architects R Coutts and Sons.

 

From late 1942 through to the end of World War II, Newstead House was occupied by the Photographic Detachment of the 832nd Signal Service Company, Signal Section of the Unites States Army Services of Supply. The house was used as a barracks for the men, while nearby Cintra House housed the photographic laboratory. A gun emplacement was located on the riverfront beyond the bandstand.

 

In 1950, the Annex was transferred to the Trust and a new certificate of title issued. These are now lots 1 & 2 on RP58673 (house and annex footprints).

 

The Queensland Women's Historical Association, formed in April 1950, held its inaugural meeting at Newstead House. In late 1951 the Association was given use of the old Breakfast Room for housing records and equipment. It also involved itself with renovation of the house. The Association acquired its own quarters in 1966, purchasing a house known as ‘Beverly Wood' (later reverting to its original name ‘Miegunyah') in 1967.

 

From 1968 through to the early 1970s, a major renovation of Newstead House was managed by the State Works Department, facilitating its transformation into a house museum. The verandah timbers were taken up allowing the replacement of defective joists. Major earthworks were undertaken around the house at this time and the timber bathroom to the annex and the annex chimney were removed. Works on the basement included removal of plaster from brickwork, some re-pointing of brick walls, damp proofing and paving the floor. The house was opened to the public in February 1971. The works have been ongoing, including re-roofing with concrete tiles in 1977.

 

David Gibson was appointed as curator in August 1974, a position he retained until 2011. He initiated the ‘Friends of Newstead' committee to assist in fundraising for the development and interpretation of the house. The committee utilised the celebration of the house's 130th anniversary in 1976 to embark on a fundraising campaign to begin renovation and interpretation of the dining room and gentleman's library. Volunteers each devoted one Sunday a month, serving refreshments to visitors, and had raised $6500 by mid 1977. The Royal Historical Society relocated to the former Commissariat Store in William Street in October 1981.

 

After the discontinuation of the Brisbane tramway system in 1969 the substation at Newstead Park, along with Brisbane's other tramway substations, became redundant to Council's needs. The substation was transferred to the Newstead House Board of Trustees in June 1977 and work commenced on its conversion into a resource centre. The first phase of the project included the removal of the electrical machinery, rewiring, re-design of the entry door, laying of new carpet and the repainting of the interior. Later a mezzanine level was installed to provide an office area. The Newstead House Resource Centre officially opened in the former tramways substation on the 29th of September 1978.

 

In August 1987 the Queensland Government proposed that Newstead House and Park be absorbed by the Queensland Museum citing the advantages of placing the house and surrounding land under common control. This proved to be a controversial proposal which never eventuated, although its administration was ultimately transferred from the Arts portfolio to that of the Department of Environment and Heritage in 1990.

 

Newstead Park was managed by Harry Oakman, the new BCC Superintendent of Parks, from 1945. One of his first tasks was rejuvenating the many parks occupied by the military during the war years. He re-designed Newstead Park along Breakfast Creek following the realignment of the road for the 1959 construction of a new bridge. He designed and planted shrubberies on either side of the main drive, and filled in gaps in the line of palms with new palms of the same species as those flanking the Moore pathways.

 

A number of structures and features have been added to the park over the years. A brick tool shed was built behind the substation in 1939. The American Memorial, a Helidon sandstone pillar (10.6m high) with an American eagle on top, was carved by sculptor Tom Farrell, of PJ Lowther and Sons. It was unveiled on the 3rd of May 1952 by Governor Sir John Lavarack, marking the 10th anniversary of the American-Australian naval and air victory in the Coral Sea Battle. The early band rotunda and World War I cannon were removed to allow for the new memorial. This was the first American war memorial in Australia. The second, similar in design, was opened in February 1954 by the Queen, in Kings Avenue Canberra.

 

Another significant inclusion is the sandstone mounted tide gauge donated by the British India Steam Navigation Company to celebrate Queensland's Centenary in 1959. The stone housing was built by PJ Lowther and Son and the project unveiled in August 1961.

 

A flagpole was donated to the Historical Society in August 1956 and it was erected near to the house in September, although taken down and reinstated during the renovations of the late 1960s. It flies a replica of the Queensland Ensign which was first unfurled to honour the arrival of Governor Bowen in 1859. On the house wall outside the main bedroom is a plaque honouring Captain John Clements Wickham, donated by his grandson in 1933.

 

Near the American Memorial, is Lyndon B Johnson Place, unveiled during the American President's visit in 1966. A sundial was installed to the west of the front entry to the house, commemorating the generosity of the Rotary Club of Newstead in providing floodlighting to the river side of the house. It was relocated from a park in Holland Park to Newstead in 1977. A memorial to the Australian Navy Corvettes was established in 1988, near Lyndon B Johnson Place. On the eastern side of the property, near to the site of the former Newstead Wharves, is the Oxley Memorial, constructed in 1983. There is a Service to Vietnam memorial, a Submariner's memorial, the Prisoners from Rakuyo Memorial and a memorial to Charles Willers, the founder of the first Rostrum Club. The park also contains a number of mature trees planted in honour of various people with links to the historical societies.

 

Newstead Park and its facilities continue to be managed by Brisbane City Council. The lawn and carriageway providing access to the house was re-designed in 1987, initially paved in decomposed granite. The Friends funded paving to this area in 1987, due to damage to the floors from granite stones caught in visitor's shoes. A gazebo was built in 1984 near the site of the original band rotunda. A drinking fountain was donated in 1985 by the Brisbane Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, who also organised for the relocation of a pissoir from Merthyr Road, New Farm, to a site between the house and the substation in 1987.

 

In 2006, the Friends of Newstead employed a conservation architect to refurbish the main bedroom of Newstead House. During the site works, the removal of non-significant elements such as the 1970s wallpaper and picture rail revealed: the outline of the 1865 wall that once divided the space into two rooms; fragments of early wallpaper; and the early ceiling which was sheeted over circa 1940. The evidence gathered as part of the investigation informed the re-decoration of the room. The ceiling and rose were painted to approximate early colours found and the walls were papered from skirting to cornice with commercially available wallpaper similar to the original.

 

Equitable access to the house was provided in 2013 with the installation of a disabled parking bay, and a lift and accessible toilets within the Annex, thereby ensuring the continued enjoyment of Newstead House by all Queenslanders. The property is valued for its historic significance as well as being a site for ritual events and celebrations, such as weddings. The house has appeared in numerous tourism promotions, travel guides, and television programs over the decades, indicating its landmark status in Brisbane.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 347. Photo: M.G.M.

 

American film and stage actress Jean Parker (1915–2005) landed her first screen test while still in high school. She played the tragic Beth in the original Little Women (1933), starred as the spoiled daughter of an American chain store millionaire who persuades her nouveau riche father to transport a Scottish castle in the hilarious British fantasy-comedy The Ghost Goes West (1936), and she was a perfect stooge for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as an innkeeper's daughter with whom Ollie falls in love in The Flying Deuces (1939).

 

Jean Parker was born Lois Mae Green in 1915. Her father was Lewis Green, a gunsmith and hunter, and her mother was Pearl Melvina Burch. Later, her mother worked at MGM in the set department and created magnificent flowers, trees and other greenery for such notable films as National Velvet (1944), known professionally as Mildred Brenner. Lois was an accomplished gymnast and dancer. At age 10, she was adopted by the Spickard family of Pasadena when both her father and mother were unemployed during the Great Depression. She initially aspired to be an illustrator and artist. At 17, she entered a poster-painting contest and won for portraying Father Time. After a photograph of her was published in a Los Angeles newspaper, Ida Koverman, the assistant to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, contacted the would-be starlet and had Mayer offer her an MGM contract. She made her feature film debut in the pre-code drama Divorce in the Family (Charles Reisner, 1932), before being loaned to Columbia Pictures, who cast her in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933). Parker made several important films in the following years, including Little Women (George Cukor, 1933) with Joan Bennett and Katharine Hepburn; Sequoia (Chester M. Franklin, Edwin L. Marin, 1934) with Russell Hardie, shot in the Sequoia National Forest near Springville, California; Operator 13 (Richard Boleslawski, 1934) with Marion Davies and Gary Cooper; and The Ghost Goes West (René Clair, 1935) with Robert Donat.

 

Jean Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s. Parker later starred in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939), followed by the sports film The Pittsburgh Kid (Jack Townley, 1941), and the Film Noir Dead Man's Eyes (Reginald Le Borg, 1944), opposite Lon Chaney Jr. After several successful cross-country trips entertaining injured servicemen during World War II, Jean Parker wed and divorced Curt Grotter of the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, and moved on to New York to star in the play 'Loco'. She also starred on Broadway in 'Burlesque' (1946-1947) with Bert Lahr, and in the hit 'Born Yesterday' (1948), filling in for Judy Holliday. Parker's fourth and last husband, actor Robert Lowery, played opposite her as Brock in the play for a short stint. By this marriage, Parker bore her only child, a son, Robert Lowery Hanks. By the 1950s, Parker's film career had slowed, though she continued to appear in supporting parts in the Westerns The Gunfighter (Henry King, 1950) with Gregory Peck and Toughest Man in Arizona (R. G. Springsteen, 1952), and the Film Noir Black Tuesday (Hugo Fregonese, 1954) opposite Edward G. Robinson. Parker made her final film appearance in Apache Uprising (R. G. Springsteen, 1965) starring Rory Calhoun. Later in her career, she played in the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach. Parker died in 2005 at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 90, from a stroke. She lived there from 1998 until her death. Jean was survived by her son and two granddaughters, Katie and Nora Hanks.

 

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1119. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

 

British-American actor Louis Hayward (1909-1985) was a protégé of Noël Coward and began his career in London in such plays as 'Dracula' and in British films. After appearing on Broadway, he had a long career in Hollywood. Hayward was the first screen incarnation of Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint in New York (1938) and had a dual role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) under the direction of James Whale. His debonair charm and athletic good looks made him one of Hollywood’s most successful swashbuckling heroes of the 1930s and 1940s.

 

Louis Charles Hayward was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1909, a few weeks after his mining engineer father was killed in an accident. Hayward was taken first to England and then to France, where he attended a number of schools under his real name, Seafield Grant. He received early training in legitimate theatre, appeared for a time with a touring company playing the provinces in England and then took over a small nightclub in London. He became a protégé of playwright Noël Coward with whom he was also romantically involved. He began appearing in London in plays such as 'Dracula' and 'Another Language' and was also in the Sir Gerald du Maurier stage play, 'The Church Mouse'. He started being cast in some British films, such as the drama Self Made Lady (George King, 1932) with Heather Angel and the crime film The Man Outside (George A. Cooper, 1933) starring Henry Kendall. He had the lead role in the quota quickie Chelsea Life (Sidney Morgan, 1933) and supporting parts in Sorrell and Son (Jack Raymond, 1933) and the comedy I'll Stick to You (Leslie S. Hiscott, 1933) with Jay Laurier. On stage, he appeared in a Coward musical 'Conversation Piece' (1934) with the French star Yvonne Printemps and in the cinema, he had the lead in the romantic comedy The Love Test (1935), directed by Michael Powell. Hayward went to Broadway in 1935 with a production of Coward's 'Point Valaine' working with Alfred Lunt and his wife Lynn Fontanne. The play, described as one of Coward's worst and poorly received critically and popularly, only ran for six weeks and was considered a failure. However, Hayward won the 1934 New York Critics Award. It was Hayward's only Broadway venture, but it brought him a Hollywood contract. He signed a four-picture deal with MGM. Hayward first played a supporting role in The Flame Within (Edmund Goulding, 1935), starring Ann Harding and followed that film with the melodrama A Feather in Her Hat (Alfred Santell, 1935), billed after Pauline Lord and Basil Rathbone. His first Hollywood efforts were moderately successful, moderately well-received and almost instantly forgotten. Hayward's career started to gain momentum when he was cast in the extended romantic prologue of the expensive blockbuster Anthony Adverse (Mervyn LeRoy, 1936). William McPeak at IMDb: "As dashing officer Denis Moore, he was Anthony's father, rescuing his soon-to-be mother Maria from an arranged marriage to the Marquis Don Luis, brilliantly played by Claude Rains. Shot with gauze focus in part to increase the dreamlike romantic interlude of the lovers, the prologue played to a bitter end with Hayward dispatched in a sword duel with the outraged Don Luis, and Maria, now pregnant, forced to return to her husband. However, Hayward had had his defining moment. " Hayward's profile also was raised by his marriage to Ida Lupino. He was the male lead in the comedy The Luckiest Girl in the World (Edward Buzzell, 1936) with Jane Wyatt. Then he went to support Paul Muni and Miriam Hopkins in a love triangle in The Woman I Love (Anatole Litvak, 1937) and played the male lead of Midnight Intruder (Arthur Lubin, 1938) and Condemned Women (Lew Landers, 1938). Hayward was then cast as the first screen incarnation of Simon Templar in Leslie Charteris' The Saint in New York (Ben Holmes, 1938). The film was a hit and would eventually lead to a long-running series. However, the next five films in the series starred George Sanders as Templar. Hayward would eventually reprise the role in the British crime thriller The Saint's Return (Seymour Friedman, 1953). Hayward supported Danielle Darrieux and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Rage of Paris (Henry Koster, 1938). In 1938 Hayward starred in the drama The Duke of West Point (Alfred E. Green, 1938) for producer Edward Small, who signed him to make three films over the next five years. This meant that Hayward was unable to reprise his part as the Saint. However, Small started building Hayward into a star, casting him opposite Joan Bennett in a dual role as the good and evil royal twins Louis XIV and Philippe in the third volume in the Alexandre Dumas musketeer trilogy, The Man in the Iron Mask (James Whale, 1939). The Swashbuckler was a notable success. Hayward's good looks were complemented by an airy manner of speaking, which worked as both hero and rogue or occasional suave villain. Small put Hayward into My Son, My Son! (Charles Vidor, 1940) with Madeleine Carroll and Brian Aherne. In the comedy-drama Dance, Girl, Dance (Dorothy Arzner, 1940), he appeared with Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball. The film was a critical and commercial failure but later garnered a reputation as a feminist film. Small then put him in The Son of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee, 1940), another Swashbuckler with Bennett and a sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee, 1934) starring Robert Donat. However, his swashbuckling efforts did not pan out as well as they did for Errol Flynn. Hayward then co-starred with his wife Ida Lupino in the Film Noir Ladies in Retirement (Charles Vidor, 1941). A bad break was his 1941 casting in a pivotal role in Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), but his part was edited out of the final print.

 

Louis Hayward had become a naturalised U.S. citizen the day before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbo. In July 1942, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. During World War II, he commanded a photographic unit that filmed the invasion of the Japanese-held island of Tarawa for the documentary With the Marines at Tarawa (Louis Hayward, 1944). The battle was one of the bloodiest in Marine history - three days of fighting cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties. Over 4,500 Japanese were killed. The carnage Captain Hayward saw would lead to depression and a complete physical collapse. His documentary won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and Hayward was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for courage under fire. Overcoming the psychological stress of his war experiences, Hayward returned to the Hollywood spotlight. He played Philip Lombard in the Agatha Christie thriller And Then There Were None (René Clair, 1945), which was a hit. For Hunt Stromberg, Hayward co-starred with Jane Russell in Young Widow (Edwin L. Marin, 1946) and supported Hedy Lamarr in the melodrama The Strange Woman (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1946). He returned to the Swashbuckler genre for Edward Small with Monte Cristo's Revenge (Henry Levin, 1947). Hayward made a Film Noir, Repeat Performance (Alfred L. Werker, 1947), then did another Swashbuckler, the Robin Hood-like Robert Louis Stevenson adventure The Black Arrow Strikes (Gordon Douglas, 1948). He played in Ruthless (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1948) with Zachary Scott, and then he did the anti-communist, Cold War Film Noir Walk a Crooked Mile (Gordon Douglas, 1948) for Small. Hayward went to Italy to make The Masked Pirate (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1949) for United Artists. He developed one of the first percentage-of-profits deals, ensuring him a steady income in perpetuity for both the theatrical and TV releases of his post-1949 films. Fritz Lang cast him in the lead of House by the River (1950) and he did the adventure films Fortunes of Captain Blood (Gordon Douglas, 1950) and The Lady and the Bandit (Ralph Murphy, 1951) with Patricia Medina. He also starred in the horror film The Son of Dr. Jekyll (Seymour Friedman, 1951), Lady in the Iron Mask (Ralph Murphy, 1951) opposite Patricia Medina, and Captain Blood, Fugitive (Ralph Murphy, 1952), a sequel to Fortunes of Captain Blood. Hayward began appearing on TV in Crossed and Double Crossed for The Ford Television Theatre (1952). He starred in and helped produce Storm Over Africa (Lesley Selander, 1953), and then he reprised his role as Simon Templar in The Saint's Return (Seymour Friedman, 1954), shot in Britain. In 1954, Hayward produced and starred in the 39-week television series The Lone Wolf (1954) after buying exclusive rights to several of Louis Joseph Vance's original 'Lone Wolf' stories. He did episodes of Matinee Theatre, Climax!, The O Henry Playhouse, The Highwayman, and Decision. In films, he was in The Search for Bridey Murphy (Noel Langley, 1956) with Theresa Wright. The film was inspired by the story of American Virginia Tighe, who believed herself to formerly have been Bridey Murphy, a nineteenth-century Irishwoman, in a case believed to be that of cryptomnesia. Hayward guest starred on series such as Riverboat and was in a TV production of The Picture of Dorian Gray (Paul Bogart, 1961) with George C. Scott. Hayward's work onstage included Noël Coward's 'Conversation Piece' and the national tour of 'Camelot' in which he appeared as King Arthur. Hayward also produced the British series The Pursuers (1961) and the American soap opera Harold Robbins' The Survivors (1969). Hayward's other television work includes the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Rawhide, and Burke's Law. Hayward's last films included the Westerns Chuka (Gordon Douglas, 1967) and The Christmas Kid (Sidney W. Pink, 1967). He also had roles in the film comedy The Phynx (Lee H. Katzin, 1970), and the mystery horror film Terror in the Wax Museum (Georg Fenady, 1973) with Ray Milland. His last appearance was in an episode of The Magician, titled The Illusion of the Lethal Playthings (1974). For his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Hayward was honoured in 1960 with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 and 1680 Vine Street, respectively. Hayward married actress/director Ida Lupino in 1938 in a quiet civil ceremony held in the Santa Barbara courthouse. After he returned from the war, he was drastically different, which caused a strain on the marriage. They were divorced in 1945. He then met socialite Peggy Morrow, and after dating for a while, they married in 1946. They divorced four years later in 1950. Hayward had one son, Dana, with his third wife, June Hanson. Louis Hayward died in 1985 at the age of 75 in Palm Springs, California from lung cancer. Hayward publicly stated that his more than five-decade-long habit of smoking three packs of cigarettes daily was the likely cause of his cancer.

 

Sources: William McPeak (IMDb), Ted Thackrey Jr. (Los Angeles Times), AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

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Austrian postcard by Mandelbaum / Österreichische Exilbibliothek im Literaturhaus, Wien/ Photo: Allisa Dauer. Caption: Billy Wilder, born in 1906 in Sucha, Galicia, director and screenwriter.

 

Billy Wilder (1906-2002) was an American filmmaker of Jewish descent. He was a multiple Oscar winner and is considered one of the most important directors in American film history. His oeuvre comprises more than 60 films made over a period of over 50 years. He was nominated for an Oscar 21 times as a writer, producer and director and won six awards. At the 1961 Oscars, he won three awards as producer, screenwriter and director for the film The Apartment, a feat that has only been achieved by a total of nine directors to date.

 

Samuel 'Billy' Wilder was born in 1906 in Sucha, Austria-Hungary often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Samuel was the son of Jewish parents, Max and Eugenia Wilder. His father Max Wilder ran the "City" hotel in Krakow as well as several railway station restaurants in the area. His mother always called her son "Billie". Samuel, therefore, called himself Billie Wilder. Later in the USA, he changed the spelling to Billy. In 1916, during the First World War, the family moved to Vienna fearing the approaching Russian army. In the capital, Billie became close friends with the later Hollywood director Fred Zinnemann, and they kept in touch throughout his life. Wilder began his career as a reporter for the Viennese tabloid Die Stunde (The Hour). When he interviewed the jazz musician Paul Whiteman in 1926, the latter was so enthusiastic about him that he invited him to come with him to Berlin to show him the city. A week later it turned out that Die Stunde was blackmailing Viennese businessmen and celebrities at the time with the threat of publishing unflattering articles about them. The affair became the biggest media scandal of the First Republic in Austria and Wilder decided to stay in Berlin and work for another newspaper, the city's largest tabloid. There he came in contact with the film industry. German Wikipedia: "when the director of a film company, Maxim Galitzenstein, had to escape in his pants from the neighbour's bedroom to Wilder's room, he couldn't help but buy Wilder's first screenplay." Billie was hired as a ghostwriter for well-known screenwriters such as Robert Liebmann and Franz Schulz. It was an additional source of income alongside his work as a reporter. In 1929, he contributed with Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak, Fred Zinnemann and Edgar G. Ulmer to the classic film Menschen am Sonntag/People on Sunday (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1930). The film follows a group of young residents of Berlin on a summer's day during the interwar period. Hailed as a work of genius, it is a pivotal film in the development of German cinema. Together with Erich Kästner, Billie wrote the screenplay for Emil und die Detektive/Emil and the Detectives (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1931) the first film adaptation of Kästner's novel and generally considered to be the best film version. Wilder realised his Jewish ancestry would cause problems when the National Socialists would seize power. Immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Wilder moved to France. Years later, he would learn that his entire family had perished in concentration camps. In Paris, Billie earned his living as a ghostwriter for French screenwriters. Here he also directed his first film, the crime drama Mauvaise graine/Bad Seed (Billie Wilder, Alexander Esway, 1934) with Danielle Darrieux.

 

In 1934 Billie Wilder was able to enter the United States, thanks to a visitor's visa granted by Joe May. Although he spoke no English when he arrived in Hollywood, Wilder was a fast learner. Thanks to contacts such as Peter Lorre, with whom he shared an apartment. After his emigration, he became a naturalised American named Billy. He was signed by Paramount Pictures in 1936. His partnership with Charles Brackett started in 1938 and the team was responsible for writing some of Hollywood's classic comedies, including Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939) starring Greta Garbo and Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941) with Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. However, Wilder was dissatisfied with the constant changes to his scripts and wanted to take the reins himself. His partnership with Brackett expanded into a producer-director one in 1942. The comedy The Major and the Minor (1942) with Ginger Rogers was the first film he directed. His second film, Five Graves to Cairo (1943) with Franchot Tone, served as a propaganda film against the Nazi regime during World War II. Wilder quickly garnered success as a director. He had his breakthrough with the Film Noir Double Indemnity (1944), starring Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck as a femme fatale. The film received seven Oscar nominations, including two for Wilder in the categories of Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 1945, Wilder was commissioned by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to condense the extensive material available from the American and British military about, among other things, the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp into a short film, Death Mills/Die Todesmühlen (1945). The film was intended for German audiences to educate them about the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. It became the only documentary film under his supervision. Not having seen his mother and stepfather since he went to Berlin in 1933 to make films, he joined American patrols through war-torn Europe during WWII. Through intense research, he learned they had been murdered in concentration camps and his grandmother had died in a Polish ghetto. Later, he usually declined to discuss this.

 

Billy Wilder received his first Oscar for the drama The Lost Weekend (1945), starring Ray Milland as an unsuccessful author with a drinking problem. The film dealt unusually realistically with the problems of an alcoholic. Shortly afterwards, Wilder went to Germany on behalf of the American government with the rank of colonel and directed the film A Foreign Affair (1948), starring Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich, which dealt critically with the Nazi past in occupied Germany. Among his other classics are the drama Sunset Boulevard (1950) starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson, the romance Sabrina (1954) starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, and the comedies The Seven Years Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959), both starring Marilyn Monroe. He later had a long-standing partnership with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond with whom he made such classic comedies as The Apartment (1961) and Irma La Douce (1963), both with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. His work is characterised by cynicism, humour and an original storyline. He was fascinated by a wide variety of subjects and he often used the same actors, such as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Wilder's later works were unable to match the success of his heyday. Although he lost some of his brilliance as a filmmaker later in his life, many of his films are still considered classics. From the mid-1980s, he limited himself to consulting work for United Artists. In 2002, Billy Wilder died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California at the age of 95. He had been struggling with health problems for some time, but still gave interviews. His grave is in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Wilder was married to Judith Coppicus-Iribe from 1936 to 1947. They had a daughter together, Victoria (1939). In 1949 Wilder married the actress and singer Audrey Young (1922-2012).

 

Sources: Michael Brooke (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Dutch postcard by S. & v. H., A. Photo: M.P.E.A.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother, and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda, and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949, and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Wharf Street Maryborough and its museums and the Kanaka memorial.

1. Brennan and Geraghty’s Store. Irishmen Patrick Brennan and Martin Geraghty arrived in Maryborough in 1862. He established a carpentry shop and undertaker’s business on the museum site. He soon married Catherine Brennan. Her brother opened a store two doors along the street in 1869 before opening a new store with his brother-in-law Geraghty in 1871. That store is now the museum and it was used as a trading store by a son of Martin Geraghty until 1972. The store had all its business records of goods imported from around the world, old grocery stock from the 1920s and later and the original shop fittings. The National Trust bought the property in 1975 and open it as a “living” museum. Open daily 10 am to 3 pm. Located at 64 Lennox Street.

2. The Bond Store Museum is located in Wharf Street. This is one of the oldest buildings in Maryborough and was built in brick in 1863 to a design by the QLD colonial Architect Charles Tiffin. As it housed mainly imported goods (alcohol etc) waiting for valuation it was located next to the Customs House which was built in 1861 when Maryborough was declared an international port. The Bond Store was enlarged greatly in 1870 when an entrance on Wharf Street was created and part of it made two storey. It was enlarged again in 1883 with another two storey wing which made it an L shaped building. The museum covers shipping and industrial history of Maryborough.

3. The Customs House and Customs House residence museum. This museum located beside the Bond store concentrates on the story of the city of Maryborough. The original Customs house was built in 1861 but it was replaced with a more modern building Edwardian style brick and terracotta roof building in 1899. The Customs master’s house was also rebuilt at the same time and both buildings cost nearly £6,000. It was returned to the City of Maryborough from the Commonwealth government in 1995.

4. The Military and Colonial Museum at 106 Wharf Street. This museum is privately owned and operated in J E Brown warehouse built in 1879. It is sometimes known as the Gataker warehouse. It is a fine two storey structure showing the Brown’s warehouse was established in 1857. The museum has the most Victoria Cross medals in any private museum in Australia and it has the only Cross of Valour medal on public display from the 2002 Bali bombings. The Kent Street part of this building was built in 1868. It also contains a Cobb and Co replica coach and a three wheeler Girling car made in England around 1911.It contains a Gallipoli room and a Second World War room etc, trench art displays, paintings, silver, china, buggies etc. Entry fee about $10.

 

At the top of Wharf Street is the Maryborough is St Mary’s Catholic Church. The complex includes a convent which was built in 1892. The church was designed by architect Francis Stanley and built between 1869 and 1872. It was enlarged in 1885 and again in 1936. It is heritage listed.

a. At top of Wharf Street is the impassive colonial towered Post office. Built in 1866. The clock tower added 1879.

b. The Post Office Hotel. Built in 1889. The original one storey was built in 1870. The land title was granted in 1852.

c. The Government Office Building was built in neo Georgian style and erected in 1940. It is not as old as it looks.

d. The Heritage Centre was built as a Bank of New South Wales in 1878. Built with surrounding verandas. It handled lots of gold from the Gympie gold rush.

e. The Customs House Museum.

f. At the end of Richmond St is the Maryborough Kanaka Memorial. It provides information and symbols of the Kanakas on black marble boulders from the Chillagoe region of north western QLD. The symbols from New Caledonia, the Solomon Island and Vanuatu were cast in bronze and selected by the Daralata South Sea Islanders.

g. Maryborough Courthouse. Built in 1877. Architect was the Colonial Architect Francis Stanley. It replaced an earlier 1860 courthouse which was demolished. It is an unusual building with tower like rooms on the corners and a large triangular pediment and gable and the two ends. It cost nearly £7,500 when built.

h. The Customs House Hotel. It was built in 1868 and extended during the gold rushes in 1870 and again 1883. Note its fine cast iron lace work.

i. The Colonial and Military Museum 1879.

j. The Bond Store Museum.

k. The Criterion Hotel. It was built by the Cooper brothers between 1878 and 1883. It is now on the QLD heritage register. One of only two three storey brick buildings in Maryborough. The timber framed Melbourne Hotel of 1868 on this site burnt down in 1877.

l. Queens Park. It was gazetted as a park and botanic garden in 1873. The historic band stand was exhibited at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888 and then shipped to Maryborough and erected in 1890 as a memorial to Andrew Melville, a newspaper man and former mayor. The park contains the 1922 War Memorial, a life-sized, bronze statue of Lieutenant Duncan Chapman, a fountain, a fernery.

m. Riverside Apartments. This Queenslander style building overlooking the Mary River was built as a boarding house in 1891.

n. The quaint unmarked wooden building is the Maryborough waterside Workers building. Built in 1918 during the big international waterside workers strike.

o. At the end of Wharf St on the river level is where Walkers built ships.

 

Walkers of Maryborough.

The Union Foundry was established in 1868 by John Walker. It was a branch of the Union Foundry of Ballarat. The foundry supplied materials and engineering items for the mining industry and the equipment for the sugar mills in the district. The gold mines at Gympie (1867) and the Maryborough Sugar Company (which was formed in 1865) were major clients. John Walker was joined by Mr W Harrington in 1872 and the firm was expanded and floated as a public company. The firm had its own wharf in Maryborough and more partners joined the firm. The foundry started building river dredges, barges and ships. In 1884 it changed its name from the Union Foundry to Walker and Co. Ltd. This company survived until amalgamated with another company in 1981. Ten aces was purchased on the Mary River to construct the ships. Ship building was developed in three periods. The first period from 1877 to 1898 saw 13 ships built; then from 1918 to 1928 a further 3 were built; and from 1939 to 1974 some 59 vessels were built. The ship yards closed in 1974 but the Walker engineer works continued. Walkers specialised in ships for the Australian navy building frigates (three built) and corvettes (seven built) and minesweepers during World War Two. During the 1960s and 1970s Walker built ten naval patrol boats and eight army landing boats. From 1900 Walkers also built steam engines for the Queensland railway system. They got their first government contract to engineer a steam engine in 1897. From then until 1958 they produced 449 steam engines mainly for the Queensland railways but also for other state railways.

Maryborough buildings and structures not in wharf of Kent Streets.

1. The cemetery was established in 1873. It is noted for its fine mortuary built in 1883 by the architect Willoughby Powell. The section near the northern end was reserved for paupers, Kanakas and non-Christians. Located in Walker Street.

 

2. The old railway station now not used. It was built in 1878 in timber with a station master’s residence next to it. Lennox St. Look for the World War Two air raid shelter to the south of the old railway station.

3. Opposite the railway station is the Anglican Church. The first two Anglian churches were timber and replaced by this magnificent towered brick church in 1879. The QLD Colonial Architect Francis Stanley designed the church as a private commission. The impressive parish hall was designed by architect P Hawkes in 1921 and faces Adelaide St. That first Anglican Church was erected for £30 in 1852. It was part of the Diocese of Newcastle at that stage. The free standing bell tower was added in 1887. It is heritage listed.

4. Fred Monsour’s silk warehouse. Another fine building with lots of Art Deco features. Built in 1923. Located at 203 Adelaide St. His cousin’s warehouse store is almost next door. Dated 1908 and marked Joseph Monsour. Monsours came to QLD from Beirut Syria ( at that time) in the 1890s.Fred and Joseph were naturalised in 1921. By the 1920s they had gift stores with jewellery, clocks, handbags, frocks, ladies slippers etc. Fred died in 1950 born 1886.

5. Stellmachs. 209 Adelaide Street is a well-detailed classic revival building erected in 1914 to the design of the prominent Maryborough architect F. H. Faircloth. Constructed for Stellmach's, who were bakers.

6. Kings café next door to Stellmachs at 211 Adelaide St. A superb Art Deco building. King’s Cafe was constructed in 1914 for King Bros, who were connected with the fish and oyster trade. King Bros was formed by Mat King. King’s business was so brisk that the earlier building could not cope, hence the remodelling of it in an art deco design in 1938. King’s cafe operated until 1972.

7. Former Commonwealth bank in neo classical style. At 232 Adelaide St. Note the Ionic columns with volutes.

8. Baddow House. At 366 Queen Street. Quite visible from the road. A grand Georgian Queenslander style house. Built for shopkeeper and merchant F Kinne who had a major store in Kent Street. The house was designed by architect Willoughby Powell. Built in 1883. It overlooks the Mary River.

8. Watson House. At 25 Churchill St on the corner with John St. A Queenslander with a difference. This house was constructed around 1910 to 1912 for Maryborough dental surgeon Harry Watson and his wife Olive. The octagonal-shaped room and turret was added at a later date.

9. Oonooraba House. At 50 Pallas St. The house was built in 1892 with extensive decorative wood work. It has a garden with some significant trees. It was built for local dignitary James Stafford. The name of the house is a local Aboriginal word. The property covered 6 acres. He planted the Araucaria trees (Norfolk Island pines.)

10. Eskdale House. At 53 Pallas St. The main two storey colonial house was built in 1864. A large water tank was built at that same time. Part of the garden was re-landscaped in 1915 with a glasshouse etc. It is heritage listed with an encircling veranda, French doors to the veranda and cast iron lacework.

 

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 100. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

 

American film and stage actress Jean Parker (1915–2005) landed her first screen test while still in high school. She played the tragic Beth in the original Little Women (1933), starred as the spoiled daughter of an American chain store millionaire who persuades her nouveau riche father to transport a Scottish castle in the hilarious British fantasy-comedy The Ghost Goes West (1936), and she was a perfect stooge for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as an innkeeper's daughter with whom Ollie falls in love in The Flying Deuces (1939).

 

Jean Parker was born Lois Mae Green in 1915. Her father was Lewis Green, a gunsmith and hunter, and her mother was Pearl Melvina Burch. Later, her mother worked at MGM in the set department and created magnificent flowers, trees and other greenery for such notable films as National Velvet (1944), known professionally as Mildred Brenner. Lois was an accomplished gymnast and dancer. At age 10, she was adopted by the Spickard family of Pasadena when both her father and mother were unemployed during the Great Depression. She initially aspired to be an illustrator and artist. At 17, she entered a poster-painting contest and won for portraying Father Time. After a photograph of her was published in a Los Angeles newspaper, Ida Koverman, the assistant to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, contacted the would-be starlet and had Mayer offer her an MGM contract. She made her feature film debut in the pre-code drama Divorce in the Family (Charles Reisner, 1932), before being loaned to Columbia Pictures, who cast her in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933). Parker made several important films in the following years, including Little Women (George Cukor, 1933) with Joan Bennett and Katharine Hepburn; Sequoia (Chester M. Franklin, Edwin L. Marin, 1934) with Russell Hardie, shot in the Sequoia National Forest near Springville, California; Operator 13 (Richard Boleslawski, 1934) with Marion Davies and Gary Cooper; and The Ghost Goes West (René Clair, 1935) with Robert Donat.

 

Jean Parker remained active in film throughout the 1940s. Parker later starred in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Flying Deuces (A. Edward Sutherland, 1939), followed by the sports film The Pittsburgh Kid (Jack Townley, 1941), and the Film Noir Dead Man's Eyes (Reginald Le Borg, 1944), opposite Lon Chaney Jr. After several successful cross-country trips entertaining injured servicemen during World War II, Jean Parker wed and divorced Curt Grotter of the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, and moved on to New York to star in the play 'Loco'. She also starred on Broadway in 'Burlesque' (1946-1947) with Bert Lahr, and in the hit 'Born Yesterday' (1948), filling in for Judy Holliday. Parker's fourth and last husband, actor Robert Lowery, played opposite her as Brock in the play for a short stint. By this marriage, Parker bore her only child, a son, Robert Lowery Hanks. By the 1950s, Parker's film career had slowed, though she continued to appear in supporting parts in the Westerns The Gunfighter (Henry King, 1950) with Gregory Peck and Toughest Man in Arizona (R. G. Springsteen, 1952), and the Film Noir Black Tuesday (Hugo Fregonese, 1954) opposite Edward G. Robinson. Parker made her final film appearance in Apache Uprising (R. G. Springsteen, 1965) starring Rory Calhoun. Later in her career, she played in the West Coast theatre circuit and worked as an acting coach. Parker died in 2005 at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 90, from a stroke. She lived there from 1998 until her death. Jean was survived by her son and two granddaughters, Katie and Nora Hanks.

 

Sources: Ronald Bergan (The Guardian), Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Vintage card. Photo: George Hurrell / Warner Bros, 1952.

 

American actress and singer Ann Sheridan (1915-1967) worked from 1934 in film and later on television. She could both play the girl next door and the tough-as-nails dame. Known as the 'Oomph Girl', she became one of the most glamorous women in Hollywood. Her notable films include Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

 

Clara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton, Texas, in 1915, as the youngest of five children of G.W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart Warren Sheridan, an automobile mechanic and his homemaker wife. She was a self-described tomboy and was very athletic, and played on the girl's basketball team for North Texas State Teacher's College, where she was planning to enter the teaching field. She was active in dramatics and also sang with the college's stage band. In 1932, her sister Pauline sent a photograph of Clara Lou in a bathing suit to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won the 'Search for Beauty' contest, with part of her prize being a screen test and a bit part in a film by that name. She left college to pursue a career in Hollywood and, aged 19, made her film debut in Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934), starring Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino. For the next two years, she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films, starting at $75 a week (equivalent to $1,400 in 2020). Sheridan can be glimpsed in 13 films in 1934, including Come On Marines! (Henry Hathaway, 1934) still billed as 'Clara Lou Sheridan', Murder at the Vanities (Mitchell Leisen, 1934), College Rhythm (Norman Taurog, 1934), and One Hour Late (Ralph Murphy, 1934). Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Mouise and performed plays on the lot with fellow contractees, including 'The Milky Way' and 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. 'When she did The Milky Way', she played a character called Ann and the Paramount front office decided to change her name to 'Ann'. Sheridan had a part in Behold My Wife! (1934), which she got at the behest of director Mitchell Leisen, who was a friend. She had two good scenes, one in which her character had to commit suicide. Sheridan attributed Paramount's keeping her for two years to this role. Twelve more bit parts followed in 1935 in such films as Enter Madame (Elliott Nugent, 1935) starring Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, the drama Home on the Range (Arthur Jacobson, 1935) starring Jackie Coogan, and Rumba (Marion Gering, 1935,) an unsuccessful follow-up to George Raft and Carole Lombard's smash hit Bolero (Wesley Ruggles, 1934). Sheridan's first lead came in Car 99 (Charles Barton, 1935) with Fred MacMurray. She had the female lead in Rocky Mountain Mystery (Charles Barton, 1935), a Randolph Scott Western. She then appeared in Mississippi (A. Edward Sutherland, 1935) with Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields, The Glass Key (Frank Tuttle, 1935) with George Raft, and (having one line) the historical adventure The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) with Loretta Young. Paramount lent her out to Talisman, a small production company, to make the Western The Red Blood of Courage (John English, 1935) with Kermit Maynard. After this, Paramount declined to take up her option. Sheridan did one film at Universal, Fighting Youth (Hamilton MacFadden, 1935) with Charles Farrell, and then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936.

 

Ann Sheridan's career prospects began to improve. Her early films for Warner Bros. included the musical Sing Me a Love Song (Ray Enright, 1936), and the crime drama Black Legion (Archie Mayo, 1937) with Humphrey Bogart. Her first real break came in the crime film The Great O'Malley (William Dieterle, 1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart. She sang for the first time in San Quentin (Lloyd Bacon, 1937), with O'Brien and Bogart. Sheridan then moved into B picture leads such as The Footloose Heiress (William Clemens, 1937), Alcatraz Island (William C. McGann, 1937) with John Litel, and She Loved a Fireman (John Farrow, 1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow. She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (Bobby Connolly, Crane Wilbur, 1937) and its sequel Mystery House (Noel M. Smith, 1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (John Farrow, 1938) and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (Lloyd Bacon, 1938). Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl. For John Farrow, she was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932). Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros. executives. She began to get roles in A pictures, starting with the gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 1938), wherein she played James Cagney's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles. The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed. Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (Busby Berkeley, 1938) starring John Garfield. She was third-billed in the Western Dodge City (Michael Curtiz, 1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was another notable success. In March 1939, Warner Bros. announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most "oomph" in America. Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest." She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week. Now tagged 'The Oomph Girl'—a sobriquet which she reportedly loathed —Sheridan was a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s. She was top-billed in Indianapolis Speedway (Lloyd Bacon, 1939) with Pat O'Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces (Ray Enright, 1939) with O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan. Castle on the Hudson (Anatole Litvak, 1940) put her opposite John Garfield and Pat O'Brien.

 

Ann Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (Lewis Seiler, 1940), a musical comedy co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn. She introduced the song 'Angel in Disguise'. Sheridan and James Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (William Keighley, 1940) with Pat O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft, Bogart and Ida Lupino in the Film Noir They Drive by Night (Raoul Walsh, 1940), a trucking melodrama. She was in a lot of comedies and a number of forgettable films, but the public liked her, and her career flourished. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (Anatole Litvak, 1941) and then made Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a comedy with George Brent. Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a musical comedy, and The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1941), wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence. She then made Kings Row (Sam Wood, 1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan. It was a huge success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films. Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (Curtis Bernhardt, 1942). She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (Lloyd Bacon, 1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny, George Washington Slept Here (William Keighley, 1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (Lewis Milestone, 1943) with Errol Flynn and was one of the many Warners stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (David Butler, 1943). She was the heroine of a novel, 'Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx', written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as 'Whitman Authorized Editions', 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine. Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (David Butler, 1944), playing Nora Bayes, opposite Dennis Morgan. She was in a comedy The Doughgirls (James V. Kern, 1944). Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China. She returned in One More Tomorrow (Peter Godfrey, 1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the Film Noir Nora Prentiss (Vincent Sherman, 1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (Vincent Sherman, 1948), a popular remake of the crime drama The Letter (William Wyler, 1940) starring Bette Davis, and Silver River (Raoul Walsh, 1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn. Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (Leo McCarey, 1948). She then left Warner Bros., saying: "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me." Her role in the screwball comedy I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks, 1949), co-starring Cary Grant, was another success at Fox. In 1950, she appeared on the musical television series Stop the Music, and in Stella (Claude Binyon, 1950), a comedy with Victor Mature.

 

Ann Sheridan made Woman on the Run (Norman Foster, 1950), a Film Noir, which she also produced. Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal, and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there, she made Steel Town (George Sherman, 1952), Just Across the Street (Joseph Pevney, 1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy directed by Douglas Sirk. Sheridan supported Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (Jacques Tourneur, 1953). She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (R. G. Springsteen, 1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (David Miller, 1956). Her last film, The Woman and the Hunter (George P. Breakston, 1957), was shot in Africa. Sheridan later said she wished the movie "had been lost somewhere in Kenya". She went to New York to appear in a Broadway show, but it did not make it to Broadway. She did stage tours of 'Kind Sir' (1958) and 'Odd Man In' (1959), and 'The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair' in 1958. In all three shows, she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married. In 1962, she played the lead in The Mavis Grant Story on the Western series Wagon Train. In the mid-1960s, Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World (1965-1966). Her final work was a TV series of her own, a comedy Western entitled Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966-1967). Her career was taking off again, but the success was short-lived. The 19th episode of the series, Beware the Hangman, aired, as scheduled, on the same day that she died. Sheridan had married actor Edward Norris in 1936, in Ensenada, Mexico. They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. In 1942, she married fellow Warner Bros. star George Brent, who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941). They divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from Brent, she had a long-term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan, that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan’s estate bequeathed Miss Sheridan $218,399 ($2.1 million in current dollars). On 5 June 1966, she married actor Scott McKay, who was with her when she passed away, six months later. She died of gastroesophageal cancer with massive liver metastases at age 51 in 1967, in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were stored at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005. For her contributions to the film industry, Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 257. Photo: George Hurrell / Warner Bros.

 

American actress and singer Ann Sheridan (1915-1967) worked from 1934 in film and later on television. She could both play the girl next door and the tough-as-nails dame. Known as the 'Oomph Girl', she became one of the most glamorous women in Hollywood. Her notable films include Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

 

Clara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton, Texas, in 1915, as the youngest of five children of G.W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart Warren Sheridan, an automobile mechanic and his homemaker wife. She was a self-described tomboy and was very athletic, and played on the girl's basketball team for North Texas State Teacher's College, where she was planning to enter the teaching field. She was active in dramatics and also sang with the college's stage band. In 1932, her sister Pauline sent a photograph of Clara Lou in a bathing suit to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won the 'Search for Beauty' contest, with part of her prize being a screen test and a bit part in a film by that name. She left college to pursue a career in Hollywood and, aged 19, made her film debut in Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934), starring Buster Crabbe and Ida Lupino. For the next two years, she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films, starting at $75 a week (equivalent to $1,400 in 2020). Sheridan can be glimpsed in 13 films in 1934, including Come On Marines! (Henry Hathaway, 1934) still billed as 'Clara Lou Sheridan', Murder at the Vanities (Mitchell Leisen, 1934), College Rhythm (Norman Taurog, 1934), and One Hour Late (Ralph Murphy, 1934). Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Mouise and performed plays on the lot with fellow contractees, including 'The Milky Way' and 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. 'When she did The Milky Way', she played a character called Ann and the Paramount front office decided to change her name to 'Ann'. Sheridan had a part in Behold My Wife! (1934), which she got at the behest of director Mitchell Leisen, who was a friend. She had two good scenes, one in which her character had to commit suicide. Sheridan attributed Paramount's keeping her for two years to this role. Twelve more bit parts followed in 1935 in such films as Enter Madame (Elliott Nugent, 1935) starring Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, the drama Home on the Range (Arthur Jacobson, 1935) starring Jackie Coogan, and Rumba (Marion Gering, 1935,) an unsuccessful follow-up to George Raft and Carole Lombard's smash hit Bolero (Wesley Ruggles, 1934). Sheridan's first lead came in Car 99 (Charles Barton, 1935) with Fred MacMurray. She had the female lead in Rocky Mountain Mystery (Charles Barton, 1935), a Randolph Scott Western. She then appeared in Mississippi (A. Edward Sutherland, 1935) with Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields, The Glass Key (Frank Tuttle, 1935) with George Raft, and (having one line) the historical adventure The Crusades (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) with Loretta Young. Paramount lent her out to Talisman, a small production company, to make the Western The Red Blood of Courage (John English, 1935) with Kermit Maynard. After this, Paramount declined to take up her option. Sheridan did one film at Universal, Fighting Youth (Hamilton MacFadden, 1935) with Charles Farrell, and then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936.

 

Ann Sheridan's career prospects began to improve. Her early films for Warner Bros. included the musical Sing Me a Love Song (Ray Enright, 1936), and the crime drama Black Legion (Archie Mayo, 1937) with Humphrey Bogart. Her first real break came in the crime film The Great O'Malley (William Dieterle, 1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart. She sang for the first time in San Quentin (Lloyd Bacon, 1937), with O'Brien and Bogart. Sheridan then moved into B picture leads such as The Footloose Heiress (William Clemens, 1937), Alcatraz Island (William C. McGann, 1937) with John Litel, and She Loved a Fireman (John Farrow, 1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow. She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (Bobby Connolly, Crane Wilbur, 1937) and its sequel Mystery House (Noel M. Smith, 1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (John Farrow, 1938) and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (Lloyd Bacon, 1938). Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl. For John Farrow, she was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932). Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros. executives. She began to get roles in A pictures, starting with the gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 1938), wherein she played James Cagney's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles. The film was a big hit and critically acclaimed. Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (Busby Berkeley, 1938) starring John Garfield. She was third-billed in the Western Dodge City (Michael Curtiz, 1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was another notable success. In March 1939, Warner Bros. announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as the actress with the most "oomph" in America. Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest." She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week. Now tagged 'The Oomph Girl'—a sobriquet which she reportedly loathed —Sheridan was a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s. She was top-billed in Indianapolis Speedway (Lloyd Bacon, 1939) with Pat O'Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces (Ray Enright, 1939) with O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan. Castle on the Hudson (Anatole Litvak, 1940) put her opposite John Garfield and Pat O'Brien.

 

Ann Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (Lewis Seiler, 1940), a musical comedy co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn. She introduced the song 'Angel in Disguise'. Sheridan and James Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (William Keighley, 1940) with Pat O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft, Bogart and Ida Lupino in the Film Noir They Drive by Night (Raoul Walsh, 1940), a trucking melodrama. She was in a lot of comedies and a number of forgettable films, but the public liked her, and her career flourished. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (Anatole Litvak, 1941) and then made Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a comedy with George Brent. Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (Lloyd Bacon, 1941), a musical comedy, and The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1941), wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence. She then made Kings Row (Sam Wood, 1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan. It was a huge success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films. Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (Curtis Bernhardt, 1942). She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (Lloyd Bacon, 1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny, George Washington Slept Here (William Keighley, 1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (Lewis Milestone, 1943) with Errol Flynn and was one of the many Warners stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (David Butler, 1943). She was the heroine of a novel, 'Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx', written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as 'Whitman Authorized Editions', 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine. Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (David Butler, 1944), playing Nora Bayes, opposite Dennis Morgan. She was in a comedy The Doughgirls (James V. Kern, 1944). Sheridan was absent from screens for over a year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China. She returned in One More Tomorrow (Peter Godfrey, 1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the Film Noir Nora Prentiss (Vincent Sherman, 1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (Vincent Sherman, 1948), a popular remake of the crime drama The Letter (William Wyler, 1940) starring Bette Davis, and Silver River (Raoul Walsh, 1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn. Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (Leo McCarey, 1948). She then left Warner Bros., saying: "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me." Her role in the screwball comedy I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks, 1949), co-starring Cary Grant, was another success at Fox. In 1950, she appeared on the musical television series Stop the Music, and in Stella (Claude Binyon, 1950), a comedy with Victor Mature.

 

Ann Sheridan made Woman on the Run (Norman Foster, 1950), a Film Noir, which she also produced. Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal, and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there, she made Steel Town (George Sherman, 1952), Just Across the Street (Joseph Pevney, 1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy directed by Douglas Sirk. Sheridan supported Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (Jacques Tourneur, 1953). She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (R. G. Springsteen, 1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (David Miller, 1956). Her last film, The Woman and the Hunter (George P. Breakston, 1957), was shot in Africa. Sheridan later said she wished the movie "had been lost somewhere in Kenya". She went to New York to appear in a Broadway show, but it did not make it to Broadway. She did stage tours of 'Kind Sir' (1958) and 'Odd Man In' (1959), and 'The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair' in 1958. In all three shows, she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married. In 1962, she played the lead in The Mavis Grant Story on the Western series Wagon Train. In the mid-1960s, Sheridan appeared on the NBC soap opera Another World (1965-1966). Her final work was a TV series of her own, a comedy Western entitled Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966-1967). Her career was taking off again, but the success was short-lived. The 19th episode of the series, Beware the Hangman, aired, as scheduled, on the same day that she died. Sheridan had married actor Edward Norris in 1936, in Ensenada, Mexico. They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. In 1942, she married fellow Warner Bros. star George Brent, who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (Lloyd Bacon, 1941). They divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from Brent, she had a long-term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan, that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan’s estate bequeathed Miss Sheridan $218,399 ($2.1 million in current dollars). On 5 June 1966, she married actor Scott McKay, who was with her when she passed away, six months later. She died of gastroesophageal cancer with massive liver metastases at age 51 in 1967, in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were stored at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were interred in a niche in the Chapel Columbarium at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in 2005. For her contributions to the film industry, Ann Sheridan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

German postcard by Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 5070/1, 1930-1931. Photo: d'Ora, Paris.

 

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1902-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.

 

Lily (also Lili) Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France (north of Bordeaux), in 1902 (some sources say 1901, 1904 or 1906). She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain, and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris. By the age of 16 she was performing in popular music-halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris under the name Lily Deslys. She also worked as a photographic model. Then a life of mundanity started. When in Biarritz, the Spanish King wanted to be presented to that 'damita dal maillo rojo' (that little lady in the red bathing costume). Lily liked the compliment so much that she kept her nickname and appeared under the name Damita del Rojo. In 1921 she won a beauty contest by the journal Cinémagazine. The French company Société Cinématographique offered her a role in the silent film La belle au bois dormant/Sleeping Beauty (Stéphane Passet, 1922). She was praised for her beauty and freshness in this film. Soon other French films followed, including the serial L'Empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922), La Voyante/The Clairvoyant (Leon Abrams, Louis Mercanton, 1923) with the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, and the drama Corsica (René Carrère, Vanina Casalonga, 1923).

 

Lily Damita went to Vienna to act next to Max Linder in Der Zirkuskönig but left the role to Vilma Banky. Instead, she played in Mihaly Kertesz' (the later Michael Curtiz) Das Spielzeug von Paris/Red Heels (1925), which knew a huge international success. At the time, she was reportedly engaged to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, grandson of the ex-Kaiser. Count Kolowrat, the owner of the Viennese Sascha Film, made her a fabulous offer, partly on the instigation of the prince: directors to choose by herself, scripts written especially for her, and ways to turn her into one of Europe's biggest film stars. Thus happened. Lily's films may not have reached canonical film history but they were huge hits at the box office. They included Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926), both directed by Michael Curtiz. The latter film, based on a story by P.G. Wodehouse and largely shot in London, probably contained one of Lily's best performances. She and Curtiz married in 1925 and divorced a year later. Damita continued appearing in European productions directed by G. W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love; 1926), British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927), and Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin/The Amateur Adventure; 1928).

 

After several Hollywood offers, it was MGM mogul Sam Goldwyn who took Lily Damita to California to perform in The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929) with Ronald Colman, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929, Charles Brabin), which were rather tedious. Things went better when Lily played a siren of the tropics in The Cock-Eyed World (Raoul Walsh, 1929) opposite Victor McLaglen. In the meantime, sound cinema had arrived. Lily didn't master English too well, so she was put in French versions of American films before dubbing became normal. She was cast with the young Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931), and with the young Laurence Olivier in Friends and Lovers (Victor Schertzinger, 1931). She returned to France and played a young adventuress in On a Vole un Homme/Man Stolen (1933) from the great Max Ophüls. According to Hal Erickson at All Movie, this lighthearted romance was "gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations". On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. In 1935 Lily married an unknown actor who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn. She reportedly retired without complaints, but their marriage was rather tempestuous, hit the press and finished in divorce in 1942. In 1970, their only son Sean Flynn, a 28 years old photojournalist for Time Magazine and a dead ringer for his father, went missing in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He was captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. In spite of huge investments by Lily, he was never found and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. Lily married three times, the last time to retired dairy owner Allen Loomis (1962-1983). All three marriages ended in a divorce. In 1994, Lily Damita died of Alzheimer's disease in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. In March 2010 media reported that remains, that may be those of Sean Flynn (1941-1970), have been found in a mass grave in Cambodia. Tests were scheduled to be conducted on the jaw and femur bone found and were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh. However, the results, released 30 June 2010, by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.

 

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Helen Kennedy (Daily News), C. Parker (Starlet Showcase), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Belgian collectors card by Fotoprim, Brussels, for De Beukelaer, Antwerp, no. A 40. Photo: Warner Bros.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with from throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Newalla is an unincorporated community in rural eastern Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. Newalla is an adaption of the Osage name for the Canadian River. The post office was opened June 22, 1904.

 

Taghum, originally Williams Siding, is an unincorporated community and railway point on the north side of the west arm of Kootenay Lake in the West Kootenay region of the southeastern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. "Taghum" means "six" in the Chinook Jargon and is a reference to the rough distance in mile from the wharf at the city of Nelson, British Columbia. Taghum was founded by prospector M. Monaghan from Minnesota in 1888, who pre-empted 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land. The Canadian Pacific Railway built a siding at this location. A lumbermill originally located at Lebahdo in the nearby Slocan Valley, owned by John Bell and A.G. Lambert, was moved here by 1909. LINK - Rare Taghum-area postmark nets $116 -

www.nelsonstar.com/news/rare-taghum-area-postmark-nets-116/

 

(from - Wrigley's 1918 British Columbia Directory) - WILLIAMS SIDING - a post office and settlement on the C. P. Railway, 4 1/2 miles west of Nelson, on the Nelson-Rossland branch, Ymir Riding, and Trail Provincial Electoral District. Nelson is nearest telegraph office. Local resources: Cooper mining, fruit growing, ranching and lumbering.

 

LINKS to articles about Williams Siding - www.trailtimes.ca/opinion/place-names-taghum/ and www.nelsonstar.com/news/rare-taghum-area-postmark-nets-116/

 

The Williams Siding Post Office opened on Feb. 1, 1906, named after founding postmaster James Nicholas Williams (1861-1931). Bell and Lambert each subsequently took turns at postmaster, as did Joshua Marsden, who has a road named after him. The post office remained Williams Siding until 1924, when it was renamed Taghum - 1 May 1924. The Taghum Post Office closed in 1970.

 

Balfour was pre–empted in 1889 as a townsite by Charles Wesley Busk. One source claims that it was named by Busk after Lord Balfour, the British statesmen and future prime minister, whose family had mining interests in the area. (However, muddying the question of just who was the eponym is the fact that there was a D.B. Balfour living there between 1892 and 95.) Busk named three streets after himself: Charles, Wesley, and Busk. Other streets took the names of his family members. An addition to Balfour in 1910 was known as Riverside, although this name did not last. When the ferry terminal moved to Balfour from Fraser’s Landing, the latter name also vanished from common use (although the name survived as Fraser Narrows), and the area became more or less part of Balfour.

 

Fry Creek - Named by 1897 for prospector and trapper Richard (Dick) Fry, who arrived at Kootenay Lake 30 years earlier during a short-lived gold rush to 49 Creek. Sometimes misspelled Frye Creek.

 

This article was written by - Greg Nesteroff on Jun. 9, 2013 for the Nelson Star newspaper - Blewett was once Belford - There’s a street sign in Blewett that reads Bedford Road. It almost certainly should say Belford Road. There’s a street sign in Blewett, the residential area adjacent to Nelson, that reads Bedford Road. It almost certainly should say Belford Road, the name by which Blewett was formerly known. The Belford post office opened on October 1, 1911 but its etymology is a mystery. No one by that name lived there, though it may have been christened by someone from Belford, Northumberland, England. The prime suspect is Collingwood Gray (1867-1955), a Bonnington Falls fruit rancher who immigrated to Canada from Belford in 1909. In Granite Road Memories, Mabel Atkinson (nee Sharpe) recalled the community was already known as Belford when her family arrived from England in May 1910, but the earliest reference yet discovered in the Nelson Daily News is dated January 4, 1913. During the latter year, the Belford school opened on land donated by postmaster A.J. Laviolette. The post office closed on December 31, 1918 following Laviolette’s death, but reopened in an adjacent lot on May 1, 1923. It was then called Blewett, honouring storekeeper and postmaster William John Blewett (1870-1953). In the Daily News of May 1, 1953, historian R.G. Joy described Blewett as a Cornish blacksmith who sharpened steel in the early days of the Silver King mine and also worked at mines in Rossland and elsewhere. “He told me that he prospected in Montana and Idaho. He founded Blewett and later supervised the delivery of His Majesty’s mail from the store … His store burned down later [so] he went home to Cornwall for a time for he was heir to a shoe store; he sold this and was in good financial standing for some time after … Old-time miners gave him the title BABPM; maybe it stood for Blewett, a Blacksmith and Post Master.” Blewett died in Rossland at 83. Belford was perpetuated only through the school, which burned down on January 3, 1960 — thanks in part to its name. According to the Daily News, due to a misheard phone call, “Fire department and school officials rushed to Balfour instead of Belford. Chairman R.A. Phillips remarked that the two names could easily have been confused. By the time the fire department realized its mistake, and reached Belford, the school was a smouldering ruin.” LINK to the complete article - www.nelsonstar.com/community/blewett-was-once-belford/

 

(from - Wrigley's 1918 British Columbia Directory) - BELFORD - a post office, mining and farming settlement 6 miles west of Nelson, Trail Provincial Electoral District; nearest railway, C. P. R, at Taghum, 2 miles; nearest telegraph, C. P. R. and G. N. R. at Nelson. Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. Mining, good timber, and country adapted to mixed farming and fruit-growing, having abundant water available. The population in 1918 was 60.

 

The Belford Post Office was established - 1 October 1911 and closed - 31 December 1918.

 

LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the BELFORD Post Office - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/...;

 

sent from - / NEWALLA / SEP / 7 / PM / 1913 / OKLA. / 4-bar cancel

 

not found in Spokane, Wash - forwarded from - / SPOKANE, WASH / NOV 11 / 2 - PM / 1913 / - machine cancel

 

via - / NELSON, B.C. / NOV 18 / 1130 AM / 1913 / - machine

 

redirected to Taghum, B.C. (Williams Siding, B.C.) - / WILLIAMS SIDING / NO 19 / 13 / B.C. / - split ring cancel - this split ring hammer (A-1) was not listed in the Proof Book - it was most likely proofed c. 1906 - (RF E / now RF E2).

 

redirected to Balfour, B.C. (49 Creek area) - mistakenly sent to - / BELFORD / NO 21 / 13 / B.C / - split ring - this split ring hammer (A-1) was proofed - 2 September 1911 - (RF E / now is RF E1).

 

Message on postcard reads: 9 / 7 / 13 - Dear Bro - Where have you drifted to - Why don't you ans my letter. W. B. K. - Newalla, Oklahoma

 

Addressed to: R. H. Kemp / Spokane, Washington / c/o Elks Club - redirected to - Taghum (Williams Siding), British Columbia - redirected to - Balfour (49 Creek), British Columbia (sent to Belford, B.C.)

 

Randall Hitchcock Kemp

Birth - 1852 in Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia, USA

Death - 13 Nov 1914 (aged 62) in Oak Bay, Capital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada

 

NOTE: His middle-name is also seen as Harold.

 

His occupation were a Mineralogist / Geologist / Journalist

 

Famous Author - Randall Hitchcock Kemp - US field mineralogist from 1890 or earlier on expeditions in Pacific Rim states of America, and author of A Half-Breed Dance and Other Far Western Stories: Mining Camp, Indian and Hudson's Bay Tales Based on the Experiences of the Author (coll 1909), which contains two tales of interest: "Underneath Spokane" features a virtual Hollow Earth of underground caverns; and in the Lost World described in "The Enchanted Valley" are found sports of Evolution and the Fountain of Youth. LINK to his book - archive.org/details/halfbreeddancean00kemprich/mode/2up

 

The funeral of the late Randall Hitchcock Kemp, whose death occurred yesterday morning at the residence, 2230 Bowker Avenue, will take place on Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock. The deceased, who was a pioneer resident of the Nelson and Slocan Districts, was a native of Wellsburg, West Viginia, and 62 years of age at the time of his death. A mining engineer by profession, he was well known in the Province. It was only recently that he took up his residence in the City, where he is survived by a grown-up family.

 

His mother: Amanda (nee Lodge) Kemp (1830 – Deceased)

His father: Jessie Kemp (1830 – Deceased)

 

His first wife: Harriett Amanda Matthews

(b. 19 March 1862 in Mankota, Minnesota, United States – d. 30 March 1935 in Vancouver, Clark, Washington, United States) - they were married - 10 Mar 1878 in Beaverhead County, Montana

 

His second wife: Leonora Richards (b. in Havana, Cuba - Deceased) she was living in Spokane, Washington at the time of the marriage. They were married in Kaslo, B.C. on 7 August 1896.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States armed forces and one of seven uniformed services. In addition to being a military branch at all times, it is unique among the armed forces in that it is also a maritime law enforcement agency (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international waters) and a federal regulatory agency. It is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

 

As one of the five armed forces and the smallest armed service of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

 

The Coast Guard has many statutory missions, which are listed below in this article.

 

Overview

 

Description

 

The Coast Guard, in its literature, describes itself as "a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America." It differs from the other armed services of the US in that the other four armed services are components of the Department of Defense.

 

In addition, the Coast Guard has separate legal authority than the other four armed services. The Coast Guard operates under Title 10 of the United States Code and its other organic authorities, e.g., Titles 6, 14, 19, 33, 46, etc., simultaneously. Because of its legal authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with 14 USC 1-3, and Title 10.

 

Role

 

The United States Coast Guard has a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON). Founded by Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Cutter Service on August 4, 1790, it lays claim to being the United States' oldest continuous seagoing service. As of October 2006, the Coast Guard has approximately 46,000 men and women on active duty, 8,100 reservists, 7,000 full time civilian employees and 30,000 active auxiliarists.[1]

 

While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day. When not in war, the Coast Guard has duties that include maritime law enforcement, maintaining aids to navigation, marine safety, and both military and civilian search and rescue—all in addition to its typical homeland security and military duties, such as port security.

 

The service's decentralized organization and readiness for missions that can occur at any time on any day, is often lauded for making it highly effective, extremely agile and very adaptable in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in TIME Magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself."[2]

 

The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus, meaning "Always Ready". The service has participated in every U.S. conflict from 1790 through to today, including landing US troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II, in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War, and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Maritime interception operations, coastal security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments are its major roles in Iraq.

 

The formal name for a member of the Coast Guard is "Coast Guardsman", irrespective of gender. An informal name is "Coastie." "Team Coast Guard" refers to the three branches of the Coast Guard as a whole: the regulars, the Coast Guard Reserve, and the civilian volunteers of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

 

Search and Rescue

 

See National Search and Rescue Committee

 

Search and Rescue (SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's oldest missions. The National Search and Rescue Plan[3] designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue.

 

* USCG Rescue Coordination Centers

 

National Response Center

 

Operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting environmental spills, contamination, and pollution

 

The primary function of the National Response Center (NRC) is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Terrorist/Suspicious Activity Reports and Maritime Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan.[4]

 

* U.S. National Response Team

  

Authority as an armed service

 

The five uniformed services that make up the Armed Forces are defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(4):

“ The term “armed forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. ”

 

The Coast Guard is further defined by 14 U.S.C. § 1:

“ The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy. ”

 

Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

 

On February 25, 2003, the Coast Guard was placed under the Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy. 14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce federal law. Further, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which restrict the law enforcement activities of the other four military services within United States territory.

 

On October 17, 2007, the Coast Guard joined with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raised the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war.[5] This new strategy charted a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, manmade or natural, from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to the United States. During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College, 2007, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions the service carried out in this U.S. since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only the global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars," Allen said.

 

Authority as a law enforcement agency

 

14 U.S.C. § 89 is the principal source of Coast Guard enforcement authority.

 

14 U.S.C. § 143 and 19 U.S.C. § 1401 empower US Coast Guard Active and Reserves members as customs officers. This places them under 19 U.S.C. § 1589a, which grants customs officers general law enforcement authority, including the authority to:

 

(1) carry a firearm;

(2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States;

(3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and

(4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of the Treasury may designate.

 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities identified the U.S. Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components employed which employed law enforcement officers.[7] The Report also included a summary table of the authorities of the U.S. Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers.[8]

 

Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base, thus giving them greater flexibility when being called to service. This is not always done, however, in practice; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories. Still, one court has held that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense.[9]

  

As members of a military service, Coast Guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive the same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other uniformed services.

 

History

 

Main article: History of the United States Coast Guard

 

Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.

Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.

 

The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department of the Treasury on August 4, 1790. Until the re-establishment of the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the only naval force of the early U.S. It was established to collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers. When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.[10]

 

"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal reference to the US Coast Guard, although as far as one can detect the United States has never in fact officially used this designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any element of the US Navy. The informal appellation honors the fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the US Coast Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic.[11]

 

The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

 

In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War, in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter. The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole under the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under Navy operational control while other Coast Guard units will remain under the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Organization

 

Main article: Organization of the United States Coast Guard

 

The headquarters of the Coast Guard is at 2100 Second Street, SW, in Washington, D.C. In 2005, the Coast Guard announced tentative plans to relocate to the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington. That project is currently on hold because of environmental, historical, and congressional concerns. As of July 2006, there are several possible locations being considered, including the current headquarters location.

 

Personnel

 

Commissioned Officer Corps

 

There are many routes by which individuals can become commissioned officers in the US Coast Guard. The most common are:

 

United States Coast Guard Academy

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Academy

 

The United States Coast Guard Academy is located on the Thames River in New London, Connecticut. It is the only military academy to which no Congressional or presidential appointments are made. All cadets enter by open competition utilizing SAT scores, high school grades, extracurricular activities, and other criteria. About 225 cadets are commissioned ensigns each year. Graduates of the Academy are obligated to serve five years on active duty. Most graduates (about 70%) are assigned to duty aboard a Coast Guard cutter after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWO) or as Student Engineers. Smaller numbers are assigned to flight training (about 10% of the class) or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sectors, Districts, or Area headquarters unit.

 

Officer Candidate School

 

In addition to the Academy, prospective officers may enter the Coast Guard through the Officer Candidate School (OCS) at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. OCS is a rigorous 17-week course of instruction which prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the United States Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military life-style, OCS also provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary for performing the duties of a Coast Guard officer.

 

Graduates of the program typically receive a commission in the Coast Guard at the rank of Ensign, but some with advanced graduate degrees can enter as Lieutenant (junior grade) or Lieutenant. Graduating OCS officers entering Active Duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating Reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a ship, flight training, to a staff job, or to an operations ashore billet. However, first assignments are based on the needs of the Coast Guard. Personal desires and performance at OCS are considered. All graduates must be available for worldwide assignment.

 

In addition to United States citizens, foreign cadets and candidates also attend Coast Guard officer training. OCS represents the source of the majority of commissions in the Coast Guard, and is the primary channel through which enlisted ranks can ascend to the officer corps.

 

Direct Commission Officer Program

 

The Coast Guard's Direct Commission Officer course is administered by Officer Candidate School. Depending on the specific program and background of the individual, the course is three, four or five weeks long. The first week of the five-week course is an indoctrination week. The DCO program is designed to commission officers with highly specialized professional training or certain kinds of previous military experience. For example, lawyers entering as JAGs, doctors, intelligence officers, and others can earn commissions through the DCO program. (Chaplains are provided to the Coast Guard by the US Navy.)

 

College Student Pre-Comissioning Initiative (CSPI)

 

The College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) is a scholarship program for college sophomores. This program provides students with valuable leadership, management, law enforcement, navigation and marine science skills and training. It also provides full payment of school tuition, fees, textbooks, a salary, medical insurance and other benefits during a student's junior and senior year of college. The CSPI program guarantees training at Officer Candidate School (OCS) upon successful completion of all program requirements. Each student is expected to complete his/her degree and all Coast Guard training requirements. Following the completion of OCS and commission as a Coast Guard officer, each student will be required to serve on active duty (full time) as an officer for 3 years.

 

Benefits: Full tuition, books and fees paid for two years, monthly salary of approximately $2,000, medical and life insurance, 30 days paid vacation per year, leadership training.

 

ROTC

 

Unlike the other armed services, the Coast Guard does not sponsor an ROTC program. It does, however, sponsor one Junior ROTC ("JROTC") program at the MAST Academy.

 

Chief Warrant Officers

 

Highly qualified enlisted personnel from E-6 through E-9, and with a minimum of eight years of experience, can compete each year for appointment as a Chief Warrant Officer (or CWO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as Chief Warrant Officers (CWO-2) in one of sixteen specialties. Over time Chief Warrant Officers may be promoted to CWO-3 and CWO-4. The ranks of Warrant Officer (WO-1) and CWO-5 are not currently used in the Coast Guard. Chief Warrant Officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant program. If selected, the officer will be promoted to Lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years active duty service as a Warrant Officer or Enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants.

 

Enlisted

 

Newly enlisted personnel are sent to 8 weeks of Basic Training at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May in Cape May, New Jersey.

 

The current nine Recruit Training Objectives are:

 

* Self-discipline

* Military skills

* Marksmanship

* Vocational skills and academics

* Military bearing

* Physical fitness and wellness

* Water survival and swim qualifications

* Esprit de corps

* Core values (Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty)

  

Service Schools

 

Following graduation, most members are sent to their first unit while they await orders to attend advanced training in Class "A" Schools, in their chosen rating, the naval term for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Members who earned high ASVAB scores or who were otherwise guaranteed an "A" School of choice while enlisting can go directly to their "A" School upon graduation from Boot Camp.

 

[edit] The Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy

 

The Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy is located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Charleston, South Carolina, following relocation and merger of the former Law Enforcement School at Yorktown, Virginia, and the former Boarding Team Member School at Petaluma, California.

 

The Academy presents five courses:

 

* Boarding officer

* Boarding team member, which is a small part of the boarding officer course

* Radiation detection course, which is a level II operator coruse

* Vessel inspection class for enforcing Captain of the Port orders.

 

Training ranges from criminal law and the use of force to boarding team member certification to the use of radiation detection equipment. Much of the training is live, using handguns with laser inserts or firing non-lethal rounds.[12]

 

[edit] Petty Officers

 

Petty officers follow career development paths very similar to those of US Navy petty officers.

 

[edit] Chief Petty Officers

 

Enlisted Coast Guard members who have reached the pay grade of E-7, or Chief Petty Officer, must attend the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy at Training Center Petaluma in Petaluma, California, or an equivalent Department of Defense school, in order to be advanced to pay grade E-8. United States Air Force master sergeants, as well as international students representing their respective maritime services, are also eligible to attend the Academy. The basic themes of this school are:

 

* Professionalism

* Leadership

* Communications

* Systems thinking and lifelong learning

  

Equipment

 

The equipment of the USCG consists of thousands of vehicles (boats, ships, helicopters, fixed-winged aircraft, automobiles), communication systems (radio equipment, radio networks, radar, data networks), weapons, infrastructure such as United States Coast Guard Air Stations and local Small Boat Stations, each in a large variety.

 

Main article: Equipment of the United States Coast Guard

 

Symbols

 

Core values

 

The Coast Guard, like the other armed services of the United States, has a set of core values which serve as basic ethical guidelines to Coast Guard members. As listed in the recruit pamphlet, The Helmsman,[13] they are:

 

* Honor: Absolute integrity is our standard. A Coast Guardsman demonstrates honor in all things: never lying, cheating, or stealing. We do the right thing because it is the right thing to do—all the time.

* Respect: We value the dignity and worth of people: whether a stranded boater, an immigrant, or a fellow Coast Guard member; we honor, protect, and assist.

* Devotion to Duty: A Coast Guard member is dedicated to five maritime security roles: Maritime Safety, Maritime Law Enforcement, Marine Environmental Protection, Maritime Mobility and National Defense. We are loyal and accountable to the public trust. We welcome responsibility.

 

Coast Guard Ensign

 

The Coast Guard Ensign (flag) was first flown by the Revenue Cutter Service in 1799 to distinguish revenue cutters from merchant ships. The order stated the Ensign would be "16 perpendicular stripes, alternate red and white, the union of the ensign to be the arms of the United States in a dark blue on a white field." (There were 16 states in the United States at the time).

 

The purpose of the flag is to allow ship captains to easily recognize those vessels having legal authority to stop and board them. This flag is flown only as a symbol of law enforcement authority and is never carried as a parade standard.

 

Coast Guard Standard

 

The Coast Guard Standard is used in parades and carries the battle honors of the U.S. Coast Guard. It was derived from the jack of the Coast Guard ensign which used to fly from the stern of revenue cutters. The emblem is a blue eagle from the coat of arms of the United States on a white field. Above the eagle are the words "UNITED STATES COAST GUARD;" below the eagle is the motto, "SEMPER PARATUS" and the inscription "1790."

 

Racing Stripe

 

The Racing Stripe was designed in 1964 by the industrial design office of Raymond Loewy Associates to give the Coast Guard a distinctive, modern image and was first used in 1967. The symbol is a narrow blue bar, a narrow white stripe between, and a broad red[15] bar with the Coast Guard shield centered. The stripes are canted at a 64 degree angle, coincidentally the year the Racing Stripe was designed. The Stripe has been adopted for the use of other coast guards, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, the Italian Guardia Costiera, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Australian Customs Service. Auxiliary vessels maintained by the Coast Guard also carry the Stripe in inverted colors.

 

[edit] Semper Paratus

 

The official march of the Coast Guard is "Semper Paratus" (Latin for "Always Ready"). An audio clip can be found at [3].

 

Missions

 

The Coast Guard carries out five basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The five roles are:

 

* Maritime safety (including search and rescue)

* Maritime mobility

* maritime security

* National defense

* Protection of natural resources

 

The eleven statutory missions, found in section 888 of the Homeland Security Act are:

 

* Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS)

* Counter Drug Law Enforcement

* Migrant Interdiction

* Other Law Enforcement (foreign fisheries)

* Living Marine Resources (domestic fisheries)

* Marine (maritime) Safety

* Marine (maritime) Environmental Protection

* Ice Operations

* Aids to Navigation (ATON)

* Defense Readiness

* Marine (maritime) Environmental Response

 

The OMEGA navigation system and the LORAN-C transmitters outside the USA were also run by the United States Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard Omega Stations at Lamoure, North Dakota and Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i (Oahu) were both formally decommissioned and shut down on September 30, 1997.

 

[edit] Uniforms

 

In 1972, the current Coast Guard dress blue uniform was introduced for wear by both officers and enlisted personnel; the transition was completed during 1974. (Previously, a U.S. Navy-style uniform with Coast Guard insignia was worn.) Relatively similar in appearance to the old-style U.S. Air Force uniforms, the uniform consists of a blue four-pocket single breasted jacket and trousers in a slightly darker shade. A light-blue button-up shirt with a pointed collar, two front button-flap pockets, "enhanced" shoulder boards for officers, and pin-on collar insignia for Chief Petty Officers and enlisted personnel is worn when in shirt-sleeve order (known as "Tropical Blue Long"). It is similar to the World War II-era uniforms worn by Coast Guard Surfmen. Officer rank insignia parallels that of the U.S. Navy but with the gold Navy "line" star being replaced with the gold Coast Guard Shield and with the Navy blue background color replaced by Coast Guard blue. Enlisted rank insignia is also similar to the Navy with the Coast Guard shield replacing the eagle on collar and cap devices. Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow U. S. Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In a departure from the U. S. Navy conventions, all petty Officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all Chief Petty Officers wear gold. Unlike the US Navy, officers and CPO's do not wear khaki; all personnel wear the same color uniform. See USCG Uniform Regulations [4] for current regulations.

 

Coast Guard officers also have a white dress uniform, typically used for formal parade and change-of-command ceremonies. Chief Petty Officers, Petty Officers, and enlisted rates wear the standard Service Dress Blue uniform for all such ceremonies, except with a white shirt (replacing the standard light-blue). A white belt may be worn for honor guards. A mess dress uniform is worn by members for formal (black tie) evening ceremonies.

 

The current working uniform of a majority of Coast Guard members is the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU). The ODU is similar to the Battle Dress Uniform of other armed services, both in function and style. However, the ODU is in a solid dark blue with no camouflage patterns and does not have lower pockets on the blouse. The ODU is worn with steel-toed boots in most circumstances, but low-cut black or brown boat shoes may be prescribed for certain situations. The former dark blue working uniform has been withdrawn from use by the Coast Guard but may be worn by Auxiliarists until no longer serviceable. There is a second phase of Operational Dress Uniforms currently in the trial phases. This prototype resembles the current Battle Dress blouse, which is worn on the outside, rather than tucked in.

 

Coast Guard members serving in expeditionary combat units such as Port Security Units, Law Enforcement Detachments, and others, wear working operational uniforms that resemble Battle Dress uniforms, complete with "woodland" or "desert" camouflage colors. These units typically serve under, or with, the other armed services in combat theaters, necessitating similar uniforms.

 

Enlisted Coast Guardsmen wear the combination covers for full dress, a garrison cover for Class "B," wear, and a baseball-style cover either embroidered with "U.S. Coast Guard" in gold block lettering or the name of their ship, unit or station in gold, for the ODU uniform. Male and female company commanders (the Coast Guard equivalent of Marine Corps drill instructors) at Training Center Cape May wear the traditional "Smokey the Bear" campaign hat.

 

A recent issue of the Reservist magazine was devoted to a detailed and easy to understand graphical description of all the authorized uniforms.

 

[edit] Issues

 

The Coast Guard faces several issues in the near future.

 

Lack of coverage affects many areas with high maritime traffic. For example, local officials in Scituate, Massachusetts, have complained that there is no permanent Coast Guard station, and the presence of the Coast Guard in winter is vital. One reason for this lack of coverage is the relatively high cost of building storm-proof buildings on coastal property; the Cape Hatteras station was abandoned in 2005 after winter storms wiped out the 12-foot (3.7 m) sand dune serving as its protection from the ocean. Faced with these issues the Coast Guard has contracted with General Dynamics C4 System to provide a complete replacment of their 1970's era radio equipment. Rescue 21 is the United States Coast Guard’s advanced command, control and communications system. Created to improve the ability to assist mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea, the system is currently being installed in stages across the United States. The nation's existing maritime search and rescue (SAR) communications system has been in operation since the early 1970s. Difficult to maintain, increasingly unreliable and prone to coverage gaps, this antiquated system no longer meets the safety needs of America's growing marine traffic. In addition, it is incapable of supporting the Coast Guard's new mission requirements for homeland security, which require close cooperation with Department of Defense agencies as well as federal, state and local law enforcement authorities. Modernizing this system enhances the safety and protection of America's waterways.

 

Lack of strength to meet its assigned missions is being met by a legislated increase in authorized strength from 39,000 to 45,000. In addition, the volunteer Auxiliary is being called to take up more non-combatant missions. However, volunteer coverage does have limits.

 

Aging vessels are another problem, with the Coast Guard still operating some of the oldest naval vessels in the world. In 2005, the Coast Guard terminated contracts to upgrade the 110-foot (33.5 m) Island Class Cutters to 123-foot (37.5 m) cutters because of warping and distortion of the hulls. In late 2006, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, decommissioned all eight 123-foot (37 m) cutters due to dangerous conditions created by the lengthening of the hull- to include compromised watertight integrity. The Coast Guard has, as a result of the failed 110 ft (34 m) conversion, revised production schedules for the Fast Response Cutter (FRC). Of the navies and coast guards of the world's 40 largest navies, the U.S. Coast Guard's is the 38th oldest.[16]

 

Live fire exercises by Coast Guard boat and cutter crews in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes attracted attention in the U.S. and Canada. The Coast Guard had proposed the establishment of 34 locations around the Great Lakes where live fire training using vessel-mounted machine guns were to be conducted periodically throughout the year. The Coast Guard said that these exercises are a critical part of proper crew training in support of the service's multiple missions on the Great Lakes, including law enforcement and anti-terrorism. Those that raised concerns about the firing exercises commented about safety concerns and that the impact on commercial shipping, tourism, recreational boating and the environment may be greater than what the Coast Guard had stated. The Coast Guard took public comment and conducted a series of nine public meetings on this issue. After receiving more than 1,000 comments, mostly opposing the Coast Guard's plan, the Coast Guard announced that they were withdrawing their proposal for target practice on the Great Lakes, although a revised proposal may be made in the future.[17][18][19][20][21]

 

[edit] Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

 

The Deployable Operations Group is a recently formed Coast Guard command. The DOG brings numerous existing deployable law enforcement, tactical and response units under a single command headed by a rear admiral. The planning for such a unit began after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and culminated with its formation on July 20th, 2007. The unit will contain several hundred highly trained Coast Guardsmen. Its missions will include maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism, port security, and pollution response. Full operational capability is planned by summer 2008.[22]

 

[edit] Coast Guard Auxiliary

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

 

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard, established on June 23, 1939. It works within the Coast Guard in carrying out its noncombatant and non-law enforcement missions. As of November 18, 2007 there were 30,074 active Auxiliarists. The Coast Guard has assigned primary responsibility for most recreational boating safety tasks to the Auxiliary, including public boating safety education and voluntary vessel safety checks. In recent history prior to 1997, Auxiliarists were limited to those tasks and on-water patrols supporting recreational boating safety.

 

In 1997, however, new legislation authorized the Auxiliary to participate in any and all Coast Guard missions except military combat and law enforcement. 33 CFR 5.31 states that: Members of the Auxiliary, when assigned to specific duties shall, unless otherwise limited by the Commandant, be vested with the same power and authority, in execution of such duties, as members of the regular Coast Guard assigned to similar duties.

 

Auxiliarists may support the law enforcement mission of the Coast Guard but do not directly participate in it. Auxiliarists and their vessels are not allowed to carry any weapons while serving in any Auxiliary capacity; however, they may serve as scouts, alerting regular Coast Guard units. Auxiliarists use their own vessels (i.e. boats) and aircraft, in carrying out Coast Guard missions, or apply specialized skills such as Web page design or radio watchstanding to assist the Coast Guard. When appropriately trained and qualified, they may serve upon Coast Guard vessels.

 

Auxiliarists undergo one of several levels of background check. For most duties, including those related to recreational boating safety, a simple identity check is sufficient. For some duties in which an Auxiliarist provides direct augmentation of Coast Guard forces, such as tasks related to port security, a more in-depth background check is required. Occasionally an Auxiliarist will need to obtain a security clearance through the Coast Guard in order to have access to classified information in the course of assigned tasking.

 

The basic unit of the Auxiliary is the Flotilla, which has at least 10 members and may have as many as 100. Five Flotillas in a geographical area form a Division. There are several divisions in each Coast Guard District. The Auxiliary has a leadership and management structure of elected officers, including Flotilla Commanders, Division Captains, and District Commodores, Atlantic and Pacific Area Commodores, and a national Commodore. However, legally, each Auxiliarist has the same 'rank', Auxiliarist.

 

In 2005, the Coast Guard transitioned to a geographical Sector organization. Correspondingly, a position of 'Sector Auxiliary Coordinator' was established. The Sector Auxiliary Coordinator is responsible for service by Auxiliarists directly to a Sector, including augmentation of Coast Guard Active Duty and Reserve forces when requested. Such augmentation is also referred to as force multiplication.

 

Auxiliarists wear the similar uniforms as Coast Guard officers with modified officers' insignia based on their office: the stripes on uniforms are silver, and metal insignia bear a red or blue "A" in the center. Unlike their counterparts in the Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliarists come under direct orders of the Coast Guard.

 

[edit] Coast Guard Reserve

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Reserve

 

The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the military reserve force of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Reserve was founded on February 19, 1941. Like most military reserve units, Coast Guard reservists normally train on a schedule of one weekend a month and an additional 15 days each summer, although many work other days of the week, and often more frequently than just two days a month. Unlike the other armed services, many Coast Guard reservists possess the same training and qualifications as their active duty counterparts, and as such, can be found augmenting active duty Coast Guard units every day, rather than just serving in a unit made up exclusively of reservists.

 

During the Vietnam War and shortly thereafter, the Coast Guard considered abandoning the Reserve program, but the force was instead reoriented into force augmentation, where its principal focus was not just reserve operations, but to add to the readiness and mission execution of every day active duty personnel.

 

Since September 11, 2001, over 8,500 Reservists have been activated and served on tours of active duty. Coast Guard Port Security Units are entirely staffed with Reservists, except for five to seven active duty personnel. Additionally, most of the staffing the Coast Guard provides to Naval Coastal Warfare units are reservists.

 

The Reserve is managed by the Director of Reserve and Training, RDML Cynthia A. Coogan.

 

[edit] Medals and honors

 

See also: Awards and decorations of the United States military

 

One Coast Guardsman, Douglas Albert Munro, has earned the Medal of Honor, the highest military award of the United States.[23]

 

Six Coast Guardsmen have earned the Navy Cross and numerous men and women have earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.

 

The highest peacetime decoration awarded within the Coast Guard is the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal; prior to the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, the highest peacetime decoration was the Department of Transportation Distinguished Service Medal. The highest unit award available is the Presidential Unit Citation.

 

In wartime, members of the Coast Guard are eligible to receive the U.S. Navy version of the Medal of Honor. A Coast Guard Medal of Honor is authorized but has not yet been developed or issued.

 

In May 2006, at the Change of Command ceremony when Admiral Thad Allen took over as Commandant, President George W. Bush awarded the entire Coast Guard, including the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation with hurricane device, for its efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

 

[edit] Organizations

 

[edit] Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl

 

Those who have piloted or flown in U.S. Coast Guard aircraft under official flight orders may join the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl ("Flying Since the World was Flat").

 

[edit] USCGA Alumni Association

 

The United States Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association is devoted to providing service to and promoting fellowship among all U.S. Coast Guard Academy alumni and members of the Association.

 

Membership Types: Academy graduates and those who have attended the Academy are eligible for Regular membership; all others interested in the Academy and its Corps of Cadets are eligible for Associate membership. (Website)

 

[edit] Coast Guard CW Operators Association

 

The Coast Guard CW Operators Association (CGCWOA) is a membership organization comprised primarily of former members of the United States Coast Guard who held the enlisted rating of Radioman (RM) or Telecommunications Specialist (TC), and who employed International Morse Code (CW) in their routine communications duties on Coast Guard cutters and at shore stations. (Website)

 

[edit] Publications

 

The Coast Guard maintains a library of publications for public use as well as publications for Coast Guard and Auxiliary use.

 

Coast Guard, COMDTPUB P5720.2, is the regular publication for Coast Guardsmen.

 

[edit] Notable Coast Guardsmen and others associated with the USCG

 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

 

* Derroll Adams, folk musician

* Nick Adams, actor

* Beau Bridges, actor

* Lloyd Bridges, actor

* Sid Caesar, comedian

* Lou Carnesecca, basketball coach, St. John's University

* Howard Coble, U.S. Congressman, North Carolina

* Chris Cooper, actor

* Richard Cromwell, actor

* Walter Cronkite, newscaster

* William D. Delahunt, U.S. Congressman, Massachusetts

* Jack Dempsey, professional boxer

* Buddy Ebsen (1908–2003), actor, comedian, dancer

* Blake Edwards, writer, director, producer

* Edwin D. Eshleman (1920-1985), former U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania

* Arthur Fiedler, conductor

* Arthur A. Fontaine, captain, college sailing national champion, ISCA Hall of Fame

* Charles Gibson, newscaster

* Arthur Godfrey, entertainer

* Otto Graham, professional football player and coach

* Alex Haley, author of Roots and Coast Guard chief journalist

* Weldon Hill, pseudonym of William R. Scott, author of novel Onionhead, based on his World War II Coast Guard service

* William Hopper, actor

* Tab Hunter, actor

* Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., Vice Admiral, Deputy Director FEMA

* Steve Knight, Vocalist for Flipsyde

* Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, athlete, actor

* Jack Kramer, tennis professional

* Jacob Lawrence, artist

* Victor Mature, actor

* Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor

* Frank Murkowski, former governor and former U.S. Senator, Alaska

* Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator, Georgia

* Arnold Palmer, professional golfer

* Ed Parker, martial artist

* Claiborne Pell, former U.S. Senator, Rhode Island

* Cesar Romero, actor

* Sloan Wilson, writer

* Dorothy C. Stratton first director of the SPARS

* Gene Taylor, U.S. Congressman, Mississippi

* Ted Turner, businessman

* Rudy Vallee, entertainer

* Tom Waits, musician and actor

* Thornton Wilder, writer

* Gig Young, actor

* Popeye, Cartoon character, had tattoos and uniforms signifying he was in the USCG. "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" shows him under a USCG sign.

 

[edit] Popular culture

 

The Coast Guard has been featured in several television series, such as Baywatch, CSI: Miami, and Deadliest Catch; and in film. A comedy, Onionhead, portrayed Andy Griffith as a Coast Guard recruit. The 2000 film The Perfect Storm depicted the rescue operations of the USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166) as one of its subplots. Special Counter-Drugs helicopters known as HITRONs are seen in action on Bad Boys II. In the 2005 family comedy Yours, Mine, and Ours, Dennis Quaid plays a fictional U.S. Coast Guard Academy superintendent who marries a character played by Rene Russo and together have 18 children. The 2006 film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, was based on the training and operation of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Additionally, a Coast Guard cutter and its commander and crew figured prominently in Tom Clancy's book Clear and Present Danger. The 2008 fourth season of the television series Lost erroneously depicted air crash survivors being transported to Hawaii in a Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft, however since the survivors had landed on the Indonesian island of Sumba (In the Indian Ocean thousands of miles from any Coast Guard district), arrangements for their repatriation would have been the business of the US State Department.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3770/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder.

 

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1904-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian, and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.

 

Lily (also Lili) Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France (north of Bordeaux), on 10 July 1904 (according to her birth certificate). She was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain, and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opéra de Paris. By the age of 16 she was performing in popular music-halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris under the name Lily Deslys. She also worked as a photographic model. Then a life of mundanity started. When in Biarritz, the Spanish King wanted to be presented to that 'damita dal maillo rojo' (that little lady in the red bathing costume). Lily liked the compliment so much that she kept her nickname and appeared under the name Damita del Rojo. In 1921 she won a beauty contest by the journal Cinémagazine. The French company Société Cinématographique offered her a role in the silent film La belle au bois dormant/Sleeping Beauty (Stéphane Passet, 1922). She was praised for her beauty and freshness in this film. Soon other French films followed, including the serial L'Empereur des pauvres/The Emperor of the Poor (René Leprince, 1922), La Voyante/The Clairvoyant (Leon Abrams, Louis Mercanton, 1923) with the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, and the drama Corsica (René Carrère, Vanina Casalonga, 1923).

 

Lily Damita went to Vienna to act next to Max Linder in Der Zirkuskönig but left the role to Vilma Banky. Instead, she played in Mihaly Kertesz' (the later Michael Curtiz) Das Spielzeug von Paris/Red Heels (1925), which knew a huge international success. At the time, she was reportedly engaged to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, grandson of the ex-Kaiser. Count Kolowrat, the owner of the Viennese Sascha Film, made her a fabulous offer, partly on the instigation of the prince: directors to choose by herself, scripts written especially for her, and ways to turn her into one of Europe's biggest film stars. Thus happened. Lily's films may not have reached canonical film history but they were huge hits at the box office. They included Fiaker Nr. 13/Cab Nr. 13 (1926) and Der goldene Schmetterling/The Golden Butterfly (1926), both directed by Michael Curtiz. The latter film, based on a story by P.G. Wodehouse and largely shot in London, probably contained one of Lily's best performances. She and Curtiz married in 1925 and divorced a year later. Damita continued appearing in European productions directed by G. W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe/One Does Not Play with Love; 1926), British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927), and Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin/The Amateur Adventure; 1928).

 

After several Hollywood offers, it was MGM mogul Sam Goldwyn who took Lily Damita to California to perform in The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929) with Ronald Colman, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929, Charles Brabin), which were rather tedious. Things went better when Lily played a siren of the tropics in The Cock-Eyed World (Raoul Walsh, 1929) opposite Victor McLaglen. In the meantime, sound cinema had arrived. Lily didn't master English too well, so she was put in French versions of American films before dubbing became normal. She was cast with the young Gary Cooper in the early western Fighting Caravans (Otto Brower, David Burton, 1931), and with the young Laurence Olivier in Friends and Lovers (Victor Schertzinger, 1931). She returned to France and played a young adventuress in On a Vole un Homme/Man Stolen (1933) from the great Max Ophüls. According to Hal Erickson at All Movie, this lighthearted romance was "gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations". On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. In 1935 Lily married an unknown actor who would become Hollywood's biggest box office attraction, Errol Flynn. She reportedly retired without complaints, but their marriage was rather tempestuous, hit the press, and finished in divorce in 1942. In 1970, their only son Sean Flynn, a 28 years old photojournalist for Time Magazine and a dead ringer for his father, went missing in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He was captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas. In spite of the huge investments by Lily, he was never found and in 1984 he was declared legally dead. Lily married three times, the last time to retired dairy owner Allen Loomis (1962-1983). All three marriages ended in a divorce. In 1994, Lily Damita died of Alzheimer's disease in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 89. In March 2010 media reported that remains, that may be those of Sean Flynn (1941-1970), have been found in a mass grave in Cambodia. Tests were scheduled to be conducted on the jaw and femur bone found and were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh. However, the results, released 30 June 2010, by JPAC, showed the remains were not those of Sean Flynn.

 

Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Helen Kennedy (Daily News), C. Parker (Starlet Showcase), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210.

 

American producer, director, writer, film and TV actor Luke Perry died on 4 March 2019 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California, from complications of a stroke he suffered last week. Luke had a prolific acting career on TV and in films. He became a household name as Dylan McKay on the hit coming-of-age series Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-1995; 1998-2000). He also starred as Fred Andrews on the drama series Riverdale (2017). He was 52.

 

Luke Perry was born Coy Luther Perry III in Mansfield, Ohio in, 1966. His parents were Ann Bennett, a homemaker, and Coy Luther Perry Jr., a steelworker. He was raised in the small community of Fredericktown. Perry moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting soon after graduating from high school. There he worked a series of odd jobs as he tried to break into the business. After appearing in the music video Be Chrool to Your Scuel for the band Twisted Sister alongside Alice Cooper, he scored an appearance as Ned Bates on the soap opera Loving (1987-1988), which required him to move to New York City. Perry then landed a role on another soap, this time portraying Kenny on Another World (1988-1989). But it was his role as seemingly bad boy Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 in 1990 which made Perry a popular teen idol. Perry had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but the role eventually went to Ian Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. Perry's character was not an original cast member of the show, and he was first featured in the show's second episode. He was originally intended to only appear in one story arc, for one or two episodes. Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but Aaron Spelling felt differently and gave Perry a bigger role during the first two years until the network was won over. The actor famously left the show in Season 6, seeking to break away from the Dylan character, but returned in Season 9.

 

Luke Perry also appeared in the cinema. In 1992, he won a supportingco-starring in the film version of Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Fran Rubel Kuzui, 1992), with Kristy Swanson. It follows a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. It was a moderate success at the box office but received mixed reception from critics.The film was taken in a different direction from the one its writer Joss Whedon intended, and five years later, he created the darker and acclaimed TV series of the same name. Perry played roles in such films as Terminal Bliss (Jordan Alan, 1992), the biographical drama 8 Seconds (John G. Avildsen, 1994) about rodeo legend Lane Frost, and the crime drama Normal Life (John McNaughton, 1996) with Ashley Judd. He had a small role in Luc Besson's Science-Fiction adventure The Fifth Element (1997) with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich. Perry guest-starred as gay characters in the sitcoms Spin City (1997) and Will & Grace (2005); he appeared as Carter Heywood's ex-boyfriend who subsequently fell in love with a woman on Spin City and played a geeky birdwatcher who caught the eye of Jack McFarland on Will & Grace.

 

Luke Perry made his Broadway debut in 2001 as Brad in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show. But it was television that showed the actor the most love. From 2001 to 2002, he starred in the prison drama Oz, as the Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier. From 2002 to 2004 he acted in the post-apocalyptic TV series Jeremiah. And in 2006 Perry co-starred in the ensemble drama series Windfall, about a group of friends who win the lottery. In 2008, Perry guest-starred as rapist Noah Sibert in the television series Law & Order: SVU, and also guest-starred as cult leader Benjamin Cyrus in an episode of Criminal Minds. From 2017 until his death, Perry took on the role as Archie Andrews' dad Fred in the hit drama Riverdale, based on the characters from the Archie comics. Perry also played a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Charles Manson film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In 1993, Perry married actress Rachel 'Minnie' Sharp and the couple welcomed son Jack and daughter Sophie. They divorced a decade later. At the time of his death, Perry was engaged to Wendy Madison Bauer.

 

Sources: Lida Respers France (CNN), Westerns... All' Italiana, Wikipedia and IMDb.

Spanish postcard by C.M.B., no. 199. Photo: Warner Bros.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 405. Photo: Warner Bros, 1953.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Newstead House is a large mid-nineteenth century house located on a ridge of parkland overlooking the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River at its confluence with Breakfast Creek, and is four kilometres north-east of the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD). The core of the house is the oldest known surviving residence in Brisbane, established by Patrick Leslie in 1846. The house has undergone numerous structural changes, particularly between 1846 and 1867. It was the first heritage property in Queensland to be protected by an Act of Parliament. Newstead Park was acquired by Brisbane City Council and formally opened in 1921. It was designed according to landscaping principles of the early 20th century and has retained the layout and plantings initiated by the Superintendent of Parks Harry Moore from 1915.

 

John Oxley explored the Brisbane River in 1823 and 1824 and recommended the area around the confluence with Breakfast Creek would be an ideal place to establish a settlement. The local indigenous people had been given the name of the ‘Duke of York's Clan' by European residents and the area was known as ‘Booroodabin', meaning 'place of oaks'.

 

Following the 1839 closure of the penal settlement, Brisbane town was surveyed and offered for sale from 1842. Land on the banks of the Brisbane River near Breakfast Creek was purchased by brothers-in-law Patrick Leslie and John Clements Wickham in April 1845. Leslie purchased Eastern Suburban Allotments (ESA) 63 and 64 (sold as ESA 13 at the time), while Wickham purchased ESA 62.

 

Captain John Clements Wickham served in the Royal Navy under Philip Parker King (son of NSW Governor Philip Gidley King). He settled in New South Wales in 1841 where he married Anna, the daughter of Hannibal Macarthur, nephew of John Macarthur who had established a merino flock at Camden Park. Patrick Leslie had married another daughter of Hannibal's, Catherine (Kate) in 1840. Philip Gidley King (son of Philip Parker King) married another sister, Elizabeth Macarthur (his cousin) in 1843, while George Leslie married a fourth sister, Emmeline Macarthur in 1848. Wickham was appointed Police Magistrate for Moreton Bay in January 1843, living in the Commandant's Cottage in George Street.

 

Patrick Leslie, the second son of William Leslie, ninth laird of Warthill and eighth of Folla in Scotland, came to Australia in 1834 to work on his uncle Walter Davidson's property Collaroi in the Upper Hunter. To gain experience, he went to work on John Macarthur's property at Camden, and by 1839 moved to Philip Parker Kings' property Dunheved near Penrith.

 

Explorer Allan Cunningham told him of the Darling Downs to the north that he had discovered in 1827. Patrick, his younger brothers George and Walter and their sheep, headed north in 1840 selecting runs which became Toolburra and Canning Downs Stations. Still financially indebted to his uncle, Leslie was eventually assisted by his father to clear some debts and purchased two parcels of Brisbane riverfront land in 1845 in his father's name.

 

By the end of 1845, Patrick Leslie was sourcing building materials for a house he was planning for himself and his wife Kate and son Willy. He named it ‘Newstead', and the family moved in between April and July 1846. Patrick Leslie wrote to his father providing a detailed description of the house, as well as floor plans and a site plan. Constructed from brick, stone and timber, the original house was two storeyed, with living rooms and bedrooms on the upper floor and servants' rooms, cellars and kitchen on the lower floor. A steep staircase in what is now the entry vestibule connected the two floors, and other utilitarian structures were located to the rear (western side) of the house. An 8ft (2.4m) wide verandah on the first floor eastern side, adjoining the sitting room and main bedroom, faced the best views of the river.

 

He wrote a lengthy description of the setting of the house and the plants grown in the garden, including Kate's garden on the southern side of the house. There was a well, milking yard, and cow pen, and a road following a gully to the west. In the same letter, he told his father that he had purchased a run adjacent to Canning Downs in his son's name, and kept his stock on his brother's property. The family had barely settled into the house at Newstead when he decided to return to the Downs. The Leslies departed Newstead on the 10th of October 1846, leaving it under the management of two employees.

 

In June 1847 Newstead House was sold to Captain John Clements Wickham for £1000, although not formally transferred by deed until the 1st of February 1854. The sale was a mutually beneficial arrangement as John and Anna Wickham were about to build on their adjoining lot at Newstead.

 

Wickham undertook extensions in late 1847 when they moved in. A sketch dated 1848 by Owen Stanley, shows the building was light in colour, (indicating it had been rendered) with verandahs extended to the north and south with the bedrooms extended onto the verandahs.

 

In April 1853, Captain Wickham was appointed Government Resident for Moreton Bay, having served in the role since January that year. The house then became the unofficial government house. A servants' wing adjacent to the house is evident in a painting produced in July 1853.

 

In April 1854 the Governor General, Sir Charles Fitz Roy, came to Moreton Bay on an official visit, staying at Newstead. Following a public dinner, Wickham arranged for a meeting on the subject of separation from New South Wales, between the Governor General and key citizens. While Wickham supported separation meetings, the actual event led to the abolition of his position. The new Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, arrived in Brisbane on the 10th of December 1859. Wickham left the new colony of Queensland in January 1860 and returned to England.

 

Newstead House was offered for sale from September 1862, having been occupied by the Attorney General, Ratcliffe Pring, from February 1860. By December 1862 George and Jane Harris advertised for servants for Newstead, presumably indicating their occupation of the house. George Harris, a member of the Legislative Council of Queensland, had married Jane Thorn, daughter of Member of the Legislative Assembly and businessman George Thorn, in Ipswich in 1860. George Harris' brother John had initiated a mercantile and shipping business in Brisbane in the 1840s. George joined the business in 1848 and the firm J & G Harris was formed in April 1853, with John as an agent in London. The Harris brothers established a store in Short Street at North Quay and operated a fleet of ships, a fellmongery, tannery, and a boot and harness factory. The town of Harrisville, south of Ipswich, evolved from J & G Harris's cotton plantation and gin. George Harris commissioned architect James Cowlishaw to design Harris Terrace in George Street in 1865 - 1867. He also called for tenders for repairs and additions to Newstead House in 1865 and 1867.

 

George Harris had acquired the Newstead property (Lots 62, 63, and 65) in 1867, mortgaged for the sum of £4000 to the trustees of the estate of JC Wickham, having previously leased the property. The repairs and additions undertaken by Cowlishaw in 1865 and 1867 led to a major re-design of the house, building four new rooms on both the northern and southern sides. Each of these extensions included new double fireplaces and chimneys. The staircase to the lower floor was removed and replaced by a trapdoor in the verandah floor. A new entrance was created by building a retaining wall which supported the extended front verandah. Fill was deposited to create a gently sloping lawn on the western side, taking water away from the basement structure. Sandstone steps were built, providing a new western entrance to the house. This made a basement of the ground floor of the Leslie structure. The verandahs were extended to 10 feet (3m) in width, provided with railings, new posts, gutters and rainwater heads. The roof shingles were replaced with slate, although sheet metal was used on the verandahs. A marble floor was installed in the entry foyer and marble mantelpieces built into the formal rooms. A substantial new kitchen and servants' quarters were also built during the Harris era.

 

George Harris arranged for a new certificate of title under the Real Property Act in May 1874. The property was then mortgaged for 10 years to James Taylor of Toowoomba for £10,000. Further building work was required when the stables burnt down in November 1873. Harris declared his business to be insolvent in August 1876 and both Newstead and Harris Terrace were transferred to James Taylor by December 1876.

 

The Harris's continued to lease the property for many years. Their financial position may have been buoyed by the distribution of the estate of Jane's father, George Thorn, who died in April 1876, with extensive property interests including the Claremont Homestead, land in Ipswich and Cleveland (Thornlands), and Normanby Station which were offered for sale in 1878 - 1879. James Taylor subdivided much of the estate into housing lots, retaining 11 acres (4.5ha) on which Newstead House was located. The estate was advertised for sale in July 1878.

 

A further lease for Newstead House was drawn up to George Harris in March 1887, which was surrendered in November the following year. Liquidators were called in to wind-up the affairs of J and G Harris. An attempt was made to sell the property, now reduced to 4.5 acres (8200m2) in December 1888. The newspaper advertisement referred to the main house as being built of stone and brick with a slate roof, comprising an extra large drawing room, dining room, breakfast room, principal bedroom, library, three bedrooms and bathroom with 10ft (3m) verandahs all round; a wooden wing with a slate roof comprising four large bedrooms, a workroom, two storerooms and bathroom; a kitchen wing built of brick with a slate roof incorporating a kitchen, pantry, large storeroom, two servants' rooms, scullery and man's room; and an outhouse consisting of a four stall stable, man's room, harness room, large coach house and laundry. Also on the property was another four stall stable, fowl house, landing jetty, boathouse, bathing house, two 20,000 gallon (90,000 litre) underground tanks and various other tanks; and a magnificent flower, fruit and vegetable garden.

 

Further subdivision of the surrounding land into suburban lots occurred in 1888 and in 1890, after it was transferred to the Federal Building Land and Investment Society Ltd. An auction sale of all of the Harris's furnishings and belongings was held on the 22nd of April 1890, and George and Jane departed the following day.

 

Newstead House played host to numerous important visitors over the years, including high ranking members of the clergy, the Governor General, and royalty, as well as hosting large events such as weddings, dinners, balls and boating events on the river, particularly during the occupation of the Harris's. Daughter Evelyn Harris married RG Casey, manager of her grandfather George Thorn's former property, Normanby Station. The 1888 wedding was followed by a lavish reception at Newstead House. Her son Richard, born in 1890, was Governor of Bengal from 1944 - 1946 and in 1960 was appointed life peer to the House of Lords, the Upper House of the United Kingdom. Lord Casey became Governor General of Australia in 1965 to 1969.

 

The departure of the Harris family was the end of an era for the house, in that no subsequent owners or tenants occupied the dwelling for any substantial length of time. The sale of furnishings of a tenant in March 1896 indicated that the substantial servants' quarters and kitchen of the Harris era had been replaced with the building now referred to as the Annex. It included a kitchen, pantry laundry and possibly one other servants' room. The property was owned by Lysaght Brothers and Company for several years from August 1896. Lysaghts had plans for a wire netting and galvanised iron factory on the site that were never realised. Newstead was briefly run as a boarding house in 1906.

 

Newstead House was sold in October 1908 to Caroline Amelia Heaslop, wife of Thomas Heaslop, a wholesale grocery merchant, and by November 1909 a major refurbishment had been undertaken. The house continued to be leased to tenants. The Council of the City of Brisbane began negotiations with Mrs Heaslop to purchase the property in 1915 and it was formally acquired by the Council of the City of Brisbane in 1918.

 

The Council had been keen to acquire this prime riverfront site for parkland, and were influenced by the international town planning movement of the time. The Queensland Town Planning Association had formed in March 1915, advocating the need for more metropolitan parks, particularly along the river. In 1918, the property that comprised most of the original ESA 63 including Newstead House was transferred to the Council. This was later devested to the Brisbane City Council (BCC) in 1933 under section 30 of The City of Brisbane Act 1924. A number of options for the use of the house were proposed, including availing the property to returned soldiers as a hostel. Parks Superintendent Henry (Harry) Moore moved into Newstead House in late 1917 or early 1918. The slate roof was replaced at this time, with red painted concrete tiles.

 

Harry Moore was appointed as Superintendent of Parks in September 1912, initially based at Bowen Park which had recently been vacated by the Acclimatisation Society. From 1909 Moore had been curator of Canterbury Park in Eaglehawk, near Bendigo in Victoria. He had a distinctive style of park layout with a preference for circular garden beds. He preferred the fluidity of gently curving walkways radiating from a few entrance points. His influence can be seen in one remnant section of Canterbury Park, as well as in his other works in Queensland including New Farm Park, Bowen Park and Gympie Memorial Park. He is also well known for using dry stone walls to create raised garden beds, examples of which can be found in Centenary Place, Yeronga Memorial Park, and in the streets of Kangaroo Point and Spring Hill. For shade trees, he favoured a bold mix of palms, pines, and dramatic flowering species such as poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) and jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia).

 

Moore's appointment occurred during the time of the nascent town planning movement which, among other things, promoted the building of roads in relation to the contours of the land. This is evident in Moore's path layout in Newstead Park. His design included the removal of all riverbank vegetation and the creation of stone revetment walls, removal of old fences, construction of paths, path lighting, and planting additional trees in front of the house. He planted about 150 trees, palms, and shrubs initially and then prepared trenching and beds for 700 roses. Newstead Park was officially opened in January 1921.

 

In 1923, the centenary of the arrival of John Oxley was celebrated in Newstead Park with a band for entertainment. The band rotunda appears to have evolved from a temporary platform provided in 1921, becoming a bandstand by 1925. A World War I trophy cannon was unveiled in the park, near the rotunda, in November 1922. In 1924 the Council announced further resumptions of contiguous land. Twelve buildings were auctioned for removal, from Newstead Avenue, Breakfast Creek Road, and Newstead Drive, in March 1926. Stone entrance pillars with lamps mounted on top were built in November 1927. The park also features a large draughts board installed in 1929. A newspaper report in 1929 discussed Harry Moore's ten years of work in the park. Mature trees he retained included bunya pines, Moreton Bay ash, silky oaks, white Cyprus and the Flacourtia ramoutchi of East India. He also planted avenues of Queen Palms, here and in other parks and streets of Brisbane, and was responsible for introducing the distinctive tropical character to Brisbane's open spaces. The large fig tree (Ficus infectoria) within the circular drive dates to the occupation by the Wickhams, and appears to be the oldest tree remaining on the property. Moore and his family continued to live in Newstead House until late 1938.

 

In 1927 the BCC Tramways Department announced plans to build a substation at Newstead Park. Brisbane Tramways had evolved from a private company which established horse drawn trams in 1885 and a subsequent company delivering electric trams from 1895. The first power station for trams was built in Countess Street in 1897. Various arrangements with the City Electric Light Company continued to supply power until the Brisbane Tramways Trust was initiated by an Act of Parliament in 1922. After the establishment of Greater Brisbane City Council in 1925, which included the acquisition of the Brisbane Tramways Trust, there was an expansion of electricity supply and public transport.

 

Substation No. 5 in Newstead Park was designed by BCC architect and construction engineer Roy Rusden Ogg, and opened in June 1928. Ogg designed at least 10 of the city's substations up until 1936, as well as the first two stages of the New Farm Powerhouse, which provided electricity to the city's tram network. A total of 10 tramways substations: Russell Street South Brisbane (1927); Ballow Street, Fortitude Valley (1928); Logan Road, Woolloongabba (1928); Petrie Terrace (1928); Windsor (1927); Paddington (1930); Norman Park (1935); Kedron Park Road, Kedron (1935); and Ipswich Road, Annerley (1936), were built through to the mid-1930s, seven of which survive. Many had additions enabling equipment upgrades and a further 5 were built after World War II. Only Newstead and Petrie Terrace substations retain the BT (Brisbane Tramways) logo. To help integrate the industrial substation buildings into their often residential settings, Ogg used neo-classical detailing to ornament the facades.

 

By the late 1920s Brisbane City Council could not foresee a potential use for Newstead House except as a museum. In September 1931 the Queensland Historical Society (founded 1913) approached the Lord Mayor, Alderman Greene, proposing that Newstead House be made available as an historical library and technological museum. In May 1932, the Society was given use of 3 rooms, although Harry Moore still occupied the house until late 1938. Between 1934 and 1938 a number of proposals were made in relation to the use of the house as a museum. In March 1938 the Queensland Historical Society appointed a special committee to prepare a draft scheme for the creation of a Trust to control the proposed museum.

 

In February 1939, the Finance Committee of BCC recommended that Newstead House be placed under trust for the use of the Historical Society of Queensland. The Trust would administer the Newstead House Trust Fund and receive donations, bequests, legacies, and grants. The Newstead House Trust Act came into force on the 1st of March 1940, with the State Treasurer, Mr Cooper as chairman, and the Lord Mayor, Alderman Jones, and the President of the Historical Society, Mr Fergus McMaster, as trustees. In preparation for its role as a museum, fire proofing of two rooms and repairs to the house were undertaken to the specification of architects R Coutts and Sons.

 

From late 1942 through to the end of World War II, Newstead House was occupied by the Photographic Detachment of the 832nd Signal Service Company, Signal Section of the Unites States Army Services of Supply. The house was used as a barracks for the men, while nearby Cintra House housed the photographic laboratory. A gun emplacement was located on the riverfront beyond the bandstand.

 

In 1950, the Annex was transferred to the Trust and a new certificate of title issued. These are now lots 1 & 2 on RP58673 (house and annex footprints).

 

The Queensland Women's Historical Association, formed in April 1950, held its inaugural meeting at Newstead House. In late 1951 the Association was given use of the old Breakfast Room for housing records and equipment. It also involved itself with renovation of the house. The Association acquired its own quarters in 1966, purchasing a house known as ‘Beverly Wood' (later reverting to its original name ‘Miegunyah') in 1967.

 

From 1968 through to the early 1970s, a major renovation of Newstead House was managed by the State Works Department, facilitating its transformation into a house museum. The verandah timbers were taken up allowing the replacement of defective joists. Major earthworks were undertaken around the house at this time and the timber bathroom to the annex and the annex chimney were removed. Works on the basement included removal of plaster from brickwork, some re-pointing of brick walls, damp proofing and paving the floor. The house was opened to the public in February 1971. The works have been ongoing, including re-roofing with concrete tiles in 1977.

 

David Gibson was appointed as curator in August 1974, a position he retained until 2011. He initiated the ‘Friends of Newstead' committee to assist in fundraising for the development and interpretation of the house. The committee utilised the celebration of the house's 130th anniversary in 1976 to embark on a fundraising campaign to begin renovation and interpretation of the dining room and gentleman's library. Volunteers each devoted one Sunday a month, serving refreshments to visitors, and had raised $6500 by mid 1977. The Royal Historical Society relocated to the former Commissariat Store in William Street in October 1981.

 

After the discontinuation of the Brisbane tramway system in 1969 the substation at Newstead Park, along with Brisbane's other tramway substations, became redundant to Council's needs. The substation was transferred to the Newstead House Board of Trustees in June 1977 and work commenced on its conversion into a resource centre. The first phase of the project included the removal of the electrical machinery, rewiring, re-design of the entry door, laying of new carpet and the repainting of the interior. Later a mezzanine level was installed to provide an office area. The Newstead House Resource Centre officially opened in the former tramways substation on the 29th of September 1978.

 

In August 1987 the Queensland Government proposed that Newstead House and Park be absorbed by the Queensland Museum citing the advantages of placing the house and surrounding land under common control. This proved to be a controversial proposal which never eventuated, although its administration was ultimately transferred from the Arts portfolio to that of the Department of Environment and Heritage in 1990.

 

Newstead Park was managed by Harry Oakman, the new BCC Superintendent of Parks, from 1945. One of his first tasks was rejuvenating the many parks occupied by the military during the war years. He re-designed Newstead Park along Breakfast Creek following the realignment of the road for the 1959 construction of a new bridge. He designed and planted shrubberies on either side of the main drive, and filled in gaps in the line of palms with new palms of the same species as those flanking the Moore pathways.

 

A number of structures and features have been added to the park over the years. A brick tool shed was built behind the substation in 1939. The American Memorial, a Helidon sandstone pillar (10.6m high) with an American eagle on top, was carved by sculptor Tom Farrell, of PJ Lowther and Sons. It was unveiled on the 3rd of May 1952 by Governor Sir John Lavarack, marking the 10th anniversary of the American-Australian naval and air victory in the Coral Sea Battle. The early band rotunda and World War I cannon were removed to allow for the new memorial. This was the first American war memorial in Australia. The second, similar in design, was opened in February 1954 by the Queen, in Kings Avenue Canberra.

 

Another significant inclusion is the sandstone mounted tide gauge donated by the British India Steam Navigation Company to celebrate Queensland's Centenary in 1959. The stone housing was built by PJ Lowther and Son and the project unveiled in August 1961.

 

A flagpole was donated to the Historical Society in August 1956 and it was erected near to the house in September, although taken down and reinstated during the renovations of the late 1960s. It flies a replica of the Queensland Ensign which was first unfurled to honour the arrival of Governor Bowen in 1859. On the house wall outside the main bedroom is a plaque honouring Captain John Clements Wickham, donated by his grandson in 1933.

 

Near the American Memorial, is Lyndon B Johnson Place, unveiled during the American President's visit in 1966. A sundial was installed to the west of the front entry to the house, commemorating the generosity of the Rotary Club of Newstead in providing floodlighting to the river side of the house. It was relocated from a park in Holland Park to Newstead in 1977. A memorial to the Australian Navy Corvettes was established in 1988, near Lyndon B Johnson Place. On the eastern side of the property, near to the site of the former Newstead Wharves, is the Oxley Memorial, constructed in 1983. There is a Service to Vietnam memorial, a Submariner's memorial, the Prisoners from Rakuyo Memorial and a memorial to Charles Willers, the founder of the first Rostrum Club. The park also contains a number of mature trees planted in honour of various people with links to the historical societies.

 

Newstead Park and its facilities continue to be managed by Brisbane City Council. The lawn and carriageway providing access to the house was re-designed in 1987, initially paved in decomposed granite. The Friends funded paving to this area in 1987, due to damage to the floors from granite stones caught in visitor's shoes. A gazebo was built in 1984 near the site of the original band rotunda. A drinking fountain was donated in 1985 by the Brisbane Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, who also organised for the relocation of a pissoir from Merthyr Road, New Farm, to a site between the house and the substation in 1987.

 

In 2006, the Friends of Newstead employed a conservation architect to refurbish the main bedroom of Newstead House. During the site works, the removal of non-significant elements such as the 1970s wallpaper and picture rail revealed: the outline of the 1865 wall that once divided the space into two rooms; fragments of early wallpaper; and the early ceiling which was sheeted over circa 1940. The evidence gathered as part of the investigation informed the re-decoration of the room. The ceiling and rose were painted to approximate early colours found and the walls were papered from skirting to cornice with commercially available wallpaper similar to the original.

 

Equitable access to the house was provided in 2013 with the installation of a disabled parking bay, and a lift and accessible toilets within the Annex, thereby ensuring the continued enjoyment of Newstead House by all Queenslanders. The property is valued for its historic significance as well as being a site for ritual events and celebrations, such as weddings. The house has appeared in numerous tourism promotions, travel guides, and television programs over the decades, indicating its landmark status in Brisbane.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkarten-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 211. Photo: Paramount. Paulette Goddard in Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947).

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th-century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949, and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest-starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

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British Real Photograph postcard, no. 251.

 

At 19, legendary film actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) became an overnight star as 'Slim' opposite Humphrey Bogart in her memorable film debut in Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1942). She became known for her distinctive husky voice and glamorous looks in Film Noirs such as The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), and the delicious comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. After a 50-year career, she received a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997).

 

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 in The Bronx in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a salesman and her mother as a secretary. They divorced when she was five and she rarely saw her father after that. Following a study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village in 1942. Bacall gained nationwide attention by posing for a 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. This photo was spotted by Nancy Gross "Slim" Hawks, the wife of film director Howard Hawks, and prompted Hawks to put her under personal contract. He wanted to "create" a star from fresh, raw material and changed her name to Lauren Bacall. For her screen debut, Hawks cast Bacall as Marie Browning opposite Humphrey Bogart in the thriller To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The young actress was so nervous that she walked around with her chin pressed against her collarbone to keep from shaking. As a result, she had to glance upward every time she spoke, an affectation which came across as sexy and alluring, earning Bacall the nickname 'The Look'. She also spoke in a deep, throaty manner, effectively obscuring the fact that she was only 19-years-old. Thanks to the diligence of Hawks and his crew - and the actress' unique delivery of such lines as "If you want anything, just whistle..." - Bacall found herself lauded as the most sensational newcomer of 1944. She also found herself in love with Humphrey Bogart, whom she subsequently married." Bogie and Bacall co-starred in three more crime films, The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946), Dark Passage (Delmer Daves, 1947), and Key Largo (John GHuston, 1948), also with Edward G. Robinson, and Lionel Barrymore. These films increased the actress' popularity, but also led critics to suggest that she was incapable of carrying a picture on her own. Bacall's disappointing solo turn opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (Herman Shumlin, 1945) seemed to confirm this.

 

Lauren Bacall was a quick study and good listener, and in 1950, she starred without her husband in Bright Leaf (Michael Curtiz, 1950), a drama set in 1894 with Gary Cooper. Before long she was turning in more first-rate performances in such films as Young Man With a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950) opposite Kirk Douglas and Doris Day, and the comedy How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Her first comedy was a smash hit. Bogart's death in 1957 after a long and painful bout with throat cancer left Lauren Bacall personally devastated. At the funeral, she put a whistle in his coffin. It was a reference to the famous line she says to him in their first film together To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow." In the tradition of her show-must-go-on husband, she continued to perform to the best of her ability in films such as the sophisticated comedy Designing Woman (Vincente Minnelli, 1957) with Gregory Peck, and the drama The Gift of Love (Jean Negulesco, 1958) opposite Robert Stack. The latter turned out to be a big disappointment. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Undaunted, Lauren moved back to New York City and appeared in several Broadway plays to huge critical acclaim. She was enjoying acting before live audiences and the audiences, in turn, enjoyed her fine performances."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from the big screen for five years, but she returned in 1964 to appear in the thriller Shock Treatment (Denis Sanders, 1964) with Stuart Whitman and Carol Lynley, and the comedy Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Henry Fonda. In 1966, Lauren starred in the crime film Harper (Jack Smight, 1966) with Paul Newman and Julie Harris. In the late 1960s, after Bacall's second marriage to another hard-case actor, Jason Robards Jr., she received only a handful of negligible film roles and all but dropped out of filmmaking. In 1970, Bacall made a triumphant comeback in the stage production 'Applause', a musical adaptation of All About Eve. For her role as grand dame Margo Channing, originally played by Bette Davis in the film version, Bacall won a Tony Award. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Her sultry-vixen persona long in the past, Bacall spent the '70s playing variations on her worldly, resourceful Applause role, sometimes merely being decorative (Murder on the Orient Express, 1974), but most often delivering class-A performances (The Shootist, 1976). After playing the quasi-autobiographical part of a legendary, outspoken Broadway actress in 1981's The Fan, she spent the next ten years portraying Lauren Bacall -- and no one did it better."

 

Lauren Bacall was away from films again, this time for seven years. In the interim, she again appeared on the stages of Broadway. In 1981, she won her second Tony for 'Woman of the Year', based on the film Woman of the Year (George Stevens, 1942) with Katharine Hepburn. When she returned, it was for the filming of the Agatha Christie mystery Appointment with Death (Michael Winner, 1988) with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, and Mr. North (Danny Huston, 1988), starring Anthony Edwards and Robert Mitchum. Then followed the Stephen King adaptation Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990) and several made for television film. In one of these, The Portrait (Arthur Penn, 1993, she and her Designing Woman co-star Gregory Peck played a still-amorous elderly couple. Once more, Bacall proved here that she was a superb actress and not merely a "professional personality". In 1994, she paid tribute to her first role as 'Slim' in To Have and Have Not with a character called 'Slim Chrysler' in Prêt-à-Porter (Robert Altman, 1994), released to theatres fifty years after the premiere of To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944). During the filming of The Mirror Has Two Faces (Barbra Streisand, 1996), Lauren Bacall traveled to France to accept a special César Award for her lifetime achievement in film. For her role in Mirror, which cast her as Barbra Streisand's mother, Bacall earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination. She continued to work on a number of projects into the next decade, including Diamonds (John Asher, 1999), in which she appeared alongside Kirk Douglas, with whom she last co-starred in the romantic drama Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950). In the new century, she worked twice with internationally respected filmmaker Lars von Trier, appearing in his films Dogville and Manderlay. She was in the Nicole Kidman film Birth and appeared in the documentary Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Bacall won an Honorary Oscar in 2010. Her autobiography, 'By Myself and Then Some', won a National Book Award in 1980. Lauren Bacall died in 2014 in New York, at age 89. She was the mother of producer Stephen H. Bogart (1949), Leslie Bogart (1952), and actor Sam Robards (1961).

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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Italian postcard by Stab. Del Duca, Milano. Photo: Columbia. Jean Arthur in If You Could Only Cook (William A. Seiter, 1935).

 

American actress Jean Arthur (1900-1991) was known for her distinctive voice: sometimes high-pitched, sometimes husky. She played willful, uncompromising career women in classic comedies by Frank Capra and George Stevens.

 

Jean Arthur was born Gladys Georgianna Greene in upstate New York, 20 miles south of the Canadian border. She had her year of birth cited variously as 1900, 1905 and 1908. Her place of birth has often been cited as New York City. She made her screen debut in a bit part in Cameo Kirby (John Ford, 1923), starring John Gilbert. Then, she spent several years playing unremarkable roles as ingénue or leading lady in comedy shorts and low-budget Westerns. With the arrival of sound she was able to appear in films whose quality was but slightly improved over that of her past silents. She had to contend, for example, with the consummately evil likes of Dr. Fu Manchu, played by future 'Charlie Chan' Warner Oland. Her career bloomed with her appearance in Ford's The Whole Town's Talking (John Ford, 1935), in which she played opposite Edward G. Robinson, the latter in a dual role as a notorious gangster and his lookalike, a befuddled, well-meaning clerk. Here is where her wholesomeness and flair for farcical comedy began making themselves plain. The turning point in her career came when she was chosen by Frank Capra to star with Gary Cooper in the classic social comedy Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra, 1936). Here she rescues the hero - thus herself becoming heroine! - from rapacious human vultures who are scheming to separate him from his wealth. In Capra's masterpiece Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939), she again rescues a besieged hero (James Stewart), protecting him from a band of manipulative and cynical politicians and their cronies and again she ends up as a heroine of sorts.

 

Jean Arhur received a Best Actress Academy Award nominationor her performance in George Stevens' The More the Merrier (1943), in which she starred with Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn, but the award went to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). Her career began waning toward the end of the 1940s. She starred with Marlene Dietrich and John Lund in Billy Wilder's fluff about post-World War II Berlin, A Foreign Affair (Billy Wilder, 1948). Thereafter, the actress would return to the screen but once, again for George Stevens but not in comedy. She starred with Alan Ladd and Van Heflin in Stevens' Western Shane (George Stevens, 1953), playing the wife of a besieged settler (Heflin) who accepts help from a nomadic gunman (Ladd) in the settler's effort to protect his farm. It was her silver-screen swansong. She would provide one more opportunity for a mass audience to appreciate her craft. In 1966 she starred as a witty and sophisticated lawyer, Patricia Marshall, a widow, in the TV series The Jean Arthur Show (1966). Her time was apparently past, however; the show ran for only 11 weeks. Jean Arthur died of heart failure in 1991 in Carmel, California. She was married twice. Her first marriage to Julian Aster Ancker in 1928 was annulled after 1 day. In 1932, she married producer Frank Ross. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1949.

 

Sources: Bill Takacs (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

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French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 267. Photo: Paramount, 1950.

 

American actress Paulette Goddard (1905-1990) started her career as a fashion model and as a Ziegfeld Girl in several Broadway shows. In the 1940s, she became a major star of Paramount Pictures. She was Charlie Chaplin's leading lady in Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (1943). Her husbands included Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque.

 

Paulette Goddard was born Pauline Marion Levy in Whitestone Landing, Long Island, New York. Sources variously cite her year of birth as 1911 and 1914, and the place as Whitestone Landing, New York, USA. However, municipal employees in Ronco, Switzerland, where she died, gave her birth year of record as 1905. Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy, the son of a prosperous Jewish cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard, who was of Episcopalian English heritage. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother, and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous. To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others. An important figure in her childhood was her great uncle, Charles Goddard, the owner of the American Druggists Syndicate. He played a central role in Goddard's career, introducing her to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her stage debut as a dancer in Ziegfeld's summer revue, 'No Foolin' (1926), which was also the first time that she used the stage name Paulette Goddard. Ziegfeld hired her for another musical, 'Rio Rita', which opened in February 1927, but she left the show after only three weeks to appear in the play 'The Unconquerable Male', produced by Archie Selwyn. It was, however, a flop and closed after only three days following its premiere in Atlantic City. Soon after the play closed, Goddard was introduced to the much older lumber tycoon Edgar James, president of the Southern Lumber Company, by Charles Goddard. She married him in June 1927 in Rye, New York, but the marriage was short. Goddard was granted a divorce in Reno, Nevada, in 1929, receiving a divorce settlement of $375,000. Tony Fontana at IMDb: "A stunning natural beauty, Paulette could mesmerize any man she met, a fact she was well aware of. "

 

Paulette Goddard first visited Hollywood in 1929, when she appeared as an uncredited extra in two films, the Laurel and Hardy short film Berth Marks (Lewis R. Foster, 1929), and George Fitzmaurice's drama The Locked Door (1929). Following her divorce, she briefly visited Europe before returning to Hollywood in late 1930 with her mother. Her second attempt at acting was no more successful than the first, as she landed work only as an extra. In 1930, she signed her first film contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn to appear as a Goldwyn Girl in Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930) with Eddie Cantor. She also appeared in City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931) with Gary Cooper, Ladies of the Big House (Marion Gering, 1931) starring Sylvia Sidney, and The Girl Habit (Edward F. Cline, 1931) for Paramount, and The Mouthpiece (James Flood, Elliott Nugent, 1932) for Warners. Goldwyn and she did not get along, and she began working for Hal Roach Studios, appearing in a string of uncredited supporting roles for the next four years, including Young Ironsides (James Parrott, 1932) with Charley Chase, and Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) with Laurel and Hardy. One of her bigger roles in that period was as a blond 'Goldwyn Girl' in the Eddie Cantor film The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932). Goldwyn also used Goddard in The Bowery (Raoul Walsh, 1933) with Wallace Beery, Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933), and Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, 1934) with Eddie Cantor. The year she signed with Goldwyn, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. They were reportedly married in secret in Canton, China, in June 1936. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his box office hit, Modern Times (1936). Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship". Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (Richard Wallace, 1938) before Selznick lent her to MGM to appear in two films. The first of these, Dramatic School (Robert B. Sinclair, 1938), co-starred Luise Rainer, but the film received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience. Her next film, The Women (George Cukor, 1939), was a success. With an all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell, the film's supporting role of Miriam Aarons was played by Goddard. Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. fun."

 

David O' Selznick was pleased with Paulette Goddard's performances, particularly her work in The Young in Heart, and considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, and she was the first actress given a Technicolor screen test. After he was introduced to Vivien Leigh, he wrote to his wife that Leigh was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh". After a series of tests with Leigh that pleased both Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that had been scheduled for Goddard, and the part was given to Leigh. Goddard's next film, The Cat and the Canary (Elliott Nugent, 1939) with Bob Hope, was a turning point in the careers of both actors. The success of the film established her as a genuine star. Her performance won her a ten-year contract with Paramount Studios, which was one of the premier studios of the day. They promptly were re-teamed in The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940), again a huge hit. Goddard starred with Chaplin again in his film The Great Dictator (1940). In 1942, Goddard was granted a Mexican divorce from Chaplin. The couple split amicably, with Chaplin agreeing to a generous settlement. At Paramount, Goddard was used by Cecil B. De Mille in the action epic North West Mounted Police (1940), playing the second female lead. She was Fred Astaire's leading lady in the acclaimed musical Second Chorus/Swing it (H.C. Potter, 1940), where she met actor Burgess Meredith, her third husband. Goddard made Pot o' Gold (George Marshall, 1941), a comedy with James Stewart, then supported Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941), from a script by Wilder and Brackett, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Goddard was teamed with Hope for a third time in Nothing But the Truth (Elliott Nugent, 1942), then made The Lady Has Plans (Sidney Lanfield, 1942), a comedy with Ray Milland. She co-starred with Milland and John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942), playing the lead, a Scarlett O'Hara type character. The film was a huge hit. Goddard did The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942) with Fred MacMurray. One of her better-remembered film appearances was in the variety musical Star Spangled Rhythm (George Marshall, 1943), in which she sang "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang" with Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

 

Paulette Goddard received one Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for So Proudly We Hail! (Mark Sandrich, 1943) opposite Claudette Colbert and Veronica Lake. She didn't win, but it solidified her as a top draw. Goddard was teamed with Fred MacMurray in the delightful comedy Standing Room Only (Sidney Lanfield, 1944) and Sonny Tufts in I Love a Soldier (Mark Sandrich, 1944). In May 1944, she married Burgess Meredith at David O. Selznick's home in Beverly Hills. Goddard's most successful film was Kitty (Mitchell Leisen, 1945), in which she played the title role. Denny Jackson/Robert Sieger at IMDb: "The film was a hit with moviegoers, as she played an ordinary English woman transformed into a duchess. The film was filled with plenty of comedy, dramatic and romantic scenes that appealed to virtually everyone." In The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Goddard starred with husband Burgess Meredith under the direction of Jean Renoir. It was made for United Artists. At Paramount she did Suddenly It's Spring (Mitchell Leisen, 1947) with Fred MacMurray, and De Mille's 18th century romantic drama Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947), with Cary Grant. During the Hollywood Blacklist, when she and blacklisted husband Meredith were mobbed by a baying crowd screaming "Communists!" on their way to a premiere, Goddard is said to have turned to her husband and said, "Shall I roll down the window and hit them with my diamonds, Bugsy?" In 1947, she made An Ideal Husband in Britain for Alexander Korda, and was accompanied on a publicity trip to Brussels by Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, niece of Sir Winston Churchill and future wife of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. She divorced Meredith in June 1949, and also left Paramount. In 1949, she formed Monterey Pictures with John Steinbeck. Goddard starred in Anna Lucasta (Irving Rapper, 1949), then went to Mexico for The Torch (Emilio Fernández, 1950). In England, she was in Babes in Bagdad (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1952), then she went to Hollywood for Vice Squad (Arnold Laven, 1953) with Edward G. Robinson, and Charge of the Lancers (William Castle, 1954) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Her last starring role was in the English production A Stranger Came Home/The Unholy Four (Terence Fisher, 1954).

 

Paulette Goddard began appearing in summer stock and on television, guest starring on episodes of Sherlock Holmes, an adaptation of The Women, this time playing the role of Sylvia Fowler, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. She was in an episode of Adventures in Paradise and a TV version of The Phantom. After her marriage to Erich Maria Remarque in 1958, Goddard largely retired from acting and moved to Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. In 1964, she attempted a comeback in films with a supporting role in the Italian film Gli indifferenti/Time of Indifference (Francesco Maselli, 1964), starring Claudia Cardinale and Rod Steiger, which was her last feature film. After Remarque's death in 1970, she made one last attempt at acting, when she accepted a small role in an episode of the TV series The Snoop Sisters, The Female Instinct (Leonards Stern, 1972) with Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. Upon Remarque's death, Goddard inherited much of his money and several important properties across Europe, including a wealth of contemporary art, which augmented her own long-standing collection. During this period, her talent at accumulating wealth became a byword among the old Hollywood élite. During the 1980s, she became a fairly well known (and highly visible) socialite in New York City, appearing covered with jewels at many high-profile cultural functions with several well-known men, including Andy Warhol, with whom she sustained a friendship for many years until his death in 1987. Paulette Goddard underwent invasive treatment for breast cancer in 1975, successfully by all accounts. In 1990, she died at her home in Switzerland from heart failure while under respiratory support due to emphysema, She is buried in Ronco Village Cemetery, next to Remarque and her mother. Goddard had no children. She became a stepmother to Charles Chaplin's two sons, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin, while she and Charlie were married. In his memoirs, 'My Father Charlie Chaplin' (1960), Charles Jr. describes her as a lovely, caring and intelligent woman throughout the book. In October 1944, she suffered the miscarriage of a son with Burgess Meredith. Goddard, whose own formal education did not go beyond high school, bequeathed US$20 million to New York University (NYU) in New York City.

 

Sources: Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson / Robert Sieger (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

youtu.be/wO9XjCM6tB8?t=3s Trailer

Additional Lobby Cards in Set www.flickr.com/photos/morbius19/sets/72157641173484945/

  

1964 was a better year for sci-fi and Columbia's First Men in the Moon (FMM) was the year's big-budget treat. HG Wells' 1899 novel was adapted to a more modern retelling by Nigel Kneal (of Quatermass fame), but is still fairly faithful to the original. Two men (and a woman) travel to the moon in 1899 and encounter a civilization of insect-like beings. FMM also features the animation of Ray Harryhausen. He gives the usual monster (moon cows), but brings the selenites to life.

Synopsis

A modern (1960s) UN moon mission lands, only to discover a little British flag and a paper claiming the moon for Queen Victoria. On earth, they trace the names to an old Arnold Bedford in a nursing home. He tells his story as flashback. He rented a cottage next door to an eccentric inventor. Cavor created Cavorite, a substance which blocks gravity. Bedford sees the money-making potential, so attaches himself to the work. Cavor, however, wants to explore the moon. To that end, he built a sphere. Bedford agrees to go with him, thinking of gold on the moon. Bedford's fiancee, Kate, is pulled aboard at the last minute. Amid some mild antics en route, they arrive on the moon. Cavor and Bedford explore, finding a labyrinth of tunnels and little insect people. They return to the surface, but the sphere (with Kate inside) has been taken by the selenites. They re-enter the tunnels in search, but become separated when a giant "moon cow" caterpillar beast attacks them. The selenite scientists study Cavor and Kate, eventually learning english. The selenites are disassembling the sphere for study. Cavor is given an audience with the Grand Lunar. He tells the Grand Lunar about earth and men. Cavor's description of war alarms the Grand Lunar, who decrees that Cavor must remain on the moon to prevent more defective earthmen make the trip. Meanwhile, Bedford and Kate have reassembled the sphere, but need Cavor to get the shutters to work. Bedford interrupts the Grand Lunar audience, causing a fight. Cavor and Bedford flee to the sphere. Cavor fixes it, but refuses to return to earth. Bedford and Kate return. End flashback. Old Bedford sums up his tale. TV reports that the astronauts on the moon find abandoned underground cities. Quick conjecture is that some virus wiped out the inhabitants. Bedford quips that Cavor did have a bad cold. The End.

 

There is much to like in FMM. Lionel Jeffries almost steals the show with his highly colorful portrayal of Cavor. The matt art, scenery, sets and models are well done. Harryhausen's work doesn't dominate, but enhances the alien-world feel.

 

There is more of Wells' original anti-imperialism message than anything of the Cold War. The portrayed fact that the first moon landing was an international effort shows a bit of optimism.

Nigel Kneal's screenplay tries to maintain much of Wells' original story, but a few concessions had to be made to make a good movie for mid-60s audiences. Rather than modernize the tale, Kneal framed the Victorian story as a flashback within modern bookends. Kneal omitted the frozen atmosphere and fungal plant life, (as modern audiences would not buy that). He kept a simplified version of the selenite civilization, and the moon cows. He also kept Bedford returning and Cavor remaining.

Kneal's script pulls in elements from a couple of Wells' other stories. He repeats the trope of the aliens taking the protagonist's machine underground, which Wells had in The Time Machine. Kneal borrows from Wells' War of the Worlds to have the aliens all killed off by a simple earth germ. In Wells' novel, the selenites are not wiped out. Modern folk knew the moon was lifeless, so a handy plague was needed.

Embedded in Wells' novel, and echoed somewhat in Kneal's screenplay, was stratified, dehumanizing industrial society. A cute counterfoil to that and commentary on unionized culture, was the scene at Cavor's house where the three workers argue about whose job it was to stoke the furnace. The metal worker complained that since he wasn't a stoker (by profession), it therefore wasn't his job. The gardener agreed that he wasn't a stoker either. The butler also agreed that he was a butler, not a stoker, so none of them stoked, but all went out for a pint.

In Wells' War of the Words, imperialist humans get a taste of their own medicine from the über-imperialist Martians. In FFM, imperialist humans go to someone else's planet. In both the novel and the screenplay, the two protagonists embody classic British imperialism. Cavor is the benevolent explorer, missionary and claimer of places. Bedford is the exploiter capitalist, who puts little value on the lives of the "brownies". This condensed duo of earth-ish imperialism plops down amid a greater power. Cavor and Bedford play out the traditional arguments (benevolence vs. conquest) but Bedford's view prevails and he goes about smashing their cities. In Kneal's script, imperialist man manages to completely ruins things -- even if only by accident (Cavor's cold germs). This has several earth history parallels too.

It was fairly common in 19th century sci-fi (e.g. Wells and Verne) to have only men as the protagonists. Post-WWII Hollywood was unable to resist inserting a woman into the character mix. They usually served as simple cheesecake, or love-triangle fodder, or the damel to be rescued. In FFM, Kate is a bit less flagrantly the intruded woman. She is useful to keep up dialogue while Cavor and Bedford are separated. She is a occasionally the damsel, but not obnoxiously so. (Heck, she blasts some selenites with a shotgun). We can be thankful the producers resisted including a cute animal in Disney fashion.

 

Bottom line? FMM is a classic that no one should miss -- even viewers who don't normally go in for sci-fi. The story is thoughtful, the acting good, and the production very good.

While many contemporary science fiction and fantasy films find their inspiration in graphic novels and comic books, H.G. Wells is still the gold standard when it comes to an indisputable master of the genre. More than 62 years after his death, the film industry continues to steal from and rework ideas and storylines from his popular fantasy novels. Most of them have been enormously successful (The War of the Worlds [1953 & 2005], The Time Machine [1960 & 2002], The Invisible Man [1932], Island of Lost Souls [1933]). In fact, one of the first silent films to become an international success was French filmmaker Georges Melies's 1902 adaptation of Wells' First Men in the Moon, released as Le Voyage dans la lune.

  

TCM review by Jeff Stafford

 

In Wells' original 1901 novel, the story, set in the rural village of Kent, focused on an eccentric scientist, Cavor, conducting anti-gravity experiments on a man-made substance called 'Cavorite,' and his neighbor, Mr. Bedford, a struggling, debt-ridden playwright. Enlisting Bedford's help, Cavor eventually succeeds in proving the "gravitational opacity" of cavorite and together the two men depart for the Moon in a glass-lined steel sphere powered by Cavor's invention. After successfully landing on the lunar surface and exploring the terrain, Cavor and Bedford are captured by moon men Selenites and imprisoned. Bedford manages to escape, and believing that Cavor has been killed, he locates their stolen sphere and returns to Earth. Once he is back, Bedford publishes an account of his adventures and learns from a Dutch scientist experimenting with wireless waves that messages are being sent from the moon by Cavor. It appears that Bedford's former neighbor has learned to live and communicate with the Selenites but eventually Cavor's messages become incoherent and then abruptly stop. The story ends with Bedford assuming that the Selenites silenced Cavor because they were afraid of further Earth expeditions to the moon.

Georges Melies's loose 1902 adaptation of Wells' First Men in the Moon condenses the story into a brief running time of barely eleven minutes but in 1919, Gaumont studio attempted a longer feature version, directed by J.L.V. Leigh, which added a female character as the love interest. It is now considered a lost film. No one else attempted to film Wells' story until the early sixties when screenwriter Nigel Kneale, stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, and director Nathan Juran were brought together by producer Charles Schneer.

After securing the rights from Frank Wells, son of the famous author, Schneer approached Columbia Pictures with the project. Despite their initial reluctance, Schneer's previous successes for them - 20 Million Miles to Earth [1957], The 7th Voyage of Sinbad [1958], Jason and the Argonauts [1963] convinced them to finance First Men in the Moon [1964]. Kneale, who had penned The Quatermass Experiment, a highly influential science fiction series on BBC-TV, updated Wells's original story to include a clever framing device set in present times in which a United Nations space mission to the moon discovers evidence of a British expedition in 1899, during the reign of Queen Victoria. Kneale also expanded the role of the female love interest who was first introduced in the 1919 version. Martha Hyer was cast in the latter role with Lionel Jeffries and Edward Judd being tapped to play Cavot and Bedford, respectively.

In the book Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life, the special effects master describes some of the difficulties of filming First Men in the Moon. "Along with numerous other tasks, I was also faced with the design basics for a whole alien civilization. Because the Selenites were to be insect-like, I decided that all doors and apertures were to be hexagonal, a common structure in the insect world. Whether it was scientifically accurate was secondary to the consideration that it should look realistic, be practical and above all spectacular. These basics were relatively straightforward, but when it came to broader aspects of the story that included tunnels, lunar landscapes, lens complexes, oxygen machines and the palace of the Grand Lunar, the budget prevented any of them from being built as full sets, so I designed them as miniatures and incorporated the actors with the aid of traveling mattes. For example, the huge bubbling vats that produced the oxygen were three- or four-foot high miniatures. However, these design headaches were nothing compared to Charles [Schneer] and Columbia Pictures announcing that the film, if possible, should be photographed in widescreen to give it an added attraction."

Filmed in the anamorphic process known as "Dynamation," in which live action and stop-motion animation can be combined via rear-projection and split-screen techniques, First Men in the Moon proved to be more restrictive and cost-prohibitive for Harryhausen on a creative level. As a result, his famous stop-motion work was only highlighted in three key sequences the Selenites in their high tech laboratories, the giant mooncalf and the Grand Lunar.

Most of the live-action cinematography took place at Shepperton Studios where a full-sized section of the moon's surface was constructed on a sound stage for the framing sequence and for the arrival and departure of Cavor's sphere from the lunar surface. NASA served as technical advisors on the film and the blueprints for their own Lunar module aided Harryhausen tremendously in designing the entire U.N. expedition sequence; it would also serve as a dry run for NASA which would stage a real moon walk for the entire world on television on July 20, 1969.

Less successful was the design of the Selenites. Harryhausen said, "I have never been keen on using 'men in suits' as animated creatures, but several scenes called for masses of smaller 'worker' Selenites, which would have taken an eternity to animate. So we had to resort to using children in suits. I designed a suit made into twenty-five moulded latex costumes with reinforced sections. Although they were never really convincing, mainly because the children's arms were not spindly enough to match the animated Selenites, the low-key lighting allowed Jerry [a nickname for director Nathan Juran] to use the suits with reasonable success."

Despite the many technical frustrations he experienced while working on First Men in the Moon, Harryhausen also enjoyed some aspects of it. "Some of my fondest memories during production," he said, "were the surprise visits of several personalities. The first was Frank Wells, son of H.G. Sadly, I only met him briefly, but he showed great enthusiasm for the design and animation, and we talked about his father. Another visit was by one of Hollywood's greatest directors, William Wyler. He was shooting a film on another stage, and although he wasn't there very long, I did manage to talk with him, and he seemed intrigued at what we were doing. Furthermore, when British performer William Rushton was unable to turn up for the part of the writ server, we unexpectedly secured the services of one of the world's top actors. Lionel [Jeffries] persuaded Peter Finch, who happened to be shooting The Pumpkin Eater (1964) on the next stage, to guest in the role. To save time, Lionel wrote out Finch's lines on the back of the summons paper, which he delivered with enormous enjoyment."

 

When First Men in the Moon opened theatrically, it was treated by most critics as a children's film and not as a bona-fide sci-fi thriller in the style of Wells' The War of the Worlds or The Time Machine. Howard Thompson of The New York Times dismissed it, writing, "Only the most indulgent youngsters should derive much stimulation let alone fun from the tedious, heavy-handed science-fiction vehicle that arrived yesterday from England..." The Variety review was more positive and reflected the film's general reception, calling it "an exploiteer's dream. Family audiences should flock to the wickets. It is an astute blend of comedy, occasional thrills and special effects work. Film is a good example of the kind of fare that television cannot hope to match in the foreseeable future."

Moviegoers did not, however, flock to see First Men in the Moon as they had previous Harryhausen ventures such as Jason and the Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Part of the problem may have been the film's emphasis on comedy instead of suspense or action-adventure and many reviewers noted that the whimsical tone neutralized any potential excitement. The Hollywood Reporter, in fact, proclaimed it "the first space fantasy comedy." Harryhausen was also working with a different composer this time instead of Bernard Herrmann, who was unavailable. While Laurie Johnson's score is atmospheric and evocative of its setting, it lacked the dynamic range and intensity that Herrmann's music brought to such Harryhausen films as The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) and Mysterious Island (1961), among others.

 

Harryhausen also admits that "...the poster Columbia came up with really didn't help to sell it. It was too childish in its attempts to point out that it was 'in' in the Moon, not 'on.'" Yet people who avoided the movie missed a visual treat, brimming with rich Victorian-era art direction, futuristic set designs reflecting the Selenites's world and unusual special effects. "Personally," Harryhausen stated, "I believe it is one of the most faithful adaptations of Wells' novels, but perhaps the time was not right for such a film, or perhaps the real moon landings were too close. Hopefully, posterity will look upon it with kinder eyes."

 

Producer: Charles H. Schneer

Director: Nathan Juran

Screenplay: Nigel Kneale, Jan Read; H.G. Wells (story)

Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper

Art Direction: John Blezard

Music: Laurie Johnson

Film Editing: Maurice Rootes

Cast: Edward Judd (Arnold Bedford), Martha Hyer (Katherine 'Kate' Callender), Lionel Jeffries (Joseph Cavor), Miles Malleson (Dymchurch Registrar), Norman Bird (Stuart), Gladys Henson (nursing home matron), Hugh McDermott (Richard Challis).

C-103m.

  

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1175.

 

English-American Freddie Bartholomew (1924-1992), was one of the most famous child actors in film history. Born in London, he emigrated for the title role of MGM's David Copperfield (1935) to the United States He became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films such as Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and Captains Courageous (1937).

 

Frederick Cecil Bartholomew was born in Harlesden, London, in 1924. He was the son of Lilian May (Clarke) and Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew. He was abandoned by his alcoholic parents when he was a baby. From age three, he grew up in the town of Warminster under the care of his unmarried aunt Millicent. A precocious lad, Freddie was reciting and performing on stage at three years of age and was soon singing and dancing as well. By age six he had appeared in his first film, a short called Toyland (Alexander Oumansky, 1930). Three other British film appearances and the recommendation of his teacher Italia Conti led him to be cast by MGM in the lavishly produced adaptation of Charles Dickens's The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (George Cukor, 1935), as the title character. It resulted in a seven-year MGM contract and a move to Hollywood with his aunt. The illustrious, star-studded and highly successful David Copperfield (George Cukor, 1935) made Freddie an overnight sensation, and he went on to star in a succession of high-quality films through 1937, including Anna Karenina (Clarence Brown, 1935) with Greta Garbo, Professional Soldier (Tay Garnett, 1935), the riveting Little Lord Fauntleroy (John Cromwell, 1936), Lloyds of London (Henry King, 1936), and The Devil Is a Sissy (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936) with Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney. Freddie's biggest success was Captains Courageous (Victor Fleming, 1937), opposite Spencer Tracy. Following the success of Little Lord Fauntleroy (John Cromwell, 1936), Freddie's birth parents, who were strangers to him, stepped in and attempted for seven years to gain custody of him and his fortune. His aunt Millicent attempted to offset these legal expenses and payouts by demanding a raise in Freddie's MGM salary in 1937. Freddie was protected by the so-called "Coogan Law," which was supposed to prevent parents from stealing the earnings of child performers, but every time she filed suit, he was forced to expend money from the trust fund defending against her, and after a half-dozen or more times, his trust was very much depleted. Another slew of court cases ensued, this time over the MGM contract, and Freddie missed a critical year's work and some golden film opportunities. By the time he resumed acting work in 1938, he was well into his teens, and audiences grew less interested in literary period pieces as World War II erupted in Europe. Following Kidnapped (Alfred L. Werker, 1938), many of his ten remaining films through 1942 were knock-offs or juvenile military films, and only two were for MGM. The best of the films after Kidnapped (Alfred L. Werker, 1938) were Lord Jeff (Sam Wood, 1938), Listen, Darling (Edwin L. Marin, 1938) with Judy Garland, Swiss Family Robinson (Edward Ludwig, 1940), and Tom Brown's School Days (Robert Stevenson, 1940). His salary soared to $2,500 a week making him filmdom's highest paid child star after Shirley Temple.

 

|n 1944, at the age of 20, Freddie Bartholomew was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force, assigned as an aircraft mechanic, and while doing repairs that year on a bomber engine, he fell from a scaffold and broke his back. He spent a year in traction at a G.I. hospital and was given a medical discharge in 1945, seemingly recovered. Unknown to himself and all but a tiny handful of those closest to him, however, he had been damaged psychologically by the injury and the recovery period. and American citizenship. The additional time away from the screen had not done him any favours, though, and efforts to revive his film career were unsuccessful. He tried to resume his career with the low-budget PRC feature The Town Went Wild, never realizing that he was deeply mentally ill. When that film failed to revive his movie career he turned to the stage, and his one effort at performing in a play, in Los Angeles, was ignored by everyone but the critics, who hated it; his mental condition was exacerbated by the tone and venom of their reviews. Worse still, he ended up marrying the publicist for the production, Maely Daniele, a Russian immigrant who was trying to escape deportation and needed the protection of the American citizenship that Bartholomew had been granted through his military service. Aunt Millicent left for England when Freddie married Daniele in 1946 against her wishes. At one point, with all but a tiny bit of his money spent, the couple was living in a car parked on the streets of Brooklyn. It was in those bad years that he made another attempt at film work, playing himself in Sepia Cinderella (Arthur H. Leonard, 1947). Freddie toured a few months in Australia doing nightclub singing and piano, but when he returned to the U.S. in 1949 he switched to television, making a gradual move from performer to host to director, at New York station WPIX. He also made one final big-screen appearance, portraying a priest in St. Benny the Dip (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1951), a strange, whimsical drama shot on the Lower East Side of New York. In 1954, re-married to TV cookbook author Aileen Paul, and he moved to Benton & Bowles advertising agency, as a television director and producer. He remarked at the time that the millions he had earned as a child had been spent mostly on lawsuits, many of which involved headline court battles between his parents and his aunt for custody of young Freddie and his money. "I was drained dry," he said. He became vice president of television programming in 1964, directing and producing several prominent long-running soap operas, including As the World Turns and Search for Tomorrow. Bartholomew retired due to emphysema by the late 1980s, and eventually moved with his third wife Elizabeth to Florida, where he died in Sarasota in 1992, but not before being filmed in several interview segments for the lengthy documentary, MGM: When the Lion Roars (Frank Martin, 1992). He had two children with Aileen Paul, Kathleen Millicent Bartholomew (1956) and Frederick R. Bartholomew (1958). Composer Jesse Zuretti is his grandson.

 

Sources: Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

French postcard in the Entr'acte series by Éditions Asphodèle, Mâcon, no. 001/06. Charles Laughton and Sally Jane Bruce on the set of The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955). Caption: Sally Jane Bruce, star of The Night of the Hunter, on Charles Laughton's lap, learns about framing.

 

Portly, versatile British-American stage and film actor Charles Laughton (1899–1962) was often type-cast for arrogant, unscrupulous characters. He was one of the most popular actors of the 1930s and 1940s and gave some of his greatest performances as Nero, Henry VIII, Mr. Barrett, Inspector Javert, Captain Bligh, Rembrandt, and Quasimodo. Laughton was also a screenwriter, producer, and one-time director.

 

Charles Laughton was born to a wealthy hotel-owning family in Scarborough, England, in 1899. He was the son of Robert Laughton and his wife Elizabeth Conlon, who was a devout Roman Catholic. They ran the Victoria Hotel, a well-known retreat for the middle class. The eldest of three brothers, Laughton, and his siblings thrived in the spacious hotel, always finding new places to play. He attended Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit school, in Lancashire, England. Laughton was assigned the role of a portly innkeeper in the school’s production of The Private Secretary. Even though the role was a minor one, he loved the opportunity to let out his artistic flair. In 1917, just 18 he was sent onto the battlefields of Europe. He joined the war at its conclusion but nonetheless suffered not only a gas attack but also some deep mental scars. He started work in the family hotel business while participating in amateur theatricals in Scarborough. Finally, he was allowed by his family to become a drama student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1925, and he received the gold medal. Laughton made his stage début in 1926 at the Barnes Theatre, as Osip in Gogol's comedy '' The Government Inspector', in which he also appeared at the London Gaiety Theatre in May. In the following years, he appeared in many West End plays. Overweight and not the best looking of men, many of the leading roles were not available to him. Despite this, he impressed audiences with his talent and played classical roles in two plays by Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard, and The Three Sisters. One of his earliest stage successes was as Hercule Poirot in 'Alibi (1928), a stage adaptation of 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'. In fact, he was the first actor to portray Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. That same year Laughton also played the lead role of Harry Hegan in the world premiere of Sean O'Casey's 'The Silver Tassie' in London, and he played the title role in Arnold Bennett's Mr. Prohack. Elsa Lanchester was also in the cast. Coming from a bohemian background, Lanchester was lively and strong-willed. She fell for the reserved and sensitive Laughton and despite his suppressed feelings of homosexuality, the two began a courtship. In 1929 they married. He went on to play the title role in 'Mr. Pickwick' after Charles Dickens, and Tony Perelli in Edgar Wallace's 'On the Spot'. Another success was his role as William Marble in 'Payment Deferred'. He took this last play across the Atlantic and in it he made his American début in 1931, at the Lyceum Theatre in New York. He returned to London for the 1933-1934 Old Vic Season and was engaged in four Shakespeare roles (as Macbeth and Henry VIII, Angelo in 'Measure for Measure' and Prospero in 'The Tempest'). In 1936, he went to Paris and appeared at the Comédie-Française as Sganarelle in the second act of Molière's 'Le Médecin malgré lui', the first English actor to appear at that theatre, where he acted the part in French and received an ovation. Laughton commenced his film career in England while still acting on the London stage. He took small roles in three short silent comedies starring his wife Elsa Lanchester, Daydreams (Ivor Montagu, 1928), Blue Bottles (Ivor Montagu, 1928), and The Tonic (Ivor Montagu, 1928) which had been specially written for her by H. G. Wells. He made a brief appearance as a disgruntled diner in another silent film Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont - uncredited, 1929) with Anna May Wong. He appeared with Elsa Lanchester again in Comets (Sasha Geneen, 1930), featuring assorted British variety acts. In this ‘film revue’ they duetted in 'The Ballad of Frankie and Johnnie'. The couple made two other early British talkies: Wolves (Albert de Courville, 1930) with Dorothy Gish from a play set in a whaling camp in the frozen north, and Down River (Peter Godfrey, 1931) in which he played a murderous, half-oriental drug-smuggler.

 

Charles Laughton’s New York stage debut in 1931 immediately led to film offers and Laughton's first Hollywood film was the classic horror-comedy The Old Dark House (James Whale, 1932) with Boris Karloff. Laughton played a bluff Yorkshire businessman marooned during a storm with other travellers in a creepy mansion in the Welsh mountains. In the Encyclopedia of British Film, Anthony Slide calls it Laughton’s ‘greatest work in the US’. He then played a demented submarine commander in The Devil and the Deep (Marion Gering, 1932) with Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, and Cary Grant and followed this with his famous role as the perverted Nero in The Sign of the Cross (Cecil B. DeMille, 1932). He also turned out a number of other memorable performances during that first Hollywood trip, repeating his stage role as a murderer in Payment Deferred (Lothar Mendes, 1932), playing H. G. Wells's mad vivisectionist Dr. Moreau in Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton, 1932), and the meek raspberry-blowing clerk in the brief segment of If I Had a Million (1932) that was directed by Ernst Lubitsch. In all, he appeared in six Hollywood films during 1932, a remarkable movie 'apprenticeship' which set him on course for instant international stardom. His association with film director Alexander Korda began with The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), loosely based on the life of King Henry VIII of England. Laughton won an Academy Award for his role, the first British actor to do so. He continued to act occasionally in the theatre. After the success of The Private Life of Henry VIII, he appeared at the Old Vic Theatre in 1933 in roles as Macbeth, Lopakin in 'The Cherry Orchard', Prospero in 'The Tempest; and Angelo in 'Measure for Measure'. His 1947 American production of a new English version of Bertolt Brecht's play 'Galileo' became legendary. Laughton played the title role at the play's premiere in Los Angeles on 30 July 1947 and later that year in New York. This staging was directed by Joseph Losey. Laughton preferred a film career though and in 1933 he returned to Hollywood where his next film was White Woman (Stuart Walker, 1933) in which he co-starred with Carole Lombard as a cockney river trader in the Malaysian jungle. Then came The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Sidney Franklin, 1934) as Norma Shearer's overbearing father; Les Misérables (Richard Boleslawski, 1935) as inspector Javert; and Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey, 1935) as the very English and selfless butler transported to early 1900’s America. One of his most famous screen roles was Captain William Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 1935), co-starring with Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian. Back in England, and again with Alexander Korda, he played the title role in Rembrandt (1936). In 1937, also for Korda, he starred in an ill-fated film version of Robert Graves’ classic novel, I, Claudius (Josef von Sternberg, 1937), which was abandoned during filming owing to the injuries suffered by co-star Merle Oberon in a car crash. After I, Claudius, he and the ex-patriate German film producer Erich Pommer founded the production company Mayflower Pictures in the UK, which produced three films starring Laughton: Vessel of Wrath/The Beachcomber (Erich Pommer, 1938), based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham, with Elsa Lanchester; St. Martin's Lane/Sidewalks of London (Tim Whelan, 1938), a story about London street entertainers that also featured Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison; and Jamaica Inn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1939), with Maureen O'Hara. The latter was based on a novel about Cornish smugglers by Daphne du Maurier, and it was the last film Alfred Hitchcock directed in Britain before moving to Hollywood in the late 1930s. The films produced were not successful enough, and the company was saved from bankruptcy when RKO Pictures offered Laughton the title role of Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 1939). Laughton and Pommer had plans to make further films, but the outbreak of World War II, which implied the loss of many foreign markets, meant the end of the company.

 

Although the 1930s were Charles Laughton’s best cinematic years, there were as well some remarkable post-1930s performances. An example is a cowardly schoolmaster in occupied France in This Land is Mine (Jean Renoir, 1943). He played a modest, henpecked husband who eventually murders his wife in The Suspect (1944), directed by Robert Siodmak, who later became a good friend of Laughton. He played sympathetically an impoverished composer-pianist in Tales of Manhattan (Julien Duvivier, 1942) and starred in an updated version of Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost (Jules Dassin, 1944). Apart from these, he would enjoy his work in the two comedies he made with Deanna Durbin, It Started with Eve (Henry Koster, 1941) and Because of Him (Richard Wallace, 1946). He portrayed a bloodthirsty pirate in Captain Kidd (Rowland V. Lee, 1945) and a malevolent judge in Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1948) with Alida Valli. Laughton played a megalomaniac press tycoon in The Big Clock (John Farrow, 1948) starring Ray Milland. Laughton made his first color film in Paris as Inspector Maigret in The Man on the Eiffel Tower (Burgess Meredith, 1949). In 1950, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester became American citizens. In one of his funniest roles of the 1950s, he played a tramp in O. Henry's Full House (Henry Koster a.o., 1952), in which he had a one-minute scene with Marilyn Monroe. In later years he was frequently accused by the critics of hamming, although he remained a popular star. He became a pirate again, buffoon style this time, in Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (Charles Lamont, 1952). He guest-starred in an episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour on TV that also featured Abbot and Costello and that was notable for his delivery of the Gettysburg Address. He played Herod Antipas in Salome (William Dieterle, 1953) with Rita Hayworth in the title role, and repeated his role as Henry VIII in Young Bess (George Sidney, 1953) starring Jean Simmons. He returned to England for a memorable turn in Hobson's Choice (David Lean, 1954) as the patriarch brought to heel opposite John Mills. Laughton directed several plays on Broadway. His most notable box-office success as a director came in 1954, with The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, a full-length stage dramatization by Herman Wouk of the court-martial scene in Wouk's novel The Caine Mutiny. In 1955, Laughton directed (but did not act in) the film The Night of the Hunter. This poetic thriller has become a critical and cult favorite thanks to Laughton's intriguing combination of expressionism and realism, a fine script co-written by James Agee, and compelling performances by an excellent cast headed by Robert Mitchum as a psychotic preacher and Lillian Gish as a resolute farm woman. At the time of its original release, however, it was a critical and box-office failure, and Laughton never had another chance to direct a film. Laughton received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his role as Sir Wilfrid Robarts in the screen version of Agatha Christie's play Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder, 1957) with Marlene Dietrich. He played a British admiral in the Italian war film Sotto dieci bandiere/Under Ten Flags (Duilio Coletti, 1960) and worked for the only time with Laurence Olivier in Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960) as a wily Roman senator. He also gave highly successful one-man reading tours for many years. His material ranged from the Bible to Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums. His final film was Advise and Consent (Otto Preminger, 1962), for which he received favorable comments for his performance as a southern U.S. Senator (for which accent he studied recordings of Mississippi Senator John Stennis). Laughton worked on the film, which was directed by Otto Preminger, while he was dying from cancer. In January 1962 he was diagnosed with cancer after being hospitalized with collapsed vertebrae following a fall in the bath. Over the course of his final eleven months, his weight dropped to just ninety pounds. Following Laughton's death in 1962, Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester wrote a memoir in which she stated that they never had children because Laughton was actually homosexual. The lesbian and gay magazine Fyne Times writes about the couple: “Only two years into the marriage, Lanchester learnt of her husband’s homosexuality. Although she was initially shocked and deeply upset, over time the couple began to develop an altered relationship, one of close friendship. They decided to remain married, although both of them took lovers, and were instead constant companions, looking after and supporting each other as in any other marriage.”

 

Sources: Anthony Slide (Encyclopedia of British Film), Gloria (Rooting for Laughton), Fyne Times, TCM, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.