Hollywood’s First Black Sex Symbol Dorothy Dandridge was the first Black American actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was an accomplished and successful singer, and a style icon. All this in segregated America. A true inspiration! Listen on Catch up on Other Episodes of the Podcast A new episode […]
The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips One anecdote about Mae Murray says that when the famed actress first saw Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard she exclaimed „None of us floozies were that nuts!“ And as Richard Merkin of The New Yorker notes in his 1994 portray of Mae Murray: „No leading lady was so perfect a
Hollywood’s Good Little Bad Girl Bebe Daniels starred opposite such Hollywood greats like Rudolpho Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Douglas Fairbanks, she was a protege of Cecil B. DeMille and had an entertainment career that spanned almost six decades – as child actress, on the stage, in silent movies, in sound movies as well as on
Beautiful and Disillusioned Tyrone Power was one of the most successful and most beautiful stars of Old Hollywood, often appearing in swashbuckler roles. He cemented his image as the forever agile and beautiful when dying at the age of 44. Jeanine Basinger wrote about him in her book “The Star Machine” : “No one who
The Brazilian Bombshell Carmen Miranda was the best-know Brazilian in Brazil or the world, at one time the highest-earning highest tax-paying woman in the US. She introduced the Samba and Latin American culture to the world and was more important than anything else to bring Late America to the US. Miranda also inspired generations to
A Star With A Story Merle Oberon was not only a beautiful Hollywood actress, she was also a victim of the beauty standards of the time and sets a cautionary tale. She is also, though, a testament to determination and what you can achieve if you set your mind to it. Listen on Catch up