Theodore Bikel. Theodore Bikel dead at 91: Oscar-nominated actor and folk singer best known for stage musicals 'The Sound of Music,' 'Fiddler on the Roof' Folk singer, social and union activist, and stage, film, and television actor Theodore Bikel, best remembered for starring in the Broadway musical The Sound of Music and, throughout the U.S., in Fiddler on the Roof, died Monday morning (July 20, '15) of "natural causes" at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The Austrian-born Bikel – as Theodore Meir Bikel on May 2, 1924, in Vienna, to Yiddish-speaking Eastern European parents – was 91. Fled Hitler Thanks to his well-connected Zionist father, six months after the German annexation of Austria in March 1938 ("they were greeted with jubilation by the local populace," he would recall in 2012), the 14-year-old Bikel and his family fled to Palestine, at the time a British protectorate. While there, the teenager began acting on stage,...
- 7/23/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Olivia de Havilland picture U.S. labor history-making 'Gone with the Wind' star and two-time Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland turns 99 (This Olivia de Havilland article is currently being revised and expanded.) Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland, the only surviving major Gone with the Wind cast member and oldest surviving Oscar winner, is turning 99 years old today, July 1.[1] Also known for her widely publicized feud with sister Joan Fontaine and for her eight movies with Errol Flynn, de Havilland should be remembered as well for having made Hollywood labor history. This particular history has nothing to do with de Havilland's films, her two Oscars, Gone with the Wind, Joan Fontaine, or Errol Flynn. Instead, history was made as a result of a legal fight: after winning a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the mid-'40s, Olivia de Havilland put an end to treacherous...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
French ballerina Colette Marchand has died at the age of 90.
The New York Times reports that she passed away on June 5 at her home in Bois-le-Roi, France.
The dancer rose to fame during the 1940s, when she starred in Roland Petit's highly popular shows at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Moving into cinema, she earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role as a streetwalker in Moulin Rouge in 1952.
Orson Welles directed her in the short-lived 1953 ballet The Lady in the Ice on Broadway.
She also appeared on screen in Hungarian Rhapsody, At the Order of the Czar and short Romantic Youth throughout the 1950s.
The New York Times reports that she passed away on June 5 at her home in Bois-le-Roi, France.
The dancer rose to fame during the 1940s, when she starred in Roland Petit's highly popular shows at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Moving into cinema, she earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role as a streetwalker in Moulin Rouge in 1952.
Orson Welles directed her in the short-lived 1953 ballet The Lady in the Ice on Broadway.
She also appeared on screen in Hungarian Rhapsody, At the Order of the Czar and short Romantic Youth throughout the 1950s.
- 6/22/2015
- Digital Spy
Joan Lorring, 1945 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee, dead at 88: One of the earliest surviving Academy Award nominees in the acting categories, Lorring was best known for holding her own against Bette Davis in ‘The Corn Is Green’ (photo: Joan Lorring in ‘Three Strangers’) Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee Joan Lorring, who stole the 1945 film version of The Corn Is Green from none other than Warner Bros. reigning queen Bette Davis, died Friday, May 30, 2014, in the New York City suburb of Sleepy Hollow. So far, online obits haven’t mentioned the cause of death. Lorring, one of the earliest surviving Oscar nominees in the acting categories, was 88. Directed by Irving Rapper, who had also handled one of Bette Davis’ biggest hits, the 1942 sudsy soap opera Now, Voyager, Warners’ The Corn Is Green was a decent if uninspired film version of Emlyn Williams’ semi-autobiographical 1938 hit play about an English schoolteacher,...
- 6/1/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Presenting the Return of Stinky Lulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown now in its new home at The Film Experience. The Year is... 1952 and our panelists are allowed 52 words per actress!
The Nominees
Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Colette Marchand, Terry Moore, and the perennial Thelma Ritter!
The Panelists
Matt Mazur (Pop Matters) is a New York-based publicist who works on campaigns for independent, foreign language, and documentary films. His vast archive of actress interviews (including Sissy Spacek and Courtney Love) can be found here. Follow him @Matt_Mazur
Nathaniel R (The Film Experience) is the founder of The Film Experience, a Gurus of Gold and CNN International Oscar pundit, and the internet's actressexual ringleader. Also loves cats. Follow him @NathanielR
Nick Davis (Nicks Flick Picks) tweets, blogs, and writes reviews and is a professor of film, literature, and gender studies at Northwestern University. His first book "The Desiring Image" was recently published.
The Nominees
Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Colette Marchand, Terry Moore, and the perennial Thelma Ritter!
The Panelists
Matt Mazur (Pop Matters) is a New York-based publicist who works on campaigns for independent, foreign language, and documentary films. His vast archive of actress interviews (including Sissy Spacek and Courtney Love) can be found here. Follow him @Matt_Mazur
Nathaniel R (The Film Experience) is the founder of The Film Experience, a Gurus of Gold and CNN International Oscar pundit, and the internet's actressexual ringleader. Also loves cats. Follow him @NathanielR
Nick Davis (Nicks Flick Picks) tweets, blogs, and writes reviews and is a professor of film, literature, and gender studies at Northwestern University. His first book "The Desiring Image" was recently published.
- 9/1/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
We are pleased to welcome StinkyLulu back to Smackdowning. Give him a warm welcome in the comments! - Editor
It has been a while since I dropped into a random year’s field of Supporting Actress nominees. Still, as I have re/screened the relevant films in preparation for Saturday afternoon's Supporting Actress Smackdown, it’s startling how familiar the 1952 roster feels. Remember that “Best Supporting Actress” was only in its 15th year or so (having been introduced in 1936, almost ten years after the Oscar game got started) but, already by 1952, the category seemed to have established some of its most enduring quirks.
1952’s nominated roles are definitely cut from Oscar’s favorite cloth: the hooker with a heart; the hale helpmeet; the full force of youth; the long (briefly) suffering wife; and the shrewish “ex.”
Oscar loves a type - you see these types still!
The field we'll be...
It has been a while since I dropped into a random year’s field of Supporting Actress nominees. Still, as I have re/screened the relevant films in preparation for Saturday afternoon's Supporting Actress Smackdown, it’s startling how familiar the 1952 roster feels. Remember that “Best Supporting Actress” was only in its 15th year or so (having been introduced in 1936, almost ten years after the Oscar game got started) but, already by 1952, the category seemed to have established some of its most enduring quirks.
1952’s nominated roles are definitely cut from Oscar’s favorite cloth: the hooker with a heart; the hale helpmeet; the full force of youth; the long (briefly) suffering wife; and the shrewish “ex.”
Oscar loves a type - you see these types still!
The field we'll be...
- 8/29/2013
- by StinkyLulu
- FilmExperience
We're having daily nooners with the supporting actresses of '52 in preparation for this weekend's Smackdown. But I hope I'm not burning out all our comment juice with these lead-up posts. So today, an "artistic" detour. Though we sometimes lament that movies are made by committee or that artistic decisions are determined by bank ledgers at huge corporations, it's always been true that the movies have been been hybrid babies, born from both business decisions and artistic concerns. Still, even for the fame-craving, what draws (most) people to showbiz is some kind of creative urge or spirit. So the movies have more than their share of artistically inclined characters within them. Moulin Rouge (the 1952 version) is about a famous artist, Singin in the Rain is about (singing & dancing) actors, and The Bad and the Beautiful is about all sorts of creative types: actors, writers, directors. Which led me to this train of thought.
- 8/28/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
I've always been interested in the way characters / stars are introduced within their films. Sometimes you can feel the filmmaking underlining the moment: look here, you will love this character! At other times their intro is either sneaky or nonchalant as the actor waits for their key moment later on to really sell their character. We must make this a regular series I think! Let's use it now to plug this Saturday's Supporting Actress Smackdown.
Consider the way the Oscar nominees of 1952 are introduced...
I've ranked them according to the quality of their filmed entrance though this should not be construed as a comment on their eventual ranking in the Smackdown.
Colette Marchand and Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
Monsieur Monsieur, please! Say I'm with you."
-Marie's first line in Moulin Rouge
a prostitute, a student, a nurse, a society wife and a movie star after the jump...
Consider the way the Oscar nominees of 1952 are introduced...
I've ranked them according to the quality of their filmed entrance though this should not be construed as a comment on their eventual ranking in the Smackdown.
Colette Marchand and Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
Monsieur Monsieur, please! Say I'm with you."
-Marie's first line in Moulin Rouge
a prostitute, a student, a nurse, a society wife and a movie star after the jump...
- 8/27/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
In just 10 days the Return of Stinkylulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown! (in case you missed the announcement)
We'll be talking...
Gloria Grahame, The Bad and the Beautiful (the film is our "Best Shot" subject on the 21st) Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain Collette Marchand, Moulin Rouge Terry Moore, Come Back Little Sheba Thelma Ritter, With a Song in My Heart
Have you seen all the films? If not, get on that! We'll also do a "reader's choice" as supplement so if you'd like to vote please send me your ranked ballot by Saturday the 24th with "1952" in the subject line, your rank (of those you've seen), and a sentence or three if you'd like to explain.
We'll be talking...
Gloria Grahame, The Bad and the Beautiful (the film is our "Best Shot" subject on the 21st) Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain Collette Marchand, Moulin Rouge Terry Moore, Come Back Little Sheba Thelma Ritter, With a Song in My Heart
Have you seen all the films? If not, get on that! We'll also do a "reader's choice" as supplement so if you'd like to vote please send me your ranked ballot by Saturday the 24th with "1952" in the subject line, your rank (of those you've seen), and a sentence or three if you'd like to explain.
- 8/15/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
You'd better sit down. Here have a grilled cheese sandwich to commemorate the moment.
In the Aughts when film blogging was rapidly progressing from infancy through busy rushed adolescence, quality Oscar-loving actressexuals were tuned in to and turned on by Stinky Lulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month your host would profile the five Oscar nominees in a given year culminating in a "Smackdown" wherein a handful of fans would chime in on all five nominees and an actress would be crowned as best of that vintage. The restrospective smackdowns ended four years ago with a look back at 1956 (Limbo-dancing Oscar-winning Dorothy Malone prevailed) though one final smackdown was held five months later for the Supporting Actresses of Oscar 2009 and its winner Mo'Nique. Not that the Smackdowners always agreed with Oscar...
I hadn't spoken to Stinky in years and we recently became reacquainted over lunch and a play. I told...
In the Aughts when film blogging was rapidly progressing from infancy through busy rushed adolescence, quality Oscar-loving actressexuals were tuned in to and turned on by Stinky Lulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month your host would profile the five Oscar nominees in a given year culminating in a "Smackdown" wherein a handful of fans would chime in on all five nominees and an actress would be crowned as best of that vintage. The restrospective smackdowns ended four years ago with a look back at 1956 (Limbo-dancing Oscar-winning Dorothy Malone prevailed) though one final smackdown was held five months later for the Supporting Actresses of Oscar 2009 and its winner Mo'Nique. Not that the Smackdowners always agreed with Oscar...
I hadn't spoken to Stinky in years and we recently became reacquainted over lunch and a play. I told...
- 7/6/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Our Oscar coverage continues. Here we overview the best acting and best directing award nominees.
Best Actor Nominees
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Age: 38
Previously Best Known For: “Phil” from The Hangover
Previous Oscar Nominations: None
Interesting Fact: Was a medalist on the Men's Heavyweight Crew team at Georgetown University.
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Age: 55
Previously Best Known For:
“Bill Cutting” from Gangs of New York
“Daniel Plainview” from There Will Be Blood
Previous Oscar Nominations: 4
Won – Best Actor, Leading Role for There Will Be Blood (2007)
Nominated – Best Actor, Leading Role for Gangs of New York (2002)
Nominated – Best Actor, Leading Role for In The Name of The Father (1993)
Won – Best Actor, Leading Role for My Left Foot (1989)
Interesting Fact: He first became interested in acting when he learned to replicate the accent and mannerisms of people in his neighborhood to avoid standing out to bullies.
Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
Age: 44
Previously...
Best Actor Nominees
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Age: 38
Previously Best Known For: “Phil” from The Hangover
Previous Oscar Nominations: None
Interesting Fact: Was a medalist on the Men's Heavyweight Crew team at Georgetown University.
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Age: 55
Previously Best Known For:
“Bill Cutting” from Gangs of New York
“Daniel Plainview” from There Will Be Blood
Previous Oscar Nominations: 4
Won – Best Actor, Leading Role for There Will Be Blood (2007)
Nominated – Best Actor, Leading Role for Gangs of New York (2002)
Nominated – Best Actor, Leading Role for In The Name of The Father (1993)
Won – Best Actor, Leading Role for My Left Foot (1989)
Interesting Fact: He first became interested in acting when he learned to replicate the accent and mannerisms of people in his neighborhood to avoid standing out to bullies.
Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
Age: 44
Previously...
- 2/21/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (G.S. Perno)
- Cinelinx
Jean Dujardin kissing Oscar statuette Best Actor Oscar winner Jean Dujardin kisses his Oscar statuette at the Governors Ball 2012. For his performance as a fading silent-film star in Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, Dujardin became the first Frenchman to win an Oscar in the acting categories: Charles Boyer, Maurice Chevalier, and Gérard Depardieu had all been nominated before, but none of them had ever won. (Photo: © A.M.P.A.S.) The list of Frenchwomen who either won or were nominated for Oscars in the acting categories is much more extensive. The French-born, American-raised Claudette Colbert was the Best Actress of 1934 for Frank Capra's comedy It Happened One Night. The other French Best Actress Oscar winners are Simone Signoret for Jack Clayton's 1959 British drama Room at the Top and Marion Cotillard for Olivier Dahan's French-language Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose. Additionally, Juliette Binoche was a...
- 3/6/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The unofficial theme of the 2012 awards season could be "Vive la France," with the French-helmed "The Artist" picking up dozens of awards and going into Oscar night with 10 nominations, second only to 11 nods for "Hugo."
The movie has picked up wins for director Michel Hazanavicius and leading man Jean Dujardin at the BAFTAs, Critics Choice, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as a multitude of trophies for the film, its score, art direction, editing and costumes. It's not just picking up steam, it's a veritable awards locomotive.
Also Check Out: 2012 Oscar Predictions
With "The Artist" positioned so strongly for the Academy Awards, and its key players, including nominated costar Bérénice Bejo, being French (even though the film was shot entirely in Los Angeles, where it is set during the dawn of the talkies), we decided to take a look at the roster of other French talent that...
The movie has picked up wins for director Michel Hazanavicius and leading man Jean Dujardin at the BAFTAs, Critics Choice, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as a multitude of trophies for the film, its score, art direction, editing and costumes. It's not just picking up steam, it's a veritable awards locomotive.
Also Check Out: 2012 Oscar Predictions
With "The Artist" positioned so strongly for the Academy Awards, and its key players, including nominated costar Bérénice Bejo, being French (even though the film was shot entirely in Los Angeles, where it is set during the dawn of the talkies), we decided to take a look at the roster of other French talent that...
- 2/21/2012
- by Hillary Atkin
- NextMovie
The double Oscar winner (The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth) turns 102 today! She's the oldest living Oscar nominee or winner! Her most recent appearance was just four short months ago when she showed up for her star ceremony in Berlin. They now have a "Boulevard des Stars" much like Hollywood's walk of fame and as the only German Best Actress winner (Hollywood and the media who nicknamed her "The Viennese Teardrop" promoted her as Austrian for obvious reasons in the 1930s), she was a natural for inclusion.
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Luise,
happy birthday to you
.......and many more ♫
Odets and Rainer in Hollywood. Odets also romanced actress Frances Farmer (as seen in the Jessica Lange picture "Frances")Luise is on record as saying that she doesn't believe in the Oscar curse and her short-lived Hollywood career was her own doing.
"The Oscar jinx! There is no Oscar jinx.
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Luise,
happy birthday to you
.......and many more ♫
Odets and Rainer in Hollywood. Odets also romanced actress Frances Farmer (as seen in the Jessica Lange picture "Frances")Luise is on record as saying that she doesn't believe in the Oscar curse and her short-lived Hollywood career was her own doing.
"The Oscar jinx! There is no Oscar jinx.
- 1/12/2012
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
It now appears to be more likely than not that Hailee Steinfeld, the 14-year-old actress who makes her big screen debut in the Coen brothers’ critically and commercially successful Western “True Grit,” will score an Oscar nomination — and perhaps even a win — in one category or another for her film-stealing performance. Consequently, some of you may be wondering if any other newcomer has ever earned that kind of recongition over the 82 year history of the Academy Awards. The answer is yes — in fact, it has happened precisely 47 times, 16 in lead and 31 in supporting.
Some of those women were famous before they received their nods (i.e. Jennifer Hudson and Barbra Streisand); most were not (i.e. Mary Badham and Gabby Sidibe). Some never made another movie after they received their nods (i.e. Jocelyne Lagarde); some made a few and then dropped off the face of the earth (i.e.
Some of those women were famous before they received their nods (i.e. Jennifer Hudson and Barbra Streisand); most were not (i.e. Mary Badham and Gabby Sidibe). Some never made another movie after they received their nods (i.e. Jocelyne Lagarde); some made a few and then dropped off the face of the earth (i.e.
- 1/4/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Happy birthday to Best Actress winner Joan Fontaine (Suspicion, 1941), also known as the second Mrs. DeWinter. She turns 93 years young today. What on earth was she thinking about when she won the Oscar. This photo to your left fascinates me on account of "who knows?" It seems so much more candid than many Oscar night photos.
I keep the following "still with us!" list, not from any morbid curiousity but from a genuine happiness that some legendary screen stars are still walking the earth even though most of them aren't walking the screens these days. This year has been rough with the losses so maybe I'm going to stop keep this list. My heart was in the right place! We want the following to know that their past accomplishments are acknowledged by new generations.
The Oldest Living Oscar Nominees
All of them were born before the movies even had sound!
I keep the following "still with us!" list, not from any morbid curiousity but from a genuine happiness that some legendary screen stars are still walking the earth even though most of them aren't walking the screens these days. This year has been rough with the losses so maybe I'm going to stop keep this list. My heart was in the right place! We want the following to know that their past accomplishments are acknowledged by new generations.
The Oldest Living Oscar Nominees
All of them were born before the movies even had sound!
- 10/23/2010
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
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