Happy Birthday to Ginger Rogers and Barbara Stanwyck!

Today marks the anniversary of the births of two fabulous stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood—Ginger Rogers and Barbara Stanwyck.

  Ginger cutting her birthday cake?

Ginger’s birthday this year is extra special because it would have been her 100th!

~ Barbara Stanwyck Quotes ~

“My only problem is finding a way to play my fortieth fallen female in a different way from my thirty-ninth.”

"I`m a tough old broad from Brooklyn. I intend to go on acting until I`m ninety and they won`t need to paste my face with make-up."

“Egotism - usually just a case of mistaken nonentity.”

“Career is too pompous a word. It was a job and I have always felt privileged to be paid for doing what I love doing.”

“Attention embarrasses me. I don't like to be on display.”

“I want to go on until they have to shoot me.”

~ Ginger Rogers Quotes ~

I`m most grateful to have had that joyous time in motion pictures. It really was a Golden Age of Hollywood. Pictures were talking, they were singing, they were coloring. It was beginning to blossom out: bud and blossom were both present.

"They're not going to get my money to see the junk that's made today." (1983)

"The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first."

(on being asked in 1943 what a girl needs to be a movie star) “Intelligence, adaptability and talent. And by talent I mean the capacity for hard work. Lots of girls come here with little but good looks. Beauty is a valuable asset, but it is not the whole cheese.”

“I believe in living each day as it comes, to the best of my ability. When it's done, I put it away, remembering that there will be a tomorrow to take it's place. If I have any philosophy, that's it. To me it's not a fatalistic attitude.”

"When you're happy, you don't count the years."

“Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate  place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood. Believe me, the technique and expertise for achieving these effects were almost more challenging than the splendor of color. Certainly the result was as powerful as an Ansel Adams photograph.”

"The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun, joy and happiness. This is my gift."

~

I hope you have time today to watch one of these lovely ladies’ films and appreciate their talent and legacy!

Happy Birthday, Olivia de Havilland!

Yes, you!

Today marks the 95th birthday of one of my very favorite actresses—the beautiful and talented Olivia de Havilland.

Olivia at age 10 months

Olivia, as sophomore class secretary, poses with other class officers;
Los Gatos High School

At age 17

 

As Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood

 

Looks like somebody is going to get it! :o

Olivia with her TWO Oscars

Olivia today. Still going strong and living in Paris.

I'm still waiting for that promised autobiography, Olivia!

No idea what she's doing here but it's adorable.

One of my favorite Olivia films--The Snake Pit

With co-star Errol Flynn. They made eight films together.

She's amazing in this film, too (The Dark Mirror), playing the good AND the bad sister. I bet you can tell which is which!

Olivia and her sister, fellow actress Joan Fontaine.

“There’s something about Olivia de Havilland that has always set her apart from other actresses. Maybe it’s the combination of warmth, sensitivity and intelligence she conveys, or the way her good looks have always been further enhanced by the ever-present twinkle in her eyes or the wisdom you sense behind those orbs.”

– Robert Osborne (via)

“Playing good girls in the '30s was difficult, when the fad was to play bad girls. Actually I think playing bad girls is a bore; I have always had more luck with good girl roles because they require more from an actress.” – Olivia de Havilland

“That girl can play any part ever written!”  – James Cagney about Olivia de Havilland

Oh, dear! All this and I STILL haven't even mentioned Hold Back the Dawn, The Heiress, To Each His Own, OR her most famous role as Melanie in Gone With the Wind! I guess I just can't get everything into one post, so here are some resources to learn more about this lovely lady:

Lots more photos of her on Tumblr

Interview for The Screen Actors Guild

http://www.oliviadehavillandonline.com/

2009 interview with Olivia in The Independent

2006 interview for the Academy of Achievement 

This interview (from last year) in the London Evening Standard

Olivia and Joan: Sisters of the Silver Screen (about both Olivia and her sister)

'Til next time...

**Please note that the pictures and graphics in this post are NOT MINE. No copyright or creative infringement is intended. If you feel I have used an image contrary to the author's wishes, please let me know and I will promptly remove it.**

Happy Birthday, Priscilla Lane!

Though Priscilla Lane is probably most know today for her role in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), she also worked with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock [Saboteur (1942)], James Cagney [The Roaring Twenties (1939)], Busby Berkley [Men Are Such Fools (1938)], John Garfield [in  his breakthrough role in Four Daughters (1938) and in Dust Be My Destiny (1939)], and Humphrey Bogart [in the aforementioned films Men Are Such Fools (1938), and The Roaring Twenties (1939)].

With Frank Capra and Cary Grant on the set of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

 

More from Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

 

 

She had two other sisters (not pictured) who were screen actresses—Lola and Rosemary (who she costarred with in several movies)—and one, Leota, (also not pictured) who was a stage actress.

 

Possessing a wholesome charm, girlish beauty, and expressive eyes, Priscilla can sometimes fade into the background. But in the roles of hers that I have seen, I find her to be a capable actress and a delightful screen presence.