23 Sunday Jul 2017
Posted in Books, Film, History, Jeanne Eagels, Non-Fiction, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Remembering Jeanne Eagels in July
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Eric Woodard, Gloria Swanson, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Stephen Michael Shearer
It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed was published. I feel immensely proud to have been part of bringing her unjustly neglected legacy back to the spotlight, and will be eternally grateful to my writing partner, Eric M. Woodard, for giving me that opportunity. Continue reading
22 Thursday Dec 2016
Posted in Amy Winehouse, Books, Brighton, Film, History, Lana Del Rey, Music, Non-Fiction, Politics, Witchcraft, Writing
≈ Comments Off on 2016: A Year In Non-Fiction
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Amy Winehouse, Another Day in the Death of America, BFI Stars, Blondie, British Witches of Sussex, Elena Ferrante, F.A. Mannan, Frances Farmer, Frantumaglia, Gary Younge, I'm Not In the Band, Jean Rhys, Journalism, Julie Christie, Lana Del Rey, Letters, Lyndsy Spence, Margaret Lockwood, Melanie Bell, Natalie Wood, Nathalie Leger, Peter Shelley, Rebecca Sullivan, Suite For Barbara Loden, Sylvia Patterson
British journalist Gary Younge has a sharp eye for how political events impact on ordinary lives. While living in Chicago, he investigated the stories behind the blunt statistics of ten children and teenagers shot dead in a single day. Never intrusive, but quietly devastating, Another Day in the Death of America illuminates with rare power. Continue reading
20 Tuesday Dec 2016
Posted in Film, Television
≈ Comments Off on 2016: A Year On Film
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American Honey, Andrea Arnold, Barbara Loden, Caroline Aherne, Casablanca, Hayley Squires, I Daniel Blake, Jean Alexander, Ken Loach, Madeleine LeBeau, Natalie Wood, Wanda
My favourite films this year were homegrown, showcasing what British cinema does best – not plummy period pieces, half-baked gangster flicks or corny rom-coms, but cutting-edge dramas with true grit. Continue reading
10 Sunday Jul 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: John Gilbert 1897-1936
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Anna Karenina, Greta Garbo, Ina Claire, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, John Gilbert, Louis B. Mayer, Love, Man Woman and Sin, MGM, Monta Bell, Silent Movies, The Fires of Youth
John Cecil Pringle was born on July 10, 1897, in Logan, Utah. His parents were both stock company actors, and after their divorce his mother married Walter Gilbert. After many years on the road, the family settled in California. Jack, as he was nicknamed, began working at Thomas Ince’s studio in 1915, graduating from bit parts to more substantial roles over the next five years. He married Olivia Burwell in 1918, but they separated a year later. Continue reading
19 Thursday May 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Anthony Bushell 1904-1997
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Anthony Bushell, Barry O'Neill, Colin Clark, Disraeli, Fredric March, George Arliss, Her Cardboard Lover, Jealousy, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Howard, Marilyn Monroe, The Prince And The Showgirl
Anthony Arnatt Bushell was born in Westerham, Kent on May 19, 1904. He was educated at Magdalen College School, and later Hertford College in Oxford. He was a champion boxer, rower, and member of the Hypocrites Club, infamous for its wild parties. After graduating, Bushell trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and made his theatrical debut in Diplomacy (1924), opposite Gerald Du Maurier. Continue reading
10 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: George Arliss 1868-1946
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Alexander Hamilton, Bette Davis, Darryl F. Zanuck, Disraeli, Florence Arliss, George Arliss, Hamilton, J.M. Barrie, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Knickerbocker Theatre, Maria Reynolds, The Professor's Love Story
Augustus George Andrews was born in London on April 10, 1868. He was educated at Harrow, one of Britain’s leading public schools. He worked for the publishing house owned by his father, William Joseph Arliss Andrews, before leaving at eighteen to pursue a life on the stage. After a long apprenticeship in provincial theatre, George Arliss established himself as a supporting actor in London’s West End. Continue reading
03 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Leslie Howard 1893-1943
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A.H. Woods, Alexander Woollcott, Anthony Bushell, Her Cardboard Lover, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Leslie Howard, Percy Hammond, Tallulah Bankhead
Leslie Howard Steiner was born in Forest Hill, South London, on April 3, 1893. His mother, Lillian Blumberg, came from an upper middle-class family who initially disapproved of her choice of husband, the Hungarian Ferdinand Steiner. The Steiners briefly moved to Vienna, returning to London when the rift was healed. They had four more children, and changed their name to the less Germanic ‘Stainer’ at the outbreak of World War I. Continue reading
01 Friday Apr 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Laurette Taylor 1883-1946
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A.H. Woods, Actors Equity Association, Actors Fund, Brooklyn, Evening of Happiness, Gilbert Miller, Her Cardboard Lover, Jacques Deval, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Laurette Taylor, Leslie Howard, Montauk Theatre
Loretta Helen Cooney was born in Harlem, New York on April 1, 1883, to Irish parents. Her mother, Elizabeth Dorsey, was the owner of a successful millinery, and the family breadwinner. Loretta had two younger siblings. A gifted mimic, she was encouraged by Elizabeth to pursue a life on the stage, though her father, James Cooney, disapproved. Continue reading
27 Sunday Mar 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Gloria Swanson 1899-1983
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Gloria Swanson, Her Cardboard Lover, Herbert Marshall, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Joseph M. Schenck, Joseph P. Kennedy, Louella Parsons, Man Woman and Sin, Rain, Raoul Walsh, Sadie Thompson, Silent Movies, United Artists, Will Hays
Gloria May Josephine Swanson was born in Chicago on March 27, 1899. Her father was in the US army, and the family moved frequently during her childhood. After an aunt took her to visit Essanay Studios in Chicago, she left school to work as an extra. She made an uncredited debut in The Song of Soul, and acted alongside Charlie Chaplin in His New Job (1915.) Continue reading
23 Wednesday Mar 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Joan Crawford 1904-1977
Lucille Fay LeSueur was born in San Antonio, Texas, on March 23, 1904. Her father, Thomas E. LeSueur, abandoned her mother, Anna Bell Johnson, and her two eldest children, while she was still pregnant. Anna began a new relationship with Henry J. Cassin, and the family lived with him in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he ran the Ramsey Opera House. After Cassin was accused of embezzling, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1916. Continue reading
