Category: Profiles

Born January 30, 1974 in Norfolk, England, Sarah Caroline Colman, known professionally as Olivia Colman, is the daughter of a nurse mother and chartered surveyor father. Privately schooled, Colman’s first acting assignment was in a school production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.  She made her professional acting debut in 2000 in the British…

Born August 12, 1916 in Long Island City, New York, Ralph Nelson had a troubled childhood.  A judge once described him as “potentially the most juvenile criminal in New York.”  His life turned around after a high school teacher got him interested in acting. Nelson won an oratory award sponsored by the New York Times…

Born June 19, 1930 in Madison, Wisconsin to a state legislator and his painter wife, Virginia Cathryn (Gena) Rowlands moved with her family to Washington, D.C. in 1939 when her father became a member of the Department of Agriculture. They moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1942. Rowlands attended the University of Wisconsin from 1947-1950 and…

Born August 10, 1902 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, (Edith) Norma Shearer was the third child of Andrew, a successful contractor, and Edith, a minor actress, Shearer.  Older brother Douglas Shearer (1899-1971) became the head of the MGM sound department who won seven Oscars.  Older sister Athole Shearer (1900-1985) was married to Howard Hawks from 1928-1940…

Born June 13, 1894 in Santa Ana, California, William Taylor Garnett, known professionally as Tay Garnett, was one of the most prolific writer-directors of films and TV dramas from 1920 through 1975. Although he was never nominated for an Oscar, Garnett worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, directing a couple of them…

This is a revision of the second article in this series originally published on CinemaSight in September 2010. Of all the great stars of the studio era, Dunne remains the least known to modern audiences. That’s largely because so many of her films were remade and the originals suppressed by the studios.  Although most became…

Born May 3, 1901 in San Francisco, California, Hugo Friedhofer was the son of cellist Paul Friedhofer and his wife.  Following in his father’s footsteps, he began playing the cello at the age of 13.  After studying at the University of California, Berkely, he was employed as a cellist by the People’s Symphony Orchestra.  He…

Born November 7, 1903 in Lima, Ohio, Dean Jagger grew up on a farm.  Having caught the acting bug early, he practiced oratory on cows while working on th farm.  He latr won several oraory competitions.  At 14, he worked as an orderly at a sanatorium. Although he dropped out of school several times, at…

Born May 27, 1898 in Peoria, Illinois, Lee Garmes came to Hollywood in 1916. His first job was as a painter’s assistant in the paint department at the old Thomas H. Ince Studios. Garmes and future director Henry Hathaway were property boys together at “Inceville” where Sunset Blvd, met the Pacific Ocean.  The New York…

Born December 14, 1915 in New York, New York, Daniel James Dailey, Jr.’s father ran a hotel for show people on Long Island.  The star struck kid made his first appearance in show business as a performer in a minstrel show in 1921 when he was just five years old.  He then moved on to…