Category: Profiles

Born March 26, 1934 in Brooklyn New York, Alan Arkin was the son of artist-writer-lyricist David I. Arkin and his wife Beatrice, a teacher.  The family moved to Los Angeles in 1946 where the senior Arkin was employed by the Hollywood studios until he ran afoul of the “red scare” in 1950. The younger Arkin…

Born November 12, 1980 in London, Ontario, Canada, Ryan Gosling is the son of a secretary and a traveling salesman.  Homeschooled by his mother, he attended several high schools including a vocational school where he excelled in drama and fine arts. Gosling performed in several talent shows eventually landing a spot on The All New…

As mentioned in my introduction to Oscarless character actresses, the Best Supporting Actress award is sometimes erroneously referred to as the “old lady’s” award.  Even though Oscars for supporting actors have gone more frequently to older men than Oscars for supporting actresses have gone to older women, no one refers to the Best Supporting Actor…

Oscars for supporting actresses have on occasion been called the “old lady’s” award but the award has rarely gone to old ladies or even younger actresses playing old ladies.  It has more frequently been won by ingenues or lately, leading ladies shoehorned into the supporting actress category. Intended for character actresses, the award has seldom…

Oscarless Actors, like Oscarless actresses are those that have never won a competitive Oscar or any other award from the Academy.  That leaves out the likes of Fred Astaire, Charles Boyer, Charles Chaplin, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, James Earl Jones, Buster Keaton, Gene Kelly, Peter O’Toole, Edward G. Robinson, and Mickey Rooney, all of whom…

Born December 22, 1907 in Surrey, England, Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft, known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was a titan of the British stage, who only occasionally appeared in films, but when she did, she was as amazing and unforgettable as she was in her lauded stage roles. Ashcroft’s mother had been an actress. Her father,…

Born January 16, 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico, María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known professionally as Katy Jurado, was the daughter of a lawyer and a singer. Actor Pedro Armendariz was her godfather. Jurado’s family was wealthy, its fortune controlled by her aristocratic grandmother. When offered a film role at the age of 15,…

Born July 17, 1935 in the Bronx, New York, Carol Diann Johnson, known professionally as Diahann Carroll, was a multi-talented actress, singer, and dancer. She was a Tony winner, an Oscar nominee, a four-time Emmy nominee, and a two-time Grammy nominee. She was also a three-time Golden Globe nominee, winning on her first nomination for…

Born October 5, 1907 in Paris, France, Jean Louis (Berthault) emigrated to the U.S. where he worked as a designer for New York fashion entrepreneur Hattie Carnegie whose clients included Joan Cohn, the wife of Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn. With her influence, he became head designer for Columbia in 1944, a position he held…

Born May 3, 1899 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Aline MacMahon was of Scottish-Irish and Russian-Jewish descent. Her father Marcus MacMahon was a telegraph operator who became editor-in-chief of Munsey Magazine, her mother Jennie Simon MacMahon, who lived to 107, was an actress. Growing up in McKeesport, a suburb of Pittsburg, and later Brooklyn, New York, MacMahon…