He is best remembered as the affable dad on the long-running television series “My Three Sons” and for his good-natured characters in a string in Disney films. But Fred MacMurray had a rich and varied career that spanned over half a century.
Frederick Martin MacMurray was born on August 30, 1908, in Kankakee, Il. His father was a concert violinist, and young Fred initially followed his father steps into the music business. He worked as a saxophonist and vocalist to pay his way through college, eventually moving to Los Angeles and joining the California Collegians vocal ensemble. This led him cross-country to Broadway, where he was discovered by a Paramount scout, who brought him back to L.A. and film stardom.
MacMurray is widely considered one of the most underrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He held his own against some of the industry’s most talented actresses, including four...
Frederick Martin MacMurray was born on August 30, 1908, in Kankakee, Il. His father was a concert violinist, and young Fred initially followed his father steps into the music business. He worked as a saxophonist and vocalist to pay his way through college, eventually moving to Los Angeles and joining the California Collegians vocal ensemble. This led him cross-country to Broadway, where he was discovered by a Paramount scout, who brought him back to L.A. and film stardom.
MacMurray is widely considered one of the most underrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He held his own against some of the industry’s most talented actresses, including four...
- 8/25/2023
- by Susan Pennington, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Martha Stewart, best known for co-starring alongside Joan Crawford and Humphrey Bogart in “Daisy Kenyon” and “In a Lonely Place,” respectively, died on Feb. 17, her daughter Colleen Shelly confirmed on Twitter. She was 98.
“The original Martha Stewart left us yesterday,” Shelly wrote. “She had a new part to play in a movie with all her heavenly friends. She went off peacefully surrounded by her family and cat.”
Known for her roles in classic 1940s and ’50s Hollywood movies, Stewart made her film debut in the 1945 musical comedy “Doll Face.” The following year she starred opposite Richard Crane in “Johnny Comes Flying Home” and June Haver in 1947’s “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now.” Her additional credits include comedy “Are You With It?” opposite Donald O’Connor, 1952’s musical “Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” and noir crime-drama “Convicted” with Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford. Her final credit was 1964’s beach-themed musical comedy “Surf Party.
“The original Martha Stewart left us yesterday,” Shelly wrote. “She had a new part to play in a movie with all her heavenly friends. She went off peacefully surrounded by her family and cat.”
Known for her roles in classic 1940s and ’50s Hollywood movies, Stewart made her film debut in the 1945 musical comedy “Doll Face.” The following year she starred opposite Richard Crane in “Johnny Comes Flying Home” and June Haver in 1947’s “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now.” Her additional credits include comedy “Are You With It?” opposite Donald O’Connor, 1952’s musical “Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick” and noir crime-drama “Convicted” with Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford. Her final credit was 1964’s beach-themed musical comedy “Surf Party.
- 2/23/2021
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***"We offer for your mental scrutiny / The reasons for the mutiny."I believe Where Do We Go From Here? (1945) qualifies as a rarity, having never been released on any home video or streaming format. This is a shame, but you can see why. The whole concept of whimsy has a tendency to lumpenness, even though the very word seems to imply a lighter-than-air approach. Which is heavier, a ton of scrap metal or a ton of feathers?So what we have here is a fantasy in...
- 6/4/2020
- MUBI
He is best remembered as the affable dad on the long-running television series “My Three Sons” and for his good-natured characters in a string in Disney films. But Fred MacMurray had a rich and varied career that spanned over half a century.
Frederick Martin MacMurray was born on August 30, 1908, in Kankakee, Il. His father was a concert violinist, and young Fred initially followed his father steps into the music business. He worked as a saxophonist and vocalist to pay his way through college, eventually moving to Los Angeles and joining the California Collegians vocal ensemble. This led him cross-country to Broadway, where he was discovered by a Paramount scout, who brought him back to L.A. and film stardom.
MacMurray is widely considered one of the most underrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He held his own against some of the industry’s most talented actresses, including four...
Frederick Martin MacMurray was born on August 30, 1908, in Kankakee, Il. His father was a concert violinist, and young Fred initially followed his father steps into the music business. He worked as a saxophonist and vocalist to pay his way through college, eventually moving to Los Angeles and joining the California Collegians vocal ensemble. This led him cross-country to Broadway, where he was discovered by a Paramount scout, who brought him back to L.A. and film stardom.
MacMurray is widely considered one of the most underrated actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He held his own against some of the industry’s most talented actresses, including four...
- 8/30/2019
- by Susan Pennington and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Wonderful isn't a good enough word to describe this joyful, funny and visually intoxicating Alice Faye musical by Busby Berkeley. Decades later it became part of a big Camp revival, but the real draw is still the Benny Goodman swing music, delightful performers like Carmen Miranda, and Berkeley's bizarre Technicolor visions. The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Twilight Time 1943 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 103 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / Available from Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95 Starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman and Orchestra, Eugene Pallette, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Tony De Marco, James Ellison, Sheila Ryan, Dave Willock, Jeanne Crain, Frank Faylen, June Haver, Adele Jergens. Cinematography Edward Cronjager Special Effects Fred Sersen Original Music Harry Warren, Leo Robin, Hugo Friedhofer, Arthur Lange, Cyril J. Mockridge, Alfred Newman, Gene Rose Written by Walter Bullock, Nancy Wintner, George Root Jr., Tom Bridges Produced by William LeBaron Directed by Busby Berkeley
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Kitty Gordon: Actress in silent movies and on the musical comedy stage. Rediscovering a long-forgotten silent film star: Kitty Gordon It seems almost unthinkable that there are still silent stars who have not been resurrected, their lives and films subject to detailed, if not always reliable, examination. Yet I am reminded by Michael Levenston, a Canadian who has compiled what is best described as a “scrapbook” of her life and career, that there is one such individual – and not just a “name” in silent films, but also from 1901 onwards famed as a singer/actress in musical comedy and on the vaudeville stage in both her native England and the United States. And she is Kitty Gordon (1878-1974). 'The Enchantress' and her $50,000 backside Kitty Gordon was a talented lady, so much so that Victor Herbert wrote the 1911 operetta The Enchantress for her; one who also had a “gimmick,” in that...
- 12/12/2015
- by Anthony Slide
- Alt Film Guide
Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.
- 11/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray in 'The Sleeping City' with Richard Conte. Coleen Gray after Fox: B Westerns and films noirs (See previous post: “Coleen Gray Actress: From Red River to Film Noir 'Good Girls'.”) Regarding the demise of her Fox career (the year after her divorce from Rod Amateau), Coleen Gray would recall for Confessions of a Scream Queen author Matt Beckoff: I thought that was the end of the world and that I was a total failure. I was a mass of insecurity and depended on agents. … Whether it was an 'A' picture or a 'B' picture didn't bother me. It could be a Western movie, a sci-fi film. A job was a job. You did the best with the script that you had. Fox had dropped Gray at a time of dramatic upheavals in the American film industry: fast-dwindling box office receipts as a result of competition from television,...
- 10/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...
- 10/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...
- 10/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Cat People' 1942 actress Simone Simon Remembered: Starred in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic (photo: Simone Simon in 'Cat People') Pert, pouty, pretty Simone Simon is best remembered for her starring roles in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie Cat People (1942) and in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938). Long before Brigitte Bardot, Mamie Van Doren, Ann-Margret, and (for a few years) Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm in a film career that spanned a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both sides of the Atlantic – at times, with fatal results. During that period, Simon was featured in nearly 40 movies in France, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Hollywood. Besides Jean Renoir, in her native country she worked for the likes of Jacqueline Audry...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Pioneering woman director Lois Weber socially conscious drama 'Shoes' among Library of Congress' Packard Theater movies (photo: Mary MacLaren in 'Shoes') In February 2015, National Film Registry titles will be showcased at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus Theater – aka the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation – in Culpeper, Virginia. These range from pioneering woman director Lois Weber's socially conscious 1916 drama Shoes to Robert Zemeckis' 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future. Another Packard Theater highlight next month is Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent Western The Wild Bunch (1969), starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine. Also, Howard Hawks' "anti-High Noon" Western Rio Bravo (1959), toplining John Wayne and Dean Martin. And George Cukor's costly remake of A Star Is Born (1954), featuring Academy Award nominees Judy Garland and James Mason in the old Janet Gaynor and Fredric March roles. There's more: Jeff Bridges delivers a colorful performance in...
- 1/24/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Carrie Fisher will present the 51st SAG Life Achievement Award to her mother, Debbie Reynolds, at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The presentation of the union’s highest accolade will be the centerpiece of the annual ceremony which will be simulcast live on Sunday, Jan. 25 on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. Et/ 5 p.m. Pt, the show’s executive producer Kathy Connell announced Tuesday.
SAG-aftra is honoring Debbie Reynolds for her career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments.
Also Read: SAG Awards 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Fisher has been an actor, novelist, screenwriter and performance artist during her career. She...
The presentation of the union’s highest accolade will be the centerpiece of the annual ceremony which will be simulcast live on Sunday, Jan. 25 on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. Et/ 5 p.m. Pt, the show’s executive producer Kathy Connell announced Tuesday.
SAG-aftra is honoring Debbie Reynolds for her career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments.
Also Read: SAG Awards 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Fisher has been an actor, novelist, screenwriter and performance artist during her career. She...
- 1/6/2015
- by Todd Cunningham
- The Wrap
Martha Stewart: Actress / Singer in Fox movies apparently not dead despite two-year-old reports to the contrary (Photo: Martha Stewart and Perry Como in 'Doll Face') According to various online reports, including Variety's, actress and singer Martha Stewart, a pretty blonde featured in supporting roles in a handful of 20th Century Fox movies of the '40s, died at age 89 of "natural causes" in Northeast Harbor, Maine, on February 25, 2012. Needless to say, that was not the same Martha Stewart hawking "delicious foods" and whatever else on American television. But quite possibly, the Martha Stewart who died in February 2012 -- if any -- was not the Martha Stewart of old Fox movies either. And that's why I'm republishing this (former) obit, originally posted more than two and a half years ago: March 11, 2012. Earlier today, a commenter wrote to Alt Film Guide, claiming that the Martha Stewart featured in Doll Face, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now,...
- 11/11/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Photo courtesy Debbie Reynolds Studios
Debbie Reynolds – actor, singer, dancer, author, champion for the preservation of the artifacts of film history and for the understanding and treatment of mental illness – has been named the 51st recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the union’s highest accolade will be presented to the Oscar, Emmy and Tony-nominated Reynolds at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt).
SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard praised Reynolds’ artistry over her very accomplished career, saying, “I’m thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented...
Debbie Reynolds – actor, singer, dancer, author, champion for the preservation of the artifacts of film history and for the understanding and treatment of mental illness – has been named the 51st recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the union’s highest accolade will be presented to the Oscar, Emmy and Tony-nominated Reynolds at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt).
SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard praised Reynolds’ artistry over her very accomplished career, saying, “I’m thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented...
- 8/18/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Debbie Reynolds will receive the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, it has been announced.
The actress will be given the honour at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 25, 2015.
She will become the 51st recipient of the prize, which is given annually to those who demonstrate the "finest ideals of the acting profession".
SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard said: "I'm thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented performer with a diverse body of screen and stage work, live performances and several hit records.
"Her generous spirit and unforgettable performances have entertained audiences across the globe, moving us all from laughter to tears and back again. Congratulations, Debbie, on your life achievements."
Reynolds made her official screen debut as June Haver's younger sister in the 1950 musical The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, and went on to star in The Unsinkable Molly Brown,...
The actress will be given the honour at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 25, 2015.
She will become the 51st recipient of the prize, which is given annually to those who demonstrate the "finest ideals of the acting profession".
SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard said: "I'm thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented performer with a diverse body of screen and stage work, live performances and several hit records.
"Her generous spirit and unforgettable performances have entertained audiences across the globe, moving us all from laughter to tears and back again. Congratulations, Debbie, on your life achievements."
Reynolds made her official screen debut as June Haver's younger sister in the 1950 musical The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, and went on to star in The Unsinkable Molly Brown,...
- 8/18/2014
- Digital Spy
Fred MacMurray movies: ‘Double Indemnity,’ ‘There’s Always Tomorrow’ Fred MacMurray is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" today, Thursday, August 7, 2013. Although perhaps best remembered as the insufferable All-American Dad on the long-running TV show My Three Sons and in several highly popular Disney movies from 1959 to 1967, e.g., The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Boy Voyage!, MacMurray was immeasurably more interesting as the All-American Jerk. (Photo: Fred MacMurray ca. 1940.) Someone once wrote that Fred MacMurray would have been an ideal choice to star in a biopic of disgraced Republican president Richard Nixon. Who knows, the (coincidentally Republican) MacMurray might have given Anthony Hopkins a run for his Best Actor Academy Award nomination. After all, MacMurray’s most admired movie performances are those in which he plays a scheming, conniving asshole: Billy Wilder’s classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944), in which he’s seduced by Barbara Stanwyck, and Wilder...
- 8/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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