Lizabeth Scott in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946).
Shirley Temple Black
(April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014)
"As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we'll be alright." —Franklin Delano Roosevelt
I also just published a reflection on Temple and her legacy on my blog.
Joan Fontaine, born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland
(October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013)
"To give up my independence, I wouldn't dream of it.... My independence means more to me than any lasting relationship with any single person."
From The Constant Nymph (1943), Joan Fontaine's favorite among her films. May she rest in peace.
Peter O'Toole makes quite possibly the best entrance ever—riding in on a camel, leaping off instead of using the ladder provided, then treating his "noble transport" to a can of Heineken—while appearing on "The Late Show" in London in 1995. O'Toole once said, "My idea of heaven is moving from one smoke-filled room to another." I hope that he gets that wish fulfilled. Usually I'd say "rest in peace," but it doesn't really make sense for such a total badass.
Audrey Totter
(December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013)
"The bad girls were so much fun to play."
Eleanor Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) bequeathed many amazing performances to posterity, including one of the first candid portrayals of a woman who underwent an abortion. In Detective Story (1951), Mary McLeod is happily married to a police detective—until he discovers her previous relationship and pregnancy. Neither a victim nor a femme fatale, Parker's Mary powerfully engages the audience's sympathy not only with her regret, but also with her strength. More than two decades before Roe v. Wade, Parker's integrity in the role conveys the tragedy of the demands that society placed (and continues to place) on women, forcing them to conceal their problems, repress their pain, and assume all blame for sexual "transgressions."
Clara Bow at Walking Box Ranch in Nevada with her husband Rex Bell in the 1930s. Clara passed away on this date, September 27, in 1965.