Here are 10 things you should know about the luminous Ingrid Bergman, born 105 years ago today. Few actresses have brightened the screen as she did, and she was as talented as she was beautiful.
Tag: Casablanca
Happy 115th Birthday, George Raft!
Actor George Raft was born George Ranft 115 years ago today in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City. Raft is perhaps as well known today for the movie roles he turned down as those he accepted. Here are 10 GR Did-You-Knows:
- His parents were of German descent.
- From his youth, Raft took a great interest in dancing, and his skills as a hoofer would serve him well as he found his way as a performer. In his salad days, he made money performing (and dancing with the lady patrons) at establishments such as Maxim’s, El Fey (with Texas Guinan) and various other night spots.
- He married Grace Mulrooney, who was several years his senior, when he was 22. They separated early on, but never divorced (perhaps because Raft’s family was Catholic), and he supported her until she died in 1970.
- Raft was known to run with a pretty rough crowd. He was childhood friends with gangsters Owney Madden and Bugsy Siegel; Siegel stayed at Raft’s home in Los Angeles when the gangster first moved there.
- Raft reportedly turned down the lead roles in High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942) and Double Indemnity (1944). The first three of those roles proved to be great successes for Humphrey Bogart.
- Raft appeared in Mae West‘s first (Night after Night, 1932) and last (Sextette, 1978) pictures.
- In James Cagney‘s autobiography, the actor wrote that Raft prevented Cagney from being rubbed out by the mob. Cagney was president of the Screen Actors Guild at the time, and the story goes that he was adamant the Mafia wouldn’t become active in the union’s affairs, which was not a popular stance in certain circles.
- Raft was a lifelong baseball fan, attending the World Series for 25 years in a row in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
- As a teen, Raft was a bat-boy for the New York Highlanders (later the Yankees).
- In the late 1950s, Raft worked as a celebrity greeter at the Hotel Capri, a Mafia-owned casino in Havana. He was there in 1959 when rebels stormed Havana to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Happy birthday, George Raft, wherever you may be!
Happy 136th Birthday, Sydney Greenstreet!
Sydney Greenstreet, born 136 years ago today in Sandwich, England, made only 24 movies in a brief, eight-year movie career, but what an indelible mark he made in that brief span.
As a young man, Greenstreet sets his sights on a career as a tea planter in Ceylon, but drought conditions brought him back to England, where he managed a brewery. He also took acting lessons, as a lark.
He made his stage debut in a 1902 production of Sherlock Holmes and would go on to appear in many plays, in England and the U.S, appearing frequently with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine in Theatre Guild productions.
Sydney Greenstreet’s film debut came at age 62 in The Maltese Falcon, and few actors in the history of cinema could boast as high a ratio of classics to movies made: Casablanca, Christmas in Connecticut, They Died with Their Boots On, Across the Pacific, Passage to Marseille, The Mask of Dimitrios, Flamingo Road.
Of Greenstreet’s 24 pictures, Peter Lorre costarred in nine of them (and in a tenth—Hollywood Canteen (1944)—the pair made a shared cameo appearance). Greenstreet made six pictures with Humphrey Bogart.
Throughout his film career, Greenstreet battled diabetes and Bright’s disease, and his health forced him to retire from films in 1949. In 1950-51, though, he would star in a radio series for NBC, The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe. He died at age 75 in 1954, survived by his wife of 36 years, Dorothy Marie Ogden, and their son, John Ogden Greenstreet.
Happy birthday, Mr. Greenstreet, wherever you may be.
Celebrating Ingrid Bergman’s Centennial
Today marks the centennial of Ingrid Bergman‘s birth.
Back in our college days, we attended a campus screening of Casablanca that was held in one of the larger lecture halls on campus. We’d seen that classic picture two or three times already by then—via broadcast television and on videotape.
But, as always, it’s an entirely different experience to see a movie on a large(ish) screen and with an appreciative audience.
But the thing we’ll always recall about our first projected viewing of Casablanca, easily one of our favorite pictures (perhaps our very favorite), was the audible gasp that was heard throughout the house when Ms. Bergman was first seen in close-up onscreen. We’re not sure a more beautiful presence has ever been seen on the silver screen than Ms. Bergman as she appeared in that classic picture.
Today marks her 100th birthday, and for movie buffs, it’s truly cause to celebrate. Ilsa Lund might be our favorite among her roles, but she gave us so many memorable performances in a legendary career.
Happy birthday, Ms. Bergman, wherever you may be.
In Their Words: Happy Birthday, Claude Rains!
The great Claude Rains was born 125 years ago today in London. Few actors in cinematic history were more reliable in consistently delivering memorable performances. We’re not sure we can name a bad one from Mr. Rains.
If you wish to watch one of his pictures today to celebrate his birthday, there are dozens of worthy options, but you can certainly not go wrong by choosing either Casablanca, The Invisible Man, or Notorious.
Happy birthday, Mr. Rains, wherever you may be!
