Happy Birthday to my sister Jennifer, who is 25 today.
Today is also the 89th birthday of Van Johnson. He was born August 25, 1916. Here is a brief (well, maybe not so brief) bio from imdb.com
"Blue-eyed, carrot-topped, freckle-faced leading man who zoomed to screen prominence at MGM during the WW2 years, when many top stars were in uniform. (Johnson was exempted from military service due to a serious injury he'd suffered earlier in a car crash.) A New England Yankee of Swedish descent, Johnson was a chorus boy on the New York stage before making the trek westward in 1940. He was visible in RKO's
Too Many Girls (1940, in the ensemble) and Warner Bros.'
Murder in the Big House (1942) before landing his Metro contract. He made his debut for the studio in
The War Against Mrs. Hadley (also 1942), taking a small supporting role. Johnson's career got an unexpected boost when he was assigned the juvenile lead in
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (also 1942), replacing Lew Ayres in what had been the Dr. Kildare series, now a showcase for longtime Metro contractee Lionel Barrymore. The brawny but boyish Johnson soon became a fan favorite (albeit mostly with bobbysoxers), supporting Greer Garson in
Madame Curie Mickey Rooney in
The Human Comedy and Spencer Tracy in
A Guy Named Joe (all 1943) before finally winning top billing in
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944).Johnson spent most of the next 15 years at MGM. He frequently appeared in the studio's all-star films and starred in many minor efforts, but his best filmsincluding 1948's
State of the Union and
Command Decision for example-saw the likable redhead in meaty supporting parts. As a wisecracking best friend (in 1954's
Brigadoon or a sharp-tongued lieutenant (in that same year's
The Caine Mutiny he fared better than in most of his less demanding, and less inspired, starring films. Like many other Hollywood stars of the 1940s and 1950s, Johnson found himself little in demand after the studio system self-destructed. During the 1970s and early 1980s he was a frequent guest on TV series and sitcoms, especially "The Love Boat," that Elephant's Graveyard of Golden-Age Hollywood stars.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
I would also like to add a Happy birthday to my Aunt Loraine who had a birthday August 23. As well as Gene Kelly who was born August 23, 1912. He died February 2, 1996. He would have been 93 this past Tuesday. Here's a brief (well, actually, this one is longer) bio from imdb.com
"The enduring image of this handsome, robust performer gaily dancing to and crooning "Singin' in the Rain" (in the classic 1952 film of the same name), one of the most frequently repeated sequences in movie history, shouldn't obscure the other impressive achievements in his lengthy, generally distinguished career. A dancer since childhood, Kelly studied economics at Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh, but had the misfortune of graduating during the Depression and was forced to take menial jobs to support himself. At one time a dancing teacher, he finally parlayed his natural ability into a chorus-boy assignment on the Broadway stage. In 1940 he won the leading role in Rodgers and Hart's "Pal Joey," which catapulted him to stardom. During this period he also choreographed several hit plays, including the 1941 production of "Best Foot Forward."It was probably inevitable that Kelly should wind up in Hollywood, where the film musical had produced some of the screen's most popular players. Kelly's good looks, brawny physique, and vigorous, athletic dancing style set him apart from most male dancers, and while he lacked Fred Astaire's stylish elegance, he more than made up for it with his own ebullience and winning personality. Paired with Judy Garland in
For Me and My Gal (1942), he got off to a fine start, making a hit with audiences and eliciting favorable reviews. Kelly spent most of his film career at MGM, home of the fabled Arthur Freed unit, which produced Hollywood's finest musicals.
P>DuBarry Was a Lady,
Pilot #5,
The Cross of Lorraine and
Thousands Cheer (all 1943) gave Kelly prominent exposure and allowed the MGM publicity machine to build upon his initial success. In 1944 the studio loaned him to Columbia for
Cover Girl (opposite Rita Hayworth) and to Universal for
Christmas Holiday (opposite Deanna Durbin in a downbeat musical drama); being paired with those company's top musical stars added luster to his own career, and in
Cover Girl he helped design his first bravura solo specialty, the ingenious double-exposure number "Alter Ego." He returned to Metro a top draw, and started exercising more control over his work on-screen. In
Anchors Aweigh (1945) he and choreographic partner Stanley Donen concocted a brilliant and innovative dance sequence with the animated Jerry the Mouse. (The musical also earned Kelly a Best Actor Oscar nomination, and marked the first of three screen teamings with Frank Sinatra, whom he taught to dance.)
Ziegfeld Follies (1946) teamed him with Fred Astaire for the amusing "Babbitt and the Bromide" number.
Words and Music (1948), a dubious biography of songwriters Rodgers and Hart, enabled him to make a guest appearance performing an impressive rendition of Rodgers' "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" ballet.
The Pirate (1948) teamed him with Judy Garland in a particularly exuberant musical, and
The Three Musketeers (also 1948) allowed Kelly, as D'Artagnan, to use his graceful body movements in a nonmusical swashbuckler.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), a modestly entertaining baseball musical, gave Kelly and Donen screen credit for contributing the picture's storyline. Only
Living in a Big Way (1947), a notorious flop about postwar reacclimation, marred Kelly's late 1940s winning streak.Kelly and Donen earned their director's stripes with
On the Town (1949), the wonderful Betty Comden-Adolph GreenLeonard Bernstein musical about sailors on leave in New York, New York, in which Kelly also starred. Among its other distinctions was the fact that this musical left the confines of a Hollywood studio and filmed its exteriors on location. After making
Summer Stock (1950) with former costar Judy Garland, Kelly took a dramatic role in that year's
Black Hand which cast the dark-haired performer as an Italian-American crimebuster.Although directed by Vincente Minnelli,
An American in Paris (1951) bore Kelly's mark just as strongly. (He is a lifelong Francophile.) His singing and dancing were never better showcased, and the lengthy Gershwin ballet that climaxes the film is one of the highpoints of Kelly's career. It earned him a special Academy Award that year. He took a supporting part in an all-star, picaresque drama,
It's a Big Country (also 1951) before joining forces with Donen for
Singin' in the Rain (1952), arguably the finest movie musical of all time, and a delightful spoof of Hollywood's chaotic transition from silent films to sound. Supported by Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, Kelly the Actor turned in one of his best performances, while Kelly the Dancer/Choreographer provided inventive terpsichore and Kelly the Codirector contributed dynamic staging. With this one film he reached the apogee of his career.Kelly went dramatic again in
The Devil Makes Three (1952), and then had to face the fact that MGM was scaling back on the production of lavish musicals. Lerner and Loewe's
Brigadoon (1954), directed by Minnelli, was supposed to have been filmed in Scotland, but budget cutbacks kept it on a soundstage instead. Although quite entertaining it was not the film Kelly had hoped for. He persuaded MGM to let him make
Invitation to the Dance (1957, but filmed years earlier), but this earnest, ambitious episodic dance musical was not a great success artistically or financially.
Les Girls (also 1957) was Kelly's last starring musical, a pleasant soufflé with Cole Porter songs and George Cukor direction. (Kelly did make an amusing cameo as Yves Montand's dancing coach in 1960's
Let's Make Love and appeared in Jacques Demy's French-made homage to the Hollywood musical,
The Young Girls of Rochefort in 1968, though his singing voice was-incredibly-dubbed in the French-language version. But his singing and dancing, for the most part, was confined to television from the 1960s on.)Acting had never been Kelly's strongest suit, but he was tailor-made for the part of a charming heel in
Marjorie Morningstar (1958). He was less ideal in the role of a cynical reporter, inspired by H. L. Mencken, in
Inherit the Wind (1960). By this time Kelly was content to spend most of his time behind the camera. He directed
The Happy Road (1957, in which he also starred),
The Tunnel of Love (1958), Jackie Gleason's pantomime vehicle
Gigot (1962), a 1965 telefilm remake of Woman of the Year the all-star comedy
A Guide for the Married Man (1967), the overstuffed musical
Hello,
Dolly! (1969), and
The Cheyenne Social Club (1970).Kelly appeared, both in old film clips and newly shot footage, in MGM's musical compilation film,
That's Entertainment! (1974). He agreed to direct new sequences (which teamed him with
Ziegfeld Follies dancing partner Fred Astaire) for the 1976 sequel and also appeared as one of the "hosts" of the second sequel,
That's Entertainment! III (1994). He made subsequent screen appearances in
Viva Knievel! (1977),
Xanadu (1980),Reporters (1981), and
That's Dancing! (1985). Kelly was married to actress Betsy Blair from 1941 to 1957."
