Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Milton Sills!

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo   Update: As many readers realized, this is Milton Sills. Although there’s no caption information on the back, the photo is evidently from “The Sea Hawk.”   Sept. 16, 1930: The Times reports the death of Milton Sills. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Jane Frazee! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Milton Sills and Gertrude Olmstead in “Puppets,” Aug. 22, 1926. Here’s another photo of our mystery star with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Eve Golden, Joan Myers, Mary Mallory, Mike Hawks (who says "this one is too easy") and Donna Hill for identifying him. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Milton Sills and Mary Astor in “The Runaway Enchantress” or “The Sea Tiger,” April 3, 1927. Here’s our mystery guest with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Don Danard, Rick Scott, Carmen and Suzy Q for identifying him.  Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Milton Sills and Corinne Griffith in “Single Wives.” Here’s our mystery fellow with another mystery companion. Please congratulate Stacia, Laura Aikens and Christa for identifying him and Jeff Hanna, Michael Ryerson, Mike Hawks, Carmen and Don Danard for identifying yesterday's mystery companion. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Milton Sills and Dorothy Mackaill in “The Barker,” Jan. 6, 1929.

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This week’s mystery star is Jane Frazee, above, in “Kansas City Kitty,” June 19, 1945.  Sept.8, 1985: The Times reports the death of Jane Frazee at the age of 67. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Lili Gentle! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: “Introducing Mr. Timmy – more formally known as Timothy Glenn Tryon, son of Republic’s beautifully young star, Jane Frazee, and Glenn Tryon.”  Here’s another photo of our mystery guest with what I believe is a first for the Daily Mirror – a mystery baby! Please congratulate Don Danard, Jeff Hanna, Carmen and John C. Marshall for identifying her. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: “Marjorie Montgomery makes a cholo coat of Guatemalan cotton, worn by Jane Frazee, at the left. Vera Ralston models a Western Fashions casual,” Jan. 2, 1947. Here's another photo of our mystery woman with a mystery companion (how about those shoes?). Please congratulate Kylie for identifying her! Please congratulate Jeff Hanna, Carmen, Mary Mallory and Mike Hawks for recognizing Ralston. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Jane Frazee in “Gay Ranchero.” Presumably that’s Roy Rogers under all the paint.  I think just about everybody recognized him! Here’s our mystery gal with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Nick Santa Maria for identifying her and Jeff Hanna, Carmen and Dewey Webb for identifying yesterday’s mystery companion. Los Angeles Times file photo Jane Frazee in a 1975 handout photo. Please congratulate Megan, Lee and Thom; Brent Walker, Mike Hawks,

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This is Lili Gentle on Jan. 27, 1956, after a judge approved her contract (she was 16) with Twentieth Century Fox. Jan. 11, 1958: Lili Gentle and Richard Zanuck are getting married. Update: I inadvertently grabbed an old post and used it for coding, which is why there are so many guesses.... The only way to fix the problem is with a new post. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Josephine Dunn! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Lili Gentle in “Young and Dangerous,” Oct. 13, 1957. Here’s another picture of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Dewey Webb for identifying her!  Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Lili Gentle in “Young and Dangerous.” Here’s another picture of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Steven Bibb for recognizing her! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Lili Gentle July 12, 1956. Here's our mystery gal with a truly mysterious companion. He’s not identified on the back of the photo, so even I don’t know who he is. Nice retouching, guys. Los Angeles Times file photo Lili Gentle, Nov. 25, 1957.

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Josephine Dunn in an undated photo Update: This is actress Josephine Dunn (1906-1983). The Times evidently didn’t publish an obituary on her. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again.) If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Owen Crump!  Los Angeles Times file photo July 15, 1927: The Definite Frock – Gardenias and shimmering black satin – that combination which has never failed in chic – go to make up the frock, work at will, for either afternoon or street, by Josephine Dunn, Paramount player. Here’s another picture of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Mike Hawks for identifying her! Los Angeles Times file photo Jan. 2, 1929: Pathe presents “Red Hot Rhythm” with Alan Hale. This is Josephine Dunn and Walter O’Keefe. Los Angeles Times file photo Ever since Josephine Dunn, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer player, appeared in Al Jolson’s picture she has been asked where her rainbow scarf is – which fits her like a glove. Now she has blossomed out in one which shows a net background and glittering sequins showing the lovely shades found in the rainbow. Here’s another photo of our mystery woman. Please congratulate Mary Mallory and Megan for identifying her!   Los Angeles Times file photo June 26, 1931: Josephine Dunn

Movie Star Bonus Mystery Photo

Photograph by Ray Graham / Los Angeles Times

Here’s a little bonus: A certain film star’s funeral. See if you can identify the (not very) mysterious pallbearers. Update: As most people realized, this is Errol Flynn's funeral. Curiously enough, although the papers reported that Jack Oakie was unable to get into the service because of tight security, he's in this picture. Also shown, from left: Mickey Rooney, Raoul Walsh, Guinn Williams and Otto Reichow. The other folks are unidentified.

Movie Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Owen Crump and Isabel Jewell announce their engagement, July 6, 1936. You’re probably asking: Which one is the mystery guest? I’ll take answers on either person, but I picked these photos because of the fellow. It’s mostly because of that mustache. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again.) If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Lina Romay! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Jewell and Crump. July 1936. Here’s another picture of our mystery fellow. Several folks have identified our mystery woman (Mary Mallory, Michael Ryerson, Carmen and Steven Bibb) but nobody has identified our mysterious man with the mustache. I was about to say “he owns only one suit,” but the photo appears to be from the same session as picture No. 1. Our mystery woman has just added a hat and jacket.   Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Crump and Jewell “swaying to swing rhythm” at the Cocoanut Grove, Aug. 30, 1936. Here’s another photo of our mystery fellow. Please congratulate Eve Golden and Mary Mallory for identifying him.  Dewey Webb and Megan Thom and Lee have identified our mystery woman. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Crump and Lucille Fairbanks, niece of Douglas Fairbanks, after their marriage in Santa Barbara, Oct. 12, 1940. Uh-oh. Something seems to have happened to our mystery woman! This doesn't look good! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Crump and Fairbanks at the Beverly Hills Brown Derby, Feb. 2, 1941. This is, as a few people guessed, Owen Crump. I'll be in court today so I won't be able to update this until tomorrow. More TK.

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times photo Sept. 25, 1945: Lina Romay photographed by Harmon D. Toy of the Los Angeles Times. Update: Our guest star is Lina Romay! Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again.) If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Jobyna Ralston! Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Lina Romay in "Adventure," Dec. 23, 1945. Here's another photo of our mystery star. Please congratulate Gerald McCann, Jeff Hanna, Paul Cardinal, Nick Santa Maria, Steven Bibb, "Laura" fan Waldo Lydecker and Mike Hawks for identifying her. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Lina Romay, March 10, 1949. Here's another picture of our mystery guest! Please congratulate Mary Mallory and Amy Richardson-Brown for identifying her. Photograph by Tony Barnard / Los Angeles Times Update: Lina Romay, at Hollywood Park, provides racing results in Spanish for Spanish-language radio stations.  Here's another photo of our mystery star! Please congratulate Steffi Sidney for identifying her. Los Angeles Times file photo Bandleader Xavier Cugat with a caricature of Lina Romay, April 8, 1943. Please congratulate Christa, Thom B, Christine Bamberger, Carmen and Randy Skretvedt  for identifying her.

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Richard Quine and first his wife, Susan Paley, 1942. Richard Quine, 68, Film Director, Dies of Gunshot Wound June 13, 1989 By EDWARD J. BOYER, Times Staff Writer Film director Richard Quine, whose string of comedy hits included "My Sister Eileen," "Solid Gold Cadillac" and "Bell, Book and Candle," has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Los Angeles police said Monday. Quine, 68, died Saturday at UCLA Medical Center, hospital officials said. Police said the one-time child actor-turned director had been despondent over poor health. An actor's son, Quine was born Nov. 12, 1920, in Detroit and made his movie debut at age 12. His acting credits include "Jane Eyre" in 1934 and "Command Decision" in 1948 with Clark Gable. Quine made the switch to directing shortly after World War II, while he was still a contract player for MGM. He and a friend, William Asher, who also became a successful director, decided to adapt a Saturday Evening Post short story for the screen. Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn heard about the adaptation, called Quine in and asked how much the two men wanted for the script. When Quine said they did not want to sell it, but wanted to direct it themselves, Cohn responded: "How the hell do you think you can make a picture?" Later, another Columbia executive told Quine, "Mr. Cohn tells me you're going to direct a picture." There was no indication that the adapted story, "Leather Gloves" actually made it to the screen, but Quine did go on to direct more than two dozen movies. His films included the 1954 remake of "So This Is Paris" starring Tony Curtis and Gloria DeHaven; "The World of Suzie Wong," starring William Holden, in 1960; the 1964 comedy "Sex and the Single Girl," starring Natalie Wood, Lauren Bacall and Henry Fonda; "The Solid Gold Cadillac," starring Judy Holliday and narrated by George Burns, in 1965, and "Hotel" in 1967. He also directed James Stewart, Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon in "Bell, Book and Candle" in 1958, an adaptation of the successful Broadway play about a New Yorker who falls in love with a neighbor who is a witch. "Making a movie is a bit like having a baby," he once said. "All you can hope for is that it won't have two heads and that it will be an entity in itself: who cares if it's a girl or a boy?" There was no immediate indication of funeral arrangements or survivors for Quine, who was married at least three times. July 6, 1947: Susan Peters, Quine's second wife, returns to acting after being partially paralyzed in a gun accident. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only prize is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Hall Bartlett! Los Angeles Times file photo Sept. 28, 1960: Richard Quine and Kim Novak at the premiere of “A Song Without End.” Here's our mystery fellow with (not much of a) mystery companion. Please congratulate Carmen, Paul Cardinal, Jenny McCrank, "Laura" fan Waldo Lydecker and Jeff Hanna for identifying him. Los Angeles Times file photo April 13, 1965: Richard Quine and his wife, Fran Jeffries, at the Cocoanut Grove. Here's another picture of our mystery guest -- with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Dewey Webb, Sue, Nancy Price, Sandy Reed, Kris, Michael Ryerson, Cinnamon Carter, JM Green, Rosalyn, Zabadu, Pat in Michigan, Christa, Cold in Phx, William, Zapgun, Pocho, Jane Ellen Wayne, Roget-L.A. and Alexa Foreman for identifying him.  Los Angeles Times file photo July 18, 1966: Richard Quine on the set of “Hotel.” Here's another photo of our mystery guest. Please congratulate Pat van Hartesveldt, Elsie, Benito, Mike Hawks and Mary Mallory  for identifying him.

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Hall Bartlett in an unidentified photo published in 1954. Update: As many people guessed from a certain picture with a seagull, this is Hall Bartlett. Hall Bartlett; Wrote, Directed Offbeat Films September 16, 1993 By BURT A. FOLKART, TIMES STAFF WRITER Hall Bartlett, whose films generally proved to be imaginative and provocative, if not commercially successful, has died. A family spokesman said Wednesday that the writer-producer-director of such cult favorites as "Changes" and "The Children of Sanchez" was 71 when he died Sept. 8 en route to UCLA Medical Center from his home in Los Angeles. Bartlett had undergone hip surgery and the spokesman said he may have died of complications. An autopsy is pending. Born to a wealthy family, Bartlett was a Yale graduate and member of Phi Beta Kappa who challenged film with mystic notions. He developed a reputation for small, often experimental, pictures that transcended their low-budget formats. His first was "Navajo" in 1952. The feature-length documentary was credited as the first sensitive scrutiny of the plight of the modern American Indian. It was nominated for an Academy Award. He told Paris Match in 1992 that he had been influenced by films since his boyhood in Kansas City, Mo., and first fell under the spell of "Les Miserables." His self-described "passion for pictures" ran a wide gamut; from "Crazylegs," a biographical film about football running back Elroy Hirsch, to "Unchained," an examination of life inside the California Institution for Men at Chino (the film's leitmotif, "Unchained Melody," became a popular song of the day and won new fans when it was later featured in the film "Ghost.") Bartlett also produced the film of Arthur Haley's novel "Zero Hour," a melodrama whose theme was widely imitated; "Drango," a study of the struggle for power in a small, post-Civil War Southern town, and "All the Young Men," a Sidney Poitier vehicle about racial tension at the Korean front. In 1966 he married actress Rhonda Fleming and two years later starred his stepson, Kent Lane, as a troubled youth undergoing a spiritual odyssey in the Big Sur area of California. "Changes" received sympathetic reviews for effort but many critics found fault with Bartlett's results. "The Children of Sanchez," starring Anthony Quinn and Delores del Rio, was released in 1978. It was an adaptation of the award-winning study of a Mexican family by an American couple who lived with them for five years. Again, the reviews were mixed, but the picture was highly praised by such diverse viewers as former President Jimmy Carter and syndicated film critic Rex Reed. Bartlett's adventurous spirit was more widely appreciated overseas, and he won several awards at international film festivals. He also was a widely felt presence on the Los Angeles civic scene, where he was a supporter of the Music Center, the James Doolittle Theater, a patron of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and an organizer of support clubs for the Rams and Lakers. In 1992, the Boy Scouts of America honored him with their Jimmy Stewart Good Turn Award. Of his life's work, Bartlett told an interviewer: "I hope to continue to make films relatively small in cost but hopefully of some matter." He was divorced from Fleming in 1972. His survivors include two daughters and five grandchildren. A funeral service is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. at Bel-Air Presbyterian Church. Donations in Bartlett's memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children, 267 N. Belmont Ave., Los Angeles 90026. Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only prize is bragging rights.  The answer to last week's mystery star: Esther Ralston. Photograph with Marianna Diamos / Los Angeles Times  Update: Nov. 2, 1973: Hall Bartlett with "Mmes Robert O'Meara, Don Fedderson and Larry Greene at the International Orphans Ball." This is from the era when The Times thought married women had no first name other than "Mrs."  Here's another photo of our mystery guest with some mystery companions. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Jan. 3, 1974, Producer-director Hall Bartlett on the set of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." Here's another photo of our mystery guest with a mystery friend. Los Angeles Times file photo Update: Hall Bartlett in an unidentified photo, Aug. 12, 1982. Here's another photo of our mystery guest. Please congratulate Mary Mallory, Pamela Porter, Stacia, Edward Cradduck, JT, Dr. Fudd, Christa, Richard Heft, Margie, Zabadu, William and Evelyn for identifying him. Photograph by Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Los Angeles Times March 10, 1988. Hall Bartlett poses outside Hunter's Books with copies of his novel "The Rest of Our Lives." Please congratulate Greg Clancey and Dewey Webb for identifying him (and Dewey recognized Yvonne Lime).