Nov. 26, 1963: Margaret Leighton says: “I haven't been bored since childhood, but feel I'm really rather dull. A career is all right until age 26. After that you might wish you hadn't become an actress.” And she says of former husband Laurence Harvey: “I don’t want to be just friends with people I’ve been married to.”
Olga Nethersole in an undated postcard for sale on EBay.
Olga Nethersole in “Sapho,” Jan. 1, 1907.
“Nethersole has the most seductive of voices” … Notice the ad for a Times brochure about its fight against unions, “revised, clarified, strengthened and improved” by Gen. Otis since his return from the Far East.
Nethersole dies Jan. 10, 1951 at the age of 80.
A postcard promoting the appearance of Olga Nethersole at the Mason Opera House has been listed on EBay. Although she was quite prominent at the time, Nethersole is fairly obscure today. She’s not listed on imdb, so it seems likely she never appeared in films. Bidding on the postcard starts at $5.
Nov. 23, 1960: “Had a few days in New York while homebound from Europe so took in Lucille Ball's show 'Wildcat' in Philadelphia. It makes you laugh and cry and when it reaches Broadway it'll take this old town like she took the nation with 'I Love Lucy.' “
Skin diver Harold B. Gavenman dies after a tragic series of accidents in which he was struck by a boat propeller and fell 100 feet while being lifted to a rescue helicopter.
Nov. 23, 1959: Jack Smith profiles Debbie Reynolds, 27, who is returning to the screen after an absence for the birth of her daughter, Carrie, and the breakup of her marriage to singer Eddie Fisher. "With tomboy energy, Debbie has bounced back into stardom -- and with astounding success. Today she is possibly the busiest star in Hollywood," Smith says.
Debbie Reynolds is “too busy for bitterness,” Smith says.
Nov. 19, 1956: "Jose Quintero, bright young director of the "Long Day's Journey Into Night," is a rage overnight. He's a Hollywood boy who couldn't make good in his hometown -- tried as an actor there and came to a little theater project in Greenwich Village. Mrs. Eugene O'Neill saw his direction for "The Iceman Cometh" and insisted he direct the O'Neill autobiography."
Nov. 18, 1955: While on tour in Chicago with “The King and I,” Yul Brynner worked on a doctorate in philosophy at Northwestern and gave drama lessons to the rest of the cast, Hedda Hopper says.
My question: One of the more distinctive elements of "Little Murders" is the extended monologues given to the major characters, like "To the Guy Who Reads My Mail" or "Every Crime Has a Pattern." These are long, thoughtful pieces and I was curious as to when you did them in the process of writing the play. The beginning? Middle? End? I'm also wondering how long it took you to distill your thoughts for these pieces.
He writes: What an interesting question, and one that has never come up before. The wedding speech and the Judge's speech are lifted virtually without change from the novel that LM was meant to be before I gave up on it. Two years later they went into the play. Alfred's monologue, as well as Lt. Practice's, were written for the play, Alfred's in the first draft, Practice's after several revisions that didn't work in the Boston tryout. The Practice speech and its setup prior to the speech were the last writings I did on the play. Film Forum in NY is screening a new print of the movie in Oct.
Nov. 14, 1909: The problem with identifying the man gamboling about the top of Angel Flight* without clothing is that none of the women who complain to police have taken a good look at him.
And Eddie Foy offers advice to aspiring actors: “When you next visit a theater, note how few real actors there are in the company. With some, every word spoken is distinct, every action suits the word and the audience clearly understands, not only what the actor is doing and saying, but why he is doing and saying it. On the other hand, note the indistinctness and the mealy-mouthedness of the majority.”
Clare Briggs takes another look at golf in “Conceding Yourself a Putt.”
Nov. 7, 1919: London retains 100 of the women police officers who were put into service during World War I. Part of the force was disbanded after the war, but 100 policewomen were retained to keep order out of fears of "an orgy of dissipation" among ex-soldiers in the "night life sections." The policewomen are particularly on the lookout for young women who might be attracted to such places and get in trouble.
Nov. 6, 1943: “Rene Clair, before deciding as to whether Lily Pons will sing for Nellie Melba in ‘It Happened Tomorrow,’ takes two days off to listen to more would-be Melbas. I'm amazed that Lily Pons would even consider doing it.” Notice that Lily Pons isn’t in the cast for “It Happened Tomorrow” … And the Pasadena Playhouse stages “Rebecca.”