Discovering Actors/Actresses Working Backwards
steve
What Im talking about is discovering the earlier works of a
personality/actor/actress that you originally know from late in (or after)
their career. For example, I first encountered Kitty Carlisle as a
participant in some game show ('To Tell the Truth"?) with no idea of her
history, and only years later noticed her in "A Night at the Opera". First
saw Karl Malden in "Streets of SF". Bette Davis came to me in "Baby Jane",
which gave the mistaken impression that she was just a grotesque (though
talented) human being..only later to discover her sexy young (talented) self
in so many films. First encoutered Charles Ruggles as the voice of Underdog
("There's no need to fear..."). And Im pretty sure I first saw John Wayne
as an overweight tough cop in some (awful) 70s crime flick.
What's my point. I dunno. Entertainment careers often last a lifetime (or
nearly so) with many twists and turns, and most of the time we discover
those careers in progress as our own lifetime dictates. Before home video,
the earlier stuff was lost to those who came in "late". First impressions
are lasting, but they may come out of time sequence.
steve
--
"Politicians are worse than thieves. At least when thieves take your money,
they don't expect you to thank them for it."
Walter Williams
Halmyre
> OK, that header is pretty cryptic.
>
> What Im talking about is discovering the earlier works of a
> personality/actor/actress that you originally know from late in (or after)
> their career. For example, I first encountered Kitty Carlisle as a
> participant in some game show ('To Tell the Truth"?) with no idea of her
> history, and only years later noticed her in "A Night at the Opera". First
> saw Karl Malden in "Streets of SF". Bette Davis came to me in "Baby Jane",
> which gave the mistaken impression that she was just a grotesque (though
> talented) human being..only later to discover her sexy young (talented) self
> in so many films. First encoutered Charles Ruggles as the voice of Underdog
> ("There's no need to fear..."). And Im pretty sure I first saw John Wayne
> as an overweight tough cop in some (awful) 70s crime flick.
>
> What's my point. I dunno. Entertainment careers often last a lifetime (or
> nearly so) with many twists and turns, and most of the time we discover
> those careers in progress as our own lifetime dictates. Before home video,
> the earlier stuff was lost to those who came in "late". First impressions
> are lasting, but they may come out of time sequence.
>
Edmund O'Brien in 'The Wild Bunch'.
Gloria Swanson in "Airport 75'.
I'm too old to play this game :(
--
Halmyre
This is the most powerful sigfile in the world and will probably blow your
head clean off.
Kingo Gondo
"Halmyre" <no....@this.address> wrote in message
news:MPG.25763ce6f...@news.tesco.net...
> In article <BXVOm.45546$%j4.2...@newsfe18.iad>, st...@steve.com says...
>> OK, that header is pretty cryptic.
>>
>> What Im talking about is discovering the earlier works of a
>> personality/actor/actress that you originally know from late in (or
>> after)
>> their career. For example, I first encountered Kitty Carlisle as a
>> participant in some game show ('To Tell the Truth"?) with no idea of her
>> history, and only years later noticed her in "A Night at the Opera".
>> First
>> saw Karl Malden in "Streets of SF". Bette Davis came to me in "Baby
>> Jane",
>> which gave the mistaken impression that she was just a grotesque (though
>> talented) human being..only later to discover her sexy young (talented)
>> self
>> in so many films. First encoutered Charles Ruggles as the voice of
>> Underdog
>> ("There's no need to fear..."). And Im pretty sure I first saw John
>> Wayne
>> as an overweight tough cop in some (awful) 70s crime flick.
From the first TV generation onward this has SOP. They saw the Loretta Young
Show before they saw a Loretta Young movie, etc. Your "insight" is about 50
years stale, which is pretty much SOP with the rest of your "insights".
>> What's my point. I dunno.
Self-awareness--what a concept.
TT
Didn't really notice Larry Hagman before Dallas, John Forsythe before
Dynastia(at some point during the show I realised he was Charlie from
Charlie's Angels)
A later example would be when I finally saw "The Beastmaster"...finding
out that Marc Singer was a versatile actor before his "V"-series fame... :-P
Also seeing Charles Bronson before Death Wish fame opened my eyes to his
portrayal of intellectual romantic characters...sort of like seeing Lee
Van Cleef's earlier work when he wasn't typecasted as a gunslinger! ;)
Dave in Toronto
I remember seeing John Forsythe in movies from the fifties _The Glass
Webb_ (Pretty good thriller) _Escape from Fort Bravo_ and Hitchcock's
_The Trouble with Harry_.
Dave in Toronto
S D
Penny
Flasherly
wrote:
>
> >> What's my point. I dunno.
>
> Self-awareness--what a concept.
Didn't think he did bad for a bang-up job, either.
Kingo Gondo
"Flasherly" <Flas...@live.com> wrote in message
news:aca3a236-9c57-4682...@p23g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
Perhaps, but it was somewhat suddenly, or not.
TT
Those sound a bit familiar...but the only one(before Dynasty) I'm 100%
about is "and justice for all", a decent court drama with Pacino.
David Oberman
>What Im talking about is discovering the earlier works of a
>personality/actor/actress that you originally know from late in (or after)
>their career.
In my case:
Marlon Brando
Marlene Dietrich
Laurence Olivier
Orson Welles
George Burns
Ralph Richardson
William Holden
George Burns
Fredric March
In each case, discovering the sometimes much earlier films was
wonderful.
____
It is not exactly that we learn from each other, for no one can
really learn anything except in and by himself; it seems better to
say that we learn because of each other, and, indeed, that if there
were no others, there could be no learning at all. In this there is
a mystery, for we know not how to account for the first beginning
of all learning.
-- Richard Mitchell, "Psyche Papers" Part III
nick
> I don' t think I was all that familiar with Donald Pleasance before Will
> Penny
Barbara Stanwyck. Watched her as the matriarch in The Big Valley.
Didn't think of her as a movie star (and a sexy movie star in her
prime) till later on.
Mr. Apol
> OK, that header is pretty cryptic.
>
> What Im talking about is discovering the earlier works of a
> personality/actor/actress that you originally know from late in (or after)
> their career. For example, I first encountered Kitty Carlisle as a
> participant in some game show ('To Tell the Truth"?) with no idea of her
> history, and only years later noticed her in "A Night at the Opera". First
> saw Karl Malden in "Streets of SF". Bette Davis came to me in "Baby Jane",
> which gave the mistaken impression that she was just a grotesque (though
> talented) human being..only later to discover her sexy young (talented) self
> in so many films. First encoutered Charles Ruggles as the voice of Underdog
> ("There's no need to fear...").
Underdog's voice was done by Wally Cox.
"Not plane, or bird, or even frog,
It's just little ol' me--(crash) Underdog."
PBT
steve
On 25-Nov-2009, "Mr. Apol" <mra...@verizon.net> wrote:
> First encoutered Charles Ruggles as the voice of Underdog
> > ("There's no need to fear..."). �
>
> Underdog's voice was done by Wally Cox.
Oops. Not sure where I got that impression.
steve
On 24-Nov-2009, nick <nickmacp...@AOL.com> wrote:
> > I don' t think I was all that familiar with Donald Pleasance before Will
> > Penny
>
> Barbara Stanwyck. Watched her as the matriarch in The Big Valley.
> Didn't think of her as a movie star (and a sexy movie star in her
> prime) till later on.
That''s a good one with me, too. And, as a kid, I hated her as a character
and as an actress (and maybe I confused the two). How things change. There
is no actor/actress I respect more.
Lawrence Chalmers
at the movie house. My mother couldn't get a sitter. The movie was
'The Two Mrs. Carrolls.' I guess that's why mom couldn't get me to
drink my milk for a long time after....