Yep, we're back with another raft of celebrity quotes about one another. We hope you enjoy the chatter from this installment of a series as well as the photos to go with.
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| "He was able to do a very emotional scene with tears in his eyes and pinch my fanny at the same time." - SHELLEY WINTERS on FREDRIC MARCH (who costarred in Executive Suite, 1954) |
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| "After the break-up, I asked Patti why she never said anything against Dean, and she told me that Dean was like a second wife to me and that she had no right to speak against him. Isn't that something? ...I still love Dean, but I don't like him anymore." - JERRY (and PATTI) LEWIS on DEAN MARTIN |
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| "He was everything I hoped and feared he would be - as unpredictable, honest, intimidating and inflammable as I had imagined. He is unusually interesting in the way that was more interesting than peace. I thought if I got out of there merely disfigured I'd be lucky." - CANDICE BERGEN on LEE MARVIN (who ultimately never worked together) |
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| "A triple threat who can't sing, dance, nor act." - GENE KELLY on MARIE McDONALD (who costarred in Living in a Big Way, 1947) |
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| "Once I asked him why do you ride those motorcycles like that and maybe kill yourself, and he said, 'So I won't forget I'm a man and not just an actor.' You know in back of this is a very strong truth. Rather odd people become actors and they are vain, they are much vainer than women." - BETTE DAVIS on STEVE McQUEEN |
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| "A Steve McQueen performance just naturally lends itself to monotony: Steve doesn't bring much to the party." - ROBERT MITCHUM on STEVE McQUEEN |
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| "In one scene [of Jinxed, 1982] I have to hit her in the face, and I thought we could save some money on sound effects here." KEN WAHL on BETTE MIDLER |
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| "I think she decided to go into show business when she was an embryo, she kicked so much." - JUDY GARLAND on LIZA MINNELLI |
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| "I love Liza. She is so original. People speak of her in terms of her mother, but she is herself, very definitely. A good, strong, unique person." MYRNA LOY on LIZA MINNELLI |
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| "Difficult? Yes... but she was a wonderful comedienne and she had a charisma like no one before or since." - JACK LEMMON on MARILYN MONROE (who costarred in Some Like it Hot, 1959) |
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| "I have just come from the Actor's Studio where I saw Marilyn Monroe. She had no girdle on, her ass was hanging out. She is a disgrace to the industry." - JOAN CRAWFORD on MARILYN MONROE |
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| "Paul Muni was a fascinating, exacting, attractive man - Jesus, was he attractive! - and it was sad to see him slowly disappear behind his elaborate make-up, his putty noses, his false lips, his beards. One of the few funny things Jack Warner ever said was, 'Why are we paying him so much money when we can't find him?' - BETTE DAVIS on PAUL MUNI (who costarred in Bordertown, 1935, and Juarez, 1939) |
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| "Paul is the most generous man with whom I've ever worked. We had a fantastic rapport shooting Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969.) It was one of the happiest experiences of my life." - ROBERT REDFORD on PAUL NEWMAN |
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| "At the beginning [of Pocket Money, 1972], it was understood that Newman and I would earn the same amount and have roles of equal importance... Well, I've never seen a situation so much reversed. It was Newman's company who produced the film and when they came to show it, Newman had become the sole star and I was nowhere." - LEE MARVIN on PAUL NEWMAN |
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| "A very leveling influence on Chinatown (1974.) He doesn't feel threatened and so can be generous. After all, why not? Talent is a very big mountain top." - FAYE DUNAWAY on JACK NICHOLSON |
Super fun. Gene Kelly was very funny, I have heard that line a million times about Broadway performers and had no idea it was coined by him.
ReplyDeleteThat is a hot pic of Steve McQueen, and ironic comment coming from Robert Mitchum. I spent the weekend watching Robert Osborne tributes and one of his most taciturn interviewees was Mr. Mitchum (albeit he is a very old guy at that point).
I always thought Ken Wahl was not a gentleman in his feud with Bette Midler. There is another meaner quote from around that time attributed to him about his dog. Boy did their careers go in separate directions, but for a while he was a huge heartthrob on tv. People used to steal the "Wiseguy" paper posters off the walls of subway cars.
I couldn't love the Jack Lemmon quote any more. I adore that movie and recently saw a clip that was a riot. Kind of magic how all the pieces add up to a beautiful whole. She is so lush and gorgeous and the guys are hilarious together.
And you ended with a nice quote from Faye, witty too. Kudos! I would like to know a nicer side of her.
I have a decent collection of Dean and Lewis movies that I can't watch anymore because over the years I've heard so many dreadful comments attributed to Lewis about Dean that I just can't buy him mooning over him like a cow-eyed milk maiden. I've always liked Dean Martin and every moment that he was able to keep his sanity and dignity while working along side Lewis' hammy hysterics should be considered a personal victory. I know that Dean's drunkenness was mostly shtick, but if I worked with Lewis I would have been knocking back booze like Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls.
ReplyDeleteBergen's remarks about Marvin are frightening and intriguing at the same time. Marvin seems like the kind of man's man who would belt a woman without compunction. Speaking of men's men who could belt a woman without compunction, I hate that I find Steve McQueen so damned sexy because he often appears to be rather jerky.
Hard, granite-jawed, insecure Joan Crawford jealous of the ineffable and effervescent Monroe. I am hardly surprised.Bette Davis has the most bizarre taste in men. Muni may be a great actor, but his attractiveness is certainly not readily apparent.
Whenever I look at beautiful Paul Newman I think it's a shame that Hitchcock never gave him the leading man treatment in his movies the way he did Jimmy Stewart and Carey Grant. I would have loved to have seen Newman in a psychosexual Hitchcock thriller. Torn Curtain left a lot to be desired on all levels.
Super interesting Poseidon! I had to laugh at Robert Mitchum's quote about Steve McQueen! Critics blasted Mitchum for the same thing! I remember one critic saying that later age Mitchum looks like a foot on screen and acts like one too.
ReplyDeleteA close friend of our family was private secretary to the Jerry Lewis family in the 60s and 70s. She had worked for several other actors and actresses, but quite the profession after the Lewis experience. He is not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination. Dean Martin, whom she'd met through other contacts, was lovely as was Jeanne, his then wife.
I'm intrigued about what project was in the works for Lee Marvin and Candice Bergen. Our family friend mentioned above met Lee Marvin as well. He was from an affluent family, and despite his gruff exterior, he was very well read and sophisticated. She thought him interesting, but not nice, especially when he drank.
Curious, too, Marvin's take on Paul Newman. By and large Newman's costars speak so highly of him - really out of character to hear something like Marvin's grousing. Having seen Newman up close (he filmed Slap Shot in my hometown) he seemed like a real down to earth guy. Up close, that face and those eyes were even more arresting. He was, though, very short and very slight. More than I expected!
Thanks Poseidon for a fun he said/she said!
Thanks, Gingerguy! I have met a few triple-threats in my own small circle of local performers...! LOL It was near agony to see Robert Osborne struggle to get any sort of info or take out of Mitchum! And doubly tough to know that even then, when he was on oxygen, struggling to talk and coughing, he'd head out at every opportunity for another smoke. This month marks 20 years since I quit! (I swore I'd never pay more than $2/pack - Ha ha!!) Wahl was so promising, too, after "Fort Apache: The Bronx" with Paul Newman, but it all went south. Some really awful injuries, too! He was probably already on the way "out" when it happened, but his marriage to The Barbi Twins (!) certainly helped seal the deal, though I was stunned to find he's still (legally) married to the one.
ReplyDeletePetercox, I have never seen a Martin & Lewis comedy!! Somehow, they've always eluded me. Lewis seemed always to behave like an obsessed former girlfriend, full of all this deep love, yet crazily vengeful and bitter. Weird dynamic between them. And Martin often seemed like he couldn't care less whether they resolved anything or not, which probably irked Lewis even more! LOL At his very youngest and least affected, Muni was handsome in a John Garfield-ish way, but I agree with you. Doesn't seem like something to write home about. And, again, I agree that "Torn Curtain" was mostly a fizzle. Newman and Julie Andrews (!) under Hitch's direction sounds unbelievably fascinating, but the whole thing was so pedestrian. I still love the look of films from that time, though. They all deserved a better movie.
Hi, Roberta! Lewis just seemed so high-maintainance to me! I cannot imagine having to WORK for him on a daily basis!!! One can't deny his dedication to the telethons and all, but wow... I would not want to deal with his ego and outbursts day to day. As for Marvin and Bergen, I can only GUESS, but I feel like it was probably either "Paint Your Wagon" (in the role Jean Seberg took) or maybe one of the gals in "Prime Cut." You have so many connections to this star or that! Neat! I agree that it's rare to hear a cross word about Newman. And I haven't seen "Pocket Money" (or if I did it was eons ago on commercial TV), but I don't think Marvin was "nowhere" in it...! One thing I find interesting is that so much is always made about the staggered billing for "The Towering Inferno" with Newman and McQueen, but the very same thing had already been done with Newman and Marvin in "Pocket Money!" The posters have Newman first, but Marvin higher...
Sir, we were totally thrilled to see both the picture and quotation about the relationship between Dino and Mr. Jerry Lewis...."like a second wife." Reading Mr. Lewis' tome, "Dean and Me: A Love Story" is is crystal clear to see how very much the partners loved each other during the decade they were together, and we were so pleased to see them reunited in 1976 during the MD Telethon. Know that your efforts have been shared this day at ilovedinomartin.
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