"Okay, so who do we hate??"

I recall Joan Rivers saying something like that from time to time on her outrageous awards show fashion re-caps on E! This post is unrelated to that, but has a similar trajectory to it. I'm a big fan of Richard Lamparski's series of books, "Whatever Became Of...?" in which he visited nearly (or almost completely!) forgotten celebrities and caught up with them. He'd ask about their careers, what they've been up to since the spotlight faded and then provide a current (often shocking, to be honest) photo of said persona. He usually also asked if the celebrity in question had any unpleasant memories of their time in La La Land (such as when diminutive Mexican comic actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez recalled missing the chance to play a regular role - a gardener - on the 1960 sitcom Pete and Gladys when costar Cara Williams vetoed it or when Danny Kaye deliberately sidelined him away from the camera during a number on his variety show.) We're merely relying on their side of the story, of course, but if something stood out to the point where they still feel the bitterness decades later, perhaps there is at least a kernel of truth to be found in what they are recalling. And after all the time in-between, they often felt no need to remain silent about it. So, in an effort to get another post up, I have sifted through one of these books (the 11th one in the series) to excavate some tidbits of testiness to be found among the participants. I don't know why I find it amusing when stars reveal their animosity for each other, but I do!

Kay Aldredge. A decorative 20th Century Fox starlet, Aldridge switched to being the lead in some Republic serials, notably Perils of Nyoka (1942), in which she played Nyoka. A year later she did Daredevils of the West opposite Allan "Rocky" Lane.

Aldridge, who retired after marrying in 1945, referred to Allan Lane as "the most conceited human being I have ever met." He certainly looked pretty handsome here! Maybe got a little too used to being adored...

Later adopting the "Rocky" Lane moniker, he portrayed the character Red Ryder in seven movies when the initial actor exited the role. Lane's most enduring contribution, though, could be his most secret one. From 1961-1966, he, covertly and without credit, provided the voice of the talking horse Mister Ed! Thirty years after his death, he was granted a TV Land Award for that performance.

Björn Andrésen. The sixteen year-old became quite an international sensation from his role in 1971's Death in Venice, as the object of desire for older man Dirk Bogarde. (The other young man in swimwear in Sergio Garfagnoli.) Andrésen, who has worked as an actor ever since though in far less notable projects and with much less emphasis on his looks, was startled to read in a 1984 Films in Review interview with Helmut Berger of his own demise! Berger said that he had died of a drug overdose!

Berger is shown above. Andrésen explains:

“We first met when we were seated across from each other at the dinner given after the premiere of the film in Rome. He was very rude, which confused me completely. I couldn't understand how someone could dislike me when we were total strangers. I learned later that he wanted to play 'Tadzio.' One version has it that Luchino [Visconti] had actually promised him the role.” Berger had worked for the director in The Witches (1967) and The Damned (1969) and would again after Venice.

We've featured James Franciscus here before and also reported on his TV series Mr. Novak. During Lamparski's interview with costar Dean Jagger (who departed the show after some significant issues with ulcers), the elder Oscar-winning actor shared a thought or two.

Despite its Technicolor presentation and the draw of Dorothy Lamour in another set of sarongs, Rainbow Island (1944) was not a tremendous hit and is all but forgotten today.

Here we find costars Eddie Bracken and Gil Lamb. Lamb has risen to fame as a gangling comedian who had a bit wherein he pretended to swallow a harmonica and then have funny sounds appearing to emanate from his throat. In his Lamparski interview, he addressed a then-hot local comic (George West) who'd appropriated that gag for himself:

“He never asked me if he could do my stuff, nor does he acknowledge me in the act. People tell me I should be flattered. I am not flattered. I am incensed.”

As for his pal in Rainbow Island, Lamb referred to Bracked as "that little bastard." Ha ha! I generally find that a little of Bracken goes a long way myself...

Not sure what the problem was between them, but the gents appeared to be rather undressed for many of the film's scenes. As an aside, Lamour turned down this movie and Yvonne De Carlo was promoted to the lead. Then she changed her mind and De Carlo was back in the ensemble... She was later quoted as saying, "You might have seen Gil Lamb chasing me through the bushes in it."

The gal in this colorful portrait in Catherine McLeod. She worked at many places during her career, but had this to say about 20th Century Fox:

“Stars are treated like stars on any set, but at Fox everyone knew his or her place and were damned well kept in it at all times. Who got a table first in the commissary, where that table was located, who got a chair on the set, where you parked your car, who spoke to you and who didn't – everything was determined by one thing only – what salary bracket you were in. I could never wait to get off that lot.”

Though she liked many of the actors she appeared with, she singled out Phil Carey (Return to Warbow, 1958) and Richard Boone (Have Gun, Will Travel) as two of the three actors she would least like to encounter again. She characterized Richard Widmark as the “worst bastard of all time!” (They worked together in Vanished, a 1971 TV miniseries.)

McLeod's last part in a feature was 1976's Lipstick and she had a pointed remark about the experience:

“[it was like] being back at Fox thanks to Mariel Hemingway.”

I couldn't help thinking that perhaps McLeod got her Hemingways mixed up. Because Mariel was but a 13 year-old total newcomer while older sister Margeaux was the star of the movie and a real big deal in the modeling world... (and was surely more egotistical and high maintenance than li'l sis!) I do find it fascinating, though, that you can be watching a movie and be completely unaware that a peripheral role is being played by someone who was once a leading player in their own right!

A Day at the Races (1937) was easily the most high profile and enduring movie of one Esther Muir. She got along fine with Groucho and the other Marx Brothers. But she did have something to say about a former husband, famed dance formation pioneer Busby Berkeley.

They never worked together, but “living with him was enough of a strain. Buz was a lovely person in many ways, but a real momma's boy. I was more his keeper than his wife. He had great gifts, but was very irresponsible.” Allegedly, Berkeley was a heavy drinker and reportedly tore Muir's dress off at a dance!

Perhaps you've seen actress Mary Murphy in The Wild One (1953) opposite Marlon Brando. She was married for a quick few months to handsome Dale Robertson, with this to say, years after their annulment:

“Dale is a lovely man. We're still good friend. There are a lot of men like that. They're great until they become your husband.”

Later she drifted into an affair with married talent agent Kurt Frings (whose wife Ketti wrote the Broadway play “Look Homeward, Angel.”) “Of course, he promised to marry me and, like a fool, I believed him – over and over. Not only did he control my private life, he represented me as well. I did not work one day during that whole period. And he was a 'big agent' as they say.”

There's always room for more Dale Robertson...! I thought you might like one more glimpse.

Alan Napier entered the world of eternal cult fandom when he took on the role of Alfred Pennyworth, the knowing and industrious butler on Batman. After a 1988 cast reunion, he had this to say:

“Jolly good to see them all again and even the Batmobile!

"...But I've never been able to workup much enthusiasm for 'The Boy Wonder.'” And, yes, Burt Ward has long been almost as equally annoying as he was appealing during his time in Robin's cowl...! His memoir... well, let's just forget it.

And finally, not all of the girls shown here are one and the same. The middle one is child actress Gigi Perreau. Flanking her is fellow child star Natalie Wood, who was apparently a keen rival of Perreau's according to the grown up Perreau. According to the Lamparski interview:

"Her only unpleasant recollection is of Natalie Wood, who was her classmate for a while in grammar school. The late actress passed notes in class that Gigi did not really understand, but that disturbed her – messages worded as warnings, to the effect that she would never become a star but that Natalie would." And, of course, Natalie did! But in her day, Perreau was no slouch.

Though Wood later emerged as a jaw-dropping beauty, Perreau was, for a time, actually more conventionally appealing than Wood, who took a while to grow into her features. Also in the interview:

"Van Heflin, whom she supported in Weekend with Father (1951), was the actor she liked the least. When he suspected she was stealing a scene, he threatened her with a knife" Um, wow....! I can only hope he was at least half-kidding!  Note that the tyke had third-billing in the posters for the movie.

Perreau is seen here with Heflin in said film. She's in-between the star and a shirtless Richard Denning, who's looking pretty good! Heflin and Perreau are all smiles here, so maybe she didn't happen to nab any of his limelight on this day. LOL

I may have to check this movie out sometime... It will be hard to look at the Governor on Hawaii 5-O exactly the same after this. Ha ha!

P.S.- My work life is still RIDICULOUS, hence the long wait in-between posts, but I have not given up. I'm still doing my best to get the occasional bit of blather up and ready asap. It just takes a lot longer, especially with the new interface on this site. It's easier to do photo essays such as the style here versus integrating text and pictures together. Till next time, be safe! Love, Poseidon.