Fun Finds: Hollywood Studio Magazine, April 1987

Today's Fun Find was generously donated to me by a loyal reader who, taking note of my struggles to post as regularly as I would like, scanned and submitted this entire magazine so that I, and you in turn, could enjoy its contents! A vivid color photo of Loretta Young adorns the cover. We heartily thank the good Samaritan who provided this material for us. And now, let's take a peek inside!

Loretta Young was still alive at the time of this publication (she lived until the year 2000), so I don't think anyone was going to find this particular copy of HSM on her coffee table at home...!

The early-to-mid 1980s marked a big return to glamour, which had slid to the wayside in the 1970s. But at this time, as the 1990s were on the horizon (and grunge was threatening to settle in), there was a question as to the future of elegance.

I wouldn't count myself as a particular "fan" of Young's but I did think she had some wonderful looks along the way during her popular anthology TV series (with it's famed entrances each week.)

I didn't know that youngest sibling Georgianna was actually a half-sibling! (And I've always chuckled at the nickname "Gretch the Wretch!")

The author of this article tries to shimmy in every conceivable bit of gossip possible, which I admire (ha!) I also love that he points out the fact that Louise Tracy was not Catholic, but Episcopalian, so it was unlikely that she was the one who never gave in to a divorce from her famous hubby Spencer.

She seemed to work her legendary religious beliefs to fit whatever way she wanted them to...

I was living with my grandmother when Christmas Eve aired. She was thrilled about it. Otherwise, at that time, I likely wouldn't have watched it. That's one good-looking TV family she conjured up! (Hunky Charles Frank was also in it.) I had no idea about all this with her son, Chris. Eeeek!! And I would love to get a look at Dark Mansions. I'd probably enjoy it.

Um, I looked up Virginia Hill and I found ONE photo in which she was pretty. Otherwise, nah... not leading lady material for that time.

One of my favorite things about HSM is its customary inclusion of then-current candid photos of classic stars out and about at events. For whatever reason, Marjorie Reynolds is a star that I know, literally, nothing about...! She had a busy career from the 1920s to the early-1960s and yet I have never seen her in anything....! LOL (She's a party guest in Gone with the Wind, 1939, but I'm not counting that.) Columnist Lee Graham nearly always winds up in one or more of the pics himself.

I'll be sharing a few extra details of that Lauren Bacall stage appearance at the end of this post. We dearly love reading all those "Whatever Became of....?" books and have most of them. But the name Korla Pandit (and his or her "turban!") intrigued me.

I just had to look this person up and this is what I found. Turns out he was an early TV sensation, playing the piano and the organ while staring exotically into the camera! During the duration of his 15-minute program, which ran for 900 shows, he never once uttered a word! In a later version of his program, he began speaking on spiritual matters. The inset is from his hey-day, the main photo is from an appearance in Ed Wood (1994.) After his death at 77 in 1998, it was discovered that he was not Indian, but actually African-American (born John Redd), having circumvented segregation policies of his era by adopting a different nationality for decades.

Another example of the great candid shots of stars from the past that I've come to rely on from this publication. Ann Blyth does look terrific!

File Donna Summer and Jane Seymour under "Pairs I Never Expected to See Together." We all know that Juliet Mills was a successful cougar when it came to landing Maxwell Caulfield, but don't be misled into thinking that Ginger Rogers followed suit. The man with her is George Pan Andreas, a Grecian-born actor who helped found the West Coast Academy of Dramatic Arts and, through some conneciton unknown to me, was Rogers' godson. 

I have to echo the headline here. Gifted young actor De Wilde was indeed taken from us far too soon.

De Wilde was not, as this article says, driving at 3:25am. He was driving in a rainstorm at 3:25pm after having visited his wife in the hospital. When the camper rolled on its side, he was pinned and suffered multiple broken bones, passing away within four hours. Close friend Gram Parsons wrote a song which included reference to this crash.

I loved seeing all the pictures in this section of female stars bedecked in the finery of old Hollywood. Smith and Wyman (who I didn't even recognize right away!) were in about a half-dozen of the same movies, which surprised me.

I was SO into Dynasty at this time. It served as a forerunner those days when it came to glitz on TV. They always talk about Joan Collins' shoulder pads, but you ought to take a look at Cybill Shepherd's from Moonlighting some time...! We love Ann Sothern (and Carole Lombard, too.) Fun to see an early Bette Davis being pressed into service as a glamour girl.

Hedy Lamarr was, of course, considered one of the movies' all-time great beauties. That's quite a get-up on Marion Davies!

I've yet to see Mrs. Parkington (1944) and never realized that redheaded Greer Garson went for a dark brunette look in that one. That Lana Turner photo looks like a John Engstead portrait. He was one of the TOP photographers when it came to diffusing the image and bringing out gauzy glamour in his subjects.

Great shot of Deborah Kerr. Norma Shearer's look is terrific, too. Was this in her "hey-day" though or near the end of her reign? Love Errol Flynn and am always happy to see him.

This was a sensational color pinup of the aforementioned Miss Loretta Young.

Another color pin-up, this time of Judy Garland and frequent costar Mickey Rooney. "Hey! Let's put on a show!"

This page precedes an article on some of the lesser-known actresses who worked at Columbia Pictures. Rita was one of the their greatest stars, but we're about to learn a little about some of the others...

The primary reason that my magazine donor held onto this publication all these years (yes, 1987 was, now, 34 years ago!) was because it featured a favorite actress of his, Jeff Donnell. The unusually-named star is the first one profiled in this article. Studio head Harry Cohn was one of the most hated men in town, but he's fascinating to read about. If you ever see the book King Cohn for sale, I suggest giving it a try.,

It's really due to his own interest in her that I was able to take note of who she was and learn to spot her in things. She had an innate charm that came through in practically any role she played. Incredibly, she died of a heart attack only one year after this interview at age 66. She was still appearing as The Quartermaine's housekeeper Stella on General Hospital at that time. (The character was written off as having won the lottery and resigned.)

Evelyn Keyes lived to be 91, passing away of uterine cancer in 2008. Janet Blair passed away the year before that at 85 of complications from pneumonia.

I dearly loved the human dynamo Ann Miller. She died of lung cancer in 2004 at age 80. Jinx Falkenburg is really known more for her modeling and her work on radio and TV with her husband Tex McCrary than for the movies. She died in 2003 at age 84. There are no credits beyond 1977 for Marguerite Chapman, so I don't guess her comeback came to fruition, though she was reportedly in the running to play Old Rose in Titanic (1997.) By then her health had deteriorated and she passed away in 1999 at age 81. Dusty Anderson was chiefly a model rather than an actress. She practically retired after marrying noted director Jean Negulesco and lived until 2007. She was 88 or 90, depending on the source.

Janis Carter didn't work on-screen after 1955, but was active in local theatre. She died of a heart attack in 1994 at age 80. many of you will recall Marcia Mae Jones for her work with Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937) and The Little Princess (1939), not to mention These Three (1936.) She continued to act on TV up to the early-1980s, passing away in 2007 at age 83. 

Leslie Brooks (not pictured) only acted for about a decade and had a really elegant look. She lived to be 88, passing away in 2011. Most of us recall Gloria Henry as the mother of Dennis the Menace. Remarkably, she worked sporadically until 2012, passing away just this last April, one day after her 98th birthday! Audrey Long passed away in 2014 at age 92. Adele Jergens lived until 2002, when pneumonia claimed her at age 85.

Ann Savage's performance in Detour (1945) has assured her a lasting following. She died in 2008 following a series of strokes at age 87. Remarkably, she'd just made a return to movies the year before in the art film My Winnipeg. (She may not have minded a pinch from Charles Coburn, but she whacked Tom Neal across the face once when he put his tongue in her ear!) I had never heard of Lynn Merrick, but like most of these ladies she lived a long life, passing away in 2007 at age 87. Carole Mathews segued from movies to a prolific career as a TV guest star. She died in 2014 of heart failure at age 94. Mary Castle really did resemble Rita Hayworth. She's one of the few of these gals to die before the age of eighty, passing away of lung cancer in 1998 at age 67. She'd been plagued by an alcohol problem in the 1950s.

The letters section of this magazine included a thank you from one man whose Joan Crawford collection had been featured. Now we see part of a massive Johnny Mathis collection from a fan. I always enjoy Johnny's opening theme for The Best of Everything (1959.)

I wonder what ever happened to all those Marilyn Monroe paintings...!

Needless to say, the blurb at the top of this page made me think of Chuckles the Clown from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, though in that case the third line was "A little seltzer down your pants!" Ha ha!

God knows I adored Jon-Erik Hexum myself.

Only Sissy Spacek of the actresses mentioned for Crimes of the Heart (1986) wound up Oscar-nominated (losing to Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God), but unmentioned Tess Harper was nominated for Supporting Actress that year as well. (The little gold man went to Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters.) 

Finally, this pinup of Hedy Lamarr. She was heralded for her beauty (and was no dummy, as it turned out), but her acting never set the world on fire.

 

This concludes the magazine proper, and I do thank again our friend who worked hard on providing it to me! But I had to revisit that story near the beginning on Lauren Bacall's failed tour of Sweet Bird of Youth. I hadn't been aware of it and the columnist made it sound like an unmitigated disaster. The production opened in London's West End in 1985, 26 years after its initial debut on Broadway. At that time Bacall's costar was Michael Beck (of Xanadu, 1980.) Destined for L.A., it first toured Australia where it got rave reviews:

They seemed to like her pretty well down under!

By this point, Colin Friels was her costar.

Somehow by the time the show reached L.A. and she had Mark Soper (of The World According to Garp, 1982) as her leading man, the wheels had come off, apparently. (L.A. review here.) I do like this photo of her. The two-time Tony-winner didn't get to return to Broadway with this as hoped, but she did act on the Great White Way in a couple of benefit concerts and one last time in 1999 with Waiting in the Wings, running for 186 performances.

Oh, and I've posted this photo before, but just in case anyone has forgotten, the adult Brandon De Wilde may not have exceeded 5'9", but to paraphrase Mae West, let's forget about the 5 feet and concentrate on the 9 inches! Ha ha ha! Till next time...