An Andrews Winter Vacation

Mary, Dana, and children

Dana Andrews is one of my favorite actors.  His voice is amazing!  Not only was he great on film, but he was amazing on the radio.  As you all know, I'm addicted to Old Time Radio, and he stars in I Was a Communist for the F.B.I., a fantastic show with definite insight into the times.  He also starred in the noir classic Laura, which one of my favorite films.  

Dana, Mary, and daughter Katharine

These photographs are from a 1947 winter vacation he took with his family.  It looks very fun.  On a side note, I love the winter posters on the walls in the above picture.  I wish advertisement today even half that beautiful today.

Family Roughhousing

Dana, his wife Mary, sons David and Stephen, and daughter Katharine, look like they are having a wonderful time.  I wish I could have that much fun in this cold weather.  I guess I'd rather burrow under the covers and wait until spring.

Sheila in the Sun

Sheila Ryan

Sheila Ryan (June 8, 1921 – November 4, 1975) - Born Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin in Topeka, Kansas, Ms. Ryan was a 20th Century Fox player.  Although appearing in a couple Laurel and Hardy films, she is best known for her B Western work.  She was married 3 times, most notably to western side-kick and Green Acres's "Mr. Haney" Pat Buttram.  They were married from December 26, 1952 until Sheila's death from lung cancer.  Sheila virtually retired from acting when she married Buttram.  They had one child together, Kerry.

Fred MacMurray Channels Tony Curtis

Fred MacMurray

June and Fred

“I’ve had so many pictures taken with my wife (June Haver)  that I’m beginning to feel like Tony Curtis.”

[Source: Movieland; February 1955]

June and Fred

I find both Fred MacMurray and June Haver delightful.  They were married 37 years, from 1954 until MacMurray's death in 1991.  They adopted twin girls in 1956.  

Above Suspicion (1943)

June is not remembered as she should be and Fred seems to be remembered solely for My Three Sons.  Not that it wasn't a good show, but he was great in many other projects, most notably in Double Indemnity, a Film Noir classic.  My current MacMurray favorite is Above Suspicion (1943) which I saw recently on TCM.  My favorite June Haver film is her last film appearance, The Girl Next Door (1953).

Dean Martin Beats the Heat

Stars at Home

Dean Martin - 1958

Dean and his Brood; 1958

Martin Family Boxing Match; 1958

Martin Family Feats of Strength; 1958

Dino Hits the Hay; 1958

Ursula and Bob have a Cozy Christmas

Ursula Thiess

Ursula Reading a Script

Is hoping to get her eight-year-old son here from Germany by Christmas so he can join her. Bob Taylor, and his sister for the holidays.  The boy’s travel was held up by an appendectomy.  It’ll be curious to see Bob with two children on his hands and living in a new house of his own.  He was never very much of a family man even when married to Barbara Stanwyck.

[Source: Movieland; February 1955]

At Home With the Masons

James Mason and wife Pamela at their Hertfordshire home 1946

James Mason has one of the best voices of all time.  And it is not just the English accent.  My favorite James Mason roles are his Hitchcock roles as Philip Vandamm in North by Northwest and Warren Barrow in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour television episode Captive Audience.  

James, Pamela, and daughter Portland 1948

James and his wife Pamela were married from 1941 - 1964.  They had two children together.  Their daughter Portland was named after Fred Allen's wife Portland Hoffa.

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

We lost one of the greats this week, the stunning Elizabeth Taylor. She will be remembered for many things:

Her incredible talent (Seen her with Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)




Her Charity Work (Photo Source: CNN)

As A Wonderful Mother

For Style and Fashion

For Beauty and those Eyes



Her Jewels

Her Care and Love of Animals

Mike Todd - "He was 25 years my senior and eternally young. I could hardly keep up with him. He was the most energetic man I've ever known and he made our short 18 months together one of the most intensely glorious times of my life. ... I have had two great loves in my life. Mike Todd was the first." (Elizabeth Taylor Quote - Source: Fandango)

Richard Burton - "Since I was a little girl, I believed I was a child of destiny, and if that is true Richard Burton was surely my fate. Certainly for a very long time he was my life. Despite what the press wrote at the beginning of our affair, I never regretted a moment of it." (Elizabeth Taylor Quote - Source: Fandango)

As a Fierce Friend (Here with Montgomery Clift in the 1950s)

Elizabeth Taylor was a legend with no equal. I find her life particularly inspiring because despite her incredible beauty, she was an incredibly sweet, loving, generous and hard working. I admire her drive and love of life. I find it inspiring that she was able to accomplish so many wonderful things, despite her many health problems. As someone who has suffered from chronic back pain, like Elizabeth, it can be so hard to get out of bed, let alone function in society - yet she was able to win Oscars, help so many people through her charity work, and win the love and admiration of millions of people. RIP dear Elizabeth, and enjoy that wonderful backlot in the sky.

Frances Walks Out On Van

Frances Heflin
After stalking out on Van in a huff from a Hollywood restaurant, explained: “I was just being a red head.”

(Source: Movieland; February 1955)

Van Heflin and Frances Neal, an RKO contract player, were married from 1942 - 1967. They had two daughters and one son.

I'm a redhead myself, and I wish redheads weren't known for having a fiery temper. I wonder if it was bad food or something Van said. It must have been an intense argument if it caused her to leave dinner.

Sterling Hayden is a bachelor . . . again

Sterling Hayden, his wife Betty Ann de Noon, and daughter Gretchen Bell in happier times (November 31, 1950)



Sterling Hayden
Has his divorce out and will soon be on the eligible bachelor list again. Since he’s probably made more pictures than any other male star the past two years, he’ll also be taking a vacation from the studios – as well as marriage – until he gets a rest.

(Source: Movieland; 1955)






Apparently "The Most Beautiful Man in the Movies" (as Paramount billed him) would not be a bachelor for long. This Movieland tidbit must have been written between marriages to Betty Ann. Sterling Hayden and Betty Ann de Noon seemed to have a love hate relationship. They were married and divorced three times: from 1947-1953, 1954-1955, and 1956-1958. They had 4 children together: Christian, Dana, Gretchen, and Matthew. Sterling Hayden was also married to actress Madeleine Carroll (from 1942-1946) and Catherine Devine McConnell (from 1960-1986; they had 2 children). Sterling appeared in some pretty great pictures like The Godfather, but my favorite Sterling performances were in Dr. Strangelove and The Asphalt Jungle.