Category Archives: Stage

Black L.A. 1947: Lottie Grady, Pioneering Black Actress in Theater and Film, Visits Los Angeles

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

“Dat Lovin’ Rag,” courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder Music Library. June 19, 1947: Lottie Grady, one of the first African American actors to perform on Broadway, visits Los Angeles and is interviewed by the Sentinel. Grady performed on … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1947, African Americans, Film, Hollywood, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 6533 Cahuenga Terrace, Designed for a Diva

Posted on May 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

An overhead view of 6533 Cahuenga Terrace, via Google Street View. Hyperbole reigns in the world of real estate listings, inflating a dump into a dream palace or attempting to gild a lily. Nowhere is this more prevalent than around … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: N. Hollywood Playhouse Promotes Theater in San Fernando Valley

Posted on April 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

  The North Hollywood Playhouse in 1962, when “Rebel Without a Cause” was being performed, from the Los Angeles Public Library. In her memoir, actress Teri Garr wrote being in the production.   For more than 75 years, North Hollywood … Continue reading →

Posted in 1926, 1962, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black L.A. Laura Bowman Cast in All-Black Production of ‘Anna Lucasta’

Posted on January 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947:  Laura Bowman, who died in 1957 after a long illness, is to appear in an all-black production of “Anna Lucasta” at the Biltmore Theater. ” Anna Lucasta,” written by Philip Yordan, was originally produced by the American … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: Meet the Honor Students of Jefferson High

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel publishes the photos of four Jefferson High students on the front page: Florence Smith, Ivan Baldwin, Gen Lew and Walter Richard Lumpkin. Here we meet four young people — and a significant research challenge: What … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Education, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – A Perfect Villain

Posted on August 7, 2017 by lmharnisch

Photo: “Rasputin and the Empress,” with Gustav von Seyffertitz, center, with Ethel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, John Barrymore, Tad Alexander and Lionel Barrymore. Photo listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2011 One of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Obituaries, Stage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Mort Sahl: Last Man Standing’ by James Curtis

Posted on May 2, 2017 by lmharnisch

Folks, please give a little love to the publication today of “Last Man Standing,” James Curtis’ new biography of Mort Sahl, who transformed standup comedy from mother-in-law gags to cutting political commentary. James, known for his biographies of W.C. Fields, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2017, Books and Authors, Stage | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: Some People . . .

Posted on February 21, 2017 by lmharnisch

Ethel Merman in Gypsy on the cover of Playbill. So Barbra Streisand is still talking about playing Mama Rose in Gypsy. Now, I love Babs, but she is 74, and when Dainty June and Rose Louise went into vaudeville in … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Music, Stage | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: Blossom Seeley — The Other Sophie Tucker

Posted on February 7, 2017 by lmharnisch

  Blossom Seeley and Bennie Fields in a Vitaphone short.   TCM recently showed the fascinating pre-Code Broadway Thru a Keyhole, with an amazing cast including poor Russ Columbo Texas Guinan, and Blossom Seeley. Bizarrely, Blossom was not given a … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Stage | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: ‘I Will Be Really Impressed If You’ve Heard of Billie Carleton’

Posted on November 22, 2016 by lmharnisch

  Billie Carlton in a Pathe newsreel. Note: Eve has discontinued her YouTube Theater, but has consented to have me post the entries she has already written. Well, have you? She was a rising British stage starlet in the 1910s … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Silver Screen Revue Salutes Silent Days

Posted on September 12, 2016 by lmharnisch

  A matchbook from the Wilshire Bowl, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $9.95. Within just a few years of sound motion pictures becoming the approved film format, silent films became a virtual pariah in popular culture. They … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Julian Eltinge Says ‘I’m at Your Service, Girls’

Posted on June 13, 2016 by lmharnisch

  One of the most famous female impersonators of all time, but now also one of the most forgotten, Julian Eltinge stood as one of the most successful headliners of the early 1900s, setting attendance records at vaudeville and theatre … Continue reading →

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Julian Eltinge and Trixie Friganza!

Posted on January 30, 2015 by lmharnisch

Look what we found on YouTube! It’s a brief clip that shows two of our favorites: Julian Eltinge, above, with Gloria Jean, and Trixie Friganza in “If I Had My Way.”

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‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 41

Posted on December 23, 2014 by lmharnisch

Otto Preminger makes his film debut as an actor in 1942 in “The Pied Piper.” Preminger said in a 1970 interview in On Film: “Although I’m Jewish, I can look like a Nazi if I shave my head.” The film … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, 1943, 1944, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo — Tennessee Williams’ Edition

Posted on September 8, 2014 by lmharnisch

A member of the Brain Trust has called my attention to a gent appearing in the film of Tennessee Williams’ “Suddenly, Last Summer,” a movie I have never seen. Apparently this fellow, who plays Sebastian Venable, is unidentified and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

Guest Review: B.J. Merholz on ‘The Selected Letters of Elia Kazan’

Posted on August 6, 2014 by lmharnisch

After we wrote our post on “The Selected Letters of Elia Kaza,” we passed it on to longtime reader B.J. Merholz (try doing that with an e-book). He writes: Howdy, Jim! Just a line to let you know I’m dipping … Continue reading →

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‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 5

Posted on June 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, I’m using Louella Parsons’ May 15, 1944,  item on Rouben Mamoulian being replaced as director of “Laura” to do a bit of digging into the production of this film noir classic – however one … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Samuel S. Hinds, Pasadena Playhouse Founder, Movie Actor

Posted on March 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

Samuel S. Hinds, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Some people are lucky enough to work in a profession doing something they love, offering both pleasure and satisfaction. Others work at jobs that allow them to make a living while pursuing hobbies … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Pasadena, Stage | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 18, 1944

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 18, 1944 Broadway Ballad Novelette: Irving Berlin arrived the other day from England with messages for kin and loved ones of members of “This Is the Army.” Berlin phoned parents, wives, sweethearts and pals, and took down messages to … Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 17, 1944

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 17, 1944: New York Newsreel Faces About Town: Capt. Clark Gable and pretty Virginia Grey. Their chums say, “This is it!” … Lovely Ann Mace, Billy Rose’s tallest showgirl. Her groom, Lt. Al Downs of Westchester, has the miseries … Continue reading →

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