Centennial Beauties: Anita & Fernando
Friday, January 9, 2015 at 11:00AM Today marks the 100th birthday of two extremely beautiful screen stars of yore, Anita Louise and Fernando Lamas. Anita, born in New York City in 1915 played Titania, Queen of the Fairies in Midsummer Nights Dream (the film that brought Olivia de Havilland into our worlds), when she was just twenty, long before La Pfeiffer got around to shimmering in similarly gauzy long haired Titania fashion in 1999. [More...]
Born on the same day in Argentina, tall dark and handsome Fernando's career started later but he became one of Hollywood's long line of 'Latin Lovers' (a 'type' that seems to have ended abruptly with the reign of Antonio Banderas in the 1990s and the rise of more enlighted diversity onscreen... or attempts at it at least). If there was only room for about one of these men at a time, consider Fernando sandwiched inbetween Ramon Navarro and Ricardo Montalban. Mmmm. sandwiches.
Lamas wasn't just a Latin Lover onscreen and was a famous womanizer offscreen marrying multiple times including to actress co-stars Arlene Dahl and Esther Williams. Lamas seguewayed into directing in the 1960s and died in 1982.
Though neither of these stars are really discussed today, Lamas lives on in popular culture in several ways. He was the inspiration for Billy Crystal's "you look mahvelous" character. His son Lorenzo Lamas went on to his own small screen hunk fame in the 1980s and on to today (sort of - do you count reality shows and Mega Shark tv movies?) after a memorable small part in Grease (dumb jocks used as pawns in the Danny & Sandy romance, this way!) and like his father married multiple times.
Curious timing wise, considering it was just nominated for a costume designers guild award, Fernando Lamas is also reportedly the inspiration for Dos Equis advertising campaign "The Most Interesting Man in the World".
Some of these Lamas images are via A Certain Cinema
glamour shot
with his "Merry Widow" co-star Lana Turner at the premiere of "An American in Paris" in 1951
With Ava Gardner and Lana Turner in 1952
Co-starring with La Liz in "The Girl Who Had Everything" in 1953
with Arlene Dahl in Sangaree (1953). They would marry in 1954 and have Lorenzo Lamas in 1958
Like father, like son. Both Fernando & Lorenzo embraced their beefcake
Louise's career was much shorter. Though she was popular among the Hollywood set in the 30s and regularly starred in movies, she was reportedly not satisfied with the limited range of roles and in the 1940s her career quickly diminished. She found another well loved role on TV as part of the short-lived series "My Friend Flicka" but she died young of a stroke at only 55 years of age.
Some of these Anita pictures via Silver Screen Oasis
Anita Louise, dog, and Errol Flynn in "Green Light" in 1937
Anita's 22nd birthday with Hollywood friends (see Ronald Reagan and John Payne in the back row) in 1937
with Shirley Temple in 1939 for "The Little Princess"
My Friend Flicka (1955)
Reader Comments (9)
That first picture of Lamas...yowza
Be still my heart.
Anita Louise was so beautiful. it's a shame she never got an Oscar nomination, she certainly is one of the best stars of the early era to never get one. perhaps for "Marie Antoinette".
Anita and Errol -- now that's classic Hollywood glamour. Sigh.
Funny even though they are the same age they belong to totally different eras of film making. By the time he emerged she had pretty much segued off the screen and into being a leading Hollywood hostess. She apparently was very vivacious and knew everyone, her husband was Buddy Adler a powerful producer and they were a leading team on the social circuit.
Even though her career was short she has a huge amount of credits considering the brevity of her time in the spotlight. She was often window dressing but she was very good in The Sisters with Bette Davis.
I think my favorite story about Fernando is when he proposed to Esther Williams sweeping her into his arms he whispered "Let me take you away from all this!" and she responded "Away from what? I'm a movie star!"
joel, i love that story about Esther!
I haven't seen The Sisters, which I've been meaning to track down. Just saw Anita in The Story of Louis Pasteur, and she was quite fetching as the daughter who loses her husband to science...damnit! An invincible mistress.
She also costarred in a favorite of mine, Love Letters, starring my girl Jennifer Jones.
Joel6 -- i love that story! thanks for sharing.
I think the cinematography for Midsummer Night's Dream is the only thing that ever won a write in Oscar. That's not as shocking as the fact that it wasn't nominated in the first place! You've gotta see it, even if your ears don't pay attention to the Shakespeare.
I'm now off to check the links wherein these gorgeous photos were found!
YOWZA Lamas