Showbiz History: Aretha, Mame, and Florence Pugh
Sunday, January 3, 2021 at 10:00AM 
5 random things that happened on this day, January 3rd, in showbiz history
1897 Marion Davies born in Brooklyn. The 1930s film star is best remembered in history as the mistress of tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Multiple films have featured their relationship including current Oscar hopeful Mank (2020).
1952 Dragnet begins airing in its regular time slot Thursdays at 9:00 PM on NBC (a couple of weeks after the pilot airs). The influential series -- which basically created the #1 tv genre, the procedural, will run for eight seasons, be relaunched in the late 1960s for another four seasons and spawn three movies. The last of those was a comedy in 1987 starring Tom Hanks just before Big served as the bridge between popular comic actor and serious actor, netting Hanks his first Oscar nod. Two short-lived one season attempts to revive Dragnet were attempted in 1989 and 2003 respectively...
1970 Jerry Herman's musical comedy Mame closes after four years on Broadway. It had won Angela Lansbury the first of her five Tony Awards. Golden Age movie musical regular Ann Miller (You Can't Take it With You, Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade), was playing the role when the show closed. Weirdly when the film version was made a few years later Lansbury was passed over for the role, despite already being a three time Oscar nominee and leading movies at the time like Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Lucille Ball took over the role to savage reviews!
1987 Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It was the second year of the ceremony. 11 men had been honored the year before. Here's a trivia note we just learned researching this: the first 10 women honored by the Hall of Fame were all black women! (Janis Joplin was the first white women honored, in 1995).
Jennifer Hudson's Aretha biopic Respect is currently expected to open in movie theaters on August 13th.
2020 The Grudge, a "sidequel" (ugh these terms) of the 2004 American remake of the J-Horror classic, opens in theaters, becoming the first movie released in theaters in 2020 which will prove to be a very troubled year for the movies and the theatrical business.
Today's Birthday Suit(s)
Happy 25th to freshly-minted Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Little Women, Midsommar, Flighting with My Family) who we first fell for in her provocative work in Lady Macbeth (2017 in the US) which we nominated here for "Breakthrough Performer" and "Best Sex Scene"
Other showbiz birthdays and anniversaries today: Anna May Wong (Piccadilly, Toll of the Sea, Shanghai Express), Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth, Shame), Pola Negri (Bella Donna, A Woman Commands), trailblazing female director Dorothy Arzner (The Bride Wore Red, Christopher Strong), legendary film editor and 3 time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker (Raging Bull, The Departed), Golden Globe winner Dabney Coleman (9 to 5, On Golden Pond, Buffalo Bill), Oscar winner Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend), Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor, Narcos), Mel Gibson (Braveheart, Mad Max, Lethal Weapon), Zasu Pits (Ruggles of Red Gap), Victoria Principal (Dallas), Oscar nominated Robert Loggia (Jagged Edge, Big), Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in America), actor/director Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic, The Aviator), Oscar nominated director John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock, The Great Escape, Gunfight at the OK Corral), Oscar winner Josephine Hull (Harvey), Jens Albinus (the Idiots, Everything will be Fine), songwriter Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, Greatest Showman), John Russell (Rio Bravo), novelist JRR Tolkien (the Lord of the Rings), pianist/showman Victor Borge, Broadway star Telly Leung (Aladdin, Allegiance, Glee, In Transit), and activist Greta Thunberg
Reader Comments (10)
I suppose given America's obsession with all things salacious that Marion Davies status as Hearst mistress would be the thing she's remember for mostly. It's a great disservice to her. She was a charming and sprightly comedienne and there is still quite a bit of her work extant to become acquainted with that fact.
I've never been as big a fan of the musical Mame as I am of the original Auntie Mame. The kaleidoscoping of certain characters (Nora/Gooch) lessens their impact and the songs are middling but with the right person in the lead it's entertaining in it's way. That right person was never Lucille Ball! What were they thinking in not casting Angela Lansbury?
I just realised that Ann Miller and Angela Lansbury had similar careers: movie stars when they were young, then moving to theater in the 1960s. There's a very sweet video of Miller singing and dancing I'm Still Here when she was 75 (Carlota was her last stage role).
The Aretha Franklin trivia I was surprised to learn this week was that she was married to actor Glynn Turman for 6 years (1978-84).
I wonder if he'll feature in RESPECT? Imagine if that film had been an Oscar nominee and he'd also been nominated for Supporting Actor for MA RAINEY? Wild!
Anna May Wong should get a biopic.
The beautiful and amusing Marion Davies managed to move from silents to talkies without losing her status of big star. She's considered a precursor / inventor of a specific genuinely Hollywood article: the blonde comedienne. From Mae West to Rebel Wilson and everybody between(Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Jean Arthur, Judy Holliday, Marilyn Monroe, Goldie Hawn, Meg Ryan, Cameron Diaz, etc, etc, etc) have a debt to Marion Davies.
re: Mame with Lucille Ball, I heard (and this will sound like gossip, and maybe it is, but it also sounds very plausible) that Lucy wanted the part for herself, and bought the rights.
I just saw my first movie with Marion Davies, and I was so surprised by her. I had always thought of her as a middling talent, a starlet whose boyfriend bought her roles (due to Citizen Kane, I guess).
She just knocked me out. So full of charisma and charm and timing! And still so fresh, not a dated style. She could be the new “America’s Sweetheart” if she was acting today. She comes across as so smart and witty and self confident. She moves beautifully, speaks beautifully, and her energy just pours off the screen.
And I thought oh, that’s why all those people were there, not just to eat Hearst’s food and drink his free booze. They were there because she was their colleague in artistry and skill, and a delight to be around. Of course, people would seek out her company and consider themselves lucky.
"Advice to Lady Golfers: Get Lost!" is an....interesting cover story.
Marion Davies was a master comedienne and she should have been Oscar-nominated for BLONDIE OF THE FOLLIES at the very least. It's a pity the movie doesn't deserve her shockingly modern performance, but she shines through the plodding mediocrity.
I read that Beatrice Arthur did not want to reprise her stage role in the film (perhaps she sensed doom). But the director Gene Saks was her husband and made her do it!
Bea and Robert Preston are very good and there are nice costumes. Sigh.