Silent Era People

[YoungWillz 21,044]

On ‎17‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 18:29, drol said:

So the survivors are:

 

*Mary Carlisle (1914), very recognizable actress and famous on her own in the 30s. Think she might get decent coverage when she goes.

*Don Marion Davis (1917) believed to have died in 2012, resurrected for his 100th birthday. Career ended in 1925.

*Fay McKenzie (1918) Indeed had a decent adult career as a character actress. Might sneak an obit.

*Diana Serra Cary (1918) The one and only Baby Peggy. The last great star from silent movies.

*Dorothy Morrison (1919) Obscure.

*Silas Hathaway (1919) Played the Newborn Kid in Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.

*Louise Watson (1919) of Watson family fame.

*Jack C. Edwards (1920) Obscure, but was interviewed bu the Guardian three years ago. Worked with Norman Lloyd.

*Billy Watson (1923) of Watson family fame.

*Kathleen O'Malley (1924), adult character actress with small child roles.

*Donnie Smith (1924) of Our Gang.

*Mildred Kornman (1925) of Our Gang. Looks incredibly good despite her age.

*Garry Watson (1928) of Watson family fame.

 

According to this, Jack C Edwards died 16 July aged 97:

 

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Reliable source indicates that Mary Carlisle has finally died aged 104:

 

[markb4 902]

Was just gonna post about Mary Carlisle as well. 104 is a good age.

[Lafaucheuse 4,051]

Does anyone know if Carlisle is really dead now ? I can’t find any good information about it...

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Wait....she came back to life to die again?  Didn't she recently leave us?  Goodness, who the hell am I thinking of then?  

[markb4 902]

6 minutes ago, Lafaucheuse said:

Does anyone know if Carlisle is really dead now ? I can’t find any good information about it...

 

The only "official" thing I can find is an announcement on her Facebook fanpage, but I know that's not really "official":

 

https://www.facebook.com/marycarlislefan/

[Lafaucheuse 4,051]

6 minutes ago, markb4 said:

 

The only "official" thing I can find is an announcement on her Facebook fanpage, but I know that's not really "official":

 

https://www.facebook.com/marycarlislefan/

thanks a lot, we'll have to wait for an "official" announcement 

[drol 11,945]

TMZ and Hollywood Reporter will be on it soon.

[markb4 902]

Yeah, I remember when June Foray passed away last year, it took a while for official sources to report on her death although friends of her were already reporting her death on FB and Twitter hours before.

[Thatcher 2,411]

Obituary coming through now from the Washington Post, unfortunately those of us in Europe cannot view it.

 

Edit: Hollywood Reporter

[Predictor 1,018]

On 24/07/2018 at 05:15, YoungWillz said:

 

According to this, Jack C Edwards died 16 July aged 97:

 

"My favourite fan mail was from an 18 year old Polish young lady who signed her letter with 'Love and Kisses'".

 

Wonder what else was in that letter that made it his favourite. Imagine having hot young Eastern European girls all over you decades after your fame peak and you're old as fuck.

[Death Impends 7,975]

3 minutes ago, Thatcher said:

Obituary coming through now from the Washington Post, unfortunately those of us in Europe cannot view it.

 

Here's the contents:

 

Mary Carlisle, a Hollywood actress who enjoyed popularity in the 1930s as a wholesome ingenue in musical comedies opposite singer Bing Crosby, died Aug. 1 at a retirement community for actors in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

Her son, James Blakeley III, confirmed the death but did not provide an immediate cause. She was believed to be 104 but never confirmed her real age, even to her family. As a centenarian, she was known to tell visitors that her true age was “none of your business.”

With her blond hair, blue eyes and alabaster skin, Ms. Carlisle had the delicate beauty of an all-American porcelain doll. “This girl has the most angelic face I ever saw,” Universal studio production chief Carl Laemmle Jr. reportedly declared upon spotting the unknown Ms. Carlisle at the company’s canteen. “I’ve got to make a test of her right away.”

A prolific if little-heralded actress, Ms. Carlisle appeared in more than 60 films in a career that lasted about a dozen years. Much to her dismay, she was typecast as the perpetual innocent, a decorative virgin.

She began with minor parts in prestigious films, playing a newlywed in the star-filled hit melodrama “Grand Hotel” (1932). That year, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers selected her — along with starlets including Gloria Stuart and Ginger Rogers — as a “Wampas Baby Star,” which led to a publicity build-up that augured better roles. The parts were bigger but seldom better.

She was twice Lionel Barrymore’s daughter, in “Should Ladies Behave” (1933) and “This Side of Heaven” (1934). She played the title role opposite Buster Crabbe in the collegiate romance “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” (1933) and also appeared in “It’s in the Air” (1935), a minor comic showcase for radio star Jack Benny. She was a damsel-in-distress in the old-dark-house story “One Frightened Night” (1935), made at a “poverty row” studio.

Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Ms. Carlisle in 1937. (AP)

Ms. Carlisle was the object of Crosby’s crooning in “College Humor” (1933), “Double or Nothing” (1937) and “Doctor Rhythm” (1938), films that boosted her visibility but left her with little to do but smile adoringly at her co-star. Offscreen, she said, Crosby teasingly called her “Chubby” and “Bubbles.”

New York Times film critic Mordaunt Hall found Ms. Carlisle “ingratiating” as Will Rogers’s daughter of marrying age in “Handy Andy” (1934), and she held her own that year in a cast of scene-stealers in “Palooka,” a boxing comedy with Jimmy Durante, Stuart Erwin and Lupe Velez. She sang the Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby ballad “One Little Kiss” to popular comedian Bert Wheeler in “Kentucky Kernels” (1934).

More frequently, she remained trapped in undemanding parts in minor features, among them the sports comedies “Hold ’Em Navy” (1937) and “Touchdown, Army” (1938). She retired from acting after starring in the low-budget horror film “Dead Men Walk” (1943) and for decades was manager of an Elizabeth Arden salon in Beverly Hills.

Gwendolyn Witter was born in Stockton, Calif., likely on Feb. 3, 1914, but some sources say 1912. She grew up with her mother in Los Angeles. Thanks to a family connection — her uncle Robert Carlisle was a film editor and producer — she learned of a casting call for chorus girls at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. With more ambition than dancing experience, she raced to find a dancing instructor and barely mustered a rudimentary time step before her tryout.

After her inauspicious performance, she was astounded to find herself hired. “Of course, they soon found out I couldn’t dance, so I was made a substitute,” she told a reporter a few years later. “The girls were always deviling me by saying they’d turn an ankle and that I’d have to go on for them. I was petrified, but I only had to dance in once picture, and that was just a flash.”

In 1942, she married James Blakeley, a British-born actor who later became an executive with 20th Century-Fox studios and a production manager on TV shows such as “Batman.” He died in 2007. In addition to her son, an interior designer in Beverly Hills, Calif., survivors include two grandchildren.

[Predictor 1,018]

RIP Mary Carlisle. Am I correct in saying that Olivia is now the oldest living Hollywood actress? I mean, even Patricia Morison died not too long ago, so who else could there be?

[markb4 902]

22 minutes ago, Predictor said:

RIP Mary Carlisle. Am I correct in saying that Olivia is now the oldest living Hollywood actress? I mean, even Patricia Morison died not too long ago, so who else could there be?

 

No. Julie Gibson is still alive.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Gibson

 

[Ulitzer95 12,598]

2 hours ago, markb4 said:

 

No. Julie Gibson is still alive.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Gibson

 

There's been no confirmation that Julie Gibson is still alive since 2004.

Renee Simonot is the oldest living actress.
Norman Lloyd oldest living actor / Hollywood actor
Olivia De Havilland oldest living Hollywood actress

[Clorox Bleachman 2,422]

Hollywood Reporter and LA Times (can't link because European) have obits for Mary Carlisle.

[Wickerman 76]

She was always (until now) a survivor and made good choices about her presence in the film industry. RIP Mary - my 11th so far this year.

 

Once again let death wander amongst us.

 

1 )Herman Wouk (Sailor), 2) Billy Graham (Preacher), 3) Olivia De Havilland (Maid Marion),4) Hosni Mubarak (felon), 5) Javier Perez de Cuellar (Sec Gen #5), 6) Clive James (A life critical), 7) Leslie Phillips (Left hand down a bit), 8) Denis Norden (Frank’s other half), 9) Bernard Cribbins (Diggin’ a hole, 10) Daniel arap Moi (Sometime African politician), 11) Michael Anderson (Logan’s Run), 12) Kirk Douglas (Ear-ear), 13) George H W Bush (Naughty old man), 14) Barbara Bush (1^st lady), 15) Carol Channing (Thoroughly Modern Millie), 16) Stanley Donen (On the Town), 17) William Frankland (Immune to death), 18) Hal Holbrook (Presidents man), 19) John McCain (Prisoner of war), 20) Clint Walker (Cheyenne Bodie), 21) Vera Lynn (Will we meet again?), 22) Tom Lehrer (Pigeon poisoner), 23) Mary Carlisle (WAMPAS baby), 24) Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (Old Tory survivor), 25) Gottfried Böhm (Build ‘em high), 26) Joe Jackson (Dad), 27) Walter “Fritz” Mondale (Veep), 28) James Randi (Just an illusion), 29) Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Breathing death mask), 30) Desmond Morris (Naked Ape), 31) Bill Maynard (Magic Selwyn), 32) Lewis Gilbert (Reaching for the sky), 33) Jean Heywood (Billy’s gran), 34) Nathaniel Tarn (Beautiful contradictions), 35) Harold Prince (Hello Broadway), 36) Franco Zeffirelli (Tea with Mussolini), 37) Mangosuthu Buthelezi (KwaZulu), 38) Betty White (One time mayor of Hollywood), 39) Robert Mugabe (Ex-everlasting president), 40) Clu Gulager (Billy the Kid), 41) Ennio Morricone (For a few dollars more), 42) Mary Wilson (Private Eye diarist and poet), 43) Benny Golson (Hard-bop), 44) Frank Williams (Vicar), 45) Stuart Whitman (Cimarron Strip), 46) Patricia Routledge (Hyacinth), 47) William Russell (Companion), 48) Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue), 49) Stephen Hawking (Deep thought), 50) Barbara Rush (Woman of means).

Edited just now by Wickerman

[drol 11,945]

18 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

There's been no confirmation that Julie Gibson is still alive since 2004.

Renee Simonot is the oldest living actress.
Norman Lloyd oldest living actor / Hollywood actor
Olivia De Havilland oldest living Hollywood actress

According to this Wiki contributor, Gibson was alive and well as of 2013.

[YoungWillz 21,044]

Mary Carlisle QO: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/08/02/mary-carlisle-actress-obituary/

[Sir Creep 7,070]

On 01/08/2018 at 15:03, Predictor said:

"My favourite fan mail was from an 18 year old Polish young lady who signed her letter with 'Love and Kisses'".

 

Wonder what else was in that letter that made it his favourite. Imagine having hot young Eastern European girls all over you decades after your fame peak and you're old as fuck.

 

I don’t have to imagine it...

[alt obits guy 3,371]

On 23/07/2018 at 23:15, YoungWillz said:

 

According to this, Jack C Edwards died 16 July aged 97:

 

In case anybody needs a QO of some kind:

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/08/14/jack-edwards-child-actor-obituary/

 

 

 

 

[markb4 902]

On 01/08/2018 at 18:59, Ulitzer95 said:

There's been no confirmation that Julie Gibson is still alive since 2004.
 

 

This recent article seems to suggest that Julie Gibson is still alive and is 105.

 

https://lmtribune.com/northwest/commentary-former-roundup-queen-made-her-mark-in-hollywood/article_6f3c2181-5209-5a53-9aa2-a9f92f639b47.html

[Ulitzer95 12,598]

16 minutes ago, markb4 said:

 

This recent article seems to suggest that Julie Gibson is still alive and is 105.

 

https://lmtribune.com/northwest/commentary-former-roundup-queen-made-her-mark-in-hollywood/article_6f3c2181-5209-5a53-9aa2-a9f92f639b47.html

markb4, can you please cut and paste the content into a post?

Because of the EU's silly GDPR laws, we can't access the article.

[markb4 902]

1 minute ago, Ulitzer95 said:

markb4, can you please cut and paste the content into a post?

Because of the EU's silly GDPR laws, we can't access the article.

 

Sure:

"Lewis-Clark State College is commemorating its 125th anniversary in 2018. This occasional feature highlights dates of interest in the school’s history.

Sept. 6, 1913: Camille Sorey and her older sister, Rae, were the delight of the local dramatics and music communities from an early age, with Camille singing and Rae chiming in with vocals and her ukulele. By 1928, the teenaged sisters were much in demand at weddings, in school operettas and for other social functions.

Known as “Soapy” to her friends in the Lewiston High School class of 1931, Camille enrolled at Lewiston State Normal School, while maintaining an active stage career with the trio “Camille Sorey and Her Girl Friends” at the old Granada Theater. Lewiston would soon become too small for a girl with endless ambition and loads of talent. She vowed not to return until she had made a name for herself. She would return, but not as Camille.

 

After a short stint singing at the Victor Club in Portland, she landed a job in June 1935 as the featured soloist for the Bob Young Orchestra on radio station KSL in Salt Lake City. A first place in a local talent contest soon followed, and she was immediately featured with Eddie Duchin’s orchestra in nationally syndicated broadcasts from the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

In October 1937 Camille began working with Joe Penner, the famed Hollywood vaudeville and radio comedian whose catch phrase was “Wanna buy a duck?” Penner decided his new singer for his syndicated Sunday evening CBS broadcast needed a new name — Julie Gibson. Many radio magazines thought the change was unnecessary, as “Camille Sorey” had that “Je ne sais quoi,” or exotic quality. But “Julie Gibson” stuck.

At the same time, she was singing on CBS with the Jimmie Grier Band every evening from the Hotel Biltmore in Los Angeles on KNX, “the voice of Hollywood.” Grier was billed as “The Musical Host of the Coast.” She and Grier married in March 1939, and Grier brought her and the band to Lewiston for a show on Oct. 17. It was the first time in five years that she had been in Lewiston. Mayor Eugene Bauman presented the couple with the keys to the city. A year later, they were divorced.

The Hollywood studios soon came calling for her services to dub the singing voices for popular cinema stars. In her first assignment, she sang for Eleanor Powell in the 1938 film “Rosalie,” which was screened at the Liberty Theater in March of that year. Gibson also dubbed for Diana Lynn and Betty Hutton in two movies for Paramount.

In 1941, she briefly appeared in Rosalind Russell’s film “The Feminine Touch” and received good reviews. Offers began coming in. A more important role came that year in “Nice Girl.” A year later, she was touring with Edgar Bergen and appearing in the film “Here We Go Again,” with Bergen and Fibber McGee. The notoriety came at a cost: typecasting. Famed columnist Hedda Hopper began calling her “the cute little Julie Gibson.”

Probably Gibson’s greatest legacy stems from her work in 1942 with The Three Stooges — Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome “Curly” Howard. She knew nothing about the trio at the time and was responding to an offer of a small part in a new short at Columbia Pictures. “Three Smart Saps” and “Rock-A-Bye Baby” were the result of their collaboration. In a 2004 interview, Gibson recalled that in one scene she was not looking forward to giving Curly a hug and kiss. He was a shy man who came alive once the cameras were rolling. “I wasn’t too fond of men with hardly any hair.”

Her fondest memories are of Larry, who was “a nice little man, warm and always had time to talk.” Surprisingly, she did not begin watching the Stooges films until 1964, after fans started to stop her on the street. “I had always thought they were hurting each other when they got physical. But after working with them, I realized that it was all choreographed like a ballet, also kind of like two men fencing, where every move was important and they cannot make a mistake.”

In 1944 Gibson’s voice was heard in “Going My Way” and “Hail the Conquering Hero,” whose writer, Preston Sturgess, expressly requested her to sing his songs for the film. A USO tour with Bob Hope followed.

She returned to Lewiston that year to serve as the queen of the Lewiston Roundup (see related story on Page 1A), which needed some star power and was resurrecting itself after falling dormant in the 1920s. Columbia Pictures even filmed a promotional short for the event, and Gov. Clarence Bottolfsen escorted her into the old grounds in north Lewiston. Her father, Grover, was the rodeo treasurer that year and owned the C.O.D. Laundry at Eighth and Main streets.

Tired of bit parts or dubbing work, Gibson organized a publicity campaign that led to a July 7, 1945, feature story in Collier’s Magazine under the title “Self-Made Starlet.” The editors subtitled it “This little starlet went to town. Yep. She surely did!’ “ Gibson was taking her career into her own hands. No publicity was bad publicity. She judged at dog shows, hobnobbed with syndicated columnists Walter Winchell and Earl Wilson and got herself photographed with New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, among other celebrities. Nothing substantial came of all her self-promotion.

For all her focus on show businesses, Gibson never forgot Lewiston. When Anne Bollinger, then an emerging operatic soprano, made her professional debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 20, 1944, Julie, her sister Rae, and Carolyn Silverthorne were in the audience. The foursome celebrated what they later called their “remember Lewiston week.”

 

Gibson spent a number of years in Europe dubbing English voices for French and Italian films and was the unit publicist for John Huston’s 1952 Academy Award-winning “Moulin Rouge.” She appeared in “Beat the Devil,” starring Humphrey Bogart, in 1953.

Subsequent minor roles convinced her that television was a knock she needed to answer.

She was the dialogue supervisor for the popular TV sitcom “Family Affair” in 1970-71, and while working on the set, she came into contact with Charles Barton, who directed 106 episodes of the popular series. He had also directed episodes of “Leave It to Beaver,” “McHale’s Navy” and “Petticoat Junction.” After completing several Abbott and Costello features for Universal, Barton moved to Disney Studios to direct “The Shaggy Dog” and “Toby Tyler.”

In 1973, Gibson and Barton married and remained so until his death in December 1981.

Her last acting role was in the critically acclaimed 1978 TV miniseries “The Awakening Land.” Her last screen credit came in 1979, when she played the role of Violet in the film “Hot Rod.”

Besides being the oldest alumna from both Lewiston High School and Lewis-Clark State College, Gibson is now billed by many sources, including the Internet Movie Database and www.oldest.org/entertainment/celebrities/, as the “oldest living performer” from Hollywood’s “golden age.”

If you would like to hear her sing “Says My Heart” with the Jimmie Grier Band, recorded in 1938, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUqnHnwR8E.

Branting, a former Lewiston educator, recently was named Lewis-Clark State College institutional historian."

And the subtitle of the article mentions that she is 105 years old.

[Ulitzer95 12,598]

Fantastic to hear she's still alive and kicking. Great find, well done!