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W.S. Van Dyke – the trusted director, star maker, party host, and patriot, with one of Hollywood’s saddest endings
June, 1935: my grandmother, Mitzi in the elegant white hat, with some of Hollywood's hardest working actors at one W.S. Van Dyke's legendary Hollywood parties. There are so many stories in this photo that as I began to research it I was even more convinced that Hollywood's early stars were far more amazing than the … Continue reading W.S. Van Dyke – the trusted director, star maker, party host, and patriot, with one of Hollywood’s saddest endings
Lincoln’s comedian, Chic Sale
"It's like reading that the Archbishop of Canterbury has been caught at a night club," Will Rogers in the Reading Eagle, August 10, 1934 about Chic Sale's bestselling book, The Specialist. Here's a hilarious, decidedly unglamorous photo of my grandmother, Mitzi Cummings, with Charles Partlow Sale, aka 'Chic Sale', once "the nation's foremost comedian" before … Continue reading Lincoln’s comedian, Chic Sale
Me, the ghost of the future past
Knowing what I know about my family, the good and the bad – thanks to the books, old newspaper articles, the fragments of overheard conversations or stories told to me – I still ache to be in that photo. Oh, how I love this photo and wish for all the tea in China that I … Continue reading Me, the ghost of the future past
Sid Grauman: the hair, the theaters, the chutzpah.
Anyone who comments about a rare early morning start to play himself in a movie that, "Birds were singing. How long has that been going on?" I could have had a lot of fun with. Of all the early Hollywood elite that I have written about, the one I most wished I could have met … Continue reading Sid Grauman: the hair, the theaters, the chutzpah.
RIP Louis B. Mayer, The Lion of Hollywood
On October 29th, 1957 Louis B. Mayer died from leukemia, a disease which would claim his nephew, Leonard Cummings, the youngest child of my great-grandmother, Ida Mayer Cummings, just eight years later.
The tailor’s son takes a wife…
When Popa mentioned he had also done this on windy, precipitous mountain roads, I had a vision of a wiry, redheaded kid with a huge smile and a constellation of freckles across his face, loving the fresh mountain breeze through the windows and Death not able to catch up with him. In my previous post, … Continue reading The tailor’s son takes a wife…
I thought I heard a whisper…
The ritual of the cake made it clear there was certainly affection and understanding between them. But had that come with time? Was it a place of comfort after many disappointments and disagreements? I will never know. This photo of my grandmother Mitzi is undeniably stunning and it doesn't look like it took a lot … Continue reading I thought I heard a whisper…
Charles Bickford: Acquitted of attempted murder at nine, nearly killed by a lion, and three times Oscar nominee
"It's appropriate that I should have come in on the wings of a blizzard. I've been blowing up a storm ever since." Charlie Bickford This fantastic publicity photo of actor Charles Bickford isn’t dated, but I am fairly sure that it's pre-1935 when he was still contracted to MGM and causing hell for my great … Continue reading Charles Bickford: Acquitted of attempted murder at nine, nearly killed by a lion, and three times Oscar nominee
The Legendary Ghosts of 625 Beach Road, Hearst’s Gargoyle and Citizen Kane
If only the best in ghost experiences will do, you can't do much better than 625 Palisades Beach Road, a house that has hosted several eras of legends and is located on a small strip of oceanfront road under the bluffs of Santa Monica, where some of Hollywood biggest heavyweights, and often their toughest competitors, chose … Continue reading The Legendary Ghosts of 625 Beach Road, Hearst’s Gargoyle and Citizen Kane
The Film Colony ♛ 
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