It took a tense 1 hour and 45 minutes each day to apply actor Jack Haley's silver and black makeup for his signature role as the Tin Man in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Ray Bolger, as the Scarecrow, sat in the makeup chair for 2 hours each day. Bert Lahr, as the Cowardly Lion, had the worst time of it. Once his lion's mouth and nose prostheses were glued to his face, he couldn't open his own mouth wide enough to chew. His lunch was whatever he could sip through a straw. His fur-covered lion costume, complete with fur mittens, was so heavy and hot, Lahr had to take the suit off completely after each shot, and would be dripping wet.
It was a huge flop and a popular late-night TV talk show target for jokes in the U.S. However, the 1996 film Striptease, starring Demi Moore, grossed more than $70 million outside the United States in its first 10 weeks of release abroad. It opened internationally in Mexico, where an estimated 2 million people flocked to see it. Surprisingly, in some countries such as Italy and Germany, Striptease rose to the top of the box-office heap.
It was reported that director James Cameron desperately wanted O. J. Simpson to play the title role of the killer humanoid alien in the first Terminator film in the 1980s. Cameron held out to the very end, but ended up being "stuck" with then little-known Arnold Schwarzenegger.
film directors the cinema has known. After holding jobs as a crime reporter and a caricature artist, Fellini began his film career as a gag writer for Italian actor Aldo Fabrizi. He later turned to directing, and won the Foreign Language Film Oscar for Federico Fellini's 8½, as well as the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Film for La Dolce Vita. Often outspoken, Fellini once said, "The producer is an authoritarian figure who risks nothing, presumes to know public taste, and always wants to change the end of the film."
Italian director Federico Fellini was among the most intensely autobiographical film directors the cinema has known. After holding jobs as a crime reporter and a caricature artist, Fellini began his film career as a gag writer for Italian actor Aldo Fabrizi. He later turned to directing, and won the Foreign Language Film Oscar for Federico Fellini's 8½, as well as the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Film for La Dolce Vita. Often outspoken, Fellini once said, "The producer is an authoritarian figure who risks nothing, presumes to know public taste, and always wants to change the end of the film."
Italy's Oscar-winning Life Is Beautiful (1998) took in $57 million in its initial run, more than any other foreign-language film in history.
It's a part of Hollywood lore (and reporters' delight) that, when asked what she wore to bed, Marilyn Monroe responded, "Chanel No. 5." When asked the same question, then-actress Grace Kelly icily replied, "I don't think it's anybody's business what I wear to bed."
James Arness, the actor best known for his portrayal of U.S. Marshall Matt Dillon in the long-running TV series Gunsmoke, was the first WWII American soldier to jump off his boat at the Anzio beachhead. He was ordered by his commander to do so because, standing at 6' 8" in height, he was the tallest man in his company, and the water's depth needed to be tested as a safety precaution.
James Dean was to star in the 1956 film Somebody Up There Likes Me -- his untimely death in a car accident in 1955 sent studio bosses scrambling. After an exhaustive search for the "new James Dean," little-known actor Paul Newman was cast in the film's lead role. Film executives felt Newman looked more like Dean than any of the other actors considered. Dean's death was a fortuitous event in young Newman's film career.
James Harriot's best-selling novel "All Things Bright and Beautiful" was originally titled "It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet."
Jason Robards, nominated for more Tony Awards than any other actor, made his New York City acting debut in 1947 as the rear end of a cow in a production of "Jack and the Beanstalk."
Jayne Mansfield decorated her "Pink Palace" by writing to 1,500 furniture and building suppliers and asking for free samples. She told the donors they could then brag that their goods were in her outlandish mansion. The pitch worked, and Jayne received over $150,000 worth of free merchandise.
Jazz pianist and composer Count Basie’s first name was William. Basie appeared as himself in several movies spanning four decades, including Stage Door Canteen, Reveille with Beverly, Ebony Parade, Cinderfella, Sex and the Single Girl, and Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles.
Jenna Elfman, co-star of the TV hit Dharma and Greg, was born Jennifer Mary Butala. In 1995, she married actor Bodhi Elfman, nephew of film score composer Danny Eflman (The Simpsons, Men in Black, Good Will Hunting), and changed her last name.
Jerry Seinfeld shares the ranks with television performers Andy Griffith, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Angela Lansbury, Bob Newhart, Cybill Shepherd, the Smothers Brothers, Tim Allen, and Hal Linden, all of whom have not won Best Actor Emmys.
Jim Morrison found the name "The Doors" for his rock band in the title of Aldous Huxley's book "The Doors of Perception, which extolls the use of hallucinogenic drugs.
Jim Morrison of The Doors once commented on the influence of film: "The attraction of the cinema lies in the fear of death. Movies create a kind of false eternity."
Joan Crawford and Bette Davis had feuded for years. During the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Davis had a Coca-Cola machine installed on the set due to Crawford's affiliation with Pepsi. (Crawford was the widow of Pepsi's CEO.) Joan got her revenge by putting weights in her pockets when Davis had to drag Crawford across the floor during certain scenes. On her tombstone is written "She did it the hard way."
Joan Crawford was born Billie Cassin, but her name was changed to Lucille LeSueur when she was young and her mother remarried. When she embarked on a film career as a teenager, film studio executives didn't like her last name as it suggested a sewer. So, her screen name became Joan Crawford as a result of a promotional "name contest" which was conducted with the general public. She reportedly hated the new name, maintaining that "Crawford" reminded her of "crawfish."
Jodie Foster was a strong contender for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, losing out in the end to Carrie Fisher (1977). Hundreds of other actresses were considered for the role, including Amy Irving and Cindy Williams.
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