Joan Crawford pulled at PR stunt on Oscar night 1945. Crawford, who rightfully believed her career was on the line with this Oscar race, claimed to be bed-ridden with the flu on the big night. In fact, she had a bad case of stage fright. Cameramen were stationed at her bedside, though, and when she won for "Mildred Pierce," the director promptly delivered the statue to Crawford's bedside. The next day, photos of a remarkably well-quaffed Crawford sitting up in bed with her Oscar plastered front pages across the country.

John Travolta's financial move in his career that set the actor up for life. Instead of demanding a huge fee for his roles in "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) and "Grease" (1978), Travolta, then a TV heartthrob, negotiated for a substantial chunk of the profits from the two films' soundtracks. Of course, the two records were unprecedented smashes. Saturday Night Fever remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. And Travolta got a piece of every sale.

In the late 1940s there was a scandal that permanently labeled Robert Mitchum a Hollywood "bad boy." In 1949, Mitchum did some time in prison for marijuana possession when there was no such thing as a "misdemeanor" version of that particular crime. (Eat your heart out, Robert Downey Jr.) Most historians agree that while Mitchum wasn't completely blameless in the matter, something other than the pot smelled funny about his arrest. At any rate, he rebounded quickly, with 15 releases between 1950 and 1955, capped off by "Night of the Hunter" (1955).

After making only two movies, "Oklahoma!" (1955) and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956), Mike Todd died in a plane crash in 1958. He is credited as a co-inventor of a revolutionary wide screen photography process called Todd-AO. He also has the unusual distinction of the being the only one of Elizabeth Taylor's husbands whom she did not divorce.

Gil Bellows played Billy (William) Thomas on "Ally McBeal". He played Tommy (Thomas) Williams in "The Shawshank Redemption".

Good one, TonyTheDad. "The Shawshank Redemption" is one of my all time favorite movies. I must have seen it at least ten times so far.

Rumors have surrounded the death of opera great Mario Lanza. Lanza, who had left Hollywood after run-ins with studio brass, was pronounced dead of a heart attack in an Italian hospital in 1959. Almost immediately, rumors began circulating that the singer, who had checked in to lose weight for an upcoming movie role, had crossed mobster Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, who was in a different kind of professional exile from the U.S. at the time. Recently, Lanza's son has produced what he says is evidence that his father did in fact have recurring heart problems, despite his young age, and that Lanza died of natural causes.

[This message has been edited by JoJo2 (edited 07-21-2000).]

Lon Chaney’s great skill as a silent film actor came about as a result of his upbringing. Both of his parents were deaf-mutes, so he learned to communicate by expressive pantomime. [Source: Cinemania 97 CD ROM]
Julio Comello from Toronto, Ont. (1 April 2000)

Marcel Marceau is the only actor to speak in Mel Brooks' 'Silent Movie'. He says the word, 'No.'. [Source: Watched the movie]
David Nicholson from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. (16 December 1999)

Great info gillyharold!

What injury gave Humphrey Bogart his signature lisp and snarl? Popular knowledge has it that Bogart's face became partially paralyzed after he was injured during the bombing of the Leviathan in World War II. However, some researchers claim that, while Bogart certainly did serve on the vessel, that story is all Hollywood and that Bogie's lisp actually dates back to a more mundane childhood injury.

Jack Scagnetti, a fictional Character first mentioned in Quinton Tarentino's "Reservior Dogs" as Vic / Mr. Blonde's (Michael Madsen) parole officer, came to life in Natural Born Killers (another Tarentino story) in the form of Madsen lookalike/actalike Tom Sizemore. Madsen almost played Mickey in NBK.
The two actors have acted together in two films, Wyatt Earp (Virgil Earp and Bat Masterson Respectively), and recently in The Florintine (With Michael's sister Virginia Madsen playing...his sister. What a strech!)

[This message has been edited by Cohalen (edited 07-30-2000).]