I have a short set of additions to the list from yesterday's post and its sequel from earlier today. I'm not going to go into too much detail, here, because I'd hate to belabor the point, but I stumbled upon a few names today that I feel badly about leaving out! So, without any further ado:
Shirley Temple (born 04/23/1928)
It's hard to argue against her inclusion when Mickey Rooney made the cut on the first list. But I guess I forgot about her because her films don't generally appeal to me, meaning that I've not seen too many of them. Still, she certainly belongs here.
Elizabeth Taylor (born 02/27/1932)
I must be so accustomed to what Liz Taylor became -- a tabloid puncline, illness prone, oft-married, perfume saleswoman and best friend to the late Michael Jackson -- that I totally forgot to include her the first time around! Dame Liz made any number of great movies, appearing on screen since 1941. A two-time Oscar winner, it's not fair for me to let Ms. Taylor's off-screen travails cloud my judgment of an otherwise remarkable career.
Sophia Loren (born 09/20/1934)
I probably omitted the lovely Ms. Loren because I'm simply not familiar enough with her back catalog. Plus, she didn't reach international fame until very near the end of the period I was considering for my first list. But as another two-time Oscar winner (one competitive, one honorary) and a hugely influential fashion icon and sex symbol, I suppose she's earned her place.
Sidney Poitier (born 02/20/1927)
For Sidney Poitier, I have no excuse. I certainly knew he was still alive, but his omission was completely an accident; I thought of him when I first conceived this list, but then he slipped my mind! As one of the first major mainstream African-American stars, as well as the first black actor to win Best Actor, he is absolutely one of the most important living classic stars. True, many of his best pictures date from the '60s, outside of my classical period boundaries, but, he directed Ghost Dad, so he has that going for him.
I can't think of any other stars I may have forgotten, and unless there's someone so obvious I feel like a total schmuck for forgetting them, I doubt I'll be doing another one of these posts. But feel free to let me know where I messed up in the comments!
I don't know if you consider them schmuck-worthy, but Debbie Reynolds and Angela Lansbury are still "with us".
ReplyDelete@Bwanasonic - Reynolds I missed largely because I just don't watch musicals, so I rarely think of musical stars.
ReplyDeleteLansbury is interesting because while she WAS a known name back in the day, I really don't think she had more mainstream popularity then than she did on Murder, She Wrote. Plus, she's always been more of a stage star than film as well.
But yes, I begrudgingly admit the oversight of both of them ;)