Programming Note

[Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer on
the set of Romeo and Juliet, 1936]

Romeo and Juliet to air on TCM on Thursday, June 30, at 12:15 AM PST [Please check your local listings]

Adapted from the play by Shakespeare, Leslie Howard appears in this film from 1936 directed by George Cukor and co-starring Norma Shearer as Juliet. The screenplay is by Talbot Jennings. The supporting cast includes John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Edna Mae Oliver and Andy Devine.

The New York Times selected the film as one of the "Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made."

On the night of the Los Angeles premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre Norma Shearer's husband and the producer of the film, Irving Thalberg, died at the age of 37. Of course, the show still went on.

The picture received four Academy Award nominations:

Best Picture - Irving Thalberg

Best Actress - Norma Shearer

Best Supporting Actor - Basil Rathbone

Best Art Direction - Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B. Willis

[Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes in
Gone With The Wind, 1939]

Gone With The Wind to air on TCM Friday, July 1, at 6:15 PM PST [Please check your local listings]

Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland star in the top grossing movie of all time, Gone With The Wind. Produced by David O. Selznick, Directed by Victor Fleming and Screenplay by Sidney Howard, this film was delayed for two years while Selznick negotiated with MGM for Clark Gable and conducted an extensive "American Idol" type search for Scarlett O'Hara.

Top Awards:

Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures
Best Director - Victor Fleming
Best Actress - Vivien Leigh
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sidney Howard
Best Supporting Actress - Hattie McDaniel

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth." ~ Pablo Picasso

[Autographed "Can this be true? Leslie Howard"
by Alex Gard, for Sardi's Restaurant]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"I dream my painting and I paint my dream." ~ Vincent van Gogh

[Leslie Howard, digital art by Nicole M. Climons, 2012]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

 ~ Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

[Leslie Howard as Prof. Henry Higgins in
Pygmalion, 1938, watercolor by Alice Teeple, 2014]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television." ~ Woody Allen

[Caricature of Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in
The Petrified Forest, 1936, from Merrie Melodies'
She Was An Acrobat's Daughter, "The Petrified Florist,"
Supervision I. Freleng, Animation Bob McKimson
and A.C. Gamer]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." ~ Edgar Degas

[Leslie Hates Spinach, by J. Welch, 1933]

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