Remembering Arthur O'Connell On His Birthday

[Arthur O'Connell and James Stewart in
Anatomy of a Murder, 1959]

The year 1955 was very good for Arthur O'Connell (29 March 1908 - 18 May 1981). He appeared in Picnic, for which he received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also had parts in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Bus Stop.

He was one of those great character actors who always turned in a stellar performance. My favorite was as Parnell Emmett McCarthy, the washed up, alcoholic attorney who saved the day for Jimmy Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959) for which he received his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Happy Birthday, Arthur O'Connell.

Arthur O'Connell's Obituary, The New York Times, 19 May 1981


Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email • And don't forget to respond to the verification email!

Remembering Thelma Ritter On Her Birthday

[Thelma Ritter, 1955]

To me, Thelma Ritter (14 February 1902 - 5 February 1969) was the best character actor ever to appear on film. I loved her and believed everything she ever said. Co-incidentally, or is it, Ritter appeared in all my favorite films:

• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• Call Northside 777 (1948)
• All About Eve (1950) - Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• The Mating Season (1951) - Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Rear Window (1954)
• Pillow Talk (1959) - Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• How the West Was Won (1962)
• Move Over, Darling (1963)
• Boeing Boeing (1965)

Just to name a few.

Ritter also delivered what I believe is the best comeback line ever to be uttered on film. In All About Eve when Gary Merrill asks Ritter on his way out of town to direct a movie in Hollywood, "What do you want me to tell Tyrone Power," Ritter responds, "Just give him my phone number. I'll tell him myself."

Oh, how I love you Thelma Ritter. Happy Birthday.

Remembering Jack Elam On His Birthday

[Jack Elam]

I just love character actors. And today would have been the 96th birthday (if I did the math right, and his year of birth is disputed) of one of my favorite character actors, Jack Elam (13 November 1920 - 20 October 2003).

Born William Scott Elam in Miami, Arizona, Elam appeared in 73 movies and 41 television series. Elam played the scheming, no-account, dastardly bad guy better than anyone. It is no coincidence that one of his best performances was in one of my favorite films, Rawhide, starring Tyrone Power. But Elam could also play the funny man which he did with greater frequency in the later years of his career.

Happy Birthday, Jack Elam.

Jack Elam's Obituary, The Guardian, 28 October 2003

Remembering Martin Balsam On His Birthday

[Martin Balsam in Psycho, 1960]

Martin Balsam (4 November 1919 - 13 February 1996) was one of those great character actors I loved watching. You know the kind. They seem to appear in all your favorite films, the ones you have on DVD and have watched so many times you know the dialogue word for word.

Balsam was the ardent detective, Milton Arbogast, in Psycho (1960) whose agonizing fall down those stairs went on forever. He was the calm and controlled Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men (1957). The way Balsam stood up after the jury had taken one more of those secret votes, you just knew Henry Fonda had finally turned the jury. His portrayal of O.J. Berman in Breakfast at Tiffany's always sticks in my mind, "She's a phoney. But she's a real phoney." Balsam played the sympathetic but ineffectual cop, Police Chief Mark Dutton, in Cape Fear (1962). And when he sneezed that last time in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and Walter Matthau realized he had gotten his man...well, what can I say?

Happy Birthday, Martin Balsam.

Martin Balsam's Obituary, The New York Times, 14 February 1996

Remembering James Whitmore On His Birthday

[The Next Voice You Hear Trailer, 1950]

James Whitmore's (1 October 1921 - 6 February 2009) career spanned radio, stage, film and television. He is one of only a handful of performers to have won three of the four EGOT honors. His 1999 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series came for his appearance as Raymond Oz in The Practice. Whitmore won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Battleground in 1949, probably my favorite WWII movie. He was also nominated in the same category by the Academy Awards but lost out to Walter Huston for his role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). And Whitmore won a Tony for Best Newcomer in 1948's Command Decision.

But my absolute favorite James Whitmore performance was as Joe Smith, average man, in The Next Voice You Hear (1950) co-starring Nancy Davis, soon to be Nancy Reagan. In it, Whitmore hears a voice on the radio claiming to be God who speaks to humanity for several wonderful but terrifying days. I watch the movie at least once a year.

Happy Birthday, James Whitmore.

James Whitmore's Obituary, The New York Times, 7 February 2009

Remembering James Gleason On His Birthday

James Gleason (23 May 1882 to 12 April 1959), known as Jimmy to his friends, is another one of those character actors that always caught my eye. I love that New York tough guy with a kind heart character that he is so well known for playing. He was loved by his fellow actors as well. His friends (including Eddie Cantor and Gloria Swanson) had their monograms made of gold, silver, platinum or enamel and had them placed on his plain platinum cigarette case.

Did you know that he was also a playwright and screenwriter? He co-wrote and had a small part in Janet Gaynor's Broadway stage play, Change of Heart (1934). Gleason also had his own sitcom on radio with Robert Armstrong, Gleason and Armstrong (1931). His television credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Public Defender, and The Real McCoys.

Gleason enlisted in the U. S. Army at the age of 16 and served three years but didn't hesitate to re-enlist when his country needed him in WWI. It was after the war that his acting career took off. He had a small part in The Broadway Melody (1929) which was only the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. But my two favorite James Gleason films were A Free Soul (1931) with Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer, and newcomer, Clark Gable, and as the hot dog vendor in The Clock (1945), with Judy Garland and Robert Walker. Gleason will also be remembered for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Meet John Doe (1941) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). I also loved him in Crash Dive (1943) with Tyrone Power and as the taxi cab driver in The Bishop's Wife (1947). I could go on and on.

Happy Birthday, James Gleason.

Learn More About James Gleason

[James Gleason in
Miss Grant Takes Richmond, 1949]

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email

Remembering Joseph Cotten On His Birthday

Joseph Cotten (15 May 1905 - 6 February 1994) was one of my favorite actors. Between 1930 and 1981 he had a successful radio, stage, film and television career. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Journey Into Fear (1943). In 1934, Cotten had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Orson Welles, who helped launch his film career.

Cotten appeared on Broadway as C. K. Dexter Haven in the original production of The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn. He expected to recreate the role in the film version but found once he got to Hollywood that the role had been given to Cary Grant. At that point, Cotten made good use of his friendship with Welles by securing a role in Citizen Kane (1941). Although Citizen Kane did not do well at the box office due in large part to William Randolph Hearst's refusal to allow any of his newspapers to advertise it, Cotten did go on to play lead roles in Welles' productions of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Journey Into Fear (1943) and The Third Man (1949).

My favorite movies came later. And there are so many: Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) where he played a ruthless serial killer (also Hitch's favorite film), Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, the WWII tearjerker Since You Went Away (1944) with Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones, Love Letters (1945) again with Jennifer Jones and one of my favorite character actors, Cecil Kellaway, and one of my all-time, absolute favorite movies, Niagara (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. And who can forget Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

 Happy Birthday, Joseph Cotten.

Joseph Cotten's Obituary, The New York Times, February 7, 1994

[Joseph Cotten, 1957]

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email

Happy Birthday to Tyrone Power (1914 - 1958)

It would be hard to choose a favorite Ty Power movie, but at the top of the list is Rawhide. Whenever I mention Rawhide people always utter, "What?" It's a great movie with a stellar cast: Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe and the best group of character actors ever assembled in one movie: Edgar Buchanan, Dean Jagger, George Tobias and the brilliant Jack Elam.

[Tyrone Power and Hugh Marlowe
in Rawhide, 1951]

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email