1924: Born April 3, in Omaha, Neb., of Dutch-Irish descent, the youngest of three children of a salesman and an amateur actress. 1938: Enrolls in Libertyville High School as a freshman. 1944: Makes his Broadway debut as the teenage son in the…
It was the kind of story that made you willing to linger over the after-dinner coffee. "What do you know about the death of Thomas Ince?" Peter Bogdanovich asked me. I knew a little. Like everyone with a fascination for…
I can think of three times when I cried while listening to the radio. The first was when the death of John F. Kennedy was announced. The other two were during the WFMT "Midnight Special" tributes to Steve Goodman and,…
The man who performed the most sensational solo number in the history of musical comedy is dead. Donald O'Connor, whose "Make 'em Laugh" number in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) was a show-stopper that delighted and astonished generations of audiences, died…
Elia Kazan, who presided over a revolution in American acting and directed films that won 20 Academy Awards, died Saturday at 94. His films included such towering achievements as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" (1954), "A Face in…
Leni Riefenstahl, who did more than any other artist to shape the image of the Third Reich, died in her sleep Monday night in Berlin. She was 101. Although her 1934 documentary "Triumph of the Will" was the most dramatic…
Kevin Costner's new Western is about "what kind of person you are when you look around and no one is watching," he says. It's called "Open Range," it opens Friday, and Costner directs. He won an Oscar for directing "Dances…
Bob Hope, who has died at 100, became such an American icon that his mere presence made people smile. That was the lesson I learned one day in 1980, when I joined him aboard a private jet after he'd made…
PARK CITY, Utah--"Northfork" is about a Montana town that is buried forever beneath a lake, and about the agents who clear out the residents, and the angels who come to console those who linger behind. But that does not evoke…
Gregory Peck died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday night, the week after his famous character Atticus Finch from "To Kill a Mockingbird" was named by the Ameri-can Film Institute as the greatest movie hero of all time. The veteran star,…