Category: Oscar Profile

Born December 22, 1907 in Surrey, England, Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft, known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was a titan of the British stage, who only occasionally appeared in films, but when she did, she was as amazing and unforgettable as she was in her lauded stage roles. Ashcroft’s mother had been an actress. Her father,…

Born January 16, 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico, María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known professionally as Katy Jurado, was the daughter of a lawyer and a singer. Actor Pedro Armendariz was her godfather. Jurado’s family was wealthy, its fortune controlled by her aristocratic grandmother. When offered a film role at the age of 15,…

Born July 17, 1935 in the Bronx, New York, Carol Diann Johnson, known professionally as Diahann Carroll, was a multi-talented actress, singer, and dancer. She was a Tony winner, an Oscar nominee, a four-time Emmy nominee, and a two-time Grammy nominee. She was also a three-time Golden Globe nominee, winning on her first nomination for…

Born October 5, 1907 in Paris, France, Jean Louis (Berthault) emigrated to the U.S. where he worked as a designer for New York fashion entrepreneur Hattie Carnegie whose clients included Joan Cohn, the wife of Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn. With her influence, he became head designer for Columbia in 1944, a position he held…

Born June 17, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, Ralph Bellamy’s father was from New England, his mother was from Canada. He ran away from home at 15 to become an actor. He traveled with numerous road shows, and by 1927 had his own theatre company. He made his film debut in 1931’s The Secret Six starring…

Born April 4, 1922 in New York, New York, Elmer Bernstein was a child actor and dancer who also won prizes for his painting. He was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II where he wrote music for the Armed Forces Radio. Eventually he wrote the scores for more than 200…

Born May 5, 1914, matinee idol Tyrone Power was the fourth of five to carry the name beginning with his great-grandfather, a famous Irish comedian who lived from 1795 to 1841. His father (1869-1931) was a noted stage actor who appeared in several films as Tyrone Power but has subsequently been referred to Tyrone Power,…

Born March 29, 1955 in Dublin, Ireland, Brendan Gleeson was an avid reader as a child, a fiddle player, and an actor/teacher since his college graduation. He was, in fact, a full-time teacher for ten years before giving up the profession to concentrate on acting. Gleeson married his wife Mary in 1982 with whom he…

Anyone who ever tried to put together a list of films that that should have been nominated for Academy Awards but weren’t, can tell you that it is an almost impossible task to sort out eligibility dates for the years 1927/28-1981 for to a number of reasons. The first awards were supposed to be for…