Hollywood

  • Eli Wallach-Is this war?

    Who doesn’t know Eli Wallach? Such a great character actor, known from iconic movies like “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, “Mystic River” or more recently “The Holiday” . He was such a versatile actor but the role he not known for was his portrayal of Adolf Hitler. Born on December 7 1915 in…

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  • Who hasn’t seen Police Academy or any of the sequels? I reckon mots people have. But one of the actors in the movie had such an interesting life that his story would warrant a movie and would probably become a box office success. George Gaynes who played the clueless Commandant Lassard was born George Jongejans…

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  • Gene Kelly- WWII

    Today marks the 107th birthday of Gene Kelly. I can’t think of anyone who was quite like him. He truly was a remarkable individual, an economy graduate, a teacher,a dancer,choreographer,actor,singer,producer,director and lieutenant, junior grade in the US Navy stationed in D.C. at the U.S. Naval Photographic Center where he served from 1944-1947. Whilst working for…

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  • Anyone who knows movies will know the name Charles Durning. He has starred in so many classic movies in a variety of genres, comedies, thrillers, musicals. Movies like “Dog day afternoon”, “The Choirboys” or “The best little whorehouse in Texas” the list is endless. Additionally he has also starred in a great number of TV…

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  • I don’t know why but ever since I moved to Ireland I have found myself explaining my name quite a bit. I have been called Derek,Declan,Kirk and other variations.Nowadays I usually say “Dirk like Dirk Bogarde” it mostly takes another few minutes for people to get my last name right. Most people will have heard…

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  • How do you best deal with a bully? You ridicule him. The bully in this blog is Adolf Hitler and how painful and embarrassing it must have been for him to be ridiculed by something produced by a Jew. I would have loved to have seen his face after he saw “Warner Brothers-Merrie Melodies: cartoon…

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  • Oliver Hardy

    When you think of a comedy duo the first pair that comes to mind is Laurel $ Hardy, they were and still are ,without a shadow of a doubt the most successful comedy double act of all time. However these 2 were not always a duo, they both had long established careers before they teamed…

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  • Mel Brooks once said about Hitler “I was never crazy about Hitler. If you stand on a soapbox and trade rhetoric with a dictator, you never win. That’s what they do so well: they seduce people. But if you ridicule them, bring them down with laughter, they can’t win. You show how crazy they are.”…

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  • Born on March 20 1919, Cairbre is probably one of the most famous Dubliners to have ever lived, but yet hardly anyone knows him. Maybe it’s because he was renamed to Slats? As so many stars, Cairbre came from humble beginnings. There was no crib or hostel for him when he was born, there may…

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  • The title is not a tagline for a Hollywood blockbuster, although it should have been. I am sure it would have made a great movie. James Stewart and Walter Matthau served together in the 453rd Bombardment Group during World War II. Prior to becoming a Hollywood icon, Walter Matthau was a radioman-gunner in the U.S.…

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