Book Description

My previous books on Forgotten Movie Stars of the 1930s through 1950s have focused on the leading men and women of that era. While those individuals are pretty much the movie stars that we remember, their films would have gone nowhere without the contributions of supporting actors and actresses who made their movies great. After all, what would Casablanca have been without Claude Rains? The Manchurian Candidate without Angela Lansbury? The leading ladies and leading men could get by with their good looks, charisma, and not always great acting ability. On the other hand, supporting actors and actresses HAD to know how to act. And so, this book is a tribute to some of the greatest supporting actors of the classic film era in Hollywood from the 1930s through 1950s. Again, as in all my books, the people selected are based on my personal preferences. There are some people who probably should be in the book - Beulah Bondi comes to mine - but I just have not seen enough of her films to include her. You, the reader, may agree with some and disagree with others. That is your prerogative. I also never make a claim to have seen every film or actors from that era, but these are just the folks that have appealed to me. For each of these individuals, I have included some biographical information, including how they got their start in films: my favorite films of each individual; and other interesting notes about the person.