Sybil Bruncheon's "A Few of My Favorite Things"... John DiLeo's "There Are No Small Parts"...

You know when someone gives you a box of luxury chocolates, maybe for your birthday?... no, I'm talking about LUXURY chocolates! Not some past-its-freshness-date Whitman's sampler from the corner drugstore or a Fanny Farmer hand-me-down from Aunt Edith! I'm talking about Teuscher Champagne Truffles with NO crushed red velvet bow or a smirking bunny with a bent tinfoil ear... ok? You get the idea! Well, if you've ever had the delicious pleasure of that, you know that you savor each one you carefully lift from its pleated paper cup. You really look at it, maybe smell the deep chocolate perfume coming off it before you slowly slip it into your mouth. There's no racing through the box, wedging one after another, unfinished onto the conveyor belt of your gaping tongue and maw, right? It's an exercise in being present and appreciative of something truly wonderful...

Well! Having said all that, there is a newly published book by a truly wonderful writer and film fanatic who has over-ridden any restraint you might have to "savoring", blah, blah, blah! It's "THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS" by John DiLeo; a collection of extraordinary essays on film performances of ten minutes or less that are unforgettable, perhaps even iconic, and that are immediately recognizable. Even if you "can't quite place the name" of the actor, you might be able to recite every line, and with the same cadences and emotions that earned them a place in this book! Reading these essays, starting with the first one of Elsa Lanchester's in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), you may find yourself gobsmacked by DiLeo's astute joy and celebration of each actor's incredible talent in such a small space; how can an artist render so much with so little? Well, that's genius for you! Eleven of these one hundred gems were nominated for Oscars, and two won, each with an onscreen time of less than 7 minutes! An Oscar in less than 7 minutes!!! Talk about nuance!

Reading some of these essays may bring you to knowing laughter, some may move you to tears, but all of them will certainly impress you with DiLeo's knowledge and discernment. I opened the book and sat stunned that he had chosen performances, one after another, that I had always treasured, even as a child. And how wonderful too, to see major stars take a brief turn "just for the fun of it"; Marlene Dietrich in TOUCH OF EVIL (1958), Gene Hackman in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), or Al Pacino in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019).

Back to the box of chocolates; I savor a box of Teuscher Champagne Truffles, one at a time, and certainly NOT finishing all of them in one sitting. Sadly, these essays are so delicious that many readers have stated that they opened the book... and read on and on, page after page, gorging themselves on his erudition, humor, wisdom, and on the combination of his subjects' brilliance and his for celebrating it... I am one of those readers!... wolfing down one after another, swearing to take a break, and making the mistake of "oh, just one more"! Why couldn't he have made it 200 performances??... Or is there perhaps a sequel?? (I hope, I hope, I hope!)... Thank God, gorging on John DiLeo is non-fattening. Oh, and when you've finished, you can start all over again!

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... GENE LOCKHART (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)...

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called "SYBIL'S WHO'Z DAT?"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships". (I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???). Here's our next guest!! … EUGENE “GENE” LOCKHART! (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)

Lockhart was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs. Born in London, Ontario, his father had studied singing, and young Gene displayed an early interest in drama and music. Shortly after the 7-year-old danced a Highland fling in a concert given by the 48th Highlanders' Regimental Band, his father joined the band as a Scottish tenor. The Lockhart family accompanied the band to England. While his father toured, Gene studied at the Brompton Oratory School in London. At the age of 15, he was appearing in sketches with actress Beatrice Lillie. Lockhart was educated in various Canadian schools and at the Brompton Oratory School in London, England. He also played football for the Toronto Argonauts. Lockhart had a long stage career; he also wrote professionally and taught acting and stage technique at the Juilliard School in New York City. He had also written theatrical sketches, radio shows, special stage material, song lyrics and articles for stage and radio magazines.

He made his Broadway debut in 1916, in the musical THE RIVIERA GIRL. He was a member of the travelling play THE PIERROT PLAYERS (for which he wrote the book and lyrics). This play introduced the song, “The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise” for which Lockhart wrote the lyrics along with Canadian composer Ernest Seitz.. (The song was subsequently made popular by Les Paul and Mary Ford in the 1950s.) HEIGH-HO (1920) followed, a musical fantasy with score by Deems Taylor and book and lyrics by Lockhart. It had a short run (again, with him in the cast). Lockhart's first real break as a dramatic actor came in the supporting role of Bud, a mountaineer moonshiner, in SUN UP (1923). This was an American folk play, first presented by The Players, a theatrical club, in a Greenwich Village little theater, and, after great notices, it moved to a larger house for a two-year run. During this engagement, in 1924 at the age of 33, Lockhart married Kathleen Lockhart (nee Kathleen Arthur), an English actress and musician. He also wrote and directed the Broadway musical revue BUNK OF 1926. He sang in DIE FLEDERMAUS for the San Francisco Opera Association.

On Broadway, Lockhart originated the role of Uncle Sid in Eugene O'Neill’s only comedy, AH! WILDERNESS! His performance was so compelling that O'Neill wrote to Lockhart: "Every time your Sid has come in for dinner I've wanted to burst into song, and every time you've come down from that nap I've felt the cold gray ghost of an old heebie-jeebie." The acclaim for his acting in AH, WILDERNESS allowed Lockhart to proceed to Hollywood and remain there almost without interruption. Although he made his film debut in the silent in the 1922 version of SMILIN’ THROUGH as the Rector, his big break came after his triumph in AH! WILDERNESS when he returned to Hollywood in the talkie BY YOUR LEAVE (1934) where he played the playboy Skeets. Lockhart subsequently appeared in more than 300 motion pictures. He often played villains, including a role as the treacherous informant Regis in ALGIERS, the American remake of PEPE LE MOKO, which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in the movie THE SEA WOLF (1941), adapted from the novel by Jack London, as the tragic ship's doctor opposite the great Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield. He played the suspicious Georges de la Trémouille, the Dauphin's chief counselor, in the famous 1948 film, JOAN OF ARC, starring Ingrid Bergman. But it was a tribute to his amazing versatility that he had his most memorable successes as lovable, "good guy" supporting roles including Bob Cratchit in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938) which also starred his own very accomplished actress/wife Kathleen as Mrs. Cratchit and his daughter June as one of the children. He is very well remembered as the flustered judge in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) with John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, and Edmund Gwynne, and as the Starkeeper in the 1956 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s CAROUSEL with Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae.

His great sense of comedy is shown playing the bumbling city sheriff in HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) opposite Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Lockhart’s down-to-Earth style also got him cast in a number of Hollywood’s prestigious bio-pics including THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (1939) with Don Ameche and Henry Fonda, EDISON THE MAN (1940) with Spencer Tracy, and ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (1940) with Raymond Massey. He did return to Broadway to take over from Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman, during the original run of DEATH OF A SALESMAN in 1949. His last film role was that of the Equity Board President in the 1957 film biopic JEANNE EAGELS.

Late on Saturday, March 30, 1957, Lockhart suffered a heart attack while sleeping in his apartment at 10439 Ashton Avenue in West Los Angeles. He was taken to St. John's Hospital and died on Sunday afternoon, March 31. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery. Although he was married to Kathleen for 33 years, June Lockhart was his only child. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard, one for motion pictures and one for television.

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... FRANK McHUGH (May 23, 1898 - September 11, 1981)

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a weekly, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???.... well, while you’re reflecting on it, here’s a Dairlin’ man, as the Irish say… and wouldn’t you know him by his charmin’ laughter in every role he ever played, God bless’m. He’s Frank McHugh (May 23rd 1898 – September 11, 1981).

Born Francis Curray McHugh in Homestead, Pennsylvania of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. McHugh made his debut in blackface at the age of 6 in FOR HER CHILDREN'S SAKE as a member of the McHugh Stock Company in Braddock, Pa., founded by his parents, Edward A. and Catherine McHugh. Performing onstage in Vaudeville with his older brother Matt and sister Kitty, he was a local star at ten years of age. Another brother, Ed, went on to become a stage manager and agent in New York. McHugh went to school in Pittsburgh and at the age of 17 left the family troupe and joined the Marguerite Bryant Players, of which Guy Kibbee was also a member, and became juvenile lead and stage manager at the Empire Theater in Pittsburgh. He graduated and went barnstorming through the Middle West and New England and playing on the Keith and Orpheum circuits. McHugh made his Broadway debut in THE FALL GUY, written by George Abbott and James Gleason in 1925 and featuring Ernest Truex. The following year he went to London with James Gleason and Robert Armstrong to appear in the prize-fight comedy IS ZAT SO? In 1928 he married Dorothy Spencer, an actress, and returned to Broadway in FOG, which was soon followed by his first real Broadway success as a reformed pickpocket in TENTH AVENUE. The following year he appeared in EXCESS BAGGAGE, which he considered his ''best New York role.'', (but it was his last Broadway appearance until 1963 when he appeared as Senex, the henpecked husband in A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.)

When his family quit the stage in 1930, First National Pictures hired him as a contract player. But very soon after, he was picked up by Warner Brothers where he performed in over 150 pictures. Even in horror films, he could be counted on for his signature smart-alecky, wise guy, Brooklynese humor as in THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) costarring fellow smart-aleck Glenda Farrell, Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray. Though McHugh got a few star parts, more often he supported stars James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. He was immensely popular with his fellow actors. Irish-Americans McHugh, Cagney, O’Brien and Spencer Tracy were close friends and the core members of a group known as, “The Irish Mafia,” known for its drinking and carousing prowess which also included Allen Jenkins, Ralph Bellamy, Lynne Overman, and Frank Morgan.  Over the course of his extraordinary career he quickly became one of Warner Brothers’ most reliable supporting players. His diminutive stature, sunny face, comic timing, appealing manner, and signature “Hah, Hah, Hah” sing-song laugh made him a beloved character actor, very popular in his day. McHugh’s films include THE FRONT PAGE (1931), GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935), A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT DREAM (1935), FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938), THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939), GOING MY WAY (1944), MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), and THE LAST HURRAH (1958). He had the distinction of being cast repeatedly in Oscar nominated and winning films.

Although McHugh played everything from lead actor to sidekick, he was most often remembered for providing comedy relief. He worked with almost every major star at Warner Brothers, was a close life-long friend of James Cagney, and appeared in more Cagney movies than any other actor, notably in eleven films between 1932 and 1953 including crime dramas and even musicals. Their friendship lasted until McHugh's death. Like many of his fellow stars, he was a keen supporter in the 1940s of the war effort. In 1942, just a few months after Pearl Harbor, McHugh was a core member of the Hollywood Victory Caravan. At the request of the War Activities Committee, a crew of 21 stars traveled across the US by train, performing in several cities over the course of three weeks to raise money for the Army and Navy Relief Fund. The dazzling line-up of stars, headed by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Cary Grant featured the talents of some of Hollywood’s biggest names. McHugh and his Irish Mafia pals James Cagney and Pat O’Brien were on board, along with Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Joan Blondell, Joan Bennett, Merle Oberon, Rise Stevens, Eleanor Powell, Laurel and Hardy, Bert Lahr, Charlotte Greenwood, Olivia de Havilland, Desi Arnaz, and Groucho Marx. The show they performed was a musical revue, put together by Mark Sandrich (a director known for the Astaire/Rogers musicals) and Alfred Newman (20th Century Fox’s house musical director and composer) with contributions from several top screen and songwriters.

Everywhere the Caravan went, it was greeted by cheering crowds, and its stop in Washington D.C. included a trip to the White House, where the stars were greeted and thanked by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. After the tour, photographer Gene Lester compiled a booklet of 30 photographs from the tour for the participants. McHugh’s copy is archived in the New York Public Library’s Hollywood collection. This amazing resource is a mix of posed publicity shots and candids of the stars hanging out backstage, at meals or on the train. Many of the stars including McHugh recalled the Hollywood Victory Caravan as one of the most incredible, memorable, and rewarding experiences of their lives. After the tour ended, McHugh’s dedication to helping the war effort was not over. He went back out on tour again in England in August and September of 1942, appearing in the American Variety Show with Al Jolson, Patricia Morrison, Allen Jenkins, and again with Merle Oberon.

Two years later, McHugh came back to Europe with his own show. He designed and starred in “McHugh’s Revue” which toured France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in November and December of 1944. The show was actually in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. This USO show featured McHugh, four beautiful girls (actresses Mary Brian, June Clyde, Charlotte Greer and Nina Nova) and a piano-player (Eddie Eisman), touring the front line, meeting, and entertaining the troops. The McHugh Papers include many accounts of the tour. 

Here is McHugh’s own account of traveling to Europe in the company of servicemen:"Getting acquainted with my companions was something that I looked forward to with great apprehension. They were all so many years my junior that I suddenly felt very old and very far away from them. But I was mistaken — I have never met a bunch of young fellows that were so good humored, agreeable and easy to get along with. I’ll always remember them and wonder what their individual careers were in the army.”

The November 4, 1944 editions of the Special Service Publication, Trans Quips, described meeting up with McHugh for an interview:

“I found him and June Clyde talking to a bunch of G.I.s, looking at the pictures of their girls, cracking jokes and signing autographs. He talked to the men about their hometowns, and Frank really knows the hometown of almost everybody on board… He did shows in all the big towns and cities in the States.” 

Frank McHugh’s career and war effort activities were preserved in his personal papers including a trove of interesting letters, photographs, and publicity materials on all the USO tours he participated in during World War II. They are currently held in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library.

In 1944, he was memorably cast as Father Timothy O'Dowd in the Bing Crosby film, GOING MY WAY. which won several Oscars including Best Film and Best Actor for Crosby. (Interestingly, McHugh later played William Jennings Depew in the 1962 episode "Keep an Eye on Santa Claus" in the ABC television series, GOING MY WAY starring Gene Kelly, and loosely based on the earlier film.) The remainder of the 1940s were a good time for his film career, but like a lot of Hollywood actors in the 50’s when film roles started getting scarce Frank moved to radio and television. From 1954 to 1956, Frank appeared in the radio serial “Hotel for Pets” where he played a former mail carrier who ran an animal shelter. The series was sponsored by Puss ‘n Boots cat food. He made sporadic appearances in various television cameos through the 1950s.

From 1964-65, he played Willie Walters, a live-in handyman in the 27-episode ABC sitcom The Bing Crosby Show, which reunited him once again onscreen with Bing Crosby. The show also co-starred Beverly Garland. McHugh's last feature film role was as a comical "sea captain" in the 1967 Elvis Presley caper film EASY COME, EASY GO. He returned to Broadway again in 1967 to star in a revival of  FINIAN'S RAINBOW by the New York City Light Opera Company.

McHugh's last television appearance was as handyman Charlie Wingate in "The Fix-It Man", an episode of CBS’ LANCER western series, which starred Andrew Duggan. He finally retired from show business in 1969. McHugh died at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut on September 11, 1981 at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife Dorothy Spencer, three children, and two grandchildren. His brother Matt McHugh and sister Kitty McHugh whom he had first appeared with in Vaudeville were also actors in many films. Summing up his style and appeal, McHugh once said, “I never act in the movies. All I ever do in a picture is to be myself and let the cameras grind on.'' 

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... GUY KIBBEE (March 6, 1882 - May 24, 1956).

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? And while you’re considering it, here is one of the very most recognizable faces and voices in all Hollywood… and a person unlike any, ANY other actor; Guy Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956)

Born Guy Bridges Kibbee in El Paso, Texas, he began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats at the young age of 13 as a singer and comedian. His father James was a publisher of small papers such as the Concho Times and Burnet Bulletin around El Paso, Texas, and Roswell, New Mexico. A few of his sons followed him into the trade, and Guy used to help out. The experience proved valuable during the early years of his stage career. Decades of obscurity awaited Guy Kibbee, who played in stock companies from San Francisco to Portland, Denver and Salt Lake City, Lincoln, Nebraska, Shreveport, Louisiana, and Wichita, Kansas. He managed the Wichita company, and his younger brother Milton joined that troupe in February, 1917.

Guy Kibbee played everywhere, taking a break only for the four years (probably just after his first marriage) that he operated his own printer’s shop in San Francisco. “I did go to Broadway once with Hugh O’Connell,” Kibbee recalled in 1932. “All that was available was small parts. O’Connell told him to stick it out, and he’d become a big success. But Kibbee elected to return to stock where he was known and could always get work. He wouldn’t play on Broadway again until called by an “actor proof part”, that of Cass Wheeler in TORCH SONG. Playwright Kenyon Nicholson introduced Kibbee to Arthur Hopkins, who was casting the play, though Hopkins got all of the credit for the discovery: “And now Mr. Hopkins magically produces an extraordinary talent in the person of Guy Kibbee,” critic Ward Morehouse wrote. When mentioning Kibbee in his review of TORCH SONG for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, critic Arthur Pollock kept it simple: “He is delicious.” It was a performance that brought Hollywood calling and a part that Kibbee would reproduce on a smaller scale in MGM’s adaptation of Nicholson’s play, retitled LAUGHING SINNERS with Joan Crawford, Neil Hamilton, and Clark Gable among those billed over Kibbee.

In the 1930s, Kibbee moved to California and became part of the Warner Bros. stock company; contracted actors who cycled through different productions in supporting roles. Kibbee's specialty was daft and jovial characters; not particularly bright businessmen, government officials, and stuffy lawyers with a secret weakness for showgirls. In musical comedies, he is perhaps best remembered for the films 42ND STREET (1933), FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933), GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933), DAMES (1934), WONDER BAR (1934), BABES IN ARMS (1939) with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, and several others, usually with Dick Powell, Aline MacMahon, Joan Blondell, and Jimmy Cagney. As loveable and foolish as these characters were, his range and audience appeal could also make him a strong stand-out in dramas like MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) with Jimmy Stewart, RAIN (1932) with Joan Crawford and Walter Huston, most especially as Mr. Webb, editor of the Grover's Corners, New Hampshire newspaper, and father of Emily Webb, in the film version of the classic Thornton Wilder play OUR TOWN (1940) starring a young William Holden and Martha Scott.

He appeared in swashbucklers like CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935) with Errol Flynn and Westerns like FORT APACHE (1948) with John Wayne and Henry Fonda. His natural warmth and easy-going nature made him a perfect foil for major child stars like Freddie Bartholomew in LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY (1936) and Shirley Temple in CAPTAIN JANUARY (1936) where he played the title character. RKO studios loved his energy so much in BABBITT (1934) that they cast him in five installments in the Scattergood Baines comedies, a lighter-hearted take on Babbitt and less satirical.

“Guy Kibbee eggs” is the name for a breakfast dish, which consists of a hole cut out of the center of a slice of bread, and an egg cracked into it, all of which is fried in a skillet. The actor prepared this dish in the Warner Bros. film MARY JANE'S PA (1935), hence the eponym. This dish is also known by other names, such as "egg in a basket". The movies proved easy work for “quick study” Kibbee, who was happy to settle down in one place for a change. “You can learn, between traffic light changes, all you’ll have to do the next day,” he said of learning his lines. “They do one scene over and over again, so many times that about all you need to do at first is read the part through.”

Kibbee was known as a big eater and “loved cards, golf, baseball, football,” remembered a friend, the columnist Henry McLemore. “He was an amazing golfer,” McLemore added (a ten or eleven handicap), and “a tough gin rummy player.” McLemore recalled pal Kibbee as an early riser, reasoning, “There just wasn’t enough time to live, and Guy didn’t want to waste any of it.”

Kibbee also became a regular on radio late in his career appearing on the Mutual Network’s comedy “Pal Rod and Gun Club of the Air” beginning in 1950. “You’d be surprised at the sympathetic mail I get as a result of the program,” Kibbee said. An avid sportsman, on the Rod and Gun show he posed as a completely helpless fisherman and hunter and spun tall tales that were sent to the show by its listeners. “Around here I can just take it easy, do this radio show and whatever other work I want to take on,” Kibbee said. He was also appearing in nightclubs at this time, just getting up on stage and telling stories about his days starting out in the riverboat shows and in the early days of Hollywood. Kibbee claimed in interviews that, “I did a couple of plays on the stock circuit this summer, played a couple of country fairs with my monologues and generally had a good—and profitable—time.”

He did a little television after this, but that medium wasn’t Kibbee’s cup of tea: “I’m not crazy about it. Too much work has to go into preparing for just one performance. I’ll leave that for the younger people.” He much more enjoyed his return to the stage where he headlined stock companies in titles like THE OLD SOAK and ON BORROWED TIME. “It’s a grand training ground for these youngsters,” Kibbee said of summer stock in 1950. “Takes the place of the old time stock companies in schooling them in the fine points of their profession.” He continued to appear on the Gun and Rod Club as late as March 1953, but it was later that year that the papers first reported Guy Kibbee was seriously ill with what was ultimately diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease, and he finally retired.

He spent nine months at the Aurora Health Institute in Rye, New York, where Walter Winchell directed readers to send the lonely actor some letters. Guy wrote back from the Institute thanking Winchell “for the coast-to-coast hook-up.” He said he had received over 3,000 cards and letters. From Rye he was sent to the Percy Williams Retirement Home in East Islip, New York, for sick and needy actors that was supported by the Actors Fund of America. “I’ve come to the bottom of the barrel,” Kibbee told the board of directors when he entered on September 24, 1954. He was bedridden at the home for over a year. The superintendent at Percy Williams’ said they always had Kibbee in to the common room to watch any old movies he had appeared in.

Kibbee was married twice; to Helen Shay from 1918 to 1923 with whom he had four children and divorced, and Esther Reed whom he married in 1925 and had three children. He was still married to her at the time of his death in 1956. Kibbee finally died from complications arising from Parkinson's disease in East Islip, Long Island, New York, and was buried in Westchester.

Guy Kibbee was mentioned in the iconic "Hot August Night" concert/album performed by Neil Diamond in 1972 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. "Thank you people in the audience! Tree people out there, God bless ya, I'm singin for you too! Are you still there tree people? This is the place that God made for performers when they die, they go to a place called the Greek Theatre. And you're met there by an MC, wearing a long robe and smoking a cigar, looks like Guy Kibbee, and that's what it is. It's a performer’s paradise......"

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!] 

A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... THELMA RITTER (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969)

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? With a face, a voice, and a manner that could be described as "every woman", but as unforgettable as the most luminescent star, she remains Hollywood royalty: THELMA RITTER! (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969)....born on Valentine's Day in Brooklyn.

She typically played working class characters and was noted for her distinctive voice, with a strong Brooklyn accent. After appearing in high school plays and stock companies, she trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She established a stage career but took a hiatus to raise her two children by her husband, Joseph Moran, an actor turned advertising executive. Ritter's first movie role was in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET in 1947- She was 45 at the time!!! She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised to her son. Her “big break” came in 1950’s ALL ABOUT EVE in which Ritter played Birdie, the long-suffering personal maid to stage diva Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Down-to-earth Birdie is the first person in EVE to grow wise to the title character’s machinations, and Ritter does a wonderful job in helping the audience see the first glimmers of deception in Eve’s story. And it’s no wonder Ritter is so phenomenal in the role: the film’s writer/director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, wrote the part with Ritter specifically in mind after having worked with her in the previous year’s A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (although she was uncredited!) Ultimately, Ritter’s performance was noteworthy enough to garner her first Academy Award nomination (one of fourteen nominations for that film, incidentally). A second nomination followed for her work in Mitchell Leisens' classic ensemble screwball comedy THE MATING SEASON (1951) starring Gene Tierney and John Lund. She established herself among costars, directors, and studio heads alike as a master of the "throw-away line" and perhaps Hollywood's most lovable "scene-stealer". When she was onscreen, even the greatest stars knew that audiences might be watching Ritter not just for her own one-liners, but for her shrugs, smirks, eye-rolls, or deadpan stares in reaction to their lines.

Ritter enjoyed steady film work for the next dozen years. She also appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, and The United States Steel Hour. Other film roles were as James Stewart's nurse in REAR WINDOW (1954) and as Doris Day's housekeeper in PILLOW TALK (1959). Though she found a great deal of success in Hollywood, Ritter was also an accomplished stage actress, winning a 1958 Tony Award for Best Leading Performance in a Musical for her role in NEW GIRL IN TOWN, a musical adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play ANNA CHRISTIE (which was so memorably brought to the screen as Greta Garbo’s first “talkie” in 1930). Ritter shared the Tony award with her costar, Gwen Verdon in a rare tie.

The 1960s brought Ritter several more acclaimed roles, including a supporting part in THE MISFITS (1961), the final completed film for Hollywood icons Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe; a sixth Oscar-nominated performance as the mother of the titular character in BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962) with Burt Lancaster; an appearance next to Debbie Reynolds in the star-studded Western epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON (also in 1962); and a reunion with Doris Day in 1963’s MOVE OVER DARLING. Although best known for comedy roles, she played the occasional dramatic role, most notably as an underworld figure who is eventually murdered in the film noir PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953) with Richard Widmark and as a character based on (“the unsinkable”) Molly Brown in TITANIC (1953). Her last work was an appearance on THE JERRY LEWIS SHOW on January 23, 1968. Ritter died of a heart attack in New York City, just nine days before her 67th birthday in 1969. 

At the time of her death, she was survived by her husband of forty-two years, Joseph Moran, an actor turned advertising executive, and her two children Monica and Joseph Jr. She left behind a body of work comprising more than thirty films and a wide variety of stage and television performances. She never won an Oscar, but she was one of the most-nominated actors of all time. During her career, Ritter was nominated for an Oscar six times, tying with Deborah Kerr and Glenn Close as most nominated for the award in an acting category without a win. Kerr DID eventually receive an honorary award from the Academy, however, (coincidentally presented to her by Close!) but Ritter has the distinction in 1954, of having co-hosted the Oscar ceremony, notably trading wisecracks with Bob Hope. Despite having only spent two decades in Hollywood, Thelma Ritter certainly is an unforgettable and iconic presence on the classic cinematic landscape. A birthday on February 14th??... For me, Thelma Ritter is truly one of the greatest Valentines of all time!!

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... FRANKLIN PANGBORN (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958)

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Well, a few weeks ago, we reviewed the wonderful talent and character of Eric Blore, an actor who was thought of as one of the best butler, floorwalker, hotel manager-types Hollywood ever produced. And if he had a rival, it would be our next guest, Mr. Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958)

Although most people believed that he was British, he was actually born in Newark, New Jersey (!) Very little is known of his early years, education, or career. An encounter with actress Mildred Holland when he was 17 led to Pangborn's first professional acting experience. He was working for an insurance company when she learned about his ambitions for acting and offered him an extra's position with her company at $12 per week, initially during his two weeks' vacation. That opportunity grew into four years' touring with Holland and her troupe. Following that, he acted in Jessie Bonstelle’s stock company.

He first appeared in Broadway theatre in 1911 and appeared in an additional five plays through to 1913. Again, nothing seems to be known about him until he served in the Army during World War I in 1917, and he doesn’t reappear in the records until his role in a 1924 play again on Broadway. Interestingly, for someone later identified mainly with comedy, Pangborn's early theatrical roles were mostly dramatic and included Armand Duval in CAMILLE, another role in a play adaptation of BEN HUR, and two parts in JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHERN. 

But Hollywood saw things differently. From his debut film in the silent EXIT SMILING (1926) to his final appearance in THE STORY OF MANKIND (1957), Pangborn was cast in almost nothing but comedy roles. In the early 1930s, Pangborn worked in short subjects for Mack Sennett, Hal Roach, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Pathé, always in support of the leading players. For example, he played a befuddled photographer opposite “Spanky” McFarland in the OUR GANG short subject WILD POSES (1933). He also appeared in scores of feature films in small roles, cameos, and recurring gags. With his prissy voice and floor-walker demeanor, Pangborn became the perfect desk clerk, dressmaker, society secretary, or all-around busybody in well over 100 films. As a matter of fact, both he AND Eric Blore were cast as comic hotel managers in FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933), the film that officially announced the pairing of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire for the first time.

Pangborn was a favorite of Mack Sennett who cast him repeatedly in short subjects. Most of Pangborn's pre-1936 appearances were in bits or minor roles, but a brief turn as a snotty society scavenger-hunt scorekeeper opposite Carole Lombard and William Powell in MY MAN GODFREY (1936) cemented his reputation as a surefire laugh-getter. The actor was a particular favorite of W.C. Fields, who saw to it that Pangborn was prominently cast in Fields' THE BANK DICK (1940) as hapless bank examiner J. Pinkerton Snoopington and again in NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941). He was a constant in smart comedy from Frank Capra and Gregory La Cava to the more extreme screwball comedies of Preston Sturges, though frequently upstaged with such a company of funny men as Sturges gathered around him. His appearance in Sturges’ HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (1942) is perhaps his most riotous performance and his defining moment as celebrity comedian. Playing the chairman of the welcoming-home committee to the false-hero of Eddie Bracken, he is trying to coordinate all the festivities and caught in a literal battle of bands at the beginning of the film. Converged upon by various hokey town bands who all want to play the featured pieces, Pangborn attempts order but is methodically carried away as crowds of people arrive to suggest other songs and to assail him with arguments while the bands continue to play all the songs at once! It is musical chaos with Pangborn finally reduced to desperate blasts on a whistle and jumping up and down yelling "Not yet! Not yet!" It is one of the actor's finest pieces.

Yet Pangborn's usual stock of characters could fit drama as well. Actually, in HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO, his coordinator also has some dramatic scenes as well. He is used in dramas as a source of amusement as in NOW VOYAGER (1942) where he plays the cruise tourist director, waiting on deck for Bette Davis to join the tour of Rio De Janeiro. As an accomplished stage actor, he did miss the boards, and his friend Edward Everett Horton cast him in Horton's Los Angeles-based Majestic Theatre productions.

Pangborn played essentially the same character: prissy, polite, elegant, highly energetic, often officious, fastidious, somewhat nervous, prone to becoming flustered but essentially upbeat, and with immediately recognizable high-speed, patter-type speech. He typically played an officious desk clerk in a hotel, a self-important musician, a fastidious headwaiter, or an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and was usually put in a situation where he was frustrated or flustered by the antics of other characters. During the 30s and 40s, he appeared in over fifty films including classics like STAGE DOOR (1937), CAREFREE (1938), REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM (1938), SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941), and THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942). Because of his brilliant ability at drawing a vivid character in just a few moments of screen time, he worked with and was admired by the greatest movie stars and directors of the golden age of Hollywood.

But times changed for Pangborn's specialties. Movies were more diverse and updated as the 1950s ensued. He immediately adapted to the ‘small screen’ which re-introduced him as a guest star on TV comedy shows, playing his beloved characters as cameo celebrations of his matter-of-fact stardom. Pangborn thrived on television, guesting both on sit-coms and variety shows, including an appearance as a giggling serial-killer in a "Red Skelton Show" comedy sketch. Pangborn was very briefly the announcer on Jack Paar’s “The Tonight Show”, but was fired after the first few weeks for a lack of "spontaneous enthusiasm" and replaced by Hugh Downs. The first episode is practically the only one that survives completely intact since the others were wiped by the network (except for selected clips!) to save money on videotape, the network's policy through the early 1970s. The show begins with Pangborn (enthusiastically!) reading the introduction with the coda "...and it's all live!".

Pangborn lived in Laguna Beach, California in a house with his mother and his "occasional boyfriend", according to William Mann in Behind the Screen. He died at 69 years of age on July 20, 1958 just a few months after his Jack Parr appearance and following cancer surgery. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. The 1940 census lists his age as 40, ten years younger than birth records show. For all of his fine work in film, Franklin Pangborn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!] 

A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... CHARLES LANE (January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007)

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Here’s a face that everyone has seen literally hundreds of times… and for nearly a century!! In fact, not only did his career last a record amount of time, but he lived to be 102…. Happy Birthday to Mr. Charles Lane (January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007).

Born Charles Gerstle Levison in San Francisco, California, to Alice G. and Jacob B. Levison, he was, prior to his death, one of the last remaining survivors of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Lane turned in his last performance at the age of 90. Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938), MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939), ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944) and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946). His first film of more than 250 movies was as a hotel clerk in SMART MONEY (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. Lane spent a short time as an insurance salesman before taking to the stage at the Pasadena Playhouse. Actor/director Irving Pichel first suggested that Lane go into acting in 1929, and four years later Lane was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, which he considered to be one of his most extraordinary achievements.

He became a favorite of director Frank Capra, who used him in several films; in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Lane played a seemingly hard nosed rent collector for the miserly Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore), who tried to explain to his employer that many of his tenants were moving out, taking advantage of affordable mortgages provided by the film's protagonist, George Bailey (James Stewart). Lane also appeared in the 1949 film Mighty Joe Young, as one of the reporters cajoling Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) for information about the identity of "Mr. Joseph Young", the persona given featured billing on the front of the building, on opening night.

Although Lane appeared regularly on dozens of TV shows, he is most widely remembered for his portrayal of J. Homer Bedloe on the television situation comedy Petticoat Junction. Bedloe was a mean-spirited railroad executive who periodically visited the Shady Rest Hotel while seeking justification to end train service of the Hooterville Cannonball, but he never succeeded in that objective.

He was a good friend of Lucille Ball, and his specialty in playing scowling, beady-eyed, short tempered, no-nonsense professionals provided the perfect comic foil for Lucy's scatterbrained television character. He played several guest roles on I Love Lucy, most notably in the episode "Lucy Goes To the Hospital", where he is seated in the waiting room with Ricky while Lucy gives birth to their son. He also played the title role in the episode "The Business Manager", the casting director in "Lucy Tells The Truth. He also played the passport clerk in "Staten Island Ferry." Lane appeared twice in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. He later had recurring roles as shopkeeper Mr. Finch on Dennis the Menace and during the first season (1962–63) of Ball's The Lucy Show, playing banker Mr. Barnsdahl. According to The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Fidelman, Lane was turfed because he had trouble reciting his lines correctly. However, Lane was in reality a placeholder for Lucy's original choice, Gale Gordon, who joined the program in 1963 as Mr. Mooney after he was free from other contractual obligations.

In 1963, Lane appeared in the mega-comedy IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, playing the airport manager. His final acting role was at the age of 101 in 2006's The Night Before Christmas. His last television appearance was at the age of 90, when he appeared in the 1995 Disney TV remake of its 1970 teen comedy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes with Kirk Cameron. In 2005, the TV Land Awards paid tribute to Lane by celebrating his 100th birthday. Seated in a wheelchair in the audience, which had sung “Happy Birthday” to him, Lane was presented with his award by Haley Joel Osment and then announced "If you're interested, I'm still available [for work]!" The audience gave him a standing ovation.

All told, Lane appeared in more than 250 films and hundreds of television shows. On his busiest days, Lane said he sometimes played more than one role, getting into costume and filming his two or three lines, then hurrying off to another set for a different costume and a different role. As for being typecast, Lane described it as "... a pain in the ass. You did something that was pretty good, and the picture was pretty good. But that pedigreed you into that type of part, which I thought was stupid and unfair, too. It didn't give me a chance, but it made the casting easier for the studio."

Lane's persona has been referenced in The Simpsons: on the audio commentary to the episode "Marge in Chains”, its director Jim Reardon states that Lane's performance in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE inspired the character of the snide, humorless Blue-Haired Lawyer who appears in that and other episodes in the series. In 1931, Lane married Ruth Covell and they remained together for 70 years until her death in 2002. They had a son named Tom and a daughter named Alice. Despite his stern, hard-hearted demeanor in films and television, friends and acquaintances seem to unanimously describe Lane as a warm, funny and kind person. On January 26, 2007, Lane celebrated his 102nd birthday. He continued to live in the Brentwood home he bought with Ruth (for $46,000 in 1964) until his death. In the end, his son Tom Lane, said he was talking with his father at 9 p.m. on the evening of Monday, July 9, 2007 when he passed away. Charles Lane was 102. Lane was not the only person in his family to have a long life - his mother Alice died in her San Francisco home in 1973 aged 100.

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]