Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... Hollywood Birthdays in SEPTEMBER!... The CLASSIC BEAUTIES!

Answers below!

(Clockwise from top left: Deborah Kerr, Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert, Lauren Bacall, and Greer Garson)

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Sybil Bruncheon's KOOKY KAPTIONS!...

"Oh, Demetrius! Do you really think Woolite will be gentle enough? It's my favorite Blankie!"...

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Sybil Bruncheon's “A Few of My Favorite Things”… The Good Wife and Archie Punjabi...

Apropos of my advice every week on being "present, mindful, and grateful", I'm starting a new series called Sybil Bruncheon's My Favorite Things! In this world of so much angst and anguish, and "calling out" all those things and people we DON'T approve of or value, I want to make a point of saying what DOES give me pleasure, lights up my world, and fills all my senses, my heart, and my head with joy. These are a few of my favorite things; people, objects, works of art, food, animals, wonders of Nature… you get the idea! Stay tuned...

I watched THE GOOD WIFE when it was aired originally from 2009 to 2016, and then, thanks to technology, I binge watched it again and again as the years passed. It remains one of my very favorite TV shows ever, and, more than being just another TV show, I think it may become an iconic piece of art over the next decades and an artifact representative of American urban life at the opening of the 21st century. Rarely do actors get cast in roles that "no one else could play" so to speak, but this show, season after season, used both its core cast and all of its guest and cameo actors brilliantly. Although we've seen all its stars in many other great projects (Julianna Margulies on ER, Christopher Noth in LAW & ORDER and SEX AND THE CITY, Christine Baranski, Nathan Lane, and Alan Cumming in theatre and films, etc.), their roles on THE GOOD WIFE have become their individual touchstones; something that they can be particularly proud of. And I admire and celebrate them all.

But for me, it’s Archie Punjabi as the enigmatic Kalinda Sharma who dazzles! Throughout the entire series, she never raises her voice, never erupts, never explodes or loses control. Indeed, even when she kicks, punches, or shoots, she does so almost placidly, as if breaking a thug's nose or kneeing him in the crotch is a matter of course. She has none of the fireworks or emotional pyrotechnics that every other character gets. As an actress, she has only her personal beauty (stunning!) and an equally stunning wardrobe a la a 21st century Emma Peel to embellish her character. But the writers capitalized on Punjabi's imploded method-acting style of mumbles, shrugs, and askance-glances to create something rare in all fiction; a soft-spoken, gentle-mannered, highly sophisticated but implacable force of Nature… as a woman! It's Kalinda who becomes the weekly fixer of everyone's dilemmas, tip-toeing her way into homes and psyches to find the weak point, the missed detail, the subtle clue, and often the ultimate solution.

After five seasons of close calls, narrow escapes, and happy hour cocktails with Cary, Alicia, and unwitting adversaries, including her violent and psychotic ex-husband Nick, Kalinda finally had to solve a life-and-death situation by turning in an infamous drug dealer to save her coworkers. And in an unrelated situation in that same episode, she had to dispose of Nick, once and for all. She arranges for the drug dealer and his cohorts to be caught by the Feds, and she confronts her ex in a scene that ends vaguely, leaving the resolution up to the audience's imagination. But when I see her reactions and interactions with Nick, and when I think of all that she's seen and gone through throughout the whole series, there's nothing vague about it to me. I'm convinced that she settled on the "final solution" to her violent and uncontrollable ex. It explains her rye farewell to Alicia. Somehow or other, she managed to kill Nick and dispose of him without a trace. She ends up being her own fixer, solving her own dilemma as she strolls out of the show that final time. Nick is "gone... permanently"! And it explains that wonderful enigmatic smile in the last shot. For me, she will always be one of the most beautiful, mysterious, and alluring characters in ALL fiction... and additionally one of the most perfectly written and inhabited by one of the most wonderful actors... ever. Thank you for being one of my favorite things, Archie Punjabi.

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Sybil Bruncheon’s Tales & Tails... cherche le chat...

...it was 1965 or so... and Paris had become yet again the center of edgy, arty, and definitely sexy sophistication, especially in film. London had pretensions to being the capital of "cool", but the British still had that awful cuisine... and those teeth!... and New York City would never be able to outweigh the enormous prairies of Presbyterians who still believed the Earth was flat... as flat as their backyards and their personalities. No, it was Paris that reinvented itself, decade after decade, century after century, war after war, revolution after revolution... somehow maintaining its fashion, its food, its furniture, it fabulousness and fantasies through one cataclysm after another. After all, wasn't it just 25 years ago that that brätwurst-blockhead Hitler had goose-stepped under the Arc de Triomphe, and yet only about five years after that the French were celebrating the New Look while the Third Reich's ashes were still smoldering in a muddy and filth-filled bunker somewhere in a burned out ruin called Berlin.

It was in that milieu that Jeanne and Alain in the "swinging sixties" ruled the hip-crowd with their glamour, their beauty, and their mix of continental blasé and bonhomie. It wasn't spoken of widely except in the very urbane and "intime" circles that both Moreau and Delon were so gorgeous and so uninhibited that they dabbled in romance with all races.. and even both sexes... And why not? To be an artist, certainly a performing artist, one had to be in touch with all parts of one's psyche, subconscious, and by extension, sexuality. If you can cry on cue in front of a million staring eyes in the dark, how could you not have explored what it was to be naked in front of any one of them as well... or even a couple of them... at one time!

And so it was... the first article came out as a tiny suggestive squib in a remote corner of Paris Match... some little veiled hint that "two movie stars have set up house-keeping in Marseilles with a third roommate for romantic getaways from the film sets on weekends!". A week later, "what glamorous blonde and her prettier pal have taken in a waif from the wharf... with a beauty mark on his upper lip?"... and finally, the ultimate scandal headline with lurid photos taken secretly by the gardener and a Croatian sous-chef... nudes of the three of them in a rumpled bed, empty champagne glasses, melted brie, cracker crumbs all over the fine Egyptian linens, sardine tins hurled against the far wall, and a kitty-comb full of fur... and those smirks of satiated sexuality... Jeanne, Alain, and Roger! And yes, Mademoiselle and Monsieur, when you say Roger's name, remember the "G" is soft... and purred.

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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 Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... ONA MUNSON (June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955)

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. (and feel free to share them with your friends!) 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, folks, make way for a lady! A lovely lady who, sadly did NOT end up very happily, but who was much loved. Ona Munson (June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955).

Munson was born Owena Wolcott in Portland, Oregon. Blessed with a distinctive voice and clear American diction, she was among the better vocal actresses of the late 1920s, and she won plaudits in vaudeville. Trained as a dancer in Portland, Oregon, she first appeared on Broadway in GEORGE WHITE’S SCANDALS in 1919 when she was only 16 years of age. She co-starred with Eddie Buzzell in NO OTHER GIRL and married him during the run. She first came to fame on Broadway as the singing and dancing ingenue in the original production of NO, NO, NANETTE (1925) which made her a star, a status that was solidified by 1926's TWINKLE, TWINKLE and comedies such as MANHATTAN MARY (1927).  From this, Munson had a very successful stage and radio career in New York. She introduced the song "You're the Cream in My Coffee” in the 1927 Broadway musical HOLD EVERYTHING.

Her first starring role was in a Warner Brothers talkie called GOING WILD (1930). Originally this film was intended as musical but all the numbers were removed prior to release due to the public's distaste for musicals which had virtually saturated the cinema in 1929-1930. Munson appeared the next year in a musical comedy called HOT HEIRESS (1931) in which she sings several songs along with her co-star Ben Lyon. She also starred in BROADMINDED (1931) and FIVE STAR FINAL (1932). One of the smartest women in Hollywood in the 1930s, she chafed at roles that had her mooning at cowboys from ranch windows or playing blonde secretaries. She briefly retired from the screen, only to return in 1938.

When David O. Selznick was casting his production GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), he first announced that Mae West was to play Belle, but this was a publicity stunt. Tallulah Bankhead refused the role as too small. Munson herself was the antithesis of the voluptuous Belle: freckled and of slight build. Although her performance is one of the most memorable and beloved in the film, Munson’s career was stalemated by the acclaim she received from GONE WITH THE WIND; for the remainder of her career, she was typecast in similar roles. Two years later, she played a huge role as another madam, albeit a Chinese one, in Josef von Sternberg’s film noir THE SHANGHAI GESTURE. Her performance is so convincing that most people did not even recognize her as the same actress. Her last film was THE RED HOUSE released in 1947. She went on to perform on radio sporadically including co-starring (as Lorelei Kilbourne) with Edward G. Robinson on BIG TOWN.

Although she was married three times (to actor and director Edward Buzzell in 1926, to Federal Loan Administrator Stewart McDonald in 1941, and surrealist painter and set designer Eugene Berman in 1949) and had an affair with Ernst Lubitsch from 1932 to ’35, all of these have been termed "lavender" marriages.—i.e., a cover for stars concerned with keeping their homosexuality out of the public eye. They were intended to conceal her bisexuality and her affairs with women, including filmmaker Dorothy Arzner, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and playwright Mercedes de Acosta. Munson has been listed as a member of a group called the "sewing circle", a clique of lesbians organized by actress Alla Nazimova. 

In 1955, plagued by ill health, she committed suicide at the age of 51 with an overdose of barbiturates in her apartment in New York. A note found next to her deathbed read, "This is the only way I know to be free again...Please don't follow me."

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ona Munson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6211 Hollywood Boulevard.

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Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... Hollywood Birthdays in JUNE!

Answers below!

(Clockwise from upper left: Jane Russell, Charles Coburn, and Marilyn Monroe; Frank Morgan; Blanche Yurka; Ellen Corby; Irving Pichel; Mary Wickes; Peter Lorre; Basil Rathbone; Dame May Whitty; Walter Abel; Jack Albertson)

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... ERIC BLORE (December 23, 1887 – March 2, 1959)...

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 let’s not mull it over without a little refreshment, ok? I’ll just ring this little bell, and summon one of the best butler-types Hollywood ever produced. Here he comes, Mr. Eric Blore.

Blore was born in Finchley, Middlesex, England. At age eighteeen, he worked as an insurance agent for two years. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World War I. Eventually he appeared in several shows and revues in England. In 1923 he went to the United States and began playing character roles on Broadway beginning with LITTLE MISS BLUEBEARD, which ran 175 performances. After the death of his first wife, Violet Winter, he married Clara Mackin in 1926, and had one son, Eric Jr. His stage work as a waiter in the musical GAY DIVORCE (1932) with Fred Astaire earned him a role in the filmed remake GAY DIVORCEE (1934). He then concentrated his time more in Hollywood, and appeared in over eighty Hollywood films. Blore, in his roles as an English butler, dance school owner, or valet appeared more frequently than any other supporting player in the series of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals at RKO Radio Pictures, five of the ten! Unforgettable for his shameless mugging, bulging eyes, over-the-top grimaces, and triple-takes, and for the exaggerated intonations and sibilant s’s, some of his most memorable on-screen moments took place in TOP HAT (1935) and SHALL WE DANCE (1937). He reprised the role with Astaire for a final time in THE SKY’S THE LIMIT (1943), delivering the line: "If I were not such a gentleman's gentleman, I could be such a cad's cad". Other memorable roles included Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith in the Preston Sturges film THE LADY EVE (1941) with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, a small part as Charles Kimble in the second of the seven Bing Crosby- Bob Hope "Road" film THE ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941), and from 1940 to 1947 in eleven LONE WOLF films as Jamison the butler. Although he appeared in many dramas, and even a few suspenseful adventure films, his legacy will always remain in screwball and musical comedies. Blore died of a heart attack at age 71 on March 2,1959 in Hollywood, California. He was entombed in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Ironically, his death caused an unexpected stir, quite independent of his fame. The British critic Kenneth Tynan, writing for The New Yorker, had recently made a mistaken reference to "the late Eric Blore", and this error passed by the normally vigilant checking department. When Blore’s lawyer demanded a retraction, the editor had no choice other than to refer this demand to Tynan, pointing out in a fury that this was the first retraction ever to appear in that usually authoritative magazine. In disgrace, Tynan prepared a major apology, to appear prominently in the next issue. On the eve of publication, when the edition was printed and ready for delivery, Blore dropped dead. And on the next morning, the daily papers announced Blore’s death, while The New Yorker apologized for any insult to Mr. Blore’s feelings through their erroneous report of his demise. Blore might have found the incident wryly amusing.

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... FRANK CADY (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012)

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!! Many of you know him on sight! You’ve seen him everywhere on TV and film: FRANK CADY! (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012)

Born in Susanville, California, the youngest of three children of Leon and Clara Cady. The acting bug bit him early when he sang in an elementary school play. In high school he worked at a local newspaper, The Lassen County Advocate. Cady's family later moved to Wilsonville, Oregon. He studied journalism and drama at Stanford University, where he was involved with the campus humor magazine, the Stanford Chaparral. Following college graduation Cady served an apprenticeship at the Westminster Theater in London, England, appearing in four plays. In England he made an early (very early!) television appearance on the BBC in late 1938. When World War II broke out he was already in Europe, so he enlisted in the Army Air Force and spent the next several years in postings all over the continent. After being discharged from military service in 1946, Cady appeared in a series of plays in the Los Angeles area which led to movie roles, beginning in 1947. One of his earlier--and more atypical--roles was as a seedy underworld character pulled in for questioning in a cop's murder in the noir classic HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948). Later Cady was type cast mostly as humble soft-spoken shopkeepers, henpecked husbands, and as the long-suffering “common man”. In 1950, he had an uncredited speaking role in the classic film noir drama D.O.A. starring Edmund O’Brien and another uncredited role in FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950) starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor. He had a small part in the noir classic THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) playing a witness who refused to identify a robbery suspect. He appeared in George Pal’s film WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951), and later worked with Pal again in 1964 in THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO. 

Cady had a prominent role in Billy Wilder’s ACE IN THE HOLE (1951) starring Kirk Douglas. He had a small non-speaking role in Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW (1954) as the man on the fire escape whose dog was strangled. His appearances included a very memorable turn as Mr. Daigel with Oscar nominated Eileen Heckart as his drunken wife in THE BAD SEED (1956). He appeared again as Heckart’s husband much later in ZANDY’S BRIDE (1974). On television, Cady guest starred on the “Make Room For Daddy” episode with Danny Thomas that was the pilot for “The Andy Griffith Show”. He appeared on some radio programs, including “Gunsmoke” episode #140 ("Outlaw Robin Hood") on January 8, 1955.

Cady had a small but recurring role as Doc Williams in “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” (1954-55), along with numerous supporting parts in movies. He also appeared in television commercials for (among other products) Shasta Grape Soda. Perhaps best known for his popular role as storekeeper Sam Drucker, Cady was prolific in television and holds the record of being the only actor to play the same recurring character on three different television sitcoms all at the same time, “The Beverly Hillbillies”, “Green Acres”, and “Petticoat Junction”, from 1968 to 1969. He also was one of only three co-stars of “Petticoat Junction” who stayed with the series for its entire seven-year run along with Edgar Buchanan and Linda Henning, appearing in 170 of the show's 222 episodes. His final acting role was in the television movie RETURN TO GREEN ACRES (1990). He then retired with his wife to his hometown of Wilsonville, Oregon. Cady spoke of his television career: "You get typecast. I'm remembered for those shows and not for some pretty good acting jobs I did other times. I suppose I ought to be grateful for that, because otherwise I wouldn't be remembered at all.” Shirley Cady died on August 22, 2008 at the age of 91. The Cadys, who were married 68 years, were the parents of two children — daughter Catherine Turk and son Steven Cady. They had three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Frank Cady died at his home on June 8, 2012 at age 96. He was interred at Meridian United Church of Christ Cemetery in Wilsonville, Oregon.

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A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... S.Z. "Cuddles" SAKALL (February 2, 1887 – February 12, 1955)...

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???

Originally named Szőke Szakáll , S.Z. Sakall (February 2, 1883 - February 12, 1955) was born Gerő Jenő in Budapest, Hungary, to a Jewish family. During his schooldays, he wrote sketches for Budapest vaudeville shows under the pen-name Szőke Szakáll meaning "blond beard" in reference to his own beard, grown to make him look older, which he affected when at the age of 18 he turned to acting and sketch writing. The actor became a star of the Hungarian stage and screen in the 1910s and 1920s when he moved to Vienna, where he appeared as a regular at Herman Leopoldi’s famous Kabarett Leopoldi-Wiesenthal. In the 1930s, he was, next to Hans Moser, the most significant representative of the Wiener Film, the Viennese light romantic comedy genre. He also appeared in Berlin. He appeared in FAMILIENTAG IM HAUSE PRELLSTEIN (1927), IHRE MAJESTÄT DIE LIEBE (1929), which was remade in Hollywood as HER MAJESTY LOVE with W.C. Fields in Sakall's role, and TWO HEARTS IN WALTZ TIME (1930). For a brief period during this time, he ran his own production company. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Sakall was forced to return to Hungary. He was involved in over 40 movies in his native land. When Hungary joined the Axis in 1940, he headed for Hollywood with his wife. Many of Sakall's close relatives later died in Nazi concentration camps, including all three of his sisters and his niece, as well as his wife's brother and sister.

Sakall began a career that included an endless succession of excitable theatrical impresarios, lovable European uncles and befuddled shopkeepers. His first Hollywood role was in the comedy IT'S A DATE (1940) with Deanna Durbin. The first big hit of his American career was BALL OF FIRE (1941) with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. Later, he signed a contract with Warner Brothers, where he had a number of other small roles, including YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) with Oscar winner James Cagney.

Later the same year, at the age of 59, he portrayed one of his best remembered characters, Carl the head waiter in CASABLANCA (1942). Producer Hal B. Wallis signed Sakall for the role three weeks after filming had begun. When he was first offered the part, Sakall hated it and turned it down. He finally agreed to take the role provided they gave him four weeks of work. The two sides eventually agreed on three weeks. He received $1,750 per week for a total of $5,250. He actually had more screen time than either Peter Lorre or Sydney Greenstreet.

Sakall appeared in 30 more movies after this, including CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945) again with Barbara Stanwyck. Sakall appeared in four films released in 1948: the drama EMBRACEABLE YOU, followed by APRIL SHOWERS, Michael Curtiz’s ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (Doris Day’s film debut!!), and WHIPLASH.

He was in four top movies in 1949. First Sakall played Felix Hofer in Doris Day's second film, MY DREAM IS YOURS. Later that year, he supported June Haver and Ray Bolger in LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING. Next, he played Otto Oberkugen (another one of his iconic roles) in IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME with Judy Garland and Van Johnson (a musical remake of Ernst Lubitsch’s THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Finally, Sakall was given the principal role of songwriter Fred Fisher in OH, YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL, though top billing went to June Haver.

Sakall appeared in nine more movies during the 1950s, two of them musicals with Doris Day, playing J. Maxwell Bloomhaus in TEA FOR TWO and Adolph Hubbell in LULLABY OF BROADWAY. His other roles included: Poppa Schultz in the Errol Flynn western MONTANA; Miklos Teretzky in the June Haver musical THE DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O'GRADY; Don Miguel in the Randolph Scott western SUGARFOOT; Uncle Felix in the musical PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE with Virginia Mayo; and in one of the episodes in the movie IT'S A BIG COUNTRY featuring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, Janet Leigh, Fredric March, and Ethel Barrymore. His last movie was in 1954 playing Joseph Ruder in THE STUDENT PRINCE. His 1954 memoir had the humorous title of “The Story of Cuddles: My Life Under the Emperor Francis Joseph, Adolf Hitler, and the Warner Brothers.”

Sakall died of a heart attack in Hollywood on February, 12th, 1955, shortly after filming the THE STUDENT PRINCE, and ten days after his 72nd birthday. He had been married twice in his lifetime; Giza Grossner from 1916 to 1918, and Anne Kardos from 1920 till his death. He is buried in the Garden of Memory in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

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