A Scandal That Rocked Hollywood, Leaving an Actor Blacklisted BY GREG JOSEPH LIKE GREGORY PECK, Cliff Robertson was born in La Jolla, California, the toney upscale San Diego beach community. Ironically, on June 2, 1969, it would be Peck, then president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences…

A Saturday Night Message from a Fine Man “When he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.” ―…

(Published in May 1988. Bill Carroll died in 2014 at the age of 98.) By Greg Joseph In 1967, William Carroll found in his desk old slides and photographs that he had not looked at since 1945 — the year he shot them for camera-store counter displays. For the first…

By Greg Joseph Mary MacLaren was born with the 20th century, in January 1900. But on a crisp, clear Southern California afternoon 81 years later, the former actress who had risen to stardom in silent films was holding court not for throngs of adoring fans but for a sprinkling of…

A Celestial Aide-Memoire By Greg Joseph After rummaging through some old letters recently, I found a note from the late actor-director Paul Henreid, who among other things, played Victor Laszlo in the classic film, “Casablanca.” I had been writing an article on the film’s anniversary years ago and was contacting…

From Bogart to Brando, from the Pasadena Playhouse to MGM By Greg Joseph (This article was first published in April 1975. Oliver Blake [nee Ollie Prickett] died in 1992 at the age of 86.) He was Sydney Greenstreet’s black market contact in “Casablanca” while Bogart asked Sam to play it…

By Greg Joseph (This article first was published in 1982. Although Clive Barnes passed away in 2008 at the age of 81, his views remain as relevant, timely — and as outrageously fascinating — as ever.) CLIVE BARNES, perhaps New York’s most influential dance and drama critic, likes to tell…

On Steve McQueen, ‘Sound of Music’ and ‘Star Trek’ By Greg Joseph ROBERT WISE (1914–2005) was the Oscar-nominated film editor of Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” which many describe as the greatest movie of all time, and subsequently went on to become a hugely respected director in his own right with…

The Quintessential ‘Englishman’ of Stage, Movies & TV By Greg Joseph Chances are if you’re a film aficionado, you recognize this face from movies like Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” or “To Catch a Thief,” or Billy Wilder’s “Sabrina” or “Witness for the Prosecution,” playing opposite the biggest stars…