#QueerQuote: “You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You, Steve? You Just Put Your Lips Together and Blow.” – Lauren Bacall in ‘To Have And Have Not’

By Stephen Rutledge on September 16, 2020 9:00 am

To Have And Have Not, Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, 1944 via YouTube Here is the entire quote: "You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: Actor, Anne Francis

By Stephen Rutledge on September 16, 2020 3:03 am

Publicity shot via Wikimedia Commons September 16, 1930 – Anne Francis: "Of course, I don't like being the vamp, but sexy roles are the plums these days." Honey West is a television series that aired on ABC in 1965–1966 with 30 episodes in its single season. Based upon a … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: “King Kong” Star, Fay Wray

By Stephen Rutledge on September 15, 2020 3:03 am

September 15, 1907 – Fay Wray: "I was known as the queen of the Bs. If only I'd been a little more selective." In college, I had a work-study job archiving Fay Wray's papers, and working with her, listening to her stories, we became friendly. In late spring 1974, after … [Read more...]

#QueerQuote: “I’m Not a Sexpot” – Joey Heatherton

By Stephen Rutledge on September 14, 2020 8:45 am

If you were born after Jimmy Carter's administration, you probably don't know the name. If you are in to sports, you might think: "Joey Heatherton... didn't he used to be the quarterback for the Detroit Lions"? Yet, in the 1960s and 1970s, Joey Heatherton was a household name. In … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: Polymath, Eric Bentley

By Stephen Rutledge on September 14, 2020 3:03 am

September 14, 1916 – Eric Bentley "No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come." Distinguished academic, critic, author, playwright, cabaret performer, and translator, Bentley wrote more than 20 books including The Playwright As Thinker (1946), In … [Read more...]

#WomenWeLove: Claudette Colbert

By Stephen Rutledge on September 13, 2020 5:05 am

Claudette Colbert (1903- 1996) was born Emilie Chauchoin in Paris. Claudette Colbert's family moved to Manhattan when she was three-years-old, making her French, yet thoroughly American. She began acting professionally when she was 15 years old and she worked well into her … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: Actor / Singer, Nell Carter

By Stephen Rutledge on September 12, 2020 3:03 am

Carter in Gimme A Break!, NBC (1981), screen-grab via YouTube September 13, 1948– Nell Carter: "You know what's a cliché? A black woman serving pancakes to a white kid." Nell Carter was a series of contradictions and conundrums: Black, Southern, Jewish, Lesbian, … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: Entertainer, Lola Falana

By Stephen Rutledge on September 11, 2020 3:03 am

1972, CBS Television via Wikimedia Commons September 11, 1942 - Lola Falana: "One day I'm going to be a middle-aged lady and I don't want people to think I committed a crime or that I've got some strange disease. I don't believe in time. The past you can't account for and … [Read more...]

#RIP – Dame Diana Rigg

By Stephen Rutledge on September 10, 2020 7:35 am

Diana Rigg has left us. As if summer 2020 wasn't bad enough. She was 83 years old as her final credits rolled, taken by cancer. When fans of the phenomenally popular Game Of Thrones on HBO consider Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, they think of her witty, outspoken political … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay: Fashion Icon, Elsa Schiaparelli

By Stephen Rutledge on September 10, 2020 3:03 am

Screen-grab from Chanel vs Schiaparelli (2014) via YouTube September 10, 1890 - Elsa Schiaparelli: "Shocking Pink? I invented it." Oh, to be born in Rome, then die in Paris, and in between be one of the two most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars, … [Read more...]