The Clarinet, Benny Goodman and Me!

CARY GRANT remembered.

                                              We lost Cary Grant on November 29, 1986.

Born Archibald Alexander Leach, he was born in Horfield, Bristol on January 18, 1904 and passed away on November 29, 1986 at the age of 82.

His skill at playing comedy and dramatic roles with equal ease, was unparalleled in his time and as of today, there's still no other actor that can match his style or charismatic screen presence and charm.

I immensely enjoyed his early screwball comedies from the mid thirties through the forties like GUNGA DIN, THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, PENNY SERENADE, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, and I still watch them repeatedly whenever I can.

But my favorite films are the ones from his later career like TO CATCH A THIEF, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, OPERATION PETTICOAT and CHARADE, probably just because I was born in the fifties and I related to these more closely.

                                              

                                 

Anyway, Cary Grant was one of my very favorite actors and, like every male back in the day, I also wished I was more like Cary Grant.

               

               

Cary Grant and his fifth wife, Barbara Harris.

Cary Grant, like many celebrities, was the subject of many affectionate caricatures throughout his career.

 By Al Hirschfeld


         Hollywood Steps Out (Merrie Melodies) 1941

 By Mort Drucker

It should be mentioned that Cary Grant was one of the names considered when Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli were about to cast the first James Bond film, DR. NO, back in 1962.  Grant didn't want to sign for a multi-picture contract so he passed on the offer.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

CHARADE (1964) 

Here's a video showing how Cary Grant could've handled 007's duties: 

The Clock is Ticking...

...one hour behind today! Daylight Saving Time is over!

                                                      Harold Lloyd in "SAFETY LAST" (1923)

HIirschfeld's World of Comedy

 Here are some of my favorite comedians as seen by Al Hirschfeld:

Charlie Chaplin                                                      Buster Keaton 

Harold Lloyd

                                                                                                                        The Marx Brothers

Laurel & Hardy
 

W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Groucho Marx

 ZaSu Pitts

The Marx Brothers

                                                                                Danny Kaye

   Bob Hope

Abbott & Costello

Martin & Lewis

Jerry Lewis Woody Allen

                              The cast of "What's New, Pussycat?"

The cast of SEINFELD

AL HIRSCHFELD

One of my most admired cartoonists has always been Al Hirschfeld.

His way of capturing likenesses and translating them into simple, flowing and dynamic lines is absolutely amazing and even poetic.

His caricatures are widely known and renowned, and almost every self-respecting cartoonist has learned part of his craft by studying Hirschfeld's renderings.

                                       

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the famed Algonquin Hotel located at 59, West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan and was greeted by some framed examples of Al Hirschfeld's artwork.

  

The story of the Algonquin Hotel is part of New York City's folklore and so is Mr. Hirschfeld.
Al Hirschfeld was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 21, 1903 and died January 20, 2003 at the age of 99.           

In 1943, Hirschfeld married famous European actress Dolly Haas and they had one daughter, Nina, born in 1945. After her birth, Hirschfeld developed the habit of hiding her name, spelled in capital letters, on most every drawing he did thereafter. The number of NINAs concealed in every drawing was shown next to the artist's signature.  It quickly became a favorite pastime to try and find out the hidden NINAs in the cartoons.