While Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers charmed audiences across the globe with their silver screen dancing, Brazilian dancer Carmen Miranda wowed people with her colorful performances. Since the 1940s, Hollywood cinema has been fruitful with a variety of stars, but there hasn’t been another dancer like Miranda. The Brazilian native wore extravagant costumes, danced the samba, sang, […]
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The name Vivian Vance may not ring a bell, but when you watch an episode of I Love Lucy, you can spot her as the sidekick who shares crazy antics with her best friend. Vivian Vance was a comedienne who shared the spotlight with her costar Lucille Ball, but she had her own career and personal […]
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Many Americans dream of living in Paris, surrounded by the lights of the Eiffel Tower with the streets adorned with peonies and the aroma of freshly-baked croissants. If you’re a Française, then you may dream of living in America with the Broadway lights, hamburger stands, and leading Hollywood roles. At least, that’s how it was […]
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As we have seen in the previous Old Hollywood posts, American cinema was slowly becoming diverse by featuring actors and actresses of various backgrounds. This month we look at the life and career of the German-American actress Marlene Dietrich, who was the first cinema star to challenge the idea of femininity in her personal and […]
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Among the political and social changes occurring across the country during the 1960s, America was torn between supporters of racial segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. As we discovered in last month’s spotlight on Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, Hollywood slowly opened its gates to offer opportunities to non-white actors. This month we look at the […]
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To this day, Hollywood is mostly made up of white actors. There have only been a few African-Americans, Mexicans, and Asians who were able to break into the Hollywood spotlight. March is Women’s History Month, and it honors the women of diverse ages and races who have made groundbreaking changes. To celebrate this month, Old Hollywood Spotlight commemorates America’s first Chinese-American […]
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Not all actors stand the test of time, but those who do usually have something that inspires others: their roles, their charisma, their charity work. They’ve even had loyal fans and gained some new ones after their deaths. This month we take a look at the life and career of actress Debbie Reynolds, who passed […]
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There are many areas in which women can succeed, but the decades prior to 2017 made it a challenge. Many industries rejected female workers or hired them only for menial jobs, such as secretaries and waitresses. Hollywood was no exception. In an industry that wanted women to look pretty and play the part of the dumb […]
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Silence is golden, but audio is the huge pot of gold. Once audio and color were included in films, most silent stars were nowhere to be seen or heard of. For actress and director Mary Pickford, it was different. Her legacy in the film industry has been left behind for historians and Old Hollywood fanatics to […]
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