Category: Oscar Profile

Born June 19, 1932 in Sardinia, Italy, Maria Luisa Pierangeli and her fraternal twin sister, Anna Maria Pierangeli would both become stars in the 1950s. Anna became an actress first, discovered by Vittorio De Sica for 1950’s Tomorrow Is Too Late for which she won an Italian Syndicate of Journalists award for Best Newcomer, after…

Born February 27, 1913 in the Borough of the Bronx in New York, New York, Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff and his younger brother, David, were the sons of Russian-Jewish immigrants who changed their last name to Shaw when they entered college. He wrote several scripts for radio dramas in the 1930s, writing his first screenplay in…

Born March 29, 1894, Franz Planer was born into a wealthy family in Karlsbad, Austria-Hungary, now part of the Czech Republic. The Planer family was very influential, owning large tracts of farmland, businesses, libraries, and shops, including several properties in and around Vienna, some of which were stolen by several low-ranking officers for their own…

Born October 16, 1925, the daughter of actress Moyna MacGill and socialist politician, Edgar Lansbury, whose father was 1930s Labor Party leader, George Lansbury, aspiring actress Angela Lansbury was greatly influenced by the careers of Hollywood stars Deana Durbin and Irene Dunne. After her father’s death, she, along with twin brothers Edgar and Bruce were…

Born July 31, 1929 in Hollywood, California, Don Murray was the son of Broradway dance director and stage manager, Dennis Murray and his wife Ethel, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, Raised in the New York City suburbs, Murray graduated from East Rockaway High School in 1947 and then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic…

Born October 1, 1921 in White Plains, New York to a park commission official and his wife, James Whitmore went to Choate school in Waterford, Connecticut on a football scholarship and then Yale University where he turned to acting after suffering a knee injury. He joined the U.S. Marines at the outbreak of World War…

Born July 28, 1931 in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California, Darryl Hickman was the older son of Milton and Katherine Hickman. His father was an insurance salesman and mother a housewife. Hickman’s younger actor brother Dwayne was born in 1934. As of 1940 the family was living with their maternal grandfather, Louis Henry…

Born William Franklin Beedle, Jr. on April 17, 1918 in O’Fallon, Illinois, the future William Holden moved to Pasadena, California with his family when he was three. He was discovered by a Paramount film scout while appearing in a school play at Pasadena Junior College and given a contract by the studio. After two minor…

Born January 26, 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio to Theresa (née Fetsko) and Arthur Newman, who ran a profitable sporting goods store, Paul Newman would become a world-famous actor, director, professional racing car driver and humanitarian. He would receive numerous awards throughout his career including nine Oscar nominations and one win for acting, a nomination…

The most popular entertainer of his time, Bing Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1903. He was a rising star when he married his first wife, Dixie Lee in 1930. She was a well-known singer and actress while he was still struggling to make his name. After the success of his single “I Surrender…

Born July 30, 1970 in London, England, Christopher Nolan is the son of a British advertising executive and an American flight attendant and English teacher. He holds dual British and American citizenship as does his younger brother and sometimes collaborator, Jonathan. Nolan began making short films with his father’s Super 8 camera when he was…

Born July 4, 1927, Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician who is running for the Italian Senate in next month’s elections at the age of 95. Lollobrigida made her film debut in minor roles in 1946. Coming in third in 1947’s Miss Italy contest, she gained national exposure. In 1949 she married…

Born June 4, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois into a prominent American family, Bruce Dern’s mother was the niece of poet Archibald MacLeish and his father was the son of former Utah Governor and sitting Secretary of War under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Dern. His godfather was future Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. A lifelong avid runner…

Born September 19, 1948 on the Isle of Wight, England to an accountant and his wife, Jeremy Irons is an award-winning British actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic where he made his professional stage debut in 1969. By 1971, Irons firmly established his stage career as John the Baptist opposite David Essex as…

Born July 30, 1939 in Kingston, New York, the son of a pianist and painter and his wife, Peter Bogdanovich grew up loving movies. From the age of 12 in 1952, he kept a record of every film he saw on index cards complete with reviews and continued to do so until 1970. He saw…