Long before Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson won the hearts of fans by appearing in a series of movies that played upon classic twin tropes, there was another set of famous twins, Lee and Lyn Wilde. The only set of identical twins to have contracts with a major movie studio in the 1940s, the Wilde twins…
Category: Actresses
Sonja Henie: Gold Medals and the Silver Screen
Sonja Henie turned her successful figure skating career into a lucrative film career during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The Norwegian figure skater turned her Olympic gold medals into shining silver screen performances in the 1930s and 1940s. During her illustrious movie career, Sonja starred in a number of films, and incorporated her beautiful ice-skating…
Lucille Ball Starred in a Western?
Yes, it is true. Long before Lucille Ball delighted television audiences as the wacky red-headed housewife to a Cuban bandleader, she made a number of movies, including four in which she starred with comedian Bob Hope. One of them, the duo’s second film together, was the 1950 Fancy Pants, a musical western that was adapted…
“The Three Faces of Eve”: Hollywood’s Take on Mental Illness
When it was released in 1957, The Three Faces of Eve was an instant hit. The film, based on the true story of a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder, was a groundbreaking take on mental wellness and its effects on individuals and their families. The Three Faces of Eve, starring Joanne Woodward, was an…
Sandra Dee: From the Giggling Gidget to Battling Personal Demons
Sandra Dee, whose birth name was Alexandra Zuck, was an actress and teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most of her movie roles catered to the teenage audience of the time and capitalized on her youthful charm, innocent image, and blonde ‘girl next door’ beauty. But in an effort to hold on…