"Nobody gets anything for nothing."
Gloria Josephine May Swanson made her film debut was in 1915, as an extra in The Fable of Elvira. Her last acting role was in the television horror film- Killer Bees (1974,) although she also appeared as herself in the groundbreaking film- Airport 1975; & in between Gloria Swanson signed with Cecil B. DeMille in 1919, & he turned her into a romantic lead. In 1922, she was paired with Rudolph Valentino in Beyond the Rocks (which by coincidence, is a chapter title in my memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin: The Early Years). Swanson's 1929 film Queen Kelly, was directed by Erich von Stroheim & produced by her lover Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the father of President John F. Kennedy.
When Swanson starred in the 1950 film- Sunset Boulevard, it is scenes of Queen Kelly that her character, Norma Desmond, is watching & von Stroheim plays her butler in the Billy Wilder classic. Her performance is astounding. She was born 102 years ago today.
This photo of Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble of the newly demolished Roxy Theatre in NYC is the seed of the idea for & the inspiration of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 musical- Follies.
Sarah Vaughan possessed a glorious alto voice that was so heavenly that she became known as The Divine One.
She was a Grammy winner The National Endowment for the Arts presented her the highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award. Sarah sang & recorded from 1942 until her diagnosis of lung cancer in 1989. She would have been 86 years old today.
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