HEDY LAMARR (1914-2000) Hedy hailed from Austria, where she entered this world from Vienna in 1914. She fled her wealthy Austrian munitions manufacturer in 1937, traveling first to Paris, then London and finally to Hollywood and a movie career. At the start of the Second World War, she and composer […]
TED KNIGHT (1923 – 86) The hilarious Ted Knight dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Army during World War Two. As a member of A Company, 296th Combat Engineer Battalion, he earned five battle stars whilst serving in Europe and was in one of the […]
KURT KASZNAR (1913 – 79) A character actor whose face is better known than his name, Kurt Kasznar was an Austrian from Vienna who moved to the USA at a young age. Drafted into the US Army and trained as a cinematographer, he was assigned to a photographic unit in […]
RUSSELL JOHNSON (1924 – 2014) His name may not be immediately familiar but his face certainly would be, especially to the many fans of TV’s iconic series Gilligan’s Island (1964-7). Russell Johnson portrayed Professor Roy Hinckley in all but one of its 99 […]
LESLIE HOWARD (1893 – 1943) Once his scenes as Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939) had been completed, English actor Leslie Howard was quick to return home to Britain and offer his services in the defense of his homeland. However, he was almost 46 years old and […]
LENA HORNE (1917 – 2010) Throughout the Second World War, black USO entertainers were treated as second-class citizens, given segregated living quarters and ordered to perform to segregated audiences. Most of them were disinclined to complain or revolt at the injustice of it all. But not Lena Horne. […]
WILLIAM HOLDEN (1918 – 81) On April 21, 1942, Holden became the first prominent, married movie star to enlist in the services, inspired by his brother, Bob Beedle, who was already in the Navy Air Corps and fighting in the South Pacific. The moment Holden graduated from Air Corps […]
RITA HAYWORTH (1918-87) The Robert Landry photograph of Rita, dressed in a negligee and kneeling on a bed, first appeared on the cover of Life magazine on August 11, 1941, and made her the #2 pin-up of the war (behind Betty Grable). It would grace the walls of barracks […]
HAYAKAWA, Sessue: He was born Kintaro Hayakawa in Chiba, Japan in 1886. Hayakawa’s family intended him to become an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. However, after he was expelled from the naval academy at the age of eighteen he attempted suicide, before re-evaluating his situation and moving to […]
GREENE, Lorne: The ‘Voice of Canada’ Recognized around the globe as Ben Cartwright of the Ponderosa Ranch in the long-running TV series Bonanza, Lorne Greene was yet […]
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