PETER O’TOOLE – the actor and the man.

August 19, 2017 Alan Royle 4

  PETER O’TOOLE   (1932 – 2013)                                      Peter O’Toole hailed from Leeds in Yorkshire. He always maintained he was born in Ireland, but there are simply no records indicating that. As a teenager he started out as a newspaper copy boy, showed promise as a reporter, but was drawn to the […]

ROCK HUDSON – An all-time great sex symbol.

July 24, 2017 Alan Royle 2

  In 1995, Empire magazine named the Top 100 Sexiest Stars in Movie History and Rock Hudson came in at # 28. Today, of course, he is best remembered for his sexuality rather than his appeal to female cinema-goers around the world. Rock was the first big star to be […]

Stars we lost in 2016 – PT 1.

January 23, 2017 Alan Royle 0

  Every year the movie world loses irreplaceable talent to the ravages of time, illness and mishap, and 2016 was no exception. Here is a brief look at some of the performers whose unique personas will no longer grace our screens. Fortunately, unlike most of us, their best works will […]

‘Hollywood – The Skeletons Are Out’ – a sampling

October 19, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  My latest book is titled Hollywood: The Skeletons Are Out. It contains 1,200 direct quotes by actors and directors about themselves, their colleagues and their films. Here is a random two dozen of them:   Young Joan Collins When Joan Collins was asked if she was ever unfaithful, she […]

Did you know? – Garson, Darnell, Eastwood & Boyle

October 5, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  Greer Garson Mr & Mrs Richard Ney 1943 Teresa Wrioght & Richard Ney in Mrs Miniver (1942) The first of Greer Garson’s three marriages did not last past the honeymoon in Austria in 1933. Her possessive husband virtually held her hostage the whole time. On their return to England she moved […]

Joan Collins – England’s iconic beauty.

November 19, 2015 admin 3

      Joan Collins was born in London in 1933. Her father was a Jewish man from South African, a moderately successful agent whose later clients would briefly include The Beatles, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. Joan signed a contract in England with J. Arthur Rank at the age […]

Did you know? Points of interest Pt. 24.

November 11, 2015 admin 9

  Yesterday I stole 203 minutes out of the remainder of my life and watched the Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and Jimmy Dean 1956 blockbuster Giant. I have certainly seen worse movies, but two hundred and three minutes! I found Rock and Liz to be far better than I expected, […]

James Dean – over-rated nobody?

April 15, 2015 admin 14

  James Dean’s mother died when he was nine. His father promised to attend the funeral, but never showed up, and Jimmy would resent him for the rest of his short life because of it. He once told Elizabeth Taylor of how he had been consistently molested by a trusted […]