Showing posts with label actor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label actor. Show all posts

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Salieri’s leaf - Fahrid Murray Abraham

Manufacturer of underwear "Fruit of the Loom" is recognizable by its trademark - familiar logo with the apple, leaves, green grapes, currants, and purple grapes.

For their first television ad, in 1975, they had hired actors who were costumed as huge fruits.
 



Not many people know that Fahrid Murray Abraham, winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role of Antonio Salieri in MiloÅ¡ Forman’s “Amadeus”, starred as the "Leaf" in the original lineup of their advertisement.

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A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick and The Rolling Stones.

Before Stanley Kubrick (1928 –1999) got hold of "A Clockwork Orange", writer Anthony Burgess (1917 –1993) negotiated with Mick Jagger, who wanted to obtain film rights for the sum of a few hundred dollars.

Jagger wanted to make a film in which his "Rolling Stones" would play the heartless thugs in white.

Fortunately for Kubrick and film art history, Mick gave up on that idea and the role was given to Malcolm McDowell, who won great acclaim for his role as Alex DeLarge, a young sociopathic hoodlum brainwashed by a dystopian British government of the near future.

Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange” was nominated for four Academy Awards and won numerous prestigious awards. 


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Monday, July 11, 2011

Threats – Mario Puzo

When the novel The Godfather was published, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) threatened the author of the book, Mario Puzo (1920-1999), because he believed that he served the author as an inspiration for the fictional mobster, singer and actor in the book, Johnny Fontane.

Puzo was enraged after hearing Sinatra’s threats:

I do remember him saying that if it wasn’t that I was so much older than he, he would beat the hell out of me. What hurt was that here he was, a northern Italian, threatening me, a southern Italian, with physical violence. This was roughly equivalent to Einstein pulling a knife on Al Capone. It just wasn’t done.”
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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Hollywood friendship – Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks

While walking down the Hollywood Boulevard one day, Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977) saw a large poster in front of a movie theater that announced a new film comedy in which Douglas Fairbanks played.

There was a young man standing there, and Chaplin asked him:
     - Boy, have you seen this movie?
     - Of course! – the boy answered. 
     - Is it funny? – asked Chaplin.-   What a stupid question. I died laughing.  Fairbanks is the best.
     - Is he good like Chaplin? 
     - Much better than that wretched Chaplin, for whom I only feel pity.continued the young man. 
     - If so, let me introduce myself. I am Charlie Chaplin! – Chaplin angrily exclaimed. 
     - I am pleased to meet you. I am Douglas Fairbanks!

After this unusual acquaintance, Chaplin and Fairbanks became very good friends.
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Friday, May 06, 2011

Hollywood experience – Dirk Bogarde

In 1960, famous British film and theater actor, Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) went to Hollywood to film a movie called “Song Without End”. The movie was about the life of famous virtuoso pianist Franz Lizst.

After making that movie, Dirk Bogarde said that Americans are very uncultured and that he has no intention to ever come to Hollywood again.

Why?

Here is one line from the script that Liszt says in the movie, and which completely made mad Dirk Bogarde, who was known as perfect connoisseur of music and literature:

Hi, do you know my friend? This is George Sand. That’s your friend Chopin. This is Hubert. Common meet George Sand.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Banana peel – Charlie Chaplin

Famous actor David Niven (1910-1983) wrote in his autobiography an anecdote when screenwriter Charles MacArthur (1895-1956) asked Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) for advice on how to design a gag in which a fat lady is walking down the street, slipping on a banana peel and falling down. Since such a stunt was performed thousands of times before, how to do it and make the audience laugh?

Should he first show the banana peel, then the lady approaching, and then the fall? Or, to show the fat lady first, and then the banana peel on which she slips?

Charlie Chaplin immediately replied:

"You show the fat lady approaching; then you show the banana peel; then you show the fat lady and the banana peel together; then she steps OVER the banana peel and disappears down a manhole."
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Thursday, April 07, 2011

Jealous teacher – Sean Connery and Steven Seagal

While filming “Never Say Never Again (one of the films about British Secret Service agent James Bond 007), Sean Connery (1930) was taking martial arts classes. However, during one class, an angry teacher broke his wrist.

Sean Connery claimed that the teacher did it out of pure malice because he himself wanted to become an actor.

And who was Sean Connery’s martial arts teacher?

 
Steven Seagal (1952), who later played leading roles in action movies “Machete”, “Marked for Death”, “Above the Law”, “Under Siege”, “Hard to Kill”…

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Friday, April 01, 2011

Courage, thy name is Jackie Chan!

Chinese actor Jackie Chan, whose real name is Chan Kong-sang, is known in film circles as unpredictable and fearless person.

He once jumped from one New York skyscraper in to a helicopter in flight. On another occasion, he plunged down a hill in a giant beach ball… However, it is considered that his greatest stunt is the one in a movie “Police Story – Jackie used an umbrella and hang himself onto a double decker bus which dragged him like that across several streets.

Jackie had many injuries in his career. He broke his nose three times, his ankle once, most of his fingers, both cheekbones and his skull. He even lost his teeth.

When he was asked how long he can keep it up, he said:

"I don't know. I always think something will happen to me. An accident is an accident. If I break my ankle, click, I just snap it back. I have so many scars."
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Friday, March 04, 2011

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Conan the Destroyer of California

After two terms as the Governor of California, Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger probably finished his political career. While he will be remembered in California for the debts that he left, the rest of the world will probably link Schwarzenegger’s political career with his proposal to ban the use of words "Mom", "Daddy", "husband" and "wife" in California public schools, because these words "offend feelings of children from gay marriages".

He became the Governor of California in 2003, and thus, he became the second actor, after Ronald Reagan, who got hold of high political positions. That he will run for Governor, on the Republican side, he revealed in a Comedy show. To be even able to participate in general elections he first needed to obtain permission from his wife, because his wife, Maria Shriver, is niece of Edward Kennedy, one of the members of the Kennedy clan, who belong to the Democrats.

With a little help of media and 25 million dollars that he invested in his two election campaigns, but mostly thanks to his acting career, Schwarzenegger won a landslide victory in both elections, in 2003 and 2006. His victories were not endangered even with charges that he used drugs, speculation that his father Gustav committed war crimes in World War II, or insinuation that he had sexually harassed 13 women.

Back in the early nineties, George H.W. Bush cast an eye on him and appointed him as the president of a smaller committee, calling him "Conan the Republican". 

Because of the skepticism about the strength of the U.S. economy, he called the Democrats "economic girlie men. During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, he said that he will make him "do squats" to "do something about those skinny legs”, and later that he will make him "do some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms ".

If he could only do something about putting some meat on his ideas”, Schwarzenegger said.

None of that what he said didn’t bothered him to recently publicly recommend himself to Obama - Schwarz said that he would like to get a job in the Obama administration, something regarding ecology. True, Americans admit that he achieved maximum on that field during the seven years he served as the Governor of California. Everything else was a complete fiasco.

During his term, the budget deficit has tripled, reaching 28 billion dollars. Unemployment rate is 13%. This is followed with speculations about a possible economic fiasco of California. At one point, California had no money for payment of regular monthly infrastructural obligations.

Schwarzenegger explained that the state wouldn’t have borrowed that much money if he knew that the global economic crisis will occur. He also said that his political opponents sabotaged his efforts to bring the house in order and improve the state of California's economy. It remains unknown what happened to his ambitious pre-election plan to make each of 36 and a half million residents of California eligible for health insurance, rather than one in five as it was.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had no idea what it was like to govern. Sacramento isn't Hollywood. I also believe that he gave too big promises because probably he did not realize that he will not be able to fulfill them, which somewhat resembles Obama’s failure in fulfilling great promises. Residents of California expected too much. We did not giggle the way the rest of the world did at the Governator assuming office”, said Dr Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior fellow at the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

It turned out that Schwarzenegger was far from behaving as a terminator when it comes to economic problems, which is why California citizens completely lost confidence in him.

Schwarzenegger’s new political engagement doesn’t seem too likely: he often worked and operated in contrary to California's Congress, and Republicans went against him when he invited them to cooperate with Obama in order to jointly find a solution for economic recovery and deficit control. The Republicans were not happy and with his proposition of budget deficit of California which he agreed with Washington's administration. The support of his family is also unlikely: although she never prevented her husband to be involved in politics, Maria Shriver was never thrilled with his new job.

But, Schwarzenegger doesn’t have to worry about his future, even if he gives up from the announced intention to write biographical books. In his 30’s he was already a millionaire, and that was before he achieved great success with his movies. He earned his first millions with postal sale of bodybuilding equipment and real estate investments. With Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Demi Moore he invested money in the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood. And despite all costs that he had as a politician, Schwarzenegger’s wealth is now estimated at 800 to 900 million dollars. This amount includes income from bodybuilding, real estate, earnings in the financial market and, of course, earnings from his films.

Nevertheless, the films were the ones that had influence on the magazine TIME and their decision to place him among the 100 people who shaped the world in 2004 and 2007.

The crucial year in Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood career was 1982, when he appeared in "Conan the Barbarian". Until the appearance of "Conan", Schwarzenegger made eight films. He won his first role (lead role) in 1970, in the comedy "Hercules in New York". He even today speaks English with a strong German accent, but at a time of making “Hercules”, he was saying it so badly that the producers were worried about whether the public will understand him at all. The fear was unjustified - the movie itself was terrible, but because of the accent, Arnold is even today called Ahnold.

"Conan the Barbarian", and two years later "Conan the Destroyer", were his first major commercial successes, in which his physical appearance was fully exploited. Neither before nor after these films, no one was counting on a some great acting performance from him. He became mega-star with action movies "Terminator" (1984, 1991, 2003), "Predator" (1987), "Red Sonja", "Commando", "Red Heat", "Total Recall", "Eraser ", "Collateral Damage" and many others.

Besides action movies, among total of 38 movies that he made, he made and a few comedies, like, for example, “Kindergarten Cop".
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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Opera is not a thriller – Alfred Hitchcock

What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out”, claimed famous British film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980).

When he was asked why he never wrote some operatic piece, the creator of "Psycho" answered:

- “Well, after the second act all the main characters would certainly have been murdered. Who would then remain to sing?
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Friday, February 18, 2011

A trap for miser – Harry Houdini

Among his closest friends, the escapologist Harry Houdini (1874-1926), was well known as a miser.  He particularly loved to disappear from restaurants when he was supposed to pay the bill.

On one occasion, after lunch in some inn, Houdini’s friend, who was an actor, asked him whether he was willing to see a new trick he learned. Houdini immediately accepted.

- “Put your hands on the table and turn your palms toward the table,” - the actor ordered and Harry obeyed.

Then, he put two glasses, filled with water, on his hands.

 
- "I am leaving now, and you try to find a way to disappear from here, without paying the bill – his friend told him, coming out of the restaurant.
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Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Stick to your own business – Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards

During the shooting of the film comedy "The Return of Pink Panther", in the middle of the night the phone rang in the room of director Blake Edwards. It was Peter Sellers, lead actor who, for several days, couldn’t do right a certain scene...

"Imagine what happened to me!" Peter Sellers shouted, all excited, into the receiver. "I just talked to God and he told me exactly how to do that damn scene!"

The next morning, on the set, Sellers was even worse than the day before...

"Peter, the next time you talk with God, tell him to stay out of our business, " Blake Edwards said, tapping him on the shoulder.
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Saturday, September 25, 2010

William Shakespeare or William the Conqueror?

Well-known theater actor Richard Burbage, constant companion of the famous writer William Shakespeare (1564-1616), once portrayed the title role in the play "Richard III".

Actor was spotted by certain rich beauty who called him to spend the night together...He was supposed to come to her the next evening after the play and announce himself as Richard III.

Hearing of their agreement from aside, Shakespeare decided to forestall his friend.

Before the end of the play he went to visit this beautiful lady, and announced himself at her servant as Richard III.

The lady received him. She did not even have anything against the fact that writer in her bed had replaced the actor...

And soon, while they were in love trance, Richard Burbage also arrived.

The servant knocked on the door and brought a message that said: "Richard III".

"Allow me to answer," said Shakespeare to housewife. He wrote just a few words: "Sorry, my friend. Before Richard III comes William the Conqueror. "
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Thursday, September 09, 2010

Capt. Antonio Banderas!



The famous Spanish actor Antonio Banderas as a boy dreamed of becoming a football player. But when he was fourteenth, he broke his foot...

So he had to say goodbye to his dreams of playing football and, apparently, his parents seemed to be rejoiced with that..

They have wanted, at all costs, to convince Antonio to approach the Spanish army.

However, this did not happen.

The young man left his home, devoted himself to acting and made a great success.

After the successful movies "Philadelphia", "Assassins," "Desperado," "The Mask of Zorro," "Frida," "Spy Kids", and many other, during the premiere of the film "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", by Robert Rodriguez, his father said almost sadly: - Well, my son! To what all this splendor? By now you might have been a  captain.
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