He was probably best known for his undersea adventures on TV, but Lloyd Bridges also appeared in over 180 other theatrical films, TV movies, and TV series over the course of his career.

Born in Northern California in 1913, Bridges began acting while a student at UCLA. He actually began his professional career on Broadway, and while he appeared in two films in 1936, didn't begin making movies in earnest until 1941.

Fifty of his appearances during the early days were bit parts in B-movies, westerns and comedy shorts between 1941 and 1944. However, he also showed up uncredited in some pretty good movies, including Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Sahara, and The Talk of the Town. Eventually his patience and durability were rewarded with lead roles in She's a Soldier Too (1944) and the Universal serial, Secret Agent X-9 (1945). He later appeared in larger roles in A Walk in the Sun (1945), Canyon Passage (1946), Unconquered (1947), the underrated Home of the Brave (1949), and The Sound of Fury (1950), the latter as an insane killer, perhaps his best overall performance. Presaging his later TV career, he starred in 16 Fathoms Deep (1948), but the better-known Lon Chaney, Jr. got higher billing. He did get star billing in Rocketship X-M (1950), an early sci-fi effort notable for its serious themes and downbeat ending.

Probably his most high profile supporting role during this period was as the traitorous deputy in High Noon (1952). A few years later he appeared as one of Katharine Hepburn's brothers in The Rainmaker (1956).

Bridges was a member of the progressive Actors Lab in the 1930s, a membership which returned to haunt him 20 years later during the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950s. He testified and was allowed to resume his career, which in 1958 led him to television and a smash hit with Sea Hunt (1958). The weekly underwater drama became the most popular syndicated show in the history of television. Later attempts at network TV shows were not as successful, however.

In the 1980s he launched what was in reality a second movie career, this time as a comic supporting actor in films such as Airplane (1980) and a sequel, Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and Hot Shots (1991) and its sequel. He also appeared in many TV movies and mini-series, including Roots (1977), East of Eden (1981), and The Blue and the Gray (1982), and showed up in numerous guest roles on weekly TV shows, most notably Seinfeld, as the unforgettable Izzy Mandelbaum.

Bridges was the scion of a three-generation acting family. His wife of 50 years, Dorothy, was also an actress, and he always credited her with his successful career. His two sons, Beau and Jeff, are well-known and have appeared with him many times. He has four grandchildren who have also appeared in films, most notably Beau's son Jordan Bridges.

Lloyd Bridges died on March 10, 1998 of natural causes at the age of 85.

Kathleen Morrison, Aug. 19, 1902, Port Huron, Mich. d. 1988.
                  Popular star of Hollywood silent and early talkies who at the
                  height of her career personified the independent ``flapper'' of
                  the Roaring Twenties and strongly influenced the hairstyle and
                  fashions of the period. The daughter of an irrigation engineer,
                  she was convent educated and later studied piano at the
                  Detroit Conservatory. According to her autobiography, Silent
                  Star (1968), she was taken into films as repayment by D. W.
                  Griffith to her uncle, Walter Howey (editor of the Chicago
                  Examiner, who was immortalized by Hecht-MacArthur in The
                  Front Page), for helping Griffith clear The Birth of a Nation and
                  Intolerance through the censors. Contrary to many sources,
                  she never appeared in Intolerance, not even as an extra, having
                  arrived in Hollywood in 1917, the year following the picture's
                  release. She began her screen career modestly, as a leading
                  lady in B pictures and Westerns, several times opposite Tom
                  Mix, but in the 20s she gained sudden popularity as a star as an
                  exuberant flapper, portraying bobbed haired, lighthearted
                  jazz age heroines in many films for First National. Her first
                  (1923---30) of four husbands, John McCormick, was production
                  head of that company, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Her next
                  two husbands were stockbrokers and she herself successfully
                  invested her earnings from films (she was among Hollywood's
                  highest paid stars) in the stock market. In 1983, aged 81, she
                  married a building contractor who survived her. She authored,
                  in addition to her autobiography, a book on investments, How
                  Women Can Make Money in the Stock Market, and a book
                  about a prized collection of miniatures, Colleen Moore's Doll
                  House.- Ephriam Katz

Maria Montez, also known as The Carribean Cyclone, was born Maria Africa Vidal de Santo Silas, on June 6 1917 in Barahona, Dominican Republic, to a Spanish consul and his wife.

After a stint with modeling, she made an attempt at Hollywood.

Maria's unusal beauty landed her a contract in the movie colony. Her first film was as Marie in THE INVISIBLE WOMAN in 1941. Five more movies with five more bit roles followed and the movie moguls decided to do something more with the beautiful Miss Montez.

They gave her a sizable role in THE BOSS OF BULLION CITY in 1941. That was followed the next year by ARABIAN NIGHTS. It was these sand and sandal epics of the forties that kept Maria employed and moviegoers enthralled. The US was still trying to get out from under The Great Depression. And they were also tired of the world war that was spreading throughout Europe and Asia. Hollywood turned to fantasy movies for the public.

Maria turned out to be immensly popular with the public. Her acting skills may not have been appreciated by some critics, but the public didn't seem to mind. They liked Maria and the dangers she faced in these cheaply made adventure flicks. Each desert film attracted droves of Montez fans to the box-office.

As the Depression eased and the war ended, fans became bored with her films.

After her Hollywood career faded, she moved to Europe with her second husband Jean-Pierre Aumont. She appeared in a number of German, French, and Italian productions. Her final film was a German movie entitled SCHATTEN UBER NEAPAL (CAMORRA) in 1951.

On September 7 of that year, Maria was discovered dead of a heart attack. She was only 34 and had appeared in only 27 movies. But her legacy lives on in the colorful characterizations that she left on film. She is still a much loved figure in movie history.

In his book you will find many heart-warming stories, sentiments, and recollections from people who loved Billy Barty. He was not only founder of the organization “The Little People of America,” but was in entertainment for more than seventy years. You will read excerpts from George Lucas, A.C. Lyles, Ed Asner, Pat Boone, Peter Marshall, Willie Aames, Florence Henderson, Ruta Lee, and Betty White, among a host of other well-known celebrities.

You will reminisce with some of the cast from the series Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons, and will laugh at memories from comedians and impressionists John Byner, Bob Einstein, Fred Travalena, Ruth Buzzi, and Norm Crosby.

You will have compassion as you read a touching sentimental account of a young cancer victim, Erik, who was sparked by Billy Barty’s unique voice, and will get insight from members of the organization “The Little People of America.”

Lastly, you will be inspired from fans and family alike in this wonderful tribute to their friend, co-worker, brother, uncle, dad, and hero—Billy Barty.

This article was originally written in May, 1999, in celebration of the Astaire Centennial. It has been updated several times since then.)

Many say he was the greatest dancer in movie history. Some even say he was one of the greatest jazz singers. His acting ability improved with age; in fact, his first and only Oscar nomination came in 1975, for Best Supporting Actor in The Towering Inferno, when he was 76 years old. On the other hand, there was the studio drone whose opinion reportedly was, "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances."

Balding or not, there has never been anybody else quite like Fred Astaire. He made 51 theatrical films and TV movies, and not one of them could be called "bad." Even The Over-the-Hill-Gang Rides Again (1970) and The Amazing Dobermans (1976) were enlivened by his presence.

With Ginger Rogers, who did everything Fred did, but backwards, he was one-half of the most famous dance team ever. He was also a master choreographer, known for a perfectionism that was in stark contrast to what appeared to be an almost effortless grace on the screen.

You can learn almost anything you want to about Fred Astaire and his long career by visiting the sites listed in this four-part article.

Though known these days mostly because of her eight films with Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald also had a career that existed outside of that duo, making a total of 28 films during a 20-year career, most showcasing her lovely soprano voice with its impressive range.

Born Jeanette Anna MacDonald on June 18, 1903 in Philadelphia, Jeannette was trained as a dancer and then a singer, performing at an early age, and eventually starring on Broadway before beginning her film career in 1929, at the dawn of the sound era.

She was a star from the very beginning. In fact, her first film, The Love Parade (1929), also made Maurice Chevalier a star, and put Ernst Lubitsch into the top ranks of directors. It was not the only pairing of MacDonald and Chevalier, but studio decisions resulted in another male co-star becoming her better-known companion.

Jeanette was first paired with Nelson Eddy in Naughty Marietta (1935), and Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy became the biggest musical team of their era, making seven more films together during the 30s and 40s. Their fans were legion, and they still have plenty of devotees, even 60 years after their heyday. It may have been cornball to some critics, but it was successful, popular, and well-sung corn.

Jeanette's film career slowed after the early 1940s, although she performed before sold-out audiences in stage musicals and operas, and she eventually retired from films after her 1949 appearance in The Sun Comes Up, a Lassie film. She made a few personal appearances, and recorded a best-selling album of songs with Eddy, but there were no more movies.

Married to actor Gene Raymond since 1937, she concentrated on her family until her death in 1965 from heart disease at the age of 61. We saluted her with this tribute on what would have been her 100th birthday, and invite you to enjoy some of the links listed below. If you haven't heard her sing, be sure to listen to any available sound clips.