King Kong

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

October 4, 2019 by Robert J. Avrech 7 Comments

Myrna Loy & William Powell in *The Thin Man*, 1934
She grinned at me. “You got types?”
“Only you, darling — lanky brunettes with wicked jaws.”
—Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man (1929)

Rest In Peace, Julie Adams

February 6, 2019 by Robert J. Avrech Leave a Comment

Julie Adams and Ben Chapman in the horror classic *Creature From the Black Lagoon*, 1954

Actress Julie Adams (b. Betty May Adams, Oct. 17, 1926) passed away Sunday, February 3, 2019, in Los Angeles, at the age of 92.

After being crowned Miss Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1946, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

Ms. Adams started working in movies in 1949. Eventually, she appeared in over 50 films with some of Hollywood’s greatest stars including Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Elvis Presley.

Hidden Hollywood: Fay Wray, Beauty and the Beasts, Part III

October 31, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 10 Comments

In her disarmingly modest, and revealing autobiography, On the Other Hand, film actress Fay Wray (September 15, 1907–August 8, 2004), best known for her role as Ann Darrow in the classic film King Kong, unveils her life in a lovely, impressionist style that is at the same time sharply focused.

As Seraphic Secret wrote in Part I, Wray, a fatherless beauty from Canada, made her way to Hollywood with her stage-door mother, her sister Willow, and Willow’s husband, William Mortensen. Her brother-in-law sexually abused fourteen-year-old Fay. Part II, was devoted to Wray’s tragic brother Vivien, who attempted incest with Fay, and then, in despair, almost certainly committed suicide by flinging himself from a moving train.

Yet another beast in human form was to play a major role in Wray’s life.

Hidden Hollywood: Fay Wray, Beauty and the Beasts, Part II

October 26, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 2 Comments

Gary Cooper and Fay Wray, The Fist Kiss, 1928. — Gary Cooper and Fay Wray, *The First Kiss*, 1928.

In her modest, jewel of an autobiography, On the Other Hand, film actress Fay Wray (September 15, 1907–August 8, 2004), best known for her role as Ann Darrow in the classic film King Kong, unveils the confusing threads of her life in Hollywood in a lovely, impressionist style that is, at the same time, sharply focused.

As Seraphic Secret wrote in Part I, Wray, a fatherless young beauty from Canada, made her way to Hollywood with her sister Willow and Willow’s husband, William Mortensen, who sexually abused fourteen-year-old Fay. At one point, he took “artistic photos” of her on the beach—and when Fay’s mother later discovered these photos, she destroyed them, furiously smashing plate after plate.

But even before the emotionally confusing incidents with William, there was another beast in Fay’s life: her eldest brother Vivien, whom she adored.

Hidden Hollywood: Fay Wray, Beauty and the Beasts, Part I

October 19, 2016 by Robert J. Avrech 4 Comments

king-kong-closeup — Fay Wray sizes up her tall, dark leading man, “King Kong,” 1933.

Actress Fay Wray achieved screen immortality as Ann Darrow, the girl in King Kong’s paw, the beauty who tamed the raging beast.

For most of us growing up after Hollywood’s Golden Age, Fay Wray (b. Vina Fay Wray; September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was nothing more than a fetching, half-naked prop, screaming endlessly, eyes wide with terror.

But Fay Wray, the lovely, Canadian-born actress, had a long, distinguished Hollywood career that stretched from 1923 to 1980 — over eighty movies, and then numerous guest appearances on television. On the surface, it seems a life drenched in glamour. But in reality Fay Wray played beauty to several human beasts.