Today, one of the great survivors of the classic Hollywood era Celeste Holm celebrates - remarkably - her 95th birthday!
Hers is indeed a remarkable career. She won an Oscar for Gentleman's Agreement (in which she played opposite Gregory Peck), and was nominated for both Come to the Stable (in which she starred with Loretta Young, Hugh Marlowe and Elsa Lanchester) and of course All About Eve (in which she more than held her own against the remarkable Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders and Thelma Ritter). She played opposite Frank Sinatra twice - in High Society and The Tender Trap.
Before her screen success, she was fêted as the original "Ado Annie" in the Broadway smash Oklahoma!, and, after All About Eve she had a long and successful US television career - including a memorably camp and villainous appearance in Falcon Crest.
Facts about Celeste Holm:
- Apparently Bette Davis said of her: "There was only one bitch in the cast of All About Eve - Celeste Holm." Ouch.
- At the age of 87, she married opera singer Frank Basile, 46 years her junior. Following their marriage, the couple have had a long and protracted legal battle with Miss Holm's sons over the control of her money (which was held in a trust).
- Miss Holm successfully sued Pedro Almodóvar for using film footage of her from All About Eve without her permission in his film All About My Mother; her contract from the film stipulated her image could not be used.
- She still (despite being diagnosed with Alzheimer's) makes occasional cameo performances on stage and screen (including a part in a 2012 movie called College Debts), and continues to act as a spokesperson for UNICEF.
But, of course, it is for this classic routine that she is perhaps most fondly remembered...
Who wants to be a Millionaire?
I DO!!!
Celeste Holm official website
i don't think i ever read anything pleasant about her. pity.
ReplyDeleteShe never gave the impression of being a particularly pleasant person... Jx
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