I was born into a wealthy family and educated in private schools in Connecticut and Switzerland.
When I expressed an interest in acting, my father formed a corporation to develop, promote, and exploit my talent.
I was married to the designer Oleg Cassini, and after our divorce I dated Aly Khan. When Aly Khan left me I had a nervous breakdown and spent a year and a half in a sanitarium.
I published my autobiography, "Self Portrait", in 1979. In the book I dealt honestly with my past misfortunes and revealed that I regularly dated John F. Kennedy when he was in the Navy.
I am perhaps best known for playing the title role in the movie "Laura" (1944); for the movie "Leave Her to Heaven" (1945) for which I received an Academy Award nomination; and for the movie "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947) in which I played opposite Rex Harrison.
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #2:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
My real name is Constance Frances Marie Ockelman. When I began making films in 1939 I acted under the name Constance Keane.
In 1942 my career took off when I acted opposite Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges' film "Sullivan's Travels", and opposite Alan Ladd in "This Gun for Hire" and "The Glass Key".
During the height of my popularity I dated both Aristotle Onassis and Howard Hughes before finally marrying the director André De Toth. My "peek–a–boo" hairstyle, that was notable for having my hair fall over one eye, created a style craze among American women.
By the late 1940s my career was in decline, and in the early 1950s my husband and I were forced to file bankruptcy petitions.
I disappeared from view throughout the 1950s, and in the early 1960s a newsman found me working as a barmaid in a downtown New York hotel.
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #3:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
I was born in Oslo, Norway, and by the time I was in my mid–20s I had won gold medals and set world marks in three consecutive Winter Olympics.
By the late 1930s I was one of the leading stars at 20th Century–Fox, although my films all tended to be light romances that centered around my athletic abilities.
According to the American Film Exhibitors' list of top box–office attractions, I was the number–four female star in 1937, the number–two female star in 1938, and the number–four female star again in 1939.
My popularity waned during the 1940s, and by the end of that decade my film career was over. Even so, I continued to produce and star in the Hollywood Ice Revue extravaganza that drew large crowds from coast to coast.
I retired from show business in 1960, and died of leukemia nine years later.
There is now a museum in Norway that is named after me, where you can see my medals, trophies, jewels, and skates.
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #4:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
I grew up in dire poverty, the daughter of a Coney Island waiter and a mentally unstable mother.
At 16 I won a movie–fan–magazine beauty contest which got me small roles in a number of low–budget films.
In 1925 I signed a contract with Paramount Pictures, and their studio publicity machine and slick productions molded me into a symbol of the Flapper Age. My popularity soared in 1927 when I starred in the film "It", and from then on I was known as the "It" girl.
By the late 1920s, as "talkies" ended the silent–film era, I suffered from several nervous breakdowns and my film career collapsed.
Although I ended up marrying the cowboy star Rex Bell, who went on to become the lieutenant governor of Nevada, I spent many of my post–movie years confined to various sanatoriums.
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #5:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
Despite the fact that I was never considered to be glamorous, I decided I wanted to be an actress while I was still a freshman in high school. However, after studying at John Murray Anderson's drama school, I was fired by director George Cukor from my first professional engagement with a stock company.
In 1930 I did a screen test for Samuel Goldwyn, but was rejected. Later that year I was signed by Universal Studios after doing another screen test., and within two years I signed a long–term contract with Warner Bros.
At Warner Bros. I had to continually fight for good roles, and once when I refused to accept what I felt was an unsuitable role I was suspended without pay. I sued Warner Bros. but lost the court battle. Even so, Warner Bros. paid my legal expenses and when I returned to work the studio treated me with greater respect.
I appealed primarily to female audiences who loved me best when I played women at their worst – bitchy, ambitious characters who proudly pursued their selfish goals. I was nominated 10 times for Academy Awards, and won twice. In 1977 I was the first woman to be honored with the American Film Institute's "Life Achievement" Award.
Some of my most famous films were "Of Human Bondage" (1934), "The Petrified Forest" (1936), "Jezebel" (1938), "Dark Victory" (1939), "The Little Foxes" (1941), "Now, Voyager" (1942), "All About Eve" (1950), and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962).
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #6:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
My real name is Greta Louisa Gustafsson, and I was born in Stockholm, Sweden. I grew up in poverty, the daughter of an unskilled laborer of peasant stock who was often out of work.
After winning a scholarship to the Royal Dramatic Theater training school, I was discovered by Mauritz Stiller who chose me for a part in one of his films.
When the production chief of MGM, Louis B. Mayer, came to Europe and hired Stiller, Stiller only agreed to come to Hollywood if I was also hired. After becoming a star in silent films, I successfully made the transition to sound films.
Although I never won an Academy Award for a specific performance, I received a Special Oscar in 1954. I was also twice named best actress by the New York film critics. When I died at the age of 84 I left an estate valued at more than $200 milion.
Some of my most popular films were "Flesh and the Devil" (1927), "Anna Christie" (1930), "Grand Hotel" (1932), "Queen Christina" (1933), "Anna Karenina" (1935), "Camille" (1937), and "Ninotchka" (1939).
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #7:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
I was born in Figeac, France, and educated at the Sorbonne and the Paris Conservatory. Although I made both my stage and film debut in 1920, I developed primarily as a stage actor until 1934 when I went to Hollywood to pursue a film career.
My Gallic charm, deep velvet voice, and inviting eyes
made me one of the American screen's "great lovers", and I worked opposite some of Hollywood's most glamorous female stars of the 1930s and 1940s.
In 1942 I won a special Academy Award for establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles.
My only child committed suicide in 1965, and I took my own life two days after my wife of forty–four years died.
I am perhaps best remembered for the following films: "Liliom" (1934), "Algiers" (1938), "Gaslight" (1944), "Fanny" (1961), "Barefoot in the Park" (1967), and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969).
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #8:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
When I retired in 1955 I had made ninety–four films, from my debut with John Barrymore in "Sherlock Holmes" (1922) to playing "Doc" in "Mister Roberts" (1955).
I am best known for a string of light mysteries in which I played an impeccably dressed, pleasantly cynical detective, usually pictured with a martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
My most popular co–star was Myrna Loy, and we were often paired up even when we weren't making another one of our famous series of detective movies.
I was briefly married to Carole Lombard, and engaged to Jean Harlow at the time of her death. But for the last 44 years of my life I was married to actress Diana Lewis.
I was nominated for three Academy Awards, but never won an Oscar.
I am perhaps best remembered for my roles in "The Canary Murder Case" (1929), "The Thin Man" (1934), "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936), "My Man Godfrey" (1936), and "Life With Father" (1947).
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #9:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
Although I had one of the longest careers in Hollywood, lasting more than 60 years, and made almost 100 films, I am not remembered by many today.
I was born in Los Angeles, the son of a wholesale druggist, and originally intended to become a doctor.
I am a character actor who usually played a timid, mischievously wistful, grandfatherly man, and made a series of comedies in the 1930s as the henpecked screen husband of Mary Boland.
My most remembered roles were my portrayal of the Vicomte Gilbert de Vareze in the classic musical "Love Me Tonight" (1932), of Major Horace Applegate in the Cary Grant / Katharine Hepburn screwball comedy "Binging Up Baby" (1938), and as Egbert "Sourdough" Floud in "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935).
In addition to my films I also headlined in two early TV series, "The Ruggles" and "The World of Mr. Sweeney". I was also the voice for the "Aesop and Son" section of the cartoon show "Rocky and His Friends". During the 1960s I had a recurring role as Mrs Drysdale's rakish father in the popular sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies".
I won a Tony Award in 1959 for my role in the play "The Pleasure of His Company", which I recreated on film in 1961.
Who am I?
Section #2, Photo #10:
Click on photo to enlarge.
CLUES:
I made my acting debut as a schoolboy of nine, playing Brutus in "Julius Caesar" at a London school.
Although many considered me to be the greatest classical actor of my generation, I played a wide variety of roles both in films and on the stage. In fact, I am remembered as much for playing Heathcliff in "Wuthering Heights" (1939), Maxim de Winter in "Rebecca" (1940), Dr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" (1940), and Lord Nelson in "That Hamilton Woman" (1941), as I am for starring in film versions of Shakespeare's "Henry V" (1944), "Hamlet" (1948), and "Richard III" (1955).
In 1937 I caused a bit of a scandal when I fell in love with Vivien Leigh while we were both still married to other people. When the two of us finally did get married it turned out to be a tempestuous relationship that lasted 20 years until we finally divorced.
I won a Special Academy Award in 1946 as actor, producer and director of "Henry V", an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1948, an Honorary Academy Award in 1978, and been nominated for Academy Awards nine other times.
