Arabella & CO

September 11th, 2001
We will not forget...

A Memorial to the heroes of 9/11 in this their silent spring...

Where is he? The one I knew in that beautiful yesterday?
He had such a smile,that one.
You could almost believe todays were created just for him
By some benevolent Father,
to weave into magic tomorrows or clutch tightly to himself
until he had savored every drop!
Where is he? I have called his name
on a thousand nights in a thousand dreams
and the echo of the silence is more than I can bear.
Could it be he has just lost his way
in the unfamiliar byways of the night
And I will find him somewhere
smiling and waiting for the sun?
(from "Phoenix" 1970)

No, dear hearts, they have all gone on ahead to that wonderful promised place.May we all be together again someday, brave heroes

"the world's most beautiful man!"...Tyrone Power

Tyrone Power was a very fine actor and, in a few roles, a great actor! He was also a gentleman. If Ty had, on occasion, been less of a gentleman, he may have gotten even greater roles. Under contract to 20th Century Fox for most of his film career, Tyrone Power never lifted so much as one fabulous eyebrow when Darryl Zanuck persisted in misusing his talents in "matinee idol" roles. He was never temperamental and always bowed to the studio's wishes until much later in his career... almost too late.

But there was no denying it, he was beautiful. And he was much more exciting than the Fairbanks kin....he could act rings around Rudy Valentino...and he had what was considered the most romantic speaking voice of the century. Elsa Maxwell was probably the first to declare "Tyrone Power is the most beautiful man in the world" and Anne Baxter agreed he was "the most beautiful man I ever saw". Alice Faye would say years later that "kissing Tyrone Power was like dying and going to heaven!" But Tyrone complained to Elia Kazan that if one wanted to be a great actor, it was a tragedy to be born handsome. Kazan answered that it would be a greater tragedy to be born homely.

Born Tyrone Edmund Power on May 5. 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio he was the third Tyrone in a family of great actors. Tyrone I (or the Elder), his great grandfather, was the famed Irish comedian and author of the early 19th century. His father, Tyrone Sr., was equally noted for both classical and modern roles on stage and later on film. Ty's mother was Helen Emma Reaume (known as Patia Reaume)a Shakespearean actress and respected dramatic coach. With roots like this, you certainly couldn't have expected him to be a carpenter.

Ty was a tiny, frail baby and continued to be in delicate health throughout his childhood. During his first winter,on doctor's advice, it was decided that the family move to a warmer climate. They moved baby and baggage to California where Ty, Sr. signed a contract to do two silent films. It was there his sister Anne, was born in 1915 and not long after, his parents divorced. The children were educated in parochial schools but Patia tutored them in the rudiments of acting at home. This included manners and deportment (Tyrone's manners were impeccable) . After high school, Ty.Sr. took over young Ty's stage education in the woods of Quebec and the wilds of Chicago. It was in Chicago in 1931 that Ty, Sr. suffered a fatal heart seizure and died in his son's arms.

Tyrone Power, Sr.

After a few small roles, Tyrone got his big break from Henry King at 20th Century Fox. King tested him for a small part in "Lloyd's of London" along with Don Ameche who was to play the lead. The test was so good Ty was in and Don was out. The momentum gained here never waned and the movie roles just kept coming.

In 1938 Ty met Annabella (born Suzanne Carpentier in Paris, France)on the set of "Suez".
Zanuck disapproved but they were married on April 23,1939. The marriage would last nine years (despite Ty's inherited weakness for his leading ladies, his affair with Judy Garland and the loss of their child). In August, 1943 Ty enlisted in the Marines as a "buck-ass private" but made it through officers training to fly dangerous cargo flights across the Pacific. And when he came back, he came back to Annabella. Even though the marriage would finally end in 1948, the bond was never really broken and they kept in touch until he died.

Shortly before his divorce , Ty met exotic Linda Christian in Rome. They were married on January 27th, 1949 in a lovely little Roman church amid a veritable media circus.The marriage would give him his first real family...two lovely daughters, Taryn and Romina. But it also would end in divorce. Then, in 1952, Tyrone Power finally became a free agent when his contract with 20th Century Fox expired. He made $250,000 and 25% of the studio's net profits on his next picture "The Mississippi Gambler" which would amount to over a million dollars. And he had the freedom to choose his roles. He also joined a stage tour of Stephen Vincent Benet's "John Brown's Body" with Raymond Massey and Judith Anderson being produced by Charles Laughton. The critics were ecstatic.

In May, 1957, his marriage to Linda long over, Ty flew to California to do the interior scenes for "Witness for the Prosecution". He was lonely and all hope for a planned reconciliation with Annabella had fizzled. While entertaining friends for dinner, he met Deborah Minardos. She was eighteen years his junior but she seemed to be just what he needed. They were married a year later. Debbie was pregnant when they left for Spain and the filming of "Solomon and Sheba".

On November 15th, during retakes for a fencing scene, Tyrone Power suffered a fatal heart attack. He was only 44 years old.

Ty was loved and admired by everyone in the film industry. He had no enemies. About the women in his life, and they were legion, I can only say... once in love with Tyrone, always in love with Ty...they may have lost him but they never forgot him. There were two services for Tyrone Power because the chapel at Hollywood Memorial could only hold 150 people. The second was held in NewYork for his friends there. The eulogy given by George Sanders in Hollywood was printed out by his widow as mementos. Here it is:

"I shall always remember Tyrone Power as a bountiful man. A man who gave freely of himself. It mattered not to whom he gave. His concern was in the giving. I shall always remember his wonderful smile. A smile that would light up the darkest hour of the day like a sunburst. I shall always remember Tyrone Power as a man who gave more of himself than it was wise for him to give. Until in the end he gave his life."

Tyrone William Power, his only son was born on January 22,1959. He was also beautiful.

For more on Tyrone Power on screen and off, read Arabella's Notes.

Tom Brown of Culver (1932)
Flirtation Walk (1934)
Girls' Dormitory (1936)
Ladies in Love (1936)
Lloyds of London (1936)
Love is News (1937)
Cafe Metropole (1937)
Thin Ice (1937)
Second Honeymoon (1937)
In Old Chicago (1938)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Marie Antoinette (1938)
Suez (1938)
Jesse James (1939)
Rose of Washington Square (1939)
Second Fiddle (1939)
The Rains Came (1939)
Daytime Wife (1939)
Johnny Apollo (1940)
Brigham Young - Frontiersman (1940)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Blood and Sand (1941)
A Yank in the RAF (1941)
Son of Fury (1942)
This Above All (1942)
The Black Swan (1942)
Crash Dive (1943)
The Razor's Edge (1946)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Captain from Castile (1947)
The Luck of the Irish (1948)
That Wonderful Urge (1948)
Prince of Foxes (1949)
The Black Rose (1950)
American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950)
Rawhide (1951)
I'll Never Forget You (1951)
Diplomatic Courier (1950)
Pony Soldier (1952)
The Mississippi Gambler (1953)
King of Khyber Rifles (1953)
The Long Gray Line (1955)
Untamed (1955)
The Eddie Duchin Story (1956)
Abandon Ship (1957)
The Rising of the Moon (1957)
The Sun Also Rises (1957)
Witness For the Prosecution (1958)

Solomon and Sheba (unfinished) (1959)

Star power can get the people to the theater but it takes a good story and a talented ensemble to keep them in the seats. It is the character actors and bit players that make up the ensemble.
A character actor is usually a specialist in secondary roles demanding unique physical or vocal characteristics,ethnic or regional dialects. They can literally transform themselves into whatever"look" and "body language" each part requires. Bit players round out the ensemble in smaller roles and "cement" the package together.

Beulah Bondi never acted her age! Born Beulah Bondy in Chicago, Illinois on May 3, 1889, she made her stage debut at age 9 in "Little Lord Fauntleroy" and by age 10 had won a gold medal for her acting. But even as a young girl she often took on roles much more mature than her years.

Bondi made her film debut in "Street Scene" (1931) as Emma Jones and worked every year until 1973 when she was 84 years old! Her last role was the voice of the female church mouse in Disney's animated version of "Robin Hood". Moreover, Beulah never signed a contract preferring to work a la carte and her enormous talent insured that the studios were willing to pay her price. The actress had the ability to transform herself into a different person with every character she played. She was always pleased when people greeted her by her character name because she said this meant she had done her job well!

Beulah was nominated twice as Best Supporting Actress . Her first nomination was for her role as Rachel Jackson in "The Gorgeous Hussy" (1936) and the second, two years later, for her portrayal of Mary Wilkins in "Of Human Hearts". As Mary, James Stewart's long suffering mother, she had to age 20 years for the finale. She was Jimmy's mother twice and worked with him in four films during her career.

Beulah Bondi never married. She died on January 11, 1981 at the age of 91 from injuries she suffered at home when she tripped over her cat. She left us with 65 full length movies, at least 9 television appearances and the voice of a lady mouse!

Other movies with James Stewart:	Some critically acclaimed roles:
Vivacious Lady (1938) Mr.Smith Goes to Washington (1939) as Ma Smith It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	Arrowsmith (1931) Rain (1932) The Sisters (1938) Watch on the Rhine (1943) The Snake Pit (1948)

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From Anita and Don
Glen Ellen, CA...

Just how did Hedy Lamarr, the actress, become associated with satellites and NASA?

Isn't she dead?

We read somewhere that she was up for an award for her work in some technology!

Dear Anita & Don

Strange as it seems, all you've heard is true. It sounds more like the plot to one of her movies but it really happened. First, Hedy Lamarr passed away on January 19th, 2000 in her home in Florida. She was 86. But the story goes way back to the mid-1930's before satellites and NASA were even born! She was married at the time to Fritz Mandl, an Austrian munitions manufacturer, who was making bombs, bullets and torpedoes for the Nazi war machine. Hedy, secretly pro-American and just waiting her chance to escape a hostage marriage, watched,waited and listened as her husband's cohorts talked about rockets and radios. Disguised as a maid she finally made her escape to Paris and then to the USA where LouisB. Mayer gave her a new name (it was then Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler) and a movie contract. Meanwhile beautiful,sexy and smart Hedy had already developed a frequency invention that could be used to direct torpedoes at moving ships. She discussed her concept with composer George Antheill, after meeting him at Janet Gaynor's party and scrawling her phone number in lipstick on his windshield. Using her "dinner table scuttlebut" the two sat down to diagram what would later be called "spread-spectrum technology" or at least all the rudimentary procedures for shielding US radio-controlled ships from German signal-jamming in WWII.

To make this long story a little shorter, some of today and tomorrow's uses for this type of technology includes the spreading of signals through many frequencies to prevent jamming, eavesdropping and interference and is now used in cordless and cell phones, alarm systems and military radios, portable and desktop computers and even in satellites. So you see, Hedy had brains as well as beauty.

Arabella

Arabella feels that any picture worth a thousand words has to move and talk even if the conversation is held in sub-titles!