✿ Claude Rains has to be considered one of the finest actors of the 20th century. As soon as you hear that marvelous, unmistakable voice of honey mixed with gravel, he becomes instantly recognizable.
And that scornful right eyebrow which could freeze an adversary faster than and more effectively than any physical threat. He stood at a mere 5'6', yet his enormous talent and immense stage presence made him a giant among his colleagues.
During a stage and film career that spanned six decades, Rains encompassed some of the most memorable and exciting characters ever created by an actor. Villains were a Rains specialty, particularly those of a suave and sarcastic nature; and yet when the role called for it, Rains could be remarkably moving and even add a touch of pathos without losing any of his effectiveness.
Claude Rains
Claude Rains has to be considered one of the finest actors of the 20th century. As soon as you hear that marvelous, unmistakable voice of honey mixed with gravel, he becomes instantly recognizable.
And that scornful right eyebrow which could freeze an adversary faster than and more effectively than any physical threat. He stood at a mere 5'6", yet his enormous talent and immense stage presence made him a giant among his colleagues.
During a stage and film career that spanned six decades, Rains encompassed some of the most memorable and exciting characters ever created by an actor. Villains were a Rains specialty, particularly those of a suave and sarcastic nature; and yet when the role called for it, Rains could be remarkably moving and even add a touch of pathos without losing any of his effectiveness.
✿ Holden's career took off again in 1950 when Billy Wilder tapped him to play a role in Sunset Boulevard, in which he played a down-at-heel screenwriter taken in by a faded silent film actress (Gloria Swanson). Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination with the part.
Getting the part was a lucky break for Holden, as the role was initially cast with Montgomery Clift, who backed out of his contract.[ Swanson later said, 'Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. He was perfection on- and off-screen.'[ And Wilder commented 'Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. He was a genuine star. Every woman was in love with him.' Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950).
Holden had another good break when cast as Judy Holliday's love interest in the big-screen adaptation of Born Yesterday (1950). He made two more films with Olson: Force of Arms (1951) at Warners and Submarine Command (1951) at Paramount. Holden did a sports film at Columbia, Boots Malone (1952), then returned to Paramount for The Turning Point (1952).
William Holden
Holden's career took off again in 1950 when Billy Wilder tapped him to play a role in Sunset Boulevard, in which he played a down-at-heel screenwriter taken in by a faded silent film actress (Gloria Swanson). Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination with the part.
Getting the part was a lucky break for Holden, as the role was initially cast with Montgomery Clift, who backed out of his contract.[ Swanson later said, "Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. He was perfection on- and off-screen."[ And Wilder commented "Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. He was a genuine star. Every woman was in love with him." Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950).
Holden had another good break when cast as Judy Holliday's love interest in the big-screen adaptation of Born Yesterday (1950). He made two more films with Olson: Force of Arms (1951) at Warners and Submarine Command (1951) at Paramount. Holden did a sports film at Columbia, Boots Malone (1952), then returned to Paramount for The Turning Point (1952).
✿ Greenstreet's stage debut was as a murderer in a 1902 production of a Sherlock Holmes story at the Marina Theatre, Ramsgate, Kent.
He toured Britain with Ben Greet's Shakespearean company, and in 1905 made his New York City debut in Everyman. He appeared in such plays as a revival of As You Like It (1914). He appeared in numerous plays in Britain and America, working through most of the 1930s with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne at the Theatre Guild. His stage roles ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and years of such versatile acting on two continents led to many offers to appear in films. He refused until he was 61.
In 1941, Greenstreet began working for Warner Bros. His debut film role was as Kasper Gutman ('The Fat Man') co-starring with Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. In Casablanca (1942), Greenstreet played crooked club owner Signor Ferrari (for which he received a salary of $3,750 per week—equivalent to $60,179.91 in 2020 dollars—for seven weeks' work).
He also appeared in Background to Danger (1943), with George Raft; Passage to Marseille (1944), reuniting with Casablanca stars Bogart, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains; The Mask of Dimitrios (1944); The Conspirators (1944) with Hedy Lamarr and Paul Henreid; Hollywood Canteen (1944); Conflict (1945), again with Bogart; Three Strangers (1946); and The Verdict (1946).
In the last two, and The Mask of Dimitrios, he received top billing. He had dramatic roles, such as William Makepeace Thackeray in Devotion (1946), and witty performances in screwball comedies, such as Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut (1944).
Near the end of his film career, he played opposite Joan Crawford in Flamingo Road (1949).
Sydney Greenstreet
Greenstreet's stage debut was as a murderer in a 1902 production of a Sherlock Holmes story at the Marina Theatre, Ramsgate, Kent.
He toured Britain with Ben Greet's Shakespearean company, and in 1905 made his New York City debut in Everyman. He appeared in such plays as a revival of As You Like It (1914). He appeared in numerous plays in Britain and America, working through most of the 1930s with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne at the Theatre Guild. His stage roles ranged from musical comedy to Shakespeare, and years of such versatile acting on two continents led to many offers to appear in films. He refused until he was 61.
In 1941, Greenstreet began working for Warner Bros. His debut film role was as Kasper Gutman ("The Fat Man") co-starring with Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. In Casablanca (1942), Greenstreet played crooked club owner Signor Ferrari (for which he received a salary of $3,750 per week—equivalent to $60,179.91 in 2020 dollars—for seven weeks' work).
He also appeared in Background to Danger (1943), with George Raft; Passage to Marseille (1944), reuniting with Casablanca stars Bogart, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains; The Mask of Dimitrios (1944); The Conspirators (1944) with Hedy Lamarr and Paul Henreid; Hollywood Canteen (1944); Conflict (1945), again with Bogart; Three Strangers (1946); and The Verdict (1946).
In the last two, and The Mask of Dimitrios, he received top billing. He had dramatic roles, such as William Makepeace Thackeray in Devotion (1946), and witty performances in screwball comedies, such as Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut (1944).
Near the end of his film career, he played opposite Joan Crawford in Flamingo Road (1949).
✿ Syvlia Syms OBE was born in 1934 in London, England to Daisy (Hale) and Edwin Syms, a trade unionist and civil servant. She was educated at RADA, on whose council she has served. Her daughter Beatie Edney is also an actress.
She started as a starlet. In her second film My Teenage Daughter (1954), she played Anna Neagle's 'problem' daughter, and by 1960 had worked with Flora Robson, Orson Welles, Stanley Holloway, Lilli Palmer and William Holden and made the film Ice-Cold in Alex (1958). Co-starring John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews, this has become a cult film in recent years because an extract from it was used in a beer commercial. It is an entertaining story about four British Army personnel trying to get through enemy territory. A love scene between Mills and Syms was dropped from the film because it was considered too strong.
Also in 1958, she appeared in the English civil war story The Moonraker with George Baker her male lead. Syms played Tony Hancock's wife in The Punch and Judy Man (1962) along with her nephew, Nick Webb. Other comedies followed, such as The Big Job (1965) with Hancock's former co-star Sid James, but it was for drama that she won acclaim, including The Tamarind Seed (1974) with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif, for which she was nominated for a British Film Academy award.
Sylvia Syms
Syvlia Syms OBE was born in 1934 in London, England to Daisy (Hale) and Edwin Syms, a trade unionist and civil servant. She was educated at RADA, on whose council she has served. Her daughter Beatie Edney is also an actress.
She started as a starlet. In her second film My Teenage Daughter (1954), she played Anna Neagle's "problem" daughter, and by 1960 had worked with Flora Robson, Orson Welles, Stanley Holloway, Lilli Palmer and William Holden and made the film Ice-Cold in Alex (1958). Co-starring John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews, this has become a cult film in recent years because an extract from it was used in a beer commercial. It is an entertaining story about four British Army personnel trying to get through enemy territory. A love scene between Mills and Syms was dropped from the film because it was considered too strong.
Also in 1958, she appeared in the English civil war story The Moonraker with George Baker her male lead. Syms played Tony Hancock's wife in The Punch and Judy Man (1962) along with her nephew, Nick Webb. Other comedies followed, such as The Big Job (1965) with Hancock's former co-star Sid James, but it was for drama that she won acclaim, including The Tamarind Seed (1974) with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif, for which she was nominated for a British Film Academy award.
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