Picspam: Top 5 Prettiest Actresses of the 1930s
This was very hard to narrow down to five. This decade is full of really really beautiful actresses. I don't know if it's the era, the clothes or the lack of resolution but they're all gorgeous. Plus, what's more timely for right now than the decade of the Great Depression! I narrowed to actresses who had at least one major film role in the decade.
Greta Garbo
1905-1990
Country of Origin: Sweden
Famous Significant Other(s): Never married but romantically linked to John Gilbert
Notable Films: Grand Hotel, Queen Christina, Camille, Ninotchka
Interesting factoids:
**Having never married nor had any children, Garbo was an extremely reclusive individual, especially in her later life. Even in her years as a star, she refused to give interviews or attend functions. She lived in the same apartment in New York City for 40 years.
**Her film, The Kiss, was the last MGM film made without dialogue.
Carole Lombard
1908-1942
Country of Origin: United States
Famous Significant Other(s): William Powell (1931-1933) and most famously, Clark Gable (1939-her death)
Notable Films: My Man Godfrey, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, To Be or Not to Be
Interesting factoids:
**She and William Powell divorced amicably in 1933, remained good friends and then went on to co-star together in My Man Godfrey.
**She died at age 33 in a plane crash on the return flight from a war bond rally in Indiana in which all 21 people on the plane were killed. After her death, her husband Clark Gable was extremely distraught and joined the US Air Force.
**She was the highest Hollywood paid star of the late 1930s but was known for her down-to-earth personality and sense of humor.
Paulette Goddard
1910-1990
Country of Origin: United States
Famous Significant Other(s): Charlie Chaplin (1936-1942), Burgess Meredith (1944-1950), Erich Maria Remarque (1958-1970) and had flings with a host of other famous men.
Notable Films: Modern Times, The Women, The Great Dictator, So Proudly We Hail
Interesting factoids:
**It's been suggested that she lost out on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind partly because she could not produce her marriage certificate to Charlie Chaplin and the studio was worried that her status could lead to scandal. However, the woman who ended up winning the role, Vivien Leigh, was at the time, not married to Laurence Olivier (with whom she was in a relationship for years though both were married to other people).
**In addition to her controversial marriage to Chaplin (they split amicably), it is said that she had affairs with Clark Gable, John Wayne, George Gershwin, Diego Rivera and Howard Hughes (umm.. who didn't?), though she is seen as the most understanding of Hughes' lovers because she had already dealt with Chaplin's eccentricities.
**She was portrayed by Diane Lane in the 1992 film, Chaplin, starring Robert Downey Jr.
Vivien Leigh
1913-1967
Country of Origin: British India
Famous Significant Other(s): Laurence Olivier (1940-1960)
Notable Films): Gone with the Wind, Waterloo Bridge, A Streetcar Named Desire
Interesting factoids:
**Even though Gone with the Wind brought her international fame, she always stated that she was an actress and not a film star, saying "Being a film star - just a film star - is such a false life, lived for fake values and for publicity. Actresses go on for a long time and there are always marvellous parts to play."
**She and Olivier were married in Santa Barbara, California. One of the two witnesses for the ceremony was Katharine Hepburn. The couple apparently got into a huge fight on the drive to Santa Barbara because they got lost on the road.
**She suffered from bipolar disorder and her mental illness was likely the cause of her eventual divorce from Laurence Olivier, though it's been said that she kept a picture of Olivier at her bedside until her death.
Hedy Lamarr
1913-2000
Country of Origin: Austria
Famous Significant Other(s): Gene Markey (1939-1941), John Loder (1943-1947)
Notable Films: Algiers, White Cargo, Samson and Delilah
Interesting factoids:
**She is famous, not only for her film career, but also for her role in the development of frequency hopping as a secret communication. Her role was not recognized until many years later.
** Of Jewish descent, she fled her home country of Austria in 1937.
Past Picspams:
My Favorite Films of 2009 HERE
Trailers of Anticipated Movies HERE
Guilty Pleasures HERE
Best of the Franchise HERE
Top 15 Films of the Decade HERE
Tom and Summer, (500) Days of Summer HERE
Spock and Uhura, Star Trek HERE
Victoria and Albert, The Young Victoria HERE
Carl and Ellie, Up HERE
Memorable Dress in Film HERE
The Cast of Rob Marshall's 'Nine' HERE
Grey's Anatomy: Derek-Meredith-Addison Triangle HERE
Inglourious Basterds: The Dresses of Operation Kino HERE
Inglourious Basterds: Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa HERE
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Fashion HERE
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg HERE
My Personal Oscar Ballot (as of November 2009) HERE
Cruel Intentions vs. Dangerous Liaisons Comparison HERE
The 2007 Oscars in FYC Ads HERE
Cast My Life HERE
Romance in Period Films HERE
Glee vs. Popular Comparison HERE
Best Costume Design 2009 HERE
Musicals of the 50s and 60s HERE