Yesterday Today

30 Fascinating Vintage Photographs Showing Dancer & Actress Eleanor Powell in the 1930s and 1940s

Eleanor Powell (1912–1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her solo tap numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, Powell began studying ballet aged six and began dancing at nightclubs in Atlantic City before she was a teenager. From the age of sixteen, she began studying tap and started appearing in musical revues on Broadway, before making her Hollywood debut as a featured dancer in the movie George White’s Scandals (1935).

She was well received in her first starring role in 1935 Broadway Melody of 1936 (in which she was supported by Jack Benny and Frances Langford), and delighted 1930s audiences with her endless energy and enthusiasm, not to mention her stunning dancing. According to dancer Ann Miller, quoted in the “making-of” documentary That’s Entertainment! III, MGM was headed for bankruptcy in the late 1930s, but the films of Eleanor Powell, particularly Broadway Melody of 1936, were so popular that they made the company profitable again. Miller also credits Powell for inspiring her own dancing career, which would lead her to become an MGM musical star a decade later.

Powell would go on to star opposite many of the decade’s top leading men, including James Stewart, Robert Taylor, Fred Astaire, George Murphy, Nelson Eddy, and Robert Young. Among the films she made during the height of her career in the mid-to-late 1930s were Born to Dance (1936), Rosalie (1937), Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Honolulu (1939), and Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). All of these movies featured her amazing solo tapping, although her increasingly huge production numbers began to draw criticism. Her characters also sang, but Powell’s singing voice was usually (but not always) dubbed.

Together, Astaire and Powell danced to Porter’s “Begin the Beguine”, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest tap sequences in film history. According to accounts of the making of this film, including a documentary included on the DVD release, Astaire was somewhat intimidated by Powell, who was considered the only female dancer ever capable of out-dancing Astaire. In his autobiography Steps in Time, Astaire remarked, “She ‘put ‘em down like a man’, no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself.” In his introduction to the clip, featured in That’s Entertainment, Frank Sinatra said, “You know, you can wait around and hope, but I tell ya, you’ll never see the likes of this again.”

Eleanor Powell, considered “the world’s greatest feminine rhythm and tap dancer” of her time. In 1965, she was named the World’s Greatest Tap Dancer by the Dance Masters of America.

Powell was reintroduced to audiences in the popular That’s Entertainment! documentary in 1974, and its sequels That’s Entertainment Part II (1976) and That’s Entertainment! III (1994) and the related film That’s Dancing! (1985) which spotlight her dancing from films such as Broadway Melody of 1940, Lady Be Good, and Born to Dance. She is one of only a few performers to be the subject of spotlight segments (as opposed to being included in a montage with other performers) in all four films. That’s Entertainment! III is notable for including behind-the-scenes footage of her “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” routine from Lady Be Good.

Powell’s films continue to be broadcast on television regularly by Turner Classic Movies, with most released in the VHS video format in 1980s and 1990s. North American DVD release of her work has been slower in coming. Aside from clips from her films being included in the aforementioned That’s Entertainment! trilogy, plus clips that were featured in other releases such as the 2002 special edition DVD release of Singin’ in the Rain, it wasn’t until the 2003 DVD release of Broadway Melody of 1940 that a complete Powell film was released in the format. In February 2007, Warner Home Video announced plans to release a boxed DVD set of Eleanor Powell’s musical films by year end. This did not occur; instead, on April 8, 2008 Warner released a third boxed set in the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory series, with nine films, four of which star Powell: Broadway Melody of 1936, Born to Dance, Broadway Melody of 1938, and Lady Be Good. The films are expected to be released in individual two film sets (the two Broadway Melody films in one set, Born to Dance/Lady Be Good on the other) later in the year. Since 2007 several other Powell films have emerged on DVD, including Rosalie, I Dood It (1943) and Sensations of 1945 (1945).

Eleanor Powell died February 11, 1982, of ovarian cancer, aged 69, and is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood in the Cathedral Mausoleum, Foyer Niche 432, Tier 3.

58 Amazing Portrait Photos of Canadian Soldiers during the Great War

Lieutenant Felix Olivier Bolte, Canadian Expeditionary Force
Lt Bolte died, aged 24, on 2 September 1918 on the Western Front.

Corporal Filip Konowal
47 (British Columbia) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Corporal Konowal was awarded the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Hill 70 in Lens, France for actions during 22- 24 August 1917

Lieutenant C Alvarez
32 Battalion, Canadian Infantry

**Arthur and William Ware, No. 2 Construction Battalion**

**Three officers of The Royal Canadian Regiment: brothers Lieut. Rupert Murray Millett, MC, Lieut. Frederick Brenton Millett, MC, and Lieut. John Stanley Millett.**

**Lt William John Alexander Stewart, 12th Canadian Machine Gun Company July 15, 1917**

**A studio portrait of a Canadian infantryman whose uniform displays two wound stripes on his sleeve during World War One, circa 1918.**

**Sapper Hugh C. Elliott, Royal Canadian Engineers**

**Private Louis Bender was killed 9 August 1918.**

**Lieutenant Herbert Charles Rounds. He was killed in action on 26 August 1918.**

**Private A. Turner. He was killed in action on 11 April 1917 at Vimy Ridge, France.**

**Captain Carleton Carroll Green. He was killed in action at Courcelette on 26 September 1916 and was buried with his major and the colonel of the battalion with full military honours.**

**Private John M. Maley. He died in 1917.**

**Platoon Sergeant J. Spooner. He served with the 18th Battalion, 4th Brigade, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was killed in action 14 November 1915.**

**Private Walter Conrad Schierholz. He was killed Dec. 1917.**

**Cadet Walter T. Philip. He enlisted at Kitchener, Ontario, in the Royal Flying Corps. He was killed in an accident at Leaside, Ontario, on 5 September 1918**

**Private Herbert and Corporal Fred Christian Luft**

26 Amazing Photos of Cars in America From the 1940s to the 1960s

These are amazing photos that captured cool cars on the streets of the United States from between the 1940s and 1960s.

**1969 AMC Ambassador, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 1969**

**1948 Oldsmobile 98, Little Orleans, MD.**

**1956 Ford Fairlane Victoria, Clearwater, FL**

**1948 Packard Custom 8 Convertible in Autumn foliage**

**Escondido Bowl and a Red 1962 Ford Galaxie in Escondido, California.**

**1964 Chrysler Turbine Car — NY World’s Fair**

**1950 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe 4-Door Sedan**

**A couple strike an all-American pose with the new car, a 1952 Cadillac convertible in rich burgundy with natural interior, Washington D.C.**

**Ice Fishing from the 1946 Chrysler New Yorker, somewhere in Michigan’s thumb district, 1955**

**A couple of hip chicks strike a pose behind the with a mint green 1955 Chevy 210 4-door sedan behind the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Grauman’s Theater on N. Orange, Los Angeles, 1956**

**Woman and her 1955 Ford Fairlane Sunliner in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 1956**

**1956 Pontiac, Middletown, New York, 1960**

**Pioneer Auto Museum, Murdo, South Dakota, 1965**

**1956 Chevy Bel Air at Spring Break, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 1966**

**Pontiac Superior Ambulance, somewhere in USA, 1967**

35 Fabulous Photos of Famous People Hanging Out Together Volume 4

**1967. Hollywood. American singing stars Sonny and Cher the hosts of the garden party staged in honour of English model Twiggy, right.**

**Robin Williams, Richard Pryor and Burt Reynolds**

**L/R Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival in Newport. R.I.**

**Eartha Kitt and James Dean taking Katherine Dunham’s dance class**

**John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Pierre Elliott Trudeau**

**Newman, Martin, Garner, Mitchum, Davis.**

**Harry Belafonte and Martin Luther King Jr.**

**Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jack Lemmon**

**American actors Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper talk at an Academy Awards after party, Los Angeles, California, April 1970. Singer Michelle Phillips stands in the foreground.**

24 Vintage Photos of Edie Sedgwick During the 1960s

Edith Sedgwick (1943–1971) was an American actress, socialite, fashion model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol’s superstars. Sedgwick became known as “The Girl of the Year” in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol’s short films in the 1960s.

Edie was introduced to Andy Warhol in 1965. Very much taken with the Boston native, Warhol announced that he was crowning Edie “the queen of The Factory,” and commissioned screenplays for her. Wein became his new screenwriter and assistant director, beginning with “Beauty No. 2,” which starred Edie and premiered at the Cinematheque on July 17, 1965. “Beauty No. 2” made Edie Sedgwick the leading lady of underground cinema.

Her on-screen persona was compared to Marilyn Monroe, and she became famous among the independent film glitterati. Her association with Warhol helped secure both his reputation and hers. With the glamorous Edie in tow, Warhol made the rounds of parties and gallery openings, and they generated reams of copy and free publicity. Originally an outsider, Warhol was eventually wooed by wealthy socialites and became a major part of the art establishment.

**circa 1965: American Pop artist Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987) sits next to actor Edie Sedgwick (1943 – 1971) and lights her cigarette, on the set of one of his films.**

**circa 1965 — Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick at Party**

**circa 1965, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA — Andy Warhol Looks Adoringly at Edie Sedgwick**

**15 Mar 1966, New York City, New York, USA — Bodysuit by Venus; flower studded stockings by Givenchy.**

**1965, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA — Actress and model Edie Sedgwick poses for a photographer in Andy Warhol’s New York studio called The Factory.**

**1965, New York, New York, USA — Edie Sedgwick and the movie star Kevin McCarthy at a pool party at Al Roon’s health club in New York City.**

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45 Stunning Photos of Actress Esther Williams in the 1940s and 1950s

Born 1921 in Inglewood, California, American competitive swimmer and actress Esther Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose’s Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show’s move from New York City to San Francisco.

Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, she made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as “aquamusicals,” which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.

From 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film listed among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, she appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while at MGM.

Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.

Williams was also a successful businesswoman. She lent her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Williams died in her sleep in 2013, from natural causes, in her Los Angeles home, at the age of 91.

These glamorous photos that captured portrait of young Esther Williams in the 1940s and 1950s.

48 Vintage Behind-the-Scenes Photos of Elizabeth Taylor Filming ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ in 1958

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1958 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams and adapted by Richard Brooks and James Poe.

One of the top-ten box office hits of 1958 with the film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives, the film was a hit with audiences. According to MGM records the film earned $7,660,000 in the US and Canada and $3,625,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $2,428,000.

Here below are glamorous photos that captured Elizabeth Taylor while filming Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) Directed by Richard Brooks Shown: Elizabeth Taylor

16 Glamorous Vintage Photographs That Show Celebrities Enjoying Venice, Italy From Between the 1950s and 1970s

These vintage photographs, dating from the 1950s to the 1970s, showed everyone from actors to painters enjoying Venice, Italy. The city was host to the world’s first film festival and long attracted the rich and famous to its renowned waterways. Some like Salvador Dali enjoyed a relaxing gondola ride while American actress Gene Tierney tried rowing instead.