63 Beautiful Photos of Actress Gene Tierney during the 1940s

With prominent cheekbones and the most appealing overbite of her day, her striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Her acting performances were few in the 1950s as she battled a troubled emotional life that included hospitalization and shock treatment for depression.

Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, to well-to-do parents, Belle Lavinia (Taylor) and Howard Sherwood Tierney. Her father was a successful insurance broker and her mother was a former teacher. Her childhood was lavish indeed. She also lived, at times, with her equally successful grandparents in Connecticut and New York. She was educated in the finest schools on the East Coast and at a finishing school in Switzerland.

After two years in Europe, Gene returned to the US where she completed her education. By 1938 she was performing on Broadway in What a Life! and understudied for The Primerose Path (1938) at the same time. Her wealthy father set up a corporation that was only to promote her theatrical pursuits. Her first role consisted of carrying a bucket of water across the stage, prompting one critic to announce that “Miss Tierney is, without a doubt, the most beautiful water carrier I have ever seen!” Her subsequent roles Mrs O’Brian Entertains (1939) and RingTwo (1939) were meatier and received praise from the tough New York critics. Critic Richard Watts wrote “I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have a long and interesting theatrical career, that is if the cinema does not kidnap her away.”

After being spotted by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck during a stage performance of the hit show The Male Animal (1940), Gene was signed to a contract with 20th Century-Fox. Her first role as Barbara Hall in Hudson’s Bay (1941) would be the send-off vehicle for her career. Later that year she appeared in The Return of Frank James (1940). The next year would prove to be a very busy one for Gene, as she appeared in The Shanghai Gesture (1941), Sundown (1941), Tobacco Road (1941) and Belle Starr (1941). She tried her hand at screwball comedy in Rings on Her Fingers (1942), which was a great success. Her performances in each of these productions were masterful. In 1945 she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ellen Brent in Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Though she didn’t win, it solidified her position in Hollywood society. She followed up with another great performance as Isabel Bradley in the hit The Razor’s Edge (1946).

In 1944, she played what is probably her best-known role (and, most critics agree, her most outstanding performance) in Otto Preminger’s Laura (1944), in which she played murder victim named Laura Hunt. In 1947 Gene played Lucy Muir in the acclaimed The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). By this time Gene was the hottest player around, and the 1950s saw no letup as she appeared in a number of good films, among them Night and the City (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Close to My Heart (1951), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Personal Affair (1953) and The Left Hand of God (1955). The latter was to be her last performance for seven years. The pressures of a failed marriage to Oleg Cassini, the birth of a daughter with learning disabilities in 1943, and several unhappy love affairs resulted in Gene being hospitalized for depression. When she returned to the the screen in Advise & Consent (1962), her acting was as good as ever but there was no longer a big demand for her services.

Her last feature film was The Pleasure Seekers (1964), and her final appearance in the film industry was in a TV miniseries, Scruples (1980). Gene died of emphysema in Houston, Texas, on November 6, 1991, just two weeks shy of her 71st birthday.
Text via IMDb

Actress Gene Tierney, performing in the motion picture, Dragonwick. 1945
Actress Gene Tierney, performing in the motion picture, Dragonwick. 1945
Actress Gene Tierney, performing in the motion picture, Dragonwick. 1945
1944: Gene Tierney, as Laura, dressed in a raincoat and rainhat, stares solemnly at co-star Dana Andrews who plays Detective McPherson in the film ‘Laura’ directed by Otto Preminger.
1944: Dana Andrews puts the spotlight on Gene Tierney during the interrogation scene of the film noir, ‘Laura’, directed by Otto Preminger.
Gene Tierney and Vincent Price

Pioneering Female Photographers: Amazing Portraits of Victorian Women Behind Their Cameras

The participation of women in photography goes back to the very origins of the process. Several of the earliest women photographers, most of whom were from Britain or France, were married to male pioneers or had close relationships with their families. It was above all in northern Europe that women first entered the business of photography, opening studios in Denmark, France, Germany, and Sweden from the 1840s, while it was in Britain that women from well-to-do families developed photography as an art in the late 1850s. Not until the 1890s did the first studios run by women open in New York City.

In the United States, women first photographed as amateurs, several producing fine work which they were able to exhibit at key exhibitions. They not only produced portraits of celebrities and Native Americans but also took landscapes, especially from the beginning of the 20th century. The involvement of women in photojournalism also had its beginnings in the early 1900s but slowly picked up during World War I.

Shown is an amazing portrait-photo collection of pioneering female photographers in the Victorian era.

47 Stunning Photos of Actress Faye Emerson During the 1940s and Early 1950s

Born 1917 in Elizabeth, Louisiana, American film actress and television interviewer Faye Emerson had her film debut in 1941 and acted in many Warner Bros. films.

In 1944, Emerson played one of her more memorable roles as Zachary Scott’s former lover in The Mask of Dimitrios. She also appeared in a number of other crime dramas: Danger Signal (1945) and Guilty Bystander (1950).

Emerson’s Broadway debut came in 1948 in The Play’s the Thing. Her other Broadway credits included Back to Methuselah (1958), Protective Custody (1956), The Heavenly Twins (1955), and Parisienne (1950).

In 1948, Emerson made a move to TV and began acting in various anthology series, including The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, and Goodyear Television Playhouse. She served as host for several short-lived talk shows and musical/variety shows, including Paris Cavalcade of Fashions (1948) and The Faye Emerson Show (CBS, 1950).

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Emerson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Her star is located at 6529 Hollywood Blvd.

Emerson died in 1983 at age 65 from stomach cancer in Deià, Majorca, where she had lived since 1975.

Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of Faye Emerson in the 1940s and Eraly 1950s.

20 Wonderful Photos Showing Women’s Fashion in the 1910s

While many people think of the 1920s as the years when women’s clothes became radical, women’s fashions in the 1910s made a definitive switch from what had come before, marking the new century as something special.

Until 1908, the curvaceous silhouette that had characterized the 1890s was still in vogue, but it underwent some changes. The push was for corsetry that was more supportive of the spine and abdomen. Clothing was moving away from the heavy, restrictive styles that required bustles and padding and towards a more natural form. Women wanted healthier lives and healthier clothes to go with those lives.

Here, a small collection vintage images from the Library of Congress that show women’s fashions from the 1910s.

(Images via The Library of Congress)

Wonderful Photos of Farrah Fawcett and Her Future Husband Lee Majors Before Their Marriage During the 1960s and Early 1970s

Farrah Fawcett and Lee Majors started dating in 1968. The latter spotted a photo of Fawcett in his agent’s office, and asked to be introduced to her. “I remember thinking she was quite beautiful and had a beautiful name,” he told People magazine.

Given that Majors was already famous as the star of the western series The Big Valley, he took it upon himself to mentor Fawcett and help her career.

“She was just a little girl from Corpus Christi,” he recalled. “All the mistakes I had made and the lessons I had learned the hard way, I tried to use to help Farrah.” Majors used his clout to get Fawcett guest roles on TV, including her breakout part on the Owen Marshall series.

They married in 1973, but by the end of the decade, the celebrity couple had drifted apart. They finalized their divorce in 1982, after Fawcett had fallen for Majors’ close friend Ryan O’Neal.

Before their marriage, these photos captured lovely moments of Farrah Fawcett and her future husband Lee Majors in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

30 Wonderful Vintage Photos of Famous Dads With Their Daughters

The father/daughter relationship is a special one, a thought that’s not lost on these famous fathers. Whether they’re brand-new daddies just learning the ropes of parenthood or experienced family men, these busy showbiz dads make time for the lil lucky ladies in their lives. Scroll down for a selection of cute celebrity dads and their even cuter offspring.

John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942.
Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942
Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945.
Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946.
Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949.
Jackie and Rachel Robinson with their infant daughter, Sharon, Los Angeles, 1950.
Pablo Picasso and daughter Paloma, 1951.
Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952.
Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953.
Richard Burton and daughter Kate, 1957.
John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958.
Dean Martin with daughter Gina Caroline, 1958.
Tony Curtis with daughter Jamie Lee, 1959.
John Glenn with daughter Lyn, 1959.
Ann-Margret with her father Gustav Olsson, 1961.
Burt Lancaster with daughter Sighle (pronounced Sheila), 1961
Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, 1961.
Astronaut Scott Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962.
John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962.
Actor Steve McQueen kissing daughter goodnight at home. 1963
Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963.
Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964
Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and daughter Hayley, 1965.
Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy (with Yul Brynner), 1965.
Charlie Chaplin with daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966.
Charles M. Schulz and daughter Jill, 1967.
Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969.
Dustin Hoffman with his daughter Karina, 1969.
Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969.
Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970.

34 Amazing Vintage Photos Showing Farewell Scenes at Penn Station during World War II

At the height of the Second World War, in April 1943, LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt came to Penn Station and captured the sorrowful farewell scenes between young soldiers and their families. These forlorn figures, who were bidding goodbyes, seemed to anxiously fear that they might never have any chance to reunite with their loved ones after this departure.

Here’s how LIFE described the scenes in its February 14, 1944 issue:

They stand in front of the gates leading to the trains, deep in each other’s arms, not caring who sees or what they think.

Each goodbye is a drama complete in itself, which Eisenstaedt’s pictures movingly tell. Sometimes the girl stands with arms around the boys’ waist, hands tightly clasped behind. Another fits her head into the curve of his cheek while tears fall onto his coat. Now and then the boy will take her face between his hands and speak reassuringly. Or if the wait is long they may just stand quietly, not saying anything. The common denominator of all these goodbyes is sadness and tenderness, and complete oblivion for the moment to anything but their own individual heartaches.

Below are 34 black-and-white photographs capture the farewells at the station:

58 Vintage Photos of People with their Cars in the Early 20th Century

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