Huge stars of yore that are totally forgotten now

Judd Nelson.

Anthony Michael Hall

Emilio Estevez

Lou Diamond Phillips

Mark Linn-Baker

Poor thing

WC Fields is not totally forgotten. But it's true that younger people have no idea who he is.

Lilly Langtry though. She is totally forgotten.

I was brought up on WC Fields!

Douglas Fairbanks

John Barrymore

Lillian Gish

Mary Pickford

Remember us mate?

"The day I drank a glass of water..."

I do, OP!

I know of all these people, except Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, and Mark Linn-Baker.

Remember me you fool?

I miss Vaudeville.

We were big for a whole week!

Judy Garland.

Marilyn Miller

Will Rogers

Eddie Cantor

Beatrice Lillie

Joe Penner (the original Pee Wee Herman)

Faye Emerson

Fred Allen

Jack Paar

Dagmar

Pinky Lee

Andy Russell

Harold Lloyd

Kay Kendall

Tiny Tim

The Hudson Brothers

Tanya Tucker

Joey Heatherton

Lola Falana

Pia Zadora

Andy Gibb

Meryl Streep

Irene Cara

The Lennon Sisters

Michael Biehn

Richard Bey

Rolanda Watts

Soupy!

Gallagher

Some people dont realize the meaning of HUGE......not just some flavor of the month (even if its a few years)

Alice Faye

Rudy Vallee

Libby Holman

Helen Morgan

Alice White

Kay Francis

I bet most today under 40 haven’t a clue.

I also disagree with W.C Fields. He was before my time but if you ever watch any of his skits he is still funny.

Edgar Bergen

Fibber McGee and Molly

The Bay City Rollers

Fabian

The Guess Who

The Grass Roots

America

Three Dog Night

Virginia Graham

Jack Paar

Flip Wilson

Jimmy Roselli

Jerry Vale

Lynette Squeaky Fromme

Patty Hearst

Veronica Lake

Mary Astor

Miss Kate Smith was very big.....

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

^^ Roaches & the Kardashicunts will be the only things left after nuclear war.

Good. They'll die quickly without attention.

Glenda Jackson

John Gary

Guy Lombardo

Frankie Vaughan

Helen Kane

R11 I had totally forgotten about that. Jeff reminds me somewhat of Andy Cohen, only straight.

R13, Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades is pretty popular. People may not know much about him but they still recognize the name.

We do this thread every six months and as usual nobody understands the difference between "forgotten" and "no longer cultural touchstones." I don't have many conversations about W.C. Fields, but his movies are still issued on home media and available, so somebody remembers him. The Criterion Collection is re-issuing the Harold Lloyd movies so he's hardly forgotten. Just because people don't have 500 DL threads about them doesn't mean no-one knows who they are.

People have forgotten all about silent film star Lesbos DuSnatch, famous for her role as Horse in The Fiddler's Come for Jebediah, and, coincidentally, inventing the yak hair tampon.

The legendary Belle Poitrine

Fatty Arbuckle was the hugest!

Miss Pola Negri

Mabel Normand

Norma and Constance Talmadge

Billie Dove

George Jessel

Tom Mix

Mistinguette

Miss Ruth Chatterton

You don't hear much about Lili von Schtupp, the Teutonic Titwillow, anymore. Pity.

Jessie Mathews

Milton Berle

Phil Silvers

Red Skelton

I have Pola Negri's cd, she was a good singer. I love Jessie Mathews, I have one of her collections, and Ruth Chatterton, I've seen a lot of her movies, Diary of a Crime, and Female. I love Mistinguette's Ça c'est Paris, always puts me in a good mood.

Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman

Scottish vaudevillian Harry Lauder was the wealthiest and most famous entertainer of his era, bar none. Now completely forgotten.

Doris Singleton

I work with a woman who's 27 or 28 and I was amazed at all the stars of yore she had never heard of. Bob Hope, John Wayne, Bette Davis, Johnny Carson were just some of the many she couldn't identify.

Most of these are dead-on, but not W C Fields. He's a cultural phenomenon that's lasted through the years.

Jackie Cooper, especially now that they're not showing the Little Rascals on television anymore.

Betty Grable

Myrna Loy

Constance Bennett

Gloria Swanson

Alan Ladd

I was a HUGE star of course you didn't know it because I stood behind things

Annie, you were a huge star even before you were a HUGE star. And what was your assessment of Kirk's "talents," since he wrote that you and he did the horizontal hula while filming "A Letter to Three Wives "?

Mae West

Janis Joplin

Jean Harlow

Joan Bennett'

Rudolph Valentino

Lon Chaney

So many of these choices are just wrong.

Squeaky Fromme? Are you kidding me? She was immortalized in Sondheim's Assassins and packed houses were cheering her on at Encores this past summer.

Lola Falana? Everyone knows her Tony-nominated role in Doctor Jazz. Ditto for Irene Cara with her performance in the infamous Got Tu Go Disco.

And Will Rogers? LOL The Will Rogers Follies won Best Musical not THAT ago. Keith Carradine won a Tony for playing him and everyone remembers Dee Hoty's torch song, "No Man Left For Me."

Janis Joplin just had a jukebox musical on Broadway (the lead actress was nominated for Best Actress in a musical).

Gloria Swanson? Sunset Blvd is one of the most famous movies ever made and more importantly the picture of her standing in those ruins inspired Sondheim to write Follies.

I could go on and on, but 80% of the people mentioned in this thread are well-remembered today.

Alla Nazimova

Sure, Jan ^

Mae West

[quote]It's better to be looked over than overlooked.

Jean Arthur. She was the highest paid woman in the United States during the 1940s. She was a great actress who could pull off any role. For a lesson in subtlety actresses should be required to watch her in Shane.

I can name 3 from one film, [BOLD]The Killing of Sister George[/BOLD]

[BOLD]Susannah York

Beryl Reid

Coral Browne [/BOLD] (possibly remembered on her more than anywhere else because of her 'lavender' marriage to Vincent Price)

I know all of the others named on here, I'm that old!

Plus just remembered [BOLD]Googie Withers[/BOLD] (who was in Shine with Geoffrey Rush in1996)

i

^^ here

Greer Garson

Myrna Loy

Eve Arden

Alan Ladd

Marlene Dietrich

I met Douglas Fairbanks Jr when I was about 10 years old in Manchester. My Mum worked at the university and was a bit in love with him.

I could see her point of view, he was impressive (and very tall) even at 68

Ramon Navarro

Burt Bacharach.

[BOLD]Kathy Kirby[/BOLD]

Not forgotten by me as she was my neighbour for 15 years IN THE 80s/90s after she had retired.

^^ not sure why it came out bold in patches, sorry.

Jerry Mathers

R50, so did your ignoramus co-worker talk about stars who she likes?

Better Kathy Kirby link

Alma Cogan

"The Big Mouth" Martha Raye. A shame, since she was a beloved entertainer who dedicated so much personal time in helping wartime troops. I believe she was even awarded for her military involvement.

Kay Francis

Margaret Sullavan

Julian Eltinge

To my fellow eldergays who think "of course they know who so and so is, how could they not?" i have some events to share ---- chatted up a twink - not a usual practice for me - but his screen name was movie buff ---

Me- hey how are you?

He - good thanks - what r u doing?

Me- watching a movie ....

He- me too!! Whatcha watching?

Me- African queen

He - never heard of it

Me - the African Queen ?? With Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn?????

He - who are they?

Honest to God truth.

My niece refuses to watch anything in black and white. Says they're boring..

My tenant has absolutely no knowledge of movies made before 2000 - except for some action, sci-fi, and pixar. Hes 27.

Thats the world we live in.

Due to TCM the old Hollywood stars are not forgotten. A lot of young people are into those old movies and know who those classic movie stars are.

Sonja Henie, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans

Leif Garrett

Aretha Franklin

Basil Rathbone

Joel McRae

Linda Darnell

Dorothy Dandridge

Sydney Poitier

Kathryn Grayson

John Payne

John Garfield

Patricia Morrison - who is still alive...

I don't know if this is appropriate for this thread, but I'll throw it out there. Mylène Farmer is the 'Madonna of France'. She's hired Donna De Lory (one of Madonna's backup singers) for her tours. I was introduced to her by a Swedish guy on a makeup board (Makeupalley.com). She's done duets with Sting, Moby and Seal, She sells out stadiums in Europe, but is unknown in the US.

This thread is pretty funny.

Just this week I have been watching videos on Youtube.

1. A 1954 TV drama (from Four Star Playhouse) called "A String of Beads" starring Ronald Colman and a very young Angela Lansbury. (less than 30 minutes long)

2. Movie The Lady Pays Off (1951) starring Linda Darnell and Stephen McNally and child star Gigi Perreau.

What can I say, I love the old stuff. And although I've seen a lot of old movies, there is always something on Youtube I've never seen.

Will Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Wayne and others who we see as icons ever fade away ? How does an average today kid learn who they were if they are so engrossed in only the here and now? When I was a kid in the 70s we saw WC Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Abbot & Costello, Three Stooges etc. on TV and we’d watch because there were only a few channels and no internet, video games, etc. to get caught up in.

Irene Dunne

John Barrymore

John Garfield

Frances Farmer

Richard Widmark

R77, that twink meant that he watches movies when in the buff.

Jo Stafford owns this thread

OP, have you learned the difference between a bad memory and pure ignorance?

The W.C. Fields clip with the bitch waitress was actually pretty funny. The match lighting on the guy's ass and him lighting the cellophane on the cigar had me lol.

Magdalena Monezuma

Belle Poitrine

Pixie Portnoy

Carstairs Bagley

Letch Feeley

I could go on and on

Jack Benny

R90 I only know Jo Stafford because of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.

[quote]Magdalena Montezuma

She'll always be remembered as "the meanest Spic in pictures!"

R50, my 26 year old nephew ha no idea who Fred Astaire is/was.

[quote]Miss Pola Negri

I watched a marvelous doc on Pola. She was a lesbian and inherited a fortune from her lesbo lover.

The mere fact that the these “forgotten” stars are even mentioned here means they’re not really forgotten.

My God, R75, she is absolutely insufferable.

Helen Lawson

If they are totally forgotten, then they are no fun to write & read about. OP, there’s a logical flaw here that I can’t get past.

With the retro TV channels and TCM, most of these are not forgotten.

R72, my co-worker is an otherwise intelligent attorney.

Miss....Ethel....BARRYMORE

Marie Dressler. She was a top box office star for several years in the early 30's !

Rudolf Valentino

Errol Flynn

That's RUDOLPH, please

John Bunny--although I am writing a biography that should restore his fame.

W.C. Fields--pure genius... "'p' as in pneumonia," so he told the irritating telephone operator.

Miss Jeanne Eagels.....

Joan Davis

Farrah Fawcett Lee Majors Kristy McNicholl

Julian Eltinge, drag queen and female impressionist extraordinaire at the turn of the last century. She was the toast of Broadway and nationally famous from her many tours.

Below, Eltinge in his best known role as The Fascinating Widow:

"He" r111. He was the toast of Broadway.

One more Eltinge. Love the wasp waist.

Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, showgirl-actress considered by many to be the first "supermodel". If she's thought of at all, it's for her insane husband Harry Thaw's public murder of Evelyn's former sugar-daddy, Stanford White

She looks bizarrely contemporary there r114.

Evelyn Nesbit is a supporting character in the novel, film, and Broadway musical versions of Ragtime. She was considered one of the great beauties of her day and was the model for the original Gibson Girl.

Oh we know ALL about Miss Evelyn here on DL r116!

They certainly still knew who Ethel Barrymore was back in 1952, r103! Not only was she strongly applauded by What's My Line's audience, panelists Dorothy Kilgallen and Arlene Francis even stood up for her as she was leaving the stage, which they rarely did for female guests.

Her segment starts at 16:25.

Constant touring of the hinterlands kept one in the public eye.

There's a debate in the comments of this video as to whether or not this is actually Evelyn Nesbit, but if it is (as her biographer Paula Uruburu claims in the comments), then she was looking good for a woman pushing 50 in 1930:

Le Petomane (aka Joseph Pujol)

As far as comedians of that time frame are concerned, Jimmy Durante would be a [italic]much[/italic] better example than W.C. Fields.

I think Le Petomane is actually not forgotten. People still love toilet humor.

R119, I have never heard that Zanuck was other than a pussyhound.

Ida Lupino, actress, and pioneering director, writer and producer of films and TV of the 40's throughly the 70's. Born 100 years ago this week.

Ethel Waters was truly a huge star in her day, and remained known until her death in 1977. Her talent and subsequent fame enabled her to be "the first African American to perform on the radio, the first to star with an all-white cast in a Broadway show, and the first to perform with white co-stars in the Deep South." Today, only those over 50 would have any recollection of her (and 50 is stretching it).

Ida Lupino never gets enough credit for being a trailblazing female filmmaker. Drives me crazy whenever Babs acts as if she's the groundbreaking female director.

Old Mother Riley (Arthur Lucan)

Shirley Bassey

Danny La Rue

Mabel Mercer

R114, Nesbit is one of the most known on this thread because of Ragtime. EVERYONE can sing "The Crime of the Century" and imitate the famous "wheeeeee" that every actress uses to play her.

How can you think a historical figure who was featured in a musical with Audra frickin McDonald would be obscure to anyone?

'Mr Pastry' (Richard Hearne)

To tie Fields

Mrs0 Patrick Campbell. The real, original Mrs Patrick Campbell.

Forgotten by whom? Late baby boomers remember the likes of Fields, Lupino and Waters and perhaps their kids know as a result of exposure from their parents. The 45 and younger set likely have no idea unless they really love TCM. Totie Fields is def forgotten by most as she went out with the variety/talk show and died relatively young.

Abbott & Costello

They have been showing 'Old Mpther Riley' movies on Talking Pictures channelnin The Uk recently. also The W. Somerset Maughn Quartet movies. They are great!

He's been dead for 63 years!

Mahalia Jackson. Ethel Waters is still a name for some Broadway Babies due to her stage and film work, but who remembers Mahalia today?

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald

Sarah Bernhardt

"Jeff reminds me somewhat of Andy Cohen, only straight."

Honey, if you subtract the gay from Andy Cohen, all you have left is a pair of crossed eyes.

Jeff's eyes, though beady, don't seem crossed to me.

[quote]but who remembers Mahalia today?

Anyone who ever saw "Imitation of Life."

Tiny Tim

Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan; at one point he was big enough to host the Oscars.

Red Skelton

Bela Lugosi

Paul Muni

Tyrone Power

Josephine Baker

Claude Rains

Buddy Rogers

Clara Bow

and the late GREAT Margaret Dumont

R46 R42 the great Gildersleeve radio program (1940s-1950s) had a running gag. The Judge would repeatedly claim that he hadn't been to the movies since Ruth Chatterton retired from film. The gag always got a good laugh.

R142, you made my point . Ask your nearest millennial / young person about Imitation of Life.

R145, between Dracula and Plan 9 From Outer Space, and that Ed Wood bio where Martin Landau won his Oscar for playing him, lots of people still remember Lugosi. Although he is indeed no longer a household name.

John Gilbert

Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl, Hollywood's first star. Ended it with ant paste.

Ramon Navarro

Ray Milland

Robert Taylor

Fred Allen was a huge radio star and is completely forgotten.

Miriam Hopkins was a big star who nobody knows today.

Jeanne Crain is generally forgotten.

I'm a Millennial and love Imitation of Life. Many young people- especially young gay guys- are into old movies.

Miriam Hopkins I don't know outside of Old Acquaintance and Old Maid, but what gay guy doesn't know those films? (I own them both of DVD.)

Josephine Baker was most recently a character in Shuffle Along (the Broadway musical with Audra), but the part was cut during previews and the actress let go, which adds a little extra fun trivia to the part. Baker is mentioned in countless songs and pop culture references.

Just one song reference can keep a person relevant. For example, in Chicago Roxie sings, "Sophie Tucker will shit, I know, To see her name be billed below, Foxy, Roxy Hart." Think of the millions of people who have been exposed to Tucker through that one line, especially the success of this Chicago revival. (Not to mention gay guys know the infamous Broadway flop Bio-musical called Sophie!)

You all need to listen to "Drop That Name" from Bells Are Ringing. Ella keeps hearing people talking about Mary and Ethel (Mary Martin and Ethel Merman, Mary Astor and Ethel Waters, Mary Pickford and Ethel Barrymore) and keep up with it. Very funny.

Bing Crosby was huge and is now forgotten.

Sophie Tucker

Mahalia Jackson

Totie Fields

George Jessel

Jimmy Durante

Pearl Bailey All these old names are familiar to those who were alive in the sixties for one reason: The Ed Sullivan Show.

oops I left off two names^^^

Miss Peggy Lee

Kate Smith

Janet Jackson.

Pearl Bailey is still a huge name. Far from forgotten. I think the current Dolly revival has brought her contributions to the original run back to the forefront again. Since Bailey's replacement stint was recorded it has lived on unlike the other replacements (except for perhaps Merman's because of that well-passed-around bootleg audio of the final performance.)

Bailey was also unforgettable on the House of Flowers OBCR and that has kept her voice alive and in the ears of young people today.

But, I mean, even non-theater buffs know her Dolly recording.

Jonathan Frid?

Early television stars are largely forgotten even though their ratings were huge at the time.

Arthur Godfrey

Art Linkletter

George Goebel

Milton Berle

Ralph Edwards

You know who belongs on R158's list? Perry Como. He was huge in the 50s up until the mid 60s on TV. He then retired to Jupiter Island and became our biggest celebrity resident of that day.

The secret title of this thread is old stars that eldergays remember quite well.

Ronald Colman. He was voted the most popular star a couple of times but the average person today has no idea who he is. Other stars of his era are much better remembered.

The Cisco Kid. Hugely popular then. Roy Rogers, in a way. People know his name, but the family had a family run museum in Victorville with all his and Dale Evans’ memorabilia, including taxidermied Trigger and Dale’s horse Buttermilk (both famous as their owners back in the day). The museum closed in the 2000’s, and moved to Branson. It almost instantly went broke and the collection was auctioned off. No one knew who they were any more.

The family had some infighting about it because they were from Victorville and there’s some streets and freeway exits named for them, so the names were kept alive for the locals. Some family members thought if the museum had stayed in Victorville it would have survived.

They also had an annual Roy Rogers film festival locally the last few years before the museum closed. I went to the museum in Victorville around 2006 and almost every customer was elderly. It’s a shame because it was really well done and had a great gift shop.

There’s a Gene Autry museum in LA that’s not only about Autry personally, but about western history as well, but that museum is in LA so it’s got a lot more traffic and support.

These western stars were an important part of California history, so it’s a shame they’re forgotten.

Ernie Pyle is another person who was hugely famous in the 1940s, so much that a movie was made about him starring Burgess Meredith. There’s a museum for him in his home town too. He got a Pulitzer Prize. People read his syndicated column every day throughout America. He was the first journalist embedded with a military unit, in WWII. A little, skinny guy, maybe130 pounds soaking wet. He and his wife were hard core drunks and she was in and out of mental hospitals all during his time overseas. After he was killed in combat, she fell apart and died shortly after.

The super secret title of this thread is Huge (and Lesser) Stars of Yore Never Known by Millennials Because They're Too Apathetic and Self-Obsessed to Look Beyond the Kardashians.

Exactly, r142!

Mr. Ed

[quote] Mr. Ed

Clint Eastwood hasn't forgotten me.

Miss Dixie Dunbar.....

Peggy Lee is certainly not forgotten. Just on YouTube her videos get 100s of thousands to millions of views.

Baby Peggy, who was Shirley Temple before Shirley was in the Silent Era.

How did no one comment on DL fave Bobby Banas in the Martha Raye video!?!?!

Mrs Patrick Campbell

Millie........

Film noir stars Ralph Meeker and Dana Andrews.

Mr. Meeker had a certain swagger that he employed.

Fess Parker. He opened a winery that is excellent.

The Biggest star of her time. She was loved....

Maude Adams

Guy Lombardo, who, with his band, brought in the New Year for almost fifty years. Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve competitive version couldn't even beat it in ratings until Guy died in 1977.

Eleonora Duse

The poster who said Abbot & Costello is a fool. They are as popular today as they were 70 years ago.

*** BELITA ***

[quote]The poster who said Abbot & Costello is a fool. They are as popular today as they were 70 years ago.

Meanwhile, back in the real world . . .

Let the great Margaret Dumont never be forgot--that would be cultural sacrilege.

Al Jolson.

If it weren't for his biographical movie ever so often on TCM, and the trivia question about how he starred in the Jazz Singer, he would be completely forgotten. Of course, the blackface doesn't help either.

[quote]Al Jolson.

Thank god. What a horrible ham.

[quote]What a horrible ham.

I've never understood Al Jolson. If you read the old articles everyone talks about how he was the greatest entertainer they ever saw, even other singers and actors, and the books talk about how the audience would demand encore after encore. You watch his performances or listen to the recordings and you cringe, even without the black face. Either tastes have changed beyond recognition, or it really is a case of "I guess you had to be there to appreciate it."

That is one reason I never liked Judy Garland. She sings a lot of Al Jolson. While she is a better singer, I still can't stand that type of hammy performance.

Katharine Hepburn

Clark Gable

Vivien Leigh

Spencer Tracy

Robert Redford

Greer Garson

Joan Fontaine

Claudette Colbert

Anne Baxter

Alice Faye

Mary Astor

When I was a little boy, my grandmother brought me to see Guy Lombardo and Lucie Arnaz at a day time concert in that amphitheater at Jones Beach. It was a nice day.

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[quote]Thank god. What a horrible ham.

Even death couldn't end the hamminess; here's a pic of Jolson's grave, complete with statue of a Mammy!-ing Al. You can actually see it from the 405 freeway:

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, “the Lunts,” were the reigning couple on Broadway for decades.

Katherine Cornell was another great Broadway star, only remembered now for a bit part in her only movie, “Stage Door Canteen.”

Deanna Durbin was a mighty presence for years, then faded away.

Charles Lindbergh, whose solo flight made him a more or less international star and authority, even in spite of being pro-Nazi and polygamous. But everyone on the planet knew who he was.

Even Ingrid Bergman, now mostly known to the population for “Casablanca,” had such popularity that she was actually denounced on the floor of the U. S. Senate when she left her husband and daughter to run off to Italy for Roberto Rossellini. That was a sensation.

To imply that Ingrid Bergman is mostly forgotten today is the absolute zenith of absurdity.

[quote]Ingrid Bergman, now mostly known to the population for “Casablanca,”

Well, there's that plus a few others

[quote]To imply that Ingrid Bergman is mostly forgotten today is the absolute zenith of absurdity.

The zenith? LOL

Very old people know who she is, but that is it.

R184, I think Jolson would have been terrible to know, but was electrifying on screen.

Most people under 40 have no idea who Ingrid Bergman or Katharine Hepburn are

[quote] Deanna Durbin was a mighty presence for years, then faded away.

She walked away and turned her back on the whole business. That's not fading away.

Most lazy, incurious people with no interest in history or the arts or much of anything else have no idea who Ingrid Bergman or Katharine Hepburn are.

Gracie Fields.

Highest paid movie star ever in 1931.

Bergman was a major star in her day, known worldwide. Her desertion of her family made headlines.

And though we oldsters here are more than familiarvwitb her (Hey, I even saw her onstage, in “The Constant Wife.”), it’s doubtful many people in the so-called “general population” are even aware of the name.

On the other hand, I couldn’t have cared less about Michael Jackson, before or after his death. Let alone that freak called Prince... And now I wouldn’t be surprised if there are those who don’t know who they were either.

It’s not a diss on the stars, it happens to every performer. If someone was not a current star when you were growing up, why on earth would you be expected to know who they are? Black and white movies especially seem incredibly dated

Charo

Christopher Cross

Tom Hulce

Lou Christie

Jim Croce

"If someone was not a current star when you were growing up, why on earth would you be expected to know who they are? Black and white movies especially seem incredibly dated"

Why should someone know Shakespeare?

Warren Beatty

Dustin Hoffman

Michael Douglas

Kathleen Turner

Ryan O’Neal

Victor Mature

R203 Isn't that the argument advanced by young, dumb quiz show contestants who don't know who Henry VIII was?

Roger Moore

[quote] Why should someone know Shakespeare?

They don’t

Right. Shakespeare is "totally forgotten" now.

Shakespeare? I don't know her.

I work with a lot of young people and they do not know stars from the 30’s or 40’s. They don’t even know stars from the 70’s or 80’s.

Agree with r211 The majority of people 25 and under have no idea who Molly Ringwald is. The answers for this vary greatly depending on who the "forgettors" are.

[Quote]Shakespeare? I don't know her.

I bet you know Shakespears Sister!

When my nephew was little he was sure that Jesus was also Santa Claus.

Given that the first 'Movie Stars' didn't appear until about 1910 I don't think that 100 years is a huge amount to remember.

In The UK we have to learn 2000 years of our own (Roman/Dark Age/British) history, also Greek/Egyptian and (too much) US history. Then there is Commonwealth and Empire.

I even had to learn Latin!

Miss Lilyan Tashman

Eddie Cantor

[quote]except for perhaps Merman's because of that well-passed-around bootleg audio of the final performance.

Actually, that famous BL is a combination of two different recordings. One was a soundboard recording, the other a recording made from the audience. Neither recording was complete but someone was able to combine the two to make a complete performance. The difference in the sound quality of the two recordings -- the sonic ambience, the prominence of audience noise, the closeness of of the actors' voices -- is totally obvious if you know to listen for it. Neither recording was of the final night but that is what that BL was passed around as for decades.

Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd)

I never get tired of watching WC and his family travel west to their orange grove.

I find it odd that so many young people have a complete aversion to films that are black & white. When I was young and became interested in films made before my time I just accepted that's the way things were. Later I learned that there was a complete art to how things were made -- fabrics, sets, the lighting - especially to capitalize on the fact that they were being filmed in B&W. There was an art to it.

There are so many wonderful films, you can't really appreciate the movies without seeing the evolution process.

It just doesn't make sense to me that so many young people have that attitude. It's in B&W -- so what? Who gives a shit? What does that have to do with enjoying the movie?

What's-his-name? and What's-her-face?

Ultra Violet Nico Barbara Luna Zazu Pitts Monty Rock

Jack Narz

Tom Mix

Phil Silvers

Zero Mostel

Buddy Hackett

[quote]It’s not a diss on the stars, it happens to every performer. If someone was not a current star when you were growing up, why on earth would you be expected to know who they are? Black and white movies especially seem incredibly dated

I'm sorry but I don't understand that.

I was a teenager in the 1970s and I had an interest in silent movies as well as movies from the 1930s and onward. I was a big fan of the Marx Brothers, Hitchcock, 1950s monster movies and 1960s Italian horror films. Almost no one made movies in black-and-white when I was a kid (except for things like Young Frankenstein), but that didn't stop me from watching them on TV.

Now even though people have a much greater opportunity to see things that were profoundly difficult to find back then - for example I didn't see most Louis Bunuel & Ingmar Bergman movies until the 1980s - yet it appears people are more ignorant of film (not to mention music, literary and I would guess art) history now than ever before.

I think a lot of it has to do with parents too. We would always sit with my mother to watch old classic films she was watching. If the parents are in a cultural vacuum, so are the kids.

R190 You beat me to it. He will never be forgotten in LA because of his memorial. I remember the first time I flew to LA and saw it from the freeway on my way to Santa Monica. I am sure that some find it tacky, but the waterfall part along with the colonnade-gazebo thingy is very pretty to me. The statue of Jolson is something else though. I think it's a blessing that in bronze one can't see the black face,

"Jimmy Durante would be a much better example than W.C. Fields."

Besides predating Durante by almost 15 years, Fields wrote his own material and even directed it. Durante was a charming/annoying personality, Fields was a pillar of vaudeville and early comedy.

[quote]The majority of people 25 and under have no idea who Molly Ringwald is.

Not true. She played the mom in The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Gene Autry

Inger Stevens (sp?)...tragic story. Google her

Shirley Booth

Claudia Cardinale

Robert Young

Loretta Young

Rula Lenska

Paul Michael Glaser & David Soul (Starsky & Hutch)

David Janssen

Jim Hutton

Vera Charles

Miss Grace Moore....

Robert Mitchum

Robert Ryan

Robert Taylor

Robert Young

Robert Conrad

Robert Vaughn

Robert Urich

Robert Blake

Robert Wagner

Judy Holliday.

Lylah Clare

Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I found out about him from his appearance on "What's My Line." Dorothy Kilgallen, suddenly deciding to a act like a good catholic, kissed the ring on his finger as he was leaving the stage. During his day, he was a very well-known religious figure, and had his own show on radio and television.

Hay Gurl, haaay!^

Well if ya wanna bring religion into this r238......

Oh shut up, R240!

Jeanne Deckers - Sister Luc-Gabrielle - 'The Singing Nun'.

^^ Poor repressed lesbian.

The Church took her earnings, kicked her out & drove her to suicide.

Oh for heaven’s sake, Shirley Booth is not forgotten. That’s a doozy! Besides giving the greatest Best Actress performance in Academy history, save perhaps for Vivien Leigh in GWTW, she was a beloved sitcom star as Hazel still being rerun today.

R235 - I think Robert Wagner would LIKE to be forgotten, but not as long as LA County Sheriff's investigators considers him a person of interest.

Joan Blondell

Greer Garson

Margaret O'Brien

R244 is at least 97 years old.

R197, I think there's a story that when Garland had performed in Paris she called Durbin to say what a success she had been. The long-retired Durbin said something to the effect of "Are you still doing that shit?"

Fulton Sheen was one of the biggest queens around. He was always surrounded by a gaggle of Broadway's prettiest chorus boys and his favorites were gifted with expensive rings and other presents of their own.

R56 I don't think Valentino is forgotten. He was just a character on American Horror Story: Hotel a couple seasons ago.

Janet Jackson

Maria Casares

I can save some time: "Pretty much everyone eventually."

I know.

Lupe Velez, the Mexican Spitfire

Raymond Burr

Laird Cregar

Hope Emerson

"Cuddles" Szakall

Sidney Greenstreet

Elizabeth Taylor,c. 1980

Salmon P. Chase

R256, it's odd you said that. For some reason, I've gotten hooked on "Perry Mason". It's on MeTV twice a day, and I'm hooked. I love it when the guilty party jumps up at the end yelling "Yes, I did it!".

William Hung

Mary Miles Minter the silent movie star. She was Christopher Isherwood's neighbour in Santa Monica. In his published diary he refers to her as MMM and needless to say she was a real eccentric in later life.

Chad Everett

Connie Chung

Dan Rather

Deborah Norville

Not amongst the gay set but is this guy considered "forgotten"?

BTW, the blonde you see is the writer of this piece.

ok, too much scrolling...it's about Sal Mineo. Quite a ways down on the page.

Silent-screen goddess Alla Nazimova, one-time owner of the Garden of Alla(h) hotel. She was also one of the earliest stars to have one-name billing ("Nazimova").

Wasn't Sheen the one to whom Tallulah Bankhead once exclaimed during Easter services, "Love the gown, but your purse is on fire!"

Hedda Hopper

Joan and Constance Bennett. I was disappointed to find out that it wasn't Joan who shot her lovers balls off while they were screwing in his car. Her boring husband did it.

Mary Martin's "Hello Dolly" was recorded and released as a LP,, nit Ethel Merman's

Glenda Jackson is appearing on Broadway next month in the revival of an Albee play.

R150, Jeanne Crain was always generally forgotten.

Oliver Hardy

Roscoe Arbuckle

Andy Devine

Frank Bonner

Ann Sheridan was a huge star in the 40s.

Singer Vikki Carr was big in the 60s.

Engelbert Humperdinck was big in the late 60s, 70s, had his own tv show

Singer Bobbie Gentry was big for about 7 yrs, circa 1967-1974

Bob Cummings

Gertrude Lawrence

Sophie Tucker

Nancy Ames

Gordon MacRae

Wallace Beery

Lillian Gish

Jean Shrimpton

R273, Frank Bonner was never a "huge star." He was a supporting player on a TV sitcom.

Abbott & Costello

Bing Crosby

Randolph Scott

Jean Simmons

Hugh Herbert

Fibber McGee & Molly

Glenda Farrell

Veronica Lake had her 5 minutes in the early 40s

Tony Curtis

R275 - We'll soon all die out eventually -- but as long as there are little fag boys of the 60s, Vikki will be kept alive. I still find it rather odd that a 7 year old me was convinced that the song "It Must Be Him" was her belting out my story.

Joan Blondell

Ursula Andress

Gwen Verdon

Loretta Young

Richard Kiley

Ginger Rogers

Ray Milland

Dolores del Rio

Constance Bennett

Jack Benny

Richard Burton

Many of the stars mentioned on this thread, too numerous to mention, are hardly "totally forgotten" today, at least not by anyone with even a rudimentary interest in popular culture and entertainment of the past century.

Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears

Spade Cooley

R238. Was Aimee Semple McPherson. About ten years ago, Kathie Lee Gifford co-authored and co-produced a musical about her life and religious career (ASM's.) It played at Signature Theater outside Wash DC and was pretty good. Speaking of religion, does anyone beside me remember singer Jessica Dragonette? She was convent bred and a huge star on radio and records. Lived in NYC until 1980. Her physical appearance and operatic voice bore a likeness to Grace Moore's and Jeanette MacDonald's.

R43:

Teutonic TWAT!

The wonderful Lora Meredith

Even her magnificent Felucci films are mostly forgotten these days

(And Lora made those movies at great personal sacrifice - her life might have gone so differently)

The most famous 20th century entertainers ought to be taught in school. I don’t know much about Harold Lloyd, but I knew his name. People should know that much - that he was a significant performer and professional.

Bonus points for the scandalous. That doubles-down on Fatty Arbuckle, Lilly Langtree, 19th century Oscar Wilde, the Hearsts. The Barrymores are cool. Lionel Barrymore was really confined to a wheelchair, but was so well liked, writers/directors tried to fit him into their films anyway . Kids should recognize him as “Mr. Potter”. John was a great talent who lost everything to drink. The sister was the First Lady of american stage for decades. And kids just might recognize Drew Barrymore from the first Scream picture.

More bonus points for the historically significant, like the crew that created United Artists and why that was a big deal.

Or people who mentored other entertainers. Or have relatives in Hollywood.

I like how Gloria Swanson was a very famous silent film star who retired. Then returned for Sunset Blvd. when film acting had completely changed. She basically played a grotesque fictional version of herself, and was still great! That was gutsy.

Here’s Harold...

basil rathbone

joe e. brown

red skelton

arthur godfrey

Ann Dvorak, Hollywood's forgotten rebel.

Hollywood power couple, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon

Flip Wilson

Kay Francis

Zazu Pitts