If I Had One Wish . . . Zachary Scott

I simply adore Zachary Scott. He is in my current fav film, Mildred Pierce. I didn't really know a lot about him, but after doing a bit of research, I respect him even more.

So on that note, here is Zachary Scott's One Wish: "If I had one wish that could actually be fulfilled, it would be for the complete and utter elimination of racial prejudice."

"Recently a great colored artist came to town - an artist whose talent brought happiness, entertainment, and great escape from reality to millions of people all over the world. I know many famous Hollywood people who would have deemed it a privilege to meet him, I decided to entertain. I live in a small house which is inadequate for large parties, so I tried to make reservations elsewhere. I called every place I could think of, but each one had a different excuse. Finally and appallingly, the truth dawned on me. It was because of the artist's being colored. Most restaurant owners were amenable, but they said their help would walk out!"

Horrible story. Wonder who it was. I love the Forties, but there were things that were definitely not cool about the time.

"I still suffer from shock when I think this can happen. My sincerest wish is that racial prejudice could be vanished from this Earth."

Serious stuff, but Zachary did really walk the walk and talk the talk. He did tons of charity for the poor, U.S. soldiers, and racial causes.

Some Zachary Scott Trivia:

• He was a descendant of George Washington's sister, Betty
• He was a son of a surgeon, and was going to be a surgeon too until he caught the acting bug
• Hobbies included: Classical music, golfing, gourmet cooking, gardening, horseback riding, antique collecting, and swimming
• His first wife Elaine Anderson divorced him and married author John Steinbeck
• He was nearly drown in a rafting accident but survived, only to become incredibly depressed from it
• In 1951 he was arrested at a bar in Louisiana for violating segregation laws. He was in a black establishment drinking alcohol with African-Americans. he protested in court that he was invited to the bar by black men in uniform and that he was proud to drink with US soldiers
• Was married to Ruth Hall on July 6, 1952. For info on Ruth, check out my post here: http://flapperdays.blogspot.com/2009/08/favorite-food-of-famous-stars-8-ruth.html
• Arrested in 1961 in Hawaii for doing a Hula dance intoxicated
• Unfortunately he passed away penniless from a brain tumor on October 3, 1965

Favorite Foods of Famous Stars Finale! Dorothy Wilson

Dorothy Wilson (Nov 14 1909 - Jan 7 1998) provides our farewell dinner to our 1934 Famous Stars. Dorothy prepares for us a delightful lunch which includes: Cream of Corn Soup, Croutons, New Chicken Salad, Cheese Crackers, Fresh Pineapple Shortcake, and Tea or Coffee. Sounds like a delicious meal. The salad sounds delicious. I can always go for soup and salad. Shortcake is always delightful. I'm not sure what makes it Pineapple Shortcake, unless it is because shortcake kind of looks like pineapple rounds.

Dorothy Wilson got into films quite accidentally. This Minneapolis, Minnesota born actress just wanted to travel, and she found herself in Los Angeles. Dorothy was a secretary at RKO, and quite happy to be so, when she was discovered. She even had a clause in her contract that if she was dropped from a film, she could return to her secretarial job.

Her first film was 1932's Age of Consent, in which she co-lead. She made 21 films during her Hollywood career. She would retire after marrying Oscar-winning scriptwriter Lewis R. Foster (His Oscar was for writing Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Fantastic film by the way).

Some Dorothy Wilson Trivia:

She replaced Ida Lupino in 1935's The Milky Way

She was asked to test for the role of Melanie in 1939's Gone With the Wind. We all know the part went to Olivia de Havilland, but it would be interesting to see how Dorothy would have done. She is quoted as saying that was the only role that could have brought her out of retirement. I wonder what sort of career we missed out on because she lost the role . . .

Favorite Foods of Famous Stars Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore (Aug 19 1900 - Jan 25 1988) offers a spread of Irish delights for us to try today: Cream of Green Pea Soup, Bread sticks, Shamrock Salad, Rolled Asparagus Salad, Sweet Gherkins, Green Olives, County Cork Ice Cream, Pistachio Mints, Irish Delights, and Coffee. Sounds like a reasonably good meal. Not quite sure why Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanuts is County Cork Ice Cream. Do they have a lot of peanuts or something?

Here is a simple recipe for Cream of Green Pea Soup:
Drain 1 can of peas or use 2 cups fresh peas, add slice onion, sprig parsley and mint, 1/8 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook 20 minutes in 2 cups water. Blend with cream sauce and garnish with whole peas. A little pimento or tomato may be added to the whipped cream.

I first heard of Colleen Moore as a child when I read an article about her fairytale doll castle at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago in American Girl magazine. As a total doll addict, I was totally enchanted with the idea of a real fairytale castle.

I mean how cool is it when the books are real, and the marble sink is real marble, and the gilded gold is real gold?

Here are a couple links about the castle:
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/
http://jowaha.com/PPE/FairyCastle.htm

Not much of Colleen's Work survives, but here are a few facts about her:

• She came to Hollywood in 1917 because D.W. Griffith owed her uncle a favor
• Colleen was a 1922 WAMPAS baby star
• She had an affair in the 1920s with King Vidor
• She had one blue eye and one green eye
• Her fairytale castle cost $500,000
• Colleen discovered Loretta Young
• Her breakout role was in the 1923 film Flaming Youth (which is believed lost). She donated a copy of a film to a museum in the 1960s, but they forgot to restore it and it deteriorated
  
  

Here is a short clip of Colleen in Ella Cinders:

Favorite Foods of Famous Stars Gigi Parrish

Gigi Parrish (Aug 30, 1912 - Feb 8, 2006) provided us with a wonderful dessert menu. Even though it is described as "unusual bridge desserts", the options look rather tasty to me.

Gigi's menu includes: Chocolate Mint Parfaits, Smooth Fruit Sherbet, and Fresh Peach Ice Cream Pie. Delicious!



Above is a picture of Gigi on her exciting Honeymoon at the tender age of 15. I never was able to have a Honeymoon myself, but I can't imagine choosing to motorcycle across the country during the 1920s. Gigi was obviously an adventurous dame.

Gigi Parrish was a real tough one to come up with some info or pics about. She only appeared in 9 films, most in uncredited roles. The most famous films she appeared in were Twentieth Century (934) uncredited and Roman Scandal (1933) uncredited.

I've added some of films I knew she was in. The Hollywood short was fun. Wish I could get some of those giant beer glasses :)



Gigi was also part of the 1934 WAMPAS Baby Stars. The WAMPAS were seen as promising stars of the future. Some WAMPAS babies included Joan Crawford, Clara Bow, Ginger Rogers, Joan Blondell, Loretta Young, Fay Wray and several other girls featured in this cookbook.

For a full list of the WAMPAS, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAMPAS_Baby_Stars