Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Film star and director Ida Lupino
STARRLIGHT Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Steve Starr
2012-04-04

This article shared 12781 times since Wed Apr 4, 2012
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


In 1931, English actress Connie Emerald took her daughter Ida along when she auditoned for a role in the film Her First Affair. It was a part Emerald wanted badly. Once they were there, Ida was asked to play the part and won the role. The movie was released in the United Kingdom in 1932, and eventually Ida became a famous film and television star as well as one of the world's very few esteemed female directors.

Ida Lupino was born Feb. 4, 1918 (though variously stated as 1914 and 1916) in Camberwell, London, where she later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her father was the then-popular entertainer Stanley Lupino, who was descended from a theatrical family tradition that went back centuries. Speaking of her father one day she said, "I knew it would break his heart if I didn't go into the business." Her first love was writing.

The Lupinos moved to New York, arriving aboard the Berengaria, and then to Hollywood, where teenaged bleached blonde Ida began to win roles in dozens of low-budget movies. The only significant film appearances she had in the 1930s were in Peter Ibbetson (1935) and The Light That Failed (1939), which proved her great ability to act.

In 1940 the now dark-haired Lupino captured audiences with her obsessive, murderous behavior in They Drive by Night. In Sea Wolf (1941), she stood her ground with Edward G. Robinson, and in High Sierra (1941) she was pitted against Humphrey Bogart, proving she was as strong as any man.

Lupino was married to actor Louis Hayward 1938-1945. He enlisted as a Marine at the beginning of World War II, and his experience in the conflict commanding the photographic unit that filmed the battle of Tarawa (November 1943) which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject, left him badly shell-shocked after a bloody four-day battle, and his condition led to their divorce. During the war, Lupino served as a lieutenant in the Women's Ambulance and Defense Corps.

Lupino's tough demeanor was a fascinating compliment to her beautiful face and, in The Man I Love (1947), she played a nightclub singer of Gershwin's greatest hits who was able to hand-slap a man with a gun to submission. In one memorable scene, after Robert Alda confidently grabbed her and kissed her deeply, she uttered with a divine disgust designed to bring him to a new low, "Not bad … not good!" In one scene she was sewn into a gown so tight she fainted on the set; she was caught by Alda before she hit the floor and the costume had to be cut off to revive her. News of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki distracted the crew and players that summer, but the steamy atmosphere created a tension audiences adored.

In 1948, her film Road House, directed by the great Jean Negulesco, was a huge success, with its dark riveting dialogue and sultry characters filled with love, lust and corruption. In 1948, Lupino and her second husband, Collier Young, founded Emerald Productions, named after her mother (it would be rechristened The Filmmakers in 1950) and Ida began writing scripts on controversial topics like bigamy, rape and unwed mothers. The director of Not Wanted (1949), Elmer Clifton, had a heart attack three days after filming started on the set and Lupino took over. Lupino gave screen credit to Clifton.

Lupino had a very productive year in 1953 when she directed more dark and foreboding films, such as The Young Lovers, starring Sally Forest and Hugh O'Brien, and The Hitch-Hiker, generally accepted as the first "film noir" directed by a woman. That year also saw the release of The Bigamist by the production company Lupino had founded with Young. The movie had real-life drama, as Lupino not only directed, but co-starred alongside Joan Fontaine—now the new Mrs. Collier Young.

Lupino's directing skills covered an enormous range of stories, from Hitchcock-style drama to family situation comedies, but was often commissioned for work with tough westerns, which were wildly popular at the time.

She made her television acting debut in 1952 on CBS as one of the stars of the dramatic television show Four Star Playhouse, which ran through 1956. In 1955 she was commissioned to direct an episode for Screen Director's Playhouse, "No. 5 Checked Out," for which she also wrote the script. Lupino directed more than 50 programs, five made for television movies, and acted in many others. She was the only female director in television, and worked with all the major networks. In between, she starred in several Hollywood films such as Women's Prison (1955), The Big Knife ( 1955) While the City Sleeps (1956) and Strange Intruder (1956). Sh starred with Howard Duff, her third husband in the situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve from 1957-1958. The marriage lasted from 1951-1984.

Her final film appearances included playing the role of Steve McQueen's mother in Junior Bonner (1972) and her final role in in My Boys Are Good Boys in 1978.

Before retiring in 1978, Lupino starred in 59 Hollywood films and had guest roles in many popular television shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, The Mod Squad, The Virginian, Columbo and The Fugitive, as well as in comedies such as I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and others. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for contributions to both film and television, located at 6821 Hollywood Blvd. and 1724 Vine St.

Lupino was only the second woman admitted to the Director's Guild, the first being Dorothy Arzner in 1937. The star died of a stroke Aug. 3, 1995.

Steve Starr is the author of Picture Perfect-Art Deco Photo Frames 1926-1946, published by Rizzoli International Publications. A photographer, designer writer and an artist, he is the owner ofSteve Starr Studios, where the walls are adorned with his personal collection of over 950 original Art Deco photo frames filled with images of Hollywood's most elegant stars of the early 20th Century.

Starr's photography, STARRLIGHT, appears in various publications including Windy City Times, Entertainment Magazine, Chicago Social-CS Magazine, Candace Jordan of CandidCandace.com, Red Carpet Concierge of Chicago, TCW-Today's Chicago Woman, Journal Skyline, Michigan Avenue Magazine, En Chicago, Windy City Style, and the Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.

Visit www.SteveStarrStudios.com where you can enter The Starrlight Room and view a portion of his frame collection, read Starrlight stories, and enjoy photos, letters, and autographs that he has received from his favorite luminaries.

Starr's celebrity photos include Janet Jackson, Fergie, Beyonce, Mario Lopez, Dionne Warwick, John Leguizamo,Floyd Mayweather, Devin Hester, Nadine Velazquez, Antoinne Walker, Carlos Zambrano, Eduardo Verastegui, Jim Belushi, Fantasia, Alfred Molina, William Peterson, Mickey Rooney, Geraldo Rivera, Robert Davi, Ernest Borgnine, Daniel Sunjata, Vince Vaughan, Raquel Welch, Hugh Hefner, Jim McMahon, ChazPalminterri, Jamie Foxx, Richard Dent, Angie Dickinson, Jacqueline Bissett, Victor Skrebneski, Lynda Carter, Joan Allen, Christian Siriano, Rita Moreno, Esai Morales, Tony Curtis, Ty Pennington, Martin Landau, Carol Lynley, EvanLysacek, Debra Messing, Ron Howard, John Travolta, Tom Brokawe and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan.

His newest book is STARRLIGHT-Glamorous Latin Movie Stars of Early Hollywood- Maria Montez~Rita Hayworth~Carmen Miranda~LupeVelez and Dolores Del Rio. Published by First Flight Books, 2010. Fullcolor, 84 pages, Hardbound in Silver Linen. Available through Steve Starr Studios, selected events and stores.

Phone 773-252-5171 for further information. Email SSSTARRLIGHT@gmail.com .


This article shared 12781 times since Wed Apr 4, 2012
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29
Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29
- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.