Mrs. Miniver is a fictional character created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns for The Times,later adapted into a film of the same name.
William Wyler was a German-born film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times,those being for Mrs. Miniver (1942),The Best Years of Our Lives (1946),and Ben-Hur (1959),all of which also won for Best Picture. In total,he holds a record twelve nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director.
Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was a British-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the homefront;listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top-ten box office draws from 1942 to 1946.
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage,screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931),and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Madame Curie is a 1943 American biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin from a screenplay by Paul Osborn,Paul H. Rameau,and Aldous Huxley (uncredited),adapted from the biography by Ève Curie. It stars Greer Garson,Walter Pidgeon,with supporting performances by Robert Walker,Henry Travers,and Albert Bassermann.
Walter Thomas Huston was a Canadian actor and singer. Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,directed by his son John Huston. He is the patriarch of the four generations of the Huston acting family,including his son John,grandchildren Anjelica Huston and Danny Huston,as well as great-grandchild Jack Huston. The family has produced three generations of Academy Award winners:Walter,his son John,and granddaughter Anjelica.
The year of 1942 in film involved some significant events,in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time,Casablanca.
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knight in the pilot episode of the TV series Knight Rider (1982),and provided the narration that was heard during the opening credits throughout the entire series.
John Hodiak was an American actor who worked in radio,stage and film.
Travers John Heagerty,known professionally as Henry Travers,was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Mrs. Miniver (1942). Travers specialized in portraying slightly bumbling but friendly and lovable older men.
Richard Maximilian Ney was an American actor,author,and investment counselor.
Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler,and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther,it shows how the life of an unassuming British housewife in rural England is affected by World War II. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,its supporting cast includes Teresa Wright,Dame May Whitty,Reginald Owen,Henry Travers,Richard Ney and Henry Wilcoxon.
Bertram Lytell was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic,melodrama,and adventure films.
The Miniver Story is a 1950 American drama film that is the sequel to the 1942 film Mrs. Miniver. Like its predecessor,the picture,made by MGM,stars Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon,but it was filmed on-location in England. The film was directed by H.C. Potter and produced by Sidney Franklin,from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar based on characters created by Jan Struther. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Herbert Stothart,with additional uncredited music by Daniele Amfitheatrof,and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.
Ilka Grüning was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire,she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. A respected and famous actress of her time in the German-language area,she was forced to play bit parts in Hollywood.
That Forsyte Woman is a 1949 romance film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Greer Garson,Errol Flynn,Walter Pidgeon,Robert Young and Janet Leigh. It is an adaptation of the 1906 novel The Man of Property,the first book in The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.
Scandal at Scourie is a 1953 American drama Technicolor film directed by Jean Negulesco,starring Greer Garson,Walter Pidgeon "above the title",and co-starring Donna Corcoran. Garson and Pidgeon were together for the 8th and last time in this movie,which was filmed on location in Canada.
Harry Allen was an Australian-born American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. He was born in Melbourne,Victoria,Australia. Allen's World War One registration card gives his date of birth as 10 July,1876 and confirms his place of birth as Melbourne,although at least one obituary gives the later birth year of 1883.
Florence Wix was an English-born American character actress who worked from the 1920s in silent films through sound films of the 1950s.
Ted Billings was an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. Born in London,England on April 7,1880,Billings made his film debut in the role of the Witch,in 1917's The Babes in the Woods,which starred Francis Carpenter and Virginia Lee Corbin as Hansel and Gretel. Over the course of his career he would appear in over 100 films,mostly in unnamed,un-credited roles.
