Movies have long been the reflection of our society. As our culture has changed, so has the movie industry and the way current movie stars relate to the public. Over the last decade, and largely due to technological advances, movies focus on realism with gritty subject matter and special effects that would have quickly made obsolete the dead movie stars I miss the most.
All of the nominees on my list were skillful actors and each received critical acclaim for a variety of performances throughout their careers. They were all products of a studio system that developed 'personalities', very much unlike the way film actors work today. As Katharine Hepburn once said, "Show me an actress who doesn't have a personality, and I'll show you one who doesn't work." All the dead movie stars I miss had more than their share of 'personality' and that is probably the reason why, even in death, their personalities transcend their films.
Let me begin with the ladies first.
Audrey Hepburn
If ever there was a movie star who embodied the word "class", it would be Audrey Hepburn. As a young ingnue, her love affair with the camera became legendary. Her luminescent face, big, soulful dark eyes, and her natural charm quickly won her many fans. Best remembered for her role as the fanciful Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," her long career included other classics like "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck that won her an Oscar. In "Charade," with Cary Grant, film director Alfred Hitchcock used her innocent beauty to weave a tale of intrigue around her character. My personal favorite is "Sabrina," where her youthful passions proved a perfect match for the somber, and much older, Humphrey Bogart. I always viewed Audrey Hepburn as a pure soul. Much of the volunteer work she did throughout her life proved to me that my admiration of her was not misplaced.
Katharine Hepburn
This always in-control actress was ahead of her time and the feminist movement. I always admired her what-you-see-is-what-you-get style of acting that actually hurt her career in its early years. Later when paired eight times with the strong and respected character actor, Spencer Tracey, the strength of her talent held firm against his skillful acting and made her a role model for a generation. A four-time Oscar winner, Katharine Hepburn was the measure that the next generation of actresses used in evaluating their own skills. I grew up watching many of her black and white movies like "Mary Queen of Scotland", "Woman of the Year", and the classic, "African Queen," with Humphrey Bogart. But one of my favorites remains "The Philadelphia Story," because this character stepped outside her typed personality.' With humor and charm she pulled off playing a confused bride about to be married for the second time. And that throaty voice! She was an original and remains so to this day.
John Wayne
Isn't The Duke' usually at the top of everyone's list? He became the father figure of my generation who grew up watching him in the prime of his career. The yardstick of male virility and rugged handsomeness for a generation, he knew what his fans wanted from him in his film roles and he delivered. His Oscar win came late and for a role that really wasn't much of a stretch for him as the aging, "Rooster Cogburn." Fans and Academy voters couldn't resist him in this role with their other perennial favorite, Katharine Hepburn. But, it was under the direction of John Ford where he crafted his skills as an actor and delivered what many, including myself, believe was the finest and most complex role of his career in "The Searchers." Later in life, he would play poignant roles as aging cowboys, or as in his very last film, "The Shootist," a gunfighter dying of cancer. His fans couldn't miss the irony of this role that so mirrored his own battle with lung cancer. The day he died, I felt like I had lost a member of my family.
Gregory Peck
Who can ever forget his stunning and Oscar winning performance as Atticus Finch in the movie, "To Kill a Mockingbird," and this remains my favorite of his films. Tall and lanky, his personal integrity and genuine sincerity were such a part of him and his characters that he appeared to wear these qualities like pieces of his costumes. Gregory Peck was a movie star who never seemed quite comfortable being one. And, his fans loved him for it. My other favorite films include, "The Yearling," "Moby Dick," and "The Guns of Navarone." I never doubted his keen intelligence, so well masked sometimes in roles that hid the strength behind the steel. He was a man to be admired on film and in real life.
Steve McQueen
Simply put, he was the king of "cool" for his generation. Type cast early as the bad boy with charisma, he eventually convinced the studios to cast him as the suave and debonair lead in "The Thomas Crown Affair", a role that would normally not have gone to him because the studios already had his personality' typed. The success of that film, and the surprising screen chemistry with newcomer, Faye Dunaway, catapulted his career and added a new notch to his acting resume. Best known for his career launching role in "The Great Escape," several of my other personal favorites were "Bullitt," "Love with the Proper Stranger," "The Sand Pebbles," and "Tom Horn" later in his career. It has been said that no other actor handled equipment with such ease and expertise as Steve Queen did in his films. His later films, for me, were especially poignant because he died too young. He was growing into a more interesting actor with every film, and I miss not having been able to see him grow old on film.
No, reality wasn't the goal when the dead movie stars I miss most were at the heights of their careers; but they all shared the ability to make their audiences care about them in a way unmatched by today's new crop of movie stars.