For the Love of Hollywood

By Kathy Kovach

Think of your favorite classic movie stars. Mine are Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Fred Astair, and Ginger Rogers, among many others. They have all drawn us in, stroked our cheeks, gazed into our eyes from the cinematic screen. Wooed us, if you will.

But how were they wooed? How were they convinced that Hollywood would be much better off if only they said yes? If only they linked arms and marched down the proverbial aisle?

One such “paramour” was William Meiklejohn, a talent scout who got his start in 1921 as a booking agent in Los Angeles for 80 vaudeville theaters. While there, he helped such stars as Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, and Betty Grable rise from the dying vaudeville ashes. Once film entered the picture in the late 1920s, he began working exclusively with motion-picture actors.

Robert Taylor

In the 1930s, while working for Paramount, he discovered several stars. Ray Milland, who went on to become that studio’s most bankable star, was set to begin a new job as a gasoline station attendant when Meiklejohn snatched him up. Other prominent stars under the agent’s care were Lucille Ball and Alan Ladd. Robert Taylor—my mother’s heartthrob—was making only $35 a week when Meiklejohn helped him become an MGM staple. Incidentally, Taylor’s real name was Spangler Arlington Brugh. The Hollywood Star System obviously felt the need to give their new leading man a strong masculine name. More on the Star System in a later article.

Ronald Reagan

William Meiklejohn’s most accomplished discovery not only became a prolific actor, making over eighty films and television shows in 28 years, but also went on to become the 40th President of the United States. Ronald Reagan had approached Meiklejohn to help jumpstart his acting career. He was working as a sportscaster at a radio station in Des Moines, Iowa at the time. Meiklejohn’s daughter, actress Linda Meiklejohn, relates this story: “My dad looked at him (Reagan) and called Max Arnold at Warner Brothers and said ‘Max, I've got a new Robert Taylor sitting right in my office.’ Max said, ‘God made only one’ and my father said, ‘That's not true because the other one’s sitting right here.’” I find this ironic since Taylor was MGM’s answer to Tyrone Power who was working at a different studio. Reagan and Taylor went on to become close friends.

William Meiklejohn became known as “The Star Maker” during his twenty-year stint at Paramount. When asked how he judged talent, he replied: “It’s a seventh sense, I suppose. You acquire the knack over a period of years. Star potential consists of a combination of personality, type, appearance, voice, and manners. If they gel, you may have something.”

Lana Turner

Other stories about star discovery include the infamous one about Lana Turner, who was noticed by a publisher at the Hollywood Reporter when she was sipping soda at a local café. He then introduced her to Zeppo Marx who took her to see Max Arnold at MGM where she acquired a permanent contract.

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was a professional dancer from the age of 12. At age 16, she was performing in a club with her father when a Fox executive spotted her. She must have impressed him because she received a contract instantly.

Bette Davis

Bette Davis’ story is more tragic. Her unconventional looks were a detriment, but she desperately wanted to become an actress. After finding some work on Broadway in a stock company, she was offered a screen test from Universal Studios. She and her mother traveled by train across country to California. When they debarked, she was left on the platform because the studio executives who went there to pick her up “didn’t see anyone get off the train who looked like an actress.” Eventually, they reluctantly signed her on, but she refused to change her appearance or name. After producing several flops for the studio, she was let go. Nearly returning to New York, she found herself cast with George Arliss in 1932’s The Man Who Played God, a Warner Bros. Production. The rest of her career speaks for itself.

Many a Hollywood star has courted us from the silver screen. For me, it’s why I’m drawn to the movies. For two hours, I can leave my obligations behind, take their hand, and step into their world—and I’m grateful that they answered their call and stepped into mine.

Who are your favorites from the Golden Age of Hollywood?

Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal

A TIME-SLIP NOVEL

A secret. A key. Much was buried on the Titanic, but now it's time for resurrection.

Follow two intertwining stories a century apart. 1912 - Matriarch Olive Stanford protects a secret after boarding the Titanic that must go to her grave. 2012 - Portland real estate agent Ember Keaton-Jones receives the key that will unlock the mystery of her past... and her distrusting heart.

To buy: Amazon

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother and a great-grandmother—though much too young for either. Kathleen has been a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

Website
Blog With A Giggle
CraftCinema

Facebook

X

Goodreads