By Kathy Kovach
It can be said that Hollywood stars are not discovered,
they’re manufactured.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous article,
some Hollywood stars didn’t start out glamorous. Cary Grant had been a rough
and tumble kid from Bristol, England determined to join an acrobatic troupe.
His demeanor was uncouth, his language unrefined, and no doubt, his fashion
sense was non-existent. However, once Hollywood got hold of him, she polished
up his accent, put him in a tuxedo, and somewhat tamed his exuberance. Because
of Hollywood, he became the suave and sophisticated gentleman we all grew to
love. One could assert that Cary Grant, born Archibald Leach, wasn’t
discovered; he was manufactured.
Have you ever listened to Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and others to determine where their accents are from? Well, good luck. The practice of dropping the ‘R’ and softening the vowels makes one wonder if it’s an English accent or American. In fact, it’s both. And it’s fake. This mid-Atlantic accent, also known as the Trans-Atlantic accent, was a manufactured form of speech that early studios taught to their young actors. Rather than a decidedly Boston accent or one bourn of the upper crust of royal society, it imparts a general sophistication and wealth without adding backstory. Check out this clip from The Philadelphia Story. It's a good example of both Hepburn and Grant, as well as the child actress Virginia Weidler, speaking as if they weren’t from Hartford, Connecticut, Bristol, England, and Eagle Rock, California, respectively.
Physical image seemed important, as well. Just as Cary Grant went from street urchin to James Bond wannabe, others underwent changes. In some cases, quite drastic.
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| Rita Cansino 1935, Rita Hayworth 1942 |
A natural beauty, she underwent painful electrolysis to
raise her hairline and broaden her forehead. Her dark brown hair was died
ginger. She took her Irish/English mother’s maiden name and became Rita
Hayworth. Throughout 1940, she enjoyed steady work with her breakout role happening
in 1941 opposite Fred Astaire in You’ll Never Get Rich.
Rita Hayworth became a Hollywood icon, punctuated by the
honor of having her picture hanging in many a lonely soldier’s tent. She was
the first of two pin-up girls during WWII, the other being Betty Grable in
1943.
Not all manufacturing had to do with appearances. Lauren Bacall, known for her deep, sultry voice, didn’t always sound that way. Just as Hollywood refined Cary Grant’s accent, Bacall was put through vocal training to create the persona she’s known for today. Director Howard Hawks instructed her to read out loud when she was alone. In her memoir By Myself she recalled, "He felt it most important to keep the voice in a low register.” He went on to state, “When a woman gets excited or emotional ... there is nothing more unattractive than screeching" (via Vulture). Here's a link of Bacall quoting her most famous line, "You know how to whistle, don't you?"
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| Riders of Destiny 1933, El Dorado 1966 |
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| Wyatt Earp |
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| Laurel and Hardy |
After starting out individually in vaudeville, Laurel and
Hardy each had film careers as actors, writers, and directors, with Stan also
billed as a producer. However, it wasn’t until they were paired together in the
silent film The Lucky Dog (1921) that their iconic chemistry and unforgettable
images exploded into glittering giggles and gargantuan guffaws. Off stage, Stan
Laurel, whose character portrayed the weak weepy one, was actually the driving
creative force of the comedy team. Often, when Oliver Hardy was asked about a
particular routine, he would say, “Ask Stan.”
One cannot talk about manufactured comedians without mentioning the top-notch, killer-diller, A-1 comic genius ever (today we’d say he’s the GOAT—Greatest Of All Time) Charlie Chaplin.
Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977) was born in London,
England and tragically lived on his own from age fourteen due to an absent
father and a mother relegated to a mental asylum. He found solace in the
entertainment industry, in which he’d been involved since the age of eight as a
traveling troupe member. At age nineteen, he came to America via the Fred Karno
company, the owner known for slapstick and popularizing the pie-in-the-face
routine. Chaplin developed his identity, the Little Tramp, and was henceforth
known for his down-trodden appearance and somber facial features.
Behind the scenes, Chaplin was ingenious and a shrewd
businessman. Not only did he invent his iconic role, becoming the highest paid
and most known personality of his generation by 1918, he went on to co-found
the United Artists Corporation with actors Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford,
and D.W. Griffith, giving him complete control over his films. He was an actor,
writer, director, producer, editor, and composer.
Charlie Chaplin’s personal and professional personas were so
different that he could pass you on the street and you’d never know you were in
the presence of an icon.
Little has changed in regards to the manufacturing of
Hollywood stars. The person on the screen is rarely synonymous with who they
are in real life. Like Cary Grant, many have changed their appearance, their speech,
their image, and in the case of Chaplin, they became an entirely different
person.
And this is why we pay the big bucks at the box office.
