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Monday, March 30, 2015

Remembering - Jane Sterling

Date of Birth3 April 1921New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death26 March 2004Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA  (series of strokes)
Birth NameJane Sterling Adriance
Height5' 5" (1.65 m)





One of Hollywood's more talented and watchable stars on screen was sullen, strikingly stick-thin 50s actress Jan Sterling who didn't quite reach the top echelon of stardom but certainly ensured audiences of a real good time with her sexy pout and flashy style in soaps, film noir and saucy comedy.

Jan was born Jane Sterling Adriance in Manhattan in 1921 to a well-to-do family. Her father was a prominent advertising executive who divorced her mother when the girl was only eight years old. Her mother remarried (to an oilman) when Jan was still a youngster and the family relocated to Europe where Jan was schooled by private tutors in Brazil, then later in London and Paris.

Although both sets of parents disapproved, Jan, who by this time possessed a strong British accent, set her sites on acting and was eventually enrolled in Fay Compton's dramatic school in London. A strong-minded young lady with a heartfelt passion for the arts, she returned to Manhattan to conquer Broadway and by the age of 17 had found her first ingĂ©nue role in "Bachelor Born," playing (naturally) a young British lady. Over the next 11 years, Jan dominated Broadway as proper British ladies while billing herself as "Jane Adrian".

One of her highlights was working with the legendary Ruth Gordon in 1942 in Gordon's first play entitled "Over 21." As Billie Dawn in the Chicago company of "Born Yesterday," Jan bowled over the critics and seemed almost a shoo-in to do the 1950 film version but she lost out in the end to Judy Holliday. The ash-blonde broke quickly into films supporting Oscar-winning Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda (1948) in a key, emotional role.

To her absolute delight, she left the docile, ladylike image behind her and was allowed to dig her nails into a florid array of cheap floozies, hard-bitten dames, and lethal schemers and stood out well with 'bad girl' parts in the films Caged (1950), Ace in the Hole (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952), The Human Jungle (1954), and Female on the Beach (1955). In between she occasionally made a nicer, or at least a more sympathetic, impression in the movies Sky Full of Moon (1952) and The High and the Mighty (1954), the latter earning her an Oscar nomination.

Married to and divorced from actor John Merivale in the 1940s, Jan later married gruff film star Paul Douglas in 1950. The couple moved away from the Hollywood scene in Burlington, Vermont. The couple appeared together professionally on occasional TV shows and Douglas revived his "Born Yesterday" Harry Brock role with a stage tour starring Jan in the Billie Dawn part. It and they were a solid hit.

Jan's career slowed down considerably after the sudden death of her 52-year-old second husband in 1959. He suffered a massive heart attack at their Hollywood home. She refocused on stage and TV but at a slower step. Incidental filming occurred on occasion, including support roles in Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1961) and The Incident(1967). She also involved herself in humanitarian causes. In the late 1960s she moved to London, England and in the 70s, she entered into a strong personal relationship with actor Sam Wanamaker. An isolated film role came her way with a small part in First Monday in October (1981). They never married but stayed together until his death in 1993.

Inactive for nearly two decades, Jan made an appearance at the Cinecon Film Festival in Los Angeles in the fall of 2001, still charming audiences at the age of 80. On 26 March 2004, she passed away at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 83.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

X-Files Revival Officially Ordered at Fox, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson Back for 6 New Episodes


By Michael Ausiello


© Provided by TVLineThe truth is out there right here: The X-Files is indeed returning to Fox, with original stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprising their respective roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Fox has officially ordered a six-episode continuation of its phenomenally successful supernatural drama, to shoot this summer and (presumably) air at some point next season. (An official airdate remains TBD.)
“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” said X-Files creator Chris Carter, who will oversee the new episodes. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”
The X-Files ended its nine-season run on Fox in May 2002, but the franchise was resurrected on the big screen in 2008’s The X-Files: I Want to Believe, a follow-up to 1998’s The X-Files: Fight the Future. When last we saw Mulder and Scully in Believe, they were grudgingly helping the FBI find some missing women/bust up a bizarre, Frankenstein-like operation in Virginia. Also important to know: The bureau had pardoned Mulder for going on the lam (at the end of the series’ run), Scully had returned to her medical career, and the partners were still romantically entangled and living together.
Duchovny will next be seen in NBC’s Charles Manson-themed drama Aquarius, while Anderson has Season 3 of Hannibal on deck. Coincidentally, the two shows will air back-to-back on Thursdays this summer. News of the X-humation comes roughly a year after Fox jump-started another one of its marquee franchises, 24, with a limited-series order. Although Live Another Daydidn’t make much noise in the ratings, it was well-received by critics and fans alike.
“We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files— one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers — and we couldn’t be more excited to explore that incredible world with him again,” said Fox chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden in a statement. “The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture — yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning. Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”

Monday, March 23, 2015

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Lots of news this month… and spring is almost here!

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