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Nepo babies have been around as long as there have been artists. The idea of a "legacy" is one we humans simply cannot get away from. As storytelling beings, we will have always constructed -- and will continue to construct -- broad, historical, intergenerational narratives for ourselves. We can't stop tracing our professional and personal origins among the ancients, and writing their stories directly into our own. We simply shed our fascination with the possibility that talents can be passed from one generation to the next. 

That's certainly the case in Hollywood, a relatively recent art institution in human history, but still rife with its own multigenerational legacies. It's likely you read the headline above and instantly thought of the Coppola clan. The Coppola family has, as of this writing, accrued 12 Oscar wins and 40 nominations between them, and they currently hold the record for the family with the most members to be nominated for Oscars.

Did Meryl Streep Want To Play Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams? ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia )

Imagine this: Meryl Streep as Patsy Cline. A country queen twist on Meryl the Goat—sounds like a perfect fit, right? But nope. Even Meryl Streep, with her 21 Oscar nominations and legendary status, didn’t land this one. She once told Vanity Fair, “Karel was a friend of mine who I adored, and he was making a film about Patsy Cline, who is a singer I adored.” Two legends, one film, and yet… no Meryl.

Instead, the role went to Jessica Lange, the blonde powerhouse who made Patsy Cline her own in Sweet Dreams. Karel Reisz, the director, decided Jessica would look better in the role. Sure, casting decisions happen. But Meryl wasn’t bitter. She made peace with the loss, swapping potential fame for a cozy stay at Reisz’s house while filming Plenty in England.

When veteran documentary filmmaker Irene Taylor met Celine Dion via Zoom in winter 2021 about the prospect of doing a documentary chronicling Dion’s life and career, she had no idea where this would ultimately take both the subject and the director. In fact, Taylor confessed she wasn’t really a fan, not familiar with Dion’s personal story, her celebrated career selling over 250 million albums, or anything else about her. She only knew a few of the hit songs. But they bonded anyway. Taylor had done many Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated movies about everything from Boy Scouts to trees to deafness to polio, but nothing in this realm, and it certainly has turned into a film it did not start out to be, and that neither expected, but now will be shared with the world.

Hollywood is full of the movies, many made in the 1940s and ’50s, of major musical...

A female James Bond was considered decades ago, with Susan Hayward pitched as the lead. Hayward, an Academy Award winner, was prominent in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s for her powerful roles. While the idea of a female Bond was proposed, author Ian Fleming preferred Richard Burton for the role.

It seems that the idea of casting a woman in the role of James Bond is not a new one, with Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man,” revealing that the somewhat controversial idea was first pitched more than 60 years ago. The biography reveals (via Indiewire) that 007 producer Gregory Ratoff wanted Academy Award winner Susan Hayward to lead the franchise adaptation of the first novel Casino Royale.

“Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached [to play Bond]. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman,...

Lashana Lynch became the first woman to own the 007 title in the 2021 James Bond tentpole “No Time to Die,” but it turns out a plan to make James Bond a woman was actually pitched over 60 years prior. In Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, titled “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man,” it’s confirmed that producer Gregory Ratoff floated the idea of casting Susan Hayward in a film adaptation of Fleming’s first Bond novel “Casino Royale.”

Shakespeare writes in the biography (via IndieWire): “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached [to play Bond]. Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward. Ian had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly...

Who could've imagined "Community" launching the careers of so many big-name artists? From the Russo Brothers to Donald Glover and Alison Brie, Dan Harmon's cult-favorite comedy series was a breeding ground for then-budding talents, perhaps none more so than composer Ludwig Göransson. Over the last 15 years, Göransson has cemented himself as one of the best music-making millennials in the business, along the way picking up an Oscar for the sick Afrofuturistic beats of his "Black Panther" soundtrack (although his Oscar-nominated score for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was just as impressive). He's now landed a well-deserved second Academy Award for his electrifying work on "Oppenheimer," placing him in some reputable company when it comes to the Oscars.

Specifically, this gives Göransson just as many Oscars as Hans Zimmer. It's actually kind of mind-boggling that the legendary composer doesn't have more than that, considering just how many iconic movie scores he's...

5 random things that happened on this day, February 26th, in showbiz history...

Somehow both the Oscars and the Globes preferred With a Song in My Heart to masterpiece Singin' in the Rain.

1953 The 10th annual Golden Globes are held with The Greatest Show on Earth (Drama) and With a Song in My Heart (Comedy/Musical) winning Best Picture. In today's world, With a Song in My Heart would not be eligible as it was a biopic of a musician, which the HFPA almost always places in Drama now. It's a pity because it's a dull movie and it was up against... wait for it... Singin' in the Rain...

Last year we watched as Renee Zellweger followed the yellow brick road all the way to the Wizard of Oscar as Judy Garland in “Judy.” Can lightning (or a tornado) strike two years in a row? That’s surely the hope of Andra Day, looking like a strong Best Actress Oscar contender for her title role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Like Garland, Holiday rose to stardom in the late 1930s. She also had multiple marriages, faced financial woes and struggled with drugs and alcohol. The question is: can the role in this Hulu release deliver the Oscar to Day?

Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.

“Even if the movie doesn’t make one penny — which will kill Jim Gianopulos — it is the movie I wanted to make, and that doesn’t happen often,” said no one other than Elton John on Thursday as he proceeded to sing his signature “I’m Still Standing” at the Carlton Beach after-party for the world premiere of the movie all about himself, Rocketman. Paramount chose the 72nd Cannes Film Festival to launch its big summer hope, and if reaction with a seven-minute standing ovation was any indication, it is a hit.

Gianopulos, the Paramount chairman, was certainly enthusiastic when I caught up with him at the party. He noted that star Taron Egerton, who gives the first performance I have seen in 2019 guaranteed to be an Oscar contender, actually used Elton’s classic “Your Song” as an audition to get into his drama school. He was clearly fated to...

It’s the Oscar record no one wants on their resume. With Amy Adams‘ loss at the 91st Academy Awards for “Vice,” she now ties Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter as the three actresses with six Oscar nominations and no wins. Unfortunately, Glenn Close tops them all with seven Oscar misfires; she lost on Sunday to Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”). Among male actors, Richard Burton (seven noms) and Peter O’Toole (eight bids) are the record-holders. Click through our photo gallery above for a closer look at Adams’ six Oscar nominations.

See 2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards [Updating Live]

For her role as Lynne Cheney, devoted wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, Adams earned her latest bid for Best Supporting Actress. Her co-nominees this time around were Marina de Tavira (“Roma”), Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) and Rachel Weisz...

Grammy and Tony winner Billy Porter is infusing his soulful style into the songbook of one of America’s most iconic composers — and he’s invited some very special friends along for the journey.

The 47-year-old singer and actor, known for his award-winning role in Broadway’s Kinky Boots, is teaming up with greats like India.Arie, Deborah Cox, Todrick Hall and more on his fourth studio album — Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Richard Rodgers (out Friday).

People’s got the exclusive first listen of Porter’s collaboration with a cappella supergroup Pentatonix, as they tackle Rodgers’ 1943 tune “Oh,...

Twenty-five days is not much. Are you ready? For today's special number, I thought we'd look back at the 25th annual Oscars, the first televised Academy Awards ever, but then I realized we'd already written a huge post about it with actresses falling on stairs and everything! So let's keep this simple. What's your choice for Best of 1952 (beyond Singin' in the Rain)?

The nominees were:

The Greatest Show on Earth High Noon Ivanhoe Moulin Rouge The Quiet Man

...and if there'd been three to five more nominees they would surely have included The Bad and the Beautiful which won 5 Oscars, the most ever won by a non Best Picture nominee), and Viva Zapata! which had 5 nominations, 3 of them major categories. If it had extended beyond 7 perhaps a combo of less loved or more divisive pictures like My Cousin Rachel (the remake is coming out this very year starring Rachel Weisz...

Maureen O'Hara: Queen of Technicolor. Maureen O'Hara movies: TCM tribute Veteran actress and Honorary Oscar recipient Maureen O'Hara, who died at age 95 on Oct. 24, '15, in Boise, Idaho, will be remembered by Turner Classic Movies with a 24-hour film tribute on Friday, Nov. 20. At one point known as “The Queen of Technicolor” – alongside “Eastern” star Maria Montez – the red-headed O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons on Aug. 17, 1920, in Ranelagh, County Dublin) was featured in more than 50 movies from 1938 to 1971 – in addition to one brief 1991 comeback (Chris Columbus' Only the Lonely). Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne Setting any hint of modesty aside, Maureen O'Hara wrote in her 2004 autobiography (with John Nicoletti), 'Tis Herself, that “I was the only leading lady big enough and tough enough for John Wayne.” Wayne, for his part, once said (as quoted in 'Tis Herself): There's only one woman who has been my friend over the...

Oscar 2015 winners (photo: Chris Pratt during Oscar 2015 rehearsals) The complete list of Oscar 2015 winners and nominees can be found below. See also: Oscar 2015 presenters and performers. Now, a little Oscar 2015 trivia. If you know a bit about the history of the Academy Awards, you'll have noticed several little curiosities about this year's nominations. For instance, there are quite a few first-time nominees in the acting and directing categories. In fact, nine of the nominated actors and three of the nominated directors are Oscar newcomers. Here's the list in the acting categories: Eddie Redmayne. Michael Keaton. Steve Carell. Benedict Cumberbatch. Felicity Jones. Rosamund Pike. J.K. Simmons. Emma Stone. Patricia Arquette. The three directors are: Morten Tyldum. Richard Linklater. Wes Anderson. Oscar 2015 comebacks Oscar 2015 also marks the Academy Awards' "comeback" of several performers and directors last nominated years ago. Marion Cotillard and Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress Oscars for, respectively, Olivier Dahan...

Presenting the Return of Stinky Lulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown now in its new home at The Film Experience. The Year is... 1952 and our panelists are allowed 52 words per actress!

The Nominees

Gloria Grahame, Jean Hagen, Colette Marchand, Terry Moore, and the perennial Thelma Ritter!

The Panelists

Matt Mazur (Pop Matters) is a New York-based publicist who works on campaigns for independent, foreign language, and documentary films. His vast archive of actress interviews (including Sissy Spacek and Courtney Love) can be found here. Follow him @Matt_Mazur

Nathaniel R (The Film Experience) is the founder of The Film Experience, a Gurus of Gold and CNN International Oscar pundit, and the internet's actressexual ringleader. Also loves cats. Follow him @NathanielR

Nick Davis (Nicks Flick Picks) tweets, blogs, and writes reviews and is a professor of film, literature, and gender studies at Northwestern University. His first book "The Desiring Image" was recently published.

Julie Harris: Best Actress Oscar nominee, multiple Tony winner dead at 87 (photo: James Dean and Julie Harris in ‘East of Eden’) Film, stage, and television actress Julie Harris, a Best Actress Academy Award nominee for the psychological drama The Member of the Wedding and James Dean’s leading lady in East of Eden, died of congestive heart failure at her home in West Chatham, Massachusetts, on August 24, 2013. Harris, born in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, on December 2, 1925, was 87. Throughout her career, Julie Harris collected ten Tony Award nominations, more than any other performer. She won five times — a record matched only by that of Angela Lansbury. Harris’ Tony Award wins were for I Am a Camera (1952), The Lark (1956), Forty Carats (1969), The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1973), and The Belle of Amherst (1977). Harris’ tenth and final Tony nomination was for The Gin Game (1997). In 2002, she was honored with a Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.

I've been struggling with a thrown back this week but I hope to be up to my best speed again soon since I know the posting has been a bit thin of late. Fall Movie Season is just a week or so away but in the meantime there are plentiful beautiful choices for moviegoing pleasure. So make good ones.

New York & La 

If you live in or driving distance near one of the two top film markets, make it your top priority this weekend to see Short Term 12. It's an absolutely beauty (interview & review forthcoming). Indies tend to go wider faster if they have strong per screen averages and everyone deserves a chance to see this one at their local theater. Get to this early since you'll want to share in the thrill of discovery and play missionary for it as shamelessly as I'm doing now. (I can't stop recommending it to people,...

In just 10 days the Return of Stinkylulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown! (in case you missed the announcement) 

We'll be talking... 

Gloria Grahame, The Bad and the Beautiful (the film is our "Best Shot" subject on the 21st) Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain Collette Marchand, Moulin Rouge Terry Moore, Come Back Little Sheba Thelma Ritter, With a Song in My Heart 

Have you seen all the films? If not, get on that! We'll also do a "reader's choice" as supplement so if you'd like to vote please send me your ranked ballot by Saturday the 24th with "1952" in the subject line, your rank (of those you've seen), and a sentence or three if you'd like to explain.

Women in Film: Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, and dozens of movie actresses in curious morphing montage A few dozen top international female movie stars, most of them Hollywood celebrities, are seen in the Women in Film morphing montage below created by Philip Scott Johnson. The faces belong to actresses from the 1910s to the early 21st century. (Image: The ‘Daughter’ of Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner — who sort of looks like a cross between Eleanor Parker and Cyd Charisse as well — in the Women in Film morphing montage.) Just as interesting as trying to identify each of the famous faces is stopping the video while the morphing is going on, so you get Daughter of Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner, or Daughter of Audrey Hepburn and Dorothy Dandridge, or Daughter of Michelle Pfeiffer and Sigourney Weaver. Some of those Daughters are quite pretty; others look like they’ve just landed on this planet.

You'd better sit down. Here have a grilled cheese sandwich to commemorate the moment.

In the Aughts when film blogging was rapidly progressing from infancy through busy rushed adolescence, quality Oscar-loving actressexuals were tuned in to and turned on by Stinky Lulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month your host would profile the five Oscar nominees in a given year culminating in a "Smackdown" wherein a handful of fans would chime in on all five nominees and an actress would be crowned as best of that vintage. The restrospective smackdowns ended four years ago with a look back at 1956 (Limbo-dancing Oscar-winning Dorothy Malone prevailed) though one final smackdown was held five months later for the Supporting Actresses of Oscar 2009 and its winner Mo'Nique. Not that the Smackdowners always agreed with Oscar... 

I hadn't spoken to Stinky in years and we recently became reacquainted over lunch and a play. I told...

Best Supporting Actress nominee Adams on the 85th Academy Awards red carpet Amy Adams, a Best Supporting Actress nominee for Paul Thomas Anderson's well-received psychological drama The Master, is seen arriving at the 85th Academy Awards show. Adams' competitors were the following: Jacki Weaver for David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, Anne Hathaway for Tom Hooper's Les Misérables, Sally Field for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, and Helen Hunt for Ben Lewin's The Sessions. Hathaway, as expected, turned out to be the winner. (See below photos of Aaron Tveit and Best Director nominee Benh Zeitlin on the Oscar red carpet.) This was Adams' fourth Oscar nod. Her previous ones, all in the Best Supporting Actress category, were the following: Phil Morrison's comedy-drama Junebug (2005); John Patrick Shanley's drama Doubt (2008), with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman; and David O. Russell's family drama The Fighter (2010), opposite Mark Wahlberg,...

The following article is provided by Rolling Stone.

By Joe Pinsker

In the latest installment of "Off the Cuff," Peter Travers catches up with Christopher Walken, and Christopher Walken catches up with the two most seminal characters of his career: the self-destructive Duane from "Annie Hall" and the introspective Nick from "The Deer Hunter." "Do you ever wake up worrying what has happened to the characters you've played?" Travers asks. Walken replies dryly, "No, Duane's ok. He's working on a fishing boat, deep-sea trawling."

Peter Travers Picks Five Great Films From Sundance 2013

From there, Travers asks Walken what it's like to be impersonated so frequently by so many people. "Everyone you know has a Chris Walken impression," Travers says.

"I have a friend of mine who does me on his answering machine," Walken responds, "and when I call him, I answer. It's pretty strange." He's no slouch with mimicry, either.

Sally Field, Amy Adams, Jacki Weaver, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt: 2013 Oscar Nominees Luncheon Sally Field, Amy Adams, Jacki Weaver, Anne Hathaway and Helen Hunt were present at the 2013 Oscar Nominees Luncheon held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Monday, February 4. Field, Adams, Weaver, Hathaway, and Hunt are all Best Supporting Actress nominees. (Photo: Sally Field, Amy Adams, Jacki Weaver, Anne Hathaway and Helen Hunt. Please click on the image to enlarge it.) Sally Field: Oscar veteran Sally Field is the veteran-est among the nominees: Field won the Best Actress Oscar for Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae (1979), repeating the feat five years later for her performance in Robert Benton’s Places in the Heart (1984). This year, Field was nominated for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, in which she plays Daniel Day-Lewis / Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Jacki Weaver, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt: Two-time nominees...

In the latest installment of Off the Cuff, Peter Travers catches up with Christopher Walken, and Christopher Walken catches up with the two most seminal characters of his career: the self-destructive Duane from Annie Hall and the introspective Nick from The Deer Hunter. "Do you ever wake up worrying what has happened to the characters you've played?" Travers asks. Walken replies dryly, "No, Duane's ok. He's working on a fishing boat, deep-sea trawling." 

From there, Travers asks Walken what it's like to be impersonated so frequently by so many people.

This week in Blu-ray, it's all about musicals! With a song in my heart and a skip in my step and a pair of 3D glasses on my head, I take a look at Disney's latest princess fable, Tangled, before tackling the one-two punch of a Criterion Collection Gilbert and Sullivan double feature — their operetta The Mikado and Mike Leigh's highly acclaimed Topsy-turvy.

Read more on New on Blu: Tangled, The Mikado, Topsy-turvy, and more...

Jose here.

Today is the anniversary of Susan Hayward's birth (she would've turned 93). Browsing through her filmography it struck me how conflicted I am regarding her acting. Despite her extreme beauty (what did they feed these women back then?) I find her acting slightly hammy sometimes and rather inexpressive on different occasions.

Hayward was nominated for five Best Actress Oscars and perhaps the reason for my slight discontent with her is that in a way, she created the "easy way to an Oscar nod". Let's take a look at the characters that got her Oscar's attention and the reasons why AMPAS couldn't resist to nominate her:

1946 Angelica 'Angie'/'Angel' Evans Conway in Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman

Angelica is a club singer who marries a rising performer, gives up her career and becomes an alcoholic. The plot is loosely based on the life of Dixie Lee, Bing Crosby's first wife.

Craig here with the next Take Three, where each Sunday I look at a different character/supporting actor's work through three of their most notable films.

Today: Thelma Ritter

For take three of Take Three we have a woman who, it's feasible to say, may well have been instrumental in the invention of the term Character Actor. Thelma Ritter's career was full of supporting roles par excellence. A noteworthy six Oscar nominations (tied with Deborah Kerr), but, alas, no wins. But who needs a win with a body of work this strong: A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, The Mating Season, With a Song in My Heart, Birdman of Alcatraz - and the three selected below (and countless more besides).

Ah, how I adore Thelma Ritter. And how good it is to know that many others do too. If I meet or talk to someone who loves...