A Heartfelt Thank You ♥

"Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls." ~David Thomas

My Dearest Readers,
My family and I are in awe of your extraordinary kindness, sincere prayers and well wishes you have offered us throughout our time of bereavement.
We will be forever humbled by it--anchored in the knowledge that they are beautiful souls in this world still who care deeply for their fellow man, especially during a time of extreme sorrow and pain.
I cannot thank each of you enough and wanted merely for you to know you will be adored and treasured by my lovely family and me for a lifetime.
Thank you all so very much,
Kimmy & Family

Extreme Sorrow

I do not know where to begin, which is rare for me, for I have no issues with expressing my emotions.
But this time is much different.
Very early Friday morning, my lovely brother Michael passed on quite unexpectedly. As you can conceive, my family and I are in utter shock and disbelief.
So needless to say, it will be a few weeks (maybe a bit more) before I am capable of posting again, I do hope you understand.
At the present time my heart is floating in a dark abyss--fighting desperately to gain its composure and return to the beautifully familiar place before this tragedy presented itself.
So this is for you Michael, enjoy your journey...

Ithaca
When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter
with what gratitude, what joy -
ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centres,
and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;
to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don't in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn't anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.
So wise you have become, of such experience,
that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean.
Constantine P Cavafy

I shall always love you my dearest brother.
Rest well young man until we meet again,
Your Poo Bear.. Kimberly

William Powell: Chameleon of Stage & Screen

"Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances." William Powell

William Horatio Powell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Horatio Warren Powell, an accountant and his wife Nettie Brady Manila on July 29th, 1892.
Young William showed an early interest in performing, much to the chagrin of his father who had hoped he would be interested in a legal career instead.
When the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1907, William attended Central High School where he excelled in the drama and glee clubs, public speaking and cheerleading. I would have never pegged him for a male cheerleader!
Following his graduation he left for New York to enroll at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts which was financed by his aunt Elizabeth who paid $700 for him to attend, considering his father would only agree to pay for law school and nothing else.
William scraped by performing for stock companies and appearing in vaudeville shows.
In 1914 he met Eileen Wilson and the couple married in 1915 and had one son, William David Powell before the union ended in divorce in 1930. William David, plagued by depression and emotional instability would later commit suicide by stabbing himself to death in the shower at the age of 43, how horrifically tragic.
After many successful appearances on Broadway, William was discovered by film director Albert Parker in 1922, scoring a small role in Sherlock Holmes opposite John Barrymore. He was signed to Paramount (although the majority of his career would be with MGM) and was cast in a number of films from When Knighthood Was in Flower, Romola, Aloma of the South Seas to Beau Geste, The Great Gatsby and Special Delivery.
His most memorable role in silent films being that of a bitter film director in the Last Command in 1928, which eventually led to his role as an amateur detective in The Canary Murder Case in 1929.
Powell was seriously getting noticed in Hollywood and in 1930 he starred opposite Carole Lombard in For the Defense, Man of the World and Ladies Man, in 1931.
The pair fell in love and married that same year but divorced only two years later, three years later they starred together in the screwball comedy My Man Godfrey.
They remained friends until her death in 1942.

Reporter: "Say, listen, is he working on a case?"
Nora Charles: "Yes, he is."
Reporter: "What case?"
Nora Charles: "A case of Scotch, pitch in and help him!"

William Powell's most famous role was that of Nick Charles in The Thin Man series opposite Myrna Loy, who played his wife Nora in the films.
The series features a retired private detective and his clever socialite wife who solve crimes and offer peppered witty dialogue and interesting banter whilst doing so.
In 1935 Powell had a very close relationship with actress Jean Harlow after starring with her in Reckless and on Christmas Day in 1936 he proposed to Jean, gifting her with a 150 carat sapphire engagement ring worth $20,000. The engaged couple actually lived next door to one another as children, Jean's name at that time was Harlean Harlow Carpenter.
Despite their obvious love one for the other, the relationship was abruptly cut short upon the untimely death of Harlow in 1937 of uremic poisoning due to kidney disease.
Reportedly a single white gardenia with an unsigned note placed in her hands that read, "Good night, my dearest darling," was from Powell.
He also paid for her final resting place--a $25,000, 9x10 foot private room lined with multicolored imported marble.
Jean is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Between Jean's death and his diagnosis of colon cancer William accepted fewer roles, his career slowed down a bit from 1940-47 and his cancer went into remission.
Powell married actress Diana Lewis, whom he had only known three weeks prior on January 6th, 1940 and continued working most notably filming Life With Father in 1947, How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953 and Mr. Roberts in 1955.
At age 63 William retired from acting, choosing to move to Palm Springs with his wife for rest, relaxation and many glorious years together.
As he approached 90 years of age, his health began to fail, yet mentally he remained as sharp as ever and in good spirits until his death on March 5th, 1984 from cardiac arrest.
He was 91 years of age.
Mr. Powell is interred at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

With the sophistication of Fred Astaire and the grittiness of James Cagney, William Powell will be remembered most for his role in the Thin Man series, but also as a chameleon of stage and screen and the portrait of a most esteemed thespian none of us will soon forget.



Sources:
William Powell, IMDB
William Powell,
Find A Grave

Photo Credits:
Flick'r

Wordless Well Dressed Wednesday

Morsel Monday: A Sensuous Cigar Lesson

"A good Cuban cigar closes the door to the vulgarities of the world." Franz Liszt

Sunday evening inspired this Morsel Monday post.
First I will tell you a little about one of the most expensive cigars on the market and then the inspiration behind this post, enjoy!
The Gurkha Black Dragon, weighing in at $115,000 per chest or $1,150 per cigar, with only five hand-carved camel bone boxes of 100 to ever be produced, is one of the most expensive on the market to date.
A Honduran blend made from select fibers, it creates a rich cigar with a medium body, with a blend that includes extremely old and rare tobaccos collected from all over the world. To make it more accessible, a new version was released throughout the world in 2007.
The new blend contains similar flavor and uses similar tobaccos but does not cost nearly as much as its predecessor.
The new Black Dragon comes packaged in very attractive boxes, so they look almost as good as they taste.
Now, the inspiration for the MM post.
So, it is Sunday evening and Jonathan (my boyfriend I acquired quite by accident) and I are awaiting the lovely 60s vibe we enjoy each Sunday via Madmen.
I am in the kitchen retrieving Gougères from the oven (I can actually cook, can you believe it?) whilst Jonathan is relaxing on the sofa, arm stretched over the nape a la Don Draper, (I fear he gets too into the whole coolness role) when I hear the theme music from MM which I adore. I hurriedly make my way to the family room and take my seat.
When the first commercial comes into view, Jonathan pulls out a cigar and I watch like a schoolgirl with a crush as he step by step conducts a romantic ballet if you will, of lighting this cigar, something I had never paid attention to before.
As he took the cigar cutter and snipped the end, "just below the end of the cap" he said, he turned the cigar at about a 45 degree angle and he began the process of "pre-heating" the foot (foot, who knew?) of the cigar until it blackened a bit, rotating it just above the flame.
He then removed the label, placed the cigar in his mouth and began rotation whilst lighting the end until it became a cherry red in color.
He claims you check to make sure it is evenly lit and he did this by lightly blowing on the end of the cigar.
The whole time this is occurring I am internally telling myself, "This is just your boyfriend lighting a cigar, calm yourself!"
But for some reason it was rather..sensuous in nature.
Maybe it was the fluidity in which he did it, there was no hesitation and it looked as if it were Vivaldi's Autumn II, had it been in three dimensional form, a beautiful succession of elegant stokes and graceful movements.

Please do not misunderstand me, Jonathan is a lovely person, intelligent, an investment banker--he is an accomplished gentleman of many talents so I would never belittle those attributes but there was something about him lighting this cigar that held my attention, to the point the rest of the evening (after Madmen of course) was spent tucked safely underneath his arm while I listened to him drawing puffs from his Cohiba, crisp and crackling sounds consuming the foot of the cigar, while it released an elegant and fragrant presentation that wafted through the air whilst Vivaldi entertained in the semi-darkened room, lit only by a singular candle and the slight glow of this burning cigar.
It had been a simple yet gratifying evening..my favorite show (aside from Pretty Little Liars--do not ask me why), delectable hors 'd oeuvrves and a tutorial in lighting a cigar..compliments of my very own Madman!
So there you have it, the inspiration for MM.
We are supposed to go sailing with friends in a few weeks, I wonder how I will contain myself should he assist in raising the mast?
Cheers all!

Janet Gaynor: La Petit PowerHouse

On October 6th, 1906 Laura Augusta Gainer was born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Frank D. Gainer, a paperhanger, painter and amateur actor and his lovely housewife Laura Buhl.
In 1914 the couple divorced and Laura Buhl married Harry C. Jones who relocated the family to San Francisco, California where Laura graduated with honors from Polytechnic High School the following year.
She and her sister Helen enrolled in Hollywood Secretarial School where they became stenographers while trying to enter some realm of the movie profession.
With their stepfather's encouragement Helen became a secretary for film and television producer Hal Roach and therefore exercised a little nepotism netting her sister a role as a bathing beauty in 1924's All Wet.
On the advice of her stepfather she changed her name to Janet Gaynor and began landing other small parts in feature films before her breakout role as Anna Burger in The Johnstown Flood. Shortly thereafter she attracted the attention of Fox Studio which saw her as the next Mary Pickford and signed her to a $100.00 per week contract. This led to her being cast in more important roles such as The Shamrock Handicap, The Blue Eagle, That Midnight Kiss and The Return of Peter Grimm.
Within a year she was one of Hollywood's leading ladies, with excellent performances in Seventh Heaven, Sunrise and Street Angel in 1928 which earned her the first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929, the only time in Oscar history it was given for multiple roles, she was also the youngest to ever win the award for best actress.
Following the success of Seventh Heaven with fellow actor Charles Ferrell, she commanded $300.00 per week and the duo went on to star in a total of eleven romantic films together and were given the moniker, "world's favorite sweethearts."
Gaynor was one of the first to make a smooth transition from silent films to "talkies." She gracefully passed the voice test but was not pleased with her performance, opting instead to take voice lessons, but the studio encouraged her to be herself, her first all speaking and singing part came in the way of Sunny Side Up in 1929.
On September 11th, 1929 she married Jesse Lydell Peck until the couple's divorce on April 7th, 1933.
As Fox Studios golden girl she had her choice of prime roles such as Delicious, Merely Mary Ann and Adorable, but when Daryl F. Zanuck merged his fledgling studio 20th Century Pictures with Fox Film Corporation to form Twentieth Century Fox, her status became quite precarious when child star Shirley Temple came on the scene, they always said children will still the limelight every time.
Janet managed to terminate her contract with the studio and achieved acclaim in films now by David O. Selznick at MGM.
In 1936 she starred opposite my Robert Taylor in Small Town Girl (a personal favorite I watch weekly--I know a bit obsessive) followed by Ladies in Love, A Star is Born and The Young in Heart, after which she left the film industry for almost twenty years, returning once more in the role as Pat Boone's mother in Bernadine.
At the age of 33 she retired from Hollywood in 1939 as Hollywood's highest paid actress at $252,583.00 annually, she married MGM costume designer Adrian on August 14th, 1939 until his death on September 13th, 1959 which left her devastated and ill. The couple had one child, a son Robin Gaynor Adrian born in 1940.
She credited producer Paul Gregory with aiding in her survival and on December 24th, 1964 the couple were married, moving to Palm Springs where she painted florals, became a gourmet cook, and merchandised a line of specialty foods. The couple remained married until his death on September 14th, 1984.
Janet was very close friends with fellow actress Mary Martin and the two frequently traveled together with their husbands around town and abroad.
So it was no surprise that in 1982 the pair were traveling in a cab in San Francisco when Robert Cato ran a red light at the corner of California Street and Franklin--crashing into the Luxor taxicab carrying Gaynor, Mary Martin, Martin's manager Ben Washer and Gaynor's husband Paul Gregory.
The accident killed Ben Washer and injured Gaynor's husband and Mary Martin. Janet was in serious condition with eleven broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, pelvic fractures, an injured bladder and a damaged kidney.
Janet Gaynor never fully recovered from her injuries and passed away just two years later from pneumonia and complications from the accident on September 14th, 1984 at the age of 77.
She is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Previously I never had the pleasure of seeing Janet Gaynor's work before witnessing her comedic talents in Small Town Girl a month or so ago. She was a pint sized dynamo chocked full of talent, vulnerability and sincere wholesomeness that translates perfectly onscreen, offering voyeurs a most genuine look at what one can accomplish with no formal training.
So to all of you would be actors still holding tightly to that dream, do just that..continue to dream while you make it happen, never give up, never retreat.


Sources:
Baker, Sarah. Lucky Stars: Janet Gaynor and
Charles Farrell, Georgia: Bear Manor Media,
2009.
Menefee, David W. The First Female Stars:
Women of the Silent Era. Connecticut: Praeger, 2004
Photo Credits:
elena-lu
dovima_is_devine

Wordless Well Dressed Wednesday