DonBoy
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
I decided to watch one last random movie from the TiVo before clearing my head for the new TV season, and I picked the 1945 Blithe Spirit, which I've probably seen before. I was looking up the lesser-known (to me) cast members, in particular Constance Cummings as Harrison's wife. Here are the surprises:
-- Born Constance Halverstadt, she married the writer Benn Levy, suggesting that she may have been MOT.
-- Between 1931 and 1934, Cummings appeared in 21 films, most notably the Harold Lloyd picture Movie Crazy, and American Madness, which was directed by Frank Capra.
-- After the couple moved to England, Benn Levy was a Labour MP from 1945-1950.
-- Later in life, her stage roles were more significant than her film roles, culminating in a Tony in 1979 for her role as an aviator recoving from a stroke, in Arthur Kopit's Wings. Which I saw in its first run at the Yale Repertory Theater. But did I see the actual, legendary Constance Cummings in that early performance?
Looks like it.