Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Ann Rutherford, who played Vivien Leigh’s youngest sister in Gone with the Wind, and Mickey Rooney’s long-suffering beau in the Andy Hardy series, has died. The Orange County Register radio columnist, Gary Lycan, paid special tribute in his Introduction of my recent book-release – Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History.

   Ann’s screen career began at Republic Pictures studios (then called Mascot Pictures) in low-budget Westerns opposite Gene Autry and John Wayne. After she signed with MGM, Rutherford was a co-star in memorable movies, including Of Human Hearts, A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice, and with Glenn Miller in Orchestra Wives. For five years, she played Polly Benedict a dozen times in the series that made Mickey Rooney a bankable star. Rutherford was also Red Skelton’s gal-pal in a trio of Whistling comedy-mysteries.

   Legend has it, the actress secured the role of Scarlett O’Hara’s young sibling in Gone with the Wind because Judy Garland was unavailable, due to her schedule on The Wizard of Oz.  Despite personal objections, Louis B. Mayer loaned Rutherford to his rival, David O. Selznick.  Ann later joined Clark Gable, Carole Lombard (his wife), and author Margaret Mitchell at the  premiere of the epic blockbuster in Atlanta.

   After she left MGM, Rutherford replaced Penny Singleton on radio as Blondie; and was cast opposite Danny Kaye in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In 1950, she retired from films. One of her final on-camera appearances was in television as Suzanne Pleshette’s mother on The Bob Newhart Show. Rutherford was offered the part of the elderly Rose Calvert in the 1997 version of Titanic, but she turned it down. This choice role was played by actress Gloria Stuart.

   In retirement, Rutherford was quite popular when she appeared at Gone with the Wind reunions. And, her second husband, William Dozier, created the television program – Batman.

   By most accounts, Ann Rutherford was 94.

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   Henry Hill Jr. is also dead. He was a mobster, who became an FBI informant that led to 50 convictions of American Mafia-types. His life story was documented in Wiseguy, a 1980s biography. Hill felt his  time in Witness Protection was equal to the kind of life experienced by what he called 9-to-5 snooks who lived in the neighborhood where he grew up. The Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas in 1990 was based on the publication. Ray Liotta played the colorful criminal-turned-snitch.  Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci also starred in the iconic motion picture. In fact, Pesci won an Oscar for his performance. HENRY HILL JR –>

   Henry Hill Jr. croaked peacefully. He was 69.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 at 12:45 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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