Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Hundreds of the British Library’s most valuable literary resources, from the Bronte sisters’ earliest writings, to an early draft of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, have been posted online. The library’s new site, features digital versions of 1,200 handwritten manuscripts, diaries, letters, and fascinating artifacts from Romantic and Victorian scribes, including William Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen.

   Among the highlights is a miniature book containing an 1826 short story illustrated by Charlotte Bronte. The book is Charlotte’s earliest known effort at writing. Other items include a lock of Percy Shelley’s hair; and notes belonging to Austen detailing other folk’s opinions of her writing, such as one peer describing Pride and Prejudice as downright nonsense.

   The collection also features original documents from the time the authors lived in — such as newspaper clippings and an 1838 theater playbill for Oliver Twist — to bring the period to life for readers.

   All said, this fascinating collection is jolly good!

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   Pauline Wagner was a contract actress with MGM in the 1930s and 1940s. She made her debut in King of Jazz in 1930. Other film roles included Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Lady Killers. Her biggest role was actually as Fay Wray’s understudy in King Kong. She can be seen on the ledge of the Empire State Building at the end of the motion picture. Pauline danced with Fred Astaire, flirted with James Cagney, blew a date with Cary Grant, and learned how to knit from Joan Crawford. Her career ended in 1941.

   Pauline Wagner (right) was 103.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2014 at 11:15 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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