We’ve Grown Accustomed to You, Nancy!

Nancy Ann Olson was born on July 14th, 1928 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her father, Henry John Olson was a physician and her mother, Evelyn Bertha Olson, was educated at the University of Wisconsin. Nancy herself transferred from the University of Wisconsin to UCLA in California, where she was discovered performing on stage. She was put under contract to Paramount Pictures in 1948 at the age of 20, and made her feature film debut in Portrait of Jennie (1948). Two years after that film, she starred as Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard (1950) which earned her an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her “Sunset Boulevard,” co-star, William Holden, who played her character’s love interest, Joe Gillis, also received a Best Actor Nomination for his performance as well. Unfortunately neither won. Despite that, Olson reunited with Holden on three other films, Union Station (1950), Submarine Command (1951), and Force of Arms (1951). 

The same year she made “Sunset Boulevard,” Nancy Olson married Alan Jay Lerner of famous Broadway team “Lerner and Lowe,” on March 19th, 1950. They had two daughters together, Liza and Jennifer. During their marriage, Lerner began working with Lowe on the musical that would undoubtedly be one of their greatest collaborations ever, My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion. While the show was in production, it came time for Lerner and Lowe to write the closing song for the show, a song that the male lead character, Professor Henry Higgins (played by Rex Harrison) would sing about his feelings for the female lead of Eliza Doolittle (played by a virtually unknown Julie Andrews). What made it complicated to compose the song was that it needed to be a love song, that wasn’t actually about love. At the end of the show, Higgins is in love with Eliza, but being the haughty, arrogant man that he is, he would never actually admit to being in love with her, so he expresses his feelings in another way. At one point, when Lerner was hard at work, he asked his wife to fetch him a cup of tea. When she came back with the tea, he said “Nancy, you know, you are quite a pretty girl.” She sarcastically said, “Thanks a lot.” He said “No, no, no-,…-I wake up with you every morning. I’m with you all day. All I’m trying to say is that I’ve grown accustomed to you. I’ve grown accustomed to your face.” At that point he had the name of the show’s closing song, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” “My Fair Lady,” premiered on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theater on March 15th, 1956, to rave reviews and won seven Tonys, including Best Musical. (“My Fair Lady,” was re-adapted as a movie in 1964 which won the Best Picture Oscar also.) Although “My Fair Lady,” was a huge hit, Nancy Olson and Alan Jay Lerner divorced in 1957.            

Nancy Olson made her Disney debut as Nancy Furman, the maid in Pollyanna (1960). Next she starred as Betsy Carlisle in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), the love interest-turned-wife of Philip Brainard, played by Fred MacMurray. She reprised that role for its sequel Son of Flubber (1963). In between both “Flubber,” films, Olson remarried, tying the knot with Capital Records producer Alan Livingston, who is best known for creating “Bozo the Clown,” and signing Frank Sinatra, along with several others to Capital Records. They had one son together, Christopher, and remained married until Livingston’s death in 2009. In 1973, she played Sue Baxter, the wife of Dean Jones’ Johnny Baxter in Snowball Express. She also made an uncredited cameo as a secretary for Ford in Flubber (1997), Disney’s remake of “The Absent-Minded Professor,” which starred Robin Williams.

After “Snowball Express,” and appearing in Universal’s Airport 1975 (1974), Olson virtually retired from acting, but still made occasional appearances on both film and television. She made appearances on Gunsmoke (1955-1975), and Love Story (1973-1974), and most recently acted in the film Dumbbells (2014), which was directed by her son, Christopher Livingston. She might be best remembered for her Disney roles, or as Betty in “Sunset Boulevard,” but she leaves a very unique legacy in entertainment being the inspiration for the song “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”  

Shirley Jones: A Partridge from a Pennsylvania Tree

At 21 years of age, she burst onto the screen, a newcomer as Laurey Williams in the film adaptation of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Broadway hit Oklahoma! (1955). At 26, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress playing Lulu Baines, the prostitute, in Elmer Gantry (1960). And by 36, her singing talents splashed from movies into television as she became the matriarch of The Partridge Family (1970-1974). These three roles, along with several notable others, were portrayed by none other than Shirley Jones. From leading lady roles in movie-musicals, to ‘70s television icon, she has been entertaining the world for more than 60 years. (even throwing in a few bit roles for the Disney Studios!).

Shirley Mae Jones was born on March 31st 1934 in Charleroi, Pennsylvania to Paul and Marjorie Jones (Marjorie was a homemaker and Paul was the co-owner of the Jones Brewing Company). She was their only child, and they named her after Shirley Temple. Her family later relocated to Smithton, Pennsylvania where six-year-old Shirley began singing in the Methodist Church Choir. She went to South Hutingdon High School in Ruffs Dale, Pennsylvania where she began performing in plays. Throughout her childhood and teen years, her family vacationed in New York where they would shop and see Broadway shows. When she graduated High School, she decided to attend college in New York, but on her way to college, she decided to meet up with her friend Ken Welch, a gifted pianist who lived in an apartment New York. They sang songs at the piano in his apartment and Welch saw potential in his friend, and encouraging her to go to open auditions that were being held for each of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. Jones had never been to a professional audition before, but Welch convinced her to go.

She went to the audition and sang a song that Ken Welch had written just for her called “My Very First Kiss,” along with two others. John Fearnley, Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s casting director, was so impressed, that he ran to get Richard Rodgers himself and asked her to sing again. Also impressed, Rodgers called Oscar Hammerstein II to hear her, and, of course, agreed with them. They asked her what she had done before, and she told them, “Nothing.” They eagerly offered her a spot in the chorus of South Pacific, and though Jones told them she was on her way to college, but the two legends persuaded her  to try singing in the chorus. (They had to help persuade her parents as well!). As a result of taking the job, she became the first and only singer ever to become under contract to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Within a year after that, she landed the film role of Laurey in “Oklahoma,” opposite Gordon MacRae. The film was a hit and won two Oscars. Soon after, she began a European stage tour of Oklahoma with her future husband, Jack Cassidy, cast as Curly. They were married in 1956. 

That same year, she reunited with MacRae for the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel (1956). Frank Sinatra was originally cast as Billy Bigelow, but when he arrived on-location in Boothbay Harbor, Maine to begin filming, he immediately abandoned the location when he discovered that the film was to be shot in two formats: Cinemascope and Cinemascope 55. He personally exclaimed to the film’s director, Henry King, “You’re not getting two Sinatras for the price of one.” As a result, the film’s producer, Henry Ephron, suggested that Shirley Jones to give Gordon MacRae a call. MacRae replied, “Give me three days. I have to lose 10 pounds, but I’ll be there.” The year after “Carousel,” Shirley Jones made the movie-musical April Love (1957) with Pat Boone. These musicals would have typecast her for the rest of her career, but she managed to shed the “innocent young ingenue” image when she was cast in “Elmer Gantry.” That film’s director, Richard Brooks, initially did not want her for the role, but he when he saw her film her first scene, he specifically told Jones that she would win the Oscar for her performance. (Richard Brooks also won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film.)

Two years after her Oscar win, Shirley Jones returned to the movie-musical, starring as Marian “the Librarian” Paroo in Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man (1962). (Ironically, just as in “Carousel,” Frank Sinatra was also considered to play Harold Hill in the film, but Meredith Wilson said “No Robert Preston, no movie.”) So not only did Shirley get to work with the original Broadway lead Robert Preston, she was joined by Pert Kelton as Mrs. Paroo, choreographer Onna White and director Morton DaCosta-all from the original Broadway show. At one point, Shirley Jones went up to Onna White and explained “Look, I have to warn you, I am not a dancer. I have no dancing training whatsoever.” White replied “Honey, by the time this movie’s over, you’ll be a dancer.” Shirley Jones became close with young Ron Howard who played her little brother, Winthrop Paroo. She reunited with Howard the following year in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963). 

Three months into filming the movie, Jones discovered that she was pregnant with her second son, Patrick Cassidy. When she gave the news to Morton DaCosta, he assured her not to worry and that they would have the costume department build a corset that they would use to pull her in if ever she were to “shrek out.” They would also film her as often as they could from the waist up, and DaCosta requested that she not tell anyone about it. Though there was some speculation from several members of the cast, particularly from Robert Preston, and when it came time to shoot the kissing moment in “Till There Was You,” as Preston leaned in for the kiss and felt a kick from Jones’s stomach. He jumped back and said “What was that?” and she said “That’s Patrick Cassidy. Say Hello!” Ironically, Patrick Cassidy himself had the chance to meet Robert Preston, and when he walked up to him to introduce himself he said “Hello, I’m Patrick Cassidy,” and Preston said “Yes, I know. We’ve already met.” And to the further the irony, in 2012 the California Musical Theatre revived the Music Man with Shirley Jones as Mrs. Paroo and Patrick Cassidy as Professor Harold Hill.

In 1970, Shirley Jones was cast in another one of her most-often identified roles, the role of Shirley Partridge in “The Partridge Family.” She initially had been offered the role of Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch (1969-1974) but that role went to her best friend, Florence Henderson. Coincidentally, Florence Henderson had also lobbied heavily for the role of Laurey in “Oklahoma,” and she had even gotten to perform with Gordon MacRae in the “Oklahoma,” segment of the television special General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein (1954). She was cast opposite her stepson, David Cassidy as Keith Partridge, who was the lead singer for the family. The show earned Jones two Golden Globe nominations as Best TV Actress: Comedy or Musical in its first two seasons. The family on the show also produced 13 albums together with 11 hit singles. 

For the Walt Disney Studios, Shirley Jones appeared in an episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1954-1991) entitled “The Adventures of Pollyanna.” She played Pollyanna’s Aunt Polly, a role which was originated by Jane Wyman in the 1960 film of the same name, starring Hayley Mills. She also appeared in two episodes of the Disney Channel Original Series Good Luck Charlie (2010-2014) as Grandma Linda Duncan.

Shirley Jones’s career hasn’t stopped, as she recently reprised her role as Lulu Baines in the Bruce Lee film, Bruce the Challenge (2018). After more than six decades in show business, she has entertained audiences through every medium in the industry-even books. In 1990 she wrote a book about her second marriage to comedian Marty Ingels, Shirley and Marty: An Unlikely Love Story and in 2013 she wrote Shirley Jones: A Memoir. While she started out as American’s favorite songbird—she had a multi-faceted career spanning decades. 

Captain Accomplished

The First Duke of Wellington, the author of The Jungle Book, the founder of the Getty Oil Company, and the author of War and Peace. These are just a few of the roles portrayed by Christopher Plummer, who has been acting on stage, television, and film since his mid-20’s. While he has played many historical figures throughout his career, he will always be remembered for his iconic portrayal of Captain Georg Von Trapp, the Patriarch of the “Von Trapp” family, in The Sound of Music (1965). Christopher Plummer is an actor with a lengthy career, playing everything from Shakespeare to Disney films. Currently, he is the oldest recipient of an acting Oscar at 88 years of age. 

Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was born on December 13th, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the only child of Isabella Mary Abbott and John Orme Plummer. Abbott was the Secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University and the elder Plummer sold stocks and securities. Christopher Plummer attended the High School of Montreal, where he originally studied to be a concert pianist, but he developed a love for the theatre instead. He portrayed Mr. Darcy in his high school’s production of Pride and Prejudice, where he caught the attention of Herbert Whitaker, the theatre critic of the Montreal Gazette and the amateur stage director for the Montreal Repertory Theatre. As a result, he was cast at just 18 years of age as Oedipus in the Montreal Repertory Theatre’s production of John Cocteau’s La Machine infernale. After that production, he decided to pursue acting full-time while continuing his studies at McGill University.

At the age of 24, in 1953, Christopher Plummer made his both his Broadway and Television debuts: On Broadway, he was in a play called The Starcross Story, which unfortunately closed on its opening night. (He did, however, find success on Broadway the next year in a play called The Lark). On television, he starred in the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) production of Othello. Five years later, he was cast in his first movie, Sidney Lumet’s Stage Struck (1958) opposite Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg. Prior to the film, he began appearing in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, playing the leading roles of Henry V, Hamlet, and Leontes in The Winter’s Tale. He didn’t make another film again until Anthony Mann’s The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) playing Emperor Commodus. He later won two Tony Awards: first, for Best Actor in a Musical in 1973 for his performance as the title character in the musical Cyrano based on the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, and then again as Best Actor in a Play for his performance as John Barrymore in the two-man play, Barrymore. Not long after each of those wins, he also garnered two Emmys: the first for his role as Roscoe Hayward in the mini-series Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers (1976) and then again in 1994 for Outstanding Voice-Over performance for narrating the series Madeline (1989-2001) based on the book series of the same name by Ludwig Bemelans.   

The very next year, after “Fall of the Roman Empire,” Christopher Plummer was cast as Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.” Although “Sound of Music,” was a huge hit when it first came out, and remains a beloved classic today in the 53 years since its release, Christopher Plummer has never ever been a fan of it. He described that when he was working on the film, playing Captain Von Trapp was like “flogging a dead horse.” He did not find the character interesting in any way, but he did the best he could. The only thing he did like about being in the movie was working with Julie Andrews, and they have remained close friends. He has been quoted as having said working with Julie Andrews was “like being hit over the head with a Valentine’s Day Card.” He also mockingly refers to the film as “that movie,” “S&M,” and “The Sound of Mucus.” Overall, he admits that today, that while the film has never been his cup of tea, it was a very well-made film and he is very proud to have been a part of it.

In 2003, Christopher Plummer starred in Touchstone’s Cold Creek Manor. The next year, he made a very brief appearance in Disney’s National Treasure as John Adams Gates, Ben Gates’s grandfather. In 2009, he provided the voice of Charles Muntz, the main antagonist, in Disney/Pixar’s Up. The same year as “Up,” he starred opposite Helen Mirren in the film The Last Station (2009) which earned him his very first Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He lost the award to Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds (2009), but he was nominated again in the same category a year later in Beginners (2010), and won. His acceptance speech was, “You’re only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?” He has currently been nominated again, in the supporting category for his performance as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World (2017), and he also played Ebenezer Scrooge in The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017).

Christopher Plummer’s body of work in acting is truly spectacular! While today he is still most often identified as Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” he has achieved immense versatility that goes far beyond that film. From his Shakespearean roles, to historical figures, to even voice-over roles, he is one heck of an entertainer.