The Hollywood Archive

Cicely Tyson, the award-winning actress whose film, television, and theater roles included The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King, Sounder, and The Help, died Thursday, her family announced. Pictured: Cicely Tyson in "Sounder" (1972) 20th Century Fox /The Hollywood Archive https://www.thehollywoodarchive.com/ RIP

Editor's Pick - 60 years of "Breakfast at Tiffanys" A romantic comedy directed by Blake Edwards and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer (George Peppard). It also featured Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney in supporting roles. Breakfast at Tiffany's was released by Paramount Pictures in 1961 to critical and commercial success, grossing $14 million on a $2.5 milli...on budget. Hepburn's portrayal of Holly Golightly is generally considered to be one of her most memorable and identifiable roles. She regarded it as one of her most challenging roles, since she was an introvert required to play an extrovert. Pictured: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" 1961 Paramount / The Hollywood Archive https://www.thehollywoodarchive.com/

Editor's Pick- Behind the Scenes...Director Steven Spielberg, with his Director of photography (LOL), "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" 1977 Columbia/ The Hollywood Archive Trivia notes... Spielberg originally wanted the aliens to be non-human beings that glided instead of walked, and he had a weird idea to pull it off: An orangutan dressed in a specially-made suit. For a screen test, the production team outfitted an orangutan in grey spandex and strapped it into roller s...kates. The orangutan immediately took off the skates and crawled to its owner, so a full test couldn’t be completed, and the team scrapped the idea. The majority of the small aliens in the final movie were played by local elementary school girls from Mobile in specially made grey suits and masks who were heavily backlit to create the final alien silhouette effect. https://www.thehollywoodarchive.com See more

Editor's Pick: 60 years ago today - 60th anniversary of JFK's inauguration. On Inauguration Day, January 20, 1961, nearly one million people in the nation's capital braved the subfreezing temperatures to catch a glimpse of the new President they had elected. The hard issues of the day---the Communist threat, a nuclear arms race, racial unrest, and economic distress---awaited the President and the nation. Assuming office in the midst of the Cold War, JFK understood that his i...naugural address would have to instill confidence at home and respect abroad. He believed that democracy thrives only when citizens contribute their talents to the common good, and that it is up to leaders to inspire citizens to acts of sacrifice. And when he exhorted people to "ask not what your country can do for you," he appealed to the noblest instincts, voicing a message that Americans were eager to hear. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy attend the inaugural ball January 20, 1961 in Washington, DC. (Photo:JFK Library/The Hollywood Archive) https://www.thehollywoodarchive.com/

Happy Birthday Val Kilmer! December 31st (1959) Best known for the films, Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), as well as the military action film Top Gu...n (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988). Some of his other notable film roles include Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), an apparition of Elvis Presley in True Romance (1993), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993), Chris Shiherlis in Heat (1995), Bruce Wayne / Batman in Batman Forever (1995). Photo credit: The Hollywood Archive See more