In the Period B.O.
...otherwise known as, "Before Omar Sharif," there was Alexander d'Arcy (August 10, 1908 - April 20, 1996). Born Alexander Sarruf in Cairo, this suavely handsome charmer made a minor splash in 1930's Hollywood, portraying roguish types in such classics as The Prisoner of Zenda and, perhaps most memorably, The Awful Truth (both 1937), as Irene Dunne's flirtatious vocal coach. d'Arcy disappeared from the screen for almost a decade, then resurfaced in 1953 as Marilyn Monroe's suitor in How to Marry a Millionaire.
ALEXANDER D'ARCY & MARILYN MONROE IN HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (1953)
Winding up his career with a string of horror films in the 1960's and early 1970's, d'Arcy retired in 1973. He passed away in West Hollywood in 1996. For your minor, yet memorable, contribution to Hollywood, we salute you, Mr. d'Arcy!
Now, my dear, you knew I would have to weigh in on anything remotely relevant to the Immortal Omar, and in this case I really do feel a need to protest: D'Arcy, charming in his own limited way, is only Egyptian in the most technical of senses, in that he was born there to expat parents.
ReplyDeleteOmar is the real deal, and was a major star in Arabic films for almost a decade before David Lean recruited him for that desert picture. His early films are often quite charming, especially those in which he plays opposite his then-wife, the tremendously lovely Faten Hamama, herself a sort of Nilotic Audrey Hepburn.
So there. End of lecture.
in West Hollywood? hmmm. Is there something you're leaving out here I wonder?
ReplyDeleteMuscato Darling -- I knew that if anyone could shed more light on Mr. d'Arcy than Wikipedia could provide, it would be *you*! Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteJason -- I know, I raised an eyebrow over that one, too. He apparently had four or five wives, but we all know that means diddlysquat.
He was a hottie never the less.
ReplyDeleteAlthough born in Cario it seems he indentifed more as a frenchmen, d'Arcy made most of his films in France before coming to America. http://www.cyranos.ch/sparcy-e.htm
ReplyDeleteAin't the Internet grand?
ReplyDelete