Our dear readers know their steely old battleaxes; Gladys Cooper's identity posed no problem to you. MC, that clarion of elan and style, was the first to correctly name her.
A great beauty in her youth, Ms. Cooper was criticized in her early stage career for being too stiff; by the time she made her mark in Hollywood, that stiffness had transformed into a gloriously venomous archness. Ms. Cooper's best known role, of course, was that of Bette Davis's gorgon of a mother in Now, Voyager (1942) - it's a remarkable, finely etched performance which manages to be terrifying, maddening, and extremely funny.
In 1967, Gladys Cooper was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE); she passed away four years later, at age 82, after a bout with pneumonia.
MC wins a collection of good, solid books; sensible shoes; and freedom henceforth from any diets - all things which would meet with Ms. Cooper's approval.
My best prize yet! I'd like to thank the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
ReplyDelete"Clarion" is defined as either "an ancient trumpet with a curved shape" or "a medieval trumpet with a shrill tone." Either is unfortunately apt.
I wouldn't have known what to do with sensible shoes anyway.
ReplyDeleteLOL! It was a mangled use of the word as noun on my part; in my head, though, it made sense, since I think of you as a clarion call to glamour and fabulousness!
ReplyDeleteMistress MJ - On you, Choos and Viviers are sensible choices.
ReplyDelete