Ann Blyth is 90 years old today. This in itself is an achievement, and her family and friends who will surely celebrate the milestone are not the only beneficiaries of Miss Blyth's -- or in private life, Mrs. McNulty's -- good health and longevity; her fans around the world will smile today and wish her a very happy 90th birthday.
When she was a small child raised by a single mother in Depression-era New York City, standing on a box to reach a microphone at her first gig that would help support her struggling family -- for a few bucks a week -- I guess she probably would not have imagined a day, when after decades of career and personal adventures, so many strangers would be vicariously attending her 90th birthday party.
They will do so by watching a favorite Ann Blyth film on their televisions or their computers or their iPads, and skim through several congratulatory posts and messages on Facebook and Twitter, maybe "liking" something they read.
It's a long way from the box and the microphone and rushing home from school to run to rehearsal.
Five years ago I was mulling over a new topic for this blog and I decided to post about a couple Ann Blyth films. It was pure serendipity, or a blessing, that I stumbled upon a journey of discovery that fascinated, and moved me, and enriched my small personal world to the point where I find myself grateful not only to an actress from the glory days of Hollywood's celebrated studio system, but to her fans who've shared so much with me in terms of their memorabilia, their memories, and their enthusiasm. I posted weekly on her career in 2014, The Year of Ann Blyth, which begins with this intro post here.
What I've found most appealing about Ann Blyth is more than her obvious talent; it is her work ethic, her decency, and kindliness.
But my exploration into her career with weekly blog posts, that developed into a book, (which, by the way, is reviewed today on author David C. Tucker's blog here) was more than just an exercise in fandom. It was an investigation and analysis of twentieth-century popular entertainment told through the career trajectory of one actress.
From that post:
Movies, radio, television—our entertainment industry became America’s greatest export to the world, for better and for worse. I want to examine this watershed century in the acting profession and the media through the career of one actress, and am particularly drawn to Ann Blyth for different reasons; including that she moved comfortably between the different media and excelled at each, and because long after she performed in her last movie she continued to work when it suited her, on television and most especially, the stage, including plays, musicals, concerts, night clubs and cabaret. Throw in a few TV commercials, and you can see she tagged all the bases.
And something else...something intangible and perhaps only evident when you stack her performances on a timeline: if you know Ann Blyth only through her frothy MGM musicals, you don't know Ann Blyth.
In dramas she has morphed into the epitome of hateful, sensual, heartbroken, and shamed. If you know her only as the demon teen Veda in Mildred Pierce, you don't know Ann Blyth. The same colossal greedy train wreck of a girl who spit invective at Joan Crawford and smacked her in the jaw also performed a night club act to enthusiastic crowds in Las Vegas, bringing them to tears with the sentimental "Auld Lang Syne" and sang at the California state fair. If you only know her from The Helen Morgan Story or melodramas, you are missing her genuine gift for screwball comedy. Sinking herself intellectually, just as much as emotionally into these roles, she swims against the powerful and unrelenting current of studio typecasting...
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Good luck!
And Happy Birthday, Mrs. McNulty!
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For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99. This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.
You can get your copy here at these online retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple iBooks
You can get your copy here at these online retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple iBooks
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