Today is the birthday of one of my top 25 favorite actresses---the lovely Loretta Young. (January 6, 1913-August 12, 2000).
This graceful, elegant, Academy Award-winning actress, whose career began as a child in the silent era, comes in between 15 and 20 on my all-time favorite actress list...putting her very solidly in my top 25.
While I enjoy 1947's The Farmer's Daughter, the film for which she won the Best Actress Award, my favorite of Loretta's films is the 1986 made-for-TV movie Christmas Eve (reviewed HERE). Besides the fact that Miss Young aged beautifully and gracefully and was as lovely at 73 as she was at 23, I just love the tenderness and sentimentality of that film. In addition to being my favorite Loretta Young movie, it is also one of my all-time favorite Christmas films.
Rounding out my list of 5 favorite Loretta Young films are:
2. Rachel and the Stranger (with William Holden and Robert Mitchum...reviewed HERE)
3. The Bishop's Wife (with Cary Grant and David Niven)
4. Cause for Alarm (with Barry Sullivan...reviewed HERE)
5. The Doctor Takes a Wife (with Ray Milland---reviewed HERE)
My maternal grandmother totally loved Loretta Young. In fact, it was at her request that I watched Christmas Eve back in 1986. It was Loretta's first film appearance in a couple of decades, and my grandmother was most excited about that, so, although not a classic movie (or classic movie star) fan at the time, I agreed to watch the movie with her...and I totally loved it.
So, Loretta Young, here's to you on your 99th birthday! You were always such a classy, beautiful lady! Thanks for making so many great movies!!