Timelines for year 1954
Cher
Is one of only six actors/actresses to have both a number one single and an Oscar for acting. The others are Frank Sinatra , Barbra Streisand , Judy Garland (Honorary Oscar) , Jamie Foxx , and Bing Crosby .
Michael Landon
Graduated third from the bottom of his class academically in 1954.
Grew up in the southern New Jersey town of Collingswood and graduated Collingswood High School in 1954.
In 1954, he was the national high school record holder in the javelin throw.
Doris Day
Was a good friend of Judy Garland after meeting her on the Warner Bros. lots. She was filming Young at Heart as Garland was filming A Star Is Born .
Jim Henson
His first television character was called Pierre, the French Rat. It began life as a comic strip drawn by Henson for a high-school publication in 1954.
Jack Nicholson
In June 1954, he graduated from Manasquan High School in New Jersey and headed for California, where he went on to work in the MGM cartoon department and mail room.
Graduate of Manasquan High School, Manasquan, New Jersey, where he was voted "Class Clown" by the Class of 1954.
Gary Cooper
Turned down James Mason's role as an aging movie star falling on hard times in A Star Is Born .
Elvis Presley
On seeing Elvis Presley in rehearsal for "Stage Show" for which he was the producer, Jackie Gleason described Elvis as "Marlon Brando with a guitar".
Elizabeth Montgomery
She lost out on the part of Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront to Eva Marie Saint. Director Elia Kazan, in his autobiography "A Life," says that the choice of an actress to play the part was narrowed down to Montgomery and Saint. Although Montgomery was fine in her screen test, there was an air of finishing school about her. Kazan thought this genteel quality would not be becoming for Edie, who was raised on the waterfront in Hoboken, NJ. He gave the part to Saint who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, in the part.
Paul Newman
Said in an interview that a film had never made any special impact on him until he saw On the Waterfront .
Was so ashamed of his debut in the failed costume drama The Silver Chalice , that he took out an ad in Variety apologizing for his performance.
Diahann Carroll
While Diahann was performing in 1954's "House of Flowers" on Broadway, she became involved with the show's casting director, Monte Kay, who then became her first husband in September of 1956.
Judy Garland
Returned to work eleven months after giving birth to her daughter Lorna Luft in order to film A Star Is Born .
Became good friends with Doris Day on the Warner Bros. lots when she was filming A Star Is Born at the same time that Day was filming Young at Heart .
Was close friends with Lauren Bacall, who had once been her neighbor during the 1950s. Had Judy won the 1955 Best Actress Oscar for A Star Is Born , Lauren would have accepted the Oscar statuette on her behalf.
Did not attend the 1955 Academy Awards, where she was nominated as Best Actress for her portrayal of Vicki Lester in A Star Is Born , because she was in hospital after giving birth to her third child and only son Joey Luft.