CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I haven't made a list in a long while and I've been terribly bored since I've been at home, so with too much time on my hands I made this list of people, mostly actors, who have led lives as dramatic as the stories they tell!

I had to change the name from actors to people because one of the people on the list only ever appeared in films as themselves :(

Anyway, I shall get posting the few picks soon!

5. Clara Bow
6. Zsa Zsa Gabor
7. Jane Fonda
8. Hedda Hopper
9. Diana Dors
10. Edy Williams

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Looking forward to this, Ci!

10. Edy Williams

Edwina Beth Williams was born in Salk Lake City, Utah in the forties. After modelling and winning several beauty pageants, she managed to strike up a contract with 20th century Fox in the early sixties. She mainly had bit parts, and from the possible exception of appearing in the original Batman series, she never managed to hit it big.

But then she met Russ Meyer, and made Beyond the Valley of the Dolls a film Grace Kelly personally lobbied against. She starred as a predatory porn star who was larger than life. In my opinion, she made the film just about watchable, but her next film with Meyer was a massive flop. Nevertheless, she married the "King Lear" of Hollywood before divorcing in '75, citing Meyer's devotion to his work splitting them a part.

Then she fell into B-movies, dated the notorious Micky Cohen, and made a yearly tradition of showing up to the Academy Awards in outfits like this:

By the 90s and now in her fifties, she ended her career in the limelight in a low budget film with Brinke Stevens, before going into porn.

She was, and still is, larger than life. Getting herself involved in Hollywood, the mob, and then her love for showing it all where she could, she made herself relevant, and succeeded in her own unique way.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Great idea for a thread!

Why thank you!

And about Edy Williams, rumour has it she was never allowed into the actual ceremony :lol:

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I'm just waiting on my name to pop up. :cool:

Totally agree with this one...I think her life would make a fantastic movie...any ideas on casting?

Someone voluptuous. She has a lovely, bountiful figure.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I can see in my mind's eye which female celebrity I would cast but cant remember her name. She's a dancer, and exquisite.

Young Edy would be tough. Had Julie Newmar been 20 today, she would have been perfect for her figure, wild chestnut hair, and sex appeal. I can't really think of anyone today, possibly Stacy Martin if she put a bit weight on.

Edy could play an older version of herself today!

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

This is who I'm thinking

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg

9. Diana Dors

The 'British Marilyn Monroe' is best remembered today for being exactly that, a British answer to the blonde bombshell.

However, Diana Fluck as she was born, had a tumultuous life just like Marilyn. She actually managed to become a star in Britain before Marilyn entered the scene in the US. Breaking out in the late forties, she became the youngest registered owner of a Rolls Royce in the UK, aged 20, even though she couldn't drive.
Married four times, she launched the career of Richard Dawson when he couldn't get a break. But it was her husband, Dennis Hamilton, that caused much of the drama in her early life. He managed to ruin her career in the USA after just two pictures into her contract with RKO (he assaulted a photographer at a pool party she hosted in an attempt to obtain a house formerly owned by Marlene Dietrich), and thus had to return to Britain at the end of the fifties, still only in her late twenties.

Her career then faltered, an episode she filmed in 1961 for Alfred Hitchcock Presents was archived for years for being too gruesome at the time. Her company Diana Dors Ltd. went into debt after she had to sign over all her assets to Hamilton when they divorced, and she was reduced to doing cabaret tours. Her career with Dawson gave her a small break from this, but when they divorced, she returned to the UK to do much the same.

She then became the target of the tabloids when she began hosting adult parties in her mansion, where she filmed the participants and kept recordings of them. This, along with her quick wit, made her a chat show favourite. But strapped for cash, she had to tour working men clubs, something she utterly loathed.

Retreating to television presenting and appearing as the Fairy Godmother in a music video for Adam & The Ants, Dors' health began to fail. She died aged 52, from recurring ovarian cancer. Her husband, Alan Lake, then committed suicide just days after her death.

Her fortune, which she left in a code for her children, has still yet to be found after Alan Lake's death.

(I don't count the crappy TV movie made about her as a biopic, her life was better than what it made it out to be :p )

She'd be magnificent!

Isnt she glorious. I've never seen her dance but I think she's so beautiful.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I know everything about Diana Dors. Her last name is Dors, for example! Bet you didn't know that.

Even her name is so Edy Williams-esque though :lol: but I totally agree!

I haven't actually seen any of her films :lol: I just caught said TV film about her life and began looking her up afterwards. My parents and a lot of my aunts and uncles etc. remember her though!

Fantastic - now I feel super-old, like I should be swathed in bandages and lying entombed eighty feet under Egyptian sand kind of old. Oh to be young again :D

8. Hedda Hopper

Born Elda Flurry, the Queen Bitch of Hollywood ran away to New York City to appear as a dancer on broadway. There, she married DeWolf Hopper, a man 27 years her senior. He subsequently asked her to change her name since Elda was too similar to the names of his previous four wives; confusing him. Someone chose Hedda for her.

She made her motion picture debut in 1915, and appeared in over 120 productions throughout the course of her career as an actress. But by the mid thirties, she struggled to maintain an income, and began looking for alternative ways to supplement it. Insiders quickly recommended she start her own gossip column, with the actress already having a reputation for obtaining all the dirt on Hollywood's finest.

And thus started one of the most infamous feuds in Hollywood history, but her relationship with Louella 'Lolly' Parsons began pleasantly, with the former even actively encouraging her efforts in the beginning of her career as a columnist. However, when a 'hen party' was thrown to celebrate the success of 'Hedda Hopper's Hollywood' which saw the likes of Joan Crawford and Claudette Colbert in attendance, Louella Parsons entered the party before exiting in a huff. Parsons never believed Hedda would rival her, but neither did Hedda, who lamented that she couldn't even spell upon first being offered her own column.

Her audience soared to approximately 30 million readers at her peak. She became feared throughout Hollywood, and styled her own mansion as "The house that fear built". Such was her influence that it is believed she was partly responsible for the denial of Charlie Chaplin's re-admittance into the United States in 1952. (Hedda, a staunch Republican, loathed Chaplin's politics, success in America as a foreigner, and his love life with women far younger than himself).

Her primary female target of disdain, Joan Bennett, even sent her a skunk one valentine's day reading "I stink, and so do you". Spencer Tracy kicked her in the arse. But nonetheless, she wielded power in Hollywood that will probably never be repeated. She could make or break a career with the swipe of a pen, and frequently did.

I want Hedda vs Louella to be the premise of the second season of Feud due to her fabulous portrayal by Judy Davis. However, her life was so spectacular even outside of this catfight from hell.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I'd love to see a Hedda movie. I say the Coens should bring in Tilda and do the real thing after Hail, Caesar!

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I forgot about Tilda! She was brilliant as well, I wasn't a fan of Helen Mirren though!

7. Jane Fonda

This shouldn't surprise many people here who know how much I adore this woman :lol:

Anyway, as the daughter of Henry Fonda, Jane is literally Hollywood royalty (she's related to the English Queen Jane Seymour through her mother). However, as with many celebrity children, going up in the limelight proved difficult for Jane. Her mother committed suicide in brutal fashion when she was 12.

But her acting career quickly thrived, and during the sixties she became a global sex symbol. However, after breaking out as a star in her own right, she became more selective in her roles. She turned down roles in Rosemary's Baby and Bonnie and Clyde before going on to win her first Oscar for Klute.

Yet the seventies is a decade best remembered for her political activity. A lifelong Democrat, she found it especially difficult to get along with the Republican friends of her father like John Wayne. Her active campaign in Vietnam in an attempt to humanise the enemy to the people of America to put an end to the conflict massively backfired. The picture of Jane smiling beside a gun immortalised her, and coined the name 'Hanoi Jane'. To this day, a proportion of Americans detest Ms Fonda for her political engagement with Vietnam. (Seriously, look at the comments section in pretty much any youtube video with Fonda in it).

But Jane came back. Her exercise videos in the 80s launched a trend that exists even now. And she is remembered now just as much for her lycra as her acting and politics.

Jane would then retreat from life in the limelight somewhat. Retiring from acting for fifteen years to return in 2005. Her most memorable role in recent years as the diva Brenda Morel in Youth (below) perfectly encapsulates everything I love about her. She's an icon of not just American cinema, but America itself. She's an unbelievably talented actress, perpetually glamorous, and perpetually relevant and idolised across the globe.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Forgot to add in there that Jane's relationship with her own father is fascinating enough on its own. Especially given its poignancy with On Golden Pond.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

And she has a great voice. Who would you cast ci.

Oooh, I'm not sure.

I think someone like Cate Blanchett? Glamorous, blonde, can pull off a heap of accents, and most importantly, she can act :lol:

I think Kiernan Shipka would be a brilliant young Jane, she was fantastic in Feud as BD :p

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I love Cate but I'm sort of thinking Jennifer Aniston. Thoughts?

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I keep thinking Amy Adams.

To be honest, I've only ever seen Jen do comedy, so I genuinely don't know :lol: I keep meaning to watch Cake though, everyone says she's fabulous in it.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I was never a fan of friends so can't remember which movie won me over.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I can see that. Good choice.

I'm not sure why, but I think a Jane Fonda biopic should wait until she's gone...I have this feeling that she's not done and could very well reinvent her career again somehow.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

I feel bad for Michael Cimino since he got so disrespected and mistreated by the studios. I think a biopic is the least he deserves and would probably be a very good one too.

Another one that springs to my mind is Elizabeth Taylor. I mean, she's one of the best actresses of all time! It even kinda shocks me she hasn't gotten one yet.

I've always been curious to know more about Hugh Hefner. Not that he's an idol or anything, but just seems like an interesting man. Another case where I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.

TV films have been made about Taylor with Sherilynn Fenn and Lindsay Lohan playing her, but she is more than worthy of theatrical treatment IMO.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Madonna is supposedly getting one. Not sure I would bother watching that.

http://cdn2-www.comingsoon.net/asset...liz-taylor.jpg

Could be interesting. Script is suppose to be great.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

OMG doesnt Olivia look like her!

Here you go. Just saw this on fb

https://filthy.media/review-of-ameri...h-hefner-story

6. Zsa Zsa Gabor

From a Hungarian immigrant to marrying into the Hilton dynasty and marrying into "royalty" Zsa Zsa climbed her way up.

You could chose any of the three Gabor sisters, or indeed their mother, but there was something different about Zsa Zsa. She created the modern definition of celebrity, and after a brief career in acting, she quickly became famous just for being famous.

She was the only Gabor sister to have a child, which she claimed was the result of rape from her husband Conrad Hilton. Gabor also claimed to have an affair with her step-son through Conrad, Nicky (Elizabeth Taylor's first husband). She married nine times throughout her life, and proud herself in doing so, coming up with many quotes about marriage that are simply brilliant "I am a marvellous housekeeper: Every time I leave a man I keep his house," being a personal favourite of mine.

She was the ultimate diva, and modern dynasties like the Kardashians pale in comparison to the glamour, ferocity, and ambition of the Gabor sisters, particularly Zsa Zsa who persisted in the public image through her shenanigans such as slapping a police officer in Beverly Hills and refusing to pay carperters in her mansion, her justification being that flooring the house of Zsa Zsa Gabor should be enough payment on its own.

And having watched Feud: Zsa Zsa vs Elke could be a good addition to the anthology series? The feud between her and the German born actress again persisted for years resulting in Ms Gabor having to pay Ms Sommers $3.3 million.

But in the end, there was no one who had lived and succeeded like Zsa Zsa, and I highly doubt anyone ever will again. She was a pioneer, and a fighter, managing to survive to the age of 99 after suffering for years from medical complications. I just know she'll being have a good ol bitch with Eva and Magda up there now :lol:

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Oh you are so darling ci.

I really wish I could hear her say that in person :lol:

LOL. In my mind I said it with her Hungarian accent.

Re: CiCi's Top Ten People Who Need A Biopic
 

Oh Dahling, me too :p

You might not, but I think a Madonna biopic, premature as it might be, would be box office gold.

I think it would to. I personally just think she's overexposed, in more ways than one.

I've been so busy the past few days, but I'm back!

5. Clara Bow

The original "It Girl" who partially inspired the character of Norma Desmond had a life as bizarre as the Gloria Swanson character. She grew up in poverty, and her mother suffered from psychotic episodes. One night, Bow woke up to her mother holding a knife to her throat, though she was able to fend off the attack. Her mother was then admitted to a sanatorium. But her death distraught her, and she apparently tried to jump into the grave of her mother at her funeral. School life caused her great heartache, for being too tomboyish and poor, and her home life was a mess. But she managed to win a talent competition in the early 20s that kick started her career in film.

Bow would become one of the biggest stars of American cinema in the late 20s and early 30s. Despite initially struggling for parts for being 'too fat'. She would also befriend Louella Parsons during the early years of her career, with Parsons using her column to defend Bow when she could.

Bow retired from acting in 1933 to live as a rancher with her husband. When her husband eventually decided to run for the House of Representatives, Bow attempted suicide, citing that she couldn't bare life in the public eye again. She became socially withdrawn, although she wouldn't let her husband leave the house alone.

Eventually, she was diagnosed was insomnia, which was believed to have been triggered by the butcher knife incident with her mother. Bow underwent electroshock therapy, but would later leave to live in a bungalow on her own, which she rarely left until her death in 1965.

A film about Clara Bow is a lovely idea but box office appeal would be pretty much non-existent and no studio is going to back an idea that's not going to translate into box office receipts.

A movie about Zsa Zsa would be awesome...any casting ideas?

This list has seemingly paused, but my top choice of an actor whose life story would make for a potentially fascinating biopic is Sterling Hayden.

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...1&d=1494335830

His film legacy at this point is probably best remembered for his two pictures with Stanley Kubrick, The Killing and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, John Huston's heist Noir The Asphalt Jungle, and as the corrupt Police Captain in The Godfather. His film career is peppered with some interesting films and performances that stretch from the early 1940s into the early 1980s. But more interesting than that are his off-screen exploits.

He worked on boats as a young man, steamers and schooners, and earned his master mariner's license, sailing around the world several times and captaining his first vessel at the age of twenty-two. He was tall (6'5") and handsome, which led to some modeling work on a lark. That led to Hollywood and a contract with Paramount, even though he had no training as an actor. He starred in a couple movies in 1941 but then enlisted in the Marines for WWII. He was commissioned a second lieutenant but before he could ship out for the front lines somewhere he was picked to become an undercover agent in "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of the Coordinator of Information, which became the OSS and after the war the CIA. He had a pseudonym for this service, John Hamilton, and was involved in many covert and dangerous operations, running guns and supplies by boat through U-Boat infested waters and parachuting behind enemy lines, especially around Yugoslavia. He earned a Silver Star for gallantry in action in the Balkans and Mediterranean as well as an accommodation from Tito! Hayden retired from active duty as a Captain in 1945 and a couple years later he was back in Hollywood.

Because he had fought along side brave Communists in the war he was briefly a member of the party in America, which of course led to problems during the Red Scare. He did name names when he was called in front of the committee, and it is a decision that he hated himself for. He worked steadily throughout the 1950s, and while The Asphalt Jungle is a highlight and Nic Ray's Johnny Guitar is a cult classic, he was relegated to B-movies.

By 1958 he'd had enough and left the business to mostly sail around the world. By the early '60s he was based in California and began writing. He wrote a novel (about sailing) and his autobiography, Wanderer, both of which were very well received. Kubrick convinced him to come out of his self-exile to play General Jack D. Ripper in Strangelove, and after that he would take the occasional film role, often stipulating in his contract that he would not shave the long beard he preferred to wear by then. Apart from his iconic part in The Godfather, other highlights from the end of his career include Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, Bertolucci's 1900, and the comedy hit 9 to 5. Playing the abolitionist John Brown in the 1982 TV mini-series "The Blue & the Gray" was his final credit. He died in 1986 at the age of 70 from cancer.

Between his sailing, his war record, the red scare, being in the movies, and ultimately winding up as a pot-smoking alcoholic who might be mistaken for a homeless drifter, he was quite a character.


Don't know who could play him? Though he is only 6', Michael Fassbender could probably give it a go?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=einQjrm2vnY