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Dutch collectors card. Photo: Sean Penn in At Close Range (James Foley, 1986).
Gifted and versatile Sean Penn (1960) is an American actor and director. Penn is a powerhouse film performer capable of intensely moving work, who has gone from strength to strength during a colourful film career. He won an Oscar in 2004 for his leading role in Mystic River, after having been nominated three times before. In 2009, he won another Oscar for Milk. Penn is also the recipient of more than 45 other film awards, including a Silver Bear for Dead Man Walking. Penn has drawn much media attention for his stormy private life and political viewpoints.
Sean Justin Penn was born in Santa Monica, in 1960. Penn is the son of director Leo Penn, who was blacklisted during McCarthy's reign for refusing to testify, and actress Eileen Ryan (née Annucci). He has two brothers: actor Chris Penn (1965-2006) and musician Michael Penn. He grew up in Santa Monica, in a neighborhood populated by future celebrities Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, the sons of actor Martin Sheen. The children spent much of their free time together, making a number of amateur films shot with Super-8 cameras. Still, Penn's original intention was to attend law school, although he ultimately skipped college to join the Los Angeles Repertory Theater. After making his professional debut on an episode of television's Barnaby Jones, he relocated to New York, where he soon appeared in the play Heartland. A TV movie, The Killing of Randy Webster, followed in 1981 before he made his feature debut later that same year as the military cadet defending his academy against closure in Taps (Harold Becker, 1981). He then had his breakthrough as fast-talking surfer stoner Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982). Jason Ankeny at AllMovie: "he stole every scene in which he appeared, helping to elevate the picture into a classic of the teen comedy genre; however, the quirkiness which would define his career quickly surfaced as he turned down any number of Spicoli-like roles to star in the 1983 drama Bad Boys, followed a year later by the Louis Malle caper comedy Crackers and the period romance Racing With the Moon. While none of the pictures performed well at the box office, critics consistently praised Penn's depth as an actor. " He next contributed a stellar performance as a drug addict turned government spy alongside Timothy Hutton in the Cold War spy thriller The Falcon and the Snowman (John Schlesinger, 1985), followed by a teaming with icy Christopher Walken in the chilling At Close Range (James Foley, 1986). Penn's brother Chris played his brother in the film and their mother played the role of their grandmother in At Close Range. The youthful Sean then paired up with his then-wife, pop diva Madonna in the woeful, and painful, Shanghai Surprise (Jim Goddard, 1986), which was savaged by the critics, but Sean bounced back with a great job as a hot-headed young cop in Colors (Dennis Hopper, 1988), gave another searing performance as a US soldier in Vietnam committing atrocities in Casualties of War (Brian De Palma, 1989) and appeared alongside Robert De Niro in the uneven comedy We're No Angels (Neil Jordan, 1989). He has appeared in more than forty films.
During the 1990s, Sean Penn really got noticed by critics as a mature, versatile, and accomplished actor, with a string of dynamic performances in first-class films. Almost unrecognisable with frizzy hair and thin-rimmed glasses, Penn was simply brilliant as corrupt lawyer David Kleinfeld in the gangster movie Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma, 1993) and he was still in trouble with authority as a Death Row inmate pleading with a caring nun (Susan Sarandon) to save his life in Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995), for which he received his first Oscar nomination. Penn had also moved into directing, with the quirky but interesting The Indian Runner (1991), about two brothers with vastly opposing views on life, and in 1995 he directed Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard (1995). Both films received overall positive reviews from critics. Sean then played the brother of wealthy Michael Douglas, involving him in a mind-snapping scheme in The Game (David Fincher, 1997), and also landed the lead role of Sgt. Eddie Walsh in the star-studded anti-war film The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998), before finishing the 1990s playing an offbeat 1930s jazz guitarist in Sweet and Lowdown (Woody Allen, 1999). For this part, he scored another Oscar nomination.
Sean Penn played a mentally disabled father fighting for custody of his seven-year-old daughter in I Am Sam (2001). He received his third Oscar nomination for this role, but in the following years, he finally won the Oscar for the best male lead of the year. He won the first for his part as an anguished father seeking revenge for his daughter's murder in the gut-wrenching Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, 2003), and the second six years later for his role as gay politician and civil rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008). Jason Ankeny at AllMovie: "The Oscar (for Mystic River), coupled with a standing ovation by the audience, showed once and for all that Penn's unorthodox approach to his acting career hadn't had an adverse effect on his popularity" In between, he played a mortally ill college professor in 21 Grams (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2003) and a possessed businessman in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (Niels Mueller, 2004) with Naomi Watts. Penn was a militant opponent of the Iraq war. He also supports Sea Shepherd and is on the advisory board of this organisation. Singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, who is friends with Penn, wrote soundtracks for several films in which Penn acted or which were directed by him, including Dead Man Walking, Into the Wild, and I Am Sam. Sean Penn also appeared in The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) with Brad Pitt, and The Professor and the Madman (Farhad Safinia, 2019) opposite Mel Gibson. In March 2018, he published the novel 'Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff'. Penn was engaged to actress Elizabeth McGovern, who played him in Racing with the Moon in 1984. He married singer Madonna in 1985 and divorced her in 1989. He then began a relationship with actress Robin Wright, with whom he had a daughter Dylan in 1991 and a son Hopper in 1993, and married in 1996. A divorce petition followed in December 2007, and became final in 2009, since then Penn has had relationships with actresses Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron, among others. In 2016, he began a relationship with Australian actress Leila George, whom he married in July 2020. She filed for divorce in late 2021.
Sources: Jason Ankeny (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Check out my set "Most Interesting 500" here!
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when i bought this wrap top, the salesperson showed me at least 6 different ways of wearing it. i remember two. (these don't count)
wed, january 7:
- gray wrap: mexx (remixed here)
- black shift dress: f21
- oversized black pearl & ribbon necklace: h&m
- sheer tights: ?
- black rubber riding boots: manhattan saddlery
mysteriously, all the color has disappeared from my wardrobe. i never thought i'd ever be wearing this much gray or neutral... but i'll roll with it!
Small 80mm x 55mm photograph.
The versatile 7.58 light Minenwerfer, used primarily as an anti-personnel weapon , but also used in an anti-tank and anti-aircraft role.
Of note are the two different shoulder straps being worn by the crew of this 7.58 light Minenwerfer, MW I and MW II.
British postcard, no. FA 228. Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987).
American-Australian actor Mel Gibson (1956) became known worldwide thanks to the small-budgeted action film Mad Max (1979). He went on to star in such acclaimed films as Gallipoli (1981) and The Bounty (1984). In 1987, he became a superstar with the buddy cop action-comedy film series Lethal Weapon (1987-1998). As director of Braveheart (1995), he won both the Academy Award for best director and best film. Gibson also produced and directed The Passion of the Christ (2004) about the last phase of Jesus Christ's life on earth.
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born in 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He was the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson. His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is of mostly Irish descent. His father moved the family from upstate New York to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1968 after winning as a contestant on the game show Jeopardy! The family settled in New South Wales, where Mel's paternal grandmother, contralto opera singer Eva Mylott, was born. After high school, Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, performing at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts alongside future film thespians Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. Here, he starred opposite Judy Davis in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. After college, Mel had a few stints on stage and starred in TV shows. Eventually, he was chosen to star in the films Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) and Tim (Michael Pate, 1979), co-starring Piper Laurie. The small-budgeted Mad Max made him known worldwide, while Tim garnered him an award for Best Actor from the Australian Film Institute, the Australian equivalent to the Oscar. Gibson got a reputation as a serious, versatile actor. He was a part of the movement dubbed the 'Australian New Wave' by the press. They were a group of filmmakers and performers who emerged from Down Under at about the same time and found work in other parts of the world. Other members included actress Judy Davis and directors George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Peter Weir.
Mel Gibson went on to star in the World War I drama Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981), which earned him a second award for Best Actor from the AFI. In 1980, he married Robyn Moore and had seven children. In 1984, Mel made his American debut in The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984), which co-starred Anthony Hopkins. Then in 1987, Mel starred in what would become his signature series, Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987), in which he played Martin Riggs. In 1990, he took on the starring role in Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1990) with Glenn Close, which garnered him some critical praise. He also made the more endearing Forever Young (Steve Miner. 1992) with Jamie Lee Curtis and the somewhat disturbing The Man Without a Face (Mel Gibson, 1993). 1995 brought his most famous role as Sir William Wallace in Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995), for which he won two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. From there, he made such box office hits as Ransom (Ron Howard, 1996), Payback (Brian Helgeland, 1999) and The Patriot (Roland Emmerich, 2000). His later films include Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002), and Edge of Darkness (Martin Campbell, 2010). For The Passion of the Christ (2004), which he directed, wrote and produced, he spent 25 million dollars of his own money. Back in 1992, he started doing research for the film that was not released until 2004. That year, he was the highest-paid celebrity with a reported $210,000,000 salary from his The Passion of the Christ (2004) profits, plus a potential $150,000,000 that is yet to be accounted for. The way Gibson portrayed the suffering of Christ caused however much controversy. He received further critical notice for his directorial work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto (2006), which is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century. He separated from his wife Robyn in June 2006. At the end of July 2006, Gibson was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu, California. During his arrest, he made derogatory comments about Jews and women. On 1 August 2006, he checked himself into a recovery program for alcohol abuse. He did three-year probation following the misdemeanour drunken driving arrest. Robyn finally filed for divorce in April 2009 but it wasn't finalised until December 2011, reportedly because it took them all that time to divide Gibson's estimated assets of $850 million. It is considered the biggest divorce payout in Hollywood history. In 2009, he made a first public appearance together with his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva who was then three months pregnant with his daughter Lucia. The couple split in 2010. In 2014, he started a relationship with Rosalind Ross with whom he had his ninth child.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
American postcard by Fotofolio, New York, N.Y. no. F 323. Photo: Len Prince. Caption: Jack Lemmon, Hollywood, 1995.
Versatile and beloved American actor Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) was a virtuoso in both comedy and drama. He initially acted on TV before moving to Hollywood, cultivating a career that would span decades. Lemmon starred in over 60 films including Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), Irma la Douce (1963), The Odd Couple (1968), Save the Tiger (1973) and Grumpy Old Men (1993). Some of his most beloved performances stemmed from his collaborations with acclaimed director Billy Wilder and with his fellow friend and actor Walter Matthau.
Jack Lemmon was born John Uhler Lemmon III in 1925, in an elevator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He was the only child of Mildred Lankford Noel and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. He later described his flamboyant, authoritarian mother as 'Tallulah Bankhead on a roadshow.' He laughed about how she used to hang out with her girlfriends at the Ritz Bar in Boston and how she tried to have her cremation ashes placed on the bar (the management refused). Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to Rivers Country Day School, then located in nearby Brookline. After RCDS, he went to high school at Phillips Andover Academy. Jack Lemmon attended Harvard, where he became president of the Hasty Pudding Club, the university's famous acting club. During WW II, he served in the Naval Reserve and was the communications officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain CV-39. After serving as a Navy ensign, he worked in a beer hall playing the piano. Then, Lemmon followed his passion for theatre. His father didn't approve of his son taking up acting, but told him he should continue with it only as long as he felt passion for it. Soon, Jack landed small roles on radio, off-Broadway, TV and Broadway. In 1953, he was very successful on Broadway with 'Room Service', after which he went to Hollywood. He signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. His film debut was opposite Judy Holliday in the romantic comedy It Should Happen to You (George Cukor, 1954). He was loaned to Warner Bros. in 1955 for his fourth film. There, he had his breakthrough as Ensign Pulver in the war drama Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, 1955) starring Henry Fonda and James Cagney. His complex portrayal of this somewhat dishonest but sensitive character earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Lemmon would go on to work on a number of films with comedian and close friend Ernie Kovacs, including Bell Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958) starring James Stewart and Kim Novak. In 1959, Lemmon gave one of the top comedic performances of his career when he starred alongside Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in the romantic comedy Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959). He received an Oscar nomination for his role and he did the next year, for The Appartement (Billy Wilder, (1960) in which he co-starred with Shirley MacLaine. This led to several more collaborations with director Billy Wilder and great success on the big screen throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Jack Lemmon also excelled in drama. He received an Oscar nomination for his role as an alcoholic in Days of Wine and Roses (Blake Edwards, 1962) and later followed more nominations for the dramas The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979), Tribute (Bob Clark, 1980) and Missing (Costa-Gravas, 1982). Kyle Perez at IMDb: "Sometimes referred to as "America's Everyman", Lemmon's versatility as an actor helped the audience more closely identify and relate to him. He was able always to elicit a laugh or sympathy from his viewers and his charismatic presence always shined on the big screen. He often portrayed the quintessence of an aspiring man and established a lasting impression on the film industry." Lemmon reunited with Shirley MacLaine in another Wilder film, Irma la Douce (Billy Wilder, 1963). It was one of the biggest commercial successes for the trio. The Fortune Cookie (Billy Wilder, 1966) served as the start of a comedic partnership between Lemmon and Walter Matthau and the two would come together again, two years later, for The Odd Couple (Gene Saks, 1968), based on a play by Neil Simon. It is one of their most endearing films together. As the 1970s came around, Lemmon began to undertake more dramatic roles and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Harry Stoner in Save the Tiger (John G. Avildsen, 1973). Lemmon admitted to having had a serious drinking problem at one time, which is one reason he looked back on his Oscar-winning role as perhaps the most gratifying, emotionally fulfilling performance of his career. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Lemmon continued to excel in his character performances and earned the Cannes Best Actor award for The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979) and Missing (Costa-Gravas, 1982). As a director, he made his film debut with Kotch (Jack Lemmon, 1971) and his Broadway debut with Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night'. In 1988 he received the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In the 1990s, he continued to have success with roles in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992) and Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 1993). In the comedy Grumpy Old Men (Donald Petrie, 1993), he was reunited with Walter Matthau. The film was a huge success, and a sequel was even released in 1995. A sequel to The Odd Couple was also released in 1998. In 1997, he received a Golden Globe nomination for the television adaptation of 12 Angry Men (William Friedkin, 1997). Lemmon was married twice, first to actress Cynthia Stone (1950-1956) and his second marriage to actress Felicia Farr lasted from 1972 till his death. Jack Lemmon passed away in 2001 in Los Angeles at the age of 76. He had two children, Chris Lemmon (1954) and Courtney Lemmon (1966). Actress Sydney Lemmon is his granddaughter.
Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Kyle Perez (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
MrsParr & Andy were this months star photographers.
Decembers most Versatile is a Compositionally Challenged Group challenge theme and this is a representative selection from the Decembers entries of 48 photos by 6 photographers.
Challenge set by Sharon.
Mid Bob Shaved Nape
Mid Bob Shaved Nape articles. Lovely Bob Hair Style Ideas ... Bob hairstyles are highly versatile and offer a timeless elegance combined with an incredible ...
DADA style
tunic
with asymmetric sleeve
kamikaze freeform
crochet
knitting
Navajo 3-ply technique
multi versatile
not only for orange lovers
The kettlebell is a versatile fitness tool that can help almost anyone reach his or her fitness goals. Kettlebell workouts, if designed properly, can burn fat, build muscle, and improve athletic performance. Who wouldn’t want all three?
If you’re keen on getting in shape fast with one simple pie...
Mid Bob Shaved Nape
Mid Bob Shaved Nape articles. Lovely Bob Hair Style Ideas ... Bob hairstyles are highly versatile and offer a timeless elegance combined with an incredible ...
I've learned enough to know not to sneak up on anyone under the tracks, no matter how well I know them. I woke Old Man Tommy up a few weeks ago, and he jumped up startled, absolutely ready to fight. 8 Ball sleeps with a lead pipe next to him.
I suppose the knife is dual purpose. Cutting up food, and self-defense when necessary.
Versatile room divider, can be reversed, rotatated, and used either as a room divider or shelving unit.
Dutch press photo by Jacques Senf b.v., Maasland. Photo: Jorge Fatauros. Willem Nijholt and Linda van Dijck in the play Sukses/Success (Jo Dua, 1982) written by Norman Beim.
Dutch actor Willem Nijholt (1934-2023) was also a dancer and singer. His versatility led him to work in musicals, TV shows, stage plays, cabaret and several films. In later years he also became known as a TV juror and author. At the age of 88, Willem Nijholt passed away in his sleep on 23 June 2023 in his homeplace Amsterdam.
Willem Adrianus Nijholt was born in Gombong, Kedoe, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1934. He was the son of Jan Nijholt, a KNIL instructor, and Willemina Sophia Maria Arntz. At age eight he ended up in a Japanese POW camp, which left a deep scar for the rest of his life. At fourteen, he saw his father again, who was sent to work on the Burma Railway by the Japanese. After World War II, the family left the Dutch East Indies and settled in Millingen, the birthplace of his mother. Nijholt attended temporarily HBS (Higher Civic School) in Nijmegen, was briefly in the Navy and went to study at the School for dramatic arts in Amsterdam at age 23. His ill mother died in 1959 before she could see him performing on stage. He fell in love with the author Gerard Reve, who rejected him, but in 1962 he played a role in Reve’s play 'Commissaris Fennedy' (Commissioner Fennedy). His letters to Reve are published in the book 'Met Niets Begonnen' (Started With Nothing). He made his screen debut in the TV film De Huzaren/The Hussars (Walter van der Kamp, 1960). In 1964 he performed the role of Hoofd Piet (Head Pete) once during the national arrival of Sinterklaas in Hoorn. In 1968 he appeared in the popular satirical TV Show Hadimassa. He became very popular among children with his part in the innovative TV show Oebele (Bram van Erkel, 1968-1972) with Wieteke van Dort. He made his film debut in Daniel (Erik Terpstra, 1971) with Peter Schaapman.
In the 1970s, Willem Nijholt had his definitive breakthrough. On stage, he worked with Wim Sonneveld in a successful cabaret show in 1971. In 1974 he played Theo Oudijck in the popular TV series De stille kracht/The Silent Force (Walter van der Kamp, 1974), with Pleuni Touw. Their nude scene was a big sensation. He also played Ben van Rooyen in the youth series De Kris Pusaka/The Kris Pusaka (Bram van Erkel, 1977). Nijholt starred in several stage musicals, including 'Wat een planeet' (What a planet; 1973) and 'Foxtrot' (1977), written by Annie MG Schmidt. In 1977 he was awarded the Johan Kaartprijs (Johan Kaart Award). In 1981 he played a voice teacher in the play 'Children of a Lesser God'. He was asked to play this role also in London, but he did not accept the offer. Nijholt played roles in Dutch films like the box office hit Ciske de Rat (Guido Pieters, 1984) with Danny de Munk, and Havinck (Frans Weisz, 1987) in which he played the title character. Chip Douglas at IMDb: “Nijholt, at age 50, was ten years too old. But director Frans Weisz, screen-testing countless leading men opposite (debutant Anne Martien) Lousberg, still wanted Nijholt to read with her, because he had a feeling Willem could bring out the best in Anne Martien. The young actress obviously felt the same way, because she decided there and then that Nijholt was the one to play her father. He ended up winning the coveted 'Golden Calf' award (the Dutch equivalent of the Academy Award) for his efforts.” In 1989 he played the lead role in the short film Alaska, Mike van Diem’s graduation film at the Dutch Film and Television Academy. The film won a Golden Calf and a Student Academy Award. In 1989, Nijholt played the Master of Ceremonies in the musical 'Cabaret'(1989). That year, he received from Guido de Moor the prestigious Paul Steenbergen medal, which he passed on in 2002 to actor Pierre Bokma.
Willem Nijholt played a major part in the acclaimed TV series Bij nader inzien/On closer inspection (Frans Weisz, 1991) and Op afbetaling (Frans Weisz, 1993) with Renée Soutendijk. He also continued to appear regularly in Dutch films. He played Etienne in the Harry Mulisch adaptation Hoogste Tijd/The Last Call (Frans Weisz, 1995) starring Rijk de Gooijer. He acted with Helmut Berger and Udo Kier in Unter den Palmen (Miriam Kruishoop, 1999) and reunited with Pleuni Touw in De vriendschap/The Friendship (Nouchka van Brakel, 2001). He also appeared in several family films, including Pietje Bell/Peter Bell (Maria Peters, 2002), Pietje Bell 2: De Jacht op de Tsarenkroon/Peter Bell II: The Hunt for the Czar Crown (Maria Peters, 2003) and De Griezelbus/The Horror Bus (Pieter Kuijpers, 2005). Nijholt enjoyed massive success as the controller in the Dutch edition of the stage musical 'Miss Saigon' (1996). Another great musical role was Fagin in 'Oliver!' (1999-2000). In 2002 he retired from the musical and in 2004 followed his last stage role. In 1999 Willem Nijholt was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. In the television talent show Op zoek naar ... (2007-2011; Looking for Evita, Looking for Joseph, Looking for Mary Poppins and Looking for Zorro), Nijholt was the juror. Since 2011 he was a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. His last screen role was in the TV crime series Penoza II (Diederik Van Rooijen, 2012-2013), starring Monic Hendrickx.
Sources: Een leven lang theater (Dutch), Wikipedia (Dutch), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Ex-one, displaced due to double deckers arriving on the route
Numberplate: KX13AUR
Fleet Number: 4249
Type: Optare Versa
Company: Arriva Essex
Route: 9
Destination: Shoeburyness, East Beach
Location: Shoeburyness, East Beach
versatile rail motor car АМ140 was used as the base for the АМ-140-01 ПК (АМ140ПК), new rail motor car of higher comfort www.flickr.com/photos/cetus13/54475933087/in/dateposted/
Both rail motor cars of АМ140 family are produced by Sinara-Transport Machines Holding (part of the Sinara Group) on the Sverdlovsk Track Repair and Mechanical Plant (ОАО "Свердловский путевой ремонтно-механический завод "Ремпутьмаш", код 1598).
Speed, 140 km/h
Twin diesel generator 540kW,
electric transmission
Number of drive/brake axles 4/4
German postcard by Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (Ufa), Berlin-Tempelhof, nr. CK-36.
Versatile German actress Marianne Koch (1931) played in more than 65 films between 1950 and 1971. Internationally she is best known as the tormented Marisol, who is saved by Clint Eastwood in the legendary spaghetti-western A Fistful of Dollars (1964, Sergio Leone).
Marianne Koch was born in Munich, Germany, in 1931. She was the daughter of a businessman and a pianist. As a 10-year old she already played theatre and she was a guest student at the opera school. In 1949 she started a medical studies at the university of Munich. As a student she made her film debut next to Rudolf Forster and Olga Tschechowa in the drama Der Mann, der zweimal leben wollte/The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice (1950, Viktor Tourjansky). The following year she made a spontaneous appearance in Dr. Holl/Affairs of Dr. Holl (1951, Rolf Hansen) with Maria Schell and Dieter Borsche, and Mein Freund, der Dieb/My Friend, the Thief (1951, Helmut Weiss) with Hans Söhnker and Hardy Krüger. She broke off her studies to become an actress full-time. She played her first leading role in the melodrama Wetterleuchten am Dachstein/Storm Clouds over Dachstein (1953, Anton Kutter). In the American cold war drama Night People (1954, Nunnally Johnson) she played a supporting part alongside Gregory Peck. She stayed in Germany and appeared with O. W. Fischer in Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs/ Mad Emperor: Ludwig II (1955, Helmut Käutner). For her portrayal of Diddo Geiss in Des Teufels General/The Devil's General (1955, Helmut Käutner), she received the Filmband in Silber (Film Strip in Silver) for the Best Supporting Actress of 1955. As Marianne Cookhe she appeared in the Hollywood productions Four Girls in Town (1957, Jack Sher) opposite George Nader, and Interlude (1957, Douglas Sirk) with June Allyson and Rossano Brazzi. In Germany she appeared in the comedy Salzburger Geschichten/Salzburg Stories (1957, Kurt Hoffmann) based on a book by Erich Kästner, and in the war films Der Stern von Afrika/The Star of Africa (1957, Alfred Weidenmann) with Joachim Hansen, and Der Fuchs von Paris/The Paris Fox (1957, Paul May) with Hardy Krüger. In the comedy Vater sein dagegen/To Be A Father On the Contrary (1957, Kurt Meisel) she appeared as the bride of the almost 30 years older Heinz Rühmann. She also had success as a patent country doctor in Die Landärztin vom Tegernsee/The Country Doctor of Tegernsee (1958, Paul May). In Italy she appeared in the comedy Gli italiani sono matti/The Italians They Are Crazy (1958, Duilio Coletti, Luis María Delgado) starring Hollywood veteran Victor McLaglen.
In the early 1960’s the decline of the German cinema increased and Marianne Koch worked more often abroad. In France she appeared in the thriller Pleins feux sur l'assassin/Spotlight on a Murderer (1961, Georges Franju) based on a screenplay by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac (the writers of Vertigo and Diabolique). Another French production was the drama Napoléon II, l'aiglon/Napoleon II, the Eaglet (1961, Claude Boissol) with Bernard Verley and Jean Marais. In the German-British-Irish spy thriller The Devil's Agent (1962, John Paddy Carstairs) she appeared opposite Peter van Eyck and Christopher Lee. In 1963 Marianne Koch played the female lead in the popular TV mini-series Tim Frazer (1963, Hans Quest) written by Francis Durbridge. Then, Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti western Per un pugno di dollari/A Fistful of Dollars (1964, Sergio Leone) showcased her alongside Clint Eastwood as Marisol, a woman tormented by ruthless local gangsters, torn between her husband and child and the villains. After this career highlight followed many mediocre Edgar Wallace crime films and spaghetti westerns. One of the more interesting ones was the German-Israeli action film Einer spielt falsch/Trunk to Cairo (1966, Menahem Golan, Raphael Nussbaum), which recycled Hollywood hero Audie Murphy as a James Bond-type action hero assigned to destroy a Neo-Nazi weapons factory headed by nemesis George Sanders.
In Germany Marianne Koch was probably best-loved for her many years of participation in the highly popular TV game show Was bin ich? (What Am I?) which ran from the 1950’s until 1988 and achieved ratings of up to 75% at its peak. On television she also played a journalist in the popular TV series Die Journalistin/The Journalist (1970-1971) with Bruce Low. By then her film career was clearly over. In 1971, she resumed her medical studies which she had broken off in 1953 to become a full-time actress. She earned her doctorate in 1978 and practiced as an internist in Munich until 1997. In the meantime, she hosted television shows and had a medical advice program on the radio. In 1976, she was one of the initial hosts of Germany's pioneering talk show 3 nach 9/Three After Nine, for which she was awarded one of the most prestigious awards of the German television industry, the Grimme Preis. Since 1997 she is the president of the Deutschen Schmerzliga (German pain liga). She has published medical books as Mein Gesundheitsbuch (My health book) (1999) and Die Gesundheit unserer Kinder (The health of our children) (2007). In 2002, Koch was honoured for her life's work with the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Germany‘s Cross of Merit award). In 1953, she had married the physician Gerhard Freund, with whom she has two sons. The marriage ended in 1973 after Freund began an affair with Miss World 1956, Petra Schürmann, whom he later wed. Marianne Koch is in a relationship with the publicist Peter Hamm since the mid 1980’s. They live in Tutzing, Germany.
Sources: Stephanie d’Heil (Steffi-line), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
"This green jelly blob is a eukaryotic single-celled ciliate, a member of the Protoctista kingdom (protos, very first; ktistos, to establish). It is not a plant, not a fungus, not an animal, but a single-celled organism that forms the green jelly blob you see here.
This particular protoctista is the Ophrydium versatile. The gelatinous colony formed by the ciliate is found floating freely or attached to aquatic plants in acidic bogs where light is available. We have yet to find a good answer as to why these colonies are formed. " naturenotes.outdoors.org/