Spencer Tracy would be 111. Perennially named by fellow actors as the greatest film actor of them all. He won the Best Actor Oscar twice (Captains Courageous and Boys Town) and his roster of great films is a lengthy one, indeed. Subtlety was his trademark. His much-quoted advice to other actors: "Show up to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the scenery".
With Garbo in Ninotchka.
Melvyn Douglas would be 110. The sturdy, reliable leading man played the "straight man" opposite some of the greatest female stars of the 1930's: Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and many others. He always had a twinkle in his eye, tongue in his cheek and added the perfect light touch to some pretty great films, notably 1939's Ninotchka:
Gregory Peck would be 95. Peck was the perfect, idealized all-American "good guy" in films from the 1940's through the 1970's. His shining hour came in 1961, with his immortal portrayal of Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Bette Davis would be 103.
"WHAT A DUMP!"
Funny how the line most associated with Bette Davis comes from what is probably the worst film she ever made in her long, illustrious career (a piece of doggerel called Beyond the Forest). But the list of truly great films she made is almost unmatched in all of film history: Dark Victory, Of Human Bondage, The Little Foxes, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, All About Eve...and on and on... If I had to choose my favorite of her performances---I'd have to pick two, as I surely couldn't limit it to just one. I'd have to say Baby Jane and All About Eve , two completely different roles that she totally inhabited and made simply unforgettable. Her performance as Baby Jane Hudson has sort of a built-in "camp" factor to it, but I don't find anything "campy" about that film--it's a truly great movie, and she's nothing short of brilliant in it. And Eve would rank in my Top Five best films of all time...right near the top, in fact.
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