Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.
Lizabeth Scott (born September 29, 1922) is an American actress and singer widely known for her film noir roles.
She was born Emma Matzo (some sources mistakenly give her family name as "Motzas") in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of six children, to Ruthenian parents who had emigrated from Uzhgorod, in what is now Ukraine. She attended Central High School and Marywood College (now Marywood University).
She later went to New York City and attended the Alvienne School of Drama. In late 1942, she was eking out a precarious living with a small Midtown Manhattan summer stock company when she got a job as understudy for Tallulah Bankhead in Thornton Wilder's play The Skin of Our Teeth. However, Scott never had an opportunity to substitute for Bankhead.
When Miriam Hopkins was signed to replace Bankhead, Scott quit and returned to her drama studies and some fashion modeling. She then received a call that Gladys George, who was signed to replace Hopkins, was ill, and Scott was needed back at the theatre. She went on in the leading role of "Sabina", receiving a nod of approval from critics at the age of 20. The following night, George was out again and Scott went on in her place.
Dan Duryea (January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.
Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society. He made his name on Broadway in the play Dead End, followed by The Little Foxes, in which he portrayed Leo Hubbard.
Duryea moved to Hollywood in 1940 to appear in the film version of The Little Foxes. He continued to establish himself with supporting & secondary roles in films such as The Pride of the Yankees & None But the Lonely Heart. As the 1940s progressed, he found his niche as the "sniveling, deliberately taunting" antagonist in a number of films noir (Scarlet Street, The Woman in the Window, Criss Cross, Too Late for Tears), though he was sometimes cast in more objective roles (Black Angel, Ministry of Fear, One Way Street). In 1946 exhibitors voted him the eight-most promising "star of tomorrow".
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, (May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made. He also excelled in sophisticated, screwball romantic comedies. His career spanned from 1925 until shortly before his death in 1961, and comprised more than one hundred films.
Cooper received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning twice for Sergeant York and High Noon. He also received an Honorary Award in 1961 from the Academy.
Decades later, the American Film Institute named Cooper among the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars, ranking 11th among males from the Classical Hollywood cinema period. In 2003, his performances as Will Kane in High Noon, Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees, and Alvin York in Sergeant York made the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list, all of them as heroes.
Johnny Dark is an American comedian and comic actor, active on television since the 1970s. He is most recently known for his recurring appearances on Late Show with David Letterman.
In addition to his Late Show appearances, his appearances as a comedian include Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Donny and Marie, and the The Alan Hamel Show. He has also done stand-up comedy in Atlantic City and, as an actor, appeared in several films.
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