Oct. 22 in the movie history

Oct. 22 is a birthday of:

Joan Fountaine – the star of Hitchcock movies “Rebecca” (co-starring Laurence Olivier) and “Suspicion” (co-starring Cary Grant) and younger sister of the Hollywood star Olivia de Havilland. A chance encounter with the producer David Selznick, who was in the process of selecting a female lead for the movie after Daphne de Maurier’s book, had led to Joan Fountaine’s selection for the main role in the movie. The film was a huge success and brought Joan Fountaine a nomination for the Academy award as the Best Actress, but she actually got the award only next year, for the role in another Hitchcock thriller “Suspicion”. Joan Fountaine enjoyed a long and very successful career in the movies, but she also was very well accepted in several Broadway productions and made quite a few television appearances since the 70s.

Catherine Deneuve – a queen of the French cinema, a beloved star of many famous films, including the classic musicals “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort”, Luis Bunuel’s masterpieces “Belle de jour” and “Tristana” and the 1980 film “Le Dernier Metro”, which brought her the highest award in the French cinema, the Cesar.

Jan de Bont – the Dutch cameraman and director. He started as a cameraman in the Netherlands and his work on the Paul Verhoeven 1973 movie “Turks Fruit” has made him famous in Europe. He is more well-known to audiences worldwide, however, for the films he made as a director. His directorial debut was the 1994 movie “Speed”, which brought an instant fame to the stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock and had a huge success all over the world, which allowed Jan de Bont to continue his career as a director. He continued with “Speed 2”, “Twister” and his latest film “Lara Croft Tomb Raider”, all of which enjoyed a wide success.