I am sure that in Hollywood, nobody knows who Robert Ozell Moseley was. However, the name Guy Madison might still bring back a few memories for movie fans of the 40's and 50's. Robert Moseley was just one of the many good-looking slightly-wooden acting gents represented by Hollywood Agent Henry Willson. Willson was the head of talent at David O. Selznick's newly formed Vanguard Pictures and is "credited" for renaming Roy Scherer (Rock Hudson), Arthur Kelm, (Tab Hunter), Merle Johnson, Jr. (Troy Donahue), Raymon Lee Cramton (Chad Everett), Orison Whipple Hungerford Jr. (Ty Hardin), and Francis McCown (Rory Calhoun).
Moseley was discovered by Willson in 1944 while he was on leave from the U.S. Coast Guard, visiting Hollywood. The renamed Guy Madison was given a bit part in Selznick's "Since You Went Away" and a deluge of fan mail hit the studio shortly thereafter, resulting in a contract with RKO Pictures. Here's Madison with Shirley Temple at Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the March 15, 1945 Oscars:
This publicity still is from the 1946 movie, "Till The End of Time," starring (left to right) Guy Madison, Robert Mitchum, and Bill Williams.
It is the tale of three former U.S. Marines and the difficulty they have readjusting to civilian life. This was Madison's second film and first starring role. Here you can see the mob scene in San Francisco with Guy Madison & Bill Williams getting some lovin' from their adoring fans.
This rather odd photo, also taken in San Francisco, is most likely supposed to represent the two heartthrobs recovering from the mob scene. The shot does nothing to stop the rumors about Henry Willson and his stable of male stars.
Despite a promising start, Madison's less-than-natural "acting" style hindered him from having a stellar movie career. He eventually achieved his 15 minutes of fame though by starring in the TV series "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok," which ran from 1951-1958.
Last one for today shows Guy Madison with costar Shirley Temple in the somewhat stale romantic comedy, "Honeymoon."
To see more Guy Madison photos, visit my main website.
Dave, thanks for the eyecandy!
ReplyDeleteWho? Wha? Oh. Yes. Well. Shirley Temple tho', cute!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate and love lots of "old movies" but that one, Honeymoon led me to wonder how the cast and crew stayed awake sometimes. Mere suggestion of 'Honeymoon' + Production Code era = hyper starchy!
I've always felt disappointed in how they wrote Shirley as she was growing up. After a point she had a cheeky sort of spark if you know what I mean and they were so super careful and stuffy she couldn't really put much range of her personality to best use. Was the times I 'spose but still... ah well.
Chiana - Interestingly enough, Shirley was the first choice to play Veda, Mildred Pierce's rotten daughter. Sure would have loved to have seen that one!
ReplyDelete! That would've been keen (as they might have said then), Shirley. Eh surely! Surely. Teenage girls were in a particularly touchy spot in them olden daze (still are, though things finally changed a lot starting in the mid-'80s) so she was stuck with two extreme choices: Good Girl and Bad Girl. It would have been great to see her do more of both at least... Do you know who nixed it?
ReplyDeleteShirley very much wanted to play it, but by the time they cast Joan Crawford in the lead (Bette Davis and others turned it down), she was already doing another film.
ReplyDeleteFrom the post: "The shot does nothing to stop the rumors about Henry Willson and his stable of male stars."
ReplyDeleteAs someone once said, "Yeah, the worst kind of rumors--TRUE rumors!"
Guy Madison was an adonis!! WHO CARES IF HE COULD ACT. HE WAS AND IS A TREAT AS EYE CANDY!!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my first crushes at 9 or 10. Still looks good
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