'tis so tragic how diabetes and heart disease destroyed the life and career of Joan McCracken! She could easily have been another Cyd Charisse or another Ann Miller.
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
Would love to have seen her dance with Gene Kelly in On the Town and the "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" number in Words and Music, and with Astaire in Royal Wedding. She's the best thing in this movie.
Well, I can't just call out "Oh, butler", can I? Somebody's name may be "Butler"!
libearian: Correct, in addition She was the best looker in that film. She must just have not liked the Hollywood scene, because it could not be for lack of talent or physical appeal.
shareI long ago read a bit about Joan McCracken's career. She would have liked to make more movies -- she made only two, this and Hollywood Canteen -- but she had issues with the way the studios worked and also was deemed too over-the-top -- too stage-trained -- to work well in the different medium of film. But other performers overcame such an origins and I'm sure she could have too. She did go back to Broadway and later also did some television. She was also married to Bob Fosse, and apparently was very helpful in launching his career.
After watching the movie the other day I checked her out on Wikipedia. To my surprise there is an extensive article on her. Here is the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_McCracken
One thing not in the Wiki article concerned her and Fosse. He constantly cheated on her and they eventually divorced, but one thing the article doesn't say is that Fosse continued to look after her as her health made it impossible for her to work, paying her medical bills and other expenses for the two years she lived following their divorce. This was apparently over and above any alimony he may have had to pay.
Joan McCracken's career was cut short by diabetes, the effects of which killed her at age 43. Very sad, and sadder we have almost no footage of her talent outside of Good News.
The other early cast loss here was of her partner in this film, Ray MacDonald. He was also a talented dancer whose career never quite took off. He died young too, in 1959 at the age of 38, and in a bizarre way: he choked to death on food while eating in his hotel room, prior to a TV engagement.
hobnob53: Thank you for that additional information. What a shame, such a talented Performer. Though we did not find her 'over the top' in GOOD NEWS. It was a musical and a fantasy, but you may have a point there.
shareThe Wiki article made a point I've read elsewhere: that she was too used to "playing to the balconies", a bit too bouncy and forceful to go over well on film. I can see this criticism, but as I said, I'm sure she could have toned it down appropriately over time. Betty Hutton, for one very loud example, was certainly over the top, strident and overbearing on film, but in her heyday that didn't harm her career...though we might have all been better off if it had. Joan McCracken was never as overwhelming as Hutton.
Given her short life and worsening health problems Joan probably wouldn't have been able to do many more movies anyway. Still, even two or three more would have been nice. The only sad "comfort" (I guess you'd call it) we can take from her death at a young age is that it was due to circumstances beyond her control -- a disease, not someone drinking, popping pills and living recklessly who throws their life away. Joan might have eked out a few more years had she slowed down sooner but that would have meant performing even less than she did. Maybe she felt the trade-off was worth it. Like Joan, my own father was what they then called a "juvenile diabetic" and normally that was, and still is, a death sentence by age 50 at the latest, and usually well before.
hobnob53: Good point on BETTY HUTTON. The same could be said of BERT LAHR and RAY BOLGER. Though their act filled the bill in THE WIZARD OF OZ, just as Ms. HUTTON did a the job in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. Though did not understand her appeal, but during the War years there were many who became Stars then faded in the post War years.
sharexerxes13: Thanks about my comments on Betty Hutton. Although her career took off during the war I think it would have happened with her anyway. This is unlike the male actors who became stars during the war in the absence of major stars away in the service, most of whom faded afterward. Of course, the atmosphere of the time might have made her bigger than she otherwise would have been.
But Hutton sustained her popularity right through 1952, long after the war. Her career ended abruptly only after she insisted that her home studio Paramount hire her unqualified husband to direct all her films, or else she would walk out of her contract. They refused, she walked...and made only one, minor, film after that, Spring Reunion in 1957.
Joan McCracken disliked the way the studios operated and I'm sure that attitude put the studios off her. From what I've read she made some unfortunate comments and bad career choices that curtailed her movie career -- a career she apparently would have liked to pursue. All too bad, because I could see her doing a role like Annie Get Your Gun much, much better than Hutton (who I thought was as usual overboard and off-putting). In fact, had she still been at Metro in 1949, maybe she would have been chosen to take over from Judy Garland once Judy was tossed off the film. I could see her in some other MGM musicals of the period as well. I believe had Joan played her cards better she could have had at least a few good years in movies in the late 40s and early 50s before her health made performing impossible.
With her energetic dancing and singing, it's hard to believe she was probably experiencing the diabetes that would end her career in less than 10 years.
Soy 'un hijo de la playa'