Stars & Their Hobbies ~ Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich, Astrology

"Astrology! Of course. After all, everyone knows that the moon pulls the sea away from the land, and farmers don't plant when the moon is wrong. "Why should humans escape?"- Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich was influenced by astrology. She followed her own horoscope closely (she was a Capricorn) and prepared horoscopes for her friends. Dietrich was very vocal about her belief in the legitimacy of astrology. In her book Marlee Dietrich’s ABC: Wit, Wisdom & Recipes, she denounced the skeptics who called astrology a psuedoscience and made the case that:

“the human being is not made of such different matter that it can remain untouched, uninfluenced by those same forces that exercise their power day and night on bodies far stronger than the human being.” 

Thanks to J.P. of Comet Over Hollywood  for the tip about this one!

My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.

Stars & Their Hobbies ~ Steve McQueen

"Racing is the most exciting thing there is. But unlike drugs, you get high with dignity." - Steve McQueen

Becoming a professional race car driver wasn't in the cards for Steve McQueen but that didn't stop him from pursuing racing as a hobby. Over the years he spent much of the money he made from acting on high-perfomance vehicles. His love of racing transferred over to his films too including The Great Escape (1963), Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Bullitt (1968) and the quintessential racing movie Le Mans (1971). For safety reasons, insurance companies prohibited from doing many of the racing stunts in his films, much to his dismay. But when he wasn't a filming a movie, he was free to race to his heart's desire.

Here are some vehicles McQueen owned:

Motorcycles - Triump Bonneville, Husquarna 400 CR, Indian Chief, a variety of antique motorcycles that dated from the 1920s and earlier.

Sports cars - Siata 208, Lotus XI, Porsche 356 Speedster, Jaguar XK-SS, Ferrari 250 GR Lusso

Read my review of the book Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed here.

McQueen in the Green Ford Mustang Fastback GT390 from Bullitt (1968)

 Cycle World 1964. Source

My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.

Stars & Their Hobbies ~ Lana Turner

Lana Turner, Deep Sea Fishing

On wanting her next role to be worthwhile... “Otherwise I’ll go fishing.” – Lana Turner

Thanks to J.P. of Comet Over Hollywood for the tip on this one! Lana Turner had several hobbies and by far the most interesting of them was deep sea fishing. Turner picked up this hobby when she married husband #3, wealthy socialite Henry J. Topping (also known as Bob Topping).  He owned a fity-eight foot long Yacht named “Snuffy” that came fully equipped with deep sea fishing supplies. They would travel down to the Bahamas to catch Bluefin Tuna. When they eventually separated, it was said that Topping fled to Oregon to go deep sea fishing alone. I wonder if Lana Turner only dabbled in this hobby while she was married to Topping?

Turner with her husband Topping and some Bluefin Tuna they caught.  Source

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My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.

Stars & Their Hobbies ~ James Dean

James Dean, Bongo & Conga Drums

"When I can't sleep at night I like to get up and beat the skins. It drives away the blues." - James Dean

Playing the bongo and conga drums was meditative for James Dean. He lived hard and died young but even during his short life he found something that soothed and calmed him. Dean would bring his drums with him on set and play in his dressing room, he would listen to jazz records at home and accompany them with his playing and he would get together with friends and have jam sessions.

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Dean even made an album that featured him on conga drums and Bob Romeo on flute. You can listen to the recording here.

Actor Marlon Brando also loved playing bongo and conga drums. It's suggested that Dean took up this hobby, along with riding motorcycles, to emulate his hero Brando.

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My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.

Stars & Their Hobbies - Edward G. Robinson

Edward G. Robinson, Art Collector

“I remember well what it was like to be a true collector, that soft explosion in the heart, that thundering inner 'yes' when you see something you must have or die"- Edward G. Robinson

Edward G. Robinson didn't like to think of himself as a collector. His penchant for fine art was more of an addiction than a hobby. Robinson also collected cigars and records but his passion for art stands out. 

"I am not a collector. I'm just an innocent bystander who has been taken over by a collection." - Edward G. Robinson

Robinson had a collection of over 70 paintings and at one point even started a gallery with actor Vincent Price. Unfortunately, Robinson had to sell most of his original collection to Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos in 1956 in order to cover the costs of his divorce to Gladys Robinson. He kept collecting after that though and was able to amass a new collection that was even bigger than the first.

Cliff of Immortal Ephemera has two great posts on Edward G. Robinson's hobby: Interpreting and Understanding Edward G. Robinson on Collecting and Edward G. Robinson's World of Art - More Robinson on Collecting. I highly recommend reading them and they were the primary source of information for this post!

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My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.

Stars & Their Hobbies - Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy Davis Jr., Photography

"Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter during the Ciro's period, early '50s, and he hooked me... I met Milton [Greene]. He got me involved with serious photography and using available light." - Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy Davis Jr. lost his left eye in a car accident in 1954. I like to think that his camera became his second eye, capturing the world around him through a different lens. Sammy Davis Jr. was an entertainer, a movie star and a member of the infamous Rat Pack. He had access to some of the most important people in the entertainment business and used his photography skills to capture images of them at work and at play. If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend the book Photo by Sammy Davis Jr. I reviewed it a while back. It’s an excellent collection of Sammy Davis Jr.’s photographs including some of his self-portraits.

Sammy Davis Jr. and Jerry Lewis

My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries. 

Stars & Their Hobbies - Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy, Polo

"There's something about horses which, once you really become interested in them, just naturally makes you think this is a pretty good world." - Spencer Tracy

Director John Cromwell encouraged Spencer Tracy to take up polo and Tracy trained with Reginald Leslie "Snowy Baker at the Riviera Polo Club in Santa Monica. It was a sport he relished for years. Even his wife Louise got into polo, although Tracy was initially hesitant about this because he thought the sport too rough for women. She proved him wrong and became an adept player. (Source)

You can watch a little clip of a celebrity polo match from 1938, which has Spencer Tracy on Joan Crawford's team, on the British Pathe website.

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Leslie Howard, Will Rogers, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy and Johnny Mack Brown
at a celebrity polo match circa 1934 - Source

My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries. 

Stars & Their Hobbies - Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford, Knitting

"I took my knitting along so I could keep my hands busy, because I was so nervous."  Joan Crawford

As any knitter will tell you, there is a lot of comfort to be found in the repetitive motions of a pair of knitting needles and some yarn as you knit and purl your way through a pattern. Joan Crawford would often be found on film sets knitting as she waited for her call. It calmed her nerves and kept her distracted during down times. Rumor has it, Crawford was temporarily kicked off the set of The Women (1939) by George Cukor for purposefully annoying Norma Shearer with the constant clicking of her knitting needles.

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Crawford teaching Ann Blyth how to knit on the set of Mildred Pierce
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My series Stars & Their Hobbies explores how notable actors and actresses from Hollywood history spent their free time. Click here to view a complete list of entries.