Vacation - ©Theda Bara

Finally, a vacation!

I’m taking a few days off and taking a break from my weekly film column for the LA Times, and I’ll also be taking a break from blogging during that time.

See you in July!

💋Kisses💋

Haiku: Menstruation - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025

A woman is a soldier who bleeds without being shot

And fights the same battle over and over

My God, a woman bleeds even to live!

Simone Signoret - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is Simone Signoret, a French actress born in Germany who acted in films in France, the United States, England and Italy. She was the first French actress to win an Oscar in 1960, for her performance in “Room at the Top” (1959), playing “Alice Aisgill”. 

In addition to the Oscar, the actress won three BAFTAs: for Best Foreign Actress for the films: “Room at the Top” (1958); “La Croix” (1959) and “The Crystal World” (1966), playing the character “Crystal”; a César Award for Best Actress from the French Film Academy; an Emmy for her participation in the program “Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre”; Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival/Palme d’Or, in 1959.

Considered one of the most popular actresses in French cinema, Simone Signoret, incredibly, does not have a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, despite having won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1960.

Simone Signoret, born: Simone-Henriette-Charlotte Kaminker, on March 25, 1921, in Wiesbaden, Germany, and died on September 30, 1985, in Autheuil-Authouillet, France, at the age of 64.

Simone Signoret was married twice, first to the French filmmaker Yves Allégret (1905-1987), from 1944 to 1949. The couple had two sons: Patrick, who died days after birth, in 1944, and a daughter, also an actress, Catherine Allégret (1946-); and then she married the Italian actor and singer naturalized French Ivo Livi, better known as Yves Montand (1921-1991) from  1951 to 1985, with whom she had no children.

Haiku: Scars - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2025

Scars are not just marks

They are signatures of life that passes

They are tattoos of our roots!

Ernest Borgnine - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is that of the American film, theater and television actor, Ernest Borgnine, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in 1956 for his performance in the film “Marty” (1955), playing the lonely Italian butcher “Marty Piletti”. This Oscar was presented by the beautiful actress and Princess of Monaco Grace Patricia Grimaldi - Grace Kelly (1929-1982).

In addition to the Oscar for Best Actor for “Marty”, Ernest Borgnine also won, in 1956, a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor for the same film.

Ernest Borgnine has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, located at 6324 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Motion Picture category.

Ernest Borgnine, born Ermes Effron Borgnino, on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut, United States, and died on July 8, 2012, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 95.

Ernest Borgnine Borgnine was married five times. His first marriage, from 1949 to 1958, was to Rhoda Kemins (1927-2012), whom he met while serving in the Navy. They had one daughter, Nancee (born May 28, 1952). His second marriage was to Mexican actress María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, better known by her stage name Katy Jurado (1924–2002), from 1959 to 1963. His third marriage was to American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908–1984), which lasted only 42 days, in 1964. From 1965 to 1972, Borgnine was married to elementary school teacher Donna Rancourt (1937–2015), with whom he had a son, Cristopher (born August 9, 1969), and two daughters, Sharon (born August 5, 1965) and Diana (born December 29, 1970). His fifth and final marriage was to Norwegian-American businesswoman Tova Traesnaes Borgnine, née Tove Træsnæs (1941–2022), they remained married from February 24, 1973, until the actor's death in July 2012.