Born on February 10, 1930, Robert Wagner is one of the few stars left who can claim a firm link to Hollywood's Golden Age. I first became aware of him in the mid 1970s as the ex-con-turned-P.I. in the series "Switch," with Eddie Albert and the lovely Sharon Gless, on whom I developed such an enduring attraction that I refuse to watch the show today in any available digital form, lest it ruin my memory forever.

In my late teens I saw Wagner in Titanic as the young college boy who develops a shipboard crush on Audrey Dalton, the daughter of Clifton Webb and my eternal mystery date, Barbara Stanwyck. He is dashing and sweet and believable and brave, and the film is better in many ways than its James Cameron mega-spectacularaganza remake whose only redeeming feature is Kate Winslet's fantastic (and rightly, effectively, and oft-highlighted) decolletage. Not only is the 1953 Titanic superior in storytelling and casting, it spawned a romance between Robert Wagner and Barbara Stanwyck that lasted several years until his marriage to Natalie Wood. And he had the class to wait 50 years to tell the tale.

The man has depth and humor and has carved out a long, profitable, and respectable career for himself and I salute him.

Observe his fine performance on "What's My Line" taped just a couple weeks after his 27th birthday on February 24, 1957. He does an admirable Clarke Gable, Jimmy Stewart, and James Cagney.

Happy Birthday, RJ.

Mary Astor once said that there are five stages in the life of an actor:

1. Who’s Mary Astor?
   
2. Get me Mary Astor.
   
3. Get me a Mary Astor type.
   
4. Get me a young Mary Astor.
   
5. Who’s Mary Astor?

Last night I watched A Kiss Before Dying with Get-Me-Robert-Wagner, Who’s-Virginia-Leith?* and in a very small but instructive role, the actual Mary Astor. It’s not a good movie, but is worth seeing for the Technicolor, the clothes, George Macready’s character scar, and pretty young Robert Wagner being banally evil in pursuit of wealth and position.

Wagner’s scenes with Astor are brief but important, and he’s good at belittling her and throwing her disdainful crumbs of attention. And she, of course — in the four minutes of actual screen time she’s given — is wonderful at conveying how confusing and deeply hurtful it is to be treated so badly by the son she adores.

Matt Dillon played the evil boyfriend straight up sinister in the 1991 remake, which contributed to its general badness  (trust me, I spent five bucks of perfectly good beer money to see this in the theater when it came out), a condition made worse by having  both sisters played by Sean Young, who has more Virginia Leith in her than she'd care to admit.

I happen to be in the middle of Astor’s memoir, A Life on Film, and skipped ahead to see what she said about working on the original A Kiss Before Dying. Not much, as it turns out, except for this precious gem of an encounter on the set: “[A] young starlet looked at me, her beautiful eyes popping, ‘Mary Astor! I thought you were dead!’”

Perhaps there is a sixth stage in the life of an actor.

Astor's first memoir  covers her alcoholism, her bad marriages, her parents lawsuit for financial support, and the bitter custody battle with an ex-husband. This isn't that memoir,  but there's enough sex and scandal around the edges to make A Life on Film quite the page-turner, as well as a concise history of filmmaking. I had no idea how extensive Mary Astor’s silent career was. I mean, I’m halfway through the book and we haven't even got to Dodsworth yet! Read it if you can find it.

* This is what become of Virginia Leith. Hers is The Brain That Would Not Die, a Mystery Science Theater 3000 favorite.