Personal details
- Birth Date: 1920-05-06
- Birth Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Professions: Producer, Actor, Additional Crew
Ross Hunter, the guy behind a ton of Hollywood’s glitziest flicks, actually started out in Army intelligence during World War II. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, right? After the war, he tried his luck in front of the camera with Columbia Pictures, but most of those roles? Honestly, blink and you’d miss ’em. Nothing to write home about. Eventually, he figured out he was way better off behind the scenes, so he switched gears and started producing films. And, man, did he go full throttle—over sixty movies under his belt, most of them these sparkling, candy-colored dramas for Universal. Think Debbie Reynolds, Julie Andrews, the kind of movies your grandma probably loved. But don’t box him in as just a “light and fluffy” guy. He also churned out some serious tearjerkers, and I’m talking about the kind of movies that’d have you reaching for tissues every five minutes. “Imitation of Life” in ’59? That was Hunter’s baby—a remake that not only revived Lana Turner’s career but also made people sob in theaters (and probably in their cars after). His whole deal was simple: people should leave the theater either grinning or bawling, no in between. His crowning achievement? “Airport” in 1970. That movie blew up so big, Universal was basically running on its profits for years. Hunter wound down his legendary run at Universal, hopped over to Columbia, and then Paramount, where he dabbled in made-for-TV movies. Not too shabby for a guy who started out dodging bullets and bad scripts.
So, Jacque Mapes wasn’t just a big name in the Hollywood set decorator world—he and his partner were basically legends when it comes to long-term relationships in the film biz. They stuck together for over four decades, which, let's be real, is kind of unheard of out there. The two of them didn’t just share their lives, they also teamed up professionally and made some serious movie magic happen. A couple of their big ones? “Rosie!” from 1967 and “Airport” in 1970—both pretty iconic in their own ways. You gotta respect that blend of work and personal life, especially in an industry that eats relationships for breakfast. Not a lot of couples can say they pulled off that kind of run, both off and on the big screen. Honestly, if Hollywood handed out awards for lasting love stories behind the scenes, these two would’ve been shoo-ins.
Back in 1965, the guy behind these movies wasn’t pretending they were masterpieces or anything—he sort of shrugged and admitted it straight out. These films, he said, weren’t aiming for Oscars; they were pure crowd-pleasers. Flashy women, glittering diamonds, fashion that would make your head spin, and drama dialed up to eleven. It’s all about giving people a front-row seat to a world way fancier than their own, letting them live out wild dreams for an hour or two. Who really needs realism when you can get swept up in all that glitz? Sometimes you just want to see the good stuff: beauty, scandal, and a little escape from the boring parts of everyday life. That was the whole point. No apologies, just pure entertainment—he knew exactly what he was selling, and honestly, folks were lining up for it.
May 6, 1920
Konidela Ram Charan
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
105 years old