OK I completely misunderstood the OP.
:smack: :smack:
Sleeping with “hundreds of people” when you start as teenager and are still at it in your 80s is not that impressive.
What happened was, I think, that she grew into her character over the decades: by the 1930s she was playing only “Mae West” onstage, in films, radio, interviews, and it gradually took her over. Friends and reporters say that by the 1950s, she was “Mae West” 24/7 and couldn’t turn it off if she wanted to.
An old friend of mine knew Don Knotts very well. He says that after spending any length of time with him you realized that he was so different from Barney Fife you had to conclude Knotts was the greatest actor in the world!
I had the pleasure of meeting Don Knotts about ten years ago, and he was so down-to-earth, warm and friendly, I didn’t even think about asking him for an autograph. It was just like talking to an old friend. What a guy. I miss him.
There was a story told about Knotts in his obit. He was part of a group of comedians who would meet regularly, drink, eat, and tell jokes. As you can imagine, it could get pretty racuous.
Except for Don. He’d sit there quietly, taking it in and laughing, but when he had something to say, he’d hold up his finger.
The table would go quiet. They knew Don, you see.
And he’d make a simple statement that would bring the table down.
Because the comedians knew that when Don want to speak, it was worth shutting up and listening.
A friend of mine was crew on the movie The Fugitive. He said Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones were both down-to-earth, easygoing guys.
After watching Cary Grant’s bio on AMC, I’ve become covinced that he was exactly like his movie character in RL.