Over at Esther's "B" left me a little comment about someone in a photo with Esther. "B" thought the unknown woman might have been Nova Pilbeam. NOVA PILBEAM! Forgive me, I thought it was a joke, but no, there is a Nova Pilbeam. (I can't stop saying this name!) Did you know there was a Nova Pilbeam? I always get a kick out of kooky names like this and wonder just what went through her parent's minds when their little bundle of joy arrived. I mean, with a last name like Pilbeam, what name would a new parent gravitate towards. "Why yes darling, let's call her Nova!"
Truth be told, I love the name and am thrilled to be able to add this minutiae to the "P" in the Rolodex in my brain.
Seems Nova was a successful british child actress, busy in the 30s, but by 1949, she had retired, never having made a film in Hollywood. More's the pity.
I think it's time you jotted down all those unusual names in your brain Rolodex onto this blog.
ReplyDeleteNORMA, DID SHE DO AN EARLY HITCHCOCK FILM?
ReplyDeletekevin: from imdb.com
ReplyDeleteNova Pilbeam was a stage veteran as a child, and in her teen years was given a small but very important role in Alfred Hitchcock's first version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Hitchcock later put her in the starring role in "Young and Innocent".
David O. Selznick saw her potential in Hitchcock's film "Young and Innocent" (1937) and avidly pushed for her to star in Hitchcock's next film "Rebecca." Hitchcock's impression she was too immature for the role and the sudden collapse of her studio, Gaumont British, combined to help her lose the part to Joan Fontaine.