Saturday, December 29, 2012

Multi-Laird



Playing cops with a lot on their plate,
Acting chops and his weight were both great
Felt too wide, saw a diet
And decided to try it
But was stopped by the rottenest fate.



Top: Laird Cregar as creepy detective "Ed Cornell", in I Wake Up Screaming (1941). Title by outsized talent David Cairns. From wikipedia: "When assigned the role of demented pianist George Bone in Hangover Square (1945), Cregar decided to give the character a "romantic" veneer, and, to that end, lost more than a hundred pounds on a crash diet which included prescribed amphetamines. The strain on his system resulted in severe abdominal problems; a few days after undergoing stomach surgery, Cregar died of a heart attack. He was 31 years old."  It was a tragic loss of a singular talent.

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