Poché Pictures

Maria Luisa Castaneda came into the world the way she moved through it—between borders, in motion, uncontained. Born on a train rattling between Mexico and Arizona in 1916, she entered life already crossing lines other people spent decades trying to understand. Hollywood would rename her Movita, as if a single word could pin her down. … Read More “Maria Luisa Castaneda — the woman Hollywood called “Movita” because the real name carried too many ghosts” »

Joanna Cassidy didn’t tiptoe into Hollywood; she barged in with a six-foot laugh that could rattle neon signs. Born Joanna Virginia Caskey in Camden, New Jersey, she grew up across the river from Philadelphia—close enough to breathe in the city grit but far enough to imagine something stranger, bigger. She was the rowdy girl in … Read More “Joanna Cassidy — the woman who walked into Hollywood laughing and never stopped” »

Christy Scott Cashman moves through the world like someone who doesn’t wait for permission. She writes, she produces, she acts, she renovates a centuries-old Irish castle just because she can, and somehow she manages to do it without losing that glint people get when they still believe stories can save you. Some people collect stamps … Read More “Christy Scott Cashman — the woman who rebuilt a castle and a life at the same time” »

Adriana Elena Loretta Caselotti came into the world on May 6, 1916, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with an opera house practically built into her blood. Her father taught music, her mother sang in the Royal Opera Theatre of Rome, and her older sister trained her voice so fiercely that even Maria Callas once sat across from … Read More “Adriana Caselotti — the girl who gave her voice away” »

Lynne Carver came into the world as Virginia Reid Sampson on September 13, 1918, in Lexington, Kentucky, a place where old Southern dignity clung to the curtains even as the century howled forward. Her family name carried weight—her grandfather had been Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court during the Civil War—but none of that … Read More “Lynne Carver — the ingénue who kept smiling while the studio lights burned out” »

Veronica Cartwright came into the world on April 20, 1949, in Bristol, England, but Hollywood claimed her early—just as it had claimed her younger sister, Angela. The family crossed the Atlantic while the girls were still small, settling in Los Angeles, a place where the business of pretending became their family trade. Veronica slipped into … Read More “Veronica Cartwright — the scream, the stare, the survivor” »

Angela Margaret Cartwright was born September 9, 1952, in Altrincham, Cheshire, England, but Hollywood claimed her early. Her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was barely a year old, and by three she was already sharing scenes with Paul Newman in Somebody Up There Likes Me and appearing with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier … Read More “Angela Cartwright — the child star who grew into a lifelong artist of screen and image” »

Kayli Carter has the kind of screen presence that sneaks up on you. Born July 8, 1993, she grew up in Oviedo and Chuluota, Florida, the daughter of a construction-worker father and a therapist mother—a combination that perhaps explains her work ethic as well as her razor-sharp emotional awareness. She wasn’t one of those kids … Read More “Kayli Carter — the Florida-raised chameleon with a knack for lived-in, quietly explosive performances” »

Janis Carter never intended to be a Hollywood knockout. She wanted to be an opera singer, the kind who could fill a hall without a microphone and make an audience lean forward on a high note alone. Born Janis Elinore Dremann on October 10, 1913, in Cleveland, she grew up with proper musical training, the … Read More “Janis Carter – the Cleveland contralto who traded opera dreams for femme-fatale fire” »

Dixie Virginia Carter came into the world on May 25, 1939, in McLemoresville, Tennessee, a place so small you could drive through it in the time it takes to finish a hymn. She grew up in the South the way Southern heroines always do in the stories—surrounded by church light, strict manners, and the soft … Read More “Dixie Carter – the steel-magnolia songbird who never once apologized for the fire in her voice” »