Myrna Loy had a long interesting career before she became a real star after making THE THIN MAN. She played many quirky roles in the pre code era, often cast as a Mexican or Asian with a touch of vampishnes and an evil streak. Nothing at all like her later polished airbrushed roles. Two memorable pre fame parts for her were as Fu Manchu's sadistic sexually deviant daughter in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU and as a serial killer stalker in 13 WOMEN.
Very few performers totally remove their own personalities from a character they play, and James Stewart's absolutely dead-on assessment of acting is what I go by:
"You play yourself in deference to the character."
And for those who dislike Kate and her New England accent, well there's always forever-dull Meryl Streep to fawn over with her infinite accent-mimicking ability.Meryl Streep is the Greer Garson of the Boomer Generation.
He played pretty much the same character in his one TV role I've seen, an episode of GE Theater called "The Dark, Dark Hours" -- in which he starred with Ronald Reagan. The vid, I think, is on YouTube.
