Ricki Lake

Her role as the overweight USO volunteer Holly the Donut Dolly in the television series China Beach gave her a larger audience, and she was eventually chosen to host the talk show which bears her name. Her film career continued sporadically and she also returned to the stage making her Broadway debut in 1973. Lake became known to audiences when she played the hefty Tracy Turnblad, the main character of the John Waters film Hairspray. From 1949 until 1954 she also worked for UNESCO. Her talk show Ricki Lake debuted in 1993 and in May of 2004 the show was cancelled. In later life she assumed a more influential role as Co-Chairman of the "Advisory Council of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing". She was born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. During her career she had championed the rights of black actors and characters to be depicted with dignity on film.

Ricki Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American actress and talk show host. It also allowed Loy to make a film that demonstrated her social conscience. In later years Loy would recall this film as her proudest acting achievement. She returned to films with The Best Years Of Our Lives in 1946 and played the wife of returning serviceman Fredric March. She helped run a Naval Auxilary Canteen and toured frequently to raise funds.

She was fiercely outspoken against Adolf Hitler and her name appeared on his "blacklist". With the outbreak of World War II she all but abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and worked closely with the Red Cross. During this period she was one of Hollywood's busiest and highest paid actresses. In 1936, she was voted "Queen of Hollywood" (in a contest which also voted Clark Gable "King") and was considered to epitomise the height of glamour and sophistication.

She and Powell proved to be a popular couple and appeared in 14 films together, the most prolific onscreen pairing in Hollywood history. Her performance in The Thin Man later the same year as William Powell's sophisticated, witty wife Nora made her a star. The first was Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell. Her breakthrough occurred in 1934 with two very successful films.

During her nine year struggle to establish herself, she appeared in nearly 80 films. Her silent film roles were mainly those of vampish exotic women and for a few years she struggled to overcome this stereotype with many producers and directors believing that while she was perfect as these femme fatales, she was capable of little more. Rudolph Valentino arranged a screen test for her which she failed, but she persevered, and in 1925 appeared in the movie What Price Beauty. At the age of fifteen she began appearing in local stage productions.

Born Myrna Adele Williams in Raidersburg (near Helena, Montana), she moved to Los Angeles, California when she was young. Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 - December 14, 1993) was a United States actress, well known for her motion picture work. Made for TV, and starring opposite Henry Fonda, this was Loy's final performance, save for a guest role in a 1982 episode of the television series Love, Sidney. Summer Solstice (1981).

Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). The End (1978). Airport 1975 (1974). Midnight Lace (1960).

The Thin Man Goes Home (1945). Shadow of the Thin Man (1941). Another Thin Man (1939). The Rains Came (1939).

Test Pilot (1938). Too Hot to Handle (1938). After the Thin Man (1936). Libelled Lady (1936).

The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Wife vs. Secretary (1936). Evelyn Prentice (1934). Manhattan Melodrama (1934).

The Thin Man (1934). When Ladies Meet (1933). The Prizefight and the Lady (1933). The Barbarian (1933).

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). Thirteen Women (1932). The Jazz Singer (1927).