De voormalige film- en televisieactrice Kathleen Hughes (geb. 1928) viel in 1953 voor het eerst op als blonde bombshell in een kleine rol in Jack Arnold’s sci-fi cultklassieker “It Came From Outer Space.” Tot op heden wordt de film nog steeds op televisie en op filmfestivals wereldwijd vertoond.

Hoewel ze er maar een kleine rol in speelde, werd ze een icoon in de ogen van veel sci-fi fans. De actrice, vooral bekend omwille van haar bijrollen, speelde in films van 1948 tot pakweg halverwege de jaren 50 van vorige eeuw en daarna werkte ze voornamelijk voor televisie, terwijl ze haar vier kinderen grootbracht die ze kreeg met haar man, de uiterst productieve film- en tv-schrijver en -producer Stanley Rubin. Hughes is ook nu nog steeds springlevend. Op 96-jarige leeftijd beantwoordt ze elke dag haar fanmail, geeft ze af en toe interviews en tot voor kort bezocht ze ook nog evenementen in Hollywood waar ze een graag geziene gast was (is).

Begin 2023 verkocht ze hun huis in de Hollywood Hills, gelegen op 8818 Rising Place, bovenaan de befaamde Sunset Strip, dat ze in 1956 hadden laten bouwen. Het koppel trouwde in 1954; hun huwelijk hield zestig jaar stand totdat Stanley Rubin in 2014 op 96-jarige leeftijd.

De oom van Kathleen Hughes was F. Hugh Herbert (1897-1958), auteur, toneelschrijver en bijzonder succesvol scenarist die zijn Hollywoodcarrière tijdens de stomme film begon en later scenario’s schreef voor filmregisseurs als Robert Z. Leonard, William Dieterle, Otto Preminger, Mark Robson en Blake Edwards. Hij schreef ook scenario’s voor films met de grootste Hollywoodsterren waaronder Norma Shearer, Marion Davies, Loretta Young, Myrna Loy, Barbara Stanwyck, Dolores del Rio, Jean Arthur, Deanna Durbin, Melvyn Douglas, John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Shirley Temple, Jeanne Crain, Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, Claudette Colbert, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger en David Niven.

Hij was ook voorzitter van de Screen Writers Guild van 1953-1954. De reden waarom hij hier wordt vermeld, is omdat hij een belangrijke rol speelde toen zijn nicht Kathleen Hughes haar eerste stappen zette in de filmindustrie.

Het gesprek met Kathleen Hughes—hier in het Engels terug te vinden—dateert van april 2004 en vond plaats in de tuin van hun huis in Hollywood. “Gone With the Wind”-actrice Ann Rutherford, een zeer goede vriendin die me destijds aan heel wat van haar generatiegenoten heeft voorgesteld, introduceerde me ook aan de Rubins en reed me naar hun huis waar ik met het echtpaar kon praten. Het interview met haar echtgenoot Stanley Rubin wordt hier op een latere datum gepubliceerd. Zijn omvangrijke lijst aan film credits als filmproducer omvat o.m. “River of No Return” (1954), met in de hoofdrollen Robert Mitchum en Marilyn Monroe.

+ Kathleen Hughes overleed op 19 mei 1925. Ze werd 96. Haar doodsoorzaak en de plaats van overlijden werden in haar obituaries niet vermeld.

FILMS

ROAD HOUSE (1948) DIR Jean Negulesco PROD Edward Chodorov SCR Edward Chodorov (story by Oscar Saul, Margaret Gruen) CAM Joseph LaShelle ED James B. Clark MUS Cyril J. Mockridge CAST Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, O.Z. Whitehead, Robert Karnes, George Beranger, Ian MacDonald, Grandon Rhodes, Kathleen Hughes (Bar Patron [uncredited])

MOTHER IS A FRESHMAN (1949) DIR Lloyd Bacon PROD Walter Morosco SCR Mary Loos, Richard Sale (story by Raphael Blau) CAM Arthur E. Arling ED William Reynolds MUS Alfred Newman CAST Loretta Young, Van Johnson, Rudy Vallee, Barbara Lawrence, Robert Arthur, Betty Lynn, Griff Barnett, Kathleen Hughes (Rhoda Adams), Debra Paget

MR. BELVEDERE GOES TO COLLEGE (1949) DIR Elliott Nugent PROD Samuel G. Engel SCR Mary Loos, Richard Sale, Mary C. McCall Jr. (characters created by Gwen Davenport) CAM Lloyd Ahern Sr. ED Harmon Jones MUS Alfred Newman CAST Clifton Webb, Shirley Temple, Tom Drake, Alan Young, Jessie Royce Landis, Kathleen Hughes (Kay Nelson), Taylor Holmes, Alvin Greenman, Paul Harvey, Barry Kelley, Jeff Chandler, Kathleen Freeman, Reginald Sheffield

IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING (1949) DIR Lloyd Bacon PROD William Perlberg SCR Valentine Davies (story by Valentine Davies, Shirley W. Smith) CAM Joseph MacDonald ED Bruce B. Pierce MUS Leigh Harline CAST Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley, Ted de Corsia, Ray Collins, Jessie Royce Landis, Alan Hale Jr., William Murphy, Kathleen Hughes (Sara, College Coed [uncredited]), Mae Marsh, Debra Paget

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950) DIR – PROD Otto Preminger SCR Ben Hecht (novel “Night Cry” [1948] by William L. Stuart; adaptation by Victor Trivas, Frank P. Rosenberg, Robert E. Kent) CAM Joseph LaShelle ED Louis R. Loeffler MUS Cyril J. Mockridge CAST Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, Tom Tully, Karl Malden, Ruth Donnelly, Craig Stevens, Kathleen Hughes (Secretary [uncredited])

MISTER 880 (1950) DIR Edmund Goulding PROD Julian Blaustein SCR Robert Riskin (article in The New Yorker by St. Clair McKelway) CAM Joseph LaShelle ED Sol Kaplan MUS  CAST Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn, Miljard Mitchell, Minor Watson, Howard St. John, Hugh Sanders, James Millican, Kathleen Hughes (Secretary [uncredited])

I’LL GET BY (1950) DIR Richard Sale PROD William Perlberg SCR Richard Sale, Mary Loos (story by Helen Logan, Pamela Harris, Robert Ellis) CAM Charles G. Drake ED J. Watson Webb Jr. MUS Cyril J. Mockridge CAST June Haver, William Lundigan, Gloria DeHaven, Dennis Day, Harry James, Thelma Ritter, Steve Allen, Danny Davenport, Harry Antrim, Jeanne Crain, Victor Mature, Dan Dailey, Bess Flowers, Kathleen Hughes (Secretary [uncredited])

CALL ME MISTER (1951) DIR Lloyd Bacon PROD Fred Kohlmar SCR Burt Styler, Albert E. Lewin (Broadway musical revue “Call Me Mister” [1946] by Harold Rome, Arnold M. Auerbach) CAM Arthur E. Arling ED Louis R. Loeffler CAST Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas, Dale Robertson, Benay Venuta, Frank Fontaine, Harry Von Zell, Richard Boone, Jeffrey Hunter, Kathleen Hughes (Waitress in Show [uncredited])

TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL (1951) DIR Jean Negulesco PROD Julian Blaustein SCR Julius J. Epstein (novel “Take Care of My Little Girl” [1950] by Peggy Goodin) CAM Harry Jackson ED William Reynolds MUS Alfred Newman CAST Jeanne Crain, Dale Robertson, Mitzi Gaynor, Jean Peters, Jeffrey Hunter, Betty Lynn, Helen Westcott, Lenka Peterson, Kathleen Hughes (Jenny Barker), Natalie Schafer

I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS (1951) DIR Michael Curtiz PROD Louis F. Edelman SCR Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose (story “The Gus Kahn Story” by Grace Kahn, Louis F. Edelman) CAM Ted D. McCord ED Owen Marks MUS Ray Heindorf CAST Doris Day, Danny Thomas, Frank Lovejoy, Patrice Wymore, James Gleason, Mary Wickes, Julie Oshins, Jim Backus, Minna Gombell, Kathleen Hughes (Nurse [uncredited])

FOR MEN ONLY (1952) DIR Paul Henreid PROD Paul Henreid, Edward Nassour SCR Lou Morheim (story by Lou Morheim, Herb Margolis) CAM Paul Ivano ED Sherman A. Rose MUS Hoyt Curtin CAST Paul Henreid, Margaret Field, James Dobson, Douglas Kennedy, Kathleen Hughes (Tracy Norman), Robert Carson, Russell Johnson, Vera Miles, Virginia Mullen

SALLY AND SAINT ANNE (1952) DIR Rudolph Maté PROD Leonard Goldstein SCR James O’Hanlon, Herb Meadow (story by James O’Hanlon) CAM Irving Glassberg ED Edward Curtiss MUS Frank Skinner CAST Ann Blyth, Edmund Gwenn, John McIntire, Palmer Lee, Hugh O’Brien, Jack Kelly, Kathleen Hughes (Lois Foran), Lamont Johnson, Bess Flowers

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953) DIR Jack Arnold PROD William Alland SCR Harry Essex (film treatment “Atomic Monster” by Ray Bradbury) CAM Clifford Stine ED Paul Weatherwax MUS Henri Mancini, Herman Stein, Irving Gertz CAST Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes (Jane), Joe Sawyer, Robert Carson, Edgar Dearing

THE GOLDEN BLADE (1953) DIR Nathan Juran PROD Richard Wilson SCR John Rich (also story) CAM Maury Gertsman ED Ted J. Kent MUS Henri Mancini, Herman Stein, Irving Gertz CAST Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie, Gene Evans, Kathleen Hughes (Bakhamra), George Macready, Steven Geray, Edgar Barrier, Alice Kelley, Richard Carlson, Anita Ekberg, Dennis Weaver

THY NEIGHBOR’S WIFE (1953) DIR – PROD Hugo Haas SCR Hugo Haas (novel by Oskar Jelinek) CAM Paul Ivano ED Albert Shaff, Merrill G. White MUS Václav Divina CAST Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Ken Carlton, Kathleen Hughes (Anushka), Anthony Jochim, Tom Fadden, Darr Smith, Oscar O’Shea, Tom Wilson, Roy Engel

THE GLASS WEB (1953) DIR Jack Arnold PROD Albert J. Cohen SCR Leonard Lee, Robert Blees (novel “Spin the Glass Web” [1952] by Max Simon Ehrlich) CAM Maury Gertsman ED Ted J. Kent MUS Frank Skinner, Herman Stein, Milton Rosen CAST Edward G. Robinson, John Forsythe, Marcia Henderson, Kathleen Hughes (Paula Ranier), Richard Denning, Hugh Sanders, Jean Willes, Eve McVeagh, Harry Tyler, Kathleen Freeman, Beverly Garland

DAWN AT SOCORRO (1954) DIR George Sherman PROD William Alland SCR George Zuckerman CAM Carl E. Guthrie ED Edward Curtiss MUS Frank Skinner, Herman Stein CAST Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, David Brian, Kathleen Hughes (Clare), Alex Nicol, Edgar Buchanan, Mara Corday, Roy Roberts, Skip Homeier, Lee Van Cleef, James Millican

CULT OF THE COBRA (1955) DIR Francis D. Lyon PROD Howard Pine SCR Jerry Davis, Richard Collins, Cecil Maiden (story by Jerry Davis) CAM Russell Metty ED Milton Carruth MUS Stanley Wilson, Irving Gertz, William Lava, Lou Maury CAST Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson, Kathleen Hughes (Julia), William Reynolds, Jack Kelly, Myrna Hansen, David Janssen

THREE BAD SISTERS (1956) DIR Gilbert Kay PROD Howard W. Koch SCR Gerald Drayson Adams (story by Devery Freeman) CAM Lester Shorr ED John F. Schreyer MUS Paul Dunlap CAST Marla English, Kathleen Hughes (Valerie Craig), Sara Shane, John Bromfield, Jess Barker, Madge Kennedy, Anthony George, Marlene Felton, Bess Flowers

UNWED MOTHER (1958) DIR Walter Doniger PROD Joseph Justman SCR Anson Bond, Alden Nash (story by Anson Bond) CAM Lothrop B. Worth ED Neil Brunnenkant MUS Emil Newman CAST Norma Moore, Robert Vaughn, Billie Bird, Diana Darrin, Jeanne Cooper, Ron Hargrave, Kathleen Hughes (Linda), Sam Buffington, Claire Carleton, Colette Jackson

PROMISE HER ANYTHING (1966) DIR Arthur Hiller PROD Stanley Rubin SCR William Peter Blatty (original story by Arne Sultan, Marvin Worth; screen story by William Peter Blatty) CAM Douglas Slocombe ED John Shirley MUS Lyn Murray CAST Warren Beatty, Leslie Caron, Bob Cummings, Keenan Wynn, Hermione Gingold, Lionel Stander, Cathleen Nesbitt, Kathleen Hughes (Bit [uncredited]), Donald Sutherland

THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST (1967) DIR – SCR Theodore J. Flicker PROD Stanley Rubin CAM William A. Fraker ED Stuart H. Pappé MUS Lalo Schifrin CAST James Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden, Joan Delaney, Pat Harrington Jr., Barry McGuire, Jill Banner, Eduard Franz, Will Geer, Joan Darling, Kathleen Hughes (White House Tourist), Dyanne Thorne

THE LATE LIZ (1971) DIR – PROD Dick Ross SCR Bill Rega (novel “The Late Liz” [1957] by Gertrude Behanna) CAM Harry Stradling Jr. ED Michael Pozen MUS Ralph Carmichael CAST Anne Baxter, Steve Forrest, James Gregory, Coleen Gray, John Hotchkis, Jack Albertson, Eloise Hardt, Don Lamond, Buck Young, Lee Delano, Kathleen Hughes (Elaine Rich)

PETE ‘N’ TILLIE (1972) DIR Martin Ritt PROD Julius J. Epstein SCR Julius J. Epstein (novella “Witch’s Milk” [1968] by Peter De Vries) CAM John A. Alonzo ED Frank Bracht MUS John Williams CAST Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett, Geraldine Page, Barry Nelson, Rene Auberjonois, Lee Montgomery, Henry Jones, Kent Smith, Philip Bourneuf, Whit Bissell, Kathleen Hughes (Party Guest [uncredited])

THE TAKE (1974) DIR Robert Hartford-Davis PROD Howard Brandy SCR Franklin Coen, Del Reisman (novel “Sir, You Bastard” [1970] by G.F. Newman) CAM Duke Callaghan ED Aaron Stell MUS Fred Karlin CAST Eddie Albert, Frankie Avalon, Sorrell Brooke, Albert Salmi, Vic Morrow, Tracy Reed, James Luisi, John Davis Chandler, Robert Miller Driscoll, Kathleen Hughes (School Nurse)

REVENGE (1990) DIR Tony Scott PROD Stanley Rubin, Hunt Lowry SCR Jim Harrison, Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (novella “Revenge” [1990] by Jim Harrison) CAM Jeffrey L. Kimball ED Chris Lebenzon, Michael Tronick MUS Jack Nitzsche CAST Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe, Tomas Milian, Joaquin Martínez, James Gammon, Jesse Corti, Sally Kirkland, Kathleen Hughes (Mother Superior)

WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD (1998) DIR Tony Markes, Adam Rifkin PROD Tony Markes, Zachary Matz SCR Tony Markes, Sean Ryan (story by Tony Markes, Adam Rifkin, Sean Ryan) CAM Rob Bennett, Nick Mendoza, Kramer Morgenthau, Howard Wexler ED Jane Kurson MUS Justin Reinhardt CAST Adam Rifkin, Angie Everhart, Tony Markes, Scott Wolf, Peter Facinelli, Jou Jou Papiller, David Andriole, Tony Markes, Joan Roberts Wiles, Kathleen Hughes (Woman in Curles), Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Glenn Close, Wes Craven, Cameron Crowe, Cameron Diaz, Roger Ebert, Carmen Elektra, Laurence Fishburne, Peter Fonda, Jeff Goldblum, Cuba Gooding Jr., Woody Harrelson, David Hasselhoff, Salma Hayek, Evander Holyfield, Dennis Hopper, Ron Howard, Mike Leigh, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Anthony Minghella, Julianne Moore, Cathy Moriarty, Pat O’Brien, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kelly Preston, Joel Schumacher, Ron Shelton, Will Smith, Mira Sorvino, John Travolta, John Waters, Irwin Winkler

TV MOVIES

BABE (1975) DIR Buzz Kulik PROD Stanley Rubin, Norman Felton TELEPLAY Joanna Lee (book by Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Harry Paxton) CAM Charles F. Wheeler ED Henry Berman MUS Jerry Goldsmith CAST Susan Clark, Alex Karras, Slim Pickens, Jeanette Nolan, Ellen Greer, Ford Rainey, Arch Johnson, Stu Nahan, Philip Bourneuf, Kathleen Hughes (Nancy Armitage)

THE SPELL (1977) DIR Lee Philips PROD David Manson TELEPLAY Brian Taggert CAM Matthew F. Leonetti ED David Newhouse MUS Gerald Fried CAST Lee Grant, Susan Myers, Lelia Goldoni, Helen Hunt, Jack Colvin, James Olson, James greene, Wright King, Barbara Bostock, Doney Oatman, Richard Carlyle, Kathleen Hughes (Fenetia)

…AND YOUR NAME IS JONAH (1979) DIR Richard Michaels PROD Stanley Rubin, Norman Felton TELEPLAY Michael Bortman CAM David Meyers ED David Newhouse MUS Fred Karlin CAST Sally Struthers, James Woods, Randee Heller, Titos Vandis, Penny Stanton, Ruth Manning, Jeffrey Bravin, Kathleen Hughes (Nurse Hubert)

FORBIDDEN LOVE (1982) DIR Steven Hilliard Stern PROD Marcy Gross, Ann Weston TELEPLAY Priscilla English, Laurian Leggett CAM Isidore Mankofsky ED Kurt Hirschler MUS Hagood Hardy CAST Yvette Mimieux, Andrew Stevens, Lisa Lucas, Jerry Houser, Randy Brooks, Lynn Carlin, Hildy Brooks, John Considine, Dana Elcar, Robbi Morgan, Kathleen Hughes (Sybil)