Classic TV Moment: “Ida Lupino, This Is Your Life”

Ida Lupino, who is the subject of our July History Of Television presentation and our August Essential Cinema series, had quite a career. First of all, members of her family had been in the theatrical business in one way or another for about 350 years. In other words, all the way back to Renaissance times. She was discovered in her native England as a young teenager by Hollywood director Allan Dwan, who encouraged her to come to Hollywood. She did, and mostly treaded water for years as an ingenue. Eventually she persuaded director William Wellman to give her a substantial dramatic role, and, at the advanced age of 21, she finally found her calling on the screen, as a soulful performer of depth and range. Later, she became an independent producer and director who changed film history.

We learn a bit about all of this in the following segment of the long running television show YOU BET YOUR LIFE, as the apparently very nervous Lupino receives visits from relatives, friends and professional colleagues.