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Malaysia Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malaysia Sun
'Riverdale' actor KJ Apa to play Hollywood legend James Stewart in upcoming biopic
Los Angeles [US], August 6 (ANI): KJ Apa is all set to portray Hollywood legend James Stewart in his next. The 'Riverdale' star has been signed on to star as the late actor in an upcoming biopic. According to Variety, the upcoming biopic will revolve around Stewart's rise in Hollywood, his Academy Award-winning work in 'The Philadelphia Story' and also his enlistment in the US Army Air Corps as a combat pilot during World War II. Not long after returning home, Stewart even worked in the 1946 film, 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Speaking about the same, KJ Apa, best known for playing Archie on the CW's 'Riverdale', expressed feeling proud of having the opportunity. 'I have always been a huge James Stewart fan and feel so honoured I get to bring his story to life. As someone from New Zealand, I've long admired that generation of American men who stood for patriotism, integrity, and a deep sense of duty. It is important to me to give back to a country that has given me so much, and what better way to do that than by honouring a man who served it with great honour?' he told Variety. Titled 'Jimmy', the biopic will be directed by Aaron Burns and written by Justin Strawhand. James Stewart's daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, will serve as the executive producer. Director Burns described the Oscar-winning actor as 'universally beloved,' further adding that his life will make an amazing film. 'Jimmy Stewart is universally beloved as an actor. He truly embodied the everyman. We all know him from 'It's A Wonderful Life,' but as I discovered his real-life story as a World War II military hero, I realised Jimmy's life makes for an amazing movie,' he said. Besides Apa, the film will also feature Jason Alexander, Max Casella, Sarah Drew, Julian Works, and Jen Lilley in key roles. James Stewart passed away in 1997 at the age of 89. (ANI)
Mint
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Riverdale actor KJ Apa to play Hollywood legend James Stewart in upcoming biopic
Los Angeles [US], August 6 (ANI): KJ Apa is all set to portray Hollywood legend James Stewart in his next. The 'Riverdale' star has been signed on to star as the late actor in an upcoming biopic. According to Variety, the upcoming biopic will revolve around Stewart's rise in Hollywood, his Academy Award-winning work in 'The Philadelphia Story' and also his enlistment in the US Army Air Corps as a combat pilot during World War II. Not long after returning home, Stewart even worked in the 1946 film, 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Speaking about the same, KJ Apa, best known for playing Archie on the CW's 'Riverdale', expressed feeling proud of having the opportunity. "I have always been a huge James Stewart fan and feel so honoured I get to bring his story to life. As someone from New Zealand, I've long admired that generation of American men who stood for patriotism, integrity, and a deep sense of duty. It is important to me to give back to a country that has given me so much, and what better way to do that than by honouring a man who served it with great honour?" he told Variety. Titled 'Jimmy', the biopic will be directed by Aaron Burns and written by Justin Strawhand. James Stewart's daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, will serve as the executive producer. Director Burns described the Oscar-winning actor as "universally beloved," further adding that his life will make an amazing film. "Jimmy Stewart is universally beloved as an actor. He truly embodied the everyman. We all know him from 'It's A Wonderful Life,' but as I discovered his real-life story as a World War II military hero, I realised Jimmy's life makes for an amazing movie," he said. Besides Apa, the film will also feature Jason Alexander, Max Casella, Sarah Drew, Julian Works, and Jen Lilley in key roles. James Stewart passed away in 1997 at the age of 89. (ANI)
Khaleej Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Watch: Donald Trump wishes 104-year-old WW2 veteran on birthday after viral video
US President Donald Trump surprised a 104-year-old war veteran on his birthday by fulfilling his dream. In March this year, Ohio resident Denver Moore went viral on Tiktok for inviting Trump to his birthday which falls in May. The video amassed over 890,000 views. The World War 2 veteran, a Trump supporter, said in his video, "I got to vote for you again and I hope I can vote for you some more.' To Moore's surprise, on Thursday, May 15, he received a video from the President through his congressman, Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio. Seated in the iconic Oval Office, Trump wished Moore on his birthday. "Hi Denver. I want to wish you a very happy one hundred and fourth birthday from all your all-time favourite President, that's me, Donald Trump." Trump then went on to apologise for not being able to make it to his birthday party which took place in Denver's hometown of Canal Fulton. His reason? "I'm working on Russia, Ukraine, China and all sorts of other places that I know you want to us to do well," explained Trump. He then went on to thanks Denver for his "incredible service" to the nation and for his "support for making America great again". According to a local media outlet, Moore reacted to the video by saying it "couldn't happened to a nicer guy". As per the outlet, since the video went viral, fans from across the country sent Denver birthday wishes, with some even coming from Africa. Moore, who has supported the President, said while speaking to another US-based outlet, "He may make a mistake or two, but he's doing almost everything right." According to media reports, the veteran soldier worked in the US Army Air Corps during WW2 before working for the US Postal Service. He had three children with his late wife Thelma Lee, who he was married to for 75 years before she died in 2022 at the age of 95. US President Trump was recently on a trip to the Middle East, his first international trip during the second term of his presidency. The leader visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where each country signed their respective deals with the American nation.
Boston Globe
08-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
A V-E Day love story
World War II and the global fight against fascism offered them the opportunity — for education, adventure, danger, and the chance to serve their country. Through the wartime ordeal, they discovered who they were and what America stood for at a moment of global peril. They also discovered each other. Mary Anderson left West Virginia to train as a psychiatric nurse at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and, when the war started, enlisted in the Army Nursing Corps. By 1944, she was a lieutenant stationed in England to prepare for the mental trauma that soldiers fighting in D-Day and the allied invasion of Europe were sure to face. George Dorval as a flight school student in 1943; Mary Anderson in England in 1944. Christopher Dorval Advertisement In October of that same year, Lieutenant George Dorval, a US Army Air Corps P-47 fighter pilot, was shot down in Italy while flying his 45th combat mission. He had already participated in a number of battles on the island of Elba and the Italian mainland, and the invasion of Southern France. George was flying low to the ground to attack the Nazi-controlled airport at Bergamo, in Northern Italy, when German gunners opened fire with an 88-caliber cannon and hit his P-47 Thunderbolt. With his cockpit on fire and his hands severely burned, he struggled to release his safety straps. But he managed to eject before his plane crashed. His fellow pilots, engaged in fierce air combat, didn't see him bail out. He was presumed dead. Advertisement But he survived, landing in an empty field. In shock and deep pain, his clothes charred, his hands and legs badly burned, George was quickly captured by Italian fascists and turned over to the Germans. He was hospitalized, then shipped by cattle car first to a POW camp in Austria, and finally to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany. The winter of 1945 was harsh. German civilians and POWs alike were starving. Not only did no Red Cross parcels reach him, but none of George's letters from the camp ever made it to Waltham. A Boston Globe article from February 1945, four months after he was shot down, recounted how his parents learned that he was still alive: from a chance encounter with the family of a Waltham friend of George's who had seen him in the Austria POW camp. On the last day of April, as the Russian troops advanced west, the Germans abandoned the POW camp and left the prisoners in charge. A few days later George was liberated by the Russians. On May 12, 1945, the allies airlifted 9,000 POWS, almost all of them from the Air Corps, to Camp Lucky Strike in France, one of the massive staging areas for returning POWs and soldiers from the entire European theater. Desperate for normality, George maneuvered to get two-week passes to London in late May 1945 for himself and a buddy. On his first night in town, George — 45 pounds lighter than when he was shot down — went straight to the officer's club at the Piccadilly Hotel on Piccadilly Circus. Within minutes he spotted Mary, who was on weekend leave, and asked her to dance. She accepted and, as they say, the rest is history. Advertisement George and Mary were my parents. They are gone now, resting together in Arlington National Cemetery. I'm still learning and applying what they taught me. They saw the world with all its good and bad and taught me and my siblings to engage with it and never retreat. They taught us to make a difference. I know that they did. I am confident of few things, but of this I am sure: They would be ashamed at the way our government today is dismantling the world they fought for 80 years ago. For both George and Mary, World War II was a life-changing experience. They saw death, destruction, suffering, and cruelty alongside kindness, friendship, and inspiration. They volunteered and proudly served their country and their country returned the favor: George went to Boston University on the GI Bill; Mary was one of the first women in Massachusetts to secure a GI loan to buy a home. They experienced more than the hollers of West Virginia or the depression of Waltham could have ever provided. They were young and unworldly when they left. They returned from war older and wiser — just 22, with long lives still ahead.
BBC News
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Masters of the Air actors step back in time to visit WW2 airbase
More than 40 years ago, a village decided to make sure the lives of young Americans who arrived during the war would never be forgotten. One year ago, a production company continued that legacy by bringing the stories of these men to the big screen. Stepping out of the television set, how did the actors who portrayed them feel telling their stories? Masters of the Air follows the story of the 100th Bomb Group, which became known as the "Bloody Hundredth" following raids across Europe between 1943 and 1945. During that time, 732 airmen and 177 planes were group flew out of Thorpe Abbotts airfield near Diss, Norfolk, which has been captured in time and turned into a museum. Jonas Moore: 'They need to be remembered' Jonas Moore said he wished he had been able to visit Thorpe Abbotts and "soak it in" before taking on the role of Capt Frank Murphy enlisted in the US Army Air Corps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was assigned as a B-17 navigator with the 100th Bomb get into character for the television drama, Mr Moore read Capt Murphy's autobiography four times to learn as much about the airman as he could."I feel like I know it better than any book I have ever read in my life," he said."Frank Murphy, in an interview, said the men in World War Two fought and died for our privilege to forget the past. It's tyranny and tyrannical rulers that force you to remember things. They died so we can move on with our lives and we can forget."That's why they need to be remembered... it gives us the privilege of moving on." Jordan Coulson: 'It brings you back' Although the series was not shot in Norfolk, Jordan Coulson, who plays Lt Howard Hamilton, said visiting the museum felt familiar."It brings you back to four years ago when we filmed Masters of the Air. It brings back all those memories and all those times we had," he said."To be able to go back in time to a place that was so real for them where they built friendships and bonds, it's great."Lt Hamilton was the bombardier in the B-17, also named "Mademoiselle Zig Zag", which was said to have been the lead plane in the formation of the 100th Bomb Group."To see what these men went through and going in those planes and it potentially being their last trip every single time... What sort of mental state do you have to be in for that? It's very important." Adam Long: 'It feels like we've been here before' It felt "oddly familiar" for actor Adam Long to visit Thorpe Abbotts, where the 100th Bomb Group took off for their last mission on 20 April 1945."It's like we've been here before. That is testament to the set designers and how their attention to detail was just incredible," he build his character, based on Capt Benny DeMarco, he had only photographs to go off. But Capt DeMarco is referenced in Donald L Miller's Masters of the Air book as being the "most competent pilot" one of the group's members had ever worked was the little details which Mr Long said helped build the character."Stories and history... can feel a bit abstract but I think it's important to tell their personal stories and make sure that they are remembered as people and the sacrifices they made," he said. Reg Wilson: 'We have been overrun' Chair of trustees Reg Wilson said the museum had had a "phenomenal" year since the series aired in 2024."In East Anglia there was something like 40 American airbases, and [from] those air bases there were 26,000 young men that were killed," he said."We are very aware of the history of the place – the Americans being here but also what the guys... did when they took what was essentially an abandoned building and converted it into the museum we have today." He said the show had enabled the history of the base to reach a younger audience, and the museum had seen a doubling in the number of visitors."Sometimes we were almost overrun," he said. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
