48 Fun Facts About A Star is Born

In the 2018 film A Star Is Born, at what kind of venue does Jackson Maine first hear Ally sing?

A drag bar: Bradley Cooper set the couple's first meeting there after Lady Gaga told him about her early days performing in drag bars on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Which 1932 film's plot heavily inspired the original A Star Is Born?

What Price Hollywood? (1932) follows a waitress turned star and her self-destructing alcoholic mentor; RKO considered suing producer David O. Selznick over the 1937 film's similarities.

Who starred as Esther Blodgett in the 1937 original?

Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett, a small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood; the role brought her a Best Actress nomination at the 1938 Academy Awards.

The 1937 A Star Is Born was the first Best Picture nominee of what kind?

A colour production: its Technicolor photography won W. Howard Greene an honorary plaque, because the Academy had no separate colour cinematography award until 1939.

What stage name does the studio give Esther Blodgett?

Vicki Lester is the name the studio invents for her; in the 1954 film Esther only learns it when she tries to collect her paycheck.

In the 1937 and 1954 films, how does Norman Maine die?

He walks into the sea and drowns after overhearing Esther plan to give up her career to care for him; in the 1932 precursor the equivalent character shot himself.

With what line does Esther end the 1954 A Star Is Born?

She introduces herself with 'Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine' at the benefit; her old bandmate Danny McGuire had coaxed her out of seclusion.

Who directed the 1954 musical version starring Judy Garland?

George Cukor directed it; he had turned down the 1937 film, and the long 'Born in a Trunk' sequence was added after he left the production.

Which actor did the 1954 film's director want as the male lead, reading the whole script with him?

Cary Grant turned it down even after Cukor read the entire script aloud with him; Cukor had directed Grant in Sylvia Scarlett, Holiday and The Philadelphia Story.

Which 1954 A Star Is Born song ranked No. 11 on the AFI's list of top movie songs?

'The Man That Got Away', Judy Garland's torch song by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin, ranked No. 11, yet it lost the Best Original Song Oscar to 'Three Coins in the Fountain'.

Why did Warner Bros. cut the released 1954 A Star Is Born by nearly half an hour?

To fit in more daily showings: the studio feared a three-hour film meant too few screenings, so it cut two songs and key scenes without its director, who found the result painful to watch.

How did the 1983 restoration of the 1954 A Star Is Born fill scenes whose footage was never found?

With production stills: the complete soundtrack had survived, so historian Ronald Haver laid still photographs over the dialogue for the minutes of film he could not find.

Whose 1954 Best Actress Oscar win over Judy Garland did Groucho Marx call 'the biggest robbery since Brink's'?

Grace Kelly won for The Country Girl; Groucho's telegram to Garland called it 'the biggest robbery since Brink's', a nod to the 1950 raid on the Brink's building in Boston.

A Star Is Born (1954) was Judy Garland's first movie since leaving which studio in 1950?

MGM parted with her in September 1950, months after suspending her for failing to report to the set of Royal Wedding; the 1954 film was promoted as her comeback.

In A Star Is Born (1954), how does Esther save Norman from humiliation?

She pretends he is part of the act, steering the drunken Norman through her number at the benefit; later that night he hears her sing at an after-hours club and urges her to try movies.

The 1976 A Star Is Born moved the story from Hollywood filmmaking to which world?

The music business, so the heroine wins a Grammy rather than an Oscar, a change the 2018 film kept.

Who plays fading rock star John Norman Howard opposite Barbra Streisand in 1976?

Kris Kristofferson played John Norman Howard and won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy; his then-wife Rita Coolidge appears briefly as herself at the Grammy scene.

Which superstar did Streisand and Jon Peters want for the 1976 male lead, only for his manager to scupper it?

Elvis Presley wanted the part, hoping it would revive his film career, but his manager Colonel Tom Parker demanded top billing and a large fee, and the talks collapsed.

Where did the credits of the 1976 A Star Is Born say Barbra Streisand's wardrobe came from?

Her own closet, the end credits said; Streisand was also the executive producer, and after the director delivered his cut she re-edited the film herself.

Which love theme from the 1976 A Star Is Born, composed by Barbra Streisand, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

'Evergreen' grew out of the guitar lessons Streisand took for her role: she worked out the melody on the instrument and played it to her lyricist, who told her it was the film's big love song.

Which earlier film theme was Barbra Streisand's only US number one before the 1976 A Star Is Born love theme?

'The Way We Were' topped the Hot 100 in 1974; the 1976 love theme matched it with three weeks at number one in 1977, though it had to share its Song of the Year Grammy in a tie.

Which venue hosted the big outdoor rock concert filmed for the 1976 A Star Is Born?

Sun Devil Stadium hosted a real rock concert, staged by promoter Bill Graham in March 1976 with Santana and Peter Frampton on the bill, so the film had a genuine crowd to shoot.

In the 1954 A Star Is Born, what does drunken Norman do during Esther's Oscar speech?

Accidentally hits her in the face: he climbs on stage to beg the audience for a job and, gesturing wildly, strikes Esther in front of the audience.

Which pair of married writers co-wrote the 1976 screenplay with director Frank Pierson?

John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion conceived the rock-world update and wrote the early drafts; Frank Pierson rewrote it, directed, and later published 'My Battles with Barbra and Jon' about the shoot.

At which festival did the 2018 A Star Is Born have its world premiere?

The Venice Film Festival showed it out of competition; by 2018 the Lido had become a launch pad for Oscar hopefuls, the route Gravity and La La Land had taken.

Which singer was attached to the lead role of the 2018 A Star Is Born before Lady Gaga was cast?

Beyoncé was attached until her pregnancy delayed the project; Bradley Cooper later cast Lady Gaga after watching her sing 'La Vie en rose' at a cancer benefit.

In which US state did Jackson Maine of the 2018 A Star Is Born grow up?

Arizona: when Jackson takes Ally to the ranch where he grew up and his father is buried, he finds Bobby has sold the land and it is now a wind farm.

Which song from A Star Is Born (2018) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, one of the film's eight nominations?

'Shallow' began life as an end-credits song and became Jackson and Ally's duet when the script changed; Gaga wrote it with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.

Where was Ally's first duet with Jackson in the 2018 A Star Is Born filmed?

The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles stood in for a Northern California venue when the duet was shot in 2017, with Lady Gaga's own fans recruited to fill the seats.

Which veteran actor plays Bobby, Jackson Maine's older half-brother and manager?

Sam Elliott's voice was the model for Jackson's before Cooper even approached him; Howard Stern was reportedly the first choice for Bobby and passed.

Which comedian plays Jackson's best friend George 'Noodles' Stone?

Dave Chappelle plays Noodles, the old friend at whose home Jackson recovers after passing out drunk; it is there that Jack proposes to Ally with a ring made from a loop of guitar string.

On which music festival's grounds were scenes for the 2018 A Star Is Born filmed in April 2017?

Coachella: Lady Gaga headlined both 2017 weekends and used the days in between to film as Ally on the festival grounds, with fans applying through an app to be extras.

Which TV show let Cooper film Ally's breakthrough performance on its real stage with its real crew?

Saturday Night Live: Lorne Michaels let Cooper shoot on the show's own set with its crew on a dark Monday, and Alec Baldwin played the host introducing Ally as a favour.

Which musician, spotted by Cooper at Desert Trip, contributed songs and led Jackson's on-screen band?

Lukas Nelson, Willie Nelson's son, co-wrote several of Jackson's songs, and his band Promise of the Real plays Jackson's band on screen.

Which classic song does Ally hum as the 2018 A Star Is Born's title appears, in a nod to Judy Garland?

'Over the Rainbow', Judy Garland's signature song from The Wizard of Oz, is what Ally hums as she leaves work and the title appears, a salute to the star of the 1954 version.

According to writer Will Fetters, which rock star inspired the 2018 script's male lead?

Kurt Cobain: Fetters wrote his first draft asking what the Nirvana frontman's life might have looked like had he survived; Cooper later reworked it with Eric Roth.

At the Grammys in the 2018 A Star Is Born, an intoxicated Jackson performs a tribute to which singer?

Roy Orbison: Jackson plays in the tribute while visibly drunk; later, as Ally accepts Best New Artist, he staggers on stage and wets himself in front of the audience.

What condition, besides addiction, does Jackson tell his rehab counsellor is getting worse?

Tinnitus: the ear specialist who treats Jackson on screen is Bradley Cooper's own doctor, and the storyline drew on Cooper's lifelong ear problems.

In the 2018 A Star Is Born, which feature does Ally say has kept the music industry from signing her?

Her nose: the insecurity came from Lady Gaga's own life, as she was told to get a nose job when she first arrived in Los Angeles as a young singer.

Lady Gaga became the first woman to win which four awards in one year?

Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Grammy all came to Gaga in 2019 for the music of A Star Is Born, yet on that same Oscar night she lost Best Actress to Olivia Colman.

Which stand-up comedian plays Lorenzo, Ally's father, in the 2018 A Star Is Born?

Andrew Dice Clay plays Lorenzo, who berates a barely conscious Jackson after he humiliates Ally at the Grammys.

How does Jackson Maine die in the 2018 A Star Is Born?

He hangs himself in the garage after promising to come to Ally's concert; her manager Rez had told him it was 'embarrassing' that she was married to him.

Who plays fading star Norman Maine in the original 1937 A Star Is Born?

Fredric March's Norman Maine is thought to be modelled partly on John Bowers, a faded silent star who died while the film was being shot.

Which writer is credited among the screenwriters of the 1937 A Star Is Born?

Dorothy Parker shared the screenplay credit with her husband Alan Campbell and Robert Carson, yet two junior Selznick staffers, Budd Schulberg and Ring Lardner Jr., also wrote for the film and went uncredited.

Who plays Norman Maine opposite Judy Garland in the 1954 musical version?

James Mason took the role of Norman Maine only after the director's first choice turned it down, and it brought him a Best Actor nomination.

The 1954 A Star Is Born switched days into production to which widescreen process?

CinemaScope: after eight days of filming the studio decided this would be its first picture in the new widescreen process, so the footage already shot was scrapped.

Which songwriter co-wrote the songs for the 1976 Streisand A Star Is Born with Kenneth Ascher?

Paul Williams wrote the lyrics to Streisand's love theme; he drafted its 'morning air' line first, then told her to flip the opening two lines because it sang better.

Which director was in talks in January 2011 to make a new A Star Is Born?

Clint Eastwood's version stalled when his intended star became pregnant, and after he moved on Bradley Cooper took the remake as his own directing debut.