Article: Fame's brief candle.(attitudes)(Moira Shearer)

What is this thing called "oomph?" Over the years publicists--particularly Hollywood publicists-have found special words for that special something that marks a star. Clara Bow was the "It" girl of the 1920s and another film actress, Ann Sheridan was, two decades later, that original lady with "oomph." Such terms attempt to label the indefinable, to give a name to a personal quality we can more easily recognize in the flesh than describe in the abstract.

That popular phrase "a star is born," used after some impressive overnight success, has always struck me as unlikely. Success doesn't make the star, the star makes success, and stars are not so much born as ...

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