Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Henry Koster was born Herman Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany, on May 1, 1905. His maternal grandfather was a famous operatic tenor Julius Salomon (who died of tuberculosis in the 1880s). His father was a salesman of ladies unmentionables who left the family while Henry was at a young age, leaving him to support the family. He still managed to finish gymnasium (high school) in Berlin while working as a short-story writer and cartoonist. He was introduced to movies in 1910 when his uncle Richard opened a movie theater in Berlin and his mother went there every day to play the piano to accompany the films. Henry went with her--day care being nonexistent then--and had to sit for a couple of hours a day staring at the movie screen.

He achieved success as a short-story writer at age 17, resulting in his being hired by a Berlin movie company as a scenarist. He became an assistant to director Curtis Bernhardt. Bernhardt fell sick one day and asked Henry to direct (this was around 1931 or 1932). He had directed two films in Berlin for Aafa when Adolf Hitler came to power. He was in the midst of directing The Private Secretary Gets Married (1933) at that point, and having already been the victim of anti-Semitism, he knew he had to leave Germany, and soon. Any doubts he entertained about leaving were erased when, at a bank on his lunch hour one day, a Nazi SA officer insulted him; Henry hit the Nazi so hard he knocked him out. He proceeded to go directly to the railroad station and took a train for France. Upon arriving in France he was rehired by Bernhardt (who had left earlier). Eventually Henry went to Budapest and met and married Kató Király (1934). It was there he met producer Joe Pasternak, who represented Universal Pictures in Europe, and directed four films for him.

In 1936 he was signed to a contract with Universal and brought to Hollywood with Pasternak, several other refugees and his wife. At first he had some troubles at the studio (he didn't speak English), but eventually convinced Universal to let him make Three Smart Girls (1936) with Deanna Durbin and coached Durbin, who was 14 years old. The picture was a huge success and pulled Universal from the verge of bankruptcy. His second film, One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) with Durbin and Leopold Stokowski, put Universal, Durbin, Pasternak and himself on top. He went on to do numerous musicals and family comedies during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many with Betty Grable, Durbin and other musical stars of the era. He stayed at Universal until 1941, then worked for MGM, and around 1948 moved over to 20th Century-Fox. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Bishop's Wife (1947).

In 1950 he directed what was his biggest success to date--the James Stewart comedy Harvey (1950), but, although many in the industry thought it would be nominated for Best Picture, it wasn't. He directed the first American film in which Richard Burton appeared, My Cousin Rachel (1952), then was assigned by Fox to direct its first CinemaScope picture, The Robe (1953), also with Burton, which was a tremendous success. He directed a few more costume dramas, such as Désirée (1954) with Marlon Brando, then went back to family comedies and musicals, such as Flower Drum Song (1961) for Universal. After he finished The Singing Nun (1966) he retired from the film business to Leisure Village, Camarillo, CA, to indulge his lifelong interest in painting. He did a series of portraits of the movie stars with whom he worked.

[on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000009/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Richard Burton</a>] If he didn&#39;t get perfection he got mad at himself, no one else . . . The world lost one of the greatest actors of our time when he died.

I always was very much interested in religion, and I still am. I&#39;m the only Jew, I think, who goes regularly to church. I&#39;ve never been to temples, but then I wasn&#39;t brought up that way. My parents were not very good Jews. I never realized I was Jewish until [<a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0386944/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Adolf Hitler</a>] came in.

[on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001791/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Robert Taylor</a>] Really easy to work with, and a wonderful gentleman. The only trouble with him was he couldn&#39;t give up smoking, and he killed himself. He was warned that if he didn&#39;t give up smoking--he tried and tried, and told me the old joke of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0878494/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Mark Twain</a>, about how giving up smoking was easy; Mark Twain had done it twice a week. Well, Robert Taylor tried twice a week, and finally gave up and said he couldn&#39;t help it. He hoped that nothing would happen. But it did happen, and he died. Very young, and a truly nice, charming, handsome man.

[on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0001739/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Jean Simmons</a>] I loved that girl. I still love her. Haven&#39;t seen her in many years. She&#39;s the most gentle, most beautiful darling girl.

I thought <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000009/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Richard Burton</a> was a wonderful man. He still is a wonderful man, no matter how many times he marries <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000072/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Elizabeth Taylor</a>.

Quotes

Henry Koster

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