Only when Mr. Gibson was heard making anti-Jewish slurs this summer during a drunken-driving arrest did a few Hollywood veterans speak out against him.

Of course there was nothing unusual about a best-supporting-actor award to a 72-year-old Hollywood veteran appearing in "City Slickers," the year's most lucrative sentimental comedy.

Still, such an ambitious undertaking has led many to wonder: what do these guys know that more seasoned Hollywood veterans don't?

Even seasoned Hollywood veterans are bracing for the worst.

Review from InsideSchools.org What's Special: Kids learn video production from a 30-year Hollywood veteran.

But Mr. Irving, speaking like a Hollywood veteran, said nothing was ever certain until filming actually began.

Like many Hollywood veterans, the Californian-born dog has a hell-raising past.

Overkill, Mr. Winkler and other Hollywood veterans said, often leads to a backlash against the movie being promoted.

Garmes was one of many surviving Hollywood veterans from the silent era interviewed by Kevin Brownlow for the 1980 television series Hollywood.