PShields79 wrote:
I am 50 years old. I learned of many old performers through books, long before I had seen any of their films. I know of many performers from the 20s-50s whose films I've NEVER seen.

My knowledge (as it is) of film history has NOTHING to do with school or smarts. It's simply what I am interested in.
And, to me, this says it all.  If someone really cares about the subject, he will go out of his way to learn about these people.  Most of the current generation doesn't care - they are only interested in the current crop.  There are a few exceptions to the rule, of course... probably because a parent shared their own love for the medium and sparked an interest.  But, let's face it... television programming in the 60's, 70's and even the early 80's carried a wide range of films and television shows.  Black and White, color, old and new.  We were all, consequently, exposed to a variety of entertainers and entertainment ( not to mention the fact that many bonafide stars of the golden era were still living and were frequently guests on late night tv talk shows! ) Today, you can only find this kind of programming on a 'specialty' channel like TCM, TV LAND or something similar.  If a person isn't already "into" that particular niche, he has no reason to watch that particular channel and just by passes it for something more up-to-date.  When we were kids, we didn't really have that kind of choice... we had 3 network stations and maybe a couple of UHF stations to choose from.

- GJS