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1-50 of 1,564
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born on 8 May 1829 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Louis Moreau was a composer, known for Original Sin (2001), Little Women (2019) and The Lovebirds (2020). Louis Moreau died on 18 December 1869 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.- Sophus Schandorph was born on 8 May 1836 in Ringsted, Zealand, Denmark. He was a writer, known for Scapins gavtyvestreger (1955). He was married to Ida Sophie Branner. He died on 1 January 1901 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Augusta Jane Evans Wilson grew up in Alabama, from whence her family had moved from Georgia due to her father's economic woes. Wilson was one of the last major authors of the domestic novel, a genre focusing on the personal growth of a female character, usually including a major plot. An erudite woman, Wilson adhered to the genre's basic outlines, but veered from it by incorporating explicit religious, philosophical, and political themes into most of her novels.
According to family lore, Wilson secretly wrote a novel at age 15, which she presented to her father as a Christmas present in 1850. She made her debut as a professional author at age 20 when this novel, the first of nine, was published as _Inez_ in 1855. However, Wilson later adopted a tolerant stance toward all Christian denominations. She also corresponded with a Jewish woman, This story of love, betrayal, and redemption set during the Texan war for independence in the 1830s, marked by heavy helpings of anti-Catholicism in its portrayal of a sinister, stereotypical Jesuit priest, sold poorly. However, Wilson's next work, Beulah (1859), the story of an orphaned young woman's disaffection from religion and then conversion back to Christianity, was a bestseller, especially among young women. In Beulah, Wilson also laid out her vision of women as the guardians of Christian morality, as the title heroine devotes herself to the conversion of her newly wed husband, a long-standing atheist.
By the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, Wilson had achieved, for a lady, an unusual status, respected for her erudition and political commitment by a great number of prominent Southern men, including Confederate General P.G.T. Beuregard, with whom she corresponded. Unlike the classic Southern lady, Wilson placed her ideological principles above her personal life, breaking off her engagement to a Northern journalist because of his pro-Union views.
Wilson leaped into the arena of literary agitprop with her third novel,Macaria, or Altars of Sacrifice (1863), which was dedicated to the Confederate soldiers and overtly championed the cause of Southern independence. Macaria was not only a bestseller in the Confederacy, but it was so effective as propaganda among Union soldiers that it was banned in the North. The novel inverted a central premise of the domestic novel - the heroine's marriage to her true love - by having the central character forgo marrying the man whom she loved in favor of celibate dedication to the new Southern nation, which, unlike the despotic North, was truly devoted to republican liberty. However, it was after the Civil War that Evans achieved her greatest success with St. Elmo (1866), a more conventional domestic novel once again concerning a moody, Heathcliff-like man who improves his character and accepts Christianity (in this case, even becoming a monster) because of the love of a virtuous woman. St. Elmo was a runaway bestseller and became a fixture of popular culture.
After her marriage to 60-year-old widower Lorenzo Madison Wilson in 1868, Wilson's literary output slowed, and none of her later novels achieved the popularity of St. Elmo. Her first two novels after her marriage were Vashti (1869) and Infelice (1875), which were both strikingly apolitical and concerned women living under assumed identities who had been wronged by and were now estranged from their husbands. She followed up these efforts with At the Mercy of Tiberius (1887) and A Speckled Bird (1902). In her final years, she wrote a brief work that she originally intended to be a short story, but a publisher wanted another book from her, so the story was published as a short novel, Devota (1907). This was her last publication before her death at age 74 on May 9, 1909. Wilson's novels remained popular until ca. 1950. William Perry Fidler wrote a biography of the author, which was published in 1951. However, due to her didactic approach to writing, her classical actions, and her reactionary views on race, women's roles, the Confederacy, and Reconstruction, her popularity plummeted after the mid-20th century. Wilson quickly lapsed into obscurity.
However, recently, scholarly interest in Wilson has grown. In 1992, Louisiana State University Press published editions of Beulah and Macaria, with prefaces by, respectively, noted Southern/women's historians Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Drew Gilpin Faust. Wilson is also mentioned in a number of 1990s historical and literary-critical scholarly works. Anne Sophie Riepma published a biography/literary analysis, Fire and Fiction, in 2000. In 2002, Rebecca Grant Sexton compiled and edited Wilson's letters in A Southern Woman of Letters: The Correspondence of Augusta Jane Evans Wilson. - Augusta J. Evans-Wilson was born on 8 May 1835 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. Augusta J. was a writer, known for Infelice (1915) and St. Elmo (1923). Augusta J. died on 9 May 1909 in Mobile, Alabama, USA.
- Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 1828 - 30 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, and social activist. He was the visionary, promoter, and co-founder of the Red Cross. In 1901, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy. Dunant was the first Swiss Nobel laureate.
During a business trip in 1859, Dunant was witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in modern-day Italy. He recorded his memories and experiences in the book A Memory of Solferino which inspired the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863. The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant's idea for an independent organization to care for wounded soldiers. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Oscar Hammerstein was born on 8 May 1847 in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia [now Szczecin, Poland]. He was an actor, known for The Universal Boy (1914). He was married to Mary Emma Miller Swift, Melvina Jacobi and Rose Blau. He died on 1 August 1919 in New York, New York, USA.- José Gómez 'Gallito' was born on 8 May 1895 in Gelves, Sevilla, Andalucía, Spain. He died on 16 May 1920 in Talavera de la Reina, Madrid, Spain.
- Marie Wainwright was born on 8 May 1853 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Secret Strings (1918), Social Hypocrites (1918) and Polly with a Past (1920). She was married to Winston Henry Slaughter, Franklyn Roberts and Louis James. She died on 17 August 1923 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Writer
- Music Department
Heinrich Berte was born on 8 May 1857 in Galgocz, Hungary. He was a writer, known for April Blossoms (1934), Das Dreimäderlhaus (1958) and Musical TV Theater (1970). He died on 23 August 1924 in Perchtoldsdorf, Lower Austria, Austria.- Josef Fischer was born on 8 May 1874 in Sweden. He was an actor, known for Baron Olson (1920), Boman på utställningen (1923) and Bodakungen (1920). He died on 1 November 1926 in Stockholm, Sweden.
- J. Meade Falkner was born on 8 May 1858 in Manningford, Wiltshire, England, UK. J. Meade was a writer, known for Moonfleet (1955), Mystery and Imagination (1966) and Suspense (1949). J. Meade died on 22 July 1932 in Durham, England, UK.
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Writer
Fred LeRoy Granville, ASC was one of the original 15 founders of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The reorganization committee met in the home of William C. Foster on Saturday, December 21, 1918 and drew up a new set of bylaws. The 10-member committee and five invited Cinema Camera Club member visitors were designated as the board of governors for the new organization.
The next evening, in the Hollywood Hills home of Fred LeRoy Granville, officers for the American Society of Cinematographers were elected - Philip E. Rosen, president; Charles Rosher, vice president; Homer A. Scott, second vice president; William C. Foster, treasurer; and Victor Milner, secretary. The Society was chartered by the State of California on January 8, 1919.
Born Warnambool, Victoria, Australia, in 1896, educated in New Zealand, as a young boy became interested in photography. His first experience with cinematography came in 1913 under the guidance of James Crosby at the Selig Polyscope studio in Edendale, near downtown Los Angeles.
Granville became an ornithological collector. He visited Santa Cruz Island in April 1912, then in 1914 he began his film career with the Sunset Motion Picture Company where he worked in Alaska, going as far north as Barrow, collecting birds while filming and traveling. He married his first wife, Mary Jayne Paynter in 1907, and they had two children: George Layton Granville (1908-1947), and Fred LeRoy Granville, Jr. (1910-1986) who became a two time Academy Award nominee, EMMY recipient as a sound effects engineer, with long career on films as It's a Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and The Under Sea World of Jacque Cousteau (1968.)
Granville, Sr photographed the documentary Rescue of the Stefansson Expedition (1914) and a number of features and serials for Universal, including Liberty - A Daughter of the U.S.A. (1916) and The Heart of Humanity (1918). He also shot several of cowboy actor Tom Mix's early Fox features.
GB Samuelson who had been operating a British film studio since 1912, became disappointed in lack of interest in distribution of his films in the United States, embarked on production renting space at Universal studios in December 1919.
He brought over American born director Alexander Butler, and British silent screen actress Peggy Hyland who had made her debut in England in 1914 and was placed under contract at Fox studios in Hollywood in 1918. She was loaned out to Samuelson who also hired Universal cameraman Fred LeRoy Granville and promoted him to the ranks of director. Granville went to England, where he married Peggy Hyland in 1921. His wife was a prolific filmmaker, in 1922 she wrote, produced, directed, and starred in With Father's Help, and in 1923 she starred in the US production, Shifting Sands (1923), directed by her husband Fred Le Roy Granville, with whom she had worked in America. The following year Hyland directed and starred in The Haunted Pearls and in 1925 she acted in Forbidden Cargoes (directed by Granville), then they divorced in 1923 while he continued working as a cinematographer and director until his death in London on November 14, 1932, from complications related to Bright's disease.- Adolf Dobrovolný was born on 8 May 1864 in Postoloprty, Austrian Empire [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Magdalena (1921), Legionár (1920) and Palicova dcera (1923). He died on 17 January 1934 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Joseph Delmont was born on 8 May 1873 in Loiwein, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a director and writer, known for Theophrastus Paracelsus (1916), Die Töchter des Eichmeisters (1916) and Titanenkampf (1916). He died on 12 March 1935 in Piest'any, Czechoslovakia [now Slovak Republic].- Actor
- Producer
Monroe Salisbury was born Orange Salisbury Cash, the son of David Cash and Ellen Louise Salisbury Cash, and grandson of Aaron Cash and Ann Roat Cash of Evans, Erie County, New York. He grew up with two sisters, Adelaide Mary Cash and Anna Louise Cash. By 1900, he was a working actor supporting his widowed mother and living in Providence, Rhode Island. He performed on Broadway between 1903 and 1906. By 1914, he left New York for Hollywood to work in films and became well-known, playing opposite such actors as Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Lon Chaney, and Ruth Clifford eventually becoming a movie idol. He was six feet tall and ruggedly handsome, making him a great choice for western films. His most famous part was that of Allesandro in the film "Ramona" (1916). By the late 1920s, the aging actor was less in demand and he struggled to find parts. His last movie was in 1930 after which he disappeared from the Hollywood scene. On July 2, 1935, Salisbury was admitted to Patton State Hospital for the Insane in San Bernardino, California, his name unknown, his occupation a hotel clerk. A month later, on August 6th he fell, hitting his head and fracturing his skull. He lay in the morgue for two days before his sister, Adelaide Cash Bosche, identified him giving his real name as Orr S. Cash. His cremated remains were buried in the same grave with his mother, Ellen, who died in 1929, in the Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.- Actor
Fred Minter was born on 8 May 1892 in Arkansas, USA. He was an actor. He died on 9 July 1937.- Willy Bauer was born on 8 May 1866 in Prague, Austrian Empire [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Die Gottes Mühlen (1938), Das Glück von Grinzing (1933) and Der Fall des Generalstabs-Oberst Redl (1931). He died on 4 June 1938 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Music Department
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Robert Johnson was born on 8 May 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, USA. He was a writer, known for The Skeleton Key (2005), Chocolat (2000) and Holes (2003). He was married to Calleta "Callie" Craft and Virginia Travis. He died on 13 August 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi, USA.- Margarete Böhme was born on 8 May 1867 in Husum, Germany. She was a writer, known for Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1918), The Story of Dida Ibsen (1918) and Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). She died on 23 May 1939 in Hamburg, Germany.
- Writer
- Actress
Dorothy Mackaye was born on 8 May 1899 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for Ladies They Talk About (1933) and Lady Gangster (1942). She was married to Paul Kelly and Ray Raymond. She died on 5 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Frank Condon was born on 8 May 1882 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was a writer, known for Legend of Hollywood (1924), The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1922) and The End of the World (1925). He was married to Esther. He died on 18 December 1940 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
- F. Britten Austin was born on 8 May 1885 in Mile End, London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Last Outpost (1935), Buried Treasure (1921) and A Woman Redeemed (1927). He was married to Ethel King and Edith Abbot. He died on 12 March 1941 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK.
- Palmer Morrison was born on 8 May 1875 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Swanee River (1931), Is Your Daughter Safe? (1927) and Scar Hanan (1925). He died on 21 July 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Ernest W. Marland was born on 8 May 1874 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Lydie Roberts and Mary Virginia Collins. He died on 3 October 1941 in Ponca City, Oklahoma, USA.
- Vaclav Jirikovsky was born on 8 May 1891 in Prague, Cechy, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor. He died on 9 May 1942 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Lili Borbély was born on 8 May 1887 in Görgényszentimre, Austria-Hungary [now Gurghiu, Romania]. She was an actress, known for A cigány (1941). She died on 7 April 1943 in Gurghiu, Romania.
- Additional Crew
Harry Lucenay was born on 8 May 1887 in France. Harry is known for School Begins (1928), Readin' and Writin' (1932) and The Ol' Gray Hoss (1928). Harry died on 28 May 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Emma Kluge was born on 8 May 1872 in Germany. She was an actress, known for Molly Go Get 'Em (1918), Powers That Prey (1918) and Annie-for-Spite (1917). She died on 16 August 1944 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Art Director
- Production Designer
Fritz Willi Krohn was born on 8 May 1898 in Annaberg, Germany. He was an art director and production designer, known for Das Mädel von Pontecuculi (1924), Hotel Atlantik (1920) and Der Ruf aus dem Jenseits (1920). He died on 27 September 1944 in Karlsbad, Germany.- Mattie Connolly was born on 8 May 1899 in Idaho, USA. She was an actress, known for The Ranger (1918). She died on 18 March 1947 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Actor
Eugene Cozier was born on 8 May 1933 in City of London, London, England, UK. He was an actor. He died on 14 July 1947 in Plaistow, London, England, UK.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Actor
Max Pfeiffer was born on 8 May 1881 in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was a producer and production manager, known for The Csardas Princess (1934), Melody of the Heart (1929) and Der Bettelstudent (1936). He died on 5 September 1947 in Berlin, Germany.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Vasiliy Solovyov was born on 8 May 1905. Vasiliy was a cinematographer, known for Boyevoy kinosbornik 5 (1941), The Fall of Berlin (1945) and Liberation of Soviet Belarus (1945). Vasiliy died on 25 October 1947.- Additional Crew
Jim Poker was born on 8 May 1892 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]. He is known for Rapsodia Baltyku (1935). He died on 6 November 1948 in London, UK.- Jean Whittaker was born on 8 May 1874 in New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Night Intruder (1938). She died on 20 July 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Arthur Stuart Hull was born on 8 May 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Within the Law (1923), The Great Moment (1921) and The Palm Beach Story (1942). He died on 28 February 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Russian-born Phil Rosen began his film career as a cameraman during the silent era, and worked his way into directing. Rosen was a highy regarded director in the silent era, as evidenced by the fact that when MGM fired Josef von Sternberg from Exquisite Sinner (1926)--for, among other things, his extravagance, slow shooting schedule and total disregard for the budget--the studio brought in Rosen to re-edit, re-shoot and generally tighten it up, and by most contemporary accounts he did a first-rate job. However, like all too many of his colleagues of the period, the success he enjoyed during the silent era didn't carry over into talking pictures, and Rosen spent most of the rest of his career churning out B-grade (and cheaper) fodder for outfits like Monogram, PRC, and the bottom-of-the-barrel states-rights market.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Sam Lufkin was born on 8 May 1891 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for Scotty of the Scouts (1926), The Mystery Man (1935) and Skybound (1935). He was married to Maude Lee Bailey. He died on 19 February 1952 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
George Hommel was born on 8 May 1901 in New York City, New York, USA. George was married to Sallie . George died on 12 September 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
John Meehan, the Oscar-nominated Cando-American screenwriter and playwright best known for co-writing the classic Boys Town (1938), was born on May 8, 1884 in Lindsay, Ontario. His first dream was to be a chef, but after studying the culinary arts in Austria, he went to New York to seek fame and fortune in the theater. Meehan made his Broadway debut in 1902 as an actor in a play inspired by a story by Richard Harding Davis, "Soliders of Fortune". From 1903 to 1908 he appeared three more times as an actor on Broadway. The next time his name was associated with The Great White Way, it was as a playwright, when his play "The Very Minute" was produced in 1917, starring Cathleen Nesbitt. The show closed after 32 performances.
He acted again on Broadway in John Drinkwater's 1919 hit play "Abraham Lincoln". Five of his original plays, all comedies, were staged during the Roaring Twenties. He also sporadically acted during the days of the Jazz Age, but more frequently, he produced and directed other dramatists's works. When moving pictures began to talk, he heeded Horace Greeley's admonition "Go West, Young Man" and hightailed it to Hollywood. He returned once again to the Broadway theater for his swansong, as an actor, in 1935's "A Journey By Night". (His son, John Meehan, Jr. wrote the books for the operettas "Rosalinda" and "Helen Goes to Troy".)
Meehan was hired as a contract writer by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the time that Paramount was adapting his play The Lady Lies (1929) for the Big Screen, with a cast that featured Walter Huston and a young Claudette Colbert as the leads. The play had not been a success in 1928, closing after just 24 performances, but Hollywood needed writers who could write dialogue. ("The Lady Lies" was remade into four other films in four different languages, as was the custom in the early talkie period, before dubbing was perfected.) Meehan's 1927 play "Bless You, Sister" (which also lasted but 24 performances on Broadway), was adapted by Jo Swerling as The Miracle Woman (1931) for Frank Capra at Columbia, providing a choice role for Barbara Stanwyck, playing an Aimee Semple McPherson-like woman preacher.
Meehan won his first Oscar nomination soon after coming to Hollywood, in 1930, for The Divorcee (1930). He won his second Oscar nod along with co-writer Dore Schary in 1939 for "Boy's Town". M.G.M. superstars Norma Shearer in "The Divorcee" and Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town" won Oscars for their work in Meehan screenplays.
John Meehan died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles on November 12, 1954. He was 70 years old.- Dmitriy Orlov was born on 8 May 1892 in Spassk, Spassk uyezd, Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire [now Spassk-Ryazansky, Spassky District, Ryazan Oblast, Russia]. He was an actor, known for Alexander Nevsky (1938), Sibiryaki (1940) and Lenin in 1918 (1939). He was married to Anna Bogdanova. He died on 19 December 1955 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Thure Bahne was born on 8 May 1909 in Turku, Finland. He was an actor and director, known for On lautalla pienoinen kahvila (1952), Onni etsii asuntoa (1955) and Onnellinen ministeri (1941). He was married to Katja (Ekaterine) Mavropoulo. He died on 28 January 1956.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Yves Mirande was born on 8 May 1876 in Bagneux, Maine-et-Loire, France. He was a writer and director, known for Derrière la façade (1939), Symphonie D'Amour (1936) and Café de Paris (1938). He was married to Simone Berriau. He died on 17 March 1957 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Composer
Géza Salgó-Sally was born on 8 May 1902 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. He was an actor and composer, known for Szent Péter esernyöje (1935) and A Pál-utcai fiúk (1917). He died on 20 July 1957 in Herzliya, Israel.- Music Department
- Composer
Sanford H. Dickinson was born on 8 May 1887 in New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Dance Hall Racket (1953), Peek-a-Boo (1953) and Midnight Frolics (1949). He died on 14 August 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Elsie Esmond was born on 8 May 1880 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Royal Family of Broadway (1930), A Change of Heart (1914) and The Pawn of Fortune (1914). She was married to Robert Morris and Thurlow Bergen. She died on 24 August 1958 in Wheeling, Illinois, USA.
- Art Director
- Art Department
George Dudley was born on 8 May 1897 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an art director, known for The Rains Came (1939), The Bride Wore Crutches (1940) and High School (1940). He died on 5 June 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Thea Rosenquist was born on 8 May 1896 in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She was an actress, known for Maria Magdalena (1919), Der Traum im Walde (1919) and Die Waldspinne (1919). She died on 26 July 1959 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Gerhard Ritterband was born on 8 May 1904 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Doll (1919), Kaliber fünf Komma zwei (1920) and A Song, a Kiss, a Girl (1932). He died on 29 September 1959 in West Berlin, West Germany.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Arthur Quirk Bryan was an American actor from Brooklyn, New York City. He is primarily remembered as a voice actor for radio and animation. His best known roles were the wisecracking physician and surgeon Dr. George Gamble in "Fibber McGee and Molly" (1935-1959), and the inept hunter Elmer Fudd in "Looney Tunes". Bryan voiced Fudd from 1940 to 1959, the heyday of the character in theatrical animation. When playing Fudd, Bryan nearly always vocalized consonants [r] and [l], pronouncing them as [w] instead. This became one of the character's main traits. Following Bryan's death in 1959, Hal Smith voiced Fudd in two animated shorts. In 1962, the production crew decided to cease using Fudd as a character. The character would later be revived, with most subsequent voice actors imitating Bryan's performance in the role.
In 1899, Bryan was born in Brooklyn. In his early years, he sang in a number of churches in the New York City area. He had aspirations to become a professional singer. In 1918, the teen-aged Bryan was hired as an as insurance clerk for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1926, Bryan was hired as a singer by the New York City-based radio station WINS.
In 1928, Bryan was hired as a tenor soloist by the radio station WFAN, which was also located in New York City. From 1929 to 1931, Bryan worked as an announcer for the New Jersey-based radio station WOR. In the autumn of 1931, Bryan moved to Philadelphia to work as an announcer for the radio station WCAU. In 1933, he started working for the radio station WTEL, which was also based in Philadelphia. In 1934, Bryan moved back to New York City. He was hired by the radio station WHN.
In 1936, Bryan moved to Los Angeles. He was initially hired as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures. He soon transitioned into acting roles, frequently portraying supporting characters in B Movies. He portrayed newspaper editor Joe McGinty in the horror film "The Devil Bat" (1940). His later roles included an unnamed Philistine merchant in the Biblical drama "Samson and Delilah" (1949), two appearances in the film series "Road to ...", and a single appearance in an "Ozzie and Harriet" feature film.
From 1938 to 1940, Bryan was a regular cast member in the radio talk show "The Grouch Club". The show featured radio stars who voiced their frustrations with the recurring problems of everyday life. Vitaphone produced a short film series based on the show, with Bryan depicting unfortunate souls who struggled with taxation, with the vote registry, and with the lack of available parking places.
In 1940, Bryan was asked to voice Elmer Fudd for the animated short film "Elmer's Candid Camera". The film introduced an entirely new design for the character, following a few years of appearances by prototype versions of Fudd. Previous versions of the character had been voiced by Mel Blanc, Danny Webb, and Roy Rogers. But it Bryan's voice for the character who made Fudd a hit with the audience of the time. Bryan would continue to portray Fudd for 19 years. Fudd would serve as the main antagonist for another hit character of the "Looney Tunes" film series, Bugs Bunny.
Bryan was increasingly famous as a voice actor in the early 1940s. He was hired to portray semi-regular character Lucius Llewellyn in the radio sitcom "The Great Gildersleeve" (1941-1958), using the same voice as Elmer Fudd. In 1942, Bryan used his natural voice to portray the barber Floyd Munson in the same series. In 1943, writers Don Quinn and Phil Leslie decided to create a role for Bryan in their radio series "Fibber McGee and Molly", based on what they liked about Bryan's previous performances. His new role was Dr. George Gamble, who would exchange creative insults with the main character Fibber McGee (voiced by Jim Jordan).
Bryan was also hired to portray protagonist Major Hoople in a radio adaptation of the comic strip "Our Boarding House" (1921-1984). Hoople was portrayed as a "retired military man of dubious achievement", who would boast of the adventures of his youth. He has been described as a modernized version of Falstaff. The radio adaptation was not particularly successful, only lasting from June 1942 to April 1943. No recordings of this series have survived.
From 1948 to 1949, Bryan was a regular panelist on the television quiz show "Quizzing the News". The panelists had to identify events in the news based on spoken clues and drawings. During the 1950s, Bryan regularly appeared on television, though mostly in one shot roles. He portrayed history teacher Professor Warren in the short-lived sitcom "The Halls of Ivy" (1954-1955), his only recurring role in this medium.
In November 1959, Bryan died of a sudden heart attack. He was 60 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, located in North Hollywood. His final appearance as Fudd was the posthumously released short "Person to Bunny" (April 1960), a parody of the interview show "Person to Person" (1953-1961). Bryan was initially replaced by Hal Smith as Fudd's voice actor, but the production crew decided to cease using Fudd as a character in 1962. Decades following his death, Bryan is still remembered as one of the most prominent voice actors of his era.