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- Born the eldest son and third child of James and Mary Defoe, Defoe received a very good education, as his father intended him to become a Presbyterian minister, but he chose to become a merchant instead. In 1684 he joined the army of the rebel Duke of Monmouth, but when the rebellion failed, Defoe was forced into semi-exile. He went bankrupt in 1692, and began writing professionally. He wrote a satirical pamphlet in 1703 called "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters", for which he was pilloried. After a stint in Newgate prison and more troubles with his bankruptcy, Defoe wrote "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders", both of which were great successes. Labeled a social historian for his interest in colonization, economics, and exploration, Defoe died of a lethargy in Cripplegate on 24 April 1731.
- Auguste Maquet was born on 13 September 1813 in Paris, France. Auguste was a writer, known for Three Musketeers (1932), Monte Cristo (1929) and La maison du baigneur (1914). Auguste died on 8 January 1888 in Paris, France.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Clara Schumann was born on 13 September 1819 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony [now Saxony, Germany]. She was a composer, known for Management (2008), Ammonite (2020) and The Europeans (1979). She was married to Robert Schumann. She died on 20 May 1896 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse-Nassau, [now Hesse], Germany.- Actress
Viola Miles was born on 13 September 1873 in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Deceit (1923). She was married to Frank Monroe. She died on 5 November 1915 in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach was born on 13 September 1830 in Schloss Zdislawitz, Moravia, Austrian Empire [now Zdislavice, Kromeríz, Czech Republic]. She was a writer, known for Heimatland (1955), Ruf der Wälder (1965) and Krambambuli (1940). She was married to Moritz von Ebner-Eschenbach. She died on 12 March 1916 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now in Austria].
- Harry Fisher Jr. was born on 13 September 1885 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Yankee Girl (1915), And Percy Got Married (1915) and Billy Puts One Over (1915). He died on 21 May 1917 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Fritz Magnussen was born on 13 September 1878 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a writer and director, known for Guldspindeln (1916), Dommens dag (1918) and Skæbnesvangre vildfarelser (1918). He died on 14 April 1920 in Denmark.- Born in Milan, Italy, September 13, 1886, Paola Pezzaglia was the only daughter of a famous VIP hair-stylist, Gerolamo Pezzaglia. Her uncle was the actor Angelo Pezzaglia. At the age of six she already enchanted her public in theatre, and she grew up as a very fine actress, with the interpretation of more than 200 pieces in Italy, Swiss, Tunis and Egypt. In 1908 she married the actor Antonio Greco, and they had a son, Ruggero. But Antonio died in 1913, only 28. In 1914 she played the character of 'Sofia' in the film 'Il fornaretto di Venezia', directed by Luigi Maggi. In 1918 she was 'Biribì' in the four-film serial movie 'Il mistero dei Montfleury'. Titles: 'Il campo maledetto', 'I bimbi di nessuno', 'La sagra dei martirii', 'Il giardino del silenzio'. In 1918 Paola Pezzaglia performed also in 'La capanna dello zio Tom', directed by Riccardo Tolentino, and 'Le peripezie dell'emulo di Fortunello e compagni', directed by Cesare Zocchi de Collani, playing the character of 'Madama Girasole'. In 1921 she was in the cast of 'La vendetta dello scemo', directed by Umberto Mucci. Paola Pezzaglia, during a successful theatrical season, died of pneumonia December 17, 1925, in Firenze, Italy, at the age of 39.
- Melli Beese was born on 13 September 1886 in Laubegast, Saxony, Germany. She was married to Charles Boutard. She died on 21 December 1925 in Berlin, Germany.
- Ida Vera Simonton was born on 13 September 1871 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Ida Vera was a writer, known for White Cargo (1942) and White Cargo (1929). Ida Vera died on 5 July 1931 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Oili Siikaniemi was born on 13 September 1888 in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was married to Väinö Siikaniemi. She died on 2 August 1932.
- Karl Oscar Krantz was born on 13 September 1867 in Håby, Bohuslän, Sweden. Karl Oscar was a producer, known for Kvinnliga akademiska fotbollsklubben Virginia (1908) and Lejonjakten (1908). Karl Oscar died on 27 January 1933 in Helsingborg, Skåne län, Sweden.
- Branimir Cosic was born on 13 September 1903 in Stitar, Serbia. He was a writer, known for Kacaci u topcideru (1923), Sile (1968) and Beogradska razglednica 1920 (1980). He died on 29 January 1934 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia.
- Canadian novelist "Ralph Connor" was born Charles William Gordon in Glengarry, Ontario, Canada, in 1860. His parents were from Scotland, and his father was a Presbyterian minister. When he was 10 the family moved from the almost frontier settlement of Glengarry to a more "settled" area of Ontario called Zorra, but young Charles always longed for the wilds of Glengarry--as evidenced by the fact that many of his later novels were set there.
He and his brother attended the University of Toronto, and a year after graduation Charles put himself through Knox College, a divinity school. He traveled to Scotland in 1883 and attended the University of Edinburgh for two years. Returning to Canada, he saw a need to minister to the religious needs of the miners and loggers of the Canadian Rockies, and did that until 1893, when he was sent to England for a year. When World War I broke out he served as chaplain for the 43rd Cameron Highlanders unit of the British army. In 1920 he was made chairman of the Council of Industry for Manitoba and the next year he was chosen as Moderator for the General Presbyterian Assembly of Canada.
One day in 1897 a friend who was the editor of "Westminister Magazine" asked him to write a story for the publication. It garnered so much interest that Gordon decided to expand it into a novel, and called it "Black Rock". He used the name "Ralph Connor" for the book because his editor wired him asking if he wanted to use his real name or a pseudonym, thinking that using his real name on an adventure novel might take away from his ministerial work. Gordon happened to glance at a letter he had just received, and the letterhead read "Brit. Can. Nor. West. Mission"; he liked the sound of that, so wired back, "Use Cannor". However, the telegrapher accidentally misspelled it "Connor"; his editor decided to add the name "Ralph", and "Ralph Connor" was born. That first book and subsequent ones became immensely popular in Canada, and he wrote a new one an average of once a year. In 1898 Gordon married Helen King, who was the daughter of a fellow clergyman, and they had seven children together.
He died in Canada in 1937, age 77. - Actor
- Director
Matthew Betz was born on 13 September 1881 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Big Chance (1933), The Crimson City (1928) and The Terror (1928). He was married to Lulu Slipp. He died on 26 January 1938 in Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Aileen Marson was born on 13 September 1912 in Alexandria, Egypt. She was an actress, known for Someone at the Door (1936), A Song for You (1934) and Ten Minute Alibi (1935). She was married to Jack Scott. She died on 4 May 1939 in London, England, UK.
- Soundtrack
Tom Pitts was born on 13 September 1883 in Macoupin County, Illinois, USA. Tom was married to Emma Pancher. Tom died on 28 December 1939 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.- Soundtrack
Ernest Gillet was born on 13 September 1856 in Paris, France. Ernest died on 6 May 1940 in Paris, France.- George O'Neil was born on 13 September 1898 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was a writer, known for Only Yesterday (1933), Magnificent Obsession (1935) and I'd Give My Life (1936). He died on 23 May 1940 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Antal Farkas was born on 13 September 1875 in Szentes, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a writer, known for Jön az öcsém (1919). He died on 28 September 1940 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Edward Cecil was born on 13 September 1878 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Beast (1916), The Yankee Way (1917) and Sink or Swim (1920). He was married to Maud Warren. He died on 13 December 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Sherwood Anderson was born on September 13, 1876, into the family of a house-painter in Camden, Ohio. He worked as a newsboy, a house-painter, and a stable groom until he moved to Chicago at the age of 17. There he attended business classes at night, while having a day job as a warehouse laborer. After his military service in Cuba during the Spanish-American war, he returned to Ohio and graduated from Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio. His marriage didn't work, and he moved to Chicago again. There he joined the Chicago Group of writers, which also included Theodore Dreiser, Carl Sandburg, and Edgar Lee Masters. They led the so-called Chicago Literary Renessance between 1900 and 1930.
After the success of his books, "Winesburg, Ohio" (1917) and "The Triumphs of the Egg" (1921) Andersen received his first 'Dial' Award for his contribution to American Literature. He went traveling and became part of the expatriate community in Europe during the 1920s. In Paris he met Gertrude Stein, whom he much admired. He encouraged Ernest Hemingway in his writing aspirations. He also gave him a letter of recommendation to Gertrude Stein, pushing Hemingway to move to Paris from Chicago, where they met in 1921. Their friendship broke after Anderson's "Dark Laughter" (1925) prompted the satirical "Torrents of Spring", a parody of Anderson by Hemingway.
Andersen completed the "Dark Laughter" (1925) in New Orleans, where he shared an apartment with William Faulkner, who was also inspired by Anderson's works. In 1926 he moved to Marion, Virginia, where he built a home. There Anderson bought two weekly newspapers, one Republican, one Democrat, and edited both for 2 years. He was lecturing around the country and studied the labor conditions during the Depression. He wrote, " . . . Joseph Conrad said that a writer only began to live after he began to write. It pleased me to think I was after all but ten years old. Plenty of time ahead for such a young one." He died of peritonitis after swallowing a toothpick, during his private trip to Panama Canal, on March 8, 1941. - Auriol Lee was born on 13 September 1880 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Suspicion (1941) and A Royal Divorce (1938). She was married to Frederick Lloyd. She died on 2 July 1941 in Hutchinson, Kansas, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Chick Endor was born on 13 September 1893 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Elstree Calling (1930), Two Hearts in Harmony (1935) and Royal Society Jazz Orchestra (1986). He died on 1 September 1941 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roy Coulson was born on 13 September 1890 in Streator, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Robin Hood (1922), The Flaming Forest (1926) and The Daughter of Dawn (1920). He died on 10 May 1944 in San Bernardino, California, USA.- Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on 13 September 1887 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, USA. He was married to Eleanor Butler Alexander. He died on 12 July 1944 in Normandy, France.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Adolf E. Licho was born on 13 September 1876 in Kremenchug, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire [now Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine]. He was an actor and director, known for Kaddisch (1924), Kinder der Zeit (1922) and 1914, die letzten Tage vor dem Weltbrand (1931). He died on 11 October 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Milton Hershey was born on 13 September 1857 in Derry Church, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Catherine Sweeney. He died on 13 October 1945 in Hershey, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Erich Briese was born on 13 September 1869 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der breite Weg (1917), Der Prinzenraub (1914) and Gib mich frei (1924). He was married to Luise Emilie Emma Samst. He died on 30 March 1947 in Berlin, Germany.
- Writer
- Actor
- Casting Department
Lewis E. Lawes was born on 13 September 1883 in Elmira, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Invisible Stripes (1939), San Quentin (1946) and Over the Wall (1938). He died on 23 April 1947 in Garrison, New York, USA.- Gerald Cooper was born on 13 September 1892 in Beaulieu, Hampshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Men of Tomorrow (1932). He died on 17 November 1947 in Marylebone, London, England, UK.
- Giuseppe Zago was born on 13 September 1881 in Venice, Veneto, Italy. He was an actor, known for Forbidden Music (1942), Blood Red Rose (1939) and La canzone delle rose (1919). He died on 7 December 1947 in Venice, Veneto, Italy.
- Born in Muscatine, Iowa, he attended public schools and Iowa Wesleyan College at Mount Pleasant. He graduated from the Nebraska Wesleyan University at Lincoln in 1892, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Omaha, Nebraska. He moved to Encampment, Wyoming in 1902 and to Casper, Wyoming in 1903. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1908 and was a judge of the sixth judicial district of Wyoming from 1913 to 1919. He resigned from the bench and resumed the practice of law at Casper.
Winter was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-eighth, Sixty-ninth, and Seventieth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1923 to March 3, 1929; he was not a candidate for renomination in 1928, but was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. Senate. He was attorney general of Puerto Rico in 1932 and 1933, and served as Acting Governor. He resumed the practice of law, and died in Casper; interment was in Highland Cemetery.
During the summer of 1903, while traveling on a train in Pennsylvania, Winter wrote the lyrics to "Wyoming", the official state song. His western novels included Grandon of Sierra, about a cowboy who gives up ranging to be a prospector in the Encampment copper rush, and Ben Warman, filmed several times, firstly as Dangerous Love (1920 film). Gold of Freedom was set in Wyoming's South Pass. - Pershing was born on a farm near Laclede, Missouri, to businessman John Fletcher Pershing and homemaker Ann Elizabeth Thompson. Pershing's great-great-grandfather, Frederick Pershing, whose name originally was Pfersching, emigrated from Alsace, leaving Amsterdam on the ship Jacob, and arriving in Philadelphia on October 2, 1749. Pershing's mother was of English descent. He also had five siblings: brothers James F. (1862-1933) and Ward (1874-1909), and sisters Mary Elizabeth (1864-1928), Anna May (1867-1955) and Grace (1867-1903); three other children died in infancy. When the Civil War began, his father supported the Union and was a sutler for the 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (September 13, 1860 - July 15, 1948) was a senior United States Army officer. His most famous post was when he served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front in World War I, 1917-18.
Pershing rejected British and French demands that American forces be integrated with their armies, and insisted that the AEF would operate as a single unit under his command, although some American divisions fought under British command, and he also allowed all-black units to be integrated with the French army.
Pershing's soldiers first saw serious battle at Cantigny, Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Soissons. To speed up the arrival of the doughboys, they embarked for France leaving the heavy equipment behind, and used British and French tanks, artillery, airplanes and other munitions. In September 1918 at St. Mihiel, the First Army was directly under Pershing's command; it overwhelmed the salient - the encroachment into Allied territory - that the German Army had held for three years. For the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Pershing shifted roughly 600,000 American soldiers to the heavily defended forests of the Argonne, keeping his divisions engaged in hard fighting for 47 days, alongside the French. The Allied Hundred Days Offensive, which the Argonne fighting was part of, contributed to Germany calling for an armistice. Pershing was of the opinion that the war should continue and that all of Germany should be occupied in an effort to permanently destroy German militarism.
Pershing is the only American to be promoted in his own lifetime to General of the Armies rank, the highest possible rank in the United States Army. Allowed to select his own insignia, Pershing chose to use four gold stars to distinguish himself from those officers who held the rank of General, which was signified with four silver stars. After the creation of the five-star General of the Army rank during World War II, his rank of General of the Armies could unofficially be considered that of a six-star general, but he died before the proposed insignia could be considered and acted on by Congress.
Some of his tactics have been criticized both by other commanders at the time and by modern historians. His reliance on costly frontal assaults, long after other Allied armies had abandoned such tactics, has been blamed for causing unnecessarily high American casualties. In addition to leading the A.E.F. to victory in World War I, Pershing notably served as a mentor to many in the generation of generals who led the United States Army during World War II, including George Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Lesley J. McNair, George S. Patton, and Douglas MacArthur. - Alma Aiken was born on 13 September 1864 in New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Test of Honor (1919) and The Master Mind (1920). She was married to Paul/ George William Matthews. She died on 10 September 1949 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
- Aage Schmidt was born on 13 September 1885 in Denmark. He was an actor, known for Greven af Luxemburg (1910), Blind Justice (1916) and Genboerne (1939). He died on 11 September 1949 in Denmark.
- Vera White was born on 13 September 1893 in Melbourne, Australia. She was an actress, known for Among Those Present (1921), Is Your Daughter Safe? (1927) and Hustlin' Hank (1923). She died on 11 November 1949.
- Actor
Rollin B. Berry was born on 13 September 1890 in Nevada, Iowa, USA. He was an actor. He died on 12 April 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Belle Stoddard was born on 13 September 1869 in Remington, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Kentucky Pride (1925), The Marriage Pit (1920) and Anne Against the World (1929). She was married to Paul Menifee Johnstone. She died on 13 December 1950 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actress
Belle Johnstone was born on 13 September 1869 in Remington, Ohio, USA. She was an actress. She died on 13 December 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Scott Pembroke was born on 13 September 1889 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Telephone Operator (1937), The Jazz Cinderella (1930) and Shanghai Rose (1929). He was married to Gertrude Short. He died on 21 February 1951 in Pasadena, California, USA.- John Alexander was born on 13 September 1864. He was an actor, known for The Petrified Forest (1936) and Men in Exile (1937). He died on 5 April 1951 in Ontario, Canada.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Arnold Schonberg was born in the Jewish ghetto of Vienna, in 1874. His parents were Ashkenazim, his mother, Pauline was from Prague, and his father, Samuel, was from Bratislava. His mother was a piano teacher, but he had little interest in early childhood. He took violin lessons when he was eight and began composing at the same time.
Later he took lessons in composition from Alexandr von Zemlinsky, who's sister he married in 1910, after his first wife left him in 1908. His earlier sextet Verklarte Nacht (1899) and Symphonic poem Pelleas and Melisande, brought him recognition from Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. He became Mahler's apprentice, and considered his master a 'saint'.
It was during the absence of a wife that Schonberg started composing without a key. He created the dodecaphonic (or twelve-tone) method of composition, which later developed into serialism. The innovative String Quartet No. 2, and Pierrot Luniare (1912) incorporated female voice and moved into atonal (or pan-tonal) method, later developed into dodecaphonic (twelve-tone), method, and further grew into serialism. His students Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and Hanns Eisler adopted this technique and thus formed the Second Viennise School. His method of teaching was based on analyzing and transmitting the music of the great classics, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Mozart', and Ludwig van Beethoven. He regarded the music of Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler . In 1925 he moved to Berlin to take a master class. He wrote unfinished opera "Moses und Aron", and lived there until the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Schonberg was brought up as a Catholic, converted to Lutheranism in 1898 and remained Litheran until 1933. In 1933 he had to leave Berlin, because Nazis disregarded his conversion to Lutheranism, and treated him as a Jew. He made a stay in Paris where he formally reaffirmed his original faith. After that Schonberg went on his journey to Los Angeles, where he settled in 1934. There he revisited tonal composition and continued development of serialism, which contributed to the complexity of his difficult Violin Concerto. From 1935 to 1945 he taught at USC and UCLA Department of Music. In 1941 Schonberg became a citizen of the United States. He retired after having a heart attack in 1945. His later compositions include String Trio "A Survivor from Warsaw" and religious Choir works. His theoretical writings are still used by students. He used to say: "my music is not really modern, just badly played." He feared the number 13 (triskaidekafobia), but ironically was born on the 13th and died on Friday, the 13th of July, 1951. He was buried in Vienna.- Olin Francis was born on 13 September 1891 in Mooreville, Mississippi, USA. He was an actor, known for Lightning Range (1933), Pioneers of the West (1927) and Out of Singapore (1932). He was married to Frances Odell Hanrion and Letha Velma Dreyer. He died on 30 June 1952 in Culver City, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Larry Shields was born on 13 September 1893 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Pelican Brief (1993), Double Jeopardy (1999) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). He died on 21 November 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Julian Tuwim was born on 13 September 1894 in Lódz, Poland, Russian Empire [now Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Schindler's List (1993), Zolnierz królowej Madagaskaru (1940) and Zolnierz królowej Madagaskaru (1958). He was married to Stefania Marchew. He died on 27 December 1953 in Zakopane, Malopolskie, Poland.- Director
- Editor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert I. Leeds was a journeyman film editor before turning director in 1937. Many of his films were made for 20th Century-Fox, and his training as an editor was evident in the efficiency and tight pacing of his films. Although he started out making westerns, he soon turned to mysteries and adventures. His war film, Manila Calling (1942) was not the flag-waving, jingoistic propaganda piece typical of that era; while an action film, it eschewed phony heroics (until the last reel, anyway) in its story of a group of American soldiers and civilians trapped on Luzon by the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. He also directed two enjoyable entries in the underrated Lloyd Nolan "Michael Shayne" private detective series. Unlike many B directors, Leeds' final films kept up to the same quality as his early ones, and his next-to-last picture, Bunco Squad (1950) is, despite its potboiler title, a solid, well-crafted and well-acted little thriller.- Alain Leroy Locke was born on 13 September 1885 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He died on 9 June 1954 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
Józef Munclinger was born on 13 September 1888 in Nitkovice, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was a writer and actor, known for Svatý Václav (1930) and Border Street (1948). He died on 31 October 1954 in Mariánské Lázne, Czechoslovakia.- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of the finest, if relatively short-lived, character actresses of Hollywood, during the 1930s and 1940, Gladys George was born into an acting family who were literally on the road at the time of her birth.
Her parents were actually English and touring with a Shakespearean theater company in Patten, Maine, when she was born (although usually noted as 1900, other sources put it as late as 1904). Her parents stayed in America, and by the time she was 3, they formed a vaudeville family act; The Three Clares (Gladys's middle name).
Beginning then, George would focus herself on developing an acting career.
As George gained experience, she developed an interest in the stage and while still in her teens, she first trod the Broadway boards in 1918 in the original play "The Betrothal", the star being Isadora Duncan. Her experience in stock meshed with her natural talent and a face to frame the emotion of great pathos as well as hard cased and worldly wise. She was in good hands when she worked for the famous Broadway star Pauline Frederick, who made a fortune on ' The Great White Way', and via her touring stock company.
Frederick's career took on new dimension when she turned to film as well (1915), and George was probably influenced to follow her.
George began working in silent films - first as the young female romantic lead in Red Hot Dollars (1919) and would steadily move in lead and good costarring roles through 1921.
Around this time, George was severely burned in an accident which caused a delay in her early film career. She returned to stock and married for the first time.
By 1934, she had a new husband - the millionaire manufacturer, Edward H Fowler who was able to further her career. After only a month into her next show (Queer People)'s run, George abruptly left the company, when Paramount offered her a screen test. After the test, MGM signed her for a contract. Her first film was not surprisingly an adapted play, Straight Is the Way (1934). In this, her first sound picture, George played the mouthy bad girl to good effect, displaying her acting ability.
In her personal life, she had a socialite's talent for partying, and alcohol, and romance on the edge. She had only been married to Fowler about a year when he found her with her leading man from her then-Broadway hit comedy, Personal Appearance (ironically, she played a carousing, man-hungry star, and the press loved the coincidence).
Her next film was not until 1936 and as a loan-out to Paramount, but it was pay-dirt for George, as the mother-against-the-world, in Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936),George made her role the film's focus, and she was so good at that she received a Best Actress nomination for that year. It and perhaps her personal life had much to do with her biggest role the next year, Madame X (1937), as the long suffering soap opera-like Jacqueline Floriot.
Though some mark it as the beginning of a downturn to character roles, George pulled out all the stops, and played the role of Madame du Barry, in Marie Antoinette (1938) (starring, Norma Shearer with real gumption
Sadly, over the next year, physical changes caused by her carousing lifestyle were becoming more apparent (as the speakeasy owner, Panama Smith in The Roaring Twenties (1939) with its famous ending of the fatally wounded James Cagney staggering up the church steps after having rubbed out old rival Humphrey Bogart. He staggers back down diagonally and falls professionally face up with George quickly kneeling next to him. 'He used to be a big shot', she says as the police arrive).
In the 1940s, George spent a year-or-so on Broadway,and was cast in several soap opera B-films, where she alternated between sympathetic, or tough-as-nails characters. She was usually right on, but the roles were throwaways, compared to what she was capable of doing.
Her most well-remembered role of this period was as the widow of murdered detective, Miles Archer, in the legendary The Maltese Falcon (1941) (with Humphrey Bogart, once again). One is hard-put to even recognize her in black lace, mourning profiles and the few lines she has.
The same year she had a good comedic lead role, displaying her range - from hard headed to soft hearted with the Dead End Kids in Hit the Road (1941).
But a standout role of the decade was so small, and yet it was subtlety nuanced for showing how she excelled at displaying pathos of the human condition, in the great classic of post-World War II homecoming, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). As Hortense Derry, she was the second wife of aging failure Pat Derry (played by Roman Bohnen). That they lived near poverty's starkly shown in their 'home'; a hovel under an overpass. George, frowzy with little makeup and clutching her old threadbare robe, eagerly patronizing and quick to speak, with a slight edge in her voice.
Except for showing some of the old fire in her supporting role in Flamingo Road (1949), George only appeared in a few more roles; including a couple of brief TV appearances in the early 1950s.
Sadly, Gladys George was worn out; her hard living lifestyle, having caused her serious afflictions, including cirrhosis of the liver, advancing throat cancer, and cumulative heart disease. Though she's listed as having passed away due to a stroke, there was suspicion that she had taken an overdose of sleeping pills to put an end to her story.