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- Art Department
Christopher Wren was born on 20 October 1632 in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, where his father was rector. His father later moved to Windsor and Wren was educated at Westminster School and then Oxford University. He showed an early talent for mathematics and enjoyed inventing things, including an instrument for writing in the dark and a pneumatic machine.
Wren was one of Britain's most distinguished architects, best known for the design of many London churches, including St Paul's Cathedral. In 1665, Wren visited Paris, where he was strongly influenced by French and Italian baroque styles. Wren did design 51 new city churches, as well as the new St Paul's Cathedral.
In 1669, he was appointed surveyor of the royal works which effectively gave him control of all government building in the country. He was knighted in 1673.
Christopher Wren died on 25 February 1723. His gravestone in St Paul's Cathedral features the Latin inscription which translates as: 'If you seek his memorial, look about you.'- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Michel Carré was born on 20 October 1821 in Besançon, Doubs, France. He was a writer, known for Match Point (2005), Jojo Rabbit (2019) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). He died on 27 June 1872 in Argenteuil, Val-d'Oise, France.- Kosta Trifkovic was born on 20 October 1843 in Novi Sad, Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Vojvodina, Serbia]. He was a writer, known for Izbiracica (1961), TV teatar (1956) and Izbiracica (1966). He died on 19 February 1875 in Novi Sad, Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Vojvodina, Serbia].
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Arthur Rimbaud was born on 20 October 1854 in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes, France. He was a writer, known for Ein großer graublauer Vogel (1970), Ardiente paciencia (1983) and Criminal Lovers (1999). He died on 10 November 1891 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.- Thomas Hughes was born on 20 October 1822 in Uffington, Berkshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Flaming Signal (1932), Tom Brown's School Days (1940) and Tom Brown's Schooldays (1916). He died on 22 March 1896 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.
- Alphonse Allais was born on 20 October 1854 in Honfleur, Calvados, France. He was a writer, known for L'affaire Blaireau (1923), Ni vu, ni connu (1958) and L'affaire Blaireau (1932). He died on 28 October 1905 in Paris, France.
- Gabriel Montoya was born on 20 October 1868 in Alès, Gard, France. He died on 7 October 1914 in Castres, Tarn, France.
- Alfred G. Vanderbilt was born on 20 October 1877 in New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Margaret Emerson Smith Hollins McKim and Elsie French. He died on 7 May 1915.
- Arthur Playfair was born on 20 October 1869 in Ellichpur, Hyderabad State, British India. He was an actor, known for Judged by Appearances (1916). He was married to Laurie Stevens and Lena [Margaret] Ashwell (actress/manager). He died on 28 August 1918 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.
- Actress
- Writer
Oliva R. Duffy was born on October 20, 1894, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. Olive or Ollie, as she was known to family and friends, did not have much of a childhood. Life in industrial Pittsburgh (at the time, spelled "Pittsburg") was depressing and grim with its smoky factories and hard living. She married Bernard Krug Thomas at the age of 16 (which wasn't uncommon at the time), but the marriage wasn't happy, and they divorced two years later.
By that time, Olive had left Pittsburgh for New York, where she found work in a department store. On a lark, she entered a competition for the most beautiful girl in New York City and, unsurprisingly, won. With the ensuing publicity, she caught the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and immediately joined his famed Follies. An outstanding addition, men went wild over her beauty. She also posed nude for the famed Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas. As a result of her sudden fame, she was signed to a contract with Triangle Pictures. Her first film was Beatrice Fairfax (1916). Later that year, she married Jack Pickford, brother of screen star Mary Pickford.
The relationship was a stormy one. In 1917, she starred in four more films: Madcap Madge (1917), A Girl Like That (1917), Broadway Arizona (1917), and Indiscreet Corinne (1917). With five films on her resume, Olive was the toast of Hollywood. She made three films in 1918 and six in 1919. By 1920, Olive was at the top of the film world. She continued to make good pictures, most notably, Youthful Folly (1920) and also The Flapper (1920), which was an overwhelming success. After finishing Everybody's Sweetheart (1920), Olive and Jack sailed to France for a much-needed vacation.
The couple finally seemed happy, which seems odd in light of what was to follow. Olive accidentally ingested bichloride of mercury from a French-labeled bottle in a darkened bathroom, believing it to be another medication. Found unconscious, she died five days later. The death made worldwide headlines. Olive was only 25 when she died.- Art Department
William Utwich was born on 20 October 1881 in Austria. He is known for The Thief of Bagdad (1924). He died on 3 September 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Helen Woodford Ruth was born on 20 October 1897 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She was married to Babe Ruth. She died on 11 January 1929 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.
- Frank J. Wilstach was born on 20 October 1865 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He was a writer, known for The Plainsman (1936). He was married to Edith Hudnall. He died on 28 November 1933 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Music Department
- Writer
Atul Prasad Sen was born on 20 October 1871 in Dacca, Bengal Presidency, British India [now in Dhaka, Bangladesh]. Atul Prasad was a writer, known for Jadu Bansha (1974), Dekha (2001) and Jodi Love Dile Na Prane (2014). Atul Prasad died on 26 August 1934 in Lucknow, United Provinces, British India.- Val Duran was born on 20 October 1896 in Polangui, Albay, Philippines. He was an actor, known for The General Died at Dawn (1936), What Price Decency (1933) and Join the Marines (1937). He died on 1 February 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Martha Morris was born on 20 October 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Freaks (1932). She died on 5 April 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Janina Janecka was born on 20 October 1893 in Lódz, Poland, Russian Empire [now Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Girls of Nowolipki (1937), Jadzia (1936) and Wrzos (1938). She died on 21 February 1938 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Dead at the age of twenty six does not allow for much of a career or legacy, but that was the promise of Michiko Oikawa who so early in life had already begun to impress and earn the title of 'the eternal virgin,' a description which years later would also be assigned to Setsuko Hara. Born in Tokyo, Japan to Christian parents she would go on to profess the same faith as she began acting in theatre and graduating from the Tokyo Music School. She would commence work under contract at Shochiku Studio in 1929, but as early as 1930 would have to take a break of one year due to a worsening heart problem. Similarly, she would have to take time off in 1934 only to return in 1935. Following her return she did appear in new films, but was soon ill again culminating in her death due to tuberculosis in 1938. Her earlier boyfriend, the novelist On Watanabe, had also died following an accident at age thirty in 1930.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Billie Carr was born on 20 October 1888 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an assistant director, known for The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916), Honor Thy Name (1916) and Scandal (1915). She was married to Cecille Gravage and Dixie Carr. She died on 15 March 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- John Tyke was born on 20 October 1894 in Reedville, Oregon, USA. He was an actor, known for Hell's Oasis (1920) and Circle Canyon (1933). He died on 23 February 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
While Charley Chase is far from being as famous as "The Big Three" (Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd) today, he's highly respected as one of the "greats" by fans of silent comedy.
Chase (real name Charles Parrott) was born in Maryland, USA, in 1893. After a brief career in vaudeville, burlesque, and musical comedy he appeared with Al Christie at Universal Studios as a comedian in 1913 before moving to the Mack Sennett Studios the following year. His career in films did not start off with remarkable success. He played bit parts in a large number of short comedies, coming to notice in 'The Knockout' with Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Edgar Kennedy and The Keystone Cops. This was followed by appearing in a number of films written and directed by Chaplin. At the end of 1914 he was one of the stars in the spectacular Tillie's Punctured Romance featuring all the stars on the lot, and which took 14 weeks to shoot. He spent another year with Sennett starring in his own shorts, one of his first being Settled at the Seaside co starring Mae Busch. In 1915he started directing films using his real name and switching to his stage name when starring. He moved to Fox Studios in 1916 where he directed, wrote and starred in comedies some of which featured Chester Conklin. After a couple of further studio moves he rejoined Sennett then went to Paramount before arriving at Hal Roach Studios in 1920 as a director, before Roach realized what a gifted performer he had hired. "I can play anything!" Chase told Roach, and eventually his claim was confirmed. Although Mack Sennett's Keystone studio has earned legendary status as the ultimate factory of comic invention, it can hardly be denied that Roach developed a more refined style of comedy which obviously fitted Chase better (indeed, Sennett's unsophisticated product increasingly lost favor with the movie-going public by the early 1920s, while Roach's studio flourished). During five years, 1924-29, he starred in nearly a hundred two-reelers, most of which were directed by Leo McCarey.
Chase usually portrayed an apparently gentle and charming man who in reality, it eventually turned out, was quite a loser after all. His character was largely inspired by Lloyd Hamilton, another neglected comedian whom Chase had directed in several two-reelers. Among Charley's most memorable shorts are Innocent Husbands, Mighty Like a Moose, and Movie Night.
From the beginning, Charley Chase was a "critics' darling," but none of his movies were remarkably successful at the box office. There is no official "explanation" to this, but one reason may be that Chase, in contrast to the more popular clowns, never starred in any feature during the silent period. On a personal level, Chase was severely hobbled by alcoholism, which is unapparent in his films.
Chase made several promising appearances after the talkies arrived, in 1929-30, especially in Laurel and Hardy's highly acclaimed feature Sons of the Desert (1933). Despite this, he was never offered any further appearances in features. But he continued to perform in shorts and did also direct some of the Three Stooges' early movies. He died in 1940, not yet 47 years of age, of a heart attack. It is reasonable to believe that his early death was to a large extent caused by his addiction to alcohol, a problem which had troubled his family for several years. His brother James, also an actor, had died the year before. The two brothers had been close throughout their lives, although their personal problems frequently affected each other (or perhaps that was the reason for their being so close.) Chase was married to Bebe Eltinge from 1914, a marriage that lasted until his death and produced two daughters, Polly and June.
Chase's silent work was celebrated on DVD in two volumes from Kino Video. At long last his comic genius is being recognized.- Bird Millman was born on 20 October 1890 in Canon City, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for The Deep Purple (1920) and The Law of the Yukon (1920). She was married to John C. Thomas and Joseph Francis O'Day. She died on 5 August 1940 in Canon City, Colorado, USA.
- Lyubov Gurevich was born on 20 October 1866 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. Lyubov was a writer, known for Scandal (1928), Sorochynskyi yarmarok (1927) and Delo No. 128 (1927). Lyubov died on 17 October 1940 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Fini Henriques was born on 20 October 1867 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He died on 27 October 1940 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Purnell Pratt was born on 20 October 1878 in Bethel, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Scarface (1932), Alibi (1929) and Red-Haired Alibi (1932). He was married to Julia C. Price. He died on 25 July 1941 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Academy Award-winning composer and songwriter ("Whistle While You Work", "Some Day My Prince Will Come"), and pianist, educated at the University of California. He was a pianist in film theatres, and then came to Hollywood under contract to Walt Disney. Joining ASCAP in 1938, his chief musical collaborators included Ann Ronell and Larry Morey. His other popular-song compositions include "I Bring You a Song", "Love Is a Song", "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", "Spring is in the Air", "Ain't Nature Grand?", "The Golden Youth", "Slow but Sure", "With a Smile and a Song", "I'm Wishing", "Heigh-Ho", "Happy as a Lark", "The Sunny Side of Things", "One Song", and "Baby Mine".- Ivan Novokshenov was born on 20 October 1896 in Gusevo village, Tomsk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Russia]. Ivan was a writer, known for Storm Over Asia (1928). Ivan died on 5 May 1943 in Sverdlovsk, RSFSR, USSR [now Yekaterinburg, Russia].
- Actor
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Max Constant was born on 20 October 1899 in Bordeaux, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Entre platos y notas (1930), Cupido Chauffeur (1930) and Trilby (1923). He died on 19 May 1943 in Mojave Desert, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
What a life! Edgar Selwyn was born Edgar Simon on October 20, 1875, in Cincinnati, OH. As a child he and his family lived in Toronto, Canada, before moving to Selma, AL, where his parents died. He moved to Chicago at the age of 17 to seek his fortune, but Fortune would not let the young man take her as his mistress. Penniless, one night he decided to commit suicide and jumped off a bridge spanning the Chicago River. Instead of drowning, he landed on ice. Picking himself up, he made his way back to shore, where he was promptly accosted by a stickup artist, who jammed a gun into his back. "Your money or your life!" the thug thundered in time-honored fashion. The calm Selwyn replied, "My life." The perplexed thief began conversing with his intended victim, with the result that they both went to a pawnshop, where the gun was pawned and the proceeds divided between the two. This real-life comedy-drama served as the basis for Selwyn's 1915 play "Rolling Stones."
Busted flat in Chicago, Selwyn moved to New York in the 1890s, where he eventually achieved success as an actor, playwright and theatrical producer. First, though, he had to struggle. He became a haberdasher, selling neckties for $9 a week. Subsequently, he found employment as an usher at the Herald Square Theatre at the princely wage of 50 cents a night, but was soon was fired for imitating actor Richard Mansfield, who was starring in a play at the theater.
Actor-impresario William Gillette hired Selwyn for "Secret Service" in 1896, in which he played the role of a Confederate soldier, for $8 a week. Later he became the assistant stage manager for Gillette's company at the same salary. Gillette believed in the "realism of action," and minimized unnecessary dialog in favor of physical action that would elucidate the characters' behavior, a production philosophy that influenced the nascent movie industry, which, of course, was silent. Eventually Selwyn left Gillette and toured with a stock company, which put on his first play, the one-act "A Night in Havana."
After his apprenticeship in stock companies in Rochester, NY, and at New York City's Third Avenue Theatre, Selwyn made it back to Broadway in 1899, appearing in "The King's Musketeers" at the Herald Square Theatre, where he had first ushered. The next year he appeared in Augustus Thomas' "Arizona", moving with the production to London in 1902. Other plays he performed in on Broadway before becoming a star were Charles Frohman's 1902 production of "Sherlock Holmes", with his former employer Gillette in the title role, and two plays starring Ethel Barrymore: "Sunday" in 1904 and a 1905 revival of Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece "A Doll's House", with Barrymore as Nora Helmer.
Selwyn appeared in George M. Cohan's stinker "Popularity" in 1906. That same year he turned to playwriting, with his "It's All Your Fault" running for 32 performances at the Majestic in September 1908. His adaptation of Anglo-Canadian writer Gilbert Parker's novel about French-Canadians, "Pierre and His People", hit the Broadway boards that October, running for 32 performances as "Pierre of the Plains" (it was made into a movie in 1914, Pierre of the Plains (1914), starring Selwyn and produced by his own company, the All Star Feature Film Corp.; it was remade by MGM in 1942 as Pierre of the Plains (1942), with John Carroll). "The Country Boy" opened at the Liberty on August 30, 1910, and ran for 143 performances. According to his "New York Times" obituary, Selwyn had the biggest success of his career as a dramatist as playwright-star of his own original play "The Arab" in 1911. This drama was made into a film in 1915 (The Arab (1915)) by Cecil B. DeMille, with Selwyn recreating his stage role.
His first musical, "The Wall Street Girl", opened at George M. Cohan's Theatre on June 1, 1912, and ran for 56 performances. The book was written by Broadway playwright Margaret Mayo, Selwyn's first wife. He produced "Within the Law" that same year, and it was a huge success, generating a net profit of $1 million (approximately $19 million in 2003 dollars) in the days just before the advent of federal income tax. He also produced his wife's play "Her First Divorce", which ran for eight performances at the Comedy Theatre in 1913.
Edgar's younger brother Archibald Selwyn had followed him to New York and gone into business with a loan from the theatrical literary agent Elisabeth Marbury. Archibald had acquired the rights to operate a Coney Island concession that required the purchase of a penny-slot weighing machine, which he did with Marbury's money. After much frustration with the rusting machine, Arch and his partner one day garnered 1,300 pennies from a Coney Island crowd mindful of their waists. The two partners promptly lost their loot, which was wrapped in a blanket, although they did recover it from a restaurant trash can. It was time for a new career for Arch.
Edgar, Arch and future Broadway producer-director Crosby Gaige launched Selwyn & Company, Inc., in 1914, a theatrical production company and play brokerage that Edgar headed as president until 1924. The Selwyn Theater was built in 1918 at 229 W. 42nd St. behind their six-floor office building. It was inaugurated on Oct 2, 1918, with "Information Please", co-written by Jane Cowl, who had appeared in "Within the Law" and acted in other Edgar Selwyn plays. Its second offering was Edgar's own "The Crowded Hour", which opened 11 days after the end of World War I.
Construction of the theater--which was rechristened in 2000 as the American Airlines Theater--was bankrolled by infamous gambler Arnold Rothstein, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series (one of the inspirations for the character of Meyer Wolfsheim in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," Rothstein pioneered New York's narcotics trade, in addition to being a gangster, swindler and political fixer).
The most popular play to appear at the Selwyn was Edna Ferber's and George S. Kaufman's "The Royal Family," which burlesqued the Barrymore family. Opening on December 28, 1927, the play, which was produced by Broadway legend Jed Harris, ran for 345 performances.
The Selwyns also built the Times Square Theater on 42nd Street in 1920. It opened with Edgar's own play, "The Mirage," which turned out to be a hit that ran for six months. The second play at the theater, Avery Hopwood's "The Demi-Virgin," ran for eight months. Eight of the 23 plays that followed these two inaugural hits were successful, and its boards were trod by the likes of Beatrice Lillie, Tallulah Bankhead and Robert Cummings. Gertrude Lawrence co-starred with the young Laurence Olivier and Noël Coward in Coward's 1931 hit comedy "Private Lives" at the theater. Other famous productions there were "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in the 1926-1927 season, "The Front Page" in 1928 and "Strike Up the Band" in 1930.
The Times Square Theater's exterior featured an open-colonnaded limestone facade that had an entrance for the Selwyns' Apollo Theater. Built in 1919 as a movie-cum-vaudeville house named The Bryant, it was taken over by the Selywns in 1920 and rebuilt. It was converted to a legitimate theater showcasing plays and musicals, sharing a single marquee with the Times Square Theater.
The Apollo didn't have its first hit until 1923's "Poppy," starring W.C. Fields. The theater then was taken over exclusively for George White's "Scandals," a Ziegfeld Follies-like show that ran annually from 1924-31. The productions were famous for their chorus lines of gorgeous--and undressed--showgirls. The Apollo closed as a legitimate theater after the musical "Blackbirds of 1933" flopped, lasting only 25 performances. It then began showing movies until it was acquired by the Minskys, who ran it as a burlesque theater from 1934-37. In 1938 the Apollo transformed itself into a movie theater specializing in foreign films, then devolved into a Times Square grindhouse, an incarnation that lasted many years.
In 1933 the Times Square Theater ceased to be a legitimate theater after the closing of the play "Forsaking All Others," starring Tallulah Bankhead. Produced by Arch Selwyn, it opened on March 1, 1933, and closed after 110 performances. The theater was refitted as a movie house in 1934, as was the Selwyn, before being converted into a retail store in 1940. The Selwyn degenerated into one of Times Square's many double-feature grindhouses before being reclaimed as a theater in the 1990s, when the Wooster Group staged "The Hairy Ape" there in 1997.
Edgar Selwyn personally produced the Anita Loos comedy "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" in 1926, which ran for 199 performances at the family's Times Square Theater. He was also the producer of the musical "Strike up the Band", with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by Morrie Ryskind, based on George S. Kaufman's libretto, and the play racked up 191 performances at the Times Square in 1930. Edgar's last Broadway productions were "Fast Service" in 1931, a flop that lasted only seven performances at the Selwyn, and "The Wookey" ten years later, which ran for 134 performances at the Plymouth. His brother Arch continued to produce on Broadway throughout the 1930s.
Although Selwyn wrote many plays solo and in collaboration, the new medium of motion pictures was to become his future. Edgar and Arch Selwyn started producing films in 1912 through their All Star Feature Films Corp. In December 1916 they merged their company with that of producer Samuel Goldfish, creating the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. The symbol of the new company was a reclining lion, surrounded by a banner made from a strip of celluloid film, reading, in Latin, "Ars Gratia Artis" ("Art for Art's Sake"). Designed by advertising-publicity guru Howard Dietz, who later became a Broadway lyricist and movie executive, it adorned the front gate of the studio's Culver City, CA, production facilities, which ranked with the finest in the film industry (the inspiration for the original "Leo the Lion" likely were the stone lions fronting the New York Public Library on 44th St., which was across from the All Star Feature Corp.'s offices.)
Edgar's wife Margaret Mayo, a success in her own right as a playwright, and Broadway impresario Arthur Hopkins also were partners in the deal, but the dominant figure at Goldwyn Pictures and Goldwyn Distributing was Sam Goldfish. Goldfish, a founding partner of the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Film Co. in 1914, was forced out of that company in early 1916 when studio chief Jesse L. Lasky more closely integrated his production company with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Co. The two firms served as the basis of Paramount Pictures. Goldfish, who had immigrated to Canada as Schmuel Gelbfisz, liked the name of his new company so well he adopted it as his surname--thus the world was introduced to Samuel Goldwyn.
Disliked by his partners, he dominated Goldwyn Pictures for three years until he lost an ownership struggle in September 1920. He resigned and, tired of partners, became an independent producer, a status he maintained for the rest of his career. Subsequently, the Goldwyn-less Goldwyn Pictures bought the old Triangle Studios in Los Angeles and leased two more New York studios while ceasing operations in New Jersey. The company eventually was merged with Loew's Inc.'s Metro Pictures in 1924 through a stock swap, creating Metro-Goldwyn, which subsequently merged with Louis B. Mayer Productions, with Louis B. Mayer as studio chief. The "Leo the Lion" trademark was adopted by MGM, and after being modified, would become one of the most famous and enduring trademarks in history.
Selwyn was hired by MGM as a writer-director in 1929. There he directed the Broadway star Helen Hayes to an Academy Award in the melodrama The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931). Divorced from Margaret Mayo, Selwyn married Ruth Selwyn (born Ruth Wilcox), who was 30 years his junior. The marriage made him the brother-in-law of Loew's Inc. President Nicholas M. Schenck, who was married to Ruth's sister Pansy (aka Pansy Schenck).
Marcus Loew, the capo di tutti capo of MGM, was a firm believer in nepotism. Going along with the family tradition, Selwyn put his wife Ruth in several of the films he directed and produced. He mentored Ruth's brother, Fred M. Wilcox, who eventually became a director at MGM himself (Lassie Come Home (1943) and the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet (1956)). Selwyn adopted Ruth's son Russell from an earlier marriage (Edgar and Ruth eventually divorced),
When Louis B. Mayer replaced the position of central producer with a "college of cardinals" concept of production units after Irving Thalberg's 1932 heart attack, Selwyn became a producer. He eventually served as Mayer's editorial assistant while simultaneously running his own production unit.
Edgar Selwyn died at the age of 68 at Los Angeles' Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on February 14, 1944, from a cerebral hemorrhage he had suffered the previous night. He was survived by his brother, Arch, two sisters, Mrs. Michael Isaacs and Mrs. S. M. Goldsmith, and his stepson, Russell "Rusty" Selwyn.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Joseph A. McDonough was born on 20 October 1896 in Portland, Maine, USA. He was an assistant director and director, known for Pirates of the Skies (1939), Show Boat (1936) and Hellzapoppin' (1941). He died on 11 May 1944 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Robert Fiske was born on 20 October 1889 in Griggsville, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Religious Racketeers (1938), The Green Archer (1940) and Before I Hang (1940). He died on 12 September 1944 in Sunland, California, USA.
- Heide Goebbels was born on 20 October 1940 in Berlin, Germany. She died on 1 May 1945 in Berlin, Germany.
- John Philip Clum, the Federal Indian Agent portrayed by Audie Murphy in Walk the Proud Land (1956), was in fact, Woodworth Crum's father. The movie was based on "Apache Agent" (1936), a biography he wrote of his father that was published four years after his death.
Crum's father was from New York and his mother, Mary D. Ware Crum; was born in Ohio. Henry Woodworth Crum was born on 20 October, 1878 at Tucson, Arizona. Later he would move to Tombstone where his father served as mayor and as editor of the Tombstone Epitaph.
Woodworth Crum would go on to be the city editor of the Washington (DC) Star and the publisher of Pacific Press. He also worked on several other papers and held positions with the Chamber of Commerce in Davenport, Iowa and Trenton, New Jersey.
Henry Woodworth Clum passed away at a Los Angeles hospital on 10 April, 1946, after an extended illness. He was survived by a son, Woodworth Bernhardi Clum (1906-1989), who was also a publisher and his two daughters, Elizabeth (1904-1949) and Marjory (1912-?). His wife Anne preceded him in death on 13 April, 1940. - Valentine Williams was born on 20 October 1883 in London, England, UK. Valentine was a writer, known for A Dispatch from Reuters (1940), The Crouching Beast (1935) and Land of Hope and Glory (1927). Valentine died on 20 November 1946 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Monte M. Katterjohn was born on 20 October 1891 in Boonville, Indiana, USA. He was a writer and editor, known for The Flame of the Yukon (1926), Prodigal Daughters (1923) and Paradise Island (1930). He was married to Phyllis Knell. He died on 8 September 1949 in Evansville, Indiana, USA.
- Soundtrack
Billy Baskette was born on 20 October 1884 in Henderson, Kentucky, USA. Billy died on 8 November 1949 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Alice Lloyd was born on 20 October 1873 in Shoreditch, London, England, UK. She was married to Tom McNaughton. She died on 17 November 1949 in Banstead, Surrey, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
Raised in upstate New York, Bouck White graduated from Harvard and became a Congregational minister. During World War I, he abandoned mainstream religion and founded his own "Church of Social Revolution." He was soon known as New York City's "most eccentric radical." Jailed several times for various protests, he left the United States to study ceramics in France. He returned in the early Twenties with Parisian bride half his age. After only a couple of days at White's shabby farmhouse near Marlboro, New York, the young woman ran away and the marriage was annulled. White moved to the Helderberg Mountains (just south of Albany, New York). He built a castle and sold pottery until a stroke forced him to retired to a nursing home. He remained there until his death.- Composer
- Music Department
Aleksandr Kreyn was born on 20 October 1883 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a composer, known for Ballet Tales (1955), Tom Sawyer (1936) and Uchitel tantsev (1952). He died on 25 April 1951 in Staraya Ruza, Moscow Oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Animation Department
Ray Lockrem was born on 20 October 1911 in Illinois, USA. Ray is known for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Dumbo (1941) and Fantasia (1940). Ray died on 18 December 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Lloyd Neal was born on 20 October 1861 in Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Too Young to Marry (1931) and 6 Day Bike Rider (1934). He died on 19 August 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Art Department
Clarence Baker was born on 20 October 1883 in Penfield, New York, USA. He died on 17 December 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Johan Rudolf Sundström was born on 20 October 1874 in Värmland, Sweden. Johan Rudolf was a writer, known for Janne Vängmans bravader (1948), Janne Vängman på nya äventyr (1949) and Janne Vängman i farten (1952). Johan Rudolf was married to Emmy Karolina Sundström. Johan Rudolf died on 23 January 1954 in Sweden.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Charles Ives was born on 20 October 1874 in Danbury, Connecticut, USA. He was a composer, known for Run Lola Run (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998) and Neruda (2016). He was married to Harmony Twitchell. He died on 19 May 1954 in New York City, New York, USA.- Cláudio de Souza was born on 20 October 1876 in São Roque, São Paulo, Brazil. He was a writer, known for Pátria e Bandeira (1918), Os Três Dias do Carnavel Paulista (1915) and Academia Brasileira (1937). He died on 28 June 1954 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Richard Temple was born on 20 October 1872 in St. Mary Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Evidence (1915). He was married to Kathryn Miley (actress) and Edith Elizabeth Greene (aka Evie Greene, performer). He died on 14 October 1954 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Léonce Cargue was born on 20 October 1880 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Chicot the Jester (1913), Genêt d'Espagne (1927) and L'éveil (1924). He died on 14 January 1955 in Paris, France.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Sterrett Ford was born on 20 October 1882 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Prison Without Walls (1917) and Each to His Kind (1917). He died on 1 April 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Manny Ayulo was born on 20 October 1921 in Burbank, California, United States. He died on 18 May 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.
- Actor
- Transportation Department
Manuel Ayulo was born on 20 October 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Roar of the Crowd (1953). He died on 18 May 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.