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1-50 of 1,415
- Joost Van den Vondel was born on 17 November 1587 in Cologne, Holy Roman Empire [now Germany]. He was a writer, known for Adam in Ballingschap (1984), Gijsbrecht van Aemstel (1957) and Joseph in Dotan (1958). He died on 15 February 1679 in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic [now Noord-Holland, Netherlands].
- Mihály Csokonai Vitéz was born on 17 November 1773 in Debrecen, Hungary. He was a writer, known for Dorottya (1973) and A méla Tempeföi (1976). He died on 28 January 1805 in Debrecen, Hungary.
- Hubert Lyautey was born on 17 November 1854 in Nancy, France. He died on 21 July 1934 in Thorey, France.
- May Treat was born on 17 November 1857 in Canada. She was an actress, known for The Mission Worker (1911). She was married to Joseph D. Clifton (née Dilks) (actor, playwright). She died on 25 December 1914 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Herbert Waring was born on 17 November 1857 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Sleeping Partners (1930). He was married to Mabel Redhead and Florence Victorine Rouse. He died on 31 January 1932 in London, England, UK.
- Giuseppe Campanari was born on 17 November 1859 in Rovigo, Veneto, Italy. He was married to Mary. He died on 31 May 1927 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.
- Archibald Lampman was born on 17 November 1861 in Morpeth, Ontario, Canada. He was a writer, known for Morning on the Lièvre (1961). He was married to Maude Emma Playter. He died on 10 February 1899 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- Frank A. Vanderlip was born on 17 November 1864 in Aurora, Illinois, USA. He was married to Narcissa Vanderlip. He died on 29 June 1927.
- Charles Cosgrave was born on 17 November 1865 in Delaware, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Minerva's Mission (1915), An Image of the Past (1915) and The Job and the Jewels (1915). He died on 12 December 1943 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles McComas was born on 17 November 1866 in Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Chicken Chasers (1914). He died on 29 March 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Howard Missimer was born on 17 November 1867 in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for A Mistaken Calling (1912), The $5, 000, 000 Counterfeiting Plot (1914) and The Legacy of Happiness (1912). He was married to Carrie M. Shore and Mary O. Watts. He died on 19 November 1917 in Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.
- William Gillis was born on 17 November 1867 in Anderson, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for His Majesty, the American (1919), Liberty (1916) and Conflict (1921). He died on 24 April 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- George Stallings was born on 17 November 1867 in Augusta, Georgia, USA. He died on 13 May 1929 in Haddock, Georgia, USA.
- Una Nixson Hopkins was born on 17 November 1869 in Iowa, USA. She was an art director, known for More Deadly Than the Male (1919), Jenny Be Good (1920) and Oh, Lady, Lady (1920). She died on 8 September 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Fritz Richard was born on 17 November 1869 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Herzog Ferrantes Ende (1922), Glasprinzessin (1921) and Stuart Webbs: Die Toten erwachen (1915). He was married to Frida Richard. He died on 9 February 1933 in Berlin, Germany.- Vaughan Glaser was born on 17 November 1872 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Saboteur (1942), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and Meet John Doe (1941). He was married to Lois Landon. He died on 23 November 1958 in Van Nuys, California, USA.
- Margaret Turnbull was born on 17 November 1872 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was a writer, known for The World to Live In (1919), My Cousin (1918) and Public Opinion (1916). She died on 12 June 1942 in Yarmouthport, Massachusetts, USA.
- Additional Crew
- Producer
If John R. Freuler is remembered at all, it is as the man who, in February 1916, offered Charles Chaplin a contract to make 12 two-reel comedies for the astonishing sum of $670,000. Up to that point, no actor or celebrity had received anything remotely close to that figure. In 1933, he would tell an interviewer, "'Just crazy,' is what everybody [told us]. But we made $700,000 clear profit on that contract after those pictures brought us a gross of $3,300,000."
Formerly a real estate banker, John Rudolf Freuler entered the motion picture business in 1906 as co-owner of the Comique, a storefront nickelodeon, located in Milwaukee. Later that year, with brothers Harry and Roy Aitken, Freuler founded the Western Film Exchange, a distribution outlet that would open branches in St. Louis, Joplin and Kansas City, Missouri.
In 1910, Freuler and Samuel S. Hutchinson, another exchange owner, created the American Film Manufacturing Company of Chicago, thus entering the producing arena. Their brand became known as "Flying A." Like other "independent" producers, Flying A was challenged by the Patents Trust companies, and eventually moved production to Santa Barbara, California. (By 1915, the Trust collapsed.)
In March 1912, Freuler, the Aitken brothers, Hutchinson and another partner, Charles J. Hite, merged their exchanges into the Mutual Film Corporation, which locked up exclusive distribution for nearly all of the Midwest. (Hite would also become a producer by purchasing outright the Thanhouser Film Company of New York.) In 1913, director D.W. Griffith joined the Mutual family, but the biggest coup for the organization was its contract with the New York Motion Picture (NYMP) Company, which owned the Bison, Broncho and Domino dramatic brands supervised by Thomas H. Ince, and the Keystone comedy brand supervised by Mack Sennett. As Keystone's distribution outlet, Mutual was among the first to benefit from the sudden stardom of Charlie Chaplin in 1914. The following year, the Aitken brothers left Mutual to form Triangle with the NYMP Company and Griffith, and Freuler became president of Mutual. He helped institute new dramatic and comedy brands that kept the company prosperous, and continually kept Chaplin's Keystone comedies in circulation to meet an ever-increasing demand.
By the time they signed Chaplin directly, Mutual had grown to 68 exchanges throughout the United States and Canada. Freuler and Hutchinson formed the Lone Star Film Corporation to produce the twelve Chaplin comedies that have remained in wide distribution to this day. In addition to Chaplin's enormous salary, Lone Star also paid everybody else's salaries, plus bought and refurbished the studio used by Chaplin (which would eventually pass to Buster Keaton). During this period, Freuler's companies also produced and distributed films starring Mary Miles Minter, Helen Holmes, Ben Turpin, W.C. Fields and many others.
With the loss of Chaplin to First National in late 1917, closely followed by the loss of Minter to Adolph Zukor, Mutual foundered and Freuler and Hutchinson both resigned from the company in May 1918. Freuler remained active as a theater owner, and in the early 1930s returned to the producing end as the head of Monarch Films, a low-budget state rights outfit. By the 1940s, he had come full circle as owner of a single movie house, but had invested wisely and remained a wealthy man and respected Milwaukee citizen up to his death.- Sam Coit was born on 17 November 1872 in Bethlehem, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for Soldiers of Fortune (1914), The Honeymoon (1917) and The Old Fogey (1914). He died on 2 January 1933 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Charles Wellesley was born on 17 November 1873 in Dublin, Ireland, UK [now Republic of Ireland]. He was an actor, known for The Wolf Man (1923), The Lost World (1925) and The Secret Kingdom (1917). He was married to Ina Rorke. He died on 24 July 1946 in Amityville, New York, USA.
- Art Department
- Director
- Writer
Jack Leys was born on 17 November 1874 in New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Eight-Cylinder Bull (1926). He died on 2 February 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Yale Benner was born on 17 November 1875 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Vanity Fair (1915), What Happened to Mary (1912) and The Man from Beyond (1922). He died on 29 September 1952 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Josef Commer was born on 17 November 1875 in Mühlheim am Rhein, Germany. He was an actor, known for Das Gesetz der Wüste (1920), Die Ehrenreichs (1919) and Auferstehung. Katjuscha Maslowa (1923). He died in 1927 in Berlin, Germany.
- Clarence Wilson was born on 17 November 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for You Can't Take It with You (1938), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and Penguin Pool Murder (1932). He died on 5 October 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Hesketh Prichard was born on 17 November 1876 in Jhansi, Gwalior State, British India. He was a writer, known for Don Q Son of Zorro (1925), Don Q, How He Outwitted Don Luis (1912) and Don Q and the Artist (1912). He was married to Elizabeth Grimston. He died on 14 June 1922 in Gorhambury, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, UK.
- Additional Crew
F.P. Lahm was born on 17 November 1877 in Mansfield, Ohio, USA. F.P. died on 7 July 1963 in Sandusky, Ohio, USA.- Mia Backman was born on 17 November 1877 in Janakkala, Finland. She was an actress, known for Eräs elämän murhenäytelmä (1916), Voi meitä! Anoppi tulee. (1933) and Nuori luotsi (1913). She died on 26 March 1958 in Helsinki, Finland.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
George MacFarlane was born on 17 November 1878 in Frontenac, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Painted Angel (1929), Nix on Dames (1929) and Happy Days (1929). He was married to Viola Gillette. He died on 22 February 1932 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Albert Plummer was born on 17 November 1878 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Darkness and Daylight (1923) and The Isle of Destiny (1920). He died on 1 July 1961 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
John Westley was born on 17 November 1878 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor. He was married to Helen Westley. He died on 26 December 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
Edward L. Grafton was born on 17 November 1878 in Iowa, USA. Edward L. was a producer, known for The Argonauts of California - 1849 (1916). Edward L. died on 21 August 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
George L. Cox was born on 17 November 1878. He was an actor and director, known for Uncle Sam's Babies (1916), A Light Woman (1920) and The Week-End (1920). He died in 1947.- Additional Crew
James Milburn was born on 17 November 1878 in Rhode Island, USA. He died on 17 December 1930 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Arthur Prince was born on 17 November 1878 in Hounslow, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Spiritualism Exposed (1926), Account Rendered (1932) and In Town Tonight (1935). He was married to Julie Hartley-Milburn and Julie ?. He died on 14 April 1948 in St John's Wood, London, England, UK.
- Tom E. Finglass was born on 17 November 1879 in Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for Variety Jubilee (1943) and You Will Remember (1940). He died on 31 May 1957 in Forest Hill, London, England, UK.
- Howard M. Heck was a professional railroad fireman headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the time that Kalem Company was filming a number of their railroad stories there, circa 1912-1913. In A Railroad Wooing (1913) he appears second credited on-screen as the hero's buddy, who just happens to be a railroad fireman. His ease and naturalness in front of the camera make it easy to believe that he may have played similar roles in other Kalem films, but since no further documentation has yet confirmed this fact, further research is still required.
- Johannes Poulsen was born on 17 November 1881 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Hvad er verden? (1934), Balletdanserinden (1911) and Champagnegaloppen (1938). He was married to Ulla Poulsen. He died on 14 October 1938 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Jenõ Csapó was born on 17 November 1881 in Pécs, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Sárga csikó (1914) and Bánk bán (1915). He was married to Elza Bátori and Elza Báthory. He died on 10 November 1914 in Serbia.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
The daughter of a cavalry captain, she was raised by a grandmother in Paris, where she studied various forms of art with an emphasis on music and the opera. In 1905 she married engineer-novelist Marie-Louis Albert-Dulac and under his influence veered toward journalism. As one of the leading radical feminists of her day, she was editor of La Française, the organ of the French suffragette movement. She also doubled as theater and cinema critic of the publication and became increasingly enamored with film as an art form. In 1915 she formed, with her husband, a small production company, Delia Film, and began directing highly inventive, small-budget pictures. Chronologically, she was the second woman director in French films, after Alice Guy, a contemporary of Georges Méliès. With La fête espagnole (1920) and her masterpiece, _Souriante Madame Beudet, La (1922)_, Dulac emerged as a leading figure in the impressionist movement in French films. In the late 20s, she was an important part of the "second avant-garde" of the French cinema with the surrealistic _Coquille et le Clergyman, La (1927)_ and a number of other experimental films. In these as well as in her theoretical writing, her goal was "pure" cinema, free from any influence from literature, the stage, or even the other visual arts. She talked of "musically constructed" films, or "films made according to the rules of visual music." Dulac was also instrumental in the development of cinema clubs throughout France in the mid-20s. Sound put an end to her experimentations and her career as a director. From 1930 until her death she was in charge of newsreel production at Pathé, then at Gaumont.- Writer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Hans Leuenberger was born on 17 November 1882 in Luterbach, Switzerland. Hans was a writer and director, known for Dämonisches Afrika (1952). Hans died on 22 March 1957 in Niederbipp, Switzerland.- Yette Lucas was born on 17 November 1883 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Les maris de Léontine (1947), Casque d'Or (1952) and Edward and Caroline (1951). She died on 2 August 1960 in Neuilly-sur-Marne, France.
- Berthe Fusier was born on 17 November 1883 in Paris, France. She is known for The Death Agony of the Eagles (1933).
- Actress
- Producer
The name of Wanda Treumann is connected with the early German silent movies. She had worked as actress and producer. Unfortunately her name and contribution are completely forgotten today. Wanda Treumann was born on 25 November 1888 (other sources quote November 17, 1889) in Koclo (Poland). From Upper Silesia she went to Leipzig and took up acting training with Emanuel Reicher. Together with her husband Karl Treumann she went to Berlin. Here she made her stage debut at the "Berliner Trianon-Theater" and continued her theatre career. There, she was spotted by the famous Danish actor and director Viggo Larsen. In 1910 he went to Germany, to Berlin and was an employee of the "Vitascope-Gesellschaft". This production company gave Wanda Treumann her first film part. Together with her husband and Viggo Larsen they founded the "Treumann Larsen Film GmbH" in 1912. In at least 30 films she acted before the camera. But her real work was in another capacity. Between 1912 to 1922 she acted as producer for more than 80 films. In 1922 the last film was produced. After 1922 nothing is known of her whereabouts. She probably died during WWII.- Costume Designer
Violet Schofield was born on 17 November 1884 in Kentucky, USA. She was a costume designer, known for A Small Town Idol (1921), The Crossroads of New York (1922) and Molly O' (1921). She was married to George Unholz. She died on 22 January 1979 in San Bernardino, California, USA.- Costume Designer
Madame Violette was born on 17 November 1884 in Kentucky, USA. She was a costume designer, known for The Girl from Everywhere (1927), The Good-Bye Kiss (1928) and Suzanna (1923). She died on 22 January 1979 in San Bernardino, California, USA.- James Westheimer was born on 17 November 1884 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Adolf Armstarke (1937) and Det är min musik (1942). He died on 20 December 1958 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Among the foremost technical innovators in his field, a charter member of the American Society of Cinematographers, English-born Charles Rosher had initially aimed for a diplomatic career. Fortunately, he chose a different career option and attended lessons in photography at the London Polytechnic in Regent Street. He must have been a keen student, for he found himself apprenticed to noted portrait photographers David Blount and Howard Farmer, soon afterward becoming assistant to Richard Neville Speaight (1875-1938), the official Royal photographer. Having learned the art of still photography, Rosher departed England for the United States sometime in late 1908, equipped with a Williamson camera.
In 1910, Rosher found his first job in the fledgling film industry through a connection forged with an English compatriot, the pioneer producer David Horsley: as principal cameraman for Horsley's East Coast-based Centaur Film Company (which made Rosher Hollywood's first ever full-time cinematographer). Centaur was renamed Nestor Studios upon its permanent relocation to California in 1911, setting up at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Essentially all of Rosher's early work consisted of one and two reelers, invariably made for Nestor's chief director, Al Christie. Some were comedies, many were 'quota quickie' westerns, such as The Indian Raiders (1912), for which Nestor imported genuine Indians from New Mexico.
In 1913, Rosher accompanied directors Raoul Walsh and Christy Cabanne on his famous expedition to Mexico to shoot the feature film The Life of General Villa (1914). The rebel leader Pancho Villa had agreed to grant exclusive rights to filming of his battles against the Federales by the Mutual Film Corporation, in exchange for a fee of $25,000 and 20% of all revenues from the picture. There were a number of hazards experienced by Rosher during this adventure, including capture by enemy forces, and at times coercive interference from Villa, who fancied himself as a filmmaker.
Upon his return to the other side of the border, Rosher had a brief spell with Universal (which had absorbed Nestor), followed by two years with the Lasky Feature Play Company (which later became Paramount). He then worked at United Artists from 1919 to 1928, becoming the favourite cinematographer of the company's biggest asset, Mary Pickford, lighting her in such a way that her true age never interfered with the image of the ingénue she persisted in portraying on screen. During this period, Rosher also developed his own unique visual style, which married artistry with technical know-how. He was much acclaimed for the sharpness and clarity of his photography, for the effects he achieved by combining natural and artificial light, photographing people against reflecting surfaces (glass, water), double exposure effects, split screen techniques, and so on. Rosher also patented several inventions, including a system for developing black & white film, ABC Pyro (A=pyro,B=sulfite,C=carbonate).
In 1929 Rosher became co-recipient (with Karl Struss) of the first-ever Oscar for cinematography bestowed by the Academy, for a film made at Fox: Sunrise (1927) - still regarded today as one of the finest examples of 1920's filmmaking. With its many scenes bathed in light or twilight, it has also been likened to a cinematic French impressionism. Rosher himself recalled this as one of the most difficult assignments of his career, particularly in terms of lighting such tricky scenes as the moonlit, fog-bound swamp, necessitating a very mobile camera. "Sunrise", inevitably, ended up winning the top award for 'unique and artistic production'. Two years later, after a falling out with Pickford during filming of Coquette (1929) , Rosher went his own way. He was never out of a job for long, working variously for RKO (1932-33), MGM (1930,1934) and Warner Brothers (1937-41).
Though he had made his reputation with black & white photography, Rosher easily adapted to the medium of colour. He enjoyed a major resurgence in the second half of his career, shooting some of the most sumptuous technicolor musicals (Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Show Boat (1951)) and dramas (The Yearling (1946),Scaramouche (1952)) during his tenure at MGM, which lasted from 1942 to 1954. He won his second Oscar for "Yearling" and became the only ever recipient of a fellowship by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers. Rosher retired in 1955, except for occasional lectures and guest appearances at film festivals. He settled down on a 1,600-acre plantation he had acquired at Port Antonio on Jamaica, formerly owned by Errol Flynn. He died in 1974 in Portugal, after a fall, at the respectable age of 88.- Daniel Mendaille was born on 17 November 1885 in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France. He was an actor, known for Rififi (1955), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Contre-enquête (1930). He was married to Leda Ginelly. He died on 17 May 1963 in Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames, Seine-et-Marne, France.
- Costume Designer
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Collins was born on 17 November 1885 in New York, USA. He was a costume designer and writer, known for Fashions of 1934 (1934), An Old Sweetheart of Mine (1923) and Ex-Flame (1930). He was married to Reata Hoyt. He died on 1 February 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Actor, screenwriter and director Crane Wilbur was born Erwin Crane Wilbur on November 17, 1886, in Athens, NY. The nephew of the great stage actor Tyrone Power Sr., Wilbur first took to the boards as an actor, making his Broadway debut billed as Erwin Crane Wilbur on June 3, 1903, in a trilogy of William Butler Yeats plays, "A Pot of Broth" / "Kathleen ni Houlihan" / "The Land of Heart's Desire", put on by the Irish Literary Society at the Carnegie Lyceum.
He began appearing in films in 1910, but he made his name as a cinema actor as the male lead in The Perils of Pauline (1914), the enormously popular serial starring Pearl White. A star during the 1910s, Wilbur's career as a movie actor began petering out after he appeared as the eponymous hero of Breezy Jim (1919). As the Roaring Twenties made their debut, Wilbur went back to the stage. Between 1920-34 he had seven plays presented on Broadway: "The Ouija Board" (1920); "The Monster" (1922; revived 1933); "Easy Terms" (1925); "The Song Wtiter" (1928); "Border-Land" (1932); "Halfway to Hell" (1933); and "Are You Decent" (1934). He also staged "Halfway to Hell" and directed Donald Kirkley and Howard Burman's "Happily Ever After" in 1945. Crane also performed in "The Ouija Board", "Easy Terms" and nine other Broadway shows from 1927-32, including "A Farewell to Arms" (1930) and "Mourning Becomes Electra" (1932).
Wilbur had directed several silent pictures, but he made his sound debut as a director with the controversial The Unborn (1935), touted as "The Most Daring, Sensational Drama Ever Filmed!" The movie is an expose of the "science" of eugenics, tied to a story about the attempted forced sterilization of a married couple by the Welfare Bureau. "Tomorrow's Children" exposed the fact that many people were sterilized against their will and even without recourse to due process of law. The movie was banned in New York state on the grounds that it was "immoral", that it would "tend to corrupt morals" and that it was an incitement to crime. The ban was challenged but was upheld in the courts and on appeal as it was found to disseminate information about birth control, which was illegal at the time.
After this controversy Wilbur went on to a long and productive career, particularly in the mystery-thriller genre, as both a director and a screenwriter. He had a hand in the production of such genre classics as House of Wax (1953), The Bat (1959) (which he also directed) and Mysterious Island (1961).
Wilbur died on October 18, 1973, in Toluca Lake, CA, of complications following a stroke.