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- American novelist Anna Katharine Green, often called "the mother of the American detective novel", was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1846. She graduated from Ripley Female College in Vermont at 20 years of age. She intended to be a poet, a career choice no doubt enhanced by her meeting renowned poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, but her first published work turned out to be something entirely different: a detective thriller called "The Leavenworth Case" (1878), which was critically praised for its clever, well-constructed plot and an obvious grounding in criminal law (her father was a lawyer). The book was a resounding success, selling more than 150,000 copies. More successful detective thrillers followed, many featuring her character of detective Ebenezer Gryce. She finally tried her hand at poetry, turning out two volumes, but they were not successful, and she decided to devote her talents full-time to her detective novels.
She died in 1935 in Buffalo, NY. - Seth Low was born on 18 January 1850 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He died on 17 September 1916.
- Isaac Henderson was born on 13 February 1850 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Mummy and the Humming Bird (1915). He was married to Marion Temple Brown. He died on 31 March 1909 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Francis Worcester Doughty was born on 5 November 1850 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Francis Worcester was a writer, known for Zudora (1914), Stanley's Search for the Hidden City (1915) and Hook and Hand (1914). Francis Worcester died on 30 October 1917 in Cresskill, New Jersey, USA.
- Frank Losee was born on 12 June 1856 in Brooklyn [now in New York City], New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Old Homestead (1915), Seven Keys to Baldpate (1917) and Sinners (1920). He was married to Marion Elmore. He died on 14 November 1937 in Yonkers, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Edgar Smith was born on 9 December 1857 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Old Dutch (1915), Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) and Song of the Roses (1929). He was married to Nanette B. Nixon, Estelle Bensel and Marietta Lydia Oliver. He died on 8 March 1938 in Bayside, New York, USA.- Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1858, George Washington Goethals graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1880. Commissioned as a lieutenant, ,he was assigned to the army's Corps of Engineers, and gained experience in the planning and building of canals and harbors, which came in handy when he returned to West Point as an instructor.
In 1907 US President Theodore Roosevelt picked him to serve as chairman and chief engineer of the US Canal Commission, the agency tasked with constructing the Panama Canal. Goethals took over complete control of the project in January of 1908. It was, to say the least, a daunting task; his two predecessors had resigned under the stress of the enormous project. He not only had to overcome the technical problems involved in the construction of the canal itself, but he had to feed and house more than 3,000 workers. In addition, the workforce had been ravaged by such tropical diseases as malaria and yellow fever, although they were eventually brought under control.
The Canal was finally opened in 1914, and US President Woodrow Wilson appointed Goethals as the first Governor of the Canal Zone, a position he held until 1917, when the US entered World War I. He was appointed acting Quartermatser General of the Army . He left the army in 1919 and started his own engineering firm, George Goethals and Co., of which he was president until 1928.
He died in New York city on Jan. 21, 1928. - Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Alexander Black was an American author, photographer and newspaperman born in New York City, the eldest child of Peter Black and Sarah MacCrae, both born in Scotland. After a grammar school education and teaching himself printmaking, he began his career as a newspaperman in Brooklyn and stenographer for Brooklyn courts, alongside freelance writing and photography. In 1886 he became the first president of the department of photography at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. He presented a magic lantern show of candid photography called "Life through a Detective Camera" (alternately titled "Ourselves as Others See Us") in 1889. Inspired by audience responses to these lectures, as well as emerging work by Eadweard Muybridge capturing the effect of motion in photography, Black began to develop a plan to bring fiction to life through dissolving slides. Over the summer of 1894, he wrote and photographed his first "Picture Play" titled Miss Jerry (1894). The finished work debuted before a live audience on October 9, 1894 at Carbon Studio, featuring a "slow movie" composed of over one hundred glass slide photographs of posed motion, accompanied by a feature-length script. Miss Jerry was well received at the time, and Black went on to create and tour with two more Picture Plays, A Capital Courtship (1896) and The Girl and the Guardsman (1899). In the years following the Picture Play, he went on to become a popular novelist, publishing several books into the 1930s, including adaptations of his three Picture Plays. He also continued to experiment with photography and film, creating several home made 16mm films featuring special effects and titles.- Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp was born on 19 March 1861 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Josephine Sarah was a writer, known for I Married Wyatt Earp (1983). Josephine Sarah died on 19 December 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles Battell Loomis was a humorist, author and lecturer remembered for his satirical take on life in America. He was the son of Charles Battell and Mary Worthington Loomis. Loomis was born in Brooklyn, NY, where his father worked as an insurance agent. As a young man Loomis dropped out of the Polytechnical Institute of Brooklyn (now known as Polytechnic University) to try his hand at business. After twelve years of living off a clerk's salary and now supporting a young wife, the former Mary Fullerton, also of Brooklyn, Loomis would find success submitting short stories to national publications of the day. A list of his more popular books and short stories would include "Just Rhymes" (1899), "The Four-Masted Catboat: and Other Truthful Tales" (1899), "Yankee Enchantments" (1900), "A Partnership in Magic" (1903), "At the Sign of the Cock and Hen" (1908) and "Bath in an English Tub" (1909). Charles Battell Loomis died in Hartford, Connecticut of stomach cancer on 23 September, 1911. He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Both his sons went on to be writers. Charles Jr. wrote under the name Battell Loomis and his younger son, Alfred, became well known as an expert on boating. He wrote under the nom de plum "Spun Yarn" a monthly article in Yachting magazine titled "Under the Lee". His daughter Edith Worthington Loomis married G. Lamonte Hammann, son of the president and treasurer of the Progressive Manufacturing Company in Torrington, CT.
- Julie Mathilde Lippmann was born on 27 June 1864 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Julie Mathilde was a writer, known for The Hoodlum (1919). Julie Mathilde died on 10 April 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Robert William Chambers, one of the more prolific and popular American authors of late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was born on 26 May, 1865 in Brooklyn to a prominent New York family.
Chambers spent his younger years at the Brooklyn Polytechnic School,after which he attended the Art Student League, in New York. Chambers studied art at The Académie Julian in Paris. He also spent a summer studying and writing at the University of Munich. It is during this time that he penned his first novel, In the Quarter. Once he left Munich he returned to art school but did so at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts. By the time he was in his mid-twenties Chambers was already exhibiting his art at salons in Paris. Returning to America in 1892, Chambers soon began drawing illustrations for magazines like Vogue, Life and True. It was during this period that Chambers and his friend, Charles Dana Gibson, submitted sketches they had drawn of each other to Life magazine. Chambers' sketch of Gibson was published, Gibson's sketch was rejected. Gibson would get the last laugh though, when after becoming successful he purchased Life magazine. In 1912 Gibson provided the illustrations in Chambers' book "Blue-Bird Weather".
Chambers originally began submitting articles, accompanied with his illustrations, to magazines and newspapers before concentrating on writing full time. Over the next forty years or so, he would publish 72 novels, numerous short stories and several plays. Chambers' early writings would cover such diverse subject matters as the supernatural and historical romances. A heavy taskmaster, Chambers would often work on three or four projects at a time. His early work won him high praise from literary critics, but as he became more successful, the critics grew more critical. His opinion of critics nosedived after one reviewer said of his mystic collection of short stories, "The King in Yellow", "a splendid success of horror, which haunts the memory of all who have read it", and another had suggested the book was written under the influence of drugs.
A man of varied interests, Chambers was a historian, artist, outdoors man, collector of rare furniture and fine art, expert on Chinese and Japanese antiquities, collector of North American butterflies and a conservationist. Chambers was once responsible for the planting of around 25,000 trees in Broadalbin, New York.
Chambers, who was a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote a number of historical novels, usually set in Colonial America or the Revolutionary and Civil War periods. His interest in the legendary Captain Kidd led him to write a rather sympathetic treatment of Kidd's life entitled, "The Man They Hung".
A small example of additional works by Chambers that were popular with the public are: "The Red Republic," "A King and a Few Dukes," "The Maker of Moons," "With the Band," "The Mystery of Choice," "Lorraine," "Ashes of Empire," "The Maid-at-Arms," "Outdoor Land," "The Maids of Paradise," "Orchard-Land," "Forest-Land," "The Haunts of Men," "The Cambric Mask," "Cardigan", "The Fighting Chance", "The Firing Line", "Iole", "The Witch of Ellangowan" and "Ailsa Paige". His popularity was such that during his lifetime first edition copies of his books were wildly treasured among book collectors.
Robert William Chambers died in New York City on 16 December, 1933 after an unsuccessful operation to alleviate an intestinal disorder. He was survived by his wife, the former Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939), a son, author Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (a.k.a. Robert Husted Chambers) and a brother, renowned architect Walter Boughton Chambers (1866-1945).- David Andrada was born on 27 December 1865 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Romeo and Juliet (1911), Without Hope (1914) and The Guiding Hand (1914). He died on 3 January 1941 in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA.
- Caroline Harris was born on 1 November 1866 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Madame Butterfly (1915), The Ragged Princess (1916) and The Gulf Between (1917). She was married to Alfred W. Barthelmess. She died on 23 April 1937 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Theodore Babcock was born on 14 February 1868 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Destiny: or, the Soul of a Woman (1915), The Shock Punch (1925) and The Master Hand (1915). He died on 7 September 1930 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Bayard Veiller was born on 2 January 1869 in Brooklyn [now in New York City], New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Sherlock Brown (1922), The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929) and There Are No Villains (1921). He was married to Margaret Wycherly. He died on 16 January 1943 in New York City, New York, USA.- Louis Evan Shipman was born on 2 August 1869 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Louis Evan was a writer, known for John Ermine of Yellowstone (1917) and Kraft Theatre (1947). Louis Evan was married to Lucile Watson and Ellen McGowan Biddle. Louis Evan died on 2 August 1933 in Boury-en-Vexin, Oise, France.
- Gilson Willets was born on 10 August 1869 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Tiger's Trail (1919), The Millionaire Baby (1915) and The Mystery of the Double Cross (1917). He was married to Daisy May Vanderveer. He died on 26 May 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Nellie Anderson was born on 22 June 1870 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Little Women (1918), The Scarlet Runner (1916) and Castles in the Air (1919). She died on 12 July 1960 in San Bernadino, California, USA.
- Jane Fairbanks was born on 13 July 1870 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Zudora (1914), The Cripple (1914) and Her Menacing Past (1915). She was married to John Henry Fairbanks. She died on 4 March 1954 in Islip, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Edmund Breese was born on 18 June 1871 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Duck Soup (1933), Platinum Blonde (1931) and The Hurricane Express (1932). He was married to Genevieve Landry and Harriet A. Beach. He died on 6 April 1936 in New York City, New York, USA.- Arthur Byron was born on 3 April 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mummy (1932), 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) and Marie Galante (1934). He was married to Kathryn Byron and Lillian Hall (actress). He died on 17 July 1943 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- C.A. de Lima was born on 13 July 1872 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for American Aristocracy (1916), Her Great Chance (1918) and The Strongest (1920). He was married to Florence Buchard. He died on 8 August 1954 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
- William Conklin was born on 25 December 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for As No Man Has Loved (1925), Joan the Woman (1916) and In Mizzoura (1914). He was married to Lucy Blake. He died on 21 March 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter ("Dearie"), playwright Plays: "and author, educated at the Packer Institute and in private music study. She wrote the Broadway stage scores for "90 in the Shade", "One Kiss", "Annie Dear", "Madame Pompadour", and "The Three Waltzes". Joining ASCAP in 1934, her chief musical collaborators included Sigmund Romberg and Jerome Kern, and her other popular-song compositions include "Egypt", "Other Eyes", "Blushing June Roses", "Somebody's Eyes", "Thro' All the World", "Only With You", "The Bluebird", "Garden of Dreams", "Sunset", "The Road to Yesterday", "Today", and "Lover of Mine".- Ogden Crane was born on 1 September 1873 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Flirt (1916), The Light of Western Stars (1918) and The Corsican Brothers (1920). He died on 14 May 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Songwriter ("Sweet Rosie O'Grady"), composer, actress and author. After high school, she appeared in vaudeville and acted in the Broadway productions of "The Thoroughbred", "The Empire Show", and "Town Topics". She was the wife of William Jerome. Joining ASCAP in 1944, her other popular-song compositions include "Mamie Reilly", "I Can't Forget You Honey", "Mary From Tipperary", "There's No Other Girl Like My Girl", "Somebody Wants You", "Love and You", "Down at Rosie Reilly's Flat", "My Pretty Little China Maid", "My Lady Peggy Waltz", "The Donkey Trot", and "Down Among the Roses".- Actress
- Producer
Marie Cahill was born on 7 February 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Judy Forgot (1915), When Betty Bets (1917) and Gladys' Day Dreams (1917). She was married to Daniel V. Arthur. She died on 23 August 1933 in New York City, New York, USA.- Henry C. Rowland was born on 12 May 1874 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Conquering the Woman (1922), Bonnie Bonnie Lassie (1919) and The Sultana (1916). He died on 5 June 1933.
- Cinematographer
William Zollinger was born on 23 July 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Unfortunate Marriage (1917), The Vicar of Wakefield (1917) and Her Beloved Enemy (1917). He died on 9 June 1946 in New York City, New York, USA.- George S. Trimble was born on 10 October 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Michael Strogoff (1914), A Damsel in Distress (1919) and Polly of the Circus (1917). He died on 21 February 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Billie 'Swede' Hall was born on 8 November 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Hilda (1929). He was married to Jennie Colbern. He died on 27 October 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Theodore Burt was born on 18 December 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Commanding Officer (1915). He was married to Laura Helen de Gumoens. He died on 18 November 1954 in New York, New York, USA.
- Edward Fielding was born on 19 March 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Rebecca (1940), The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and Sherlock Holmes (1916). He was married to Elizabeth Sherman Clark. He died on 10 January 1945 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Although she could on a rare occasion display a bit of kindness, or at least some kind of grouchy benevolence, Helen Westley had few peers on stage or film when it came to outright unpleasantness. A stern, indomitable presence, her characters offered unsolicited advice to anyone and everyone within arm's reach. They could literally freeze a person in his or her own tracks with a mere hawk-like glare or arm-folding stance. They could be overbearing, greedy, spiteful, contentious, meddlesome, controlling, narrow-minded, viper-tongued, or all of the above. In essence, she was often major pain in the posterior to the film's star. It usually took a young, brave, gentle soul along the lines of a Shirley Temple or Anne Shirley to find a way to thaw out the icy cold heart that barely beat within.
The Brooklyn-born Helen was born on March 28, 1875 and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began on the stage at age 18 in a one-act comedy skit entitled "The Captain of the Nonesuch." Reaching stardom just before the dawn of the twentieth century, she co-founded both the Greenwich Square Players and the Washington Square Players, the latter growing into the Theatre Guild of which she became one of six managing directors. A steadfast player under the Broadway lights, she appeared in such classics as Chekhov's "The Seagull" (as Madame Arkadina) (1916), "Heartbreak House" (1920), "Liliom" (1921), "Peer Gynt" (1923), "The Adding Machine" (1923), "The Guardsman" (1924), "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1925), "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1927), "Strange Interlude" (1928), "Faust" (1928), "The Apple Cart" (1930), "Green Grow the Lilacs" (1931) and "They Shall Not Die" (1934), to name just a few.
By age 60, she had discovered and settled into filming, and for the next (almost) decade, spread misery in movie after movie. Her dour dowagers, no-nonsense matrons and acidulous relatives took the form of Granny Mingott in The Age of Innocence (1934); the designer title character in Roberta (1935); the manipulative and malicious mother of Joel McCrea in Splendor (1935); the harridan-like Parthy Hawkes in the Irene Dunne/Allan Jones version of Show Boat (1936); and the cackling, pipe-smoking grandmaw in Banjo on My Knee (1936). Her finger-wagging authority figures showed up to intimidate Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables (1934) and courageous little Shirley Temple who somehow managed to reveal her human side in four films: Dimples (1936), Stowaway (1936), Heidi (1937), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). Helen remained a vital character presence on the large screen up until her death at age 67 in 1942. She married John Westley in 1900 but they parted ways 12 years later. She had one daughter.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Samuel S. Hinds, a Harvard graduate, was a lawyer in Hollywood until the stock market crash of 1929, in which he lost most of his money. Hinds, who had an interest in theater acting, decided to embark on a career in acting, albeit it age 54. The tall, dignified-looking Hinds appeared in over 200 films, often cast as kindly authoritarian figures--doctors, judges, military officers, politicians, and such. His two most notable appearances were in Destry Rides Again (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). In addition to his film work, he kept busy appearing on stage, and continued working up until his death in 1948.- Connie Smith was born on 29 April 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), ITV Television Playhouse (1955) and All God's Chillun' Got Wings (1946). She was married to Levi Augustus Smith. She died on 11 May 1970 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Paul McAllister was born on 30 June 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Noah's Ark (1928), Beau Geste (1926) and One Hour (1917). He was married to Margaret McKinney. He died on 8 July 1955 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Phillips Smalley was born on 7 August 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1917), The Merchant of Venice (1914) and Captain Courtesy (1915). He was married to Phyllis Lorraine Ephlin and Lois Weber. He died on 2 May 1939 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
Arnold Daly was born on 4 October 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for My Own United States (1918), The Exploits of Elaine (1914) and The New Exploits of Elaine (1915). He was married to Mary Blythe (remarried) and Mary Blythe (actress). He died on 13 January 1927 in New York City, New York, USA.- John Garrett Underhill was born on 10 January 1876 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. John Garrett was a writer, known for ITV Television Playhouse (1955), Cradle Song (1960) and The Cradle Song (1947). John Garrett was married to Louisa Man Wingate. John Garrett died on 14 May 1946 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Chris Allen was born on 20 November 1876 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Deadshot Casey (1928). He died on 7 November 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Margaret Gordon was born on 18 December 1876 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Our Friends the Hayseeds (1917). She died on 9 May 1920 in New York, New York, USA.
- Virginia Waite was born on 20 May 1877 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Cripple (1914), The Mettle of a Man (1914) and The Skinflint (1915). She was married to James R. Waite and Edward W. Potter. She died on 18 January 1941 in Scarsdale, New York, USA.
- Augustin MacHugh was born on 22 July 1877 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Officer 666 (1914), Officer 666 (1916) and Officer 666 (1920). He was married to Helen Counihan. He died on 24 August 1928 in New York City, New York, USA.
- William Beebe was born on 29 July 1877 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Titans of the Deep (1938). He was married to Blair Niles. He died on 4 June 1962 in Trinidad, West Indies.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Blanche Friderici was born on 21 January 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for It Happened One Night (1934), Sadie Thompson (1928) and Secrets (1933). She was married to Donald Campbell. She died on 23 December 1933 in Visalia, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Albert F. Mayo was born on 1 April 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an assistant director, known for Zudora (1914), Tillie's Tomato Surprise (1915) and Gold (1914). He was married to Hilda Ruth Twogood and Hilda Twogood. He died on 20 May 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
Elwood Fleet Bostwick was born on 13 May 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for A Factory Magdalen (1914), Kitty (1929) and City Butterfly (1929). He was married to Daisy Starr and Vivian Blackburn. He died on 14 January 1953 in Great Neck, New York, USA.- Producer
- Cinematographer
Norton Travis was born on 4 July 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a producer and cinematographer, known for The Folly of Revenge (1916), Heritage (1920) and The Clutches of the Loan Shark (1912). He died on 22 May 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA.