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- Gertrude Claire was born on 16 July 1852 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Oliver Twist (1922), The Little Irish Girl (1926) and The Female of the Species (1916). She died on 28 April 1928 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- David Higgins was born on 21 June 1858 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Conquest of Canaan (1916), At Piney Ridge (1916) and His Last Dollar (1914). He was married to Bliss Milford. He died on 29 June 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
Arthur Voegtlin was born on 8 November 1858 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for America (1914). He was married to Maude Caldwell. He died on 18 January 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Charles A. Comiskey was born on 15 August 1859 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on 26 October 1931 in Eagle River, Wisconsin, USA.
- Edwin B. Tilton was born on 15 September 1859 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Midnight Express (1924), Just Pals (1920) and The Web of Chance (1919). He was married to Edith Othellia Fasset and Irene Gaunt (actress). He died on 16 January 1926 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Mrs. E.M. Kimball was born on 15 March 1860 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Deep Purple (1915), The Yellow Passport (1916) and The Feast of Life (1916). She was married to Edward Kimball. She died on 11 December 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Born into a large Bohemian-Polish family in Chicago on March 14, 1864, William N. Selig was one of the true pioneers of the motion picture industry. Though not widely remembered today, his Selig Polyscope Co. was responsible for many landmark events in early cinema. Among these were construction of the first permanent studio in Los Angeles in 1908-1909, production of the first cliff-hanger serial (The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913)) and the first film version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910).
After working as an upholsterer, then a vaudeville magician in Chicago, Selig traveled to northern California in 1890 to run a fruit ranch in a small town called Chicago Park. The move was partially necessitated by health problems he was having at the time. By 1893 William had recovered enough to start an African-American minstrel company known as "Selig and Johnson's Colored Minstrels." Performing in the San Francisco area, the most notable member of this troupe was Bert Williams, who would become the greatest African-American comedian of the vaudeville era.
Upon seeing an Edison Kinetescope at the Dallas Fair in 1894, Selig decided to return home to Chicago where he began working on his own camera-projection system. In 1896 he founded one of the world's first motion picture studios. From very modest beginnings, his Selig Polyscope Co. quickly grew to be one of the major players during the pioneer era. With the help of a machinist named Andrew Schustek, Selig designed one of the earliest camera-projectors. Based largely on the Lumiere Cinematographe, his invention would share its name with his fledgling studio.
The first decade of Selig Polyscope's operation was marked by legal turmoil, due largely to the efforts of Thomas A. Edison's lawyers. Finally, in 1909, Selig and several other studio heads formed an uneasy alliance with Edison. The resulting Motion Picture Patents Company and its distribution arm General Films would dominate the film industry until 1915. That year the independent companies won a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled the M.P.P.C. an illegal monopoly.
"Colonel" Selig's ambitions were not strictly confined to cinema. Around 1911 he began acquiring land for what would become the largest private zoo in the world. The Selig Zoo at Eastlake (now Lincoln) Park, in Los Angeles was a logical extension of his movie business. Over the years, William had accumulated a sizable collection of animals for his jungle movies. The 32-acre zoo allowed him to showcase his menagerie while leaving room for studios at the back of the grounds. Many famous animals resided at the zoo, including the original Leo the MGM lion.
Once the zoo/studio was in operation, Selig no longer needed the first L.A. studio that director Francis Boggs had opened for him in Edendale (now Echo Park). An up-and-coming producer named William Fox decided to lease that site for his soon-to-be-famous company. Another giant of the industry benefited from Selig's initial investment in Los Angeles. Louis B. Mayer moved into the studios at the zoo once Selig retired from major production around 1920. The Colonel had no desire to compete against these younger, more aggressive movie moguls.
There were other factors which led William to leave the industry he helped found. With the release of The Spoilers (1914) in 1914, Selig enjoyed his greatest success. At this point Selig Polyscope appeared to have a bright future, but things quickly changed. During this time the industry was evolving from producing the short films Selig specialized in to the modern feature-length productions. While William did make longer films like "The Spoilers," he felt shorts were the way of the future. The onset of World War I also hurt Selig Polyscope, given its extensive European operations. Finally, the dissolution of the Patents Company made the industry more competitive, dooming the pioneer studios.
Selig moved into independent production after closing his studios, working infrequently until the 1930s. The Colonel's glory days were past, though, and he faded into obscurity. The cost of operating a large zoo and the Great Depression had reduced Selig's fortune to nothing. He became a literary agent in his later years, selling off the story rights purchased years before for his films. In 1947 Selig and several other film pioneers were awarded special Oscars. He died the following year on July 15, with his loving wife of many years, Mary, at his side.- Actor
- Writer
Charles Richman was born on 12 January 1865 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Man from Home (1914), The Battle Cry of Peace (1915) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938). He was married to Jane Grey. He died on 1 December 1940 in The Bronx, New York, USA.- Popular novelist and biographer Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor was born on March 24, 1865 in Chicago, the son of Henry Hobart (1835-1875) and Adelaide Chatfield Taylor (1834-1888). His father was a wealthy Chicago area businessman who was involved in the manufacturing of agricultural implements. Henry Taylor would go on to be one of the original directors of the Elgin Watch Company and the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.
Hobart graduated from Cornell University in 1886 where he majored in science and literature. While attending Cornell he managed the varsity baseball team for several seasons.
When his uncle Wayne Chatfield (1840-1892) died, he left Hobart 2.5 million dollars with the stipulation the he add Chatfield to his surname. Hobart who was born with the middle name Chatfield then became known as Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor.
After graduation he founded a weekly literary magazine called America. While considered by some to be a literary success, the magazine eventually proved to be a financial failure. While in Europe as a special correspondent for Chicago Daily News and not long after he had sold his interests in the magazine, Hobart wrote his first novel "With Edge Tools" (1891) followed by "An American Peeress" (1894). The success of the latter helped cement his career as a writer with the critics and the public.
Hobart over his career, would author biographies, comedies historical fiction and books of non-fiction. Examples of some of his more popular works might include:
"Two Women & a Fool" (1896) "The Vice of Fools" (1897) "The Secretary of the Legation" (1899) "The Idle Born" (1900) with Reginald De Koven "The Crimson Wing" (1902) "The Middle West Discovers Outdoors" (1905) "Moliere: a biography" (1906) "The Land of the Castanet, Spanish Sketches" (1906)" "Fame's Pathway: A Romance of a Genius" (1909) "Goldoni: a biography" (1913). "Chicago" (1917) "Odyssey of a Modern Ulysses; Cities of Many Men" (1926) "Charmed Circles" (1935)
Hobart wrote two books that brought him international acclaim. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor for his biography of the French playwright Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin ) and Italian government of King Victor Emmanuel III presented him with the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of the Crown of Italy for his biography of the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni). During his life he had also received honors from the governments of England, Portugal, Venezuela and Spain.
In 1890, Hobart married Rose Farwell (1870-1918), on the day following her graduation from finishing school. She was the daughter of Charles B. Farwell (1823-1903), a former congressman and senator from Illinois and the sister-in-law of composer Reginald De Koven.
Hobart and his wife were both avid golfers. He is thought to have built the first golf course west of New York on property his father-in-law owned in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Hobart and Rose were the parents of a daughter and three sons.
Adelaide, (1891-1982), was a former actress and night club owner. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government for a canteen she operated on their behalf during the Second World War.
Wayne (1893-1967), served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later he served as president (1945-1946) of the Import-Export Bank and as an economic advisor to the Marshal Plan.
Otis (1899-1948), was a playwright and theatrical producer. At one time he was rumored to be engaged to actress Miriam Battista. Otis died in Ossining, NY after a traffic accident.
Robert (1908-1980) was a successful businessman whose name occasionally cropped up in the newspaper society pages. He is probably best remembered by some for his four year marriage to former debutante and distant cousin, Brenda Frazier (1921-1982). After their marriage failed, Brenda said of him that he was a gentleman in every sense of the word.
Hobart married Estelle Barbour Stillman (1878-1960) in 1920; two years after Rose had passed away. Estelle was the daughter of a wealthy Detroit banker and the widow of New York banker, George Schley Stillman, who died of meningitis in 1907 after contracting typhoid fever.
Author Finley Peter Dunne' (father of Finley Peter Dunne) once headed a committee that wrote Hobart asking him if he would mind if they submitted his name as a candidate for the office of mayor of Chicago. Dunne suggested to the committee that if Hobart declined, maybe he would let them submit just part of his name.
Throughout most of his life, Hobart was known as a patron of fine art and had moved freely among society's high circles. In September of 1937 he announced he was withdrawing from public life. A near fatal heart attack suffered earlier that year while attending the coronation of King Edward VI had greatly sapped his strength.
Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor passed away on 17, January, 1945 at his residence in Montecito, California, after a long period of declining health. He was survived by his second wife, Estelle, and all four of his children from his first marriage. - Mollie McConnell was born on 24 September 1865 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Bare Fists (1919), The Neglected Wife (1917) and Hearts and Masks (1921). She was married to William A. McConnell and Sherwood MacDonald. She died on 9 December 1920 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Clara Lipman Mann was an American actress and a playwright. She began her acting career in the late 1880s with the A.M. Palmer Theatrical Co. in New York. By the early 1890s she was appearing regularly on stage with comedian Louis Mann. It was probably around this time that the couple married. By around the turn of the 20th century she began writing and appearing in her own plays. She went on to author a total of 22 plays, 12 in collaboration with Samuel Shipman. Clara Lipman retired from the stage in 1927. In 1940 she made a brief comeback, appearing in the play "It's a Girl".
Clara's younger sister, Mattie Lipman Marum (1874-1932), was at one time a well known lieder singer. - Additional Crew
- Actor
- Producer
American theatrical producer who brought the revue to spectacular heights under the slogan "Glorifying the American Girl." During the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Ziegfeld managed bodybuilder Eugen Sandow (billed as the Great Sandow). In 1896 he turned to theatrical management. His promotion of French beauty Anna Held, with press releases about her milk baths, brought her fame and set a pattern of star-making through publicity. In 1907 he produced in New York City his first revue, The Follies of 1907, modeled on the Folies-Bergère of Paris but less risqué. The revue's combination of semi-nudity, pageantry and comedy was repeated successfully for 23 more years, until the Great Depression ended these annual spectaculars. Four other editions appeared after his death, the last in 1957. In addition to the Follies, Ziegfeld also produced the stage successes "Sally" (1920), "Show Boat" (1927), "Rio Rita" (1927), and "Bitter Sweet (1929). Among the stars who rose to fame as a result of appearing in a Ziegfeld show were Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Leon Errol, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice and Eddie Cantor.
Ziegfeld had a long-lasting relationship with Anna Held but they never married due to her already being married to Maximo Carrera. In 1913, he married actress Billie Burke with whom he had daughter Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson.- William Locke was born on 6 March 1868 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for While New York Sleeps (1920). He died on 7 October 1950 in Venice, California, USA.
- Norman Hapgood was born on 28 March 1868 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Elizabeth Kempley Reynolds and Emilie Bigelow. He died on 29 April 1937 in New York, New York, USA.
- Herman Fichtenberg was born on 30 May 1868 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great Universal Mystery (1914). He was married to Rose Fichtenberg. He died on 6 December 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- George Ellery Hale was born on 29 June 1868 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on 21 February 1938 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- Josephine Ditt was born on 7 September 1868 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Secretary of Frivolous Affairs (1915), Damaged Goods (1914) and The Unknown Model (1912). She was married to Tom Ricketts. She died on 18 October 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Mildred Holland was born on 9 April 1869 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Power Behind the Throne (1912), Cliff Friend (1932) and Two Old Pals (1912). She was married to Francis Marion Holland and Edward C. White (theatrical manager). She died on 27 January 1944 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Walter Hale was born on 4 August 1869 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Lightning Conductor (1914), The Prisoner of Zenda (1913) and The Lambs' All-Star Gambol (1914). He was married to Louise Closser Hale. He died on 4 December 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Music Department
Henry Eicheim was born on 3 January 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Ethel Roe Lindgren. He died on 22 August 1942 in Montecito, California, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Burton Holmes was born on 8 January 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer and director, known for How California Harvests Wheat (1917), Today in Samoa (1918) and Fiji Does Its Bit (1918). He was married to Margaret Oliver. He died on 22 July 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Born in Chicago, Lloyd F. Lonergan was one of five children of Thomas Lonergan, a newspaper publisher. His mother was a writer for various newspapers, and eventually all of his siblings became newspaper writers, too.
Lonergan attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. He later went to work for the William Randolph Hearst organization as a newspaper and magazine writer and worked on a number of newspapers, including the New York Evening Journal and the New York Evening World. He was eventually hired by the newly formed Thanhouser Company as a scriptwriter, and penned the company's first picture, The Actor's Children (1910). He later married Molly Homan, the sister of Thanhouser founder Edwin Thanhouser's wife.
He left Thanhouser in 1915 after company executive (and his close friend) Charles J. Hite was killed in an auto accident and founder Edwin Thanhouser sold the company to an investor syndicate. Lonergan went to work for Universal Pictures as a scriptwriter. However, Thanhouser returned and bought the company back not long afterwards--the new owners had no idea how to run a film studio and were losing a fortune--and Lonergan also returned, staying for the next two years. In 1917, as the studio's fortunes declined and it was on its last legs, Lonergan left for good. He retired for a while, but came back in late 1917 to edit the serial The Million Dollar Mystery (1914) into a feature to be re-released by Arrow Film Corp. He later returned to scriptwriting also, although mostly for low-budget independents, and wrote such films as A Common Level (1920) for Transatlantic Films, Why Women Sin (1920) for Wisteria Productions and My Lady's Garter (1920) for Maurice Tourneur Productions.
He died in New York City on April 6, 1937, after a long illness.- Frank Norris was born on 5 March 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for Greed (1924), Moran of the Lady Letty (1922) and Life's Whirlpool (1916). He was married to Jeanette Black. He died on 25 October 1902 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Homer S. Cummings was born on 30 April 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on 10 September 1956 in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
- Director
- Writer
Edmond F. Stratton was born on 8 March 1871 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is known for The Win(k)some Widow (1914), The Band Leader (1914) and The Barrel Organ (1914).- Maurice Fleckles was born on 17 April 1871 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Anna Laemmle. He died on 5 June 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- James T. Mack was born on 16 May 1871 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Casey of the Coast Guard (1926), Anna Christie (1930) and Sin Cargo (1926). He died on 12 August 1948 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- George Warrington was born on 16 May 1872 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Road to Glory (1936). He died on 2 November 1968 in San Clemente, California, USA.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
A former railroad clerk, Tucker made a name for himself in 1913 with a film entitled Traffic in Souls (1913), a six-reel expose of white slavery. Tucker and Carl Laemmle financed the sum of $57,000 to make the film in New York, the film ultimately grossed $450,000. The success of the film enabled Laemmle, under pressure from Thomas Edison's Patent Trust, to follow the exodus to Hollywood and create his own studio, Universal City. Tucker was married to actress Elisabeth Risdon.- Grace Hemingway was born on 15 July 1872 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was married to Clarence Hemingway. She died on 29 June 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
- William K. Ziegfeld was born on 21 October 1872 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer, known for The Black Panther's Cub (1921). He was married to Carrie F. Lendley. He died on 6 June 1927 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- John Daly Murphy was born on 5 February 1873 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for You Can't Fool Your Wife (1923), The Absent-Minded Valet (1912) and Kreutzer Sonata (1915). He died on 20 November 1934 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Herman Lieb was born on 9 March 1873 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Dope (1914), Daybreak (1918) and Two Shall Be Born (1924). He was married to Evelyn Wall. He died on 9 March 1966 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.- Harry O'Connor was born on 27 April 1873 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Stranger Than Fiction (1921), Come and Get It! (1929) and Blindfolded (1918). He died on 10 July 1971 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Avery was born on 28 May 1873 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Love and Bullets (1914), His Lying Heart (1916) and The Taming of the Shrew (1908). He was married to Elsa Clark, Margaret Ella Royster and Katherine Caroline Gormley. He died on 23 July 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter, conductor, arranger, violist and pianist, educated at the Chicago Conservatory and a student of Luigi van Kunits. He was a violist with the Listemann Sring Quartet between 1896 and 1898, and then a pianist for the Red Path Grand Concert Company in 1898-1899. He conducted and arranged for dance orchestras and for musical stage productions, and wrote the stage score for the Chicago production of "The Elopers". He conducted and arranged for Victor Phonograph Company recording sessions between 1916 and 1924, and from 1921 he was on the staff of music-publishing companies in New York. Joining ASCAP as a charter member in 1914, his popular-song compositions include "Havanola", "Rockin' the Boat", "Yodel Dodel Doh", "Sarah from Sahara", "When You Come Back", "American's Creed", and "On the Home Front".- Miriam Nesbitt was born on 14 September 1873 in chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Declaration of Independence (1911), Mary Stuart (1913) and The Corsican Brothers (1912). She was married to Marc McDermott. She died on 11 August 1954 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Make-Up Department
Bert Lindley was born on 3 December 1873 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Are We Civilized? (1934), Custer of Big Horn (1926) and Wild Bill Hickok (1923). He was married to Elizabeth (Bessie) Frances Fisher. He died on 12 September 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Robert Edgren was born on 7 January 1874 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Go and Get It (1920). He was married to Helen Maude Durand. He died on 9 September 1939 in Del Monte, California, USA.
- George Periolat was born on 5 February 1874 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Red Lily (1924), Samson (1914) and The New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke (1915). He died on 20 February 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Art Department
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Paul Crawley was born on 17 April 1874 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an art director and set decorator, known for The Bat Whispers (1930), Speed (1936) and The Dove (1927). He died on 29 September 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- John O'Connor was born on 21 May 1874 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Cassidy (1917). He died on 10 September 1941 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Sidney Cushing was born on 3 March 1875 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Kreutzer Sonata (1915) and The Wall Between (1916). He died on 13 December 1941 in Proviso, Illinois, USA.
- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Robert B. Smith was born on 4 June 1875 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for Sweethearts (1938). He was married to Marguerite Wright. He died on 6 November 1951 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Producer
His father had been a major in the Union army during the Civil War. Edgar Rice Burroughs attended the Brown School then, due to a diphtheria epidemic, Miss Coolie's Maplehurst School for Girls, then the Harvard School, Phillips Andover and the Michigan Military Academy. He was a mediocre student and flunked his examination for West Point. He worked a variety of jobs all over the country: a cowboy in Idaho, a gold miner in Oregon, a railroad policeman in Utah, a department manager for Sears Roebuck in Chicago. He published "A Princess of Mars" under the title "Under the Moons of Mars" in six parts between February and July of 1912. The same "All-Story Magazine" put out his immediately successful "Tarzan of the Apes" in October of that year. Two years later the hardback book appeared, and on January 27, 1918, the movie opened on Broadway starring Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan. It was one of the first movies to gross over $1,000,000. Burroughs was able to move his family to the San Fernando Valley in 1919, converting a huge estate into Tarzana Ranch. He was in Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 and remained in Hawaii as a war correspondent. Afterward he returned home with a heart condition. On March 19, 1950, alone in his home after reading the Sunday comics in bed, he died. By then he had written 91 novels, 26 of which were about Tarzan. The man whose books have sold hundreds of millions of copies in over thirty languages once said "I write to escape ... to escape poverty".- Regan Hughston was born on 3 September 1875 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Fighting Odds (1917), Behind Closed Doors (1916) and Her Excellency, the Governor (1917). He was married to Maribel Hartman. He died on 2 October 1951 in Siasconset, Massachusetts, USA.
- Ed Rose was born on 24 November 1875 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on 29 April 1935 in the USA.
- Actress
- Writer
Eleanor Lawson was born on 23 December 1875 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Twenty-One (1923), Lights of Old Broadway (1925) and Man with Two Lives (1942). She died on 22 March 1966 in Pasadena, California, USA.- Ottilie A. Liljencrantz was born on 19 January 1876 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Ottilie A. was a writer, known for The Viking (1928). Ottilie A. died on 7 October 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Beth Nagel was born on 9 April 1877 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Tenderloin (1928) and Sweet Adeline (1926). She died on 29 October 1936 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.