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- Digby Bell, a 5' 5" singing comedian, starred in many Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas. He introduced the song, "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo", while playing the Charles Dana Gibson character, Mr. Pipp. Bell was a fervent golfer and New York Giant baseball fan, as was his best friend and frequent co-star DeWolf Hopper.
- Russell Bassett was born on 24 October 1845 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Seven Keys to Baldpate (1917), Such a Little Queen (1914) and Nearly a King (1916). He was married to Lottie C. Sparrow and Florence Lillian Gillette. He died on 8 May 1918 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Born on 12 April 1875 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Wharton was the younger brother of Leopold Wharton, who was also a film director. In 1890 Wharton started in both the business side of the theater as well as acting in Dallas, Texas. From 1907 until 1909 Wharton worked at the Edison Studios. During the following three years he wrote and directed many screenplays for various studios including Essanay Studios. During 1912 the US government commissioned him to produce The Late Indian Wars. It was filmed on location in the great plains, with a script by General Charles King and a large cast including "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The Whartons Studio opened in Ithaca, New York in 1914. In the 1920s Wharton moved to Santa Cruz, California. He died November 28, 1931 in Hollywood.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Eddie Shubert was born on 11 July 1898 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936), The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) and Don't Bet on Blondes (1935). He died on 23 January 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Bobby Dunn was born on 28 August 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for His Busted Trust (1916), The Thrill Hunter (1926) and Our Alley (1923). He died on 24 March 1937 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Felix Riesenberg was born on 9 April 1879 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer, known for East Side, West Side (1927) and Skyline (1931). He died on 19 November 1939 in Bronxville, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Chick Endor was born on 13 September 1893 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Elstree Calling (1930), Two Hearts in Harmony (1935) and Royal Society Jazz Orchestra (1986). He died on 1 September 1941 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Ashton Dearholt worked with Universal on a number of melodramas during the 1910s but usually worked outside the studio system, producing a series of "Pinto Pete" westerns during the 1920s in which he starred himself. He occasionally acted under the name Richard Holt.
Dearholt is best known to contemporary popular culture, however, through his association with author Edgar Rice Burroughs, whom he met and befriended in 1929. At that time Dearholt was married to Florence Gilbert, a former stand-in for Mary Pickford and occasional heroine of some of his own pictures before their marriage. Burroughs, who was having marital difficulties and self-doubts at the time, found himself attracted to Mrs. Dearholt at their first meeting, when Dearholt, accompanied by Florence, visited Burroughs at his home to discuss making films of some of Burroughs non-Tarzan novels and stories. Burroughs refused, being already thoroughly discouraged with Hollywood's treatment of his "ape-man" character, but developed a social relationship with Ashton and Florence.
Then in 1934, while on a business trip for RKO to Guatemala, Dearholt met and fell in love with a young American competitive swimmer, returned home with her to California and installed her in the Dearholt household. Florence Dearholt soon left and sought support from Burroughs, whom she eventually married after divorcing Dearholt. Florence took custody of her and Ashton's two children.
In 1935 Dearholt finally convinced Burroughs to allow him to make a Tarzan film. The trick was turned by Dearholt's offering, with two partners, to set up a single corporation under which Burroughs could subsume and personally manage his various Tarzan franchises, in exchange for allowing Dearholt to make a Tarzan serial, set in Guatemala, with his new love appearing in the lead female role under the screen name of Ula Holt (it's unclear if this was her real name, or a name contrived by Dearholt--who, as already noted, used the name Holt for himself at times and, additionally, adopted another screen name for himself, Don Costello, for use in his role as chief villain in the planned Tarzan film). It is unclear when (or if) he ever actually married Ms. Holt and, if so, how long the marriage lasted.
Contrary to popular legend, Burroughs had little actual involvement in the making of the new Tarzan picture, which he viewed as Dearholt's project. Dearholt selected Bruce Bennett--then known as Herman Brix--to play Tarzan: Burroughs only briefly met Bennett after his contract was signed, to pose for some publicity pictures. Dearholt commissioned a script, hired a crew and arranged transit to Guatemala. Burroughs entered the picture only briefly to co-sign a bank loan for production costs when the necessary credit was denied Dearholt on the basis of some of his rather unfavorable past bank experiences. The party eventually set sail for Guatemala in November of 1934 and returned in March of 1935 with the film only partly completed, due to cost overruns and numerous physical mishaps in the Guatemalan jungles under Dearholt's leadership. The script was almost entirely rewritten at least once: the pressbook, printed by Dearholt's partners back in California from the original screen treatment, barely resembles the finished film in its descriptions of the plot line. The serial was completed within two months of the party's return to California and faced release under threat from MGM to deny rentals on any of their future Tarzan pictures with Johnny Weissmuller to any theaters that played the Dearholt film. Although the film was fairly popular abroad, it was unable to recoup its costs and none of the cast--including the star--or crew were ever paid their salaries. Within a year, Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises went bankrupt and Dearholt never made or appeared in another motion picture. However, he and Burroughs remained close friends until his (Dearholt's) sudden death in 1942.- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
William Koenig was born on 1 January 1885 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a production manager, known for Dance Hall (1941), El cantante de Napoles (1935) and Castle in the Desert (1942). He was married to Nancy. He died on 29 May 1943 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.- Actor
Otto Meister was born on 1 February 1869 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA. He was an actor. He died on 2 May 1944 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.- Walter Blaufuss was born on 26 July 1883 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Walter died on 23 August 1945 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Lillian Knight was born on 23 March 1883 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Stage Madness (1927), The Auction Block (1926) and The Silken Spider (1916). She was married to ? Dorris. She died on 16 May 1946 in Pomona, California, USA.
- Production Manager
- Writer
Lee Hugunin was born on 20 May 1887 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Lee was a production manager and writer, known for Don't Get Jealous (1929). Lee was married to Lottie Mae Haguewood. Lee died on 23 November 1946 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Elizabeth Jordan was born on 9 May 1865 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was a writer, known for Make Way for a Lady (1936), The Girl in Number 29 (1920) and Crosby's Rest Cure (1916). She died on 24 February 1947 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Walter Soderling was born on 13 April 1872 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The French Key (1946), Death of a Champion (1939) and The Luckiest Girl in the World (1936). He died on 10 April 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
John Gubbins was born on 4 May 1912 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor. He died on 2 December 1948 in Riverside California, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Of Scottish and German ancestry, Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1885. At first, he was slated for a career as a teacher of history. However, he became enamored with music while singing in a school choir, and again, later, while attending the University of Wisconsin. There, he composed and conducted musicals for the Haresfoot Dramatic Club (the actor Otis Skinner was a noted alumnus). The success of one of these amateur productions, "Manicure Shop", which was staged professionally in Chicago, led to further musical studies in Europe, followed by full-time work as a composer for vaudeville and musical theatre.
In 1914, Stothart was hired by legendary lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II as musical director for the Rudolf Friml operetta "High Jinks". After three years on the road with various shows, Stothart scored his first Broadway musical, the farce "Furs and Frills", in October 1917. During the next decade, he continued a string of successful collaborations with top-flight composers, lyricists and playwrights, including Otto A. Harbach and Vincent Youmans. After 1922, Stothart's own original compositions began to be featured, and, within two years, he was able to celebrate his first major hit with the musical "Rose-Marie". "Rose-Marie" was written in conjunction with Rudolf Friml and ran for an impressive 557 performances at the Imperial Theatre. Stothart followed this success with the opera/ballet "Song of the Flame", co-written with George Gershwin. In 1929, the success of 'talking pictures', combined with the popularity of musicals, prompted studio boss Louis B. Mayer to lure Stothart to Hollywood.
Within just a few years, Stothart established himself as MGM's foremost film composer, working exclusively on the studio's prestige output. Many of his scores were for productions derived from literary classics, such as Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Good Earth (1937) and Pride and Prejudice (1940). Stothart's preferred musical style was subtle and melodic, sometimes mournful, often prominently featuring violins. He was prone to use leitmotifs from classical composers, for example in A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) (Chopin), or Conquest (1937) and Waterloo Bridge (1940) (Tchaikovsky). In his dual capacity as musical director, Stothart also supervised or orchestrated almost all of the popular Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald operettas. He composed a number of songs, one of the best-known being the 'Donkey Serenade', sung by Allan Jones in The Firefly (1937). Most importantly, perhaps, he became the first composer at MGM to win an Academy Award for a musical score for The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Herbert Stothart spent his entire Hollywood career at MGM. In 1947, he suffered a heart attack while visiting Scotland, and, afterwards, composed an orchestral piece ('Heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem'), based on his tribulations. He worked on another ('The Voice of Liberation'), when he died two years later at the age of 63 from cancer of the spine. He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.- Additional Crew
- Director
- Writer
Arthur Berthelet was born on 12 October 1879 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a director and writer, known for The Misleading Lady (1916), Vultures of Society (1916) and Pants (1917). He died on 16 September 1949 in Vista, California, USA.- Actress
Margaret Bloodgood was born in March 1878 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress. She died on 7 February 1950 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.- Gus Weinberg was born in January 1865 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923), Jacqueline, or Blazing Barriers (1923) and The Dead Line (1920). He died on 11 August 1952 in Portland, Maine, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
Louise Lester was born on 8 August 1867 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Calamity Anne's Dream (1913), Calamity Anne's Sacrifice (1913) and Calamity Anne, Detective (1913). She was married to Jack Richardson and Frank Beal. She died on 18 November 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.- William Tubbs was born on 10 May 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Wages of Fear (1953), The Golden Coach (1952) and Paisan (1946). He died on 25 January 1953 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Charles Marsh was born on 4 October 1893 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Atlantic City (1944), Cloak and Dagger (1946) and Somewhere in the Night (1946). He died on 8 March 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Stunts
Hoyt Vandenberg was born on 24 January 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He died on 2 April 1954 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.- Al Simmons was born on 22 May 1902 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was married to Doris Lynn Reader. He died on 26 May 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Cody was born on 18 January 1888 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an assistant director, known for The One Man Dog (1929), White Zombie (1932) and Cyclone of the Range (1927). He died on 24 June 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
American director of 1940s and '50s second features, mainly westerns (often starring Charles Starrett) and crime and jungle dramas for Republic, Columbia and Pine-Thomas Productions. A graduate of Los Angeles Polytechnic High School, Berke worked his way up the ladder from office boy to assistant camera operator to cameraman and, finally, to director/producer. He spent his final years working in episodic television.- Frank Garnier Jaquet was born on March 16, 1885, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of the editor of the Milwaukee "Sentinel."
His first appearance on stage was as Little Lord Fauntleroy in a children's play. However, the real beginning of his acting career was rather odd. Jessie Pringle was heading a stock company on Chicago's West Side. One week they were to present a show called "Arrah Gopaugh, or Warwick Wedding," in which Pringle had to do an Irish jig. Just before a performance she sprained her ankle badly. She would be able to play the part, but could not do the dance. The company sent for Jaquet, then a young man. Pringle did the whole show until it came time for the jig, at which point Jaquet, in dress and wig, stepped in, did the dance, then exited for Pringle to complete the show. Jaquet had made his professional debut, impersonating a woman.
From then on, Jaquet was a popular character actor in the theater for twenty-five years playing on Broadway as well as with touring companies and regional repertory theaters, including the People's Theater Stock Company in Chicago, the Elitch Gardens Stock Company in Denver, the Empress Theater in St. Louis, the Oliver Theater in Indiana, and the Denham Theater in Denver.
In 1934, at age forty-nine, Jaquet made his film debut in "War Is a Racket." Over the next twenty years, Jaquet appeared in over one hundred and forty films and TV episodes. His range was impressive, in that he was equally adept at playing kindly doctors as he was dastardly villains. Frequently he was called on to play politicians, in "Stanley and Livingston" (1939) and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) among others. He was so believable that once he and two other character actors were hired to pass themselves off as real U.S. senators as part of a gag.
In his many Westerns, he is often the villain, eventually brought to justice by Roy Rogers, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Sunset Carson, or the Cisco Kid.
His other films include "Torchy Blane in Panama" (1938) in which he and Frank Orth appear in leopard skins as conventioneers, the war drama "Corregidor" (1943) playing a priest, and "Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land" (1952), in which he looks obese and somewhat ridiculous in a safari outfit. He was cast against type by Billy Wilder in "Ace in the Hole" (1951) as the construction boss trying to free a victim trapped by a cave-in.
One of Jaquet's later and best performances is in the "Bullets for Ballots" episode of "The Lone Ranger" (1950), playing Leander Knox, the corrupt town mayor whose reelection campaign is rigged by the lead villain. Jaquet pulls out all the stops as a fat, pompous, old windbag, eventually reduced to a cringing coward by The Lone Ranger and Tonto.
He appeared in many television episodes in the fifties, including a semi-recurring role as Mr. Selkirk on "The Stu Erwin Show." By 1954, heart problems forced him to lose weight, so he looks a bit gaunt in the "I Love Lucy" episode "Bonus Bucks."
Jaquet's last screen role was as a barfly in "Timberjack" (1955). Jaquet died on May 11, 1958 in Los Angeles of a heart attack. - Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
- Casting Director
Carl Hiecke was born on 14 May 1905 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an assistant director and production manager, known for The Secret Code (1942), Reformatory (1938) and Captain Midnight (1942). He was married to Lillian Stromberg and Jane M Ware. He died on 13 May 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sally Corner was born on 2 August 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Leather Gloves (1948), Once More, My Darling (1949) and Lux Video Theatre (1950). She was married to Douglas L. Corner. She died on 5 March 1959 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Benny Fields was born on 14 June 1894 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Minstrel Man (1944), Somebody Loves Me (1952) and Mr. Broadway (1933). He was married to Blossom Seeley. He died on 16 August 1959 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Frank Dae was born on 15 May 1882 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Radar Patrol vs. Spy King (1949), In Old Chicago (1938) and She Wrote the Book (1946). He died on 29 August 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Fred Luderus was born on 12 September 1885 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He died on 5 January 1961 in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Gangelin worked in both Hollywood and London. A member of the Writers Guild of America since 1940, he served on their Council as well. Paul's screenplays leaned toward melodrama although he was very skilled at spoof-type films. He also wrote the story for My Pal Trigger (1946), Roy Rogers' favorite of all his films.- Rose Langdon was born on 4 September 1882 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for The Road to Mandalay (1926). She was married to J.J. Clark and Harry Langdon. She died on 27 January 1962 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Stalwart Irish-American character actor Robert Emmett O'Connor was born on March 18, 1885, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He made his bones performing in circuses and in vaudeville. He made his Broadway debut in the musical "Fritz in Tammany Hall" at the Herald Square Theatre on October 16, 1905, ultimately appearing in 13 musical comedies and operettas on the Great White Way through 1930 (he also appeared in four straight plays during that period, mostly comedies such as "The Old Soak" during the 1922-23 season). After 1930, he never appeared on Broadway again, focusing instead on his movie career.
He made his movie debut in 1920 in the Harold Lloyd comedy short His Royal Slyness (1920), directed by Hal Roach. He made six comedies for the Hal Roach Studios in the years 1920-21, including one more Harold Lloyd vehicle, Never Weaken (1921), before taking a five-year hiatus from films. He returned in the Thomas Meighan drama Tin Gods (1926), directed by Allan Dwan, then spent the next 24 years acting in movies.
In 1930, he went back to the Roach Studios to support Laurel and Hardy in two Spanish language shorts, then moved over to Warner Bros. as a bit player. He played the Irish bootlegger Paddy Ryan in the classic The Public Enemy (1931) in support of fellow Irish-American James Cagney and appeared in another classic, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). He then settled into being typecast as Irish cops. After he moved on to MGM, the typecasting led to one of his most famous roles: the plainclothes detective in pursuit of the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935).
During the 1940s, still under contract to MGM, he was kept busy, appearing in every genre, including the "Our Gang" comedies. His last film role was as the Paramount Studios guard who remembers Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950). He virtually retired from acting at the age of 65, though he made some television appearances in the 1950s.
Robert Emmett O'Connor died on September 4, 1962, of injuries sustained in a fire. He was 77 years old.- Paul Gilmore (1873-1962) was once one of America's most popular stage actors who also appeared in no fewer than 10 silent films. Additionally, he owned and managed for many years the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City, giving work to such future stars as Robert Walker Sr., Jennifer Jones and Carl Reiner.
Paul Howard Gilmore was born July 14, 1873, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents intended him to pursue a law career, but as a teenager Gilmore developed an interest in acting when he performed in amateur plays at Milwaukee's Grand Opera House, which was owned by his successful publisher father. Theatrical producer Jacob Litt saw Gilmore perform and, in 1891, offered him a role in his traveling show, "The Ensign." On a lark, Gilmore accepted, intending to stay with the company for a few weeks and then return home to study law. He never did, instead continuing to perform with Litt's players in a number of successful productions that included "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "In Old Kentucky."
Gilmore quickly rose to leading man status. His clean-cut features, expressive brown eyes and shock of dark, wavy hair netted him many romantic roles, and his penchant for fine attire earned him a reputation as "the youngest, best-dressed leading man on the American stage." By 1896 he had left Litt's Players and gained stature with Charles Frohman in plays such as "The Wife," "Americans Abroad" and "Sweet Lavender."
In addition to his stage work, Gilmore participated in the early development of motion pictures in the United States. Starting in 1897, he performed short "character studies" on film for the American Mutuoscope Company (later to become American Mutuoscope and Biograph Company, and in 1909 to the Biograph Company) and performed for Thomas Alva Edison's company on a number of short (less than 60-second) works that included "A Pillow Fight," "The Vanishing Lady," "The Miser," "Herman the Great" and "Caught In the Act." He also claimed to have appeared in one Edison feature, "The Artist's Model," in 1918, but is not listed as one of the principal actors.
On June 17, 1897, Gilmore married Regina Cooper, the daughter of millionaire wagon maker A.A. Cooper of Dubuque, Iowa. Two years later, on Sept. 9, 1899, Gilmore's wife delivered twins - a boy and a girl. Regina Cooper Gilmore died of heart failure two days after giving birth. Gilmore allowed her father to assume custody of the children, give them the Cooper surname and raise them, while he continued to tour.
Gilmore's son, Paul Gilmore Cooper, would die in 1918 after leaping off a train on which he had hitched a ride. When Gilmore's daughter, Regina, reached her majority, she would join her father in New York, adopt the stage name of Virginia, and assist him in his theatrical work for the rest of his life.
Three months after the death of his wife, Gilmore was nearly killed in a production of The Musketeers in Phoenix, Arizona. On Dec. 16, 1899, Gilmore and two other actors were critically wounded when they were shot with live rounds that had accidentally been loaded into a stage pistol. Gilmore received six wounds, the most serious in his legs. Gilmore was at first not expected to live; when he did, doctors gave him little chance of being able to return to the stage. A bullet was removed from his knee in March of 1900, after which he began to recover. By October of that year, he was again on the road, appearing in "Under the Red Robe."
Actor Lewis Monroe died of lockjaw a month after the accident as the result of a bullet wound to the hand.
Gilmore reached full star status in late 1900 with his performance in "The Dawn of Freedom" at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in New York City. He performed relentlessly all over the country in scores of plays, more often than not he played the swashbuckling lover role. Audiences flocked to see him in productions such as "Captain Debonnaire," "The Mummy and the Hummingbird" and "The Boys of Company B."
Gilmore married Mary A. Goodwin in 1901 and was divorced from her in January 1909. In November of that year, he married actress Ethel Elizabeth Cauley, while on tour in Staunton, Virginia.
In addition to operating his own touring stage company and acting in productions throughout the United States, Gilmore began making feature films in 1915. By 1920, he had starred or had major roles in nine movies and accumulated more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash and tangible assets, including 40 acres of land on Anna Maria Island in Florida. It was here that he hoped to build a movie colony - Paul Gilmore's Oriental Film City - that would rival Hollywood. He and his fourth wife, Pickett Gilmore, were principal officers in the company.
Gilmore and Albert Plummer of Character Pictures began filming the South Seas adventure, "Isle of Destiny," in the spring of 1920, on Anna Maria Island. Gilmore pumped huge amounts of his own cash into the production, footing the bill for the importation by boat (there was no serviceable road or bridge to the island) of cars, horses and some 200 actors.
"Isle of Destiny," a six-reeler, performed well when it premiered in New York theaters, and Gilmore planned at least two other films for production on Anna Maria Island. But his speculations in real estate failed, and Gilmore lost all his assets and most of his cash. He returned to New York City where he settled down in Greenwich Village over a tobacco warehouse that he would transform into the Paul Gilmore Cherry Lane Theatre. Divorced from his fourth wife by the 1930s, he was joined by his daughter, and together they ran the small venue and starred in many of its productions.
In 1948, the Gilmores moved to Duluth, Minnesota, where they established the Gilmore Comedy Theatre in a 40- by 80-foot Quonset hut they constructed along Lake Superior. The theater opened on July 14, 1949, with a production of "This Thing Called Love." Gilmore operated the theater until age and declining health forced him to sell it in 1955.
Gilmore and his daughter retired to Dubuque, Iowa, where they resided at 418 Raymond Place. Gilmore died while wintering in Palm Springs, Florida, on December 29, 1962, at the age of 89. He is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Key West, Iowa.
Regina Cooper Gilmore died in Dubuque on September 22, 1981. Upon her death, the Gilmore estate, which was valued in excess of $1 million, was divided among relatives, Catholic charities and Saint Raphael's Cathedral. - Edward Harris Heth was born on 13 September 1909 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Edward Harris was a writer, known for Any Number Can Play (1949). Edward Harris died on 26 April 1963 in Wales, Wisconsin, USA.
- Isolde C. Illian was born on 4 May 1898 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for The Mill on the Floss (1915), A Man's Sins (1916) and The Reunion (1916). She was married to Frank Mandel. She died on 5 November 1963 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter ("Till the End of Time"), author and comedian, educated at the Foster School and Goodrich School in Chicago, Illinois. He was a vaudeville comedian, and then moved to musical comedies. He was a restaurateur for a time, then returned to the stage. In Mexico, he owned and operated a tourist hotel in Cuernavaca, and wrote songs for night club revues. Joining ASCAP in 1941, his chief musical collaborators included Al Piantadosi and Abner Silver. His other popular-song composiions include "The Curse of an Aching Heart", "My Spanish Rose", "There Must Be a Reason", "Skate With Me", "When the Rains Come in Samoa", "Cuernavaca Sunset", "One Moment, Please Go Slowly", "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" and "You're More Than Heaven to Me".- Gregg Dunn was born on 4 April 1918 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Shannon (1961) and Five Fingers (1959). He died on 14 May 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Rough-and-tumble American actor Dick Wessel had a fierce-looking scowl on a bulldog of a mug. That, coupled with a thick build and imposing stance, earned him appearances in countless Warner Bros. comedies and hard-boiled crime dramas throughout the late 1930s and 1940s. Although he made hundreds of films, he had few chances to show off, appearing uncredited in over half of them and in minor, fleeting roles when he did receive billing. He had roles in such "A" pictures as Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and Strangers on a Train (1951), but his visibility in them was practically nil.
Born Richard M. Wessel in Wisconsin in 1913, the husky-framed character began his career on stage before starting in films in the mid-'30s. Getting unbilled extra roles at first, he appeared on both sides of the moral fence over the years, playing as many brutish gangsters, henchmen and convicts as he did rough-hewn cops or streetwise characters (cabbies, mailmen, bartenders, boxers, etc.) The tough-sounding names of his characters, such as "Monk," "Beans," "Moxie" and "Chopper Kane", pretty much said it all. His best showcase--and it should have worked out better for him--was menacing, bald-pated arch-villain Harry "Cueball" Lake in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946). Here he was finally given a chance to shine but it did not lead to meatier roles.
He became a stock player for Columbia and their assembly-line of short comedy subjects, essaying a slew of burglars, thieves, wrestlers, circus strongmen and lummox husbands for The Three Stooges, Andy Clyde and others. On TV he was a rugged presence on such western series as Gunsmoke (1955), Laramie (1959), Rawhide (1959) and Bonanza (1959). Close to the end of his life and career he had a regular part as a crew member on the adventure series Riverboat (1959) with Darren McGavin. Dick's final role was released posthumously, playing a bit as a frantic garbage man in The Ugly Dachshund (1966). He had died a year earlier at his Hollywood home of a heart attack on his 52nd birthday. His wife and a daughter survived him.- Hans V. Kaltenborn had some colorful experiences in 1933 at the advent of Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany and the founding of Nazism there. Being of German descent he may have had a blind admiration for the discipline and precision of the Nazi German youth. He refused to believe reports that the S.A. roughnecks routinely insulted and beat up American visitors to Germany who did not show due regard for their street parades nor lifted their arms in the Nazi salute. His adulation for Nazi Germany came crashing down in 1933 when for failing to stand still and salute the parade he was verbally insulted and his son physically assaulted. He received a rude shock and made a complaint to the American Consulate in Berlin but nothing came of it. This incident is well documented in the book titled In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
- Writer
William L. Nolte was born on 16 December 1889 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an assistant director and production manager, known for The Lost City (1935), Life Goes On (1938) and The Duke Is Tops (1938). He was married to Edna J. Cella and Mary E. Rupert. He died on 9 November 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Leo Krzycki was born on 10 August 1881 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He died on 22 January 1966 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
- Gordon Dumont was born on 24 April 1894 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for A Certain Rich Man (1921) and Phantom Justice (1924). He died on 7 March 1966 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Pearlie Norton was born on 24 December 1914 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Isobel or the Trail's End (1920) and The Prairie Mystery (1923). She died on 25 April 1966 in Minnesota, USA.
- Cordwainer Smith was born on 11 July 1913 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer, known for Rediscovery: The Lives of Cordwainer Smith (2023) and El crimen y la gloria del comandante Suzdal (2009). He was married to Genevieve Collins and Margaret Snow. He died on 6 August 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Writer
- Composer
- Music Department
David Snell was born on 10 September 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a writer and composer, known for Deadpool (2016), Black Dynamite (2009) and The Edge of Night (1956). He died on 27 March 1967 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Set Decorator
- Art Department
Victor A. Gangelin was born on 4 March 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was a set decorator, known for West Side Story (1961), The Searchers (1956) and Since You Went Away (1944). He was married to Majel Coleman. He died on 2 April 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.