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- Margaret "Peggy" Webling was an English playwright and novelist from Westminster, London. She is primarily remembered for her 1927 play "Frankenstein", a loose adaptation of the 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley. Her play was the main source used for the horror film "Frankenstein" (1931) by James Whale.
In 1871, Webling was born in Westminster, London. Her father was a silversmith and jeweler. During her early life, Webling was an amateur actress. She became a minor celebrity by performing in London with her three sisters. She became acquainted with the leading actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928), the novelist Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), and the polymath John Ruskin (1819-1900).
During the 1890s, Webling lived primarily in Canada and the United States. In 1896, she published her debut work, a poetry collection In 1905, she published her debut novel "Blue Jay". She continued regularly writing novels over the following years, such as "The Spirit of Mirth" (1910), "Edgar Chirrup" (1915), and "Boundary House" (1916). In 1919, she wrote the Christian-themed illustrated children's book "Saints and Their Stories".
In 1924, Webling published her memoir, "Peggy: The Story of One Score Years and Ten". In 1927, she was approached with a business offer by the actor-producer Hamilton Deane (1880 -1958). He had used a stage adaptation of "Dracula" to rise to fame. He wanted to introduce a stage adaptation of "Frankenstein" as well, and wanted Webling to write it for him.
Webling's play debuted in Preston, Lancashire in December 1927. She continued revising it over the next few years. The play had its London debut in February 1930. There were a total of 72 performances in London, though contemporary critics ridiculed the play's "flimsy" plot. In Webling's version of the story, the term "Frankenstein" applied to both the scientist and the monster. She was the first writer to name the creature with the family name of his creator.
In April 1931, the film studio Universal Pictures purchased the film rights to an unproduced American adaptation of Webling's play. As part of the deal, Webling received 20,000 dollars. She was also promised 1% of the gross earnings on all showings of any films based on her dramatic work. Her play served as the basis of the horror film "Frankenstein" (1931), which was a box office hit.
During the late 1930s, Webling published her last known works: "Aspidistra's Career" (1936), "Opal Screens" (1937), and "Young Lætitia" (1939). She spend the 1940s in retirement. She died in June 1949, at the age of 78. Her works fell in obscurity following her death, but her version of Frankenstein influenced most screen adaptations of the Frankenstein story during the 20th century. - Actor
- Director
Fritz Weidemann was born on 1 January 1871 in Neustadt, Holstein, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for The Student of Prague (1913), Dschihad (1916) and The Devil's Assistant (1913). He died on 30 January 1919 in Germany.- Georgette de Nove was born on 1 January 1871 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for David (1924), Tilly of Bloomsbury (1921) and The Glorious Adventure (1922). She died on 18 April 1942 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
- Ernst Fastbom was born on 1 January 1871 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor and writer, known for Jag gifta mig - aldrig (1932), Halta Lena och Vindögda Per (1924) and Halta Lena och vindögde Per (1933). He died on 6 October 1940 in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Paulette Darty was born on 2 January 1871 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for A Very Long Engagement (2004), Je te confie ma femme (1933) and American Love (1931). She died on 9 December 1939 in Paris, France.- Nikolai Aleksandrov was born on 2 January 1871 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Pobeda zhenshchiny (1927), Khromoy barin (1929) and Ne nado krovi (1917). He died on 3 November 1930 in Moscow, Russia, USSR [now Russia].
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Daniel Alomía Robles was born on 3 January 1871 in Huánuco, Huánuco, Peru. Daniel Alomía was a composer, known for Wild (2014), What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988). Daniel Alomía was married to Carmela Godoy and Sebastiana Godoy. Daniel Alomía died on 18 June 1942 in Chosica, Lima, Peru.- Arthur Bernède was born on 5 January 1871 in Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine, France. He was a writer, known for Judex (1963), L'Argent (1928) and Méphisto (1931). He died on 20 March 1937 in Paris, France.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Frederick Shepherd Converse was born on 5 January 1871 in Newton, Massachusetts, USA. He was a composer, known for Puritan Passions (1923) and Bread and Circus (2003). He was married to Emma Tudor. He died on 8 June 1940 in Westwood, Massachusetts, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Eugen Burg was born on 6 January 1871 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Der wird geheiratet (1921), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1915) and Alles aus Gefälligkeit (1916). He was married to Emmy Raabe-Burg. He died on 15 November 1944 in Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Terezín, Czech Republic].- Hedwig Gutzeit was born on 6 January 1871 in Arnoldsdorf, West Prussia, Germany. She was an actress, known for Der Galeerensträfling (1919), Rübezahls Hochzeit (1916) and Der Yoghi (1916). She died on 22 March 1945 in Germany.
- Thomas Horder was born on 7 January 1871 in Shaftesbury, England, UK. He was married to Geraldine Doggett. He died on 13 August 1955 in Steep, England, UK.
- Philip Ritte was born on 8 January 1871 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Reunion (1932). He died on 14 December 1954 in Willesden, London, England, UK.
- Augusta Blad was born on 10 January 1871 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Thru Trials to Victory (1911), Elskovs magt (1912) and Manden med Kappen (1913). She was married to Vilhelm Wiehe. She died on 9 November 1953 in Denmark.
- Louis Howe was born on 14 January 1871 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He died on 18 April 1936 in Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Lottie Alter was born on 16 January 1871 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for The Eternal City (1915), The Lottery Man (1916) and An Arizona Romance (1910). She was married to Harry C. Bradley. She died on 25 December 1924 in Beechurst, New York, USA.
- Karl Eitel was born on 17 January 1871 in Stuttgart, Germany. He was married to Maria Boldenweck and Ann Schmidt. He died on 9 March 1954 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- David Beatty was born on 17 January 1871 in Stapeley, Cheshire, England, UK. He died on 11 March 1936 in London, England, UK.
- Franz Blei was born on 18 January 1871 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Maria Stuart, Teil 1 und 2 (1927). He was married to Maria Franziska Lehmann. He died on 10 July 1942 in Westbury, New York, USA.
- Eveline Chipman was born on 18 January 1871 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for Birds of a Feather (1935), The Runaway Princess (1929) and Sacrifice (1929). She died on 29 August 1956 in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Clara Knott was born on 19 January 1871 in Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Old Lady 31 (1920), After the Ball (1914) and Day-1 (2017). She died on 11 November 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Arthur Holmes-Gore was born on 19 January 1871 in Leyton, Essex, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for His Reformation (1914), Nan Good-for-Nothing (1914) and Turtle Doves (1914). He died on 12 August 1915 in Gallipoli, Turkey.- Soundtrack
Bartley Costello was born on 21 January 1871 in Rutland, Vermont, USA. Bartley died on 14 January 1941 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, USA.- Writer
- Composer
- Music Department
Leon Jessel was born on 22 January 1871 in Stettin, Pomerania, Germany [now Szczecin, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was a writer and composer, known for Schwarzwaldmädel (1933), The Black Forest Girl (1950) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). He died on 4 January 1942 in Berlin, Germany.- Karel Fiala was born on 22 January 1871 in Mnísek pod Brdy, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Otrávené svetlo (1921), Mrtví zijí (1922) and Prach a broky (1926). He died on 27 July 1931 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Orpha Alba was born on 22 January 1871 in Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Welcome Children (1921), The Heart of Maryland (1927) and Why Get Married? (1924). She was married to Paul Cazeneuve. She died on 8 May 1942 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Orfa Casanova was born on 22 January 1871 in Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Money to Burn (1926) and A1 Society (1926). She died on 8 May 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Producer
- Actor
Paul Gerson was born on 25 January 1871 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a producer and actor, known for The Midnight Limited (1926), Perils of the Coast Guard (1926) and The Pride of the Force (1925). He died on 6 June 1957 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Oscar Asche was born on 26 January 1871 in Geelong, Australia. He was an actor and writer, known for Scrooge (1935), Chu Chin Chow (1934) and Don Quixote (1933). He was married to Lily Brayton. He died on 23 March 1936 in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.- Journalist, author, biographer and historian Samuel Hopkins Adams was born along the banks of Lake Erie at Dunkirk, NY, on 26 January 1871. His parents were Myron, a ministe3r, and Hester Rose Hopkins Adams, the daughter of a theologian. Adams attended Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, and upon graduation began working as a newspaper reporter and later editor.
In the early years of the 20th century Adams became one of the pioneers in "muckraking journalism" with his exposes on the patent-medicine industry published in Collier's Magazine. He would later write a number of informational articles on health and medicine and become an associate member of the American Medical Association, even though he lacked a background in medicine. Adams was probably the first journalist to write articles on health that could be understood by the average reader
Adams' first novel, "The Clarion", was published in 1914 and told the story of an idealistic editor trying to run an honest newspaper amid unscrupulous advertisers and corrupt politicians. A reoccurring theme throughout Adams' novels was the triumph of idealism over corruption. He wrote biographies on writer Alexander Woollcott, American politician Daniel Webster and President Warren G. Harding. Earlier supporters of Harding tried to suppress Adams' novel "Revelry" (1926) for its portrayal of the various scandals that had plagued the Harding administration. Adams wrote a number of "detective Average Jones" mystery stories that would later be adapted to radio. Under the pseudonym Warner Fabian he wrote several novels about the "Lost Generation" in the years following World War I, of which "Flaming Youth" (1923) was probably his best known.
An expert on the history of New York state, Adams wrote a series of articles for "The New Yorker" on the Erie Canal that were gathered together in 1955 and published under the title "Godfather Stories". He also authored "Canal Town" (1944) that told the story of the canal's construction, "Banner by the Wayside" about a 19th-century troupe of traveling New York actors and "Sunrise to Sunset", which chronicled the rise of the union movement in New York's garment district.
Adams married Elizabeth R. Noyes (1877-1957) of Charleston, WV, in 1898. The couple had two daughters before their divorce in 1915. Later that year he married former stage actress Jane Peyton Van Norman (1880-1946).
Adams died on 15 November 1958, while at his winter residence in Beaufort, SC. He was survived by his daughters, Hester and Katherine. - Writer
- Director
Paul West was born on 26 January 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Great Expectations (1917), At the Mercy of Men (1918) and The Ordeal of Rosetta (1918). He died on 29 October 1918 in Seine River, France.- William Johnston was born on 26 January 1871 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932). He died on 16 February 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Eugen Jensen was born on 26 January 1871 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor, known for Lützows wilde verwegene Jagd (1927), The Man Who Laughs (1921) and The Beggar from Cologne Cathedral (1927). He was married to Rosa Monati and Alice Lach. He died on 23 November 1957 in Munich, Germany.
- Varvara Ryzhova was a notable Russian actress of Maly Theatre in Moscow.
She was born Varvara Nikolaevna Ryzhova on January 27, 1871, in Moscow, Russia, into the Borozdin-Muzil family of renown actors. She studied acting together with Yevdokiya Turchaninova under A. Lensky at Moscow Theatrical College, graduating in 1893 as an actress. That same year she became member of the troupe at Maly Drama Theatre in Moscow.
Varvara Ryzhova was best known in Russia as a comedienne and character actress. However, her range allowed her to perform a variety of characters in a broad repertoire from musical comedy to classic drama. She shone as Feklusha, Anfisa, Ulita, Glumova, Domna Panteleevna, and other characters in plays by Aleksandr Ostrovskiy, such as 'Groza' (aka.. The Tempest), 'Volki i ovtsy' (aka.. Wolves and sheep), 'Les' (aka.. The Forest), and other classical Russian plays.
From 1893 to 1960 Ryzhova was permanent member of Maly Theatre in Moscow. There her stage partners were such actors as Vera Pashennaya, Olga Sadovskaya, Nikolai Annenkov, A. Yablochkina, Varvara Massalitinova, Yevdokiya Turchaninova, Yelena Gogoleva, Varvara Obukhova, Yelena Shatrova, Elina Bystritskaya, Rufina Nifontova, Tatyana Eremeeva, Aleksandr Yuzhin, Mikhail Tsaryov, Aleksandr Ostuzhev, Vladimir Davydov, Sergei Aidarov, Stepan Kuznetsov, Prov Sadovsky, Boris Ravenskikh, Boris Babochkin, Mikhail Zharov, Igor Ilyinsky, Pavel Olenev, Mikhail Sadovsky, Konstantin Zubov, Viktor Khokhryakov, Vsevolod Aksyonov, Nikolai Ryzhov, Evgeniy Vesnik, Viktor Korshunov, Evgeniy Samoylov, and many other notable Russian actors.
Varvara Ryzhova made her film debut in Without Dowry (1937), a classic black-and-white film by director Yakov Protazanov, based on the play 'Bespridannitsa' by A. Ostrovsky. One of her best known film roles was as Princess Khryumina grandmother, a reprise of her stage character in the play 'Gore ot uma' (aka.. Woe from Wit) by Aleksandr Griboyedov. The stage play 'Woe From Wit' was captured on film as Gore ot uma (1952) by director Sergei Alekseyev.
Varvara Ryzhova was designated People's Actor of the USSR, and was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1943). She was decorated with the Order of Lenin twice, and also received other decorations, including the prestigious Soviet Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Varvara Ryzhova died on May 18, 1963, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia. - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Rudolf Klein-Rhoden was born on 27 January 1871 in Ober-Gerspitz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno/Horní Herspice, Czech Republic]. He was an actor and director, known for Die Welt des Scheines (1920), Wer war es? (1921) and Ihre zwei Buckligen (1920). He was married to Claire Klein Krona. He died on 5 January 1936 in Lichterfelde, Berlin, Germany.- William Browning was born on 27 January 1871 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Bulldog Drummond (1922), The Fatal Card (1930) and Pulling a Bone (1931). He was married to Anna May Webster and Catherine Elizabeth Pierce (aka Edith Browning, actress). He died on 21 December 1930 in Middle Village, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Additional Crew
Frederick R. Fish was born on 29 January 1871 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. Frederick R. died in 1934 in North Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
The youngest of three sons, he was born in Norfolk, Ontario, Canada and was educated at McGill University then In 1904 he moved to New York where he appeared in a number of plays on Broadway including The Blue Grass Handicap, The Superstition of Sue and successful The Chorus Lady after which he was invited by D.W. Griffith to join Biograph Studios where he made his film debut in The Greaser's Gauntlet (1908) followed by some 50 other films. Then, in 1910, he wrote his first film script, Sunshine Sue (1910), which was followed by many more. In 1912, he turned to directing with An Outcast Among Outcasts (1912) with a further 40 or so in the next 20 years. Acting wasn't neglected, with his appearing in Griffith's classic Intolerance (1916). Mack Sennett hired him to direct and star in a number of films at his Keystone Studios. He made the successful transition from silents to sound and frequently returned to his roots on Broadway. He married twice, first to actress Alice Louise Perine in October 1898 and had two children After their divorce and while working at Biograph Studios, he met and married actress/screenwriter Bess Meredyth (1890-1969) with whom he had a son.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Seymour Hicks was an extremely successful actor and theatrical impresario who flourished from the late 19th century into the 1930s. He was best remembered for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
Born on January 30, 1871 on the Isle of Jersey, he first trod the boards as a professional at the age of sixteen. He became a musical-comedy star in London in 1894 in "The Shop Girl", which he followed up with "The Circus Girl" (1896) and "A Runaway Girl" (1898), both of which co-starred his wife Ellaline Terriss, whom he had married in 1893.
After the turn of the century, Hicks began writing musical comedies that he and his wife appeared in. These efforts were met with great success. With his earnings from his successful career, he built the Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Seymour Hicks Theatre in 1906. (The Hicks was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909 and eventually the Gielgud Theatre in 1994.) The first production at the Aldwych, Hicks' own musical comedy "The Beauty of Bath", was a hit. Jerome Kern was the composer and P.G. Wodehouse gained his first paying job as a writer on the musical. Wodeouse would be credited with the lyrics to two songs on another Hicks musical, "The Gay Gordons", in 1907.
(Hicks also was instrumental in "discovering" the young Alfred Hitchcock. When the director Hugh Croise walked off the set of the 1923 short Always Tell Your Wife (1923), based on a play by Hicks, starring Seymour Hicks, and produced by his Seymour Hicks Productions, the actor enlisted Hitchcock to finish directing it. It was only the second directing gig for Hitchcock, and though he was uncredited, it was his first film to be screened. (Hitch's first movie, Number 13 (1922), was never completed.))
By the time of the "Always Tell Your Wife" movie, Hicks had successfully navigated the change in theatrical tastes brought about by the Great War. He had begun writing and appearing in light, escapist comedies and satiric farces. Many of the farces he put on in the 1920s were adapted from French plays. Eventually, as his star waned, he worked in music halls.
It was in 1901 that Hicks first played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, the role for which he was most famous. He appeared in "A Christmas Carol" thousands of times on stage and made two movie versions of the Charles Dickens classic, a silent film (Old Scrooge (1913)) in 1913 and a talkie (Scrooge (1935)) in 1935.
By the mid-'30s, he was a well-established and highly respected actor and theatrical impresario. He became the 13th actor to become knighted in 1934, which came three years after the French Republic awarded him the Legion of Honor in recognition of his services in promoting French theater in England. (In 1915, he had won the French Croix de Guerre for entertaining Allied troops in France during in World War One and would win his second Croix de Guerre in World War II for the same service to the Allies.)
Seymour Hicks died on April 6, 1949 in Hampshire, England. He was 78 years old. He had continued appearing on stage and in movies until the year before his death.- Herr Andersen was born on 31 January 1871. He was an actor, known for Dæmonen (1911). He died on 30 May 1948.
- Peter S. Andersen was born on 31 January 1871 in Sønder Arup, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Nattens datter III (1917), Had og Kærlighed (1917) and Søren Søndervold (1942). He died on 30 May 1948 in Denmark.
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Gabriel Veyre was born on 1 February 1871 in France. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Baño de caballos (1896), Pelea de gallos (1896) and Ejercicios a la bayoneta por los alumnos del colegio militar de Chapultepec (1896). He died on 13 January 1936 in Casablanca, Morocco.- Joe Roberts was born on 2 February 1871 in Albany, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Our Hospitality (1923), The Primitive Lover (1922) and Three Ages (1923). He was married to Lillian Stuart Feld Roberts and Nina Mildred Straw Shannon. He died on 28 October 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- James Burns was born on 2 February 1871 in Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for The Road o' Strife (1915). He died on 18 May 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Milla Davenport was born on 4 February 1871 in Zurich, Switzerland. She was an actress, known for Daddy-Long-Legs (1919), The Red Lily (1924) and The Brat (1919). She was married to Harry J. Davenport. She died on 17 May 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Friedrich Ebert Sr. was born on 4 February 1871 in Heidelberg, Germany. He was married to Louise Rump. He died on 28 February 1925 in Berlin, Germany.
- Bertie Wright was born on 6 February 1871 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Little Bit of Fluff (1919), General John Regan (1921) and Young Lochinvar (1923). He died on 7 March 1960 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Hildegard Harring was born on 6 February 1871. She is known for Johan (1921) and När millionerna rullar... (1924).
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Wilhelm Stenhammar was born on 7 February 1871 in Stockholm, Sweden. He is known for Gossip (2000). He was married to Helga Marcia Westerberg. He died on 20 November 1927 in Jonsered, Västergötland, Sweden.- Chester Bishop was born on 7 February 1871 in New Albany, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Millionaire for a Day (1921), Missing Daughters (1924) and Lights Out (1923). He died on 23 May 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA.