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1-50 of 3,688
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert R. Fortier was born Nov. 5, 1926, West Hollywood, Calif. He was a dancer, actor, boat-builder, sailor and a commercial fisherman. A character actor and dancer with stage experience from Broadway in "Pal Joey" (1952) and "Me and Juliet" (1953). Robert Fortier appeared in 47 feature films and TV-productions from 1950 to 1985. He frequently worked with director Robert Altman. Including a memorable crafted role as Edgar Hart in "3 WomenW (1977). Robert Fortier died of a heart attack on New Year's Day, 2005 in Orange, California.- Shirley Chisholm was born on 30 November 1924 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was married to Arthur Hardwick Jr. and Conrad Chisholm. She died on 1 January 2005 in Ormond Beach, Florida, USA.
- Victor White was born on 27 July 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Hood Angels (2003) and Tha Eastsidaz (2000). He died on 1 January 2005 in Hawthorne, California, USA.
- Mark Wallace was born on 23 June 1933 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Pirate Kids: Blackbeard's Lost Treasure (2004), The Sacketts (1979) and Le croisment (2004). He died on 1 January 2005 in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, USA.
- Rose Rondelli was born on 8 January 1934 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was an actress, known for Samba na Vila (1956), Entre Mulheres e Espiões (1961) and Se Segura, Malandro! (1978). She was married to Chico Anysio and Carlos Gil. She died on 1 January 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Hugh Davies was born on 23 April 1943 in Exmouth, Devon, England, UK. He is known for Madame Sin (1972) and Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1993). He died on 1 January 2005 in London, England, UK.- Henryk Korbut was born on 24 September 1921 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Skarb (1949) and Blisko, coraz blizej (1983). He died on 1 January 2005 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Robert Matsui was born on 17 September 1941 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was married to Doris Matsui. He died on 1 January 2005 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Director
Barbara Fijewska was born on 6 October 1919 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. She was an actress and director, known for Dwie godziny (1946), Tajemnica dzikiego szybu (1956) and Television Theater (1953). She died on 1 January 2005 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Charles Watson was born on 16 November 1899. He died on 1 January 2005.
- Veteran stuntman, actor, and horse trainer Sandy Sanders was born on May 23, 1919 in Hereford, Texas. Sanders grew up all over the country. Following service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Sandy went on to put together a horse act. Sanders ran across a film crew while working in Kansas and decided to try his luck in Hollywood, California after a producer suggested that idea to him. Sandy was hired as Gene Autry's stunt double at Columbia soon thereafter. Sanders performed stunts and acted in many movies and television shows in a career that spanned four decades. Moreover, Sandy was also a rope and horse trainer, a riding stable owner, and even a riding teacher both during and in between film gigs. Sanders died at age 85 on January 2, 2005 in Santa Maria, California.
- Barbara Pilavin was born on 27 September 1923. She was an actress, known for A League of Their Own (1992), 10 to Midnight (1983) and Constantine (2005). She died on 2 January 2005 in West Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cyril Fletcher enjoyed something of a renaissance in his long comedy career in 1972 when TV producer and presenter Esther Rantzen asked him to join the consumer program That's Life and recite some of his 'Odd Odes'. He proved such a success with the audience that he became a fixture of the show for eight years. Fletcher had been composing and performing his comic odes as a child and throughout his career as a first class comedian and pantomime 'dame' they were a staple part of his act. He was part of British variety's heyday both as a producer and performer and once said of the genre: "Variety as a cradle for stardom was unsurpassed. It is an exciting and exacting science."
Cyril Trevellian Fletcher was born in 1913. He began writing comic poetry when he was still at school and at an early age had ambitions to become a classical actor. His first job was as an insurance clerk but a chance meeting with the producer Greatorex Newman led to him appearing in the Fols De Rols Concert Party in 1936 at Hastings, Sussex.
Fletcher went on to appear at the Holborn Empire in London and was soon given his own radio series with the BBC. He topped bills in variety all over Britain and was one of the first comedians to appear on television at the BBC's new Alexandra Palace in the first pantomime ever televised, Dick Whittington.
After World War Two he and his wife Betty Astell presented summer shows and pantomimes throughout Britain.
On television Fletcher was a regular on What's My Line? and TV's first religious program Sunday Story but it was his lugubrious voice and cozy presence on That's Life that made him a household name in later years. Gardening was one of his great loves and for 14 years he was presenter of ATV's Gardening Time and in 1990 Cyril Fletcher's Lifestyle Garden.
He and his wife eventually retired to Guernsey in the Channel Islands but he still occasionally delighted audiences with his one man show After Dinner with Cyril Fletcher. He wrote an autobiography, Nice One, Cyril.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Paul Manning was born on 3 December 1959 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for ER (1994), L.A. Law (1986) and Clubhouse (2004). He was married to Rebeca Medina. He died on 2 January 2005 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Cyril Montague Pennington-Richards was born in London. He began his film career producing religious films for J. Arthur Rank's Religious Film Society. He entered the "mainstream" film industry as a cinematographer with Ireland's Border Line (1938), a low-budget vehicle for Irish comic actor Jimmy O'Dea. During World War II Richards was attached to the renowned documentary unit The Crown Film Unit, and was the cinematographer on Humphrey Jennings famous Fires Were Started (1943). After the war ended he continued as a cinematographer, working on many films directed by his former colleagues in the CFU, such as Brian Desmond Hurst's Theirs Is the Glory (1946), Jack Lee's The Wooden Horse (1950) and Pat Jackson's White Corridors (1951).
He was the cinematographer on Hurst's A Christmas Carol (1951), considered by many to be the definitive version of the famous Charles Dickens novel. He worked with noted American director Edward Dmytryk, who was making films in England due to his being blacklisted during the notorious McCarthy "Red Scare" era in the US. Richards made his directorial debut with the comedy The Horse's Mouth (1953), and made his reputation with a series of modest, somewhat whimsical comedies over the next 20+ years. He made his final film, the modestly budgeted adventure Sky Pirates (1980), in 1977, after which he retired.- Doreen Dawn was born on 4 April 1923 in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Second Fiddle (1957) and The Son of Robin Hood (1958). She died on 2 January 2005 in Wandsworth, London, England, UK.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Of mixed German and English family, Erwin studied briefly at an art in Berlin but was then forced to leave and find a job. A friend introduced him to the great genius of German silent films, F.W. Murnau who looked at Erwin's paintings and asked him to become a camera assistant on his next (and final) picture, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931). Because Murnau was a promiscuous homosexual, Hillier's father forced Erwin to stop working with Murnau. Murnau took no offence and instead introduced Erwin to another director friend of his: Fritz Lang. So Erwin's first real job was as a camera assistant on Lang's first sound film, M (1931), starring Peter Lorre.- Teresa Blake was born on 9 October 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was married to Larry J. Blake. She died on 2 January 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Composer
Charles Wilp was born on 15 September 1932 in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Programm ohne Sendung (1965), Spur eines Mädchens (1967) and Stille (2020). He died on 2 January 2005 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Stan Watt was born on 23 January 1930 in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972), Love of Life (1951) and Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950). He was married to Bonnie Watt. He died on 2 January 2005 in Rumson, New Jersey, USA.- Maria Pichler was born on 8 May 1926 in Bremen, Germany. She was an actress, known for Bruder Esel (1996), Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei (1996) and Der Neger (1966). She died on 2 January 2005 in Berlin, Germany.
- Birth name : Maria Lourdes Murray Siblings: Benjamin Roque Jr. Elizabeth RoqueCamara Helen Roque Newman Arlene Roque Manabat Amelita Jean Roque Agapito Carol Roque Bhabes Roque Parents: Amelia Roque Benjamin Roque Children: Ronald Roque Marylourd Alipio Birthplace:Nagtahan, Metro Manila Occupation: Actress, Model, Businesswoman Enjoyed traveling around the world. Collections of Japanese Dolls and ornaments.
- Actor
- Editorial Department
Altamiro Martins was an actor, known for Chamas no cafezal (1954), The King of the Cattle (1996) and A Sogra (1954). He was married to Vera Nunes. He died on 2 January 2005 in Brazil.- Art Department
Frank Kelly Freas was born on 27 August 1922 in Hornell, New York, USA. He is known for Gentlemen Broncos (2009), Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1991) and Sightings (1991). He was married to Laura Brodian and Pauline H. Bussard. He died on 2 January 2005 in West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sound Department
- Actor
Michael Stoll was an actor, known for Ângela (1951), Appassionata (1952) and Luz Apagada (1953). He died on 2 January 2005 in Brazil.- After graduating from St. Louis University in 1947 and serving a hitch in the Marines, Warren Kemmerling began his professional acting career. He debuted on Broadway in 1953 in a new musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, "Me and Juliet". After several years of performing in Broadway plays and musicals, which included another Rodgers & Hammerstein effort, "Pipe Dream", as well a musical called "Ankles Aweigh", he decided to try his hand in Hollywood. He spent the next thirty-odd years as a supporting player, mainly in television, making several appearances in, among other shows, Gunsmoke (1955), Bonanza (1959), Ironside (1967), and How the West Was Won (1976). He appeared in King (1978) as President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Kemmerling served for 18 years on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), where he was a leading advocate of benefits for actors. After his death in 2005, he received a posthumous tribute at that year's SAG Awards. - Robert Shaw was born on 15 September 1915 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Son of the Guardsman (1946), 20, 000 Men a Year (1939) and Adam Had Four Sons (1941). He was married to Mary Sue Mills. He died on 3 January 2005 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Writer
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Will Eisner was an American comic book artist and writer of Austrian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish descent. He was one of the pioneering artists of the American comic book industry. He is most famous for creating the masked crime-fighter Spirit/Denny Colt, and for being the main creator of the original eponymous series "the Spirit" (1940-1952). Later, Eisner worked primarily with graphic novels. He is credited with popularizing the term "graphic novel" in 1978. The Eisner Award (for creative achievement in American comic books) and the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame were both named after him.
In 1917, Eisner was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Both of his parents were first-generation European-Jewish immigrants, and distant relatives of each other. Eisner's father was the artist Shmuel "Samuel" Eisner (born 1886) from Austria-Hungary. Before World War I, Shmuel worked in Vienna, painting murals for wealthy patrons and for Catholic churches. He migrated to the United States, primarily to avoid conscription. He found work in New York City, painting backdrops for vaudeville and for the Jewish theater.
Eisner's mother was the Romanian-Jewish Fannie Ingber (born 1891). She was born aboard a ship which transported her immigrant parents to the United States. Ingber's parents died c. 1901, when she was 10-years-old. She was then primarily raised by her older stepsister. Her stepsister turned out to be a harsh taskmaster, who kept Ingber mostly preoccupied with chores. Ingber was not allowed to socialize with others or to attend school. She was consequently illiterate.
Will was the eldest of three children born to the Eisner family. His family was impoverished, and moved frequently during his childhood. Eisner was often a target of anti-Semitic insults from his schoolmates, and was frequently involved in physical confrontations with them. His family was not particularly religious.
During his childhood and adolescence, Eisner was an avid reader of pulp magazines. He was also interested in films, particularly enjoying the avant-garde films of Man Ray (1890-1976). He aspired to become an artist, and Shmuel bought art supplies for his son. In 1930, Fannie pressured her son to get a paying job to supplement the family income. His first job was selling newspapers on street corners. There was intense competition among newsboys for the best locations, and Eisner often had to fight competing newsboys,
Eisner received his secondary education at the DeWitt Clinton High School, an all-boys public high school located in The Bronx. He drew art for the school newspaper "The Clintonian", for its literary magazine "The Magpie" and for its yearbook. His early artwork was primarily influenced by the work of commercial artist J. C. Leyendecker (1874-1951), one of the most famous cover artists of his era. Besides illustrations, Eisner worked on scenic design for the school's theater.
Following his graduation from high school, Eisner studied art at the "Art Students League of New York" , an art school located in Manhattan. His teacher there was the veteran artist George Bridgman (c. 1864-1943), who specialized in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Following his graduation, Eisner was hired as an advertising writer-cartoonist by the newspaper "New York American". The newspaper was owned at the time by William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).
To supplement his income, Eisner started drawing illustration for pulp magazines. His rate at the time was 10 dollars for every completed page. Among his early employers was the Western-themed magazine "Western Sheriffs and Outlaws". In 1936, his high-school friend Bob Kane (1915-1998) suggested to him that he should also try to sell art to comic books. For most of the 1930s, American comic books consisted mostly of comic strip reprints in color. By 1935, some of them had started including new material in their publications.
Eisner fist sold new material to the comic book magazine "Wow, What A Magazine! ", by convincing its editor Jerry Iger (1903-1990) that he could deliver quality work. Eisner's first series character was Captain Scott Dalton, an globe-trotting adventurer who searched for rare artifacts. "Wow" also published further series by Eisner, including the pirate-themed series "The Flame" and the spy-themed series "Harry Karry".
"Wow" only lasted for 4 issues (July-November, 1936). Afterwards Eisner and Jerry Iger became business partners, founding the art studio "Eisner & Iger". It was one of the early comic book "packagers", companies which sold original material to fledgling comic book publishers. Eisner sold art at the rate of 1.50 dollars per page. Among the studio's main customers were the companies Fiction House, Fox Feature Syndicate, and Quality Comics. They also sold material to the British publisher Boardman Books. The company was profitable. In 1939, Eisner had an income of 25,000 dollars. A respectable income, considering that the Great Depression was still ongoing.
Among the characters Eisner created or co-created were the jungle girl Sheena, Queen of the Jungle/Sheena Rivington (for Fiction House), the size-changing superhero Doll Man/Darrel Dane (for Quality Comics), and the ace pilot Blackhawk (for Quality Comics). Sheena was among the earliest female jungle heroes, and has been described as a female Tarzan. She became Fiction House's most famous character, and inspired many derivative jungle girl heroines. Doll Man was Quality's first super-powered character and a pioneer in the genre of superheroes who could shrink in size. He predated characters such as Ant-Man/Hank Pym and Atom/Ray Palmer by two decades. Blackhawk served as the leader of the military-themed group "The Blackhawks", featured in one of Quality's longest-running series. After Quality went out of business, the series was continued by DC Comics.
In 1939, Eisner was involved in a legal controversy. At the time, the most popular superhero character was Superman/Clark Kent, published by an early incarnation of DC Comics. Victor Fox (born 1893), the owner of the Fox Feature Syndicate, commissioned Eisner to create a Superman-like character. Eisner created Wonder Man/Fred Carson, a character empowered by a magic ring. Despite a different origin story, Wonder Man appeared as an imitation of Superman. Wonder Man looked similar to Superman (though he had blonde hair instead of Superman's black hair), wore a similar costume, and had near-identical powers. DC Comics sued the Fox Feature Syndicate for copyright infringement, and won the case in court. Fox and Eisner had to cease using Wonder Man as a character. This was the first copyright lawsuit in comic book history.
Also in 1939, Eisner and Iger dissolved their business partnership. Their motivation for this decision is unclear. Eisner sold his share in their company at the price of 20,000. In December 1939, Eisner received a business proposal Henry Martin, sales manager of "The Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate". A number of Sunday newspapers wanted to compete with their contemporary high-selling comic books, by publishing a comic-book insert into the newspapers. They wanted Eisner to handle this insert and to provide its contents. Eisner took the offer.
Eisner provided three new characters as series protagonists for the comic-book insert: the Spirit/Denny Colt, Lady Luck/Brenda Banks, and Mr. Mystic/Ken. By agreement, the characters were copyrighted in the name of Everett M. "Busy" Arnold (1899 -1974), Quality Comics' publisher who had agreed to publish the insert. But by the terms of this agreement, their copyright ownership would revert to Eisner himself if their partnership dissolved. This eventually occurred, and the trio were among the earliest creator-owned characters in American comics.
The Spirit served as the main series for the comic-book insert, with the other two as back-up series. The Sunday supplement was nicknamed "The Spirit Section"). It was published in 20 newspapers, with a combined circulation of 5 million copies. It was published from 1940 to 1952.
In late 1941 or early 1942, Eisner was drafted by the United States Army. He was 25-years-old and he was of eligible age to serve in then-ongoing World War II (1939-1945). He was initially assigned to work camp newspaper at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located in Aberdeen. His comics were used as training material for soldiers. He became a warrant officer.
During his military service, Eisner provided new illustrations for the Baltimore-based military magazine "Army Motors", and served as an editor to the Pentagon-based ordnance magazine "Firepower". He would continue to work for "Army Motors" until 1950, and then continue to work for its successor publication , "PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly" until 1971, While working for "Army Motors", Eisner created the series character Joe Dope. Dope was the protagonist in an educational comic strip aimed at a military audience. He was depicted as a bumbling soldier, and his stories illustrated various methods of preventive maintenance of various military equipment and weapons.
While Eisner was preoccupied with military service, he supervised an entire studio which continued to work on the Spirit. Several of his assistants served as ghost writers and ghost artists of the Spirit from 1942 until Eisner's return to civilian life in 1945. His most notable assistant at the time was Jules Feiffer (1929-), later a leading editorial cartoonist in his own right. Other known ghost artists of the Spirit were Jack Cole (1914-1958) and Lou Fine (1914-1971). Jack Keller (1922-2003) worked as a background artist on the strip. Known ghost writers of the Spirit include the pulp fiction writer Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) and the novelist William Woolfolk (1917-2003).
In 1945 took over as the writer and artist of the Spirit again. The Spirit was a masked crime-fighter, wearing a simple costume. The costume included a blue domino mask, a business suit, a white shirt, a red necktie, a fedora hat, and gloves. His real identity was that of Denny Colt, a criminologists who was considered deceased following a short period under suspended animation. His headquarters were located underneath his own tombstone. His adventures were heavily influenced by film noir, and featured a "gritty, detailed view of big-city life", with drama taking place in urban streets, dilapidated tenements, and smoke-filled back rooms.
Eisner often combined elements from different genres in the Spirit series, wanting to experiment in story style. The series was noted for its frequent use of femme fatales, The Spirit's main love interest was the feisty feminist Ellen Dolan, his archenemy was the mysterious master-of-disguise known as the Octopus (whose real face was never depicted), and his most prominent sidekick was Ebony White. Ebony was an African-American taxi driver, and was among the earliest major African-American characters in comics. He was phased out of the series in 1949.
The Spirit's original series ended on October 5, 1952, possibly due to declining sales. From 1940 to 1950, Spirit stories were reprinted in comic book form by Quality Comics. From 1952 to 1954, they were reprinted by Fiction House. From 1966 to 1967, the stories were reprinted by Harvey Comics. For this edition, Eisner illustrated original covers, and a few original stories to supplement the reprints.
Back in 1948, Eisner formed the company American Visuals Corporation, which produced instructional materials for the government, related agencies, and businesses. His main customer was the United States Army, for which he continued to produce military publications until the 1970s. Other prominent clients of the American Visuals Corporation were the football team Baltimore Colts, the New York Telephone, and RCA Records.
In 1978, Eisner published his first graphic novel, called "A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories". It was a cycle of connected short stories, depicting the lives of impoverished Jewish characters within a tenement in New York City. From this point onward, he produced about one graphic novel per year. Among his most notable graphic novels was "Fagin the Jew" (2003), a biography of the literary villain introduced in the serial novel "Oliver Twist" (1837-1839). Eisner disliked Fagin's stereotypical depiction in the original novel, and wanted to depict Fagin as a complex and conflicted individual. The story was depicted as a narrative presented by Fagin himself, the night before his execution by hanging.
In the last decades of his life, Eisner was a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He taught students essential lessons on cartooning. He also wrote the ,educational books "Comics and Sequential Art" (1985) and "Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative" (1996).
On December 22, 2004, Eisner had a quadruple bypass surgery. On January 3, 2005, he died due to surgery-related complications. He was 87-years-old at the time of his death. A memorial service was held for him at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, an art gallery located in in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Eisner was survived by his wife Ann Weingarten Eisner, and by their son, John. His only known daughter, Alice Eisner, had predeceased him in 1970.- Willie Thall was an actor, known for The General Store (1952), Shock Theatre (1960) and The 50/50 Club (1949). He died on 3 January 2005 in the USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Rand Hopkins was born on 18 February 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Quantum Leap (1989) and The Boy King (1986). He died on 3 January 2005 in Pine Lake, DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.- Reva Milne was born on 11 October 1917. She died on 3 January 2005 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Gérard Valet was born on 24 August 1932 in Paris, France. He was a director and writer, known for Chine (1971), La fleur et le fusil (1975) and Moi, Tintin (1976). He died on 3 January 2005 in Brussels, Belgium.- Gordon Yaeger was born on 5 May 1927. He was an actor, known for AFL-NFL World Championship Game (1967). He was married to Nancy. He died on 3 January 2005 in Cheektowaga, New York, USA.
- Michael Häfner was born on 14 October 1959 in Germany. He was an actor, known for Café Meineid (1990), Der Komödienstadel (1959) and Die Rosenheim-Cops (2002). He died on 3 January 2005 in Munich, Germany.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Mario Sellés was born on 11 September 1931 in Sueca, Valencia, Spain. He was a composer, known for El mejor regalo (1975), Continental (1989) and Todos eran culpables (1962). He died on 3 January 2005 in Madrid, Spain.- Pearl Leidy was born on 23 March 1915 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. She was an actress, known for The Pandora Directive (1996), The Zodiac Killer (1971) and Teenage Bonnie and Klepto Clyde (1993). She died on 3 January 2005 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
- Special Effects
Jerrie Speed was born on 3 November 1951 in Long Beach, California, USA. Jerrie is known for Point Blank (1998), Angels with Angles (2005) and Route 9 (1998). Jerrie was married to Ken Speed. Jerrie died on 3 January 2005 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.- Françoise Audé was born in 1939. She died on 3 January 2005.
- Néstor Ibarra was born on 5 November 1938 in Puán, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Yo gané el prode, ¿y usted? (1973), Shared Secrets (1998) and Recursos humanos (2002). He died on 3 January 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Sassy comedienne Thelma White became a rather reluctant entry into cult film history with her infamous role as blonde vixen "Mae Colman", who pushes marijuana ("demon weed") onto unsuspecting school-age youths in the classic 1930s turkey Reefer Madness (1936) (originally titled "Tell Your Children"). It was not how she would have liked to be remembered, but obviously the fates decided differently. In the long run, Thelma managed to become a fairly good sport about the whole thing, finally making peace with the cult embrace.
She was born Thelma Wolpa in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1910, the daughter of itinerant carnival actors who traveled throughout the Midwest. She was barely two-years-old by the time she found herself part of the family circus act and received prime billing as "Baby Dimples". By age 10, she was old enough to join the popular singing and dancing team of "The White Sisters".
Thelma peaked fairly early on the vaudeville circuit with both the Ziegfeld Follies and Earl Carroll Revues, and went on to appear on Broadway alongside such stars as Milton Berle. Radio work started coming Thelma's way and, then, the movies.
RKO signed her up in 1928 and, while there, saw occasional freelancing trades to other studios for some of their two-reeler talkies. A number of these comedies, as well as some musicals, notably a series of Pathé, Vitaphone and MGM shorts, showcased the brightest comics of the day including Edgar Kennedy and Leon Errol. In her heyday, Thelma got to appear with the likes of W.C. Fields and Jack Benny. Progressing to "B" level feature work by 1935, the starlet co-starred with Richard Talmadge in the crimer Never Too Late (1935) before being pressured by the studio into appearing in the over-the-top propaganda drug film written by an overzealous religious group.
In "Tell Your Children," Thelma played a predatory vamp who is goaded on by her dope-pushing boyfriend into luring young students back to her apartment for a toke of the weed and resulting sex parties. She ends up regretting her ways and commits suicide by jumping out a window. The film was a certifiable bomb. The acting was horrible, the direction was wildly melodramatic and the writing inane and unintentionally funny. Nobody escaped its wrath and it pretty much poisoned Thelma's film career.
The movie was re-discovered in 1972 and given the cool, updated, hip name of Reefer Madness (1936). It had audiences rolling in the aisles, especially the ones who were high, and deservedly earned its place in the leagues of film cultdom. As for Thelma, she continued on with her career as best she could. Better known for her active private life, which included affairs with members of both sexes, she was reduced to bit roles once again with the exception of some prominent billing in the "Poverty Row" pics Spy Train (1943) and Bowery Champs (1944).
During the war, Thelma gamely went overseas as a USO performer alongside other such personalities as Carmen Miranda, but was forced to abandon her plans after contracting a rare form of polio while performing in the Aleutian Islands. Left bedridden and partially crippled for a number of years, she recovered enough to appear in a few more films and made her last with Mary Lou (1948). She subsequently became an agent for a number of Hollywood stars, including Debbie Reynolds, Robert Blake, James Coburn and actress-turned-cloistered-nun Dolores Hart. She also ventured into occasional film and TV producing.
Two failed marriages to actors Claude Stroud and Max Hoffman Jr. in the 30s and 40s led to a long and happy one with actor-cum-costume designer Maurice Millard. She was widowed in 1999 after 42 years. She had no children by her marriages.
Thelma died of pneumonia at the age of 94 on January 11, 2005, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.- For over three decades Vajramuni has been a "feared" and respected household name mainly for skillfully portraying negative roles in Kannada language films. He has acted in more than 340 Kannada movies. He made his debut in "Mallmamma Pavada" which was directed by renowned Putana Kanagal, and thereafter continued acting in movies until he faced serious health problems. During this time he also produced five Kannada films. He stopped acting in films when he developed multiple complication and was on dialysis. On January 5, 2005 following kidney failure he passed in Bangalore, leaving behind a sorrowing wife and three sons.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Humphrey Carpenter was born on 29 April 1946 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He was a writer and director, known for Jackanory (1965), Mr. Majeika (1988) and Tolkien Remembered (1984). He was married to Mari Christina Prichard. He died on 4 January 2005 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Writer
Franci Krizaj was born on 20 January 1936 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Franci was an assistant director and director, known for Zarota (1964), Do Not Come Back Along the Same Road (1965) and Potraga za zmajem (1961). Franci died on 4 January 2005 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Guy Pedersen was born on 10 June 1930 in Grand-Fort Philippe, France. He was a composer and actor, known for Priceless (2006), Nacho Libre (2006) and Going Places (1974). He died on 4 January 2005 in Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Michael Rothery was born on 30 April 1931 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. He was a director and actor, known for Discovery (1962), Studio Pacific (1959) and The Great Debate (1974). He died on 4 January 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Samarendra Nath Biswas was born on 1 May 1926 in Bengal Presidency, British India. He died on 4 January 2005.
- Robert Heilbroner was born on 24 March 1919 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Shirley Eleanor T. Davis and Joan Knapp. He died on 4 January 2005 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Orozbek Kutmanaliyev was born on 15 February 1933 in Sokulskiy rayon, Kirghiz SSR, USSR. He was an actor, known for Belyy parokhod (1976), Rannie zhuravli (1980) and Volchya yama (1984). He died on 4 January 2005.
- Konstantin Kald was born on 9 August 1917 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He was an actor, known for Reigi õpetaja (1978), Juunikuu päevad (1957) and Den pervyy, den posledniy (1978). He died on 4 January 2005 in Sausti, Estonia.
- Gabrielle Daye was a distinguished character actress who had a long career both on stage and film. She worked with many of Britain's leading directors, including John Schlesinger, Lindsay Anderson and Richard Attenborough and was best known on television for her role as Beattie Pearson, Albert Tatlock's daughter in Coronation Street (1960), between 1975 and 1983. She also starred as the sharp-tongued Mrs Pring in Bless Me, Father (1978-1981), the hit TV comedy starring Arthur Lowe as a hapless Catholic priest.
Born in Manchester on October 2, 1911, she was educated at the city's Notre Dame High School for Girls before studying drama at Mordern Gray Academy, Manchester.
A diminutive but feisty figure, she made her professional debut at Manchester Repertory Company in productions of Love on the Dole and When We Are Married and later appeared in London in The Glass Slipper, directed by Robert Donat, Joan of Arc at the Stake opposite Ingrid Bergman and in Peter Hall's 1955 production of The Waltz of the Toreadors.
She was a regular performer at the Royal Court Theatre where her work included The Seagull, The Daughter-in-Law, The Merry-Go-Round, directed by Peter Gill, and Lindsay Anderson's acclaimed 1969 production of David Storey's In Celebration. She also worked for Anderson when she played Mrs Holly in the Ben Travers farce The Bed Before Yesterday at the Lyric in 1975.
At The Old Vic Theatre she played Sarah in Eden End, directed by Laurence Olivier.
Her many films included The Patricia Neal Story, with Dirk Bogarde and Glenda Jackson, Ten Rillington Place, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, O Lucky Man and Sunday Bloody Sunday. She made many notable TV guest appearances including Alan Bennett's Sunset Across the Bay (1975).