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- Frances Ensemplare was born on 3 September 1934 in New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Sopranos (1999), Sue (1997) and The Immaculate Misconception (2006). She was married to Gaetano Ensemplare. She died on 9 December 2017 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Raymond Serra was born on 13 August 1936 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and Manhattan (1979). He was married to Gayle Kaizer. He died on 20 June 2003 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Jerry Robinson was an American comic book artist from Trenton, New Jersey. He was one of the earliest creative staff of the "Batman" stories by DC Comics. Robinson is primarily remembered for co-creating two popular characters: Robin/Dick Grayson and the Joker. The first was the most prominent sidekick hero in comics, and the second was one of the most prominent super-villains. Robinson was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
In 1922, Robinson was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Trenton briefly served as the capital of the United States in 1784. Robinson was born to a Jewish family. His father was entrepreneur Benjamin Robinson. Benjamin was from European Russia (the European regions of the Russian Empire). He had emigrated to the United States in 1895, primarily to avoid conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. Mae Robinson (Robinson's mother) was a bookkeeper from Lower Manhattan.
As a teenager, Robinson aspired to become a journalist. He studied journalism at Columbia University, but dropped out before earning a degree. In 1939, Robinson was hired by Bob Kane to serve as an assistant for his small artist studio. Kane had already created the Batman character, and needed help to produce more stories. His new job required Robinson to move to The Bronx, as he had to live in proximity to Kane's own residence.
Robinson started out as both a letterer and a background inker for the "Batman" stories. He was then entrusted with inking secondary figures in the stories. By 1940, Robinson became the Batman series' primary inker, while George Roussos served as the inker for the background art. To supplement their income, Robinson and Roussos also worked as inkers and background artists for the superhero comic series "Target and the Targeteers", published by Novelty Press.
In late 1940 or early 1941, Robinson became a company staffer for National Comics (a predecessor for DC Comics). National was the publisher for Batman, and reportedly wanted the exclusive services of the people who were working in the popular "Batman" series.
In 1940, Bob Kane and Bill Finger contemplated adding a sidekick figure to the Batman series. Robinson suggested code-naming the character "Robin", naming him after Robin Hood. Robinson had reportedly read several books about Robin Hood as a boy. The trio of co-creators worked on Robin's origin story. Robin/Dick Grayson was depicted as an orphaned circus performer who becomes the legal ward of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The boy sidekick soon became a popular character, and served as the main inspiration for the creation of several other sidekick characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books (c. 1938-1956).
Also in 1940, Kane, Finger, and Robinson created a new super-villain, the Joker. The character's appearance was modeled on the visual appearance of actor Conrad Veidt in the film, "The Man Who Laughs" (1928). In the film, Veidt was portraying Gwynplaine, a Victor Hugo character whose mouth has been mutilated into a perpetual grin. Like him, the Joker had a permanent mirthless smile. Robinson reportedly came up with the initial idea for creating the new villain, but Bob Kane claimed in interviews that it was Kane and Finger who had the idea to model the character on Veidt.
Robinson's other contributions to the "Batman" supporting cast was redesigning Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth into a slender figure, and offering ideas for the design of the villain Two-Face/Harvey Dent. He is not credited with creating either of the two characters, but he had a hand in their development.
In 1943, Bob Kane stopped drawing new comic book stories for Batman, as he wanted to focus on the "Batman" newspaper comic strip. Robinson took over the artist duties for the Batman comic book stories, primarily sharing this role with Dick Sprang. They both served as ghost artists, with Kane continuing to be credited as the series' artist.
In 1944, Robinson created his own artist studio. His business partner was fellow comics artist Mort Meskin (1916-1995), who had worked extensively for Fiction House, MLJ Comics (later renamed to Archie Comics), and National Comics. The main customer of their small studio was Spark Publications (1944-1946), a Massachusetts-based company owned by pulp fiction writer Ken Crossen ( 1910 - 1981). Spark went bankrupt in 1946, due to a decline in its sales. Consequently, Robinson and Meskin shut down their own studio.
During the next several years, Robinson worked as a freelance artist, and as an illustrator for textbooks. In the 1950s, Robinson worked as a cover artist for "Playbill" (1884-), a monthly magazine whose main audience is theatergoers. He also started producing political cartoons for newspapers. In the 1960s, he started working primarily as a newspaper cartoonist. He was the only credited creator for the syndicated comic strip "True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs" (1965-1967), which humorously depicted real-life error perpetrated by American students.
In 1967, Robinson was elected as the new president of the National Cartoonists Society (1946-). It is an organization for professional cartoonists in the United States, though it works primarily as a way for cartoonists to socialize with each other, rather than a labor union. His term ended in 1969. From 1973 to 1975, Robinson served as the president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
In 1974, Robinson published the non-fiction book "The Comics". It was a comprehensive guide the history of newspaper comic strips. In the mid-1970s, Robinson championed creator rights for comic book creators. He was one of the leaders of a campaign that demanded full recognition and compensation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as the creators of Superman. In 1975, DC Comics agreed to grant lifetime stipends and a credit in all broadcast and published Superman work to Siegel and Shuster.
In 1978, Robinson established "CartoonArts International", a New York City-based cartooning newspaper syndication service which distributes political and humor cartoons, caricatures, and graphics internationally. By the 2010s, the syndication service represented about 550 artists from 75 different countries.
In 1999, Robinson co-created the manga series "Astra", working with artists Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi. Originally published in Japanese, the series was translated and published in English by an imprint of Central Park Media (1990-2009). It was Robinson's first comic-book related work in decades.
In May 2007, Robinson was hired as a creative consultant for DC Comics. The extent of his duties to the company was left undefined in its press release. In December 2011, Robinson died in his sleep in Staten Island. He was 89-years-old. He was survived by his wife Gro Bagn and two of their children. His legacy endures as his comic book creations remain popular.- Writer
- Actor
James McCausland was born in New York City where he worked in various news organisations and publications, specialising in finance. He worked at United Press International, the monthly Finance Magazine as senior editor and was in charge of all internal and external communications at the American Stock Exchange. He has been involved in the starting up of several publications including Good Weekend and the Sunday Age.
He arrived in Australia from New York in 1971, and was a financial journalist and sub-editor for the Murdoch paper The Australian in the 1970s and night editor and business manager for The Age in the 1980s, before going into public relations.- Richard Waring was born on 27 May 1910 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Mr. Skeffington (1944), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) and Studio One (1948). He was married to Florida Friebus. He died on 18 January 1993 in City Island, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Galt MacDermot was born on 18 December 1928 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. He was a composer, known for Hair (1979), Zodiac (2007) and Forrest Gump (1994). He was married to Marlene Bruynzeel. He died on 17 December 2018 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Henry Scarpelli was born on 30 July 1930 in Richmond Hill, Staten Island, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for The Last Victim (1976) and The Super Weapon (1976). He was married to Claire Lagana. He died on 4 April 2010 in Grasmere, Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Director
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Mick Rock was born on 21 November 1948 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. He was a director, known for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), David Bowie: The Jean Genie (1972) and David Bowie: John, I'm Only Dancing (1972). He was married to Pati and Sheila Rock. He died on 18 November 2021 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- David D'Amato was born on 4 July 1961. He died on 13 March 2017 in Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Roy Halee was born on 27 September 1899 in the USA. He was an actor, known for Sappy New Year (1961), Thousand Smile Check-Up (1960) and Deep Sea Doodle (1960). He died on 31 May 1960 in Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Alexander F. Frank was born in 1866 in England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for A Suspicious Wife (1914), The Tattooed Man (1915) and In Raw Color (1915). He died on 14 December 1939 in Long Island City, New York, USA.- Anthony Amato was born on July 21, 1920 in Minori, Campania, Italy. He met his future wife, Sally Amato, while performing in a musical comedy production at the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. They were married in 1945. In 1948, Tony and Sally opened the Amato Opera Theater in the basement of Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Greenwich Village. They later moved to 159 Bleecker Street where they developed one of the first off-Broadway theater companies. In 1963, the Amato Opera Theater moved to 319 Bowery Street where they are still currently based. He continues to work as Artistic Director. Tony and Sally received many accolades during their fifty-two years working in theater. They were inducted into the City Lore's Peoples' Hall of Fame and received commendations from the American Cultural Roundtable and the Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee. They were also the subject of a PBS documentary, "Amato: A Love Affair With Opera". Sadly, Sally passed away on 16 August 2000 after a a long illness. Her funeral was held on 19 August 2000 at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Greenwich Village and she is buried at City Island Cemetery.
- Todd Muchita was born on 12 July 1975 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Mobb Deep: Peer Pressure (1992) and Mobb Deep: Hell on Earth (Front Lines) (1996). He died on 24 April 1997 in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Charlie Balducci was an actor, known for Nobody's Perfect (2016), Hart Blvd. and Staten Island (2007). He died on 25 July 2020 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.
- Shari Freels was born on 18 December 1957 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Girl 6 (1996). She died on 22 January 2023 in Roosevelt Island, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Ethyl Eichelberger was born on 17 July 1945 in Pekin, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Equalizer (1985), Great Performances (1971) and Leg Work (1987). He died on 12 August 1990 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.
- Lillian Broderick was born on 9 March 1895 in New York, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Our Mutual Girl (1914), Our Mutual Girl, No. 27 (1914) and Our Mutual Girl, No. 20 (1914). She was married to Joe Schenck. She died on 28 March 1946 in Long Island City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Sound Department
- Soundtrack
Quentin Elias was born on 10 May 1974 in Mende, Lozère, France. He was an actor, known for The Banksters, Madoff with America (2013), Between Love & Goodbye (2008) and College Debts (2015). He died on 25 February 2014 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Bruce McRae born in India in 1867 of Scot and English Parents. Stage performer of British and American Theatre. He went to New Zealand at the age of 16 where he worked in cattle ranching, moved to Australia for five years and became a surveyor. In 1890, he moved to the United States where he became manager of a cattle ranch in Laramie, Wyoming and a year later made his first appearance on stage supporting Forbes Robertson in 'Thermidor' at Proctor's 23nd Street Theatre, became highly well-known on Broadway and the English Theatres, perhaps his best known stage role as Dr. Watson with William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes in the early 1910's. handsome gentleman in a handful of drama and action movies, first the starring role in 'The Ring and the Man' directed by Francis Powers at the Famous Players Film Company in 1914, perhaps best remembered as the Bookie in the action-adventure serial 'Beatrice Fairfax' directed by Leopold and Theodore Wharton and starring Harry Fox and Grace Darling for International Film Service in 1916, he was last seen on screen under the direction of Colin Campbell in the lead role as John Brand in 'The World's a Stage'co-starring opposite Dorothy Phillips in 1922. He died of heart disease in 1927 age 60.
- Michael Lauria was born on 7 April 1932 in New York City, New York, USA. He died on 11 December 2016 in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Art Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Itri is known for Army of the Dead (2021), The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Great Expectations (1998). Frank was married to Jackie. Frank died on 27 December 2023 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Joseph Gillen was born on 8 June 1952 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Growing Up and Other Lies (2014), A Crime to Remember (2013) and Visions (2014). He died on 28 August 2020 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.
- Animation Department
Ed Cerullo was born in 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is known for Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988), Rugrats Adventure Game (1998) and The Soldier's Tale (1984). He was married to Grace Russo. He died on 27 June 2014 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA.- Marie Shotwell was born on 21 March 1880 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Enlighten Thy Daughter (1917), Running Wild (1927) and The Thirteenth Chair (1919). She died on 18 September 1934 in Long Island City, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Director
Eugene Mullin was born on 18 December 1894 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Twelfth Night (1910), The Ruse (1916) and Our Other Lives (1916). He died on 15 April 1967 in Brentwood, Long Island, New York City, New York, USA.