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1-44 of 44
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Canadian producer and director Ivan Reitman created many of American cinema's most successful and best loved feature film comedies and worked with Hollywood's acting elite. Reitman produced such hits as the ground-breaking sensation National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which introduced John Belushi to American filmgoers, and the family features Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993). His directing credits include Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981) and Ghostbusters (1984), films starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis; Dave (1993), which starred Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, Junior (1994) which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson. Reitman also produced the HBO telefilm The Late Shift (1996), based on Bill Carter's non-fiction book about the late-night television wars which received seven Emmy nominations. Other producing endeavors include Commandments (1997), starring Aidan Quinn and Courteney Cox, Private Parts (1997), starring Howard Stern, as well as the animation/live action film Space Jam (1996), starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters. With Twins (1988), Reitman created an entirely new comedic persona for action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and forged a personal and professional relationship that continued with Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Junior (1994). Acclaimed dramatic actors such as Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Sigourney Weaver, and Emma Thompson also revealed untapped comic talents under Reitman's direction. In 1984, Reitman was honored as Director of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners and the next year received a Special Achievement Award at the Canadian Genie awards. In 1979 and again in 1989, for the films National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Twins (1988), Reitman was honored with the People's Choice Award. In November of 1994, Reitman became the third director honored by Variety magazine in a special Billion Dollar Director issue.
Reitman was born in Czechoslovakia, to Jewish Holocaust survivors, and left with his family for Canada at the age of four. He attended Canada's McMaster University, where he produced and directed several television shorts. He followed with a live television show, Greed: The Series (1999), with Dan Aykroyd as its announcer. "Spellbound," which Reitman produced for the live stage, evolved into the Broadway hit "The Magic Show," starring Doug Henning. He continued producing for the stage with the Off-Broadway hit "The National Lampoon Show," and returned to Broadway to produce and direct the musical "Merlin," earning a Tony nomination for directing. Reitman headed The Montecito Picture Company, a film and television production company, with partner Tom Pollock. His television credits included the Emmy-nominated children's show The Real Ghostbusters (1986) and the Saturday morning animated series Beethoven (1994) for CBS. His last directing credited was Draft Day (2014), before his death in February 2022 in Montecito, California.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Palance quite often exemplified evil incarnate on film, portraying some of the most intensely feral villains witnessed in 1950s westerns and melodrama. Enhanced by his tall, powerful build, icy voice, and piercing eyes, he earned two "Best Supporting Actor" nominations early in his career. It would take a grizzled, eccentric comic performance 40 years later, however, for him to finally grab the coveted statuette.
Of Ukrainian descent, Palance was born Volodymyr Ivanovich Palahniuk (later taking Walter Jack Palance as his legal name) on February 18, 1919 (although some sources, including his death certificate, cite 1920) in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania (coal country), one of six children born to Anna (nee Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk. His father, an anthracite miner, died of black lung disease. Palance worked in the mines in his early years but averted the same fate as his father. Athletics was his ticket out of the mines when he won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He subsequently dropped out to try his hand at professional boxing. Fighting under the name "Jack Brazzo", he won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout, before losing a 4th round decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi on December 17, 1940.
With the outbreak of World War II, his boxing career ended and his military career began, serving in the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot. Wounded in combat and suffering severe injuries and burns, he received the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He resumed college studies as a journalist at Stanford University and became a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also worked for a radio station until he was bit by the acting bug.
Palance made his stage debut in "The Big Two" in 1947 and immediately followed it understudying Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the groundbreaking Broadway classic "A Streetcar Named Desire", a role he eventually took over. Following stage parts in "Temporary Island" (1948), "The Vigil" (1948), and "The Silver Tassle" (1949), Palance won a choice role in "Darkness of Noon" and a Theatre World Award for "Promising New Personality." This recognition helped him secure a 20th Century-Fox contract. The facial burns and resulting reconstructive surgery following the crash and burn of his WWII bomber plane actually worked to his advantage. Out of contention as a glossy romantic leading man, Palance instead became the archetypal intimidating villain equipped with towering stance, imposing glare, and killer-shark smile.
He stood out among a powerhouse cast that included actors such as Richard Widmark, Zero Mostel and Paul Douglas in his movie debut in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), as a plague-carrying fugitive. He was soon on his way. Briefly billed as Walter Jack Palance before eliminating the first name, the actor made fine use of his former boxing skills and war experience for the film Halls of Montezuma (1951) as a boxing Marine in Richard Widmark's platoon. He followed this with the first of his back-to-back Oscar nods. In Sudden Fear (1952), only his third film, he played rich-and-famous playwright Joan Crawford's struggling actor/husband who plots to murder her and run off with gorgeous Gloria Grahame. Finding just the right degree of intensity and menace to pretty much steal the proceedings without chewing the scenery, he followed this with arguably his finest villain of the decade, that of sadistic gunslinger Jack Wilson who takes on Alan Ladd's titular hero, played by Shane (1953), in a classic showdown.
Throughout the 1950s, Palance doled out strong leads and supports such as those in Man in the Attic (1953) (his first lead), The Big Knife (1955) and the war classic Attack (1956). Mixed in were a few routine to highly mediocre parts in Flight to Tangier (1953), Sign of the Pagan (1954) (as Attila the Hun), and the biblical bomb The Silver Chalice (1954). In between filmmaking were a host of television roles, none better than his down-and-out boxer in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956), a rare sympathetic role that earned him an Emmy Award.
Back and forth overseas in the 1960s and 1970s, Palance would dominate foreign pictures in a number of different genres -- sandal-and-spear spectacles, biblical epics, war stories and "spaghetti westerns." Such films included The Battle of Austerlitz (1960), The Mongols (1961), Barabbas (1961), Night Train to Milan (1962), Contempt (1963), The Mercenary (1968), Marquis de Sade's Justine (1969), The Desperados (1969), It Can Be Done Amigo (1972), Chato's Land (1972), Blood and Bullets (1976), Welcome to Blood City (1977). Back home, he played Fidel Castro in Che! (1969) while also appearing in Monte Walsh (1970), Oklahoma Crude (1973) and The Four Deuces (1975).
On the made-for-television front, Jack played a number of nefarious nasties to perfection, ranging from Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968)) to Dracula in Dracula (1974) to Ebenezer Scrooge in a "Wild West" version of the Dickens classic Ebenezer (1998). He also played one of the Hatfields in The Hatfields and the McCoys (1975). Jack switched gears to star as a "nice guy" lieutenant in the single-season TV cop drama Bronk (1975). In later years, the actor mellowed with age, as exemplified by roles in Bagdad Cafe (1987), but could still display his bad side as he did as an evil rancher, crime boss or drug lord in, respectively, Young Guns (1988), Batman (1989) and Tango & Cash (1989). Into his twilight years he showed a penchant for brash, quirky comedy capped by his Oscar-winning role in City Slickers (1991) and its sequel. He ended his film career playing Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1999).
His three children by his first wife, actress Virginia Baker -- Holly Palance, Brooke Palance, and Cody Palance -- all pursued acting careers and appeared with their father at one time or another. A man of few words off the set, he owned his own cattle ranch and displayed other creative sides as a exhibited painter and published poet.
His last years were marred by both failing health and the 1998 death of his son Cody from melanoma. He was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at the Santa Barbara County home of his daughter, Holly Palance, in 2006.- Actor
- Soundtrack
American leading man of vast charisma, Robert Preston was the son of a garment worker and a record store clerk and grew up in Los Angeles. He was a trained musician, playing several instruments, and in high school became interested in theatre. He joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, taking classes and appearing in scores of plays alongside such soon-to-be-well-known actors as Dana Andrews, George Reeves, Victor Mature and Don DeFore. Even in the distinguished company of Playhouse veterans like Victor Jory and Samuel S. Hinds, young Preston Meservey--or Pres, as he was always known to intimates--was an acknowledged star in the making. During one play a Paramount scout saw him and he signed a contract with the studio, which renamed him Robert Preston. After several roles in inconsequential films, Preston became a favorite of director Cecil B. DeMille, who cast him in several films but became nevertheless one of the few people Preston actively and publicly disliked. In 1946, after serving in England with the Army Air Corps, Preston married Kay Feltus (aka Catherine Craig), whom he had known in Pasadena. He struggled through numerous unfulfilling roles in the '40s, then relocated to New York and concentrated on theatre. He played many roles on Broadway and in 1957 got the part that would immortalize him in entertainment history: Professor Harold Hill in the musical "The Music Man". He won a Tony Award for the role and repeated it in the film version (The Music Man (1962)). Now a star of the first magnitude, Preston alternated between stage and film, winning another Tony for "I Do, I Do" and appearing to enormous good effect in such films as The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), All the Way Home (1963) and Junior Bonner (1972). He received an Oscar nomination for his triumphant portrayal of a witty, gay entertainer in Victor/Victoria (1982). He died in 1987 from lung cancer, after a career that took him from modest supporting lead to national treasure.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Mary Ellen Trainor was born in Chicago, Illinois. She appeared in many feature-films of the 1980s, notable characters include, Elaine, the kidnapped sister of Kathleen Turner and the catalyst for the entire plot in Romancing the Stone (1984), Dr. Stephanie Woods (LA Police Psychiatrist) in in all four Lethal Weapon (1987) films, Mrs. Walsh Mikey and Brand's (Sean Astinand Josh Brolin) mom in The Goonies (1985), news reporter Gail Wallens in Die Hard (1988) and Ricochet (1991).- Suzy Parker was born on 28 October 1932 in Long Island City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Funny Face (1957), Circle of Deception (1960) and The Best of Everything (1959). She was married to Bradford Dillman, Pierre de la Salle and Charles Ronald Staton. She died on 3 May 2003 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
American leading man Stuart Maxwell Whitman was known for his rugged roles. He was born in San Francisco, California, the elder of two sons of Cecilia (Gold) and Joseph Whitman, a realtor. His mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant, while his paternal grandparents were Polish Jews. His family moved often. He graduated from high school in Los Angeles and spent three post-war years with the Army Corps of Engineers. In the army, he won 32 fights as a light-heavyweight boxer.
Upon his discharge from service, he attended Los Angeles City College, where his interest in acting emerged. He studied at the Los Angeles Academy of Dramatic Art and with Michael Chekhov and Ben Bard. He toured the U.S. in a stage company of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and began to get small roles in television and film. Eventually, his athleticism, his handsome features, and his talent for portraying either tough or vulnerable characters led him to a level of stardom. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his leading role of a child molester in The Mark (1961), and starred in the television series Cimarron Strip (1967). A shrewd investor, he amassed a substantial fortune while continuing his career even after its peak in the mid-Sixties.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jonathan Harshman Winters III was born on November 11, 1925 in Dayton, Ohio. His father, Jonathan Harshman Winters II, was a banker who became an alcoholic after being crushed in the Great Depression. His parents divorced in 1932. Jonathan and his mother then moved to Springfield to live with his grandmother. There his mother remarried and became a radio personality. Jonathan joined the United States Marine Corps during his senior year of high school. Upon his discharge, he entered Kenyon College and later transferred to Dayton Art Institute. He met his wife, Eileen Schauder, in 1948 and married a month later. They remain married until her death in January 11, 2009. They have a son, Jay, who is a contractor, and a daughter, Lucinda, who is a talent scout for movies.
Jonathan got his start in show business by winning a talent contest. This led to a children's television show in Dayton in 1950. This led to a game show and a talk show. Denied a requested raise, he moved the family to New York with only $56 in their pocket. Within two months, he was getting night club bookings. He suffered two nervous breakdowns, one in 1959 and another in 1961. He came out of "retirement" to work with director/writer Martin Guigui for Swing (2003) and Cattle Call (2006). He made ten Grammy-nominated comedy recordings and won once. Jonathan Winters died at age 87 of natural causes on April 11, 2013 in Montecito, California.- Louise Latham was an American actress from Texas, whose career lasted from the 1950s to the early 2000s. She is primarily remembered for her film debut as the invalid mother Bernice Edgar, who is financially dependent on her daughter Marnie (played by Tippi Hedren). At age 42, Latham was playing the mother of 34-year-old Hedren.
In 1922, Latham was born in Hamilton, Texas. Hamilton is a small city, and had a population of about 2000 people in 1920. Hamilton has a "humid subtropical climate", with hot, humid summers and typically mild winters. Latham's family were ranchers, and she had relatives working as ranchers in both San Saba County and Mason County.
Latham received her secondary education at Sunset High School, located in Dallas. Little is known about her early adulthood. By the 1950s, Latham had started following an acting career. She was primarily a theatrical actress. Around 1954, Latham was working for the famed Texan stage director Margo Jones (1911-1955). Jones died of kidney failure in 1955, after accidentally inhaling toxic fumes.
In 1956, Latham was cast in the Broadway revival of the play "Major Barbara" (1905) by George Bernard Shaw. The play concerns the difficult relationship between self-righteous charity worker Barbara Undershaft (a Major of the Salvation Army) and her estranged father Andrew Undershaft. Andrew is a somewhat shady businessman, whose newfound wealth derives from owning a successful munitions factory. Andrew offers to help the poor by providing them with jobs and a steady income, which he argues is far more useful than providing them with a cheap meal (like his daughter). Barbara is an idealist, while Andrew is more practical in his views.
In 1958, Latham was part of touring company which performed the play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1955) by Tennessee Williams. The play features the family of successful tycoon Big Daddy Pollitt gathering to celebrate his birthday. The aging patriarch is unaware that he is dying of cancer, as his family has kept the diagnosis secret from him. His potential heirs have already started scheming over who gets the lion's share of his estate. Greed and decay are among the play's main themes.
By the early 1960s, Latham was regularly performing in Broadway. She appeared in plays such as "Invitation to a March" (1960), and "Isle of Children" (1962). She received press attention when cast in a key supporting role in the psychological thriller "Marnie" (1964), despite having no experience with film roles. The film had a box office gross of about 7 million dollars, becoming the 22nd highest-grossing film of 1964. Professional film critics initially hated the film, but the film's critical reputation has improved over the years and it is often listed among director Alfred Hitchcock's best films. Latham reportedly enjoyed the experience of working in film. In a 1965 press interview, she informed the press that she was interested in more film roles.
Following her film debut, Latham started regularly appearing as a guest star in various television series. She was twice cast as the murderer in 1965 episodes of then-popular legal drama series "Perry Mason" (1957-1966). In 1966, Latham was cast in the recurring role of aunt Fran Heiger in the sitcom "Family Affair" (1966-1971). In the pilot episode, Latham's character convinces her bachelor kinsman Bill Davis to become the legal guardian of his orphaned niece Buffy Patterson Davis (played by Anissa Jones). Aunt Fran appeared once a year in the sitcom's episodes until 1968.
Latham made her second film appearance in the Western film "Firecreek" (1968). Its plot features cowardly townspeople refusing to assist a peace officer in a confrontation with outlaws. The film was primarily noted for featuring popular actors James Stewart and Henry Fonda as its co-stars. Despite being close friends in real life, the two actors rarely appeared together in films. Latham also appeared in the Vietnam War-themed war film "Hail, Hero!" (1969), which is primarily remembered as the feature film debut for actor Michael Douglas.
Latham had a supporting role in the drama film "Adam at 6 A.M." (1970), as part of the family of female lead Jerri Jo Hopper (played by Lee Purcell). The film focuses on a bored college professor, who finds a new love interest and new friends during his summer vacation in Missouri. He then has the dilemma of whether to return to his old job at summer's end, or to permanently settle in Missouri. The film was the first produced by a fledgling production company, Solar Productions. The company's owner was veteran actor Steve McQueen (1930-1980).
Latham had a more important supporting role as Mrs. Wilson in the comedy-drama film "Making It" (1971), where the cast mostly included then-popular character actors. The film's main character is an amorous 17-year-old boy, whose hobby is seducing girls and adult women. He eventually learns that his actions come with unintended consequences. Early in the film, the boy spikes the food of his virginal classmate Debbie (played by Sherry Miles) with marijuana. He then deflowers her while she is under the influence. Latham played Debbie's mother. Following a pregnancy scare for Debbie, she tries to have the boy married to her daughter. The boy instead convinces Mrs. Wilson that abortion is a more prudent option, but he has to pay for it out of his own pocket.
Latham's next film role was a supporting part in the action comedy "White Lightning" (1973). Its plot revolves around a sympathetic moonshiner who tries to expose the crimes of a corrupt sheriff, in retaliation for his brother's murder by the sheriff. The film earned about 6.5 million dollars at the box office. It was considered a "breakthrough" in the action genre for combining fast-paced action with comedic elements. It reportedly inspired the production of more action comedies, and popularized car chases and car crushes in American action films.
Latham also appeared in the crime drama film "The Sugarland Express" (1974), which focuses on a police officer taken hostage by a husband-and-wife crime duo. The plot was based on the 1969 kidnapping of police officer J. Kenneth Crone by the married couple of Robert "Bobby" Dent and Ila Fae Holiday. The film earned 12 million dollars at the box office, and won the award for Best Screenplay at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. The film is remembered for being the theatrical feature directorial debut of Steven Spielberg, who had previously only directed television films.
Latham next had a minor role in the drama film "92 in the Shade" (1975), which was both a box office-flop and a critical failure. The film features the business rivalry between a fishing guide and a sea captain in Florida, which quickly escalates to an arson case and violent retaliation. Two different versions of the film were released, one with a happy ending (where the rivals befriend each other), and one with a dramatic ending (where one of the rivals murders the other one). Neither was a hit with audiences and critics. The film was one of the first efforts of director Thomas McGuane, who had previously mainly worked as a novelist. Critics found that the film was plagued by amateur mistakes.
At about that time, Latham had the recurring role of Martha Higgins (the main character's landlady) in the short-lived Western television series "Sara" (1976). The series focused on the efforts of schoolteacher Sara Yarnell (played by Brenda Vaccaro) to introduce progressive values to a conservative town in 1870s Colorado. She regularly clashed with her landlady Martha. The series only lasted for 12 regular episodes and one television film, as it consistently received low ratings. Vaccaro received critical praise for her role and was nominated for an Emmy Award, but the ratings never improved.
In 1977, Latham was cast in the recurring role of Katherine Mitchell in the comedy-drama television series "Eight Is Enough" (1977-1981). Her character was the mother of the female leading character Sandra Sue "Abby" Mitchell, the mother-in-law of Abby's second husband Thomas "Tom" Bradford, and the step-grandmother of Tom's eight children from a previous marriage. Katherine Mitchell's last appearance in the series dealt with the character's upcoming divorce.
In the early 1980s, Latham had few television roles, despite having regularly appeared on television for decades by that time. She had a substantial supporting role in the time-travel-themed science fiction film "The Philadelphia Experiment" (1984). She played Pamela Parker, the wife of time traveler Jim Parker (played by Bobby Di Cicco). The film's plot features two sailors who accidentally time travel from the year 1943 to 1984. While Jim mysteriously disappears, his elderly wife Pamela recognizes the other time traveler and offers some explanations of what happened 40 years before. The film only earned 8. 1 million dollars at the box office, but its cast received nominations for Saturn Awards.
Also in 1984, Latham had a supporting role in the religious-themed drama film "Mass Appeal" (1984). The film primarily concerns the relationship between an aging Catholic priest and his youthful deacon. The priest is a conservative who has made a career out of charming people, telling them white lies, narrating inane jokes, and avoiding any controversial issues. The deacon is a liberal firebrand who wants the Church to make great reforms, and who is surprisingly sincere about his own bisexuality. The film grossed only 1.9 million dollars at the box office, though it was warmly received by critics. The film was one of several 1980s box-office flops for leading actor Jack Lemmon, whose career declined considerably during this period.
In the late 1980s, Latham appeared frequently in television films and resumed having guest appearances in television series. She was part of the cast in the television miniseries "Dress Gray" (1986). The series focused on the mystery of who raped and murdered cadet David Hand (played by Patrick Cassidy) within the grounds of a prestigious military academy. The series was nominated for three Emmy Awards.
Latham had a substantial role in the comedy miniseries "Fresno" (1986), which parodied prime time soap operas. She played Ethel Duke, owner of a private lake which served as the main water source for two rival ranches. Duke refuses all offers to sell her water rights. When she is accidentally killed by a ricocheting bullet, her death triggers both a murder trial and a struggle between two powerful families over who gets to bribe Duke's heir. The miniseries was nominated for five Emmy Awards.
In 1988, Latham was part of the main cast in the short-lived medical drama series "Hothouse". The series focused on the owners and staff of a psychiatric clinic. It only lasted for 7 episodes, canceled due to low ratings. The series was considered a rare failure for successful screenwriter Jay Presson Allen (1922-2006), who was the series' creator.
In 1991, Latham had a minor role in the drama film "Paradise". The film mainly focused on a 10-year-old boy's inability to deal with the end of his parents' failed marriage, and with his surrogate family's inability to deal with their own son's death in the near past. The film earned about 18.6 million dollars at the box office, though it received overwhelmingly negative reviews by critics.
In 1992, Latham had her last role in a feature film. She played in the interracial romance-themed drama "Love Field". Her role was that of Mrs. Enright, mother of the main character's boss. The film depicted Texan housewife Lurene Hallett (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) falling in love with African-American single father Paul Cater (played by Dennis Haysbert), after she wrongly accuses him of having kidnapped his own daughter. The film was a box-office flop, but was critically praised. Pfeiffer won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for this film, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Latham's last appearances in television miniseries were in two true-crime dramas. She appeared in both "Cruel Doubt" (1992) and "In Cold Blood" (1996). The first series dramatized the 1988 murder of wealthy businessman Lieth Von Stein by his stepson Christopher Wayne Pritchard, who aspired to inherit the family fortune. The second series dramatized the 1959 Clutter family murders, when four members of the same family were killed by two ex-convicts.
Latham had her last known television role in a 2000 episode of the science-fiction series "The X-Files" (1993-2002). She played Marjorie Butters (Louise Latham), a 118-year-old gardener whose life was being prolonged by an alien implant in her body. The episode featured the mysterious villain Cigarette Smoking Man (played by William B. Davis), who is claiming that he could cure and other human diseases with such alien technology. The episode has the villainous man intentionally spare the life of heroine Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson), while leaving it unclear whether he cares for her or views her as a useful pawn. The episode received critical praise, and it was the only contribution by actor William B. Davis to the series' scripts.
At age 78, Latham retired from acting. She spend her last years at Casa Dorinda, a retirement community located in Montecito, California. In 2018, Latham died there of natural causes. She was 95-years-old, and had no known family members at the time of her death. Her obituaries noted that she was still fondly remembered for various supporting roles, and for her versatility in portraying characters which were distinct in background and behavior. - Actress
- Soundtrack
No shrinking violet this one, but despite her talent, vivacity and sheer drive, lovely and alluring blonde Evelyn Keyes would remain for the most part typed as a "B" girl on the silver screen. In spite of her ripe contributions to such superior pictures as Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), The Jolson Story (1946), Mrs. Mike (1949), The Prowler (1951) and 99 River Street (1953), she received no significant awards during her career. In fact, film-goers seem to remember her best not for one of these exceptional co-starring parts, but for her bit role as Scarlett O'Hara's kid sister in Gone with the Wind (1939), American's most beloved epic film. Evelyn also kept Hollywood alive and kicking with two sensationalistic memoirs that chronicled her four dicey marriages, numerous affairs with the rich and famous, and negative takes on the Hollywood studio system.
Evelyn Louise Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on November 20, 1916 (for decades she would deceive the public as to her real age). Her father died when she was two, and she and her only brother and three sisters grew up living with her mother and her grandmother in Atlanta, Georgia. Taking voice, dance and piano lessons, she was hopeful of becoming a ballerina. Instead, she entered a beauty pageant or two and worked as a chorus girl before relocating to California at age 20. Shortly after her arrival in Los Angeles, a chance meeting with the legendary Cecil B. DeMille led to a Paramount Pictures contract. Stories differ as to how she met De Mille. Hollywood folklore has it that she was "discovered" by a talent scout in true Lana Turner fashion while eating at a restaurant. Another, more believable story has it that she hooked up with one of De Mille's former writers, which led to an introduction.
Nevertheless, she was groomed as a starlet and initially placed in bit and/or unbilled roles. De Mille first gave her a small part in his pirate epic The Buccaneer (1938), then placed her rather obscurely in his sprawling railroad saga Union Pacific (1939). It was David O. Selznick who gave her the bit part of whiny, bratty Suellen O'Hara, who loses her beau to the more calculating Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind". This led directly to her signing with Columbia Pictures. In 1938, just prior to the filming of GWTW, she married businessman Barton Bainbridge, her first of four. The marriage soured within a year or so, however, after she took up with Budapest-born director Charles Vidor, who directed three of her pictures: The Lady in Question (1940) (her first at Columbia), Ladies in Retirement (1941) and The Desperadoes (1943). This second marriage lasted about as long as the first (1943-1945), supposedly due to Vidor's infidelities.
At Columbia Evelyn hit pin-up status and sparked a number of war-era pictures. She played Boris Karloff's daughter in the crime horror Before I Hang (1940) and a blind woman who befriends the hideously scarred Peter Lorre in the excellent The Face Behind the Mask (1941). Still, she could not rise above her secondary status. For every one nifty "B" picture that could propel her into the higher ranks, such as Dangerous Blondes (1943), there was always a low-caliber western (Beyond the Sacramento (1940)), adventure (A Thousand and One Nights (1945)) or musical (The Thrill of Brazil (1946)) lurking about to keep her humble.
In the post-war years, a third tempestuous but highly adventurous marriage (1946-1950) to Hollywood titan John Huston made the tabloid papers practically on a weekly basis. They divorced after four years. She did some of her best work during this period, particularly as the wife of Al Jolson opposite Larry Parks' splendid impersonation. She also showed she had a strong range and earned snappy notices alongside Dick Powell in the film noir Johnny O'Clock (1947) as well as the title comedy character in The Mating of Millie (1948) co-starring Glenn Ford.
Her last (and just as questionable) marriage was to another "father figure" type, musician Artie Shaw, a womanizer if ever there was one who had already had been discarded by trophy wives Ava Gardner and Lana Turner (and five others) by the time he and Evelyn married in 1957. She had pretty much put her career on the back burner by this point. Surprisingly, this marriage lasted longer than any of their previous ones. The couple separated in the 1970s but did not divorce until 1985.
Evelyn returned to the acting fold every once in while. Scarcely on stage (she once played Sally Bowles in a theatrical production of "I Am a Camera" in 1953), she joined up with Don Ameche in a 1972 tour of the musical "No, No, Nanette". She also would show up on an episode of The Love Boat (1977) or Murder, She Wrote (1984) every now and then. She remained childless (there was one adopted child, Pedro, by Huston, but they were estranged).
Very much the traveler, Evelyn lived sporadically all over the world, including France, England and Mexico, and spoke Spanish and French fluently. She was also a writer and published a Hollywood-themed novel in her later years. Her GWTW association and tell-all memoirs in 1977 and 1991 kept her a point of interest right up until the end. Not surprisingly, this firecracker of a lady passed away on the 4th of July -- at age 91 of uterine cancer at an assisted-living residence in Montecito, California.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Paul Muni was born Sept. 22, 1895, in Lemberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Salli and Phillip Weisenfreund, who were both professionals. His family was Jewish, and spoke Yiddish. Paul was educated in New York and Cleveland public schools. He was described as 5 feet 10 inches, with black hair and eyes, 165 pounds. He joined the Yiddish Art Theatre in New York (1908) for 4 years, and then moved to other Yiddish theaters until 1926, when he "went into an American play" called "We Americans", his first English-language role. In 1927-28, he appeared in the plays "Four Walls", "This One Man", "Counsellor-at-Law", and others. He began with Fox in 1928. He would later alternate between Broadway and Hollywood for his roles, becoming one of the more distinguished actors in either venue. Failing eyesight and otherwise poor health forced him into retirement after his appearance in The Last Angry Man (1959).- Writer
- Director
- Actress
Julia Child was born on 15 August 1912 in Pasadena, California, USA. She was a writer and director, known for The French Chef (1962), Julie & Julia (2009) and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993). She was married to Paul Child. She died on 13 August 2004 in Montecito, California, USA.- Actor
- Editor
- Soundtrack
American light leading man, primarily of Westerns, James Ellison was born James Ellison Smith in Guthrie Center, Iowa, in 1910. He grew up on a ranch in Valier, Montana, where he learned the skills that would stand him in good stead as a movie cowboy. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was a young man, and it was there that he first became interested in the theatre. He studied at the Pasadena Playhouse briefly, traveled to New York (and by some accounts played some minor roles in productions of the visiting Moscow Art Theatre, probably as a supernumerary), then returned to California where he was spotted by a Warner Bros. talent scout at a production of the Beverly Hills Theatre. He played a number of small parts for Warners and MGM before landing the plum part of Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick, "Johnny Nelson", in Paramount's wildly successful series. Ellison played Nelson in eight films between the years 1935 and 1937, also playing in other films in-between. Although he was a supporting player in the Hopalong films, his name was strangely billed in the same size and format as veteran actor and matinee idol William Boyd's. Although not confirmed, the reason for this oddity is thought to be because the character Johnny Nelson was very prominent in the Hopalong Cassidy book series. There were also rumors around Hollywood that Ellison was destined to become "the next Gary Cooper" - a prediction that would fall short, as Ellison never achieved stand-alone stardom. In 1936, just before his exit from the Hopalong Cassidy films, Ellison was plucked by Cecil B. DeMille for the role of Buffalo Bill Cody in De Mille's epic Western, The Plainsman (1936), opposite Gary Cooper. De Mille reportedly hated Ellison's performance and wanted to ensure that Ellison never had as good a part in quite as good a film ever again. In the late 1930s and 1940s, Ellison did follow up with quite a number of romantic leads in a wide variety of films, from musicals and light mysteries, with such co-stars as Maureen O'Hara (They Met in Argentina (1941)), Lucille Ball (Next Time I Marry (1938)), James Stewart and Ginger Rogers (Vivacious Lady (1938)) to the cult horror classic, I Walked with a Zombie (1943). In 1950, Ellison returned to westerns, this time as the lead (along with his Hopalong replacement and longtime friend Russell Hayden) in a series of 11 westerns featuring them as two frontier lawmen, Lucky (Hayden) and Shamrock (Ellison). Of all his roles, however, he is perhaps best remembered for being Hopalong Cassidy's first and most dominant sidekick. In the late 1950s, Ellison retired from movies and became a successful real estate broker. He died in 1993, as the result of a fall in which he broke his neck, at the age of 83. Ellison was married twice, first to Gertrude Durkin, whom he took as his wife in 1937. They had two children, Durk and Trudy. After Gertrude's death in 1970, Ellison married Lois Bretherton on June 25, 1972, and remained married to her until his death.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
A regular "good guy" and "bad guy" presence in sagebrush sagas and two-fisted film action during the early 1950s, brawny, blond-haired Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr. was born in 1916 in Ossining, New York, the son of a prison warden there at Sing Sing, and his wife, the matron of a detention center. Alex developed an early interest in acting and originally trained at the Fagin School of Dramatic Art.
On the professional stage from 1938, he soon found work as an apprentice to Maurice Evans. As part of the ensemble in his highly-regarded Shakespearean production company, he appeared on stage with the great actor in "Henry IV, Part I" (1939) and "Richard II" (1940) on Broadway. Following a stage role in "Return Engagement," his newly-found career was interrupted by World War II. Following his five-year stretch as a Tech Sergeant with the National Guard and Cavalry Unit, he became a student and eventual charter member of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. He also returned to Broadway in such shows as "Sundown Beach" and "South Pacific" (in the ensemble as a Marine). Other post-war stage plays included "Waiting for Lefty," "Forward the Heart" and "Mister Roberts," in which he took over Ralph Meeker's role (as the sailor Minnion) and served as understudy to Henry Fonda. The pinnacle of his Broadway career occurred when he replaced Ben Gazzara and received excellent reviews as Brick in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1956.
Alex's film career was launched when he was discovered by Universal-International director George Sherman, who cast him in a prime role in his film mystery The Sleeping City (1950) starring Richard Conte and Coleen Gray. He next appeared in Tomahawk (1951), the first of his many oaters, which starred Yvonne De Carlo, Van Heflin and an up-and-coming Rock Hudson. Continuing in the same vein throughout the early 1950s as both support player and occasional lead, he played an assortment of decent, law-abiding sheriffs and simpering, murdering gunslingers in such westerns as The Redhead from Wyoming (1953), his first co-starring role opposite Maureen O'Hara, The Lone Hand (1953), Law and Order (1953), Dawn at Socorro (1954), and his best film, The Man from Laramie (1955) in which he memorably menaced James Stewart. Outside the western genre he rolled out such outdoor/war pictures as Target Unknown (1951), Air Cadet (1951), Red Ball Express (1952) and Strategic Air Command (1955), the last mentioned also starring Stewart. He also top-lined a few British-made pictures during this 1950s time period.
Television also brought Alex work with a number of appearances in such popular shows as "The Twilight Zone," "Dr. Kildare" and "The Outer Limits," among others. Unable to break free of his rugged secondary typecast, he also tried his hand at directing, his first being the semi-cult horror film The Screaming Skull (1958) in which he was a secondary character in a cast of five. He found more prolific directing offers on TV, notably the "Tarzan" series starring Ron Ely throughout the 1960s.
In 1959, after receiving a major part in the Italian/Yugoslavian picture 5 Branded Women (1960), Alex and his family transported themselves to Rome for a couple of years where he continued to film. Although they returned to the US in 1961, he would often show up in a European-made "spaghetti western" or two during the early 1960s. He appeared sporadically on TV and film into the next decade, his last feature being the extremely low-budget giant monster flick Ape (1976), about a 36 foot gorilla that terrorizes Korea, a film he agreed to do for his friend Paul Leder. Alex retired fully in 1987 and died in Montecito, California in 2001 at the age of 85, survived by long-time wife (since 1948), former actress Jean Fleming, and their three children (two sons and a daughter).- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Gary David Goldberg was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 25, 1944. After a prolonged and checkered collegiate career, which began at Brandeis University in 1962 and ended at San Diego State University in 1975 (with many other schools in between), he moved to Hollywood to try to make it as a writer.
In 1976 he landed his first "real" job at MTM as a writer for "The Bob Newhart Show." Remaining at MTM, he moved over to become story editor and then producer of "The Tony Randall Show," and then in 1978, producer of "Lou Grant." In 1980 he created and executive produced "The Last Resort," also for MTM.
In 1981, Goldberg left MTM to form his own company, UBU Productions. Under this banner, he created nine television series, including the enormously successful "Family Ties," which ran on NBC 1982-1989, and the critically acclaimed "Brooklyn Bridge" which aired on CBS 1991-1993. In association with DreamWorks, UBU produced "Spin City" which ran for six seasons on ABC.
Goldberg has been the recipient of numerous honors during his career, including an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe as co-producer of "Lou Grant" and an Emmy Award as writer of the "Family Ties" episode "'A,' My Name is Alex"; five additional Emmy nominations for "Lou Grant" and "Family Ties"; a Peabody for "Lou Grant"; two Writers Guild Awards, one for an episode of "M*A*S*H*" and another for the "'A,' My Name is Alex" episode of "Family Ties"; five Writers Guild nominations for episodes of "Lou Grant," "Making the Grade," and "Family Ties"; five Humanitas Awards for "Lou Grant," and "Family Ties," as well as five additional Humanitas nominations, the Producers Guild Award as Producer of the Year in 1991 and the Valentine Davies Award from the Writers Guild in 1998 for his contributions to the entertainment industry and the community-at-large. In 2002 he won the Award of Excellence at Banff's World Television Festival. And, in 2003 he was honored with the Outstanding Television Writer Award at the Austin Film Festival. Goldberg is a member of the Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame.
During its run, "Brooklyn Bridge" received several honors -- a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series, one Humanitas Prize and an additional Humanitas nomination for enriching television; a Christopher Award, two Viewers for Quality Television awards for Best Comedy, and eight Emmy nominations.
In 1989, Goldberg made his feature film debut when he produced and directed Universal Pictures' Dad (1989), starring Jack Lemmon. He also wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by William Wharton. His second feature film, Bye Bye Love (2008), starred Paul Reiser, Matthew Modine, and Randy Quaid, as three divorced fathers on a weekend, all with custody of their children.
In August of 2005 Warner Bros. released Must Love Dogs (2005) starring Diane Lane and John Cusack which Goldberg wrote and directed, adapting the Claire Cook novel of the same name.
Gary Goldberg is married to Diana Meehan. They have two children, Shana and Cailin.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
English-born Leslie Fenton came to the U.S. as a child. He journeyed to Hollywood in his late teens to break into the movies, and managed to get several jobs as an actor. He became a reliable supporting actor in many pictures in the 1930s, working his way up to leads in B pictures. He switched to directing later in the decade, and turned out a number of tight, well-made action pictures and several good westerns, the best of which was probably Streets of Laredo (1949). He retired from the industry in the early 1950s.- Director
- Special Effects
- Cinematographer
After graduation from the University of California at Berkeley, Byron Haskin worked for a time as a newspaper cartoonist. He began his career in the film industry in 1920 as a commercial-industrial movie photographer, and then as a cameraman for Pathe and International Newsreel. Later he became an assistant director at Selznick Pictures. He was a cinematographer during the silent era, worked on special effects and helped to develop the technology that eventually brought sound to the film industry. He began directing in the late 1920s at Warner Brothers and journeyed to England in the early 1930s to make films there. Upon his return he was appointed head of the Warner Brothers Special Effects department. He returned to directing, and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film, Treasure Island (1950). In the mid-'50s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he shot what is probably his best-known film, the science-fiction classic The War of the Worlds (1953). Haskin would collaborate with Pal on three other films, The Naked Jungle (1954), Conquest of Space (1955) and The Power (1968). Fans will also remember Haskin for the cult-classic Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964).- Actress
- Soundtrack
A platinum blonde actress, Natalie Moorehead entered in films in 1929; by end of the following year, she had made dozens of credited movies. Moorehead was more effective with vampish roles, notably a role which she played a suspect in The Thin Man (1934). Moorhead also made a mark as a comic actress in Hook, Line and Sinker (1930) and Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931). She later appeared in supporting roles until the mid-1940s.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Florida, Joan went to New York where she worked as a model. In 1935 she went to Hollywood where she was signed at Columbia Pictures. While at Columbia, Joan appeared in a number of films and worked with leading men such as Ralph Bellamy, Melvyn Douglas and Lew Ayres. She also caught the eye of studio mogul Harry Cohn who wanted Joan for his wife. After Columbia, Joan went to Warner Brothers where she appeared in a handful of films including International Squadron (1941) and Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941) with Ronald Reagan. More of a supporting actress than the leading lady, she became very powerful when she finally married Harry Cohn in 1941 and retired from films.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ray Mann Underwood was born on December 22, 1953, in Aspen, CO. He was an actor, songwriter and poet. Sadly, Ray passed away at the young age of 39 on January 16, 1993, in Santa Barbara, CA, of unknown causes.
In 1995, Ray's mother, Rilla (Weed) Underwood (born in 1929) designed, illustrated, and published a book of poetry written by her late son entitled, "All That Hums". She passed away in December 2011 in Ventura County, CA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
E. Duke Vincent was born on 30 April 1932 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Dynasty (1981), Vega$ (1978) and And the Band Played On (1993). He was married to Pamela Hensley, Dian Parkinson and Sandra Carol Freeman. He died on 10 February 2024 in Montecito, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Greta Ruzt-Nissen was born in Oslo, Norway, on January 30, 1905. As a young girl she studied dance and had intended to make a career out of it. For a while she did, but when she was 19 she appeared in her first big-screen production, The Wanderer (1925). Afterwards she made several more films, but she was one of those who lost much work due to the advent of sound films. One setback for her was when she was chosen for the lead in Hell's Angels (1930) by Howard Hughes but then replaced by Jean Harlow because of her heavy Norwegian accent. The film shot Harlow to stardom. Throughout the 1930s Greta stayed fairly busy. Obviously some roles were better than others, but she never got the breakout role she wanted so badly. After Danger in Paris (1937), Greta left the screen forever. On May 17, 1988, she died of Parkinson's disease. She was 83 years old.- Eileen Winters was born on 3 November 1924 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. She was married to Jonathan Winters. She died on 11 January 2009 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
Robert B. Sinclair was born on 24 May 1905 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Mr. and Mrs. North (1942), Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958) and The Detectives (1959). He was married to Heather Angel and Jane Buchanan. He died on 4 January 1970 in Montecito, California, USA.- Stunts
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Mickey Dora was born on 11 August 1934 in Budapest, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) and Bikini Beach (1964). He died on 3 January 2002 in Montecito, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Gwen Kenyon was born on 22 January 1916 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for In Old New Mexico (1945), The Great Mike (1944) and Socks Appeal (1943). She was married to Morton Scott. She died on 18 October 1999 in Montecito, California, USA.- Soundtrack
- Music Department
- Composer
Norman Gimbel was a native New Yorker who put his teaching degree from Columbia University into his safe and went downtown to pursue a career in songwriting instead. His first job in the music world was as an office boy for a music publisher in the famed Brill Building. There he met composer Larry Coleman and lyricist Joe Darion and with them wrote his first hit, "Ricochet Romance." Shortly after that, with composer-pianist Eddie Heywood, he wrote "Canadian Sunset."
His work caught the attention of Frank Loesser, who signed Gimbel as a contract writer. Under Loesser's guidance, he met composer Moose Charlap, with whom he wrote two Broadway musicals, Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero.
In 1963, publisher Lou Levy introduced Gimbel to a young composer named Antonio Carlos Jobim. Gimbel would go on to write English versions of many of Jobim's songs, most notably the lyrics for "Meditation," "How Insensitive," "Agua de Beber (Water to Drink)," "Song of the Sabia," and "The Girl From Ipanema." Gimbel also wrote English lyrics for "Watch What Happens," and the Academy Award-nominated song "I Will Wait for You," both by Michel Legrand. For Jean "Toots" Thielemans he wrote the lyrics for his jazz waltz, "Bluesette."
In the spring of 1968, Gimbel moved to Hollywood where he became active in film and television. Among the composers he worked with there were Lalo Schifrin, Maurice Jarre, Quincy Jones, Jack Elliot, Bill Conti, Michel Colombier, Henry Mancini, Peter Matz, Pat Williams, Robert Folk, David Shire, Fred Karlin, and his daughter, Nelly Gimbel. His principal collaborator was Charles Fox.
Gimbel had some of his biggest successes with Fox, with whom he wrote TV title songs to "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley," "Wonder Woman," "Angie," and "The Paper Chase." Their collaboration also included "I Got A Name" for the 1973 film The Last American Hero. This became a Top 10 hit for Jim Croce. Fox and Gimbel also gave us "Killing Me Softly With His Song," which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1973 and was ranked No. 11 on BMI's 1999 list of "Top 100 Songs of the Century." Also with Fox he wrote "Richard's Window" for the film The Jill Kinmont story. This received an Academy Award Nomination in 1975. They received another Academy Award nomination in 1978 for "Ready to Take a Chance Again," from the film Foul Play. In collaboration with composer David Shire, for the 1979 film Norma Rae, he wrote "It Goes Like It Goes," the song that won Gimbel an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Norman Gimbel's songs have appeared in over four hundred motion picture and television shows. Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984.- Educated at Taft School in Connecticut and Washington & Lee University in Virginia, Art Hansl spent the next half century being in the right place at the right time. After serving in the Marine Corps, he went to Mexico for two weeks and stayed four years -- when places like Acapulco were a paradise indeed. Then on to Italy in the sixties, the last years of the Dolce Vita, where he became an actor in action pictures filmed on exotic locations around Europe, behind the Iron Curtain and in North Africa. Back to Mexico in 1969 for another dozen films -- co-productions with the U.S. as well as Mexican movies. Some of these were forgettable -- except for the cast and crew -- often being shot on the brink of a natural or man-made disaster. In America again the filmic career dwindled after a stint on the daytime series General Hospital (1963), prompting a switch to writing. Three published suspense novels borrow from a career that was never boring!
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Amiable, dark and wavy-haired and with a slim mustache, actor/dancer Charles Collins would be distantly remembered for his one big film role, the title charmer in the lowbudget programmer Dancing Pirate (1936). Born on January 7, 1904, on a farm in Frederick, Oklahoma, he was a self-taught teenage saxophone player before learning to dance. A business school graduate following high school, he later worked as an accountant but never lost track of his interest in dancing and sidelined as a performer in a local Oklahoma City musical "The Merry Widow".
He continued to this artistic interest with work in vaudeville and made his Broadway debut as a dancer in "Artists and Models" at age 23. Meeting fellow dancer Nitza Vermille in the show, they formed a dancing act on the vaudeville circuit and he later soloed in London revues for a time.
Charles met dancer/actress Dorothy Stone, daughter of actor Fred Stone, when they were all performing in the Broadway musical "Ripples" (1930) and they married a year later. Later they put together a nightclub dance act. They also appeared in the Broadway musical "Smiling Faces" (192 and "As Thousands Cheer" (1934). They also appeared in Charles' first film short Shave It with Music (1932) and in the short Paree, Paree (1934).
He failed to capitalize on his two chances at film stardom. The lead in Poverty Row musical Dancing Pirate (1936) was too lowbudget to garner much interest in the tall, lean actor. A second feature lead in Swing Hostess (1944) opposite Martha Tilton proved the same. In later years he and his wife returned to Broadway ("Sea Legs" (1937), "Hooray for What!" (1938), toured in a slew of stage shows, appeared in a couple of musical shorts, and entertained the troops overseas. Their final Broadway endeavors were "You Can't Take It With You" (1945), which starred Dorothy's father Fred Stone and the revival of her father's stage vehicle "The Red Mill" (1947).
When offers faded, Charles later switched to focus more as a talent agent. Following Dorothy's death in 1974, he met and lived with his longtime companion Catherine Garvin. His last work was a 1984 episode of "The Master" on TV. He died of pneumonia at age 95 in Santa Barbara, CA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Brett Halliday was born on 31 July 1904 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Just Off Broadway (1942) and Blonde for a Day (1946). He was married to Helen McCloy, Kathleen Rollins and Mary Savage. He died on 4 February 1977 in Montecito, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Stone was born on 3 June 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Paree, Paree (1934), Revolt of the Zombies (1936) and Latin Hi-Hattin (1938). She was married to Charles Collins. She died on 24 September 1974 in Montecito, California, USA.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
Blaine Gibson was born on 11 February 1918 in Rocky Ford, Colorado, USA. He is known for Sleeping Beauty (1959), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953). He was married to Coral Estelle Comstock. He died on 5 July 2015 in Montecito, California, USA.- Mrs. Charles Howard was born on 22 September 1903 in Salinas, California, USA. She was married to Leslie Fenton and Charles Howard. She died on 31 March 1987 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Born Julian Lawrence Shapiro on 31 May 1904 in Harlem, John Sanford was a descendant of Russian immigrants, and trained as a lawyer, practising with his father, Philip. A chance encounter with a childhood friend, Nathanael West caused him to change his focus to writing. Abandoning his New York law practice, he published several short stories in literary journals, and then headed west for Hollywood. While a contract screenwriter at Paramount, he met and married Marguerite Roberts who was a screenwriter at MGM. Roberts persuaded him to turn down an offer of employment as a screenwriter at MGM, and concentrate on writing books while she made them a living as a screenwriter.
A Communist for most of his life, both he and his wife refused to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and were blacklisted by Hollywood for more than a decade. Sanford was the author of 24 published books, including his best known, "A More Goodly Country" published in 1975. - German-born John Haase moved to San Francisco, with his family, in 1936 during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He practiced dentistry for 40 years and would often write out plot lines for his stories in between appointments. Haase wrote 11 books, the last published in 1983. "Me and the Arch Kook Petulia" was turned into the quirky Richard Lester film Petulia (1968). "Erasmus with Freckles" became Dear Brigitte (1965), starring James Stewart. He was friendly with the band Van Halen, who played at his 1975 wedding.
- Ed Snider was born on 6 January 1933 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was a producer, known for Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt? (2014) and Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged (2011). He was married to Lin Spivak, Christine Decroix, Martha J. McGeary and Myrna Lee Gordon. He died on 11 April 2016 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Don McFarlane was born on 19 September 1931 in Moraga, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Just One of the Guys (1985), Stewardess School (1986) and Follow That Bird (1985). He died on 30 April 2019 in Montecito, California, USA.- Sara Pezzimenti was born on 27 September 1986 in the USA. She died on 14 October 2007 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Popular novelist and biographer Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor was born on March 24, 1865 in Chicago, the son of Henry Hobart (1835-1875) and Adelaide Chatfield Taylor (1834-1888). His father was a wealthy Chicago area businessman who was involved in the manufacturing of agricultural implements. Henry Taylor would go on to be one of the original directors of the Elgin Watch Company and the Commercial National Bank of Chicago.
Hobart graduated from Cornell University in 1886 where he majored in science and literature. While attending Cornell he managed the varsity baseball team for several seasons.
When his uncle Wayne Chatfield (1840-1892) died, he left Hobart 2.5 million dollars with the stipulation the he add Chatfield to his surname. Hobart who was born with the middle name Chatfield then became known as Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor.
After graduation he founded a weekly literary magazine called America. While considered by some to be a literary success, the magazine eventually proved to be a financial failure. While in Europe as a special correspondent for Chicago Daily News and not long after he had sold his interests in the magazine, Hobart wrote his first novel "With Edge Tools" (1891) followed by "An American Peeress" (1894). The success of the latter helped cement his career as a writer with the critics and the public.
Hobart over his career, would author biographies, comedies historical fiction and books of non-fiction. Examples of some of his more popular works might include:
"Two Women & a Fool" (1896) "The Vice of Fools" (1897) "The Secretary of the Legation" (1899) "The Idle Born" (1900) with Reginald De Koven "The Crimson Wing" (1902) "The Middle West Discovers Outdoors" (1905) "Moliere: a biography" (1906) "The Land of the Castanet, Spanish Sketches" (1906)" "Fame's Pathway: A Romance of a Genius" (1909) "Goldoni: a biography" (1913). "Chicago" (1917) "Odyssey of a Modern Ulysses; Cities of Many Men" (1926) "Charmed Circles" (1935)
Hobart wrote two books that brought him international acclaim. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor for his biography of the French playwright Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin ) and Italian government of King Victor Emmanuel III presented him with the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of the Crown of Italy for his biography of the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni). During his life he had also received honors from the governments of England, Portugal, Venezuela and Spain.
In 1890, Hobart married Rose Farwell (1870-1918), on the day following her graduation from finishing school. She was the daughter of Charles B. Farwell (1823-1903), a former congressman and senator from Illinois and the sister-in-law of composer Reginald De Koven.
Hobart and his wife were both avid golfers. He is thought to have built the first golf course west of New York on property his father-in-law owned in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Hobart and Rose were the parents of a daughter and three sons.
Adelaide, (1891-1982), was a former actress and night club owner. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government for a canteen she operated on their behalf during the Second World War.
Wayne (1893-1967), served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later he served as president (1945-1946) of the Import-Export Bank and as an economic advisor to the Marshal Plan.
Otis (1899-1948), was a playwright and theatrical producer. At one time he was rumored to be engaged to actress Miriam Battista. Otis died in Ossining, NY after a traffic accident.
Robert (1908-1980) was a successful businessman whose name occasionally cropped up in the newspaper society pages. He is probably best remembered by some for his four year marriage to former debutante and distant cousin, Brenda Frazier (1921-1982). After their marriage failed, Brenda said of him that he was a gentleman in every sense of the word.
Hobart married Estelle Barbour Stillman (1878-1960) in 1920; two years after Rose had passed away. Estelle was the daughter of a wealthy Detroit banker and the widow of New York banker, George Schley Stillman, who died of meningitis in 1907 after contracting typhoid fever.
Author Finley Peter Dunne' (father of Finley Peter Dunne) once headed a committee that wrote Hobart asking him if he would mind if they submitted his name as a candidate for the office of mayor of Chicago. Dunne suggested to the committee that if Hobart declined, maybe he would let them submit just part of his name.
Throughout most of his life, Hobart was known as a patron of fine art and had moved freely among society's high circles. In September of 1937 he announced he was withdrawing from public life. A near fatal heart attack suffered earlier that year while attending the coronation of King Edward VI had greatly sapped his strength.
Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor passed away on 17, January, 1945 at his residence in Montecito, California, after a long period of declining health. He was survived by his second wife, Estelle, and all four of his children from his first marriage. - Music Department
Henry Eicheim was born on 3 January 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Ethel Roe Lindgren. He died on 22 August 1942 in Montecito, California, USA.- Eugene Kohn was born on 12 December 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Barbara Shattuck, Barbara Schwartz and Diane Barnes. He died on 9 March 2023 in Montecito, California, USA.
- John Reynolds was born in 1921 in Mattoon, Illinois, USA. John was a producer, known for Scared Straight! Another Story (1980). John died on 14 July 2008 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Herbert Mayer was born on 5 April 1900 in Haag am Hausruck, Austria. He was an actor, known for Schlupp vom grünen Stern (1986), Katze mit Hut (1982) and Geschichten aus Holleschitz (1976). He died on 30 September 1985 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Ruth Ackley was born on 26 January 1920 in Boone, Iowa, USA. She died on 8 July 2007 in Montecito, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
Kenneth Rexroth was born on 22 December 1905 in South Bend, Indiana, USA. He is known for In the Pink (1982), The Coney Island of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1996) and Books and Authors (1956). He was married to Carol Tinker, Marthe Larsen, Marie Kass and Andree Dutcher. He died on 6 June 1982 in Montecito, California, USA.