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- Angus Cloud was born on 10 July 1998 in Oakland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Abigail (2024), Your Lucky Day (2023) and Euphoria (2019). He died on 31 July 2023 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
American actor who had early success as a sunny juvenile, but whose career declined following World War II, in which he was a highly-decorated hero. A native of Los Angeles, Morris played football at Los Angeles Junior College, then worked as a forest ranger. Returning to school, he studied acting at Los Angeles Junior College and at the acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse. A Warner Bros. talent scout spotted him at the Playhouse and he signed with the studio in 1936. Blond and open-faced, he was a perfect type for boy-next-door parts and within a year had made a success in the title role of Kid Galahad (1937). While filming Flight Angels (1940), Morris became interested in flying and became a pilot. With war in the wind, he joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942, leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war. Assigned to the carrier Essex in the Pacific, Morris shot down seven Japanese planes and contributed to the sinking of five ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Following the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning stardom. He continued to topline movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. Losing his boyish looks but not demeanor, Morris spent most of the Fifties in low-budget Westerns. A wonderful performance as a weakling in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) might have given impetus to a new career as a character actor, had Morris lived. However, he suffered a massive heart attack while visiting aboard the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard in San Francisco Bay and was pronounced dead after being transported to Oakland Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He was 45. His last film was not released until two years after his death.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark.
By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in Peter Ibbetson with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with Daisy Mayme and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noël Coward's costume drama The Marquise (1927).
Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman', such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.- Actress
- Director
Paton was described as a "natural comic" and one of the "legends of the local stage" of San Francisco. She is a veteran of the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), and also one of A.C.T.'s leading actresses in its first few seasons. After leaving A.C.T. in the early 1970s, Paton and her husband founded and ran the Berkeley Stage Company for a number of years.
Since then, she and her husband, theatre director Robert Goldsby, moved to Malibu, CA, where they lived until 2015. Paton appeared in 38 films and over 50 TV series. She also continued her decades-long run of regional theatre work across the country, including her 2014 role in the Broadway play, Harvey.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Leo Gorcey's parents were actor Bernard Gorcey (born 1888) who stood 4' 10", and Josephine Condon (born 1901), who stood 4' 11" and weighed 95 pounds; they worked in vaudeville in New York. In 1915, 14-year-old Josephine gave birth to Fred. In 1917, Leo was born, a large baby at 12 lb. 3 oz.; as an adult he would be 5' 6". In 1921 his brother David Gorcey was born. In 1935, Leo and David appeared in the stage play "Dead End." In 1937, this was made into a movie, and Leo became one of the busiest actors for the next 20 years -- from 1937-1939 he starred in seven Dead End Kids movies, from 1940-1945 in 21 East Side Kids films, from 1946-1956 in 41 Bowery Boys movies.
In 1939, Leo married 17-year-old dancer Kay Marvis, who appeared in four of his movies. They divorced in 1944 after five years of marriage; she went on to marry Groucho Marx. In 1945, Leo married Evalene Bankston; they divorced in 1948. Leo was to have paid her $50,000 in a divorce settlement; however, when two detectives she hired broke into his home, he retaliated by firing his gun at them. They sued, and Leo countersued for illegal entry and won $35,000 back. In 1949, Leo married Amelita Ward, whom he met while filming Smugglers' Cove (1948). Their marriage produced Leo Gorcey Jr. in 1949, and a baby girl they named Jan (after Leo's producer and manager, Jan Grippo) in 1951. They divorced in 1956. That year Leo married his young nanny, Brandy, who was taking care of his two kids. They had a baby girl, Brandy Jo, in 1958. The couple divorced in 1962. Leo went to the altar one last time in February, 1968, marrying Mary Gannon. He stayed married to her until his death on June 2, 1969.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Sonny Barger was born on 8 October 1938 in Modesto, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Sons of Anarchy (2008), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Angels from Hell (1968). He was married to Zorana Barger and Sharon Barger. He died on 29 June 2022 in Oakland, California, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Paul Mooney was born on 4 August 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Bamboozled (2000), Brewster's Millions (1985) and Pryor's Place (1984). He was married to Yvonne Mooney. He died on 19 May 2021 in Oakland, California, USA.- Kumar Pallana was born on 23 December 1918 in Indore, Indore State, Central India Agency, British India. He was an actor, known for The Terminal (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Bottle Rocket (1996). He was married to Ranjana Jethwa. He died on 10 October 2013 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Allen 'Farina' Hoskins was born on 9 August 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Business (1931), Moan & Groan, Inc. (1929) and A Tough Winter (1930). He was married to Frances. He died on 26 July 1980 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Howland Chamberlain was born on 2 August 1911 in The Bronx, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Electric Dreams (1984). He died on 1 September 1984 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Huey P. Newton, the co-founder and inspirational leader of the Black Panther Party, was born in Monroe, Louisiana, on February 17, 1942. He was named after governor Huey P. Long. Newton's family moved to Oakland, California early in his childhood.
He attended Merritt College, earning an Associate of Arts degree. He also studied law at Oakland City College and at San Francisco Law School.
While at Oakland City College, Newton had become involved in the radical politics that were dominating the Bay Area. He joined the Afro-American Association and played a role in getting the first black history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. He read the works of Malcolm X, Che Guevara and Mao Tse-tung. During his time at Oakland City College, he met a young man named Bobby Seale.
Newton and Seale decided early on that the police must be stopped from harassing Oakland's African-Americans and they organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (October 1966), with Seale as Chairman and Newton as Minister of Defense.
From his study of the law, Newton was familiar with the California Penal Code and the state's law regarding weapons and was thus able to convince a number of African-Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms. Armed members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense began patrolling the Oakland police. In addition to patrolling, Newton and Seale were responsible for writing the Black Panther Party Platform and Program.
Newton was accused of murdering Oakland police officer John Frey and in September 1968 was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. In May 1970, the California Appellate Court reversed Newton's conviction and ordered a new trial. The State of California dropped its case against Newton after two subsequent mistrials.
While he had been imprisoned, party membership had decreased significantly in several cities, and the FBI had been involved in a campaign to disrupt the Black Panthers through a program called COINTELPRO. Newton concentrated on community outreach programs and the Black Panthers sponsored sickle-cell anemia tests, free food and shoes. In January, 1969, the first Panther's Free Breakfast for School Children Program was initiated at St. Augustine's Church in Oakland. By the end of the year, the Panthers set up kitchens in cities across the nation, feeding over 10,000 children every day before they went to school. Funding for several of their programs were raised as the result of the co-operation of drug dealers and prostitution rings.
Due to the popularity of the programs started by Newton and the Black Panthers, J. Edgar Hoover (who was head of the FBI), stated publicly that the Panthers are the "greatest threat to the internal security of the country".
In 1971, between his second and third trials for the murder of John Frey, he visited China for ten days, where he met with Premier Chou En-lai and Chiang Ch'ing, the wife of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. While there he was offered political asylum.
In 1974 several assault charges were filed against him and he was also accused of murdering a 17-year-old prostitute, Kathleen Smith. Newton failed to make his court appearance. His bail was revoked, a bench warrant issued, and his name added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted list. Newton had jumped bail and escaped to Cuba, where he spent three years in exile. He returned home in 1977 to face murder charges because he said, the climate in the United States had changed and he believed he could get a fair trial. He was acquitted of the murder of Kathleen Smith after two juries were deadlocked.
In 1989 he was convicted of embezzling funds from a school run by the Black Panthers, supposedly to support his alcohol and drug addictions. By this time the Panthers had turned to less violent activism.
On August 22, 1989, Newton was shot at the age of 47 during a drug deal gone bad. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Betty Brewer was born on 23 November 1923 in Joplin, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Rangers of Fortune (1940), Juke Girl (1942) and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942). She died on 2 December 2006 in Oakland, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Violinist and cellist, singer, actor, composer and songwriter ("Shame On You"), conductor, arranger and inventor who popularized western swing music on film and recordings, in person and on radio and television. When Spade was four, he and his parents John and Emma Cooley moved to Oregon where he studied classical violin and cello, and at the age of eight he began performing at community dances and hoedowns with his father. At age 22, his parents moved to Modesto, California where he earned a modest living playing in bars and outdoor events as well as in nearby Fresno and Stockton for polka parties and square dances. A persistent search for film work landed him a job at Republic Pictures as a stand-in for Roy Rogers with whom he shared a slight resemblance. Soon he was singing with the Riders of the Purple Sage and made his first recording in 1941 with the Cal Shrum. The Spade Cooley Orchestra was formed soon afterward as a headline attraction at the Venice Pier Ballroom and later at the Riverside Rancho in Los Angeles (where the popular Carolina Cotton joined the band as a bass fiddler, singer and yodeler), and the band opened the doors at the new Santa Monica Ballroom while recording for RCA Victor.
His eleven-year television career started at KTLA on August 5, 1948 where he broadcast live from the Santa Monica Ballroom, capturing seventy-five percent of the viewership. The orchestra dissolved in 1959 and Cooley began planning a never-built amusement park for Kern County to be called Water Wonderland which would feature boat races and swimming and incorporate a broadcast studio for a new television series. But health and financial problems ensued while at the same time his popularity was quickly fading.
Spade Cooley was always a driven man and a classic Type A personality; but alcohol became an issue as did marital discord and personal anger, and several heart attacks weakened him. According to reports, Spade was increasingly frustrated over the growing distance in his marriage and he exploded in shock, horror and violence at the moment his wife told him she had secretly been a part of a sex-love cult. (This may have been a partial or total fiction she created to get Spade to divorce her.) At that moment he lashed out blindly at her, rupturing her aorta which caused her death. Cooley, now frail and in a wheelchair throughout the first-degree murder trial, never forgave himself and refused a sanity hearing, but the judge imposed a life sentence at the California State Prison Medical Facility at Vacaville where Cooley, a model prisoner, founded a music program with a band and then an orchestra which gave concerts. He learned to play guitar and developed an electric violin.
In August 1969 Spade Cooley won a unanimous vote for parole to take effect the following February, and he was granted a three-day work furlough for his Vacaville orchestra to do an Alameda County Deputy Sheriff's Association concert at the Oakland Auditorium. Greeted with thunderous applause as in the old days, the officials and guests cheered Cooley throughout and, at the concert's conclusion, three thousand law-enforcement officers roared a thunderous standing ovation as Spade took bow after bow while friends, fans, prison guards and even relatives crowded the stage. Spade Cooley, out of breath, sat down in a chair, and then fell forward onto the floor, already dead.
His body was returned to the prison and was cremated. From that point, no one knows for certain what became of the remains of Spade Cooley.- Actor
- Sound Department
- Soundtrack
Doug Boyd was born on May 23, 1952 to John D. Boyd and Dorothy E. Boyd (Smith), the youngest of four siblings. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Culver City, CA, where he met some of his closest lifelong friends. From a young age Doug showed talent in singing and acting. In his youth he was a singing waiter at the Great American Food and Beverage Company in Los Angeles, and he won the television competition The Gong Show for his musical performance.
Doug graduated from Sonoma State University in 1975 with a B.A. in English, and subsequently began his 40-year career as a studio actor and vocalist. His vast portfolio included singing radio jingles, on-camera acting, and print modeling. Doug was an accomplished voice-over artist, his work featured in video games such as BioShock and Syphon Filter, national advertisements, TV shows, films, and educational games. Doug married Lori A. Boyd (Owens) in 1983, and they raised two daughters in Richmond, CA. He moved to Oakland in 2002 where he spent the remainder of his life.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Gloria Sevilla was born on 31 January 1932 in the Philippines. She was an actress and producer, known for Madugong paghihiganti (1963), Badlis sa kinabuhi (1969) and Gimingaw ako (1973). She was married to Amado Cortez. She died on 16 April 2022 in Oakland, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Frank Ward was born on 20 May 1940 in Alabama, USA. He is known for The Mack (1973). He died on 9 October 1972 in Oakland, California, USA.- John Schnabel was born on 11 February 1920 in Kansas, USA. He was married to Erma Dire. He died on 18 March 2016 in Oakland, California, USA.
- George Moran was born on 3 October 1881 in Elwood, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for My Little Chickadee (1940), Why Bring That Up? (1929) and Anybody's War (1930). He was married to Claire White. He died on 1 August 1949 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Harriet C. Leider was born on 5 October 1944. She was an actress, known for Torch Song Trilogy (1988), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Dream Lover (1993). She was married to Jenny Wrenn. She died on 12 February 2004 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Marlon Riggs was born on 3 February 1957 in Texas, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Tongues Untied (1989), Color Adjustment (1992) and Black Is... Black Ain't (1994). He died on 5 April 1994 in Oakland, California, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Brownie McGhee was born on 30 November 1915 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Angel Heart (1987), The Jerk (1979) and Adventures in Babysitting (1987). He died on 16 February 1996 in Oakland, California, USA.- David Zelag Goodman was born on 15 January 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Logan's Run (1976), Straw Dogs (2011) and Straw Dogs (1971). He was married to Marjorie Goodman. He died on 26 September 2011 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Actress
Born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy on her family's farm near Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, she was raised a Methodist, her father James's faith. Her mother Mildred worked for the Salvation Army.
In December 1907, she attended a local "tent revival" on a whim, and fell in love with its Irish-born preacher, Robert Semple. They married on August 12, 1908 in a Salvation Army ceremony. They moved to Chicago to join Pentecostal preacher's William Howard Durham's Full Gospel Assembly, where Aimee discovered her gift as a faith-healer and "speaking in tongues".
While in China on missionary work, Aimee and Robert contracted malaria, probably due to eating food grown in soil fertilized with human feces (a wide-spread practice). He died of dysentery on August 17, 1910 in Hong Kong; 29 days later, she gave birth to their daughter, Roberta. On Robert's headstone, Aimee had inscribed: "He led me to Christ".
She made her way to New York City, where Mildred secured her a job with the Salvation Army. There, she met accountant Harold McPherson. They married on February 5, 1912, and moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where their son Rolf was born the following year. She tried to be the dutiful housewife he expected, but the pull of missionary work was too-great. With the children in tow, she returned to Canada to begin her ministry. She and the children, joined by Mildred, spent the next 7 years traveling North America, spreading the Good News, living from hand-to-mouth. Harold tracked Aimee down to Florida to take her back to Rhode Island, only to join her, even doing some preaching himself. But he soon longed for his former life of stability and predictably, and returned to Providence. He filed for divorce, citing desertion; it was granted in 1921.
In 1918, Aimee sent Mildred to Los Angeles to rent the largest hall she could find for her sermons, reasoning that the city's rampant growth made it the perfect home base for the ministry. She was an overnight sensation; people waited for hours to get into the 3,500-seat Philharmonic Auditorium, which was standing room only. On January 1, 1923, the world's first "megachurch", Angelus Temple, was dedicated, built by Aimee with funds raised by her followers, donations of building materials, and volunteer labor - "by faith", as she put it - intending it as a place where people of every Christian denomination could gather. Angelus Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 1992.
On May 18, 1926, she and her secretary went to Lompoc's Ocean Beach Park for a swim. Soon after arriving, Aimee went missing. A search, complete with deep-sea divers, was organized as the media went into a frenzy, reporting "sightings" from Canada to Mexico. It fell to 15-year old Roberta to take to the pulpit at Angelus Temple, and deliver the "altar call" made famous by her mother as parishioners wept, convinced that the woman they affectionately called "Sister" had drowned.
In the pre-dawn hours of June 23, Aimee showed up at the Agua Prieta, Mexico home of Ramón González. She told González and his wife a wild tale: she had been approached by a couple who begged her to come to their car to pray for their sick child, but was shoved into the car and taken to a shack in the desert, where "Steve", "Mexicali Rose", and another man drugged and tortured her. She escaped and walked, by her estimation, 20 miles in the broiling heat. Agua Prieta mayor Ernesto Boubion arranged for his police to transfer her to the Douglas, AZ police, who took her to a hospital.
While most of the 50,000 people who greeted her at Union Station were more-than-willing to believe her, civic leaders - who had initially welcomed Aimee, but were now convinced that her over-the-top brand of Old Time Religion was turning their fair city into a laughingstock - were not. Over the objections of her mother and the Temple's lawyers, she went to court to clear her name. In three grand jury inquiries, she could not prove she had been kidnapped. However, District Attorney Asa Keyes could not prove she had NOT been kidnapped. Conflicting testimonies, missing evidence, and a lawsuit against Boubion for attempted extortion muddied the waters further. But the damage to her reputation in the "court" of public opinion - spurred by media speculation that she concocted the story to hide a secret tryst with a former employee, a married man - had been done. Hundreds of followers, disillusioned and heartbroken, left Angelus Temple.
Those who stayed to help with the herculean task of rebuilding the ministry were shaken to their core when Aimee married on September 13, 1931, as convention at the time held that divorcées did not remarry. It also didn't help that David Hutton, an actor and musician, took full advantage of being "Mr. Aimee", and had a string of highly-publicized scandals. They divorced in 1934.
Lost amid the roller-coaster that was Aimee's life was her charity work. She personally spearheaded relief efforts when an earthquake struck Santa Barbara in 1925, when the St. Francis Dam broke in 1928, and when an earthquake struck Long Beach in 1933. In 1928, she opened a commissary which operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing food, clothes, medical, and dental care to the needy, regardless or religion, race, ethnicity or national origin. Companies and individuals who would otherwise have had nothing to do with her found themselves donating food, supplies, money, or labor. A 1936 survey indicated that Angelus Temple was assisting more families than any other public or private institution in Los Angeles.
On September 26, 1944, Aimee traveled to Oakland for a series of revivals. Rolf found her unconscious in her hotel room the next morning; an hour later, she was dead. While the autopsy did not determine the cause of death, the coroner stated it most-likely an accidental overdose, compounded by kidney failure. Forty-five thousand people filed past her casket as she lay in state at Angelus Temple. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale in a marble sarcophagus flanked by two angels. Rolf took over the ministry, which he ran for 44 years, and has grown to over 7 million members worldwide. Roberta - who had a falling-out with Aimee over church management - and her second husband, Harry Salter, created the game show "Name That Tune".- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
John Seely was born on 23 August 1923 in Alameda County, California, USA. He was a composer, known for Pleasantville (1998), Major Payne (1995) and The Hideous Sun Demon (1958). He was married to Merry. He died on 23 April 2004 in Oakland, California, USA.- Josephine Borio was an actress during the "Silver Screen Era" before movies had sound. She was born in Italy and followed her brother to Hollywood to become an actress. Her brother, August Borio, worked in the publicity department for MGM. After her final film in Hollywood, she moved to New York and continued her career on stage. Her first marriage was to NY socialite Foster and produced one child, Joseph Foster. After her divorce, she moved back to California and settled in Contra Costa County, near San Francisco. She began a new career as a society column writer for one of the local newspapers. Her second marriage was to Matteo Gavotto, a successful businessman in the wine industry. Her second marriage lasted until her death at age 69 in 1975. She is buried at the Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Lafayette, CA (Contra Costa County).
- Melbourne MacDowell was born on 22 November 1856 in South River, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Speed Mad (1925), Feel My Pulse (1928) and Savages of the Sea (1925). He was married to Mrs. Caroline Wells Neff, Wilhelmina Marie Strauss, Fanny Davenport (d. 1898) (first), Virginia Drew Trescott and Nellie Irving. He died on 18 February 1941 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Writer
- Location Management
Sidney Kingsley was born on 22 October 1906 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Detective Story (1951), Dead End (1937) and Men in White (1934). He was married to Madge Evans. He died on 20 March 1995 in Oakland, New Jersey, USA.- Actress
Aileen Haley was born on 25 March 1917 in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. She was an actress. She was married to Andrew A. Kucher, Raymond L. Harper and Harold Hall. She died in April 1986 in Oakland, California, USA.- Hsu Ying Li was born in 1910 in China. She was an actress, known for The Joy Luck Club (1993). She died on 28 April 1993 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Jack Vance is best known for his fantasy and science fiction. He won the Hugo award (given by the World Science Fiction Society) for *The Dragon Masters* (1963); both Hugo and Nebula (given by Science Fiction Writers of America) for *The Last Castle* (1966); and the World Fantasy Award for *Lyonesse: Madouc* (1990).
He has also written eleven "straight" murder mysteries under his full name John Holbrook Vance - one of which, *Bad Ronald* (1955), has been filmed both in English and in French - and four under the house pseudonym Ellery Queen.
Between 1998 and 2005, a group of fans around the world compiled the *Vance Integral Edition* of his written fiction, correcting errors that have crept in as well as undoing the butchery of editors. The edition comprises 44 volumes, of which 22 were published in 2003 and the remainder in 2005. - Guy D'Ennery was born on 4 June 1884 in Sacramento, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Lights of New York (1928), Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) and The Regeneration of John Storm (1913). He died on 17 October 1978 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Tracy Maddox was an actress, known for Grey's Anatomy (2005), The Event (2010) and The Practice (1997). She died on 31 May 2022 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Frankie Lons died on 18 July 2021 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Larry Grey was born on 23 March 1895 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Mr. Celebrity (1941). He was married to Carlotta Dale Garrison. He died on 5 May 1951 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Producer
Louis DiGiaimo was born on 20 October 1938 in Paterson, New Jersey, USA. He was a casting director and producer, known for Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000) and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). He was married to Lee. He died on 19 December 2015 in Oakland, New Jersey, USA.- Tisdale Justin Dow was born in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of Wilbur Olen Dow Sr., a real estate developer and Irene Eladist Bowen and the oldest of five children. He left Los Angeles to attend Adelphi College in Long Island, New York. While there, he majored in art, winning a gold medal in drawing in 1911. A number of his cartoons appeared in the Los Angeles Herald Newspaper. Shortly after, he began his stage career. This lasted two years before switching to silent films with Kalem Studios in New York. He appeared in several Alice Joyce films such as "The Vanderhoff Affair", "The Swamp Fox", "The Plains of Abraham" and "The Barefoot Boy". He typically portrayed foreign characters in supporting roles owing to his black hair. He later became a studio manager in Jacksonville, Florida for Kalem Film Co. He died in Oakland, California. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles. He was the uncle of Olympian Bowen Stassforth.
- Producer
- Casting Director
Chloe Lietzke was born on 16 October 1941 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, USA. She was a producer and casting director, known for The Room (2003). She was married to Fred Lietzke. She died on 29 August 2012 in Oakland, California, USA.- John Molloy was born on 18 March 1929 in Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Concrete Jungle (1960), Tolka Row (1964) and Juno and the Paycock (1980). He died on 2 September 1999 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Francis Edward Faragoh (born Ferenc Eduárd Faragó) was a Hungarian-American screenwriter, active from 1929 to 1947. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, and migrated to the United States prior to World War I. He is primarily remembered for writing the screenplays for the pioneering gangster film "Little Caesar" (1931) and the gothic horror film "Frankenstein" (1931).
Faragoh was nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay" for his script for "Little Caesar". The Award was instead won by rival screenwriters Howard Estabrook. Faragoh's latter works were less critically acclaimed, though he wrote the screenplays for well-received period dramas (such as "Chasing Yesterday" and "Lady from Louisiana"). He also co-wrote the screenplay of the coming-of-age drama "My Friend Flicka", which has been hailed as a great work by later generations of critics.
Faragoh was blacklisted in Hollywood during the 1950s, as a Communist sympathizer. By that point he had already semi-retired. He spend his last years in in Oakland, California. He died of a heart attack in 1966. He was 67-years-old at the time of his death. Some of his films were eventually chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry, due to their historical significance. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
The Jacka was born in August 1977 in Pittsburg, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Fruitvale Station (2013), Tania Ponce Ft. The Jacka: I Wanna Be (2015) and Take Control (2020). He died on 2 February 2015 in Oakland, California, USA.- Additional Crew
- Actor
Ron Poindexter was born on 12 March 1935 in Oakland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), The John Davidson Show (1976) and Donny and Marie (1975). He was married to Kristina Holland and Coralynn Ray Brenneis. He died on 25 February 1999 in Oakland, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Handsome, dark wavy-haired leading man who appeared on the New York stage, starred in early silent films (1-3 reelers) as well as directed and wrote scenarios. Worked for various studios including Edison, American, Powers, Rex, Big U (Universal), Laemmle, Nestor and Selig. Still working until the year of his death, he passed away at the age of 37 from paralysis associated with multiple sclerosis which affected his spinal cord. He left his wife Ann and their two year old daughter as well as his parents and two sisters.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
André-ani was born on 22 April 1900 in Oakland, California, USA. André-ani was a costume designer, known for The Flaming Forest (1926), The Wind (1928) and The Understanding Heart (1927). André-ani died on 3 April 1953 in Oakland, California, USA.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Izora Rhodes-Armstead was born on 6 July 1942 in Galveston, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for Sylvester: Can't Stop Dancing (1979), The Weather Girls: Can U Feel It (Dee Ooh La La La) (1993) and The Weather Girls: Well-A-Wiggy (1985). She died on 16 September 2004 in Oakland, California, USA.- He was All-American College Football player at Notre Dame. As a Senior, he was 9th in Heisman voting in 1959. He was a first round draft pick (11th overall) in 1960. Played Tight End for the San Francisco 49ers from 1960 to 1967 and New Orleans Saints in 1968. He was known during his career in Football for his ferocity. After Football, he became a radio personality as sports announcer in college and Pro football.
- Vedah Bertram born Adele Buck in Massachusetts into a prominent Boston family, her father Jerome Buck, a wealthy newspaper publisher. Film cowboy star G.M. Anderson saw her photograph in a Boston society column, he decided to contact her and asked her to be his co-star in his Broncho Billy western series, despite opposition by her family she did so, adopting the name Vedah Bertram in order to spare her family's feelings, she became an immediate success in the films as Broncho Billy's girl friend, making her debut in 'The Ranch Girl's Mistake' in 1912, she became hughly popular with cinema audience, starring in around 24 short westerns until her last movie 'Broncho Billy Outwitted', sadly in August 1912, she was admitted into an Oakland hospital with stomach pains and died of acute appendicitis, she was only 20 years old. One of the first film actresses to be mourned by the public, her death proved doubly shocking to her parents who reputedly had remained unaware of her film career.
- Allen "Al" Davis, the man who is synonymous with the Oakland Raiders franchise of the National Football League and its earlier American Football League incarnation, was born on the Fourth of July, 1929 into a Jewish family in Brockton, Massachusetts. Raised in Brooklyn and educated at the borough's Erasmus High School, he played football at Syracuse University, but was cut from the varsity team.
After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in English from Syracuse in 1950, he began his football career as a line coach at Adelphi College from 1950 to 1951. He became head coach of the U.S. Army team at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia from 1952 to 1953, then served as line coach at The Citadel. In 1957, he moved on to the University of Southern California, where he served as line coach for two years.
With the placing of an American Football League franchise in Los Angeles, Davis was able to move into pro ball. He served as the offensive end coach of the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers from 1960 to 1962, and then was named head coach and general manager of the AFL's struggling Oakland Raiders at the age of 33. Davis took a team that was 9-33 in th first three years of its existence and whipped them into shape in one season. In 1963, his first year as a pro head coach, he was voted the AFL Coach of the Year after his Raiders went 10-4. His success in his four season as head coach led to him being named AFL Commissioner in April 1966.
His reign was short-lived. Although the AFL had always contended with the NFL in the signing of college players and Canadian Football League Players, Davis launched an aggressive campaign to recruit top NFL's top players, thus driving up the salaries of football players in both leagues. Due to the rising costs of salaries, AFL owners met with NFL owners and agreed to a merger after the 1970 season. Davis opposed the merger and quit as AFL Commissioner, returning to Oakland as managing general partner of the Raiders. The glory days of Al Davis were about to commence.
For a generation, the Oakland (and later Los Angeles) Raiders became one of the top teams in pro football, winning 13 divisional championships, one AFL title (1967), and three Super Bowls from 1967 through 1985. The Raiders in 1985 were one of the most famous, and storied franchises in all American sports, up there with the Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Celtics, and Canadiens.
Beginning in 1980, Al Davis played David against the Goliath that was NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle (under whom the merger of the AFL and NFL was effected). Davis wanted to move his Raiders to Los Angeles after the city of Oakland refused to expand the Oakland Colesium, but his plans were blocked by the League. Davis filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, and his franchise became the Los Angeles Raiders for the 1982 NFL season after a federal district court ruled in Davis' favor. The following season, Los Angeles Raiders won Superbowl XVIII in 1984. It was the high-water mark of Al Davis' career.
The team has won only one conference championship in the last 22 seasons, the back-in-Oakland (having returned in 1995 after the city agreed to expand the Colesium) losing Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002 to the Buccaneers. Davis seemed to be consumed by lawsuits against the NFL and municipalities.
Other than his three Super Bowl victories, the great Al Davis will be remembered for being a pioneer in for providing opportunity to minority players, coaches and executives when pro football was still dominated by racist owners hostile to African Americans. Int he AFL, Davis scouted and drafted African American players from the traditionally black colleges ignored by the NFL. He was the first owner to hire a Hispanic-American head coach (Tom Flores) and an African American head coach (Art Shell). His selection of Amy Trask to be CEO of the Raiders made him the first (and lamentably, so-far the only) NFL owner to put a woman in charge of an NFL team.
Al Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Team and League Administrator in 1992. - Robert Whitney was born on 19 June 1910 in on the high seas. He was an actor, known for Judge Hardy's Children (1938) and The Headleys at Home (1938). He died on 7 February 2006 in Oakland, California, USA.
- Visual Effects
- Art Department
Japeth Pieper was born on 8 March 1965 in the USA. Japeth is known for WALL·E (2008), Brave (2012) and Cars (2006). Japeth died on 7 December 2010 in Oakland, California, USA.- Soundtrack
Jimmy Reed was born on 6 September 1925 in Leland, Mississippi, USA. He died on 29 August 1976 in Oakland, California, USA.