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- Early information on Florence La Badie is sketchy. She is thought to have been born in New York City in 1888, and was either taken away from or given up for adoption by her birth mother. Florence was adopted by a married couple named LaBadie, who legally gave the child their last name. Her adoptive father, Joseph LaBadie, is believed to have been an attorney in Canada, and the family spent time in Montreal, where Florence grew up. She was educated in both Montreal and New York, and after graduation from high school she worked as a model for well-known illustrator (and, later, film director) Penrhyn Stanlaws.
She took up a career on the stage, first appearing there in 1908. She signed up with director Chauncey Olcott's theatrical company, and went on the road with them. In 1909 she went with a friend, Mary Pickford, to the American Biograph film studio in New York to watch Pickford at work in In the Window Recess (1909), and Pickford got her a bit part in the picture. La Badie didn't make any films for a year after that, though, at which time she signed a contract with Biograph.
In 1911 she left Biograph for Thanhouser. She met with great success in Thanhouser's pictures, and was gradually promoted to lead roles, working there from 1911-1917 (making her the player who worked at Thanhouser the longest). She became the best-known of all of Thanhouser's players and was wildly popular in fan magazines and trade journals.
Although she was engaged twice (to actor Val Hush and writer Daniel Carson Goodman), she never married. She was the "companion" of film mogul Marcus Loew for several years.
On August 28, 1917, while driving a car near Ossining, New York, with her fiancé Daniel Goodman, the car's brakes failed and it plunged down an embankment at high speed, rolling over when it hit the bottom. Goodman escaped with relatively minor injuries, but she was thrown from the car and incurred a compound fracture of the pelvis. She was taken to a hospital in Ossining, where her conditioned worsened. She died of septicemia (infection) on August 28. She was 29 years old. - Campbell was born in Sale, Cheshire on 26th April 1880 and began acting as a boy. He married fellow music hall performer Fanny Gertrude Robotham on March 30, 1901 and was later hired by English music hall impresario Fred Karno for his "Fun Factory" comedy troupes that featured other comics like a young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Campbell arrived in New York with a Karno troupe in July, 1914 and was soon hired by Broadway producer Charles Frohman. In late 1915 fellow Karno alum Chaplin and his brother Sid found Eric working in a George M. Cohan play "Pom Pom" and in March, 1916, brought him to Hollywood. Built like a wrestler, over 6' tall and over 250 pounds, topped by small shaved head. Chaplin smeared his face with exaggerated eyebrows and darkened eyes, with a scraggly and long beard. He was the menacing bearded ogre opposite Chaplin in his most famous silents. His first Chaplin film was The Floorwalker (1916), playing the role of the villainous heavy, reprised in subsequent classics like The Rink (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), The Adventurer (1917), The Cure (1917), The Immigrant (1917), Easy Street (1917) and Chase me Charlie (1917). By the summer of 1917 Campbell was Chaplin's favorite co-star and foil, and almost as famous as the little comedian. In early 1917 Campbell filmed his last Chaplin Mutual, The Adventurer, after which Chaplin began construction on his own studio on LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood (which still stands today). During the five-month construction period, Chaplin lent Campbell to Mary Pickford, the world's biggest star, to appear in her film Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1917). He was on the verge of becoming a world-wide star as filming began. But at the same time that he was becoming famous his personal life was beset by tragedy and scandal. On July 9, 1917 his wife died suddenly of a heart attack after dinner at a Santa Monica restaurant near their home. Walking to a nearby store to buy a mourning dress, his 16-year-old daughter Una was hit by a car a seriously injured. At a September 12th party given for Artcraft Studio publicity man Pete Schmid, Campbell met Pearl Gilman, a diminutive vaudeville comedienne with a family reputation for gold-digging. She had been married to candy heir Charles W. Alisky in 1912, and a few years later divorced and married another wealthy man, Theodore Arnreiter. Her sister Mabelle was married to elderly steel magnate William E. Corey, the owner of U.S. Steel. Just five days after they met, Campbell and Gilman Alisky-Arnreiter were married at the home of Elaine Hardy at 824 5th Street in Santa Monica. His daughter Una, still recuperating at a friend's home in Santa Monica canyon, was not told of the wedding for several weeks. Less than two months after marrying the gentle giant, Gilman Alisky-Arnreiter sued him for divorce. He moved out of the Santa Monica bungalow and into the Los Angeles Athletic Club, taking a room next to his best friend Chaplin. A month later later on December 20, Campbell attended a Christmas party at the Vernon Country Club, and drove back to L.A. in a drunken stupor. Approaching the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and Vermont Ave. at over 60 m.p.h., he lost control of his car, crossed Wilshire and hit another car head-on. He was killed instantly, his massive body locked in the crumpled wreckage for over five hours. Heartbreak never left Campbell, even in death. After his remains were cremated, his ashes were sent to the Rosedale Cemetery, where they remained for six months while the cemetery waited in vain for someone to pay for his funeral. When the bill remained unpaid, the urn was returned to the Handley Mortuary, where it sat unnoticed in a closet from 1917 until late 1938. When the mortuary closed the urn was sent back to Rosedale, where it sat in another closet for still another 13 years. In 1952 a kindhearted office worker arranged for Campbell's remains to finally be buried. But, unfortunately, he forgot to record exactly where Campbell was buried, so the burly Scotsman is lost among the markers and statues in the quiet cemetery. In conjunction with a Scottish film about Campbell's life, a memorial plaque was laid in 1996. Campbell's death had a profound effect on Chaplin, and a quieter effect on movie history. After that time, Chaplin's movies lost some of their comic mystery; that certain something that his Mutual films had but subsequent films did not. His later works were much more self-centered and missing the comic give-and-take of his work with Campbell. There's no telling how famous Eric Campbell would have become, or what different films Chaplin may have done with his burly best friend.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Herbert Beerbohm Tree was born on 17 December 1852 in Kensington, London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for King John (1899), Henry VIII (1911) and The Tempest (1905). He was married to Lady Tree. He died on 2 July 1917 in Marylebone, London, England, UK.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Buffalo Bill Cody was born on 26 February 1846 in Scott County, Iowa, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Fighting with Buffalo Bill (1926), Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931) and The Indians Are Coming (1930). He was married to Louise Maude Frederici. He died on 10 January 1917 in Denver, Colorado, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Scott Joplin was a black American composer and pianist known as the "King of Ragtime" at the turn of the 20th century. Studying piano with teachers near his childhood home, Joplin traveled through the Midwest from the mid-1880s, performing at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Settling in Sedalia, MO, in 1895, he studied music at the George R. Smith College for Negroes and hoped for a career as a concert pianist and classical composer. His first published songs brought him fame, and in 1900 he moved to St. Louis to work more closely with the music publisher John Stark. Joplin published his first extended work, a ballet suite using the rhythmic devices of ragtime, with his own choreographic directions, in 1902. His first opera, "A Guest of Honor" (1903), was lost by the copyright office. Moving to New York City in 1907, Joplin wrote an instruction book, "The School Of Ragtime", outlining his complex bass patterns, sporadic syncopation, stop-time breaks and harmonic ideas that were being widely imitated and popularized. Joplin's contract with Stark ended in 1909, and though he made piano rolls in his final years, most of his efforts involved "Treemonisha", which synthesized his musical ideas into conventional, three-act opera. He also wrote the libretto, about a mythical black leader, and choreographed it. "Treemonisha" had only one semipublic performance during Joplin's lifetime; he became obsessed with its succeeding, suffered a nervous breakdown and collapse in 1911, and was institutionalized in 1916. His reputation as a composer rests on his classic rags for piano, including "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer", published from 1899 through 1909, and "Treemonisha", published at his own expense in 1911. It was well received when produced by an Atlanta, GA, troupe on Broadway in 1972, and interest in Joplin and ragtime was stimulated in the 1970s by the use of his music in the Academy Award-winning score to the film The Sting (1973).- Director
- Writer
- Production Designer
Yevgeni Bauer was the most important filmmaker of the early Russian cinema, who made about eighty silent films in 5 years before the Russian Revolution of 1917.
He was born Yevgeni Frantsevich Bauer in 1865, in Moscow, Russia, into an artistic family. His father, Franz Bauer, was a renown musician who played zither, his mother was an opera singer, and his sisters eventually became stage and cinema actresses. From 1882 - 1887 he studied at Moscow School of Art, Sculpture and Architecture, graduating in 1887, as an artist. At that time Bauer worked for Moscow theatres as a stage artist as well as a set designer for popular musicals and comedies. He was also known as a newspaper satirist, a caricaturist for magazines, a journalist, and a theatrical impresario. During the 1900s he became involved in still photography and worked as an artistic photographer, having several of his pictures published in the Russian media.
In 1912, Bauer was hired by A. Drankov and Taldykin as a production designer for Tryokhsotletie tsarstvovaniya doma Romanovykh (1913), then he became a film director for their company. After making four films as director for A. Drankov, he moved on to work for Pathe's Star Film Factory in Moscow, and made another four films for them. In 1913, Bauer was invited by the leading Russian producer Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. Their fruitful collaboration would last only four years, yielding about 70 films, of which less than a half survived. Among Bauer's best works with Khanzhyonkov were such films as After Death (1915), Her Sister's Rival (1916), and Revolyutsioner (1917), starring Ivane Perestiani as an Old revolutionary.
Bauer reached his peak in the genre of social drama, such as Daydreams (1915) (aka.. Daydreams), starring Alexander Wyrubow as Sergei, an obsessed widower who falls for an actress because of her resemblance of his late wife, but soon their characters clash, leading to a tragic end. Soon Yevgeni Bauer established himself as the leading film director in Russia. He achieved great financial success earning up to 40,000 rubles annually. In 1914, Bauer started using his wife's name, Ancharov, as his artistic name, due to the political pressure from rising Russian nationalism during the First World War, so he was credited as Ancharov in some of his films. Bauer was the main force behind successful careers of major Russian silent film stars of that time, such as Ivan Mozzhukhin and Vera Kholodnaya. With Vera Kholodnaya, Bauer made thirteen films back-to-back in one year. In After Death (1915) and Umirayushchiy lebed (1917), Bauer cast none other than Vera Karalli, the legendary ballerina of the Boshoi Theatre and Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
Bauer's style evolved from his experience as a theatre artist, actor and photographer who incorporated theatrical techniques in his films in a uniquely cinematic way. His mastery of lighting, his use of unusual camera angles and huge close-ups, his inventive and thoughtful montage and such theatrical effects as long shots through windows or his use of gauzes and curtains to alter the screen image, all these innovations were decades ahead of his time. Bauer was one of the first film directors who used the split screen. He introduced a multi-layered staging involving juxtaposed foreground and background with lush decor and thoughtful compositions alluding to classical paintings of the old masters. He developed ingenious camera movements, showing a remarkable depth of field, and achieving powerful dramatic effects. Bauer's vision and inventiveness, his integrated skills as artist, actor, photographer, and director, made him the leading filmmaker of the early Russian cinema.
Russia was a tough place for film and entertainment business, becoming increasingly unstable during the turbulent years of the First World War. Then Russian culture and film industry suffered from a cascade of troubles and destructions caused by several Russian Revolutions. However, by 1917 several major Russian film studios became established in Yalta, Crimea, near the Tsar's palaces and lush villas of other major patrons, where social environment of an upscale resort with a Mediterranean climate provided special conditions conducive for filming all year round. Bauer moved to Yalta and continued his work at the newly established Khanzhyonkov film studio, becoming also its major shareholder. There Bauer directed his last masterpiece, Za schastem (1917) (aka.. For happiness), passing the torch to his apprentice, Lev Kuleshov, who replaced the ailing Bauer in the role as painter Enrico, which Bauer wanted to play himself, but unfortunately he fell and broke his leg.
In spite of his illness, Bauer used a wheelchair, and began directing his last film, Korol Parizha (1917), which was initially designed as his largest project, but was ended as his last song. His broken leg and unexpected complications interrupted his work as he became bedridden in a Yalta hospital. The film was completed by actress Olga Rakhmanova and his colleagues at Khanzhyonkov studio. Yevgeni Bauer died of pneumonia on 22nd of July (9th of July, old style), 1917, in Yalta, Crimea, and was laid to rest in Yalta cemetery, Yalta, Crimea, Russia (now Yalta, Ukraine).
Bauer was married to actress and dancer Emma Bauer (nee Ancharova), whom he met in the 1890s during his stint as a theatre artist. In 1915 Lina Bauer starred as a flirtatious wife who hides her lover in a closet and successfully outwits her husband in Bauer's comedy The 1002nd Ruse (1915) (aka.. The 1002nd Ruse). Bauer's sister, Emma Bauer also starred in several of his films.- Actor
- Director
- Stunts
Jack Bonavita was born on 15 December 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Woman, the Lion and the Man (1915), The Wizard of the Jungle (1913) and The Winning of Jess (1915). He was married to HH Princess de Montglyon (Rosalie F. Mercy d'Argenteau). He died on 19 March 1917 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on August 7 1876, the only daughter of a Dutch hat-maker, she seemed unlikely to later become the Mata Hari, the most infamous double agent in spy history. She answered an advertisement in the local paper placed by Rudolph MacLeod, a career military man in need of a wife. Enchanted by the tall, dark, and lovely Margaretha, MacLeod married her in 1895, and moved her to Dutch-controlled Java. His wife fell in love with Java, and wore native sarongs, learned the local language, and watched local dancers. MacLeod's philandering and bad temper strained their marriage, and even the birth of their second child could not repair the damage done. After their move to Sumatra, a terrible tragedy occurred that would finally end their marriage. While getting ready for bed on June 27 1899, Margaretha heard her children screaming. Racing to their nursery, she found her son and daughter had been poisoned, probably by an angry servant. While their daughter Jeanne Louise (called "Non", a Malay name) survived, her elder brother Norman was not so fortunate. Margaretha fell into a deep depression that was only worsened by MacLeod's blaming her for Norman's death. Finally, the tension exploded, and MacLeod beat Margaretha brutally before kidnapping their daughter and fleeing to Europe. She obtained a divorce and had her child returned to her, but MacLeod refused to pay any support. Unable to care for Non, Margaretha reluctantly left the girl in her father's care and left for Paris. There she became an exotic dancer, choosing the Malay term "matahari" (Eye of the Sun) as her stage name. Concocting a fanciful tale of being a half-Javanese temple dancer devoted to the god Shiva, Margaretha first appeared on stage as her alter-ego Mata Hari in 1905. Her erotic dancing (that included shedding veils, sarongs, and most everything else in the course of her performance) made her an instant sensation, and traveled all over Europe. She also made several unsuccessful attempts to regain custody of her daughter Non, even plotting with a servant to kidnap the girl from her school in Velp. While trying to visit her lover, a Russian officer named Vadim Maslov, Margaretha was approached by Georges Ladoux, a French army captain, who asked her to spy on the Germans. She agreed and planned to seduce a German General and get him to spill military secrets. However, she was arrested by British intelligence and interrogated by Scotland Yard, who were convinced she was actually a spy for the Germans. Finally she was released, and as 1916 drew to a close Margaretha made her way to Spain where she romanced a German Major called Kalle. He caught onto her and sent false messages claiming that she was in fact a German spy. The French arrested Margaretha on February 13 1917 and imprisoned her. She was convicted that summer of spying for an enemy nation and sentenced to death. On October 15 1917, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle faced the firing squad. She refused a blindfold and blew one last kiss to her killers. Mata Hari was killed by a bullet to the heart, and her body was donated to medical science.
- Jack Standing was born on 10 February 1886 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Evangelist (1916), A Father's Love (1913) and The Perils of Pauline (1914). He was married to Patricia Dorothy Harcourt and Catherine Doucet. He died on 26 October 1917 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Young Danish Valdemar tried to make a success in the theatre when he first appeared on Casino Teater in 1901. He never succeeded on the stage - his voice didn't sound right! But notices were otherwise kind to him.
Psilander was good-looking, charming and exuding a certain joie-de-vivre. He soon abandoned his plans of becoming an opera singer, preferring the new medium of motion pictures in 1910.
Soon he became a raving hit all over Europe (especially Russia - but never USA) and his exorbitant salary made him the most successful actor at Nordisk Film. In an international vox populi he would even out-shine Asta Nielsen, Henny Porten, Max Linder and other stars.
Psilander believed in having fun. The enormous amounts of money (pre-income tax) he made, was spent on a care-free way of life with friends and colleagues. Marrying actress Edith Buemann (1879-1968) in 1911 made no change to his bon-vivant lifestyle. When they separated in 1916 - after long periods of separations - the marriage settlement made her a very wealthy divorcée and she would always speak and write affectionately of Valdemar until she died - even after four marriages. During this only marriage and after the divorce, he was associated with actress Gudrun Houlberg. They appeared together in "Klovnen", 1917.
During the end of 1916 his salary demands were so outrageous that Nordisk Film had to let him go. He was tired of the same old material and he wanted to form his own production company. After having hired actors, actresses, directors and writers - it all suddenly came to a halt.
He died in his suite at Bristol Hotel, Copenhagen, at the age of 32 - at the pinnacle of his career.
To this very day rumors will insist that Psilander took his own life. In 1917 Nordisk Film would suppress the fact that he HAD died, afraid that the truth might hurt ticket sales.
However, records have shown that Psilander had a severe heart condition involving a lot of medication. Combining this with a stressful career as a burgeoning producer ultimately resulted in a brain hemorrhage.
But like so many others his early death made him even more popular all over Europe.
A notable theater/film colleague had this to say about Psilander: He had a wonderful physique and a splendid face. He was a great charmer and a ladies hero, but his talent was mediocre if not ordinary.
Clara Wieth (1883-1975) - who appeared with him in 11 films - had this to say of Psilander: In front of the camera he would just prance around "putting on airs", but he did it so splendidly with a keen knowledge of camera technique that it was truly believable.- Director
- Actor
Marshall Farnum was born on 19 December 1879 in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The House of Mirrors (1916), Wormwood (1915) and Lady Audley's Secret (1915). He was married to Helena M. Scott and Louise A. Lewis. He died on 19 February 1917 in Prescott, Arizona, USA.- David Craig Montgomery was born on 21 April 1870 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA. He died on 20 April 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Nevil Maskelyne born in Cheltenham in 1839. Famous magician and illusionist who teamed up with George Alfred Cooke' together they presented a unique entertainment of magic, billed as 'Maskelyne and Cooke' they became highly popular at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London from 1873, here they completely transformed the art of conjuring into a dramatic performance, they remained there until 1904. In 1896 the pioneering film maker Robert W. Paul approach him to perform in front of the film camera, spinning plates and basins the film lasted for only 20 seconds long. He died in 1917 in London age 78.
- Hiralal Sen is known as the first film maker in the Indian sub-continent. He was born in Manikgonj near Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was the son of a famous lawyer and from a Zamindar family. He grew up in Kolkata. In 1898, a film troupe en route to Paris screened a certain Professor Stevenson's short film along with the stage show, The Flower of Persia at the Star Theatre in Calcutta. Borrowing Stevenson's camera, Sen made his first film, "A Dancing Scene" from the opera The Flower of Persia. With assistance from his brother, Motilal Sen, he bought an Urban Bioscope from Charles Urban's Warwick Trading Company in London. In the following year, with his brother, he formed the Royal Bioscope company.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The last reigning monarch of the Hawai'ian Islands, she became Queen of Hawai'i upon the death of her brother, King KalÄkaua I, in 1891. She reigned for just under two years and was then overthrown in 1893 by a group in the white business community led by Sanford Dole, cousin of pineapple magnate James Dole. This effort was backed with the threat of force from combined forces of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The American minister in Hawai'i, John L. Stevens, had troops take over Iolani Palace, the Honolulu residence of the Queen, as well as other governmental buildings and in 1894, the Queen was deposed, ending centuries of monarchial rule and establishing the Republic of Hawai'i with Sanford Dole as its first president.
In 1895, Liliuokalani was accused of attempting to regain the throne after weapons were found in the gardens of her home in Washington Place in Honolulu. She was arrested but denied knowledge of the existence of these weapons, claiming that any plan of rebellion was due to the efforts of others and in 1896, she was released after the perpetrators were caught. At the request of the Queen, Dole subsequently granted all of them a pardon. The former Queen lived the remainder of her life at Washington Place, now the official residence of the Governor of Hawai'i. Dole led a successful effort to lobby Congress for the annexation of Hawai'i to the United States for economic exploitation, which occurred in 1898 through a joint resolution of Congress. Liliuokalani died due to complications from a stroke in 1917.- Georges Demenÿ was inventor, chronophotgrapher, filmmaker and gymnast born at Douai, France. After studying at Douai and Lille, he reached Paris and enrolled in the physiology course of Étienne-Jules Marey, quickly becoming one of the scientist's closest associates. Together they established a programme of research which was to lead to the creation of the 'Station Physiologique', which opened in 1882 in the Bois de Boulogne. Demenÿ was Marey's assistant there, and the two researchers produced a considerable body of work, photographing human and animal movement using sequential photography (chronophotography). The 'film' career of Marey and Demenÿ really began in 1888 when Marey's camera recorded on a sensitive strip several series of images. From 1890 they were using celluloid film. On 3 March 1892, Demenÿ filed a patent for the Phonoscope, an apparatus for glass discs with a series of chronophotographic images on their circumference which could be projected using a powerful Molteni lantern. After the Phonoscope was successfully presented at the Exposition Internationale de Photographie de Paris (1892), Demenÿ dreamed of commercialising chronophotography, and pushed Marey to order the manufacture of six cameras intended for sale. Relations between them soured when Demenÿ formed, in December 1892, the Société de Phonoscope. Marey refused to co-operate in this enterprise, so Demenÿ devised his own camera, inventing the 'beater' mechanism - used in many later projectors - to move the film. In 1894 Demenÿ was dismissed from the Station Physiologique. He installed himself at Levallois-Perret, rue Chaptal, and made about a hundred very diverse Phonoscope scenes. On 22 August 1895 Demenÿ and sleeping partner Léon Gaumont signed their first contract, and in November the Phonoscope (renamed Bioscope) was offered for sale. Early in 1896, the Biographe camera using 60 mm unperforated film was also on offer. Projection by means of Phonoscope/Bioscope discs offered a very brief entertainment. The Biographe camera was already archaic in 1896, in contrast to those of Lumière or de Bedts, and Demenÿ's machines were a financial failure. However, Gaumont exploited Demenÿ's principle of the beater movement with great success, and Demenÿ entrused to him the financial battle of cinematography, returning to his first passion, gymnastics.
- Digby Bell, a 5' 5" singing comedian, starred in many Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas. He introduced the song, "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo", while playing the Charles Dana Gibson character, Mr. Pipp. Bell was a fervent golfer and New York Giant baseball fan, as was his best friend and frequent co-star DeWolf Hopper.
- Actor
- Writer
- Art Department
Edgar Degas, one of France's most important artists who was an apprentice of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, became "the most reflecting, the most demanding, the most merciless draftsman in the world," according to his contemporaries. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism.
He was born Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas on July 19, 1834, in Paris, France. He was the eldest of five children in the family of Celestine Musson De Gas and Augustin De Gas, a banker of aristocratic extraction. As a young man he abandoned the pretentious spelling of the family name and called himself Degas. From 1845-1853 he attended Lycee Louis-le-Grand, graduating in 1853 with baccalaureate in literature, then studied law for one year. In 1855 he met Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Degas took advise from Ingres and followed by copying the master's drawing technique and style. "Study lines, draw lots of lines" said Ingres to Degas who eventually became a passionate collector of Ingres's art. Drawing became central to Degas's artistic practice from the beginning of his career. He developed a rigorous drawing style inspired by the crisp linearity and graceful forms of works by Ingres, whose draftsmanship was the greatest example for the aspiring artist. At that time he entered Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In July 1856 he left Paris for Naples, his father's birthplace. From 1856-1859 Degas had his three-year sojourn in Italy, where he visited his father's family. He studied the Old Masters in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, and painted realistic portraits of his relatives there.
Upon his return to Paris, Degas rented a studio and began painting in earnest, creating his own compositions as well as copying objects of art at museums. Degas continued his education by copying paintings at the Louvre Museum. There he met Edouard Manet, whose figural paintings of modern subjects would have a decisive influence on Degas. During the 1850s and 1860s he made over 700 copies of the Renaissance and Classical art by Italian and French masters. He seriously studied drawing and eventually became one of the best draftsmen ever. He also became influenced by photography as well as by Japanese prints. His works of the 1860s and 1870s showed the transformation of his manner from classical and realist styles to Romanticism and Impressionism. At that time Degas emerged as an artist who integrated several styles, old and new, and created his own, he also made his original art filled with subtle allusions to works of the Old Masters. In 1873 he joined with the other artists, including Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro to form the 'Anonymous Society of Artists'.
In 1874 Degas helped organize the first exhibition of the 'Anonymous Society of Artists' in the Paris studio of photographer Nadar. Monet's painting 'Impression, soleil levant' (Impression, Sunrise 1872) was untitled until the first show in 1874. A title was needed in a hurry for the catalogue. Monet suggested "Impression" as a simple title for his painting. The catalogue editor, Renoir's brother Edouard, added an explanatory 'Sunrise', thus making "Impression: soleil levant" the official title for Monet's work. From the painting's title, art critic Louis Leroy coined the term "Impressionism", which he intended to be derogatory. Monet's title came under criticism which seized upon the first word. His works were exhibited along with the paintings of his friends: Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Paul Cezanne, and Georges Seurat. They became called the Impressionists and continued to exhibit together despite the financial failure of their first show. However, Degas did not follow others in using little brush-strokes and vibrant pure colors. While his friends, the Impressionists, were painting mainly outdoors, 'en plein aire', he often worked from memory, and preferred sketching from nude models who posed in his studio.
Degas considered himself a Realist, not an Impressionist, albeit he used some of the Impressionist techniques and color schemes in his own works. He distinguished himself from the group by exhibiting pictures that considered to be both intellectually and formally rigorous. He was acclaimed by his contemporaries for his pastels which display his mastery of the medium. Dancers are among the most moving of Degas's images of life backstage of the Paris Opera. He made numerous studies of his models, in order to position their heads, arms , and legs so that they projected a sence of effort and movement. He also used the pastel studies to explore the various color effects he wanted to achieve in the final oil painting. He also experimented with technical approach, creating a rough, layered surface, sometimes using his fingers to manipulate the paint. From 1874 until 1886 Degas participated in all of the impressionists exhibitions. After the last impressionist exhibition of 1886, he stopped showing his works to public. He continued making paintings and sculptures for his own joy. At that time Degas was fascinated with the technical and artistic aspects of photography. He embraced the new medium as an artistic activity that he could pursue at night. Degas constantly experimented to achieve a variety of light effects in his photographs by using lamps and moonlight with prolonged exposures to create a special atmosphere. Most of Degas known photographs are portraits.
In the late 1880s, with his eyesight failing, Degas gradually shifted to sculpture. At that time his opulent workshop in Paris was adorned with paintings and sculptures, which he made over the course of his productive life. The subject of the female nude increasingly occupied Degas's work in all media during the last two decades of his career. He abandoned many of his scenes of modern life to concentrate on images of ballet dancers and female bathers. Degas experimented with highly artificial poses in his female bathers, exploring the possibilities of presenting a figure in an interior space. Despite their striking originality and modernity, his bathers are deeply rooted in his studies of the Old Masters, and show that Degas perceived his late bathers as being part of a long artistic tradition. However, his deteriorating eyesight no longer allowed him to sketch in the evenings, and he had to ask others to read to him. During the 1890s he worked only on the large compositions, because of his poor eyesight. In the 1900s he gave up painting and focused on sculpture. He worked until 1912, when blindness forced him into retirement. He died on September 27, 1917, and was laid to rest in the Cimetiere de Montmartre, in Paris, France.
In 2003 the Boston Museum of Fine Arts sold a small Degas's pastel titled 'Danseuse' for 10,648,000 dollars. At the same time a 1922 cast of Degas's famous 1879 bronze Little Dancer was sold for 10,311,500 dollars at Christie's auction.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Eduardo Di Capua was born on 12 May 1865 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is known for Fools Rush In (1997), The Hangover (2009) and Nine (2009). He died on 3 October 1917 in Naples, Campania, Italy.- Hubert Henry Davies was born on 30 March 1869 in Woodley, Cheshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Cousin Kate (1921), Outcast (1928) and Outcast (1917). He died on 17 August 1917 in Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire, England, UK.
- Theodore Friebus was born in 1867 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mystery of the Double Cross (1917), The Warfare of the Flesh (1917) and The Transgressor (1918). He was married to Beatrice Flagg Mosier and Rosetta (Zetta) V. Ginesi. He died on 26 December 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Howard Missimer was born on 17 November 1867 in Millersburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for A Mistaken Calling (1912), The $5, 000, 000 Counterfeiting Plot (1914) and The Legacy of Happiness (1912). He was married to Carrie M. Shore and Mary O. Watts. He died on 19 November 1917 in Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
Fred Storey was born on 20 June 1861 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Rip Van Winkle (1914), The Soldier's Courtship (1896) and Specialty Dance by Fred Storey (1899). He was married to Flora Bessie Constance Clitherow and Lilian Margaret Thorley Holmes (actress). He died on 4 December 1917 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Director
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Mace was a dentist from Erie, Pennsylvania who at one point did some stage stock work for Mack Sennett. Heading west, he worked for Carl Laemmle and Thomas H. Ince before settling back with Sennett. After achieving success as the Chief of the Keystone Kops, he quit Sennett and opened his own company, trying to develop films around his old "One-Round O'Brien" character. After that didn't work out as he planned, Mace moved to Apollo Films. That was also a failure, and he later formed his own company, the Fred Mace Feature Film Company. Unfortunately, the company folded, and Mace returned to Sennett. By that time, however, his popularity had wained, and Mace received few roles over the next two years. He was ultimately found dead in a New York City hotel room, reportedly of a stroke.- Soundtrack
Paul Rubens was born on 29 April 1875 in London, England, UK. Paul died on 5 February 1917 in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Auguste Rodin was a prominent French sculptor best known for "The Thinker."
He was born Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, on November 12, 1840, in Paris, France. His father, Jean-Baptiste Rodin, was a detective in the Paris police department. His mother, Marie Cheffer, was a former seamstress. Rodin was somewhat shy and nearsighted from an early age.
Young Rodin started serious drawing lessons at the age of 10. From the age of 14 he studied art at the École Impériale de Dessin, a government school for craft and design (also called "la Petite École", or "Small School") in Paris. There he discovered sculpture and acquired a thorough grounding in the tradition of French 18th-century art. Rodin also studied anatomy under the tutelage of sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. In 1858 he left "la Petite Ecole" and sought admission to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; he applied three times but was rejected each time. So, instead of a formal education, Rodin served a long and difficult apprenticeship under Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, a highly successful sculptor, for whom Rodin started as a modeler, then became an assistant. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 he followed his teacher to Belgium. There he became a partner of Antoine Van Raspbourgh and worked on monumental allegorical sculptures for the Brussels Bourse.
Rodin considered "Man with the Broken Nose" to be his earliest major work. Much to his disappointment, the Salon rejected the work twice, in 1864 and 1865. While in Brussels Rodin made a number of decorative female figures in terra cotta, to which he began to sign his name. In 1875 he made a trip to Italy. where he studied the works of Michelangelo. In 1876 Rodin created "The Bronze Age" and exhibited it in Brussels and at the Salon des artistes Francais in Paris. He was falsely accused by critics of having cast the entire statue from a live model. The French government bought "The Bronze Age" and a bronze model of St. John the Baptist. From 1879-1882 Rodin worked at the Manufacture de Sevres. In 1884 the city council of Calais commissioned a monument that became "The Burghers of Calais". In 1888 the French government commissioned "The Kiss" in marble for the Universal exhibition of 1889. Rodin became the founding member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. At that time he exhibited with Claude Monet. In the 1890s he created monuments to Claude Le Lorrain, Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac, and also worked on other commissions. In 1892 Rodin was promoted to Officer of the Légion d'Honneur. In 1899 the large-scale "Eve" was shown at the Salon. In 1903 Rodin was appointed Commander of the Légion d'Honnoeur.
In 1864 Rodin met a seamstress, Rose Beuret. They had a son, named Auguste-Eugene Beret, who was born in 1866. Rose became the model for many of his works. She and Rodin remained lifetime companions and formally married in 1917, the year they both died. Rodin had another relationship with a student named Camille Claudel, who was 25 years younger than him. She became his mistress at the age of 18, and inspired Rodin as a model for his several sculptures of passionate love couples. Camille was also a talented pupil; she worked for Rodin and assisted him during his four-year work on the bronze group "Les Bourgeois de Calais" ("The Burghers of Calais", 1884-1888). Unfortunately, her mental problems brought tragic complexity in Rodin's life (she was eventually committed to a mental asylum). He remained attached to Rose, who patiently endured his other affairs. In 1903 he met an English painter, Gwendolen Mary John, and she became his mistress and was his model for "The Whistler Muse". In 1904 Rodin met the American-born Duchess Claire de Choiseul, who dominated his life until 1912. His complex relationships found reflection in his works: "Eternal Spring", "The Poet and Love", "The Genius and Pity", "The Sculptor and his Muse".
Rodin preferred to sketch the natural spontaneity of amateur models, street acrobats, athletes and dancers. He worked with the freely moving models instead of copying traditional academic postures. From freely walking models Rodin would make quick sketches in clay, which he later reworked and fine-tuned, then cast in plaster and forged into bronze. A large staff of pupils, craftsmen and stonecutters were working for him, including Bourdelle. Rodin's method of evolutionary development of his initial idea into a masterpiece was demonstrated by creation of "The Kiss" and "The Thinker", which were derived from smaller reliefs within "The Gates of Hell", a work he was commissioned to create in 1880 for a museum in Paris. For that project he made a palm-size sketch of "The Kiss" and a first small plaster version of "The Thinker" as a figure of the poet Dante Alighieri. "The Kiss" was completed in marble in 1889. By that time he had exhibited a mid-size version of "The Thinker", which was cast in bronze in the 1890s. Meanwhile, Rodin made countless variations of "The Thinker" by subtle alterations to its pose and expression until he achieved the desired result with one of the bigger versions.
In the course of 20 years Rodin was taking lengthy breaks in order to refresh his view of the work. At the same time he also became more experienced as an artist and a man. He gradually developed the initial palm-size sketch into the final life-size sculpture by 1901. The first large-scale bronze cast was completed in 1902, by A. A. Hebrard, but was rejected by Rodin. Rodin also made another enlarged version of "The Thinker" in 1904. Bronze casts were not made by Rodin himself but by a professional reducteur, Henri Lebosse, under Rodin's supervision. Finally Rodin turned to foundry owner Alexis Rudier, who made the 1904 bronze cast; it was unveiled to the public at the Paris Salon in 1904. Rodin was somewhat satisfied with Rudier's foundry and approved several subsequent casts.
Rodin's works are distinguished by their lifelike energy and realism. His art embraced all aspects of humanity, ranging from distress and moral weakness to the heights of passion and beauty. Rodin's most famous bronze sculpture, "The Thinker", was originally named "The Poet" as a depiction of Dante Alighieri in front of the Gates of Hell. "The Thinker" was an achievement of a special harmony in showing premiere human qualities: heroic, poetic and intellectual. It was recast in over 20 copies for major museums, and was also reproduced in millions of smaller versions and became one of the most recognizable icons of art. Rodin's masterpieces--"The Age of Bronze", "The Burghers of Calais", "Eve", "The Kiss" and "The Thinker"--are among the most celebrated works of art in the world.
From 1908-1917 Rodin lived at the Hotel Biron in Paris. There his neighbors included artist Henri Matisse, writer Jean Cocteau and dancer Isadora Duncan. In 1912 the French government scheduled the Hotel Breton for demolition and ordered the tenants to vacate. Rodin persuaded the government to allow him to stay. As an exchange, in 1916 Rodin gave his entire collection of art to France on the condition that the state maintain the Musée Rodin. The collection contains Rodin's most significant works, including "The Thinker", "The Kiss", "The Gates of Hell" and "The Burghers of Calais" in the front garden. Rodin's living rooms are decorated with paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he had acquired. Rodin's own works and other art objects are still placed as Rodin set them.
Auguste Rodin enjoyed friendships with some of the most important writers and artists of the day, such as Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Émile Zola, Robert Louis Stevenson and George Bernard Shaw. Rodin died on November 17, 1917, in Mendon, France, and was laid to rest beside Rose Beuret in the Cemetery of Mendon, Ile-de-France. A bronze cast of "The Thinker" was placed at the base of his tomb.- Frank Gotch was born on 27 April 1877 in Humboldt, Iowa, USA. He was married to Gladys Oestrich. He died on 16 December 1917 in Humboldt, Iowa, USA.
- Director
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Nino Oxilia was born on 13 November 1889 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for Satan's Rhapsody (1917), The Living Corpse (1913) and The Triumph of an Emperor (1913). He died on 18 November 1917 in Monte Grappa, Veneto, Italy.- Actor
- Director
Fatty Voss was born on 12 October 1886 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Fatty's Feature Fillum (1917), Pirates of the Air (1916) and Shot in a Bar Room (1915). He died on 22 April 1917 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Albert Ball was born on 14 August 1896 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. He died on 7 May 1917 in Annoeullin, Nord, France.
- Octave Mirbeau was born on 16 February 1850 in Trevières, Calvados, France. He was a writer, known for The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) and Business Is Business (1915). He was married to Alice Regnault. He died on 16 February 1917 in Paris, France.
- Bert Murphy was born in September 1876 in Carbondale, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Black and White (1914), Money Talks in Darktown (1915) and A Natural Born Shooter (1917). He was married to Frances Ellick. He died on 4 October 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Walter Hitchcock was born in July 1871 in Newcastle, Maine, USA. He was an actor, known for The Auction Block (1917), The White Raven (1917) and The Walls of Jericho (1914). He was married to Teresa Michelena. He died on 23 June 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Alex Calvert was born in 1861 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Master Hand (1915). He was married to Margaret Montrose (actress). He died on 31 March 1917 in London, England, UK.
- Composer
- Music Department
William Furst was born on 25 March 1852 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a composer, known for Joan the Woman (1916), The Green Swamp (1916) and Let Katie Do It (1916). He was married to Charlotte Joan Nicol. He died on 11 July 1917 in Freeport, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actress
- Writer
Mrs. Hepworth was born on 24 December 1873 in Manchester, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Rescued by Rover (1905), Alice in Wonderland (1903) and Letter Came Too Late (1903). She was married to Cecil M. Hepworth. She died on 9 October 1917 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK.- Arthur Stanford was born on 24 August 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Whirl of Life (1915). He died on 21 July 1917 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.
- Frank Morris was an actor, known for Gift o' Gab (1917) and The Esterbrook Case (1915). He died on 4 November 1917 in New Jersey, USA.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ludwig Minkus was born on 23 March 1826 in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He is known for Center Stage (2000), The Turning Point (1977) and Tonight We Sing (1953). He was married to Maria Antoinette Schwarz. He died on 7 December 1917 in Vienna, Austria.- George Dewey was born on 26 December 1837 in Montpelier, Vermont, USA. He was married to Susan Boardman Goodwin. He died on 16 January 1917 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- Mrs. Lewis McCord was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for The Heart of Nora Flynn (1916), The Ghost House (1917) and The Chorus Lady (1915). She was married to Lewis McCord. She died on 24 December 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Director
- Writer
Howell Hansel was born in October 1871 in Raccoon Township, Indiana, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Colonel Carter of Cartersville (1915), The Million Dollar Mystery (1914) and The Road o' Strife (1915). He was married to Lucille Lee. He died on 5 November 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.- Riley Chamberlin was born on 7 November 1854 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for His Winning Way (1914), The Star of Bethlehem (1912) and Mr. Cinderella (1914). He died on 24 January 1917 in New Rochelle, New York, USA.
- Princess Margaret Louise of Prussia Duchess of Connaught was born on 25 July 1860 in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia [now Brandenburg, Germany]. She was married to Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught. She died on 14 March 1917 in Westminster, London, England, UK.
- Harry Paulton was born in 1841 in Wolverhampton, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Niobe (1915). He died on 17 April 1917 in Fulham, London, England, UK.
- Writer
- Director
Edmund Mitchell was born in 1861 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was a writer and director, known for The Lone Star Rush (1915), The Man Beneath (1919) and Aileen o' the Sea (1913). He died on 31 March 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.- Herbert Dunsey was born on 6 March 1870 in Rome, Italy. He was an actor, known for One Hour (1917), The Impostor (1918) and Lost and Won (1915). He died on 30 May 1917 in New York, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tan Xinpei was born on 23 April 1847 in Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei, China. He was an actor, known for In the Mood for Love (2000), Dingjunshan (1905) and Chang ban po (1905). He died on 10 May 1917 in Beijing, China.- Music Department
Teresa Carreño was born on 22 December 1853 in Caracas, Venezuela. Teresa is known for Gala (1982). Teresa was married to Eugène d'Albert, Giovanni Tagliapietra, Arturo Tagliapietra and Sauret, Émile. Teresa died on 12 June 1917 in New York City, New York, USA.- Soundtrack
George W. Johnson was born in 1839 in near Toronto, Canada. George W. was married to Margaret Clark. George W. died on 2 January 1917 in Pasadena, California, USA.