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- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert Ames was born on 23 March 1889 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for Smart Woman (1931), Holiday (1930) and Behind Office Doors (1931). He was married to Helen Muriel Oakes, Vivienne Segal, Frances Goodrich and Alice L. Gerry. He died on 27 November 1931 in New York City, New York, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
F.W. Murnau was a German film director. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at the age of 12, and became a friend of director Max Reinhardt. During World War I he served as a company commander at the eastern front and was in the German air force, surviving several crashes without any severe injuries.
One of Murnau's acclaimed works is the 1922 film Nosferatu, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although not a commercial success due to copyright issues with Stoker's novel, the film is considered a masterpiece of Expressionist film.
He later emigrated to Hollywood in 1926, where he joined the Fox Studio and made three films: Sunrise (1927), 4 Devils (1928) and City Girl (1930). The first of these three is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.
In 1931 Murnau travelled to Bora Bora to make the film Tabu (1931) with documentary film pioneer Robert J. Flaherty, who left after artistic disputes with Murnau, who had to finish the movie on his own. A week prior to the opening of the film Tabu, Murnau died in a Santa Barbara hospital from injuries he had received in an automobile accident that occurred along the Pacific Coast Highway near Rincon Beach, southeast of Santa Barbara. Only 11 people attended his funeral. Among them were Robert J. Flaherty, Emil Jannings, Greta Garbo and Fritz Lang, who delivered the eulogy.
Of the 21 films Murnau directed, eight are considered to be completely lost.
In July 2015 Murnau's grave was broken into, the remains disturbed and the skull removed by persons unknown. Wax residue was reportedly found at the site, leading some to speculate that candles had been lit, perhaps with an occult or ceremonial significance. As this disturbance was not an isolated incident, the cemetery managers are considering sealing the grave.- Frederick Tyrone Power was born in London, England, the son of concert pianist Harold Littledale Power and stage actress Ethel Lavenu, and the grandson of famed Irish actor Tyrone Power (1795-1841). He was educated at Dulwich College. His family emigrated to the U.S. and he was sent to Florida to work as a citrus farmer. However, he hated farming, having always wanted to be an actor, so he abandoned the citrus ranch and made his stage debut in 'The Private Secretary' in 1886. He toured the U.S., Britain, and Australia in theatrical tours, becoming a famed matinee idol and calling himself Tyrone Power II and Tyrone Power the Younger. In 1912, he was acclaimed for his Brutus in 'Julius Caesar'. In 1914, he entered films and played leading roles until age moved him into often villainous character roles. At home one night after shooting on the film 'The Miracle Man' in 1931, Power suffered a massive heart attack and died literally in the arms of his 17-year-old son, Tyrone Power (Tyrone Edmund Power Jr., as he was legally named).
- Alma Rubens was born Alma Genevieve Reubens in San Francisco, California. She was interested in entertaining at an early age. Like most young girls, she enjoyed fantasy play acting and by the time she was 19 had become a full-fledged star. She didn't have to wait long like some of the starlets who haunted casting offices continually. Her break came in 1916 in the film Reggie Mixes In (1916). Six more films followed that year, and she won critical acclaim in The Half-Breed (1916). In 1917 she again starred in a box-office smash, The Firefly of Tough Luck (1917). She became a busy young actress with role after role and hit after hit. In 1924, as Mildred Gower, she performed magnificently in The Price She Paid (1924). After a busy 1925, Alma suddenly found it difficult to obtain work, but it was not because her star had suddenly dimmed--it was because of her addiction to heroin. The money she made dwindled away in search of the next high. She was in and out of mental asylums, but it didn't really help much because she was still dabbling in drugs. Weakened by her habit, she died in Los Angeles in 1931, of pneumonia. She was less than a month away from her 34th birthday. Her final two films were two years earlier, Show Boat (1929) and She Goes to War (1929).
- Arthur Schnitzler was born on 15 May 1862 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Late Fame and The Affairs of Anatol (1921). He was married to Olga Gussmann. He died on 21 October 1931 in Vienna, Austria.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
It was Lionel Barrymore who gave Louis Wolheim (Cornell '07) his start as an actor. Wolheim had had his face more or less smashed in and his nose nicely fractured while playing on a scrub Cornell football team. Later as a Cornell Instructor he found life none too easy. He had worked off and on as an extra in the Wharton studio but never received much attention. Barrymore had only to look at him once to realize that Wolhelm's face was his fortune. Through Barrymore, Wolheim gained an entree into New York theatrical life. On the legitimate stage he made a great success in "Welcome Wing" and "The Hairy Ape," climaxing these plays by his triumph in "What Price Glory". ~ Cornell Daily Sun, Issue 70, 5 January 1932, Page 2- Producer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Thomas A. Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio, USA as Thomas Alva Edison. He was a producer and director, known for silent movies such as, The Trick Cyclist (1901), The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) and Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 (1899). He also produced the first American film version of Frankenstein in 1910. That was of course, twenty years before Universal Studios introduced the monster with Boris Karloff. This paved the way for modern day horror as we now know it. Edison is however, perhaps better known as an inventor of many conveniences like the light bulb. He of course produced many other inventions like, among others, the phonograph, power stations, the carbon switch microphone, and motion picture cameras. These advancements gave him a firm place in the history of American Greatness as well as American film production.
He was married to Mina Miller and Mary Stilwell. He died on October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
It's fair to say that if 'Frank Capra (I)' hadn't cast Robert "Bobby" Williams in his 1931 film Platinum Blonde (1931) the actor would be entirely forgotten today. When the movie was made available on video in the 1980s the promotional copy on the video box emphasized the names most buffs would recognize: actresses Jean Harlow and Loretta Young, and director Capra himself. But for many viewers there's no question about it, Williams steals the show, with his low-key flair for comedy and unique, sleepy-eyed charm. Viewers may well ask "Who is this guy, and why haven't I heard of him?" The reason is simple, and sad: he died of peritonitis in 1931 just as 'Platinum Blonde (1931)_ went into wide release, just when he was on the brink of stardom.
Born in 1897 in the vicinity of Morganton, North Carolina, he was raised on a farm. The acting bug bit early: he ran away from home at age 11 to join a tent show. He endured a long, hard apprenticeship as an actor, performing on Mississippi river boats and in stock companies touring the Midwest before he reached New York as a young man. When Williams made his Broadway debut in the early 1920s, the New York stage had entered its richest era, when hundreds of shows opened each season. Williams' stage credits include Eyes of Youth opposite Marjorie Rambeau, The Trial of Mary Dugan, Milgrim's Progress, Scarlet Pages, and Love, Honor and Betray with Alice Brady. Several of these plays were made into silent movies but Bobby was not cast in the film versions, perhaps because he was based in New York. His best remembered Broadway role was that of Abie in the original production of Abie's Irish Rose (1922), an ethnic comedy considered old fashioned even when it opened. Critics hated it, but the show became the biggest success of its era, running for five years.
When Abie's Irish Rose opened, Bobby was married to singer Marion Harris, a vaudeville and recording artist who was far better known than he. Perhaps her greater fame was a source of tension, but for whatever reason the marriage did not last long. The couple had one daughter, also named Marion, who later became a singer in her own right under the name Marion Harris Jr.
Even at the time of Williams' greatest Broadway success in Abie's Irish Rose, he seemed stalked by tragedy. Just a few days after the show opened, Bobby was driving from his home in Great Neck, Long Island, to the theater for a matinée performance. When he reached Corona, Queens, a 7 year-old boy named James Cali dashed into the street in front of his car. Williams was unable to stop or swerve, and the boy was knocked to the ground. The child died of a skull fracture hours later while Williams was held by the police for questioning. Character actor Wallace Ford, who had played the role of Abie during the show's pre-Broadway tour, stepped back into the role for the matinée and the next few performances while Williams recovered from shock. It appears that no charges were filed against him in the wake of the tragedy. Williams resumed the role of Abie but did not stay with the show much longer.
In the spring of 1924, Williams married actress Alice Lake, best known as leading lady in several film comedies made by 'Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle' and Buster Keaton in the late 1910s. Once again, the marriage was brief. In February of 1925 the daily paper the New York Mirror detailed the couple's separation in an article with the headline: "Gay Life Parts Couple; Robert Williams, Juvenile Actor, Packs Trunk and Leaves His Wife, Alice Lake, Pal of Viola Dana ." Without directly stating that either Lake or Dana were gay or bisexual, the article strongly implied that their relationship went beyond friendship, and was responsible for the breakup of Lake's marriage to Williams. The following day the newspaper allowed Dana a rebuttal in which she denied being a home wrecker and said she knew nothing of the Williams' marital problems. In any event, the couple divorced soon afterward.
For the next several years Williams remained busy with stage work. He also married actress Nina Penn, and at last seemed to find marital stability. In 1930 Williams was cast in the Broadway production of Donald Ogden Stewart 's play Rebound which proved to be moderately successful, or at least successful enough to be purchased by RKO for filming. By this point the talkie revolution had hit Hollywood and the studios were snapping up plays, playwrights, and stage actors by the hundreds. Williams went to Hollywood and repeated his role of Johnnie Coles opposite Ina Claire in the film version of Rebound. In rapid succession he appeared in two other films for RKO, The Common Law (1931) opposite Constance Bennett, and Devotion (1931) with Ann Harding and Leslie Howard.
It was then that 'Frank Capra (I)' cast Bobby in Platinum Blonde (1931), for Columbia Pictures. Williams played down-to-earth reporter Stew Smith, who is drawn to socialite Anne Schuyler (Jean Harlow ) despite their obvious differences in background. Stew marries Anne while his fellow reporter Gallagher, a gal accepted in the city room as "one of the boys," waits patiently for Stew to recognize that his marriage was a mistake and that she is in love with him. The role of Gallagher was assigned, rather bizarrely, to the luminously beautiful Loretta Young, who was then 18 years old and would never be anyone's idea of "one of the boys." For that matter, Harlow wasn't all that believable as a haughty socialite either, but for Williams the role of Stew Smith fit like a glove. This was the sort of role that within a few years would become the province of actors like Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, and occasionally Clark Gable: the man's man with attitude, macho without being obnoxious about it, a guy who is good at his work but has a faint air of insolence about him. Williams pulls it off beautifully and effortlessly steals the show from his miscast co-stars. One wants to see more of his work.
Unfortunately, his work was at an end, for this star-making performance turned out to be Williams' swan song. Bobby was rehearsing with Constance Bennett for his next RKO picture, Lady with a Past (1932), when he complained of stomach pains. After a day or two the pain worsened, and despite his protests Williams was rushed to a hospital for an appendicitis operation. Before the operation was completed his appendix burst. Days later, on November 3, 1931, Williams died of peritonitis. He was 34 years old. Platinum Blonde (1931) had been released just four days earlier, and the first reviews proclaimed that Hollywood had a new star. Instead, Robert Williams became one of Hollywood's great might-have-beens.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova was born on February 12, 1881, in Ligovo, near St. Petersburg, Russia. She was an illegitimate daughter to parents of a Russian-Jewish background. Her real father was a wealthy businessman named Lazar Polyakov. Her mother, Lyubov Fedorovna Pavlova, was a poor peasant. Her mother's husband, Mathwey (Mathew) Pavlov, was a retired soldier, who died when Anna was only two years old. Although she was registered under the name of Pavlova, her father Lazar Polyakov took good care of young Anna and also paid for her tuition at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg.
Young Anna Pavlova was raised by her grandmother at her villa in Ligovo, an upscale suburb of St. Petersburg. There she became acquainted with aristocratic society and attended ballet performances at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre. From a young age, Pavlova had a dream of becoming a ballerina but she was rejected at the age of eight and practiced at home for two years. At the age of 10 she auditioned again and was admitted by Marius Petipa to the ballet class at the Imperial Ballet school in St. Petersburg. There she practiced ballet routines for eight hours daily and also studied music, having perfect pitch. As a ballet student, Pavlova adopted a strict diet with emphasis on fish and vegetables and followed that diet throughout her life. She lived at the boarding school of the Imperial Ballet until her graduation at the age of 18. Tamara Karsavina and 'Matilda Kshesinskaya' were among her classmates. Pavlova made her debut on September 19, 1899 and worked with the Mariinsky Ballet from 1899 to 1907. She shared the role of Gizelle with 'Matilda Kshesinskaya'. Her partner and choreographer was Mikhail Fokin. He choreographed Pavlova's best known showpiece "The Dying Swan" on the music of Camille Saint-Saëns. In 1908, Sergei Diaghilev hired Pavlova and Mikhail Fokin for his "Ballets Russes" (Russian Seasons) in Paris and London.
In 1904, Anna Pavlova met Victor D'Andre, a French-Russian aristocrat, who loved her at once. D'Andre was a businessman in St. Petersburg. At one time he was accused of embezzlement and imprisoned. Pavlova bailed him out of prison, then paid all his debts and legal expenses. D'Andre and Pavlova privately married in 1911. Victor D'Andre became her impresario and they formed a touring ballet troupe. In 1912 Pavlova and D'Andre bought Ivy House, Golders Green in Hampstead, London, which was their home for the rest of her life. On her expensive estate Pavlova kept a pond with swans, alluding to her favourite role. At her home Pavlova established a dance school which catered to her touring troupe. Initially her troupe had only eight Russian dancers. Later, with the growing success and popularity of Anna Pavlova, her troupe grew to sixty dancers and staff, all managed by D'Andre.
Pavlova made her Metropolitan Opera House debut in 1910, and toured America and Europe before her brief final return to Russia. She made her last appearance in St. Petersburg in 1913 and spent the rest of her life on tour. Pavlova toured all over the world including Europe, Asia, North and Central America, and Australia. Pavlova was able to make eight to nine performances per week and had a great interest in performing for inexperienced audiences in remote rural areas around the world. Her performances in Mexico, India, Japan and Australia were legendary. She was overworked and exhausted by her late 40s, but still danced vigorously. She gave over four thousand ballet performances during the years between 1913-1930. In January of 1931, Pavlova contracted double pneumonia on a train to Haage and her condition deteriorated rapidly. Dying, she looked at her swan costume. She died on January 23, 1931, in Haage, Netherlands. Her remains were buried in the Novodevichy Convent Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
Pavlova's infinite finesse, delicacy and emotional dimension were captured by artist Valentin Serov, who painted her famous 1909 life-size portrait. Pavlova is depicted in her favorite role as a white swan on a blue background.- Ullrich Haupt was born on 8 August 1887 in Falkenburg, Pomerania, Germany [now Zlocieniec, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Skinner's Baby (1917), Skinner's Dress Suit (1917) and Skinner's Bubble (1917). He was married to Anna Beaumer. He died on 5 August 1931 in Figueroa Mountain, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Albert Capellani was born on 23 August 1874 in Paris, France. He was a director and writer, known for Oh Boy! (1919), The Virtuous Model (1919) and The Easiest Way (1917). He died on 26 September 1931 in Paris, France.- Linda Loredo was born on 20 June 1907 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She was an actress, known for Come Clean (1931), Los calaveras (1931) and Politiquerías (1931). She died on 11 August 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Location Management
Art Acord was born on 17 April 1890 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Set Free (1927), The Set-Up (1926) and Winners of the West (1921). He was married to Edna Nores, Edythe Sterling and Louise Lorraine. He died on 4 January 1931 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
American leading man and character actor of the silent period. Born in Crystal City, Missouri(though a number of popular reference works list Switzerland and Kokomo, Indiana). He is listed in the 1880 census as living in Kokomo at the age of two years. This means his date of birth must have been 1878. His father, Paul Santschi was born in Sigriswill, Switzerland and came to the U.S. as a child. Tom Santschi promoted the myth that he was born in Switzerland since it seemed much more exciting than being born in Crystal City or Kokomo. After performing as an amateur actor, he made his professional stage debut at age 19, and worked for the next decade in the theatre. He landed a small role in a film produced by Selig Polyscope, and over the next few years rose from bit player to leading man. He directed and wrote a few of his films. Following the First World War, he became more frequently seen in supporting roles, often as villains. He worked consistently until his death in 1931.- Geli Raubal born Angela Maria Raubal, June 4, 1908 in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary, was rumoured to be Adolf Hitler's mistress. Geli and her young sister Elfriede accompanied their mother, Angela Raubal, half sister of Adolf Hitler, when she became Hitler's housekeeper in 1925. Raubal was 17 at the time and spent the next six years in close contact with her half-uncle, who was 19 years her senior. Her mother was given a position as housekeeper at the Berghof villa near Berchtesgaden in 1928. Geli Raubal moved into Hitler's Munich, Prinzregentenplatz apartment in 1929, when she enrolled in medicine at Ludwig Maximillian University. She did not complete her medical studies. On the morning of Sept 19,1931, members of Hitler's staff found Geli Raubal dead from a gunshot wound to the lung in her room in Hitler's Munich apartment, Prinzregentenplatz 16 second floor. Hermann Göring would later tell attorneys at the Nuremberg trials that Geli Raubal's death (1931) had devastated Hitler to such an extent that it changed his views and relationships with all other people.
- Actor
- Director
James Neill was born on 29 September 1860 in Savannah, Georgia, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Cameo Kirby (1914), The Cheat (1915) and Joan the Woman (1916). He was married to Edythe Chapman. He died on 16 March 1931 in Glendale, California, USA.- Charles Clary was born on 24 March 1873 in Charleston, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Penalty (1920), The Rosary (1915) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921). He was married to Margaret Bechtel. He died on 24 March 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles McHugh was born on 20 July 1870 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Babbitt (1924), The Girl of the Golden West (1923) and Cupid's Fireman (1923). He died on 21 October 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Wallace Clifton was born in November 1871 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Wallace was a writer, known for The Barefoot Boy (1923), The Wise Kid (1922) and The Guttersnipe (1922). Wallace was married to Mary George Davis and Emma Bell Clifton. Wallace died on 7 March 1931 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Lupu Pick was born on 2 January 1886 in Iasi, Iasi, Romania. He was an actor and director, known for The Armored Vault (1926), Die tolle Heirat von Laló (1918) and Die Liebe des Van Royk (1918). He was married to Edith Posca. He died on 7 March 1931 in Berlin, Germany.- The daughter of a Hungarian baroness and a military officer, Lya De Putti went on to perform classical ballet in Berlin, Germany, after a brief stint in Hungarian vaudeville. She later made several films at the German UFA studios, most notably Variety (1925), before going to Hollywood in 1926. While in America she starred in several movies, mostly in vamp roles.
- Hardly remembered today, the dark-haired, wide-eyed Ressel Orla came to stardom quickly in the 1910s in Germany after her first major role in The Perfect Thirty-Six (1914) (released in America as The Perfect Thirty-Six). With no offers coming in for stage work, her original vocational pursuit, she continued film work with much success. An expressive and beautiful woman with a dramatic Madonna-like face, she was a star for several years but fell out of popularity in the twenties. At the time of her death, she had fallen on hard times, was no longer acting, and was barely forty. She is undoubtedly remembered best for her performance as the treacherous Lio Sha in Fritz Lang's two part film series The Spiders (1919-20), one of her few performances that are widely available for viewing today.
- Writer
- Editor
- Actor
Joseph Farnham was born on 2 December 1884 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was a writer and editor, known for Thunder (1929), Where East Is East (1929) and The Trail of '98 (1928). He was married to Rose Alma LeCourt and Emily Ardis. He died on 2 June 1931 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
David Belasco was born on 25 July 1853 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Man Without a Face (1993), The Return of Peter Grimm (1935) and Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930). He was married to Cecilia Loverich. He died on 14 May 1931 in New York City, New York, USA.- Khalil Gibran (Full name : Gibran Khalil Gibran) is a Lebanese poet, painter, writer, philosopher and theologian, born in Bsharri, Lebanon on January 6th, 1883. He left Lebanon with his mother on June 25th, 1895. He enjoyed a successful writing career until his death on April 10th, 1931. Gibran was honored in Lebanon, among other countries, like the Khalil Gebran park in Bucharest, Romania.
- Make-Up Department
A former Hairdresser (Winston Churchill was said to have thought of him highly as a barber), George Westmore emigrated with his family from England to the US in the early 20th century. Determined to make himself and his family a good living in his adopted country, Westmore also took up wig-making before gradually moving into Make-up. With movies taking their hold on American culture, he established the first ever movie make-up department, and taught his English-born sons Monte, Perc, Ern and Wally the techniques of the profession. His two youngest sons, Bud and Frank, US born, also became make-up artists. His only daughter by Ada, Dorothy, may have also taken up the profession, but died at the tragically early age of 24 following an operation. After the death of his first wife, Ada Savage, Westmore married Anita Salazar and had a daughter, Patricia, but the marriage ran into trouble, and Westmore committed suicide by swallowing Mercury in 1931, after issuing various threats to some members of his family.
After George's death, his sons carried on the dynasty; Monte was much associated with MGM until his early death of a heart attack following surgery; Perc became head of Make-up at Warner Bros; Wally himself became Make-up chief at Paramount; Ern worked at 20th Century Fox and low-budget film studio Eagle-Lion, but his career was hampered by an alcohol problem; Bud became head at Universal, and the youngest, Frank, was more freelance and later wrote a book on the family,' The Westmores Of Hollywood' in 1976.
Descendents are still very much working in Hollywood to this day; Monte's three sons, Monte Jnr, Marvin, and Michael; Marvin's children Kevin and Kandace; and Wally's granddaughter Pamela. Although he didn't live long enough to witness it, George Westmore's contribution to the development and art of screen make-up was hugely innovative and influential, and his legacy is still felt in contemporary times.- A graduate of the Notre Dame academy at Roxbury, Massachusetts, Ethel began her career as a classical dancer working under the direction of Belasco and the Shuberts. She began her career on the stage at two years of age, later being going to New York to pursue a career on the stage. On Broadway she appeared in "The Lily" with Julia Dean, "The Only Son," "Search Me" with Montagu Love and "Honor Be Damned!" with William Courtleigh. Ethel made her screen debut in 1914 and went on to play roles as society women. Although in 1922 she did play the role of Calamity Jane opposite William S. Hart and it was around this time, her career started to slip. She died from an illness she'd suffered for over a year.
- Norma Phillips was born in 1893 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Our Mutual Girl (1914), Runaway June (1915) and Forget-Me-Not (1917). She was married to Robert Gleckler. She died on 12 November 1931 in New York City, New York, USA.
- George Kuwa was born on 7 April 1885 in Japan. He was an actor, known for The House Without a Key (1926), Moran of the Lady Letty (1922) and The Bottle Imp (1917). He died on 13 October 1931 in Japan.
- Pedro León was born on 29 June 1878 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. He was an actor, known for Washington at Valley Forge (1914), Liberty (1916) and The Joyous Trouble-Makers (1920). He died on 14 July 1931.
- Janie Marèse was born on 23 May 1908 in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, France. She was an actress, known for La Chienne (1931), Amours viennoises (1931) and Mam'zelle Nitouche (1931). She died on 14 August 1931 in Sainte-Maxime, Var, France.
- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
A former juvenile stage actor, Canadian-born William James Craft came to Hollywood in the early 1900s as an actor, eventually giving up acting to work as a cameraman, then became a director. He served as a photographer during World War I, and after the war he concentrated on directing, working often for Universal Pictures.
He died in an auto accident in Hollywood in 1931.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Henri Desfontaines was born on 12 November 1876 in Paris, France. He was a director and actor, known for The Blues (1918), Son altesse (1922) and L'espionne (1923). He died on 7 January 1931 in Paris, France.- Regina Alice Doyle was born on September 2, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, John Doyle, was a fireman. She was educated at the Grenshaw Conservatory and began appearing in local theater productions. Regina was discovered by Carl Laemmle, the president of Universal Pictures, who attended one of her performances in Chicago. Mr. Laemmle told her if she wanted a career in the movies he would give her that chance. At the age of seventeen she moved to Los Angeles and signed a contract with Universal. She made her film debut in 1925 western Bashful Whirlwind. Regina married thirty-five year old Stewart Gilbert Cornelius, a real estate agent, on October 3, 1925. The couple had a daughter, Regina Joan, in 1926 but they divorced a year later.
She appeared in more than a dozen western shorts including The Lone Prairie, A Daring Dude, and The Scrapping Ranger. In 1928 she was given the lead opposite Edward Cobb in Beyond The Smoke. Regina seemed destined for stardom but in 1929 Universal dropped her contract. She never made another film. On September 29, 1931 she was driving on Highland Avenue in Hollywood when her car crashed into a freight train. She was thrown from the vehicle and died almost instantly. Regina was only twenty-four years old. She is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. Just a few days before Regina's death her mother had a premonition something terrible was going to happen. She warned her daughter to "Drive slowly". - Actor
- Director
Duncan McRae was born in 1881 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for My Own United States (1918), Money (1921) and The Usurper (1919). He was married to Gertrude McCoy. He died on 4 February 1931 in London, England, UK.- French writer "Claude Anet" was born Jean Schopfer in Morgan, Switzerland, in 1868. His father--whom he once described as "a literary man of good taste" who encouraged him to read the classics--was Swiss and his mother English, although she was born and educated in France.
As a young man he attended the Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre (at the same time), specializing in philosophy, arts and literature, but his overriding passion was for sports, especially tennis. He became a championship-caliber tennis player, and in fact was the 1892 French National Tennis Champion.
After graduation he worked for an American company in Paris, but eventually the "travel bug" got him and he became a journalist, traveling throughout Europe (which resulted in his first book, "Voyage Ideal en Italie: l'Art Ancien et l'Art Moderne" (1899), using the pen name "Claude Anet". He turned out novels, plays, biographies, and in 1917 was assigned by a French magazine to cover the Russian revolution. Though he was in fact sympathetic to the revolutionaries, certain "indiscretions" he was involved in forced him to make a hasty exit and he wound up hiding out in the Arctic. He eventually made his way to and crossed the Finnish border and returned home.
He continued writing novels, plays, biographies and travel books. His best known work is probably "Mayerling", which has been brought to the stage and the screen several times.
He died in Paris, France, in 1931. - Actor
- Additional Crew
A noted stage actor at the turn of the 20th century, Robert Edeson began his film career working with Cecil B. DeMille on The Call of the North (1914), then moved on to Vitagraph where he remained for the rest of the teens. In the 1920s he returned to work for De Mille, playing the man-of-the-world type roles. Married to actress Mary Newcomb, Edeson died of heart failure.- Actor
- Writer
Marc B. Robbins was born on 3 January 1870 in Solon, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Tong Man (1919), A Tale of Two Cities (1917) and Alias Jimmy Valentine (1920). He died on 5 April 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Born in Ireland in 1856 of Welsh parents, Harris became a noted writer as well as a friend and confidante of the elite literati of his day including fellow Irishmen Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and George Bernard Shaw in addition to Guy de Maupassant, Matthew Arnold, Aleister Cowley, and James Thurber. His varied career includes credits as a reporter (during the Boer War), editor (of the London Evening News), publisher, short story writer, novelist, playwright, biographer (of Shaw and Wilde), and Shakesperean scholar. However, his only enduring fame comes from his controversial, sexually explicit memoir, "My Life and Loves."
Emigrating to the United States in 1871, Harris attended the University of Kansas and spent time as a cowhand on the Great Plains. He initially included this portion of his life in his memoirs, but they were later published under the title "My Reminisences as a Cowboy," which became the basis for the Delmar Daves' 1958 "Cowboy" starring Glenn Ford with Jack Lemmon as the young Harris.
Harris traveled throughout Continental Europe and England (1879-1887), where he began his writing career and associations with the great literary figures of his time. He published his first short story in 1891. A 1913 story, "The Magic Glasses," became the basis of a 1934 Technicolor MGM short, "The Spectacle Maker."
Harris returned to the States and became a U.S. citizen in 1921. Three times married, he suffered from legal, financial, and health problems during the latter part of his life. During his last decade he released multiple volumes of "My Life and Loves," including the infamous, sexually explicit first volume, published privately in France in 1922, chronicling his libidinous escapades in graphic detail replete with photographs of his naked paramours.
Further installments followed and a fifth volume was published posthumously in 1931. Harris biographers have pointed out numerous cases of Harris' exaggerating important biographical details and, in some cases, fabricating entire episodes. Ironoically his prodigious literary output is largely forgotten with the exception of his salacious memoir. - Actor
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alfred Hickman was born on 25 February 1873 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Chain Invisible (1916), Hedda Gabler (1917) and Piccadilly Jim (1919). He was married to Nance O'Neil and Blanche Walsh. He died on 9 April 1931 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Erwin Connelly was born on 14 January 1878 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Sherlock Jr. (1924), The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) and Beggar on Horseback (1925). He was married to Jane Connelly. He died on 12 February 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Mother of actor James Gleason, Mina started playing in stock as a child with her brothers and sisters. She married stage actor William Gleason and they played together with the Charles Frohman Company as well as playing stock in Oakland, California.
- Salvatore Maranzano was born on 31 July 1886 in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy. He died on 10 September 1931 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Gertrud Arnold was born on 3 March 1873 in Stolp, Pomerania, Germany [now Slupsk, Pomorskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924), Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924) and Ein Kindesherz (1914). She was married to Heinrich Brandt. She died on 11 January 1931 in Berlin, Germany.
- C.W. Ritchie was an actor, known for Leave It to Cissy (1916), The Honor of the Force (1914) and They Looked Alike (1915). He was married to Mabel Paige. He died on 25 May 1931 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Bix Beiderbecke was the first talented white jazz cornet player. He also played the piano, but he had more success playing the cornet with a very personal style. His first recordings were with "The Wolverines" in 1924. After this he played in the Charlie Straight orchestra in 1925, with Jean Goldkette in 1926-27 and in the middle of that year he signed a contract with the famous Paul Whiteman. He stayed with Whiteman until 1929, with many interruptions. His alcohol abuse was dramatic during this time and was the main cause of his premature death. Bix was also a notable composer. His compositions like "In a Mist" and "In the Dark" are very advanced for the time. His more famous recordings were with his little orchestra, "Bix and his Gang", in 1927. He recorded great solos with his friend 'Frankie Trambauer' like "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia". With Whiteman he recorded many great solos like "Lonely Melody", "Dardanella", "Sweet Sue" and "Oh Miss Hannah" - this last song with Bing Crosby on vocals. His final recording was in 1930. He played a lovely rendition of "I'll be Friend with Pleasure".- Arnold Bennett was born on 27 May 1867 in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Battling Jane (1918), Sacred and Profane Love (1921) and Piccadilly (1929). He was married to Marie Marguerite Soulé. He died on 27 March 1931 in London, England, UK.
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- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ferris Hartman was born on 12 June 1862 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA. He was a director and writer, known for A Phantom Husband (1917), A Laundry Clean-Up (1917) and The Stone Age (1917). He was married to Josephine Davies. He died on 1 September 1931 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Lawrence D'Orsay born in Peterborough, England. Well-known in drama and comedy theatre from the 1880's, perhaps more notable for his starring role in 'The Earl of Pawtucket' at the Manhattan Theatre in 1903. A brilliant star in at least 8 Hollywood comedy and drama movies, he played the typical English monocled upper-class character often seen as Lords or Colonels, making his film debut in 'The Border Detective' a short western made at the American Film Co in 1912, perhaps best remembered as Hon. George Vane-Basingwell in Lawrence C. Windom's 'Ruggles of Red Gap' a western/comedy co-starring Taylor Holmes in 1918, his last screen appearance he played the role of Lord Elton in D.W. Griffith's 'The Sorrows of Satan' starring Adolphe Menjou and Carol Dempster at the Paramount studios in 1926. Died in London in 1931 age 78.
- Adele Windsor was born Adele Wormser September 22, 1898 in Manhattan, New York. Her German father, Oscar Wormser, was a salesman. She started her career acting with a stock company in Washington D.C. Adele appeared in the shows Smilin' Thru, The Cat And The Canary, and Madeline Of The Movies. On December 1, 1923 she married actor Donald Gallaher in Boston The couple had known each other since they were children. She made her Broadway debut in the 1925 comedy Naughty Cinderella. Then she was given the lead role in the show I.O.U. One Woman. Her performance as a French flapper got rave reviews. In 1928 she starred in a play her husband wrote called Sh! The Octopus.
Adele was offered a supporting role in the 1929 movie The Girl From Havana. She also appeared in the films Frozen Justice and True To The Navy with Clara Bow. Her marriage to Donald ended in 1930. She took him to court several times claiming he had not paid his alimony. Adele visited her mother and stepfather in New York City in May of 1931. Tragically on May 26 she was involved in a serious car accident when her taxi cab collided with a fire truck. She was taken to Roosevelt hospital where she died form a fractured skull. Adele was only thirty-two years old. She was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens. The cab driver who caused her fatal accident was arrested for reckless driving.