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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sue Randall was an actress who was born in 1935. Her primary roles were television instead of motion pictures with Desk Set (1957) being her only silver screen appearance. Sue's TV appearances were mostly guest roles in programs such as The Twilight Zone (1959), The Fugitive (1963), Bonanza (1959) and Gunsmoke (1955). Perhaps Sue is best remembered as the grade school teacher "Miss Landers" in Leave It to Beaver (1957). She appeared on the series, occasionally, from 1958-1962. This beautiful actress contracted lung cancer and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 26, 1984. Sue was 49 years old.- Actor
- Soundtrack
He was honored twice off-Broadway with Distinguished Performance OBIE Award, first in 1960 for "Machinal" and again in 1969 for "Passing Through From Exotic Places." In 1972 he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a play for "Prisoner on 2nd Avenue." In 1979 he was nominated for Best Actor in a musical for "Ballroom." Gardenia was twice nominated with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first in 1974 "Bang the Drum Slowly" and again in 1988 for "Moonstruck." He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for Best Supporting Actor in a movie made for television, "Age Old Friends." In 1988 he was honored to be named the Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day Parade in New York City.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Zero Mostel was born Samuel Joel Mostel on February 28, 1915 in Brooklyn, New York, one of eight children of an Orthodox Jewish family. Raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the young Zero, known as Sammy, developed his talent for painting and drawing at art classes provided by the Educational Alliance, an institution serving Jewish immigrants and their children. Sammy often would go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to copy the paintings.
Sam Mostel matriculated at the City College of New York, then entered a master's program in art at New York University after graduating from CCNY in 1935. He dropped out after a year and worked at odd jobs before being hired by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project to teach drawing and painting at the 92nd Street "Y", the famous Young Men and Young Women's Hebrew Association located on Manhattan's 92nd St., in 1937.
Mostel married Clara Sverd, a CCNY classmate, in 1939, but the marriage was troubled due to personality conflicts. The couple separated in 1941 and divorced in 1944. While still teaching, Mostel supplemented his income by providing gallery lectures at various museums under the aegis of the WPA. His lectures were full of jokes as Mostel personally was a clown, and subsequently he was hired to perform at private parties.
Mostel auditioned as a comedian at the downtown nightclub Cafe Society in late 1941, a jazz club. Initially rejected, owner Barney Josephson hired Mostel after Pearl Harbor, figuring his patrons, now at war, could use some laughs. It was Ivan Black, the club's press agent, who gave Sam Mostel the nickname Zero, explaining, "Here's a guy who's starting from nothing."
Debuting at the Cafe Society on February 16, 1942, Zero was a hit with audiences and the critics, Simultaneously, Zero began appearing in the play "Cafe Crown" at the Cort Theatre, which opened on January 23, 1942 and played through May 23rd, closing after 141 performances. Zero made some impromptu appearances on stage, but he wasn't officially part of the cast of the play, which was staged by Elia Kazan and starred Morris Carnovsky, Sam Jaffe (a future blacklistee), Whit Bissell, and Sam Wanamaker. Zero made his formal Broadway debut in "Keep 'em Laughing" on April 24, 1942 at the 44th Street Theatre. The show ran for 77 performances.
Within a year, he was touring the national nightclub circuit and appearing on radio. He had a brief stint in the Army in 1943, but was quickly discharged due to an unspecified physical disability. Zero spent the rest of the war entertaining the troops overseas.
Zero married Kathryn Harkin, a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette, on July 2, 1944, an act that ruined his relationship with his Orthodox Jewish parents as his new wife was a gentile. The two remained a married couple until his death and produced two sons: Josh Mostel, who was born in 1946, and Tobias, who was born in 1949.
In the post-war years, Zero began to branch-out as a straight actor. On October 19, 1948, he made his television debut in the series "Off the Record," which was broadcast on the DuMont network, following it up with an appearance on October 26, 1948. He later appeared in the The Ford Theatre Hour (1948) episode "The Man Who Came to Dinner," which was broadcast on January 16, 1949 on NBC. He was reunited with his "Cafe Crown" director Elia Kazan in the Oscar-winner's movie Panic in the Streets (1950) (1950). In the movies, Zero often played heavies due to his physique, roles that downplayed his unique gift for comedy.
Zero had long been a leftist politically, and had made contributions to progressive causes. His nightclub act lampooned the red-baiters rampant at the time, and featured the character of a pompous senator called Polltax T. Pellagra. When he and the wife of his good friend 'Jack Gilford' were named by Jerome Robbins before the House Un-American Activities Committee as being communists, Zero was subpoenaed to testify by HUAC.
Mostel testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 14, 1955. In a playful mood, he told the Committee that he was employed by "19th Century-Fox." Zero denied he was a Communist, but refused to name names. He told the Committee that he would gladly discuss his own conduct but was prohibited by religious convictions from naming others. Consequently, he was blacklisted during the 1950s. Shut-out from the movies, he also lost many lucrative nightclub gigs, and he had to make due by playing gigs for meager salaries and by selling his paintings.
In the 1950s, Mostel bumped into Elia Kazan on the street in New York City, and the two reminisced. Kazan said Mostel chided him for putting Mostel through the paces in "Panic in the Streets," forcing him to run more than he ever had. The two retired to a bar, and as they began to drink, s Mostel kept muttering, in reference to Kazan's naming names before HUAC, "Ya shouldn't a done that. Ya shouldn't a done that."
There was no blacklist in the theater, and his friend Burgess Meredith, a noted liberal, offered Zero the lead role in his 1958 Off-Broadway production of "Ulysses in Nighttown," based on the Nighttown episode of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses," that Meredith was directing. Mostel's performance as Leopold Bloom, Joyce's Jewish Everyman, was a great hit with audiences and critics alike, and he won an "Obie," the Off-Broadway equivalent of a Tony. Zero also starred in productions of "Nighttown" in London and Paris.
By the end of 1959, Zero again was appearing on television, cast in the "Play of the Week" episode "The World of Sholom Aleichem," which was broadcast on December 14, 1959 in syndication. He also was cast in a Broadway play, "The Good Soup."
Zero never opened in the play as he was hit by a bus on January 13, 1960. His left leg was severely injured, and required four operations. Zero was in the hospital for five months but regained the use of the leg.
He made a triumphant return to Broadway in the fall of 1960, starring in Ionesco's absurdist tour-de-force "Rhinoceros," for which he won a Tony award. He was cast in another "Play of the Week" episode, this time in Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," which was broadcast on April 3, 1961 in syndication.
Zero and his friend Jack Gilford, who had also been blacklisted due to Jerome Robbins having named names and hadn't worked for many years, were both cast in the Broadway musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." However, the show, under director George Abbott, was troubled. When Stephen Sondheim pitched Robbins to producer Harold Prince as the savior of "Forum," which was floundering in its out-of-town tryouts, Prince phoned Mostel to ask whether he would be prepared to work with Robbins.
"Are you asking me to eat with him?" asked Mostel.
"I'm just asking you to work with him," Prince replied.
"Of course I'll work with him," Mostel said. "We of the left do not blacklist."
When Robbins showed up at his first rehearsal, everyone was terrified of him because of his reputation as a tough taskmaster and perfectionist. Robbins made the rounds of the cast, shaking hands. When he got to Mostel, there was silence. Then Mostel boomed, "Hiya, Loose Lips!"
Everyone burst out laughing, including Robbins, and the show went on. Robbins was uncredited for staging and choreographing "Forum," which opened at the Alvin Theatre on May 8, 1962. "Forum" was a great hit, running for 964 performances at the Alvin and at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and later at the Majestic, closing on August 29, 1964. "Forum" won six Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Director for George Abbott. Mostel won his second Tony and Gilford was nominated for the Tony for Best Featured Actor.
Zero followed up this triumph with his legendary turn as Tevye, the milkman with marriageable daughters in "Fiddler on the Roof," based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. With direction and choreography credited to Jerome Robbins, "Fiddler on the Roof" opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 22, 1964 and did not close until almost eight years later, at the Broadway Theatre on July 2, 1972, with a stop at the Majestic in between during the late '60s. After seven previews, "Fiddler" racked up a total of 3,242 performances, making it one of the greatest Broadway smashes ever. After wining nine Tony awards in 1965, including Best Musical, Best Director, and Best Actor in A Musical (Zero's third Tony), the show was awarded a 10th Tony, a Special Award in 1972 when "Fiddler" became the longest-running musical in Broadway history.
Zero was cast in the 1966 movie version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), and then concentrated on movies and television for the rest of his career. Most of his projects, with the exception of Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967), did not fully utilize his talents. It was a major blow when director Norman Jewison cast the Israeli actor Topol as Tevye in his movie adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), passing over the legend who had created the role. Topol got an Oscar nomination, but faded quickly out of American movies. The movie of "Fiddler," a huge roadshow hit in 1971, also faded out of American consciousness. One wonders if with Zero in the role, the movie would now be considered a classic and constantly revived on television.
In 1974, Zero reprised his Leopold Bloom in a Broadway production of "Ulysses in Nighttown," again directed by Burgess Meredith, which netted him a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Play. He turned in an affecting performance as a blacklisted comedian in Martin Ritt's movie about the blacklist, The Front (1976). He also had a success with a Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof" in December 1976.
Zero was cast as Shylock in Arnold Wesker's "The Merchant," a pro-Jewish reimagining of 'William Shakespeare''s "The Merchant of Venice." Mostel had great hopes that his Shylock would be the crowning achievement of his career and put him back on top. His huge talent and larger-than-life persona seemed to do better on stage.
This was not to come to pass. He fell ill after a tryout performance in Philadelphia in September and was hospitalized. On September 8, 1977, Zero Mostel died from an aortic aneurysm at the age of sixty-two. One of the greatest, most unique, and definitely irreplaceable talents to grace the American stage and movies had passed away. We are unlikely to look on his likes again.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Born in Manhattan, New York to Charles E. Martin, prolific cover artist and cartoonist for the New Yorker magazine, and Florence Taylor, an artist and homemaker; Jared began acting at the age of thirteen when his parents gave him the choice of learning to play the piano or acting in the local children theater group. At 14 he attended Putney school where he continued his interest in theater and discovered sports. At Columbia University he initially expected to take part in the athletic programs, but later opted to focus on acting, as doing both took up too much time. His roommate at Columbia was Brian De Palma. While acting in plays and experimental films at Columbia and Sarah Lawrence College he spent a summer apprenticing with Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. After graduating college Jared tried the newspaper business, taking a job at the New York Times as copy boy and thumbnail book reviewer for the Sunday edition. Missing theater's excitement he left the Times and joined a summer stock company in Cape May, New Jersey; then spent a season with the Boston classical repertory, and eventually rejoined Papp at his new Public Theater in Manhattan, where he played Laertes in the modern rock-disco Hamlet with Martin Sheen and then Cleavon Little in the title role. He continued acting off-Broadway and made an unreleased film that caught the eye of a casting director at Columbia Pictures, who encouraged him to seek a career in Hollywood. He waited for his break for several years working as bartender, truck driver, and landscaper until becoming visible in various roles during the mid 1970s; notably the cult classic 'Westworld', the martial arts thriller 'Men of the Dragon', and the short lived science-fiction series, The Fantastic Journey co-starring Roddy McDowell and Carl Franklin. He is best known for his role as Steven "Dusty" Farlow, son of Clayton Farlow and boyfriend of Sue Ellen Ewing in the mega-hit Dallas. During and after Dallas he alternated between living in Rome starring in European films; and New York where he studied under Lee Strasberg, performed in Broadway's 'Torch Song Trilogy', and did soap opera (One Life to Live). In 1988 he relocated to Toronto to star in the TV version of War of the Worlds as Dr. Harrison Blackwood. After W.O.W. was canceled in 1991 Jared spent the next 2 1/2 years traveling in Africa and China and working on two novels. In 1994 entrepreneur Jeffrey Seder asked him to direct a film for Mayor Ed Rendell's 'Heroes of the Streets' campaign in Philadelphia. During location shooting he and Seder conceived the idea of a film-production themed educational non-profit to serve Philadelphia's inner city and migrant youth populations. Jared moved to Philadelphia and became BPA's Creative Director for the next 15 years; supervising over 2000 students and producing over 250 student films. He personally directed 30 films, garnering awards from Cine Eagle, Intercom, and the Chicago International Film Festival. After retiring BPA in 2010 Jared has begun another career as a fine arts photographer, studying under the painter Michael David. While in Beijing in 1998 he met Chinese classical dancer Yu Wei. They corresponded for two years and married in 2000. Jared has directed a dozen short films for Wei, who tours extensively. They live in Philadelphia's East Falls area and support a large collection of animals including a tribe of freeloading raccoons. Jared's son Christian is an executive at AETN. His two grandchildren, Charles and Emilia Grace, are busy tearing up the block on Baltic Street in Brooklyn. Martin died from pancreatic cancer on May 24, 2017 at his home in Philadelphia aged 75.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Her father Joseph was a minister and her mother was named Ella Mae. Her birth name was Pearly Mae but her parents anticipated she would be a boy and when a girl was born she was nicknamed "Dickie". Her brother was entertainer Bill Bailey (1912-1978). She spent her early life in Washington DC where she received her early education. Bailey frequently appeared in the Old Howard theater in downtown Washington. As a young woman she toured the Pennsylvania mining towns as a dancer and later as a singer in Vaudeville. She starred in the film St. Louis Blues opposite Nat King Cole, which was the biography of W.C. Handy. Her greatest theater role was in the Broadway musical "Hello Dolly".- Lori Schappell was born on 18 September 1961 in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for X's & O's (2007), Nip/Tuck (2003) and Horizon (1964). She died on 7 April 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Gia Carangi was born on 29 January 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Blondie: Atomic (1980). She died on 18 November 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
This handsome, eloquent and highly charismatic actor became one of the foremost interpreters of Eugene O'Neill's plays and one of the most treasured names in song during the first half of the twentieth century. He also courted disdain and public controversy for most of his career as a staunch Cold War-era advocate for human rights, as well as his very vocal support for Joseph Stalin and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. While the backlash of his civil rights activities and left-wing ideology left him embittered and practically ruined his career, he remains today a durable symbol of racial pride and consciousness.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 9, 1898, Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson and his four siblings (William, Benjamin, Reeve, Marian) lost their mother, a schoolteacher, in a fire while quite young (Paul was only six). Paul's father, a humble Presbyterian minister and former slave, raised the family singlehandedly and the young, impressionable boy grew up singing spirituals in his father's church. Paul was a natural athlete and the tall (6'3"), strapping high school fullback had no trouble earning a scholarship to prestigious Rutgers University in 1915 at age 17 -- becoming only the third member of his race to be admitted at the time. He excelled in football, baseball, basketball, and track and field, graduating as a four-letter man. He was also the holder of a Phi Beta Kappa key in his junior year and was a selected member of their honorary society, Cap and Skull. Moreover, he was the class valedictorian and in his speech was already preaching idealism.
Paul subsequently played professional football to earn money while attending Columbia University's law school, and also took part in amateur dramatics. During this time he met and married Eslanda Cardozo Goode in 1921. She eventually became his personal assistant. Despite the fact that he was admitted to the New York bar, Paul's future as an actor was destined and he never did practice law. His wife persuaded him to play a role in "Simon the Cyrenian" at the Harlem YMCA in 1921. This was followed by his Broadway debut the following year in the short-lived play "Taboo", a drama set in Africa, which also went to London. As a result, he was asked to join the Provincetown Players, a Greenwich Village theater group that included in its membership playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill personally asked Paul to star in his plays "All God's Chillun Got Wings" and "The Emperor Jones" in 1924. The reaction from both critics and audiences alike was electrifying...an actor was born.
In 1925 Paul delivered his first singing recital and also made his film debut starring in Body and Soul (1925), a rather murky melodrama that nevertheless was ahead of its time in its depictions of black characters. Although Robeson played a scurrilous, corrupt clergyman who takes advantage of his own people, his dynamic personality managed to shine through. Radio and recordings helped spread his name across foreign waters. His resonant bass was a major highlight in the London production of "Show Boat" particularly with his powerful rendition of "Ol' Man River." He remained in London to play the role of Shakespeare's "Othello" in 1930 (at the time no U.S. company would hire him), and was again significant in a highly controversial production. Paul caused a slight stir by co-starring opposite a white actress, Peggy Ashcroft, who played Desdemona. Around this time Paul starred in the landmark British film Borderline (1930), a silent film that dealt strongly with racial themes, and then returned to the stage in the O'Neill play "The Hairy Ape" in 1931. The following year he appeared in a Broadway revival of "Show Boat" again as Joe. In the same production, the noted chanteuse Helen Morgan repeated her original 1927 performance as the half-caste role of Julie, but the white actress Tess Gardella played the role of Queenie in her customary blackface opposite Robeson.
Robeson spent most of his time singing and performing in England throughout the 1930s. He also was given the opportunity to recapture two of his greatest stage successes on film: The Emperor Jones (1933) and Show Boat (1936). In Britain he continued to film sporadically with Sanders of the River (1935), Song of Freedom (1936), King Solomon's Mines (1937), Dark Sands (1937) and The Tunnel (1940) in important roles that resisted demeaning stereotypes.
During the 1930s he also gravitated strongly towards economics and politics with a burgeoning interest in social activism. In 1934 he made the first of several trips to the Soviet Union and outwardly extolled the Soviet way of life and his belief that it lacked racial bias, despite the Holodomor and the later Rootless Cosmopolitan Campaign. He was a popular figure in Wales where he became personally involved in their civil rights affairs, notably the Welsh miners. Developing a marked leftist ideology, he continued to criticize the blatant discrimination he found so prevalent in America.
The 1940s was a mixture of performance triumphs and poignant, political upheavals. While his title run in the musical drama "John Henry" (1940), was short-lived, he earned widespread acclaim for his Broadway "Othello" in 1943 opposite José Ferrer as Iago and Uta Hagen as Desdemona. By this time, however, Robeson was being reviled by much of white America for his outspoken civil rights speeches against segregation and lynchings, particularly in the South. A founder of the Progressive Party, an independent political party, his outdoor concerts sometimes ignited violence and he was now a full-blown target for "Red Menace" agitators. In 1946 he denied under oath being a member of the Communist Party, but steadfastly refused to refute the accusations under subsequent probes. As a result, his passport was withdrawn and he became engaged in legal battles for nearly a decade in order to retrieve it. Adding fuel to the fire was his only son's (Paul Jr.) marriage to a white woman in 1949 and his being awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1952 (he was unable to receive it until 1958 when his passport was returned to him).
Essentially blacklisted, tainted press statements continued to hound him. He began performing less and less in America. Despite his growing scorn towards America, he never gave up his American citizenship although the anguish of it all led to a couple of suicide attempts, nervous breakdowns and a dependency on drugs. Europe was a different story. The people continued to hold him in high regard as an artist/concertist above reproach. He had a command of about 20 languages and wound up giving his last acting performance in "Othello" on foreign shores -- at Stratford-on-Avon in 1959.
While still performing in the 1960s, his health suddenly took a turn for the worse and he finally returned to the United States in 1963. His poet/wife Eslanda Robeson died of cancer two years later. Paul remained in poor health for pretty much the rest of his life. His last years were spent in Harlem in near-total isolation, denying all interviews and public correspondence, although he was honored for speaking out against apartheid in South Africa in 1978.
Paul died at age 77 of complications from a stroke. Among his many honors: he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995; he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998; was honored with a postage stamp during the "Black Heritage" series; and both a Cultural Center at Penn State University and a high school in Brooklyn bear his name. In 1995 his autobiography "Here I Stand" was published in England in 1958; his son, Paul Robeson Jr., also chronicled a book about his father, "Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist's Journey" in 2001.- Rick Curry is a priest (formerly a brother) in the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuit order. He is the founder of the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped and the Maine Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, because he was born without a forearm. He is a baker, and has written two cookbooks, "The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking," and "The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking." He was named ABC's "Person of the Week" on 5 August, 2005, and is the recipient of a number of different awards for his efforts for the handicapped.
- William Newman made his film debut in the Stuart Rosenberg film Brubaker (1980), starring Robert Redford, and followed this up with The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) opposite Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange.
Acting roles continued through out the 1980s with roles in the Stephen King horror film Silver Bullet (1985) alongside Gary Busey and Corey Haim, the drama The Mosquito Coast (1986) with Harrison Ford and River Phoenix, and the Chevy Chase comedy Funny Farm (1988). He played a sheriff in the The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986) and appeared in George A. Romero's Monkey Shines (1988) proving that, as a character actor, he has the ability to adapt to various genres.
During the 1990s, work for Newman did not slow down. He appeared in: Leprechaun (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Stephen King's The Stand (1994) opposite Rob Lowe, The Craft (1996) and Touch (1997), the latter two films with Skeet Ulrich.
Newman has since worked steady in film, but is also a familiar face on TV, his roles including Eerie, Indiana (1991) episode 'Mr Chaney', Picket Fences (1992), and My Name Is Earl (2005). - Actress
- Soundtrack
Dolores Donlon was born on 19 September 1920 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Long Wait (1954), Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1956) and Flight to Hong Kong (1956). She was married to Fernando Mendez, Robert de Pasquale and Victor M. Orsatti. She died on 30 November 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
George Schappell was born on September 18, 1961 in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA as Dori Schappell. He later changed his name to Reba, and then to George when he came out as FTM transgender. He is an actor, known for Born Different: Unbelievable Medical Conditions (2010), Medical Incredible (2005) and Face to Face: The Schappell Twins (2000).- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Dexter Gordon was considered one of the greatest jazz saxophonists ever, During his heyday, namely `45-`80, he played tenor sax with many of the all-time jazz greats, including Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Billy Eckstine and many others. In the 60s, he left his vices behind and created some wonderful music. He played in Europe extensively where he was very popular and lived there for the most part during the 60s and the early to mid 70s. Around 1977, he returned to America and made some well-received records. Round Midnight was his only feature role, playing a character not unlike himself, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He has influenced subsequent generations of musicians with his artful approach to jazz. His feel and subtle nuances are sorely missed in the world of jazz.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Joseph William Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable punching power, and relentless pressure fighting style and was the first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali. Frazier reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973 and as an amateur won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.- Sylvia Kauders was born on 1 December 1921 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Witness (1985), Predator 2 (1990) and Man on a Ledge (2012). She was married to Randle Morgan Kauders. She died on 5 May 2016 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- He chatters a bit then looks at Robert De Niro and says "Bye killer", perhaps his most memorable cinematic quote while playing Charlie T in Taxi Driver (1976). But Matlock was a veteran with a distinguished career before and after the famous movie. Police commissioners, preachers, detectives and judges are among the characters he played through the years. Among the directors he worked with, there's impressive names like Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, John Landis, Spike Lee, Ivan Reitman and Daniel Petrie. One of the finest black actors of his generation, with a fine voice and incredible presence, Matlock appeared in different kinds of projects ranging from comedies such as The Blues Brothers (1980) and Ghostbusters (1984) to dramas like The Long Walk Home (1990) and Night Falls on Manhattan (1996) His association with Spike Lee provided back-to-back experiences in Crooklyn (1994) and Clockers (1995), which was produced by Scorsese, who directed him in Taxi Driver some years before. He died at the age 90 in 2015, leaving behind a limited but outstanding body of work.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gilbert Lewis was born on 6 April 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Don Juan DeMarco (1994), Candyman (1992) and Across 110th Street (1972). He died on 7 May 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Harold Melvin was born on 25 June 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Ovelia. He died on 24 March 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
B.S. Pully was born on 14 May 1910 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Guys and Dolls (1955), The Love God? (1969) and Within These Walls (1945). He was married to Helen Pearl (Hope) Stone. He died on 6 January 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
The man most of us know by his unmistakable, calming yet disturbed raspy voice was born Davis Eli Ruffin on January 18, 1941, in Whynot, Mississippi. His father, Eli Ruffin, was a Baptist minister. Only months after his birth his mother Ophelia Ruffin died, and his father later remarried, to a schoolteacher.
David began singing and touring at a very young age with his father and siblings in a gospel group. Leaving home at 13 to pursue the ministry, it was David's select showmanship that caught the eyes of some in the secular music industry. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan, and was signed to Anna Records in 1960 and then Check-Mate Records in 1961. David didn't have hits with either label, but they were good showcases for his vocal ability and talent. In 1964 he joined The Temptations, who had yet to chart a hit, at Motown Records. The "Tempts"' hitless status changed in March of 1965 with the classic "My Girl", on which David sang lead. The song stayed at #1 for eight weeks, and the rest is history. The same showmanship that brought David into the R&B industry caught the attention of fans around the world. His stage performance was dynamic. His dramatic hand gestures and slipping out of chorus to fall to his knees wasn't all this tall, slender man wearing black-framed glasses could do. His voice proved to be powerful, as he went on to sing lead on Temptations hits that brought joy and happiness in the turbulent times of the 1960s. These times also proved to be turbulent for the group, however. Tensions arose when David asked for billing before the group, a practice common among vocal groups of the time. Not only did David not get his name above the group's, but he was dismissed from the group in 1968. He was Still under contract at Motown, though, and his solo career got off to a promising start with the ballad "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me"). Subsequent releases failed, however, as did duets with his brother Jimmy Ruffin. Few of the songs charted and he blamed Motown for not properly promoting his music. In 1979 he left the label and went to Warner Brothers, where his career unfortunately went into a complete decline.
He later rejoined The Temptations for a reunion tour, but after that he fell obscurity, and his personal life also took a downward spiral when it came to light that he was suffering from substance abuse and depression. He eventually reunited with former Temptations colleague Eddie Kendricks (who was now also a solo artist) in 1986, and they began touring and performing with 'Artists Against Apartheid', Live-Aid, and Hall & Oates. In 1989 Otis Williams was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David and Eddie begin touring with ex-Temptation Dennis Edwards. Weeks after the tour ended, David was dropped off at a Philadelphia hospital and an hour later the man who sang the biographical tune "Statue Of a Fool" from every bit of his heart and soul was pronounced dead. While the official cause of death was ruled a cocaine overdose, his family has come to believe that foul play was involved. When the world lost David Ruffin, it lost a life too short-lived, a heavenly voice, and a whimsical, charismatic man. He had one of the most recognizable voices in music. The joy and sadness in his songs can be felt by all. David's voice will continue to bridge the generation gap just as it crossed the color lines in the sixties and seventies. Legends are never forgotten and David Ruffin IS a musical LEGEND.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Tammi Terrell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA as Thomasina Winifred Montgomery. She is best known for singing duets with Marvin Gaye in the 1960s, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the height of her popularity and after unsuccessful surgeries, died on March 16, 1970 in Philadelphia.- Frances Dade was an American actress from Philadelphia. She had a rather brief career, spanning from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Her most notable role was playing the fledgling vampire Lucy Weston in "Dracula" (1931), based on the novel's Lucy Westenra. She was the first actress to ever play the character of Lucy in a feature film.
In 1907, Dade was born in Philadelphia. Her parents were Francis Cadwallader Dade, Jr. and Frances Rawle Pemberton. Through her mother, she was a grandniece of the Confederate general John Clifford Pemberton (1814 - 1881). Her great uncle is remembered as the commanding officer during the Confederate surrender at the Siege of Vicksburg (1863). Also through her mother, Dade was a first cousin of the famous ice hockey player Hobey Baker (1892 - 1918).
Dade started her career as a theatrical actress. She played Lorelei Lee in the touring company of the musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1925) by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos. She was offered a contract by film executive Samuel Goldwyn (1882 - 1974), though she later primarily worked as a freelancer.
Dade made her film debut in the romantic drama "The Constant Nymph" (1928), an adaptation of a controversial novel written by Margaret Kennedy (1896 - 1967). Her initial film role was a bit part. She had a more substantial role as Monica Grey in the romantic comedy "He Knew Women" (1930). In the film, Monica's unrequited love for a young poet eventually turns into a desire to hurt him for rejecting her feelings.
Dade had a supporting role in the mystery film "Raffles" (1930), an adaptation E. W. Hornung's short stories about gentleman thief A. J. Raffles. In the crime film "Grumpy" (1930), Dade played Virginia Bullivant, the main character's granddaughter. This film is remembered as the directorial debut of George Cukor.
In 1931, Dade played a female vampire in "Dracula". This role catapulted her to fame, and she was selected as one of thirteen WAMPAS Baby Stars of the year. It was a list of up-and-coming starlets. Within the year, she appeared in several other films. The most notable among them was the crime mystery "Daughter of the Dragon", where Anna May Wong was cast as a daughter of Dr. Fu Manchu.
In 1932, she only appeared in one feature film: "Big Town". It was her last film appearance. In August 1932, Dade married the wealthy socialite Brock Van Avery. She retired from acting, and reportedly later pursued a new career as a nurse. In 1968, Dade died in relative obscurity. She is still remembered by fans of classic horror films, as one of the first female vampires on screen. - Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
It's a wonderful and busy life for Frank Capra, Jr., president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, currently the largest motion picture studio east of Hollywood. A second-generation filmmaker, Capra is the son of the late Lucille Rayburn Warner Capra and world-renowned director, Frank Capra, a native of Sicily, who is best known as director of the classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He is the eldest of three children that include brother Tom and sister Lucille. While growing up, the Capra children had the best of both worlds: relatively normal lives with friends balanced by dinners with guests who could include Barbara Stanwyck,Jean Harlow, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore or Gary Cooper. Capra has said that growing up in a show-business household seldom interfered with holiday time and family life, for which he credits his father and mother. He has been active in the film industry for over four decades.
Capra did not start out to be a filmmaker. It wasn't until after he studied at the California Institute of Technology and later graduated from Pomona College with a degree in geology that he chose movie making as a career. Again, he chose the best of both worlds, deciding to combine his interest in film with his scientific background by making films that documented government research programs conducted by Hughes Tool Co. (the parent company of Hughes Aircraft). During his time with Hughes Tool, Capra made films centered on the construction of torpedoes and helicopters contracted by U.S. military branches. With the Vietnam draft imminent, Capra enlisted in the army's film unit, the Signal Corps, and for the next three years taught combat motion picture photography to soldiers stationed in New Jersey. He also taught techniques of combat motion picture photography from land and air while serving in Vietnam.
After his discharge from the army, Capra worked on a number of TV shows including Dennis the Menace (1959), Hazel (1961), Gunsmoke (1955), "Rifleman, The" (1960)_, Zane Grey Theatre (1956) and Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958). Working his way to assistant director, Capra continued to work in television and eventually migrated to producing feature films that included Born Again (1978), The Black Marble (1980) and An Eye for an Eye (1981).
In 1983 Capra was sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, by producer Dino De Laurentiis to find a location for the feature film Firestarter (1984). Both he and De Laurentiis found Wilmington a wonderful place to live and work and continued to film projects here. In 1996 Capra was appointed President and CEO of EUE Screen Gems Studios. He was presented an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and also received a Directors Guild of America award in 2000 in recognition of his instrumental role in transforming Wilmington into a regional production center for both television and film, as well as for his significant contributions as a creator of original programming. He is a member of numerous professional associations, including the Executive Branch Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the North Carolina Governor's Film Council and the North Carolina Southeast Film Advisory Board. Capra is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, instructing film classes in the university's film studies degree program.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Tun-Fei Mou was born on 13 May 1941 in Shandong, China. He was a director and actor, known for The End of the Track (1970), Xiang Gang qi an 5: Jian mo (1977) and Trilogy of Lust (1995). He died on 25 May 2019 in Philadelphia, USA.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mention the name Gilberto and Bossa Nova immediately comes to mind. Astrud was the original 'Girl from Ipanema' (composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes), famously singing the iconic hit song first featured on the classic 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. Released by Verve Records as a single in May 1964, Girl from Ipanema won a Grammy and established Astrud as a hot new commodity on the music scene. She also sang a second number on the album: 'Corcovado' ("Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars").
She was born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Salvador, in the province of Bahia. Her mother was Evangelina Neves Lobo Weinert who sang and played both violin and a traditional instrument, called a bandolim. Her German-born father Fritz was a language teacher. Through him, Astrud soon became fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. In 1959,19-year old Astrud married the guitarist, vocalist and composer João Gilberto, who is credited as the inventor of Bossa Nova, a music genre fusing elements of traditional Brazilian samba with jazz. In this endeavour, he collaborated with the composer, songwriter, arranger and guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim. Before long, the mellow sound of Bossa Nova found its popularity in the U.S. via exponents like jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd and saxophonist Stan Getz. Astrud went on to sing her signature number in the MGM musical Get Yourself a College Girl (1964), which also featured The Dave Clark Five and The Animals .
In 1965 and 1966, Astrud released her first trio of solo albums, featuring classic songs like 'Agua de Beber', Johnny Mandel 's 'The Shadow of your Smile', 'Tristeza', 'Fly Me to the Moon', 'Manhã de Carnaval' and 'Felicidade'. As her fame grew, she toured the U.S. with Stan Getz, including a famous gig at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. By this time, she had become a single mother, divorced from her husband.
Astrud was later to rue her association with Getz, not just because he was difficult to get on with. Much to her chagrin, Getz and record producer Creed Taylor also both laid exclusive claim to her 'discovery'. Moreover, Astrud received no credit on the original vinyl LP Getz/Gilberto, being merely paid the trifling sum of $120 for the session. Getz reaped the lion's share of profits from the album and denied the singer her fair share of the royalties. That despite the fact that 'Girl from Ipanema' ended up becoming one of the most widely recorded songs in popular music. Bryan McCann, professor of Brazilian history and author of a 2019 book, commented that "It was Astrud Gilberto who made the album a smash hit.Astrud provided the ineffable allure that made the album irresistible."
Some of her later partnerships proved rather more felicitous, notably a jazz album with Gil Evans and a collaboration in 1977 with trumpet player and singer Chet Baker on one of her own songs, 'Far Away'. In 1996, Astrud performed Jobim's beautiful number 'Desafinado' with George Michael for the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio. In 2002 she was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. For all intents and purposes, Astrud left the music scene in the early 2000's, spending her retirement in Philadelphia, away from publicity, studying philosophy, painting and becoming a powerful voice against cruelty to animals.- Actor
- Soundtrack
David Burns was born on 22 June 1901 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Saint in London (1939), Let's Make Love (1960) and She Couldn't Say No (1940). He was married to Mildred Todd. He died on 12 March 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sharon Paige was born on 9 February 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Taffy Was Born (2004), Carlito's Way: Rise to Power (2005) and The Mike Douglas Show (1961). She died on 5 July 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- As a young man he joined the famous Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division when it was first formed. His first combat jump as a paratrooper was into occupied France the night before D-Day as part of the mass invasion. Earned the name "Wild Bill" due to his heroic efforts in combat situations against the Germans. Lost part of his leg in the Battle of the Bulge.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American films.
Cabanne spent several years in the navy, leaving the service in 1908. He decided on a career in the theater, and became a director as well as an actor. Although acting was his primary profession, when he finally broke into the film business it was as a director. He joined the Fine Arts Co., then was employed as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. Being a published author, he found himself hired by Metro Pictures to write a serial. After that he formed his own production company, but shut it down a few years later and became a director for hire, mainly of low- to medium-budget films for such studios as FBO, Associated Exhibitors, Tiffany and Pathe. Although he worked in the rarefied atmosphere at MGM on a few occasions, he was usually to be found toiling away at the lower end of lower-level studios. In the 1930s his fortunes picked up a bit and he did quite a bit of work at Universal, but from there his career nosedived and he ended up cranking out cheap westerns, shoddy jungle pictures and limp horror films for the likes of Monogram, PRC and Screen Guild.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born on 20 March 1915 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, USA. She is known for Death on the Nile (2022), Walk the Line (2005) and The Great Debaters (2007). She was married to Russell Morrison and Thomas Thorpe. She died on 9 October 1973 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Marilyn Coleman was born on 23 March 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Menace II Society (1993), Disco Godfather (1979) and The Meteor Man (1993). She died on 25 June 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
Edgar Rosenberg was born on 21 September 1925 in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany. He was a producer and writer, known for Rabbit Test (1978), The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966) and Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz (1988). He was married to Joan Rivers. He died on 14 August 1987 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Arthur V. Johnson was born on 2 February 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Beloved Adventurer (1914), Annie Rowley's Fortune (1913) and The Adventures of Dollie (1908). He was married to Maude Webb. He died on 17 January 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
As a young man, Lars Hensen ventured into the motion picture industry during a time when there was a need for extras to play pilots and airmen in war films. He found steady work as just another face in the crowd.
It wasn't until the late 40s when Hensen found his true calling. He regularly gained work as a stand-in for films and television shows. This opened up a new avenue for him because as long as the actor that Hensen was standing in for worked, so did Hensen. Usually the actor would allow the stand-in to appear as an extras and sometimes the principle actor would give his stand-in dialog or a silent bit where he would interact with the character and get paid as more than the day rate fate for an extra.
By the 1960s, Hensen caught his big break. He developed a friendship with Lee J. Cobb and he regularly worked as his stand-in on The Virginian. During this time, Hensen received steady work as various cowhands, court clerks, or whatever Cobb could do to take care of Hensen. He also developed a good reputation with other casting directors so when Cobb wasn't working, Hensen found steady work as a stand-in and extra in other programs.
During the mid 1980s, Hensen's career really began to slow down. He had outlived the western genre and his rough appearance and advanced age started to take a toll on his work so in the 1980s, he decided to return back to Philadelphia to be closer to his family. Though he passed away in 1999, he left a long lasting legacy of a career that started during the peak of motion pictures and lasted through the rise of the music videos.- Charles Crumb was born on 13 March 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He died in February 1992 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Rebecca Sand was born on 31 August 1912 in East Liverpool, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Edge of Night (1956), The Streets of San Francisco (1972) and All Woman (1967). She died on 26 July 1995 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States Postmaster General.
- Richard Barathy was an actor, known for Caged Fury (1990), Airwolf (1987) and Snake Eater (1989). He died on 21 October 1996 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Chris Cotton was born on 16 January 1987 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Every Damn Sketch Show (2018), Diwal'oween (2017) and Carpool Rules (2015). He was married to EricaLynn and Erica. He died on 11 December 2019 in Philadelphia, USA.- Marjorie Battles was born on 5 June 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Lucky Lady (1975), McCloud (1970) and Quincy M.E. (1976). She died on 18 October 1987 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Eddie Hartman was born on 11 October 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Ship Ahoy (1942), Boarding House Blues (1948) and Nautical Knights (1938). He died on 3 December 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Writer
Harvey Silver was born a true Aries, on April 12, 1976 and on his mother's birthday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the second child of 4 children. His mother was too young to raise both him and his sister alone, so she made a choice of putting Harvey in foster care at the age of five. He spent most of his childhood in 'Society Hill Philadelphia'. Harvey took acting classes throughout his teenage years to stay away from the streets! He also thought this would be a good way for him to express himself. Harvey became passionate about acting while performing in student plays in high school. He was accepted into the Philadelphia's prestigious "Society Hill Playhouse," which was part of his High School Extra Credit Program. He had only been in the business for a few months and already had his first Screen Test for a three-year contract on the now defunct ABC Soap Opera titled "Loving." After arriving in Los Angeles in 1995, Harvey started working immediately. His first Equity stage experience was the lead role in a play titled "American Medea" at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. with Tony award winner, film actress and ABC's 'Lost' star - L. Scott Caldwell. Harvey has starred in a few other Equity stage productions including the hit play "Salt on Sugar Hill" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Harvey's first professional television debut was a Coca Cola commercial directed by critically acclaimed film director - "John Singleton". In 1995, Harvey gave a breakthrough performance with a lead role in the 20th Century Fox movie titled "The Price of Love," playing opposite Peter Facinelli and Laurel Holloman. The Fox Movie gave Harvey the exposure to showcase the depth of his acting ability. "The Price of Love" was a movie about the teen homelessness and teen prostitution that goes on in Hollywood. Critically acclaimed feature film and TV movie director David Burton Morris was the film's director. Harvey got offered his own spin-off Docu-Film for 20th Century Fox, about runaway teens titled "Runaways." Harvey's TV credits include guest-starring on such shows as "New York Undercover", "The Watcher", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Beyond Belief", "Brooklyn South", "NYPD Blue", "First Monday" and "The Shield". Harvey has starred in his own sit-com ironically about foster-kids. The show was NBC's hit comedy titled "One World," which aired from 1998-2001. Harvey's feature film credits include, the Justin Zackhams ("The Wedding" - Director & "Bucket List" - writer) breakthrough hit cult comedy "Going Greek" w/Oliver Hudson, "Last Resort w/ Scott Caan & "Steel" w/ Shaq just to name a few. Harvey has set his mind on a goal to someday win a Tony award for a dramatic or comedic role on "Broadway"!- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mostly forgotten today, radio comic Joe Penner was a major craze back in Depression-era 1933 and 1934. There was no heavy social significance to his work and certainly no subtlety -- just a lot of slapstick silliness that helped audiences forget their troubles and get happy.
Born József Pintér in Hungary, he arrived as a child in New York City. He changed his name to Joe Penner and became fairly successful on the vaudeville and burlesque circuits as a Lou Costello-like patsy. His catchphrase "Wanna buy a duck?" started here. The story goes that in his routine he would customarily go out on stage with some sort of prop and say to his straight man, "Wanna buy a..." whatever the prop was. No laughs basically until one day when he went out on stage with a wooden decoy and said, "Wanna buy a duck?" The house went wild. Penner would parlay this one simple line into a major radio career. He was introduced to the air waves by Rudy Vallee and enjoyed a meteoric rise, quickly becoming a household name with his unabashed "anything for a joke" antics and other one-liners like "You naaaaasty man!" One of the earliest roles of voice talent Mel Blanc on national radio was as the voice of Goo-Goo, the duck that figured in Penner's famous catchphrase. Egghead, the forerunner of the Elmer Fudd character, was partly based on Penner too, which used a similar voice and mannerisms. Penner was one of the first to have a regular radio series regularly broadcast from Los Angeles.
His popularity and ability at singing novelty songs helped move him into minor leads in Hollywood "B" musical films during the 30s. Often the movies had college themes such as College Rhythm (1934), Collegiate (1935) and Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (1938). His talents were limited but the call seemed to be there. His best known film The Boys from Syracuse (1940), based on the Broadway musical, had him playing dual roles while hamming it up with Martha Raye.
Had he not died so young (of a heart attack at age 36 in 1941), Penner probably would have suffered an early decline anyway simply due to the repetitive nature of his shtick and faded into supporting character roles.- Dan Kern was an actor, known for Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Me and the Big Guy (1999) and Voyagers! (1982). He was married to Nancy Boykin. He died on 4 October 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- James Bond was born on 4 January 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Mary Bond. He died on 14 February 1989 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
Dennis Ott was born on 13 June 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Runaway Train (1985), Road House (1989) and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989). He was married to Louise. He died on 3 November 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Wedgwood Nowell was born on 24 January 1878 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for 813 (1920), Calling Philo Vance (1940) and The Eternal Flame (1922). He was married to [Edna] Claire Colwell (actress) and Irma Stowe. He died on 17 June 1957 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Charles Pettigrew was born on 12 May 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Charles & Eddie: Would I Lie to You? (1992), Kriebels (1995) and Fully Booked (1995). He died on 6 April 2001 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Considered to be the first American serial killer and possibly the most prolific, he was also a con-man and bigamist. He was a doctor who studied medicine at Ann Arbor, MI. He then moved to New York where he practiced briefly. His first brush with the law occurred there when some corpses were found in his possession. He fled to Chicago where he worked for a drug company. The owner mysteriously disappeared and he became the owner. Over the next few years several people who crossed his path also mysteriously disappeared. In 1891 he began construction of a hotel at the corner of 63rd St. in Chicago. It was constructed by several builders over time and had a labyrinthine network of passages that would become his "torture chambers". It was during the Chicago World Fair of 1893 that he did most of his killings when his victims checked into his hotel. They were mainly young attractive women. Holmes would drug them, have sex with their bodies and then drop them down a chute into a gas chamber. There he would watch through a glass panel as they slowly choked to death. Then he would dissect their bodies and dispose of them in acid baths, furnaces or by using quicklime. However, it was because of insurance fraud in Texas that he was brought to the attention of the authorities again. Detective Geyer followed his trail through Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The bodies of the Pietzel family were found in an Indianapolis boarding house and Holmes was arrested. On 11/30/1895 he received the death sentence. Holmes wrote in his memoirs that he had killed 27 people; however, when he was taken to the gallows he retracted his confession saying that he had done it just for a publicity stunt. Over 200 bodies were found in his Chicago death house, known as "'Holmes' Torture Castle".
- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
John Hawkins was born on 2 April 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Shannon (1961), Bonanza (1959) and Secret Command (1944). He was married to Helen K. Hawkins. He died on 28 October 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.