1.
Edward Buzzell
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He appeared in vaudeville and on Broadway, and was hired to star in the 1929 film version of George M. Cohans Little Johnny Jones with Alice Day. Buzzell appeared in a few Vitaphone shorts, and the two-strip Technicolor short The Devils Cabaret as Satans assistant and he wrote screenplays in the early 1930s and later produced the popular The Milton Berle Show which premiered on television in 1948. In 1926, Buzzell married actress Ona Munson, who later played Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind and he married socialite Sara Clark on August 11,1934 but the marriage only lasted 5 weeks and she left him. He married actress Lorraine Miller on December 10,1949 and he died in Los Angeles in 1985 at the age of 89. As Actor Midnight Life Little Johnny Jones The Devils Cabaret The Big Timer Virtue Edward Buzzell at the Internet Movie Database
2.
Mervyn LeRoy
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Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, film producer and occasional actor. LeRoy was born in San Francisco, to Jewish parents Edna and his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake. To make money, young Mervyn sold newspapers and entered talent shows as a singer, through this he worked his way into vaudeville. When his act broke up, he and his cousin, Jesse Lasky, LeRoy worked in costumes, processing labs and as a camera assistant until he became a gag writer and actor in silent films, including The Ten Commandments in 1923. LeRoy credits Ten Commandments director, Cecil B, DeMille, for inspiring him to become a director, As the top director of the era, DeMille had been the magnet that had drawn me to his set as often as I could go. Leroy also credits DeMille for teaching him the techniques required to make his own films. His first directing job was in 1927s No Place to Go, when his movies made lots of money without costing too much, he became well received in the movie business. He directed two key films which launched Edward G. Robinson into major stardom, the Oscar-nominated critique of tabloid journalism Five Star Final, from that point forward, LeRoy would be responsible for a diverse variety of films as a director and producer. In 1938 he was chosen as head of production at MGM and he was responsible for discovering Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Robert Mitchum and Lana Turner. In the 1950s, LeRoy directed such musicals as Lovely to Look At, Million Dollar Mermaid, Latin Lovers and Rose Marie. He moved to Warner Brothers, where he was responsible for such films as Mister Roberts, The Bad Seed, No Time for Sergeants, The FBI Story. He was nominated in 1943 for Best Director for Random Harvest, in addition, he received an honorary Oscar in 1946 for The House I Live In, for tolerance short subject, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1976. A total of eight movies Mervyn LeRoy directed or co-directed were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, LeRoy married three times and had many relationships with Hollywood actresses. He was first married to Elizabeth Edna Murphy in 1927, which ended in divorce in 1933, during their separation, LeRoy dated Ginger Rogers, but they ended the relationship and stayed lifelong friends. In 1934, he married Doris Warner, the daughter of Warner Bros. founder, the couple had one son, Warner LeRoy and one daughter. The marriage ended in divorce in 1942, in 1946, he married Katherine Spiegel, who was his wife until his death. LeRoy retired in 1965 and wrote his autobiography, Take One and he died from Alzheimers disease in Beverly Hills, California at age 86. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, on February 8,1960, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street, for his contributions to the motion pictures industry
3.
Buster Keaton
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Joseph Frank Buster Keaton was an American actor, director, producer, writer, and stunt performer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a stoic, deadpan expression. His career declined afterward with a loss of his artistic independence when he was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He recovered in the 1940s, remarried, and revived his career to a degree as a comic performer for the rest of his life. Many of Keatons films from the 1920s, such as Sherlock Jr, the General, and The Cameraman, remain highly regarded, with the second of these three widely viewed as his masterpiece. Among its strongest admirers was Orson Welles, who stated that The General was cinemas highest achievement in comedy, Keaton was recognized as the seventh-greatest film director by Entertainment Weekly, and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 21st greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema. Keaton was born into a family in Piqua, Kansas. He was named Joseph to continue a tradition on his fathers side and Frank for his maternal grandfather, later, Keaton changed his middle name to Francis. His father was Joseph Hallie Joe Keaton, who owned a traveling show with Harry Houdini called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, according to a frequently repeated story, which may be apocryphal, Keaton acquired the nickname Buster at about 18 months of age. Keaton told interviewer Fletcher Markle that Houdini was present one day when the young Keaton took a tumble down a flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, according to Keaton, in those days, the word buster was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. After this, it was Keatons father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster, Keaton retold the anecdote over the years, including a 1964 interview with the CBCs Telescope. At the age of three, Keaton began performing with his parents in The Three Keatons and he first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. The act was mainly a comedy sketch, Myra played the saxophone to one side, while Joe and Buster performed on center stage. The young Keaton would goad his father by disobeying him, a suitcase handle was sewn into Keatons clothing to aid with the constant tossing. The act evolved as Keaton learned to take trick falls safely and this knockabout style of comedy led to accusations of child abuse, and occasionally, arrest. However, Buster Keaton was always able to show the authorities that he had no bruises or broken bones. He was eventually billed as The Little Boy Who Cant Be Damaged, decades later, Keaton said that he was never hurt by his father and that the falls and physical comedy were a matter of proper technical execution
4.
Laurence Stallings
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Laurence Tucker Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. He entered Wake Forest University in North Carolina in 1912 and became the editor of the literary magazine. He met Helen Poteat while at Wake Forest and she was the daughter of Dr. William Louis Poteat, the university president, and the sister of Stallingss classics professor. They were sweethearts throughout their school years and he graduated from Wake Forest College in 1916, and got a job writing advertising copy for a local recruiting office. He was so convinced by his own prose, he joined the United States Marine Reserve in 1917 and he left Philadelphia for overseas duty in France aboard the USS Henderson on 24 April 1918. In France, he served as a commander with 3rd Battalion. He was wounded in the leg in the Battle of Belleau Wood after charging an enemy machine-gun nest on 25 June, after begging the doctors not to amputate, he went home to spend two painful years recuperating at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital. He later damaged it with a fall on the ice, many years later, he had to have his remaining leg amputated, as well. After finishing his convalescence, Stallings and Poteat married on March 8,1919, in 1928-1929, they restored Poteat House near Yanceyville, North Carolina. Through Helen his aunt by marriage was the painter Ida Isabella Poteat, the year following his divorce, Stallings married Louise St. Leger Vance, his secretary at Fox Studios. They had two children, Laurence, Jr. and Sally, Stallings died of a heart attack in Pacific Palisades, California. He was buried with military honors at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma near San Diego. Stallings received a Master of Science degree from Georgetown University, after which he worked as a reporter, critic, and entertainment editor at the New York World. He was impressed by Maxwell Andersons first play, White Desert, the critically acclaimed play ran for 435 performances and spawned two film adaptations. The two went on to co-write the plays The First Flight and The Buccaneer, both in 1925 and he was a member of the Algonquin Round Table. Stallings novel, the autobiographical Plumes, was published in 1924 and was a huge success and it was adapted into King Vidors The Big Parade, which was quite successful and remained MGMs largest-grossing film until Gone with the Wind in 1939. He was regarded as a key influence on three of John Fords greatest films, serving as writer or co-writer for 3 Godfathers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, additional screenwriting credits included Northwest Passage, The Man from Dakota, and On Our Merry Way. Stallings last book, The Doughboys, The Story of the AEF, the nonfiction account of World War I partly explores the racism and discrimination faced by the black troops during the war
5.
Groucho Marx
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Julius Henry Marx, known professionally as Groucho Marx, was an American comedian, stage, film and television star. He was known as a master of quick wit and is considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators and he made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a solo career, most notably as the host of the radio. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar. Julius Marx was born on October 2,1890, in Manhattan, New York City. Marx stated that he was born in a room above a shop on East 78th Street in Manhattan, New York City, Between Lexington & 3rd. The Marx children grew up on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The turn-of-the-century building that his brother Harpo called the first real home they ever knew was populated with European immigrants, just across the street were the oldest brownstones in the area, owned by people such as the well-connected Loew Brothers and William Orth. The Marx family lived at this location for about 14 years, Grouchos mother was Miene Minnie Schoenberg, whose family came from Dornum in northern Germany when she was 16 years old. His father was Simon Sam Marx, who changed his name from Marrix, minnies brother was Al Schoenberg, who shortened his name to Al Shean when he went into show business as half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century. According to Groucho, when Shean visited he would throw the local waifs a few coins so that when he knocked at the door he would be surrounded by adoring fans, Marx and his brothers respected his opinions and asked him on several occasions to write some material for them. Minnie Marx did not have an entertainment industry career but had ambition for her sons to go on the stage like their uncle. While pushing her eldest son Leonard in piano lessons she found that Julius had a pleasant soprano voice, juliuss early career goal was to become a doctor, but the familys need for income forced him out of school at the age of twelve. By that time young Julius had become a reader, particularly fond of Horatio Alger. Marx would continue to overcome his lack of education by becoming very well-read. Marx reputedly claimed that he was hopelessly average as a vaudevillian, by 1909 Minnie Marx had assembled her sons into a forgettable-quality vaudeville singing group billed as The Four Nightingales. The brothers Julius, Milton and Arthur and another boy singer, Lou Levy, after exhausting their prospects in the East the family moved to La Grange, Illinois, to play the Midwest
6.
Chico Marx
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Leonard Marx, known professionally as Chico Marx, was an American comedian, musician, bandleader, actor and film star. He was a member of the Marx Brothers and his persona in the act was that of a charming, dim-witted albeit crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. In virtually every film that includes the trio of the Marx Brothers, Chico is seen working with Harpo Marx. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood, in addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years. He was born on March 22,1887 in Manhattan, New York City, billing himself as Chico, he used an Italian persona for his onstage character, stereotyped ethnic characters were common with vaudevillians. His non-Italian-ness was specifically referred to three times on film, in Duck Soup, when Chico impersonates Groucho but retains his accent, Margaret Dumont asks what happened to his voice. Chico replies, Well, maybe sometime I go to Italy, to which Dumont replies, Your dialect is perfect. Fiorello, Well, I wouldnt know about that, Im a stranger here myself. Quentin Quayle, Can you talk Indian. Joe Panello, I was born in Indianapolis, hammer asks him if he knew what an auction was, in which he responds I come from Italy on the Atlantic Auction. He originally started playing only his right hand and fake playing with his left. Chico eventually acquired a better teacher and learned to play the piano correctly, as a young boy, he gained jobs playing piano to earn money for the Marx family. Sometimes Chico even worked playing in two places at the same time and he would acquire the first job with his piano-playing skills, work for a few nights, and then substitute Harpo on one of the jobs. In the brothers last film, Love Happy, Chico plays a piano, Lyons plays some ornate riffs on the violin, Chico comments, Look-a, Mister Lyons, I know you wanna make a good impression, but please dont-a play better than me. In a record album about the Marx Brothers, narrator Gary Owens stated that although Chicos technique was limited, the opposite was true of Harpo, who reportedly could play only two tunes on the piano, which typically thwarted Chicos scam and resulted in both brothers being fired. Groucho Marx once said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played, instead, before performances he soaked his fingers in hot water. He was known for shooting the keys of the piano and he played passages with his thumb up and index finger straight, like a gun, as part of the act. Chico became the manager of the Marx Brothers after their mother, Minnie. As manager, he cut a deal to get the brothers a percentage of a films gross receipts—the first of its kind in Hollywood, for a while in the 1930s and 1940s, Chico led a big band. Singer Mel Tormé began his career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra
7.
Harpo Marx
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Arthur Marx, known professionally as Harpo Marx, was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harpos comic style was visual and he wore a curly reddish blonde wig, and never spoke during performances. He frequently used such as a horn cane, made up of a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn. Harpo was born on November 23,1888 in Manhattan, New York City and he grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue. The turn-of-the-century building that Harpo called the first real home they ever knew was populated with European immigrants, just across the street were the oldest brownstones in the area, owned by people like David L. Loew and William Orth. Harpos parents were Sam Marx and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx and his mother was from East Frisia in Germany, and his father was a native of Alsace in France and worked as a tailor. Harpo received little education and left grade school at age eight during his second attempt to pass the second grade. In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius and Milton, to form The Three Nightingales, later changed to simply The Marx Brothers, multiple stories—most unsubstantiated—exist to explain Harpos evolution as the silent character in the brothers act. Harpo gained his name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg. The dealer called him Harpo because he played the harp and he learned how to hold it properly from a picture of an angel playing a harp that he saw in a five-and-dime. No one in town knew how to play the harp, so Harpo tuned it as best he could, starting with one basic note and tuning it from there. Three years later he found out he had tuned it incorrectly, but he could not have tuned it properly, if he had, Harpos method placed much less tension on the strings. Although he played this way for the rest of his life, he did try to learn how to play correctly and they spent their time listening to him, fascinated by the way he played. In the autobiography Harpo Speaks, he recounts how Chico found him playing piano to accompany silent movies. Harpo had changed his name from Adolph to Arthur by 1911 and this was due primarily to his dislike for the name Adolph. The name change may have happened because of the similarity between Harpos name and Adolph Marks, a prominent show business attorney in Chicago. His first screen appearance was in the film Humor Risk, with his brothers, although according to Groucho, it was screened once. Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers in Too Many Kisses, four years before the brothers first released film, in Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a movie, You sure you cant move
8.
Florence Rice
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Florence Davenport Rice was an American film actress. Blonde, pretty, and wholesome, Rice was cast as the girlfriend in several films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM gradually provided her with more substantial roles, occasionally in prestige productions, Rice never became a major figure in films, but performed in a number of screen pairings with Robert Young. During the 1940s the quality of her roles steadily decreased and in 1947 she retired and she married three times, with her third marriage lasting until her death in Honolulu from lung cancer. Florence Rice at the Internet Movie Database Florence Rice at Find a Grave
9.
Kenny Baker (American performer)
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Kenneth Laurence Kenny Baker was an American singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on radios The Jack Benny Program during the 1930s. At the height of his fame, and after leaving the Benny show in 1939, he appeared in 17 film musicals, including Mr. Dodd Takes the Air, At the Circus. He also starred in the 1939 movie version of Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado and he later co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nashs One Touch of Venus. After being on the Benny program 1935-1939, Baker returned to radio as a performer on Fred Allens Texaco Star Theater program. He was also heard on Blue Ribbon Town and Glamour Manor and he had his own programs, the Kenny Baker Show and Sincerely--Kenny Baker. The latter was syndicated by the Frederick W. Ziv Company via electrical transcription, after retiring from performing in the early 1950s, Baker became a Christian Science practitioner and motivational speaker, and recorded a number of record albums of hymns for his church. Baker died of an attack in Solvang, California August 10,1985. King of Burlesque Mr. 1935-11-03 - Kenny Bakers First Show, Fred Allen Podcast 1940-10-02 Grab It Or Leave It - Kenny Bakers First Show with Fred Allen
