1.
Henry King (director)
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Henry King was an American film director. Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres and he directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the 1920s and 30s. He was twice nominated for the Best Director Oscar, in 1944, he was awarded the first Golden Globe Award for Best Director for his film The Song of Bernadette. He worked most often with Tyrone Power and Gregory Peck and for 20th Century Fox, henry King was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards excellence of cinematic achievements every year, and was the last surviving founder. He directed over 100 films in his career, in 1955, King was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film. During World War II, King served as the deputy commander of the Civil Air Patrol coastal patrol base in Brownsville, TX, in his final years, he was the oldest licensed private pilot in the United States, having obtained his license in 1918
2.
Darryl F. Zanuck
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Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive, he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He earned three Academy Awards as producer for Best Picture during his tenure, but was responsible for many more, Zanuck was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, the son of Louise and Frank Zanuck, who owned and operated a hotel in Wahoo. Zanuck was of part Swiss descent and was raised a Protestant, at age six, Zanuck and his mother moved to Los Angeles, where the better climate could improve her poor health. At age eight, he found his first movie job as an extra, in 1918, despite being sixteen, he deceived a recruiter, joined the United States Army, and served in France with the Nebraska National Guard. Upon returning to the US, he worked in many jobs while seeking work as a writer. He found work producing movie plots, and sold his first story in 1922 to William Russell and he moved into management in 1929, and became head of production in 1931. In 1933, Zanuck left Warners over a dispute with studio head Jack L. Warner. A few days later, he partnered with Joseph Schenck to form 20th Century Pictures, Inc. with financial help from Josephs brother Nicholas Schenck, mayer, President and Studio head of Loews, Inc and its subsidiary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, along with William Goetz and Raymond Griffith. 20th Century released its material through United Artists, after a dispute with United Artists over stock ownership, Schenck and Zanuck negotiated and bought out the bankrupt Fox studios in 1935 to form Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Zanuck was Vice President of Production of this new studio and took an approach, closely involving himself in scripts. When the U. S. who was chauffeured by limousine to Long Island each morning from a luxury Manhattan hotel. Appalled by such privileged cosseting, Zanuck stormed down to Washington, D. C. and into the War Department, demanding a riskier assignment from Chief of Staff and he even persuaded Lord Mountbatten to allow him along on a secret coastal raid across the Channel to occupied France. The daring nighttime attack on a German radar site was a success, navy even before the U. S. entered the war, and he was horrified to discover himself drafted into Zanucks Africa unit. Cant I ever get away from you, I bet if I die and go to heaven, youll be waiting for me under a sign reading Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Unlike Col. Warner, most colonels from the studio system—Col, Frank Capra, Col. Anatole Litvak, Col. Hal Roach—were actually doing their cinematic jobs, often, like Zanuck, under enemy fire. Nonetheless, when Col. Zanuck was named in this investigation in 1944, whatever the reason, despite having published his own first-person account of his wartime adventures he resigned. Zanuck returned to Twentieth Century-Fox in 1944 and he avoided the studio and instead read books at home, surrounded by his growing family, and caught up on all the films he had missed while overseas in his private screening room
3.
Tyrone Power
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Tyrone Edmund Power III was an American film, stage and radio actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s Power appeared in dozens of films and his better-known films include The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, Witness For The Prosecution, The Black Rose, and Captain from Castile. Powers own favorite film among those that he starred in was Nightmare Alley, though largely a matinee idol in the 1930s and early 1940s and known for his striking looks, Power starred in films in a number of genres, from drama to light comedy. In the 1950s he began placing limits on the number of films he would make in order to more time for theater productions. He received his biggest accolades as an actor in John Browns Body. Power died from an attack at the age of 44. Power was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914, son of Helen Emma Patia, Power was descended from a long theatrical line going back to his great-grandfather, the actor and comedian Tyrone Power. Tyrone Powers sister, Ann Power was born in 1915, after the family moved to California and his fathers ancestry included Irish, English, Scottish, Italian, German, and French Huguenots. His mother was Roman Catholic, and her ancestry included the French-Canadian Reaume family, Power went to Cincinnati-area Catholic schools and graduated from Purcell High School in 1931. Upon his graduation, he opted to join his father to learn what he could about acting from one of the stages most respected actors, Power joined his father for the summer of 1931, after being separated from him for some years due to his parents divorce. His father suffered an attack in December 1931, dying in his sons arms. Tyrone Power, Jr. as he was known, decided to continue his pursuit of an acting career. He went door to door, trying to work as an actor. He appeared in a bit part in 1932 in Tom Brown of Culver, discouraged, he took the advice of a friend, Arthur Caesar, to go to New York to gain experience as a stage actor. Power went to Hollywood in 1936, the director Henry King was impressed with his looks and poise, and he insisted that Power be tested for the lead role in Lloyds of London, a role thought already to belong to Don Ameche. Despite his own reservations, Darryl F. Zanuck decided to give Power the role, once King, Power was billed fourth in the movie but he had by far the most screen time of any actor. He walked into the premiere of the movie an unknown and he walked out a star, which he remained the rest of his career. Power racked up hit after hit from 1936 until 1943, when his career was interrupted by military service. A. F. and This Above All, and the swashbucklers The Mark of Zorro and The Black Swan
4.
Alice Faye
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Alice Faye was an American actress and singer, described by the The New York Times as one of the few movie stars to walk away from stardom at the peak of her career. She is often associated with the Academy Award–winning standard Youll Never Know, born Alice Jeane Leppert in New York City, she was the daughter of a New York police officer of German descent, Charles Leppert, and his Irish-American wife, Alice Leppert. Fayes entertainment career began in vaudeville as a girl before she moved to Broadway. By this time, she had adopted her name and first reached a radio audience on Rudy Vallées The Fleischmanns Yeast Hour. Faye got her first major break in 1934, when Lilian Harvey abandoned the lead role in a film version of George Whites 1935 Scandals. Hired first to perform a number with Vallee, Faye ended up as the female lead. She became a hit with audiences of the 1930s, particularly when Fox production head Darryl F. Zanuck made her his protégée. He softened Faye from a show girl to a youthful, yet somewhat motherly, figure. Faye also received a makeover, going from a version of Jean Harlow to a wholesome appearance, in which her platinum hair. In 1938, Faye was cast as the lead in In Old Chicago. Zanuck initially resisted casting Faye, as the role had been written for Jean Harlow. The film was memorable for its twenty-minute ending, a recreation of the Great Chicago Fire. Her co-stars in that film were Tyrone Power and Don Ameche, Faye, Power, and Ameche were reunited for the 1938 release Alexanders Ragtime Band, which was designed to showcase more than twenty Irving Berlin songs, Faye again received strong reviews. One of the most expensive films of its time, it became one of the most successful musicals of the 1930s. By 1939, Faye was named one of the top ten box office draws in Hollywood and that year, she made Rose of Washington Square with Tyrone Power. Although a big hit, the film was based on the real life of comedian Fanny Brice and Brice sued Fox for stealing her story. Because of her status, Fox occasionally placed Faye in films that were put together more for the sake of making money than showcasing Fayes talents. Films like Tail Spin and Barricade were more dramatic in nature than regular Faye films, but, due to her immense popularity, none of the films that she made in the 1930s and 1940s lost money
5.
Don Ameche
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Don Ameche was an American actor and voice artist. After touring in vaudeville, he featured in many biographical films and he continued to appear on Broadway, as well as on radio and TV, where he was host and commentator for International Showtime, covering circus and ice-shows all over Europe. Ameche was married to his wife Honore for 54 years, Ameche won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cocoon. Ameche was born Dominic Felix Amici in Kenosha, Wisconsin on May 31,1908 and his father, Felice Amici, was a bartender from Italy from Montemonaco, Ascoli Piceno, Marche. His mother, Barbara Etta Hertel, was of Scottish, Irish and he had three brothers, Umberto, James, and Louis, and four sisters, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary and Anna. Ameche attended Marquette University, Loras College, and the University of Wisconsin, Ameche had intended to study law, but he found theatricals more interesting and decided on a stage career. He was instrumental in forming and leading the group the year before play began. Ameche was married to Honore Prendergast from 1932 until her death in 1986, one, Ron Ameche, owned a restaurant, Ameches Pumpernickel in Coralville, Iowa. He had two daughters, Connie and Bonnie, Ameches younger brother, Jim Ameche, was also a well-known actor. His brother Bert was an architect who worked for the U. S. Navy in Port Hueneme, California, and then the U. S. Postal Service in Los Angeles, California. He enjoyed the experience and got a lead in Jerry For Short in New York, followed by a tour in vaudeville with Texas Guinan until she dropped him from the act. He made his debut in 1935, and by the late 1930s, had established himself as a major actor in Hollywood. He appeared in films as Alexanders Ragtime Band, and as the title character in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell. In the 1940 film Go West, Groucho Marx proclaims, Telephone and this is 1870, Don Ameche hasnt invented the telephone yet. While in the 1941 film Ball of Fire, Barbara Stanwycks character discusses the ameche slang usage, Do you know what this means, another highlight was co-starring with Gene Tierney in Ernst Lubitschs Heaven Can Wait in 1943, a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1940, he was voted the 21st-most-popular star in Hollywood, in 1944 he reportedly earned $247,677 for 1943, making him the second highest earner at 20th Century Fox after Spyros Skouras. Ameche played so many roles based on people that on one of his radio broadcasts, Fred Allen joked. Soon afterwards, in Its in the Bag. which starred Allen, Ameche and fellow veteran actor Ralph Bellamy were eventually cast in John Landis Trading Places in 1983, playing rich brothers intent on ruining an innocent man for the sake of a one-dollar bet
6.
Alice Brady
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For the character in The Brady Bunch seen in the middle of the 9 intro subscreens, see Alice Nelson. Alice Brady was an American actress who began her career in the silent film era and she worked until six months before her death from cancer in 1939. Her films include My Man Godfrey, in which she played the flighty mother of Carole Lombards character, mary Rose Brady was born in New York City. Her father, William A. Brady, was an important theatrical producer and her mother, Rose Marie Rene, died in 1896. She was interested at an age in becoming an actress. She first went on the stage when she was 14 and got her first job on Broadway in 1911 at the age of 18, in 1913 she appeared with John Barrymore in A Thief for a Night at McVickers Theatre in Chicago. She continued to perform on Broadway consistently for the next 22 years, in 1931 she appeared in the premiere of Eugene ONeills Mourning Becomes Electra. Her step-mother was actress Grace George, whom her father married when Alice was a child and her half-brother was William A. Brady Jr, the son of her father and Grace George. She appeared in 53 films in the next 10 years, all while continuing to perform on stage, from then on she worked frequently until her death, making another 25 films in seven years. Her final film was Young Mr. Lincoln, Brady was married to actor James Crane from 1919 to 1922, when they divorced. They co-starred in three silent films together, His Bridal Night, Sinners and A Dark Lantern, the couple had one child, Donald. Alice Brady died from cancer on October 28,1939, five days before her 47th birthday, for her portrayal of Mrs. Molly OLeary — a fictionalized version of Catherine OLeary – in 1937s In Old Chicago, Brady won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She had been nominated for the award the year before as well. The Academy then issued a replacement plaque which was presented to Brady. However, according to press at the time the director, Henry King, accepted on her behalf at the ceremony. Winners are given awards at the ceremony and return them to the Academy to have them engraved afterwards. Ms. Brady also followed this practice, which may have led to the story that the Academy was presenting her with a replacement trophy
7.
Peverell Marley
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John Peverell Marley was an American cinematographer. He is one of only six cinematographers to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Marley is credited under several different names including Pev Marley, Peverell Marley, Peverly Marley, and Peveerell Marley. Born in San Jose, California, Marley began his career soon after graduating high school during the silent film era and his first film was the 1923 Cecil B. DeMille biblical epic The Ten Commandments and he later became DeMilles chief cameraman and would continue to work with DeMille throughout his career. He went on to work on 1929s The Godless Girl, starring his then-fiancee Lina Basquette, the couple divorced after just one year and Marley went on to marry dancer Virginia McAdoo and actress Linda Darnell. In the 1930s, Marley received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography on the 1938 historical drama Suez, in 1948, he was nominated again for his work on the film Life with Father, starring Elizabeth Taylor and William Powell. After his divorce from Darnell in 1952, Marley continued to work on films including 1952s The Greatest Show on Earth for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography - Color. The following year, he filmed House of Wax, followed by King Richard and the Crusaders in 1954, Serenade in 1956, in the late 1950s, he branched out to television working on the series Telephone Time and Bronco. Marley last worked on a 1961 episode of the series Bus Stop and he died on February 2,1964 in Santa Barbara, and is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. His ex-wife Linda Darnell died a little over a year later in a house fire, Peverell Marley at the Internet Movie Database Peverell Marley at Find a Grave
8.
Barbara McLean
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Barbara McLean was an American film editor with 62 film credits. She won the Academy Award for Film Editing for the film Wilson and she was nominated for the same award another six occasions, with All About Eve being among them. Her total of seven nominations for Best Editing Oscar was not surpassed until 2012 by Michael Kahn and she had a extensive collaboration with the director Henry King over twenty-nine films, including Twelve OClock High. Her impact was summarized by Adrian Dannatt in 1996, McLean was an editor who perhaps single-handedly established women as vital creative figures in an otherwise patriarchal industry. McLean was born in Palisades Park, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Charles Pollut, as a child she worked on release prints from the adjacent studio of E. K. Lincoln, who was an early producer of films. In 1924 she married J. Gordon McLean, who was a film projectionist and later, after marrying, the couple moved to Los Angeles, California. McLean found work as an assistant editor at First National Studio and she subsequently joined Twentieth Century Pictures, where initially, she assisted the editor Alan McNeil. In 1933 she received her first editing credit for Gallant Lady, in 1935, 20th Century Pictures merged with the Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox. Darryl F. Zanuck was the head of the merged studio, John Gallagher has written that Studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck was himself a brilliant editor and maintained the best editorial department in Hollywood. McLean retained this position until her retirement in 1969, the pressures of production turn-over during the hey-day of the studio system often meant that the director could not be around to supervise since they were on to their next production. In 1940, a Los Angeles Times story noted that Barbara McLean and she was also instrumental in the careers of such other film editors as Hugh S. Fowler, William H. Reynolds, and Robert Simpson. McLean began her association with the director Henry King on the films The Country Doctor and Lloyds of London. McLean received three nominations for editing films directed by King, for Alexanders Ragtime Band, The Song of Bernadette. The 1944 film was something of a tour de force. Wilson, which rarely is seen anymore, was the film for which McLean won an Academy Award for Film Editing. While the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, nearly half of the sixty-two films crediting McLean as editor were directed by Henry King. The other films she edited at 20th Century Fox involved many different directors and she was nominated for an Academy Award for editing The Rains Came, which was the only time she worked with director Clarence Brown. She edited one of John Fords films, Tobacco Road, and one of George Cukors, in 1950-1951, McLean edited three of Joseph L. Mankiewiczs films, including All About Eve, for which she received her final Academy Award nomination
9.
20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
10.
Great Chicago Fire
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The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10,1871. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of Chicago, Illinois, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire started at about 9,00 p. m. on October 8, the shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire, but city officials never determined the exact cause of the blaze. There has, however, been much speculation over the years, the most popular tale blames Mrs. OLearys cow, who allegedly knocked over a lantern, others state that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern. Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to fires in the Midwest that day. The fires spread was aided by the use of wood as the predominant building material in a style called balloon frame. More than two thirds of the structures in Chicago at the time of the fire were made entirely of wood, with most of the houses, all of the citys sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood. In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam engines to protect the entire city. The initial response by the department was quick, but due to an error by the watchman, Matthias Schaffer. These factors combined to turn a small barn fire into a conflagration, when firefighters finally arrived at DeKoven Street, the fire had grown and spread to neighboring buildings and was progressing towards the central business district. Firefighters had hoped that the South Branch of the Chicago River, all along the river, however, were lumber yards, warehouses, and coal yards, and barges and numerous bridges across the river. As the fire grew, the southwest wind intensified and became superheated, causing structures to catch fire from the heat, around 11,30 p. m. flaming debris blew across the river and landed on roofs and the South Side Gas Works. With the fire across the river and moving rapidly towards the heart of the city, about this time, Mayor Roswell B. Mason sent messages to nearby towns asking for help. When the courthouse caught fire, he ordered the building to be evacuated, at 2,30 a. m. on the 9th, the cupola of the courthouse collapsed, sending the great bell crashing down. Some witnesses reported hearing the sound from a mile away, as more buildings succumbed to the flames, a major contributing factor to the fire’s spread was a meteorological phenomenon known as a fire whirl. As overheated air rises, it comes into contact with cooler air and these fire whirls are likely what drove flaming debris so high and so far. Such debris was blown across the branch of the Chicago River to a railroad car carrying kerosene. The fire had jumped the river a second time and was now raging across the north side
11.
Catherine O'Leary
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Catherine OLeary was an Irish immigrant living in Chicago, Illinois who became famous when it was alleged that an accident involving her cow had started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Catherine and her husband Patrick OLeary had three children, one of whom, James Patrick OLeary, ran a well-known Chicago saloon, on the evening of October 8,1871, a fire consumed the OLeary familys barn at 137 DeKoven Street. Due to a wind and dry conditions it spread to burn a large percentage of the city. After the Great Fire, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Ahern published a report that the fire had started when a cow kicked over a lantern while it was being milked. The woman was not named, but Catherine OLeary was soon identified, illustrations and caricatures soon appeared depicting Mrs. OLeary with the cow. The idea took the popular imagination and is widely circulated. In 1893, however, Ahern admitted he had made the story up, the official report at the time stated, whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night, or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine. Mrs. OLeary herself stated that she had been in bed when the fire started, and she had no idea what set it off. Daniel Pegleg Sullivan, the first person to raise the alarm, reported that on seeing a fire in the barn, he ran across the street to free the animals and he then informed the OLearys, who were at home. Anti-Irish attitudes at the time encouraged scapegoating the OLeary family and it was claimed that the supposed accident happened because she was drunk, or that she hid the evidence to avoid being blamed. Neighbors later claimed to have seen shards from the broken lamp, one person stated that he had found the lamp, but it had been stolen by an Irishman to protect the OLearys. Catherine OLeary died on July 3,1895 of acute pneumonia, at her home at 5133 Halsted Street, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery. In the PBS documentary, Chicago, City of the Century, a descendant of OLearys stated that she spent the rest of her life in the public eye, overcome with much sadness and regret, she died heartbroken. The last living relative of Catherine OLeary died in 1936, amateur historian Richard Bales was able to gather enough evidence on Sullivan to convince the Chicago City Council to exonerate Mrs. OLeary of any guilt in 1997. Mrs. OLearys cow has attracted the attention and imagination of generations as the cause of the fire. Character actress Alice Brady won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as Mrs. OLeary in the film In Old Chicago, quentin Tarantinos debut film Reservoir Dogs. Little Match Girl, a 1992 episode of the situation comedy Cheers, voyage of the Damned, a 1997 episode of the sitcom Frasier. A2001 episode of the childrens series The Fairly OddParents
12.
Andy Devine
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Andrew Vabre Andy Devine was an American character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive whiny voice. Devine was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, on October 7,1905 and he grew up in Kingman, Arizona, where his family moved when he was a year old. His father was Thomas Devine Jr. born in 1869 in Kalamazoo County, Andys grandfather Thomas Devine Sr. was born in 1842 in County Tipperary, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1852. Andys mother was Amy Ward, a granddaughter of Commander James H. Ward and he attended St. Mary and St. Benedicts College and Northern Arizona State Teachers College and was a star football player at Santa Clara University. He also played football under the pseudonym Jeremiah Schwartz. His football experience led to his first sizable film role, in The Spirit of Notre Dame, Devine had an ambition to act, so after college he went to Hollywood, where he worked as a lifeguard at Venice Beach, in easy distance of the studios. While filming Doctor Bull at Fox Studios in 1933, he met Dorothy House and they were married on October 28,1933, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and remained united until his death, on February 18,1977. They had five children, Andrew Devine, Jr. Patrick Gabriel Devine, Susanna Rachel Devine, Arthur Matthew Devine, Andy Jr. and Patrick are actors, the other children have pursued other careers. It was first thought that his peculiar wheezy voice would prevent him moving to the talkies. When he was able to again, he had a labored, scratchy. A biographer, however, indicated that this was one of several stories Devine fabricated about his voice and his son Tad related in an interview for Encore Westerns Channel that there indeed had been an accident, but he was uncertain if it resulted in his fathers unusual voice. When asked if he had strange nodes on his vocal cords, Devine replied, Ive got the same nodes as Bing Crosby, but his are in tune. Devine appeared in more than 400 films and shared with Walter Brennan, another character actor and his notable roles included Cookie, Roy Rogerss sidekick, in ten films, a role in Romeo and Juliet, and Danny in A Star Is Born. He appeared in films with John Wayne, including Stagecoach, Island in the Sky. He was a contract player with Universal, which in 1939 paired him with Richard Arlen for a series of fast-paced B-pictures that mixed action and comedy. When Arlen left in 1941, the series continued for two years, teaming Devine with various actors, often Leo Carrillo. Devine was generally known for his roles, but Jack Webb cast him as a police detective in Pete Kellys Blues. His film appearances in his later years included roles in Zebra in the Kitchen, The Over-the-Hill Gang, and Myra Breckinridge
13.
West Town, Chicago
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West Town, located in Chicago, in the U. S. state of Illinois, northwest of the Loop, on Chicagos West Side is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas. Then, as now, West Town was a collection of distinct neighborhoods. Humboldt Park is also the name of the community area to West Towns west, Logan Square is to the north, Near North Side to the east, Pulaski Park is a neighborhood directly west of Goose Island and east of Wicker Park. The generally accepted boundaries of Pulaski Park are Ashland to the west, the Chicago River and Elston Avenue to the east, the Bloomingdale Line on the north, Pulaski Park derives its name from the historic park and fieldhouse that was designed by Jens Jensen between 1912 and 1914. 1,200 people were displaced, leading to the razing of a number of buildings while others were moved to locations in the neighborhood. The park and fieldhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 13,1981 and it became an official Chicago Landmark on July 29,2003. Pulaski Park is listed within Polonia Triangle as one of the 11 neighborhoods included in The Labor Trail which chronicles Chicagos history of working class life, the neighborhood is also home to two of Chicagos Polish Cathedrals, St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Trinity Polish Mission. Pulaski Park was the area of West Town that served as Chicago Congressman Dan Rostenkowskis base of operations, the family still owns the building opposite St. Stanislaus Kostka church at 1372 Evergreen from which he ran his operations. Although Pulaski Park has declined from its days as part of the citys Polish Downtown. This areas higher population density gave it a more working-class population than Wicker Park, as opposed to other areas of West Town, much of the original housing stock of Pulaski Park has not been torn down for new construction in recent years. Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown, charles and Joel Wicker purchased 80 acres of land along Milwaukee Avenue in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a 4-acre park. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 spurred the first wave of development, before the turn of the twentieth century, Germans and Scandinavians tended to live in the areas north and northwestern sections. Wicker Park became the abode of Chicagos wealthy Northern European immigrants, hoyne was known as Beer Baron Row, as many of Chicagos wealthiest brewers built mansions there. The area around Division, Milwaukee, and Ashland was once known as Kostkaville, the provisional government of Poland met in Wicker Park during World War I. The near Northwest Side is home to many of the most opulent churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Polish immigration into the area accelerated during and after World War II when as many as 150,000 Poles are estimated to have arrived between 1939 and 1959 as Displaced Persons. Like the Ukrainians in neighboring Ukrainian Village, they clustered in established ethnic enclaves like this one that offered shops, restaurants, Division Street was referred to as Polish Broadway. Later controversies to commemorate Algren would bring these old wounds back to surface, beginning in the 1960s, Wicker Park began to change radically. Additionally Puerto Ricans and other Latinos displaced by urban renewal in Old Town, in 1960 Latinos comprised less than 1 percent of West Towns population, but by 1970 that number was up to 39 percent
14.
Philip Sheridan
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Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. In 1865, his cavalry pursued Gen. Robert E. Lee and was instrumental in forcing his surrender at Appomattox, Sheridan fought in later years in the Indian Wars of the Great Plains. Both as a soldier and private citizen, he was instrumental in the development, in 1883, Sheridan was appointed general-in-chief of the U. S. Army, and in 1888 he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army during the term of President Grover Cleveland. Sheridan claimed he was born in Albany, New York, the child of six by John and Mary Meenagh Sheridan, Catholic immigrants from the parish of Killinkere, County Cavan. He grew up in Somerset, Ohio, fully grown, he reached only 165 cm tall, a stature that led to the nickname, Little Phil. Sheridan worked as a boy in general stores, and eventually as head clerk. In his third year at West Point, Sheridan was suspended for a year for fighting with a classmate, the previous day, Sheridan had threatened to run him through with a bayonet in reaction to a perceived insult on the parade ground. He graduated in 1853, 34th in his class of 52 cadets, Sheridan was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant and was assigned to the 1st U. S. Infantry regiment at Fort Duncan, Texas, then to the 4th U. S, most of his service with the 4th U. S. He lived with a mistress during part of his tour of duty and he was promoted to first lieutenant in March 1861, just before the Civil War, and to captain in May, immediately after Fort Sumter. In the fall of 1861, Sheridan was ordered to travel to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri, for assignment to the 13th U. S. Infantry. He departed from his command of Fort Yamhill, Oregon, by way of San Francisco, across the Isthmus of Panama, frémont, whose administration of the Department of the Missouri was tainted by charges of wasteful expenditures and fraud that left the status of $12 million in debt. Sheridan sorted out the mess, impressing Halleck in the process, much to Sheridans dismay, Hallecks vision for Sheridan consisted of a continuing role as a staff officer. Nevertheless, Sheridan performed the task assigned to him and entrenched himself as an excellent staff officer in Hallecks view, in January 1862, he reported for duty to Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis and served under him at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Sheridan soon discovered that officers were engaged in profiteering and they stole horses from civilians and demanded payment from Sheridan. He refused to pay for the property and confiscated the horses for the use of Curtiss army. When Curtis ordered him to pay the officers, Sheridan brusquely retorted, Curtis had Sheridan arrested for insubordination but Hallecks influence appears to have ended any formal proceedings. Gen. William T. Sherman, who offered him the colonelcy of an Ohio infantry regiment and this appointment fell through, but Sheridan was subsequently aided by friends, who petitioned Michigan Governor Austin Blair on his behalf
15.
Phyllis Brooks
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Phyllis Brooks was an American actress and model. She was born in Boise, Idaho, some sources have also inaccurately cited 1914 as her year of birth, but 1915 is the correct year according to Social Security records. She was a model for two years before progressing to a career in film and she stated, I started posing for photographers as a lark, and it was a lot of fun. She had been known as the Ipana Toothpaste Girl, due to her work for that product, initially known as Mary Brooks, she began her career in films in 1934 at age 20, in Ive Been Around. Brooks, who had about 30 performances in films, was a B-movie leading lady during the 1930s and 1940s, with roles in films as In Old Chicago, Little Miss Broadway. She appeared in Sidney Tolers Charlie Chan series and the Shirley Temple films Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, on Broadway, Brooks appeared in Stage Door, Panama Hattie, The Night Before Christmas, and Round Trip. Brooks was reported as being president of Parties Unlimited Inc. in an article about Hollywood at war. Along with actress Una Merkel, and accompanied by film star Gary Cooper, Brooks was the first civilian woman to travel to the Pacific theater of war during World War II, Brooks married Torbert Macdonald on June 23,1945, in Tarrytown, New York. He went on to become an 11-term Massachusetts Congressman, who had been John F. Kennedys roommate at Harvard University, Brooks moved East to Cambridge, Massachusetts with her new husband in 1945 so that he could complete his studies at Harvard Law School. He had been a Harvard football captain and a decorated PT boat captain in World War II and he died in office in 1976. Brooks continued performing in stock theater after her marriage. She retired from public performances after that, concentrating on raising her family, the couple had four children, the eldest of whom was President Kennedys godson. Brooks died on August 1,1995, in Cape Neddick, Maine and she was survived by sons, Torbert Jr. and Brian, daughters Laurie and Robin, and eight grandchildren. She was also survived by her brother, playwright Norman Allen Brooks
16.
Brian Donlevy
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Waldo Brian Donlevy, later known as Brian Donlevy, was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles, among his best-known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty. For his role as Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Donlevy starred as US special agent Steve Mitchell in the radio/TV series Dangerous Assignment. Mitchell received assignments to exotic locales involving international intrigue from the Commissioner played by Herbert Butterfield and his obituary in The Times newspaper in the United Kingdom stated that any consideration of the American film noir of the 1940s would be incomplete without him. Donlevy was born in 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Rebecca, sometime between 1910 and 1912, the family moved to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, where Donlevys father worked as a supervisor at the Brickner Woolen Mills. When the local Army National Guard company was called into service for the Pancho Villa Expedition in 1916, Donlevy served during the expedition as a bugler. When the United States entered World War I, Donlevy went to France with Company C, 127th Infantry Regiment, Donlevy began his career in New York City in the early 1920s, appearing in many theater productions and also winning an increasing number of silent film parts. Previously, he had modeled for the illustrator J. C, leyendecker, who produced illustrations for the famous Arrow Collar advertisements. His Broadway credits included Hit the Deck and Life Begins at 8,40, Donlevys break came in 1935, when he was cast in the Edward G. Robinson film Barbary Coast. A large amount of work followed, with several important parts. The following year, he played the role for which he is perhaps best remembered, that of McGinty in The Great McGinty, a role he reprised four years later in The Miracle of Morgans Creek. In 1942, Donlevy starred in Wake Island with William Bendix and Robert Preston, in 1955, he played the lead in the British science-fiction horror film The Quatermass Xperiment for the Hammer Films company, playing the lead role of Professor Bernard Quatermass. The film was based on a 1953 BBC Television serial of the same name, the character had been British, but Hammer cast Donlevy in an attempt to help sell the film to North American audiences. Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale disliked Donlevys portrayal, referring to Donlevy as a former Hollywood heavy gone to seed, nonetheless, the film version was a success and Donlevy returned for the sequel, Quatermass 2, in 1957, also based on a BBC television serial. This made Donlevy the only man ever to play the famous scientist on screen twice, throughout his film career, Donlevy also did several radio shows, including a reprise of The Great McGinty. He played the character in Dangerous Assignment between 1949 and 1954, taking the series to TV in 1952. He featured in a number of films over the years until his death. He also appeared in a variety of series from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s
17.
Tom Brown (actor)
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Thomas Edward Tom Brown was an American child model, and later a film and television actor. Tom was born Thomas Edward Brown, the son of William Harold Brown and his wife, as a child model from the age of two years, Brown posed as Buster Brown, the Arrow Collar Boy and the Buick boy. Brown was educated at the New York Professional Childrens School and he was carried on stage in his mothers arms when he was only six months old. As an actor, he is probably best remembered for playing the role in The Adventures of Smilin Jack. Later he appeared on Gunsmoke, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives and he also had a recurring role as Lt. Rovacs in Mr. Lucky. He was promoted to Captain with the 40th Infantry Division and he served during the Korean War with the 40th Infantry Division where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. The Adventures of Smilin Jack serial Buck Privates Come Home Duke of Chicago I Killed Wild Bill Hickok The Quiet Gun Official Detective episode, The People vs. Al Nikoloff as Novak Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy, An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, child and Youth Actors, Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Tom Brown at the Internet Movie Database
18.
Berton Churchill
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Berton Churchill was a Canadian stage and film actor. He began a career that saw him perform in 30 plays. He was one of the earliest members of Actors Equity and sat on the unions Council. With the advent of filmmaking in New York, Churchill appeared in motion pictures. There, he landed supporting roles, usually as the stern or pompous character with such roles as a banker. He was much in demand, establishing what was believed to be a record by appearing in 34 in 1932 alone, in more than 125 films, Churchill worked for some of the great directors such as Otto Preminger, John Ford, and Frank Capra. As well, he performed many of the most famous stars of the day, such as Bette Davis, Jeanette MacDonald, Tyrone Power, Edward G. Robinson. Churchill is perhaps best known for his role as Gatewood, the banker in John Fords highly acclaimed 1939 film Stagecoach. In 1925, Churchill helped found the Masquers club that led to him, Churchill died in New York City, of uremic poisoning. He was survived by his wife and daughter and his body was returned to the west coast to be interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood Berton Churchill at the Internet Movie Database Berton Churchill at the Internet Broadway Database Berton Churchill at Find a Grave
19.
Sidney Blackmer
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Sidney Alderman Blackmer was an American actor. Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina, the son of Clara Deroulhac and he started off in an insurance and financial business but gave up on it. While working as a laborer on a new building, he saw a Pearl White serial being filmed. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Blackmer went to New York, hoping to act on the stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1917, but his career was interrupted by service in the U. S. military in World War I. After the war, he returned to the theatre and, in 1929, returned to motion pictures and he won the 1950 Tony Award for Best Actor for his role in the Broadway play, Come Back, Little Sheba, co-starring with Shirley Booth. In film, Blackmer is remembered for his more than a dozen portrayals of U. S, in 1919, Blackmer played a major role in the strike that led to the formation of Actors Equity Association. A humanitarian, Blackmer served as the vice president of the United States Muscular Dystrophy Association. He also helped start up the North Carolina School of the Arts, in 1972, he was honored with the North Carolina Award in the Fine Arts category. It is the State of North Carolinas highest civilian award, on his death in 1973, Blackmer was interred in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in his hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina. Blackmer was married to actress Lenore Ulric from 1928–1939 and his second wife was Suzanne Kaaren to whom he was married from 1943 to his death in 1973. He and Kaaren had two sons and they lived in the family home in Salisbury, North Carolina. For his contribution to the picture industry, Sidney Blackmer has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1625 Vine Street. Blackmer also appeared in roles, such as The Premature Burial episode of TV series Thriller,1961. He is perhaps best-remembered as Presidential candidate William Lyons Selby in the Outer Limits episode The Hundred Days of the Dragon, Sidney Blackmer at the Internet Movie Database Sidney Blackmer at the Internet Broadway Database Sidney Blackmer at Find a Grave Sidney Blackmer at AllMovie
20.
Paul Hurst (actor)
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Paul Causey Hurst was an American film actor and director. Born in Traver, California, and raised on a ranch, however, he got his start painting scenery as part of the backstage crew during the silent movie era. By 1911, he was active in films as an actor, writer and he freelanced and worked for many of the movie studios, building a solid reputation for his work both on and off screen. It was after this role that Republic Pictures signed him as the comic sidekick in Monte Hales Western series. His last film was John Fords The Sun Shines Bright, Hurst was diagnosed with terminal cancer in late 1952, and committed suicide in February 1953. He is buried in Reedley Cemetery in Reedley, California, the Hazards of Helen A Woman in the Web Play Straight or Fight Rothel, David. ISBN 0-8108-1707-1 Paul Hurst at the Internet Movie Database Paul Hurst at Find a Grave, with wardrobe still from Gone With the Wind
21.
June Storey
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June Storey was a Canadian-born American film actress who appeared in 45 films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was leading lady to cowboy singer Gene Autry in 10 films, Mary June Storey was born on April 20,1918 in Toronto, Canada. Her father, William Storey, was a forest ranger and her acting interests were evident early when, as a little girl, she put on shows in her familys backyard. Her family moved to Tyler Lake, Connecticut in the United States when she was five years old and she had a sister, Maxine, who became a noted motion picture magazine feature writer. In 1930, her moved to Southern California, where she attended Laguna Beach High School. She gained acting experience with the Laguna Beach Little Theater, pretty in her youth, Storey caught the attention of Fox Film Corporation when she auditioned with them to star in films. After being hired as a player by Fox, Storey studied acting with Florence Enright and took dancing lessons from Rita Hayworths father. Storey, like Hayworth and other actors, participated in a training school operated by Fox. The school used one-act plays to develop the actors talents, in 1934, Storey made her first film appearance in Student Tour. In June 1935, Storey signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. Her first credited role was in the 1936 film Girls Dormitory, in the next two years, she appeared in eight films, including In Old Chicago, Island in the Sky, Down in Arkansas, and Orphans of the Street. In 1938, she was approached by Sol Siegel from Republic Pictures, Storey later recalled, He asked me if I were interested in trying out for the part. I was athletic and could ride a horse, so I thought I would enjoy the role, on April 21,1939, the day after her 21st birthday, Storey became a contract player with Republic Pictures. According to writer Hans J. Wollstein, Storey was the leading lady for Autry, very agreeable to look upon, competent as a performer by then. The actress Mary Lee often starred alongside her, playing the role of her younger sister and her career slowed considerably when Autry left acting for a time to serve during World War II. After five additional films with Republic, her contract was terminated by mutual agreement, from 1946 to 1949, Story appeared in minor roles in ten films, including The Strange Woman with Hedy Lamarr, Killer McCoy with Mickey Rooney, and The Snake Pit with Olivia de Havilland. Her last credited role was in the 1949 film Miss Mink of 1949, in 1947, they purchased a 450-acre ranch on the Rogue River in Oregon and had one son, Eric. In 1950, Storey was involved in an auto accident involving a logging truck
22.
Gene Reynolds
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Gene Reynolds is a former American actor turned award-winning television writer, director, and producer. He was one of the producers of the popular TV series M*A*S*H and he was born Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal on April 4,1923 to Frank Eugene Blumenthal and Maude Evelyn Blumenthal in Cleveland, Ohio. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan, where his father Frank was a businessman, the family relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 1934. He was contracted to MGM between 1937-1940 and he was in the U. S. Army during World War II. In 1957, Reynolds joined forces with Frank Gruber and James Brooks to create Tales of Wells Fargo for NBC, during the programs five-year run he wrote and directed numerous episodes. Additional directing credits include episodes of Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Farmers Daughter, My Three Sons, F Troop, Hogans Heroes, Room 222. As a writer, director, and producer, Reynolds was involved with two highly successful CBS series in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 120 episodes of M*A*S*H, which he co-created with Larry Gelbart, during that same period, he produced 22 episodes of Lou Grant, for which he wrote five episodes and directed 11. Reynolds was elected President of the Directors Guild of America in 1993, Reynolds was married to actress-turned author Bonnie Jones, who appeared in five episodes of M*A*S*H as Lt. Barbara Bannerman, from 1967 until 1976, when the couple divorced. He and his current wife, actress Ann Sweeny, who appeared on M*A*S*H as Nurse Carrie Donovan in two episodes, married in 1979 and have one son, Andrew Reynolds. Growing Up on the Set, Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film, the Moving Picture Boy, An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Gene Reynolds at the Internet Movie Database Gene Reynolds interview video at the Archive of American Television
23.
Charles Lane (actor)
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Charles Lane was an American character actor whose career spanned 77 years. Lane gave his last performance at the age of 101 as a narrator in 2006, Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including You Cant Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace and Its a Wonderful Life. His first film of more than 250 was as a clerk in Smart Money starring Edward G. Robinson. Lane spent a time as an insurance salesman before taking to the stage at the Pasadena Playhouse. Actor/director Irving Pichel first suggested that Lane go into acting in 1929 and he became a favorite of director Frank Capra, who used him in several films. Among his many roles as a actor, Lane landed the recurring role as newspaper editor Mr. Fosdick in the Peter Lawford sitcom Dear Phoebe. In that same season, Lane played the boss of the character in June Havocs NBC sitcom Willy. He portrayed Emil Quincy in two episodes of the romantic comedy series How to Marry a Millionaire with Barbara Eden. However, he is most widely remembered for his portrayal of J. Homer Bedloe on the situation comedy Petticoat Junction. He guest starred on series as ABCs Guestward, Ho. starring Joanne Dru. He played several guest roles on I Love Lucy, including an appearance in the episode Lucy Goes To the Hospital, where he is seated in the waiting room with Ricky while Lucy gives birth to their son. He also played the role in the episode The Business Manager, the casting director in Lucy Tells The Truth. Lane appeared twice in The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour and he later had recurring roles as shopkeeper Mr. Finch on Dennis the Menace and during the first season of Balls The Lucy Show, playing banker Mr. Barnsdahl. According to The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Fidelman, Lane was let go because he had trouble reciting his lines correctly. However, Lane was in reality a placeholder for Balls original choice, Gale Gordon, in 1963, Lane appeared in the mega-comedy Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, playing the airport manager. His final acting role was at the age of 101 in 2006s The Night Before Christmas and his last television appearance was at the age of 90, when he appeared in the 1995 Disney TV remake of its 1970 teen comedy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, with Kirk Cameron. In 2005, the TV Land Awards paid tribute to Lane by celebrating his 100th birthday. Seated in a wheelchair in the audience, which had sung Happy Birthday to him, Lane was presented with his award by Haley Joel Osment and then announced If youre interested, the audience gave him a standing ovation
24.
Russell Hicks
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Russell Hicks was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 300 films between 1915 and 1956 and his first appearance was an uncredited role in The Birth of a Nation. He often appeared as a confidence man, as in the W. C. Distinguished, suave and an actor, Hicks played a variety of judges, corrupt officials, businessmen and attorneys. Hicks appeared once in the western television series The Cisco Kid as an uncle of the Gail Davis character. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and died in Los Angeles, California, Russell Hicks at the Internet Movie Database Russell Hicks at the Internet Broadway Database Russell Hicks at Find a Grave
25.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
26.
Jean Harlow
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Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Harlow became a lady for MGM, starring in a string of hit films including Red Dust, Dinner at Eight, Reckless. Harlows popularity rivaled and soon surpassed that of her MGM colleagues Joan Crawford and she had become one of the biggest movie stars in the world by the late 1930s, often nicknamed the Blond Bombshell and the Platinum Blonde, she was also popular for her Laughing Vamp movie persona. Harlow died at age 26 during the 1937 filming of Saratoga, the film was completed using body doubles and released a little over a month after Harlows death. The American Film Institute ranked her as the 22nd greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema, Harlow was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri. The name is incorrectly spelled Carpentier, following later studio press releases. Her father, Mont Clair Carpenter, son of Abraham L. Carpenter and her mother, Jean Poe Carpenter, was the daughter of a wealthy real estate broker, Skip Harlow, and his wife, Ella Harlow. The marriage was arranged by Jeans father in 1908, Jean was resentful and became very unhappy in the marriage. The couple lived in Kansas City in a owned by Jeans father. Harlean was nicknamed The Baby, a name that would stick with her for the rest of her life and she did not learn that her name was actually Harlean until the age of five, when she began to attend Miss Barstows Finishing School for Girls in Kansas City. Harlean and Mother Jean, as she became known when Harlean became a film star, Harleans mother was extremely protective and coddling, reportedly instilling a sense that her daughter owed everything she had to her. She was always all mine, she said of her daughter, when Harlean was at school, her mother filed for a divorce that was finalized uncontested on September 29,1922. She was granted custody of Harlean, who loved the father who would survive her by thirty-seven years. However, Harlean would rarely see him again, Mother Jean moved with Harlean to Hollywood in 1923 with hopes of becoming an actress, but was too old at 34 to begin a film career. Young Harlean attended the Hollywood School for Girls and met Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Joel McCrea, Harlean dropped out of school at age 14 in the spring of 1925. Finances dwindling, she and her mother moved back to Kansas City after Skip Harlow issued an ultimatum that he would disinherit Jean if she did not return. Several weeks later, Skip sent his granddaughter to a camp, Camp Cha-Ton-Ka, in Michigamme, Michigan. Her mother traveled to Michigan to care for her, rowing herself across the lake to the camp, Harlow next attended the Ferry Hall School in Lake Forest, Illinois
27.
Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)
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The story spans more than two decades from the 1911 release of its name-sake song to some point in time after the 1933 release of Heat Wave, presumably 1938. It stars Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman, Jack Haley, there are no mentions of the primary importance of blacks in creating and playing jazz anywhere in the film. The story was written by Berlin himself, with Kathryn Scola, Richard Sherman and it was directed by Henry King. Alexanders Ragtime Band features several hit songs by Irving Berlin including Heat Wave, Some Sunny Day, Blue Skies, Easter Parade, A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody, previously released songs were re-arranged and used in conjunction with new songs written by Berlin for the film. The film had its New York premiere at the Roxy Theatre on August 5,1938, contemporary reviews from critics were positive. Variety wrote, Superlative in conception, execution and showmanship, it provides a theatrical and emotional experience. Film Daily declared it solid entertainment that should play to big returns, harrisons Reports called it Excellent entertainment, capably directed and acted. Alfred Newman won an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring, the adaptation starred Faye and Robert Preston. Alexanders Ragtime Band at AllMovie Alexanders Ragtime Band at the TCM Movie Database Alexanders Ragtime Band at the Internet Movie Database
28.
Clark Gable
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William Clark Gable was an American film actor, often referred to as The King of Hollywood or just simply as The King. Gable began his career as an actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for MGM in 1931. The next year, he landed his first leading Hollywood role and he also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each. Gables final film, The Misfits, united him with Marilyn Monroe, Gable is considered one of the most consistent box-office performers in history, appearing on Quigley Publishings annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll 16 times. He was named the seventh-greatest male star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute, William Clark Gable was born in Cadiz, Ohio, to William Henry Will Gable, an oil-well driller, and his wife, Adeline. Gable was named William after his father, but even in childhood and he was mistakenly listed as a female on his birth certificate. Among Gables ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch, Rhinelanders, and Bavarians, when he was six months old, his mother had him baptized as a Roman Catholic. She died when he was ten months old, possibly from a brain tumor, will Gable refused to raise his son Catholic, provoking criticism from Adelines side of the family. The dispute was resolved when Will Gable agreed to allow his son to spend time with his uncle, Charles Hershelman. In April 1903, Gables father married Jennie Dunlap, whose family came from the neighboring town of Hopedale. Gable was a tall, shy child with a loud voice and his stepmother raised him to be well-dressed and well-groomed. Jennie played the piano and gave her lessons at home. Later he took up brass instruments, at 13, he was the only boy in the mens town band. He was very mechanically inclined and loved to strip down and repair cars with his father, though his father insisted on Gable doing manly things, like hunting and hard physical work, Gable loved language. Among trusted company, he would recite Shakespeare, particularly the sonnets, will Gable agreed to buy a 72-volume set of The Worlds Greatest Literature to improve his sons education, but claimed he never saw his son use it. In 1917, when Gable was in school, his father had financial difficulties. Will decided to settle his debts and try his hand at farming, despite his fathers insistence that he work the farm, Gable soon left to work in Akron for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. At 17, Clark Gable was inspired to be an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise, by then, his stepmother had died, and his father moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to go back to the oil business
29.
Shirley Temple
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Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, businesswoman and diplomat who was most notable as Hollywoods number one box-office star from 1935 to 1938. As an adult, she was named United States ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia, Shirley Temple began her film career in 1932 at age 3. In 1934, she found fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. Licensed merchandise that capitalized on her image included dolls, dishes. Her box-office popularity waned as she reached adolescence and she appeared in a few films of varying quality in her mid-to-late teens, and retired from films in 1950 at the age of 22. Temple returned to business in 1958 with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations. She made guest appearances on shows in the early 1960s. She sat on the boards of corporations and organizations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte Foods, in 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star. Temple was the recipient of awards and honors, including the Kennedy Center Honors. She is 18th on the American Film Institutes list of the greatest female American screen legends of Classic Hollywood cinema, Shirley Temple was born on April 23,1928, in Santa Monica, California. She was the child of Gertrude Amelia Temple, a homemaker, and George Francis Temple. The family was of English, German, and Dutch ancestry and she had two brothers, George Francis, Jr. and John Stanley. The family moved to Brentwood, Los Angeles and her mother supported her young daughters singing, dancing, and acting talents, and in September 1931, enrolled her in Meglins Dance School in Los Angeles. About this time, her mother began styling her daughters hair in ringlets, while at Meglins, she was spotted by Charles Lamont, a casting director for Educational Pictures. Although Shirley hid behind the piano while in the studio, Lamont took a shine to her, invited her to audition, Educational Pictures were about to launch their Baby Burlesks, multiple short films satirizing recent film and political events, using preschool children in every role. Baby Burlesks was a series of one-reelers, another series of two-reelers called Frolics of Youth followed, with Shirley playing Mary Lou Rogers, to underwrite production costs at Educational, she and her child co-stars modeled for breakfast cereals and other products. She was lent to Tower Productions for a role in her first feature film in 1932 and, in 1933, to Universal, Paramount. After Educational Pictures declared bankruptcy in 1933, her father purchased her contract for $25, while walking out of the viewing of her last Frolics of Youth picture, Fox Film songwriter Jay Gorney saw the little girl dancing in the movie theater lobby
30.
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
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The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. Notable for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score and it was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind. It did win in two categories, including Best Original Song for Over the Rainbow and Best Original Score by Herbert Stothart. However, the film was a box office disappointment on its release, earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget. It was MGMs most expensive production at that time, and did not completely recoup the studios investment and turn a profit until theatrical re-releases starting in 1949. The film was named the most-viewed motion picture on television syndication by the Library of Congress, designation on the registry calls for efforts to preserve it for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. It is also one of the few films on UNESCOs Memory of the World Register, the Wizard of Oz is often ranked on best-movie lists in critics and public polls. It is the source of many quotes referenced in popular culture. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming, noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but uncredited contributions were made by others. The songs were written by Edgar Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen, the musical score and the incidental music were composed by Stothart. The film begins in Kansas, which is depicted in a sepia tone, Dorothy Gale lives with her dog Toto on the farm of her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothys dog gets in trouble with a neighbor, Miss Almira Gulch. However, Dorothys family and the farmhands are all too busy to pay attention to her, Miss Gulch arrives with permission from the sheriff to have Toto euthanized. She takes him away, but he escapes and returns to Dorothy and they meet Professor Marvel, a phony but kindly fortune teller, who realizes Dorothy has run away and tricks her via his crystal ball into believing that Aunt Em is ill so that she must return home. She races home just as a tornado strikes. Unable to get into her familys storm cellar, she seeks safety in her bedroom, a wind-blown window sash hits her in the head, knocking her out. The house is picked up and sent spinning in the air by the twister, the farmhouse crashes in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz, where the film changes to Technicolor. Glinda the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins welcome her as their heroine, as the house has landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East, leaving only her stocking feet exposed
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Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Gale Sondergaard was the first winner of award for her role in Anthony Adverse. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 78 actresses. Dianne Wiest and Shelley Winters have received the most awards in this category with two awards each, despite winning no awards, Thelma Ritter was nominated on six occasions, more than any other actress. As of the 2017 ceremony, Viola Davis is the most recent winner in category for her role as Rose Maxson in Fences. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, inside Oscar, The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. New York, United States, Ballantine Books, oscars. org Oscar. com The Academy Awards Database
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Chicago History Museum
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Chicago History Museum was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicagos history. It is located in Lincoln Park at 1601 North Clark Street at the intersection of North Avenue in the Old Town Triangle neighborhood and it was renamed the Chicago History Museum in September 2006. Much of the collection of the Chicago Historical Society was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but like the city. Among its many documents which were lost in the fire was a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, after the fire, the Society began collecting new materials, which were stored in a building owned by J. Young Scammon, a prominent lawyer and member of the society. However, the building and new collection were destroyed by fire in 1874. The Chicago Historical Society built a building on the site of its pre-1871 building at 632 North Dearborn Street. This impressively massive Richardsonian Romanesque building remained a nightclub for years until closing in 2014, in 1920, the Society purchased the large history collection of Charles F. Gunther with the intention of changing its focus from only a research institution into a public museum. Many of the items in Gunthers collection, in addition to Chicago, were related to Abraham Lincoln and these include Lincolns deathbed and several furniture pieces from the room where he died in Petersen House and clothing he and wife Mary Todd Lincoln allegedly wore the evening of his assassination. In 2010 the museum was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, after 36 years in the Henry Ives Cobb structure on North Dearborn Street, the museum and library moved to the current structure in Lincoln Park. The current home of the museum was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and constructed in 1932 by the WPA, the 1932 Federal-style structure has been expanded twice. The first addition, clad in limestone, opened in 1972 and was designed by Alfred Shaw and Associates. The second addition, designed by Holabird and Root, was made in 1988, both expansions occurred on the west side of the 1932 structure, leaving intact its original porticoed entrance facing Lincoln Park. The main entrance and reception hall, however, was moved to the new western addition facing Clark street, the 1988 extension, in addition to expanded exhibition galleries, also contains the museums store and public cafe. The museum explores both Chicago and American history, exhibitions draw primarily on the museums own collection, which numbers approximately 22 million holdings. Chicago, Crossroads of America is a 16, 000-square-foot space that explores the development and its relationship to. Nearly 600 objects document the people and events of the past 200 years, facing Freedom focuses on eight American conflicts over freedom from the 1850s to the 1970s. The Abraham Lincoln alcoves highlight the sixteenth presidents election, his leadership during the Civil War, the adjoining Portrait Gallery features an installation on Chicago during the time of Lincoln. The Sensing Chicago exhibition invites children to use their senses to discover the past, the Lobby displays museum treasures, including a 1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo lowrider
