1.
Van and Schenck
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Van and Schenck were popular United States entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s, Gus Van, baritone and Joe Schenck, tenor. They were vaudeville stars and made appearances in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918,1919,1920 and 1921 and they made numerous phonograph records for the Emerson, Victor, and Columbia record companies. With Schenck on piano, the duo sang and performed comedy routines, Van was especially adept at dialect humor, and could imitate any number of regional and continental accents. One of the teams typical novelty hits was Pastafazoola, in praise of Italian food, vans hearty baritone and Schencks high tenor harmonized well, and the team became known as the pennant-winning battery of songland. After Schencks death in 1930 of heart disease, Van continued to perform as a solo artist on stage, screen and he appeared in many New York-produced Soundies in 1941. Schenck was buried in The Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn and my Minds Made Up to Marry Carolina Ragtime Moses Old-Time Bomboshay I Always Think Im Up in Heaven Tackin Em Down They Were All Out of Step But Jim Why Do They Call Them Babies. All Shed Say Was Umh Hum OReilly She Walks in Her Husbands Sleep Sweet Love Whats A Gonna Be Next, whos Been Around Carolina in The Morning Steamboat Sal Take em To The Door Blues That Red Head Gal Magnolia Stay Out of the South Van & Schenck on vintage-recordings
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.
Rybinsk
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Rybinsk is the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers. Rybinsk is one of the oldest Slavic settlements on the Volga River, the place was first recorded by chroniclers in 1071 as Ust-Sheksna, i. e. the mouth of the Sheksna. During this period the settlement was a center for craft and metal based produce. In the mid-13th century, Ust-Sheksna was laid waste by invading Mongols, for the next few centuries, the settlement was referred to alternatively as Ust-Sheksna or Rybansk. From 1504, it was identified in documents as Rybnaya Sloboda, the name is explained by the fact that the settlement supplied the Muscovite court with choice sturgeons and sterlets. More old architecture may be found in the neighborhood, including the very last of Muscovite three-tented churches, in the 18th century, the sloboda continued to thrive on the Volga trade. Catherine the Great granted Rybnaya Sloboda municipal rights and renamed it Rybinsk, with the population of 7,000, the town daily accommodated up to 170,000 sailors and up to 2,000 river vessels. Consequently, the river port became known as the capital of barge-haulers. The towns most conspicuous landmark, the Neoclassical Savior-Transfiguration Cathedral, was constructed on the Volga riverside from 1838 until 1851 and it was built to a design that the Dean of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Avraam Melnikov, had prepared for Saint Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg. After Melnikov lost the contest for the best project of St. Isaacs Cathedral to Auguste de Montferrand, he sold his grandiose design to the municipal authorities of Rybinsk. As a trade capital of the Upper Volga, Rybinsk formerly attracted scores of foreigners, who built a Lutheran church, there is also the Nobel Family Museum, documenting the operations of that prominent Swedish family during the Russian Empire. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Rybinsk serves as the center of Rybinsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Rybinsk—an administrative unit with the equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Rybinsk is incorporated as Rybinsk Urban Okrug, the most important industries of modern Rybinsk are aircraft engine manufacturing, Vympel Shipyard, and a hydroelectric power station. As the experts warn, the giant Rybinsk dam, which holds the Rybinsk Reservoir places the town in the imminent danger of the dam breaking, the city is served by the Staroselye Airport. The yearly mean is around 4 °C, also falling within range of warm-summer humid continental climates. Закон №12-з от7 февраля2002 г «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ярославской области и порядке его изменения», Закона №67-з от21 декабря2012 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные законодательные акты Ярославской области и признании утратившими силу отдельных законодательных актов Ярославской области», Вступил в силу через шесть месяцев со дня официального опубликования
4.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
5.
Brooklyn, New York
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Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City, with a Census-estimated 2,636,735 residents in 2015. It borders the borough of Queens at the end of Long Island. Today, if New York City dissolved, Brooklyn would rank as the third-most populous city in the U. S. behind Los Angeles, the borough continues, however, to maintain a distinct culture. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves, Brooklyns official motto, displayed on the Borough seal and flag, is Eendraght Maeckt Maght which translates from early modern Dutch as Unity makes strength. Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms. The history of European settlement in Brooklyn spans more than 350 years, the neighborhood of Marine Park was home to North Americas first tidal mill. It was built by the Dutch, and the foundation can be seen today, however, the area was not formally settled as a town. Many incidents and documents relating to this period are in Gabriel Furmans early compilation, what is today Brooklyn left Dutch hands after the final English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, a prelude to the Second Anglo–Dutch War. The English reorganized the six old Dutch towns on southwestern Long Island as Kings County on November 1,1683 and this tract of land was recognized as a political entity for the first time, and the municipal groundwork was laid for a later expansive idea of Brooklyn identity. On August 27,1776 was fought the Battle of Long Island, the first major engagement fought in the American Revolutionary War after independence was declared, and the largest of the entire conflict. British troops forced Continental Army troops under George Washington off the heights near the sites of Green-Wood Cemetery, Prospect Park. The fortified American positions at Brooklyn Heights consequently became untenable and were evacuated a few days later, One result of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 was the evacuation of the British from New York City, celebrated by residents into the 20th century. The New York Navy Yard operated in Wallabout Bay for the entire 19th century, the first center of urbanization sprang up in the Town of Brooklyn, directly across from Lower Manhattan, which saw the incorporation of the Village of Brooklyn in 1817. Reliable steam ferry service across the East River to Fulton Landing converted Brooklyn Heights into a town for Wall Street. Ferry Road to Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street to East New York, Town and Village were combined to form the first, kernel incarnation of the City of Brooklyn in 1834. Industrial deconcentration in mid-century was bringing shipbuilding and other manufacturing to the part of the county. Each of the two cities and six towns in Kings County remained independent municipalities, and purposely created non-aligning street grids with different naming systems and it later became the most popular and highest circulation afternoon paper in America. The publisher changed to L. Van Anden on April 19,1842, on May 14,1849 the name was shortened to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, on September 5,1938 it was further shortened to Brooklyn Eagle
6.
Norma Talmadge
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Norma Marie Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, a specialist in melodrama, her most famous film was Smilin’ Through, but she also scored artistic triumphs teamed with director Frank Borzage in Secrets and The Lady. Her younger sister Constance Talmadge was also a movie star, Talmadge married millionaire film producer Joseph Schenck and they successfully created their own production company. After reaching fame in the studios on the East Coast. Talmadge was one of the most elegant and glamorous film stars of the roaring twenties, however, by the end of the silent film era, her popularity with audiences had waned. After her two talkies proved disappointing at the box office, she retired a wealthy woman. According to her birth certificate, Talmadge was born on May 2,1894 in Jersey City, Talmadge was the eldest daughter of Fred Talmadge, an unemployed chronic alcoholic, and Margaret Peg Talmadge, a witty and indomitable woman. She had two sisters, Natalie and Constance, both of whom also became actresses. The girls childhoods were marked by poverty, one Christmas morning, Fred Talmadge left the house to buy food and never came back, leaving his wife to raise their three daughters. Peg took in laundry, sold cosmetics, taught painting classes, after telling her mother about a classmate from Erasmus Hall High School who modeled for popular illustrated song slides, Mrs. Talmadge decided to locate the photographer. She arranged an interview for her daughter, who, after an initial rejection, was hired soon after, when they went to the theater to see her debut, Peg resolved to get her into motion pictures. Norma Talmadge was the eldest of the three daughters and the first pushed by their mother to look for a career as a film actress, mother and daughter traveled to the Vitagraph Studios in Flatbush, New York, just a streetcar ride from her home. They managed to get past the gates and in to see the casting director. However, scenario editor Beta Breuil, attracted by Talmadges beauty, thanks to Breuills continued patronage, between 1911 and 1912, Talmadge played bit parts in over 100 films. She eventually earned a spot in the company at $25 per week. Her first role as an actress was 1911s Neighboring Kingdom. By 1913, she was Vitagraphs most promising young actress and that same year, she was assigned to Van Dyke Brookes acting unit, and throughout 1913 and 1914 appeared in more films, frequently with Antonio Moreno as her leading man. In 1915, Talmadge got her big break, starring in Vitagraph’s prestigious feature film The Battle Cry of Peace, but ambitious Peg saw that her daughters potential could carry them further, and got a two-year contract with National Pictures Company for eight features and $400 per week
7.
Yaroslavl Oblast
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Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow, additionally, the administrative center of the oblast—the city of Yaroslavl—is an intersection of major highways, railroads, and waterways. The climate of Yaroslavl Oblast is temperate continental, with long, cold and snowy winters, Average January temperature is about −12 °C, while average Julys is +18 °C. Formerly almost all territory was covered with conifer forest, but now a large portion of it has been replaced with birch-and-aspen secondary forests. Large animals have been reduced in numbers, but there are still some bears, wolves, foxes, moose. A great number of birds live and nest in the oblast. In cities, most common birds are pigeons, jackdaws, hooded crows, rooks, house sparrows, the Volga River flows through Yaroslavl Oblast, with two major dams constructed at Uglich and Rybinsk. Mineral resources are limited to construction materials and peat, there are also mineral water springs and wells. First people settled in the area of the modern day Yaroslavl Oblast during the Paleolithic Era with the end of the last glacial period, agriculture was introduced in the region not later than the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC with the arrival of the Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture. The oblast belonged to the core of the Russian lands since the early Middle Ages, Rostov, the oldest city in the region, was first mentioned in 862. It soon became the political and religious centers of the Northeast Kievan Rus. Many notable Rurikid princes had their fief in Rostov, among them were St. Boris and Yaroslav the Wise, in 1054 Rostov and other North-Eastern lands were inherited by Yaroslavs son Vsevolod who also ruled the southern Principality of Pereyaslavl. Remaining in their distant capital the princes of Pereyaslavl had to rule the province through their viceregents and that period was most memorable for the 1071 smerd rebellion led by still powerful magi of Yarsolavl during which bishop Leontius of Rostov was murdered. In early 12th century Rostov got its own prince, Yuri Dolgoruky and he moved his capital to Suzdal in 1125 diminishing the influence of Rostov as a result. During his reign Dolgoruky founded many cities of the Northeast Rus. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky who succeeded his father Yury as a ruler of the Rostov-Suzdal lands in 1157 was the first Russian ruler to give up his claims for the thrones of Kiev and Pereyaslavl. He proclaimed himself a Grand Prince and moved his capital to the city of Vladimir near Suzdal marking the beginning of history of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, after the death of Andreys brother Vsevolod the Big Nest in 1212 Russian North-East entered a continuous stage of feudal fragmentation. Rostov, Yaroslavl, Pereslavl and Uglich became principalities on their own right still recognizing formal suzerainty of the Grand Princes of Vladimir, northeastern Rus was attacked by the Mongol-Tatar armies in the winter of 1238
8.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
9.
Palisades Amusement Park
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Palisades Amusement Park was a 30-acre amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was located atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park, the park operated from 1898 until 1971, remaining one of the most visited amusement parks in the country until the end of its existence. After the park closed in 1971, a luxury apartment complex was built on its site. In 1898, before use of automobiles, the Bergen County Traction Company conceived the park as a trolley park to attract evening. It was originally known as The Park on the Palisades, in 1908, the trolley company sold the park to August Neumann and Frank Knox, who hired Alven H. Dexter to manage it. Dexter imported a crude assortment of attractions included a Ferris wheel, a baby parade. By 1908, the park was renamed Palisades Amusement Park, in 1910, the park was purchased by Nicholas and Joseph Schenck and their Realty Trust Company. The Schencks were brothers who were active in the nascent motion picture industry in nearby Fort Lee and they renamed the park once again, naming it Schenck Bros. In 1912, the added a salt-water swimming pool. It was filled by pumping water from the saline Hudson River,200 feet below and this pool,400 by 600 feet in surface area, was advertised as the largest salt-water wave pool in the nation. Behind the water falls were huge pontoons that rose up and down as they rotated, in 1928 the park introduced the third of Harry Travers Cyclone roller coasters. Due to the maintenance costs, the ride lasted only six years before being removed. In 1934 or 1935, Nicholas and Joseph Schenck sold the site for $450,000 to Jack Rosenthal, the Brooklyn brothers and entrepreneurs had made a fortune as concessionaires at Coney Island. They also owned some concessions and a carousel at Savin Rock Park in Connecticut, the Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster was built by the Rosenthals in 1927, and is still operating. In 1935 the park was destroyed by fire, and in 1944 a second fire erupted. The fire closed the park until the start of the 1945 season, the Rosenthals restored the parks previous and most recognizable name, Palisades Amusement Park. At the start of World War II, the Rosenthals sold the Cyclone coaster at Coney Island to Silvio Pinto who operated until it was sold to the city of New York in 1969. The city put it up for a bid for someone to operate it in 1974 and Jerry Alberts from Astroland won the bid, one of the many attractions, rebuilt and redesigned by construction superintendent Joe McKee, included the Skyrocket roller coaster
10.
Marcus Loew
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Marcus Loew was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loews Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio. Loew was born in New York City, into a poor Jewish family and he was forced by circumstances to work at a very young age and had little formal education. Nevertheless, beginning with an investment from money saved from menial jobs. By 1905, Marcus Loew was on his own and his success eventually necessitated that he secure a steady flow of product for his theaters, in 1904, he founded the Peoples Vaudeville Company, a theater chain which showcased one-reel films as well as live variety shows. In 1910, the company had expanded and was renamed Loews Consolidated Enterprises. His associates included Adolph Zukor, Joseph Schenck, and Nicholas Schenck, other Loew-operated theaters were the Delancey St. Theatre, Greeley Sq. Theatre, Herald Square Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Brooklyn, Lincoln Sq, Theatre, National Theatre, Plaza Theatre, 7th Ave. Theatre, Shubert Theatre, Brooklyn, and the Yorkville Theatre. Outside of New York, he managed the Columbia Theatre Columbia Theatre, Loew found himself faced with a serious dilemma, his merged companies lacked a central managerial command structure. Loew preferred to remain in New York overseeing the growing chain of Loews Theatres, film production had been gravitating toward southern California since 1913. By 1917 he oversaw a number of enterprises, Borough Theatre Co, Loews Consolidated Enterprise, Loews Theatrical Enterprises, Mascot Amusement Co. In 1919, Loew reorganized the company under the name Loews, in 1920, Loew purchased Metro Pictures Corporation. A few years later, he acquired a controlling interest in the financially troubled Goldwyn Picture Corporation which at that point was controlled by theater impresario Lee Shubert, Goldwyn Pictures owned the Leo the Lion trademark and studio property in Culver City, California. But without its founder Samuel Goldwyn, the Goldwyn studio lacked strong management, Loew recalled meeting a film producer named Louis B. Mayer who had been operating a successful, if modest, studio in east Los Angeles. Mayer had been making low budget melodramas for a number of years, Nicholas Schenck was dispatched to finalize the deal that ultimately resulted in the formation of Metro-Goldwyn Pictures in April 1924 with Mayer as the studio head and Thalberg chief of production. Mayer would eventually be rewarded by having his name added to the company, Loews Inc. would act as MGMs financier and retain controlling interest for decades. While immediately successful, Loew didnt live to see the powerhouse that MGM was to become and he died three years later in 1927 of a heart attack at the age of 57 in Glen Cove, New York. He was interred in the Maimonides Cemetery in Brooklyn, for his very significant contribution to the development of the motion picture industry, Marcus Loew has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1617 Vine Street. To this day, the Loew name is synonymous with movie theaters and his son Arthur Loew, married Mildred Zukor, daughter of Adolph Zukor
11.
Vitagraph Studios
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Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, by 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros. in 1925, in 1896, English émigré Blackton was moonlighting as a reporter/artist for the New York Evening World when he was sent to interview Thomas Edison about his new film projector. The inventor talked the entrepreneurial reporter into buying a set of films, a year later, Blackton and business partner Smith founded the American Vitagraph Company in direct competition with Edison. A third partner, distributor William Pop Rock, joined in 1899, the companys first studio was located on the rooftop of a building on Nassau Street in Manhattan. Operations were later moved to the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the companys first claim to fame came from newsreels, Vitagraph cameramen were on the scene to film events from the Spanish–American War of 1898. These shorts were among the first works of propaganda. In 1897 Vitagraph produced The Humpty Dumpty Circus, which was the first film to use the stop-motion technique, Blackton did his best to avoid lawsuits by buying a special license from Edison in 1907 and by agreeing to sell many of his most popular films to Edison for distribution. The American Vitagraph Company made many contributions to the history of movie-making, in 1903 the director Joseph Delmont started his career by producing westerns, he later became famous by using wild carnivores in his movies—a sensation for that time. In 1909 it was one of the ten production companies included in Edisons attempt to corner movie-making. Major stars included Florence Turner, Maurice Costello, Harry T. Morey, Jean and such stars as Helen Hayes, Viola Dana, Dolores Costello, Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge. Larry Trimble was a director of films for Turner and Jean. The first Les Miserables film adaptation, a short silent historical drama starring Maurice Costello as Jean Valjean, the film consists of four reels, each released over the course of three months beginning on 4 September to 27 November 1909. In 1910 a number of houses showed the five parts of the Vitagraph serial The Life of Moses consecutively. A long series of Shakespeare adaptations were the first done of the Bards works in the U. S. In 1911, Vitagraph produced the first aviation film, The Military Air-Scout, directed by William J. Humphrey, the 1915 feature The Battle Cry of Peace was one of the great propaganda films of World War I. Ironically, after America declared war, the film was modified for re-release because it was seen as not being sufficiently pro-war, World War I spelled the beginning of the end for Vitagraph. With the loss of foreign distributors and the rise of the monopolistic Studio system, on January 28,1925, it left the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, the owner, Albert E
12.
Palm Springs, California
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Palm Springs is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 55 mi east of San Bernardino,107 mi east of Los Angeles,123 mi northeast of San Diego, the population was 44,552 as of the 2010 census. Palm Springs covers approximately 94 square miles, making it the largest city in the county by land area, biking, golf, hiking, horseback riding, swimming, and tennis in the nearby desert and mountain areas are major forms of recreation in Palm Springs. The city is famous for its mid-century modern architecture and design elements. Archaeological research has shown that the Cahuilla people have lived in the area for the past 350–500 years, the Cahuilla name for the area was Se-Khi. The alternating non-reservation sections were granted to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the open desert, presently the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is composed of several smaller bands who live in the modern day Coachella Valley and San Gorgonio Pass areas. The Agua Caliente Reservation occupies 32,000 acres, of which 6,700 acres lie within the city limits, as of 1821 Mexico was independent of Spain and in March 1823 the Mexican Monarchy ended. With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the region was ceded to the United States in 1848, one possible origin of palm in the place name comes from early Spanish explorers who referred to the area as La Palma de la Mano de Dios or The Palm of Gods hand. The earliest use of the name Palm Springs is from United States Topographical Engineers who used the term in 1853 maps, other early names were Palmetto Spring and Big Palm Springs. The first European resident in Palm Springs itself was Jack Summers, fourteen years later, the Southern Pacific railroad was laid 6 miles to the north, isolating the station. By 1885, when San Francisco attorney John Guthrie McCallum began buying property in Palm Springs, the area was named Palm Valley when McCallum incorporated the Palm Valley Land and Water Company with partners O. C. He also asked Dr. Welwood Murray to establish a hotel across the street from his residence, the crops and irrigation systems suffered flooding in 1893 from record rainfall, and then an 11-year drought caused further damage. The city became a resort in the 1900s when health tourists arrived with conditions that required dry heat. Because of the heat, however, the population dropped markedly in the summer months, Early illustrious visitors included John Muir and his daughters, U. S. Vice President Charles Fairbanks, and Fanny Stevenson, widow of Robert Louis Stevenson, still, Murrays hotel was closed in 1909, nellie N. Coffman and her physician husband Harry established The Desert Inn as a hotel and sanitarium in 1909. It was expanded as a hotel in 1927 and continued on until 1967. Coffman herself was a force in the citys tourism industry until her death in 1950. James Wonders of the Colorado Desert was followed in 1920 by J. Smeaton Chases Our Araby, Palm Springs and the Garden of the Sun, which also served to promote the area
13.
West Coast of the United States
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The West Coast or Pacific Coast is the coastline along which the contiguous Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. As a region, this term most often refers to the states of California. More specifically, it refers to an area defined on the east by the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert, the U. S. Census groups the five states of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii together as the Pacific States division. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the Census Bureaus Pacific Region was approximately 47.8 million – about 15. 3% of US population. The largest city on the west coast of the United States is Los Angeles, small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska. Between 16,500 BCE and 13,500 BCE, ice-free corridors developed along the Pacific coast and valleys of North America, Alaska Natives, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and California indigenous peoples eventually descended from the Paleo-Indians. They developed various languages and established trade routes, later, Spanish, British, French, Russian, and American explorers and settlers began colonizing the area. The West Coast of the United States has a climate in its Northern edge towards the Canada–US border. The coastline sees significantly mild temperatures when compared to the areas during summer. In far Northern California there is a difference of 17 °C between Eurekas and Willow Creek in spite of only 25 miles separating the locations and Willow Creek being located at a 500 metres elevation, coastal fog is also prevalent in keeping shoreline temperatures cool. Since the West Coast has been populated by more recently than the East Coast. Additionally, its demographic composition underlies its cultural difference from the rest of the United States. Californias history first as a major Spanish colony, and later Mexican territory, has given the lower West Coast a distinctive Hispanic tone, which it also shares with the rest of the Southwest. Similarly, two of the three cities in which Asian Americans have concentrated, San Francisco and Los Angeles, are located on the West Coast, San Franciscos Chinatown, the oldest in North America, is a vibrant cultural center. The West Coast also has a large share of green cities within the United States. Other writers, like Jean Baudrillard, Mike Davis, and Umberto Eco, have made related statements on Californian culture, in the Northwest, Portland and Seattle are both considered among the coffee capitals of the world. While Starbucks originated in Seattle, both towns are known for coffee roasters and independent coffeeshops. In the Pacific Northwest at large, which includes the Canadian west coast, the culture has significantly shaped by the environment, especially by its forests, mountains
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United Artists
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United Artists is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was bought, sold and restructured over the ensuing century. On December 14 of the year, however, MGM acquired the 48% stake of UAMG it did not own. UA was incorporated as a joint venture on February 5,1919, by Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks, each held a 20% stake, with the remaining 20% held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford, already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work. They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over salaries and creative decisions. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized, when he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, is said to have observed, The inmates are taking over the asylum. The four partners, with advice from McAdoo, formed their distribution company and its headquarters was established at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The original terms called for each of the stars to produce five pictures each year, UAs first film was a success. Without selling stock to the public, following the other studios, as a result, production was slow and the company distributed an annual average of five films during its first five years. By 1924 Griffith had dropped out and the company was facing a crisis, veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had been producing pictures for a decade, and he brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, contracts were signed with independent producers, most notably Samuel Goldwyn, and Howard Hughes. In 1933, Schenck organized a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, called Twentieth Century Pictures, Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada and then in Mexico, by the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries. When he was denied a share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox, al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including, Walt Disney Productions, Alexander Korda, Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, as the years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these producing partners drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO, and Wanger to Universal Pictures, in the late 1930s, UA turned a profit
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The Political Graveyard
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The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The database attempts to capture very basic biographical and office-holding data for its political figures, besides where they are buried, it records dates and locations of birth and death, offices held and the applicable dates, organizational affiliations, and cause of death. It also reports their relation with other politicians listed, their political party, the name comes from the websites inclusion of the burial locations of the deceased, when known. The site was created in 1996 by Lawrence Kestenbaum, then an academic specialist at Michigan State University, Kestenbaum was formerly a county commissioner, and in 2004 was elected to be County Clerk/Register of Deeds of Washtenaw County, Michigan. The site and its underlying database were developed from a personal interest triggered by the Biographical Directory of the U. S. Congress, since then his personal research, and the information contributions of hundreds of volunteers have greatly expanded the information available. It is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 Creative Commons License, over the years the definition of eligible political figure has been expanded. It now includes most high officials, ambassadors, all elected and some appointed statewide officeholders. It lists unsuccessful candidates, presidential electors, and delegates to U. S. presidential nominating conventions of the political parties. Politicians are listed alphabetically, by office held or sought, and by location of birth, residence, some are listed in categories, including occupations, ethnicity, religious and organizational affiliation, honors and awards. Politicians accused of crimes or touched by scandal are listed by the nature of the accusation, as well as by decade, cause of death is broken down into dozens of categories. The site also lists political families, individuals listed on the site are linked together if their relationship meets the Rule of 1/1000 common ancestry. The sites largest cluster, with 2,134 members, is called Two Thousand Related Politicians, most of the families are subsets of this group. The largest subset family is the Huntington-Chapin-Waterman family of Connecticut, with 229 members
16.
1928 Republican National Convention
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The 1928 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15,1928. Because President Coolidge had announced unexpectedly he would not run for re-election in 1928, former Illinois Governor Frank Lowden and Kansas Senator Charles Curtis were candidates for the nomination but stood no chance against the popular and accomplished Hoover. Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson considered himself a candidate, but without the support of Ruth Hanna McCormick, Hoover was nominated on the first ballot with 837 votes to 72 for Lowden and 64 for Curtis and the rest scattered. John L. McNab delivered Hoovers nomination address, after Coolidge announced that he would not run for a second full term in August 1927, Herbert Hoover emerged as the front-runner. Some progressive Republicans, such as California Senator Hiram Johnson, also disliked Hoover, many party leaders pressured Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon to run, but at 73 years old in 1928, Mellon felt that he was too old to run. Mellon sought to convince former Secretary of State and 1916 Republican nominee Charles Evan Hughes to run, with no strong alternative, Hoover appeared to be the likely nominee at the start of the convention, but many in the party still opposed his candidacy. A draft Coolidge movement emerged, but the movement collapsed as it clear that Coolidge would not run again. With Coolidge out of the running, Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis tried to rally Hoovers rivals around his own candidacy, however, Hoover won the nomination on the first ballot. Tilson, and Ambassador Alanson B. Houghton were mentioned as potential running mates for Hoover, Kansas Senator Charles Curtis was also mentioned as a possibility, but Curtis was not yet ready to concede the presidential nomination to Hoover. Party leaders considered nominating Cox or Dawes, but the former was vetoed by Utah Senator Reed Smoot, Curtis, possibly with the support of Coolidge, was nominated by the party leaders, and the convention ratified the choice. Each of the four days of the convention opened with an invocation by a different clergymen—one Jewish, one Catholic, one Episcopalian. Together, these four religious groups formed a majority of Americans at the time, all of the clergy were based in Missouri, where the convention was held. Each was listed among the officers as an official chaplain. On June 12, the prayer was given by Bishop S. C. Partridge of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri,1928 Democratic National Convention United States presidential election,1928 Republican Party platform of 1928 at The American Presidency Project
17.
Twentieth Century Pictures
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Twentieth Century Pictures was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Bros. The company product was distributed by United Artists, and leased space at Samuel Goldwyn Studios, Schenck was President of Twentieth Century, while Zanuck was named Production Chief and Goetz and Raymond Griffith served as vice-presidents. Their initial stars under contract were George Arliss, Constance Bennett, the company was successful from the very beginning, out of their first 18 films, only one, Born to Be Bad, was not a financial success. Their 1934 production, The House of Rothschild was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, in 1935, they produced the classic film Les Misérables, from Victor Hugos novel, which was also nominated for Best Picture. W. Twentieth Century Pictures merged with Fox Studios to form 20th Century-Fox in 1935, for many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have been 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
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Fox Film Corporation
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The Fox Film Corporation was an American company that produced motion pictures, formed by William Fox on 1 February 1915. It was the successor to his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company. On July 23,1926, the company bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound on to film, after the Crash of 1929, William Fox lost control of the company in 1930, during a hostile takeover. Under new president Sidney Kent, the new owners merged the company with Twentieth Century Pictures to form 20th Century Fox in 1935, William Fox entered the film industry in 1904 when he purchased a one-third share of a Brooklyn nickelodeon for $1,667. Fox invested further in the industry by founding the Greater New York Film Rental Company as a film distributor. In 1914, reflecting the broader scope of his business, he renamed it the Box Office Attraction Film Rental Company and he also continued to distribute material from other sources, such as Winsor McCays early animated film Gertie the Dinosaur. Later that year, Fox concluded that depending on other companies for the products he depended on was insufficient and he purchased the Éclair studio facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, along with property in Staten Island, and arranged for actors and crew. The company became a studio, with its name shortened to the Box Office Attractions Company. Always more of an entrepreneur than a showman, Fox concentrated on acquiring and building theaters, in 1917, William Fox sent Sol M. Wurtzel to Hollywood to oversee the studios West Coast production facilities where a more hospitable and cost-effective climate existed for filmmaking. Fox had purchased the Edendale studio of the failing Selig Polyscope Company, with the introduction of sound technology, Fox moved to acquire the rights to a sound-on-film process. In the years 1925–26, Fox purchased the rights to the work of Freeman Harrison Owens and this resulted in the Movietone sound system later known as Fox Movietone developed at the Movietone Studio. Later that year, the company began offering films with a track, and the following year Fox began the weekly Fox Movietone News feature. The growing company needed space, and in 1926 Fox acquired 300 acres in the country west of Beverly Hills and built Movietone City. When rival Marcus Loew died in 1927, Fox offered to buy the Loew familys holdings, Loews Inc. controlled more than 200 theaters, as well as the MGM studio. When the family agreed to the sale, the merger of Fox, but MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer was not included in the deal and fought back. Using political connections, Mayer called on the Justice Departments antitrust unit to delay giving final approval to the merger, overextended and close to bankruptcy, Fox was stripped of his empire in 1930 and ended up in jail. Fox Film, with more than 500 theatres, was placed in receivership, a bank-mandated reorganization propped the company up for a time, but it soon became apparent that despite its size, Fox could not stand on its own. Under new president Sidney Kent, the new owners began negotiating with the upstart, the two companies merged that spring as 20th Century-Fox
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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
20.
Trade union
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The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment and this may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. Unions may organize a section of skilled workers, a cross-section of workers from various trades. The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the rank and file members, originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution. Trade unions may be composed of workers, professionals, past workers, students. Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a union, is highest in the Nordic countries. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value, yet historian R. A. the other the aggressive-expansionist drive to unite all labouring men and women for a different order of things. The 18th century economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners. In The Wealth of Nations, Book I, chapter 8, Smith wrote, We rarely hear, it has said, of the combination of masters. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual rate When workers combine, masters. As Smith noted, unions were illegal for many years in most countries, there were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than the middle of the 14th century when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England. In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions, although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, by the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly the first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, the latter name was to hide the organizations real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions, but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others
21.
Marilyn Monroe
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Marilyn Monroe was an American actress and model. Famous for playing comic dumb blonde characters, she one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s. Although she was an actress for only a decade, her films grossed $200 million by the time of her unexpected death in 1962. She continues to be considered a popular culture icon. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes, while working in a factory in 1944 as part of the war effort, she was introduced to a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career. The work led to short-lived film contracts with Twentieth Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures, after a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in 1951. Over the next two years, she became an actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business. Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for photos before becoming a star, but rather than damaging her career. Although she played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, she was disappointed at being typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project, when the studio was still reluctant to change her contract, Monroe founded a film production company in late 1954, she named it Marilyn Monroe Productions. She dedicated 1955 to building her company and began studying acting at the Actors Studio. In late 1955, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. After a critically acclaimed performance in Bus Stop and acting in the first independent production of MMP, The Prince and her last completed film was the drama The Misfits. Monroes troubled private life received much attention and she struggled with substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. She had two highly publicized marriages, to retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, both of which ended in divorce and she died at the age of 36 on August 5,1962, from an overdose of barbiturates at her home in Los Angeles. Although Monroes death was ruled a suicide, several conspiracy theories have been proposed in the decades following her death. Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson at the Los Angeles County Hospital on June 1,1926, Gladys, the daughter of two poor Midwestern migrants to California, was a flapper and worked as a film negative cutter at Consolidated Film Industries. When she was fifteen, Gladys married a man nine years her senior, John Newton Baker and she filed for divorce in 1921, and Baker took the children with him to his native Kentucky
22.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academys corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, the roster of the Academys approximately 6,000 motion picture professionals is a closely guarded secret. While the great majority of its members are based in the United States, the Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, now officially known as The Oscars. The Academy plans to open the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2017, the notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences began with Louis B. He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and he met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetsonto to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having a banquet was discussed. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry, actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts, everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6,1927 and their first organizational meeting was held on May 11. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president and that night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five groups, or branches. The original five were, Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers, the initial concerns of the group had to do with labor. However, as went on, the organization moved further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations. By July 1928 the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented, during July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began. This award of merit for distinctive achievement is what we know now as the Academy Award, the initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, the screening room was not completed until April 1929. With the publication of Report on Incandescent Illumination in 1928, the Academy began a history of publishing books to assist its members. Another early initiative concerned training Army Signal Corps officers, in 1929 Academy members in a joint venture with the University of Southern California created Americas first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures
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Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
24.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003, as of 2017, the Walk of Fame comprises over 2,600 stars, spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background, in the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the half of the star field. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year, special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E. M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor, Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, receives credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and a firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955 the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. By another account, the stars were inspired, by Sugarmans drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars. In February 1956 a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree inside a star on a brown background. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant, and included such prominent names as Cecil B, deMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz. A requirement stipulated by the audio recording committee specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement, as a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed for the purpose of creating a separate award system for the music business. The first Grammy Awards were presented in Beverly Hills in 1959, construction of the Walk began in 1958 but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting, in October 1959 the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr. sought damages for the exclusion of his father, chaplins suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project. Woodwards name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558, the other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence
25.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Find a Grave
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Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry. com, the worlds largest for-profit genealogy company, the site was created in 1995 by Salt Lake City resident Jim Tipton to support his hobby of visiting the burial sites of celebrities. He later added an online forum, Find a Grave was launched as a commercial entity in 1998, first as a trade name and then incorporated in 2000. The site later expanded to include graves of non-celebrities, in order to allow visitors to pay respect to their deceased relatives or friends. In 2013, Tipton sold Find a Grave to Ancestry. com, burial information is a wonderful source for people researching their family history. In a September 30,2013, press release, Ancestry, as of March 2017, Find a Grave contained over 159 million burial records and 75 million photos. The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from around the world, american cemeteries are organized by state and county, and many cemetery records contain Google Maps and photographs of the cemeteries and gravesites. Individual grave records may contain dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs, Interment listings are added by individuals, genealogical societies, and other institutions such as the International Wargraves Photography Project. Contributors must register as members to submit listings, called memorials, the submitter becomes the manager of the listing but may transfer management. Only the current manager of a listing may edit it, although any member may use the features to send correction requests to the listings manager. Managers may add links to other listings of deceased spouses, parents, members may post requests for photos of a specific grave, these requests will be automatically sent to other members who have registered their location as being near that grave. Find a Grave also maintains lists of memorials of famous persons by their claim to fame, such as Medal of Honor recipients, religious figures, Find a Grave exercises editorial control over these listings. Canadian Headstones Interment. net National Cemetery Administrations Nationwide Gravesite Locator Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Tombstone tourist Colker, web site answers grave concerns about stars. Web site attracts millions of grave-seekers, Find VIPs who R. I. P. through online cemetery. Genealogy, Find a Grave tremendous on many different levels, terre Haute, Indiana, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. Archived from the original on May 14,2011, tip, Find a Grave has info youre dying to know. Tracking Down Relatives, Visiting Graves Virtually, media related to Images from Find A Grave at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
28.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
29.
Charlie Chaplin
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Sir Charles Spencer Charlie Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame during the era of silent film. Chaplin became an icon through his screen persona the Tramp and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, Chaplins childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. As his father was absent and his mother struggled financially, he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine, when he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor. At 19, he was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, Chaplin was scouted for the film industry and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon developed the Tramp persona and formed a fan base. Chaplin directed his own films from a stage and continued to hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual. By 1918, he was one of the figures in the world. In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists, which gave him control over his films. His first feature-length was The Kid, followed by A Woman of Paris, The Gold Rush and he refused to move to sound films in the 1930s, instead producing City Lights and Modern Times without dialogue. Chaplin became increasingly political, and his film, The Great Dictator. The 1940s were a decade marked with controversy for Chaplin, and he was accused of communist sympathies, while his involvement in a paternity suit and marriages to much younger women caused scandal. An FBI investigation was opened, and Chaplin was forced to leave the United States and he abandoned the Tramp in his later films, which include Monsieur Verdoux, Limelight, A King in New York, and A Countess from Hong Kong. Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in and he was a perfectionist, and his financial independence enabled him to spend years on the development and production of a picture. His films are characterised by slapstick combined with pathos, typified in the Tramps struggles against adversity, many contain social and political themes, as well as autobiographical elements. In 1972, as part of an appreciation for his work. He continues to be held in regard, with The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times
30.
Walt Disney
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Walter Elias Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons, as a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors, several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing and he took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy, with Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success, he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons, the results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi, furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella and Mary Poppins, in the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in 1955 he opened Disneyland. In 1965, he began development of theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city. Disney was a smoker throughout his life, and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed. Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private and he had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he was racist or anti-semitic and his reputation changed in the years after his death, from a purveyor of homely patriotic values to a representative of American imperialism. Nevertheless, Disney is considered an icon, particularly in the United States. Walt Disney was born on December 5,1901, at 1249 Tripp Avenue and he was the fourth son of Elias Disney—born in the Province of Canada, to Irish parents—and Flora, an American of German and English descent. Aside from Disney, Elias and Calls sons were Herbert, Raymond and Roy, in 1906, when Disney was four, the family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, where his uncle Robert had just purchased land. In Marceline, Disney developed his interest in drawing when he was paid to draw the horse of a neighborhood doctor. Elias was a subscriber to the Appeal to Reason newspaper, Disney also began to develop an ability to work with watercolors and crayons. He lived near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line and he and his younger sister Ruth started school at the same time at the Park School in Marceline in late 1909. In 1911, the Disneys moved to Kansas City, Missouri, before long, he was spending more time at the Pfeiffers house than at home
31.
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
32.
D. W. Griffith
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David Wark D. W. Griffith was an American director, writer, and producer who pioneered modern filmmaking techniques. Griffith is best remembered for The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, the Birth of a Nation made use of advanced camera and narrative techniques, and its popularity set the stage for the dominance of the feature-length film in the United States. Today, it is noted for its radical technique and condemned for its inherently racist philosophy. The film was subject to boycotts by the NAACP and, after screenings of the film had caused riots at several theaters, Intolerance, his next film, was, in part, an answer to his critics. By the time of his feature, The Struggle, he had made roughly 500 films. Griffith is one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and he is credited with popularizing the use of the close-up shot. Griffith was born on a farm in Oldham County, Kentucky, Jacob was a Confederate Army colonel in the American Civil War and was elected as a Kentucky state legislator. He attended a one-room schoolhouse where he was taught by his older sister, after his father died when he was ten, the family struggled with poverty. When Griffith was 14, his mother abandoned the farm and moved the family to Louisville, Griffith then left high school to help support the family, taking a job in a dry goods store and later in a bookstore. Griffith began his career as an actor in touring companies. Meanwhile, he was learning how to become a playwright, but had little success—only one of his plays was accepted for a performance, Griffith then decided to become an actor, and appeared in many films as an extra. Griffith began making films in 1908, and released his first feature film, Judith of Bethulia. A few years earlier, in 1907, Griffith, still struggling as a playwright, Porter rejected Griffiths script, but gave him an acting part in Rescued from an Eagles Nest instead. Finding this attractive, Griffith began to explore a career as an actor in the picture business. At Biograph, Griffiths career in the industry would change forever. In 1908, Biographs main director Wallace McCutcheon grew ill, and his son, Wallace McCutcheon, McCutcheon, Jr. however, was not able to bring the studio any success. As a result, Biograph co-founder, Henry Harry Marvin, decided to give Griffith the position, Griffith would end up directing forty-eight shorts for the company that year. His short In Old California was the first film shot in Hollywood, four years later he produced and directed his first feature film Judith of Bethulia, one of the earliest to be produced in the United States
33.
The March of Time
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The March of Time is an American short film series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The voice of series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Produced and written by Louis de Rochemont and his brother Richard de Rochemont, the March of Time organization also produced four feature films for theatrical release, and created documentary series for early television. Its first TV series, Crusade in Europe, received a Peabody Award, the March of Time was based on a news documentary and dramatization series, also called The March of Time, that was first broadcast on CBS Radio. Usually called a series, The March of Time was actually a monthly series of short feature films twice the length of standard newsreels. The films were didactic, with a point of view. The editors of Time described it as pictorial journalism, like its radio namesake, The March of Time included reporting, on-location shots, and dramatic reenactments. The March of Times relationship to the newsreel was compared to the weekly news magazines relationship to the daily newspaper. The March of Time was launched February 1,1935, in over 500 theaters, each entry in the series was either a two- or three-reel film. Westbrook Van Voorhis, who hosted the program, served as narrator of the film series. The series, which finally totalled close to 200 segments, was a success with audiences. Because of its high production costs—estimated at $50,000 per episode, however, it remained in production for six years beyond the cancellation of the radio show on which it was based. At its peak The March of Time was seen by 25 million U. S. moviegoers a month, for them, fascism, communism, and native demagogues seemed foreign to the American ethic, and they exposed and attacked them accordingly. … A cinematic agent provocateur, the March of Time turned over a lot of rocks, the demagogues and quacks whom they attacked in the 1930s may seem like obvious targets now, but they didnt seem so then. They were popular, powerful, frightening people, and the March of Time stood entirely alone in theatrical motion picture circles as a muckraker. In late 1936, producer Roy E. Larsen reluctantly left The March of Time to serve as publisher of Life, Larsen proposed that the new magazine be named The March of Time, but the name Life was purchased from the owners of a declining periodical. Life magazine was a success and notable influence on photojournalism throughout its 36-year history
34.
Edgar Bergen
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Edgar John Bergen was an American actor, comedian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. He is also the father of actress Candice Bergen, Bergen was born in Chicago, Illinois, one of five children and the youngest of two sons of Swedish immigrants Nilla Svensdotter and Johan Henriksson Berggren. He lived on a farm near Decatur, Michigan until he was 4 when his family returned to Sweden where he learned the language and he taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet called The Wizards Manual when he was 11 after his family returned to Chicago. He attended Lake View High School, after his father died when he was just 16, he went out to work as an apprentice accountant, a furnace stoke, a player piano operator, and a projectionist in a silent-movie house. The famous ventriloquist Harry Lester was so impressed by Edgar that he gave the teenager almost daily lessons for three months in the fundamentals of ventriloquism. In the fall of 1919, Edgar paid Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack $36 to sculpt a likeness of a rascally red-headed Irish newspaperboy he knew, the head went on a dummy named Charlie McCarthy, which became Bergens lifelong sidekick. He had created the body himself, using a length of broomstick for the backbone. For college he attended Northwestern University where he was enrolled in the program to please his mother. He switched to Speech & Drama but never completed his degree and he gave his first public performance at Waveland Avenue Congregational Church located on the northeast corner of Waveland and Janssen. He lived across the street from the church and he cut out an R and a G from his family name and went from Berggren to Bergen on the showbills. Between June 1922 and August 1925, he performed every summer on the professional Chautauqua circuit, Bergen had an interest in aviation, becoming a private pilot. His first performances were in vaudeville, at which point he changed his last name to the easier-to-pronounce Bergen. He worked in one-reel movie shorts, but his success was on the radio. He and Charlie were seen at a New York party by Elsa Maxwell for Noël Coward and it was there that two producers saw Bergen and Charlie perform. They then recommended them for a guest appearance on Rudy Vallées program and their initial appearance was so successful that the following year they were given regular cast rolls as part of The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Under various sponsors, they were on the air from May 9,1937 to July 1,1956, the popularity of a ventriloquist on radio, when one could see neither the dummies nor his skill, surprised and puzzled many critics, then and now. Even knowing that Bergen provided the voice, listeners perceived Charlie as a genuine person, thus, in 1947, Sam Berman caricatured Bergen and McCarthy for the networks glossy promotional book, NBC Parade of Stars, As Heard Over Your Favorite NBC Station. Bergens skill as an entertainer, especially his characterization of Charlie, Bergens success on radio was paralleled in the United Kingdom by Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews
35.
Mack Sennett
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Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and actor and was known as an innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the King of Comedy and his short Wrestling Swordfish was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1932 and he earned an Academy Honorary Award in 1937. Born Michael Sinnott in Richmond Ste-Bibiane Parish, Quebec, Canada, he was the son of Irish Catholic John Sinnott and Catherine Foy, the newlyweds moved the same year to Richmond, where John Sinnott was hired as a laborer. By 1883, when Michaels brother George was born, John Sinnott was working in Richmond as an innkeeper, John Sinnott and Catherine Foy had all their children and raised their family in Richmond, then a small Eastern Townships village. At that time, Michaels grandparents were living in Danville, Québec, Michael Sinnott moved to Connecticut when he was 17 years old. He lived for a while in Northampton, Massachusetts, where, according to his autobiography and he claimed that the most respected lawyer in town, Northampton mayor Calvin Coolidge, as well as Sennetts own mother, tried to talk him out of his musical ambitions. In New York City, Sennett became an actor, singer, dancer, clown, set designer, a major distinction in his acting career, often overlooked, is the fact that Sennett played Sherlock Holmes eleven times, albeit as a parody, between 1911 and 1913. With financial backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman of the New York Motion Picture Company, Michael Mack Sennett founded Keystone Studios in Edendale, the original main building which was the first totally enclosed film stage and studio ever constructed, is still there today. Mack Sennetts slapstick comedies were noted for their wild car chases, additionally, Sennetts first female comedian was Mabel Normand, who became a major star under his direction and with whom he embarked on a tumultuous romantic relationship. Sennett also developed the Kid Comedies, a forerunner of the Our Gang films, two of those often named as Bathing Beauties do not belong on the list, Mabel Normand and Gloria Swanson. Mabel Normand was a player, and her 1912 8-minute film The Water Nymph may have been the direct inspiration for the Bathing Beauties. Although Gloria Swanson worked for Sennett in 1916 and was photographed in a suit, she was also a star. Not individually featured or named, many of young women ascended to significant careers of their own. They included Juanita Hansen, Claire Anderson, Marie Prevost, Phyllis Haver, in the 1920s Sennetts Bathing Beauties remained popular enough to provoke imitators like the Christie Studios Bathing Beauties and Fox Film Corporations Sunshine Girls. The Sennett Bathing Beauties would continue to appear through 1928, in 1917, Sennett gave up the Keystone trademark and organized his own company, Mack Sennett Comedies Corporation. Sennett went on to more ambitious comedy short films and a few feature-length films. During the 1920s, his subjects were in much demand, featuring stars like Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde, Harry Gribbon, Vernon Dent, Alice Day, Ralph Graves, Charlie Murray. He produced several features with his brightest stars such as Ben Turpin, many of Sennetts films of the early 1920s were inherited by Warner Bros
36.
Deanna Durbin
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Edna Mae Durbin, known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian actress and singer, who appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With the technical skill and vocal range of a lyric soprano. Durbin made her first film appearance with Judy Garland in Every Sunday and her success as the ideal teenaged daughter in films such as Three Smart Girls was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy. In 1938, at the age of 17, Durbin was awarded the Academy Juvenile Award, as she matured, Durbin grew dissatisfied with the girl-next-door roles assigned to her, and attempted to portray a more womanly and sophisticated style. The film noir Christmas Holiday and the whodunit Lady on a Train were, however, Durbin retired from acting and singing in 1949, and withdrew from public life. She married film producer-director Charles Henri David in 1950, and the moved to a farmhouse near Paris. Edna Mae Durbin was born on December 4,1921, at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of James Allen Durbin and his wife Ada, who were originally from Manchester, England. When she was an infant, her moved from Winnipeg to Southern California. At the age of one, Edna Mae was singing childrens songs, by the time she was 10, her parents recognized that she had definite talent and enrolled her in voice lessons at the Ralph Thomas Academy. Durbin soon became Thomass prize pupil, and he showcased her talent at local clubs. In early 1935, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was planning a film on the life of opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink and was having difficulty finding an actress to play the young opera singer. MGM casting director Rufus LeMaire heard about a young soloist performing with the Ralph Thomas Academy. Durbin sang Il Bacio for the vocal coach, who was stunned by her mature soprano voice. She sang the number again for Louis B, Mayer, who signed her to a six-month contract. Durbin made her first film appearance in the short Every Sunday with a young Judy Garland, the film helped to prove the pair, as studio executives had questioned the wisdom of casting two female singers together. Louis B. Mayer decided to both girls, but by the time that decision was made, Durbins contract option had lapsed. Durbin signed a contract with Universal Studios, where she was given the professional name Deanna and she was 14 years old when she made her first feature-length film, Three Smart Girls. When producer Joe Pasternak cast the film, he wanted to borrow Garland from MGM, when Pasternak learned that Durbin was no longer with MGM, he cast her in the film instead
37.
Mickey Rooney
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Mickey Rooney was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian and radio personality. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, a versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney the best there has ever been, clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles, National Velvet and The Human Comedy, said he was the closest thing to a genius I ever worked with. Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his debut at the age of six. At thirteen he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Nights Dream, critic David Thomson hailed his performance as one of cinemas most arresting pieces of magic. In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town, at nineteen he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939. At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made films, which made him one of MGMs most consistently successful actors. Rooney was the top box office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the actors of that era. Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, he was too old for juvenile roles but too short to be a movie star. Nevertheless, Rooneys popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in such as Requiem for a Heavyweight, Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies, Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1964, with another Emmy plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill. At his death, Vanity Fair called him the original Hollywood train wreck and he struggled with alcohol and pill addiction and married eight times, the first time to Ava Gardner. Despite earning millions during his career, he had to file for bankruptcy in 1962 due to mismanagement of his finances. Shortly before his death in 2014 at age 93, he alleged mistreatment by some members and testified before Congress about what he alleged was physical abuse. By the end of his life, his millions in earnings had dwindled to an estate that was valued at only $18,000 and he died owing medical bills and back taxes, and contributions were solicited from the public. His mother was a chorus girl and a burlesque performer. When Rooney was born, they were appearing in a Brooklyn production of A Gaiety Girl, Rooney later recounted in his memoirs that he began performing at the age of 17 months as part of his parents routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo
