Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-8 of 8
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Leon Ames was born Harry Wycoff in Portland, Indiana, to Cora Alice (DeMoss) and Charles Elmer Wycoff. He had always wanted to be an actor and he did it the hard way, serving a long apprenticeship in touring amateur theatre companies -- even selling shoes for a while on 42nd Street in the 1920s. It took him until 1933 to make his debut on Broadway. His play at the Morosco Theatre, "It Pays to Sin," lasted for only three performances after receiving disastrous critical reviews. By then he had already appeared in his first movie, the sombre, expressionistic Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, in which Leon played the dependable love interest of heroine Sidney Fox.
For the next three year, he appeared under his birth name (Leon Waycoff) in a variety of B-movies for "Poverty Row" studios like Mayfair, Showmen's Pictures, World-Wide, Empire and Majestic. His first film as 'Leon Ames' was the Shirley Temple vehicle, Stowaway (1932). For the next few years he served yet another apprenticeship, playing a variety of stalwart characters and the occasional bad guy in such cheerful potboilers as the anemic Murder in Greenwich Village (1937), the amusing Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) and the eminently forgettable Secrets of a Nurse (1938). There were also occasional highlights: he popped up in Ernst Lubitsch's last film at Paramount, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938), with Gary Cooper and Myrna Loy, and even starred as the leading man of Cipher Bureau (1938) and Panama Patrol (1939), albeit at Grand National.
Leon's career improved dramatically after playing Judy Garland's father Alonzo (along with Mary Astor as the matriarch of the family) in MGM's classic, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), directed by Vincente Minnelli. For the first time, Leon's acting abilities were well employed, especially his ability to deliver dryly humorous one-liners. Signed to a contract at MGM, Leon was now cast in pivotal character roles in more important A-grade output, usually as put-upon, loving fathers: A Date with Judy (1948), Little Women (1949), (where he again teamed up with Mary Astor), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), to name but a few. For something completely different, he also played district attorney Kyle Sackett in the film noir, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and, against type, portrayed Paul Newman's thoroughly unpleasant father in From the Terrace (1960).
Leon continued in films well until his twilight years and was last seen as Kathleen Turner's grandfather in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). On television, he had a popular run starring in Life with Father (1953) and Father of the Bride (1961) (played by Spencer Tracy on the big screen) as well as playing Wilbur Post's neighbor Gordon Kirkwood in Mister Ed (1961).
Leon had another claim to fame in being one of 19 actors, who -- after a clandestine meeting in June 1933 -- established the Screen Actor's Guild. For thirty years (commencing in 1945) he held a senior executive position as recording secretary and served as national president of the organization between 1957 and 1979. He also served on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The dapper actor and avid unionist died at a Laguna Beach nursing home at the ripe old age of 91 on October 12, 1993.- Born Patrick George Parsons, Patrick spent part of his childhood in India with his uncle. Patrick was sent to Christ's Hospital, a famous charity school in England, where he formed a close friendship with a boy in the same boarding house, the future film star, Michael Wilding. Some thought Holt was the better actor. He started his career in repertory theatres, and in 1939, landed a lead on the London stage. WWII broke out, and he joined the army, cutting his venture into stage time. He saw service in Burma, Singapore and India, often on secret missions behind enemy lines. By the end of the war, Patrick had rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war, Patrick joined the J. Arthur Rank charm school and established himself as a leading actor of the 1950s second features ('B-films'). Quinlan has called him 'the Dennis Price of B-films..By evolving into a character actor, he continued his career into old age, working on stage and television as well as in the cinema, and was still listed in the Spotlight casting directory at the time of his death. His first wife was the actress Sonia Holm. In 1955, he married Sandra Dorne, with whom he had occasionally costarred. The marriage was happy, and Patrick's said to have never recovered from her death on Christmas Day, 1992.
- Myrtle Lind was born Margaret Victoria Anderson in Mankato, Minnesota in 1898 (Lind was a family name). She attended dramatic school and appeared in some plays before moving to Hollywood with her parents. In 1916 she started her film career at the Mack Sennett studios. Myrtle appeared in numerous comedy shorts and became one of Sennett's famous bathing beauties. One magazine writer said "Myrtle has the face of an angel and the composure of a Scotch preacher". She worked with Ben Turpin No Mother To Guide Him and with Ford Sterling in A Maiden's Trust. At the Sennett studio Myrtle developed a reputation for being difficult. She was fired several times but was always hired back. Her first starring role was in the 1918 drama Nancy Comes Home.
In February of 1920 she married broker Frank A. Gessell. Unfortunately Frank cheated on her and she left him just two months after the wedding. Although she appeared in more than thirty films Myrtle never became a major star. She married photographer William Coleman in 1922 and decided to retire from acting. Her final film was Forget Me Not with Bessie Love. In December of 1923 Myrtle gave birth to a daughter named Jean. She divorced William in 1928 and married Harold S. Stevenson the following year. The couple lived in Atlanta, Georgia where he ran a candy factory. During the 1950s they moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. After her daughter Jean died Myrtle adopted and raised her grandson. She and Harold remained together until his death in 1970. Myrtle spent her final years living quietly in Florida where she died on October 12, 1993 at the age of ninety-five. According to her obituary she was buried next to her husband in Gaffney, South Carolina. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Jean Degrave was born on 5 June 1921 in Janville-sur-Juine, Essonne, France. He was an actor, known for The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), The Three Musketeers: Part I - The Queen's Diamonds (1961) and Au théâtre ce soir (1966). He died on 12 October 1993 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.- David Duncan was born on 28 June 1910 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Hamlet Part 1 (1947), Hamlet Part 1/II (1947) and The Railway Children (1951). He died on 12 October 1993 in Chichester, Sussex, England, UK.
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Bror Lansing was born on 22 May 1901 in Sweden. He is known for Captain America (1966), A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) and The Romance of Betty Boop (1985). He was married to Joanne Duncan Lansing. He died on 12 October 1993 in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Production Designer
- Production Manager
Nicolás Carreras was born in Argentina. He was a producer and production designer, known for Masterworks of Terror (1959), La mano que aprieta (1953) and El novicio rebelde (1968). He died on 12 October 1993 in Argentina.- Hugo Irwin was born in 1962. He was an actor, known for The Attendant (1993). He died on 12 October 1993.