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- An actress best known for her death, her controversial demise occurred the day after being discovered in a hotel bedroom during a party that involved a large amount of alcohol consumption. Actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was the last person seen with Rappe before she was found seriously injured. After her death, Arbuckle went through a murder trial and retrials before being found not guilty. The trials severely damaged the reputations of both Arbuckle and Rappe, and Arbuckle's career never recovered from the scandal.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Composer chiefly remembered for his symphonic poems -the first of that genre to be written by a Frenchman- and for his opera 'Samson et Dalila'. Notable for his pioneering efforts on behalf of French music, he was also a gifted pianist and organist, and a writer of criticism, poetry, essays, and plays. Of his concerti and symphonies, in which he adapted the virtuosity of Franz Liszt's style to French traditions of harmony and form, his 'Third Symphony' is most often performed.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Enrico Caruso (b. Errico Caruso) was born on February 25, 1873, in Naples, Italy. He was the third of seven children to a poor alcoholic father. He received little primary education and briefly studied music with conductor Vicenzo Lombardini. His early income was from singing serenades.
Caruso made his operatic debut on March 15, 1895 at a back street theatre in Naples. After a two-year stint on the South Italian circuit he auditioned for Giacomo Puccini in the summer of 1897. Puccini was looking for a leading tenor for a performance of 'La Boheme' in Livorno. Puccini was so impressed with the range and tone of the young Caruso's voice, that he reportedly mumbled in awe, "Who sent you to me? God himself?" After an unfriendly reception of his performance in Naples, Caruso vowed to never sing in Naples again, and he never did.
His first major role creations were in operas 'Il Voto', composed by Umberto Giordano, on November 10, 1897, and 'L'Arlesiana' by Francesco Cilea on November 27, 1897, at the Teatro Lirico di Milano. Next season Caruso started with a role creation in 'Fedora', composed by Umberto Giordano, performed on the same stage on November 17, 1898. His first recording contract was signed in 1902, in London, with the Gramophone and Typewriter Company for ten arias at the rate of 10 pounds per take. In May, 1902, Caruso debuted at the Covent Garden Opera in 'Rigoletto' by Giuseppe Verdi. With the help of the banker Pasquale Simonelli, he went to New York. There Caruso made his Metropolitan Opera debut in November 1903. He performed for the Met the next eighteen seasons, making 607 appearances in 37 different operatic productions.
Caruso was the first recording star in history, who sold more than a million records with his 1902 recording of 'Vesti le gubba' from 'Pagliacci' (Clowns) by 'Leoncavallo'. His voice had a combination of the full baritone-like character with the smooth and brilliant tenor qualities. His range was broadened into baritone at the expense of the higher tenor notes, Caruso never sang the high C, and often transposed in order to avoid it. He was a master of interpretation, having a rare gift of portamento and legato, and a superior command of phrasing. His legendary 1904 Victor recording of 'Una furtiva lagrima', by Gaetano Donizetti is used in many film soundtracks.
He contracted pneumonia and developed a complication in the form of pleural inflammation (plerisy), followed by abscesses in his lungs. After a series of unsuccessful surgeries Enrico Caruso died on August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was laid to rest in Naples, Italy.- Born in Illinois in 1855, William Barclay Masterson, nicknamed "Bat", drifted westward as a teenager and tried his hand at such professions as buffalo hunter, army scout and gunfighter. While visiting his brother Jim in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1876, he was offered a job as deputy city marshal by the assistant city marshal, Wyatt Earp. Since Jim Masterson was already a deputy marshal, Bat took the job. His instincts as a lawman and gunfighter were so good that the next year he was elected sheriff of Ford County, which included Dodge City, where his brother was still a marshal. However, two years later he ran for re-election as county sheriff and lost. He left Kansas and traveled to Arizona, where he spent much time as a professional gambler in the Tombstone vicinity, returning to Dodge City in 1882 to help his brother Jim in a business dispute. For the next ten years Masterson divided his time between being a professional gambler and short stints as a lawman in various small towns in Colorado. His reputation often preceded him, however; in Denver the local sheriff, after being advised that Masterson was in town and drinking heavily, demanded that he either surrender his guns or leave town. Not wanting to go unarmed in a town where he had a lot of enemies, Masterson was forced to leave. The incident apparently did no lasting damage to his reputation, however, as in 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Masterson as United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York State. Although he was also offered an appointment as marshal of the Oklahoma Territory, Masterson said that because of his reputation anyone wanting to make a reputation for himself would come after him, and since he saw no use in getting caught up in a kill-or-be-killed situation, he turned it down. He remained U.S. Marshal in New York State for two years, resigning in 1907 to take a job he had never done before: a sportswriter with a New York City newspaper, the Morning Telegraph. He kept that job for the rest of his life, and in fact was at his desk working on October 25, 1921, when he dropped dead.
- Frank Mills was born on 24 January 1868 in Kendall, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), The Unchastened Woman (1918) and The House of Mirrors (1916). He was married to Helen McBeth. He died on 11 June 1921 in Galesburg, Michigan, USA.
- Billie Ritchie was born in Scotland in 1874 and joined the world-renowned Karno Fun Factory and Comedy Troupe traveling the world with Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, among others. In 1914 he left Karno and began making silent films for director Henry "Pathe" Lehrman's L-Ko Comedy studios and then his Fox/Sunshine Studios. Ritchie always claimed that Charlie Chaplin imitated his on-stage character of a rag-bedecked "little tramp," although he himself was saddled with the description of being one of the many Chaplin imitators. In late 1919 Ritchie was injured while making a Lehrmann comedy when several ostriches used in filming attacked the unfortunate actor. He was severely injured, and over the next two years was confined to his bed with serious back and internal injuries. He eventually succumbed to his injuries on July 6, 1921, dying in bed at his Hollywood home at 1200 North McCadden Place. He was only 42.
- Born in 1858 to Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife, Princess Adelheid zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Augusta-Victoria's family was uprooted from their hereditary fief due to war, and as a consequence she lived throughout Europe as a girl. She met then-Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany in 1879 and married him two years later; she was a dutiful wife and mother, and posed no challenge to her husband's dominating personality. When his father died in 1888, Wilhelm became Kaiser of Germany. After World War I, she followed her husband into exile in the Netherlands, where she died in 1921.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych was born on 13 December 1877 in Monastyrok, Podolia, Russian Empire [now Monastyrok, Vinnytsia Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine]. Mykola Dmytrovych was a composer, known for Die Hard 2 (1990), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005). Mykola Dmytrovych died on 23 January 1921 in Markivka, Podolian Governorate, Ukrainian SSR [now Markivka, Haisin Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine].- Lauri de Frece was born on 3 March 1880 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for All the Sad World Needs (1918), Once Upon a Time (1918) and The Labour Leader (1917). He was married to Fay Compton. He died on 25 August 1921 in Trouville-sur-Mer, Calvados, France.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Séverin-Mars was born on 21 February 1873 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. He was an actor and director, known for The Wheel (1923), Macbeth (1915) and La dixième symphonie (1918). He died on 17 July 1921 in Courgent, Yvelines, France.- Robert Broderick was born in 1864 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Redemption of David Corson (1914), Just for Tonight (1918) and The Dictator (1915). He was married to Maureen Broderick. He died on 9 July 1921 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Countess Du Cello was born in 1864 in Buffalo, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Girl of Lost Lake (1916), The Secret of the Swamp (1916) and The Man Who Took a Chance (1917). She was married to Christopher Ellis Bunting and H.C. Bunting. She died on 28 November 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Rudolph Christians was born on 15 January 1869 in Middoge/Oldenburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Foolish Wives (1922), Deep Waters (1920) and Dissonanzen des Lebens (1913). He was married to Bertha Klein (opera and concert singer). He died on 2 February 1921 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- Actress
Lillian Hale was born in 1881 in Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress. She was married to Benjamin Sager Deane. She died on 2 September 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.- Sid Hatfield grew up in poverty in Blackberry, Kentucky, one of Jacob and Rebecca Hatfield's 9 surviving (of 12) children. A miner in his teens, he then became a blacksmith. He was nicknamed 'Smilin' Sid' because of his distinctive grin, showing gold-capped teeth. Despite his boyish appearance - he was small and slight, but wiry - he had a tough reputation. However, in 1919, when the mining community of Matewan came under threat from the Baldwin-Felts Agency, the mayor, Cabell Cornelis Testerman, appointed him police chief.
Hatfield was an effective lawman, keeping order in the mining town and standing up to the coal companies and the Baldwin-Felts agents as the miners fought for their right to organise. The Baldwin-Felts Agency offered him substantial bribes if he would permit them to station machine-guns in the town. He refused. On 19 May 1920, he and Testerman resisted the Baldwin-Felts agents' forcible evictions of unionised miners. In the gun battle, known as the battle of Matewan or the Matewan Massacre, 7 of the 13 Baldwin-Felts men were killed, included Albert and Lee Felts, brothers of the agency's head. Two miners were killed, and Mayor Testerman was mortally wounded, apparently by Albert Felts. Several more men, on both sides, were wounded.
Sid Hatfield married Testerman's widow, Jessie, only a couple of weeks after her first husband's death. Tom Felts (and, later, the agency spy Charles Everett Lively) claimed that this proved that he, not Albert Felts, had shot her husband in order to marry her. However, they had been friends for a long time: according to Jessie, the Mayor had asked Sid to look after her and their young son if anything were to befall him, given the dangers they knew they faced. The trial over the Matewan gunfight took place in spring 1921, with the acquittal of Hatfield and the miners.
Hatfield was filmed, playing himself, in 'Smilin' Sid' (1920), a short film re-enactment of the battle made by and for the United Mine Workers of America, and became a local celebrity: the miners' hero. But he knew himself to be a marked man. As the struggle continued, the new local authorities in Matewan were less supportive of the union. Martial law was declared in the summer of 1921. Hatfield lost his post as Chief of Police in Matewan, but was elected Constable for Magnolia District.
He was unarmed and accompanied by Jessie when he arrived in Welch on 1 August 1921 for trial for his alleged involvement in other mining-related disturbances. His friend and deputy Edward Chambers, and his wife, Sallie, were with them, too, as Ed was also charged. As they began to climb the steps to the courthouse, the two young men were gunned down by Baldwin-Felts agents, including Charlie Lively. Sid Hatfield died almost instantly from three or four chest wounds; Lively finished off Chambers with a shot in the head, despite his wife's protestations. Although the killers were charged, none was ever convicted of the murders.
For the second time in 14 months, Jessie was a widow. Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers were buried as heroes. Outrage at their murder fuelled the miners' uprising, culminating in the battle of Blair Mountain. - Director
- Actor
- Writer
A former railroad clerk, Tucker made a name for himself in 1913 with a film entitled Traffic in Souls (1913), a six-reel expose of white slavery. Tucker and Carl Laemmle financed the sum of $57,000 to make the film in New York, the film ultimately grossed $450,000. The success of the film enabled Laemmle, under pressure from Thomas Edison's Patent Trust, to follow the exodus to Hollywood and create his own studio, Universal City. Tucker was married to actress Elisabeth Risdon.- Katherine Griffith was born on 30 September 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1913), Huckleberry Finn (1920) and A Little Princess (1917). She was married to Harry Griffith. She died on 17 October 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Joseph Donohue was born on 14 August 1884 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Daring of Diana (1916), The World for Sale (1918) and Within the Law (1917). He died on 24 October 1921 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- John Cook was born on 1 October 1876 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Girl from Nowhere (1919), Gloriana (1916) and The Right to Be Happy (1916). He died on 2 October 1921.
- Fred Starr was born in 1878 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Riders of the Dawn (1920), Man of the Forest (1921) and The Lure of the Circus (1918). He died on 20 August 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Hayward Mack was born on 20 March 1882 in Albany, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Oliver Twist, Jr. (1921), By the House That Jack Built (1911) and Frau Van Vinkle's Crullers (1913). He was married to Marjorie Ellison. He died on 24 December 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Georges Feydeau was born on 8 December 1862 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for The Girl from Maxim's (1933), Ooh La La! (1968) and La vida en broma (1950). He was married to Marie-Anne Carolus-Duran. He died on 5 June 1921 in Paris, France.
- Andrew Robson was born in 1868 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for Salvation Nell (1915), Salomy Jane (1914) and The Corsican Brothers (1920). He died on 26 April 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- E.W. Hornung was born on 7 June 1866 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Raffles (1939), Raffles (1930) and Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1925). He was married to Constance Conan Doyle. He died on 22 March 1921 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Sam McVey was born on 17 May 1884 in Waelder, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Leather Pushers (1922) and Forgotten Fighters II (2022). He died on 23 December 1921 in New York City, New York, USA.