Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Don Adams was born in New York, to a father of Hungarian Jewish descent, and a mother of German and Irish ancestry. He had a sister, Gloria, and a brother, Dick Yarmy. He served in the U.S. Marines in World War II and contracted malaria during the fighting on Guadalcanal island. After the war he began a career as a stand-up comic. He married singer Adelaide Adams and adopted her last name as his stage surname. He had seven children altogether, (four with his first wife, two with his second, one with his third): Caroline Adams, Christine, Catherine, Cecily Adams, Stacey Adams, Sean, Beige. His television career began when he won the Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948) talent contest. His most famous role, of course, is as bumbling, incompetent, clueless yet endearing secret agent Maxwell Smart in the classic sitcom/spy spoof Get Smart (1965), although he also had a career as a television director and a Broadway and theatrical dramatic actor.

Walter Ackerman was born on 28 June 1881 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909), Back to God's Country (1927) and Aflame in the Sky (1927). He died on 12 December 1938 in Bishop, California, USA.

David Abel was born on 15 December 1883 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He was a cinematographer, known for Holiday Inn (1942), Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936). He died on 12 November 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Louis Adlon was born on 7 October 1907 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for North Pole, Ahoy! (1934), The Big Show-Off (1945) and Adventures of the Flying Cadets (1943). He was married to Rosemary Davies. He died on 31 March 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Renee Adoree was born Jeanne de la Fontein in Lille in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, on September 30, 1898. She had what one could call a normal childhood. Her background is, perhaps, one of the most difficult of all actresses to research. What we do know is that her interest in acting surfaced during her teen years with minor stage productions in France. By 1920 she had attracted the attention of American producers and she came to New York. Her first film before US audiences was The Strongest (1920) that same year. That was to be it until 1921, when she appeared in Made in Heaven (1921). The lack of roles led Renee to wonder if she had made the right move by going into motion pictures. Finally MGM saw fit to put her in more films in 1922. Movies such as West of Chicago (1922), Day Dreams (1922), Mixed Faces (1922) and Monte Cristo (1922) saw her with meatier roles than she had had previously. Renee was, finally, hitting her stride. Better roles to be sure, but still she was not yet of first-class caliber.

All that changed in 1925 when she starred as Melisande with John Gilbert in The Big Parade (1925). The picture made stars out of Renee, Gilbert and Karl Dane. Based on the film's success, Renee was put in another production, Excuse Me (1925). The movie lacked the drama of the previous picture but it was well-received. In a plot written by Elinor Glyn, Renee starred as Suzette in Man and Maid (1925). This was Renee's most provocative role yet and she was fast becoming one of the sexiest actresses on the screen. In 1927 Renee starred as Nang Ping in Mr. Wu (1927), along with her sister Mira Adoree. The film, with co-stars Ralph Forbes and Lon Chaney, was a hit, but it was Renee's character that carried the film. After several more pictures, her career was slowing down. Although, she had a bit part in Show People (1928) later that year. The following year she had another bit role in His Glorious Night (1929), this time uncredited. MGM then released her from contract, but she was re-discovered by First National Pictures for whom she appeared in The Spieler (1928), playing a struggling carnival manager trying to overcome the dishonesty that went on in her organization.

Ill with tuberculosis, she retired in 1930. Less than a week after her 35th birthday, on Oct. 5, 1933, Renee Adoree died in Tujunga, CA.

Adrian Adolph Greenburg, born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, March 3, 1903, to Gilbert and Helena (Pollack) Greenburg. He began his professional career while still attending the New York School for Fine and Applied Arts by contributing to the costumes for "George White's Scandals" in 1921. He is credited for that production by his created name of Gilbert Adrian, a combination of his father's first name and his own. He transferred to NYSFAA's Paris campus in 1922 and while there was hired by Irving Berlin. In the fall of 1922 he returned to New York and began work on Berlin's 1922-1923 edition of "The Music Box Revue". Adrian continued to work on the Berlin reviews as well as other theatrical and film projects.

His big film break was designing costumes for Mae Murray in her first M.G.M. film, The Merry Widow (1925). He was then hired by Natacha Rambova to design for the independent films of her husband, Rudolph Valentino. In mid-1925, after designing costumes for the prologue of "The Gold Rush" at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Adrian was hired by Cecil B. DeMille to become head of the wardrobe department at his new studio. When DeMille moved to M.G.M. in 1928, Adrian moved there also. When his DeMille contract expired, Adrian signed with M.G.M. and remained with that studio until 1942.

He opened his own very successful couture business and continued to do some films until such time as his business expanded, with a salon in New York as well as Beverly Hills. His fashions were sold in department stores around the U.S. and he was the recipient of the 1944 Coty Award for Fashion. He also received a Lord & Taylor award for his work on Marie Antoinette (1938) in 1938 and a special award from Parsons, the successor to NYSFAA. His last film was Lovely to Look At (1952). He retired from the fashion industry in 1952 after a heart attack. He relocated to Brazil with his wife (since 1938) actress Janet Gaynor and their son, Robin. He returned to the U.S. to do "Grand Hotel", a musical with Viveca Lindfors and Paul Muni and his last career credit was the costume design for the Broadway musical "Camelot". He was working on this production when he died of a heart attack on September 13, 1959. Adrian never received an Oscar.

Formerly a stage actress in San Francisco and on Broadway, Ainsworth went to Hollywood in the 1920s as an agent. She helped many actors attain stardom: Guy Madison, Marilyn Monroe, Rhonda Fleming, Carol Channing and Howard Keel, among others. She also put together a deal for Guy Madison to star in the television series "Wild Bill Hickok."

Spottiswoode Aitken was born on 16 April 1867 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Birth of a Nation (1915), The White Circle (1920) and The Americano (1916). He was married to Marion Dana Jones. He died on 26 February 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Albert Akst was born on 31 August 1899 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. He was an editor, known for Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and The Band Wagon (1953). He died on 19 April 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

A character actor whose film career spanned from Hollywood's Silent Era until the 1950s. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 11, 1882, Erville would start his film career in 1918 at the age of 36 in Her Man (1918). Film pioneer D.W. Griffith utilized Erville in many of his films, including 1924's America (1924) and Isn't Life Wonderful (1924). In 1926, Erville was in Sally of the Sawdust (1925), and for the first time, worked behind as well as in front of the camera, as the movie's Assistant Director. By the time talkies became the norm, Erville found his age and white hair earned him many "old codger" roles as everything from a sheriff to a blank clerk, although a lot of his roles fell into the the "uncredited" bit category. Despite this, he did manage to make his mark in several credited roles, with one of the best being his portrayal of Nate Tompkins in 1941's Sergeant York (1941). His last film role would be uncredited in 1957's The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), and on August 4, 1957, he would pass away at the age of 74 in Glendale, California.

Frank "Fatty" Alexander was an obese comedian who appeared in silent one- and two-reel slapstick comedies as a side-kick before co-starring with two other heavyweights, Hilliard Karr and 'Kewpie Ross' in F.B.O.'s low-budget "Ton of Fun" series at the end of the silent era. Born in Olympia, Washington on May 25, 1879, Frank Alexander was a cowboy and stage driver prior to ballooning up in weight and turning his attention away from the bright lights of the open spaces to those of Hollywood.

He made his screen debut with Keystone in support of screen comedian Syd Chaplin in Gussle's Backward Way (1915), the eighth of Chaplin's nine "Gussle" comedies, and his debut as his own director. Ironically, Syd -- Charles Chaplin's older half-brother -- had made his own acting debut the year before in Fatty's Wine Party (1914), with the great man himself, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, after whom Alexander modeled his screen persona. Paramount's biggest star at the time of his fall from grace after his three manslaughter trials for the death of Virginia Rappe, the original "Fatty" at 266 lbs. couldn't match Frank Alexander, who topped the scale at 350 lbs.

Although Syd Chaplin continued with his Gussle character for one more movie, Alexander did not appear as his sidekick, although he stayed on the Keystone lot. His next appearance was as a fireman in the Mack Swain vehicle When Ambrose Dared Walrus (1915). After moving over to Fox for a couple of comedies with Harold Lloyd in 1917, Alexander caught on with comedian Larry Semon, a white-faced comedian whose screen popularity and income rivaled that of the great Charlie Chaplin himself.

Alexander became a member of Semon's stock company at Vitagraph along with Oliver Hardy, whom Alexander made look as svelte as his future partner Stan Laurel. From 1918's Pluck and Plotters (1918) to 1925's The Perfect Clown (1925), Alexander would appear in 27 Semon films, including Babes and Boobs (1918), Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs (1918), and Boodle and Bandits (1918). Kid Speed (1924) was typical of Semon's two-reel farces that were filmed quickly at the Charles Ray Studios.

Fatty played Avery DuPays (a pun on avoirdupois), the city's wealthiest man, who will marry off his daughter Lou (Dorothy Dwan) to whomever wins the Big Auto Race. The Speed Kid (Semon) and Dangerous Dan McGrew (Oliver "Babe" Hardy) are in love with Lou, but she seems to prefer the Kid (her real life husband, Semon). Fatty's character favors the wealthier McGrew, who sabotages the brakes on The Kid's race car. Despite this problem, or more likely, because of it, -- the Kid wins both the race and the girl. The entire second reel features the race, which features The Speed Kid barreling through a farm house and emerging covered in a sheet, thus evoking the specter of the Ku Klux Klan and scaring his African- American sidekick/mechanic Spencer Bell (often billed by Semon with the highly imaginative moniker "G. Howe Black" and mostly forced to play the crude stereotype). At one point, former world's heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries (the Great White Hope himself!) comes on-screen as a blacksmith just to punch "Babe" Hardy in the nose!

Alexander ended his association with Semon after playing Dorothy's father in Semon's "Wizard of Oz" (1925), a box office flop that finished off Semon personally and professionally. Frank Alexander made avoirdupois, if not screen history, as "Fatty" Alexander, part of "A Ton of Fun", one of three very fat comedians who appeared in a series of two-reel slapstick comedies produced by 'Joe Rock' from 1925-1927. The team made its debut in 1925's Tailoring (1925), with Fatty using the moniker 'Tiny' (which Alexander also used in "All Tied Up" (1925), directed by and co- starring beanpole comic actor Slim Summerville. The shorts were made by Poverty Row studio Standard Photoplay Co. and released by Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Office (F.B.O.), the precursor to R.K.O Radio Pictures.

Advertized by F.B.O. as the "three fattest men on the screen, "Fatty romped across the screen in with fellow fat men Hilliard Karr (a.k.a. "Fat" Karr) and Kewpie Ross in 34 shorts, many with the adjective "Heavy" in the title (The Heavy Parade (1926), Heavy Fullbacks (1926), Heavy Infants (1928) and the strangely named Heavyation (1926)). Also billed as "The Three Fatties", the "Ton of Fun" team offered the most anarchic comedy per pound available at the time or after. In the series entry Three of a Kind (1981), The Three Fatties play entertainers at a nightclub/restaurant. In short order, a melee breaks out between the audience and A Ton of Fun, with the expected result of tables overturned and dishes smashed.

After making the last "Ton of Fun" comedy in 1928, A Joyful Day (1928), Alexander became a supporting player at Hal Roach Studios in two of director Leo McCarey's shorts, Feed 'em and Weep (1928) and Madame Q (1929) starring Edgar Kennedy. With the coming of the sound era, Fatty Alexander's career tailed off. At Roach, he appeared in support of 'Harry Langdon' in The Shrimp (1930), but was then bounced around among the studios, including Roach, Universal and R.K.O., playing bit parts as fat men. He appeared in support of Zazu Pitts in two of her comedies, then did a turn in the early 'George Stevens' comedy The Kick-Off! (1931). His last movie was 1933's "The Barber Shop" starring W.C. Fields, in which he appeared as in an unbilled bit part.

Frank "Fatty" Alexander, 58, died in his 4155 Lankershim Blvd. home on September 8, 1937 in Los Angeles, California. His "Variety" obit called him a 440-pound comic.

James Alexander was born in Indiana, on May 20, 1914. He appeared in only a few motion pictures during his brief career and did not start acting until he was 38 years old, with his film debut in the 1952 motion picture "Jack and the Beanstalk", starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.

His later credits include "Port of Hell" (1954), "Treasure of Ruby Hills" (1955), "Las Vegas Shakedown" (1955), and "Night Freight" (1955). He had roles in the television shows "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" and "The Abbott and Costello Show." He died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 46.

J. Grubb Alexander was born on 25 December 1887 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. J. Grubb was a writer, known for The Trail of the Octopus (1919), The Man Who Laughs (1928) and Murder Will Out (1930). J. Grubb was married to Elynor G. Ernst. J. Grubb died on 11 January 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Murray Alper was born on 11 January 1904 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Saboteur (1942), The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Royal Family of Broadway (1930). He died on 16 November 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

A.E. Anson was born on 14 September 1879 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Arrowsmith (1931) and The Road to Singapore (1931). He was married to Cora Busch, Deidre Doyle and Mary Mallison. He died on 25 June 1936 in Monrovia, California, USA.

Andrew Arbuckle was born on 5 September 1887 in Galveston, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for John Petticoats (1919), Big Tremaine (1916) and The Spider and the Rose (1923). He was married to Blanche Duquesne. He died on 21 September 1938 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

William L. Arndt is known for Can't Stop the Music (1980) and American Sports Story (2024).

Composer, conductor and songwriter ("I Cried For You", "Sweet and Lovely"), leader of his own orchestra, he toured Europe and the US, appearing in theatres, night clubs and ballrooms. He joined ASCAP in 1925, and his chief musical collaborators include Arthur Freed, Jules Lemare, Abe Lyman and Harry Tobias. His popular song compositions also include "One Kiss"; "It Might Have Been You"; "After All is Said and Done"; "I'm Gonna Get You", and "It Must Be True".

Mabel Wiles was born on 25 April 1888 in Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for A Son of Erin (1916), Jordan Is a Hard Road (1915) and The Planter (1917). She died on 6 January 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Arthur started in the business as a Broadway columnist for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, later going to work for the Toronto Star. He worked on Cecil B. DeMille¡¦s executive staff as well as serving on the executive board of the Writers Guild of America. He also worked on the Oscar winning documentary, Seeds of Destiny, in 1946.

Max Asher was born on 5 May 1885 in Oakland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Rip Van Winkle (1921), The Great Towel Robbery (1913) and Captain Kidd's Priceless Treasure (1914). He died on 15 April 1957 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Sylvia Ashley was previously married to Prince Dimitri Djordjadze, Clark Gable, Edward Stanley, 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley, Douglas Fairbanks and Anthony Ashley-Cooper.

The first actress to sign a contract with Universal in 1915, Gertrude Astor (born in Ohio as Gertrude Irene Astor) began her career playing trombone and saxophone on a riverboat. Towering over most of her leading men at 5'11", she often played golddiggers, rich socialites or a leading lady's best friend in such one-reeled films and feature length silents as Polly Redhead (1917), The Price of a Good Time (1917), The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit (1918), The Lion Man (1919), Mary Pickford's Through the Back Door (1921), The Wall Flower (1922), Alice Adams (1923), The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923), Stage Struck (1925), The Boy Friend (1926), Kiki (1926), The Strong Man (1926), Shanghaied (1927), The Cat and the Canary (1927) and Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) (as Little Eva's mother). The popular female stars she bolstered included Pickford, Norma Talmadge, Gloria Swanson, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Shirley Mason, Olive Borden and Laura La Plante

With the advent of sound, Astor's career continued, landing her in a number of two-reel comedies, mostly with the Hal Roach studio and occasionally with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the "Our Gang" gang and Charley Chase. "I've never been so embarrassed in all my life!" seemed to be one of her most used lines in films. Acting until the 1960s and often in bit parts (she once played a corpse in The Scarlet Claw (1944), her last movie bit was for John Ford in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Astor often relayed her film memories to friends, fans and historians. At one point in her career she and actress Lilyan Tashman, were known as the most elegant and best dressed women in Hollywood. Astor died following a stroke on her 90th birthday at the Motion Piture Home in Woodland Hills.