Kensico Valhalla

Anne Bancroft was born on September 17, 1931 in The Bronx, NY, the middle daughter of Michael Italiano (1905-2001), a dress pattern maker, and Mildred DiNapoli (1907-2010), a telephone operator. She made her cinema debut in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) in 1952, and over the next five years appeared in a lot of undistinguished movies such as Gorilla at Large (1954), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), New York Confidential (1955), Nightfall (1956) and The Girl in Black Stockings (1957). By 1957 she grew dissatisfied with the scripts she was getting, left the film business and spent the next five years doing plays on Broadway. She returned to screens in 1962 with her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker (1962), for which she won an Oscar. Bancroft went on to give acclaimed performances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Slender Thread (1965), Young Winston (1972), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), The Elephant Man (1980), To Be or Not to Be (1983), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) and other movies, but her most famous role would be as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967). Her status as the "older woman" in the film is iconic, although in real life she was only eight years older than Katharine Ross and just six years older than Dustin Hoffman. Bancroft would later express her frustration over the fact that the film overshadowed her other work. Selective for much of her intermittent career, she appeared onscreen more frequently in the '90s and early '00s, playing a range of characters in such films as Love Potion No. 9 (1992), Point of No Return (1993), Home for the Holidays (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Keeping the Faith (2000) and Up at the Villa (2000). She also started to make some TV films, including Deep in My Heart (1999) for which she won an Emmy. Sadly, on June 6, 2005, Bancroft passed away at the age of 73 from uterine cancer. Her death surprised many, as she had not disclosed her illness to the public. Among her survivors was her husband of 41 years, Mel Brooks, and their son Max Brooks, who was born in 1972. Her final film, the animated feature Delgo (2008), was released posthumously in 2008 and dedicated to her memory.

Mary Adams was born on 27 June 1910 in Ogden, Utah, USA. She was an actress, known for Executive Suite (1954), Blood of Dracula (1957) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962). She died on 30 November 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Making his stage debut at age 16, John Alexander joined a Shakespearean repertory company and in 1917 appeared on Broadway in "The Merchant of Venice." Although he played many parts on both stage and in films, his best known role was that of the crazed Teddy Brewster--the son who thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt - in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), a part he played both on stage and in the movie.

Glenn Anders was born September 1, 1889 in Los Angeles, California. He attended the Wallace dramatic school in California and began a career as a performer in vaudeville on the Orpheum circuit. He arrived in New York in 1919 and attended Columbia University from 1919 until 1921. He made his Broadway debut in 1919 in a play entitled Just Around the Corner. Mr. Anders had a very long and distinguished career on Broadway and during his career appeared in three Pulitzer Prize winning plays. Those plays were: Hell Bent for Heaven (1924) written by Hatcher Hughes; They Knew What They Wanted (1924) written by Sidney Howard and Strange Interlude (1928) written by Eugene O'Neill. Most of his career was spent on stage but he also had some noteworthy film appearances. He made approximately eight movies from 1925 to 1951. His most memorable film role was that of Grisby the lawyer in Lady from Shanghai, The (1948) starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. After retiring from the stage he resided for several years in Mexico. He returned to the United States to reside at the Actor's Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey. He resided at the Actor's Fund Home until his death in 1981 at the age of 92.

Peter Arno was born on 8 January 1904 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Artist and Models (1937). He was married to Mary Livingston Lansing and Lois Long: NK Lipstick. He died on 22 February 1968 in Port Chester, New York, USA.

Richard Abbott is known for Intimate Obsession (1992) and Fairly Legal (2011).

Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. He served in WWII, and afterwards got a job playing the drums at nightclubs in the Catskills. Brooks eventually started a comedy act and also worked in radio and as Master Entertainer at Grossinger's Resort before going to television.

He was a writer for, Your Show of Shows (1950) Caesar's Hour (1954) and wrote the Broadway show Shinbone Alley. He also worked in the creation of The 2000 Year Old Man (1975) and Get Smart (1965) before embarking on a highly successful film career in writing, acting, producing and directing.

Brooks is famous for the spoofs of different film genres that he made such as Blazing Saddles (1974), History of the World: Part I (1981), Silent Movie (1976), Young Frankenstein (1974), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), High Anxiety (1977), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), and Spaceballs (1987).

Wendy Barrie was born in Hong Kong to an English-Irish father and a Russian Jewish mother. Her dad was the distinguished King's Counsel F.C. Jenkins which ensured that the family was well off. Wendy received her education at a convent school in England and a finishing school in Switzerland. After working in beauty parlors for a brief period she set her sights on the stage and made her first foray into acting at the London Savoy Theatre in "Wonder Bar" (1930). Two years later, she was "discovered" by producer Alexander Korda while lunching at the Savoy Grill. Having successfully auditioned for the part she was famously cast as Jane Seymour, the third of the six wives at the center of The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), starring Charles Laughton. Hollywood soon beckoned and Wendy left England for America in 1934. During the next decade and a bit, she found regular employment at Paramount (1935), Universal (1936-38) and RKO (1938-42). A blonde, vivacious lass with a certain innocent charm and an instinctive acting ability, she tended to play mostly ingenue roles in minor films and often rose above her material. This led to her being given a grittier role in the social drama Dead End (1937) and Wendy's career henceforth alternated between supporting roles in bigger pictures and leads in B-movies.

From the late 1930s her parts became more varied, ranging from a gangster's moll in the crime melodrama I Am the Law (1938) to a plane crash victim in Five Came Back (1939) and Richard Greene's love interest in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), with Basil Rathbone as "Sherlock Holmes". By the 1940s, Wendy's star began to fade. This was in no small part due to the bad publicity generated by her real-life role as mistress of notorious underworld figure Bugsy Siegel. As her pickings became ever slimmer she found herself relegated to perfunctory leads in various entries of "The Saint" and "Falcon" series at RKO. After appearing in a string of other decidedly mediocre productions she decided to embark on what turned out to be a successful new career as television host of her own pioneering talk show, Picture This (1948) (1948-50). Her relaxed, informal style brought her great popularity and plaudits from television critics like Jack Gould of the New York Times. Wendy's other claim to fame was as one of the first celebrities to make television commercials, famously with Revlon on 'The $64,000 Question'. During the 1960s, she also broadcast her own radio interview show from the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. She was actively involved in various charities and was known to attend as guest speaker at philanthropic functions, freely giving of her time without remuneration. In the mid '70s, Wendy suffered a stroke which affected her mental state and she spent the last years of her life at a nursing home in Englewood, New Jersey, where she died in February 1978, aged 65.

Ed Barrow was born on 10 May 1868 in Springfield, Illinois, USA. He is known for The Pride of the Yankees (1942). He died on 15 December 1953 in Port Chester, New York, USA.

Aubrey Beattie was born on 8 October 1865 in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was an actor, known for Hedda Gabler (1917), The Greater Woman (1917) and Mrs. Balfame (1917). He died on 22 December 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Lee Beggs was born on 3 December 1870 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Ten Nights in a Barroom (1913), Janice Meredith (1924) and Phantom Paradise (1912). He was married to Doris Singleton. He died on 18 November 1943 in New York City, New York, USA.

Film and stage actor and producer who once operated a stock company in East Orange, New Jersey. He made his acting debut at age five in a play about Davy Crockett and his final stage appearance was in "The Vamp" in 1955.

While in Chicago with a touring company of "No Time For Sergeants" he was beaten to death in his sixteenth-floor hotel suite. Police arrested Robert Mitchell, 19, and Haskell Ray Kellems, 18, of Evansville, Indiana who authorities said tried to rob him in his hotel apartment. Beggs put up a struggle when they attempted to bind and gag him, and the pair overpowered Beggs and beat him with bottles.

Frank Behrens was born on 15 February 1919 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), One Step Beyond (1959) and Suspense (1949). He was married to Amzie Strickland. He died on 15 December 1986 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Henri Bendel was born on 22 January 1868 in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA. He was a costume designer, known for Gloria's Romance (1916). He died on 22 March 1936 in New York City, New York, USA.

Ms. Blaine is most noted for having portrayed Miss Adelaide, the long-suffering, perpetually engaged chorus girl, in the Broadway and film versions of Guys and Dolls (1955). She originated the role in 1950 on Broadway and stopped the show each night with her rendition of "Adelaide's Lament," in which she complains about having a bad cold because of her long engagement to gambler Nathan Detroit. Ms. Blaine also originated roles on Broadway in "Say Darling" and "Enter Laughing." She also starred on Broadway in "Hatful of Rain," "Company," and, briefly, in "Zorba." She starred in many national tours, including "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Don't Drink the Water," "Hello Dolly," and "Gypsy." Before going to Broadway, Ms. Blaine was a starlet at 20th Century-Fox, appearing in many musical comedy films, including Jitterbugs (1943), Greenwich Village (1944), and State Fair (1945). In the mid 1950s, Ms. Blaine reprised her role as Adelaide in the film version of Guys and Dolls (1955) with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. After her Broadway appearance in "Company" in 1972, she appeared on national television at the 25th Tony anniversary special. This led to a revival of her TV career, and she continued to appear in guest roles on TV and in independent films and theater until her retirement in 1984.

William Blaisdell was born in April 1865 in California, USA. He was an actor, known for Racing Luck (1924), The Yankee Clipper (1927) and His Angel Child (1929). He was married to Clara Lavine (stage actress). He died on 1 January 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Jerri Blanchard is known for Follies Girl (1943) and Hotel Broadway (1949).

Evangeline Booth was born on 25 December 1865 in Hackney, London, England, UK. She died on 17 July 1950 in Hartsdale, New York, USA.

Herbert Booth was born on 26 August 1862 in Penzance, Cornwall, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Social Salvation (1898), Alias Nick Beal (1949) and Soldiers of the Cross (1900). He was married to Anna Ethel Lane and Cornelie Schoch. He died on 25 September 1926 in Yonkers, New York, USA.

Sully Boyar was born on 14 December 1923 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Dog Day Afternoon (1975), In the Soup (1992) and Car Wash (1976). He was married to Josephine Pizzo. He died on 23 March 2001 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA.

Thomas W. Broadhurst was a writer, known for Damaged Love (1931). He died on 1 May 1936.

Russ Brown was born on 30 May 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Anatomy of a Murder (1959), South Pacific (1958) and Damn Yankees (1958). He was married to Cornelia Rogers, Loretta Daye and Gertrude Jean Whitaker. He died on 19 October 1964 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.

Billie Burke was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1884 in Washington, D.C. Her father was the internationally famous clown, Billy Burke, and she would spend most of her early years touring Europe before the family settled in London. In 1903, she appeared on the stage as an actress and came to America in 1907 to star opposite John Drew in "My Wife". A red-haired beauty, she became the toast of Broadway and married promoter Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. in April 1914. Billie was signed in 1915 to make the film Peggy (1916). Of the next 15 films that she made, she would make 14 in New York. In between films, she would return to the stage which was her first love. Her last films were released in 1921 and she went into semi-retirement until their fortune was wiped out in 1929. Billie would return to films to support herself and her husband. Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. would die, a broken man, in 1932.

It was in the comedy drama Dinner at Eight (1933) that Billie would find the character that she would play the rest of her career. It is the hapless, feather-brained lady with the unmistakably high voice who would be more interested in little details than what was at hand. In some films, like Piccadilly Jim (1936), she was obviously too old for the part, but played it to the hilt. Beginning in 1937, she starred in the "Topper" series of films (Topper (1937), Topper Takes a Trip (1938) and Topper Returns (1941)) for producer Hal Roach in which she played Mrs. Topper with her usual fluffy performance. But for most of the people who were raised on television, she will always be remembered as Glinda, the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939). She continued to make films though out the 1940s and started another series with Father of the Bride (1950) and the follow-up Father's Little Dividend (1951).

A real trouper, she next went to television with the television series Doc Corkle (1952). The series was canceled after three weeks due to poor writing. By 1953, her career was slowing down and she would only make three more movies in 1959 and 1960. The best remembered one would be John Ford's Western Sergeant Rutledge (1960). Billie Burke retired for good and lived in Los Angeles, California, where she died at age 85 of natural causes on May 14, 1970.

Georgia Burke was born on 27 February 1878 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She was an actress, known for Anna Lucasta (1958), Play of the Week (1959) and If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band (1972). She died on 28 November 1985 in New York City, New York, USA.