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- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Clifford Parker Robertson III became a fairly successful leading man through most of his career without ever becoming a major star. Following strong stage and television experience, he made an interesting film debut in a supporting role in Picnic (1955). He then played Joan Crawford's deranged young husband in Autumn Leaves (1956) and was given leads in films of fair quality such as The Naked and the Dead (1958), Gidget (1959) and The Big Show (1961).
He was born to Clifford Parker Robertson Jr. and Audrey Olga (nee Willingham) Robertson. Robertson Jr. was described as "the idle heir to a tidy sum of ranching money". They have divorced when he was a year old, and his mother died of peritonitis a year later in El Paso, Texas. Young Cliff was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Eleanor Willingham as well as an aunt and uncle.
He supplemented his somewhat unsatisfactory big-screen work with interesting appearances on television, including the lead role in Days of Wine and Roses (1958). Robertson was effective playing a chilling petty criminal obsessed with avenging his father in the B-feature Underworld U.S.A. (1961) or a pleasant doctor in the popular hospital melodrama The Interns (1962). However, significant public notice eluded him until he was picked by President John F. Kennedy to play the young JFK during the latter's World War II experience in PT 109 (1963).
Moving into slightly better pictures, Robertson gave some of his best performances: a ruthless presidential candidate in The Best Man (1964), a modern-day Mosca in an updated version of Ben Jonson's "Volpone", The Honey Pot (1967), and most memorably as a mentally retarded man in Charly (1968), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor. His critical success with Charly (1968) allowed him to continue starring in some good films in the 1970s, including Too Late the Hero (1970), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), and Obsession (1976).
He starred in, directed and co-produced the fine rodeo drama J W Coop (1971) and, less interestingly, The Pilot (1980). He remained active mostly in supporting roles, notably playing Hugh Hefner in Star 80 (1983). More recently, he had supporting parts in Escape from L.A. (1996) and Spider-Man (2002).
Robertson died on September 10, 2011, just one day after his 88th birthday in Stony Brook, New York.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Alan J. Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer. He was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Best Director for All the President's Men (1976) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sophie's Choice (1982).
He also directed Presumed Innocent (1990), The Pelican Brief (1993) and The Devil's Own (1997), his last film.
From October 19, 1963, until 1971, Pakula was married to actress Hope Lange. He was married to his second wife, Hannah Pakula from 1973 until his death in 1998.
Pakula died on November 19, 1998, in a car accident, he was 70 years old.- Maggie Thrett was born on 18 November 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Star Trek (1966), Dimension 5 (1966) and McCloud (1970). She was married to Donnelly Rhodes and Alex ?. She died on 18 December 2022 in Long Island, New York, USA.
- Mario Puzo was born October 15, 1920, in "Hell's Kitchen" on Manhattan's (NY) West Side and, following military service in World War II, attended New York's New School for Social Research and Columbia University. His best-known novel, "The Godfather," was preceded by two critically acclaimed novels, "The Dark Arena" and "The Fortunate Pilgrim." In 1978, he published "Fools Die," followed by "The Sicilian" (1984) and "The Fourth K" (1991). Mario Puzo has also written several screenplays, including Earthquake (1974), Superman (1978), and all three "Godfather" movies, for which he received two Academy Awards. Mario's latest novel, 1996's "The Last Don," was made into a CBS television miniseries in May 1997, starring Danny Aiello, Kirstie Alley and Joe Mantegna. In 1997, Part II was aired. Also in 1997, Mario's "The Fortunate Pilgrim" was re-released by Random House. Mario passed away July 2, 1999, at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island. His last novel, "Omerta," will be published July, 2000. He is survived by his companion of 20 years, Carol Gino, and five children.
- Cult figure who will forever be remembered as Ben, the resourceful, yet ill-fated hero of George A. Romero's low-budget zombie film Night of the Living Dead (1968). Jones was a former English professor who directed at the Maguire Theater at the Old Westbury campus of New York State University, and he additionally served as artistic director at the Richard Allen Center in New York City. His casting as the hero of the Romero film was unique, as it was the first occasion that an African-American actor had portrayed the hero in a horror film. The tall, talented Jones appeared in a handful of other B-grade horror movies such as Ganja & Hess (1973) and Vampires (1986), but none are remembered as well as his first on-screen role.
He passed away at only 51 years of age from heart failure. - Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Actor
Oleg Cassini Loiewski was born on April 11, 1913, in Paris, France, into the family of Russian diplomat Alexander Loiewski and Italian Countess Marguerite Cassini. His maternal grandfather, Arthur Paul Nicholas, Marquis de Capuzzuchi di Bologna, Count de Cassini, worked for the Russian Tsar Nicholas II as a diplomat in China and the United States.
Cassini spent his early childhood between Russia and Copenhagen, Denmark, where his father was a diplomat with the Russian Embassy. His family were landed aristocracy in Russia until 1917, when the communists seized their ancestral estate and the family fled to Florence, Italy. There Cassini helped his mother, who worked as a fashion designer of hats at the salon of Countess Fabricotti. He also traveled with his mother to Paris twice a year, where he studied and sketched the new French fashions. In the 1920's-1930's Oleg Cassini studied art at the Academia Belle Arte in Florence under Giorgio De Chirico. In 1933 he opened his own design studio.
He won 5 First Prizes at the 1934 International Fashion Competition in Turin, Italy. There Cassini showed a woman's suit in his famous Cossac-style design featuring huge buttons. He moved to New York in 1936 and then to Hollywood. There he worked first for Paramount Pictures and even designed a sarong for Dorothy Lamour. At that time Cassini was paid $250 a week designing wardrobes for the stars of B movies. In the 40's and 50's he designed costumes for 20th Century Fox and other studios and stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Grace Kelly, and Gene Tierney.
Cassini's marriage to Merry Fahrney was brief. Cassini then married Gene Tierney in 1941. As Tierney's parents didn't approve of their union, the couple eloped to Las Vegas, where they used her earrings as wedding rings. He became an American citizen in 1942. He served in the Coast Guard and in the U.S. Cavalry Corps, having become an expert horse rider, and soon earned his lieutenant's bars. After the end of WWII he was discharged and moved back to New York, where he opened the 'Oleg Cassini' Salon on the East 55th Street. In 1950 he played a cameo role of the Fashion Designer to a model, played by his wife, Gene Tierney, in "Where the Sidewalk Ends."
In 1952 Oleg Cassini divorced from Gene Tierney, whose fame grew so much faster, that in Hollywood they began to call him Mr. Gene Tierney. The first of their two daughters was born deaf, due to Tierney's measles infection. Tierney had an affair with then representative John F. Kennedy. Cassini was briefly engaged to Grace Kelly in 1954. She broke their engagement to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. Before and after his two marriages Cassini was known as a ladies man. He dated actresses Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Ursula Andress among others. He was always seen in the company of starlets, débutantes, heiresses, ingénues, showgirls.
In 1960 Oleg Cassini became the Principal State robe designer chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy, who knew him for years. His solid training in art and his long experience in Hollywood served him well. Cassini created the new image for the First Lady, which became the first memorable fashion line to emerge on TV sets across the world. Cassini's experience with Hollywood cameras gave him the important knowledge of how the clothing would look on the screen, being photographed from a distance. That's how Jacqueline Kennedy's wardrobe was created by Cassini with the emphasis on geometric clarity of lines, pronounced color, sumptuous fabrics, and even the big buttons.
For the President Kennedy's Inauguration in 1961, Cassini dressed the First Lady in a fawn beige wool coat with a small sable collar and a matching pillbox hat. Cassini may have seen pictures of the First Lady of Mexico wearing a pillbox hat a year earlier, but Mrs. Kennedy was the first one to be seen on every TV in the world. Soon, it seemed, women all over the world followed the First Lady's image. In 1963 the world saw another pink pillbox hat by Cassini on Mrs. Kennedy, when she was next to the President when he was assassinated. In less than 3 years Cassini created about three hundred outfits for the First Lady. His creativity was inspired by Russian, Italian, French, Oriental, and Native American cultures.
Cassini is credited for such design accomplishments as the sheath, the A-line, the little white collar dress, the knit, and the military look for women. He claimed credit for introducing the Nehru Jacket in 1966-67, based on a traditional Indian jacket and named after the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Cassini also designed a Johnny Carson line of men's suits. In 1980's Cassini began to lose the public attention. He enjoyed a comeback in 2001, when he introduced the Oleg Cassini Sport line, alluding to his designs and color-schemes of the 60's. He also had a successful bridal business and about 40 licensees across the world. His collection of Jacqueline Kennedy's dresses was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2001. Some pieces of her wardrobe were sold at auction houses.
Oleg Cassini died on March 17, 2006, on Long Island, New York, where he had an Oyster Bay home, previously owned by the Tiffany family. He was arguably the oldest famous fashion designer in the world.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Beginning his show business career at age 13 as an entertainer on Mississippi riverboats, Guy Kibbee graduated to the legitimate stage and spent many years in the theater. In the 1930s he was signed by Warner Brothers, and became part of what was known as "the Warner Brothers Stock Company", a cadre of seasoned character actors and actresses who enlivened many a Warners musical or gangster film. Kibbee specialized in playing jovial, but not particularly bright, businessmen and government officials. He was memorable as the stuffy lawyer with a secret weakness for showgirls in Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933).- Lilia Sofer was born on November 28, 1896, to Catholic Katharina Skala and Jewish Julius Sofer , in Vienna, Austria. Julius Sofer worked as a manufacturer's representative for the Waldes Kohinoor Company. Lilia had two sisters: Lisl (later known as renowned dance-therapy pioneer Elizabeth Polk); and Felicitas ("Lizi"--pronounced "Litzi"), an infant nurse. All three sisters adopted their mother's Gentile maiden name of "Skala" and emigrated to the United States.
Lilia Skala would become a star on two continents. In pre-World War II Austria she starred in famed Max Reinhardt's stage troupe, and in post-war America she would become a notable award-worthy matronly character star on Broadway and in films. Forced to flee her Nazi-occupied homeland with her Jewish husband, Louis Erich Pollak (who also adopted his mother-in-law's Gentile maiden name of "Skala") and two young sons in the late 1930s, Lilia and her family managed to escape (at different times) to England. In 1939, practically penniless, they emigrated to the USA, where she sought menial labor in New York's garment district. She quickly learned English and worked her way back to an acting career, this time as a sweet, delightful, thick-accented Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee.
She broke through the Broadway barrier in 1941 with "Letters to Lucerne", followed by a featured role in the musical "Call Me Madam" with Ethel Merman. In the 1950s, she did an extensive tour in "The Diary of Anne Frank" as Mrs. Frank, and performed in a German-language production of Kurt Weill's "The Threepenny Opera". Lilia became a familiar benevolent face on TV in several early soap operas, including Claudia: The Story of a Marriage (1952).
She won her widest claim to fame, however, as the elderly chapel-building Mother Superior opposite Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963), for which she won both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. That led to more character actress work in films, most notably as the dog-carrying Jewish lady in the star-studded Ship of Fools (1965) and as Jennifer Beals's elderly friend in Flashdance (1983). On TV she played Eva Gabor's Hungarian mother in Green Acres (1965) and earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the popular miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976)).
She continued filming into her 90th year. Her final film work, occurring in the 1980's, went on to include a touching role as Hanna Long in the hit musical Flashdance (1983), plus parts in Testament (1983), House of Games (1987) and Men of Respect (1990). A few years later, on December 18, 1994, Lilia died of natural causes in Bay Shore (Long Island), New York, a few weeks after her 98th birthday. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Lenore Aubert was born in present-day Slovenia, at the time still connected to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (her French name was pure Hollywood hokum, designed to make her background more exotic - though she did live for some time in Paris). Eleanore Maria Leisner was the daughter of an Austrian general and spent her formative years in Vienna where she studied acting and appeared in a few movies as an extra. Her marriage to a Jewish boy obliged her to leave Austria after the 'Anschluss' and the couple emigrated to the United States via France. In New York, Lenore found work as a model and was eventually offered a lucrative stage role as Lorraine Sheldon in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Determined to get the part, Lenore crossed the U.S. by bus.
Once settled in California, Lenore was 'discovered' twice. The first time, she was spotted by an agent for Samuel Goldwyn and signed to appear as the alluring Nazi spy trying to tempt Bob Hope in They Got Me Covered (1943). Though Dorothy Lamour wryly commented on Lenore's sexy walk, there was not enough screen time for the newcomer to seriously challenge the established star in the popularity stakes. After that, Lenore went into Action in Arabia (1944) opposite George Sanders. This picture did not make much of a splash either, but attracted the attention of Republic studio boss Herbert J. Yates, who was still desperately searching to find a replacement for his failed star Vera Ralston. Lenore was consequently cast in the period thriller The Catman of Paris (1946) which was launched with a (for Republic) bigger-then-average publicity campaign and went on to be exhibited at the better cinemas. Unfortunately, in the course of the 65 minutes, sets and cinematography were the real stars. Though the cast tried hard, they failed to overcome the deficiencies of lacklustre direction,a silly script and the even sillier makeup for the not very scary top- hatted 'werecat' monster. Needless to say, that 'Catman' did nothing for the careers of any involved.
During the next few years, Lenore appeared in a number of B-movies, such as The Return of the Whistler (1948) and Barbary Pirate (1949). Her own favourite among her screen roles was that of Viennese singer/actress Fritzi Scheff (1879-1954) in I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947). Several times she had screen-tested, unsuccessfully, for A-grade productions. These included Saratoga Trunk (1945) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), but on both occasions she lost out to Ingrid Bergman. Lenore's greatest success in film was probably retrospectively, due to the popularity and later cult status enjoyed by two films starring her with Abbott and Costello, made back-to-back: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (generally regarded as the duo's best) and Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff (1949). A story goes, that, during production of the former, Lenore (attired all in mink) walked actor Glenn Strange -- in full make-up as the Frankenstein monster -- on a leash up and down the studio lot in full view of visiting tourists arriving on the tour tram (nothing beats good publicity !).
In the 1950's, Lenore joined her husband who was in the garment business in New York. The business succeeded, the marriage did not. With the exception of a couple of minor European films, Lenore's acting career was effectively over. She devoted much of her remaining life to charitable causes, doing work for the United Nations and the Museum of Natural History in New York.- Actor
- Soundtrack
If any man ever had a curmudgeon character face absolutely made for TV and film, it was Paul Ford. Small-eyed, balding, lugubrious, pot-bellied and with a memorable plum nose to rival that of the great Karl Malden, he made a very late entry into show business, finding major success as blowhard military brass, gruff executives, grouchy sheriffs and blustery judges.
Born Paul Ford Weaver on November 2, 1901, in Baltimore, Maryland, he dropped out of Dartmouth College before working as a salesman throughout the Great Depression. The married Ford was a rather wanderlust family man who decided to give acting a try in his early 40s. He excelled at puppetry and found work staging such shows at the World's Fair. Billing himself as Paul Ford, his middle name and mother's maiden name, he eventually found a fair amount of radio and theatre offers. Making his off-Broadway debut in 1939, he moved to Broadway playing a sergeant in the 1944 play "Decision" and continued on the New York stage with such popular 40's plays as "Kiss Them for Me," "Flamingo Road" and "Command Decision."
Paul moved inauspiciously into films with uncredited roles in the dramatic films The House on 92nd Street (1945), The Naked City (1948) and All the King's Men (1949), then walked up the credits ladder rung by rung with credited roles in Lust for Gold (1949), The Kid from Texas (1950) and Perfect Strangers (1950). Eventually he included the newer medium of TV, finding roles on various anthology series including "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "The Ford Theatre Hour," "The Philco Television Playhouse," "Suspense" and "Studio One in Hollywood."
Paul earned a huge hit on Broadway with his delightfully huffy portrayal of Colonel Wainright Purdy in the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning war comedy "Teahouse of the August Moon." He went on to transfer his role to film with The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956). From there, he was given the part of irascible Horace Vandergelder in the movie version of the Thornton Wilder play The Matchmaker (1958) also starring Shirley Booth as Dolly Levi, Shirley MacLaine as Irene Malloy, Anthony Perkins as Cornelius Hackl and Robert Morse as Barnaby Tucker.
Having already conquered radio, stage and film, it was on TV that 54-year-old Paul would achieve "overnight success" and become a household name when he was hired played a befuddled second banana to comedian Phil Silvers on TV. Butting heads week after week as the ever-flustered Colonel Hall with Silvers' classic portrayal of the sly, manipulative Sergeant Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show (1955), Paul amused audiences for four seasons and was Emmy-nominated three times. During this time he scored another Broadway success playing multiple roles in the light-hearted sketch revue "Thurber's Carnival" in 1960.
As a reward for his small screen success, Paul was awarded the opportunity to film another stage hit. Shining in the pompous supporting role of Mayor Shinn in the 1957 Tony-awarded musical hit "The Music Man" (he replaced Tony-winning David Burns, the actor, along with Robert Preston (as Harold Hill) and Pert Kelton (as Mrs. Paroo) transferred his character to the immortal feature film version of The Music Man (1962).
Ford went on playing playing old coot gents and took a third Broadway triumph to film as elderly father-to-be Harry Lambert in the family comedy Never Too Late (1965) co-starring his stage partner Maureen O'Sullivan as expectant wife Edith. Other twilight character film roles included his senator in Advise & Consent (1962), another colonel in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), a general in The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), a military commander in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), a one-time third-party presidential candidate in The Comedians (1967) (for which he won a National Board of Review award for "Best Supporting Actor"), and his last film, as a doctor in the little seen comedy Richard (1972).
Ford eventually retired in 1972, and died four years later due to a massive heart attack in Mineola, New York, on April 12, 1976. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Falling somewhat below W.C. Fields and Walter Matthau in crabby popularity, this delightful curmudgeon nevertheless earned and deserved his brief, late-night success.- Enid Markey was born on 22 February 1894 in Dillon, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Tarzan of the Apes (1918), The Yankee Way (1917) and Sink or Swim (1920). She was married to George W. Cobb. She died on 15 November 1981 in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, USA.
- After wartime naval service, Alan North began his show business career as a stage manager in New York. He first worked on Broadway in "Plain and Fancy", doubling up as understudy for the small part of Isaac Miller. The play had a successful run between 1955 and 1956 (461 performances) and this led to further acting work in diverse productions, ranging from musical comedy to straight dramatic parts, both on and off Broadway. Alan last appeared as a quaint curmudgeonly character in "Lake Hollywood" at the Signature Theater in 1999.
Early in his career, Alan, an avid baseball fan, hosted a television program for the Baltimore Orioles as well as doing a regular sports broadcast at WRC-TV in Washington. However, he did not become a regular feature on the screen until the early 1970's, when he appeared in two big budget films, Plaza Suite (1971) and Serpico (1973). After that, Alan became a more familiar presence on the small screen, invariably portraying cops, priests and academics. He is most fondly remembered as the perpetually vague Chief Ed Hocken in the hilarious, sadly short-lived, spoof Police Squad! (1982), starring Leslie Nielsen. Alan was given some very funny lines to deliver and he did so in a perfect dead-pan manner. He was not afforded the chance to repeat his role for the 'Naked Gun' series (the studio insisted on a higher marquee value actor, casting Academy Award-winner George Kennedy instead).
Alan North died of cancer at the age of 79 in January 2000. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
James Barton was born on 1 November 1890 in Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Shepherd of the Hills (1941), The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950) and His Family Tree (1935). He was married to Kathryn M. Mullin and Ottilie Regina Kleinert. He died on 19 February 1962 in Mineola, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Juanita Hall was an American actress from New Jersey. She is primarily remembered for her roles in two Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals ("South Pacific" and "Flower Drum Song") and in their respective film adaptations. In 1950, Hall became the first African American actress to win a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1901, Hall was born in Keyport, New Jersey to an interracial couple. Her father was African-American and her mother was Irish-American. Hall was orphaned at an early age, but she and her siblings were raised by her maternal grandparents. She received her secondary education at the Keyport High School, a public high school. She then received classical training at the Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory located in New York City.
By the early 1930s, Hall served as the assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir. She went on to become both a leading Broadway performer. and a regular performer in the clubs of Greenwich Village. Her signature role was that of the Vietnamese trader Bloody Mary in "South Pacific". She portrayed the character in 1,925 Broadway performances at the Majestic Theatre.
In 1958. Hall recorded the music album "Juanita Hall Sings the Blues", backed by experienced jazz musicians. That same year, Hall returned to the role of Bloody Mary in the film adaptation of "South Pacific". Due to doubts on whether the aging actress could perform the role's key songs, the opera singer Muriel Smith (1923-1985) was hired as the character's singing voice.
Hall continued her performing career until 1962, when she was forced to leave a road show tour due to poor health. Hall was suffering from diabetes for the last decade of her life, and she lost her eyesight due to complications from diabetes. She retired to the Lillian Booth Actors Home, an assisted-living facility located in Englewood, New Jersey. The Actors Fund of America financed her medical treatments until her death in 1968. Hall died at the age of 66, from complications of diabetes.- Ashley Massaro was born on 26 May 1979 in Babylon, Long Island, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Smallville (2001), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WWE Raw (1993). She died on 16 May 2019 in Smithtown, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Delphi Lawrence was born on 23 March 1932 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), The Man Who Finally Died (1959) and The Avengers (1961). She died on 11 April 2002 in Northport, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley from March to September 1901, and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Having assumed the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.- Producer
- Writer
Helmut Huber was born on 10 October 1937 in Austria. He was a producer and writer, known for Seduced and Betrayed (1995), Wieviel Liebe braucht der Mensch (1988) and Blood on Her Hands (1998). He was married to Susan Lucci. He died on 28 March 2022 in Long Island, New York, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Budd Schulberg was born on 27 March 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for On the Waterfront (1954), Everglades! (1961) and A Face in the Crowd (1957). He was married to Betsy Ann Langman, Geraldine Brooks, Agnes Victoria Anderson and Virginia Ray. He died on 5 August 2009 in Westhampton Beach, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
J.J. Barry was born on 25 April 1932 in New York, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for History of the World: Part I (1981), This Is Spinal Tap (1984) and The Corner Bar (1972). He died on 15 August 1990 in Huntington Station, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
This pretty, apple-cheeked brunette was in many supporting roles in many 1930s and 1940s films. She is best remembered as a supporting player in Columbia two-reel comedies, opposite such legends as the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Andy Clyde, and Harry Langdon. Dorothy made her stage debut at the tender age of just 2 ½, in East Lynne at the Portland Theatre. She became "Ms. Maine" in a beauty contest, selected by Rudolph Valentino. Her stage roles included Helen Of Troy, Young Sinners, and Springtime For Henry. Dorothy entered films in 1932, and appeared in numerous roles in movie such as Under Eighteen (1931), As the Earth Turns (1934) (as leading lady Jean Muir's troublesome stepsister), I Give My Love (1934), High Sierra (1940), and Manpower (1941). Thanks to the wonder of television, and the constant popularity of the Three Stooges, she is seen almost daily around the world wherever the Stooge shorts are aired. Some of Dorothy's hobbies were swimming, roller-skating, painting, and poetry. She retired from the big screen in 1942, and married musician Paul Drake soon thereafter. They were married until her passing on August 9, 1990.- Fay Roope was born on 20 October 1893 in Allston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Viva Zapata! (1952), The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Atomic Kid (1954). He was married to Marie Theresa Ravot. He died on 13 September 1961 in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Victor Moore was born on 24 February 1876 in Hammonton, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Swing Time (1936), The Seven Year Itch (1955) and It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947). He was married to Shirley Paige and Emma Littlefield. He died on 23 July 1962 in East Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Harry Goz was born on 16 February 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Marathon Man (1976), Sealab 2021 (2000) and Mommie Dearest (1981). He was married to Margaret Avsharian. He died on 6 September 2003 in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Editor
Robert Parrish was an Academy Award-winning film editor who also directed and acted in movies. As a child he appeared in films during the early 1930s, such as City Lights (1931) by Charles Chaplin and Lewis Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). As an editor he won an Academy Award for Body and Soul (1947), the 1947 Robert Rossen film that starred John Garfield as a money-grubbing, two-timing boxer on the make. Parrish also worked on All the King's Men (1949), an account of the rise and fall of a Louisiana politician that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Parrish then moved on to direct films during the 1950s and 1960s. Among his best received works was the brooding western Saddle the Wind (1958).- Transportation Department
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Dennis Radesky was born on 20 July 1948 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Men in Black (1997), Vanilla Sky (2001) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). He was married to Jill ?. He died on 25 February 2009 in West Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
A singer/songwriter and activist for many charitable causes, especially in the realm of ending world hunger, Harry Chapin never let the often lukewarm reviews of his music-making abilities faze him and as a result of his strong folksy persona, the fans he made stuck by him throughout his career and continue to this day. Born December 7, 1942, in New York's Greenwich Village the son of a big-band drummer, Harry's musical influence took hold at an early age. He took up trumpet playing originally but switched to strumming a guitar later and joined his younger brothers, Tom Chapin and Steve Chapin, in a homegrown musical act that was well received in the folk era of the 1960s. After a short stint in the Air Force Academy and studying architecture and later philosophy, at Cornell University, Harry tried his hand at film-making and found himself to be quite good at it, directing an academy award-nominated film about boxing heavyweights, Legendary Champions (1968). In the '70's, Harry joined Electra Records and produced a number of albums capitalizing on his story-telling abilities, resulting in his first major hit, "Taxi", which was one of the longest songs played on radio up until that time. He also found the time to produce a number of Broadway shows and write songs for his brother Tom's children's TV series, '"Make a Wish' (1970)'". Other recordings followed, such as the hits "Cat's in the Cradle" and "W.O.L.D". As Harry decided to put his fame to work, establishing himself as an activist for charitable causes as well as supporting self-sufficiency, he convinced President Jimmy Carter to create a Hunger Commission exploring ways to eliminate world hunger. His own organization, "World Hunger Year," formed with Bill Ayres, strenuously fought the good fight with Harry and his band performing virtually every other concert solely for the causes he espoused. In 1981, while on the way to another benefit, Harry's life was tragically ended in an automobile accident on the Long Island expressway.- Felicia Montealegre was born on 6 February 1922 in San José, Costa Rica. She was an actress, known for The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1948), Kraft Theatre (1947) and Goodyear Playhouse (1951). She was married to Leonard Bernstein. She died on 16 June 1978 in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Benjamin Hendrickson was born on 26 August 1950 in Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for As the World Turns (1956), Manhunter (1986) and Regarding Henry (1991). He died on 3 July 2006 in Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Actress
Dolly Tree (1899-1962) had an international reputation as a designer for stage and screen costumes during the 1920's and 1930's in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood. She was England's leading stage designer during the 1920's and her ingenious costumes proliferated in major revues, musicals, pantomimes and cabaret in London and the regions. Dolly Tree was also involved in designing costumes for the British film industry and was allied to the couture house of Jean Peron. Her work also had a great vogue in Paris where she became the first English person and the first woman to design for the Folies Bergere. In New York in the late 1920's she became famous for creating the quintessensial 1890's look for Mae West and it is believed that she was one of the first designers to propogate the use of the strapless evening gown. Finally Dolly Tree became one of Hollywood's major screen designers, working for MGM during the 1930's. Here she maintained the style and glamour of costume for which MGM was famous, designing elegant creations for Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Rosalind Russell, Virginia Bruce and Judy Garland, besides the historical costumes for the classic David Selznick movies such as Viva Villa, David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities. Despite the excellence of her work and the broad scope of her achievements, misinformation in many forms surrounds Dolly Tree. She has been consistantly overshadowed by the accomplishments of others and as a result her work and achievements have been wrongly overlooked and ignored. For example, her work at the Folies Bergere in Paris has been eclipsed by the towering edifice of Erte's shrewd self publicity and in Hollywood the excellence of MGM's publicity machine has relegated her to a position of relative unimportance at the expense of glittering praise for Adrian.- Fred Trump was born on 11 October 1905 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Mary Trump. He died on 25 June 1999 in New Hyde Park, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Robbin Bain was born on 10 August 1936 in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was married to Alexander Gaudieri, Arno Schefler and Edward V. Mele. She died on 21 October 2023 in Southampton, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Calvert DeForest was born on 23 July 1921 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Freaked (1993), Mr. Write (1994) and Shortcut to Happiness (2003). He died on 19 March 2007 in West Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
As a young man Robert Allen, born Irvine E. Theodore Baehr, learned about horses: he played polo, hunted fox, and rode in the cavalry of of New York Military School, graduating there in 1924. After graduating Dartmouth College in 1929 with a degree in English he worked for a bank which failed in the Depression. Then he flew as a commercial pilot, but that company also folded. His next stop was Hollywood where he quickly landed acting jobs. While he often was cast in the studio's more adult-targeted productions such as The Awful Truth (1937), studio boss Harry Cohn was seeking a suitable replacement for the troublesome (yet wildly popular) Ken Maynard in their more modestly budgeted western unit. Allen's place in film history came in the a half dozen "Bob Allen, Ranger" movies produced in 1936 and 1937. Allen became good friends with his frequent co-star (and sometime movie bad guy), Hal Taliaferro and enjoyed a good working relationship with co-star Tim McCoy. He couldn't sing or play guitar, so when Columbia decided to challenge Gene Autry they went with a new cowboy star, Roy Rogers, and Allen's western career was over. He appeared more than 40 movies and made numerous TV appearances, but he turned primarily to Broadway and Off Broadway for the rest of his acting life. He filled major parts in "Show Boat" and "Kiss Them for Me" and played the nasty Mr. Babcock in "Auntie Mame," playing the part with both Rosalind Russell and Greer Garson. In 1964 he became a real estate broker. He died at age 92 in 1998, survived by daughter Katherine Meyer and son Dr. Theodore Baehr.- Don Howard was an actor, known for Mahogany (1975), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977) and The Manhunter (1974). He died on 14 August 1999 in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Additional Crew
- Cinematographer
- Actor
Born in 1938 in New York City and raised in New York City, Alabama and Islip, Long Island, Peter Beard began keeping diaries at an early age. He took his first pictures at the age of twelve and photography quickly evolved into an extension of his diaries, as a way to preserve and remember favorite things. In 1957 he entered Yale University as a pre-med undergraduate, but soon switched his major to art history, studying under Vincent Scully, Joseph Albers and Richard Linder.
Trips to Africa in 1955 and 1960 piqued his interests and, after graduating from Yale, he returned to Africa. In the early '60s he worked at Kenya's Tsavo National Park where he photographed and documented the demise of over 35,000 elephants, which later became the subject of his first book "The End of the Game" (1965). During the same period he acquired Hog Ranch, the property adjacent to Karen Blixen's (Isak Dinesen), whom he had met through his cousin Jerome Hill. Hog Ranch, located near the Ngong Hills, became his home base in East Africa. Beard has written further books on his African experience: "Eyelids of Morning" (1973), "Longing for Darkness" (1975) and "Zara's Tales: Perilous Escapades in Equatorial Africa" (2004), written for his daughter.
Beard's first exhibit was at the Blum Helman Gallery in New York in 1975. This was quickly followed by his landmark installation at the International Center of Photography in New York City in 1977. This show exhibited his photographs, elephant carcasses, burned diaries, taxidermy, African artifacts, books and personal memorabilia.
In addition to creating original artwork, Beard has befriended and collaborated on projects with many legendary artists including Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Richard Linder, Terry Southern, Truman Capote and Francis Bacon.
In 1996, shortly after he was trampled by an elephant, his first major retrospective opened at the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris, followed by other exhibits in Berlin, London, Toronoto, Madrid, Milan, Tokyo and Vienna.
Beard currently splits his time between New York City, Montauk Point and Kenya, living with his wife and agent Nejma and their daughter Zara.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Anita Colby was born on 5 August 1914 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for Mary of Scotland (1936), Brute Force (1947) and Cover Girl (1944). She was married to Palen Flagler. She died on 27 March 1992 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, USA.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Composer
John Coltrane was born on 23 September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Adrift (2018), Vanilla Sky (2001) and Zodiac (2007). He was married to Alice Macleod and Juanita Grubbs. He died on 17 July 1967 in Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA.- Charles Koppelman was born on 30 March 1940 in Brooklyn , New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Billions (2016), The Mike Douglas Show (1961) and The Apprentice: Martha Stewart (2005). He died on 25 November 2022 in Roslyn Harbour, New York, Long Island, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Joseph Coffey was born on 3 April 1938 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for We Own the Night (2007), First Kill (2014) and Murder Trail (2001). He was married to Susan Elise McGonigle and Patricia Flynn. He died on 27 September 2015 in Levittown, Long Island, New York, USA.- This once popular silent screen star and older matinee idol for Paramount Studios is all but forgotten today; however, Thomas "Tommy" Meighan was one of the rulers of the Hollywood roost, between the years 1915 and 1928.
He was born in Pittsburgh, his father a president of a major manufacturing company. Meighan switched interests from medicine to acting during his mid-college years, joining Henrietta Crosman's Pittsburgh stock company as his initiation to professional theater.
During these years he met and married stage actress Frances Ring, who was the sister of actors Blanche Ring and Cyril Ring, enjoying a long and happy wedded life. Having developed a highly respected name for himself on Broadway right after the turn of the century, he decided, at the age of 36, to give up the stage in order to pursue the still-floundering medium of movie-making. It was a wise and prosperous move.
Meighan made his debut opposite Laura Hope Crews in The Fighting Hope (1915) and became a Paramount favorite of producer/director Cecil B. DeMille's with leading man roles in Kindling (1915), The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916), Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and Manslaughter (1922). Meighan lit up the silver screen time and time again paired up with Hollywood's top echelon of silent female stars including Lila Lee, Blanche Sweet, Lois Wilson, Pauline Frederick, Billie Burke, Norma Talmadge, Charlotte Walker, and Leatrice Joy.
Meighan would make his film masterpiece with The Miracle Man (1919), also starring Lon Chaney, in which he played Tom Burke, a notorious con-man, who tries one last scheme, a faith-healing scam, before going clean. Unfortunately, this 8-reel silent classic is now lost but for a minor portion. Meighan would earn between $5,000 to $10,000 a week during his prime years.
Although his first talking picture, The Argyle Case (1929), was a success, Meighan's career went into a rapid decline come the advent of sound, playing a few fatherly types in support at the very end. His last film was Peck's Bad Boy (1934) starring young Jackie Cooper. At about this time the actor discovered he had cancer and was forced to withdraw from the screen. He died two years later on July 8, 1936. He and wife Frances had no children. - Anthony Battaglia was born on 22 September 1965 in New York, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Airport '77 (1977), Serial (1980) and How the West Was Won (1976). He died on 19 September 2003 in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Lisa Howard was born on 24 April 1930 in Cambridge, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for Man Against Crime (1949), Space Patrol (1950) and Donovan's Brain (1953). She was married to Walter Lowendahl and Felix E. Feist. She died on 4 July 1965 in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Child star Bobby Connelly, the son of vaudeville actors, was born April 4, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York. He made his first screen appearance in 1912. In 1913, he joined the Vitagraph Company, whose studio was just a short distance from his home. While at Vitagraph, he starred in a series of shorts as the character "Sonny Jim." Bobby studied violin, which came in handy when he was cast as the young violinist Leon Kantor in the 1920 film version of "Humoresque." Reportedly he was one of the highest paid child actors in the world. At one point, he headed a vaudeville company. In 1922, Bobby became ill for three months, suffering from bronchitis, aggravated by an enlarged heart. Sadly, he passed away on July 6, 1922, at his home in Lynbrook, Long Island.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Josh White was born on 11 February 1908 in Greenville, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Remember the Titans (2000), The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll (2009) and The Walking Hills (1949). He was married to Carol Carr. He died on 5 September 1969 in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, USA.- Isabella grew up on Long Island and lived in Lattington, New York.
From a young age, Isabella loved dancing and attended MaryAnn's Dance Studio in Locust Valley since the age of 4. As Isabella grew older, she eventually became a teacher at the dance school for young girls.
Isabella attended Sacred Heart Academy, an All Girl's high school in Hempstead, New York. While in high school, Isabella participated on the Red and Gold Kick line team.
As a Senior, Isabella served as a Captain for the Kick line squad and help choreograph their competitive routine.
While in high school, Isabella spent her weekends travelling by train into New York to pursue her dreams of acting and modeling.
Aside from teaching dance, being an honor roll student and pursuing her career interests in show business, Isabella also worked at the local Pizzeria in Glen Cove.
In early January 2011, Isabella received her first major acting role, performing a part on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Season 12, Episode 15 "Flight".
Isabella played the role of a French teenager acting as witness to implicate the powerful US businessman being investigated by the main cast.
After the filming, Isabella was brimming with excitement to both friends and family that the career she dreamed of might actually become a reality.
On the morning of January 10th, 2011. Isabella was involved in a head on collision with another teenager and subsequently died from the wounds she received almost 3 hours later. She had just turned 17 two months earlier.
Her friends and family continue to mourn her loss. - David D'Amato was born on 4 July 1961. He died on 13 March 2017 in Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Sandra Deel was born on 26 June 1927 in the USA. She was an actress, known for Junior Bonner (1972), Kojak (1973) and Musical Comedy Time (1950). She died on 8 August 2008 in North Babylon, Long Island, New York, USA.
- Melissa Barthelemy was born on 14 April 1985 in Buffalo, New York, USA. She died on 12 July 2009 in Long Island, New York, USA.
- Joseph Allen was born on 30 March 1918 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Motor Madness (1937), The Night Before the Divorce (1942) and Who Is Hope Schuyler? (1942). He was married to Edith Atwater. He died on 9 November 1962 in Patchogue, Long Island, New York, USA.