Advanced search

American theatrical producer who brought the revue to spectacular heights under the slogan "Glorifying the American Girl." During the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Ziegfeld managed bodybuilder Eugen Sandow (billed as the Great Sandow). In 1896 he turned to theatrical management. His promotion of French beauty Anna Held, with press releases about her milk baths, brought her fame and set a pattern of star-making through publicity. In 1907 he produced in New York City his first revue, The Follies of 1907, modeled on the Folies-Bergère of Paris but less risqué. The revue's combination of semi-nudity, pageantry and comedy was repeated successfully for 23 more years, until the Great Depression ended these annual spectaculars. Four other editions appeared after his death, the last in 1957. In addition to the Follies, Ziegfeld also produced the stage successes "Sally" (1920), "Show Boat" (1927), "Rio Rita" (1927), and "Bitter Sweet (1929). Among the stars who rose to fame as a result of appearing in a Ziegfeld show were Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Leon Errol, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice and Eddie Cantor.

Ziegfeld had a long-lasting relationship with Anna Held but they never married due to her already being married to Maximo Carrera. In 1913, he married actress Billie Burke with whom he had daughter Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson.

Hobart Bosworth--pioneering movie director, writer, producer and actor--was born Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth on August 11, 1867, in Marietta, OH. He was a direct descendant of Miles Standish and John and Priscilla Alden on his father's side and of New York's Van Zandt family, the first Dutch settlers to land in the New World, on his mother's side. Bosworth was always proud of his lineage.

After his mother died his father remarried and the young Hobart took a dislike to his stepmother. Convinced that he was "ill used and cruelly treated," as he told an interviewer in 1914, he ran away from home for to New York City. He signed on as a cabin boy on the clipper ship "Sovereign of the Seas" and was soon out at sea.

After his first voyage, a five-month affair that took him from New York to San Francisco, he spent his wages on candy. Sleeping it off on a bench in the park in back of Trinity Church, the young boy did not know that the organ music he was listening to as he dozed was being played by his very own uncle. A Captain Roberts, who found stevedore work for the lad, told him of his uncle's presence in San Francisco. He continued as a sailor, as the sea was in his family's blood, eventually spending three years at sea. "All my people were of the sea and my father was a naval officer," he told an interviewer. He spent 11 months on an old-fashioned whaler plying the Arctic region, then was employed doing odd jobs in San Francisco. After turns as a semi-professional boxer and wrestler, Bosworth tried ranching in Southern California and Mexico, where he learned to become an expert horseman. Finally, his interest in art led him to the stage.

Thinking he'd like to become a landscape painter, a friend suggested that Bosworth work as a stage manager to raise the money to study art. Acting on his friend's advice, Bosworth obtained a job with McKee Rankin as a stage manager at the California Theatre in San Francisco. With the money he made, he undertook the study of painting. Eventually he was pressed into duty as an actor with a small part with three lines. Though he botched the lines, he was given other small roles. Bosworth was 18 years old and on the cusp of a life in the theater.

He signed on with Louis Morrison to be part of a road company for a season as both an actor and as Morrison's dresser, playing William Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" and "Measure for Measure" (during his time with the company, Hobarth and another writer wrote a version of "Faust" that Morrison used for 20 years in repertory). By 1887 he was acting at the Alcazar Theatre in San Francisco, and became proficient enough on stage to give Shakespearean recitals in costume the following year. He had acted almost all of the famous characters in the Shakespearean canon by the time he was 21 years old, though he admitted that he was the worst Macbeth ever.

Bosworth eventually wound up in Park City, UT, where he was forced to work in a mine, pushing an ore wagon in order to raise money. He escaped the pits to tour with magician Hermann the Great as the conjurer's assistant for a tour through Mexico. For the first time in eleven years, the 21-year-old Bosworth met his father. Hobarth recalled, "[H]e looked at me and said 'Hum! I couldn't lick you now, son.'" They never met again.

Bosworth arrived back in New York in December 1888, and was hired by Augustin Daly to play Charles the Wrestler in "As You Like It." He did so well in the role that Daly kept him on. Bosworth remained with Daly's company for 10 years, in which he played mostly minor parts. Seven times while he was with the company it made foreign tours, playing in Berlin, Cologne, London, Paris and other European cities.

Eventually, being kept in small parts eroded his confidence, and Bosworth left Daly to sign on with Julia Marlowe, who cast him in leads in Shakespearean plays. Just as Bosworth began to taste stage stardom in New York, he was struck down with tuberculosis, a very serious ailment in the 19th century. Bosworth was forced to give up the stage, as he was not allowed to toil indoors. Though he made a rapid recovery, he returned to the stage too quickly and suffered a relapse. For the rest of his working life he had to balance his acting with periods of rest so as to keep his T.B. under control.

Bosworth re-established himself as a lead actor on the New York stage, appearing opposite the famous actress Minnie Maddern Fiske (Mary Augusta Davey) in the 1903 Boradway revival of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler." He also appeared that year on the Great White Way as the lead in "Marta of the Lowlands," which was produced by Harrison Grey Fiske, Mrs. Fiske's husband. The role propelled him to Broadway stardom. However, he was forced again to give up the stage when he lost 70 pounds in ten weeks.

Moving to Tempe, AZ, to partake of the salubrious climate improved his chances of battling T.B., and eventually he got the disease under control. While he was not actually an invalid, he was forced to live like one and remain in a warm climate lest he suffer a relapse. The T.B. robbed him of his voice, but since he was no longer on stage, it didn't matter. There was a new medium for actors: motion pictures. Bosworth moved to San Diego, which had a reputation of having the most perfect climate in the continental United States, and in 1908 was contracted to make a film by the Selig Polyscope Co. Shooting was to be down in the outdoors, and he did not have to use his voice, which was in a poor condition. The arrangement was perfect for him. "I believe, after all, that it is the motion pictures that have saved my life," he recounted less than a decade later. "How could I have lived on and on, without being able to carry out any of my cherished ambitions? What would my life have meant? Here, in pictures, I am realizing my biggest hopes." Signing with Selig, Bosworth eventually spearheaded the movie company's move to Los Angeles. He is widely credited with being the star of the first movie made on the West Coast. Due to his role in pioneering California for the film industry, Bosworth often was referred to as the "Dean of Hollywood." He wrote the scenarios for the second and third pictures he acted in, and directed the third. According to his own count, he eventually wrote 112 scenarios and produced 84 pictures for Selig. Bosworth was attracted to Jack London's work due to his out-of-doors filming experience and the requirements of his health, which obviated acting in studios. "In all my reading I have never come across better material for motion picture plays than Jack London's stories, and I hope to go right through the whole lot."

In 1913 he formed his own company, Hobart Bosworth Productions Co., to produce a series of Jack London melodramas. He produced, directed and starred in the company's first picture, playing Wolf Larsen in The Sea Wolf (1913), with London himself appearing as a sailor. The movie was released in the U.S. by W.W. Hodkinson Corp. D.W. Griffith also released a Jack London picture earlier that year, Two Men of the Desert (1913), but Bosworth followed up "The Sea Wolf" with The Chechako (1914), with Jack Conway playing the lead as Smoke Bellew, the title character of the eponymous London novel the movie is based on. "The Chechako" and some of the subsequent Boswoth-London pictures were distributed through Paramount, the releasing arm of Famous Players-Lasky.

Conway also starred in the Bosworth-directed follow-up The Valley of the Moon (1914), in which Bosworth had a supporting role. He also appeared as an actor in John Barleycorn (1914), which he co-directed with J. Charles Haydon. He produced, directed, wrote and acted in Martin Eden (1914) and An Odyssey of the North (1914), playing the lead in the latter, which was released by Paramount. He finished up the series by producing, directing and playing the lead in the two-part "Burning Daylight" series: Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Alaska (1914) and Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Civilization (1914), both of which were released by Paramount.

Bosworth hooked up with the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Co., making its Los Angeles facility on North Occidental Boulevard his headquarters. Subsequently Bosworth Inc. and Oliver Morosco Photoplay were absorbed by Paramount in 1916. Between 1913 and 1921 Hobart Bosworth Productions produced a total of 31 pictures, most of which starred Bosworth. The company ceased operations after producing The Sea Lion (1921).

The merger with Paramount ended the period in Bosworth's creative life where he was a major force in the motion picture industry, which was undergoing changes as the industry matured and solidified. He directed his last picture even before the merger, The White Scar (1915), which he also wrote and starred in for Universal Film Manufacturing Co. After his own production company wound up, Hobart Bosworth began playing supporting roles as an actor. He divorced his first wife, Adele Farrington, in 1919, the year after their son George was born.

He survived the transition to sound. Aside from appearing in Warner Bros.' showcase film Show of Shows (1929), his talking picture debut proper was in the short subject A Man of Peace (1928) for Vitaphone, while his first sound feature was Vitaphone's Ruritania drama General Crack (1929), starring John Barrymore.

Though he appeared in small roles in A-list films, including some classics, Bosworth primarily made his living as a prominently billed character actor in "B" westerns and serials churned out by Poverty Row studios. In his roles in A and B pictures, he typically was typecast as a fatherly type, such as dads, clergymen, judges, governors and the like, though occasionally he got to play a heavy. His most memorable roles included playing John Gilbert's father in both King Vidor's classic The Big Parade (1925) and Clarence Brown's A Woman of Affairs (1928), and Conrad Nagel's father in Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930). He also appeared in the Al Jolson vehicle Mammy (1930), directed by Michael Curtiz, and in the Little Rascals' only feature film, General Spanky (1936) (a flop).

In addition to Vidor, Brown and Curtiz, Bosworth worked with other great directors, including Ernst Lubitsch (in support of John Barrymore in Eternal Love (1929)), D.W. Griffith (playing Gen. Robert E. Lee in Abraham Lincoln (1930)), 'Frank Capra' (in Dirigible (1931)) and Lady for a Day (1933)) and John Ford (headlining Hearts of Oak (1924), starring in Hangman's House (1928) and playing the Chaplain in support of Will Rogers in Steamboat Round the Bend (1935)).

Bosworth had a featured role in the early science-fiction movie Just Imagine (1930) and played Chingachgook in support of star Harry Carey's Hawkeye in Mascot Pictures' serial The Last of the Mohicans (1932). As the sound era wore on, he was reduced to bit parts, frequently uncredited, in such A-pictures as the W.C. Fields comedy Million Dollar Legs (1932) and the Errol Flynn western They Died with Their Boots On (1941). He kept working until the year before his death, appearing in six films in 1942, including an uncredited bit role as a clergyman in support of Barbara Stanwyck in The Gay Sisters (1942), his penultimate picture. His last film was Universal Pictures' western Sin Town (1942), starring Constance Bennett and Broderick Crawford, which was advertised with the intriguing tagline "The Glory Hole of the Booming Oil Towns!"

Altogether, Hobart Bosworth acted in over 250 movies from 1908 to 1942, directed 44 known pictures from 1911 to 1915, and wrote 27 & produced 11 known pictures from 1911 to 1921. His actual count might be hundreds more.

Hobart Bosworth, the "Dean of Hollywood," died on December 30, 1943 of pneumonia in Glendale, CA. He was 76 years old. He was survived by his second wife, Cecile, and his son George.

William Burress was born on 19 August 1867 in Newcomerstown, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Scarlet Pimpernel (1917), The World Changes (1933) and Kultur (1918). He was married to Carrie May O'Brien. He died on 30 October 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Born Laura Elizabeth Ingalls in Wisconsin in 1867, she spent her childhood as a "pioneer girl, " settling in Wisconsin (twice), Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota by the time she was twelve years old. Her family stayed in South Dakota, or Dakota Territory as it was known, and in 1885, she married Almanzo Wilder. She called him "Manly" and he called her "Bess". The following year, they had a daughter, Rose, later to become the author Rose Wilder Lane. In 1894, the three of them left De Smet and traveled to the Ozark mountains of Missouri, where they settled in the town of Mansfield. Laura and Manly remained there for the rest of their lives. In the 1930's and 1940's, encouraged and aided by Rose, Laura set pen to paper and wrote a series of books about her childhood on the frontier. Called the "Little House" books, they were published every year or so from 1932 to 1943, describing Laura's experiences from her earliest memories of the big woods of Wisconsin and the Kansas prarie to the golden year in which she married Almanzo. The books were immensely popular with children, for whom they were written, and adults alike. Except for the occasional book tour, Laura's life as a farm wife in Mansfield still remained relatively unchanged, however, though she did receive much more mail than she ever had before! She died in 1957, shortly after her 90th birthday. Even after her death, Rose found more of her writings. These included a diary she kept detailing the journey to Mansfield in 1894, letters she wrote to Almanzo while visiting Rose in San Francisco in 1915, and even a new, unfinished "Little House" book, about the first four years after her marriage to Almanzo. Her major contribution to movies and television has been her books, for they were the inspiration for the long-running TV series "Little House on the Prairie" (1974-1983), and its various TV-movie sequels. Currently (1999), a TV-movie entitled "Beyond the Prarie," is in production. It purports to be "the true story of Laura Ingalls Wilder."

Classically-trained actor, former chemist, whose formative years on the stage were spent in Bern (Switzerland) and, from 1909, the Deutsches Theater Berlin under Max Reinhardt's direction. Specialised in Shakespearean roles ('Richard III', 'Hamlet') and was a famous interpreter of the plays of Henrik Ibsen. He delivered his screen debut in a silent version of 'Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde' (Der Andere (1913)). Bassermann remained active in motion pictures throughout the 1920's, also frequently appearing on stage in Austria and Switzerland. His wife, Elsa Bassermann, nee Schiff, was Jewish, and the discrimination shown towards her in his native country so outraged him that he emigrated with her to the United States in 1939.

At the age of 72, he carved out another career in Hollywood as a celebrated character actor. It took him some time to come to terms with the English language, but he was soon cast in a small part in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940), as Dr.Robert Koch. He also played a sympathetic chemistry professor in Knute Rockne All American (1940). That same year, he appeared as Van Meer in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940) and was promptly nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. His distinguished-looking countenance and serious demeanour lent itself to being assigned a variety of consular or professorial roles: he was excellent as Consul Magnus Barring in A Woman's Face (1941) with Joan Crawford; Professor Jean Perote in Madame Curie (1943); and a dying German music teacher in Rhapsody in Blue (1945).

At the age of 83, he made a triumphant return to the German/Austrian stage in Ibsen plays. Albert Bassermann died of a heart attack en route from New York to Zurich on May 15 1952.

Joe Keaton and wife Myra were grade-Z vaudeville performers in the early 1900s. Their son Buster joined the act when he was only a few months old. The act was a rough-and-tumble one, with Buster being thrown around on stage most of the time. As the years went by, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic, which forced Buster to quit the act by the time he was a teenager. However, after he hit it big in silent film, Buster provided Joe with small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe split up long after Buster had become an adult. She'd had it with the constant verbal and physical abuse Joe put her through. He lived alone in a Hollywood hotel for many years and was said to have stopped drinking after becoming a Christian Scientist. Buster said Joe died as a result of being run over by a passing car.

Lionel Belmore was born on 12 May 1867 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Frankenstein (1931), Bardelys the Magnificent (1926) and The Vampire Bat (1933). He was married to Emmeline Florence Carder. He died on 30 January 1953 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Queen Mary was born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes Mary in Kensington Palace on May 26, 1867 to Duke Francis and Duchess Mary of Teck. Young Mary was the great-granddaughter of George III and a second cousin to Queen Victoria.

She and her family lived a quiet life in England, forced to exist on the money that Duchess Mary's mother the Duchess of Cambridge was able to give them. Unfortunately the money was not enough to keep the creditors away and in 1883 the family moved around Europe, settling in Italy for awhile.

They went around Europe for two years before settling again in London. After this Mary, as she was called, became her mother's unofficial secretary. Mary spent much of her time corresponding with her family including her Aunt who lived in Germany. She also corresponded with her cousin (and future sister-in-law) Maude (the daughter of future King Edward VII).

In 1891, at the behest of Queen Victoria, Mary was engaged to Queen Victoria's grandson Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. Unfortunately Albert died shortly afterwards. Queen Victoria, however, suggested that Mary marry Albert's brother George.

Although it was an arranged marriage George and Mary fell deeply in love and on July 6, 1893 they were married.

Over the course of their marriage the Yorks (they were Duke and Duchess of York until his father became King) had six children: Prince Edward in 1894, Prince Albert in 1895, Mary in 1897, George, Duke of Kent in 1902, and Prince John in 1905.

In January 1901 Queen Victoria died and Mary's father-in-law became King Edward VII. This led Mary and George to be Prince and Princess of Wales about a year later.

In 1910 her father-in-law died and Mary became Queen Mary. As Queen she helped her husband with his new role as King. She was the Queen Consort for about 25 years before her husband died in January of 1936.

Her oldest son Edward became Edward VIII after the death of George V. Shortly afterwards she was shocked and saddened to hear that her son would renounce his throne to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson.

Her second son, Albert, then became King choosing to name himself King George VI. She supported her son and his wife in their new role being the first dowager Queen to go to a successor's coronation. While the new King and Queen traveled around the British Commonwealth, Queen Mary helped look after their two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.

During World War Two, the King was worried about his mother's safety and he suggested that she move somewhere in the country where it would be safer. She did what he asked and went to live with her niece, only leaving the house shortly after the war in Europe was over.

She spent the remaining years of her life devoting herself to charities. She also liked obtaining jewels including the jewels of Empress Marie of Russia (Nicholas II's mother). During this time she also spent time with her great-grandchildren, Charles and Anne, helping look after them when their parents (Elizabeth and Prince Phillip) were away helping the ailing king.

In 1952 her son King George VI died of lung cancer. She was sick at the time with lung cancer as well, and shortly before the coronation of her granddaughter Elizabeth, she died.

The roots of Universal Pictures can rightfully be traced back to 1906 when Carl Laemmle returned home to Chicago after a stint as a bookkeeper in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and opened up a chain of nickelodeons. This in turn led to the ambitious 39-year-old organizing a film exchange network he boldly called the Laemmle Film Service, which expanded west and north into Canada. Although he was an original member of the Edison Patents Company, he bristled at the idea of paying royalties to move to the next level: film production. Laemmle founded IMP (Independent Motion Picture Company) in New York in 1909 and for the next three years produced a number of economical multi-reel films while Edison's agents did their best to shut him down. Thomas Edison's General Film Company (known as "The Trust") filed incessant claims of patent infringement on those companies that refused to pay. Many of these independents (which included such future film moguls as Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky) pulled up stakes and left for California. As for Laemmle, he doggedly fought 289 legal actions brought about by GFC from 1909-12 and was ultimately victorious. IMP reformed in 1912 as Universal, filming two final productions in New York, The Dawn of Netta (1912) and a one-reeler, The Nurse (1912), before relocating his company to Los Angeles. From 1912-14 Universal operated two California studios, one in Hollywood and the Universal "Oak Crest Ranch" in the San Fernando Valley. The two operations were move to the new Universal City ("Taylor Ranch") in 1914 For a short time in 1912, the New York Film Company battled with Universal over the ownership of the Bison Motion Picture properties at Evendale and Santa Monica. New York Film Company wins the right to withdraw from Universal. Universal/Bison Evendale plant was returned to the New York Film Company. Universal was given the rights to trade names "Bison" and 101 Bison" Universal/Bison brand began production at the Providencia Ranch ( Universal Oak Crest ranch- the first Universal City) in 1912.

Universal began newsreel production in 1913 under Jack Cohn. In 1914 Laemmle acquired the Taylor Ranch on the north side of the Hollywood Hills and set about building Universal City. Damon and Pythias (1914) was Universal's first film completed there, just prior to the studio's official opening in March 1915 and, until 1925, Universal City would be the largest and most prolific studio in the world (eventually supplanted by MGM soon after its inception). Organized studio tours began in 1915 (they were discontinued in 1928 with the arrival of talkies, but resumed in 1964), which proved highly profitable. Laemmle, lacking a theater network, instituted a three-tiered branding system to market Universal's releases: Red Feather (low-budget), Bluebird (mainstream/medium budget) and Jewell (prestige releases, often roadshow attractions commanding premium prices). Heavy emphasis was placed on one-, two- and three-reel productions.

Universal became known as the most paternalistic of all the Hollywood studios. Virtually all of "Uncle" Carl's relatives (including his son Carl Laemmle Jr. and his vastly more talented nephew, William Wyler, were employed there). The studio enjoyed enormous hits during the 1920s, especially Lon Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925) before the actor was lured away to MGM. Lacking a theater network, Universal concentrated on independent rural theatrical houses, offering affordable exhibitor's packages which allowed them to change bills numerous times per week. This marketing strategy largely concentrated on product that would appeal to rural theaters through 1930. During the 1920s Europe also became a major source of revenue, with Universal actively involved in co-productions overseas. Sound productions became the norm by 1929 and Universal responded by increasing the number of quality productions, scoring its first Academy Award for Best Picture with All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) the following year. The studio became famous for popularizing the monster craze, beginning with Dracula (1931), that remained strong into 1935. Unfortunately, the studio's other product was proving less successful as the ravages of the Depression took hold. Laemmle's emphasis on quality productions misfired in the mid-'30s and he was forced to take an unfavorable $750,000 loan from Standard Capital which, after cost overruns on the production of Show Boat (1936), resulted in his ouster from the studio. He was forcibly retired from the movie industry in 1936 and sold Universal to Standard Capital Company, headed by Charles R. Rogers, who instituted drastic cost-cutting measures that coincided with the signing of Deanna Durbin, whose popularity virtually single-handedly saved the studio from financial disaster from 1937-40, until other popular stars (notably the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello) were added to the studio's roster by a later management team headed by J. Cheever Cowdin. Universal was also--briefly--home to displaced low-budget veteran producers Trem Carr and W. Ray Johnston, who worked there in 1936 while reforming Monogram Pictures after breaking off from an unhappy association with Republic Pictures.

While many contemporary observers disliked Rogers' handling of the so-called "New" Universal, the undeniable fact is that he saved the studio at a critical point in its history. Carl Laemmle died in 1939 of a heart attack in Los Angeles at age 72. As with most Hollywood studios, production boomed during WW2, and by 1945 the studio was averaging a release of one feature film per week. Universal merged with International Pictures, an independent studio headed by ex-20th Century-Fox executives William Goetz and Leo Spitz in 1946 and renamed Universal-International Pictures (reverted to Universal in 1963). Since the company had consciously avoided building a proprietary theater chain it was unaffected by the 1949 Supreme Court theater anti-trust decision. Indeed, the studio was actually better positioned than the other majors as it's revenue stream continued unabated. Universal was purchased by and merged with Decca Records in 1952.

While not a pioneer in television production (most majors, with the notable exception of Columbia, initially stonewalled it), the medium became a huge part of Universal City in the late 1950s. In 1962 Universal was purchased by and merged with The Music Corporation of America (MCA) and became MCA Universal. MCA's television production company, Revue Televsion Productions with its Leave It to Beaver (1957) unit, would relocate to the sprawling Universal lot. Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. purchased MCA in 1991. The Seagram Co. purchased MCA in 1995 and MCA Universal was renamed Universal Studios. In 1998 Universal purchased the USA television network. The company merged with a French global media company, Vivendi Media Group, and became Vivendi Universal in 2000. In April 2004 Vivendi Universal was purchased by and merged with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and became NBC Universal.

Marie Curie was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]. She was married to Pierre Curie. She died on 4 July 1934 in Sancellemoz, Haute-Savoie, France.

Flora Finch was born in London, England, on June 17, 1867. After spending time on the legitimate stage, she began to make films, and was one of the early comedy stars of the silent-film era. Her first film was Mrs. Jones Entertains (1909). After making nine more films she began appearing with rotund comic John Bunny, and together they would make more than 250 shorts over the next five years, becoming the cinema's first popular comedy team. Among their more popular titles were The New Stenographer (1911), The Subduing of Mrs. Nag (1911) and A Cure for Pokeritis (1912). She made other films on her own in addition to those she made with Bunny, and after he died in 1915 she began her own series of comedy shorts, although not meeting with the kind of success she had with Bunny. By the time the sound era began she was relegated to minor supporting roles and bit parts, although she did have a fairly decent role in The Scarlet Letter (1934) with Colleen Moore, as one of the self-righteous women in Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of life in colonial America. Finch retired from acting after appearing in The Women (1939), ending a long and illustrious career. On January 4, 1940, she died of rheumatic fever, brought on by a streptococcus infection, in Los Angeles, California. She was 70 years old.

Alec B. Francis was born on 2 December 1867 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Oliver Twist (1933), Thank You (1925) and The Circle (1925). He was married to Lucy Francis (nee Bowers) 1862 - 1953. He died on 6 July 1934 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Born in St Brides Wentlooge (now in Gwent), Wales, UK, where he was brought up as a strict Congregationalist and a Welsh speaker. He started his working life as an apprentice draper in Newport, Wales, and was drawn to an acting career after seeing "It's Never Too Late to Mend" at the Old Victoria Hall, Newport. Started career as a stage actor in South Wales. His first engagement was at a chapel in Cardiff, giving readings from Shakespeare. In 1890 he met a touring group on a train and was persuaded to step in for a sick actor; this was his first professional engagement. He opened on 28 August 1890 in "The Grip Of Iron" at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, gaining experience in the provinces. He made his London debut at the Shakespeare Theatre Clapham on 19 July 1897. Changed his name to Lyn when working in London, as the English could not spell or pronounce his real Christian name, Llewellyn. He starred in stage, screen and radio productions, and he toured in the U.S., India, Burma, and Japan, sharing stages with John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Anthony Quayle. He specialised in playing villains: The sinister hypnotist Svengali, Conan Doyle's Prof. Moriarty, and Bill Sikes in "Oliver Twist" were some of his roles. His last stage appearance was as Abu Hassan in "Chu Chin Chow" in the West End in 1941 when he was 74 years old, and when he was nearly 80 he played Owain Glyndwr in Shakespeare's Henry VII for the BBC 3rd Programme. He died in 1952 after a long illness. There is a memorial to him in the Chapel House Inn (a public house) in his home town of St Brides Wentlooge (the inn was owned by his uncle), the plaque having been moved from its original place in his old school when the school closed.

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of America's most famous architects who introduced his concept of "Organic architecture" and designed such landmarks as the Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum of Art.

He was born Frank Lincoln Wright on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, USA, into a family of Welsh descent. (Wright changed his middle name when he became an adult.) His father, William Cary Wright, was a music teacher and a Baptist minister. His mother, Anna Lloyd-Jones Wright, was a teacher. His father played the music of Johann Sebastian Bach which Wright later credit as a source of his sense of harmony in music and architecture. His mother involved him in playing with Froebel's geometric blocks, which formed his 3D vision, and later helped him develop architectural style marked with geometrical clarity. Wright studied engineering at University of Wisconsin for two years, but dropped out without graduating. He moved to Chicago and worked for several architecture firms, including his six years working directly with the "father of modernism" and leader of the Chicago School, Louis Henry Sullivan, who was Wright's mentor from 1888-1893.

In 1889 he married his first of three wives, Catherine Lee Clark Tobin. He and Catherine raised six children together. He also borrowed $5,000 from his then employer, Louis Sullivan, to buy a lot in Oak Park, Illinois and build his first house. That same house he used also as an architectural laboratory by making many changes and additions while developing his original design for the Prarie style of architecture. In 1893 Wright was fired by Sullivan himself, amidst the dispute over Wright's acceptance of a growing number of independent commissions. Then he established his own office in Oak Parc. During the 1890s he originated the style of "Prarie Houses" and designed many private homes in the Prarie School style across the Midwestern United States. At the same time he was commissioned to design several corporate and public buildings in communities in and around Chicago and Buffalo. He had his offices established in the Steinway Piano Building, then later had his office in Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

In 1904 Wright fell in love with Martha(Mamah)Borthwick Cheney, the wife of one of his clients. However, neither of them could get divorced from their marriages, so they eloped to Europe in 1909. In 1910, in Berlin, Wright published his first collection of architectural designs, known as the "Wasmouth Portfolio" and created the first exposure of his work in Europe, which later had influenced such movements as Bauhaus and Constructivism. During his two years in Europe, Wright lived mainly in Italy and became influenced by the Mediterranean architecture. In 1911, back in the USA, he settled with Mamah and her two children in his new home named Taliesin, which means "shining brow" in Welsh, the language of his ancestors. He wanted to marry Mamah, but his first wife was still not giving him a divorce. In August 1914, one of his male servants set fire in the house and murdered Mamah and her two children, as well as several other servants. Wright, was on a business trip and survived the disaster, was devastated and buried himself in work. At that time he was approached by a self-proclaimed sculptor, named Miriam Noel, who offered her condolences and claimed that she could understand him. Soon Wright asked her to move into Taliesin with him, although he was still married to his first wife, Catherine. From 1916 - 1922 Wright worked in Tokyo, Japan where he completed Tokyo's Imperial Hotel, which survived the earthquake of 1923 and found praise after the majority of Tolyo was left in rubble. In 1922 his first wife gave him a divorce that he had been waiting for since 1909. In 1923 he married Miriam Noel, but they separated in less that a year because of her drug addiction, albeit she did not give him a divorce until their legal battle ended in 1927.

In 1924 he met Olga (Olgivanna) Milanoff Hinzenburg, a ballerina with Russian Ballet in Chicago. Olgivanna was a daughter of Montenegro's Chief Justice and a granddaughter of Duke Marko Milanoff. In 1925 Wright invited Olgivanna and Svetlana, her daughter from her previous marriage, to move into his home, Taliesin. In December of 1925, daughter Ivanna was born to Wright and Olgivanna. In 1926 Olgivanna's ex-husband, Valdemar Hinzenburg, sought custody of Olga's daughter, and tried to have them arrested, but the charges were dropped in 1926. Olgivanna and Wright married in 1928. As his personal life had finally came to harmony, Wright's creativity evolved to the new level. In 1932 he and his wife, Olgivanna, established the Taliesin Fellowship School for architects which became a great success with 30 students, and a waiting list of 27 more. In 1934 Wright and Olgivanna were visited by Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann Sr., the owner of Kaufmann Department Store, beginning one of history's great patron - artist relationships. For the Kaufmanns Wright created his masterpiece, the Fallingwater. It was organically designed above a waterfall to preserve a living harmony with nature, where house and a stream created an interplay through the confluence of falling water and geometrical clarity of architecture. Completed between 1935 and 1937, the Fallingwater became a landmark and one of the most famous private residences in the world. It was used as a family home from 1937 - 1963, then was restored and opened for the public as a museum.

Kaufmann also gave substantial financial backing to other projects by Wright, such as Broadacre City, which was later showcased in Kaufmann's store. Wright also created architectural design for middle class family homes known as Usonian Style, which was caused by the shift of society and answered to the growing demand. In 1937 he designed his third home, Taliesin West, which he completed after purchase of 800 acres of land in Scottsdale, Arizona. There he lived and worked for the rest of his life, he taught a Taliesin Fellowship School of architecture and designed many of his most famous buildings, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and many other buildings. From 1943 until 1959 Wright worked on the design and construction of the Guggenheim Museum, "I want a temple of spirit, a monument!" requested Hilla Rebay, the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim. Wright created an outstanding design in a shape of an inverted ziggurat, a winding pyramidal temple, or an ascending spiral alluding to such organic form as a nautilus shell. "It was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before," wrote Wright. He created a temple of art, albeit he did not live to see the completion of the Guggenheim Museum, it stands today as a testimony to Wright's architectural genius.

Frank Lloyd Wright died five days after having an intestinal surgery, on April 9, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona, and was laid to rest near his mother and Mamah Borthwick Cheney in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Then his Fellowship was managed by his widow, Olgivanna until her death in 1985. According to her dying wish in 1985, the ashes of her and her husband were laid to rest in memorial garden of their Taliesin West home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Luigi Pirandello was born on 28 June 1867 in Girgenti, Sicily, Italy [now Agrigento, Sicily, Italy]. He was a writer, known for The Late Mathias Pascal (1925), Ma non è una cosa seria (1936) and Six Characters (2022). He was married to Antonietta Portulano. He died on 10 December 1936 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Sandow was already a great admirer of Greek and Roman statues of gladiators and mythical heroes when his father took him to Italy as a boy. By the time he was 19, he was already performing strongman stunts in side shows. The legendary Florenz Ziegfeld saw the young strongman and hired him for his carnival show. He soon found that the audience was far more fascinated by Sandows' bulging muscles than by the amount of weight he was lifting, so Ziegfeld had Sandow perform poses which he dubbed "muscle display performances." The legendary strongman added these displays in addition to performing his feats of strength with barbells. He also added chain-around-the-chest breaking and other colorful displays to Sandows routine. Sandow quickly became a sensation and Ziegfeld's first star.

Sandow's resemblance to the physiques found on classic Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident. He actually measured the marble artworks in museums and helped to develope "The Grecian Ideal" as a formula for the perfect physique. He built his physique to those exact proportions. Because of this, he is considered to be the father of modern bodybuilding, having been one of the first athletes to intentionally develope his musculature to pre-determined dimensions.

Sandow performed all over Europe and came to America to perform at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He could be seen in a black velvet-lined box with his body covered in white powder to appear even more like a marble statue come to life. His popularity grew since he was cultured, highly intelligent, and well-mannered. He also dressed very well and had a charming European accent, coupled with deep blue eyes and hearty laugh. He wrote several books on bodybuilding, nutrition and encouraged a healthy lifestyle as being as important as having a sound mind.

He was married to Blanche Brooks Sandow, had 2 daughters, but was probably unfaithful to her, since he was constantly in the company of women who paid money to feel his flexed muscles back stage after his stage performances. He also had a close relationship to a male musician he hired to accompany him during his shows. The man was Martinus Sieveking, a handsome pupil of Sandow. The degree of their relationship has never been determined, but they lived together in New York for a time.

Sandow knew many famous people in his lifetime... among his friends were Arthur Conan Doyle; Thomas Edison, who made early motion pictures of Sandow; the King of England; Isabella Gardner of Boston and many other celebrities of the day. Sandow invented many bodybuilding exercises, some still used today, and equipment such as a lightweight dumbbell-shaped hand exerciser that was spring-loaded. He was quite generous with his time and money -- out of his own pocket, he paid the housing costs of foreign athletes at the Olympic Games held in London. Sandow was the promoter and judge at the first bodybuilding contest ever held, in New York on September 14, 1901. Sandow also made a world tour in 1903. He died prematurely in 1925 at age 58 of a stroke shortly after pushing his car out of the mud.

Sandow was a charming, intelligent and industrious man who worked very hard for what he earned. He also inspired countless men to look at their bodies as something at least as important as their minds, since for several decades in the 19th century, more men were working in offices as clerks, bankers and other jobs which turned many bodies pale and weak. He changed countless attitudes about health and fitness, and we continue to feel its effects today.

Herbert Prior was born on 2 July 1867 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Why Girls Go Back Home (1926), The Golden Wedding (1913) and Great Expectations (1917). He was married to Mabel Trunnelle. He died on 3 October 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

John Galsworthy was born on 14 August 1867 in Kingston Hill, Surrey, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for That Forsyte Woman (1949), 21 Days Together (1940) and The Stranger (1924). He was married to Ada Nemesis Pearson Cooper. He died on 31 January 1933 in Grove Lodge, Hampshire, England, UK.

William Bechtel was born on 12 June 1867 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Three Musketeers: Part 1 (1911), The Lurking Peril (1919) and It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1913). He was married to Mrs. William Bechtel. He died on 27 October 1930 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Margaret Tobin was born on 18 July, 1867, the daughter of Irish immigrants John and Johanna Tobin. Her father had been widowed with one daughter and her mother was widowed with one daughter also. They had 4 more children including Margaret and raised their six children in Hannibal, Missouri. Margaret worked stripping tobacco leaves as a young girl, and at the age of eighteen, she and her sister went to Leadville, Colorado. She met her future husband, James Joseph Brown, during the summer of 1886 and they were married on the 1st of September of that year when Margaret was only nineteen years of age. They had two children, Lawrence and Helen. When they were living in Leadville, J.J. made enormous profits from his Little Johnny Mine. They shipped out 135 tons of ore every day which gave them opportunities that they had not had before. Money came in and J.J. became a very successful miner. In 1894 they bought a home in Denver. She helped raise her brothers after their mother died young. On April 10, 1912, she was returning to America to visit her sick grandson. The ship she boarded was the famous Titanic. She boarded at Cherbourg, France and on April 14, 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg while en route to America. Stewards soon woke passengers and told them to put on life jackets and prepare to get into the lifeboats. She stood near lifeboat 6, as singer Berthe Mayne refused to get into a lifeboat and tried to return to her cabin to get her jewels. Margaret soon convinced her to leave. She was then dropped 4 feet into the boat as it was lowered. When in the boat, the women became annoyed with Quartermaster Robert Hitchens who would not let them go back to the sinking ship and Margaret soon took over the boat. She later watched the Titanic sink. In 1914, she ran for The United States Senate and lost. She did a great deal of charity work throughout her life, much of it to help the devastated areas on the front lines of WWI. J.J. died on the 5th of September, 1922 and Margaret "Molly" Brown herself died on October 28, 1932.

Ashley Miller was born on 11 August 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Ashley was a director and writer, known for The Moral Code (1917), Infidelity (1917) and The Quest of Life (1916). Ashley was married to Ethel Browning. Ashley died on 19 November 1949 in New York City, New York, USA.

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.

Donald Hall was born on 14 August 1867 in Morree, North West Province, East India. He was an actor, known for Hearts and the Highway (1915), Uncle Bill (1914) and The Carter Case (1919). He was married to Frankie Mann. He died on 25 July 1948 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Paul Weigel was born on 18 February 1867 in Halle an der Saale, Province of Saxony, Prussia [now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany]. He was an actor, known for The Great Dictator (1940), Me und Gott (1918) and Mademoiselle Midnight (1924). He died on 25 May 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Georges Berr was born on 30 July 1867 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for My Life with Caroline (1941), Le Million (1931) and The Million (1914). He was married to Jeanne Clémentine Bertiny. He died on 25 July 1942 in Paris, France.