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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Thelma Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, an industrial city near the New Hampshire state line. She was a lovely child with good academic tendencies, so much so that she decided early on to become a schoolteacher. After high school she went on to college but at her mother's insistence entered several beauty contests (apparently her mother wanted her to be more than just a "schoolmarm"). Thelma was so successful in these endeavors that she entered on the state level and won the title of "Miss Massachusetts" in 1925 and went on to the "Miss America" pageant; though she didn't win, the pageant let her be seen by talent scouts looking for fresh new faces to showcase in films. She began to appear in one- and two-reel shorts, mostly comedy, which showcased her keen comic timing and aptitude for physical comedy--unusual in such a beautiful woman.
She had been making shorts for Hal Roach when she was signed to Paramount Pictures. Her first role--at age 21--was as Lorraine Lane in 1927's Fascinating Youth (1926), a romantic comedy that was Paramount's showcase vehicle for its new stars. Thelma received minor billing in another film that year, God Gave Me Twenty Cents (1926). The next year she starred with Gary Cooper and William Powell in the western Nevada (1927). That year also saw her in three more films, with The Gay Defender (1927) being the most notable. It starred Richard Dix as a man falsely accused of murder.
As the 1920s closed, Thelma began to get parts in more and more films. In 1928 and 1929 alone she was featured in 20 pictures, and not just comedies--she also did dramas and gothic horror films. Unlike many silent-era stars whose voices didn't fit their image or screen persona, Thelma's did. She had a bright, breezy, clear voice with a pleasant trace of a somewhat-aristocratic but unsnobbish New England accent and easily made the transition to sound films. In 1930 she added 14 more pictures to her resume, with Dollar Dizzy (1930) and Follow Thru (1930) being the most notable. The latter was a musical with Thelma playing a rival to Nancy Carroll for the affections of Buddy Rogers. It was a box-office hit, as was the stage production on which it was based. The following year Thelma appeared in 14 more films, among them Let's Do Things (1931), Speak Easily (1932), The Old Bull (1932), and On the Loose (1931). Her most successful film that year, however, was the Marx Brothers farce Monkey Business (1931). While critics gave the film mixed reviews, the public loved it. In 1932 Thelma appeared in another Marx Brothers film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, Horse Feathers (1932). She also starred in This Is the Night (1932), a profitable film which featured Cary Grant in his first major role. In 1934 Thelma made 16 features, but her career would soon soon come to a grinding halt. In 1935 she appeared in such films as Twin Triplets (1935) and The Misses Stooge (1935), showcasing her considerable comic talents. She also proved to be a savvy businesswoman with the opening of "Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café", a nightclub/restaurant that catered to show-business people. Unfortunately, it also attracted some shady underworld types as well, and there were rumors that they were trying to take over her club and use it as a gambling establishment to fleece the wealthy Hollywood crowd. According to these tales, Thelma and her boyfriend, director Roland West, wouldn't sell their establishment once they found out what the gangsters had in mind, which incurred the enmity of the wrong people with whom to have differences of opinion. Whether or not the stories were true, on December 16, 1935, 29-year-old Thelma was found dead in her car in her garage in Los Angeles. Her death was ruled suicide-by-carbon-monoxide-poisoning. At the time, as today, many felt that her death was actually a murder connected to the goings-on at her club, a theory that was lent credence by the fact that no one who knew her had ever seen her depressed or morose enough to worry about her committing suicide. Another factor that aroused suspicion was that her death was given a cursory investigation by the--at the time--notoriously corrupt Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the case was quickly and unceremoniously closed. Her death has remained controversial to this day.
Three films she made before her death weren't released until the following year: Hot Money (1936), An All American Toothache (1936), and The Bohemian Girl (1936). The latter saw her quite substantial role cut down so much that she was barely glimpsed in the picture. Thelma had made an amazing 115 films in such a short career, and her beauty and talent would no doubt have taken her right to the top if not for her untimely demise.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
World-famous, widely popular American humorist of the vaudeville stage and of silent and sound films, Will Rogers graduated from military school, but his first real job was in the livestock business in Argentina, of all places. He transported pack animals across the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires to South Africa for use in the Boer War (1899-1902). He stayed in Johannesburg for a short while, appearing there in Wild West shows where he drew upon his expertise with horse and lasso. Returning to America, he brought his talents to vaudeville and by 1917 was a Ziegfeld Follies star. Over the years he gradually blended into his act his unique style of topical, iconoclastic humor, in which he speared the efforts of the powerful to trample the rights of the common man, while twirling his lariat and perhaps chewing on a blade of straw. Although appearing in many silents, he reached his motion-picture zenith with the arrival of sound. Now mass audiences could hear his rural twang as he delivered his homespun philosophy on behalf of Everyman. The appeal and weight of his words carried such weight with the average citizen that he was even nominated for governor of Oklahoma (which he declined).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Pretty-as-a-picture Marjorie White was a charming comedienne, and although she was never the star, she stole many scenes from stars. She co-starred with some of the leading comedians of the day, such as Wheeler and Woolsey, the Three Stooges, and Joe E. Brown, and brought smiles to the faces of moviegoers and theatergoers alike. It's easy to tell she was a favorite in the 1930s.
In addition to having acting talent and screen presence, she could sing and dance, which made her fantastic in musical comedies on stage and screen. In her early career, she was teamed up with Thelma White, another popular performer and actress, and together they became a popular singing and dancing duo known as the "White Sisters".- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Anna Müller-Lincke was born on 8 April 1868 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress and producer, known for Traue nie dem blossen Schein (1916), Marriage in Name Only (1930) and Love Must Be Understood (1933). She was married to Paul Lincke. She died on 24 January 1935 in Berlin, Germany.- Best-known for performing the most popular baseball poem, "Casey at the Bat." Filmed as one of the first talkies, 5 years before The Jazz Singer (1927), Casey at the Bat (1922), was included in Ken Burns' Baseball (1994). Hopper, a fervent New York Giant fan, first performed the then-unknown poem to the Giants and Chicago Cubs, on the day his friend, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Tim Keefe had his record 19 game winning streak stopped, August 14, 1888. The dying General William T. Sherman was also in the audience that evening, along with Keefe and his brother-in-law shortstop/attorney John Montgomery Ward. 2 months later the Giants won New York's first world championship.
Hopper recited Casey for almost 40 years in films, on stage, records, radio etc. Known as the "Husband of His Country" for his 6 marriages. He became totally hairless, with blue-tinged skin, possibly from reaction to a patent medicine. Even so, his powerful voice and great sense of humor mesmerized women all his life. One of his wives was the gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. Their son, the white-maned William Hopper, played private investigator Paul Drake on Perry Mason for many years. - Quiet, benign, blue-eyed, rangy-framed child/teen actor Junior Durkin, who was an absolute natural on film and possessed major "down home" appeal, showed strong promise in just the few 1930s films he appeared in. A fatal roadster accident quickly ended the dreams of this young "Henry Fonda" type just as he was about to transition into grownup-roles.
He was born Trent Bernard ("Junior") Durkin in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 2, 1915. His father, Bernard, was a hotel owner who abandoned the family while Junior was quite young. His mother, Florence "Molly" Edwards, was an actress who quickly geared Junior and his two older sisters, Gertrude Durkin and Grace Durkin toward performing. Junior first set foot on stage at age 2 1/2 playing the part of Cupid in the play "Some Night". From there he was seen in such shows as "The Squaw Man," "The Blue Bird," "Poppy," "Paid" and "Floradora." Following a role in "Dagmar" starring legendary 'Nazimova' as a countess in January 1923, the 8-year-old Junior took his first bow on Broadway with the melodrama "The Lady" toward the end of that year with veterans 'Mary Nash' and Elisabeth Risdon.
Junior returned to Broadway as Tommy Tucker in Gilbert & Sullivan's musical "H.M.S. Pinafore" (1926), then earned his strongest reviews yet in the Broadway comedy "Courage" (1928), also starring Janet Beecher and featuring sister Gertrude, which ran for 8 months. He and sister Gertrude also toured on the vaudeville circuit around this time.
Following his mother's death in 1930, the young actor and both his sisters, who now had stage and Broadway experience, headed West to Hollywood to test "early sound" pictures. Junior was immediate placed in the Warner Bros. domestic drama Recaptured Love (1930) and received noticeable reviews as the son of estranged parents. Junior was next paired well with child actress Mitzi Green in The Santa Fe Trail (1930) headlining Richard Arlen, with both children receiving their share of praise.
Brief as it was, Junior became life-long friends with superstar Jackie Coogan when he tested and won the role of Huckleberry Finn opposite Coogan's Sawyer in what would prove to be a highly popular movie version of the Mark Twain classic Tom Sawyer (1930). Both boys were the same age. With Mitzi Green delightful as Becky Thatcher, the three young actors received heaps of praise for their naturalistic performances. The movie was so well received, in fact, that all three were reunited in the film version of Huckleberry Finn (1931). Blessed with a shy, ingratiating smile, Junior, along with the other two, received equal applause for these same roles.
Junior co-starred in the drama Hell's House (1932) with an early Bette Davis and Pat O'Brien as a bucolic "good kid" who gets mixed up with the wrong city crowd, a bootlegger and his dame, and takes the fall for a crime his mentor committed. Junior's next film Man Hunt (1933) showed off Junior's natural charm as a boy sleuth who involves himself in a murder and robbery. Returning then to the stage with a starring role in the comedy "Growing Pains" at the Pasadena Playhouse, the show moved to Broadway in November 1933 but ran only 29 performances.
Dropping the name "Junior" from the marquee, the young actor was fourth billed as "Trent Durkin" in the Richard Arlen/Ida Lupino comedy Ready for Love (1934) in his pursuit of a grownup image. Big Hearted Herbert (1934) with Guy Kibbee and Louisa May Alcott's Little Men (1934) with fellow kid actors Dickie Moore, Frankie Darro, Tommy Bupp and Cora Sue Collins followed. Junior's last film would be RKO's Chasing Yesterday (1935), which would be released posthumously.
Junior had just been cast to play "Tommy" in the hotly anticipated film version of Eugene O'Neill's drama Ah Wilderness! (1935) when the boy decided to take some spring time off to relax with his good friend Jackie Coogan at the Coogan ranch just outside San Diego. On their way back to the ranch while out on a dove-hunting expedition one day in Coogan's new car, a 20th birthday present from his dad, the vehicle (driven by Coogan, Sr.) swerved to avoid an oncoming car, lost control and plunged into a ravine, overturning more than seven times. Of all the occupants -- Jackie, Jackie's father, Junior, actor-writer Robert J. Horner and ranch foreman Charles Jones -- young Jackie Coogan was the sole survivor, the only one not thrown from the car.
Junior's death was attributed to a fractured skull. The highly beloved youth had over two hundred guests attend his funeral, which was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Gone at 19, one can only image what talents he still had to share or what kind of Hollywood career he would have had as a full-fledged adult star. - Actor
- Director
Mack Swain was born in 1876 and soon became a talented vaudevillian. In 1913 he was hired by Mack Sennett and appeared in a few Mabel Normand pictures until a year later he became even bigger when Charlie Chaplin arrived at the Keystone Studio. Swain later created a character by the name of Ambrose whom he appeared with Mr. Walrus (Played by comic Chester Conklin) most memorably in "Love Speed & Thrills" (1915).
After that his career began to go downward until Charlie Chaplin rescued it in 1921 and he later appeared in his masterpiece "The Gold Rush" (1925). After "The Gold Rush" he appeared in many Hollywood productions such as Lon Chaney's "Mockery" and "The Last Warning" (1929).
In 1931 he appeared in the academy award nominee for best short "Stout Hearts and Willing Hands" which also co-starred former keystone actors such as Chester Conklin, Sterling Ford, Clyde Cook, and Owen Moore. He retired from then onward and died in 1935.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Born in France to British parents, William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson stayed in that country until age 19, when he, his mother and sisters (their father had died sometime before) returned to Great Britain. Once there, Dickson--in an early indication of his lifelong fascination with science and mechanics--began a correspondence with Thomas A. Edison in the US, asking for employment, but was turned down. Eventually Dickson's family moved to the US, and several years afterward Dickson actually did land a job with Edison, and soon proved to be a trusted and valuable associate. He worked closely with Edison on the development of both the phonograph and, closer to Dickson's heart, the motion picture (it was Dickson who eventually decided that motion picture film should be 35mm wide; he also developed the emulsion process used in the film).
In 1889, while Edison was on a trip to Europe, Dickson set up a building in which to conduct his "photographic experiments", the forerunner of the first motion picture studio. In 1890 he and his chief mechanical assistant, Eugène Lauste, showed the results of their experiments, produced on a cylindrical system called the Kinetoscope: a short film called Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890), featuring one of his assistants. Improvements on this system continued, and in 1891 patents were filed on an improved camera called the Kinetograph. Edison's plans to exhibit the new system at the Chicago World Exposition necessitated not only the production of many new machines but also films that could be shown on them, and the result was the building of a film studio at Edison's laboratory in West Orange, NJ, which was nicknamed "The Black Maria" because it was constructed of wood covered with tar-paper, resembling the police wagons of that era which were known by that nickname.
However, even with Dickson's perfecting of a new version of the Kinetograph camera, not enough films were completed to be shown at Edison's planned exhibition. Dickson, however, did manage to persuade many stage and vaudeville stars to appear in films shot at the West Orange studio, and in the following years the studio was a beehive of activity, with some of the biggest names of the era making short films there. However, friction between Dickson and an executive appointed to oversee Edison's businesses soon broke into open conflict, resulting in Dickson's angrily leaving Edison's employ in 1895. He then joined forces with two businessmen in the development of a way to exhibit films differently than Edison's peepshow-style Kinetoscope. The system eventually developed into what was called the Mutoscope, and the camera that was developed to take pictures for the Mutoscope was called the Biograph. This in turn developed into a filming and projection system that retained the Biograph name.
In 1896 Dickson and three partners began the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. (often referred to as just "Biograph", and generally considered to be the first major American motion picture studio) to produce and distribute films. Dickson produced and directed many of Biograph's early films, but by the turn of the century he had taken over management of the company's European branch, headquartered in England. He died there in 1935.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Known as El Zorzal Criollo, the songbird of Buenos Aires, Carlos Gardel is a legendary figure in Uruguay and Argentina. He was born on December 11st, 1890, in Toulouse (France). His place of birth have been claimed by the Uruguayans and Argentinians, however, his Birth Certificate and his Will proves, and leaves no doubt, that Carlos Gardel was born in France. The charismatic singer's career coincided with the development of that intrinsically Argentine cultural icon, the tango (the traditional Argentinean music).
The elite overcame their aversion to the tango's humble origins and open sensuality only when the man and his music were already widely accepted in New York and Paris.
Radio performances and a film career extended this appeal. Gardel's sky-rocketing career was cut short in 1935, when he lost his life in a plane crash in Colombia. An orgy of grief swept from New York to Puerto Rico, and a woman in Havana suicided. Hordes of people thronged to pay their respects as the singer's body made the journey to its final resting place in a Buenos Aires cemetery, traveling via Colombia, New York and Río de Janeiro. Instantly immortal and preserved forever young, his enduring fame is measured by the oft-heard Argentine expression 'Gardel sings better every day'. Sixty years after his death, a devoted following keeps the legend blazing, playing Gardel's music daily, placing a lit cigarette in the hand of the life-sized statue which graces his tomb and keeping his few films in circulation.- William 'Stage' Boyd was born on 18 December 1889 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Lost City (1935), The Midnight Warning (1932) and The Spoilers (1930). He was married to Clara Joel and Margaret Christiansen. He died on 20 March 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Louise Emmons was born in 1858 in Yuba County, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Last Egyptian (1914), Polly Redhead (1917) and White Eagle (1922). She was married to Roswell Emmons. She died on 6 March 1935 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Sam Hardy was born on 21 March 1883 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for King Kong (1933), The Miracle Woman (1931) and Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934). He was married to Betty Scott. He died on 16 October 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Writer
- Actress
- Script and Continuity Department
Zelda Sears was born on 21 January 1873 in Brockway, Michigan, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for The Divorcee (1930), A Wicked Woman (1934) and You Can't Buy Everything (1934). She was married to Louis C. Wiswell and Herbert E. Sears (actor). She died on 19 February 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Edith Roberts was born in New York City on September 17, 1899. She was a starstruck 19-year-old when she made her debut in The Deciding Kiss (1918). Although she didn't get the acclaim that her more successful counterparts did, she remained very busy throughout the decade and into the 1920s. After The Wagon Master (1929), Edith left films. On August 20, 1935, she died in Los Angeles, California, from complications from a horrendous childbirth. She was only 35 years old.
- T.E. Lawrence was born on 16 August 1888 in Tremadoc, Caernarvonshire, Wales, UK. He was a writer, known for Sabaton: Seven Pillars of Wisdom (2019), With Lawrence in Arabia (1927) and T. E. Lawrence 1888-1935 (1962). He died on 19 May 1935 in Clouds Hill, Dorset, England, UK.
- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Producer
Jack Coogan Sr. was born on 21 January 1887 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Daddy (1923), Trouble (1922) and Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (1927). He was married to Lillian Coogan. He died on 4 May 1935 in San Diego, California, USA.- Very busy Hollywood character actor who didn't hit his stride on screen until he was in his 50s but who nonetheless appeared in 33 films between 1931 and 1934. The Philadelphia-born actor, veteran of a dozen Broadway plays, specialized in playing corrupt authority figures, and was perhaps best known for his deep, sonorous speaking voice.
- Ruan Lingyu was born Ruan Fenggen on April 26, 1910 in Shanghai, China. Her father died when she was a child and her mother worked as a maid to support them. When she was sixteen Ruan started acting as a way to earn money. She made her film debut in the 1927 Chinese language film A Married Couple In Name Only. Ruan fell in love with Zhang Damin, a gambler who had been disowned by his wealthy family. She would financially support him during their relationship. In 1930 she signed a contract with Lianhua Studios and starred in the film Spring Dream of an Old Capital. It was a huge hit and made her one of China's biggest stars. Her success continued with starring roles in Little Toys, Homecoming, and The Goddess. She was called "China's Greta Garbo". Ruan broke up with Zhang and started dating Tang Jishan, a married tea tycoon. He bought her a mansion in Shanghai and she became his mistress. Her ex-lover Zhang sued her in 1934 claiming she was his wife and owed him money.
The scandal made front page headlines and from then on then tabloid press became obsessed with her personal life. Unfortunately her relationship with Tang was rocky and he started abusing her. She was devastated when he threw her beloved dog out of a window. Ruan was cast in the 1935 drama New Women. It was based on the life of Ai Xia, an actress who had committed suicide. When New Women premiered in February of 1935 there was a backlash from journalists who objected to their negative portrayal. On March 8, 1935 Ruan committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates. She was just twenty-four years old. A note was found that said "Gossip is a fearful thing". More than one hundred thousand fans attended her funeral. Three female fans were so overcome with grief that they committed suicide during her funeral procession. She was buried at Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery in Shanghai. Two new "suicide" notes written by Ruan were found in 2001. In these notes she writes that Tang broke her heart and Zhang shamed her publicly. - Tom Murray was born on 8 September 1873 in Stonefoot, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for The Gold Rush (1925), Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926) and Into Her Kingdom (1926). He was married to Louise Carver. He died on 27 August 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Edouard Trebaol was born on 20 May 1905 in Hollywood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Oliver Twist (1922), Jinx (1919) and The Haunted Valley (1923). He died on 11 October 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
Billy Sunday was born on 19 November 1862 in Ames, Iowa, USA. He is known for Pathé's Weekly, No. 9 (1914), Hearst-Selig News Pictorial, No. 32 (1915) and The Pathé Daily News, No. 4 (1915). He was married to Helen Amelia Thompson. He died on 6 November 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Robin Williamson was born on 30 June 1889 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Feud Woman (1925), Prince of the Plains (1927) and A Wanderer of the West (1927). He died on 21 February 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Gordon Westcott was born on 6 November 1903 in St. George, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for The World Changes (1933), Dark Hazard (1934) and 6 Day Bike Rider (1934). He was married to Anne Weston Brandreth, Hazel Betha McArthur and Margaret Cardon. He died on 30 October 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Being one of numerous important comedians during the silent era whose popularity has turned into almost complete obscurity, Lloyd Hamilton has nevertheless earned a reputation as an original talent among film historians and enthusiasts. Born into a conservative middle-class family in California, presumably in 1891, Hamilton began his career as an extra in theatre-productions. He entered films at an early age, although the exact year remains hard to specify; he claimed to have appeared in his first films at Lubin Company in 1914, but he can be glimpsed in a few surviving Frontier-comedies from the year before. However, it is correct that it was in the year of 1914 that he first gained success, when he teamed up with Bud Duncan in Kalem's 'Ham and Bud'-series, being one of the very first permanent comedy teams produced in the movies. The series turned out moderately popular and ran for three years, although it can be hard to understand this success for modern viewers; by common agreement, the 'Ham and Bud'-films have not aged well and remain of interest mostly due to the limited insight into Hamilton's maturity as a performer that they provide.
Hamilton left Kalem for Fox in late 1917, where he appeared on his own under the direction of Henry Lehrman and Jack White. Along with White and another director who would later reach fame as a performer in his own right, Charley Chase, Hamilton established 'Mermaid Comedies' in 1920, a production unit exclusively dedicated to comedy shorts. He appeared in a number of films over the next few years; sadly, only a few of these are known to exist today, but comedies such as "Moonshine" and "The Simp" (both 1920) confirm Hamilton's progression as a performer during this time. Indeed, by 1922 he was hailed in the press as a "great comedy coup" and audiences had already taken notice of him. Hamilton's screen personality was something of its own, inheriting very few traits of the other major comedians of the time; tubby and baby-faced though he was, his character was a childish man of personal contrasts: he possessed a touch of bewilderment, irresponsibility, incredible self-assurance and frustration that gave him a partly tragic complexion, which in return probably made his comedy more appealing to adults than children.
By the mid-1920s, Hamilton's popularity had grown such a degree that he considered it appropriate to establish his own production company. It was about this time that he starred in his first feature-length film, "The Darker Self," a film which does not only seem rather tasteless today due to the use of racial stereotypes, but which in fact was a disaster also when originally released and Hamilton's reputation suffered a blow because of it. He nevertheless produced many fine short comedies throughout the decade, such as "Move Along" (1926), "Nobody's Business" (1926) and "Somebody's Fault" (1927), most of which were directed by Norman Taurog. While it may be argued that some of the films suffer from lack of continuity, they often provide many clever visual gags and camera-tricks which still make them pleasant to watch; in fact, in one respect absence of continuity suits Hamilton's character well, as his movies are not so often based upon a particular story as of him being constantly haunted by bad luck, with one bad situation leading up to an even worse situation.
Despite being so very amusing on-screen, Hamilton led a troublesome private life. He was a hard drinker, which severely affected his family life. His first marriage was to actress Ethel Lloyd, five years his senior, which took place at an early point of his movie career and lasted just a few years; they were separated by 1923, and their split caused a two-year long court battle. He married a second time in 1927 to Irene Dalton, who had appeared in some of his films. Dalton accused her husband of being violent when drunk, and the couple divorced after a year. (None of the marriages produced any children.) In the midst of these personal difficulties, Hamilton was suddenly banned from the screen after a boxer was murdered in a street-fight in which he was involved; the comedian was not a suspect, but the tolerance of scandals was minimal in Hollywood at this time and he remained unemployed for more than a year. He did a comeback in a series of two-reeler's for Mack Sennett at Educational Films in 1929, this time in sound pictures, which had just done its lasting entrance in the medium. Lloyd had a good voice which suited his character perfectly, but by this time his troubled life-style had begun to get the better of him. After the contract with Sennett expired, it was rumored that he would begin a new series of two-reeler's for Hal Roach, but being informed of Hamilton's alcoholism, Roach refused to hire him. He died unemployed and ill in 1935, aged 43.
During his brief period as a star, Charlie Chaplin is reported to have remarked that Lloyd Hamilton "is the one actor of whom I am jealous," and Charley Chase confessed that whenever he had difficulties in doing a scene, he'd always ask himself, "How would Lloyd have done it?" Buster Keaton also expressed great fondness of his work, stating in a late interview that Hamilton was "one of the funniest men in pictures." Critic and playwright Walter Kerr, considered by many the most insightful authority on silent comedy, discusses his work with great respect and admiration in his 1975-book "The Silent Clowns." However, despite all acclaim, Lloyd Hamilton is exceedingly seldom given a mention today even among silent comedy fans. One significant reason to this is his sad lack of surviving output; most of his negatives were destroyed in a laboratory fire at Universal shortly after his death. Happily, a fine collection of his work is now available on DVD through silent comedy specialists "Looser Than Loose."- Actor
- Soundtrack
At age 23, the year 1897, Herbert began a long experience of his career towards acting on the British Theater. During that time the theater was still owned by the eminent Thomas Alva Edison. As a classically trained British actor he began by acting in small parts on screen and off. Fans will probably remember his most as the ineffectual Dr. Seward in the classic Universal Pictures film Dracula (1931). In fact Herbert essayed the part both in the film and the stage. When the 1927 stage play of Dracula was released he played the very same role of Dr. Seward on the play, as did another British actor, Edward Van Sloan who played Professor Van Helsing both on the play and on screen. After many years with the British stage he moved on to play parts in Broadway. A very capable actor with his versatile tie and cultured masculinity. By the late 1930s, Herbert became an older gentlemen in his late fifties and continued both on stage and screen to play authoritative supporting roles mostly of which were film versions of classic literature novels and plays. By 1935, his career was tragically cut short of a heart attack. He died at sixty-one.- Jane Addams was born on 6 September 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, USA. She was a writer, known for Shoes (1916), Votes for Women (1912) and Mutual Weekly, No. 16 (1915). She died on 21 May 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Frank Daniels was born on 15 August 1856 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Crooky (1915), What Happened to Father (1915) and Captain Jinks Should Worry (1916). He was married to Elizabeth Sanson (actress). He died on 12 January 1935 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Justin H. McCloskey was born in 1887 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. Justin H. was an assistant director and director, known for Flapper Wives (1924), Anything Once (1925) and The Great Alone (1922). Justin H. was married to Eileen Sedgwick and Josie Sedgwick. Justin H. died on 1 August 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Writer
Magnus Hirschfeld was born on 14 May 1868 in Kolberg, Pomerania, Germany [now Kolobrzeg, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor and writer, known for Different from the Others (1919), Das Recht auf Liebe (1930) and Gesetze der Liebe (1927). He died on 14 May 1935 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Henry Krauss was born on 26 April 1866 in Paris, France. He was an actor and director, known for Les trois masques (1921), Les misérables (1913) and Les Misérables, Part 1: Jean Valjean (1913). He died on 15 December 1935 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Writer
- Sound Department
Leo Donnelly was born on 26 January 1879 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Broadway Gossip No. 3 (1932), Barbers' College (1929) and Potash and Perlmutter (1923). He died on 20 August 1935 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.- Special Effects
In the beginning, long before computer-generated imagery, there were the Lydecker brothers. Using detailed miniatures, scale model vehicles, creative lighting, and camera techniques, the special effects duo revolutionized the moviemaking business and made Republic Pictures a force to reckon with in the film industry. The Lydeckers followed in their father's footsteps. Howard C. Lydecker worked specifically for actor Douglas Fairbanks and was an early practitioner in special effects, including the filming of miniatures and trick photography.- Harry Todd was born on 13 December 1863 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for One Is Guilty (1934), Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (1931) and Tea: With a Kick! (1923). He was married to Margaret Joslin. He died on 15 February 1935 in Glendale, California, USA.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Léonce Perret was born on 13 March 1880 in Niort, Deux-Sèvres, France. He was a director and actor, known for L'enfant de Paris (1913), The A.B.C. of Love (1919) and Léonce et les écrevisses (1913). He was married to Valentine Petit. He died on 12 August 1935 in Paris, France.- Rosetta Dewart Brice (a.k.a. Betty Brice) was born on the 4th of August, 1888 (not 1892 as often reported), the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lincoln Brice, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. She was raised in Washington, D.C. and completed her education there. A striking young woman with Titian-red hair, green eyes, and a petite 5'6", 124 lb. figure, Miss Brice showed considerable dramatic talent in her youth and received training for the stage as well. After making her theatrical debut in Washington at the age of fifteen, she went on to appear in numerous stock company productions in Baltimore and Philadelphia.
In 1913, while performing with the Orpheum Stock Company at the Chestnut Street Theater in Philadelphia, Miss Brice decided that she wanted to try acting in movies and requested an interview with the general manager of the Lubin Film Company. After putting the actress through a screen test, Ira M. Lowry immediately offered her a job. Miss Brice would later frankly admit that she entered movies so she could watch herself act. "In a general sort of way I knew how I acted," she told a reporter for the Dramatic Mirror in 1915, "but I never saw myself....[and] I've never gotten over it, and I daresay I never will fail to feel that little thrill that comes when I see myself on the screen."
Her first role for Lubin, and her first appearance in a motion picture, came in the Betzwood production of The Price of Victory, a two-reel Civil War drama made in the summer of 1913. Her first day on the job found Miss Brice dressed in 1860s attire, jumping fully clothed into the Perkiomen Creek to play a scene in which the heroine valiantly blows up a bridge during a pitched battle and is killed by the collapsing timbers. Far from being put off by the physical rigors of her new venture, the actress was exhilarated. An athletic woman, who loved to ride and swim, she reveled in the pleasures of "the outdoor life" that working at the Betzwood studio provided. In addition to The Price of Victory, her Betzwood film with Thurston Hall and Octavia Handworth, Sweeter Than Revenge, also survives.
Rosetta Brice had a feisty independent streak, a fiery temper, and was not bound by conventional standards of feminine behavior. In 1908, at the age of twenty, her engagement to society scion, Horace Carpentier Hurlbutt, was announced in the Washington newspapers. When her fiancé objected to her acting career, she broke off the engagement and abruptly married John O. La Gorce, Secretary of the National Geographic Society, instead. That marriage ended in divorce after only a few years. In 1915, she was hauled into court in Philadelphia by a man who claimed that she had stolen two diamond rings from him. Her defiant attitude in court created a minor sensation in the press. She was equally defiant when asked by a Dramatic Mirror reporter in 1915 whether movie actresses had loose morals. Already well-known at the studio for the wild parties she occasionally threw, the actress firmly stated that "Morals are traits that each and every woman must define for herself. Certainly a woman's profession is not indicative of her morals!"
When the Lubin Company hired a new actor/director, John H. Pratt, in 1915, Rosetta Brice was placed under his direction. Pratt guided her through several successful films and her work for Lubin generally received high marks from movie critics. Their close work together soon led to a marriage between Miss Brice and the much older "Smiling Jack" Pratt. The couple continued to work for Lubin until the company folded in 1916, after which both returned to the theater. Eventually they went to Los Angeles to resume working in movies.
For reasons unknown, Miss Brice stopped appearing in films in the early 1920s, though her husband continued to seek work as an actor. Her final role was a minor character in the 1924 production of Beau Brummel, with John Barrymore. She died in Van Nuys, California, on February 15, 1935, at the age of 46. - Wiley Hardeman Post (1898-1935) was interested in aviation from his boyhood days in Texas, and became a parachute jumper with an aerial-exhibition team. After an oil-field accident in which he lost an eye, he purchased an airplane and learned to fly it in 1927. He than became a 'barnstormer." After becoming a pilot for an Oklahoma oil man, Wiley Post flew the monoplane "Winnie Mae" to victory in the Cross-Country Derby of the 1930 National Air Races. In 1931, he and Harold Getty made a record-setting flight around the world in the "Winnie Mae." He then made the first around-the-world solo flight in 1933 in the "Winnie Mae," specially equipped with a new automatic-pilot and a radio direction finder, in 7 days, 18 hours and forty-nine and one-half minutes. Prior to that, in the early 1930s, he became intensely interested is the possibilities of long-distance, high speed flight in the stratosphere. Later he conceived and helped to design, make, and test the first fully pressurized flying suit and helmet. In 1934, wearing this outfit, he reached altitudes of 50,000 feet in the supercharged "Winnie Mae" and there discovered the jet streams. Later, he made four attempts to set a new transcontinental speed record by using his pressurized suit-and-helmet and the specially-modified "Winnie Mae" to fly in the jet streams of the stratosphere. Tragically, he and Will Rogers were killed during a vacation flight in 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska. He was posthumously inducted into the Aviation National Hall of Fame, in Dayton, Ohio, on December 17, 1969 at the Sheraton-Dayton Hotel. The award was presented by Will Rogers Jr. and his widow, Winnie Post, of Ralls, Texas, accepted the award. A presentation film was narrated by Lowell Thomas, and his Hall of Fame portrait was done by Milton Caniff, creator of the "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon" comic strips. (The aircraft "Winnie Mae" was named for the daughter of the Oklahoma oil man who owned the ship, and was not named after his wife, whom he met in Sweetwater, Texas while barnstorming.)
His Hall of Fame plaque reads: To Wiley Hardeman Post, for outstanding contributions to aviation by his flights around the world that demonstrated the practicality of new flight-related equipment, and for conceiving and proving the feasibility of the fully pressurized flying suit, this award is most solemnly and respectfully dedicated." His 'flying-suit' is on display at the Smithsonian. - Spencer Bell was born on 25 September 1887 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for The Wizard of Oz (1925), Taxi Spooks (1929) and The Outlaw Dog (1927). He died on 18 August 1935.
- J. Gordon Russell was born on 11 January 1883 in Piedmont, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Parisian Love (1925), Across the Border (1922) and Tumbleweeds (1925). He died on 21 April 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Writer
Arthur Robison was born on 25 June 1883 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Looping the Loop (1928), Warning Shadows (1923) and Der letzte Walzer (1927). He died on 20 October 1935 in Berlin, Germany.- Pepi Lederer was born on 18 March 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Cardboard Lover (1928). She died on 11 June 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Gilman was born on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Mary Perkins (formerly Mary Fitch Westcott) and Frederic Beecher Perkins. She had only one brother, Thomas Adie, who was fourteen months older, because a physician advised Mary Perkins that she might die if she bore other children. During Charlotte's infancy, her father moved out and abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in an impoverished state. Gilman was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist and served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis.
- Hans-Joachim Möbis was born on 19 June 1908 in Hamburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Westfront 1918 (1930), Der Mann, der den Mord beging (1931) and Junge Adler (1944). He died on 16 February 1935 in Berlin, Germany.
- Vera Baranovskaya was born on 7 March 1885 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was an actress, known for Mother (1926), Takový je zivot (1930) and Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927). She died on 7 December 1935 in Paris, France.
- Maggie O'Brien was born in February 1890 in Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for Allied (2016), All Saints (1998) and Anne-Marie: 2002 (2018). She was married to Alfred John Goulding . She died on 31 December 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Paul Nicholson was born on 23 March 1875 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for As Man Desires (1925), The Smart Set (1928) and The Brute (1927). He died on 2 February 1935 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Dutch Schultz was born on 6 August 1901 in Bronx, New York, USA. He was married to Frances. He died on 24 October 1935 in Newark, New Jersey, USA.
- American author Clarence Day was born in New York City in 1874. He came from a wealthy family (his father had his own brokerage firm on Wall Street and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange, and his grandfather founded the "New York Sun" newspaper), and he graduated from Yale University--where he was the editor of the school's humor magazine, "The Yale Record"--in 1896. The next year he joined his father's brokerage firm, but left a year later to enlist in the US Navy. Unfortunately, he developed crippling arthritis while in the service, resulting in his spending the rest of his life as a semi-invalid.
His most famous work is his memoir, "Life with Father" (1935), which humorously recounted the Day family life in the 1890s under the rule of his domineering father. The book was quite successful, and was turned into a smash-hit play in 1939, then into a critically and financially successful film, Life with Father (1947)). The film received Oscar nominations for best cinematography, best art direction, best musical score and best actor (William Powell). It was also turned into a short-lived (two seasons) TV series, Life with Father (1953).
Clarence Day died of pneumonia in New York City in 1935. - Clarence Geldert was born on 9 June 1865 in New Brunswick, Canada. He was an actor and director, known for A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923), Jungle Bride (1933) and Wasted Lives (1923). He died on 13 May 1935 in Calabasas, California, USA.
- Writer
- Composer
- Music Department
Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, son of Italian emigrants established in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Alfredo Le Pera is one of the greatest lyricists of Tango. Some of his biggest lyrics songs are: "Volver", "El dia que me quieras", "Sus ojos se cerraron", "Por una cabeza", "Lejana tierra mia", "Cuesta abajo", "Mi Buenos Aires querido", "Amores de estudiante", between others. All of them were composed with the music of Carlos Gardel and were included in his famous American films in New York. He died in the same plane crash of Carlos Gardel, on 24 June 1935 in Medellin, Colombia.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
George Grossmith was born on 11 May 1874 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Women Everywhere (1930), Wedding Rehearsal (1932) and The Girl from Maxim's (1933). He was married to Gertrude Elizabeth Rudge (actress Adelaide Astor). He died on 6 June 1935 in London, England, UK.