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- Soundtrack
Henry Tucker was born in 1826 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He died on 10 February 1882 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.- Isaac Henderson was born on 13 February 1850 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Mummy and the Humming Bird (1915). He was married to Marion Temple Brown. He died on 31 March 1909 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Charles Battell Loomis was a humorist, author and lecturer remembered for his satirical take on life in America. He was the son of Charles Battell and Mary Worthington Loomis. Loomis was born in Brooklyn, NY, where his father worked as an insurance agent. As a young man Loomis dropped out of the Polytechnical Institute of Brooklyn (now known as Polytechnic University) to try his hand at business. After twelve years of living off a clerk's salary and now supporting a young wife, the former Mary Fullerton, also of Brooklyn, Loomis would find success submitting short stories to national publications of the day. A list of his more popular books and short stories would include "Just Rhymes" (1899), "The Four-Masted Catboat: and Other Truthful Tales" (1899), "Yankee Enchantments" (1900), "A Partnership in Magic" (1903), "At the Sign of the Cock and Hen" (1908) and "Bath in an English Tub" (1909). Charles Battell Loomis died in Hartford, Connecticut of stomach cancer on 23 September, 1911. He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Both his sons went on to be writers. Charles Jr. wrote under the name Battell Loomis and his younger son, Alfred, became well known as an expert on boating. He wrote under the nom de plum "Spun Yarn" a monthly article in Yachting magazine titled "Under the Lee". His daughter Edith Worthington Loomis married G. Lamonte Hammann, son of the president and treasurer of the Progressive Manufacturing Company in Torrington, CT.
- Thomas W. Hanshew was born in 1857 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Thomas W. was a writer, known for The Mystery of the Octagonal Room (1914), The Mystery of the Sealed Art Gallery (1914) and His Misjudgment (1911). Thomas W. was married to Mary Eliza Burnett. Thomas W. died on 3 March 1914 in London, England, UK.
- Thomas W. Henshaw was born in 1857 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Thomas W. died on 3 March 1914 in London, England, UK.
- Harold Chapin was born on 15 July 1886 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The New Morality (1953) and Art and Opportunity (1953). He was married to Calypso Valetta. He died on 26 September 1915 in Loos-en-Gohelle, Hauts-de-France, France.
- Joe Murphy was born in 1831 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Joe was a writer, known for The Kerry Gow (1912). Joe died on 31 December 1915 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Director
- Actor
Harry Handworth was born in 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Path Forbidden (1914), The Toll of Mammon (1914) and The Question (1916). He was married to Octavia Handworth. He died on 22 March 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.- Seth Low was born on 18 January 1850 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He died on 17 September 1916.
- Inez Millholland was born on 6 August 1886 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was married to Eugen Jan Boissevain. She died on 25 November 1916 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles W. Travis was born in February 1860 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Quality of Faith (1916), According to Law (1916) and As a Woman Sows (1916). He died on 11 August 1917 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Francis Worcester Doughty was born on 5 November 1850 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Francis Worcester was a writer, known for Zudora (1914), Stanley's Search for the Hidden City (1915) and Hook and Hand (1914). Francis Worcester died on 30 October 1917 in Cresskill, New Jersey, USA.
- Clarine Seymour born to Albert and Florence Seymour in Brooklyn, New York in 1898. Her father ran a ribbon manufacturing business, in 1917 her father became so ill that he had no choice but to close his successful business and so Clarine secured work through the Thanhouser Film Company, which was located in New Rochelle, as a result of her work through that company , she obtained work through Pathe in a Pearl White serial and also in 1917 she appeared opposite Mollie King in 'Mystery of the Double Cross', followed in Toto the Clown comedies for the Robin Film Co and also appeared in many Al Christie comedies, she excepted an offer from D.W. Griffith who directed her in 'The Girl Who Stayed at Home' (1919) and 'True Heart Susie' (1919) opposite Lillian Gish and in Scarlet Days (1919). In 1920 Clarine became famous after starring in 'The Idol Dancer' the public loved her, shortly after that film's release she signed a four year contract, her next role was 'Way Down East' However, half way through production Clarine suddenly died unexpectedly from an intestinal ailment following an operation at Misericordia Hospital in New York at the age of 21. Mary Hay took over her role and the film was a box office success.
- Margaret Gordon was born on 18 December 1876 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Our Friends the Hayseeds (1917). She died on 9 May 1920 in New York, New York, USA.
- James A. Furey was a 19th century musical comedy singer and stage manager at the famous New York Casino on Broadway. He played the Marquis in the Casino's original production of "Erminie". He also sang in all of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas produced there. When advancing years robbed him of his singing voice, he turned to the movies. In his short six-year movie career he acted with such silent movie greats as Theda Bara, Norma Talmadge and Ethel Barrymore.
- Gilson Willets was born on 10 August 1869 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Tiger's Trail (1919), The Millionaire Baby (1915) and The Mystery of the Double Cross (1917). He was married to Daisy May Vanderveer. He died on 26 May 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
George Edwardes-Hall was born in 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Nobody's Child (1919), The Prairie Mystery (1923) and Judge Her Not (1921). He was married to Julia Gwynne. He died on 1 July 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Child star Bobby Connelly, the son of vaudeville actors, was born April 4, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York. He made his first screen appearance in 1912. In 1913, he joined the Vitagraph Company, whose studio was just a short distance from his home. While at Vitagraph, he starred in a series of shorts as the character "Sonny Jim." Bobby studied violin, which came in handy when he was cast as the young violinist Leon Kantor in the 1920 film version of "Humoresque." Reportedly he was one of the highest paid child actors in the world. At one point, he headed a vaudeville company. In 1922, Bobby became ill for three months, suffering from bronchitis, aggravated by an enlarged heart. Sadly, he passed away on July 6, 1922, at his home in Lynbrook, Long Island.
- Harold Skinner was born on 29 November 1888 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for A Bit o' Heaven (1917), A Yoke of Gold (1916) and The Victoria Cross (1916). He was married to Evelyn Farrar. He died on 14 September 1922 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Ethel Lloyd was born on 23 March 1886 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Ransom (1916), A Florida Enchantment (1914) and Beauty Unadorned (1913). She was married to Lloyd Hamilton. She died on 12 January 1923 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
- Frank Hanson was born in 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Stranded (1916), Ups and Downs (1915) and Mixed and Fixed (1915). He died on 16 June 1924 in New York City, New York, USA.
- George S. Trimble was born on 10 October 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Michael Strogoff (1914), A Damsel in Distress (1919) and Polly of the Circus (1917). He died on 21 February 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
Arnold Daly was born on 4 October 1875 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for My Own United States (1918), The Exploits of Elaine (1914) and The New Exploits of Elaine (1915). He was married to Mary Blythe (remarried) and Mary Blythe (actress). He died on 13 January 1927 in New York City, New York, USA.- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Norman Osunn was born on 29 December 1889 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is known for Fighting Love (1927). He died on 4 May 1927 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
Hughie Mack was born on 26 November 1884 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Bringing Up Father (1915), C.O.D. (1914) and As You Like It (1912). He was married to Mary Agnes McGowan. He died on 13 October 1927 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1858, George Washington Goethals graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1880. Commissioned as a lieutenant, ,he was assigned to the army's Corps of Engineers, and gained experience in the planning and building of canals and harbors, which came in handy when he returned to West Point as an instructor.
In 1907 US President Theodore Roosevelt picked him to serve as chairman and chief engineer of the US Canal Commission, the agency tasked with constructing the Panama Canal. Goethals took over complete control of the project in January of 1908. It was, to say the least, a daunting task; his two predecessors had resigned under the stress of the enormous project. He not only had to overcome the technical problems involved in the construction of the canal itself, but he had to feed and house more than 3,000 workers. In addition, the workforce had been ravaged by such tropical diseases as malaria and yellow fever, although they were eventually brought under control.
The Canal was finally opened in 1914, and US President Woodrow Wilson appointed Goethals as the first Governor of the Canal Zone, a position he held until 1917, when the US entered World War I. He was appointed acting Quartermatser General of the Army . He left the army in 1919 and started his own engineering firm, George Goethals and Co., of which he was president until 1928.
He died in New York city on Jan. 21, 1928. - Augustin MacHugh was born on 22 July 1877 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Officer 666 (1914), Officer 666 (1916) and Officer 666 (1920). He was married to Helen Counihan. He died on 24 August 1928 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Paul Gordon was born on 2 November 1885 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great White Trail (1917), The Pretenders (1916) and The Flash of an Emerald (1915). He was married to Ann Mason. He died on 3 May 1929 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
- The daughter of actress Billie Brockwell, Brockwell first appeared on the stage at the age of three. She made her screen debut in Philadelphia for the Lubin Company in 1913, later working with D.W. Griffith. Joining Fox Studios, Brockwell was one of the busiest actresses in town and easily made the transition to sound films. Married to director Robert Broadwell, she was also married for a brief period to Harry Edwards, former husband of actress Louise Glaum. On June 27, Brockwell was a passenger in a car with her boyfriend, advertising man Thomas Stanley Brennan, when the car plunged over a 75 foot embankment in Calabasas. Brockwell was pinned under the car and sustained compound fractures to her jaw, a fractured skull and several other serious injuries Brennan was seriously hurt and survived his injuries. While hospitalized, Brockwell received four blood transfusions and died from peritonitis which developed as a result of her several injuries. Brennan stated that dust and cinders blew into his eyes causing him to lose control of the vehicle, he was exonerated of blame by the coroner's jury.
- Actress
- Writer
Mae Costello was born on 13 August 1882 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Diamond Cut Diamond (1912), The Joys of a Jealous Wife (1913) and Her Right to Live (1917). She was married to Maurice Costello. She died on 2 August 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Ross Cooke was born on 4 September 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor. He died on 2 January 1930 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Joe Schenck was born on 2 June 1891 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for They Learned About Women (1930), The Naughty Twenties (1951) and Van and Schenck 'the Pennant Winning Battery of Songland' (1927). He was married to Lillian Broderick and Amelia ?. He died on 28 June 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.- Theodore Babcock was born on 14 February 1868 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Destiny: or, the Soul of a Woman (1915), The Shock Punch (1925) and The Master Hand (1915). He died on 7 September 1930 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Albert F. Mayo was born on 1 April 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an assistant director, known for Zudora (1914), Tillie's Tomato Surprise (1915) and Gold (1914). He was married to Hilda Ruth Twogood and Hilda Twogood. He died on 20 May 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Henry C. Rowland was born on 12 May 1874 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Conquering the Woman (1922), Bonnie Bonnie Lassie (1919) and The Sultana (1916). He died on 5 June 1933.
- Bee Jackson was born on 12 January 1903 in Brooklyn, New York City, USA. She was an actress, known for Lying Wives (1925). She died on 18 July 1933 in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Illinois, USA.
- Louis Evan Shipman was born on 2 August 1869 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Louis Evan was a writer, known for John Ermine of Yellowstone (1917) and Kraft Theatre (1947). Louis Evan was married to Lucile Watson and Ellen McGowan Biddle. Louis Evan died on 2 August 1933 in Boury-en-Vexin, Oise, France.
- Actor
Jean Malin was born on 30 June 1908 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor. He was married to Lucille Helman. He died on 10 August 1933 in Venice, California, USA.- Actress
- Producer
Marie Cahill was born on 7 February 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Judy Forgot (1915), When Betty Bets (1917) and Gladys' Day Dreams (1917). She was married to Daniel V. Arthur. She died on 23 August 1933 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Robert William Chambers, one of the more prolific and popular American authors of late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was born on 26 May, 1865 in Brooklyn to a prominent New York family.
Chambers spent his younger years at the Brooklyn Polytechnic School,after which he attended the Art Student League, in New York. Chambers studied art at The Académie Julian in Paris. He also spent a summer studying and writing at the University of Munich. It is during this time that he penned his first novel, In the Quarter. Once he left Munich he returned to art school but did so at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts. By the time he was in his mid-twenties Chambers was already exhibiting his art at salons in Paris. Returning to America in 1892, Chambers soon began drawing illustrations for magazines like Vogue, Life and True. It was during this period that Chambers and his friend, Charles Dana Gibson, submitted sketches they had drawn of each other to Life magazine. Chambers' sketch of Gibson was published, Gibson's sketch was rejected. Gibson would get the last laugh though, when after becoming successful he purchased Life magazine. In 1912 Gibson provided the illustrations in Chambers' book "Blue-Bird Weather".
Chambers originally began submitting articles, accompanied with his illustrations, to magazines and newspapers before concentrating on writing full time. Over the next forty years or so, he would publish 72 novels, numerous short stories and several plays. Chambers' early writings would cover such diverse subject matters as the supernatural and historical romances. A heavy taskmaster, Chambers would often work on three or four projects at a time. His early work won him high praise from literary critics, but as he became more successful, the critics grew more critical. His opinion of critics nosedived after one reviewer said of his mystic collection of short stories, "The King in Yellow", "a splendid success of horror, which haunts the memory of all who have read it", and another had suggested the book was written under the influence of drugs.
A man of varied interests, Chambers was a historian, artist, outdoors man, collector of rare furniture and fine art, expert on Chinese and Japanese antiquities, collector of North American butterflies and a conservationist. Chambers was once responsible for the planting of around 25,000 trees in Broadalbin, New York.
Chambers, who was a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote a number of historical novels, usually set in Colonial America or the Revolutionary and Civil War periods. His interest in the legendary Captain Kidd led him to write a rather sympathetic treatment of Kidd's life entitled, "The Man They Hung".
A small example of additional works by Chambers that were popular with the public are: "The Red Republic," "A King and a Few Dukes," "The Maker of Moons," "With the Band," "The Mystery of Choice," "Lorraine," "Ashes of Empire," "The Maid-at-Arms," "Outdoor Land," "The Maids of Paradise," "Orchard-Land," "Forest-Land," "The Haunts of Men," "The Cambric Mask," "Cardigan", "The Fighting Chance", "The Firing Line", "Iole", "The Witch of Ellangowan" and "Ailsa Paige". His popularity was such that during his lifetime first edition copies of his books were wildly treasured among book collectors.
Robert William Chambers died in New York City on 16 December, 1933 after an unsuccessful operation to alleviate an intestinal disorder. He was survived by his wife, the former Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939), a son, author Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (a.k.a. Robert Husted Chambers) and a brother, renowned architect Walter Boughton Chambers (1866-1945).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Blanche Friderici was born on 21 January 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for It Happened One Night (1934), Sadie Thompson (1928) and Secrets (1933). She was married to Donald Campbell. She died on 23 December 1933 in Visalia, California, USA.- Lilyan Tashman was born on October 23, 1896 in Brooklyn, New York to Rose (Cook) from Germany and Morris Tashman from Bialystock, Poland. After toying with stage work, Lilyan made her film debut with Experience (1921), followed the next year by Head Over Heels (1922) (this was at a time when some studios and their performers were turning out one film per week. She had no other offers for 1923, but her constant rounds of the casting offices finally did some good. In 1924 she appeared in no fewer than 6 films. For a while she averaged 7 films per year. She was one of relatively few performers who easily made the transition to the sound era, In 1934 she finished filming Frankie and Johnnie (1936) and went into a New York City hospital to have some tumors removed; she died there on March 21, 1934 at age 37. The film was released two years after her death.
- William Conklin was born on 25 December 1872 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for As No Man Has Loved (1925), Joan the Woman (1916) and In Mizzoura (1914). He was married to Lucy Blake. He died on 21 March 1935 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- American novelist Anna Katharine Green, often called "the mother of the American detective novel", was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1846. She graduated from Ripley Female College in Vermont at 20 years of age. She intended to be a poet, a career choice no doubt enhanced by her meeting renowned poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, but her first published work turned out to be something entirely different: a detective thriller called "The Leavenworth Case" (1878), which was critically praised for its clever, well-constructed plot and an obvious grounding in criminal law (her father was a lawyer). The book was a resounding success, selling more than 150,000 copies. More successful detective thrillers followed, many featuring her character of detective Ebenezer Gryce. She finally tried her hand at poetry, turning out two volumes, but they were not successful, and she decided to devote her talents full-time to her detective novels.
She died in 1935 in Buffalo, NY. - Sam Godfrey was born on 5 October 1891 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Men Without Names (1935), College Scandal (1935) and Torch Singer (1933). He was married to Marjorie Alexandria North. He died on 18 April 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
Kenneth O'Hara was born on 22 August 1891 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Her Indiscretion (1927), The Rapids (1922) and The Critical Age (1923). He was married to Beulah Booker. He died on 24 October 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Edmund Breese was born on 18 June 1871 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Duck Soup (1933), Platinum Blonde (1931) and The Hurricane Express (1932). He was married to Genevieve Landry and Harriet A. Beach. He died on 6 April 1936 in New York City, New York, USA.- Producer
- Writer
Irving Grant Thalberg was born in New York City, to Henrietta (Haymann) and William Thalberg, who were of German Jewish descent. He had a bad heart, having contracted rheumatic fever as a teenager and was plagued with other ailments all of his life. He was quite intelligent with a thirst for knowledge but, convinced that he would never see thirty, he skipped college and became, at 21, a high-level executive at Carl Laemmle's Universal Studios, then the largest motion picture studio in the world.
After hitting a career impasse at Universal (partly as a result of a failed romance with Laemmle's daughter), Thalberg jumped ship and enlisted with the relatively obscure Louis B. Mayer Productions overseeing its typically turgid yet profitable melodramas. While the two men shared a common vision for their company, they approached their responsibilities from radically different angles. Mayer was a macro-manager; like a chess master, he would typically engineer business moves far in advance. Given the opportunity, Mayer could've succeeded as CEO of any multi-national corporation. Thalberg was at heart, all about movies, literally pouring his life into his work, largely leaving the managerial duties of the studio to Mayer. Modest, he disavowed screen credit during his lifetime, decrying any credit that one gives themselves as worthless. This working partnership would keep Louis B. Mayer Productions consistently profitable and would extend into their heydays as masters of MGM but would lead to an acrimonious later relationship.
By 1923 theater mogul Marcus Loew had a big problem. In an effort to secure an adequate number of quality films for his theatrical empire, he had merged Metro Pictures with his latest acquisition, Goldwyn Pictures only to discover his new super-studio had inherited a handful of projects (the Italian-based Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) and Greed (1924)) that had spun wildly out of control. He soon discovered that his problems were magnified by inheriting an incompetent management team. He instructed his attorney to conduct a headhunting expedition with instructions to investigate Louis B. Mayer Productions --- which Loew had previously visited on one of his trips west. Mayer's east Los Angeles studio actually had few tangible assets --- most of his equipment was rented. Loew ended up paying a pittance for Mayer's company but offered both men (after initially rejecting Thalberg!) huge salaries and even more generous profit participation allowances. Answering to New York-based Loew's Inc., Mayer and Thalberg moved into the then-state-of-the-art Goldwyn lot in Culver City and, with Loew's deep pockets, set about creating the most enviable film studio in Hollywood, quickly eclipsing Thalberg's former employer, Universal. Greed was largely scrapped (Thalberg recognizing director Erich von Stroheim's vision of a 7-hour film was unmarketable, had it extensively edited) and written off after a truncated release, with Ben Hur being called home and re-shot with a new director. Saddled with an unfavorable contract and millions in the red, the film would ultimately benefit the new company from prestige more than net profit, despite drawing huge crowds.
Mayer and Thalberg quickly moved past these inherited nightmares and created their dream studio. From 1925 through the mid-1940s there was MGM and then everyone else. It's roster of stars, directors and technicians were unmatched by any other studio. Indeed, to work for MGM meant that you had reached the top of your profession, whether it was front of or behind the cameras. Under Mayer and Thalberg, the studio refined the mechanics of assembly-line film production --- even their B-pictures would outclass the other major's principal productions (arguably MGM's only weakness was comedy). Their formula for quality made MGM the only major studio to remain profitable throughout the Great Depression (although a lesser studio, Columbia also did so, it achieved "major" studio status after 1934, ironically assisted by loaned out stars from MGM).
Thalberg himself was a workaholic and his health, which was never good, suffered. In his position as production supervisor, Thalberg had no qualms about expensive retakes or even extensively re-working a picture after it had completed principal photography --- one such case was with King Vidor's The Big Parade (1925), where he recognized the modest $200,000 WWI drama was lacking the war itself and could be turned into a true spectacle with a few epic battle scenes added. These few additional shots cost $45,000 and turned the film into MGM's first major home-grown hit (and its biggest hit of the silent era), grossing nearly $5 million. If he micro-managed productions there was no one in Hollywood who did it more effectively. Thalberg fell into a deep depression after the mysterious death of his friend and assistant Paul Bern (the two had worked extensively together on the hit Grand Hotel (1932)) and he demanded a one-year sabbatical. Loew's Inc. head Nicholas Schenck (Marcus Loew had died in late 1926) responded by throwing more money at him --- more than Mayer himself was scheduled to earn for the year, alienating Mayer. This, to his ostensible boss was an insufferable insult, one that would drastically alter their relationship. Thalberg remained on the job but suffered a heart attack following a 1932 Christmas party. Mayer quickly engineered a coup of sorts, recruiting a new inner circle of producers (including David O. Selznick and Walter Wanger) to replace him. Thalberg recuperated in Europe with his wife Norma Shearer and returned to MGM in August, 1933 resuming his somewhat reduced duties as a unit production head. He continued to score hits, supervising The Merry Widow (1934), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), the rousing, definitive version of Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and the lavish Marie Antoinette (1938) (released after his death).
Thalberg also sought to rectify the studio's poor record in comedy films, signing the Marx Brothers, who had just been released from their contract at Paramount after string of flops. He felt the brilliant comedy team had been seriously mismanaged and ordered their MGM films to be shot in sequence and after their routines had been well tested on stage. The Thalberg-produced A Night at the Opera (1935) was a big hit but he wasn't infallible, stumbling with the critically well-received production of Romeo and Juliet (1936), which went on the books as a $1 million loss. Over Mayer's objections, he delved into the film adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth (1937) but died of pneumonia on September 14, 1936 at age 37. The Good Earth (1937) was released soon afterward, MGM honoring him by providing him his only screen credit (Thalberg had always eschewed a producer's credit on his films).
He was survived by his widow Norma and their two children; Irving, Jr. and Katherine. After his death the Motion Picture Academy created the Irving Thalberg Award, given for excellence in production.- Actress
- Writer
Adele Farrington was born in 1867. The exact date and place seems to have been lost in the sands of time. She was a late comer to films after spending some time on the stage. Her first movie was when she was 47 years old when she played in 1914's BUCK PARVIN IN THE MOVIES. While she was largely a character actress, she occasionally appeared in more substantial roles. One of her finer performances was IN OLD KENTUCKY in 1919. Once films entered the twenties, Adele continued to stay busy in her character roles. She played anything from aunts to mothers to high society women. Her final film performance was in 1926 in SHADOW OF THE LAW at the age of 59. Adele died in Los Angeles, California on December 19, 1936. She was 69 years old.- Iris Stuart was born Frances McCann on February 2, 1903 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, Thomas and Mary McCann, had both been born in Ireland. After graduating from high school Iris briefly attended secretarial college. The beautiful brunette dropped out to become an artist's model. Soon she started appearing in advertisements and on magazines covers. Iris became known as "the girl with a million faces". In an interview she said "To be a model is pleasant enough but it isn't any good for a girl who is ambitious" B.P. Schulberg offered her a film contract at Paramount in 1926. She made her film debut in the drama Stranded In Paris.
Then she appeared in Children Of Divorce with Clara Bow. Iris was chosen to be one of the 1927 WAMPAS Baby Stars along with Helen Costello and Sally Rand. Unfortunately in the Spring of 1927 she came down with tuberculosis and had to be hospitalized. She wanted to continue acting but her health was too fragile. Her final film was the comedy Wedding Bills. Iris married publisher Bert MacKinnon on January 3, 1928. The couple lived a quiet life in Mt. Vernon, New York. Tragically in 1936 her tuberculosis returned. She passed away on December 21, 1936 at the young age of thirty-three. Iris was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery Hawthorne, New York.