Birth Date between 1885-01-01 and 1885-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
1. George 'Gabby' Hayes
Actor | Randy Rides Alone
American character actor, the most famous of Western-movie sidekicks of the 1930s and 1940s. He was born May 7, 1885, the third of seven children, in the Hayes Hotel (owned by his father) in the tiny hamlet of Stannards, New York, on the outskirts of Wellsville, New York. Hayes was the son of ...
2. Theda Bara
Actress | A Fool There Was
Theda Bara was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, as Theodosia Goodman, on July 29, 1885. She was the daughter of a local tailor and his wife. As a teenager Theda was interested in the theatrical arts and once she finished high school, she dyed her blond hair black and went in pursuit of her dream. By 1908 ...
3. Erich von Stroheim
Actor | Sunset Blvd.
Erich von Stroheim was born Erich Oswald Stroheim in 1885, in Vienna, Austria, to Johanna (Bondy), from Prague, and Benno Stroheim, a hatter from Gleiwitz, Germany (now Gliwice, Poland). His family was Jewish.
After spending some time working in his father's hat factory, he emigrated to America ...
4. Tom Kennedy
Actor | The Adventurous Blonde
Once a boxer, brawny character actor Tom Kennedy began his film career early in the silent era. He frequently played big, dumb, likable, working-class types, such as in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). He also worked with W.C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in ...
5. Otto Kruger
Actor | Saboteur
The grandnephew of South African pioneer and former president Paul Krüger, Otto Kruger trained for a musical career from childhood, but after enrolling in Columbia University he switched his career choice to acting. Making his Broadway debut in 1915, at 30, he shortly became a matinée idol of the ...
6. Wallace Beery
Actor | A Date with Judy
In 1902, 16-year-old Wallace Beery joined the Ringling Brothers Circus as an assistant to the elephant trainer. He left two years later after a leopard clawed his arm. Beery next went to New York, where he found work in musical variety shows. He became a leading man in musicals and appeared on ...
7. Hedda Hopper
Actress | Sunset Blvd.
Her father was a butcher. In 1913 she met and married matinée idol DeWolf Hopper Sr. and in 1915 they moved to Hollywood, where both began active film careers. He became a star with Triangle Company, she began in vamp parts and turned to supporting roles. After her divorce she appeared in dozens of...
8. Lionel Atwill
Actor | To Be or Not to Be
Lionel Atwill was born into a wealthy family and was educated at London's prestigious Mercer School to become an architect, but his interest turned to the stage. He worked his way progressively into the craft and debuted at age 20 at the Garrick Theatre in London. He acted and improved regularly ...
9. Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Director | Die 3 Groschen-Oper
Georg Wilhelm Pabst is considered by many to be the greatest director of German cinema, in his era. He was especially appreciated by actors and actresses for the humane way in which he treated them. This was in contrast to some of his contemporaries, such as Arnold Fanck, who have been ...
10. George Cleveland
Actor | A Date with Judy
Round-faced and twinkling, George Cleveland had a 58-year career of stage, vaudeville, motion picture, radio and television acting. His first film was Mystery Liner (1934) with Noah Beery and he went on to appear in 150 others. However, he is best remembered as Gramps on the original Lassie (1954) ...
11. George S. Patton
Self | Nazi Concentration Camps
George S. Patton III was a highly successful and highly controversial general who held Corps- and Army-level commands during World War II. Because of his great competence as a battlefield commander, Patton might have led the American troops during the invasion of Normandy; however, his impolitic ...
12. Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Actor | Metropolis
During the heyday of German silent cinema, Rudolf Klein-Rogge was the prototype for the master criminal, the irredeemable arch villain or mad scientist. Born in Cologne, he served as a cadet in a Prussian military academy before finishing his matriculation. He then began to attend acting classes ...
13. D.H. Lawrence
Writer | Lady Chatterley's Lover
David Herbert Lawrence was born in Nottinghamshire, England, 11 September 1885. His father was a coal miner, his mother a genteel woman who sought education and refinement for her son. Lawrence earned a university degree and taught school for a short time. While still a student he began to publish ...
14. Allan Dwan
Director | A Perfect Crime
Allan Dwan was born on April 3, 1885 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a director and writer, known for A Perfect Crime (1921), Bound in Morocco (1918) and The Forbidden Thing (1920). He was previously married to Marie Shelton and Pauline Bush. He died on December 28, 1981 in Woodland Hills, Los ...
15. Esther Dale
Actress | Ten Gentlemen from West Point
Esther Dale was born on November 10, 1885 in Beaufort, South Carolina. She attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townsend, Vermont, and then studied music in Berlin, Germany, and had a successful career as a lieder singer. Later, she became an actress in summer stock. She had the title role on ...
16. Tod Slaughter
Actor | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tod Slaughter took to the stage in 1905 and made a name for himself as the star villain of numerous Victorian melodramas which he toured around England. Many of these were filmed cheaply in the 30s and 40s by quota-quickie tzar George King. His ham performances are perfectly suited to the material ...
17. Moore Marriott
Actor | Oh, Mr. Porter!
Largely forgotten today, comic actor Moore Marriott reigned supreme for a time in the 1930s alongside Will Hay and Graham Moffatt in British film farce. The trio came about by happenstance, but it was their audiences who insisted they reappear together again and again.
Born in 1885, Marriott started...
18. Florence Turner
Actress | Far from the Madding Crowd
Widely publicized as "The Vitagraph Girl," dark-haired silent film actress Florence Turner was one of the screen's first celebrities to be called by the term "movie star." Born in New York City in 1885, she was pushed into the business at age 3 by an overzealous stage mother, performing on the ...
19. Sacha Guitry
Writer | Les perles de la couronne
French actor, dramatist and director, Sacha Guitry was born in 1885 in Saint-Petersburg where his father, actor Lucien Guitry, was under contract with the city's French theater. Early on, Sacha knew he was going to be an artist. Therefore, his studies were mediocre.
His acting debuts were not too ...
20. Albert Sharpe
Actor | Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Albert Sharpe was born on April 15, 1885 in Belfast, Ireland [now Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor, known for Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Royal Wedding (1951) and Brigadoon (1954). He was previously married to Margaret Waterson. He died on February 13, 1970 in Belfast, Northern...
21. Ernie Adams
Actor | The Pride of the Yankees
Ernie Adams was born on June 18, 1885 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Man with Nine Lives (1940) and Invisible Ghost (1941). He was previously married to Mamie Silver, Margaret Adams, Shirley Adams and Berdonna Gilbert. He died on ...
22. Roland West
Director | Alibi
Roland West was born in Cleveland, OH, and became an actor in the theater and on the vaudeville stage. He got his start in the film industry in New York City around 1915, forming several production companies to shoot films there. He later worked as general manager of production for producer Joseph ...
23. Gordon Harker
Actor | Inspector Hornleigh
Gordon Harker born in 1885 in London into a well-known family of theatrical artists, he first appeared on stage in 1903. Lugubrious, shifty cockney character who starred and supported in over 60 films his first film role as Major Kent in Harold M. Shaw 'General John Regan' starring Milton Rosmer ...
24. William Edmunds
Actor | It's a Wonderful Life
Despite his Anglicized name, Edmunds was usually cast as dark or Latin types: Spaniards, Mexicans, Frenchmen, Gypsies, Arabs, Polynesians, and other exotic nationalities and functioned as a sort of poor-man's 'J. Carroll Naish'. Born in Italy in 1891, Edmunds is especially remembered for his ...
25. Violet MacMillan
Actress | The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Violet MacMillan was born on March 4, 1885 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. She was an actress and director, known for The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914), The New Wizard of Oz (1914) and The Girl Who Won Out (1917). She was previously married to John Hall Folger (industrial executive) and Frank Edward ...
26. Erskine Sanford
Actor | Citizen Kane
Erskine Sanford was born on November 19, 1885 in Trinidad, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and The Lady from Shanghai (1947). He died on July 7, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
27. Forrest Stanley
Actor | When Knighthood Was in Flower
Forrest Stanley was born on August 21, 1885 in Birmingham, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), Beauty's Worth (1922) and The Cat and the Canary (1927). He was previously married to Marion Hutchins. He died on August 27, 1969 in Los Angeles, ...
28. Jerome Kern
Soundtrack | Till the Clouds Roll By
Jerome David Kern was born in 1885. He began his stage career grafting American songs (for which he wrote the music) into imported European operettas. His breakthrough came with the song "They Didn't Believe Me", written (with lyrics by Edward Laska) for a show called "The Girl from Utah". It ...
29. Aubrey Mather
Actor | Heaven Can Wait
Aubrey Mather was born on December 17, 1885 in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Heaven Can Wait (1943), The Secret of St. Ives (1949) and The Undying Monster (1942). He died on January 16, 1958 in London, England, UK.
30. George Baker
Actor | Waltz Time
George Baker was born on February 10, 1885 in Birkenhead, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Waltz Time (1933), The Beggar's Opera (1948) and The Loves of Robert Burns (1930). He was previously married to Olive Groves and Kathlyn Hilliard. He died on January 8, 1976 in Pontrilas, Herefordshire...
31. Paul Leni
Director | The Man Who Laughs
Paul Leni was born on July 8, 1885 in Stuttgart, Germany. He was an art director and director, known for The Man Who Laughs (1928), Das Rätsel von Bangalor (1918) and The Last Warning (1928). He died on September 2, 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
32. Fern Foster
Actress | The Master Cracksman
Fern Foster was the first wife of silent cowboy star Harry Carey, whom she co-starred with in his play "Two Women and that Man" on Broadway. The play, which opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 18, 1909, was a flop, lasting only 16 performances.
Fern followed Harry into motion pictures, making ...
33. James D. Ruffin
Actor | Within Our Gates
James D. Ruffin was born on October 11, 1885 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Within Our Gates (1920). He died on January 21, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
34. Charles 'Chic' Sale
Actor | Rocky Mountain Mystery
Charles "Chic" Sale was primarily a stage comedian who, although he infrequently appeared on Broadway from 1902-30 and appeared in a handful of silent films, spent the majority of his career treading the boards of vaudeville as a comedian, usually in the persona of "Lem Putt," a carpenter from ...
35. Carl M. Leviness
Assistant Director | Jess
Carl Leviness is a perfect example of somebody who appeared as an extra in films because they loved doing so. The distinguished looking Leviness started appearing in stage productions in the early 1900s. He eventually got a job at the Thanhouser Company as an actor in many of its' silent films in ...
36. Karen Blixen
Writer | Out of Africa
Karen Blixen was born on April 17, 1885 in Rungsted, Denmark. She was a writer, known for Out of Africa (1985), Babette's Feast (1987) and The Heroine (1967). She was previously married to Bror Frederik von Blixen-Finecke. She died on September 7, 1962 in Rungsted, Denmark.
37. Leona Anderson
Actress | House on Haunted Hill
The twice-married singer and actress was the youngest of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Aronson of Arkansas and Missouri. Leona was the only one of the seven born away from Arkansas. Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, nee Maxwell Henry Aronson, was her much older and bigger brother...
38. Buster Brodie
Actor | All Aboard
Buster Brodie was born on October 11, 1885 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for All Aboard (1927), Crazy Knights (1944) and Say Ah-h! (1928). He died on April 9, 1948 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
39. Syd Chaplin
Actor | King, Queen and Joker
Syd Chaplin was born on March 16, 1885 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for King, Queen and Joker (1921), The Better 'Ole (1926) and A Lover's Lost Control (1915). He was previously married to Minnie Chaplin and Henriette. He died on April 15, 1965 in Nice, ...
40. Alex Mackenzie
Actor | Kidnapped
Alex Mackenzie was born in 1885 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Kidnapped (1959), High and Dry (1954) and The Battle of the Sexes (1960). He died in December 1965 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
41. Jacques Feyder
Director | La kermesse héroïque
Jacques Feyder was born on July 21, 1885 in Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium. He was a director and writer, known for Carnival in Flanders (1935), Fahrendes Volk (1938) and Pension Mimosas (1935). He was previously married to Françoise Rosay. He died on May 24, 1948 in Rive-de-Prangins, Switzerland.
42. Jack Hoxie
Actor | Looking for Trouble
American cowboy star of silent films, Jack Hoxie was raised in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and in Idaho, learning riding and roping at an early age. He became a popular and successful rodeo star, winning national championships. In 1914, after touring the U.S. in a Wild West show, he came to...
43. Charles Rosher
Cinematographer | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Among the foremost technical innovators in his field, a charter member of the American Society of Cinematographers, English-born Charles Rosher had initially aimed for a diplomatic career. Fortunately, he chose a different career option and attended lessons in photography at the London Polytechnic ...
44. Charles Coleman
Actor | Poor Little Rich Girl
Charles Coleman was born on December 22, 1885 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor, known for Poor Little Rich Girl (1936), It Started with Eve (1941) and Becky Sharp (1935). He was previously married to Beatrice. He died on March 8, 1951 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California...
45. Helen Dickson
Actress | Honolulu Lu
Helen Dickson was born on July 20, 1885 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Honolulu Lu (1941), It's a Great Life (1954) and Mr. Wright Goes Wrong (1946). She was previously married to Lawrence A. Williams. She died on November 17, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
46. Viola Roache
Actress | Harriet Craig
Viola Roache was born on October 3, 1885 in Norfolk, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Harriet Craig (1950), Studio One (1948) and Suspense (1949). She was previously married to Lionel Bevans. She died on May 17, 1961 in Hollywood, California, USA.
47. Herbert Stothart
Music Department | The Wizard of Oz
Of Scottish and German ancestry, Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1885. At first, he was slated for a career as a teacher of history. However, he became enamored with music while singing in a school choir, and again, later, while attending the University of Wisconsin. There, he...
48. Charles Evans
Actor | Demetrius and the Gladiators
Charles Evans was born on April 25, 1885 in London, Middlesex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), Cyborg 2087 (1966) and New York Confidential (1955). He died on March 2, 1974 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
49. Erna Morena
Actress | Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen
Erna Morena was born on April 24, 1885 in Wörth am Main, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress and writer, known for Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1918), Colomba (1918) and Fridericus Rex - 4. Teil: Schicksalswende (1923). She was previously married to Wilhelm Herzog. She died on July 20, 1962 in ...
50. George Fitzmaurice
Director | The Devil to Pay!
American director of French-Dutch ancestry, born in Paris. He studied the fine arts in Paris before resettling in America. As a set designer for stage productions, he was able to break into films in 1908 doing the same work. He dabbled in screen writing and then began directing, at first ...