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- In her silent heyday, this ravishing and highly photogenic star, known for her voluptuous femininity on the silent screen, rivaled that of Mary Pickford, Marion Davies and Clara Bow in popularity. She retired after only a few years into the talking picture era, however, and is not as well-remembered in today's film circles as the aforementioned.
Billie Dove was born Lillian Bohny on May 14, 1903 (several sources list 1900), to Swiss parents Charles and Bertha Bohny who emigrated to New York City before she was born. Educated in private schools in Manhattan, she was already singled out as quite a beauty by her early teens. By 15 and 16 she was helping to support the family by working as both a photographer's and artist's model. It is said that the renowned poster painter/illustrator James Montgomery Flagg sketched her during this period. Although she could neither sing nor dance all that well, this stunning beauty was subsequently hired by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. to appear in his famous Follies. She was eventually given solo entrances in his extravaganzas (one was for the song "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"), and also appeared as gorgeous window dressing in a few of his Follies' sideshows--the "Midnight Frolics" and "Nine O'Clock Revues"--all between 1918-20. She also served as a dancing replacement in Ziegfeld's Broadway show "Sally," which headlined Marilyn Miller, in 1921.
A burgeoning affair between Dove and Ziegfeld prompted Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke to arrange work for the young starlet in Hollywood films. She made her feature debut in George M. Cohan's Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1921), based on the 1910 Broadway play; the cameras instantly fell in love with the beautiful newcomer. She was immediately put into a starring role in only her second picture, the backstage romantic drama At the Stage Door (1921), the story of a chorus girl and her sister (also a chorine) who compete for the affections of a wealthy patron. From there Billie went on to appear opposite some of Hollywood's most popular leading men--from glossy, dramatic stars such as John Gilbert and Warner Baxter to sturdy cowboy idols Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson--and in several different genres. Billie also graced a number of pictures helmed by Irvin Willat, whom she married in 1923. These included All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923) co-starring Lon Chaney; the Zane Grey western Wanderer of the Wasteland (1924); The Air Mail (1925) with Baxter and Douglas Fairbanks; and The Ancient Highway (1925).
Top stardom came while she was swept up in the arms of the dashing Fairbanks as the starry-eyed princess who is rescued by The Black Pirate (1926) in the classic silent adventure. Billie was the first actress to receive a color screen test via this pirate yarn. Lovingly dubbed "The American Beauty" after appearing in the movie of the same title, The American Beauty (1927)--in which she played a social-climbing hat check girl--her acting talent was considered modest. Her better pictures were those opposite stronger male actors by stronger directors. Pioneer female director Lois Weber fit the bill and brought out the best in Billie in two of her films--The Marriage Clause (1926) with Francis X. Bushman and Sensation Seekers (1927).
Divorced from Willat in 1929, Billie was still at the peak of her popularity with the advent of sound. The multi-millionaire eccentric and (at that time) budding producer Howard Hughes became an obsessed admirer, which resulted in an all-consuming three-year affair. Hughes, who tried to take over and control her career, actually proposed to the star and they were briefly engaged. She abruptly ended the relationship, however, when she was unable to handle his quirkiness and long, unexplained absences. For Hughes she appeared on screen in the dramatic The Age for Love (1931) and comedic Cock of the Air (1932).
In Blondie of the Follies (1932), the Marion Davies starrer, Dove was dismayed when her third-billed role was "trimmed" and "reshaped" at the urging of Davies' highly influential paramour William Randolph Hearst (who happened to own Cosmopolitan Productions, which made the picture). This was to be her last film; she retired from the screen shortly thereafter. By 1933 she had remarried and focused on having a family. Married to Robert Kenaston, a rancher, oil executive and real estate investor, they had one son (Robert Alan) and an adopted daughter (Gail). The couple divorced in 1970 after 37 years of marriage (he died three years later). A third marriage to architect John Miller also ended in divorce.
Other than an unbilled bit part of a nurse in the movie Diamond Head (1962) with Charlton Heston, Dove never returned to the screen. She was eventually transferred from her Rancho Mirage (California) home to live out the rest of her life at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills. The nonagenarian died of pneumonia in 1997. - Sandy McPeak was born on 21 February 1936 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Kelly's Heroes (1970), Patton (1970) and Centennial (1978). He died on 31 December 1997 in Nevada City, California, USA.
- Ken Olfson was born on 2 April 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Spaceballs (1987), Mr. Mom (1983) and Flying High (1978). He died on 31 December 1997 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was born on 27 February 1958 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). He was married to Victoria Gifford Kennedy. He died on 31 December 1997 in Aspen, Colorado, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Legendary country pianist Floyd Cramer, one of the men responsible for what became known as "The Nashville Sound", was born on Oct. 27, 1933, in Shreveport, Louisiana, but grew up in Huttig, Arkansas. As a young boy he taught himself to play the piano, and after finishing high school went back to Shreveport, where his musical abilities landed him a job on the "Louisiana Hayride" radio show as a pianist. In 1953 he cut his first single, "Dancin' Diane", for Abbott Records. Shortly afterward he hooked up with a young singer with whom he would form a close personal and professional bond--Elvis Presley.
Cramer relocated to Nashville in 1955, at a time when piano accompaniment on country music songs was becoming popular, and he found more work than he could handle. He soon became one of the busiest session musicians in the business, playing on the records of such luminaries as Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley--he played piano on "Heartbreak Hotel"--and Roy Orbison, among others. It was during these sessions that Cramer developed the practice of "slip notes", in which a note would flow effortlessly into the next--a sea change from the "percussive" style of piano playing prevalent at the time.
Although he was a top studio musician in Nashville, few people outside of the music business knew who he was. He had been recording and releasing his own records since the early '50s, but recognition didn't come for him until 1960, when he released the mournful instrumental "Last Date", which was a classic example of his "slip note" style of playing. The record hit #2 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and wound up selling more than one million copies. The next year he had another hit, "On the Rebound", which went to #3 (and #1 in the UK). In the mid-'60s he, guitar legend Chet Atkins and sax master Boots Randolph toured the US as "The Million Dollar Band".
In 1997 Floyd Cramer died of lung cancer, and is buried in Madison, Tennessee.- Actress
Nicolin Kunz was born on 9 December 1954 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for Malina (1991), Tatort (1970) and G'schichten aus Österreich (1977). She died on 31 December 1997 in Carinthia, Austria.- Joey Coons was born on 1 November 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Daniel Boone (1964). He died on 31 December 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Capiba was born on 28 October 1904 in Surubim, Pernambuco, Brazil. He was an actor and composer, known for Central Station (1998), A Compadecida (1969) and Samba da Vida (1937). He died on 31 December 1997 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Sten Kärrby was born on 26 November 1921 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was an actor and writer, known for I rök och dans (1954), ...och över alltihopa lyser Povel Ramel (1992) and The Apple War (1971). He died on 31 December 1997 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actress
Barbora Adolfova was born on 29 November 1904 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was a costume designer and actress, known for Dva z onoho sveta (1962), Black Peter (1964) and Zivot pro Jana Kaspara (1959). She died on 31 December 1997 in Prague, Czech Republic.