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Oliva R. Duffy was born on October 20, 1894, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. Olive or Ollie, as she was known to family and friends, did not have much of a childhood. Life in industrial Pittsburgh (at the time, spelled "Pittsburg") was depressing and grim with its smoky factories and hard living. She married Bernard Krug Thomas at the age of 16 (which wasn't uncommon at the time), but the marriage wasn't happy, and they divorced two years later.

By that time, Olive had left Pittsburgh for New York, where she found work in a department store. On a lark, she entered a competition for the most beautiful girl in New York City and, unsurprisingly, won. With the ensuing publicity, she caught the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and immediately joined his famed Follies. An outstanding addition, men went wild over her beauty. She also posed nude for the famed Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas. As a result of her sudden fame, she was signed to a contract with Triangle Pictures. Her first film was Beatrice Fairfax (1916). Later that year, she married Jack Pickford, brother of screen star Mary Pickford.

The relationship was a stormy one. In 1917, she starred in four more films: Madcap Madge (1917), A Girl Like That (1917), Broadway Arizona (1917), and Indiscreet Corinne (1917). With five films on her resume, Olive was the toast of Hollywood. She made three films in 1918 and six in 1919. By 1920, Olive was at the top of the film world. She continued to make good pictures, most notably, Youthful Folly (1920) and also The Flapper (1920), which was an overwhelming success. After finishing Everybody's Sweetheart (1920), Olive and Jack sailed to France for a much-needed vacation.

The couple finally seemed happy, which seems odd in light of what was to follow. Olive accidentally ingested bichloride of mercury from a French-labeled bottle in a darkened bathroom, believing it to be another medication. Found unconscious, she died five days later. The death made worldwide headlines. Olive was only 25 when she died.

Today screen actor Robert (Bobby) Harron is one of Hollywood's forgotten souls, although he was a huge celebrity in his time and he graced some of the silent screen's most enduring masterpieces. A talented, charismatic star in his heyday, Bobby had everything going for him but he died far too young to make the longstanding impression he certainly deserved to make.

Bobby was born one of nine children in New York City to an impoverished Irish-American family. In order to put food on the table, Bobby started looking for work when he was still quite young. At the age of 13 he found a job working for the American Biograph Studio on East 14th Street as a messenger boy and he was given a couple of film bit parts for added measure. Within the next year director D.W. Griffith had joined the company and the sensitive, highly photogenic Bobby caught the legendary director's eye almost immediately.

Bobby subsequently had leading roles in many of Griffith's classic silent movies, usually playing characters that were much younger and much more naive than he was in real life. He appeared opposite legendary female stars who also played "young-ish" roles, notably Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish. Bobby made indelible impressions in The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), An Old Fashioned Young Man (1917), Hearts of the World (1918), A Romance of Happy Valley (1919) and True Heart Susie (1919).

Bobby had become such a sensation that in 1920 he entertained thoughts of leaving the Griffith fold and of forming his own company. A fatal, self-inflicted bullet wound to the left lung in September of 1920 ended those dreams before they ever got off the ground. Although it was listed as an "accidental" death, Hollywood rumor has it that a despondent Bobby killed himself in a New York hotel room on the eve of the premiere of Griffith's new film Way Down East (1920). It is claimed that Bobby was devastated after being passed over by Griffith for the lead role in favor of the director's new protégé, Richard Barthelmess. Whatever the truth may be, Bobby's death remains a tragic mystery. Ironically, Bobby had two lesser known actor siblings who also died quite young: Tessie Harron (1896-1918) died of Spanish influenza at the age of 22, and John Harron (1904-1939), nicknamed Johnnie, collapsed and died of spinal meningitis at the age of 35. Both appeared, though unbilled, with Bobby in Hearts of the World (1918).

Maren Pedersen was born on 9 March 1842 in Gærum, Sejlstrup, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Häxan (1922) and A Sacrilege of Witches. She was married to Carl Frederik Pedersen. She died on 22 December 1920 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

James O'Neill was born on 15 November 1847 in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Count of Monte Cristo (1913), West Is West (1920) and The Grain of Dust (1918). He was married to Ellen Quinlan. He died on 10 August 1920 in New London, Connecticut, USA.

Gladys Field was born in 1889 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), The Bad Man's Christmas Gift (1910) and The Railroad and the Widow (1912). She was married to John M. O'Brien. She died on 13 August 1920 in Mount Vernon, New York, USA.

Gaby Deslys was born Marie-Elise-Gabrielle Caire on November 4, 1881 in Marseille, France. Gaby was one of five children but sadly three of her siblings died when they were young. Although her mother encouraged her love of dancing her strict father did not. He sent her to a religious school called called the College of the Dames St. Maur. At the age of twenty she began her career dancing in Paris. Her curvy figure and flirtatious manner made her a hit with audiences. She performed at the Moulin Rouge in 1908. The following year she was introduced to the King of Portugal. They began a passionate affair and he gave her a $70,000 necklace. In 1911 she was signed by the Shubert Brothers and came to New York City. Gaby appeared in the hit musical Vera Violetta with Al Jolson. The show introduced the "Gaby Glide" which would become her theme song. Then she toured with the revue The Social Whirl and starred on Broadway The Honeymoon Express. She was known for her extravagant and often revealing costumes. At the peak of her fame she was earning $4000 a week.

Gaby became close friends with her dancing partner Harry Pilcer. The press reported they were married but it wasn't true because Harry was gay. Unfortunately her health began to decline after she had a throat operation in 1914. She was offered a contract by Famous Players and starred in the 1915 film My Triumph. Then she returned to Broadway to appear in Stop! Look! Listen!. Gaby purchased a lavish home in the South of France. It was decorated with paintings by Botticelli and a gilded hand carved bed. She started dating Gordon Selfridge, a wealthy London businessman. There were also rumors she worked as a French spy during World War 1. In 1918 she costarred with Harry Pilcer in the French film Infatuation. She contracted Spanish Influenza in the Fall of 1919. Doctors discovered a tumor in her throat that required several painful surgeries. Gaby refused to let surgeons cut the outside of her neck because she did not want a scar. Tragically on February 11, 1920 she died from a throat infection at the young age of thirty-eight. She was buried at Cimetière Saint-Pierre in Marseille, France.

Ormer Locklear was born on 28 October 1891 in Greenville, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great Air Robbery (1919), The Skywayman (1920) and Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 7 (1920). He was married to Ruby Graves. He died on 2 August 1920 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Max Bruch was born on 6 January 1838 in Cologne, Prussia [now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany]. He was a composer, known for Kinsey (2004), Knight of Cups (2015) and The Jazz Singer (1927). He was married to Clara Tuczek. He died on 2 October 1920 in Berlin-Friedenau, Germany.

Spanish novelist Benito Perez Galdos was born in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, in 1843 to a wealthy family. He was sent to an English school in the Canary Islands, and later he studied law at the University of Madrid. Although he graduated with a law degree, the practice of law never interested him, and upon graduation he became involved in the literary circles of Madrid, and eventually got a job as the literary and drama critic of the magazine "La Nacion". He had always wanted to be a playwright, and although he wrote and published numerous plays--many of which met with great success and some of which were turned into films--he soon realized that his greatest talent was as a novelist.

He continued writing plays and novels while on the staffs of various literary publications, such as "Las Cortes" and "La Revista de Espana" magazines, and eventually he secured a position as editor of "El Debate". After a visit to France, however, he undertook what is generally considered his greatest work--"Episodios Nacionales", a project that became four series of books of ten volumes each and one series of eight books. Each book came out an average of every three months, in addition to his "regular" novels.

A lifelong bachelor, he was a somewhat reclusive man, though he did travel extensively in France, England and Spain, and the general public knew very little about his private life. Towards the end of his life his eyesight began failing him, and by 1912 he was completely blind. That didn't stop him, however; he continued to write, although dictating his work to a secretary, until he died in Madrid in 1920.

J. Albert Hall was born on 6 October 1874 in Uddeholms works, Varmland, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Yellow Menace (1916), Gretna Green (1915) and The Eternal City (1915). He was married to Betty ?. He died on 18 April 1920 in Cumberland, Maryland, USA.

Harry Solter was born on 19 November 1873 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Taming of the Shrew (1908), The Romance of a Photograph (1914) and Blind Man's Bluff (1916). He was married to Florence Lawrence. He died on 2 March 1920 in El Paso, Texas, USA.

Suzanne Grandais was born on 14 June 1893 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Graziella, the Gypsy (1912), L'essor (1921) and Suzanne (1916). She died on 28 August 1920 in Vaudoy-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, France.

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.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a theatrical family that comprised in part the troupe known as the Crawford-Hunter Party, Clifton Crawford spent most of his childhood traveling throughout Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. When his father realized Clifton had musical talent and perhaps a need for some greater stability than he was getting on the road, Clifton was apprenticed to a Presbyterian Church in Scotland to learn the trade of a church organist. He did well in that profession until the pastor overheard him practicing dance music on the church organ and summarily dismissed him. Without much in the way of viable prospects for his skills in Great Britain, he sailed for America where he had a sister and a chance at performing in vaudeville. He lasted two weeks at Keith's Theatre before parlaying his Scottish roots into a gig as a golf instructor. It seems that in some circles the Scottish were viewed as golf naturals and Clifton, true to form, was able to learn the game quickly and demonstrate reputable and marketable skill in the game at several golf clubs in New England. His true passion, however, was still the stage and, while not on the links, entertained club members with his musical abilities. Robert Barnet saw one of Clifton's performances and invited him to apply his musical skills to writing music for a show Mr. Barnet was then putting together for a group of amateur performers, a musical troupe formed from a voluntary Boston militia know as the First Corps of Cadets or, simply, the Boston Cadets. The show was "Miss Simplicity" and was eventually produced professionally on Broadway at the Casino Theatre in 1902, wherein Clifton also garnered a role as part of the chorus. This role lead to other Broadway works: e.g. "Foxy Grandpa" (his first speaking role in the 1902 production at Haverly's 14th Street Theatre), "The Three Twins" (his breakout role in 1908 at the Hearld Square Theatre where he wowed the audience with a recitation of Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din"), and "The Quaker Girl" (his first starring role occurring at the Park Theatre). There are only two entries in his resume for work in front of a camera: Animated Weekly, No. 43 (1913) (a newsreel wherein he portrays himself as a stage star) and The Galloper (1915) (based on the 1906 Broadway production of the same name, a play that revolves around the Greco-Turkish war in 1897). Clifton's last Broadway play was the 1920 Harry Frazee production of "My Lady Friends" (Mr. Frazee, you might recall, was also the owner of the Boston Red Sox, the man who sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for, among other reasons, the revenue to finance the production of "My Lady Friends"). The play was well received and slated for a good run until Clifton set off for England to fulfill a previous commitment on the London stage. He was due back 1 July 1920 to resume his role in "My Lady Friends." But on 3 June 1920 he fell from his 4th floor hotel room to his death. The death was ruled accidental; he was apparently under the influence of sedatives presumably to relax from a rather tense, hectic schedule. "My Lady Friends" closed permanently, but returned to the stage in 1925 as a musical titled "No, No, Nanette." It, too, was produced by Harry Frazee and had a much better outcome.

Charles Garvice was born on 24 August 1850 in Stepney, London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Just a Girl (1916), A Fair Impostor (1916) and The Rugged Path (1918). He died on 1 March 1920 in Richmond, Surrey, England, UK.

Notorious Chicago gangster--and one of the last of the "Mustache Petes", a nickname given to the old-line Italian gangsters by the "Young Turks" trying to take over--Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo was born in Colosimi, Italy. His family emigrated to Chicago in 1895, where "Big Jim" got an early start in the criminal underworld. He worked as a precinct captain and bagman for a succession of corrupt Chicago politicians, garnering himself some valuable political connections. that came in very handy later in his career. In 1902 he married a woman who was a madam at a long-established Chicago brothel, and he soon opened a second one. Colosimo had a knack for the prostitution business, and it wasn't long before he had expanded his holdings from two brothels to more than 200. This brought him into close contact with the men who ran Chicago's underworld, many of whom patronized Colosimo's houses, which not only offered women but gambling.

His success attracted the attention of the dreaded Black Hand extortion gang, and he turned to Johnny Torrio, a New York gangland figure he had befriended, and brought him to Chicago to take care of this problem, which Torrio promptly did--the Black Hand hoods who threatened Colosimo were sound found dead. With the threat of the Black Hand no longer hanging over his head, Colosimo indulged his penchant for the good life--which resulted in his being nicknamed "Diamond Jim"--and opened an exclusive restaurant named after himself. Torrio also helped Colosimo open several new brothels, and in one of them he installed a friend and colleague from his Brooklyn days to be a combination bartender/bouncer/enforcer--a tough cookie named Al Capone.

In 1920 the Volstead Act, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol, went into effect. Torrio saw that there would be huge amounts of money to be made supplying a thirsty population with booze and advised Colosimo to get in on the ground floor, but he refused. Shortly afterwards Colosimo, who had abandoned his first wife, left Chicago to marry his second wife. He returned to Chicago a week later and was contacted by Torrio, who asked Colosimo to meet him at his restaurant for an important meeting. Colosimo arrived there, sat down at a table to wait for Torrio and was promptly shot and killed by several unknown gunmen. Torrio, Capone and New York gangster Frankie Yale were suspected of being the triggermen, but nothing was ever proved and they were never charged with the murder.

Colosimo's funeral was, as was the custom among gangsters at the time, an epic. Huge, expensive floral arrangements surrounded an ornate bronze coffin. There were more than 50 pallbearers, many of them judges and Congressmen. More than 1000 marchers followed the coffin to Oak Woods cemetery. Colosimo was scheduled to be buried in a Catholic cemetery, but the Archbishop of New York forbade Colosimo from being buried in any Catholic cemetery in the city. It wasn't because of the innumerable murders, thefts, beatings, corruption, gambling, prostitution and other crimes he was responsible for--he was banned from burial in a Catholic cemetery because he had divorced his first wife.

Carolyn Lee was born in 1858 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Anne of Green Gables (1919), The Flight of the Duchess (1916) and The Copperhead (1920). She died on 1 January 1920 in New York City, New York, USA.

Mario Caserini was born on 26 February 1874 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and actor, known for The Last Days of Pompeii (1913), Capitan Fracassa (1919) and Romeo and Juliet (1908). He was married to Maria Caserini. He died on 17 November 1920 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Patrick Foy was born in 1855 in Ireland. He was an actor, known for T'Other Dear Charmer (1918), Sally in Our Alley (1916) and The Little Duchess (1917). He was married to Mary Foy. He died on 4 September 1920 in New York City, New York, USA.

Amedeo Modigliani was born on 12 July 1884 in Livorno, Italy. He died on 24 January 1920 in Paris, France.

Mollie McConnell was born on 24 September 1865 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Bare Fists (1919), The Neglected Wife (1917) and Hearts and Masks (1921). She was married to William A. McConnell and Sherwood MacDonald. She died on 9 December 1920 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

S. Ansky was born in 1863 in Chashniki, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus]. He was a writer, known for The Dybbuk (1937), The Dybbuk or: Between Two Worlds and The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field (1997). He died on 8 November 1920 in Otwock, Poland.

Oliver Doud Byron was born on 14 November 1842 in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Oliver Doud was a writer, known for Across the Continent (1913). Oliver Doud was married to Kate Byron (actress). Oliver Doud died on 22 October 1920 in Long Beach, New York, USA.

Enrique Rosas was born on 8 April 1875 in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico. He was a director and producer, known for The Grey Automobile (1919), La soñadora (1917) and La tigresa (1917). He was married to Guadalupe Priego Durán. He died on 9 August 1920 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Frank Carter was born on 22 March 1889 in Fairbury, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Curse of the Great Southwest (1913). He was married to Marilyn Miller. He died on 9 May 1920 in Grantville, Maryland, USA.