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Joyce Brothers was born on 20 October 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), The King of Comedy (1982) and Spy Hard (1996). She was married to Milton Brothers. She died on 13 May 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Celia Cruz was born on 21 October 1925 in Havana, Cuba. She was a music artist and actress, known for Carlito's Way (1993), Amores Perros (2000) and Tower Heist (2011). She was married to Pedro Knight. She died on 16 July 2003 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Cartoonist Otto Messmer was born in Union City (then known as West Hoboken), NJ, on Aug. 16, 1892. He showed an aptitude for drawing as early as grammar school, and his teachers encouraged him to follow that path. After graduating he took a correspondence course in art and attended the Thomas School of Art in New York City. He took a job with an advertising agency, illustrating fashion catalogs, but never lost his passion for drawing. One day his brother took him to a vaudeville act that showed the films of pioneering animator Winsor McCay and Messmer knew what career path he was going to follow. He began drawing his own comic strips and submitting them to newspapers. He also applied to several animation studios in New York for work as a set painter. Producer Jack Cohn at Universal saw Messmer's comic strips, however, liked them and hired him as an animator.

Messmer devised a character called "Motor Mat", a daredevil race driver, and brought it to Cohn. Cohn showed it to well-known animators Pat Sullivan and Henry 'Hy' Mayer, who were so impressed with it that they both asked Messmer to work with them. Messmer chose Mayer and helped him animate his series "The Travels of Teddy", based on the exploits of Mayer's friend Theodore Roosevelt. After Messmer finished that project he went to work for Pat Sullivan. Unfortunately for both of them, Sullivan was arrested for rape in 1917, convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Messmer went back to Hy Mayer, but was soon drafted into the army and fought in World War I, returning to the US in 1919. By that time Sullivan was out of prison, and the two went back to making animated films.

Later that year Sullivan and Messmer received an order from Paramount Screen Magazine, which made news, travelogue and cartoon shorts, to create a cartoon character (the animator it had originally contracted with was late turning it in) and Sullivan told Messmer to do it on his own. Messmer made the character a sassy, all-black cat and called the cartoon "Feline Follies". It was quite successful and Paramount ordered an entire series of the cat's adventures. Messmer originally called the character "Master Tom" but by the third entry in the series the name had changed to Felix (a combination of "feline" and "felicity").

In 1921 Paramount Pictures decided to close down its Screen Magazine division, and Sullivan managed to get back the rights to Felix the Cat, which had actually belonged to Paramount (even though Sullivan's studio had created it). He then went to Warner Bros. to try to get a distribution deal, but the studio wasn't interested. However, M.J. Winkler, the secretary to Harry Warner, was interested and she and Sulivan eventually signed a production/distribution deal for the Felix the Cat series.

The first entry under the deal was Felix Saves the Day (1922), and it wasn't long before the series was an even bigger hit than it was under Paramount, even managing to secure distribution in Canada. The Messmer/Winkler Felix cartoons were praised for their imagination, humor, puns and intelligence. The success of the series resulted in the company securing an international distribution deal in 1922 that required more than double the number of entries from the previous year, with the resultant expansion of the studio.

Felix was a huge hit with the public, which took him to heart. In 1923 the company turned Felix into a comic strip, which ran until 1943. The strip was popular, but never achieved the status of the cartoons. In addition, the international distribution made the character a worldwide hit.

Felix's popularity began to wane with the coming of sound. Rather than jump wholeheartedly into sound cartoons, as Walt Disney did, Sullivan simply added sound effects to some new Felix films (and went back and did the same to some older entries). The result was shoddy and not up to the standards of the Disney sound cartoons. By 1931 Felix had been eclipsed by a new character, which incorporated both sound effects and dialogue as integral parts of the film, and not just add-ons: Mickey Mouse.

Television revived Felix's career, and new cartoons were created especially for that medium. This time he didn't carry the films alone--he was accompanied by his bulldog Rock Bottom, the eccentric Professor, his somewhat nerdy nephew Poindexter and his "Magic Bag of Tricks".

Otto Messmer died on October 28, 1983, in Fort Lee, NJ, at 91 years of age.

Leon Wells was born on 10 March 1925 in Stojaniw, Poland. He died on 19 December 2009 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Karel Dodal was born on 21 July 1900 in Prague, Cechy, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republik]. He was an art director and director, known for Ideas in Search of Light (1938), Kariéra Pavla Camrdy (1931) and Fantaisie érotique (1936). He was married to Irena Dodalová and Hermína Týrlová. He died on 6 July 1986 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Tyler Clementi was born on 19 December 1991 in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA. He died on 22 September 2010 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Vinnie Gerardo was born on 19 January 1930 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Vinnie is known for Ghostbusters (1984), 12 Monkeys (1995) and Black Rain (1989). Vinnie was married to Mary Bruno. Vinnie died on 6 January 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

June Valli was born on 30 June 1928 in The Bronx, New York, USA. She is known for Hercules Unchained (1959), Your Hit Parade (1950) and The Ezio Pinza Show (1951). She was married to Jimmy Merchant (Mercadante), Howard Miller and Jimmy Merchant. She died on 12 March 1993 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Joel Crager was born on 8 June 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for That's Life (1968), The Patty Duke Show (1963) and New Art of the American West (1979). He died on 28 July 2010 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Louis R. Grisel was born on 26 November 1849 in Newcastle, Delaware, USA. He was an actor, known for The Dancer's Peril (1917), The Cinderella Man (1917) and The Moral Deadline (1919). He was married to Mary Q. Johnstone (actress) (1863-1931). He died on 19 November 1928 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Charles Hartley was born in 1860 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for Prunella (1918), The Submarine Eye (1917) and Neighbors (1918). He died on 13 October 1930 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Enid Trotiner was born on 8 March 1935 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Because of Winn-Dixie (2005). She died on 7 December 2018 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Manfred Gans was born in Borken, Germany. He was married to Anita Lamm. He died on 12 September 2010 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Gordon Hamilton was born on 16 May 1882 in Coytesville, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Without Question (1920). He was married to Josephine. He died on 16 January 1939 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Walter Morton was born on 20 May 1875 in Iowa, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Chocolate Soldier (1914), The Folly of Revenge (1916) and A Race with Death (1916). He died on 2 February 1926 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

George Paxton was born in 1862 in England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Wooing of Alice (1912), Dublin Dan (1912) and The Fight for Millions (1913). He was married to Harriet Eleanor Martell. He died on 19 February 1914 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Chuck Goldstein was born on 20 September 1914 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Singing on the Trail (1946). He died on 18 August 1974 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Composer and songwriter Sidney Lippman was educated at the University of Minnesota (BS degree) and Juilliard on a fellowship, and studied with Bernard Wagenaar. He arranged songs for music-publishing firms between 1937 and 1941 and wrote the Broadway score for "Barefoot Boy With Cheek". Joining ASCAP in 1943, his chief musical collaborators included Sylvia Dee, Buddy Kaye and Fred Wise, and his popular-song compositions include "A - You're Adorable", "Through the Eyes of Love", "These Things You Left Me", "I'm Thrilled", "Little Lulu", "It Couldn't Be True", "Chickery Chick", "Laroo Laroo Lili Bolero", "My Sugar Is So Refined", "After Graduation Day", "Too Young", "A House With Love in It", "Great Somebody", and "That's the Chance You Take".

Howard Meyer Sr. was born on 6 April 1921 in New York City, New York, USA. He is known for Heartsounds (1984). He was married to Mary Ellen Troy. He died on 15 January 2010 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Rae Pichon was born on 16 January 1934 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is known for To Tell the Truth (1969), Family Feud (1988) and What's My Line? (1968). She died on 14 February 2023 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.

Irving Cohn was born on 21 February 1898 in London, England, UK. Irving died on 12 July 1961 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.