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1-50 of 51
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kenneth Mars was an American actor and comedian. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up Doc? (1972), and Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987), and Shadows and Fog (1991).- Actor
- Soundtrack
American character actor in scores of films after substantial stage experience. He was born in DeSoto, Missouri, but raised in Atchison, Kansas. The son of a railroad worker and law clerk (some publicity material states the father was a physician, but family and census records show otherwise), he wavered between various careers including oil exploration, but found his way after an introduction to the stage with the Atchison Civic Theatre and Kansas City Civic Theatre. He briefly attended the University of Kansas (where he was a fraternity brother of future newsman John Cameron Swayze). He moved from Kansas to California in 1930, where he lived with his grandparents and worked in the lemon groves near Pomona prior to opening a tire-repair shop in that city. He also helped found a theatre company in Pomona. He joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, where he was spotted by a Warner Bros. talent scout looking for someone with a resemblance to Henry Clay, for the Warners short film The Monroe Doctrine (1939). He signed with Warners as a contract player and was thereafter virtually never without work. He played in an enormous number of films over the next three decades, mostly in small supporting roles. He was equally adept at playing businessmen, attorneys, or historical figures, and was a familiar face on screen and on television for his entire career, though most people would have been unable to identify him by name. Perhaps his greatest fame came in the TV role of oil company president John Brewster on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). During the last years of his life, he was co-owner of a popular restaurant/bar in Encino, California, called The Oak Room. Wilcox died in 1974.- Actor
- Casting Director
- Additional Crew
Liam Dunn was born in New Jersey in 1916, went to regular high school and entered a small acting school where he constantly acted in plays. Dunn was considered for his first movie role in 1968, but turned it down to work on T.V. Dunn's first big break came in 1972 for his character Judge Maxwell in the film What's Up, Doc? (1972). On the set Mel Brooks was looking for actors to form a stock company, and he recruited Dunn and Madeline Kahn. Dunn is forever remembered for the character Rev. Johnson in Blazing Saddles (1974). Dunn's other works include Young Frankenstein (1974) and Silent Movie (1976). After "Silent Movie", Dunn, now weak and thin was diagnosed with emphysema. Liam Dunn died in 1976 at age 59.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Vaudeville comedienne Billie Bird Sellen was discovered at an orphanage at the age of eight years and hired to tour theater circuits with a vaudeville troupe. During the Vietnam War she accompanied 12 USO tours entertaining the troops in the war zone in the 1960s and 1970s. She had worked as recently as 1995 when she appeared in Jury Duty (1995), starring Pauly Shore. Other notable performances were in Dennis the Menace (1993) and Home Alone (1990).
One of her best-known film appearances was in the 1968 movie The Odd Couple (1968). Her last appearance was a cameo in 1997 in the short-lived television comedy George & Leo (1997) with Judd Hirsch and Bob Newhart. She had also been a regular from 1988-1992 in the sitcom Dear John (1988), and in a series of performances as a cheerful and sassy senior citizen in such productions as Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987).- Stephanie Diane Griffin was born on March 15, 1934, in Valley City, Ohio, USA, population 250, the daughter of Noel and Alice Griffin. Stephanie and her younger sisters, Michaleine and Patricia, moved with their mother to West Hollywood from Santa Cruz in 1941. Stephanie graduated from Liverpool High School in West Hollywood, now part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. She was a model and actress. Following her first television appearance in 1954 as Claire on The Ford Television Theater program, "Sister Veronica," she appeared in 1955 as Marjorie Forrester on all fourteen episodes of The Great Gildersleeve. Those were followed by three 1956 roles on The Bob Hope Show, Cheyenne, and another Ford Theater appearance as Laura on "Sheila." Her only film role was Valinda Normand also in 1956, "The Last Wagon." Stephanie appeared on the July 2, 1956 Life Magazine cover. In 1957 she played Sally on the Code 3 program, "The Guilty Ones." It was thirty-two years later in 1989 that she acted as Dr. Brooks in her final role in the made for television movie, "The Karen Carpenter Story." Her first husband, David L. March filed suit for divorce against her charging adultery. He claimed she was intimate with businessman James Raskin on several occasion in September and October 1956. March dropped his divorce suit in November, clearing the way for Stephanie to prosecute her own divorce complaint, charging cruelty. As part of Stephanie's divorce settlement in December 1956 she waived alimony and agreed to pay all community debts up to $4,000. Stephanie married James L. Raskin in March 1957. They divorced in January 1968. Stephanie Raskin has been living in Valley Village, Los Angeles County, California USA.
- Actress
Flower Parry was a native Californian who broke into show business as a dancer in Nils T. Granlund's Florentine Gardens Revue in 1941. Working as a cigarette girl she met then soon married Jackie Coogan that year and they had one son, Jackie Coogan Jr. (birth name: John Anthony Coogan), born on March 4, 1942. She and Coogan divorced in June of 1943. During the mid-forties, she was also employed at Republic Pictures as a secretary and picking up bit and extra work at various studios in Hollywood. In 1945 she married entrepreneur Hal Baker Cope; they divorced in 1950. The marriage produced two sons, Christopher and Milo (Matt). In December 1956 she married actor Eddie Hall, who had given up acting and was a car salesman, and the union lasted until his death in 1963. They had one son, Parry Alan Hall, born on November 25, 1957. She continued to do movie and television extra work until mid-1979. She died September 10, 1981 from a short bout with cancer. She is buried next to her husband Eddie Hall at Forest Lawn Hollywood, overlooking Warner Bros. Studios.- Born in England as Jaquelyn Dufton, she worked in pictures under the name Jacquie Lyn. Her brief career as a child actor came to an end when her stepfather asked for more money than the studios were willing to pay. Later, she married and became Jacquelyn Woll.
It was reportedly on the advice of the cowboy star Tim McCoy that Jacquie Lyn was taken to see the independent producer Hal Roach, whose "Our Gang" comedies - known in reissues as The Little Rascals - were centered around an ever- changing group of child performers. Lyn appeared in only two films from this series, Free Wheeling and Birthday Blues (both 1932). Though fast acquiring something of an American "twang", Lyn's accent was still recognizably English in origin.
For many years Jacquie Lyn was the topic of speculation as to her whereabouts, helped not at all by frequent confusion with another Our Gang member, Jackie Lynn Taylor, and contemporary wrong documentation of her place and date of birth.
Jacquie was rediscovered by the Sons of the Desert because of a home movie taken by Stan Laurel. The movie showed Jacquie playing with Stan's daughter Lois. The brief film was featured on a video that Jacquie's son had purchased for her in the early '90s. In the introduction to this video, Lois asked the whereabouts of Jacquie. Jacquie contacted the address given in the video. She was reunited with Lois and was subsequently an honored guest at a Sons of the Desert convention in Las Vegas. - Editorial Department
- Editor
- Sound Department
Barbara Ford was born on 16 December 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an editor, known for Mask (1985) and Scared to Death (1980). She was married to Ken Curtis and Robert Walker. She died on 27 June 1985 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Capable Chinese-American actor Chao Li Chi was born in Shanxi Province, China to a prominent local family. When he was 12 years old, he and his family fled China and emigrated to New York City as refugees from the Second Sino-Japanese War. Academically-gifted and well-versed in the ancient arts of Taoism and Wutang martial arts, Chi became an accomplished dancer who incorporated his physical disciplines into modern dance techniques, touring with avant-garde filmmaker and choreographer Maya Deren. He studied acting through Pearl S. Buck's 'East-and-West Association', and made his debut in Deren's short film Meditation on Violence (1949). Settling in Los Angeles, Chi found regular work as a character actor in film and television. He played the loyal majordomo Chao-Li in all 9 seasons of the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest (1981), and appeared in such movies as Big Trouble in Little China (1986), The Joy Luck Club (1993), The Nutty Professor (1996), Blood Work (2002), and The Prestige (2006). All the while, he continued to practice and teach philosophy and martial arts, co-founding the Taoist Institute in North Hollywood and lead a Saturday morning t'ai chi class every week, for 30 years straight. He died on October 16, 2010 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Lois Laurel was born on 10 December 1927 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Archive, Last of the Summer Wine (1973) and One Moment Please (1956). She was married to Tony Hawes and Rand Brooks. She died on 28 July 2017 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Raymond Mayo was born on 18 February 1933 in Albany, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Planet of the Apes (1974), Emergency! (1972) and Mannix (1967). He died on 18 October 2021 in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
Joseph Vitale was born on 6 September 1901 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Road to Rio (1947), Fancy Pants (1950) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949). He died on 5 June 1994 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Douglas Odney was born on 24 September 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for State Trooper (1956), Yancy Derringer (1958) and Highway Patrol (1955). He was married to Laurette Lovell and Barbara J Watkins. He died on 20 August 2014 in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Titian haired, full figured, voluptuous Dorothy Vernon had a career that spanned from the early days of moving pictures through the boxed screen known as television.
Whether it was a comedy, a western, a musical or whatever was needed, Dorothy did it all. Her unforgettable glow and her almost heavenly serene appearance was the focal point of many western square dances, slapstick sequences, or horrid haunts.
One film historian noted that he had seen Vernon in so many PRC westerns that he started to believe that she was Charles King's out of work mother.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you watch from the 1920s - 1950, chances are eventually you'll run into the small lady with the big presence. - If there was a stage that needed to be driven, a wagon that needed to be rolled, or a posse scene that needed riders Jimmie Booth got a call.
Born on a farm Jimmie learned how to ride a horse at a young age and after serving two years in the Army Air Corp he traveled with a Wild West Circus Show for two years. Meanwhile Jimmie became acquainted with many of the cowboys and horsemen in the Newhall area who worked in the motion picture industry. Through these connections he was able to become a member of the Screen Extras Guild.
By the late 1950s the television western flourished and he found lots of work in posse scenes, bar scenes, and driving stages all the way through the 1980s working in pretty much any television western and most western movies you can think of.
But like most actors, these jobs only paid part of the bills but there were other jobs that required his skill set. In the 1950's, when the Santa Anita and Hollywood Park horse-racing tracks used draft horses to pull the starting gate, Jimmie drove that team of four Belgians. He also drove the fancy carriage pulled by the team of four high stepping Hackney's which transported the judges to and from their posts.
In 1955 Jimmie was hired at Disneyland to drive the horse-drawn vehicles on Main Street. On Disneyland's opening day he drove the first horse-drawn street car down Main Street to "open the show."
When he retired from the movies he wasn't done yet, because of his unique skill set he was able to drive stagecoaches in parades for Wells Fargo for the next 13 years. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Eddie Hall was born on 3 February 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Thoroughbreds (1944), Administration of Military Justice and Courts-Marshal (1943) and Gangs of the Waterfront (1945). He was married to Flower Parry, Helen Patricia Stengel and Violet N. Cane. He died on 19 February 1963 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Blanche Payson was born on 20 September 1881 in Santa Barbara, California, USA. She was an actress, known for All Over Town (1937), The Bachelor's Baby (1927) and Drifting Souls (1932). She was married to Eugene Alonzo Payson. She died on 4 July 1964 in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Bob Woodward was born on 5 March 1909 in Kiowa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951), The Range Rider (1951) and The Fighting Texan (1937). He was married to Diana Mack. He died on 7 February 1972 in Granada Hills, California, USA.
- Joy Hallward was born on 31 December 1911 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for Born to Be Bad (1950), Witness to Murder (1954) and E! Mysteries & Scandals (1998). She was married to John Mitchum. She died on 23 February 2003 in Granada Hills, California, USA.
- Alex Bookston was born on 12 May 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Barb Wire (1996), Murder in the First (1995) and Toys (1992). He was married to Ruth Bookston. He died on 21 January 2003 in Granada Hills, California, USA.
- Moy Ming's life is something that a Hollywood movie couldn't dream up. He immigrated to the United States in 1876. There was not much work for Chinese workers back then, so Ming became a craftsman, a professional occupation he later taught his son.
While trying to find work one day Ming was seen by prolific director D.W. Griffith who saw Ming's unique appearance and demanded that he appear in his movie Broken Blossoms. Ming took great pride in this role and frequently cited it as one of the first character roles played by a Chinese actor in an American film. However, Ming knew he could not find steady work in California so he went to Chicago and opened up an importing business.
Since he did not resume his acting career until he retired from his business in 1931, Ming was never burdened with trying to make a living as an actor. Ming just enjoyed working in films and referred to it as fun. While he managed to appear in various films including The Good Earth and numerous Charlie Chan films, it wasn't until 1945 when at the age of 82, he achieved one of his biggest dreams when he obtained American citizenship. Ming eventually retired from films after his 90th birthday and for his 100th birthday, he received a telegram from President John F. Kennedy congratulating him on his milestone. - Art Department
Julie M. Anderson was born on 23 April 1937 in Columbus, Georgia, USA. Julie M. is known for 1969 (1988) and Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's (1987). Julie M. was married to David Canary. Julie M. died on 18 March 2003 in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Walter Crisham was born on 29 January 1906 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948), Moulin Rouge (1952) and Joe MacBeth (1955). He died on 27 October 1985 in Granada Hills, California, USA.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Actress
Laurette Lovell was born on 7 January 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an editor and actress, known for Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968), Medic (1954) and Tarzan (1966). She was married to Douglas Odney. She died on 11 January 2013 in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
- Music Department
- Actor
Charles O'Curran was born on 5 April 1913 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), Music in Manhattan (1944) and Bells Are Ringing (1960). He was married to Patti Page, Betty Hutton and Betty Jo Brown. He died on 26 June 1984 in Granada Hills, California, USA.