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1-4 of 4
- Actress
- Soundtrack
This vivacious, platinum-blonde leading lady of silent screen comedy was a former Ziegfeld Girl (under her birth name 'Anderson'). The daughter of Norwegian immigrants, she appeared in vaudeville from early childhood and began in films in 1915. Two years later she made her debut on Broadway. From the early 1920's, Vivien became a regular feature in two-reelers for Hal Roach, her forte being the 'slow burn'. She invariably played a put-upon society matron, or the long-suffering wife of either Charley Chase (Mighty Like a Moose (1926)), Oliver Hardy (Along Came Auntie (1926)and That's My Wife (1929)), Stan Laurel (Love 'Em and Weep (1927)), Edgar Kennedy (Dumb's the Word (1937)) or Leon Errol (in a series of shorts at RKO, beginning with Wrong Romance (1937)).
Vivien successfully made the transition to sound and was featured to great effect with Laurel & Hardy in We Faw Down (1928), Scram! (1932) (an infectious drunken scene), and Way Out West (1937). Her film roles were usually small, though she made the most of being one of the Florodora Sextette in the musical period romance The Florodora Girl (1930). Vivien retired in 1951, settling in Sherman Oaks, California. In the final year of her life, she worked at Neff's Toy Store as a saleslady.- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Pioneering film producer and studio executive Albert E. Smith was born in Favershem, County Kent, England, on June 4, 1875, the son of a gardener. There were nine children in the Smith family--Albert, seven brothers and a sister--and when he was three years old the entire family emigrated to the US, eventually settling in Santa Barbara, CA. After a series of uneventful jobs, he took up a career as an illusionist, calling himself "The King of Entertainers". He eventually hooked up with another expatriate Brit, J. Stuart Blackton, and they formed an act and took it on the road. It was somewhat successful, but didn't offer quite the rewards they had envisioned. He and Blackton saw the potential in the burgeoning motion-picture business, and together with William T. Rock they formed the Vitagraph Company of America to produce and distribute films. While Blackton was the production head--involving himself in casting, writing, producing, directing, and pretty much every aspect of filmmaking--Smith largely confined himself to the financial end of the company, although he did on occasion assist Blackton in the actual filmmaking process. It was as a financial wizard that Smith was of greatest help to Vitagraph, however, and he developed a reputation as a savvy--some even described him as ruthless--businessman (Mary Pickford once met with Smith to discuss the possibility of her signing with Vitagraph, but she took such a dislike to him that she stormed out of the meeting shortly after it began). Smith's foresight and business acumen helped build Vitagraph into the premier motion-picture studio of the early silent era.
In 1925 Vitagraph was sold to Warner Brothers and, for all practical purposes, Smith retired. Married three times--the last to Jean Paige--Smith died in Hollywood on August 1, 1958.- Actor
Charles White was born on 25 January 1896 in Jamaica. He was an actor. He died on 1 August 1958.- Artur A. Kuhnert was born on 4 July 1905 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. He was a writer, known for Gejagt bis zum Morgen (1957), Zar und Zimmermann (1956) and Des Lebens Überfluss (1950). He died on 1 August 1958 in Hohenfeld, Bavaria, Germany.