Boys Adventure Tale.
Actors who started their acting career prior to turning 18 who were born before 2005 in rough order of birth date.
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- Judson Melford born Judson Calkins Le Roy in New York in 1900, handsome young lad who appeared in westerns and dramas for the Kalem Film Company with his step-father George Melford in several films between 1910 and 1913, his first of which was 'The Touch of a Child' in 1910 and perhaps his best known 'On the Warpath' in 1911, his finale film appearance was 'The Mountain Witch' with well-known silent star Carlyle Blackwell in 1913. Judson mother Louise Marsland filed for divorced from George Melford in 1924 and so Judson dropped the name Melford back to his birth name of Judson Le Roy. later worked for thirty years as an electrician for Paramount studios using his real name of Le Roy. Judson died childless in Santa Paula, California in 1978.
- Tom Williamson was born on 30 April 1891 in Hove, Sussex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Orange Peel (1907), Oh! What a Surprise! (1904) and Our New Errand Boy (1905). He died on 3 November 1959 in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
- Actor
- Art Department
- Cinematographer
Today screen actor Robert (Bobby) Harron is one of Hollywood's forgotten souls, although he was a huge celebrity in his time and graced some of the silent screen's most enduring masterpieces. A talented, charismatic star in his heyday, Bobby had everything going for him but died far too young to make the longstanding impression he certainly deserved.
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 out quite young looking for work. At age 13 he found a job working for the American Biograph Studio on East 14th Street as a messenger boy and was given a couple of film bits 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 silents, usually playing characters that were much younger and much more naive than in real life. He appeared opposite other 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 about leaving the Griffith fold and 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 seems 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 sibling actors who also died quite young. Tessie Harron (1896-1918) died at age 22 of Spanish influenza, and John Harron (1904-1939), nicknamed Johnnie, collapsed and died of spinal meningitis at age 35. Both appeared unbilled in Hearts of the World (1918) with Bobby.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Nepotism certainly has had its advantages in Hollywood, none more so than in the cinematic career of Jack Pickford, whose famous older sis, "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, saw to it that Jack had every advantage her star weight could muster. In Jack's case, it only added fuel to a self-starting tragic fire.
The youngest of three children, if Jack was christened with the extremely common name of John (aka Jack) Smith, his life would resemble anything but. Born in Toronto, Canada, on August 18, 1896, his middle sister was minor actress Lottie Pickford (née Charlotte Smith, (1893-1936)). Both younger children were prompted by their actress/mother, Charlotte Smith, to follow Mary (née Gladys Louise Smith) into show business after her husband (also John Charles Smith), an alcoholic, deserted the family.
A child actor on the theatre stage, it was Mary who got both her baby brother and baby sister into the Biograph film company as steady fixtures starting in 1909. They all appeared in scores of short films for D.W. Griffith -- Jack's list included Wanted, a Child (1909), To Save Her Soul (1909), The Smoker (1910), Muggsy Becomes a Hero (1910), Sweet Memories (1911), As a Boy Dreams (1911), The Speed Demon (1912), Heredity (1912), The Sneak (1913) and Home, Sweet Home (1914). Lottie had her own lead pictures, including The Pilgrimage (1912) and They Shall Pay (1921). Mary, Jack and Lottie all appeared together in the films Sweet Memories (1911) and Fanchon, the Cricket (1915), among others. Jack occasionally worked for other film companies, as he did when he played the title role in Giovanni's Gratitude (1913) for Reliance; and starred in The Making of Crooks (1915), The Hard Way (1916), The Conflict (1916) and Cupid's Touchdown (1917) for Selig Polyscope,
Jack followed along with sister Mary when she left Biograph and moved to the Famous Players Film Company (later Paramount Pictures) in 1914, and proved a personable light leading man. When Mary signed her famous million-dollar contract with First National in 1917, one of her stipulations was that Jack receive a lucrative contract as well. He appeared with Mary in such films as A Girl of Yesterday (1915) and Poor Little Peppina (1916), and starred on his own as lovelorn Bill Baxter in Seventeen (1916); as Pip in Great Expectations (1917); as Jack in The Dummy (1917); and as Tom Sawyer in both Tom Sawyer (1917) and Huck and Tom (1918); as well as the title roles in His Majesty, Bunker Bean (1918), Mile-a-Minute Kendall (1918) and Sandy (1918) (all co-starring lovely Louise Huff, and the films Freckles (1917), The Girl at Home (1917), What Money Can't Buy (1917) and Jack and Jill (1917).
The young man, however, just couldn't stay out of trouble. A 1918 stint in the Navy Reserve to straighten up proved disastrous when Jack, among others, was accused of accepting bribes from draftees who wanted light shore duty and stay out of front-line action. With the help of his family, he avoided a court martial, was exonerated and received a general discharge -- more than he deserved.
Earning a modicum of naïve "boy-next-door" success, Jack went on to produce a few of his own films (Burglar by Proxy (1919), Garrison's Finish (1923) and In Wrong (1919)), as well as co-direct (with Alfred E. Green) a couple of Mary's films (Through the Back Door (1921) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921)). Some of Jack's better silents during the "Roaring 20's" included The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1920), The Man Who Had Everything (1920), Waking Up the Town (1925), The Goose Woman (1925), Brown of Harvard (1926) and the classic Beatrice Lillie backstage comedy vehicle Exit Smiling (1926) as a young leading man of the troupe.
Tragically, Jack's obsessive taste for the high life quickly took over. A ne'er-do-well playboy and constant carouser, his scandalous private life aroused more public interest than his on-camera work in light romantic films. He picked up severe alcohol, drug and gambling addictions to accommodate his partying decadence with bouts of syphilis adding to the complications. Jack's wedded life was anything but blissful. All three wives were Ziegfeld girls at one time. His stormy marriage to despondent, drug-addicted first wife, actress Olive Thomas, ended after four years when the 25-year-old died by swallowing mercury bichloride. His next two marriages to legendary Broadway musical star Marilyn Miller and minor actress Mary Mulhern also ended quickly due to his acute alcoholism.
By the late 1920s Jack was completely undependable and, with the advent of sound, his career ground to a screeching halt, despite Mary's continued attempts to rescue it. Jack's health deteriorated considerably after this letdown. His last two films were the (lost) silent feature (with talking sequences) The Dancer Upstairs (2002) co-starring Olive Borden and a lead in the short film All Square (1930).
He died aged 36 on January 3, 1933, in Paris. The cause was listed as "progressive multiple neuritis", but it was almost certainly precipitated by his chronic alcoholism-- a tragic and seemingly unnecessary end for a young man who chose to tarnish the silver platter readily handed to him. Sister Lottie too fell into extreme excess and died in 1936 at age 43 of alcohol-related causes. Jack later earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Lean, red/auburn-haired, athletically-inclined Paul Michael Kelly grew up on the tough streets of Brooklyn, New York. Born August 9, 1899, the ninth of ten children in a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. The siblings' father, Michael, owned a bar called Kelly's Cafe. He died while Paul was still quite young and the entire clan was required to pitch in financially. Young Paul, who wound up making his Broadway debut at age 8 in "The Grand Army Man", did quite well for his family. His father's establishment was located close to Vitagraph Studios and the studio used to borrow furniture from the saloon for their sets. As partial repayment (at the request of his mother), the studio would use Paul for some of their one-reel silent films.
From 1911 on, he was the resident moppet at the studio,known as 'Chick Kelly, the Vitagraph Boy'. He appeared with such top matinée heavyweights as Maurice Costello and Constance Talmadge. The good-looking Kelly played the son in "The Jarr Family" series of one-reel adventures starring Harry Davenport as the patriarch. He transitioned into teen and young adult roles alternating between theater and movie assignments. Hit Broadway shows included "Little Women" (1916), Booth Tarkington's "Seventeen" (1918), and the highly popular "Penrod" starring Helen Hayes (also 1918). On celluloid he was romantically paired with Mary Miles Minter in the silent classic Anne of Green Gables (1919) and the success of that film moved him into even higher contention. The early 20s continued to be fruitful for Paul especially behind the theater footlights where he joined such esteemed leading ladies as Doris Kenyon in "Up the Ladder" (1922) and Blanche Yurka in "The Sea Woman" (1925). Films beckoned with The Great Adventure (1921), The New Klondike (1926), Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) and Special Delivery (1927).
It was the love of a woman in the form of actress Dorothy Mackaye, however, that temporarily proved his undoing. Kelly met Dorothy Mackaye and her husband, Ziegfeld Follies song-and-dance man Ray Raymond (1888-1927), in New York and the three became fast friends and party-hearty cronies. They reconnected again years later when all had moved to Hollywood to pursue film. Her shaky marriage led her and Paul into a torrid love affair. By April 16, 1927, the couple's cover had been blown wide open. That same day, the two men, both drunk, duked it out. Ray came out the definite loser in the fight. Ethel Lee, the Raymonds' maid, opened the door and Kelly stormed into the house and confronted the much smaller man. Kelly shouted: "I understand that you have been saying things about me." Ray denied the accusation and attempted to defuse the situation by offering Kelly a seat, but Kelly, 6 feet tall and weighed about 200 lbs, was drunk and spoiling for a fight. According to the maid, Ray told Kelly: "I can't fight. I'm fifty pounds underweight, and I've been drinking." "I'll beat you", Kelly reportedly replied and punched Ray three or four times. The maid told police that Raymond got up but that Kelly grabbed him and put one hand behind his neck and beat him with the other, then threw him to the couch. The maid stated that Raymond was just a punching bag for Kelly and had put up minimal resistance. Four year old Valerie Raymond had witnessed the beating. Dr. Sullivan, who attended Raymond, consulted with other doctors who determined the cause of death was "nephritic coma" - the result of an inflammation of the kidneys. Mackaye paid Sullivan $500 (approximately $6500 in current U.S. dollars) for his "services".
The circumstances of Raymond's death might have been permanently successfully covered up if not for local newshounds who got wind of the fight and his subsequent death. They called on Coroner Nance and began asking for details, but he couldn't tell them a thing -- Raymond's death had never been reported to his office. Nance called the hospital where Raymond had died, and was informed that not only was Ray deceased his body had been removed by an undertaker! Nance followed up and located the corpse at a Hollywood mortuary and claimed the body to perform an autopsy. Unsurprisingly, the coroner's findings didn't agree with those of Sullivan - and Nance had harsh words for both Kelly and Mackaye, as well as Sullivan. The coroner reported that "Fortifying himself with four or five drinks - probably to brace up his bully courage - Kelly deliberately went into Raymond's home for the purpose of beating him. I am also informed that Mrs. Raymond was in Kelly's apartment when he left his home for the purpose of going to her home to beat up Raymond and it is my belief that it was due to her influence that Kelly went to Raymond's for the sole purpose of attacking him."
In Kelly's statement to the cops he said he had purposely called on Raymond to demand an apology for comments the cuckolded man had allegedly made. Kelly also told cops was that he went to Raymond's home "to give him the threshing [sic] that was coming to him" and made no other statements except to profess his love for Mackaye. Witnesses stated that Dorothy was still at Kelly's apartment when he returned after beating Ray, and apparently the couple retired to a rear room and conferred in secret for nearly thirty minutes, apparently in order to get their stories straight.
Dorothy Mackaye collapsed three times at the grand jury inquiry into Ray's death. At one point she fell to the marble floor with enough force to render her unconscious for ten minutes. She must have become light-headed after finally being compelled to tell the truth about the day of the beating. Her original story had been that she'd gone out to get Easter eggs for her daughter and to go to a dressmaker. Mackaye summed up her day of testimony before the grand jury by saying: "It has been a terrible ordeal. Why, oh, why, do they have to do all this to me? I would be all right but my nerves are shot to pieces. I hope I won't have to go through all this again very soon. ... Mr. Kelly I have known for years. I knew him as a youngster in New York when he was first starting out. My feeling for him has always been, and is, I suppose, a sort of sisterly love." Like Kelly, she had no words of sadness or remorse for her husband's death. The tabloids had a field day. Kelly was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to one to ten years in prison. Mackaye was sentenced as an accessory after the fact and for concealment of facts involving her husband's death. She was released on bond after serving ten months; Kelly was paroled in August 1929 for "good behavior" after serving only 25 months despite a decided lack of remorse over the incident. In 1931, despite Mackaye's "sisterly love" for Kelly, the couple wed after Kelly's parole board permitted it.
Kelly took his first post-prison Broadway curtain call in a 1930 musical revue and went on to appear in the short-lived drama "Bad Girl" (1930), opposite future film star Sylvia Sidney. Within the next two years he appeared in "Hobo", "Just to Remind You", "Adam Had Two Sons", and "The Great Magoo". Although none were hits, he was firmly establishing himself once again. Hollywood didn't desert him either although he was now relegated to "B" supporting roles with an occasional starring part thrown in for good measure. The virile, thin-lipped actor with trademark jut jaw and iron resolve received consistently good notices for his hard-boiled parts, including Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933), The President Vanishes (1934), and Song and Dance Man (1936).
Dorothy Mackaye was killed in a car accident in January 1940. Kelly adopted Dorothy's child, Valerie Raymond, who had witnessed the beating death of her father. Her name was changed to Mimi Kelly, removing the last link to the world that Ray Raymond had left behind. Kelly appeared in such films as The Flying Irishman (1939), The Roaring Twenties (1939), Invisible Stripes (1939), Queen of the Mob (1940), The Howards of Virginia (1940), Wyoming (1940), Mystery Ship (1941), Mr. and Mrs. North (1942), Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), San Antonio (1945), The Cat Creeps (1946), and Crossfire (1947), freelancing often as either an unyielding police official or sadistic bad guy. He found love again on the film set of Flight Command (1940) and married one of the film's bit part players, Claire Owen (née Zona Mardelle Zwicker), in January 1941, one year after the death of his first wife. Owen subsequently retired from acting and went on to survive him.
During the 1947-48 season, he was nominated and won a Tony Award (tying with Henry Fonda and Basil Rathbone) for his performance in "Command Decision", and also won the Donaldson and Variety Critics awards. In 1950, he went on to earn further acclaim for originating the part of Frank Elgin, the alcoholic actor in Clifford Odets's classic drama "The Country Girl", starring Uta Hagen. Not a big enough movie draw, he lost both parts in the film versions to Clark Gable and Bing Crosby, respectively, but found plentiful work on standard TV drama in the 1950s.
After suffering a heart attack in 1953, the actor was stricken again on Election Day, November 6, 1956, this time fatally, just after returning home from voting for Adlai Stevenson, who lost the election.- Actor
- Production Manager
- Cinematographer
Otto Reinwald was born on 23 August 1899 in Konstanz, Baden [now Baden-Württemberg], Germany. He was an actor and production manager, known for Die rote Hand (1960), Sehnsucht hat mich verführt (1958) and The Head (1959). He died on 1 July 1968 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Raymond Hackett was born on 15 July 1902 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929), Not So Dumb (1930) and The Cat Creeps (1930). He was married to Blanche Sweet and Myra Hampton. He died on 7 July 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Andy Clark was born on 12 March 1903 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Hit the Deck (1929), The Shamrock Handicap (1926) and The Great Bradley Mystery (1917). He died on 16 November 1960 in New Rochelle, New York, USA.
- Danny Reulos was born on 11 May 1903 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Forgive Us Our Trespasses (1912) and Value Received (1912). He died on 26 June 1968 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.
- Lewis Sargent was born in Los Angeles August 19, 1903. He had 8 brothers and sisters. His father Lewis was a carpenter, and his older bother, Don Sargent, was a Cinematographer in Hollywood for over 40 years. He was an early friend of James Wong Howe. Lewis' ancestor, William Sargent, came to America at Agawam, Massachusetts with Captain Smith in 1614. Lewis W. Sargent was the third child of Lewis and Elsa Plath Sargent. He was a child actor in the early days of motion pictures, beginning with Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1917) in 1917, until 1935 when he played Tarzan's side-kick in a series produced by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He played the title role in Huckleberry Finn (1920) in 1920, shared the lead with a dog in The Call of the Wilderness (1926) and played supporting roles in Oliver Twist (1922) and several other films though 1929.
After his acting years, Lewis worked as a California State Probabtion Officer for 20 years, and spent much of his retirement time fishing and creating fishing lures. Lewis died November 19, 1970 while a patient at the Hollywood West Hospital and was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park. - Ermanno Roveri was born on 5 October 1903 in Milan, Italy. He was an actor, known for I figli di nessuno (1921), Il disco d'oro (1921) and Regina della Scala (1937). He died on 28 December 1968 in Milan, Italy.
- Ernest Butterworth Jr. was born on 8 May 1905 in Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Betrayed by a Camera (1916), What's Your Hurry? (1920) and Her Mad Bargain (1921). He died on 2 May 1986 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
- Edouard Trebaol was born on 20 May 1905 in Hollywood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Oliver Twist (1922), Jinx (1919) and The Haunted Valley (1923). He died on 11 October 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Francis Marion was born on 22 July 1905 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Legion of Death (1918), Perils of the Secret Service (1917) and Hearts of the World (1918). He died on 1 January 1992 in Medford, Oregon, USA.
- Esben Lykke-Seest was born on 10 July 1905 in West Akershus, Norway. He was an actor, known for Historien om en gut (1919), De forældreløse (1917) and Æresgjesten (1919). He died on 8 February 1988.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Young Clément Mary, as was his original name, was born 18 July 1905 in Paris 6th arrondissement. He got his chance in the Spring of 1910 when he was only five. His father Abélard Mary had put in his head to go and promote himself and his two young kids as extras at the Gaumont studio. Mary, who had been an actor, had become a rundown clown in bars because of his gambling and kept things going with some furniture trade. He had set his hopes for his kids, and gambled well this time, as they were all hired for a peplum, Les Derniers Jours de Babylone. Young Clément's native playfulness, his histrionic acting making him older than he was, his borrowed street talk, and his ease on the set to charm everyone, from actors to technicians, soon began to attract the attention of producer-director Louis Feuillade. Feuillade tested him and designed a whole series around him, the Bébé series. All in all Mary would play in 74 Bébé comedies between 1910 and 1912, according to Braquet (76 between December 1910 and February 1913, according to Lacassin, while IMDb lists 73 titles), such as Bébé apache, Napoléon, Bébé et les cosaques, Bébé en Maroc etc. Feuillade permitted little Mary to do anything forbidden at home. Often his character would be a spoiled brat, have impossible tantrums and pester all adults around him, but he could also help children and old people in distress, showing his good heart after all. Often his mother would be played by Renée Carl, a leading Gaumont actress in her own. And often the child was placed in adult situations, as millionaire, marriage candidate or underworld 'apache'. For over two years Bébé was the best known child actor worldwide.
The extremely good box office made papa Mary wealthy too, but his money hunger caused also the downfall of his son. Abélard bought a small cinema in Ménilmontant and called it Bébé-Cinéma, counting on a franchise by Gaumont to show his son's films. This was the limit for Feuillade, who was already fed up with the pretense of the father's self-promotion as his son's manager and his continuous demands for raises for his son. Besides, Clément was reaching an age where his cuteness as child actor was passing. Already mid-1912 another young kid had been picked up in Belleville, near the studios, and had started as supporting actor to Clément in the film Bébé adopte un petit frère, but replaced him completely in March 1913 (February 1913, according to Francis Lacassin) under the character name of Bout-de-Zan (a name he already wore as Bébé's co-actor). Abélard went to court against Gaumont. The court ruled that the breach of contract was just, but also that Mary was allowed to continue acting as Bébé at Pathé's subsidiary Eclectic Films, and he did so until 1916. Yet, it was no competition for Gaumont's Bout-de-Zan. As Abel mentions, Bout-de-Zan was more plebeian while Bébé was 'au fond' bourgeois as type. Still, in the end Poyen did some 50 films for Gaumont, less than Mary.
As a young man Clément Mary tried professional boxing but acting stuck in his blood, so he took acting lessons with Lucien Guitry and joined stage tours under the name of René Duclos. Harry Baur advised him to focus on Paris, where he acted in the operetta Pour ton Bonheur, and in Les trois valses with Pierre Fresnay and Yvonne Printemps. In 1934 he debuted in French sound cinema with bit parts, e.g. Le Train de 8:47, starring Fernandel. Director Jean-Benoit Lévy convinced him to change his name again, now to René Dary. His role of the anarchist sailor in Le Révolte by Léon Mathot finally put him in the spotlight. Dary then specialized in tough, taciturn sailors who under outside brawling hid true generosity, in films like Nord-Atlantique, Forte Tête, Le Café du port, and À la belle frégate. In 1944 René Dary peaked as the bad boy repented in Carrefour des enfants perdus (Crossroads of the Lost Children) by Léo Joannon. During the war, in 1943, while acting in the film 120, Quai de la Gare, by Jacques Daniel-Norman, and with Sophie Desmarets and Jean Paredes acting, Dary was the first to embody for the cinema the character of Nestor Burma, the famous shock detective imagined by novelist Léo Malet. After that his popularity as film actor declined, apart from his part of Riton, the friend of Max (Jean Gabin), in Touchez pas au grisbi! Dary continued to act on stage and was quite successful there in the 1960s. He also acted in television dramas. Clément Mary/Bébé/René Dary died on 9 October 1974 in Plan-de-Cuques (Bouche-du-Rhône). He had also written one novel, Express 407.- Robin Macdougall was born on 19 April 1907 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Blue Bird (1918). He died on 21 December 1996 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Who was the first screen Tarzan? The standard answer is Elmo Lincoln star of the first Tarzan movie (1918). But the first third of that movie shows Tarzan as a boy, frolicking in the nude with real chimps (unlike the grown-up Lincoln who cavorted clothed with athletes wearing monkey suits). The earliest movie Tarzan was actually Gordon Griffith, a child star who began his career four years earlier in five Charles Chaplin one-reelers. After the initial Tarzan role he played the son of Tarzan (anticipating John Sheffield's "boy" roles), Tom Sawyer, and a few more child parts. As an adult he joined Monogram as an assistant director and was affiliated with both Robert Sherwood Productions and Gregory Ratoff Productions as a director and associate producer. In 1941 he became production manager of Columbia Pictures. He also served as associate producer on RKO's "Never Wave at a Wac" and UA's "Monsoon". He was survived by his sister.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Producer
A Hollywood native (born there in 1907), seven-year-old Wesley Barry was spotted by a director at Kalem who was taken with the boy's face full of freckles, and he went on to become one of the most popular child actors in the business. Barry had been making picture for several years when director Marshall Neilan scrubbed off the layers of greasepaint that covered his freckles (the standard "solution" at the time in Hollywood to cover up facial blemishes) and let the boy's naturally wild hair grow out instead of being slicked down. Audiences were charmed by the young actor's naturalness and "all-American" looks and flocked to his films. His biggest success was Dinty (1920), but he also scored with Penrod (1922), School Days (1920) and Rags to Riches (1922). Barry was not one of those former child stars whose life fell apart after growing into adulthood; he got involved in the production end of the business and enjoyed a long career as an assistant director, producer and director in both films and television. He died in Fresno, CA, in 1994.- Marion Emmons was born on 13 October 1907 in Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Indian Blood (1914), Jess of the Mountain Country (1914) and The Measure of a Man (1916). He died on 3 May 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Stunts
Buddy Messinger was born on 26 October 1907 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Jinx (1919), A Lady of Chance (1928) and Treasure Island (1917). He was married to Marjorie Josephine Montgomery. He died on 25 October 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jean Rauzena was born on 12 June 1908 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for L'agonie des aigles (1922), Un bon petit diable (1923) and L'île sans nom (1922). He died on 30 March 1970 in Paris, France.
- Child star Bobby Connelly, the son of vaudeville actors, was born April 4, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York. He made his first screen appearance in 1912. In 1913, he joined the Vitagraph Company, whose studio was just a short distance from his home. While at Vitagraph, he starred in a series of shorts as the character "Sonny Jim." Bobby studied violin, which came in handy when he was cast as the young violinist Leon Kantor in the 1920 film version of "Humoresque." Reportedly he was one of the highest paid child actors in the world. At one point, he headed a vaudeville company. In 1922, Bobby became ill for three months, suffering from bronchitis, aggravated by an enlarged heart. Sadly, he passed away on July 6, 1922, at his home in Lynbrook, Long Island.
- Starring in early "Our Gang" films, Samuel got his break in the movies by tagging along with his older brother who was an agent for Ramon Novarro. When he got too big and outgrew the other kids, he left the series and never returned to acting. For 20 years, Andy and his son operated an art and picture-framing shop in Beverly Hills, "H.A. Samuel & Son." Samuel died following a stroke.
- Georgie Stone was born on 3 September 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Just Pals (1920), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1918) and Gretchen the Greenhorn (1916). He died on 25 April 2010 in Denver, Colorado, USA.
- Tibor Lubinszky was born on 26 November 1909 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor, known for The Prince and the Pauper (1920), Twist Olivér (1919) and A kis lord (1918). He died on 1 April 1956 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Johnny Fox was born on 28 November 1909 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Don't (1925), Speed Mad (1925) and Do It Now (1924). He died on 22 May 1997 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Francis Carpenter was born on 9 May 1910 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Treasure Island (1917), Jack and the Beanstalk (1917) and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1917). He died on 18 May 1973 in Santa Maria, California, USA.
- Billy Jacobs was born on 31 July 1910 in Laclede, Idaho, USA. He was an actor, known for Little Orphant Annie (1918), A Hoosier Romance (1918) and The House with the Golden Windows (1916). He died on 29 September 2004 in Glendale, California, USA.
- Joe Butterworth was born on 17 October 1910 in Ireland. He was an actor, known for Penrod and Sam (1923), Little Annie Rooney (1925) and Black Lightning (1924). He died on 15 April 1986 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Spec O'Donnell was born on 9 April 1911 in Fresno, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Accidents Will Happen (1938), Vamping Venus (1928) and Kentucky Blue Streak (1935). He was married to Inez Hixson. He died on 14 October 1986 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Starting out as a child actor in 1915, Ben Alexander's first roles were in the films of such directors as Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith. He later graduated to juvenile leads and supporting parts in sound films, most notably in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). When his acting career slowed down in the mid-'30s, he found a new career as a successful radio announcer. Alexander was more or less retired when producer Jack Webb picked him for the part of his detective partner in the TV series Dragnet (1951). Alexander later played another detective on Howard Duff's TV series The Felony Squad (1966).- Marion Feducha was born on 3 September 1911 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Up and Going (1922), Second Hand Rose (1922) and Courage (1930). He died on 26 November 1976 in San Juan Capistrano, California, USA.
- Actor
- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
Newton House was born on 1 November 1911 in Holly, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Shattered Lives (1925), The Ridin' Kid from Powder River (1924) and A Final Reckoning (1928). He died on 23 July 1987 in Colton, California, USA.- Frankie Lee was born on 31 December 1911 in Gunnison, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Jinx (1919), The Bronze Bride (1917) and The Right to Be Happy (1916). He died on 29 July 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Editor
- Editorial Department
Elmo Billings was born on 24 June 1912 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was an actor and editor, known for Terry and the Pirates (1952), Fire Fighters (1922) and Locked Doors (1925). He died on 6 February 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
Joseph Depew was born on 11 July 1912 in Harrison, New Jersey, USA. He was an assistant director and producer, known for The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), The Bob Cummings Show (1955) and Park Row (1952). He was married to Dorothy Depew. He died on 30 October 1988 in Escondido, California, USA.- Jean Forest was born on 25 September 1912 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for Mother (1925), Tovaritch (1935) and Mother of Mine (1926). He died on 27 March 1980.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
"Sunshine Sammy" Morrison was most famous as one of the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids, but he was probably the most experienced actor of that group. Morrison made his film debut while still an infant; his father worked for a wealthy Los Angeles family that had connections in the film industry, and one day a producer who was an acquaintance of his father's needed a baby for a scene and asked him to bring Sammy as a replacement for a child who wasn't working out. Morrison pulled off the job like a trouper, and his career was born. He appeared in films with such comedians as Harold Lloyd and, in fact, was paired with 'Snub' Pollard in a series of one-reel comedies in 1920. Producer Hal Roach gave Morrison his own comedy series in 1921, but only one was made. He was eventually cast by Roach as one of the original Our Gang kids. He left the series in 1924 for a turn in vaudeville, where he spent the next 16 years. When the East Side Kids films were being cast, producer Sam Katzman remembered Morrison from the days when Katzman was a theatrical producer and Morrison had worked for him, and hired him as a member of the gang. Morrison left the series when he was drafted into the army during World War II, and after he got out he was offered his old job back, but declined it. After a few more film roles, Morrison left show business entirely, took a job in an aircraft assembly plant and spent the next 30 years in the aircraft industry.- Actor
- Director
- Cinematographer
Coy Watson was born on 16 November 1912 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Erskine Johnson's Hollywood Reel (1949), The Smart Set (1928) and The One Woman Idea (1929). He was married to Willie Watson. He died on 14 March 2009 in Alpine, California, USA.- Andre Heuze born in 1913 in France. Fresh-face, rustic youngster who starred in his first film role as Carrots in 'Poil de Carrotte' directed by Duvivier from the novel by Jules Renard in 1925. Andre was offered only smaller roles in movies afterwards such as in 'Devil in the Heart' (1926), 'The Big Test' (1927), 'Seed in the Wind' (1928) and his last screen appearance was in 'Shifting Sands' (1929). He is the son of screenwriter, film director and journalist Andre Heuze sr.
- Billy 'Red' Jones was born on 9 February 1913 in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Final Extra (1927), Three Miles Up (1927) and Slow as Lightning (1923). He died on 10 June 2000 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Weston Doty was born on 18 February 1913 in Malta, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Peter Pan (1924) and One Terrible Day (1922). He died on 1 January 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Winston Doty was born on 18 February 1913 in Malta, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Peter Pan (1924), One Terrible Day (1922) and A Pleasant Journey (1923). He died on 1 January 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Gabe Saienz was born on 26 March 1913 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Lodge Night (1923), The Sun Down Limited (1924) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). He died on 7 July 1989 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Buzz Barton was born on 3 September 1913 in Gallatin, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Rough Ridin' Red (1928), The Bantam Cowboy (1928) and Pals of the Prairie (1929). He was married to Thelma Doyle. He died on 20 November 1980 in Reseda, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Maurice Murphy was born on 3 October 1913 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for Tailspin Tommy (1934), Beau Geste (1926) and Peter Pan (1924). He died on 23 November 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Johnny Downs was born on 10 October 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mad Monster (1942), Coronado (1935) and Sing Another Chorus (1941). He was married to June Ellen Draper. He died on 6 June 1994 in Coronado, California, USA.- Gustl Gstettenbaur was born on 1 March 1914 in Straubing, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for Woman in the Moon (1929), Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht (1969) and Schuberts Frühlingstraum (1931). He was married to Gracie Schenk. He died on 20 November 1996 in Hindelang, Bavaria, Germany.
- Jack Davis was born on 5 April 1914 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Big Doll House (1971), Code Name: Apollo (1970) and The Master Liquidators (1969). He was married to Josephine. He died on 3 November 1992 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Robin 'Pop' Ordell was born on 16 June 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor, known for The Kid Stakes (1927). He died on 3 February 1945 in Netherlands.
- Turner Savage was born on 8 August 1914 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for An Old Sweetheart of Mine (1923), Frisco Sally Levy (1927) and The Ancient Mariner (1925). He died on 21 October 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles Roberts is known for The Kid Stakes (1927).
- Newton Hall was born on 2 September 1914 in Hutchinson County, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Penrod and Sam (1923), The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) and Dinty (1920). He died on 17 April 1971 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Ray Salmon is known for The Kid Stakes (1927).
- Mickey Daniels was born on 11 October 1914 in Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA. He was an actor, known for The Little Minister (1922), Roaring Roads (1935) and Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). He died on 20 August 1970 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Frank Boyd is known for The Kid Stakes (1927).
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Writer
Michael D. Moore was born on 14 October 1914 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was an assistant director and actor, known for The War of the Worlds (1953), Willow (1988) and Never Say Never Again (1983). He was married to Laurie Abdo and Esther McNeill. He died on 4 March 2013 in Malibu, Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Norman 'Chubby' Chaney was born on 18 October 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Love Business (1931), Shivering Shakespeare (1930) and Pups Is Pups (1930). He died on 29 May 1936 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Jackie Coogan was born into a family of vaudevillians; his father was a dancer and his mother had been a child star. On the stage by age 4, Jackie was touring at age 5 with his family in Los Angeles, California.
While performing on the stage, he was spotted by Charles Chaplin, who then and there planned a film in which he and Jackie would star. To test Jackie, Chaplin first gave him a small part in A Day's Pleasure (1919), which proved that he had a screen presence. The movie that Chaplin planned that day was The Kid (1921), where the Tramp would raise Jackie and then lose him. The movie was very successful and Jackie would play a child in a number of movies and tour with his father on the stage.
By 1923, when he made Daddy (1923), he was one of the highest- paid stars in Hollywood. He would leave First National for MGM where they put him into Long Live the King (1923). By 1927, at age 13, Coogan had grown up on the screen and his career was going through a downturn. His popular film career would end with the classic tales of Tom Sawyer (1930) and Huckleberry Finn (1931).
In 1935, his father died and his mother married Arthur Bernstein, who was his business manager. When he wanted the money that he made as a child star in the 1920s, his mother and stepfather refused his request and Jackie filed suit for the approximately $4 million that he had made. Under California law at the time, he had no rights to the money he made as a child, and he was awarded only $126,000 in 1939. Because of the public uproar, the California Legislature passed the Child Actors Bill, also known as the Coogan Act, which would set up a trust fund for any child actor and protect his earnings.
In 1937, Jackie married Betty Grable; the marriage lasted 3 years. During World War II, he served in the Army; he returned to Hollywood after the war. Unable to restart his career, he worked in B-movies, mostly in bit parts and usually playing the heavy. In the 1950s he started to appear on television, and he acted in as many shows as he could. By the 1960s he would be in two completely different television comedy series.. The first one was McKeever and the Colonel (1962), where he played Sgt. Barnes in a military school from 1962 to 1963. The second series was the classic The Addams Family (1964), where he played Uncle Fester from 1964 to 1966. After that, he continued to make appearances on television shows and a handful of movies. He died of a heart attack in 1984.- Buck Black was born on 10 December 1914 in India. He was an actor, known for Empty Hearts (1924), Crossed Trails (1924) and A Regular Scout (1926). He died on 25 January 1999 in Fresno, California, USA.
- Billy Lord was born on 11 January 1915 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Ridin' Streak (1925), The Love Trap (1923) and The Chinatown Mystery (1928). He died on 13 June 1983 in Kern County, California, USA.
- Mickey Bennett was born on 28 January 1915 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor, known for Big Brother (1923), A Boy of the Streets (1927) and Big Pal (1925). He died on 6 September 1950 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Sonny Loy was born on 11 March 1915 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The First Born (1921), Mr. Wu (1927) and The Divine Woman (1928). He died on 8 January 1950 in California, USA.
- Quiet, benign, blue-eyed, rangy-framed child/teen actor Junior Durkin, who was an absolute natural on film and possessed major "down home" appeal, showed strong promise in just the few 1930s films he appeared in. A fatal roadster accident quickly ended the dreams of this young "Henry Fonda" type just as he was about to transition into grownup-roles.
He was born Trent Bernard ("Junior") Durkin in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 2, 1915. His father, Bernard, was a hotel owner who abandoned the family while Junior was quite young. His mother, Florence "Molly" Edwards, was an actress who quickly geared Junior and his two older sisters, Gertrude Durkin and Grace Durkin toward performing. Junior first set foot on stage at age 2 1/2 playing the part of Cupid in the play "Some Night". From there he was seen in such shows as "The Squaw Man," "The Blue Bird," "Poppy," "Paid" and "Floradora." Following a role in "Dagmar" starring legendary 'Nazimova' as a countess in January 1923, the 8-year-old Junior took his first bow on Broadway with the melodrama "The Lady" toward the end of that year with veterans 'Mary Nash' and Elisabeth Risdon.
Junior returned to Broadway as Tommy Tucker in Gilbert & Sullivan's musical "H.M.S. Pinafore" (1926), then earned his strongest reviews yet in the Broadway comedy "Courage" (1928), also starring Janet Beecher and featuring sister Gertrude, which ran for 8 months. He and sister Gertrude also toured on the vaudeville circuit around this time.
Following his mother's death in 1930, the young actor and both his sisters, who now had stage and Broadway experience, headed West to Hollywood to test "early sound" pictures. Junior was immediate placed in the Warner Bros. domestic drama Recaptured Love (1930) and received noticeable reviews as the son of estranged parents. Junior was next paired well with child actress Mitzi Green in The Santa Fe Trail (1930) headlining Richard Arlen, with both children receiving their share of praise.
Brief as it was, Junior became life-long friends with superstar Jackie Coogan when he tested and won the role of Huckleberry Finn opposite Coogan's Sawyer in what would prove to be a highly popular movie version of the Mark Twain classic Tom Sawyer (1930). Both boys were the same age. With Mitzi Green delightful as Becky Thatcher, the three young actors received heaps of praise for their naturalistic performances. The movie was so well received, in fact, that all three were reunited in the film version of Huckleberry Finn (1931). Blessed with a shy, ingratiating smile, Junior, along with the other two, received equal applause for these same roles.
Junior co-starred in the drama Hell's House (1932) with an early Bette Davis and Pat O'Brien as a bucolic "good kid" who gets mixed up with the wrong city crowd, a bootlegger and his dame, and takes the fall for a crime his mentor committed. Junior's next film Man Hunt (1933) showed off Junior's natural charm as a boy sleuth who involves himself in a murder and robbery. Returning then to the stage with a starring role in the comedy "Growing Pains" at the Pasadena Playhouse, the show moved to Broadway in November 1933 but ran only 29 performances.
Dropping the name "Junior" from the marquee, the young actor was fourth billed as "Trent Durkin" in the Richard Arlen/Ida Lupino comedy Ready for Love (1934) in his pursuit of a grownup image. Big Hearted Herbert (1934) with Guy Kibbee and Louisa May Alcott's Little Men (1934) with fellow kid actors Dickie Moore, Frankie Darro, Tommy Bupp and Cora Sue Collins followed. Junior's last film would be RKO's Chasing Yesterday (1935), which would be released posthumously.
Junior had just been cast to play "Tommy" in the hotly anticipated film version of Eugene O'Neill's drama Ah Wilderness! (1935) when the boy decided to take some spring time off to relax with his good friend Jackie Coogan at the Coogan ranch just outside San Diego. On their way back to the ranch while out on a dove-hunting expedition one day in Coogan's new car, a 20th birthday present from his dad, the vehicle (driven by Coogan, Sr.) swerved to avoid an oncoming car, lost control and plunged into a ravine, overturning more than seven times. Of all the occupants -- Jackie, Jackie's father, Junior, actor-writer Robert J. Horner and ranch foreman Charles Jones -- young Jackie Coogan was the sole survivor, the only one not thrown from the car.
Junior's death was attributed to a fractured skull. The highly beloved youth had over two hundred guests attend his funeral, which was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Gone at 19, one can only image what talents he still had to share or what kind of Hollywood career he would have had as a full-fledged adult star. - Joe McCray was born on 16 August 1915 in Beaumont, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Penrod and Sam (1923), A Self-Made Failure (1924) and Circus Joys (1923). He died on 11 September 1991 in the USA.
- Jay R. Smith was the second freckled-faced youngster to be featured in producer Hal Roach's successful film series, "Our Gang" (later known on television as "The Little Rascals".) His first "Our Gang" film was _Boys Will be Joys(1925)_ in a small role. Smith was put into the series as a sort-of replacement for Mickey Daniels, the original freckle-faced kid in the gang; Daniels was outgrowing his youthful role. While never a "star" in the Gang, Smith continued in the series for the next four years. He made his last Gang appearance in the early talkie _Moan & Groan, Inc.(1929)_ as a boy who gets a police officer trapped in Japanese handcuff toy. As an adult, Smith got into the retail paint business and attended movie conventions, offering his signature. On October 5, 2002, Smith's body was found 25 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, having died from multiple stab wounds. Charles "Wayne" Crombie, a homeless man who Smith had reportedly befriended, was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.
- Child actor and bit player Monty O'Grady was born John Montgomery O'Grady on March 6, 1916 in Los Angeles, California. O'Grady began his film career in the silent movie era of the mid-1920s as a child actor who's probably best known as a member of the early Our Gang group. Upon reaching adulthood O'Grady went on to become an extremely prolific and ubiquitous extra who can be spotted in a slew of films and TV shows alike in often uncredited minors roles such as reporters, waiters, party guests, passengers on ocean liners, or patrons in bars, nightclubs, or restaurants. His career as an actor spanned seven decades altogether. O'Grady died at age 84 on March 8, 2000 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
The son of a railroad clerk/pro boxer, Frank Coghlan Jr. was born in Connecticut and soon moved with his parents to California, where all three did extra work in silent pictures. Freckle-faced Coghlan was soon one of the era's most popular child actors, but with the advent of sound (and the onslaught of adolescence) he was reduced to smaller parts. After starring in the milestone serial Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), Coghlan became a naval aviator in World War II. He later headed the Navy's motion picture cooperation program (and other similar programs), acting as liaison between the Navy and the Hollywood studios. When his 23-year active duty stint ended in 1965, he returned to acting in movies and on television (where he had a supporting part in the pilot of the "Captain Marvel"-like comedy series Mr. Terrific (1967)). He wrote his autobiography "because my kids just kept bugging me to do it", does the occasional TV commercial, and is a popular figure at movie conventions, where, to the amazement of the 80-ish "Junior", fans still line up to meet Captain Marvel's alter ego.- Raymond Borzage was born on 24 May 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for Young America (1932) and The Mayor of Hell (1933). He died on 3 July 1990 in Northridge, California, USA.
- Jack Morgan was born on 7 July 1916 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Uncle Bim's Gifts (1923), Aggravatin' Mama (1923) and Andy's Hat in the Ring (1924). He died on 25 July 1981 in Brea, California, USA.
- Johnny Aber was born on 24 August 1916 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Yale vs. Harvard (1927), The Smile Wins (1928) and Ten Years Old (1927). He died on 25 October 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Arthur Trimble was born on 15 October 1916 in San Bernardino, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Buster's Picnic (1927), Buster's Bust-Up (1925) and Educating Buster (1925). He died on 27 August 1948 in San Bernardino, California, USA.
- Kendall McComas was born on 29 October 1916 in Holton, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Readin' and Writin' (1932), Choo-Choo! (1932) and Mickey's Whirlwinds (1930). He died on 15 October 1981 in Lake Isabella, California, USA.
- Joe Cobb was born on 7 November 1916 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926), Good Cheer (1926) and The Buccaneers (1924). He died on 21 May 2002 in Santa Ana, California, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
George Ward was born on 27 November 1916 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Their Own Desire (1929), The March of Time (1930) and Good News (1930). He died on 3 January 1998 in Toms River, New Jersey, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Eugene Jackson gained fame as Farina's older brother, Pineapple, in six of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" comedy shorts - The Mysterious Mystery! (1924), The Big Town (1925), Circus Fever (1925), Dog Days (1925), The Love Bug (1925), and Shootin' Injuns (1925). Besides films he sang and danced on the vaudeville circuit - billed as "Hollywood's most famous colored kid star". Most of his film roles were bit parts, most uncredited. He did appear as Diahann Carroll's Uncle Lou on TV's Julia (1968) and Redd Foxx's friend on Sanford and Son (1972). In later years he taught dance at studios he started in Compton and Pasadena. He trained several performers in the film Porgy and Bess (1959). His work was featured in a dance retrospective for the 1993 Los Angeles Festival.- Jürgen Ohlsen was born on 15 March 1917 in Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Our Flags Lead Us Forward (1933), Wunder des Fliegens: Der Film eines deutschen Fliegers (1935) and Alle machen mit (1933). He died on 23 September 1994 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Leon Janney was born on 1 April 1917 in Ogden, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for Charly (1968), Stolen Paradise (1940) and The Last Mile (1959). He was married to Isabel K. Janney, Jessica Pepper and Dorothy. He died on 28 October 1980 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
- Jimmy Boudwin was born on 28 April 1917 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for The Scrappin' Kid (1926), Ten Years Old (1927) and Tired Business Men (1927). He died on 2 February 2015 in Issaquah, Washington, USA.
- Richard Headrick was born on 29 April 1917 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Grail (1923), Playthings of Destiny (1921) and The Whistle (1921). He was married to Mary Pauline White Mays and Caterina Fortina. He died on 19 November 2001 in Chico, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tommy Conlon was born on 21 June 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for No Man of Her Own (1932), Over the Hill (1931) and Young America (1932). He died on 8 January 2000 in Huntington Beach, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in France during a World War I air raid in which his mother was killed, Philippe was adopted by Mrs. Edith DeLacy, who was associated with the Women's Overseas Hospital. After the war ended, Mrs. Lacy brought Philippe to America where his stunning looks soon made him a sought after model for advertisements and eventually brought him to the screen.- Rolf Wenkhaus was born on 9 September 1917 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Emil and the Detectives (1931), Spoiling the Game (1932) and S.A.-Mann Brand (1933). He died on 31 January 1942 in Ireland.
- Clifton "Bobby" Young gained notoriety as a child actor playing "Bonedust" during Our Gang's sound transition period. Of all the graduates of Our Gang (with the exception of Jackie Cooper and, arguably, Dickie Moore), Clifton had the greatest shot at adult stardom - at least as far as strong character roles were concerned. With his Kirk Douglas cleft chin, Clifton was active in several top-drawer postwar pictures: Dark Passage (1947), especially memorable as a weaselly blackmailer who picks up escaped convict Humphrey Bogart, Pursued (1947), directed by Raoul Walsh, Possessed (1947), and Blood on the Moon (1948). He was also a semi-regular in Warner Bros.' popular "Joe McDoakes" comedy shorts and played a bad guy in two 'Roy Rogers' Republic oaters. Clifton hit a rough personal period in 1951 and had moved into a hotel after a painful divorce, where he died smoking in bed.
- Born in the film capital of the world near the end of World War I, he made his film debut under the name John Henry Jr. in a Valentine's Day film short. During the 1920s he was considered to be one of the most popular film stars of the decade, alongside Mickey Rooney, Peggy Montgomery, and the many "Our Gang" cast members. When the Depression came, however, Marion found himself getting fewer parts, and when he resumed his film career at the start of his adulthood he was often subjected to less-than-desirable roles, in some of which he would only have one sentence to speak. Despite his film setbacks in adulthood, he made a name for himself by performing in a handful of radio shows, even though he was almost always uncredited. He left acting in 1953 to focus on family and his church.
- Andy Shuford was born on 16 December 1917 in Helena, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Law of the North (1932), Ghost City (1932) and Ten Years Old (1927). He died on 19 May 1995 in Monteagle, Tennessee, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Born into a show-business family - his parents were circus aerialists - Frankie Darro appeared in his first film at age six. Due to his small size and youthful appearance, he played teenagers well into his 20s. Always a physical performer, Darro often did his own stunts, many times out of necessity - his small stature made it difficult to find stunt doubles his size. He was an accomplished horseman and, in addition to westerns, made several films where he played jockeys. In 1933 he played the lead as a troubled teen in a major film for Warner Brothers : Wild Boys of the Road (1933). It is a pre code film with a realistic look at "The Great Depression" , from the point of view of the youth of the time. This film seems to have been rediscovered only recently and has received critical acclaim.That same year, he played a troubled youth in the James Cagney classic, "The Mayor Of Hell". Later in 1935, he had a key role in the cult serial classic' "The Phantom Empire"(1935). As Darro got older, however, he found it increasingly difficult to secure employment, and by the late 1940s was doing uncredited stunt work and bit parts. He had a recurring role on The Red Skelton Hour (1951), unrecognized by his fans, he played "Robby The Robot" in the groundbreaking sci-fi film "The Forbidden Planet" (1956), though Marvin Miller, best remembered as Michael Anthony of TVs "Millionaire"(1955-60), was the robot's voice. After that Frankie appeared sporadically in films and on TV . .- Émile Genevois was born on 1 January 1918 in Barlin, Pas-de-Calais, France. He was an actor, known for Les Misérables (1934), Rififi (1955) and Maria Chapdelaine (1934). He died on 19 September 1962 in Draveil, Essonne, France.
- John Michael Condon, known professionally as Jackie Condon, was born in Los Angeles, California. His acting career began in the silent film Jinx (1919) when he was a few months shy of two years old. He is most well-known for being one of the original cast members of the "Our Gang" short film series, as well as being the only member to appear in all sixty-six of the shorts during the Pathé silent era. After his final "Our Gang" appearance in the short Election Day (1929) at the age of eleven, he attempted to make a transition from silent pictures to talkies; however, he was unsuccessful. He continued trying to get back into acting well into his adult years, and in a 1953 interview on the program You Asked for It (1950), he stated that he was studying dramatics under the actress Florence Enright. Still, he never made it back onto the big screen, save for a few "Our Gang" reunions. As an adult he worked as either a file clerk or an accountant at Rockwell International, working alongside former "Our Gang" co-star Joe Cobb. He died of colon cancer on October 13, 1977 in Inglewood, California. He was 59 years old.
- Sacha Tarride was born on 13 September 1918 in Marseille, France. He is an actor, known for Les trois morts d'Émile Gauthier (1973), Les compagnons de Baal (1968) and Le chant de l'amour (1935).
- George Dunning was born on 31 July 1918 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Noisy Noises (1929), Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1926) and Roaring Fires (1927). He died on 3 February 1944 in Broward County, Florida, USA.
- A tow-headed, delicate-looking child actor of the 1920s, Billy Butts (born William Charles Allen Butts) enjoyed some popularity as a young sidekick of western stars Fred Thomson and Rex Bell. He later took over from Jack Morgan in the popular "Gumps" two-reel comedies, but his waif-like qualities didn't survive puberty and he retired at the ripe old age of 17.
- Billy Kent Schaefer was born on 26 September 1918 in Douglas County, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Ice Flood (1926), The Wind (1928) and Warming Up (1928). He died on 12 July 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
At the age of five Dean Riesner was a child actor (aka "Dinky Dean") in films such as The Pilgrim (1923) with Charles Chaplin. Dean's father, writer/director Charles Reisner, worked with and was friends with Chaplin and Buster Keaton, giving young Dean a foot in the door to a film career.
Dean would have continued as a child actor had his mother not told his father, "Let the boy have his childhood". Years later, when Dean reached adulthood, his father asked him if he wanted to return to the film business, and if so in what capacity. Dean said he preferred writing. Thus began a career that coined such lines as "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you punk?" from Dirty Harry (1971) and the original, "They'll tie you naked to a chair and get medieval with you" from Charley Varrick (1973).
Dean later developed a reputation as a script doctor, doing uncredited work on such films as High Plains Drifter (1973), Blue Thunder (1983) and The Godfather Part III (1990). His reputation for hard work was more than deserved--even in this 80s, he wrote every day.- Actor
Dannie Mac Grant was born on 21 November 1918 in Cochise, Arizona, USA. He was an actor. He died on 21 August 2006 in Napa, California, USA.- Hans Joachim Schaufuß was born on 28 December 1918 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Emil and the Detectives (1931), Der Bettelstudent (1936) and Annette in Paradise (1934). He died on 27 October 1941 in Oryol, USSR.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Hans Richter was born on 12 January 1919 in Nowawes, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Vatertag (1955), Hurra - die Firma hat ein Kind (1956) and The Punch Bowl (1944). He was married to Ingeborg Bieber. He died on 5 October 2008 in Heppenheim, Hesse, Germany.- Bruce Guerin was born on 18 January 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Revelation (1924), Kindred of the Dust (1922) and Brass (1923). He was married to Jeanne Marie Payne and Lucille Fregoso (fourth). He died on 27 June 2012 in Wailuku, Hawaii, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Desmond Tester was born on 17 February 1919 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Sabotage (1936), Non-Stop New York (1937) and Nine Days a Queen (1936). He died on 31 December 2002 in Sydney, Australia.