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1-50 of 266
- James Blyler was born on 1 November 1885 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Beat It (1918), Hit Him Again (1918) and Let's Go (1918). He died on 22 April 1924 in the USA.
- John W. Cope was born in 1860 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Tom's Little Star (1919). He was married to Ada M.. He died on 26 September 1924 in Bogota, New Jersey, USA.
- Edward Owings Towne was born on 19 February 1859 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Edward Owings was a writer, known for The Woman in Chains (1923). Edward Owings was married to Sarah Johnston Cooper. Edward Owings died on 6 March 1938 in Glenwood, Westchester County, New York, USA(undisclosed).
- Harry Robinson was born on 1 June 1872 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Beatrice Fairfax (1916), The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford (1915) and Huns Within Our Gates (1918). He died on 8 September 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Jesse Graves was born on 11 March 1879 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Safari (1940), Louisiana (1947) and Son of Ingagi (1940). He died on 4 March 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Flora R. Snyder was born on 3 April 1873 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Flora R. was a writer, known for She Walketh Alone (1915), Two Seats at the Opera (1916) and Wait and See (1915). Flora R. died on 16 March 1952 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
John Rox was born on 21 June 1907 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a writer, known for Rhythm Inn (1951), An Angel Comes to Brooklyn (1945) and A Safe Place (1971). He was married to Alice Pearce. He died on 5 August 1957 in Fire Island, New York, USA.- Archie Leonard was born on 28 October 1916 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Mrs. Mike (1949). He was married to June R. Salie and Helen Yager. He died on 7 February 1959 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Vivienne Osborne was born on 10 December 1896 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Two Seconds (1932), Dragonwyck (1946) and Tomorrow at Seven (1933). She was married to Francis Worthington Hine. She died on 10 June 1961 in Malibu, California, USA.- Juanita Hansen's career goes back to at least 1915, and she worked for D.W. Griffith before becoming one of Mack Sennett's "Bathing Beauties." Sennett was so struck by her beauty that he often featured her over the other girls, which caused some friction among them. That could well be the reason she left Sennett in 1918 for Universal, where she began doing straight dramatic roles rather then the slapstick comedy of the Sennett one- and two-reelers. She soon began performing in Universal's serials, and from there she went on to do serials for William Nicholas Selig, Warners and Pathe, among others. Before long her success brought her a contract for $1500 a week - a huge salary in those days - but it also brought her a penchant for fast cars (she was being constantly arrested for speeding), all-night partying and, worst of all, a taste for cocaine, to which she soon became addicted. Her drug use caused Pathe no end of trouble and she had difficulty finishing the studio's 1921 serial The Yellow Arm (1921). When it was finally completed, over schedule and over budget, the company dropped her. After a few small roles in independent films, she found herself unemployable.
She was next heard from in 1928, after apparently cleaning herself up and getting off drugs, when she was hired for a Broadway play. However, an accident in the hotel where she was staying resulted in her being burned with scalding-hot water, and to ease the pain she was given morphine - to which she became almost immediately addicted. Although she received a large settlement from the hotel, much of the money she got went for lawyers and hospital bills, and either drugs or drug cures. She went back and forth between bouts of drug use and sobriety, and by 1934, having apparently cleaned up again, she began lecturing at carnivals and traveling shows on the evils of drug abuse.
Her life took another turn for the worse in 1941, when she attempted suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills. She finally gave up all hopes of resuming her career, took a job as a clerk for a railroad, and died of a heart attack in 1961. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Wavy-haired American character actor and musician Frank Jenks was the son of advertising man Frank Jenks and pianist Lillian Sadler. After his family settled in Los Angeles, he attended the University of Southern California. He learned to play trumpet, trombone and clarinet, but eventually dropped out of college and embarked on leading a band on the West Coast vaudeville circuit. He then took the next step and became a song-and-dance man. From being a hoofer, he made his way to the legitimate stage and from there to movies, at first playing orchestra leaders. While this required little acting ability, he soon came into his own as a comic actor, his cinematic stock-in-trade being fast talking reporters (his caustic delivery was used to best effect in His Girl Friday (1940)), droll Runyonesque henchmen, cabbies, grifters, cops, bartenders and drunks. His improvisational acumen in adding his own routines to varied comedy scripts led to his receiving Hollywood's sobriquet as "off-the-cuff Jenks".
Amid numerous supporting parts, often for Universal's B-team, Jenks finagled the odd star billing, notably in a series of forgotten potboilers made by Poverty Row outfit PRC during the 1940s. From the early 1950s, he was a regular guest performer on television, appearing in just about anything, from Adventures of Superman (1952) to Perry Mason (1957).- Bob Hopkins was born on 23 April 1918 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for One Step Beyond (1959), On Stage Everybody (1945) and Flight to Hong Kong (1956). He was married to Virginia Harford and Mavis Russell. He died on 5 October 1962 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Helen Van Tuyl was born on 4 March 1892 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Schlitz Playhouse (1951), Cavalcade of America (1952) and The Loretta Young Show (1953). She died on 22 August 1964 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Carol Sims' writing career was spent under two distinct pseudonyms. As Paul Cain he wrote a remarkable series of 17 hard-boiled detective novelettes for the pulp magazine "Black Mask" beginning in early 1932. His character, gambler Gerry Kells, was so popular that the first five stories were combined in book form as "Fast One" in 1933 and remains today as one of the best examples of the genre. His other coinciding writing career was spent as screenwriter Peter Ruric; his most notable script was for The Black Cat (1934), a lesser Boris Karloff classic.
The son of a police detective, Sims was born in Des Moines, Iowa. His parents separated in 1908 and he spent the next decade living in a tough neighborhood in Chicago. Sims ended up in southern California in 1918 and became fascinated with the film industry, eventually gaining work as a production assistant and uncredited scenarist. On a trip to New York City in the early 1930s he met hard-drinking actress Gertrude Michael and together they returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she had a brief run at A-movie stardom at Paramount that was derailed by the studio's financial trouble and her alcoholism. Their relationship was really a three-way co-dependent affair with the bottle and Michael, whose once-promising acting career had nosedived by 1935, left him after he wrote a widely-read, thinly-veiled account of her. Sims eventually scripted nine films for major studios, but his increasing problems with alcoholism killed off his pulp career by 1936. His Hollywood career ended at the chaotically run RKO Studios in 1944 and Sims would spend much of the late 1940s and 1950s in Europe. He attempted a Hollywood comeback in 1959 but found that his reputation kept the doors of the crumbling studio system closed to him. He contracted cancer and died in a cheap apartment in Hollywood in the summer of 1966.- J. Clarkson Miller was born on 21 July 1889 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. J. Clarkson was a writer, known for Just for Tonight (1918), Back to the Woods (1918) and Hidden Fires (1918). J. Clarkson died on 13 October 1966 in Dunn Loring, Virginia, USA.
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Harry A. Gant was born on 11 February 1881 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Georgia Rose (1930), A Man's Duty (1919) and Absent (1928). He died on 26 July 1967 in Sunland, California, USA.- Rex Taylor was born on 1 November 1889 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a writer, known for Sporting Chance (1931), The Power God (1925) and High Gear (1933). He was married to Irma Taylor. He died on 27 December 1968 in San Pedro, California, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Ted Eshbaugh was born on 5 February 1906 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Mr. Peanut and His Family Tree (1939), Pastry Town Wedding (1940) and The Amateur Fire Brigade: A Fable of the New Deal (1935). He was married to Andrea Blayne. He died on 4 July 1969 in New York City, New York, USA.- Phil Shafer was born on 13 November 1891 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He died on 29 January 1971 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
- Fred Nurney was born on 11 May 1895 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Sleep, My Love (1948), A Scandal in Paris (1946) and Mystery Submarine (1950). He died on 9 September 1973 in York, Maine, USA.
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Scovil Roup was born on 16 December 1913 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She is known for Those Whiting Girls (1955) and December Bride (1954). She died on 16 August 1976 in Studio City, California, USA.- Richard St. John was born in 1918 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Kisses for My President (1964), That Tender Touch (1969) and Vacation Playhouse (1963). He died on 5 February 1977 in Salem, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actor
- Production Manager
- Producer
Bobby Stone was born on 28 September 1922 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor and production manager, known for Smart Alecks (1942), 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942) and Let's Get Tough! (1942). He died on 9 May 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Frank Wykoff was born on 29 October 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Big City (1937), The All New Truth or Consequences (1950) and Olympic Cavalcade (1948). He died on 1 January 1980 in Altadena, California, USA.
- Bob Jellison was born on 21 August 1908 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for I Love Lucy (1951), Petticoat Junction (1963) and Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958). He was married to Lacey. He died on 21 April 1980 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Stony-faced, grizzled-looking tough guy Charles McGraw (real name Charles Butters) notched up dozens of TV and film credits, usually portraying law enforcement figures or military officers, plus the odd shifty gangster. While at high school he worked as a theatre usher and was nicknamed "Chick" by his friends. At 17, he returned to his home town of Akron to study at university. He hitchhiked to New York from Ohio, enjoyed a substantial period in the boxing ring as a middleweight pugilist and then found his first success as an actor in 1937 on the Broadway stage in the Clifford Odets play "Golden Boy". Afterwards, stage work proved hard to come by. Therefore, to make ends meet, McGraw began to earn his living as a hoofer in dime-a-dance establishments. His career in Hollywood began in 1942 with bit parts and stalled again after a brief sojourn in the army. However, by 1947, he had picked up a solid amount of work as radio actor thanks to his gravelly voice which was perfectly suited for crime dramas. This did eventually re-open the door to Hollywood. Before long, McGraw regularly plied his trade as assorted hard cases who perfectly matched his craggy looks and steely-eyed visage. Best remembered among his standout roles are the dogged cop protecting a mob witness in the 1952 classic thriller The Narrow Margin (1952) , as resolute Lt. Jim Cordell pursuing armed bandits in Armored Car Robbery (1950), as a hit man in Robert Siodmak's seminal film noir The Killers (1946), as sadistic gladiatorial trainer Marcellus taunting slave Kirk Douglas (and ending up in a vat of boiling soup) in the epic Spartacus (1960), as William Holden's naval commander in the Korean War drama The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) and as jaded police officer Lt. Matthews assisting Spencer Tracy in the all-star comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). McGraw died in 1980 after a tragic accident in which he slipped and fell through a glass shower door.
- Babe was originally a stock player with Vitagraph then joined the Christie Company as a featured player and leading comedienne Later she played leads in Jack White's Educational Comedies and with Charlie Chaplin in 'A Day's Pleasure. Later she appeared in live and filmed television shows such as Merv Griffin, Mr Adam & Eve, The Best of Post, Day in Court and Face the Facts and guested on numerous interview and panel shows.In the late 1960's she enrolled for a class in oil painting at Hollywood High School under the Adult Education programme despite having flunked art when she was in high school.10 months later she had her first one woman show which was a public and critical success. Since then she has exhibited at the Motion Picture and TV Celebrity Shows in a number of venues winning the sobriquet 'Hollywood's Grandma Moses'. She then worked on what she called 'The Vanishing Era' doing portraits of the silent slapstick comedians, the veteran producers, the old comedy studios and Hollywood landmarks. On completion and after being exhibited she presented them to the Hollywood Museum. She donated all her personal possessions and 75 of her paintings to the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
William 'Red' Reynolds was born in 1927 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Chartroose Caboose (1960), Stump Run (1959) and Death Valley Days (1952). He died on 9 December 1981.- Richard Deming was born on 25 April 1915 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a writer, known for Arrivederci, Baby! (1966), Suspicion (1957) and Mike Hammer (1958). He was married to Ruth DuBois. He died on 5 September 1983 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
Paul Ashley was born on 28 May 1913 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He is known for Blue Sunshine (1977) and Rootie Kazootie (1952). He was married to Harriet Lund. He died on 3 September 1984 in North Hollywood, California, USA.- Dorothy Costello was born on 20 October 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Girl Time (1947), The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) and The Milton Berle Show (1948). She died on 16 January 1985 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Fanchon Royer attended school there and in Minneapolis and Chicago. She entered pictures via the "extra girl" route in 1916. She became editor of the trade magazine "Camera" before her 18th birthday and, for several years, did publicity and actors' management. She produced her first film in 1928, "Life's Like That". Over the next ten years she produced more than 30 films in English and Spanish for the independent market. She was the mother of two sons and three daughters.- Dick Pope was born on 19 April 1900 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for The City of Beautiful Girls (1950), Outboard Stunting (1931) and Florida's Disney Decade (1981). He died on 28 January 1988 in Winter Haven, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Lee Gotch was born on 20 April 1917 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Broadway Rhythm (1944) and Playhouse 90 (1956). He died on 6 March 1988 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Edith Evans was born on 12 June 1898 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was married to Ray Mayer and Robert S. Fenner. She died on 5 March 1989 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
William Wister Haines was born on 17 September 1908 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. William Wister was a writer, known for Command Decision (1948), One Minute to Zero (1952) and Slim (1937). William Wister died on 18 November 1989 in Laguna Niguel, California, USA.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
- Actor
Born Roy Frowick Halston on April 23, 1932 in Des Moines, Iowa, Halston was a product of America's heartland. He led a classic Iowa childhood playing in soap box derby races, fishing, visiting farms, and the like. Halston took an interest in sewing from his mother, and from an early age he showed a special interest in making hats. Halston would make his own for his mother and sister (his first hat appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar in 1960). Halston attended Indiana University in 1952 for one semester. The family moved to Chicago in late 1952 where Halston enrolled in a night course at the Chicago Art Institute and took a day job as a window dresser. Halston continued to design hats and finally obtained his break when a small story on his fashionable creations appeared in the Chicago Daily News. It was at this time that his middle name Halston, would become his professional moniker. His hat sales took off and he began designing for a celebrity and show biz clientele. In 1957, Halston opened his first major shop, the Boulevard Salon, on the second floor of 900 Michigan Avenue. In 1959 Halston left Chicago for NYC to work for the famed French milliner Lilly Daché, where he proved to be a hardworking and dedicated employee. He was named co-designer at Daché after only one year. Following that Halston accepted a position at Bergdorf Goodman, a fashionable New York department store, where he charmed his clients and made a grand name for himself. After two-years at Bergdorf he succeeded in becoming the store's first designer to have his name placed in the hats he designed. He became adept at courting and manipulating the press at Bergdorf's. In 1962 he designed the famous pill box hat worn by Jackie Kennedy at the President's Inaugural making the Halston name a household word. Later that year he was bestowed the Coty's Fashion Critics Award. In 1966 Halston designed his first ready to wear collection for Bergdorf Goodman and while there Halston continued creating magic with his hat creations. Women's Wear Daily heralded him as "New York's Top Milliner". He opened his own salon in 1968 and became the toast of New York's fashion society. His close circle of friends and clients would come to include some of the most alluring and fascinating men and women in the world, among them Liza Minnelli, Barbara Walter, Martha Graham, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Andy Warhol and Elizabeth Taylor. Halston's career sky-rocketed during the 1970's and his designs set the standard for American designers. He was the undisputed high priest of fashion. The Halston name became synonymous with classically cut, simple, spare and elegant designs, a phenomenally successful fragrance line Halston by Halston for women X12 and Z14 for men, and the fabric known as "Ultra suede". His designs became ubiquitous as we went on to design and license his name on thirty-one different licensing products including a range of home linen, uniforms for Braniff International Airlines and a line of luggage for Hartmann. Throughout most of the seventies he epitomized the glamour, as well as the decadence of the era, becoming a central figure in the nightlife scene of New York's Studio 54 disco.- Joel Larson was born on 15 September 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He died on 21 July 1991 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
- Chet Leming was born on 29 November 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for The Edge of Night (1956), Kraft Theatre (1947) and Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950). He died on 19 February 1992 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
Alan Nourse was born on 11 August 1928 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Out of the Unknown (1965), Rocky King, Detective (1950) and Ürtörténetek (1977). He was married to Ann Jane Morton. He died on 19 June 1992 in Thorp, Washington, USA.- Ruth Costello was born on 20 October 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950), Girl Time (1947) and The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). She died on 25 December 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- George Ball was born on 21 December 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He died on 26 May 1994 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Harriet Nelson will always have a secure place alongside Barbara Billingsley and Jane Wyatt in the "TV's Golden Age Mom Hall of Fame." For fourteen years, she, husband Ozzie Nelson, and their two boys, David Nelson and Ricky Nelson, were the quintessential role models of the '50s ideal nuclear family.
Harriet, the daughter of actors, was practically born in a trunk on July 18, 1909, in Des Moines, Iowa. She made her debut amid the footlights at age 6 weeks with her parents. The mid-West beauty attended St. Agnes Academy in her early years. Quite a dazzler in her youth, she was playing vaudeville when she attracted the attention of saxophone-playing Ozzie Nelson and was hired by him as vocalist for his orchestra in 1932. They married three years later.
Harriet had a bold, sassy edge to her that proved a perfect counterpoint to Ozzie's genial, stumbling personality in their off-the-cuff routines. During the '40s, they were regulars on Red Skelton's radio show and even took over the comic's time slot when Red was drafted into the army. As Harriet Hilliard, she moved to leading lady status in a number of cool, snazzy war-era musicals, the most notable as "second lead" to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet (1936). Other minor efforts included Cocoanut Grove (1938), Sweetheart of the Campus (1941) with Ozzie, Juke Box Jenny (1942), and Honeymoon Lodge (1943), also with Ozzie. Breezy, tuneful films, but nothing to write home about.
Once Harriet partnered with Ozzie in their own radio series "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" in 1944, the family-oriented woman's career became unequivocally bound to his. They extended their devoted radio audience to TV (1952-1966). The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), which now included both their sons, made household names of the entire clan. David followed in his father's footsteps as director/producer, while Ricky turned pop teen idol with such hits as "Hello, Mary Lou" and "Travelin' Man," songs that were introduced on the show. Following the show's long run, Ozzie and Harriet lay back a bit and settled in Laguna Beach, California, touring occasionally on stage. A second series entitled Ozzie's Girls (1973) lasted only one season.
Following Ozzie's death in 1975, Harriet turned somewhat reclusive, save for a few mini-movies or guest spots. She never fully recovered from son Ricky's death in a plane crash in 1985. She was the doting grandmother of actress Tracy Nelson and of twin rockers Matthew Nelson and Gunnar Nelson, who were simply called "Nelson." A heavy smoker most of her life, she never smoked in public, feeling it did not befit her "perfect mom" image. She died of emphysema and congestive heart failure on October 2, 1994, at age 85.- Frances Cagney was born on 19 June 1899 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was married to James Cagney. She died on 10 October 1994 in Sharon, Connecticut, USA.
- William B. Lockhart was born on 25 May 1906 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was married to Mary Louise Lockhart. He died on 1 January 1996 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
- Larry Griswold was born on 17 September 1905 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Einfach lächerlich (1960), The Jackie Gleason Show (1952) and The Frank Sinatra Show (1950). He died on 24 August 1996.
- Bunny Bronson was born on 27 June 1915 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for The Lucky Corner (1936). She died on 31 March 1998 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
- Michael Gaddis was born on 2 June 1913 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Louisiana (1947). He died on 8 June 1998 in Port Hueneme, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Max Smith was born on 23 January 1913 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Puddin' Head (1941) and Jingle Belles (1941). He was married to Helen Leyser. He died on 23 July 1999 in San Luis Obispo, California, USA.- Producer
- Editor
- Editorial Department
Ernest J. Nims was born on 15 November 1908 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He was a producer and editor, known for The Stranger (1946), It Could Happen to You (1937) and Fatal Lady (1936). He was married to Geraldine Kirby. He died on 28 April 2000 in Los Angeles, California, USA.