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1-50 of 1,410
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Adelbert von Chamisso was born on 30 January 1781 in France. She was a writer, known for Walpurgis Night (1935), Le théâtre de la jeunesse (1960) and Your Favorite Story (1953). She died on 21 August 1838 in Berlin, Germany.- Francis Cornu was born on 30 January 1798 in Saint-Franchy, Nièvre, France. Francis was a writer, known for The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006), Nabucco (2003) and Verdi: Nabucco (2007). Francis died on 7 March 1848 in Paris, France.
- Wolf Graf Baudissin was born on 30 January 1789 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was a writer, known for Othello (1968), Troilus und Cressida (1964) and Der Misanthrop (1959). He died on 4 April 1878 in Dresden, Germany.
- François Félix Faure was born on 30 January 1841 in Paris, France. He died on 16 February 1899 in Paris, France.
- Born in a tiny village Haimanalele, next to Ploesti town in Romanian province of Muntenia (Valahia), in a family of actors (both parents and his two uncles - his father's brothers - were actors). He had no formal education, works at some newspapers, then as a clerk. At age of 20 start writing and publishing some short comedy stories and fantasies. In a short period between 1878 and 1884 he wrote his most important plays : A Stormy Night, Mr. Leonida, Carnival Stories, A Lost Letter. In 1988 become the director of the National Theater, and later, after receiving a nice fortune from a rich relative, he moves with all his family to Berlin, Germany, where he died on 10 June 1912.
- Director
- Actor
Leo Tscherning was born on 30 January 1880. He was a director and actor, known for Manegens stjerne (1912), Kommandørens døtre (1912) and Hustruens Ret (1913). He died on 24 June 1914 in Ebeltoft, Denmark.- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Beatrice DeMille was born on 30 January 1853 in Liverpool, England, UK. She was a writer and assistant director, known for The Heir to the Hoorah (1916), The Devil-Stone (1917) and Unconquered (1917). She was married to Henry C. DeMille. She died on 8 October 1923 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Francis E. Butler was born on 30 January 1847 in County Longford, Ireland. He was married to Annie Oakley and Henrietta Saunders. He died on 21 November 1926 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA.
- Peter E. Butler was born on 30 January 1847 in County Longford, Ireland. He died on 21 November 1926 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA.
- Writer
- Editorial Department
- Editor
June Mathis was born June Beulah Hughes in 1887 in Leadville, Colorado. Her father died at a young age and her mother married William Mathis. She grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, which she would proudly consider her hometown for the rest of her life.
At the age of 13 she pursued a career in vaudeville, doing imitations and dances. She had success in San Francisco and eventually played The Orpheum. Her stage career grew over the next few years, bringing her good reviews and much acclaim. In 1908 she played with Julian Eltinge in "Brewster's Millions" and in 1912 joined him in "The Fascinating Widow", which was a major success.
After a brief one-time foray in front of the camera in 1910 (or possibly 1911), Mathis decided she would like to be behind the camera. After two years of self-prescribed study she submitted a script in a screenwriting contest. Even though she didn't win, Mathis received several offers. She took one from Edwin Carewe, and her first produced script was for the film The House of Tears (1915).
Mathis signed with Metro Pictures, where she quickly rose in the ranks. By 1918 she was writing for the studio's biggest stars, such as Francis X. Bushman, Viola Dana, Mae Murray and Alla Nazimova. Mathis became head of the scenario department, making her the first female film executive ever.
In 1920 she began work on The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), a film that was hers from casting to crew to writing to production. For a director she chose Rex Ingram, and for the role of Julio she chose a small-time actor named Rudolph Valentino. The film was a major success and launched Ingram, Mathis and Valentino into superstardom. It was the top-grossing film of 1921 (beating out Charles Chaplin's The Kid (1921)), made $9 million during its original run and was the sixth highest-grossing silent of all time.
Mathis and Valentino were good friends until a disagreement in 1924 over The Hooded Falcon (1924), but they reconciled before his death in 1926. Mathis moved with Valentino to Famous Players-Lasky, where she wrote Blood and Sand (1922), The Young Rajah (1922) and The Spanish Dancer (1923) (originally intended for Valentino). "Blood and Sand" was a huge success, becoming one of the top 4 grossing movies of 1922 and a defining film for Valentino, his co-star Nita Naldi and Mathis.
After Valentino embarked on his one-man strike, Mathis signed with Goldwlyn Pictures as an editorial director. She was in charge of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) in the same way she had been for "The Four Horsemen". However, director Charles Brabin did not see it that way and the production was a disaster, eventually Brabin was fired and replaced by Fred Niblo and all the film that had been shot, including all of the expensive location work done in Italy, had to be scrapped and the production begun from scratch. After a year at Goldwyn Mathis left for First National. There she was again an executive, this time writing comedies (something she enjoyed doing) for Colleen Moore and Corinne Griffith.
After her rift with Valentino she married Silvano Balboni, who she met while filming "Ben-Hur". After First National Mathis was rumored to be writing for UA or MGM once again, but neither came to be; she died unexpectedly in 1927 at the age of 40 from a heart ailment (from which she had suffered all her life) while watching a performance on Broadway.
She was buried next to Valentino, who had died the year before, severely in debt. Mathis had loaned him the crypt but by the 1930s the arrangement became permanent. Balboni sued Mathis' 84-year-old grandmother for her estate over a technicality, causing her to lose the inheritance Mathis had intended for her. He returned to Italy in the 1930s, and her grandmother died in 1933.
Mathis was not only responsible for Valentino's superstardom but for his love of art in film, and his beliefs in spirituality as well. Today she is mostly forgotten but when she died she was the third most powerful woman in Hollywood (outranking the 3 other major women screenwriters: Anita Loos, Frances Marion and Jeanie Macpherson). She was also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.- Florentin Steinsberg was born on 30 January 1860 in Chýnov, Bohemia, Austria [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Batalion (1927), O devcicu (1919) and The Cathedral Builder (1920). He died on 20 February 1929 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Homer Lind was born on 30 January 1869 in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Floodgates (1924) and Let Not Man Put Asunder (1924). He was married to Adah May Currie. He died on 11 November 1931.
- Bert Clark was born on 30 January 1873 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915). He died on 9 May 1932 in New York, New York, USA.
- Percy Heath was born on 30 January 1884 in Perry, Missouri, USA. He was a writer, known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Dice Woman (1926) and The Man I Love (1929). He was married to Marcia D. Heath. He died on 9 February 1933 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Dell was born to Elbert and Lillan Goff in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on January 30, 1915. She won the most beautiful baby in Hattiesburg beauty contest when she was thirteen months old. She lived in New Orleans from the age of ten. She attended the Sophie Wright High School for girls. Winning the Miss New Orleans title, when she was fifteen, she went on a Fanchon and Marco vaudeville tour for six months. She got a job with the Ziegfield Follies of 1931 when she arrived in New York City. She sang a solo, "Was I Drunk?", in the production. All of her films at Paramount were released in 1934. She died that year in an automobile accident on June 8, 1934, She had left an all-night party at an inn in Altadena and was going to Pasadena in the wee hours when the car left the highway, hit a telephone pole, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder. Miss Dell was killed instantly. Her date, Dr. Carl Wagner, who was driving, died several hours later.- Actor
- Director
Jan Pawlowski was born on 30 January 1878 in Radom, Poland, Russian Empire [now Radom, Mazowieckie, Poland]. He was an actor and director, known for The Polish Dancer (1917), Slave of Sin (1914) and Arabella (1917). He was married to Helena Lacka and Aldona Pancerzynska-Herburt. He died on 7 May 1936 in Swider, Otwock, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Actor
Shorty Worden was born on 30 January 1897 in Yokohama, Japan. He was an actor. He died on 25 August 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
Alma Jensen was born on 30 January 1865 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Ormen (1912) and Mac-Morton (1912). She died on 8 October 1938.- Actor
- Music Department
Robert Goupil was born on 30 January 1896 in Dizy-Magenta, Marne, France. He was an actor, known for L'enfant du miracle (1932), L'or (1934) and N'aimer que toi (1934). He died on 9 October 1938 in Passy, Haute-Savoie, France.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Eddie Collins was born on 30 January 1883 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Blue Bird (1940), Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) and Quick Millions (1939). He was married to Florence Wilmot (actress). He died on 2 September 1940 in Arcadia, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
The youngest of three sons, he was born in Norfolk, Ontario, Canada and was educated at McGill University then In 1904 he moved to New York where he appeared in a number of plays on Broadway including The Blue Grass Handicap, The Superstition of Sue and successful The Chorus Lady after which he was invited by D.W. Griffith to join Biograph Studios where he made his film debut in The Greaser's Gauntlet (1908) followed by some 50 other films. Then, in 1910, he wrote his first film script, Sunshine Sue (1910), which was followed by many more. In 1912, he turned to directing with An Outcast Among Outcasts (1912) with a further 40 or so in the next 20 years. Acting wasn't neglected, with his appearing in Griffith's classic Intolerance (1916). Mack Sennett hired him to direct and star in a number of films at his Keystone Studios. He made the successful transition from silents to sound and frequently returned to his roots on Broadway. He married twice, first to actress Alice Louise Perine in October 1898 and had two children After their divorce and while working at Biograph Studios, he met and married actress/screenwriter Bess Meredyth (1890-1969) with whom he had a son.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Oliver T. Marsh was born on 30 January 1892 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Oliver T. was a cinematographer, known for Sweethearts (1938), Bitter Sweet (1940) and Maytime (1937). Oliver T. was married to Elizabeth. Oliver T. died on 5 May 1941 in Hollywood, California, USA.- A.S. 'Pop' Byron was born on 30 January 1876 in Barnesville, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Devil on Deck (1932), Madame Spy (1934) and Two for Tonight (1935). He was married to Kathryn Keys. He died on 5 February 1943 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- King Boris III was born on 30 January 1894 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He was married to Princess Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria of Italy. He died on 28 August 1943 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Viktor Gusev was born on 30 January 1909 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a writer, known for They Met in Moscow (1941), Six P.M. (1944) and Enemy at the Gates (2001). He died on 23 January 1944 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Writer
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, to James and Sara Roosevelt. His father was 54 at the time of FDR's birth and already had a grown son, nicknamed "Rosy". Sarah was only 27 when FDR was born. Growing up, FDR had a happy but sheltered childhood. His family was very wealthy and FDR had a very privileged upbringing, with trips to Europe and private tutors. Sara Roosevelt was a loving but domineering and overprotective mother. FDR was a devoted son, but found clever and subtle ways to get around his mother's domination. At 14 he was sent to Groton, an exclusive prep school led by the Rev. Endicott Peabody. FDR did not enjoy his time at Groton, often being teased by the other kids for having a formal and stuffy manner. Since he had a nephew who was older than him, kids at Groton called him "Uncle Frank". He graduated from Groton in 1900 and went to Harvard, where he edited the "Crimson" but failed to be accepted into the Porcellian Social Club. He graduated Harvard in 1903. Soon after that he fell madly in love with his sixth cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. They married in 1905, with President Theodore Roosevelt giving the bride away. However, from the start Franklin and Eleanor's marriage was not a happy one. She was quiet and shy, whereas he was boisterous and outgoing. The fact that his mother moved into the house next door to theirs, and ran things, did not help. Franklin and Eleanor had six children (one child died in infancy). In 1910 Franklin was elected to the New York State Legislature from Duchess County. There he made a name for himself as a crusading reformer who favored the "average guy" over big business and championed for honest government. In 1913 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy and served under Josephus Daniels and President Woodrow Wilson. In 1918 he began a love affair with his wife's social secretary, Lucy Mercer. When Eleanor discovered the affair, she was understandably devastated and told Franklin she wanted a divorce. At the urging of his mother, Frankilin chose to save the marriage and promised Eleanor that he would never have anything more to do with Lucy. The damage was done, however, and Franklin and Eleanor never again shared the intimacies of marriage, becoming more like political partners. In 1921 FDR was stricken with polio and paralyzed. He permanently lost the use of his legs, but refused to let that thwart his political ambitions. He spoke at the 1924 Democratic Convention for the candidacy of Alfred E. Smith, then the Governor of New York, calling him the "Happy Warrior". In 1928 FDR was elected Governor of New York and was well placed when the stock market crashed in 1929. As governor he took the lead in providing relief and public works projects for the millions of unemployed in the state. His success as New York's governor made him a strong candidate for the Presidency in 1932. He easily beat incumbent President Herbert Hoover.
When Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as President on March 4, 1933, more than 15 million Americans were unemployed. Millions more had been hard hit by the Depression and the banking system had collapsed. FDR wasted no time in launching a radical economic recovery program, known as the New Deal. He created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which made the federal government the guarantor of people's bank deposits - not the banks themselves - and allowed drought-stricken farmers to refinance their mortgages, He created public works programs including the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)--thus making the government the employer of last resort--as well as setting up the Social Security system, instituting a minimum wage, outlawing child labor--a widespread practice at the time, especially in mines, factories and textile mills--and mandating a 40-hour work week with overtime pay. In responding to the Depression, FDR forever changed the role of the federal government in American life. He was easily reelected in 1936, defeating Republican Alf Landon in a landslide. His second term as president was less successful than his first, however. The Supreme Court had ruled a number of New Deal measures unconstitutional. With an electoral mandate in the bank, FDR proposed "packing" the Supreme Court with justices of his political persuasion for every judge over the age of 70 that did not retire. However, Congress refused to pass the Supreme Court packing plan, and from that point on FDR was unable to get Congress to pass much of his legislation. Also, fascism was rising rapidly throughout Europe and Asia. Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini had both seized power and began to conquer other countries, such as Ethiopia, Austria and Czechoslavakia. FDR was unable to respond to the threats from Europe and Asia, however, because sentiment in the US was strongly isolationist and Congress had passed a series of neutrality laws that gave the President very little power to respond to international aggression. World War II began in September 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. Nine months later all of Western Europe had fallen to Hitler. The UK and its Commonwealth and Empire was standing alone. FDR wanted to help Britain, but had to move carefully and skillfully. He negotiated a deal in which the US gave Britain 50 old destroyers in exchange for bases in the Western Hemisphere. With World War II underway, FDR took the unprecedented move of seeking a third term as president. He won that term in November 1940, defeating Republican Wendell Willkie. Safely re-elected, he proposed a radical new program for helping Britain, known as Lend-Lease, in which Britain could buy armaments and other supplies from the US but not have to pay for them until after the war. FDR used the analogy of borrowing a neighbor's hose to put out a house fire to sell Lend-Lease. It passed and America became the "arsenal of democracy" as it began to build armaments for Britain and then the Soviet Union, when Hitler invaded it in mid-1941. Roosevelt met Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for the first time in August 1941 where they drew up the Atlantic Charter. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, destroying much of America's Pacific fleet. The next day,FDR declared war on Japan, calling December 7 "a date that will live in infamy." America was in the war, and not only against Japan, but also against Germany and Italy. Under FDR's leadership, America quickly transformed itself from a decaying nation of idle factories, impoverished families, abandoned farms and masses of hobos roaming the streets to a nation turning out planes, tanks, guns, military vehicles and other armaments on a scale that quickly dwarfed the capability of Nazi Germany to do the same. World War II also changed American life as blacks got better jobs in the war plants and women began working outside the home in unprecedented numbers. Helped by Eleanor, FDR used the war as a vehicle for social progress, securing better treatment for minorities and women, higher wages and better benefits for workers and a GI bill, which guaranteed a free college education for all American soldiers who fought in the war. In so doing, he created the American middle class of today.
After a series of military defeats, the US and its allies began to win the war. Invasions of North Africa and Italy were launched and the US started retaking islands in the South Pacific it had lost to Japan at the beginning of the war, starting with the Battle of Midway in 1942. FDR met with Churchill several times throughout the war and with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at Tehran in 1943 and at Yalta in 1945. The Allied invasion of France, known as D-Day, was launched on June 6, 1944. As the war ended, FDR pushed for his dream of a United Nations and for reforms that would ensure that another World War would never happen. The United Nations did come to pass, as well as new global institutions such as the World Bank and IMF. Also, FDR advocated for decolonization of Africa and Asia, leading to the collapse of the old European empires.
Because of the war, FDR felt he had no right to leave the presidency while Americans under his command were still fighting. So he sought a fourth term in 1944. His opponent was the new governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey, who ran a campaign of innuendo, hinting that FDR was too ill to lead and that his government had gone stale. FDR retaliated with a speech accusing the Republicans of attacking his dog, Fala. FDR won his fourth term in November 1944. In January 1945 he journeyed to Yalta to confer with Churchill and Stalin for the last time, to settle the postwar world and push for Russian participation in the United Nations. By this time FDR was gravely ill. After the Yalta Conference, he traveled to his resort at Warm Springs, Georgia, where he died suddenly of a massive stroke on April 12, 1945. It was revealed that Lucy Mercer, his one-time lover, was with him when he died and that she had secretly visited him in the White House a number of times during his last year.
There was an elaborate funeral for him, with a train procession from Warm Springs to Washington DC, then to Hyde Park, where he was buried.- Composer
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Fred Winter was born on 30 January 1892 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. Fred was a composer and writer, known for Lyckans gullgossar (1932), A Love Story (1970) and Muntra musikanter (1932). Fred died on 16 May 1945 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.- Raphaël Duflos was born on 30 January 1858 in Lille, Nord, France. He was an actor, known for L'instinct (1916), La flambée (1916) and Le droit de l'enfant (1914). He was married to Huguette Duflos. He died on 21 January 1946 in Paris, France.
- Rose Melville was born on 30 January 1867 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for A Flock of Skeletons (1916), When Things Go Wrong (1916) and Almost a Heroine (1916). She was married to Frank Minzey and Frank Melville. She died on 8 October 1946 in Lake George, New York, USA.
- Elmer Jerome was born on 30 January 1872 in Canton, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for That's My Gal (1947) and Swing Your Partner (1943). He died on 10 August 1947 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Oscar Heurlin was born on 30 January 1889. He was an actor, known for Alle man på post (1940). He died on 29 February 1948.
- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Axel Breidahl was born on 30 January 1876 in Randers, Denmark. He was a writer and actor, known for Kärleken rår (1913), Den levande Döde (1912) and Potteplanten (1922). He died on 4 October 1948 in Denmark.- Producer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Aleksandr O. Drankov was born on 30 January 1886 in the Russian Empire. He was a producer and director, known for Bolshoy chelovek (1908), Svadba Krechinskogo (1908) and V Lapah Zheltago Dyavola (1916). He died on 3 January 1949 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Seymour Hicks was an extremely successful actor and theatrical impresario who flourished from the late 19th century into the 1930s. He was best remembered for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
Born on January 30, 1871 on the Isle of Jersey, he first trod the boards as a professional at the age of sixteen. He became a musical-comedy star in London in 1894 in "The Shop Girl", which he followed up with "The Circus Girl" (1896) and "A Runaway Girl" (1898), both of which co-starred his wife Ellaline Terriss, whom he had married in 1893.
After the turn of the century, Hicks began writing musical comedies that he and his wife appeared in. These efforts were met with great success. With his earnings from his successful career, he built the Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Seymour Hicks Theatre in 1906. (The Hicks was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909 and eventually the Gielgud Theatre in 1994.) The first production at the Aldwych, Hicks' own musical comedy "The Beauty of Bath", was a hit. Jerome Kern was the composer and P.G. Wodehouse gained his first paying job as a writer on the musical. Wodeouse would be credited with the lyrics to two songs on another Hicks musical, "The Gay Gordons", in 1907.
(Hicks also was instrumental in "discovering" the young Alfred Hitchcock. When the director Hugh Croise walked off the set of the 1923 short Always Tell Your Wife (1923), based on a play by Hicks, starring Seymour Hicks, and produced by his Seymour Hicks Productions, the actor enlisted Hitchcock to finish directing it. It was only the second directing gig for Hitchcock, and though he was uncredited, it was his first film to be screened. (Hitch's first movie, Number 13 (1922), was never completed.))
By the time of the "Always Tell Your Wife" movie, Hicks had successfully navigated the change in theatrical tastes brought about by the Great War. He had begun writing and appearing in light, escapist comedies and satiric farces. Many of the farces he put on in the 1920s were adapted from French plays. Eventually, as his star waned, he worked in music halls.
It was in 1901 that Hicks first played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, the role for which he was most famous. He appeared in "A Christmas Carol" thousands of times on stage and made two movie versions of the Charles Dickens classic, a silent film (Old Scrooge (1913)) in 1913 and a talkie (Scrooge (1935)) in 1935.
By the mid-'30s, he was a well-established and highly respected actor and theatrical impresario. He became the 13th actor to become knighted in 1934, which came three years after the French Republic awarded him the Legion of Honor in recognition of his services in promoting French theater in England. (In 1915, he had won the French Croix de Guerre for entertaining Allied troops in France during in World War One and would win his second Croix de Guerre in World War II for the same service to the Allies.)
Seymour Hicks died on April 6, 1949 in Hampshire, England. He was 78 years old. He had continued appearing on stage and in movies until the year before his death.- Writer
- Actor
Afonso R. Castelao was born on 30 January 1886 in Rianxo, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. He was a writer and actor, known for Galicia (1936), O pai de Migueliño (1977) and Os paxaros morren no aire (1978). He died on 7 January 1950 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Johan Westerlin was born on 30 January 1890. She was a producer, known for House of Silence (1933). She died on 30 January 1950 in Luleå, Norrbottens län, Sweden.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert Tait was born on 30 January 1900 in Canada. He was an actor. He died on 28 May 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Make-Up Department
Lyle Dawn Jr. was born on 30 January 1916 in Fleming, Kentucky, USA. Lyle is known for Rimfire (1949). Lyle was married to Diane Royal, Evelyn Jeanne Vitous and Claire Adora Myers. Lyle died on 1 December 1950 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Legendary conductor, composer, author, producer, pianist and educator who arrived in the USA in 1871. He was educated in New York public schools and studied music with his father Leopold Damrosch, Rischbeiter, Urspruch, and Von Bulow. He was awarded honorary degrees from New York University, Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, New York State University, and Washington & Jefferson College. He was accompanist to August Wilhelmj on his US tour, and permanent conductor of the Newark Harmonic Society. Succeeding his father as Wagnerian director for the Metropolitan Opera (1885-1891), he also conducted the New York Symphony and the Oratorio Society of New York, and produced a series of Wagner operas at Carnegie Hall in 1893-1894. In 1895 he organized the damrosch Grand opera Company, became staff conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in 1900, and reorganized the New York Symphony in 1903, which he continued to direct until 1927. During that year, he became a music counsel for NBC, and conducted a series of broadcasts. Also in 1927 (until 1929) he became president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and from 1940-1948 he was president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. During World War II, he founded a school for bandmasters at Fontainebleau, France.- Boston-born (1866) humorist Gelett Burgess graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887, and secured employment as a draftsman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Three years later he became an instructor in topographical drawing at the University of California. In 1894, however, he made an almost complete 180-degree change from the staid, stable work of drafting and technical drawing to become editor of the humor magazine "Wave" and the next year he became editor of "Lark", a quirky, edgy (for the times) humor magazine. It was there that his famous quatrain--often wrongly attributed to Ogden Nash--"The Purple Cows" appeared: "I never saw a purple cow / I never hope to see one / But I can tell you anyhow / I'd rather see than be one". The magazine also featured his drawings of bizarre, badly behaving creatures called "Goops", which caught on with the public. He wrote a series of books filled with his humorous observations on life in general and the battle of the sexes.
He died in Carmel, California, on September 18, 1951. - Lotte Pritzel was born on 30 January 1887 in Breslau, Silesia, Germany [now Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Die Pritzelpuppe (1923). She died on 17 February 1952 in Berlin, Germany.
- Oscar Langkilde was born on 30 January 1874 in Hillerød, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Hamlet (1911), Kattebaronessen (1912) and The Stolen Legacy (1911). He died on 3 February 1953.
- Girindrasekhar Bose was born on 30 January 1887. Girindrasekhar was a writer, known for Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang (2008). Girindrasekhar died on 3 June 1953.
- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Henry McCarty was born on 30 January 1882 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a writer and director, known for The Vengeance of Pierre (1923), The Night Ship (1925) and The Lodge in the Wilderness (1926). He died on 19 July 1954 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Sôjin Kamiyama was born on 30 January 1884 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He was an actor, known for Seven Samurai (1954), The Crimson City (1928) and The Sea Beast (1926). He was married to Ura Mita. He died on 28 July 1954 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Isaak Iosifovich Dunayevsky was born on January 30, 1900 in Lokhvitsa, Poltava, Russian Empire. His grandfather was a cantor. His father, named Iosif Dunayevsky was a cashier at the Loans Society, he also was an amateur artist. His mother, named Rosalia Dunayevsky, played piano and sang for their seven children, of whom six brothers became musicians. In 1910 Dunayevsky enrolled in the Kharkov School of Music of the Imperial Russian Music Society. There he studied piano, violin with Iosif Yu. Akhron, and composition with Simon. S. Bogatyrev. He graduated from the Kharkov Conservatory in 1919, and was a violinist and composer at the Kharkov Drama Theatre.
In 1923 Dunayevsky moved to Moscow and became the music director at the Theatre of Satire. He then moved to Leninsrad (now St. Petersburg), where he was appointed the Music Director of the Leningrad Music Hall and for the Big Band of Leonid Utyosov. He composed 12 operettas and was one of the founders of modern musical in the Soviet Union. Among his early admirers were Mikhail A. Bulgakov and Vsevolod Meyerhold. At that time, in Leningrad, Dunayevsky started his work in film. He was also the director of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Leningrad House of Pioneers, and also was elected the Chairman of the Leningrad Union of Composers
Dunayevsky is best known for his film music. His most popular film scores are 'Veselye Rebyata' (1934), 'Vratar' (1935), 'Tsirk' (1936), 'Deti Kapitana Granta' (1936), 'Volga-Volga' (1938), 'Svetly Put' (1940), 'Vesna' (1947), 'Kubanskie Kazaki' (1950), and other. Dunayevsky developed his own distinctive style, combining Russian folk songs with the American Jazz and the tradition of neo-Viennese operetta, the genre best represented by Emmerich Kálmán and Franz Lehár. He also absorbed the influences from the music of industrial age, the beat of Jazz, musical Impressionism of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and harmonic innovations of Sympho-Jazz. He always composed songs in a Major key.
Dunayevsky was a unique personality in the history of culture. In the times of the "Great Terror" under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin Dunayevsky managed to bring innovations by introducing the taste of Jazz and foreign entertainment into the rigid Soviet culture. His songs gained outstanding popularity in the former Soviet Union and internationally. His collaboration with the legendary singer and band-leader Leonid Utyosov was quintessential for the career of both men. Utyosov introduced Dunayevsky to director Grigoriy Aleksandrov and they made the first Soviet blockbusters 'Veselye Rebyata' (aka 'The Merry Guys', or 'Jolly Fellows' 1934) and 'Tsirk' (Circus 1936).
During the dangerous time of the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union in WWII, Dunayevsky with his music troupe was entertaining the Red Army troops. At that time he was the artistic director of the Ensemble of the Central Railway House of Culture. He was on road for about 2 years, concertizing in the rear of the Russian armies. During the war he composed mostly patriotic songs and lyrical romances. At the end of WWII Dunayevsky moved to Moscow. He continued his collaboration with Grigoriy Aleksandrov and Lyubov Orlova in their new films 'Vesna' (The Spring 1947) and 'Kubanskie Kazaki' (The Kuban Cossacs 1950). He was awarded the State Stalin's Prize twice, in 1936 and 1950.
Dunayevsky later suffered from the official censorship campaign against intellectuals, as well as Sergei Prokofiev, Anna Akhmatova, Aram Khachaturyan and other cultural figures in the Soviet Union. He fell into disgrace at the time of political struggle before and after the death of Joseph Stalin. Dunayevsky was viciously attacked by a high ranking Soviet official from the Ministry of Culture, who made libelous statements against the composer, and accused him of "cosmopolitism" and all kind of sins. Dunayevsky was working on his operetta 'White Acacia' (1955) to be premiered at the Moscow Operetta Theatre in November of 1955. That was to be his 'swan song', the last and unfinished work.
He died on July 25, 1955 of a heart attack. His radiant, cheerful and optimistic songs remain very popular today.- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Costume Designer
André Perrottet v. Laban was born on 30 January 1916 in Hombrechtikon, Kanton Zürich, Switzerland. He was a production designer and art director, known for Der achti Schwyzer (1940), Das Weyerhuus (1940) and Es liegt was in der Luft (1950). He died on 24 February 1956 in Oensingen, Kanton Solothurn, Switzerland.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
C.C. Burr was born on 30 January 1891 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for The Western Limited (1932), Special Agent K-7 (1936) and Kentucky Blue Streak (1935). He was married to Clemence Amy. He died on 4 June 1956 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Charles Gee was born on 30 January 1886 in Pennsylvania, USA. He died on 8 November 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Whitford Kane was born on 30 January 1881 in Larne, County Antrim, Ireland [now Larne District, Northern Ireland, UK]. He was an actor, known for Hide-Out (1934), The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) and The Judge Steps Out (1948). He died on 17 December 1956 in New York City, New York, USA.