Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 1,480
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Johan Olof Wallin was born on 15 October 1779 in Dalarna, Sweden. Johan Olof is known for Charlotte Löwensköld (1930), The Varmlanders (1932) and Miss Julie (1951). Johan Olof died on 30 June 1839 in Uppsala, Sweden.- Thomas Hastings was born on 15 October 1784 in Washington, Connecticut, USA. He died in 1872.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mikhail Lermontov was born in 1814 into an aristocratic Russian family and grew up in a trilingual environment. His ancestor was the Scottish Knight George Lermont, who came to Russia in 1613 and served the Tsar. Lermontov's grandmother hired a Frenchman, named Jean, who became a servant to the young poet. In addition his nanny was German. His mother died when he was 2 years old, and his grandmother took him away from his father. Lermontov graduated from a boarding school for the sons of the nobility in Moscow, where he studied English literature.
At age 14 he wrote "The prisoner of the Caucasus" and other early poems in the vein of Lord Byron and Shelly. From 1828-32 he studied at Moscow University. From 1832-34 he was a cadet at the Emperor's School of Cavalry Guards in St. Petersburg, from which he graduated as an Officer of the Imperial Cavalry Guards. At that time her wrote "Borodino", dedicated to the 1812 victory over Napoleon.
Lermontov was stunned by the duel and death of Alexander Pushkin and accused the autocratic Tsar Nicholas I and his "greedy throng around the Throne" in the "murder of the Genius". Arrested and exiled to the war in the mountains of Caucasus, he distinguished himself in battles and returned to the capital of St. Petersburg as a celebrity. His disillusionment in the aristocratic milieu, and his indignant observations of the Metropolitan vanity fair, occasioned his drama, "Masquerade".
His duel with a French diplomat led to his second exile to the war in the Caucasus. In 1839 he finished his first and only novel "A Hero of Our Time" with a prophetic rendition of a duel which paralleled the end of his own life in July 1841. That duel was possibly the work of the Tsar's conspiracy against yet another rebellious genius. Lermontov's dexterous command of language shines in such masterpieces as "The Cliff", "Prophet", "The Dream". His sacrilegious "Demon", about an angel who falls in love with a mortal woman, inspired Anton Rubinstein on writing a lush opera. Boris Pasternak was influenced by Lermontov's mellifluent lines, and Vladimir Nabokov imitated the structural patterns of "The Hero of Our Time".- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Friedrich Nietzsche was raised having five women around him - his mother, grandmother, two aunts and a sister, all living together. His father, a Lutheran pastor, died when Nietzsche was 5 years old. After a Catholic school he studied music and Greco-Roman culture at the famous Schulpfora from 1858-1864, continued at the universities of Bonn, Leipzig and Basel, where he was a professor of classic philology for 12 years. His influences were: classic history, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, writer Fyodor Dostoevsky and Jesus Christ, whom he called "Superman".
His main books are "The Gay Science", "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", "Beyond Good and Evil", "Twilight of the Idols" and the radical "Antichrist". Nietzsche analyzed foundations of values and morality through transformations of human nature and society. His contention that traditional values, religion and God, are not working in the modernized world, led to his conceptual statement: "God is dead." In replacement of God comes his concept of a superman - a rational, secure and highly independent individual. He lists Jesus, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Goethe and Napoleon as models or prototypes of a superman. His idealistic superman was often misinterpreted as a role for a dictator in a totalitarian society. Nitzsche's goal for this concept was mainly individualistic because of his despise of any crowd and attention to him. He considered any crowd as a main source of lies and manipulations. According to Nietzsche it is the independence that allows a superman to be truly original and creative.
His sarcastic humor and contradictory ideas, often misunderstood in metaphysical context, caused misinterpretations of his personality and his works. His nihilism resulted from frustrations in search of meaning. For self-liberation Nietzsche terminated his German citizenship and remained a stateless person for the rest of his life. He distanced himself from Richard Wagner being repelled by the banality of the Bayreuth shows and the baseness of the crowd. He suffered from migraine headaches and from shortsightedness to the degree of blindness that caused his retirement from University of Basel. After he saw a brutal beating of a horse on a street, Nitzsche had a mental breakdown at age 44, and he retreated into solitude as a self-defense from crowds and manipulations. He lived with his mother and sister until his death of pneumonia in 1900. Most researchers regard his breakdown as irrelevant to his works. He received postmortem recognition by existentialists and by 20th century postmodern philosophers.
Nietzsche's idea of a day in a life repeating itself again, and again, and again was written at the end of the Book IV of "The Gay Science" (1887). It is used in the film 'Groundhog Day (1993)'.
Nietzsche listed laughter and humor as vital qualities of being a superman. He only failed to add a superwoman on his list of models to make it really serious.- Mary Plamondon was born on 15 October 1856 in Rochester, New York, USA. She was married to Charles Plamondon. She died on 7 May 1915 in off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland.
- Robert Nivelle was born on 15 October 1856 in Tulle, France. He died on 23 March 1923 in Paris, France.
- John L. Sullivan was born on 15 October 1858 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA. He was married to Katherine Harkins and Annie Bates. He died on 2 February 1918 in Abingdon, Massachusetts, USA.
- W.S. Sims was born on 15 October 1858 in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for The Nation's Peril (1915). He was married to Anne Erwin Hitchcock. He died on 28 September 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Kosta Khetagurov is a national poet of the Ossetian people who is generally regarded as the founder of Ossetian literature. He was also a talented painter and a notable public benefactor. Kosta Khetagurov was born in the village of Nar in what is now Alagirsky District in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. He studied at the Stavropol Gymnasium from 1871 to 1881, and entered the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1881, but had to quit his studies due to financial constraint in 1885. Returned back in his native Ossetia, Kosta became a prominent poet, whose poems composed in Ossetic quickly spread throughout Ossetian towns and villages in an oral form. His paintings also gained in notable popularity, one of them depicting Saint Nino, a 4th-century Christian baptizer of the Georgians, was particularly welcomed by the Georgian society. Due to his criticism of the Imperial Russian government he was twice exiled from his motherland from 1891 to 1896 and again from 1899 to 1902. The last exile significantly shattered the poet's health and deprived him of the ability to continue his creative and social activities. Kosta Khetagurov passed away shortly afterwards in Karachay in 1906.
- Amelia Summerville was born on 15 October 1862 in County Kildare, Ireland. She was an actress, known for The Great Deception (1926), The Witness for the Defense (1919) and How Could You, Caroline? (1918). She was married to Eugene Maria Stepan and Frederick Russell Runnels. She died on 21 January 1934 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Florence Creagh was born on 15 October 1866 in Margate, Kent, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Bond and Word (1918), Prester John (1920) and A Border Scourge (1917). She was married to Dick Cruikshanks. She died on 2 October 1948 in East London, South Africa.
- Actor
- Writer
Charles Mackay was born on 15 October 1867 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Inner Man (1922), The Poison Pen (1919) and Love Without Question (1920). He was married to George Eliot Porter and Lillian Kemble-Cooper. He died on 19 November 1935 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.- Alberta Stedman Eagan was born on 15 October 1868 in Athens, Ohio, USA. She is known for They Call It Sin (1932).
- Emil Stettner was born on 15 October 1868 in Budapest. He was an actor, known for Heinrich Heines erste Liebe (1922) and Don Juan (1922). He died on 24 January 1953 in Hamburg, Germany.
- Michael Isailowitz was born on 15 October 1868 in Calafat, Romania. He is known for Das Fluidum (1918).
- Actor
- Producer
Vasile Toneanu was born on 15 October 1869 in Calarasi, Romania. He was an actor and producer, known for The Independence of Romania (1912). He died on 20 March 1933.- Francisco Largo Caballero was born on 15 October 1869 in Madrid, Spain. He died on 23 March 1946 in Paris, France.
- Frederick Knight Logan was born on 15 October 1871 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, USA. He died on 11 June 1928.
- Hannah Jones was born on 15 October 1872 in Shoreditch, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Blackmail (1929), Downhill (1927) and Murder! (1930). She died in 1949 in Wood Green, London, England, UK.
- Edith Galt Wilson was born on 15 October 1872 in Wytheville, Virginia, USA. She was married to Woodrow Wilson. She died on 28 December 1961 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
- Cinematographer
Carl Widen was born on 15 October 1872 in Chester, Illinois, USA. He is known for A Dream or Two Ago (1916), Dulcie's Adventure (1916) and Faith (1916).- Wilbur Finley Fauley was born on 15 October 1872 in Fultonham, Ohio, USA. He was a writer, known for Jenny Be Good (1920) and Queenie (1921). He died on 21 December 1942 in New York, New York, USA.
- Charles Tenney Jackson was born on 15 October 1874 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Charles Tenney was a writer, known for The Golden Fetter (1917), The Show (1927) and The Eagle of the Sea (1926). Charles Tenney was married to Carlotta Aite. Charles Tenney died in 1955 in Dade County, Florida, USA.
- Douglas Z. Doty was born on 15 October 1874 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Laughter (1930), Fighting the Flames (1925) and The Great Sensation (1925). He was married to Josephine Whiting, Gladys Maclaghlan and Kathryn C.. He died on 20 February 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Alfred was born on 15 October 1874 in Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, England, UK. He died on 6 February 1899 in Meran, County of Tyrol, Austria-Hungary [now Merano, South Tyrol, Italy].
- S.K. Shilling was born on 15 October 1875 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for A Broadway Scandal (1918) and The Wife He Bought (1918). He died on 9 March 1952 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
Richard Willis was born on 15 October 1876 in London, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for The Last Chapter (1914), Lorelei of the Sea (1917) and The High Hand (1915). He died on 8 April 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Manda Björling was born on 15 October 1876 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Fröken Julie (1912), Grevarna på Svansta (1924) and Vallfarten till Kevlaar (1921). She was married to August Falck. She died on 29 February 1960 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.
- Helen Ware was born on 15 October 1877 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Virginian (1929), Flaming Gold (1932) and The Garden of Allah (1916). She was married to Frederick Burt. She died on 25 January 1939 in Carmel, California, USA.
- Ricardo León was born on 15 October 1877 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He was a writer, known for El amor de los amores (1944), El amor de los amores (1962) and Novela (1963). He died on 6 December 1943 in Madrid, Spain.
- He was one of the giants of the American Theatre in the first half of the 20th Century. Born in England, Hubert Hassard Short began his theatrical career there in 1895 and ventured to America six years later. He initially found work touring as a member and choreographer of John Drew's company, working his way onto Broadway as an actor up until the 1919-20 season. He dabbled as an actor in five films shot in New York but oddly, movies never enthralled him. His scant film resume coincides with him losing interest in acting altogether by his early 40's in favor of directing for the stage, beginning with "Honeydew" in 1920. Unlike others who used Broadway as a springboard for a career in Hollywood (which he could have easily conquered as a director, choreographer or even a producer), Short was wholly committed to Broadway and was an enthusiastic New York transplant. His first major hit (or rather hits) came from staging the enormously popular series of Music Box Revues from 1921-23, showcasing Irving Berlin's popular songs. Short quickly gained a reputation of being able to stretch the buffalo on even the tightest producer's nickel by pulling double duty as an innovative behind-the-scene lighting designer and effects wizard. Short is credited with introducing moving stages, perfume (think: theatrical smell-o-vision), elevators, and the abandonment of footlights in favor of modern lighting techniques. As a director, almost anyone and everyone connected with musicals and musical-comedies from 1920-53 crossed his stages. He was a consistent hit maker during the bleak years of the Great Depression with productions such as 1930's "Three's a Crowd," (the huge money spinner, featuring a fine score by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, highlighted by Libby Holman's trademark torchy rendition of "Body and Soul," was the first Broadway production to use modern floodlights), 1931's "The Band Wagon" (marking the final pairing of Adele and Fred Astaire atop an innovative double turntable stage), 1932's "Face the Music" (featuring an even more spectacular double turntable set), 1933's "As Thousands Cheer," and working uncredited on 1933's "Roberta" as a production doctor. Short's reputation amongst theatrical producers grew exponentially when he salvaged the John D. Rockefeller-financed 1934 production of "The Great Waltz" which ran for over 340 performances over two seasons with it's cast of 180(!), a 53-piece orchestra and hydraulically-driven sets. He stretched this record helming 1935's "Jubilee." He then fell into a bit of a slump on his next three productions before directing a series of eye-popping spectacles, beginning with 1939's "The American Way." Short rode the wave of WW2's box-office boon to Broadway with 1942's "Star and Garter," and ---remarkably--- productions of "Carmen Jones" (an especially daring all-Black production, produced by 'Billy Rose'), "Mexican Hayride," and "Seven Lively Arts" which ran simultaneously during the 1944-45 season. He continued to dazzle postwar audiences with an impressive 1946 revival of "Show Boat" that defied the then-prevailing notion that revivals were doomed to failure. Now in his late 60's, Short capped off his last decade of work with the 1948-49 hit production of "Make Mine Manhattan," which would be his last bona fide hit. Short would retire after work on 1953's "My Darlin' Aida." He died at age 78 in France on October 7, 1956.
- Frank Otto was born on 15 October 1878 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Born Yesterday (1950), Idol of the Crowds (1937) and The Kid Comes Back (1937). He was married to Loretta "Lola" Nolan. He died in June 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Rupert Sargent Holland was born on 15 October 1878 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He was a writer, known for The Winning of Sally Temple (1917) and The Night Riders of Petersham (1914). He died on 3 May 1952 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Paul Reynaud was born on 15 October 1878 in Barcelonnette, Basses-Alpes [now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence], France. He was married to Christiane Mabire and Jeanne Henri-Robert. He died on 21 September 1966 in Paris, France.
- Writer
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Franz Rauch was born on 15 October 1878 in Stralsund, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Laubenkolonie (1930), Es kommt der Tag (1922) and Der moderne Casanova (1928). He died on 23 May 1960 in Berlin, Germany.- Frank Otto was born on 15 October 1878 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Shirley Kaye (1917), The Raggedy Queen (1917) and Who Loved Him Best? (1918). He died in June 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- Missouri-born Jane Darwell was born Patti Woodard, the daughter of William Robert Woodard, president of the Louisville Southern Railroad, and Ellen (Booth) Woodard, in Palmyra, Missouri, where she grew up on a ranch . She nursed ambitions to be an opera singer, but put it off because of her father's disapproval (she eventually changed her name to Darwell from the family name of Woodard so as not to "sully" the family name). Making her stage debut at age 33, she was almost 40 when she made her first film, a silent, in 1913.
She easily made the transition from silents to talkies, and specialized in playing kindly, grandmotherly types. Her most famous role was as Ma Joad, the glue that held the Joad family together, in the classic The Grapes of Wrath (1940), for which she won the Academy Award. She was, however, memorably cast against type in The Ox-Bow Incident (1942), as the shrewish, cackling Ma Grier, a lynch mob leader, and again in Caged (1950), as the unsympathetic prison matron in charge of the isolation ward.
She made over 200 films. Her last, Mary Poppins (1964), was made at the express request of Walt Disney; she had retired and was living at the Motion Picture Country Home and Disney came out personally to ask her to appear in the film, after which she went back into retirement. She died in 1967 after suffering a stroke and a heart attack, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. - Alfred Swenson was born on 15 October 1879 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for Strife (1917), Hypocrisy (1916) and The Great Power (1929). He was married to Lorle Palmer. He died on 28 March 1941 in Staten Island, New York, USA.
- Jack Brammall was born on 15 October 1879 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, UK. He is known for The Wolf Man (1915), The Fatal Glass of Beer (1916) and Macbeth (1916).
- Edward H. Robins was born on 15 October 1880 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Exclusive (1937), Meet the Missus (1937) and It Happened in Paris (1935). He was married to Reina Bond (actress). He died on 27 July 1955 in Paramus, New Jersey, USA.
- Arthur B. Reeve was born on 15 October 1880 in Patchogue, Long Island, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Radio Detective (1926), The Tiger's Trail (1919) and The Carter Case (1919). He was married to Margaret Allen Wilson. He died on 9 August 1936 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA.
- Marie Stopes was born on 15 October 1880 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She was a writer, known for Married Love (1923). She died on 2 October 1958 in Norbury Park, Dorking, Surrey, England, UK.
- Writer
- Actor
- Music Department
Master of comedy novelist Pelham (Plum) Grenville Wodehouse was born on October 15, 1881, in Guilford, Surrey, England. He died in hospital in Southampton, New York, on Valentine's day (February 14) 1975, from a heart attack after a long illness at age 93. In that time he managed to write close to 200 novels, short stories, plays, song lyrics and so on.
At the time of his birth, Plum's mother was visiting her sister in England, but after only a few weeks she and young Plum returned to Hong Kong, where his father was a magistrate. At an early age he was sent to school in Britain--Dulwich College in London.
At age 14, he moved with his parents in to what they would call "the old house." After completing school, he spent two years as a banker at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, but he soon switched jobs to the old Globe newspaper as a sports reporter and columnist on "By the way..." About that time he started to write his own little stories. At first he wrote school novels about life in the famous universities in England (for example, "The White Feather") and mainly for a boys magazine called "The Captain", but soon he developed a talent for comic dialogue and started to put his talents to that instead.
Success was just around the corner, and by 1910 he had established himself in such a way that he could spend time between residences in the US and France. It was also at about this time he acquired his obsession with golf, a sport around which many of his short stories circle--even though his handicap never came down below 18. In a few years he was reaching millions of readers in dozens of countries.
Plum met Ethel, an American widow who became the woman of his life, in 1913 and they married in 1914. World War II caught Plum in his newly-purchased home in Le Touquet in France, having tea with his wife and some friends. He was captured by German forces and put in a prison camp. He was treated well and got the means to keep writing his books. Joseph Goebbels, it was revealed later, understood what a big fish they had caught and lured Plum into giving some brief, humorous appearances on German radio. Being the political fool he was, Plum fell into the trap. The broadcasts, which were supposed to be heard in the US only, were redirected to Britain, in a cunning scheme to annoy British authorities. As word of the broadcasts spread, back in Britain Plum's readers and publisher went berserk. They wanted him charged with treason. However, it was obvious he had been tricked and as the war ended, he returned to America, where he became a citizen in 1955.
Hollywood claimed Wodehouse, but it soon became apparent that all they wanted was his name on the posters and ads. Still, his popularity increased to such a degree that in 1975, a few weeks before his death, he was forgiven his wartime mistakes by the British establishment and was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen. At the time of his knighthood he was in poor health and couldn't attend the ceremony. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, a devout Wodehouse fan, offered to go to the US to personally present the knighthood.
In his final years, Plum was in and out of the hospital with pneumonia, heart problems and lung failures. Seeking comfort, as always, in his typewriter, Sir Plum kept writing until the end. His last work is the unfinished "Sunset at Blandings", of which nine chapters were written before he died in 1975.
Lady Ethel lived until 1984. They had no mutual children, only from Ethel's daughter from her previous marriage, Leonora, who Plum adopted and who died during surgery in 1942, devastating Plum to his core.- William Temple was born on 15 October 1881 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Seeing and Believing (1960) and Message from Canterbury (1944). He died on 26 October 1944 in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, England, UK.
- William Dooley was born on 15 October 1881 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for Palm Missed (1921). He was married to Zena Morin (dancer) and Ada May Dilts. He died on 29 September 1921 in New York, New York, USA.
- Lucile Taft was born on 15 October 1881 in Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for The Idol of the Stage (1916), Queen X (1917) and The Drifter (1916). She was married to ? Deacuna. She died on 16 April 1988 in Orange County, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Jack Nelson was born on 15 October 1882 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor and director, known for A Fighting Heart (1924), Tarzan the Mighty (1928) and Midnight Secrets (1924). He was married to Stella and Grace. He died on 10 November 1948 in North Bay, Ontario, Canada.- Writer
- Music Department
- Director
Ballard MacDonald was born on 15 October 1882 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Hoosiers (1986), Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Stan & Ollie (2018). He was married to Elizabeth Chapin. He died on 17 November 1935 in Queens, New York, USA.- Leon Brun was born on 15 October 1882 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]. Leon was a writer, known for Dzikuska (1928). Leon died on 9 September 1939 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Kurt Mikulski was born on 15 October 1882 in Hamburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Goal in the Clouds (1939), Die Sache mit Styx (1942) and Großstadtmelodie (1943). He died on 25 May 1958 in East Berlin, East Germany.