Advanced search

Karen Steele was born on March 20, 1931, in Honolulu, Hawaii. A former cover girl and model, she was one of the most strikingly beautiful actresses to ever work in film and television. She went to the University of Hawaii and to Rollins College in Florida before gracing our film screens with her first film in 1952. Rumor has it she was mistaken for another actress by producer Delbert Mann when he cast her as a hard case in the drama film Marty (1955). Like many actresses, as she got older, she turned to television commercials for income. She also became involved in charitable causes and community service. Karen Steele died of cancer in Kingman, Arizona, on March 12, 1988, little more than a week before her 57th birthday.

Steno was born on 19 January 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Execution Squad (1972), Cops and Robbers (1951) and La patata bollente (1979). He died on 12 March 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Arnold Bell was born on 23 May 1901 in Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Portrait of Alison (1955), Horror Maniacs (1948) and An Honourable Murder (1960). He was married to Ethel Susan Twigg. He died on 12 March 1988 in Worthing, Sussex, England, UK.

Bodeen started out as a stage actor and playwright. In his latter capacity, he enjoyed a moderate amount of success with "Escape to Autumn" and "Thing of Beauty", before finding work as a reader in Hollywood. One of Bodeen's plays, "Embers at Haworth" (about the Bronte sisters), came to the attention of Val Lewton, who was at the time working for David O. Selznick on an adaptation of Jane Eyre (1943). Lewton promptly hired Bodeen as a research assistant to work on the script with Aldous Huxley. When Lewton left Selznick after being signed as producer by RKO, he invited Bodeen to join him as part of a unit, specifically tasked with turning out horror movies to be filmed within a budget of $150,000. Bodeen would earn $75 per week (Lewton's own salary was only $250). The other members of this close-knit group included the director Jacques Tourneur, the editor (soon to be promoted to director) Mark Robson, composer Roy Webb and the writer Ardel Wray. For several weeks, Lewton and Bodeen (by now close friends) accumulated experience in the genre by viewing classic horror films from the previous decade, including Paramount's Island of Lost Souls (1932).

The first, and most successful, of the cycle of horror films on which Lewton and Bodeen collaborated, was Cat People (1942). As it turned out, both title and subject were rather imposed upon them by RKO studio chief Charles Koerner. Koerner had this notion that traditional movie monsters had been sufficiently dealt with, while nobody had done anything yet with a cat motif. Though initially apprehensive, Bodeen, eschewing traditional methodology, wrote the script as a study of psychological terror (a novelisation based on his story was later published by horror writer Gary Brandner). "Cat People" was completed in just 24 days and came in well under budget. Koerner was at first disappointed upon seeing the first cut, but quickly changed his mind once the picture began to break records at the box office. Some sources have even suggested, that it may have helped save the studio from bankruptcy.

Bodeen worked on two more entries in this series: The Seventh Victim (1943) (with a creepy shower scene, precursor to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)); and The Curse of the Cat People (1944), which, in spite of its title, was neither a sequel to "Cat People", nor a horror film in any true sense, but merely a subtle, overly ambiguous study of childhood loneliness. Bodeen did better work as co-writer (with Herman J. Mankiewicz) of another fable, the sentimental feel-good film The Enchanted Cottage (1945), based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. After his second contract with RKO expired in 1947, Bodeen free-lanced for a while and then concentrated on writing teleplays. He was several times nominated for Writer's Guild Awards. A regular contributor to film journals, he also authored several books on Hollywood stars, as well as one on "The Films of Cecil B. DeMille".

San Francisco-born comedienne of early silent cinema. Born Levita Axelrod in San Francisco, she was (according to Picture Show of July 19, 1919) of English parentage and named 'Billie' because a son had been expected. She trod the boards of vaudeville by the age of eleven and appeared in melodrama under heavy makeup playing adults by the age of thirteen. She also moonlighted in local cafes as a comic entertainer.

In 1913, she was hired by the branch of the Kalem film company based in Glendale, California, and appeared in several short subjects under her original name. After two years, she left Kalem to begin work for Al Christie at Nestor using her stage name Billie Rhodes for the first time. She was regularly paired with Jay Belasco in the series of situational 'Strand Comedies' and simultaneously appeared for the National Film Company, whose owner, actor-producer William Parsons, she married in 1919. However, in September that year, Parsons died unexpectedly aged just 41. Billie's career subsequently took a downturn though she had a brief run as co-star of several independently made two-reelers opposite Joe Rock. By 1925, she had forsaken the screen to become a vocalist in nightclubs and cabaret.

Jane Buckingham was born on 22 July 1913 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Sullivan's Travels (1941), Miss Annie Rooney (1942) and The Lady Objects (1938). She was married to James R. Moiso and Tom Buckingham. She died on 12 March 1988 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jan Grippo was born on 15 December 1906 in Beacon, New York, USA. Jan was a producer and writer, known for Lucky Losers (1950), Ghost Chasers (1951) and Valentino (1951). Jan was married to Paula Rice. Jan died on 12 March 1988 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Frank Bellan was born on 29 July 1923 in California, USA. He was an actor. He died on 12 March 1988 in California, USA.

Gianna Pederzini was born on 10 February 1900 in Italy. She was an actress, known for Il trovatore (1949), Rossini (1942) and Il circolo Pickwick (1968). She died on 12 March 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Samaresh Basu was born on 11 December 1924. Samaresh was a writer, known for Kitaab (1977), Baghini (1968) and Mouchak (1974). Samaresh died on 12 March 1988.

Vsvevolod Popov was born on 6 June 1907 in Moscow. Vsvevolod was a writer, known for The White Fang (1946), Po sledam nevidimykh vragov (1955) and Ryadovoy Aleksandr Matrosov (1948). Vsvevolod died on 12 March 1988 in Moscow.

Josep Carner Ribalta was a Catalan poet, novelist, playwright, scriptwriter, filmmaker, publicist, translator, journalist, historian, painter and political activist. Over 30 of his works in Catalan and in English have been published, including his memoirs. He joined Paramount Pictures in New York in 1928 as a publicist and scriptwriter. Paramount sent him to Hollywood within a year to work on a number of films, where he wrote original scripts and adapted dialogues into Spanish. Notably, he contributed to the Spanish version of George Cukor's Grumpy.

In 1931 he returned to Barcelona to support the newly elected autonomous Catalan Government under the Spanish Republic. He worked as a special advisor to the head of the Department of Culture and Education. He represented the Department on the Nacional Cinema Committee and developed plans for a Catalan movie studio and cinema school. He wrote a primer on "How to Make a Movie" which was published in 1934. In 1936 he was appointed Commissioner for Theaters, Cinemas and Shows. He tried to modernize and raise the artistic quality of theater and movie presentations.

In 1937, with the violent disruptions caused by the Spanish Civil War, he went into exile with his family. He landed first in Mexico where he worked on films and musicals, notably the first Mexican Folkloric Dance and Musical Review, which premiered in New York in the summer of 1939. He also wrote the screenplay in Spanish for Rene Cardona's The Coward. He then moved to New York and worked for Twentieth Century Fox until 1949. Afterward, he started his own picture distribution agency which went bust. He went on to become the Director of Translations for the Berlitz Schools of Languages, first in Hollywood, then in Washington, D.C. He retired in Simi Valley and taught writing classes at Moor Park College, in Ventura County.

Romare Bearden was born on 2 September 1912 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. He is known for Gloria (1980), Marsalis on Music (1995) and The Core of the Apple (1986). He died on 12 March 1988 in New York City, New York, USA.