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1-9 of 9
- Texas-born Helen Vinson was born Helen Rulfs in Beaumont on September 17, 1907, the daughter of an oil company exec.. The family eventually settled in Houston, where her inflamed passion for acting was first ignited. While in her teens she married Harry N. Vickerman, a man fifteen years her senior who came from a well-to-do Philadelphia family. Although she was not accepted into the drama department of the University of Texas. She persevered by earning parts in local theater productions. She eventually made her Broadway debut in a walk-on role in a production entitled "Los Angeles" (1927). The stock market crash of 1929 ruined her husband's business and the stress and anguish precipitated divorce proceedings after only five years. Helen gained further notice on Broadway in "Berlin" starring Sydney Greenstreet and "The Fatal Alibi" (1932) with Charles Laughton. During this time she was also noticed by Warner Brothers talent scouts who ushered the svelte blonde straight to Hollywood.
A chic, elegant beauty with a tinge of a Southern drawl, she played both lead and support roles in pre-Code films. Making a strong impression trading insults as the aloof "other woman." Often unsympathetic, self-involved and frequently bitchy and backstabbing. She was not above using her feminine wiles to get her way. She played Kay Francis' epicurean friend in the mild comedy Jewel Robbery (1932), and stood between Loretta Young and David Manners happiness as his wealthy fiance in the soap-styled drama They Call It Sin (1932). In the classic I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), she had a rather bland "nice girl" role as the stylish woman Paul Muni leaves Glenda Farrell for. Appearing opposite a number of diminutive male stars such as Muni, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and George Raft, whom she danced with in Midnight Club (1933), the almost 5'7" actress was not too popular with the so-called vertically-challenged leading men at Warners and was quickly released from her contract.
Earlier (in 1931) she had earned major Broadway notice as the female lead in the fantasy "Death Takes a Holiday" playing a woman who literally faces Death (played by Philip Merivale). Both she and Merivale missed out on recreating their roles in the 1934 film version when the parts instead went to Fredric March and Evelyn Venable. More film work came Helen's way alongside some of Hollywood's most popular and virile leading men. She played Warner Baxter's castoff wife in Frank Capra's Broadway Bill (1934) and Gary Cooper's problematic mate in The Wedding Night (1935). She appeared with Charles Boyer in Private Worlds (1935); Humphrey Bogart in Two Against the World (1936); James Cagney in Torrid Zone (1940) and even lightened it up a little bit in the Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard comedy Nothing But the Truth (1941). One of Helen's best known film roles, however, came with the plush drama In Name Only (1939) starring Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. In this vintage soaper, Vinson plays a close confidante to the highly manipulative and rancorous Kay Francis, who is married to Grant, who has in turn fallen in love with good-hearted Lombard.
When Helen married the British Wimbledon tennis champion Fred Perry, in 1935. She moved to England for a time. While there she made the films Transatlantic Tunnel (1935), King of the Damned (1935) and Love in Exile (1936), which resulted in little fanfare. They relocated to Los Angeles a couple years later so she could find more work. Perry also hoped he could parlay his sports fame into a movie career. Their highly publicized marriage was short-lived, however. Lasting only five years. After marrying her third husband, stockbroker Donald Hardenbrook, in 1945. Helen gave up her career completely according to the wishes of her husband. The couple remained together until his death in 1976. She had no children from her three marriages. After her retirement, she found varied interests including interior design. For the remainder of her life. She divided home life between Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Helen passed away in Chapel Hill in 1999 of natural causes at the age of 92. - Deryck Guyler, born at the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 at Liverpool in England, was the only child of Elsie and Samuel Guyler. He grew up in Liverpool and had his senior education at Liverpool College. On leaving school he tried his hand at a few things including working with his father in the family jewelers business 'Green & Guyler'. However, he then left home to go to Bristol theological college to become an Anglican Minister, in those days Deryck was not a Catholic. It was not long before it became obvious to the 'powers-that-be' he would make a better actor than a Parson!!!! So, he eventually joined the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1935 which became his training ground for a very successful career in theatre, radio and television.
During the war, however, he was called up to join the RAF Police and served there for a time before being invalided out and then rejoined his profession. As all the theatres had been closed down due to wartime, he was sent out on ENSA (Entertainment National Services Association) to entertain the troops. It was during this time that he met and married his wife Paddy, who was also working on ENSA with her two sisters as a three handed singing harmony act, 'The Lennox Sisters'. They were married on 15th Sep 1941 so, at the time of his death Deryck and Paddy had just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary. They had two sons, Peter, born 26th April 1943 during the war and Chris, born after the war on 15th June 1948. Soon after their son Peter was born, Deryck converted to the Catholic faith and became an active member of the 'Catholic Stage Guild'. They also had another wedding ceremony, as Paddy was also a Catholic, and son Peter was in the front row of the church.
Just after the war, in 1946, Deryck joined the famous war time radio show ITMA ('It's That Man Again') and was with the show until its finish in 1949, due to the death of its star Tommy Handley. It was during this time that he was renowned for bringing to the radio, for the first time, the Liverpudlian accent with his immortal character "Frisby Dyke". Not long after this television started and Deryck began pursuing his very successful career in this new medium of entertainment. Due to the excellent quality of his voice he started in television, as many did, doing 'voice-overs' for many, many commercials which was his 'bread and butter', but then, he went on to become as well known for his face as he was for his voice in many TV series including Three Live Wires (1961), Room at the Bottom (1966), Best of Enemies (1968) and the well known Sykes (1972) series with Eric Sykes, Hattie Jacques and Richard Wattis. There were many other series that followed, supporting such other stars as Michael Bentine in It's a Square World (1960) and Harry Worth in his own series and then, of course, the TV series he's probably best known for, Please Sir! (1968) as the cantankerous school janitor 'Norman Potter'!!
It was in 1982 that he went out to New Zealand to star in a series written by an English TV scriptwriter Vince Powell called "An Age Apart"; it only went to 'air' in New Zealand. So, after a long successful career lasting over 50 years he then decided to retire 'down under' in Australia to be near his younger son Chris and his family, Deryck's three grandchildren, Paul, Mark and Cathryn. Deryck and his wife Paddy arrived in Brisbane on 5th November 1993, and lived in the tree-lined suburb of Ashgrove until about September of 1997. In October of that year, due to a few unfortunate falls at home attributed to his frailty and ailing legs, he had to go into a nursing home to be cared for, his wife Paddy being too small and frail herself to care for him. Regrettably due to his frailty; he had to be content with a wheelchair to get around. Paddy moved to 'Forest Place' Retirement Village, attached to the nursing home, and naturally, visited him daily. Additionally, the rest of the family often visited him in the nursing home where he was looked after admirably by the nursing home staff at 'Forest Place' until the evening of 7 October 1999 when he passed away very peacefully at about eight o'clock whilst wife Paddy and son Chris, with his wife, were at his bedside to say their final 'Goodbyes'.
His funeral service was held at St. Mark's Catholic Church, Inala on the 13 October 1999 and he was cremated at Mt. Gravatt Cemetery. In 1995 there was a wonderful 10 minute tribute to Deryck, made by Danny Baker and the BBC, which the family used as a part of the eulogy delivered by his son Chris at his funeral service at St. Mark's. Deryck's wife Paddy also passed away on 6 January 2002 and their ashes are now buried side by side in the "Guyler" family 'garden seat' estate in the peaceful surroundings of "Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens" in the Brisbane suburb of Holland Park. - Richard Hough was born on 15 May 1922 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Bounty (1984) and The American Dreadnought (1968). He was married to Judy Taylor and Charlotte Woodyatt. He died on 7 October 1999 in London, England, UK.
- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Genrikh Veniaminovich Sapgir is Russian Soviet writer and poet, screenwriter, translator. An outstanding heir and successor to the work of the brilliant creators of the Russian poetic language - from Vasiliy Tredyakovskiy to Vladimir Mayakovsky and Velemir Khlebnikov. The author of many books. Poet of the rarest proteic talent: throughout his career he changed his style and looked for new forms of expression. In the early (1950s-1960s) texts more often leaned towards social satire, which often took on elegant playful forms. Later in his poetry you can also find landscape lyrics and civic poetry. Perfectly mastering the traditional methods of versification (for example, sonnet), at the same time he was developing new, experimental forms. In the late period, Sapgir's work organically combines laconicism and a variety of expressive means, a penchant for experimenting, a love for exact details, a game, grotesque, irony, pathos, an ecstatic state of mind. Critics spoke of him as a classic of modern Russian avant-garde. In the Soviet years, Sapgir was published a lot as a children's writer (he owns the scripts for the animated films A Little Locomotive from Romashkovo (1967), A Sweet Tale (1970), Our Nanny (1975) and others), the translation of the text of the song "The Green Carriage". In his "New Primer" Sapgir adheres to the traditional methodology of word-for-word reading instruction. In the columns of words he created, the letters and sounds in the words overlap diagonally, vertically and horizontally, creating sound and graphic correspondences. He also acted as a translator.- Music Department
Karol Nicze was born on 18 November 1944 in Pabianice, Lódzkie, Poland. Karol is known for Nights and Days (1975), Czerwone weze (1983) and Modrzejewska (1990). Karol died on 7 October 1999 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland.- Animation Department
Anneline Liu was born on 16 December 1919. Anneline is known for Fangface (1978), ABC Weekend Specials (1977) and Plastic Man (1979). Anneline was married to ? Liu. Anneline died on 7 October 1999 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Stuart Werbin was born on 1 March 1947 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Tribes (1990). He died on 7 October 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Dave Whitsell was born on 14 June 1936 in Shelby, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Number One (1969), The NFL on CBS (1956) and 1968 East-West Pro Bowl (1968). He died on 7 October 1999 in Kenner, Louisiana, USA.
- Actress
Chelo Flores was born on 7 October 1920 in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Santa (1943) and The Imposter (1937). She was married to José de Jesús Mora Rocha. She died on 7 October 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico.