The Good Witch
When the Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, first appeared in the movie The Wizard of Oz you could see and feel the glamour of the lady who played the part. What many may not have realized about Billie Burke was that at the time she was 53 years old. Billie Burke was born [...]
The Six Three Stooges
Moe Howard Moe was the leader of the Three Stooges. He was born Moses Harry Horwitz on June 19, 1897 and died May 4, 1975. Shemp Howard Moe’s older brother, Samuel Horwitz born March 4, 1895, was one of the original stooges of Ted Healy. Shortly after they arrived in Hollywood he left the stooges, [...]
Frances Ethel Gumm – The Early Years
On June 10, 1922, the youngest child of former vaudevillians Frank Gumm and Ethel Milne was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Frances Ethel Gumm, also called Baby, had her first stage performance at the age of two and a half when she appeared with her sisters Mary Jane and Dorothy Virginia singing Jiggle Bells at [...]
The Barrymore Family
Georgiana Drew (July 11, 1856 – July 2, 1893) She was the daughter of actors John Drew and Louisa Lane Drew. She made her theatrical debut in 1872, in the play The Ladies’ Rattle. She acted in many Broadway’s hits, like As You Like It and Pique. In 1876 she married Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth, [...]
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were established in 1927. It was decided that they would create a ceremony to publicize and reward fourteen individuals and movies that were the best artistic examples of film making. The first award ceremony was in 1929 for the period August 1, 1927 to July 31, 1928. [...]
Mama Don’t Take – Kodak Did
It was the summer of 1973 when Paul Simon begged ‘Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away’. Mama has finally taken it away. Mama is Kodak and they have discontinued Kodachrome film. Kodak first introduced the film, which was the first successfully mass-marketed color still film using a subtractive method, in 1935. Since it required a [...]
A Christmas Carol Not Sung
A Christmas Carol by English novelist Charles Dickens was first published on December 19, 1843. It had illustrations by John Leech. The story is divided into Staves and not chapters. A stave, which is similar to a stanza, is found in music as a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme. Dickens felt this added humor [...]
Mickey Mouse’s Firsts
The first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon was Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928. Steamboat Willie, a parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr., is often listed as Mickey’s debut. This film was the first cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse that was widely distributed. Earlier in 1928 Disney produced two silent cartoons that [...]
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was born on April 28, 1878. He was the eldest of the children of actors Georgiana Drew and Maurice Barrymore. Maurice Barrymore legal name was Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe and Lionel’s birth name was Lionel Blythe. His siblings Ethel and John as well as Georgina Drew’s parents, brothers and sister all were actors. [...]
The Fabulous Fanny Brice
Fania Borach, born in New York City on October 29, 1891. If the name Fania Borach is not familar, many will remember her as Fanny Brice. The Broadway show and movie Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand was loosely based on her career. Brice is known for two songs she performed during the 1920s. “My Man” [...]
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