Portland Hoffa (1905 - 1990)

Portland Hoffa (January 25, 1905, Portland, Oregon – December 25, 1990, Los Angeles, California) was an American comedienne, actress, and dancer. As with most of her siblings, including sister Lebanon and brother Harlem, she was named for the city where she was born. She is remembered best as the stage and radio partner of her […]

Portland Mason Schuyler (1948 - 2004)

Child Actress. A native of Los Angeles, California, she was the daughter of actor James Mason and his wife Pamela Mason, a writer and actress. Schuyler appeared in several films as a child including, “The Child” (1954), “The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit” (1956), “Bigger Than Life” (1956), “Cry Terror!” (1958), “The Great St. […]

Potter Palmer (1826 - 1902)

Business Magnate, Real Estate Developer. He was responsible for much of the development of State Street in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1800s. Born in Potter’s Hollow, Albany County, New York, he was the son of a Quaker and prosperous farmer. After receiving a common school education, he became a store clerk at the age […]

Poul Arne Bundgaard (1922 - 1998)

Actor. He was a versatile actor and tenor singer who appeared in operettas and musicals from his debut in 1947. From 1958 to 1973 he was engaged as an opera-singer by The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen and also as an actor 1969 to 1973 at the same theatre. Besides appearing on different private theatres he […]

Poupée Andriot (1899 - 1988)

Actress. Appeared on stage and in motion pictures during the 1920s and 1930s. Married to famed cinematographer Lucien Andriot. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Lucien Andriot (1892 – 1979)* *Calculated relationship

Preserved Smith (1820 - 1887)

Partner in the Barney and Smith Railroad Car Company.

Preshy Marker (1932 - 2015)

Singer, Actress. A pretty blonde, she is remembered for her numerous Broadway musical appearances. Born Esther Stomne, she was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey from an early age and graduated from Maplewood High School in 1950 and from Vassar College in 1954; though she intended a career in education, she still enjoyed singing and thus […]

President George Bush (1924 - 2018)

President George Bush George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to […]

Preston Foster (1900 - 1970)

Preston Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970), sometimes credited as Preston S. Foster, was an American stage and film actor. He also had a career as a vocalist. Preston Foster entered films in 1929 after acting on Broadway. He was still appearing on Broadway as late as November 1931, in the cast of the […]

Pretty Boy Floyd (1904 - 1934)

Pretty Boy Floyd Bank Robber. He was nicknamed “Pretty Boy Floyd” by the press, a name that he personally hated.  The name came from his first major robbery, when the robbed paymaster described him as a “pretty boy with apple cheeks” to an interviewing reporter, and the nickname stuck.  Born Charles Arthur Floyd in Adairsville, […]

Primus Emerson (1970 - 1877)

Primus Emerson brought boat building to the Carondolet area of St. Louis in 1853. He and two St. Louis businessmen bought riverfront property near the mouth of the River des Peres. There they opened the Carondelet Marine Railway & Dock Company. The venture cost $150,000 & included Emerson’s own patented marine railway. The marine railway […]

Prince (1958 - 2016)

Prince was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His early music career saw the release of Prince, Dirty Mind and Controversy, which drew attention for their fusion of religious and sexual themes. He then released the popular albums 1999 and Purple Rain, cementing his superstar status with No. 1 hits like “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy.” […]

Prince Makonnen (1923 - 1957)

Prince Mekonnen (baptismal name: Araya Yohannes; 16 October 1923 – 13 May 1957) was the second son, and second youngest child, of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Empress Menen Asfaw. He was made Mesfin (or Duke) of Harar upon the coronation of his parents in 1930. It was widely believed that Emperor Haile Selassie favored […]

Prince Philip (1921 - 2021)

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died. The longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest member of the royal family, Philip died peacefully Friday, April 9, at Windsor Castle. He was 99. The news comes nearly two months after Philip was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in […]

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719 - 1772)

Princess Augusta was born in Gotha to Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1676–1740). Her paternal grandfather was Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, eldest surviving son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.  At age sixteen and speaking virtually no English, Augusta arrived in Great Britain in order to marry 29-year […]

Princess Diana (1961 - 1997)

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances; née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Diana was born into an aristocratic British family with royal ancestry as The Honourable Diana Frances Spencer. […]

Priscilla Bonner (1899 - 1996)

Priscilla Bonner was born in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 1899. Her father, John S. Bonner, was in the Army and she spent much of her life in different places. She often play acted to amuse herself, playing all the parts and shifting the sets. While her father was stationed in Chicago, assigned to the […]

Priscilla Lane (1915 - 1995)

Priscilla Lane Priscilla Mullican was born on June 12, 1915, in Indianola, Iowa, a small college town south of Des Moines. She was the youngest of five daughters of Dr. Lorenzo Mullican, DDS, and his wife, Cora Bell Hicks. Dr. Mullican had a dental practice in Indianola. The family owned a large house with 22 […]

Priscilla Lawson (1914 - 1958)

Priscilla Lawson (March 8, 1914 – August 27, 1958), born Priscilla Shortridge, was an American actress best known for her role as Princess Aura in the original Flash Gordon serial (1936). Lawson was a professional model by her early twenties and was named Miss Miami Beach in 1935. This gained her a contract with Universal Studios, […]

Pro Hart (1928 - 2006)

Artist, Order of the British Empire awarded by Queen Elizabeth in 1976 for contribution to the arts. Born Kevin Charles Hart in Broken Hill New South Wales, Pro Hart was raised on his parents sheep property ‘Laloona Station’just outside Menindee. Due to his talent in the arts and his knack for inventing he was nicknamed […]

Proof (1973 - 2006)

DeShaun Dupree Holton was born to Sharallene “Pepper” Holton, a single mother. His father, McKinley Jackson, was a music producer who left to pursue his career prior to Holton’s birth. Holton grew up in Warren, Michigan where he met childhood friend and future musical collaborator Marshall Mathers, who would later rise to fame as Eminem. Originally […]

Prudence Crandall (1803 - 1890)

Prudence Crandall was born on September 3, 1803 to Pardon and Esther Carpenter Crandall, a Quaker couple in the Hope Valley area in the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island. At the age of 17, her father decided to move the family to the small town of Canterbury, Connecticut. She attended the Friends’ Boarding School in […]

Prudencia Grifell (1876 - 1970)

Actress. She was born Prudencia Grifell Masip in Lugo (Galicia, Spain) and died in Mexico D.F. She began her career on stage in Venezuela. In 1904, she moved to Mexico where she created her own stage company, and where she lived until her death. On cinema, she appeared in “Internado para Señoritas” (1943), “La Culpable” […]

Prunella Ransome (1943 - 2002)

Born Prunella Jane Ransome in Croydon, Surrey, she later lived in Titchfield where her father Jimmy Ransome was a public school headmaster from 1952 to 1958. Ransome studied at Elmhurst School for Dance and began her performing career as a teenager. Ransome made her West End debut in a 1959 musical production of Jane Eyre with […]