Mina Bern (1911 - 2010)

Actress, Singer. Though she appeared on Broadway and in a number of Hollywood films, she shall be best remembered as a star of the Yiddish theater scene of New York. Born Mina Bernholtz in what is now Poland, she was introduced to the stage early on with the traveling group Ararat. Fleeing the Nazi invasion […]

Ingrid Bergman (1915 - 1982)

Actress. She was an international star of films, television and on the stage. Ingrid Bergman made 50 films in her movie career winning two best Actress Oscars, an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award. Some of her films: Intermezzo, Casablanca, Walk in the Spring Rain, Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, For Whom the Bell Tolls, […]

Frances Bergen (1922 - 2006)

Actress. The wife of entertainer Edgar Bergen and mother of actress Candice Bergen. She started her career as a model in New York. She was “the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl” and “the Ipana Girl” in magazines and on billboards. At age 19 she caught the eye of her future husband at one of his shows. He […]

Elsa Berenguer (2024 - 2006)

Actress. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An award-winning stage, screen and television actress, Berenguer was a member of the stage group “La Nueva Máscara”, in the late 1950s. She received the prestigious Molière Award in 1974 for her work on the play “Sabor a Miel” and in 1981 the Estrella de Mar Award […]

Anita Berber (1899 - 1928)

Dancer, Actress. She was the daughter of a classical violinist and a cabaret singer. She studied dance with Rita Sacchetto and founder of rhythmic gymnastics Emile Jacques-Dalcroze. She began dancing professionally in 1917. Between 1918 and 1925, she also appeared in more than 20 silent movies, including Richard Ostwald’s sex education films and his 1919 […]

Marjorie Bennett (1896 - 1982)

Actress. Born in York, Australia. Died of cancer. Sister of actress Enid Bennett and Catherine Bennett. Appeared in “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) and “Coogan’s Bluff” (1968).

Mary Benny (1905 - 1983)

Actress, Comedienne. The real life wife of actor Jack Benny, she played the role of the long-suffering housewife who is given no money to run the household. Born Sadye Marks in Seattle, Washington, she first worked as a department store clerk, when she met Jack Benny, who was then a beginning radio star. She married […]

Mabel Bennett (1883 - 1940)

Actress. Mother of Constance, Barbara and Joan Bennett. Stage actress and daughter of Rose Wood and stage actor Lewis Morrison. In films from 1914 to 1917. Married to Richard Bennett from 1903 to 1925. Married Eric Pinker in 1927. 

Norma Bengell (1935 - 2013)

Actress. An award-winning romantic lead of the Brazilian and Italian cinema, she is perhaps best remembered for the dubious distinction of being the first ‘big name’ actress to be depicted frontally nude on screen. Born norma Aparecida Almeida da Pinto Guimaraes d’Aurea Bengell, she first earned notice as a magazine and runway model then began […]

Nelly Beltran (1925 - 2007)

Actress. Considered one of the most beloved Argentinian performers. Beltrán debuted on stage in the late 1940s, playing in “Las Lágrimas También Se Secan.” She then made her 1955 screen debut in “Para Vestir Santos.” During her lengthy career Beltrán played both comedic and dramatic roles and became one of the most popular faces of […]

Bea Benaderet (1906 - 1968)

Bea Benaderet Was an actress whose career spanned four decades but was probably best known for her comedic performances in “Petticoat Junction,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Flintstones.” Benaderet was born April 4, 1906, in New York and made her professional debut in a children’s production of “The Beggar’s Opera” in San Francisco when she […]

Brenda Benet (1945 - 1982)

Actress. She is best remembered for her role as the scheming villainess ‘Lee Dumonde’ on the daytime serial “Days of our Lives,” which she played from 1979 until her death in 1982. A classic example of a modern-day Hollywood tragedy, her acting career spanned just over 16 years with a wide range of guest appearances […]

Diana Bellamy (1943 - 2001)

Actress. She was a character actress in theaters, television and on stage. She graduated with a master’s degree in Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in 1970. Her acting career began in a puppet theater in Los Angeles. She was popular in regional theaters and she also appeared on television and in such movies as […]

Eleanor Belmont (1879 - 1979)

Actress, Writer. She was the author of the play, “In The Next Room” (1930), and the book, “The Case Of The Black Parrot” (1941). Born in England on December 13, 1879, she acted on stage for 10 years, but gave it up to marry, August Belmont Jr., on February 26, 1910, who she stayed married […]

Adele Belgrade (1866 - 2024)

Stage and Motion Picture Actress. She appeared on stage and in silent films, among them the 1917 comedy/drama production of “Happiness.” Married to actor Fred J. Butler, mother of prolific director/actor David Butler.

Mary Bell (1911 - 2005)

Actress, Playwright and novelist. Widow of actor Sir John Mills. Mother of Juliet, Jonathon, and Hayley Mills. Best known for her 1958 novel “Whistle Down the Wind,” which would later become a stage production and a film starring her daughter Hayley. Mary Hayley Bell was born in Shanghai, China where her father was a customs […]

Ena Begovic (1960 - 2000)

Actress. She won a dozen Best Actress awards and prizes over her 17 years in theater, films, and television. She appeared in 45 plays, mostly with the Croatian National Theater, in roles ranging from Desdemona in “Othello,” Gertrude in “Hamlet,” and Goneril in “King Lear,” to Antigone and Medea in “Antigone” and “Medea,” and to […]

Rita Bekes (1925 - 1978)

Actress. Born in Debrecen, Hungary, she studied at the Academy of Theatre and Film Art in Budapest and made her stage debut in 1949. From 1956 to 1962 she was a member of the Attila Jozsef Theatre company, where she was praised for her performances of Shakespeare and Chekhov. Bekes appeared in four films by […]

Barbara Bel Geddes (1922 - 2005)

Actress. Born to theatrical set designer and producer norman Bel Geddes and Helen Belle Sneider in New York City. Her father recreated the family name as Bel Geddes incorporating his wife’s name into their surname. Bel Geddes made her theatrical debut at 18 in 1940 in a summer-stock production of “The School for Scandal.” She […]

Doris Belack (1926 - 2011)

Actress. She is best known for her roles as ‘Anna Wolek’ on the television soap opera “One Life to Live” and Judge Margaret Barry on television crime and court drama “Law and Order”. She also appeared in the 1982 motion picture comedy “Tootsie” and a number of television situational comedies, such as “Barney Miller” and […]

Louise Beavers (1902 - 1962)

Actress. A plump, mournful-eyed character player in Hollywood films, she was almost always cast as a maid, mammy, or housekeeper, a shameful waste of her talent. Beavers is best remembered for her wrenching performance in “Imitation of Life” (1934), as an Aunt Jemima-like pancake maker whose light-skinned daughter abandons her to pass for white in […]

Laurie Beechman (1953 - 1998)

Actress. A Broadway actress and singer, she played in the longest run ofd of the character ‘Grizabella’ in the popular musical “Cats”. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1989, but she kept her career up during periods of remission. During her life she recorded the albums “Listen to My Heart” (1990), “Time Between the […]

Ethel Beard (1918 - 2003)

Actress. Beard appeared on radio in the 1940s with the likes of Hume Cronyn, Jonathan Winters, and Sid Caesar, as part of the Experimental Radio Theater, also known as, Experimental Playhouse of the Air. From 1960 to 1962, Beard was a hostess on Merv Griffin’s television game show, “Play Your Hunch.”

Mary Bear (1910 - 1972)

Actress. Born Mary Baer in Los Angeles, California, she was regular performer of films in the 1940s to 1950s. Her credits included “The Lady In Ermine” (1948), “Johnny Allegro” (1949), “The Life of Riley” (1949), “Stella” (1950), “Mother Didn’t Tell Me” (1950), “Singing Guns” (1950) and I‘ll Cry Tomorrow” (1955).

Paule Bayard (1931 - 1975)

Actress. Bayard appeared in the films, “Bingo” (1974), and “Tiens-Toi Bien Apres Les Oreilles A Papa” (1971). She also appeared on the television shows, “Pepinot Et Capucine” from 1952 to 1954, and “Le Courrier Du Roy” from 1958 to 1961. Also a talented voice actress she did the voice of the puppet character, ‘Bobinette’ on […]

Beverly Bayne (1894 - 1982)

Motion picture and stage Actress. Born Pearl Von Name, she appeared in silent Hollywood romances such as: “White Roses” “The Old Wedding Dress,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “One Wonderful Night.” In 1918 she secretly married Francis X. Bushman, but eventually the two were publicly divorced a few years later. As a result her career as […]

Mary Beal (1878 - 1929)

Early silent screen actress. Married to actor Frank Beal.

May Baxter (1885 - 1934)

Actress. She appeared in the films, “Penrod” (1922), and “The Sins Of St. Anthony” (1920).

Frances Bay (1919 - 2011)

Actress. Petite, soft spoken, and kindly elderly character actress. Best remembered for her role as Adam Sandler’s grandmother in the 1996 film “Happy Gilmore,” and for her guest appearance as ‘Mabel Choate’ the woman from whom Jerry Seinfeld stole a loaf of marble rye bread on “Seinfeld.” Born in Canada, she acted locally for many […]

Barbara Baxley (1923 - 1990)

Actress. Born in Porterville, California, she had many television and film roles, being best remembered for portraying Sally Field’s mother in “norma Rae” (1979). She began her career on Broadway in 1948 and made her film debut in “East of Eden” (1955). Her other films included “The Savage Eye” (1959), “Nashville” (1975), “All That Glitters” […]