Rudolph Valentino (1895 - 1926)

Actor. Born Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla in the small town of Castellaneta, Puglia, Italy, he originally had no intention of becoming an actor. He tried to enlist in his country’s Royal Naval Academy but was rejected because his chest size was an inch too small. When he was 15 he […]

William Talman (1915 - 1968)

Actor. Best known as ‘Hamilton Burger,’ the perpetually unsuccessful District Attorney on the popular “Perry Mason” television series (1957-1966), William Whitney Talman Jr. was born in Detroit, the son of a wealthy businessman. Jealousy of his family’s conspicuous affluence got young Talman into frequent scrapes with other boys at the public schools he attended, but […]

Alberto Valentino (1892 - 1981)

Actor and studio worker. Older brother of actor Rudolph Valentino.

Francois Talma (1763 - 1826)

Actor. Born in Paris, France, he started performing when he was young in amateur theatricals and made his professional stage debut at the Comédie-Française in 1787. He became one of the early advocates of historical costuming performing in period clothes while in character. His reforms in acting styles, stage costuming and scenery made him a […]

Tommy Raft (2024 - 1974)

Comedian. He was a popular comic performer regarded as one of the funniest men in show business. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was best known as a main attraction for many Las Vegas casino and burlesque shows. He also appeared in the feature films “The Wacky Playboy” (1964) and “The Black Connection” (1974).

John Ragland (1905 - 1946)

Actor and Entertainer. He entered burlesque in his twenties, working his way up to “top banana” at Minsky’s. Among his fellow burlesque performers, Ragland was famous (or notorious) for his wild ad-libs, his unpredictable intrusions into other comics’ acts, and his healthy off-stage libido. In 1940, he graduated to the big time in Ethel Merman’s […]

S.Z. Sakall (1883 - 1955)

Hungarian-born stage and motion picture actor of the 1920s thru the 1950s. Immortalized as ‘Carl, the headwaiter’ in the all-time classic film drama, “Casablanca” (1942). 

Byron Palmer (1920 - 2009)

Entertainer. He began his career with CBS as a radio announcer. He performed as a vocalist on radio with the group the Music Mates while stationed in the Pacific serving with the USA Army Air Forces during World War II. He made his Broadway debut in the hit musical “Where’s Charley?” (1948 to 1950), supporting […]

Hermes Pan (1909 - 1990)

Choreographer. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he was dance director responsible for choreographing some of Hollywood’s most memorable movie musicals. He was the principal choreographer for such stars as Betty Grable, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Rita Hayworth. He received Academy Award nominations for “Top Hat” (1935), “Bo jangles of Harlem” (1936) […]

Warner Oland (1880 - 1938)

Swedish actor who played Chinese detective, Charlie Chan. He was married to a wealthy Bostonian, the artist Edith Gardener Shearn. Among their many houses was a historic farmhouse in the Southville section of Southborough. Upon Oland’s death in 1938, he was buried in the town cemetery. The marker for his grave was originally the doorstep […]

Geoffrey Nares (1917 - 1942)

British stage actor. He was the son of actor Owen Ramsay Nares and his wife, actress Marie Pollini Nares. Educated at Westminster School, he inherited his father’s theatrical talents. His stage breakthrough was as the stable boy in the 1934’s “The Winning Post” with Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1935, he played ‘Kim Oldham’ in “Grief Goes […]

Owen Nares (1888 - 1943)

Actor. A British matinée idol, he made his stage debut in 1909 at the Haymarket theater in London, and his film debut in 1914 with “Danny Donovan, the Gentleman Cracksman.” Other credits include: “The Real Thing at Last,” “Milestones,” “Flames,” “The Elder Miss Blossom,” and “Gamblers All.” Besides his acting career, in 1925 he published […]

Milton Kamen (1921 - 1977)

Actor, comic, stage performer. He got his start writing for Sid Ceasar, and later discovered Woody Allen. 

Sture Lagerwall (1908 - 1964)

Swedish Actor. A charismatic actor with a career spanning more than thirty years. He was educated at the Oscars Theatre in Stockholm 1931-34. He was employed by the legendary actor/director Gösta Ekman Sr. in 1934 and was tied to Vasateatern. At that time he also made his debute at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. […]

Bert Lahr (1895 - 1967)

American stage and film actor, best known for his comedic roles, the most famous being ‘The Cowardly Lion’ in the 1939 MGM classic “The Wizard of Oz.” But long before “Oz,” he was an established name in burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway. He starred in Broadway’s “Ziegfeld Follies” and had his own show on radio before […]

John Ingle (1928 - 2012)

American Actor. Ingle, who will best be remembered for his role as scheming patriarch Edward Quartermaine on the long-running ABC soap opera, ‘General Hospital’, taught drama at Hollywood High School, Beverly Hills High School, Occidental College, Los Angeles City College and UCLA. His students included Richard Dreyfuss, Nicolas Cage, Albert Brooks, Barbara Hershey and David […]

Lou Jacobi (1913 - 2009)

Actor. He was a prolific performer of stage, films and television, often seen in comedic roles. Born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, he began his career as a child performing in amateur productions making his stage debut at age ten in the play “The Rabbi and the Priest” in 1924. He served as drama director […]

Richard Jaeckel (1926 - 1997)

Actor. Born Richard Hanley Jaeckel in Long Island, New York, he was a popular brilliant character performer in films and television for over fifty years. He began his career at the age of seventeen while working as a mailboy at 20th Century Fox, making his debut in the film “Guadalcanal Diary” (1943). After serving in […]

Stanley Kamel (1943 - 2008)

Actor. Best known for his role as detective Adrian Monk’s psychiatrist in the TV series “Monk.” He also appeared in numerous TV roles over the past three decades, including “The West Wing,” “Six Feet Under,” “Melrose Place,” “The Golden Girls,” “Days of Our Lives” and “Murder One.”

Michael Hafner (1959 - 2005)

Actor. While he worked at the theatre in Coburg he had the idea for a Samba-Festival in the city. Although most people were skeptical of the idea, he was soon supported by the mayor and the Samba-Festivals Coburg was celebrated for the first time in 1992. The annual event has nowadays become the largest of […]

Angelo Infanti (1939 - 2010)

Actor. Out of a long career with more than 100 films to his credit, he shall be remembered as Fabrizio, the traitorous bodyguard of the 1972 classic “The Godfather”. Infanti made his silver screen debut in 1961 in “Il bacio…tu baci”. He remained active in Italian movies to the end of his life, attracting some […]

Tom Gallery (1898 - 1993)

American silent-screen actor. He was married throughout the 1920s to actress Zasu Pitts.

Marjorie Zier (1909 - 1952)

Actress. Also known as Jerry Zier, she was most noted for appearing in early western talkies. Her credits included “Cactus Trails” (1927), “A Racing Romeo” (1927), “Phantom Of The Range” (1928) and “Dynamite” (1929). 

Frances Zucco (2024 - 1962)

British-born film actress of the 1950s. Daughter of famed character actor George Zucco.

John Gallaudet (1903 - 1983)

Actor. He had a career that spanned motion pictures and television from 1935 to 1967. His movies appearences included roles in “In Cold Blood”, “The Patsy” and “Angels in the Out Field” in 1951.

Constance Talmadge (1899 - 1973)

Actress. Born Constance Alice Talmadge in Brooklyn, New York. The younger sister of norma Talmadge, and older sister of Natalie Talmadge. The sisters were abandoned by their alcoholic father when they were young children. Their mother, Peg, scraped by doing laundry, giving art classes, and selling cosmetics. Peg saw her opportunity one day when norma […]

Minevera Urecal (1894 - 1966)

Actress. Born Minerva Holzer in Eureka, California, she was a radio and stage performer making her film debut in “Her Bodyguard” (1933). A veteran of over 250 films, her credits include “It Happened in New York” (1935), “Son of the Pioneer” (1942), “Block Busters” (1944), “Apache Rose” (1947), “The Raging Tide” (1951), “Miracle in the […]

Jeanne Samary (1857 - 1890)

Actress, Artist’s Model. A noted performer of her time, today she is known for Pierre Auguste Renoir’s images of her. Born Leontine Pauline Samary to a theatrical family, she entered the Conservatoire de Paris at 14, a first-prize there leading to her professional debut at the Comedie-Francais as Dorine in Moliere’s “Tartuffe” on August 24, […]

Margaret Tallichet (1914 - 1991)

Motion Picture Actress. Best known for her role in the influencial 1940 film-noir “Stranger on the Third Floor.” Other film appearances include “A Star is Born” (1937), “A Desperate Adventure” (1938), “Girl’s School” (1938), “The Devil Pays Off” (1941), and “It Started With Eve” (1941). She was a contender for the coveted role of ‘Scarlett […]

Jessie Ralph (1864 - 1944)

Actress. She was routinely cast as kindly grandmothers, sagacious maids, and stern but loving governesses. Her most acclaimed performances were as ‘Nurse Peggotty’ in “David Copperfield” (1935) and as ‘Fairy Berylune’ in “The Blue Bird” (1940).