Floyd Byron Criswell (1899 - 1974)

Actor. Specialized in bit character roles, mainly police officers, during the 1930s and 1940s. (bio by: Lisa Burks)  Family links:  Spouse:  Ruth Ann Hassett Criswell (1928 – 2008)*  Children:  Floyd Eugene Criswell (1930 – 1995)* *Calculated relationship

Floyd Cramer (1933 - 1997)

Floyd Cramer Musician. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, he was a self-taught pianist renowned as one of the one of the architects of the “Nashville Sound”. In 1955, he moved to Nashville and became one of the most sought after session musicians in town. He played on sessions to include Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Patsy […]

Floyd Murray “Toad” Boring (1915 - 2008)

US Secret Service Agent. He was involved in a fierce gunfight on November 1, 1950 with two Puerto Rican nationalists who were attempting to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. One of the assassins and a White House police officer, Leslie Coffelt, were killed in the shootout. The incident was recounted in the 2005 book “American […]

Floyd Patterson (1935 - 2006)

Floyd Patterson He was a good guy in the bad world of boxing. He was mild, sweet, retiring, reclusive, impassive and ascetic. He spoke softly and never lost his boyhood shyness. Constantine (Cus) D’Amato, who died in 1985, trained Patterson throughout his professional career and called him “a kind of a stranger.” Red Smith, The […]

Floyd Westerman (1936 - 2007)

Westerman was born Floyd Westerman (Kanghi Duta) on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, home of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a federally recognized tribe. It is one of the tribes of the Eastern Dakota subgroup of the Great Sioux Nation, living within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Kanghi Duta means “Red Crow” in Dakota (one […]

Fofó Aragón Bermúdez (1925 - 1976)

Entertainer. He and his brothers Gaby (Gabriel) and Miliki (Emilio)and after his son Fofito, triumphed in Spain and South America. He also was the composer of famous songs such as “La Gallina Turuleca,” “Mi Barba Tiene Tres Pelos,” and “El Auto de Papá.” He obtained a big success with the television program “Los Payasos de […]

Fontella Bass (1940 - 2012)

Fontella Bass was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of gospel singer Martha Bass (a member of the Clara Ward Singers). She was the older sister of the R&B singer David Peaston. At an early age, Fontella showed great musical talent. At five years old she was providing the piano accompaniment for her grandmother’s […]

Ford Beebe (1888 - 1978)

Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movies – mostly Westerns – and action serials, working on the “Buck Rogers” and “Flash Gordon” serials […]

Ford Ingalsbe Beebe (1888 - 1978)

Ford Ingalsbe Beebe was born on November 26, 1888 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Before moving to Hollywood, he was a freelance writer who was also experienced in advertising. He arrived in Hollywood in 1916, and began working as a writer for Western films. His first credit was as scenario writer for the 1916 film A […]

Ford Madox Brown (1821 - 1893)

Artist. Born in France, he was the son of English parents, and studied painting in Antwerp and Bruges, Belgium. Although he was never a member of the group of English poets and artists known as the “Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood”, he formed close associations with the members, contributed to their journal, and gave lessons to writer William […]

Ford Richardson Bryan (1912 - 2004)

Author/Historian. As a 4th cousin of Henry Ford I, he authored many articles on the Ford Family and Henry Ford, in the Dearborn Historian, and the Ford Legend. He worked 33 years as a Spectrochemical Analyst for Ford Motor Company. When he became a volunteer at The Henry Ford in 1981, he found a lot […]

Ford Sterling (1883 - 1939)

Ford Sterling (November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the ‘Big 4’ he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Born George Franklin Stich in La Crosse, Wisconsin, he began his career in silent films in 1911 with […]

Forouzan (1937 - 2016)

Actress.   Born Parvin Kheirbakhsh, she was an actress in cinema from the 1960s to 1979 when she was banned from acting in movies after the Iranian Revolution.   She started her career by dubbing films and starred in her first film “Sahel-e Entezar” in 1964.   She would go on to star in many […]

Forrest Allen (1885 - 1974)

Forrest Allen coached at William Chrisman High School (then known as Independence High School) in Independence, Missouri, the University of Kansas, Baker University, Haskell Institute, and Warrensburg Teachers College in Warrensburg, Missouri. Allen began classes at the University of Kansas in 1904, where he lettered three years in basketball under James Naismith’s coaching, and two years […]

Forrest Anderson (1913 - 1989)

Forrest Anderson (January 30, 1913 – July 20, 1989) was an American politician and judge who served as the 17th governor of Montana from 1969 to 1973. Forrest Anderson was born in Helena, Montana. He was graduated from the University of Montana Law School and the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. He married Margaret […]

Forrest Clare “Phog” Allen (1885 - 1974)

Allen was born in the town of Jamesport, Missouri. His father, William Allen, was among the 30 people who originally incorporated Jameson Missouri in 1879 and the doctor who delivered Allen lived in James. However, William Allen also had strong ties to Jamesport where he was town clerk, collector, and constable. Biographies of Allen usually […]

Forrest Compton (1925 - 2020)

Forrest Compton Compton was born on September 15, 1925, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He served with the 103rd Infantry Division in France during World War II and then went on to enroll in Swarthmore College where he studied pre-law and Political Science before shifting gears to English. He then started to act in school theater productions […]

Forrest Edward Mars, Sr (1904 - 1999)

Businessman. Inventor of M&M’s. The son of Mars candy company founder Franklin C. Mars, he left the family business after a dispute with his father and established his own company, Forrest Mars Food Manufacturers. He invented and patented a candy-coated chocolate in 1940 under a partnership with Bruce Murrie, son of a Hershey’s Chocolate executive, […]

Forrest James Ackerman (1916 - 2008)

Author. Born in Los Angeles, California, to Carroll Wyman Cridland and William Schilling Ackerman. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, then went onto work as a movie projectionist and at odd jobs. In 1942 he enlisted into the Army where he rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant, held the position of editor […]

Forrest Tucker (1919 - 1986)

Forrest Tucker described himself as a farm boy. He was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of Forrest A. Tucker and his wife, Doris Heringlake. His mother has been described as an alcoholic. Tucker began his performing career at age 14 at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, pushing the big wicker tourist chairs by day […]

Fortunio Bonanova (1895 - 1969)

Noted Spanish Actor and Opera Singer. He was born in Palma de Mallorca, but soon he moved to Hollywood where developed all his career. He is best remembered for his films “Don Juan” (1924), “Citizen Kane” (1941), “Five Graves to Cairo” (1943), “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (1943), “Song of Bernadette” (1943), “Going My Way” […]

Foster Brooks (1912 - 2001)

Foster Brooks Brooks regularly appeared on The Dean Martin Show television program in the 1970s (for which he garnered an Emmy Award nomination in 1974) as well as many situation comedies, talk shows, and a few films. Although he had only one basic signature character, he exhibited such extraordinary timing and subtlety that he was […]

Fra Angelico (1970 - 1455)

Early Italian Renaissance Artist. Known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John of Fiesole) and Fra Giovanni Angelico (Angelic Brother John), he was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina, in the Mugello region of the then Republic of Florence, in present-day Italy. Nothing is known of his childhood or his parents. In October […]

Fran Allison (1907 - 1989)

Frances Helen was born to Jesse Louis (1871-1941) and Anna M “Nan” (née Halpin 1876-1957) Allison in La Porte City, Iowa. She was a 1927 graduate of Coe College, where she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. She was a teacher before beginning her broadcasting career at WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She moved […]

Fran Jeffries (1937 - 2016)

Frances Makris “Fran” Jeffries (May 18, 1937 – December 15, 2016) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model. Fran Jeffries appeared in the 1963 film The Pink Panther, in which she sang “Meglio Stasera (It Had Better Be Tonight)” while dancing provocatively around a fireplace. She sang the opening song “Shadows of Paris” in the […]

Fran Ryan (1916 - 2000)

Fran Ryan began performing at the age of 6 at Oakland’s Henry Duffy Theatre. She attended Stanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops. She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago and launched her television career two decades later. Her […]

Fran Warren (1926 - 2013)

Fran Warren Frances Wolfe (March 4, 1926 – March 4, 2013), known by her stage name, Fran Warren, was an American popular singer. Life and career She was born into a Jewish family in the New York City borough of the Bronx. After some time on a chorus line at New York’s Roxy Theater, she […]

Franca Rame (1929 - 2013)

Franca Rame was born in Parabiago, Lombardy, in 1929, into a family with a long theatre tradition. She made her theatrical debut in 1951. Shortly thereafter, she met Dario Fo, whom she married in 1954. Their son, Jacopo was born on 31 March 1955. In 1958, she co-founded the Dario Fo–Franca Rame Theatre Company in […]

Francelia Billington (1895 - 1934)

Actress,  Cinematographer.  Blonde,  slender star of silent films.  Born and raised on a ranch near Dallas,  Texas,  she entered films in 1912 with the Kalem Company and was quickly promoted to leads after the departure of their star,   Alice Joyce.  Her expertise in horse riding made her a natural for westerns though she was […]

Francelia Billington (1895 - 1934)

Actress,  Cinematographer.  Blonde,  slender star of silent films.  Born and raised on a ranch near Dallas,  Texas,  she entered films in 1912 with the Kalem Company and was quickly promoted to leads after the departure of their star,   Alice Joyce.  Her expertise in horse riding made her a natural for westerns though she was […]