Red Nichols (1905 - 1965)

Red Nichols was born on May 8, 1905 in Ogden, Utah, United States. His father was a college music professor, and Nichols was a child prodigy, because by twelve he was already playing difficult set pieces for his father’s brass band. Young Nichols heard the early recordings of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, and later […]

Red Sovine (1918 - 1980)

Red Sovine In 1965 Sovine found his niche when he recorded “Giddyup Go“, which, like most of his other trucker hits, he co-wrote with Tommy Hill. It is spoken, rather than sung, as the words of an older long-distance truck driver who rediscovers his long-lost son driving another truck on the same highway. Minnie Pearl […]

Red West (1936 - 2017)

In 1976, Red West was involved in a series of heavy-handed incidents in Las Vegas with aggressive fans that got out of hand, drawing criticism by the media. More than that, West was becoming more vocal about Presley’s drug problem and how he needed help. As a result, West, his cousin Sonny West, and a […]

Redd Foxx (1922 - 1991)

Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago’s South Side. His father, Fred Sanford,[citation needed] an electrician and auto mechanic from Hickman, Kentucky, left his family when Foxx was four years old. He was raised by his half-Seminole Indian mother, Mary Hughes from Ellisville, Mississippi, his grandmother and his minister. He attended […]

Reeva Steenkamp (1983 - 2013)

Reeva Steenkamp was born in Cape Town, to parents Barry Steenkamp, a horse trainer, and his wife, June (née Marshall, previously Cowburn), who was born in Blackburn, England. She had two older siblings, Adam and Simone. The family later moved to Port Elizabeth, where she attended St Dominic’s Priory School. After school she studied law […]

Reg Varney (1916 - 2008)

Varney was born in Canning Town, Essex, now part of Greater London. His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in Addington Road, Canning Town. Varney was educated at the nearby Star Lane Primary School in West Ham and after leaving school at 14, […]

Reggie White (1961 - 2004)

White was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He played high school football at Howard High School under Coach Robert Pulliam, a former defensive lineman at Tennessee. During his senior year, White recorded 140 tackles (88 solo) and 10 sacks, and received All-American honors. He was rated the number one recruit in Tennessee by the Knoxville News Sentinel. White played college football […]

Regina Bianchi (1921 - 2013)

Actress. She will perhaps be best remembered for her leading role in the successful play “Filomena Marturano”. Born to parents of French origin, she was cast at young age in Raffaele Viviani’s company theater and then in that of Eduardo De Filippo becoming one of the most popular actresses of the Neapolitan theater. Regina was […]

Regina Bianchi (1921 - 2013)

Actress. She will perhaps be best remembered for her leading role in the successful play “Filomena Marturano”. Born to parents of French origin, she was cast at young age in Raffaele Viviani’s company theater and then in that of Eduardo De Filippo becoming one of the most popular actresses of the Neapolitan theater. Regina was […]

Regina Zdanaviciute (1925 - 2015)

Lithuanian Actress. Zdanaviciute was a well-known actress in both the theater and film for many years. She graduated from the Juozas Miltinis Theatre Studio in 1943 and went directly to acting on the stage, appearing in over 120 productions throughout her career.  Zdanaviciute also appeared in numerous films during her career, such as “Niekas nenorejo […]

Reginald Baker (1886 - 1945)

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Reginald Barker’s family moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States. Living in California, Reginald Barker wrote, produced, and acted in his first play at the age of sixteen following which he acted and handled stage manager duties with a traveling stock company. At […]

Reginald Barker (1886 - 1945)

Motion Picture Director. Working for producer Thomas Ince in the 1910s, he directed William S. Hart’s first westerns and co-directed Ince’s famous pacifist feature “Civilization” (1916). He was highly esteemed for his outdoor adventure films shot in rugged locations, such as “The Eternal Struggle” (1923) and “The Flaming Forest” (1927). With the coming of talkies […]

Reginald Barlow (1866 - 1943)

Actor. He was a prominent stage and film character actor of the 1930s. His film career spanned from 1915 to 1944 and appeared in over 90 films, most of then uncredited. His father was a minstrel and he made his stage debut at the age of 12 in his father’s minstrel troupe called Barlow, Wilson, […]

Reginald Denny (1891 - 1967)

Born in Richmond, Surrey, England, Reginald Denny (sources differ on his birth name giving variously Reginald Daymore, Reginald Leigh Daymore and Reginald Leigh Dugmore Denny) began his stage career at age seven in The Royal Family and in The Merry Widow at age 16, the year he left St. Francis Xavier College, Mayfield, Sussex. Years […]

Reginald Gardiner (1903 - 1980)

Actor. Born in London, England, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and become an established revue and musical star on the London stage. He made his feature film debut in “Bull Rushes” (1931) and went on to appear in over 50 films. His credits include “The Great Dictator” (1940), “A Yank in […]

Reginald Owen (1887 - 1972)

The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert Tree’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional debut in 1905. In 1911 he starred in the original production of Where the Rainbow Ends as Saint George which opened to very good reviews on 21 December 1911. Reginald Owen had […]

Regis Philbin (1931 - 2020)

Regis Philbin Regis Philbin was a well-known TV personality who co-hosted the ‘Live!’ morning program before becoming host of the game show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ Regis Francis Xavier Philbin was born on August 25, 1931, in New York City. Part of an Irish Catholic family, Regis Philbin was the eldest son of […]

Regis Toomey (1898 - 1991)

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Regis Toomey was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High School. He initially pondered a law career, but acting won out and he established himself as a musical stage performer. Educated in dramatics at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became a brother […]

Reiji Ezaki (1970 - 1970)

Photographer. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Reiko Sato (1931 - 1981)

Actress. Born in Los Angeles, California, she is best known for the role of seamstress ‘Helen Chao’ in the movie “Flower Drum Song” (1961). She made her film debut in “Mother Didn’t Tell You” (1950), followed by “Woman On The Run” (1950). Among her credits are “House of Bamboo” (1955), “Kismet” (1955), “Invaders from the […]

Reinaldo Arenas (1943 - 1990)

Author. At the age of 15 he left home and joined the Fidel Castro’s Revolution, (1956 to 1959), and fought against the dictatorial government of Fulgencio Batista.  In the mid-1960s the Castro regime openly persecuted homosexuals and Reinaldo Arenas abandoned the Revolution. His writings were censored and declared anti-revolutionary. Some of his manuscripts were confiscated. […]

Reinaldo Arenas (1943 - 1990)

Arenas was born in the countryside, in the northern part of the Province of Oriente, Cuba, and later moved to the city of Holguín. In 1963, he moved to Havana to enroll in the School of Planification and, later, in the Faculty of Letters at the Universidad de La Habana, where he studied philosophy and […]

Reizl Bozyk (1914 - 1993)

Actress. A noted actress in Yiddish Theatre, she is best known for her role as ‘Bubbie Kantor’ in the 1988 motion picture “Crossing Delancey”. She appeared on television in “Law & Order” and “Reading Rainbow”, a children’s program.  Family links:  Spouse:  Max Bozyk (1899 – 1970)

Rejane (1856 - 1920)

French Stage and Silent Film Actress. She is most famous for her role of Catherine, in Sardou’s play “Madame Sans-Gene” (1893). Born Gabrielle Charlotte Reju, the daughter of a French actor, in Paris, France, she naturally became interested in the stage at an early age. She soon became a student of famed actor, Regnier, at […]

Rembert E. Stokes (1917 - 1993)

President, Wilberforce University, 1956-1976. Was elected to the Bishopric of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1976. Held AME Church pastorates in Jamestown, RI, Cambridge, MA and Canton, OH. Also served as the Dean of the Payne Theological Seminary. Was also a member of the Board of Directors of the United Negro College Fund and […]

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 - 1669)

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on 15 July 1606 in Leiden, in the Dutch Republic, now the Netherlands. He was the ninth child born to Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn and Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck. His family was quite well-to-do; his father was a miller and his mother was a baker’s daughter. Religion is a central theme in Rembrandt’s paintings and the religiously fraught […]

Rena Vlahopoulou (1923 - 2004)

Actress, comedienne, dancer and singer. Fondly referred to as the “Lucille Ball” of Greece who appeared in movies and television for more than forty years, mostly in the 1960’s, in productions such as “The Gambler” (“H xartopaixtra”) and “The Countess Of Corfu” (“H Komissa tis Kerkyras”)She died of respiratory problems at her home in Athens, […]

Rena Vlahopoulou (1923 - 2004)

Actress, comedienne, dancer and singer. Fondly referred to as the “Lucille Ball” of Greece who appeared in movies and television for more than forty years, mostly in the 1960’s, in productions such as “The Gambler” (“H xartopaixtra”) and “The Countess Of Corfu” (“H Komissa tis Kerkyras”)She died of respiratory problems at her home in Athens, […]

Renata Vanni (1909 - 2004)

Actress. A native of Italy, she appeared in American films beginning in the 1950s, including noted movies like “Three Coins In The Fountain,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “A Patch of Blue,” and “Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough.” She was also a familiar face on television, playing Marlo Thomas’s landlady on “That Girl,” as […]

Renate Brausewetter (1905 - 2006)

Actress. Born in Málaga, Spain of German parents, she made her 1925 screen debut in the silent “Die Freudlose Gasse,” along with Greta Garbo. She also played in “Menschen Untereinander” (1926), “Die Lorelei” (1927) and “Die Hölle der Jungfrauen” (1928). Brausewetter retired with the arrival of talkies, though she returned in 1950 to appear in […]