Benjamin Siegel (1860 - 1936)

Founded B Siegel and Company.  Family links:  Spouse:  Sophie Siegel (1876 – 1955)*  Children:  Frederick Hearst Siegel (1905 – 1908)* *Calculated relationship

Benjamin Spock (1903 - 1998)

Benjamin McLane Spock was born May 2, 1903, in New Haven, Connecticut; his parents were Benjamin Ives Spock, a Yale graduate and long-time general counsel of the New Haven Railroad, and Mildred Louise (Stoughton) Spock. His name came from Dutch ancestry; they originally spelled the name Spaak before migrating to the former colony of New […]

Benjamin T. Babbitt (1809 - 1889)

Benjamin Babbitt was born in Westmoreland, New York on May 1, 1809. His parents were Betsey (Holman) Babbitt, and Nathaniel Babbitt, a blacksmith, tavern owner and ensign in the militia of Oneida County, New York. As a child, he attended public school and worked on the family farm. He “possessed a most ingenious and inquiring […]

Bennett Cerf (1898 - 1971)

Publisher, Editor, Author and Television Personality. Most Americans are familiar with him as a guest panelist on the television game show, “What’s My Line?” He was co-founder of the publishing company, Random House. A collector of jokes and witticisms, he was noted for his wit and pithy sayings, as exampled in his quotes “The person […]

Bennett Clark (1890 - 1954)

The son of Champ Clark, a prominent Democratic Party leader of the early 20th century, Bennett Clark was born in Bowling Green, Missouri. After graduating with a B.A. from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri in 1912, he earned an LL.B. at George Washington University. Bennett Clark became parliamentarian of the United States House of […]

Benny Binion (1904 - 1989)

Businessman. He was the founder of “Binion’s Horseshoe Casino”, and the father of Ted Binion, who later ran the casino, and Becky Binion Behan, the current owner. He came to Las Vegas in 1946, became part owner of the Las Vegas Club for a short time, then opened the Horseshoe in 1951. He later bought […]

Benny Leonard (1896 - 1947)

Benny Leonard He was the Lightweight Boxing Champion of the World from 1917 to 1925. Considered one of the greatest lightweight boxers in the history of the sport, he was feted as possessing superb boxing skills as well as potent punching power. He fought over two hundred times and suffered only four knockouts; three early […]

Benny McCrary (1946 - 2001)

Benny McCrary Benny McGuire, half of the famous giant McGuire twins, died Monday of heart failure in Hendersonville, N.C. at 54. Benny and Billy, whose real last name was McCrary, at 814 pounds and 784 pounds in the Guinness Book of World Records, are most widely recognized in a famous photograph of them on motorcycles. […]

Benson Ford, Sr (1919 - 1978)

Second son of Edsel Bryant Ford I and Eleanor Lowthian Clay, he was at first named Edsel Junior, but re-named Benson, a Hudson family name, his maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Easygoing, affable and good-humored, he worked in the Ford Rouge with Henry Ford II, his older brother, until their enlistment after Pearl Harbor. In June […]

Benvenuto Cellini (1500 - 1571)

Artist. He was born in Florence, Italy. He is one of the greatest artists in the Western art, in the peak of Renaissance era. At nineteen, he went to Rome, where he worked for Popes Clement VII and Paul III, for whom he made jeweled ornaments and medallions. In 1536, he traveled to France, where […]

Beppie Nooij (1919 - 1979)

Actress. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, she made debut in the role as de Jantjes in the TV movie “Zeemansverouwen” (1968) and also wrote the screenplay. For feature films, she appeared in “Red Sien” (1975) and scripted the soundtrack for the movie. She died at age 60 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Note: […]

Beppo Brem (1906 - 1990)

Actor. German comedian, stage and film actor. He played different characters in “Komödienstadl.” (bio by: JSesto) Cause of death: Lung cancer

Berenice Abbott (1898 - 1991)

Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio and brought up there by her divorced mother. She attended the Ohio State University, but left in early 1918.  In 1918 she moved with friends from OSU to New York’s Greenwich Village, where she was ‘adopted’ by the anarchist Hippolyte Havel. She shared an apartment on Greenwich Avenue with […]

Berenice Abbott (1898 - 1991)

Photographer. She is best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City, New York architecture and urban design of the 1930s. She attended the Ohio State University, but dropped out in early 1918. In late 1918 she moved with friends from Ohio to Greenwich Village in New York. She pursued journalism, but soon became […]

Berjouhi Gregorian (1901 - 1988)

Stage and screen actress. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Bernadette Lafont (1938 - 2013)

Actress. She will be best remembered as muse of the acclaimed French film director François Truffaut with whom made her debut as an actress in the short film “Les Mistons” (1957). Bernadette soon became a symbol actress of the Nouvelle Vague, playing roles in some of the masterpieces of French cinema including notably “Le beau […]

Bernard “Toots” Shor (1903 - 1977)

Restaurateur. He was the owner and colorful host of Toots Shor’s Restaurant, a New York City landmark for over 30 years. Born in Philadelphia, he moved to New York as a teenager during the Prohibition era and gained a reputation as a speakeasy bouncer, guardian, and manager. In 1940 he opened his own restaurant and […]

Bernard Barton (1784 - 1849)

Poet. Like John Greenleaf Whittier in America, he is known as “The Quaker Poet”. He was born in Carlisle, but became apprenticed to a shopkeeper in Suffolk. In 1806, he moved to Woodbridge in the same county, where, with his brother, he founded a coal and corn merchants. At about this time, he married ; […]

Bernard Bresslaw (1934 - 1993)

Bernard Bresslaw was born the youngest of three boys into a Jewish family in Stepney, London, on 25 February 1934. He attended the Coopers’ Company’s School in Tredegar Square, Bow, London E3. His father was a tailor’s cutter and he became interested in acting after visits to the Hackney Empire. London County Council awarded him […]

Bernard Cigrand (1866 - 1932)

Bernard John Cigrand (October 1, 1866 – May 16, 1932), a dentist, has a strong claim to being considered the father of Flag Day in the United States. Born in Waubeka, Wisconsin, Cigrand practiced dentistry in Chicago, Batavia, and Aurora, and was the third dean of Columbian Dental College, now the University of Illinois at Chicago […]

Bernard Daniel Jacques Loiseau (1951 - 2003)

Restaurateur. One of France’s top chefs, he was devastated when the renowned “GaultMillau” food guide cut the rating for his flagship restaurant and killed himself with a hunting rifle. (bio by: Ron Moody)

Bernard Feustmann Gimbel (1885 - 1966)

Department Store Founder.  Family links:  Parents:  Isaac Gimbel (1857 – 1931)  Rachel Feustmann Gimbel (1863 – 1944)  Spouse:  Alva Bella Bernheimer Gimbel (1893 – 1983)*  Children:  Bruce Alva Gimbel (1913 – 1980)*  Caral Glazier Gimbel Lebworth (1914 – 2008)*  Hope Alva Gimbel Solinger (1914 – 2016)*  Peter Robin Gimbel (1928 – 1987)*  David Alva Gimbel […]

Bernard Gorcey (1884 - 1955)

Actor. Born in Russia, he was in his early 20s when he emigrated to America and started performing comedy roles on Broadway in 1922. In 1929, he made his big screen appearance in the role as Isaac Cohen in the film version of the Broadway production of “Abie’s Irish Rose”. He then returned to the […]

Bernard Joseph Schwab (1909 - 2003)

One of four brothers who founded the legendary Schwabs’s pharmacy on Sunset Boulevard. The Schwab brothers, in 1932, bought a failing drugstore and attached their name to it. The brothers began catering to Hollywood actors, writers and other film industry workers. The brothers opened charge accounts and cashed checks for actors before the became stars. […]

Bernard Leon Barker (1917 - 2009)

Watergate Figure. A man who lived much of his life in the shadows, he was one of the five arrested for the June 17, 1972 break-in at Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington. Raised in Havana by his American father and Cuban mother, Barker, who held dual citizenship, came to the United States in […]

Bernard Miles (1907 - 1991)

Bernard Miles, Baron Miles of Blackfriars, CBE (27 September 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century. Miles was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex and attended Bishopshalt School in […]

Bernard Pratte (1803 - 1866)

First St. Louis-born mayor (1844-1846). During his tenure, the Mississippi River levee was paved with cobblestones, gas street lights were installed & City Hospital was opened. He also served as President of the Bank of the State of Missouri & was a delegate to the Missouri State Constitutional Convention from St. Louis County in 1880. […]

Bernard Quaritch (1819 - 1899)

Established the world’s largest antiquaarian book business.

Bernardo Ferrándiz Badenes (1835 - 1885)

Artist. He was born in El Canyamelar, Valencia. He studied in Academia de San Carlos de Valencia and later, he moved to Madrid and Paris. He was friend of the painter Mariano Fortuny with who traveled to Morocco and Rome. He is remebered for his paintings, includes in realistic style, “El Viático a un Mendigo […]

Bernarr MacFadden (1868 - 1955)

Magazine Publisher.  Family links:  Spouses:  Johnnie Lee Macfadden (____ – 1992)*  Mary Williamson Macfadden (1892 – 1969)*  Children:  Byrne Moore MacFadden (1905 – 1926)*  Byron MacFadden (1921 – 1922)* *Calculated relationship