William Burn (1789 - 1870)

Architect. Burn was born in Edinburgh. He was the son of another famous architect, Robert Burn. He worked in London and Edinburgh during his career. Burn was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style, perfected by his pupil David Bryce (1803-76). He designed many Scottish churches, public buildings and country houses, including Blairquhan Castle, South […]

William Burnett Benton (1900 - 1973)

US Senator, Businessman. Benton was president of Bowles & Bowles advertising agency (1929-1935), vice-president of the University of Chicago (1937-1945) and Chairman of the board of Encyclopedia Brittanica (1943-1967). He served as a United States Senator from Connecticut (1949-1953) and Assistant Secretary of State (1945-1947). (bio by: K)  Family links:  Spouse:  Helen Hemingway Benton (1901 […]

William C. McCool (1961 - 2003)

United States Astronaut. Served as pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia. On February 1, 2003, NASA lost all communication and radar contact with the shuttle just minutes before a 9:16AM scheduled landing time. A short time later it was confirmed that the Columbia had broken apart over eastern Texas, and that there were no survivors. […]

William C. Mellor (1903 - 1963)

William C. Mellor, A.S.C. (29 June 1903 – 30 April 1963) was a cinematographer who worked at Paramount, MGM and 20th Century Fox during a career that spanned three decades. After earning his stripes on a string of B-movies in the 1930s, he first started making serious inroads as a leading cinematographer in 1940 when […]

William C.P. Austin (1884 - 1975)

Actor. Born in Georgetown, British Guiana, he began his career on the stage and made his big screen debut during the silent film era, appearing “Common Sense” (1920), followed by “Handle with Care” (1922). A veteran of 89 films, his credits included “Head Winds” (1925), “Alice in Wonderland” (1933), “The Gay Divorcee” (1934), “Dr. Rhythm” […]

William Cameron McCool (1961 - 2003)

United States Astronaut. Served as pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia. On February 1, 2003, NASA lost all communication and radar contact with the shuttle just minutes before a 9:16AM scheduled landing time. A short time later it was confirmed that the Columbia had broken apart over eastern Texas, and that there were no survivors. […]

William Cameron Menzies (1896 - 1957)

William Cameron Menzies was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Scots immigrant parents, Charles A. and Helen originally from Aberfeldy, Scotland. He studied at Yale and the University of Edinburgh, and after serving in the US Army during World War I he attended the Art Students League of New York. Menzies joined Famous Players-Lasky, later to […]

William Campbell (1923 - 2011)

Campbell’s film career began in 1950, with a small part in the John Garfield film, The Breaking Point. After several years of similar supporting performances in a number of films, including as a co-pilot in William Wellman’s The High and the Mighty (1954), he won his first starring role in Cell 2455 Death Row (1955), […]

William Castle (1914 - 1977)

William Castle was born William Schloss, Jr. in New York City, the son of Saidie (Snellenberg) and William Schloss. His family was Jewish. (“Schloss” is German for “castle”, and Castle later translated his surname into English as his pseudonym.) His mother died when he was nine. When his father followed a year later, he was […]

William Challee (1904 - 1989)

Actor. He appeared in 50 television series/shows and 50 films including: “None But the Lonely Heart,” “God Is My Co-Pilot,” “Nocturne,” “The Glenn Miller Story,” “Raintree Country,” “The Cincinnati Kid,” “Five Easy Pieces,” and “Moonchild.” (bio by: TLS)

William Chapman Ralston (1826 - 1875)

Banker, Businessman. A native of Ohio, Ralston moved to Panama after the discovery of gold in California and joined a banking and shipping firm that carried miners to San Francisco. In 1854, he settled in San Francisco himself and spent the next ten years with various banking firms. In 1864, he co-founded the Bank of […]

William Christy Cabanne (1888 - 1950)

Cabanne (pronounced “CAB-a-nay”) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and spent several years in the Navy, leaving the service in 1908. He decided on a career in the theater, and became a director as well as an actor. Although acting was his main profession, when he finally broke into the film industry it […]

William Clark “Bill” Armour (1866 - 1922)

Major League Baseball Manager. Managed in the Major Leagues from 1902 to 1906 with the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. In 736 Games Managed he had a record of 382 Wins and 347 Losses. He was the Tiger’s manager when future Baseball great Ty Cobb was brought up in 1905.

William Clark Brinkley (1917 - 1993)

Writer and Journalist. He was an American writer and journalist, best known for his novels Don’t Go Near the Water (1956), which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adapted to an eponymous 1957 film, and The Last Ship (1988), which TNT adapted as an 2014–2015 television series. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1940, Brinkley went on to […]

William Clarke Quantrill (1837 - 1865)

Civil War Confederate Partisan Leader. The leader first of the Missouri Partisan Rangers, then the “Quantrill’s Raiders” guerillas during the Civil War, he won renown for possessing excellent leadership skills, horsemanship and exercised unique warfare tactics. Born in Canal Dover, Ohio (now simply Dover) the oldest of 8 children to a father who labored as […]

William Clarke Quantrill (1837 - 1865)

Civil War Confederate Partisan Leader. The leader first of the Missouri Partisan Rangers, then the “Quantrill’s Raiders” guerillas during the Civil War, he won renown for possessing excellent leadership skills, horsemanship and exercised unique warfare tactics. Born in Canal Dover, Ohio (now simply Dover) the oldest of 8 children to a father who labored as […]

William Clay Ford Sr. (1925 - 2014)

Born on March 14, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan to Edsel Ford and Eleanor Lowthian Clay, Ford served in the U.S. Navy Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, Ford married Martha Parke Firestone, the granddaughter of Harvey Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone, on June 21, 1947. They had four children together: Martha Parke […]

William Collier (1864 - 1944)

Actor. Born William Morenus in New York City, he began his career at age 11 working with Eddie Foy in vaudeville shows, which lead to performances on Broadway. Recruited by the Triangle Film organization in Hollywood, he made his big screen debut in “Never Again” (1915), followed by “Better Late Than Never” (1916). A veteran […]

William Congreve (1670 - 1729)

Playwright. He was educated in Ireland, a friend and fellow student of  Jonathan Swift,  and turned to literature upon his arrival in London. An unsuccessful attempt at a novel, ‘Incognita’, was followed by the success of a comedy ‘The Old Bachelor’, which appeared in 1693. More comedies of manners followed.  Anne Bracegirdle, an enchanting actress […]

William Conrad (1920 - 1994)

William Conrad estimated that he played more than 7,500 roles during his radio career. At KMPC, the 22-year-old Conrad produced and acted in The Hermit’s Cave (circa 1940–44), the Los Angeles incarnation of a popular syndicated horror anthology series created at WJR Detroit. He was among the supporting cast for the espionage drama The Man Called […]

William Cooper Procter (1862 - 1934)

Businessman. Born in Glendale, Ohio, he was the grandson of William Procter, the co-founder of the Procter and Gamble Soap Company. As manager of manufacture production, he was noted for creating a profit-sharing program for his employees, which was the first in America. He served as head of the company, (1907-30). He died at age […]

William Cowper Brann (1855 - 1898)

Writer, Publisher. He wrote and published ‘The Iconoclast’ magazine out of Waco, Texas in the 1890s. Circulation was in every state and 20 foreign countries. He was shot in the back by an irate Baptist on a downtown Waco street. He turned, pulled his pistol and killed his assassin. Baptists disliked Brann because he ridiculed […]

William Crookes (1832 - 1919)

Crookes made a career of being a meteorologist and lecturer at multiple places. Crookes worked in chemistry and physics. His experiments were notable for the originality of their design. He executed them skillfully. His interests, ranging over pure and applied science, economic and practical problems, and psychiatric research, made him a well-known personality. He received […]

William Cullen Bryant (1794 - 1878)

“Thanatopsis” is William Cullen Bryant’s most famous poem, which Bryant may have been working on as early as 1811. In 1817 his father took some pages of verse from his son’s desk, and at the invitation of Willard Phillips, an editor of the North American Review who had previously been tutored in the classics by […]

William Curtis Green (1875 - 1960)

Architect whose most famous building is the luxurious Dorchester Hotel in London. (bio by: David Conway)

William Cushing (1732 - 1810)

William Cushing was born in Scituate, Province of Massachusetts Bay, on March 1, 1732. The Cushing family had a long history in the area, settling Hingham in 1638. Cushing’s father John Cushing was a provincial magistrate who in 1747 became an associate justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, the province’s high court. Cushing graduated […]

William Dargan (1799 - 1867)

Irealnd’s first railway pinoeer. Worked under Telford in England and built the first Irish line, from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire, in 1831. Sponsored the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, following which the Irish National Gallery was built in his honour. Declined a knighthood from Queen Victoria. Business difficulties made him virtually bankrupt at the time he […]

William David Elliott, Jr (1934 - 1983)

Actor. Best remembered for his roles as ‘Otis Foster’ on “Bridget Loves Bernie” from 1972 to 1973, and as ‘Officer Grant’ on “Adam-12” from 1973 to 1975. He appeared in the films, “Hangup” (1974), “Coffy” (1972), “Night Of The Lepus” (1972), “Where Does It Hurt?” (1972), “They Call It Murder” (1971), “The Old Man Who […]

William Dellano Byrd (1966 - 1993)

Actor. Although he was deaf he could read lips and speak clearly when he was signed to Paramount Pictures. He was best known for the role of Danny the disk jockey in the film “Children of a Lesser God” (1986). He also had parts on the television series “Houston Knights”, “A Man Called Hawk” and […]

William Demarest (1892 - 1983)

William Demarest started in show business working in vaudeville, appearing with his wife as “Demarest and Colette”, then moved on to Broadway. Demarest worked regularly with director Preston Sturges, becoming part of a “stock” troupe of actors that Sturges repeatedly cast in his films. He appeared in ten films written by Sturges, eight of which […]