Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 181
- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Georges Méliès was a French illusionist and film director famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.
Méliès was an especially prolific innovator in the use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color.
His films include A Trip to the Moon (1902) and An Impossible Voyage (1904), both involving strange, surreal journeys somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films.
Méliès died of cancer on 21 January 1938 at the age of 76.
In 2016, a Méliès film long thought lost, A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself (1904), was discovered in a Czechoslovak film archive.- Henrietta Crosman was born on 2 September 1861 in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. She was an actress, known for Charlie Chan's Secret (1935), The Right to Live (1935) and The Royal Family of Broadway (1930). She was married to Maurice Campbell and Sedley Brown. She died on 31 October 1944 in Pelham Manor, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Music Department
- Composer
Rabindranath Tagore was born on 6 May 1861 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India [now India]. He was a writer and composer, known for Song of the Body, Streer Patra (1972) and Natir Puja (1932). He was married to Mrinalini Devi. He died on 7 August 1941 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India [now India].- Chung Ling Soo was born on 2 April 1861 in New York, USA. He died on 24 March 1918 in Wood Green, London, England, UK.
- The son of a sea captain, Theodore Roberts was a veteran stage actor, making his first appearance in 1880. Often referred to as the "Grand Duke of Hollywood," Roberts was a regular on the Cecil B. DeMille team and appeared in 23 of DeMille's films. He is best remembered for his role as Moses in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923). A well-known and well-loved actor, his funeral in Westlake Park (he died from uremic poisoning) was attended by nearly 2,000 people. However, Roberts felt so much bitterness in his heart for his immediate relatives that he bequeathed his estate to a nephew (a commercial illustrator) in New York. The estate was valued at nearly $20,000, including a yacht valued at $10,000. Several of Roberts' personal items were left to his friends William C. de Mille and his brother Cecil. Roberts claimed that during the worst times of his life, no one in his family offered a word of sympathy or any help at all. His only request was that he be laid to rest next to his beloved wife Florence Smythe, who passed away in 1925.
- Eille Norwood was born on 11 October 1861 in York, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921) and The Sign of Four (1923). He was married to Ruth Mackay. He died on 24 December 1948 in London, England, UK.
- William Morris was born on 1 January 1861 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Monsieur Lecoq (1915), Romeo and Juliet (1916) and Behind Office Doors (1931). He was married to [Henrietta Luna] Etta Hawkins (actress). He died on 11 January 1936 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Florence Roberts was born on 16 March 1861 in Frederick, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934), Les Misérables (1935) and Off to the Races (1937). She was married to Walter Gale (actor). She died on 6 June 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Maud Gage Baum was born on 27 March 1861 in Fayetteville, New York, USA. Maud Gage was a producer, known for The Wizard of Oz (1938). Maud Gage was married to L. Frank Baum. Maud Gage died on 6 March 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
André Calmettes was born on 18 August 1861 in Paris, France. He was a director and actor, known for La dame aux camélias (1912), Tosca (1908) and La Tosca (1909). He died on 14 March 1942 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Writer
- Visual Effects
Dark Cloud was born on 20 September 1861 in St. Francis Indian Village, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor and writer, known for What Am I Bid? (1919), The Dishonored Medal (1914) and The Woman Untamed (1920). He was married to Margaret Camp. He died on 17 October 1918 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (who was actually Hungarian, not a Bulgarian) was born in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 26, 1861, into the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family, a prominent branch of the Austro-Hungarian nobility. The family was quite wealthy and had extensive landholdings in Hungary and Slovakia, and Ferdinand grew up in the lap of luxury and comfort in the heady world of 19th-century Vienna. He had close family ties to other European royalty, being related to, among others, King Leopold II of Belgium, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Monaco of England and Empress Carlotta of Mexico.
In 1886 Bulgaria's King Alexander abdicated the throne and Ferdinand was elected Prince Regent by the Bulgarian National Assembly. Bulgaria was in danger of being occupied and absorbed by its giant neighbor Russia, and the inexperienced Ferdinand was not the Assembly's first choice as Prince Regent. However, every other European prince, duke and less royal personages to whom the position was offered wanted no part of it and turned it down. When it was (eventually) offered to Ferdinand, he accepted. To the surprise of most of Europe's royalty, however, he proved to be a capable and effective ruler.
In 1894 he married Princess Maria Louise of Bourban-Parma. It was an arranged political marriage meant to solidify the country's ties with European royalty, as Maria was from an old-line Italian noble family, and it produced four children. Unfortunately, she died in 1899 giving birth to their daughter Nadezhda. Ferdinand did not marry again until 1908 when, in order to fulfill his obligations as the head of the royal family and to provide a mother for his children, he married Princess Eleonore Carolina Gasparine. Both of Ferdinand's marriages were dogged by rumors of his homosexuality, or at least his bisexuality, and his frequent holidays on the Island of Capri--an Italian resort that catered mainly to wealthy and powerful gay European men--didn't help to squelch those rumors.
In 1894 the head of the Bulgarian Liberal party, which advocated the country keeping its distance from Russia, was removed from his post and several months later assassinated (an act blamed by many Bulgarians on Russian agents). Ferdinand believed that Bulgaria should have closer ties with Russia, and to that end he had his infant child Prince Boris (laer to become King Boris III) convert from the family's Roman Catholic faith to the Russian royal family's Eastern Orthodox branch of Catholicism. While that cemented the country's ties with Russia, it incurred the wrath of his Catholic relatives in the Austrian royal family, especially Emperor Franz Josef.
On October 5, 1908, Ferdinand declared Bulgaria's independence from the Ottoman Empire (although for all practical purposes the country had been independent since 1873), and proclaimed himself king. The country's independent status and his position as king was accepted by Turkey and other European royal powers. Four years later Ferdinand joined with Greece, Serbia and Montenegro in declaring war on Ottoman Turkey (a declining empire known as "the sick man of Europe") in what became known as the First Balkan War. He thought he could regain the Bulgarian territories still occupied by Turkey and expand his scope of influence in the Balkans. Turkey was eventually defeated and Bulgaria was awarded some territory, but Ferdinand didn't think that his allies had fairly divided the rest of the territory they had won with Bulgaria. In 1913 Ferdinand sent his army to attack his former allies Greece and Serbia in an attempt to secure more territory, but the country found itself under attack from neighboring Romania as well as the Ottoman Empire. In what became known as the Second Balkan War Bulgaria was soundly defeated, its army suffering heavy losses. Although the treaty that ended the war awarded Bulgaria a small strip of territory that gave it access to the Aegean Sea, Ferdinand was still not satisfied. In 1915 he sent his forces against Serbia. The Bulgarian army fared much better in this conflict, however, eventually forcing Serbia to surrender, and Bulgaria took over most of the Serbian territory of Macedonia. In addition, because of its alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Bulgaria defended the Axis powers, fighting off attacks from Allied armies based in Greece. This lasted until 1918, when a combined Allied army mounted a strong attack on the Bulgarians and decisively defeated them. The Bulgarian army was virtually destroyed, and to save the throne for his family, Ferdinand accepted responsibility for the defeat and abdicated in favor of his son Boris, who shortly thereafter surrendered the country to the Allies.
After the war Ferdinand went to live in Coburg, Germany, his family's ancestral home. While he may have lost his throne, he didn't lose his fortune; he lived quite well in exile. However, exile would prove to contain its share of tragedy for him, too. His son Boris, now known as King Boris III', died under mysterious circumstances shortly after returning from a visit to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Germany. Ferdinand's son Simon succeeded Boris, but he was deposed in 1946 by Communist rebels, who declared a "People's Republic of Bulgaria" and shortly afterward executed Ferdinand's remaining son Kyril.
Demoralized, dispirited and broken, Ferdinand died on Sept. 10, 1948, in his home of Coburg. His will requested that he be buried in Bulgaria, but the Communist authorities there would not allow it, so he was buried in the family crypt in St. Augustin's Catholic Church in Coburg. - Writer
- Soundtrack
Jose Rizal was born on 19 June 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines. He was a writer, known for El filibusterismo (1962), Sisa (1951) and Noli me tangere (1930). He died on 30 December 1896 in Bagumbayan [now Luneta], Manila, Philippines.- Marie Wright was born on 18 December 1861 in Woolwich, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Silver Top (1938), A Cup of Kindness (1934) and Quinneys (1919). She was married to Nelson Barry. She died on 1 May 1949 in Hendon, Middlesex, England, UK.
- Robert Disney was born on 7 August 1861 in Canada. He died on 28 July 1953 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Wilhelm Diegelmann was born on 28 September 1861 in Ellers, Electorate of Hesse [now Neuhof, Hesse, Germany]. He was an actor, known for The Wildcat (1921), Deception (1920) and Der Schimmelreiter (1934). He died on 1 March 1934 in Berlin, Germany.
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Wallace McCutcheon was born on 3 November 1861 in New York City, USA. He was a director and cinematographer, known for 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea (1905), The Nihilist (1905) and How They Rob Men in Chicago (1900). He was married to Mira West. He died on 3 October 1918 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA.- Hal Wilson was born on 2 October 1861 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Sundown (1924), Indian Romeo and Juliet (1912) and Rob Roy (1913). He was married to Ethel Harbord. He died on 22 May 1933 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Martha Bernays was born on 26 July 1861 in Hamburg, Germany. She was married to Sigmund Freud. She died on 2 November 1951 in London, England, UK.
- Alice Washburn was born on 12 September 1861 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for John Brown's Heir (1911), Snow White (1916) and Freezing Auntie (1912). She died on 18 November 1929 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.
- Sam Allen was born on 25 December 1861 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor, known for Death Valley (1927), The Midnight Limited (1926) and The Power God (1925). He died on 13 September 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Michel Verne was born on 3 August 1861 in Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for La Destinée de Jean Morénas (1916), Les Indes noires (1917) and In Search of the Castaways (1914). He was married to Jeanne Raboul and Clémence-Thérese Taton. He died on 5 March 1925 in Toulon, Var, France.- Getting her show business start in vaudeville, Phyllis Allen's large physique and excellent timing made her a natural for film comedies, and she appeared in many of Mack Sennett's slapstick films. She also appeared in several of Charles Chaplin's movies, and was often paired with equally hefty comedian Mack Swain.
- Juhani Aho was born on 11 September 1861 in Lapinlahti, Finland. He was a writer, known for Juha (1937), Johan (1921) and Juha (1999). He was married to Venny Soldan. He died on 8 August 1921 in Helsinki, Finland.
- Actor
- Director
Max Figman, a veteran actor, whose last important Broadway role was that of Louis XV in "The Dubarry" on stage in 1932. Starting his career under Augustin Daly, and later under the management of Charles Frohman was a member of the old Madison Square Garden Stock Company. For seven years he was leading man and stage director with Mrs.Fiske, appearing in "Becky Sharp" "The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch, and her entir Ibsen repertoire. It was during this time that he met Theodore Wharton who later featured him in the silent film serial The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford with Burr McIntosh he played Blackie Daw and his wife Lolita Robertson also appeared in the serial. He has one son Max Jr. and his wife survive him. He was 85 years old when he died in the Edgewater Rest nursing home.