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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born July 15, 1889 in San Francisco, unappreciated character player Marjorie Rambeau worked on the stage from the age of 12. In the 1910s and 1920s, she became a prominent Broadway lead, noted for her serene beauty, elegant poise and touching theatrics. Around the same time she made a few silent films that went nowhere. Leaving the Broadway scene in the late 20s she focused on Hollywood but, by this time, her looks had hardened enough that she would only be considered for character, not romantic leads.
Marjorie surprised everybody and turned in sterling, flashy support work as blowsy, aging floozies and other pathetic, hard-luck dames. She played an alcoholic mom in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler, then succeeded Dressler herself as the salty waterfront title character in Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940). Nominated twice for Oscars as the prostitute mother of Ginger Rogers in Primrose Path (1940) and the mother at odds with daughter/star Joan Crawford in Torch Song (1953), Marjorie was never given the acclaim she deserved. Her versatility was for all to see in such roles as the backwoods Bessie Lester in Tobacco Road (1941), and she continued to own her own scenes in such films as A Man Called Peter (1955), The View from Pompey's Head (1955) and as Steve Cochran's alcoholic mom in Slander (1957).
Offscreen, her private life proved as stormy and difficult as those of her characters. She married three times, her first husband being actor/writer/director Willard Mack. Moreover, alcohol played a strong, sad part in her personal life as well. A number of serious car accidents left her in disabled health for much of her later life. Sadly, she is little remembered except by the most devoted fans of film trivia. In all fairness, her films are definitely worth a look, if but for her scenes alone. Marjorie passed away in 1970 at age 80.- Thelma Percy was born in Belfast, Ireland. She was the sister of Eileen Percy, but never achieved the success her older sister did. While her sister appeared in 61 films, Thelma had only four. In 1920, she was in THE BEGGAR PRINCE, THE VANISHING DAGGER, and WOLF TRACKS. She was in SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK in her last appearance the next year.
- Violet Horner, the second daughter of music hall performers Sidney Herbert Horner (born Wales) and Pauline Tranter (born Belfast), grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she performed in amateur productions and was discovered singing in a church choir when she first got into film. In an interview (Gertrude M. Price, "Went From Church Soloist to Leading Lady," (Chicago) "Day Book", 21 January 1913, pp. 30-32), when asked about whether her life as an actress was different as her work as a church soloist, Horner stated "Yes, it was certainly a jump and something different...But I wanted more excitement and a chance to climb over the fence and look out over the world. That's why I took up pictures." After her movie career faded, she went into vaudeville as a singer until her second marriage to a Brooklyn dentist, and until their retirement to Florida, spent her time giving voice and acting lessons and putting on amateur productions with various local groups including the Ladies Auxiliary of her husband's American Legion Post.
- Actor
Danny Truppi was born on 25 July 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor. He died on 6 July 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.