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1-50 of 113
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Titian-haired Margaret 'Maggie' Hayes was born Florette Regina Ottenheimer in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Jacob 'Jack' Louis Ottenheimer (1882-1943) and Clara Bussy (1877-1966). While still at high school she worked with a local stock company to get into acting. She then studied for two years at John Hopkins University, briefly entertaining the notion of becoming a nurse. Before long, however, she had joined The Barnstormers troupe of performers to become their first ever female member. A trip to New York and a night at the Stork Club resulted in a chance encounter with several prominent newspaper columnists who were also in attendance, among them Walter Winchell. Winchell decided to change her name to 'Dana Dale'. Using this moniker, she did some modelling and auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). At this time, she was featured in several cigarette, automobile and fashion advertisements.
After a brief stint at Warner Brothers, and having finally settled on the stage name Maggie Hayes, she made her Broadway debut in 1940 and was signed by Paramount the following year. On screen, Maggie tended to be cast as second leads, often as 'the other woman', but was never quite fulfilled in her profession. Instead, she pursued diverse other career paths outside of acting, both in between performing and after her retirement in 1962: as fashion designer, model, owner of a boutique in Palm Beach and designing/selling jewelry in New York. She even worked for a while as a public relations executive for luxury goods department store Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. In the late 1940s, she became fashion editor for 'Life Magazine', before returning to the New York stage and acting in television where she had some of her best roles.
Maggie Hayes was married (and divorced) three times. Her second husband was the actor Leif Erickson (of The High Chaparral (1967) fame), her third the producer Herbert B. Swope Jr..- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Ossie Davis was born on 18 December 1917 in Cogdell, Georgia, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Do the Right Thing (1989), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) and Grumpy Old Men (1993). He was married to Ruby Dee. He died on 4 February 2005 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
At fourteen he worked as an usher at the NYC Paramount Theatre. His father was an electrician who played guitar and his mother taught piano. Damone attended PS 163 and sang in St. Finbar's choir and later attended the Alexander Hamilton Vocational High School and then Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. He left school at sixteen to support his family, but returned to graduate from Lafayette in 1997. Damone won first prize in an Arthur Godfrey talent scouts contest in 1945. His first night club appearance at the LA Martinique Club was set up by comedian Milton Berle. He was drafted and served in the army from 1951 to 1953. After he was discharged from the army he married actress Pier Angeli, whom he later divorced. Damone was later married to Becky Ann Jones from 1974 to 1982 and Diahann Carroll from 1987 to 1996. He married Rena Rowan, fashion designer and co-founder of Jones New York, in 1998. In 1999, he received a certificate of advanced study from Philadelphia University.- Actor
- Art Department
- Soundtrack
The only career Nelson Eddy ever considered was singing. His parents, Isabel (Kendrick) and William Darius Eddy, were singers, his grandparents were musicians. Unable to afford a teacher, he learned by imitating opera recordings. At age 14 he worked as a telephone operator in a Philadelphia iron foundry. He sold newspaper advertising and performed in amateur musicals. Dr. Edouard Lippe coached him and loaned him the money to study in Dresden and Paris. He gave his first concert recital in 1928 in Philadelphia. In 1933 he did 18 encores for an audience that included an assistant to MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, who signed him to a seven-year contract. After MGM acting lessons and initial trials, his first real success came as the Yankee scout to Jeanette MacDonald's French princess in Naughty Marietta (1935), a huge box-office success made on a small budget. Eddy and MacDonald were paired twice more (Rose-Marie (1936), Maytime (1937)) when metropolitan Opera star Grace Moore was unavailable; they became an institution. Their last work together was in 1942. Critics nearly always panned his acting. He did have a large radio following (his theme song: "Short'nin Bread"). In 1959 Eddy and MacDonald issued a recording of their movie hits which sold well. In 1953 he had a fairly successful nightclub routine with Gale Sherwood which ran until his death in 1967. He and his wife Anne Denitz had no children.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Maurice Gibb was born on 22 December 1949 in Douglas, Isle of Man, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Saturday Night Fever (1977), Ready Player One (2018) and Virtuosity (1995). He was married to Yvonne Gibb and Lulu. He died on 12 January 2003 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Jackie Gayle was born on 1 March 1926 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Bulworth (1998), Broadway Danny Rose (1984) and Tin Men (1987). He was married to Tracy Gayle. He died on 23 November 2002 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Gene Markey was born on 11 December 1895 in Jackson, Michigan, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for You're the One (1941), On the Avenue (1937) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939). He was married to Lucille Parker Wright, Myrna Loy, Hedy Lamarr and Joan Bennett. He died on 1 May 1980 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Actor
Walter Stone was born on 1 February 1920 in Dunellen, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Jackie Gleason Show (1966), That's Life (1968) and The Honeymooners (1955). He was married to Elizabeth Stone. He died on 20 October 1999 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Production Designer
Gianni Versace was born on 2 December 1946 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy. He was a costume designer and production designer, known for Judge Dredd (1995), Showgirls (1995) and Cover Up (1984). He died on 15 July 1997 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Cynthia Stone was born on 26 February 1926 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for That Wonderful Guy (1949), Short Short Dramas (1952) and Soldiers of Fortune (1955). She was married to Robert Davis McDougal III, Cliff Robertson and Jack Lemmon. She died on 26 December 1988 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Jeff Gillen was born on 2 November 1942 in Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for A Christmas Story (1983), Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988) and Deranged (1974). He died on 27 June 1995 in North Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Pat Henning was born on 5 July 1908 in Manhattan, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for On the Waterfront (1954), The Cardinal (1963) and The Jackie Gleason Show (1966). He was married to Elizabeth. He died on 28 April 1973 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Olga Guillot was born on 9 October 1923 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. She was an actress, known for Cita con la muerte (1949), Cry of the Bewitched (1957) and Una estrella y dos estrellados (1960). She died on 12 July 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Legendary Broadway writer/producer/director George Abbott was born in 1887 in Forestville, New York. His father was mayor of Salamanca, New York, for two terms. In 1898 his family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Abbott attended Kearney Military Academy. The family returned to New York, where Abbott attended Hamburg High School, graduating in 1907, and the University of Rochester (BA degree in 1911). He wrote the play "Perfectly Harmless" for University Dramatic Club. He attended Harvard University from 1911-1912, studying play writing under George Pierce Baker, and wrote "The Head of the Family" for Harvard Dramatic Club. In 1912 he won $100 in a play contest sponsored by the Bijou Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, for "The Man in the Manhole", and worked at the Bijou for a year as assistant stage manager. He made his Broadway debut as an actor in 1913 in "The Misleading Lady" (as Babe Merrill, a drunken student), followed by "The Yeoman of the Guard" (1915), "The Queen's Enemies" (1916), "Daddies" (1918), "The Broken Wing" (1920), "Dulcy" (on tour) (1921), "Zander the Great" (1923), "White Desert" (1923), "Hell-Bent for Heaven" (1924), "Lazybones" (1924), "Processional" (1925) and "Cowboy Crazy" (1926). From that point he concentrated on writing and directing, with "The Fall Guy" (his Broadway's debut, 1925), "Three Men on a Horse" (1935), "Jumbo" (1935), "On Your Toes" (1936), "The Boys from Syracuse" (1938), "Too Many Girls" (1939), "Pal Joey" (1940), "Best Foot Forward" (1941), "On the Town" (1944), "High Buttom Shoes" (1947), "Where's Charley?" (1948), "Call Me Madam" (1950), "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1951), "Wonderful Town" (1953), "The Pajama Game" (1954), "Damn Yankees" (1955), "New Girl Town" (1957), "Fiorello!" (1959), "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Forum" (1962), "Flora, the Red Menace" (1965; Liza Minnelli's Broadway debut).
He won five Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize (for "Fiorello!"). He was nominated for an Oscar for writing All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). His daughter, Judith Abbott, is a stage actress/director and was married (1946-49) to Tom Ewell.- Polish-born Meyer Lansky emigrated to New York with his family and grew up in the Lower East Side. It was there that he ran into Bugsy Siegel, at the time a teenaged neighborhood gangster, and the two would remain lifelong friends. When Lansky saw the kinds of money Siegel was making from his various illegal activities--mainly gambling--he decided that this was the line of work for him. His specialty was the floating crap game, and he was so successful at that and other gambling schemes that he and Siegel soon controlled a large gang that was known as the Bugs and Meyer Mob. The gang's size, and Lansky's business acumen, attracted the attention of another local gangster, Lucky Luciano, who approached Lansky and invited him to participate in his idea of forming a national criminal syndicate. The Prohibition Era was a goldmine for Lansky and other gangsters, and he, Siegel and Luciano became incredibly wealthy from bootlegging, prostitution, drug smuggling, gambling and other rackets. In the 1930s Luciano's dream of a national crime commission became a reality, and Lansky was appointed to a seat on its board of directors. Lansky's specialty was financial matters and he proved to be a genius at laundering the mob's illegal profits and squeezing every last penny from its legal and illegal investments. When his friend Luciano was sent to prison, Lansky managed to get him an early release by ensuring his cooperation with the U.S. government in its preparation for the invasion of Sicily. After Luciano was deported to Italy, Lansky took over the management of his empire. Friendship only went so far in the mob, however. His good friend Siegel got into trouble by wasting millions of dollars of "wiseguy" money building Las Vegas, and when the decision was made to have him killed, Lansky went along with it.
In the 1950s Lansky formed a friendship with Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, and the mob was given basically a blank check to run all the rackets in Cuba, especially the gambling casinos, prostitution and drug smuggling, with a large cut of the profits going to Batista. From Cuba Lansky spread his gambling and prostitution rackets to other South American countries, and even had a hand--although not a public one--in the casinos in Hong Kong and Macao. Lansky's fortunes began to wane, however, in the late 1960s when the U.S. government went after him for income tax evasion. He fled to Israel, and claimed citizenship there as a returning Jew. However, after legal wrangling with the Israeli government, Lansky's visa was revoked and he was deported back to the U.S. He stood trial, but managed to avoid conviction, reportedly because of his extensive political connections. He settled into a comfortable life in Miami, Florida, where he died of a heart attack in 1983. - Actress
- Music Department
Beautiful exotic dancer and all-around-show-woman Olga Chaviano was only 15 years old when she made her professional debut at Havana's Teatro America dancing Tangos and Brazilian rhythms. After performing in Venezuela as a member of the musical revue "Las Modelos de Conde," Olga returned to Cuba and was hired as a rumba dancer for a US film on location in Havana. During the production she met Rene Barrera, a Mexican dancer who became her dancing partner and husband. Olga and Rene performed all over Central America working their way up north until they reached Mexico City where they were a tremendous success at the Teatro Tivoli. In Mexico she was asked to dance in several films including El mago (1949) starring Mario Moreno "Cantinflas". Back in Cuba, Miss Chaviano performed as a single at Teatro Marti and from there she jumped into the most prestigious cabarets and night clubs becoming a very popular entertainer in the golden era of Havana's night life. Her most memorable performances took place at the famous "Sans Souci" and "Tropicana" and she was courted by the richest and most influential men of the time. She was also a success on television appearing almost exclusively at CMQ-TV, Cuba's best and most popular TV network where she even co-starred in a sitcom. Her career suffered when the Island was taken over by the communists in 1959 and her glamorous image did not sit well with the Fidel Castro dictatorship. She went into exile in 1966 in the US and managed to continue dancing in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, etc. with her son, Faustino Rothman, who died in 1997 at the age of 41. Shortly after that Ms. Chavino retired, dedicating all her time to her family, daughter Maria Teresa Angel, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In May 2003, a brain tumor was detected and she had to endure painful treatment. The following October she was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach where she died of pneumonia surrounded by family and friends. She was 78 years old.- Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal was born on 12 June 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was married to Geraldine ("Geri") McGee. He died on 13 October 2008 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Michael Hall was born on 7 September 1927 in Visalia, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Matinee Theatre (1955) and Blood of Dracula (1957). He was married to Malmberg, Thomas. He died on 24 May 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Pat Patterson was born on 19 January 1941 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor and writer, known for WWF Superstars (1986), Attitude Era (2012) and Undertaker - He Buries Them Alive (1994). He died on 2 December 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Soundtrack
She was a vivacious, kewpie doll-like dancer/entertainer of 1930s Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Dixie Dunbar was born Christine Elizabeth Dunbar in Montgomery, Alabama on January 18, 1918, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Nicknamed "Tootsie" by her mother, she took dancing lessons at an early age and it was quickly learned that Dixie had a natural talent. Her mom took her to New York where her heavy Southern drawl had her quickly renamed "Dixie."
After dancing in big band orchestras, nightclubs and classy restaurants for a spell, the 16-year-old was signed for a featured role in the Fox film George White's Scandals (1934) and was coached by legendary musical master himself. She performed in two songs -- "So Nice" with Cliff Edwards (aka "Ukulele Ike") and "My Dog Loves Your Dog" with Alice Faye, Rudy Vallee and Jimmy Durante. In the same year Dixie shouldered up to "Wizard of Oz" legends Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr on Broadway in "Life Begins at 8:40."
Twentieth Century-Fox was taken by the teenager's spunky demeanor and signed her up where she appeared in both dancing and non-dancing roles including Professional Soldier (1935), King of Burlesque (1936), The First Baby (1936), Pigskin Parade (1936), Girls' Dormitory (1936), One in a Million (1936), Sing, Baby, Sing (1936), Life Begins in College (1937), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Walking Down Broadway (1938). She also had different roles in two of the "Jones Family" film series -- Educating Father (1936) and Back to Nature (1936).
Unable to rise above the "B" material into leading lady status, Dixie, unhappy with filmmaking and disappointed at the lack of success she had, abandoned movie-making altogether in 1939 and returned to the 'Great White Way' to appear in "Yokel Boy" with Buddy Ebsen, Phil Silvers and Judy Canova. In 1940, she met and married Gene Snyder, the co-director of the Rockettes of Radio City Music Hall.
Dixie later toured in a nightclub act but things died down pretty quickly. One vision of Dixie, ironically, was of only her legs! From 1949 to 1951, she was "seen" dancing in the now-famous television commercials ads that featured her totally covered head to hips by a giant Old Gold cigarette box! Divorced from Snyder in 1953, she married twice more (Robert M. Herndon, an executive of Cinerama Corp., Jack L. King, who predeceased her), and had no children from any of her marriages. Once operating a restaurant in Florida, she began losing her eyesight to glaucoma in the late 1970's. Dixie died on August 29, 1991, age 72, following multiple heart attacks.- Jean Ackerman was born Jeanette MacCraw on December 11, 1903 in New York City. Her father had immigrated from Scotland and her mother was from Germany. After graduating from high school she married Richard Ackerman. Jean separated from her husband and decided to pursue a career in show business. She joined the cast of the Ziegfeld Follies in 1927. Then she appeared in the Broadway musicals Whoopee and Smiles. Jean also worked as a model and appeared in ads for Lucky cigarettes. She was called "The World's Most Beautiful Brunette". During this time she was romantically linked to several prominent men including New York Mayor Jimmy Walker.
In 1929 she appeared in Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic. Then she had a bit part in the 1931 film The Girl Habit. By this time she had divorced her husband and was dating Walter Hirshon, a wealthy stockbroker. Jean married him on May 31, 1931. The couple adopted a daughter named Wendy Jean. Unfortunately their marriage ended in divorce in 1940. She was awarded $750 a month in alimony. Jean had a brief romance with comedian Ed Wynn. Later she moved to Miami, Florida. Sadly on November 26, 1960 she died from cancer. She was only fifty-six years old. - Helen Lynch was born on 6 April 1900 in Billings, Montana, USA. She was an actress, known for Romance of the Underworld (1928), Minnie (1922) and Bustin' Thru (1925). She was married to Carroll Nye. She died on 2 March 1965 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Marvin Marx was born on 12 January 1925 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for That's Life (1968), The Jackie Gleason Show (1966) and The Betty Hutton Show (1959). He died on 23 December 1975 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.- Andrew Cunanan was the youngest of four children in a prosperous but unhappy family in the San Diego, California, area. His status-conscious father was a former Naval officer and stockbroker and his naive, religious mother was a homemaker. His parents marriage was showing strains when Cunanan was born, with his father repeatedly accusing his mother of infidelity, in spite of the fact that there was no evidence to support that claim, and occasionally hit her. He even claimed that his oldest daughter wasn't his child. His mother was traumatized by this treatment, and for a while had to be treated for depression during Andrew's formative years. His father had to take the lead in raising him, and he was stern and quick with the strap, though not to the point of being abusive. In response, Andrew spent a lot of time alone in his room and often told his friends fantasy stories about his family and life. He was a highly intelligent child who could recite Bible verses and read from encyclopedias at an early age, and a good-looking and talkative boy who could converse with adults more easily than most children. In school, he was a high achiever academically and was always carefully dressed and well-groomed. As a result, he was more popular with teachers than his fellow classmates, that spread rumors about him. In response to these developments, his parents enrolled him into the exclusive Bishop's School when he became a teenager. While in that high school, he became lovers with a wealthy married man for a while, who bought him expensive gifts until the relationship ended. He enjoyed being a kept boy, but kept it from his parents, who were completely unaware of his secret life. Upon graduating, he entered college to please his parents, but devoted all his time to his social life. Meanwhile, his parents' lives fell apart. His father was accused of embezzling from his firm and fled to his native Phillipines to escape and avoid prosecution. His mother was forced to move into a small apartment on another side of town. Andrew briefly lived with his father, but quickly returned to the States and had no further contact with him. He immediately returned to being a companion for wealthy, closeted men, some of them married, and his looks, intelligence, and conversational skills made him very popular. He lived a life of luxury, accompanied with endless parties and anonymous sex, but close friends noticed he had dark moods and occasional fits of anger. Gradually, he began to use drugs and, as he reached his mid-twenties, he began to lose his attractiveness. One day, he suddenly left for Minneapolis to visit Jeffrey Trail and David Madson, with whom he he had brief relationships. Exactly what happened is unknown, but it ended with Cunanan murdering them. While on the run, he committed two more murders and was on the FBI's Most Wanted List. He hid out in Miami, and began stalking designer Gianni Versace, whom he had met at a party in San Fransisco several years earlier. On Tuesday, July 15th, 1997, Cunanan shot Versace to death and escaped, making headlines all around the globe. Cunanan evaded detection for eight days until his body was discovered and cornered on a vacant houseboat. Realizing he was nearly caught, Cunanan shot himself to death. He was 27.
- Mark Goldstein was born on 19 June 1952 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. He was an actor, known for Die Hard (1988), The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) and Martians Go Home (1989). He died on 29 September 2008 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.