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1-50 of 669
- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica, to Norval Marley and Cedella Booker. His father was a Jamaican of English descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple were married in 1944 but Norval left for Kingston immediately after. Norval died in 1957, seeing his son only a few times.
Bob Marley started his career with the Wailers, a group he formed with Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston in 1963. Marley married Rita Marley in February 1966, and it was she who introduced him to Rastafarianism. By 1969 Bob, Tosh and Livingston had fully embraced Rastafarianism, which greatly influence Marley's music in particular and on reggae music in general. The Wailers collaborated with Lee Scratch Perry, resulting in some of the Wailers' finest tracks like "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conquerer", "400 Years" and "Small Axe." This collaboration ended bitterly when the Wailers found that Perry, thinking the records were his, sold them in England without their consent. However, this brought the Wailers' music to the attention of Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records.
Blackwell immediately signed the Wailers and produced their first album, "Catch a Fire". This was followed by "Burnin'", featuring tracks as "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff." Eric Clapton's cover of that song reached #1 in the US. In 1974 Tosh and Livingston left the Wailers to start solo careers. Marley later formed the band "Bob Marley and the Wailers", with his wife Rita as one of three backup singers called the I-Trees. This period saw the release of some groundbreaking albums, such as "Natty Dread", "Rastaman Vibration".
In 1976, during a period of spiraling political violence in Jamaica, an attempt was made on Marley's life. Marley left for England, where he lived in self-exile for two years. In England "Exodus" was produced, and it remained on the British charts for 56 straight weeks. This was followed by another successful album, "Kaya." These successes introduced reggae music to the western world for the first time, and established the beginning of Marley's international status.
In 1977 Marley consulted with a doctor when a wound in his big toe would not heal. More tests revealed malignant melanoma. He refused to have his toe amputated as his doctors recommended, claiming it contradicted his Rastafarian beliefs. Others, however, claim that the main reason behind his refusal was the possible negative impact on his dancing skills. The cancer was kept secret from the general public while Bob continued working.
Returning to Jamaica in 1978, he continued work and released "Survival" in 1979 which was followed by a successful European tour. In 1980 he was the only foreign artist to participated in the independence ceremony of Zimbabwe. It was a time of great success for Marley, and he started an American tour to reach blacks in the US. He played two shows at Madison Square Garden, but collapsed while jogging in NYC's Central Park on September 21, 1980. The cancer diagnosed earlier had spread to his brain, lungs and stomach. Bob Marley died in a Miami hospital on May 11, 1981. He was 36 years old.- 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.- 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..- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carol White was born on 1 April 1943 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Poor Cow (1967), The Wednesday Play (1964) and Some Call It Loving (1973). She was married to Mike King, Stuart Lerner and Mike Arnold. She died on 16 September 1991 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Tomas Milian, an American actor born in Cuba; was trained at the Actors Studio. He appeared in a few plays on Broadway, as well as in a show by Jean Cocteau in Spoleto. Mauro Bolognini noticed him and that was the starting point of a rich cinematographic career in Italy, where he played in all manner of genres. He interpreted a mad psychopath in The Ugly Ones (1966) (aka "Bounty Killer"), a role he would then improve and diversify into an impressive gallery of neurotic and sadistic killers, first in "spaghetti westerns" (many directed by Sergio Corbucci), and then in violent action and police thrillers (many directed by Umberto Lenzi). His films gradually evolved into action comedies, as he played the recurrent characters of thief "Er Monnezza" and cop Nico Giraldi (the latter being originally based on the lead character in Serpico (1973)), two typically Roman characters who enjoyed great popularity in the '70s and '80s.- 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.- Susana Dosamantes was born on 9 January 1948 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Darker Than Night (1975), Corazón salvaje (1977) and Amalia Batista (1983). She was married to Luis Rivas, Carlos Vasallo and Enrique Rubio González. She died on 2 July 2022 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- 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.- Dolores Faith was born on 15 July 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Phantom Planet (1961), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and Wild Harvest (1962). She was married to James Robert Neal. She died on 15 February 1990 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Doris Wishman was born on 1 June 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a director and producer, known for Satan Was a Lady (2001), Nude on the Moon (1961) and Keyholes Are for Peeping (1972). She was married to Louis Silverman and Jack Abrahms. She died on 10 August 2002 in Miami, Florida, USA.- 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.- Plain-looking, angular-framed Doro Merande of both stage and film was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. Her careworn features were ideal for playing small-town folk and working class toilers, and she excelled at playing older than she was -- maids, doting aunts, inveterate gossips, curt secretaries and small-minded neighbors -- all topped with an amusing warble in her voice and bristly eccentric edge. Too bad then that she wasn't used more in films, but she preferred live theater and based herself for the most part on the East Coast.
She was born Dora Matthews in Kansas on March 31, 1892, and orphaned as a child. Growing up in various boarding schools, she developed an earnest interest in acting and headed straight to New York to pursued an acting career after schooling. Appearing primarily on the stock and repertory stage, she also played unbilled servile bits in a few early talking films: Interference (1928), which was Paramount's first "talkie," Personal Maid (1931), State Fair (1933), The Rogues' Tavern (1936) and Navy Wife (1935).
The actress changed her stage name to "Doro Merande" as she took her first Broadway curtain call in 1935 with "Loose Moments." Other New York plays would include "One Good Year," "Red Harvest" and "Angel Island," enhancing over 25 Broadway plays in her lifetime. She made a noticeable impression as Mrs. Soames in the classic Thornton Wilder play "Our Town," which led her straight to Hollywood to recreate her indelible character on film. When Our Town (1940) starring William Holden and Martha Scott did not lead to any other film offers, Doro returned East to her first love, the theatre. She continued intermittently on Broadway with parts in "Love's Old Sweet Song," "The More the Merrier," "Junior Miss" (replacement), "The Naked Genius," "Pick Up Girl," "Violet," "Hope for Your Best," "Apple of His Eye," "The Silver Whistle," "The Rat Race," "Four Twelves Are 48," "Lo and Behold!" and "Diary of a Scoundrel."
Returning to films in the post-war years, Doro appeared in a number of delightful film cameos, both billed and unbilled, over the years. Either adding to the comedy fun or providing amusing relief in heavier dramas, her "working class" movie credits included The Snake Pit (1948), Cover Up (1949), Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951), The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951), The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), The Gazebo (1959), The Cardinal (1963), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), Hurry Sundown (1967), Skidoo (1968), Change of Habit (1969) and Making It (1971). Her final role was as Jennie, the cleaning woman, in The Front Page (1974), a part she played in both the 1969 Broadway revival and 1970 TV movie.
Doro also spiced up a number of TV shows, from the 1950's on, with the anthologies "Lux Video Theatre" and "Kraft Music Theatre," plus "Mister Peppers," "The United States Steel Hour," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Sergeant Bilko," "Thriller," "The Defenders" and "The Twilight Zone." Doro also co-starred with handsome Frank Aletter in the promising comedy series Bringing Up Buddy (1960) as one of two pampering, live-in maiden aunts. The series ended abruptly after only one season because she and the elderly costar Enid Markey, best known for playing "Jane" in the silent Tarzan movie, did not get along. Elsewhere, Doro was a recurring presence as "Aunt Ethel" in the "Honeymooners" sketch on The Jackie Gleason Show (1966).
In late October of 1975, the never-married veteran actress was attending a "Honeymooners" anniversary special in Miami, Florida. During that stay, she suffered a stroke and died on November 1st at a local hospital. She was 83. - 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.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Born in Sunflower, Mississippi, in 1929, Matt "Guitar" Murphy is known as one of the most respected sidemen in the blues. He has played on albums and in concerts for everyone from Memphis Slim and James Cotton to 'Bobby Blue Bland' and Junior Parker (he even made an appearance in The Blues Brothers (1980)). Unlike many sidemen, however, he cut very few records on his own, and it wasn't until 1990 that he released his first album, "Way Down South".- Actor
- Writer
Jorge Porcel was born on 7 September 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor and writer, known for Carlito's Way (1993), El gordo de América (1976) and Fatso Catastrophe (1977). He died on 16 May 2006 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lorena Rojas was born on 10 February 1971 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She was an actress, known for Corazones rotos (2001), El Cuerpo del Deseo (2005) and La quebradita (1994). She was married to Patrick Shaas. She died on 16 February 2015 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Don Lanning was born on 23 July 1895 in East Liverpool, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Marines Come Thru (1938) and This Is Your Life (1950). He was married to Roberta Sherwood and Emily C. Brackett. He died on 14 February 1960 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Anita Sharp-Bolster was born on 28 August 1895 in Glenlohane, Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland. She was an actress, known for My Name Is Julia Ross (1945), Saboteur (1942) and The Lost Weekend (1945). She died on 1 June 1985 in North Miami, Florida, USA.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Chabuca Granda was born on 3 September 1920 in Apurímac, Peru. She was an actress and composer, known for Volver (1969), 800 Leagues Over the Amazon (1959) and Mi secretaria está loca, loca, loca (1967). She died in 1983 in Miami, 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 The Leading Man (1996). 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), Soldiers of Fortune (1955) and Cavalcade of America (1952). She was married to Robert Davis McDougal III, Cliff Robertson and Jack Lemmon. She died on 26 December 1988 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
- Jacky Oh was born on 3 November 1990 in Oakland, California. She was an actress, known for Switched at Love (2021), Del Playa (2017) and The 4th Quarter: Legacy (2023). She died on 31 May 2023 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Silvio Horta was born on 14 August 1974 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Ugly Betty (2006), Urban Legend (1998) and The Chronicle (2001). He died on 7 January 2020 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Elsa Patton was born on 26 August 1934 in the USA. She died on 12 May 2019 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- In one of his first film exercises the great director Martin Scorsese created an allegoric tale on the Vietnam War in the acclaimed The Big Shave (1967). However, the images don't tell exactly about the war. Instead, Marty's approach on the subject is on deeper levels while he presents his story about a man shaving his beard up to the point he starts bleeding. The actor in question is the great Peter Bernuth in his only film appearance, where he uses of minor and subtle facial expressions while shaving to the extreme point of cutting himself and losing a lot of blood.
Bernuth was married to Colleen Corby until his death in 1994, due to cancer. Almost nothing is known about his life and career, and the main legacy he gave audiences was with his magnificent and powerful presence as the lead character in this short film. - 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.- Thomas McAdam Beck was an actor during the mid to late 1930s, who first attracted attention playing romantic leads in the film series of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, during the years he was under contract at Fox Film and later 20th Century-Fox. Born in New York City, on December 28, 1909, he grew up in the Forest Park section of Baltimore, Maryland. Beck was so good looking by the time he was a teenager that it is said that girls used to literally swoon when he'd go down the hallway at Forest Park High, where he graduated in 1928. He entered John Hopkins University where he studied science and had intentions of becoming a doctor. At the time he also studied piano at Peabody Conservatory of Music and painting at the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts, and appeared in many plays with a Baltimore theater group created by Henry Fonda. Beck finally studied engineering, but after graduating in 1932, he believed engineering jobs would be scarce during the Depression, so he turned to acting. His first professional stage appearances were with a Massachusetts theater company, but by October 1932 he was cast in his first Broadway play, "Mademoiselle". His work interested film executives, when he got noticed in 1934 as Pauline Frederick's brother in John Charles Brownell's play "Her Majesty the Widow" and was signed by Fox Films. A year later when Fox and 20th Century Pictures merged, Beck was lost in the change and saw all the major roles go to Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Richard Greene, and Tyrone Power, although the tall and handsome young man was noticed whenever he appeared on the screen. Beck was featured in 28 films in his career, with notable roles in "Charlie Chan in Paris" (1935), "Charlie Chan in Egypt" (1935), "Charlie Chan at the Race Track" (1936), and "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936). He also worked with Will Rogers in George Marshall's "Life Begins at Forty" (1935), in which he played the spoiled son of a landowner; appeared as a French legionnaire in Frank Lloyd's "Under Two Flags" (1936), and as Pastor Schultz, the village priest, in Allan Dwan's "Heidi" (1937), opposite child superstar Shirley Temple. He was seen to good advantage in two 1936 Fox motion pictures, in which he had leading roles: as a pilot in Peter Lorre's first American film, the espionage thriller "Crack-Up" and as a rich socialite in the drama "Champagne Charlie". When his career seemed ready to take off, Fox refused to raise his wages for a third time, and Beck left the studio in 1939. He had never been a favorite of top executives, and he never played the games of studio politics, but one could also suspect other causes behind his dismissal, as Beck's open homosexuality and his work to promote the Screen Actors Guild to improve working conditions for actors, in those years of ideological persecution by major studios, actors and producers. Beck free-lanced for Republic Studios and Universal, but left motion pictures in 1939. After appearing on the stage in "Delicate Story" in 1940, Beck then served in the Army in the Pacific theatre during World War II, finishing as a major in 1945. After the war, he briefly returned to the theatre in New York City, appearing in 1946 with Blanche Yurka in "Temper the Wind", and then retired from acting. He worked in advertising for 17 years and then operated a real estate office in Connecticut with his longtime companion (and former advertising colleague) until they retired to Florida. In a late interview Beck confessed that he had enjoyed his work on stage more than in films, and that his only regret was not leaving Hollywood, but never working in his chosen profession, as an engineer. He also painted and wrote poetry, publishing in 1990 his book of poems «Astride the Wind», written before, during and after World War II. He died on September 23, 1995 in Miami Shores, Florida, of Alzheimer's disease and heart ailments. He is buried along with the rest of his family at Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore.
- Judy Clayton was born on 10 February 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Truman Show (1998), Bully (2001) and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). She died on 25 October 2015 in Miami, 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.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dan Jackson was born in 1925 in South America, Guyana. He was an actor, known for Mysterious Island (1961), playing Cpl. Neb Nugent. The film was set during the Civil War where a group of Union soldiers and two Confederates end up on a strange Pacific island. Dan is also known for A High Wind in Jamaica, directed by Alexander Mackendrick where he played a pirate.
Other credits include: Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970).- 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.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Mr. Egan was the tough-talking New York City police officer whose exploits inspired the Academy Award winning film The French Connection (1971). With partner Sonny Grosso, he managed a 112-pound heroin bust in 1962, one of the biggest in New York's history. Mr. Egan was nicknamed 'Popeye' and was played in The French Connection (1971) by Gene Hackman. Mr. Egan played the role of his own boss. Mr. Egan, who retired to Fort Lauderdale, FL, in 1984, died "the toughest cop in New York", said Cheryl Kyle-Little, who shared a home with him. Kyle-Little said Mr. Egan was working on a movie deal at the time of his death.- 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. - Marcia Knight was born on 2 February 1924 in Hildreth, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for The Skydivers (1963), Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976) and Darker Than Amber (1970). She died on 17 January 1980 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Alberto Grimaldi is a fine example of a lawyer who become film producer. His first contacts with cinema were of a legal nature, but these slowly led to production. By the early 1960s he had created his company Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA), and was very successful when he distributed Joaquín Luis Romero Marchant's «La venganza del Zorro» (1962), the second European western shot in Almería, Spain, where Sergio Leone had also made his first western, «Per un pugno di dollari». The filmmaker was having trouble with his producers for its sequel, he sought legal advice, and met Grimaldi, who became the majority investor in «Per qualche dollaro in più». With the following success and a third western, Leone turned into one of the greatest European filmmakers and PEA became a significant production company.
In 1967 another encounter and litigation diversified Grimaldi's profession. When Federico Fellini collapsed, after meeting many obstacles to do «Il viaggio di G. Mastorna» for producer Dino de Laurentiis, Grimaldi freed the maestro from the contract and produced him the short «Toby Dammit», for the film «Histoires extraordinaires». Thenceforth, while still producing more commercial films, Grimaldi became associated with several Italian filmmakers who also had artistic aspirations. He produced Gillo Pontecorvo's «Queimada», Elio Petri's «Un tranquillo posto di campagna», Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' and «Salò o Le 120 giornate di Sodoma», Bernardo Bertolucci's «Ultimo tango a Parigi» and Francesco Rosi's «Cadaveri eccellenti»...
In the 1970s Grimaldi had different setbacks and his production activities decreased. First, «Il Casanova di Federico Fellini» was a financial failure, and the «Novecento» proved too problematic, although the cast and production values were attractive for the international markets. Bertolucci proposed a cut of 375 minutes and wanted to release the film in two parts, but Grimaldi had to deliver a 195-minute version to Paramount for the American market. When the producer decided to make the contractual version without the filmmaker and they ended in court, Bertolucci finally agreed and made a 280-minute version, but for Twentieth Century Fox. Then, in the next decade Grimaldi and Leone were reunited for «Once Upon a Time in America», but fearing a five-hour film after reading the final script, he stepped back and impresario Arnon Milchan took charge. Grimaldi only produced Fellini's nostalgic comedy «Ginger and Fred» in the 1980s.
Sixteen years passed until Grimaldi released a new production, when «Gangs of New York» opened in 2002. Under Martin Scorsese's direction, it was shot -like in the old times- in the Cinecittà studios in Rome, but it also had problems: a few months before shooting, Grimaldi sued Universal, Walt Disney, executive producer Michael Ovitz and other persons related to the film, claiming they had denied him the producer credit of a project he had planned for 20 years.
In 2007 the Valladolid International Film Festival honored Grimaldi with a retrospective of his more significant films, and the book dedicated to his work «The Art of Producing with Success» by José María Otero and Paola Savino, was launched on the occasion. Alberto Grimaldi was also awarded for the body of his work by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jerry Lester was born on 16 February 1910 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Hardly Working (1980), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Odds and Evens (1978). He was married to Alice Elgie Wall and Ardelle Unger. He died on 23 March 1995 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Eleanor Holm was born on 6 December 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Tarzan's Revenge (1938), Hollywood on Parade No. B-7 (1934) and Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (1933). She was married to Thomas Joseph Whalen, Billy Rose and Arthur Jarrett. She died on 31 January 2004 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Mark Morales was born on 19 February 1968 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Money Train (1995), The Bling Ring (2013) and Disorderlies (1987). He died on 18 February 2021 in Miami, 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.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Carlyle Blackwell was a popular American matinee idol and occasional director of the silent cinema. Debonair and darkly handsome, he made his debut with Vitagraph in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1910) and was seldom out of work as a romantic lead, progressing from one- and two-reelers to feature films by 1914. He was Kalem's number one star until 1915, when Jesse L. Lasky poached him for Famous Players. In 1921, Blackwell embarked on a European tour and opted to remain in England for the remainder of the decade, which turned out to be a good career move. He became the first actor to portray Bulldog Drummond (1922) in a British/Dutch co-production, following this box-office success with another, as Lord Robert Dudley in the period drama The Virgin Queen (1923). He retained his popularity until the arrival of sound, which abruptly ended his career. Blackwell had the final distinction of being the last silent actor to play Sherlock Holmes at the head of an international cast in the German production The Hound of the Baskervilles (1929).- Anne G. Sterling (married name, Anne G. Bergman) was a Polish born actress and dancer, who performed in Europe and the United States. She acted in Yiddish movies and stage shows, and later in motion pictures in Hollywood, California. Noted for her strikingly beautiful looks, former heavyweight boxing contender Herman Weiner dubbed her, " The Polish Ava Gardner." While living in California, she met movie stars Don Ameche, Eddie Cantor, Mickey Rooney, and Sabu. Bergman usually played a Gypsy girl in such horror films as The Wolfman, Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman, and House of Frankenstein. Also had uncredited parts in such films as Hollywood Canteen, Stage Door Canteen, Thank Your Lucky Stars and The Sky's The Limit, Anne ended her entertainment career in 1946, when she married U.S. Army war hero, Sgt. Hyman "Hank" Bergman (Awarded the Silver Star Medal). After moving to Miami Beach, Florida in the 1950s,she worked as an extra in the Jerry Lewis film, The Bellboy. Later, she managed the career of her only child, her son, kick-boxer/actor 'Sherman "Big Train' Bergman'.
- 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.
- Ethel Fleming was born on 25 December 1890 in Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Kiss (1916), Under Cover (1916) and East Lynne (1916). She was married to Ray Kroc and William Courtleigh Jr.. She died on 26 December 1965 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Nancy Caswell was born in Hollywood, California to English-born parents, Edward Caswell and Minnie Olive Hopkins. She began her stage career at age two performing as a child in numerous stage plays around the country. Minnie took her beautiful and talented daughter Nancy at age three to audition for her first silent motion picture for a small role in 'The End of the Rainbow' at Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1916. She was signed with the Fox Film Corporation and then co-starred with Jewel Carmen in 'The Kingdom of Love' directed by the legendary Frank Lloyd.
Nancy went on to make many silent films at Fox in California and New Jersey, Universal, Screen Classics Films, and worked with directors, Frank Lloyd and Raoul Walsh (Fox Film Corp.), including Zane Grey's 'Riders of the Purple Sage' starring William Farnum. Due to her early career she was taught by private tutors at Fox, where she also learned to dance and sing. She married a prosperous Los Angeles attorney, Max Gilford, at age 17.
When 'Talkies' arrived, Nancy worked at Richard Talmadge Productions, Paramount, Columbia and finally Weiss Productions in 1936. Divorced from her first husband, she married Lionel R. Brooks, French/American oil and gold tycoon, in Trinidad in 1937, gave up her acting career and moved to Paris before eventually retiring to Beverly Hills, California. Nancy lived in her beloved California until towards the end of her life. She died of heart failure in Miami, Florida in 1987. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Blanquita Amaro was born on 30 June 1923 in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. She was an actress, known for Bésame mucho (1945), Embrujo antillano (1946) and Una cubana en España (1951). She died on 15 March 2007 in Miami, Florida, USA.- Velia Martinez was born on 14 June 1913 in Tampa, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for ¿Qué pasa, U.S.A.? (1977), Corte tropical (1990) and El capitán Malacara (1945). She was married to Ramiro Gómez Kemp. She died on 22 May 1993 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Bob Cresse was born on June 19, 1936. Cresse hailed from Sarasota, Florida and was a graduate from the University of Florida. Moreover, Bob worked the carnival circuit before eventually moving to Los Angeles, California and getting a job as a bike messenger for MGM. Cresse founded his own production and distribution company Olympic International Films in the early 1960's. Bob not only wrote and produced a handful of lurid low-budget exploitation movies, but also acted in several of these pictures as well. In addition, Cresse developed a notorious reputation for his tough and combative me-against-the-world attitude: Besides his predilection for weapons and Nazi regalia, Cresse also had two full-time bodyguards on his payroll. Bob's exploitation cinema career came to an abrupt halt following in incident in which Bob came across two men beating a woman in front of a store while walking his dog on Hollywood Boulevard. Cresse pulled out a gun and ordered the men to stop beating the woman. One of the men identified himself as a police officer and shot Bob in the stomach as well as shot his dog dead. Cresse spent seven months in the hospital recovering from his injuries. Alas, Bob didn't have any health insurance, so his lengthy stay in the hospital depleted most of the money that he had managed to funnel into a Swiss bank account. Cresse died of a heart attack at age 61 on April 6, 1998 in Miami, Florida.- Dan Fitzgerald was born on 30 December 1928 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Final Countdown (1980), In Her Shoes (2005) and Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988). He was married to Dolores Stever. He died on 21 November 2017 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Corbett Monica was born on 1 June 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Joey Bishop Show (1961) and The Grasshopper (1970). He was married to Helen Stover. He died on 22 July 1998 in North Miami, Florida, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actress
- Producer
Buxom and beautiful blonde bombshell Bunny Yeager always aspired to be a pin-up model. She was born Linnea Eleanor Yeager on March 13, 1929 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Her father Raymond Conrad Yeager worked in an office for the telephone company and later was an electrical engineer for Westinghouse Electric while her mother Linnea was a stay-at-home housewife. Bunny grew up in the small rural town of Pitcairn, Pennsylvania. The Yeager family moved to Miami, Florida right before Bunny's senior year in high school. She attended Miami Edison High School in Miami and began participating in numerous beauty pageants in her late teens (she was crowned Miami Sports Queen in 1949 by Joe DiMaggio). She took a fashion modeling course at Coronet Modeling School and Agency and soon became a hugely popular glamor model in Miami who was featured in countless swimsuit magazines.
In the early 1950s Bunny decided to switch gears and become a glamor photographer. She was named the Prettiest Photographer in the World by "US Camera" magazine in August 1953. She took pictures of lovely model Maria Stinger; one of these pictures was published as the cover photo for the March 1954 issue of the men's magazine "Eye." Bunny discovered legendary pin-up queen Bettie Page in 1954. Her photo of Page posing in nothing but a fur-trimmed Santa hat was published as the centerfold in the January 1955 special holiday issue of "Playboy." This photo, along with other pictures of Bettie taken by Bunny, played a key role in establishing Page's iconic status. Other notable models Yeager has discovered are "Playboy" Playmate L.A. Winters and Carol Jean Lauritzen. Her photographs were featured in a huge array of men's magazines throughout the years. Moreover, Bunny also published over 20 books on photography.
Among the indelible images Bunny turned out are that of Ursula Andress coming out of the ocean water in a revealing bikini for the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). Bunny got in front of the camera on occasion as well: She appeared in a few films by noted Florida exploitation producer/director Barry Mahon and has a small role as Swedish masseuse Bunny Fjord in the Frank Sinatra detective picture Lady in Cement (1968).
Yeager died of congestive heart failure at age 85 on May 25, 2014 in North Miami, Florida.