James Rennie (actor)
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James Rennie (actor)
James Malachi Rennie (April 18, 1889 – July 31, 1965) was a Canadian American actor who performed on the New York stage and also appeared in several Hollywood films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He became a U.S. citizen in New York in 1933. Early life Of Scottish descent, he was born on April 18, 1889, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of John and Margaret Rennie, both of whom were Mormon. As a youth he acted in a number of stage productions including roles in such Shakespearean plays as ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''Hamlet'', and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. It wasn't long before he was bit by the acting bug. In June 1917, during World War I, Rennie enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and became a part of the University of Toronto's Officers Training Company; while involved in this he and other officers would put on their own productions to show to the general public. He served in France for two years as a British Royal Flying Corps pilot. After the war ended in N ...
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Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world. Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designat ...
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Ann Harding
Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was one of the first actresses to gain fame in the new medium of "talking pictures," and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her work in '' Holiday.'' Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley and was the daughter of a prominent United States Army officer. She was raised primarily in East Orange, New Jersey and graduated from East Orange High School. Having gained her initial acting experience in school drama classes, she decided on a career as an actress and moved to New York City. Because her father opposed her career choice, she used the stage name Ann Harding. After initial work as a script reader, Harding began to win roles on Broadway and in regional theaters, primarily in Pennsylvania. She moved to Cal ...
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Ray Milland
Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's '' The Lost Weekend'' (1945) and also for such roles as a sophisticated leading man opposite John Wayne's corrupt character in ''Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942), the murder-plotting husband in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Dial M for Murder'' (1954) and Oliver Barrett III in '' Love Story'' (1970). Before becoming an actor, Milland served in the Household Cavalry of the British Army, becoming a proficient marksman, horseman and aeroplane pilot. He left the army to pursue a career in acting and appeared as an extra in several British productions before getting his first major role in '' The Flying Scotsman'' (1929). This led to a nine-month contract with MGM, and he moved to the United States, where he ...
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Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially associated with Paramount Pictures, she gradually shifted to working as an actress free of the studio system. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''It Happened One Night'' (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career. Colbert's other notable films include ''Cleopatra'' (1934) and ''The Palm Beach Story'' (1942). With her round face, big eyes, aristocratic manner, and flair for light comedy and emotional drama, Colbert's versatility led to her becoming one of the best-paid stars of the 1930s and 1940s and, in 1938 and 1942, the highest-paid. In all, Colbert starred in more than 60 movies. Among her frequent co-stars were Fred MacMurray, in seven films (1935–1949), and Fredric March, in ...
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Skylark (1941 Film)
''Skylark'' is a 1941 American comedy film starring Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland and Brian Aherne and directed by Mark Sandrich. Film historian James H. Farmer described ''Skylark'' as "light-hearted fluff" with the story of a woman on her fifth wedding anniversary, realizing that she is fed up with always coming in second to her husband's advertising business. Just at that moment, she meets a handsome attorney, and their innocent flirtation begins to turn into something more serious. Plot On their fifth wedding anniversary, Lydia Kenyon (Claudette Colbert) feels she is neglected and treated insensitively by her husband, Tony ( Ray Milland). He is very committed to his job as an advertising executive, and not only does it take up his time, but it requires a lot of less than desirable socializing with his clients. When Lydia finds out that Tony has sent his friend, George Gorell (Walter Abel), to select a fifth wedding anniversary gift for her, Lydia treats Tony's lack of sensit ...
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Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and ...
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Anna Neagle
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer. She was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema for 20 years and was voted the most popular star in Britain in 1949. She was known for providing glamour and sophistication to war-torn London audiences with her lightweight musicals, comedies, and historical dramas. Almost all of her films were produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943. In her historical dramas, Neagle was renowned for her portrayals of British historical figures, including Nell Gwyn (''Nell Gwyn'', 1934), Queen Victoria (''Victoria the Great'', 1937 and ''Sixty Glorious Years'', 1938), Edith Cavell (''Nurse Edith Cavell'', 1939), and Florence Nightingale (''The Lady with a Lamp'', 1951). Biography Early life Neagle was born in Forest Gate, Essex, daughter of Florence Neagle and her husband, ...
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The Little Damozel (1933 Film)
''The Little Damozel'' is a 1933 British romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, James Rennie and Benita Hume. It is based on the 1908 play by Monckton Hoffe, previously filmed in 1916. The screenplay concerns a captain who pays one of his sailors to marry a woman who works in a nightclub. Dresses for the film were designed by Doris Zinkeisen. Plot Gambler Recky Poole (James Rennie) accepts a bet to marry Julie Alardy (Anna Neagle), a night club danseuse. After the wedding, Recky unexpectedly fall in love with her, but Julia decides to divorce him and go back to dancing. A despairing Recky contemplates suicide, contriving to make it look like an accident so that Julia will be able to collect the insurance. Luckily, she returns to him before it is too late, and they live a life of wedded bliss. Cast * Anna Neagle as Julie Alardy * James Rennie as Recky Poole * Benita Hume as Sybil Craven * Athole Stewart as Captain Partington * Alfred Drayton a ...
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Olive Borden
Olive Mary Borden (July 14, 1906 – October 1, 1947) was an American film and stage actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was nicknamed "the Joy Girl", after playing the lead in the 1927 film of that same title. Borden was known for her jet-black hair and stunning overall beauty. At the peak of her career in the mid-1920s, Borden was earning $1,500 a week. In 1927, she walked out on her contract with Fox after refusing to take a pay cut. By 1929, her career began to wane due to her rumored reputation for being temperamental and her difficulty transitioning to sound films. She made her last film, '' Chloe, Love Is Calling You'', in 1934 and moved on to stage work for a time. By the late 1930s, she had declared bankruptcy and stopped acting. During World War II, she joined the Women's Army Corps. She was later honorably discharged with distinction after sustaining a foot injury during service. Borden attempted a comeback in films, however, she was hindered ...
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Donald Cook (actor)
Donald Cook (September 26, 1901 – October 1, 1961) was an American stage and film actor who had a prolific career in pre-Code Hollywood films and on Broadway. Cook is perhaps best known for his film roles in ''The Public Enemy'' (1931), ''Safe in Hell'' (1931), ''Baby Face'' (1933), and ''Viva Villa!'' (1934), as well as for his stage role as David Naughton in '' Claudia'', which ran for a total of 722 performances on Broadway between 1941 and 1943. He was the first actor to play Ellery Queen. Biography Cook was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and originally studied farming but later worked for a lumber company. Cook attended the University of Oregon. One of his elder brothers was Ransom M. Cook, president of Wells Fargo Bank. He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work. He started screen work in "shorts" before going on to feature films. Cook was known for his portrayal of Mike Powers in the film ''The Public Enemy''. In 1935 ...
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Dorothy Mackaill
Dorothy Mackaill (March 4, 1903 – August 12, 1990) was a British-American actress, most active during the silent-film era and into the pre-Code era of the early 1930s. Early life Born in Sculcoates, Kingston upon Hull in 1903 (although she later would claim 1904 or 1905 as her year of birth, including on her petition for naturalization as a United States citizen, giving 1904 as the year), Mackaill lived with her father after her parents separated when she was around eleven years old. She attended Thoresby Primary School. As a teenager, Mackaill ran away to London to pursue a stage career as an actress. At age 16, she danced in ''Joybelles'' at London's Hippodrome and worked in Paris acting in a few minor Pathé films. She met a Broadway stage choreographer who persuaded her to migrate to New York City, where aged 17 she became active in the ''Ziegfeld Follies,'' dancing in his ''Midnight Frolic'' review. Career By 1920, Mackaill had begun making the transition from "Follies ...
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Marian Nixon
Marian Nixon (born Marja Nissinen; October 20, 1904 – February 13, 1983) was an American film actress. Sometimes credited as Marion Nixon, she appeared in more than 70 films. Career Born in Superior, Wisconsin, to parents of Finnish descent, Nixon began her career as a teen dancing in choruses in vaudeville. She began appearing in bit part in films in 1922 and landed her first substantial role in the 1923 film ''Cupid's Fireman'' opposite Buck Jones. The following year, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star. Nixon continued to work steadily throughout the mid to late 1920s appearing in ''Riders of the Purple Sage'' (1925), '' Hands Up!'' (1926), and ''The Chinese Parrot'' (1927). In 1929, she made her talkie debut as the lead in ''Geraldine''. Later that same year, Nixon appeared opposite Al Jolson in '' Say It with Songs'' followed by ''General Crack'' in 1930. In 1931, Nixon's Beauty Arts Institute moved into the Equitable Building of Hollywood; Nixon was president of the company ...
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