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Kay Francis
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star and highest-paid actress at Warner Bros. studio. She adopted her mother's maiden name (Francis) as her professional surname. Early life Kay Francis was born as Katharine Edwina Gibbs in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory (present-day Oklahoma), in 1905, the only child of Katharine Clinton ( Francis), an actress, and Joseph Sprague Gibbs. Her parents wed in 1903. In 1909, Kay's mother left her alcoholic husband, taking their daughter. Kay apparently inherited her 5-foot 9 inch height from her 6 feet 4 inch father, and is believed to have been Hollywood's tallest 1930s female lead actress. Her mother had been born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and was a moderately successful actress and singer on a ...
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Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and is the 8th largest city in the Southern United States. The population grew following the 2010 census and reached 687,725 in the 2020 census. The Oklahoma City metropolitan area had a population of 1,396,445, and the Oklahoma City–Shawnee Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,469,124, making it Oklahoma's largest municipality and metropolitan area by population. Oklahoma City's city limits extend somewhat into Canadian, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie counties, though much of those areas outside the core Oklahoma County area are suburban tracts or protected rural zones ( watershed). The city is the eighth-largest in the United States by area including consolidated city-counties; it is the second-largest, after Houston, not ...
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Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' in 1973. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's 1988 film ''Beetlejuice'', for which she won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress. Early life Sidney was born Sophia Kosow in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Rebecca (née Saperstein), a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915, and she was adopted by her stepfather Sigmund Sidney, a dentist. Her mother became a dressmaker and renamed herself Beatrice Sidney. Now using the surname Sidney, Sylvia became an actress at the age of 15 as a way of overcomi ...
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Helen Twelvetrees
Helen Marie Twelvetrees ( Jurgens; December 25, 1908 – February 13, 1958) was an American actress. She starred in Hollywood films in the sound film era from 1929 to 1939. Many of her roles were of "suffering women". She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Helen Marie Jurgens was born in Brooklyn, where she attended Public School 119. Her family moved to Flatbush, where her younger brother was born. In the winter of 1919, the family's four-bedroom apartment caught fire and her brother perished. She attended Brooklyn Heights Seminary and then the Art Students League of New York, where she studied for a year before enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While attending AADA, she met actor Clark Twelvetrees, whom she married at age 19 in 1927. She adopted her husband's surname and used it as her professional name. Career With some stage experience, Twelvetrees went to Hollywood with a number of other actors to replace the silent stars who could not ...
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Aline MacMahon
Aline Laveen MacMahon (May 3, 1899 – October 12, 1991) was an American actress. Her Broadway stage career began under producer Edgar Selwyn in ''The Mirage'' during 1920. She made her screen debut in 1931 and worked extensively in film, theater and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Dragon Seed'' (1944). Early life MacMahon was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, the only child of William Marcus MacMahon and Jennie (née Simon) MacMahon. Her father was a telegraph operator, arbitrage broker and writer / editor in the Munsey publishing company, including their flagship title, ''Munsey's Magazine''. Aline's parents married on July 14, 1898, in Columbus, Ohio. Her father died on September 6, 1931. Her mother, an avid bell collector, died in 1984, just weeks before her 107th birthday. MacMahon first appeared on stage as early as 1905. That year the family moved to Brooklyn from Mc ...
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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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Kay Francis NM530
The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own right, and also as a masculine name (for example in India, the Netherlands, and Sweden). The alternative spelling of Kaye is encountered as a surname, but also occasionally as a given name: for instance, actress Kaye Ballard. Name Female * Kay Armen (1915–2011), stage name of Armenuhi Manoogian, American Armenian singer * Kay Bailey Hutchison (born 1943), American lawyer, politician, and diplomat * Kay (singer) (born 1985), Canadian singer-songwriter * Kay Burley (born 1960), Sky News founder and presenter * Kay Copland, Scottish sport shooter * Kay Elson (born 1947), Australian politician * Kay Francis (1905–1968), American actress * Kay Hagan (1953–2019), American politician * Kay Hull (born 1954), Australian politician * Kay Ke ...
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Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The property was taken over by real estate developer George S. Kaufman in 1982 and renamed Kaufman Astoria Studios. The studio is home to New York City's only backlot, which opened in December 2013. The property was designated a national historic district and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. History 20th century The studio was originally constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short subjects were filmed there between 1920 and 1933. The first Sherlock Holmes sound film, ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' (also 1929), was made at the studio by the British producer Basil Dean. The first two films featuring the Marx Br ...
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The Cocoanuts
''The Cocoanuts'' is a 1929 pre-Code Musical film, musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, and Zeppo Marx in his first starring role). Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also stars Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont and Kay Francis. It was the first sound film to credit more than one director (Robert Florey and Joseph Santley), and was adapted to the screen by Morrie Ryskind from the George S. Kaufman Broadway theatre, Broadway The Cocoanuts (musical), musical play. Five of the film's tunes were composed by Irving Berlin, including "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton. Plot ''The Cocoanuts'' is set in the Hotel de Cocoanut, a resort hotel, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Mr. Hammer runs the hotel, assisted by Jamison. Harpo and Chico arrive with empty luggage, which they apparently plan to fill by robbing and confidence game, conning the guests. Weal ...
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Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, '' Duck Soup'' (1933) and '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively. The brothers are almost universally known by their stage names: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo. There was a sixth brother, the first born, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: C ...
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Gentlemen Of The Press
''Gentlemen of the Press'' is a 1929 all-talking American pre-Code film starring Walter Huston in his first feature film role, and Kay Francis and an uncredited Brian Donlevy in their film debuts. The film still survives. This film's copyright has expired, and it is now in the public domain. It survives in a copy sold to MCA for television distribution. The film is based on Ward Morehouse's 1928 Broadway play ''Gentlemen of the Press''. In the 1930 silent melodrama by Yasujirō Ozu, ''That Night's Wife'' (''Sono yo no tsuma''), a poster of this film is prominently displayed (Ozu, who had a "passionate love of American film", according to scholar David Bordwell, often featured in his films posters of movies he liked). Cast * Walter Huston - Wickland Snell * Charles Ruggles - Charlie Haven * Kay Francis - Myra May * Betty Lawford - Dorothy Snell Hanley * Norman Foster - Ted Hanley * Duncan Penwarden - Mr. Higgenbottom ''uncredited'' * Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (Fe ...
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Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States (behind Universal Pictures), and the sole member of the Major film studio, "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 24 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. In 1967, the number of stars was reduced to 22 and their hidden meaning was dropped. In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, Motion Picture Associ ...
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Walter Huston
Walter Thomas Huston ( ;According to the Province of Ontario. ''Ontario, Canada Births, 1869–1911''.
ancestry.com
April 5, 1883 – April 7, 1950) was a Canadian actor and singer. Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', directed by his son John Huston. He is the patriarch of the four ...
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