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The Star Maker (1939 Film)
''The Star Maker'' is a 1939 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth, written by Frank Butler, Don Hartman and Arthur Caesar, and starring Bing Crosby, Louise Campbell, Linda Ware, Ned Sparks, Laura Hope Crews, Janet Waldo and Walter Damrosch. Filming started in Hollywood on April 17, 1939 and was finished in June. The film was released on August 25, 1939, by Paramount Pictures, and had its New York premiere on August 30, 1939. It was the only film in which Crosby played a happily married man. Plot Loosely based on the life of vaudevillian Gus Edwards, the film follows the career of aspiring song writer Larry Earl (Crosby) who gives up his job as a night clerk and marries Mary (Louise Campbell). He is anxious to get his songs published and buys a piano which they can ill afford. He sees children performing in the street and has an idea to develop and produce their talent on stage. Initially he cannot obtain any bookings but Mary persuades an agent to give her husban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the producer. By the early 1920s, he had moved over to features including ''Asleep at the Switch'' (1923), ''The Hollywood Kid'' (1924), '' Eve's Lover'' (1925) and ''The Little Irish Girl'' (1926). Following several more titles, many now lost, he directed ''The First Auto'' (1927), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. Also once believed lost, the film's almost entirely unsynchronised soundtrack features several elaborate sound effects for the time. Del Ruth directed another half dozen projects before the musical ''The Desert Song'' (1929), the first color film ever released by Warner Bros. That same year, Del Ruth directed ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929), Warner's second two-strip Tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thurston Hall
Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stage Hall toured with various New England stage companies during his teens, then went onto London, where he formed a small stage troupe. He also toured New Zealand and South Africa."Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 526. At 22 in 1904, Hall was in the first stage production of '' Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch''. His Broadway credits include ''The Only Girl'' (1914), ''Have a Heart'' (1917), ''Civilian Clothes'' (1919), ''The French Doll'' (1922), ''Still Waters'' (1926), ''Buy, Buy, Baby'' (1926), ''Mixed Doubles'' (1927), ''Behold the Bridegroom'' (1927), ''The Common Sin'' (1928), ''Sign of the Leopard'' (1928), ''Security'' (1929), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Gilbert
William Gilbert Barron (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971), known professionally as Billy Gilbert, was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects and television shows beginning in 1929. Career Early life and vaudeville career The child of singers with the Metropolitan Opera, he was born in a dressing room at the Hopkins Opera House in Louisville, Kentucky. Gilbert began working in vaudeville at the age of 12, and later played in burlesque on the Columbia and Mutual wheels. Big break in films Gilbert was spotted by Stan Laurel, who was in the audience of Gilbert's show ''Sensations of 1929''. Laurel went backstage to meet Gilbert and was so impressed by him he introduced him to comedy producer Hal Roach. Gilbert was employed as a gag writer, actor and director, and at the age of 35 he appeared in his first film for the Fox Film Corporation in 1929. Gilbert broke into comedy shor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Faylen
Frank Faylen (born Charles Francis Ruf, December 8, 1905 – August 2, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Largely a bit player and character actor, he occasionally played more fleshed-out supporting roles during his forty-two year acting career, during which he appeared in some 223 film and television productions, often without credit. Career Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Faylen began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville-performing parents on stage. The family lived on a showboat,Frank Faylen Dies; Noted for Film, TV Roles latimes.com; accessed June 9, 2016. and performed throughout his youth. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Griffies
Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was an English actress of stage, screen, and television. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic '' The Birds'' (1963). She appeared in stage roles in her native England and in the United States, and had featured roles in around 100 motion pictures. Griffies was one of the oldest working actors in the English-speaking theatre at the time of her death at 97 years old. She acted alongside such stars as May Whitty, Ellen Terry, and Anna Neagle. Biography Griffies was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the daughter of actor and manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts. Taken onstage at the age of three, she continued to act for the next 86 years. Griffies married actor Walter Beaumont in 1900, and he died in 1910. In 1917, she married actor Edward Cooper, who predeceased his wife by almost two decades. On 9 September 1975, in London, G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Crehan
Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Pacific'' and ''They Died with Their Boots On''. Early life Born in Baltimore, Maryland. he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Mathew Crehan. He attended Calvert Hall College and Kent College of Law but left the latter because of his stronger interest in drama. Early in his career, Crehan worked in light comedy. He was in his late 30s when he began doing character roles. Career Crehan's Broadway credits include ''Twentieth Century'' (1932), ''Lilly Turner'' (1932), ''Angels Don't Kiss'' (1932), ''Those We Love'' (1930), ''Sweet Land of Liberty'' (1929), ''Merry Andrew'' (1929), ''Ringside'' (1928), and ''Yosemite'' (1914). Crehan often played alongside Charles C. Wilson with whom he is sometimes confused. In 1961, credited as "Joe Crehan", he a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Denning
Richard Denning (March 27, 1914 – October 11, 1998) was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including ''Unknown Island'' (1948), ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' (1954), '' Target Earth'' (1954), ''Day the World Ended'' (1955), '' Creature with the Atom Brain'' (1955), and '' The Black Scorpion'' (1957). Denning also appeared in the film ''An Affair to Remember'' (1957) with Cary Grant and on radio with Lucille Ball in ''My Favorite Husband'' (1948–1951), the forerunner of television's ''I Love Lucy''. Early years Denning was born as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. After attending Manual Arts High School, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Woodbury Business College in Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father's garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morgan Wallace
Morgan Wallace (born Maier Weill, July 26, 1881 – December 12, 1953) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1914 and 1946, including W.C. Fields' ''It's a Gift'' (1934) Introduction by Arthur Knight where he persistently asks Fields for some "Kumquats". He supported Fields again in ''My Little Chickadee'' (1940). Early life Born in Lompoc, California, Wallace was the son of Isidore and Hannah Weill. He attended the University of California. Career In 1918, Wallace acted with and managed the Morgan Wallace Players in the Grand Theater in Sioux City, Iowa, and in 1927, the troupe performed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1922, he acted in a production of ''Lawful Larceny'' at the Savoy Theatre in London, England. Wallace's Broadway credits included ''Loco'' (1946), ''Congratulations'' (1929), ''Women Go On Forever'' (1927), ''Ballyhoo'' (1927), ''Gentle Grafters'' (1926), ''The Stork'' (1925), ''The Law Breaker'' (1922), ''Nature's Nobleman'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Stanton (actor)
Paul Stanton (born Paul George Stahl; December 21, 1884 – October 9, 1955) was an American character actor and bit-part player in American films. Originally from Illinois, he appeared in about 130 films between 1918 and 1952, mostly in supporting roles. He often portrayed authoritarian figures like judges, attorneys, managers, officials and doctors. Selected filmography * ''The Girl and the Judge'' (1918) - Walter Stuyvesant * '' The Glorious Adventure'' (1918) - Bob Williamson * ''Her Price'' (1918) - Robert Carroll * '' Should Ladies Behave'' (1933) - Oscar McFarrey (uncredited) * ''The Women in His Life'' (1933) - Judge Malone (uncredited) * ''This Side of Heaven'' (1934) - Doctor (scenes deleted) * ''Viva Villa!'' (1934) - Newspaperman (scenes deleted) * ''Stand Up and Cheer!'' (1934) - Senator (uncredited) * ''The Most Precious Thing in Life'' (1934) - Charles Kelsey (uncredited) * ''Call It Luck'' (1934) - Mr. Morgan (uncredited) * ''His Greatest Gamble'' (1934) - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodil Rosing
Bodil Rosing (born Bodil Frederikke Hammerich; December 27, 1877 December 31, 1941) was a Danish-American film actress in the silent and sound eras. Early years Bodil Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of music dean Angel Hammerich and pianist Golla Hammerich (née Bodenhoff-Rosing). She studied acting at the Royal Danish Theatre in the 1890s. Career Rosing worked as a stage actress in Denmark, performing for three years with the Royal Danish Theatre. She had her stage debut in Henrik Christiernsson's comedy ''Gurli'' at the Dagmar Theatre in 1898. Her last role at the Dagmar Theatre was as Michelle in Camille'' in 1905. In 1904, she played Bianca in ''The Taming of the Shrew'' at the Casino Theatre. During the early 1920s, she made one or two stage appearances on Broadway, including ''Fools Errant'' (1922), while raising her children alone. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emory Parnell
Emory Parnell (December 29, 1892 – June 22, 1979) was an American vaudeville performer and actor who appeared in over 250 films in his 36-year career. Early years Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Parnell trained as a musician at Morningside College, a Methodist institution in Sioux City, Iowa. He spent eight months in the Arctic in 1929, looking for gold in that area's wastelands. He also worked as a telegrapher. Music Parnell spent his early years as a concert violinist. He performed on the Chautauqua and Lyceum circuits until 1930, when he relocated to Detroit, Michigan, to narrate and act in commercial and industrial films. A 1923 newspaper article described an upcoming Lyceum performance of "Emory Parnell, the one man band," saying that Parnell "plays an accordion, the snare drum and base icdrum, all at the same time." During part of the Chautauqua years, Parnell had a family act that included his wife. In 1970, she recalled, " covered every state as well as Canada, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Welden
Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Career Welden's film debut occurred in the British production ''The Man from Chicago'' (1930). After freelancing for several years, he signed with Warner Bros. in 1937. Short, balding and somewhat rotund, Welden often literally played a "heavy", frequently in a somewhat comical or slightly dim-witted way, offsetting the sinister nature of his character's actions. Among his roles in this vein was ''The Big Sleep'' (1946). Fans of '' Adventures of Superman'' remember him well, as he appeared in eight episodes, always as a different character and yet really the ''same'' character, in a way. His best-known ''Superman'' episode might be "Flight to the North", in which he tries (and fails) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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