Michael G. Ankerich is a biographer whose work focuses on

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

and early twentieth century actors and actresses. Ankerich's interviews with the last remaining silent film stars were featured in ''Broken Silence: Conversations With 23 Silent Film Stars'' (1993) and ''The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Made the Transition from Silents to Talkies'' (1998). His biography of silent film actress

Mae Murray Mae Murray (born Marie Adrienne Koenig; May 10, 1885 – March 23, 1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "Th ...

, ''Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips,'' was named one of the top 10 must-read film books of 2012. "Mae Murray was everything a movie queen in the days of silent films was expected to be: extravagant, vain, eccentric, egotistical, and temperamental," Ankerich told ''Southern Views Magazine'' in 2016. "She was a biographer's dream." ''Dangerous Curves atop Hollywood Heels'', Ankerich's book about the tragic lives of 14 silent film actresses, was named by the ''San Francisco Examiner'' as one of the top ten silent film books of 2010. In 2014, Ankerich appeared on Lifetime Movie Network's ''The Ghost Inside My Child'' to discuss his research into the life and death of actress

Lucille Ricksen Lucille Ricksen (born Ingeborg Myrtle Elisabeth Ericksen; August 22, 1910 – March 13, 1925) was an American motion picture actress during the silent film era. She died of tuberculosis on March 13, 1925 at the age of 14. Early life Ingeborg ...

. He was guest speaker at the 86th annual Valentino Memorial Service in 2013, which included videos acknowledging the 100th anniversary of

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...

’s arrival in America and Valentino's friendship with Mae Murray.''Allen Ellenberger's Hollywoodland'' ''Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 20 Actresses Through Early Hollywood'', Ankerich's latest book, was released in 2017. A former newspaper reporter, Ankerich has written extensively for ''Classic Images,'' ''Films of the Golden Age,'' and ''Hollywood Studio Magazine'', which featured his exclusive interview with Butterfly McQueen (Prissy) on the 50th anniversary of the release of ''Gone With The Wind''.

Bibliography

* ''Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Film Stars'' (1993) * ''The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities Who Made the Transition from Silents to Talkies'' (1998) * ''The Real Joyce Compton: Behind the Dumb Blonde Movie Image'', with

Joyce Compton Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not ...

(2008) * ''Dangerous Curves atop Hollywood Heels: The Lives, Careers, and Misfortunes of 14 Hard-Luck Girls of the Silent Screen'' (2010) * ''

: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips'' (2012)

Sources

* ''Interview with Michael G. Ankerich, Author of Dangerous Curves Atop Hollywood Heels'' (by Cliff Aliperti ''Immortal Ephemera''

* ''The Reel Joyce Compton'' (by James B. Neibaur ''The Rogue Cinema''

* ''An Interview with Michael G. Ankerich'' (by James Zeruk ''The Hollywood Sign Girl''

* ''Living Resources'' (by Robert C. Sickels ''H-Film''

* ''Blogging for a Good Book'

* ''The Movies: 10 Must-Read Books Coming This Fall'' (by Thomas Gladys

References

External links

Michael G. Ankerich Official Web Site

Michael G. Ankerich Author Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ankerich, Michael G. American biographers American male biographers Living people 1965 births