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Mae Busch
Mae Busch (born Annie May Busch; 18 June 1891 – 20 April 1946) was an Australian-born actress who worked in both silent and sound films in early Hollywood. In the latter part of her career she appeared in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, frequently playing Hardy's shrewish wife. Early life Busch was born in Melbourne, Victoria to popular Australian vaudeville performers Elizabeth Maria Lay and Frederick William Busch. Her mother had been active since 1883 under the stage names Dora Devere and then Dora Busch; she toured India with Hudson's Surprise Party and toured New Zealand twice. They continued to tour with various companies with short breaks when their two children were born, Dorothy in 1889 (who lived for only four months) and Annie May in 1891. Following a concert tour of New Zealand, the family left for the United States via Tahiti. They departed on 8 August 1896 and arrived in San Francisco at the end of 1896 or in early 1897. While her parents were touring the Unite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of Local Government Areas of Victoria#Municipalities of Greater Melbourne, 31 local government areas. The name is also used to specifically refer to the local government area named City of Melbourne, whose area is centred on the Melbourne central business district and some immediate surrounds. The metropolis occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay and spreads into the Mornington Peninsula, part of West Gippsland, as well as the hinterlands towards the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges, and the Macedon R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foolish Wives
''Foolish Wives'' is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The drama features von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, Maude George, and others. When released in 1922, the film was the most expensive film made at that time, and billed by Universal Studios as the "first million-dollar movie" to come out of Hollywood. Originally, von Stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours, and be shown over two evenings, but Universal executives opposed this idea. The studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date. ''Foolish Wives'', and the fulsome media coverage that added to its “sensational notoriety”, elevated von Stroheim into the ranks of preeminent directors of the early 1920s. In 2008, ''Foolish Wives'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
While The City Sleeps (1928 Film)
''While the City Sleeps'' is a 1928 American synchronized sound crime drama film about a tough New York City police detective, played by Lon Chaney, out to catch a murdering gangster. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-film Movietone sound system, Western Electric Sound System process. The film was directed by Jack Conway (filmmaker), Jack Conway, written by Andrew Percival Younger, and co-starred Anita Page, Carroll Nye, Wheeler Oakman, and Mae Busch. The sets were designed by Cedric Gibbons. Sam and Jack Feinberg (Chaney's set musicians) also played uncredited roles in the film; they can be seen playing in the band at Skeeter's nightclub, and also in the street scene where Mae Busch's body is found dead in her car. The movie was filmed on location in Los Angeles, and Lt. Roy Harlacher of the LAPD served as Chaney's technical advisor.Blake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lon Chaney
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted, characters and for his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney was known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film), The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1923) and ''The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film), The Phantom of the Opera'' (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces". Early life Leonidas Frank Chaney was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Frank H. Chaney (a barber) and Emma Alice Kennedy. His father was of English and French ancestry, and his mother was of Scottish, English, and Irish descent. Chaney's maternal grandfather, Jonathan Ralston Kennedy, founded the "C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love 'em And Weep
''Love 'em and Weep'' is a 1927 American silent comedy short film starring Mae Busch, Stan Laurel and James Finlayson, with Oliver Hardy featured in a small role. This is Mae Busch's first of fifteen appearance with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Opening Title ''Ancient Proverb—Every married man should have his fling—But be careful not to get flung too far.'' Plot An old flame ( Mae Busch) of businessman Titus Tillsbury ( James Finlayson) threatens to expose their past, destroying both his marriage and career. He sends his aide (Stan Laurel) to keep her away from a dinner party he and his wife are hosting that evening. Romaine fails to do this, but temporarily smooths things by pretending Peaches is HIS wife. An incriminating photograph is disposed of, although Titus must painfully remove pieces of the glass frame from his posterior. Titus threatens to shoot himself if Peaches doesn't leave; causing her to faint. This leads to the first showing of a classic Laurel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blyth; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' A Free Soul'' (1931) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film '' It's a Wonderful Life''. He is also particularly remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of ''A Christmas Carol'' during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr Leonard Gillespie in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's nine Dr Kildare films, a role he reprised in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio series titled ''The Story of Dr Kildare''. He was a member of the theatrical Barrymore family. Early life Lionel Barrymore was born Lionel Herbert Blyth in Philadelphia, the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and Maurice Barrymore (born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth). He was the elder brother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnes Ayres
Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Henkel; April 4, 1892 – December 25, 1940) was an American actress who rose to fame during the period of silent films. She was known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in '' The Sheik'' opposite Rudolph Valentino. Career Ayres began her career in 1914 when she was noticed by an Essanay Studios staff director and cast as an extra in a crowd scene. After moving to Manhattan with her mother to pursue a career in acting, Ayres was spotted by actress Alice Joyce. Joyce noticed the physical resemblance the two shared which eventually led to Ayres being cast in ''Richard the Brazen'' (1917), as Joyce's character's sister. Ayres' career began to gain momentum when Paramount Pictures founder Jesse Lasky began to take an interest in her. Lasky gave her a starring role in the drama ''Held by the Enemy'' (1920), and he lobbied for parts for her in several productions by Cecil B. DeMille. During this period Ayres began a romance with Lasky. In 1921, Ayres shot to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Rawlinson
Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound films. Early life Rawlinson was born in New Brighton, Merseyside, New Brighton, Cheshire, England, UK on 15 November 1885. He was one of the four sons and three daughters of Robert Theodore Rawlinson and his wife Emily. He sailed to America on the same ship as Charlie Chaplin and established himself as a leading man in the silent movies, before making the transition as a character actor in the "talkies". Recognition For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Herbert Rawlinson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6150 Hollywood Blvd on 8 February 1960. Personal life Rawlinson married Roberta Arnold in 1917. They divorced in 1923 in which he had cited desertion. He married Loraine Abigail Long in 1924 and divorced i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theda Bara
Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for ''vampire'', here meaning a seductive woman), later fueling the rising popularity in "vamp" roles based in exoticism and sexual domination. Born to a Jewish family in Cincinnati, Bara was the biggest star of Fox Studios, which concocted a fictitious persona for her as an Egyptian-born woman interested in the occult. She made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, most of which were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire. She left Fox in 1919 and was unable to recapture her previous success. After her marriage to Charles Brabin in 1921, she made two more films and then retired from acting in 1926. Bara never appeared in any sound films. Early life Bara was born Theodosia Burr Goodman on J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priscilla Dean
Priscilla Dean (November 25, 1896 – December 27, 1987) was an American actress popular in silent film as well as in theatre, with a career spanning two decades. Career Dean made her film debut at the age of fourteen in one-reelers for Biograph and several other studios. She was finally signed on to Universal (then called IMP) in 1911. She soon gained popularity as the female lead in the comedy series of Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran. She was propelled to stardom after she appeared in '' The Gray Ghost'' in 1917. Following this film, she became very successful in her work. However, when the age of sound dawned, Dean's career was severely damaged. She continued to do several low-budget films for minor independent studios during the 1930s, but never regained the popularity she had earned in silent films. Dean died at her home in Leonia, New Jersey at the age of 91 on December 27, 1987, from injuries related to a fall she had suffered the previous September. Marriages On October 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, who was the founder of the namesake Hal Roach Studios. Roach was active in the industry from the 1910s to the 1990s. He is known for producing a number of early Media franchise successes, including the Laurel and Hardy franchise, Harold Lloyd's early films, the films of entertainer Charley Chase, and the ''Our Gang'' short film comedy series. Early life Roach was born in Elmira, New York, to Charles Henry Roach, whose father was born in Wicklow, County Wicklow, Ireland, and Mabel Gertrude Bally, her father John Bally being from Switzerland. A presentation by the American humorist Mark Twain impressed Roach as a young grade school student. Hal's first job was as a newspaper deliverer. One of his customers lived at Quarry Farm - Samu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded on April 17, 1924, and has been owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon since 2022. MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. It hired a number of well-known actors as contract players—its slogan was "more stars than there are in heaven"—and soon became Hollywood's most prestigious filmmaking company, producing popular musical films and winning many Academy Awards. MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters and technical production facilities. Its most prosperous era, from 1926 to 1959, was bracketed by two productions of ''Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
