Broadway Serenade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jeanette MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, four nominated for Best Picture Oscars (The Love Parade, One Hour with You, Naughty Marietta and San Francisco), and recorded extensively, earning three gold records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of the most influential sopranos of the 20th century, introducing grand opera to movie-going audiences and inspiring a generation of singers.

Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. A college dropout, he was found by a talent scout in the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and entered Hollywood as a bit player. He was leading man to Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), but it was the role of Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that was his big break. He was profoundly affected by the anti-war message of that film, and when, in 1942, the popular star of Young Dr. Kildare (1938) and subsequent Dr. Kildare films was drafted, he was a conscientious objector. America was outraged, and theaters vowed never to show his films again, but quietly he achieved the Medical Corps status he had requested, serving as a medic under fire in the South Pacific and as a chaplain's aid in New Guinea and the Phillipines. His return to film after the war was undistinguished until Johnny Belinda (1948) - his role as the sympathetic physician treating the deaf-mute Jane Wyman won him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Subsequent movie roles were scarce; an opportunity to play Dr. Kildare in television was aborted when the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. He continued to act, but in the 1970s put his long experience into a project to bring to the west the philosophy of the East - the resulting film, Altars of the World (1976), while not a box-office success, won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. Lew Ayres died in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.

Ian Hunter (13 June 1900 – 22 September 1975) was a British character actor. Among dozens of film roles, his best-remembered appearances include That Certain Woman (1937) with Bette Davis, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, as King Richard the Lionheart), The Little Princess (1939, as Captain Reginald Crewe) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, as Dr. Lanyon). Hunter returned to the Robin Hood legend in the 1955 TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood in the recurring role of Sir Richard of the Lea. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian Hunter, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Frank Morgan (June 1, 1890 – September 18, 1949) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Morgan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Rita Ann Johnson (August 13, 1913 – October 31, 1965) was an American actress. Early in her career, Johnson was busy in radio. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947). In an incident that was never fully explained, Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery. Unsubstantiated rumors promulgated by gossip columnists such as Walter Winchell suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her. She was in a coma for two weeks and it was reported it took her a year to recover. Her left side was paralyzed temporarily and for a while she couldn't walk. The injury put a virtual halt to her film career. Her screen time in movies after that was limited due to her reduced mobility and powers of concentration. Johnson suffered from alcoholism from the time of her injuries until her death of a brain hemorrhage at age 52. From Wikipedia.

Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) as Little Eva. She continued acting for a few more years, but then left movies in order to finish her education. Grey returned to films in the 1930s with bit parts and extra work, but she eventually signed a contract with MGM and appeared in such movies as Another Thin Man, Hullabaloo and The Big Store. She played Consuela McNish in The Hardys Ride High (1939) with Mickey Rooney. She left MGM in 1942, and signed with several different studios over the years, working steadily. During the 1950s and 1960s, producer Ross Hunter frequently included Grey in his popular soap melodramas, such as All That Heaven Allows, Back Street and Madame X. She had an on again/off again relationship with Clark Gable in the 1940s. After his wife Carole Lombard died and he returned from military service, Clark and Virginia were often seen at restaurants and nightclubs together. Many, including Virginia herself, expected him to marry her. The tabloids were all expecting the wedding announcement. It was a great surprise when he hastily married Lady Sylvia Ashley in 1949. Virginia was heartbroken. They divorced in 1952, but much to Virginia's dismay their brief romance was never rekindled. Her friends say that her hoping and waiting for Clark was the reason she never married. She was a regular on television in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing on Playhouse 90, General Electric Theater, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Your Show of Shows, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Marcus Welby, M.D., Love, American Style, Burke's Law, The Virginian, Peter Gunn and many others. She was portrayed by Anna Torv in the HBO Mini-series The Pacific. Description above from the Wikipedia article Virginia Grey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

William Gargan, born William Dennis Gargan July 17, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, USA and died February 17, 1979 aged 73 on a flight between New York and San Diego. He was an American motion picture, television and radio actor. Gargan played character roles in many Hollywood productions, including two appearances as detective Ellery Queen, but was best known for his role as Detective Martin Kane in the 1949-51 radio-television series, Martin Kane, Private Eye, sponsored by U.S. Tobacco. He also appeared as a private detective in the NBC radio show Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, which ran from 1951 to 1955.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress, best known perhaps for her role as Aunt Genevieve in the 1935 Shirley Temple vehicle, Curly Top. On the stage, Dale starred in Carrie Nation on Broadway in 1933. Her other Broadway credits include Harvest of Years (1947), And Be My Love (1944), and Another Language (1932). Dale's first film was Crime Without Passion (1934) in an uncredited role. She was a familiar face in films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, frequently playing stern, authoritarian characters such as prison matrons and head nurses, although she was equally adept at playing grande dames and ladies of the aristocracy. Dale played many roles in television over the years. In the 1958-1959 season of The Donna Reed Show, Dale played a job-seeking housekeeper who is frightened from the Stone home by Jeff Stone's pet mouse, and she appeared in the 1957 Maverick episode "According to Hoyle" opposite James Garner.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in scores of feature films playing essentially the same character: prissy, polite, elegant, highly energetic, often officious, fastidious, somewhat nervous, prone to becoming flustered but essentially upbeat, and with immediately recognizable high-speed, patter-type speech. He typically played an officious desk clerk in a hotel, a self-important musician, a fastidious headwaiter, an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and the like, and was usually put in a situation of frustration or flustered by the antics of others. Pangborn was an effective foil for many major comedians.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edward Alyn Warren (June 2, 1874 – January 22, 1940) was an American actor. He appeared in 99 films between 1915 and 1940. In some early silent films he was credited as Fred Warren or E. A. Warren. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.

Frank Orth was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie”. By 1897, Orth was performing in vaudeville with his wife, Ann Codee, in an act called “Codee and Orth.” In 1909, he expanded into song writing, with songs such as “The Phone Bell Rang” and “Meet Me on the Boardwalk, Dearie.” His first contact with motion pictures was in 1928, when he was part of the first foreign-language shorts in sound produced by Warner Bros. He and his wife also appeared together in a series of two-reel comedies in the early 1930s. Orth's first major screen credit was in “Prairie Thunder,” a Dick Foran western, in 1937. From then on, he was often cast as bartenders, pharmacists, and grocery clerks, and always distinctly Irish. He had a recurring role in the Dr. Kildare series of films and also in the Nancy Drew series as the befuddled Officer Tweedy. Among his better roles were the newspaper man Cary Grant telephones early in “His Girl Friday,” one of the quartet singing “Gary Owen” in “They Died with Their Boots On” (thereby giving Errol Flynn as Gen. Custer the idea of associating the tune with the 7th Cavalry), and as the little man carrying the sign reading “The End Is Near” throughout Colonel Effingham's Raid. However, Orth is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie.” A short, plump, round-faced man, often smoking a cigar, Orth as Faraday wore his own dark-rimmed spectacles, though rarely in feature films. In 1959, Orth retired from show business after throat surgery. His wife died in 1961 after around fifty years of marriage. Orth died on March 17, 1962. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills next to his wife.

Leon Belasco (born Leonid Simeonovich Berladsky; 11 October 1902 - 1 June 1988) was a Russian-American musician and actor.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Barbara Bedford (born Violet May Rose; July 19, 1903 – October 25, 1981) was an American actress who appeared in dozens of silent movies. Her career declined after the introduction of sound, but she continued to appear in small roles until 1945. After high school she set out for Hollywood. She had written many fan letters to actor William S. Hart, and he helped her get a small role in his 1920 movie The Cradle of Courage. While working as an extra that same year on The White Circle, she was noticed by fellow cast member John Gilbert, who recommended her to director Maurice Tourneur. Tourneur cast her alongside Gilbert in Deep Waters. Tourneur also cast her in The Last of the Mohicans, where she was the love interest for Alan Roscoe, whom she later married in real life. In 1925 she appeared opposite Hart in his final film, Tumbleweeds, a key western of the silent period. She starred in the 1926 silent film Old Loves and New and in Mockery with Lon Chaney the following year. When her career declined after the switch to sound, she signed with MGM in 1936 to play bit and extra parts. Her last known film appearance was in 1945.

Don Brodie was an American stage, screen, and television actor.

Arthur Quirk Bryan (May 8, 1899 – November 30, 1959) was an American actor, comedian and radio personality, best remembered for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr. Gamble on the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly and for creating the voice of the Warner Bros. cartoon character Elmer Fudd. Bryan started voicing Elmer in 1938 in A Feud There Was and voiced the character all the way until his death.

A.S. 'Pop' Byron was born on January 30, 1876 in Barnesville, Ohio, USA as Aquilla Stewart Byron. He was an actor, known for Devil on Deck (1932), Lady and Gent (1932) and Two for Tonight (1935). He was married to Kathryn Keys. He died on February 5, 1943 in Hollywood, California, USA.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mary Gordon (born Mary Gilmour, 16 May 1882 – 23 August 1963) was a Scottish actress, long in the United States, who mainly played housekeepers and mothers, most notably the landlady Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series of movies of the 1940s starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Her body of work included nearly 300 films between 1925 and 1950. With her mother and daughter (both also named Mary), she arrived in Los Angeles in the mid-1920s and began playing variations on the roles she would spend her career on. She became friends with John Ford while making Hangman's House in 1928 and made seven more films with him. In 1939, she took on her best-remembered role as Sherlock Holmes' landlady and played the role in ten films and numerous radio plays. She was a charter member of the Hollywood Canteen, entertaining servicemen throughout the Second World War. On the radio show Those We Love, she played the regular role of Mrs. Emmett. She entered retirement just as television reshaped the entertainment industry, making only a single appearance in that medium. She was active in the Daughters of Scotia auxiliary of the Order of Scottish Clans. She lived out her final years in Pasadena, California with her daughter and grandson. She died at age 81 on 23 August 1963 in Pasadena, California after a long illness.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Guy Edward Hearn (September 6, 1888 – April 15, 1963) was an American actor who, in a forty-year film career, starting in 1915, played hundreds of roles, starting with juvenile leads, then, briefly, as leading man, all during the silent era. With the arrival of sound, he became a character actor, appearing in scores of productions for virtually every studio, in which he was mostly unbilled, while those credits in which he was listed reflected at least nine stage names, most frequently Edward Hearn, but also Guy E. Hearn, Ed Hearn, Eddie Hearn, Eddie Hearne, and Edward Hearne.

Al Hill (July 14, 1892 – July 14, 1954) was an American film character actor who appeared in over 320 films between 1927 and 1954, including the 1951 film The Girl on the Bridge. Hill died in 1954 on his 62nd birthday. Description above from the Wikipedia article Al Hill (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Mary Beth Hughes (November 13, 1919) – August 27, 1995) was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies.

From New York Times Obituary, July 19, 1984: J. Delos Jewkes, a singer and actor who supplied the voice of God for Cecil B. De Mille's "Ten Commandments," died of a heart attack here Tuesday. He was 89 years old. Mr. Jewkes appeared in about 300 films, with Shirley Temple, John Wayne and others. He was featured in all of Jeanette MacDonald's and Nelson Eddy's films. He also appeared with Hoot Gibson and on the Orpheum-Keith Vaudeville Circuit. Mr. Jewkes started his singing career in 1925 with traveling opera and light opera companies. He sang in the bass section of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and with the Salt Lake Philharmonic Orchestra.

Marjorie Kane was born on April 28, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. She was an actress, known for The Dentist (1932), The Pharmacist (1933) and Second Chorus (1940). She died on January 8, 1992 in Los Angeles, California.

Bruce Mitchell was born on November 16, 1880 in Freeport, Illinois, USA as James Bruce Mitchell. He was an actor, known for Whistling Bullets (1937), I Cover Chinatown (1936) and Pride of the West (1938). He died on September 26, 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949–1951 and 1954–1957 on the television series of the same name and two related movies from the same producers. In 1949, Moore's work in the Ghost of Zorro serial drew the attention of George Trendle, co-creator and producer of a popular radio series titled The Lone Ranger. The series' running plot involved the exploits of a mysterious former Texas Ranger, the sole survivor of a six-Ranger posse ambushed by a gang of outlaws, who roamed the West with his Indian companion Tonto to battle evil and help the downtrodden. When Trendle brought the radio program to television, Moore landed the title role. With the "March of the Swiss Soldiers" finale from Rossini's William Tell overture as their theme music, Moore and co-star Jay Silverheels made history as the stars of the first Western written specifically for television. The Lone Ranger soon became the highest-rated program to that point on the fledgling ABC network and its first true hit. It earned an Emmy Award nomination in 1950.

Bert Moorhouse was born on November 20, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Herbert Green Moorhouse. He was an actor, known for Rough Ridin' Red (1928), Hey Rube! (1928) and The Woman I Love (1929). He was married to Mary. He died on January 26, 1954 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Ted Oliver was born on February 2, 1892 in Henderson, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Modern Times (1936), The Buccaneer (1938) and She Loved a Fireman (1937). He was married to Ilean Hume. He died on June 30, 1957 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Tannen (November 17, 1911 – December 2, 1976) was an American actor originally from New York City, who was best known for his role of Deputy Hal Norton in fifty-six episodes from 1956 to 1958 of the ABC/Desilu western television series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian as Deputy Marshal Wyatt Earp. Tannen was also cast as Gyp Clements in the 1955 episode "The Buntline Special" of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Beginning on September 11, 1956, in the second season of the series, with the setting moved from Wichita to Dodge City, Kansas, Tannen filled the Hal Norton role. His earliest episodes were "Fight or Run", "The Double Life of Dora Hand" and "Clay Allison", the latter two based on historical figures, the saloon singer and actor Dora Hand and the gunfighter Clay Allison. Some of his appearances were uncredited. His last credited role was "Doc Holliday Rewrites History" (May 6, 1958), with Myron Healey as the frontier gunfighter and dentist Doc Holliday. His last uncredited roles aired thereafter in May and June 1958, "Dig a Grave for Ben Thompson", based on the historical figure Ben Thompson played by Denver Pyle, "Frame-up", and "My Husband". He was cast as Ike Clanton, not on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, but in the 1964 episode "After the OK Corral" of the syndicated western anthology series, Death Valley Days. Jim Davis portrayed Wyatt Earp in this particular episode. Tannen appeared twice, one role uncredited in Davis' earlier syndicated western series, Stories of the Century, including the role of Dutch Charlie in "Milt Sharp", the story of the stagecoach robber Milt Sharp.

Ray Walker was born on August 10, 1904 in Newark, New Jersey, USA as Warren Reyholds Walker. He was an actor, known for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), The Dark Hour (1936) and Baby Take a Bow (1934). He died on October 6, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Wanda Perry was born Helen Beuscher in Brooklyn, New York, on July 24, 1917, and grew up to be a remarkably beautiful young woman. When she was sixteen, she was named "Miss New York City," and was offered a movie contract by showman Earl Carroll. Helen moved to Hollywood with her parents Wanda and Carl Beuscher.