Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film. Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny played the role of the comic penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly.
Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!" His radio and television programs, tremendously popular from the 1930s to the 1960s, were a foundational influence on the situation comedy genre. Dean Martin, on the celebrity roast for Johnny Carson in November 1973, introduced Benny as "the Satchel Paige of the world of comedy."
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Don Ameche born Dominic Felix Amici May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was a versatile and popular American film actor in the 1930s and '40s, usually as the dapper, mustached leading man. He was also popular as a radio master of ceremonies during this time. As his film popularity waned in the 1950s, he continued working in theater and some TV. His film career surged in a comeback in the 1980s with fine work as an aging millionaire in Trading Places (1983) and a rejuvenated oldster in Cocoon (1985). Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor.
Ameche, standing in at a height of 5' 11" (1.8 m) was born May 31, 1908 (Gemini) in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA as Dominic Felix Amici to mother, Barbara Edda (Hertel) and father, Felice Amici, a bartender. Has a younger brother Jim Ameche. His father was an Italian immigrant. His mother had German, English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. Americans pronounced his last name incorrectly in Italian ("Ah-mee-see"). So he changed it from "Amici" (correctly pronounced "Ah-mee-chee") into "Ameche", in order to keep the original Italian pronunciation. He had the nickname "The Latin Lover". Married Honore Prendergast on the 6th of December 1932. They had 6 children together. Became a father for the first time at age 25 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Dominic Felix Ameche--aka Don Ameche Jr. on October 3, 1933. Became a father for the second time at age 27 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Ronald Ameche on December 30, 1935. He died on January 2, 2001 in Iowa, aged 65. Became a father for the third time at age 31 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Thomas Anthony Ameche on July 20, 1939. Became a father for the fourth time at age 32 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Lawrence Michael Ameche on July 20, 1940. Became a father for the fifth time at age 36 when his wife Honore gave birth to their daughter Barbara Balinda Ameche on March 13, 1945. Became a father for the sixth time at age 39 when his wife Honore gave birth to their daughter Constance Victoria Ameche on February 22, 1948. His wife of 54 years, died on the 5th of September 1986. He died on December 6, 1993 at the age of 85 in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA from prostate cancer.
William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley. He also received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Wake Island (1942).
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Victor Moore was born on February 24, 1876 in Hammonton, New Jersey, USA as Victor Frederick Moore. He was an actor, known for Swing Time (1936), Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). He was married to Shirley Paige and Emma Littlefield. He died on July 24, 1962 in East Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.
Moore and his first wife were a vaudeville team for several decades before her death. Moore did not announce his marriage to Shirley Paige until they had been married for a year and a half. At the time of the announcement he was 67 and she was 22.
Moore, or his family, was into buying real estate. A building in the Jackson Heights section of Queens is named after him. The Victor Moore Arcade is bounded by Roosevelt Ave., Broadway (Queens' Broadway) and 75th St. It houses stores, offices, a bus terminal and two entrances to a subway station. The Victor Moore Arcade was actually seen in a movie. Henry Fonda exits from the subway at this building at the start of Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956).
Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a band leader. In the 1920s and early 30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (where he was hated by his cast and crew due to his explosive ego-driven personality). In the early 1930's he was ranked with the likes of Bing Crosby and the tragic Russ Columbo in the Hit Parade. A huge hit on radio in 1933 with his program, initially known as 'The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,' Vallee was considered a slave driver by his staff. He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves. During the run of his show he slugged photographers, threw sheet music in the faces of pianists' heads and if provoked, would sock hecklers in the nose. While audiences loved him, he was hated by most of his staff. As a very popular star in night clubs and on records, as well as in movies, he helped other singers like Alice Faye - who was for a while his band singer - and Frances Langford to start their careers. In his early movies he often played the romantic lead, but he switched later to stuffy and comic parts. He also appeared on Broadway. The mid-60's Broadway hit "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was filmed in 1967 with him in his original Broadway role.
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Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.
With his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, Colonna was known for singing loudly "in a comic caterwaul," according to Raised on Radio author Gerald Nachman, and for his catchphrase, "Who's Yehudi?", uttered after many an old joke, although it usually had nothing to do with the joke. The line was believed to be named for violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, and the search for Yehudi became a running gag on the Hope show.
Colonna featured in three of the popular Hope-Crosby Road films: Road to Singapore (1940) as Achilles Bombassa, Road to Rio (1947) as a Cavalry captain and The Road to Hong Kong (1962) in a cameo role. He can also be seen in the Fred Allen vehicle, It's in the Bag! (1945), as psychiatrist Dr. Greenglass, and he made a brief appearance with Hope in the "Wife, Husband and Wolf" sketch in Star Spangled Rhythm. In 1956 he performed the featured song "My Lucky Charm" in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse.
He provided the voice of the March Hare in the Walt Disney animated film version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) (another radio legend, Ed Wynn, voiced the Mad Hatter) and also lent his zany narration style to several Disney shorts, including Casey at the Bat (1946) and The Brave Engineer (1950).
John Carradine (born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, best known for his roles in horror films, Westerns, and Shakespearean theatre. In the later decades of his career, he starred mostly in low-budget B-movies, but continued to also appear in higher-profile fare. In total, he holds 351 film and television credits, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking actors of all time.
Carradine was married four times, had five children, and was the patriarch of the Carradine family, including four sons and four grandchildren who are or were also actors.
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William Terry, born William W. Thienes, was and American actor, who passed away in his early 40s. He is known for his work in Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Three Little Sisters, Behind City Lights, and Men in Her Diary.
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Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the Chinese-American detective in 22 films made between 1938 and 1946. Before becoming Chan, Toler played supporting roles in 50 motion pictures and was a highly regarded comic actor on the Broadway stage.
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George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1933 and 1954.
Cleveland is perhaps best remembered today as George "Gramps" Miller in the early years of the long running US series Lassie. The early seasons in which Cleveland appeared were retitled Jeff's Collie for syndicated reruns and DVD release. He played the grumpy but-kind hearted father-in-law of farm woman Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton), and grandfather of Lassie's owner, Jeff (Tommy Rettig).
Cleveland appeared in the first three seasons (1954–1956) and in the first 12 episodes of the fourth season (1957). His death in July 1957 was written into the 13th episode of the fourth season (1957) and became the storyline motive for the selling of the farm and the departure of the Millers for Capitol City.
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John Miljan (November 9, 1892 – January 24, 1960) was an American actor. He appeared in 201 films between 1924 and 1958. He was the tall, smooth-talking villain in Hollywood films for almost four decades, beginning in 1923.
Miljan made his first sound film in 1927 in the promotional trailer for The Jazz Singer, inviting audiences to see the upcoming landmark film. In later years he played imposing, authoritative parts such as high-ranking executives and military officers. He is best remembered as General Custer in Cecil B. De Mille's film The Plainsman.
Miljan died from cancer in Hollywood in 1960, aged 67. He was married to Victoire Lowe and adopted her two sons from her first marriage to actor Creighton Hale.
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Steve Brodie (November 21, 1919 — January 9, 1992) was an American movie and television actor.
Born as John Stevenson in El Dorado, Kansas, he reportedly selected his screen name in tribute to Steve Brodie, who jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and survived.
Most of his acting work was from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s working at MGM, RKO and Republic Pictures appearing mostly in westerns and B-movies. He mainly played supporting roles in films such as the film noir classic Out of the Past (1947) and the classic crime film Armored Car Robbery (1950), although he did have the starring role in Desperate (1947). He later appeared with Elvis Presley in Blue Hawaii (1961) and Roustabout (1964).
Beginning in the mid-1950s he appeared largely on television, including, for instance, The Public Defender, three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and in the episode "Vendetta" of the syndicated western series Pony Express. He and Sterling Holloway appeared in the 1960 episode "Love Me, Love My Dog" of the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan.
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George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985), born in Waukegan, Illinois, was an American actor. He made his screen debut in 1928, ultimately appearing, throughout his career, in over 140 films, usually in smaller supporting roles. Chandler is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television series Lassie.
Early in his performing career he had a vaudeville act, billed as "George Chandler, the Musical Nut", which featured comedy and his violin. He served in the United States Army during World War I.
In addition to many film roles throughout the years 1928-1979, Chandler appeared, from 1951 onward, in numerous television series.
He was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1960.
George Chandler died in Panorama City, California, the result of cancer, on June 10, 1985. He was 86.
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Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress. By some counts considered the most prolific actress in the history of Hollywood, she was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in over 700 movies in her 41 year career.
Born in Sherman, Texas, Flowers's film debut came in 1923, when she appeared in Hollywood. She made three films that year, and then began working extensively. Many of her appearances are uncredited, as she generally played non-speaking roles.
By the 1930s, Flowers was in constant demand. Her appearances ranged from Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford thrillers to comedic roles alongside of Charley Chase, the Three Stooges, Leon Errol, Edgar Kennedy, and Laurel and Hardy.
She appeared in the following five films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture: It Happened One Night, You Can't Take it with You, All About Eve, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. In each of these movies, Flowers was uncredited. Including these five movies, she had appeared in twenty-three Best Picture nominees in total, making her the record holder for most appearances in films nominated for the award. Her last movie was Good Neighbor Sam in 1964.
Flowers's acting career was not confined to feature films. She was also seen in many episodic American TV series, such as I Love Lucy, notably in episodes, "Lucy Is Enceinte" (1952), "Ethel's Birthday" (1955), and "Lucy's Night in Town" (1957), where she is usually seen as a theatre patron.
Outside her acting career, in 1945, Bess Flowers helped to found the Screen Extras Guild (active: 1946-1992, then merged with SAG), where she served as one of its first vice-presidents and recording secretaries.
