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- Clara Blandick was an American actress born as Clara Dickey and born aboard an American ship off the coast of Hong Kong on June 4, 1880. Little is known about her early life until she became an actress. She grew up in Boston and first acted on stage in E.H. Sothern's 'Richard Lovelace'. Although she appeared in 118 films, she was primarily a stage actress. She began her film career at a late age. She was 33 when she was picked for the role as Emily Mason in Mrs. Black Is Back (1914). Her next film was The Stolen Triumph (1916), after which she returned to the stage, where she seemed more comfortable. She did not make another film until the age of 48, when she appeared in Poor Aubrey (1930).
She had only three films under her belt by this time but would appear in more than 100 over the next 20 years. She made nine films in 1930, and thirteen the following year. The role that was to immortalize her, however, was "Auntie Em" in The Wizard of Oz (1939). She continued in films until 1950, when she appeared on the screen for the final time in Key to the City (1950).
By this time Blandick had been suffering from poor health for years, especially painful arthritis and failing eyesight, and retired from the screen. On Palm Sunday, April 15, 1962, aged 85, she went to church in Hollywood. When she returned she wrote a note stating she was about to take the greatest adventure of her life. She took an overdose of sleeping tablets and pulled a plastic bag over her head, thus ending her life. - Henry Byron Warner was the definitive cinematic Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). He was born into a prominent theatrical family on October 26, 1875 in London. His father was Charles Warner, and his grandfather was James Warner, both prominent English actors. He replaced J.B. Warner as Jesus in The King of Kings (1927) when J.B. died of tuberculosis at age 29. (J.B. was not Henry's brother. J.B. had taken the professional last name "Warner" because Henry's family took him in.)
Henry Warner's family wanted him to become a doctor, and he graduated from London University but eventually gave up his medical studies. The theater was in his blood, and he studied acting in Paris and Italy before joining his father's stock company, making his debut in the English production of "Drink." It was from his father that he honed his craft.
Warner made it to the United States in the early 1900s, after touring the British Empire. Billed as Harry Warner, he made his Broadway debut in the US colonial drama "Audrey" at Hoyt's Theatre on November 24, 1902, starring James O'Neill, the father of playwright Eugene O'Neill. He was billed as H.B. Warner in his next appearance on Broadway, in the 1906 comedy "Nurse Marjorie." He appeared in 13 more Broadway productions in his career, from the twin-bill of "Susan in Search of a Husband" & "A Tenement Tragedy" (also 1906) to "Silence" in 1925.
He moved into motion pictures, making his debut in the Mutual short Harp of Tara (1914). Also in 1914, he appeared in a film written by Cecil B. DeMille for Famous Players Lasky, The Ghost Breaker (1914), in which he had played on Broadway the year before. Warner became a leading man and a star in silent pictures, reaching the zenith of his career playing Jesus in DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). His excellent performance was actually enhanced by the silent screen, allowing the audience to imagine how Jesus would sound. Warner could be extremely moving in silent pictures, notably in the melodrama Sorrell and Son (1927) as a war veteran father who sacrifices all for his son.
When talkies arrived, he became a busy supporting player. A favorite of Frank Capra, appeared in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Cast again by Capra, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Lost Horizon (1937). He also appeared in You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Other major talkies included The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and Topper Returns (1941). Other than Jesus, the role he is best remembered role for today is in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), in which he played Mr. Gower, the druggist who is saved from committing a lethal medication error by the young George Bailey (the James Stewart character as a child). H.B. Warner appeared in Sunset Boulevard (1950) as himself. His last credited role was as Amminadab in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), a remake of the earlier silent The Ten Commandments (1923). He last role was an uncredited bit part in Darby's Rangers (1958).
Henry Warner died on December 21, 1958 in Woodland Hills, California. He was 82 years old. - Actress
- Soundtrack
The daughter of a lawyer, Ouspenskaya studied singing at the Warsaw Conservatory and acting at Adasheff's School of the Drama in Moscow. She received her practical training as an actress touring in the Russian provinces. She later joined the Moscow Art Theatre. It was here that she first worked under the direction of the great Konstantin Stanislavski, whose "Method" she would go on to promote for the remainder of her life. She came to America with the Art Theatre in 1922 and, upon their return to Moscow, defected to the US to become a dominant Broadway actress for more than a decade until she founded the School of Dramatic Art in New York in 1929. It was to help keep the school funded that she accepted her first Hollywod film, Dodsworth (1936). She had appeared in six silent movies in Russia earlier in her career. This lucrative association, for Ouspenskaya, Hollywood and the viewing public, would last for more than a dozen years and two dozen films. Thanks to her often-superior demeanor and addiction to astrology, she could prove maddening on the set. She remained in nearly daily communication with L.A. Times' astrologer Carroll Righter who would advise her on the best times to appear on camera along with when and where to travel. As a consequence, most casts and crews disliked the over-bearing, wispy 90-pound actress intensely. She bounced between prestigious A-pictures (Love Affair (1939), Waterloo Bridge (1940)) and B-movies (Mystery of Marie Roget (1942), Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)), performing, and behaving, with equal intensity. She is especially notable for having appeared in the last great Universal horror entry, The Wolf Man (1941) and the interesting Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). A heavy smoker, she fell asleep in bed with a lit cigarette in late November 1949 and suffered massive burns. She died of a stroke in the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital three days later.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Berton Churchill was born on 9 December 1876 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for Stagecoach (1939), Sweethearts (1938) and Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). He was married to Harriet Elizabeth Gardner. He died on 10 October 1940 in New York City, New York, USA.- Jack London was the best-selling, highest paid and most popular American author of his time.
He was born John Griffith Chaney, on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco. He was raised by his mother Flora Wellman and his stepfather John London (he didn't know who his father was until his adulthood). After graduation from a grammar school he worked 12 to 18 hours a day at a cannery. Jack had a special relationship with his black foster mother, Virginia (Jenny) Prentiss. She loaned him some money and in 1891 he bought a sloop and became an oyster pirate. A few months later he joined the California Fish Patrol. In 1893 he joined the crew of a sealing schooner, bound for Japan. His first story, "Typhoon off the Coast of Japan", based on his sailing experiences, was published in November of 1893. Still unemployed, he became a tramp and hoboed around the country. In 1894 he was arrested for vagrancy and spent a month in jail, where he was a witness to "awful abysses of human degradation." His entire life, after these events, became a race to erase the traumatizing memories of his childhood and youth.
He continued his self-education at the Oakland Public Library. Among his readings were works by Gustave Flaubert and Lev Tolstoy. In 1896 he was admitted to the University of California, but after a year was forced to leave due to financial reasons. In 1897 he went to the Canadian Yukon and joined the Klondike Gold Rush. There he experienced all the hardships of uncivilized life and suffered from--among other things--severe frostbite, scurvy, malaria and dysentery. This left his health seriously impaired. London's struggles for survival inspired "To Build a Fire" (1902), which is considered his best short story. Writing became his ticket out of poverty; a way, in his words, to "sell his brains". His first marriage to Bess Maddern began as a friendship, not love, and ended 3 years later, leaving her with two daughters. His second marriage to Charmian Kittrdge, an editor, lasted until his death.
"The Call of the Wild" (1903) was his biggest success. "The Sea-Wolf" (1904) was turned into the first full-length American movie. Later came "The Iron Heel" (1908), a premonition of the Orwellian world, and the autobiographical "Martin Eden" (1909). The highest-paid writer of his time, he earned over $2 million yet he was always broke. In 1905 he bought a ranch in California, where he designed the first concrete silo in the state. His books provided operating income. He once said, "I would write a book for no other reason than to add three or four hundred acres to my magnificent estate." His ecological approach and effort to adapt the ideas of Asian sustainable agriculture was ahead of his time. In 1913 his Big House was ruined by a devastating fire and Jack was financially and mentally hurt. He built a small cottage and made big plans, but he lived only 3 more years. His 1400-acre ranch is now a National Historic Landmark, named Jack London State Historic Park. The writer's cottage was preserved by his wife Charmian, who lived there until her death in 1955.
His changing views and philosophy were often misunderstood as he grew out of his own mistakes. At one time he wrote, "I have been more stimulated by [Friedrich Nietzsche] than by any other writer in the world." Later London disregarded the "superman" theory of Nietzsche, calling himself Nietschze's "intellectual enemy." His readings of Carl Jung contributed to his complex philosophy. His other influences ranged from Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson to Charles Darwin, Aldous Huxley and Karl Marx. While sympathizing with the Mexican revolution in "The Mexican", he wrote differently about it when he was sent to Mexico as a reporter in 1914. By age 40, somewhat disillusioned, he resigned from the Socialist party and from various clubs. During his last years London was in extreme pain, caused by complications from kidney failure (uremia is recorded on his death certificate). He was laid to rest at his ranch according to his will: "And roll over me a red boulder from the ruins of the Big House." - Actor
- Soundtrack
A respected stage actor -- he trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts -- since the 1920s, birdlike Charles Halton's thinning hair, rimless glasses and officious manner were familiar to generations of moviegoers. Whether playing the neighborhood busybody, a stern government bureaucrat or weaselly attorney, you could count on Halton to try to drive the "immoral influences" out of the neighborhood, foreclose on the orphanage, evict the poor widow and her children from their apartment, or any other number of dastardly deeds, all justified by "I'm sorry but that's my job." His 40-year film career ended with High School Confidential! (1958), after which he retired.- Too short to be a leading lady, Beryl Mercer had a very active and productive career playing motherly characters. She played opposite great leading men, such as Colin Clive, Robert Montgomery, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, Leslie Howard, Spencer Tracy, and Randolph Scott. She also played Queen Victoria in The Little Princess (1939) and The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939).
She and Holmes Herbert had a daughter, Joan. - Actor
- Writer
- Director
Victor Moore was born on 24 February 1876 in Hammonton, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Swing Time (1936), Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) and It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947). He was married to Shirley Paige and Emma Littlefield. He died on 23 July 1962 in East Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Leigh Whipper was an consummate actor who led an impressive life. Born in South Carolina in 1876, at the end of the Reconstruction Era in which his parents had participated, he was educated in Washington, D.C., attending Howard University, before turning permanently to a life in the theater. At a time when work for black actors was limited, Whipper became a successful actor, appearing in more than twenty plays and a greater number of films. He not only joined Actors Equity in 1913 and other organizations where African-Americans were few in number, but he also helped fellow African-American thespians by founding the Negro Actors Guild in 1937. His first great success was as The Crab Man in "Porgy" on the stage in 1927-1928 and 1929. His work also included radio and television. He appeared in his first movie in 1920, but his most prolific period of movie making was between the years 1939 and 1947 when he made twenty films, though sometimes he received no screen credit. His performance as Crooks in "Of Mice and Men" (1939), which reprised his Broadway role, is remarkably powerful and natural at a time when roles for African-Americans often required them to compromise their dignity by playing caricatures. In 1944, Whipper received a special honor from the Ethiopian government for his portrayal of Emperor Haile Selassie. He retired in 1972 and died three months before his 99th birthday in 1975.- Georgia Caine was born on 30 October 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) and It's Love I'm After (1937). She was married to Alphonzo Bell Hudson and Charles Winters. She died on 4 April 1964 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- May Hallatt was born on 1 May 1876 in Scarborough, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Black Narcissus (1947), Separate Tables (1958) and Me and My Girl (1939). She died on 20 May 1969 in London, England, UK.
- Clarence Wilson was born on 17 November 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for You Can't Take It with You (1938), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and Penguin Pool Murder (1932). He died on 5 October 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Frank Darien was born on 18 March 1876 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Hellzapoppin' (1941) and The Whip Hand (1951). He died on 20 October 1955 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
John Hugh Elliott was born July 5th 1876 to Sarah E. Norris (07/04/1845-02/21/1897) and Jehue S. Elliott (9/21/1845-8/18/1916) in Keosauqua. He had three sisters, Elizabeth (3/7/1869-01/18/1916), Fanny (10/31/1871-02/24/1897), and Nina (03/15/1887-05/26/1958). In Febuary 1897, Typhoid Fever hit the Elliott family. John, his mother, and sister Fanny all fell ill. Elizabeth came out from Keosaqua to care for her sick siblings. Fanny passed just three days after their mother but John, after about a week began his full recovery. On April 14th, 1897 he married Cleo Kelly. They lived in Pella Iowa where John had moved to in October 1895 with his family. Two years later, the couple had twins, a boy and girl, Donald and Dorothy on August 9th, 1899. It was a rough marriage since Cleo's family highly disapproved of her relationship with an "actor". John began as a stage actor, but he truly shone with his appearances in "talkies". John enjoyed playing a variety of roles, including those of more despicable characters, seeing it as a way to exercise an actor's best talents. He died December 12th, 1956 in his California home.- Hallene Hill was born on 12 September 1876 in Kirksville, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), The Arkansas Traveler (1938) and Thriller (1960). She died on 6 January 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Tex Cooper was born as Judge Thomas Cooper in Denton, Texas, the son of Wilford Cooper and Lemon Pair. Tex had siblings Walter and George Cooper. His parents were farmers and hailed from Bradley County, Tennessee. Tex's trademark in the movies was his Buffalo Bill lookalike appearance. His grandfather was Thomas Cooper who married Martha Rucker and his great grandparents were Bennett and Lydia Cooper from North Carolina.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
William Farnum was born the son of G.D. Farnum and Adela Le Gros, actors who trained their William and his two brothers, Dustin Farnum and Marshall Farnum, in their profession. William made his stage debut at the age of 10 in Richmond, Virginia, in a production of "Julius Caesar" starring Edwin Booth. His first Broadway appearance was in 1896. His first major stage success was in the title role in "Ben Hur", in which he toured for five years. From 1915 to 1925 he devoted himself exclusively to motion pictures and became one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood, receiving from William Fox $10,000 weekly. In 1924 he was seriously injured while filming The Man Who Fights Alone (1924). After that he was reduced to playing minor roles until the end of the silent era. He returned to the stage in 1925 playing Sir Ralph Morgan in "The Buccaneer". The following year he appeared in the title role of Julius Caesar and two years later was on Broadway as Banquo in "Macbeth". On June 10, 1953, Farnum's funeral was held at the Wilshire Methodist Church in Los Angeles. Pallbearers were Cecil B. DeMille, Jesse Lasky, Frank Lloyd, Clarence Brown, Charles Coburn and Leo Carillo. The eulogy was read by Pat O'Brien.- Amy Veness was born on 26 February 1876 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, UK. She was an actress, known for This Happy Breed (1944), Oliver Twist (1948) and Just William (1940). She was married to Basil Springett. She died on 22 September 1960 in Saltdean, Sussex, England, UK.
- Walter C. Hackett was born on 10 November 1876 in Oakland, California, USA. He was a writer, known for Their Big Moment (1934), The White Sister (1933) and The White Sister (1923). He was married to Marion Lorne. He died on 20 January 1944 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
Mack Swain was born in 1876 and soon became a talented vaudevillian. In 1913 he was hired by Mack Sennett and appeared in a few Mabel Normand pictures until a year later he became even bigger when Charlie Chaplin arrived at the Keystone Studio. Swain later created a character by the name of Ambrose whom he appeared with Mr. Walrus (Played by comic Chester Conklin) most memorably in "Love Speed & Thrills" (1915).
After that his career began to go downward until Charlie Chaplin rescued it in 1921 and he later appeared in his masterpiece "The Gold Rush" (1925). After "The Gold Rush" he appeared in many Hollywood productions such as Lon Chaney's "Mockery" and "The Last Warning" (1929).
In 1931 he appeared in the academy award nominee for best short "Stout Hearts and Willing Hands" which also co-starred former keystone actors such as Chester Conklin, Sterling Ford, Clyde Cook, and Owen Moore. He retired from then onward and died in 1935.- American character actor of rustic types, Si Jenks was born Howard Hansell Jenkins in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on 23 September 1876, to John (a shopkeeper) and Catherine Jenkins. He was the sixth of seven children. Little is known of his boyhood. At 21, on 21 April 1898, the first day of the Spanish-American War, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard (Co. F, 6th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry). He served until October, 1898 (two months following the end of the war), but never left the U.S. during his tour of duty. The following January, he enlisted for three years in the U.S. Army, but only served eight months, as an artilleryman, again without leaving the U.S. He returned to Norristown in 1899 after his military service and worked at a local inn as a hostler through at least 1904. At some point, he developed an interest in entertainment as a career. By 1919, he was married to Victoria Allen, with whom he teamed up in a vaudeville act called "Small Town Wise Crackers." They toured the Orpheum Circuit, appearing in 45 theatres in 36 cities across the U.S. At some point, the marriage and the act broke up, and Jenkins, now billing himself as Si Jenks, continued with a variety of new partners in the act. In 1922, the tour landed him in Los Angeles. Comic actor-director Al St. John, whose later career as a bearded Western sidekick would come to resemble Jenks's, gave the 46-year-old vaudevillian small parts in a couple of his comedy shorts at Fox, where Jenks also was also cast in his first feature film, John Ford's The Village Blacksmith (1922) After a lapse of a couple of years, Jenks came to the attention of Mack Sennett, who put Jenks to work in some 15 pictures over the next decade. Jenks's most familiar roles called for him to work without his dentures and with a scrubby beard, and he quickly found work in a large number of mainly comedic roles, primarily in Westerns. Despite his familiarity as bearded sidekick types, he never achieved the fame of a George 'Gabby' Hayes or Al 'Fuzzy' St. John, but he was very much of a type with those actors. Largely in smaller roles, Jenks made over 220 films, as well as a handful of TV episodes, over the course of his thirty-year career. He retired in 1954 at 78 and lived much of the rest of his life with his wife and fellow ex-vaudevillian, British actress Lilian Hartford, at the Motion Picture Country House & Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He died there of heart disease at 93, on 6 January 1970. She followed him in death at age 100, in 1983.
- Texan-born actress Charlotte Walker was the daughter of a wealthy cotton broker, who died when she was eleven. With her siblings she went on to live at a ranch owned by her mother's even more affluent family. In her mid-teens, Charlotte studied drama at Fort Edwards Collegiate Institute. She performed on the Broadway stage from 1901 and in silent pictures with the Lasky Organisation from 1915, subsequently working for Thanhouser from 1917 to 1919. Charlotte was considered a versatile actress, skilled in both comedy and dramatic parts. She was also exquisitely beautiful, and, though already well into middle age, able to command leading roles in several high profile productions. Her second marriage (1910-1930) was to the prolific Broadway playwright Eugene Walter and one of her biggest successes was a starring role in his 1913 stage dramatisation and subsequent cinematic version of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1916), produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Her status began to decline with the advent of sound pictures. Indifferent reviews included a performance in Three Faces East (1930), described as overly 'theatrical' by the New York Times. Relegated to small supporting roles in several forgettable B-grade pictures, Charlotte retired from acting in 1941. She died in 1958 in her home state at the age of 81.
- Additional Crew
- Producer
People liked Joseph M. Schenck. Anyone who knew both him and his brother Nicholas Schenck would comment on how different they were. He came to New York in 1893 and, with his younger brother, built a drugstore business. They risked some profits and made more money in amusement parks. Marcus Loew bought one of their parks in 1907, then made the Schencks partners in Consolidated Enterprises, his theater and movie house chain in 1912. The brothers' personalities were quite different; Joe was affable and enjoyed keeping a deal together by finding common ground between business associates that often despised each other. His brother Nick was a cold, driven, hard-nosed businessman who thoroughly enjoyed keeping people on short leashes. In short, people were drawn to Joe and feared Nick.
Joe booked films, which gave him the opportunity to meet movie stars, among them Norma Talmadge, who became his wife in 1916. He was fascinated by Hollywood and wanted to get involved with movie production, whereas Nick was quietly managing Loew's burgeoning theatrical empire. Joe was far more enamored by the Hollywood lifestyle than his brother and wanted to take a much more active role in the production rather than the high finance end of the business. He saw his opportunity in 1917 to produce Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton and the later D.W. Griffith films. At this point the brothers' lives took separate paths; Joe left Consolidated while Nick remained and soon became Marcus Loew's #2 man, assisting him in his dream of combining Metro Pictures with Goldwyn Pictures in order to provide the expanding theater chain with a steady flow of quality films (morphing into MGM, after bringing Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg on board in 1924), later ascending to the presidency of Loew's Incorporated's--MGM's parent company--after Marcus Loew's sudden death (quietly becoming the most powerful man in the motion picture industry) in late 1926. Joe became chairman of United Artists (which, somewhat ironically, lacked a theater chain--a factor that would ultimately cripple his brother's studio in the 1950s after the Supreme Court's anti-trust decision required theatrical divestment) in 1924, then its president in 1927.
In 1933 he helped Darryl F. Zanuck establish 20th Century Pictures, which merged with the ailing Fox Film Corp. in 1935, with Schenck as chairman of the renamed 20th Century-Fox. Organized crime had coveted Hollywood from a distance for years, but had been unable to make serious inroads into the area thanks to the brutally effective work of the Los Angeles Police Department's so-called "hat squad," which was tasked with keeping the city Mafia-free. The studio's weak link was through the growing thorns in their collective sides: the unions, whose membership and collectives spanned across state lines. In 1936 Willie Morris Bioff, a Chicago mobster out of the remnants of the Al Capone gang who ran the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees & Moving Picture Machine Operators behind the scenes, told the studios they could avoid strikes (along with the implied work slowdowns and spontaneous theater fires) for $2 million. All agreed to pay, but Schenck made one of the payoffs with a personal check, which came to the attention of U.S. Internal Revenue Service agents. Thanks to the paper trail, Schenck was indicted for income tax evasion. With some applied pressure and soul-searching, Joe testified against Bioff and the titular union president, George E. Browne, in 1941 as part of a plea bargain. In 1946 he began to serve a one-year sentence for tax irregularities and bribery (of the union officials) but was pardoned by President Harry Truman after having served only four months.
After leaving prison he immediately returned to Fox as head of production. Marilyn Monroe became friendly with him in 1947 and was known as one of his "girlfriends", although she said the relationship was platonic. He was helpful in her career in any case, getting her a very small part in Fox's Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) and convincing Harry Cohn at Columbia to give her a contract after Fox dropped her.
AMPAS awarded Schenck a special Oscar for services to the film industry in 1952. In 1953 he co-founded the Magna Corp. with Mike Todd to market the Todd-AO wide-screen system, which was wildly profitable (and remains a technological force in the movie industry to this day). Shortly after he retired in 1957, Schenck had a stroke and never fully recovered.- Born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on August 7 1876, the only daughter of a Dutch hat-maker, she seemed unlikely to later become the Mata Hari, the most infamous double agent in spy history. She answered an advertisement in the local paper placed by Rudolph MacLeod, a career military man in need of a wife. Enchanted by the tall, dark, and lovely Margaretha, MacLeod married her in 1895, and moved her to Dutch-controlled Java. His wife fell in love with Java, and wore native sarongs, learned the local language, and watched local dancers. MacLeod's philandering and bad temper strained their marriage, and even the birth of their second child could not repair the damage done. After their move to Sumatra, a terrible tragedy occurred that would finally end their marriage. While getting ready for bed on June 27 1899, Margaretha heard her children screaming. Racing to their nursery, she found her son and daughter had been poisoned, probably by an angry servant. While their daughter Jeanne Louise (called "Non", a Malay name) survived, her elder brother Norman was not so fortunate. Margaretha fell into a deep depression that was only worsened by MacLeod's blaming her for Norman's death. Finally, the tension exploded, and MacLeod beat Margaretha brutally before kidnapping their daughter and fleeing to Europe. She obtained a divorce and had her child returned to her, but MacLeod refused to pay any support. Unable to care for Non, Margaretha reluctantly left the girl in her father's care and left for Paris. There she became an exotic dancer, choosing the Malay term "matahari" (Eye of the Sun) as her stage name. Concocting a fanciful tale of being a half-Javanese temple dancer devoted to the god Shiva, Margaretha first appeared on stage as her alter-ego Mata Hari in 1905. Her erotic dancing (that included shedding veils, sarongs, and most everything else in the course of her performance) made her an instant sensation, and traveled all over Europe. She also made several unsuccessful attempts to regain custody of her daughter Non, even plotting with a servant to kidnap the girl from her school in Velp. While trying to visit her lover, a Russian officer named Vadim Maslov, Margaretha was approached by Georges Ladoux, a French army captain, who asked her to spy on the Germans. She agreed and planned to seduce a German General and get him to spill military secrets. However, she was arrested by British intelligence and interrogated by Scotland Yard, who were convinced she was actually a spy for the Germans. Finally she was released, and as 1916 drew to a close Margaretha made her way to Spain where she romanced a German Major called Kalle. He caught onto her and sent false messages claiming that she was in fact a German spy. The French arrested Margaretha on February 13 1917 and imprisoned her. She was convicted that summer of spying for an enemy nation and sentenced to death. On October 15 1917, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle faced the firing squad. She refused a blindfold and blew one last kiss to her killers. Mata Hari was killed by a bullet to the heart, and her body was donated to medical science.
- Aggie Herring was born on 4 February 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Oliver Twist (1922), A Blind Bargain (1922) and Pampered Youth (1925). She was married to Jess Herring. She died on 28 October 1939 in Santa Monica, California, USA.