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1-44 of 44
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
An eccentric rebel of epic proportions, this Hollywood titan reigned supreme as director, screenwriter and character actor in a career that endured over five decades. The ten-time Oscar-nominated legend was born John Marcellus Huston in Nevada, Missouri, on August 5, 1906. His ancestry was English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, distant German and very remote Portuguese. The age-old story goes that the small town of his birth was won by John's grandfather in a poker game. John's father was the equally magnanimous character actor Walter Huston, and his mother, Rhea Gore, was a newspaperwoman who traveled around the country looking for stories. The only child of the couple, John began performing on stage with his vaudevillian father at age 3. Upon his parents' divorce at age 7, the young boy would take turns traveling around the vaudeville circuit with his father and the country with his mother on reporting excursions. A frail and sickly child, he was once placed in a sanitarium due to both an enlarged heart and kidney ailment. Making a miraculous recovery, he quit school at age 14 to become a full-fledged boxer and eventually won the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Championship of California, winning 22 of 25 bouts. His trademark broken nose was the result of that robust activity.
John married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Harvey, and also took his first professional stage bow with a leading role off-Broadway entitled "The Triumph of the Egg." He made his Broadway debut that same year with "Ruint" on April 7, 1925, and followed that with another Broadway show "Adam Solitaire" the following November. John soon grew restless with the confines of both his marriage and acting and abandoned both, taking a sojourn to Mexico where he became an officer in the cavalry and expert horseman while writing plays on the sly. Trying to control his wanderlust urges, he subsequently returned to America and attempted newspaper and magazine reporting work in New York by submitting short stories. He was even hired at one point by mogul Samuel Goldwyn Jr. as a screenwriter, but again he grew restless. During this time he also appeared unbilled in a few obligatory films. By 1932 John was on the move again and left for London and Paris where he studied painting and sketching. The promising artist became a homeless beggar during one harrowing point.
Returning again to America in 1933, he played the title role in a production of "Abraham Lincoln," only a few years after father Walter portrayed the part on film for D.W. Griffith. John made a new resolve to hone in on his obvious writing skills and began collaborating on a few scripts for Warner Brothers. He also married again. Warners was so impressed with his talents that he was signed on as both screenwriter and director for the Dashiell Hammett mystery yarn The Maltese Falcon (1941). The movie classic made a superstar out of Humphrey Bogart and is considered by critics and audiences alike--- 65 years after the fact--- to be the greatest detective film ever made. In the meantime John wrote/staged a couple of Broadway plays, and in the aftermath of his mammoth screen success directed bad-girl 'Bette Davis (I)' and good girl Olivia de Havilland in the film melodrama In This Our Life (1942), and three of his "Falcon" stars (Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet) in the romantic war picture Across the Pacific (1942). During WWII John served as a Signal Corps lieutenant and went on to helm a number of film documentaries for the U.S. government including the controversial Let There Be Light (1980), which father Walter narrated. The end of WWII also saw the end of his second marriage. He married third wife Evelyn Keyes, of "Gone With the Wind" fame, in 1946 but it too lasted a relatively short time. That same year the impulsive and always unpredictable Huston directed Jean-Paul Sartre's experimental play "No Exit" on Broadway. The show was a box-office bust (running less than a month) but nevertheless earned the New York Drama Critics Award as "best foreign play."
Hollywood glory came to him again in association with Bogart and Warner Brothers'. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), a classic tale of gold, greed and man's inhumanity to man set in Mexico, won John Oscars for both director and screenplay and his father nabbed the "Best Supporting Actor" trophy. John can be glimpsed at the beginning of the movie in a cameo playing a tourist, but he wouldn't act again on film for a decade and a half. With the momentum in his favor, John hung around in Hollywood this time to write and/or direct some of the finest American cinema made including Key Largo (1948) and The African Queen (1951) (both with Bogart), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Red Badge of Courage (1951) and Moulin Rouge (1952). Later films, including Moby Dick (1956), The Unforgiven (1960), The Misfits (1961), Freud (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964) and The Bible in the Beginning... (1966) were, for the most part, well-regarded but certainly not close to the level of his earlier revered work. He also experimented behind-the-camera with color effects and approached topics that most others would not even broach, including homosexuality and psychoanalysis.
An ardent supporter of human rights, he, along with director William Wyler and others, dared to form the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947, which strove to undermine the House Un-American Activities Committee. Disgusted by the Hollywood blacklisting that was killing the careers of many talented folk, he moved to St. Clerans in Ireland and became a citizen there along with his fourth wife, ballet dancer Enrica (Ricki) Soma. The couple had two children, including daughter Anjelica Huston who went on to have an enviable Hollywood career of her own. Huston and wife Ricki split after a son (director Danny Huston) was born to another actress in 1962. They did not divorce, however, and remained estranged until her sudden death in 1969 in a car accident. John subsequently adopted his late wife's child from another union. The ever-impulsive Huston would move yet again to Mexico where he married (1972) and divorced (1977) his fifth and final wife, Celeste Shane.
Huston returned to acting auspiciously with a major role in Otto Preminger's epic film The Cardinal (1963) for which Huston received an Oscar nomination at age 57. From that time forward, he would be glimpsed here and there in a number of colorful, baggy-eyed character roles in both good and bad (some positively abysmal) films that, at the very least, helped finance his passion projects. The former list included outstanding roles in Chinatown (1974) and The Wind and the Lion (1975), while the latter comprised of hammy parts in such awful drek as Candy (1968) and Myra Breckinridge (1970).
Directing daughter Angelica in her inauspicious movie debut, the thoroughly mediocre A Walk with Love and Death (1969), John made up for it 15 years later by directing her to Oscar glory in the mob tale Prizzi's Honor (1985). In the 1970s Huston resurged as a director of quality films with Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and Wise Blood (1979). He ended his career on a high note with Under the Volcano (1984), the afore-mentioned Prizzi's Honor (1985) and The Dead (1987). His only certifiable misfire during that era was the elephantine musical version of Annie (1982), though it later became somewhat of a cult favorite among children.
Huston lived the macho, outdoors life, unencumbered by convention or restrictions, and is often compared in style or flamboyancy to an Ernest Hemingway or Orson Welles. He was, in fact, the source of inspiration for Clint Eastwood in the helming of the film White Hunter Black Heart (1990) which chronicled the making of "The African Queen." Illness robbed Huston of a good portion of his twilight years with chronic emphysema the main culprit. As always, however, he continued to work tirelessly while hooked up to an oxygen machine if need be. At the end, the living legend was shooting an acting cameo in the film Mr. North (1988) for his son Danny, making his directorial bow at the time. John became seriously ill with pneumonia and died while on location at the age of 81. This maverick of a man's man who was once called "the eccentric's eccentric" by Paul Newman, left an incredibly rich legacy of work to be enjoyed by film lovers for centuries to come.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in Kansas, Max Showalter picked up the "acting bug" as a toddler when mother used to take him to the local theater where she played the piano for silent movies. He acted in 92 shows at the Pasadena Playhouse between 1935 and '38, made his Broadway debut under the aegis of Oscar Hammerstein II in "Knights of Song" and acted for two years in the cast of Irving Berlin's traveling musical "This Is the Army." In addition to his films, TV appearances (over 1000), and stage shows, Showalter was a composer, a songwriter, and pianist. In his later years he lived in an 18th-century farmhouse in the Connecticut town he fell in love with while shooting the movie It Happened to Jane (1959).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Helen Twelvetrees was born Helen Marie Jurgens in Brooklyn, New York on December 25, 1908. Her interest in the theatricals was apparent at an early age. After graduating from high school. Helen embarked on a stage career. She participated in a number of plays in New York City, but gravitated toward film when she headed to the West Coast in late 1928. In 1929, Helen appeared in her first motion picture called THE GHOST TALKS. That was quickly followed by WORDS AND MUSIC and BLUE SKIES that same year. Through the early thirties, Helen appeared in a number of movies. Audiences appreciated the pixish, little blonde and the roles she played. Perhaps one of her finest roles was a June Perry in STATE'S ATTORNEY (1932) opposite John Barrymore. Helen's character was romantically involved with the district attorney and plays the part with absolute conviction. Helen continued a hectic filming pace until 1936. She filmed five movies in 1935, but played in only THOROUGHBRED in '36. In 1938, Helen went through a drought and made her last film the following year in UNMARRIED. Helen's film career had ended. Through the balance of her life there seemed to be a void. On February 13, 1958, died after she took an overdose of sedatives. She was 49.- Rotund Italian-American drummer and character actor Buffy Dee was born Anthony DeSantolo on September 15, 1923 in Middletown, New York. Dee was afflicted with polio as a child and spent a short period of his life in a wheelchair. Fortunately, Buffy was able to recover from his bout with polio, although he was left with a slight limp for the rest of his life. Dee lived for almost a half century of his life in Miami, Florida and had a law degree from the University of Miami. Moreover, Buffy not only was a club owner and a drummer for Carmen Cavallaro, but also acted in a handful of films and television shows. Dee was especially funny and memorable as fat slob club owner Barney in Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976). Buffy died at age 72 from lung cancer in November, 1995.
- Make-Up Department
- Actor
- Director
Kevyn Aucoin was born on 14 February 1962 in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Zoolander (2001), Liza Minnelli: The Day After That (1993) and Michael Jackson feat. Janet Jackson: Scream (1995). He died on 7 May 2002 in Middletown, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jackie Horner was born on 9 August 1932 in Buffalo, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Smilin' Through (1941), Panama Hattie (1942) and Calling All Kids (1943). She was married to Louis Goldstein. She died on 8 February 2020 in Middletown, New York, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Jim Gallant was born on 24 December 1930 in Marion, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Real Bullets (1988) and Hangman (2000). He died on 6 May 2014 in New Middletown, Ohio, USA.- Grace Wallis Huddle was born in November 1908 in Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Leave It to Beaver (1957). She died on 12 January 1980 in Middletown, California, USA.
- Actor
Born Martin Francis McNeely, Marty McNeely was born on 14 December 1926 in Youngstown, Ohio, USA. He was an announcer for radio and television shows that included "Creature Features" (1971-1976); and had a career with ABC Radio in New York City, Ney York.He was a Union Member of AFTRA and SAG.
He lived in Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago.
He was married twice, having two children from his first marriage, and two children with his second wife Susan Petix.
Surviving are his wife of 30 years, Susan Petix McNeeley, 3 sons - Marty of Middletown, David and Douglas both of San Francisco, CA; daughter - Jane and her husband Rick of Yorba Linda, CA; 2 grandchildren - Martin and Dustin; 2 great grandchildren.
Martin was preceded in death by his parents, Anthony Francis and Louise McNeeley.- William Raymond Manchester was born on 1 April 1922 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer, known for Goodyear Playhouse (1951), Gooseberry Island (2009) and American Caesar (1985). He was married to Julia Brown Marshall. He died on 1 June 2004 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Alvin Lucier was born on 14 May 1931 in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Enter the Void (2009), Cry Dr. Chicago (1971) and Circles (1969). He was married to Mary Lucier and Wendy Stokes. He died on 1 December 2021 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.- Malcolm Johnson was born on 27 September 1904. He was a writer, known for On the Waterfront (1954). He died on 18 June 1976 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
- Additional Crew
Wayne Carver was born on 21 February 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He is known for The Mummy Road Show (1997), Forensic Files (1996) and 48 Hours (1988). He died on 26 December 2019 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.- Jelle Zeilinga de Boer was born on 23 August 1934. He died on 23 July 2016 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Frederick B. Van Brunt was born on 4 October 1954 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He is known for The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and The Osterman Weekend (1983). He died on 8 July 2019 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actress
Audrey Peart Dickman was born on 29 November 1927 in London, England, UK. She was a producer and actress, known for Saturday Night Live (1975), The Kraft Music Hall (1967) and The Best of John Belushi (1985). She died on 16 July 2001 in Middletown, New Jersey, USA.- Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill was born on 17 December 1921 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. Sarah Consuelo was a producer, known for Medusa (1973). Sarah Consuelo was married to Theodorous Roubanis, Guy Burgos and Edwin F. Russell. Sarah Consuelo died on 13 October 2000 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
- Pamela Saunders was born on 30 May 1931 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She was an actress, known for Samar (1962) and Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971). She died on 16 August 2021 in Middletown, New Jersey, USA.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
M.J. Bogdanowicz was born on 18 January 1915 in Massachusetts, USA. M.J. is known for Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982). M.J. died on 21 April 2004 in Middletown, New York, USA.- Little Sammy Davis was born in 1928 in Winona, Mississippi, USA. He was an actor, known for The Midnight Ramble Sessions: Volume 1 (2005) and Little Sammy Davis (2002). He died on 16 February 2018 in Middletown, New York, USA.
- Bartley Campbell was born on 12 August 1843 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for The Crucible of Life (1918), My Partner (1916) and The Galley Slave (1915). He died on 30 July 1888 in Middletown, New York, USA.
- Jesenia Valentin was an actress, known for Her Essence (2011), Where Hearts Lie (2016) and Clariol Herbal Pubessences (2012). She died on 1 June 2016 in Middletown, New York, USA.
- Music Department
- Composer
James Tyler was born on 7 January 1929 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He was a composer, known for The Great Muppet Caper (1981), BBC Play of the Month (1965) and The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978). He died on 5 March 2005 in Middletown, New York, USA.- Sal Dominello was born on 12 March 1933 in Reggio Calabria, Italy. He was an actor, known for Jacknife (1989). He was married to Rose Dominello. He died on 27 January 2018 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
- Art Lee was born on 4 May 1942 in White Plains, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The American Sportsman (1965). He was married to Kristin Best. He died on 25 July 2018 in Middletown, New York, USA.