Who was born on this date:

Loretta Young, the elegant award winning actress, whose on-screen image as the wholesome girl next door brought tremendous success in Hollywood was born Gretchen Michaela Young on January 6, 1913 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents were separated when Loretta was three years old when the family moved to Southern California. Needing money Loretta’s mother allowed the youngster to act in order to raise some cash for the family. Loretta’s first motion picture was 1919’s, The Only Way, in this film she played the small part of a crying child on an operating table. Loretta was very ambitious and strove for excellence on screen even in the early years of her film career. She was candid about wanting fame and stardom, not wanting to be just an actress.

In a film and television career that spanned seven decades (1919 to 1994), she appeared in one hundred motion pictures. She played opposite all of the major romantic leading men of the era, including Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, Spencer Tracy, and James Cagney. She made an easy transition from silent film to talkies, and with her ever youthful appearance and wholesome image, delighted film going audiences year after year. Young’s major film credits include; The Sheik (1921), The Magnificent Flirt (1928), The Head Man (1928), Kismet (1930), Life Begins (1932), They Call it Sin (1932), The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933), Born to be Bad (1934), Shanghai (1935), The Call of the Wild (1935), Ramona (1936), Kentucky (1938), Ladies Courageous (1944), The Bishop’s Wife (1947), and It Happens Every Thursday (1953). In 1948, in a shocking upset, Young won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the witty Swedish maid, turned Congresswoman, Katrin Holstrom in The Farmer’s Daughter (1947). Young was nominated for a second best actress Academy Award in 1950 for Come to the Stable (1949), but lost to Olivia de Havilland.

While Young was very protective of her wholesome on-screen image, she was hard pressed to keep that image off screen. The many contradictions in her public and private life were exemplified by an early marriage (at age 17) that ended in divorce, and carried on numerous love affairs with many of her male co-stars, most notably Clark Gable with whom she co-starred with in 1935’s The Call of the Wild. This affair allegedly produced an illegitimate daughter (Judy Lewis) who was subsequently reported as being adopted. It has been noted that Judy was the right age to have been born during Young’s mysterious sojourn to Europe following filming of The Crusades in 1935 and that Judy’s uncanny resemblance to Gable is remarkable. To her dying day, Young remained coy and denied these allegations but left a tantalizing quote in the book Hollywood Royalty (1992), “Clark Gable certainly was everything that he appeared to be.”

In the early 1950’s as her film career began to wane, Young took a gamble and ventured into television. Her move to the small screen was roundly criticized but she determined to try anyway. On September 20, 1953, A Letter to Loretta (AKA, The Loretta Young Show) aired on NBC and had a successful eight year run. The remainder of her life was filled with philanthropic ventures. She wrote a book in 1961 entitled, The Things I Had to Learn, and made occasional forays into television. On August 12, 2000, Young died from ovarian cancer at the Los Angeles home of her sister Georgiana Montalban (wife of actor Ricardo Montalban). Her funeral service was held at the St. Louis Catholic Church in Cathedral City, California. Loretta Young is buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Culver City, her grave is unmarked and is interred within the same plot as her mother, Gladys Belzer.

Actor Tom Mix was born on January 6, 1880 in Mix Run. Pennsylvania. He was a star of many early western movies, making 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features. He was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed. On the afternoon of October 12, 1940, Mix was killed a one car accident near Florence, Arizona. Mix is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale.

Who died on this date:

On January 6, 1949, director Victor Fleming died. The acclaimed film director was born on February 23, 1889 in Pasadena, California. He began his career in Hollywood as a stuntman but soon found that his true calling was behind the camera as a director. Fleming’s motion picture directorial career spanned nearly thirty years from 1919 to 1948, and included forty-eight films. He won the 1940 best director Oscar for Gone with the Wind and is also famous for directing The Wizard of Oz (1939). Other notable film credits include: The Way of All Flesh (1927), The Virginian (1929), Renegades (1930), Treasure Island (1934), Captains Courageous (1937), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), and Joan of Arc (1948). On January 6, 1949, while vacationing with his family near Cottonwood, Arizona, the award winning director died of a heart attack. His funeral was held at the Alban’s Episcopal Church in West Los Angeles. In attendance were numerous celebrities including Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, and Van Johnson. Fleming is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Jane Wyman was born on January 5, 1917 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known as a talented and classy actress whose award winning and distinguished film career was nearly overshadowed by her failed third marriage to actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Wyman came from a broken home; her parents divorced when she was very young and her father died prematurely. After high school with the help of her mother, she attempted to break into show business but early attempts failed. While attending the University of Missouri, she moonlighted as a radio singer under the name of Jane Durrell. She got her start in films in 1932 as a member of the chorus line in The Kid from Spain; other yet unknown cast members from this film included Betty Grable and Paulette Goddard. Throughout the early to late 1930’s, Wyman appeared in numerous “B” movies as a contract player at Warner Bros Studios and it was during this time that she met and eventually married actor Ronald Reagan. The pair first appeared on film together in Brother Rat (1938) and the two were married on January 26, 1940; they would appear together in three additional motion pictures. Their union lasted eight years, producing one biological daughter (Maureen Reagan) and one adopted son (Michael Reagan), and in 1948 ended in divorce. After Reagan became Governor of California and then President in 1980, Wyman refused to comment on their marriage and considered it bad taste to talk of ex-husbands.

Professionally, Wyman’s film career as a dramatic actress was not taken seriously until after appearing alongside Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945). The following year she starred in The Yearling (1946) and received a best actress Oscar nomination an in 1949 won Oscar gold as best lead actress for her portrayal of a deaf-mute rape victim in Johnny Belinda (1948). This was the first time since the silent movie era that an actress had won the award by not saying a word. There were whispers that Academy voters had given her the Oscar out of sympathy, due to a recent miscarriage and tumultuous divorce from Ronald Reagan. Upon accepting the award, Wyman was quoted as saying “I accept this very gratefully for keeping my mouth shut for once. I think I will do it again.” In following years, she would be nominated twice more for best actress Academy Awards in 1952 for The Blue Veil (1951) and 1955 for Magnificent Obsession (1954).

In a film and television career that would span six decades from 1932 to 1993, Wyman would appear in eighty six motion pictures and numerous television series some of which include; Ready Willing and Able (1937), The Angel from Texas (1940), Bad Men of Missouri (1941), Night and Day (1946), The Glass Menagerie (1950), and Pollyanna (1960). Television credits include; Jane Wyman Presents: The Fireside Theatre (1955-58) and Falcon Crest (1981-1990). In 1993, she retired from show business and moved to the Palm Springs area; there she remained active as the national chairwoman of the National Arthritis Foundation. On September 10, 2007, Wyman died from of complications of arthritis and diabetes at her home in Rancho Mirage, California. The actress had been in failing health for several years prior to her death. Her funeral was held at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert, California. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cathedral City in the Mission Santa Rosa outdoor mausoleum, crypt 5F.
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Who was born on this date:

Actor Ray Milland, the charming but very private and introspective actor was born Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones on January 3, 1905 in Neath, Wales, England. The Welsh born actor often played the suave and romantic leading man during his prolific film career. He got his break in show business due to an accident, in 1929 as a then soldier in the British Calvary; he was chosen to replace an injured actor (who had been hit by a bus) in The Informer (1929). The bit part called for a soldier (Milland) to shoot into a target. The producers were so impressed by Milland (he had no previous acting experience) that he was offered another role in The Flying Scotsman (1929) and this led to a contract with MGM Studios and his Hollywood career was off and running. During an award winning film career that spanned five decades (1929-1985), Milland appeared in over one hundred and seventy motion pictures and television programs. Some of his most well known films are The Bachelor Father (1931), Bolero (1934), The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936), Beau Geste (1939), Reap the Wild Wind (1942), The Uninvited (1944), The Trouble with Women (1947), Dial M for Murder (1954), Premature Burial (1962), Love Story (1970), Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), and Escape to Witch Mountain (1975).

His crowning achievement was in 1946, when he won the Oscar for best lead actor, portraying the alcoholic writer, Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend (1945). Upon accepting his award from Actress Ingrid Bergman, Milland appeared to be nervous and unprepared; he simply nodded, smiled and left the stage without uttering a word. He was the first and last best actor Oscar winner not to utter a single word of acceptance. He was a notoriously private person and stayed away from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. He never appeared in the gossip magazines and often preferred to stay home with a good book. In 1984, Milland was diagnosed with lung cancer; he continued to work in film and television right up until his death on March 10, 1986. The veteran actor died in his sleep at the Torrance Memorial Hospital in Torrance, California and his remains were cremated and scattered at sea, near Redondo Beach, California.

Actress Marion Davies was born on January 3, 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. She is best remembered for her relationship with William Randolph Hearst. Although her film career was primarily during the silent era, she did make a few movies during the early talkie period. Marion began her show business career in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1916. And made her screen debut in 1917’s, Runaway Romany and during the next 10 years she appeared in 29 films. By the mid-1920s, however, her career was often overshadowed by her relationship with Hearst and their fabulous social life at San Simeon. She had met Hearst long before she had started working in films and he promised to finance several high profile movies and put Marion in the starring role. Hearst’s relentless efforts to promote her career instead had a detrimental effect.

The coming of sound made Davies nervous because she had never completely overcome a childhood stutter. Her career survived, however, and she made several comedies and musicals during the 1930s, including Marianne (1929), Not So Dumb (1930), The Florodora Girl (1930), The Bachelor Father (1931), Five and Ten (1931), Polly of the Circus (1932), and Going Hollywood (1933). Her career, however, was hampered by Hearst’s insistence that she play distinguished, dramatic parts as opposed to the comic roles. Davies last film was Ever Since Eve in 1937.

Hearst and Davies lived as a couple for decades but were never married, as Hearst’s wife refused to give him a divorce. At one point, he reportedly came close to marrying Davies, but decided his wife’s settlement demands were too high. Hearst was extremely jealous and possessive of her, even though he was married throughout their relationship. Davies was aboard the Hearst yacht when film producer Thomas Ince became ill and died. An “urban legend” revolves around a rumored relationship with Chaplin has endured since 1924. Chaplin (among other actresses and actors) and Davies were aboard the yacht the fateful night Thomas Ince died. Despite the lack of evidence to support a relationship, rumors have circulated that Hearst mistook Ince for Chaplin and shot him in a jealous rage.
The official record shows that Ince suffered an attack of acute indigestion while aboard the yacht and was escorted off in San Diego by another of the guests, Dr. Daniel Carson Goodman, a Hollywood writer and producer. Ince was put on a train bound for Los Angeles, but was removed from the train at Del Mar when his condition worsened. He was given medical attention by Dr. T. A. Parker and a nurse, Jesse Howard. Ince told them that he had drunk liquor aboard Hearst’s yacht. He was taken to his Hollywood home where he died the following day of a heart condition.

Hearst died on August 14, 1951 and in her last years, Davies was involved with charity work. She suffered a minor stroke in 1956, and was later diagnosed with cancer of the jaw. She had an operation which appeared to be successful. Soon after the operation Davies fell and broke her leg. She died of cancer on September 22, 1961 in Hollywood, California and is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Actress ZaSu Pitts was born on January 3, 1894 in Parsons, Kansas. Pitts enjoyed her greatest fame in the 1930s, often starring in B movies and comedy shorts, teamed with Thelma Todd. Switching between comedy shorts and features, by the advent of sound, she was relegated to comedy roles. Film credits include The Dummy (1929), Finn and Hattie (1931), The Guardsman (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932), Sing and Like It (1934) and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). Declining health dominated Pitts’ later years, particularly after she was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-1950s. However, she continued to work until the very end, making brief appearances in several films. She died June 7, 1963 in Hollywood and is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Who died on this date:

On January 3, 1992, actress Judith Anderson died. She was born on February 10, 1897 in Adelaide, Australia. She made her professional debut on stage in 1915, playing at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. In 1922, she made her Broadway debut. By the early 1930s, she had established herself as one of the greatest theatre actresses of her era and she was a major star on Broadway throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. In Hollywood, her opportunities were limited to supporting character actress work. She naturally preferred the stage in any event. In particular, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Rebecca (1940). This role led to several film appearances during the 1940s in such films as Lady Scarface (1941), Kings Row (1942), All Through the Night (1942), Laura (1944), Specter of the Rose (1946), and The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946). She continued to act on the New York stage, winning a Tony Award in 1948. She was also appearing in television productions. On the big screen, she appeared in The Furies (1950), Salome (1953) and The Ten Commandments (1956). Anderson died on January 3, 1992 from pneumonia in Santa Barbara, California. Her remains were cremated and given to family and final disposition is unknown.
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Who died on this date:

On January 2, 1963, actor Dick Powell died. He was born on November 14, 1904 in Mountain View, Arkansas. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event (1932). He went on to star in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, and On the Avenue. In 1944, Powell’s career changed forever when he was cast in Murder, My Sweet. The film was a big hit, and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor. He was married several times, most notably to actresses Joan Blondell (1936-1944) and June Allyson (1945 until his death). Powell guest-starred in numerous television programs in the 1950s and 1960s and directed such films as The Enemy Below (1957) and The Conqueror (1956), starring John Wayne. The exterior scenes were filmed in Utah, downwind of U.S. above-ground atomic tests. The cast and crew totaled 220, and of that number, 91 had developed some form of cancer by 1981 and 46 had died of cancer by then, including Wayne. Powell died from lymphoma on January 2, 1963 and his body was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Actress Anne Francis was born on September 16, 1930 in Ossining, New York. She is best known for her role in the film classic Forbidden Planet (1956). She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West. Francis holds the distinction of starring in the first TV series with a female detective character’s name in the title. Over her career, Francis appeared in scores of TV shows and movies. She made her film debut in This Time for Keeps (1947). In her early film career, she played supporting roles in films such as: Susan Slept Here, So Young So Bad, and Bad Day at Black Rock. Her first leading role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). Francis found success in television and appeared in numerous TV shows. Francis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and died on January 2, 2011, from pancreatic cancer at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, California. Her ashes were given to family and final disposition is unknown.
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Who was born on this date:

Child actor Matthew Beard was born on January 1, 1925 in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for portraying the character of Stymie in the Our Gang serial of the 1930s. After Beard left the series in 1935 at the age of ten, he went on to score some minor roles in feature films, such as Captain Blood (1935), and Jezebel (1938). By the time he was in high school, he had retired from acting. Falling into drug use and street life, Beard became addicted to heroin, and spent most of his early adult life in and out of jail because of it. Beard died from pneumonia on January 8, 1981 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Actor Dana Andrews was born on January 1, 1909 in Collins, Mississippi. He was one of Hollywood’s best known stars of the 1940s, and continued acting though the 1980s. Andrews film debut was in The Westerner (1940), starring Gary Cooper. Other film credits include Ball of Fire (1941), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Laura (1944), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Where the Side Walk Ends (1950), and While the City Sleeps (1956). In the last years of his life, Andrews suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and he died from congestive heart failure and pneumonia on December 17, 1992. His remains were cremated and given to family, final disposition is unknown.

Actress Carole Landis was born on January 1, 1919 in Fairchild, Wisconsin. Landis dropped out of high school at age 15 and set off for Hollywood. Her 1937 film debut was as an extra in A Star is Born. She continued appearing in bit parts until 1940 when Hal Roach cast her as a cave girl in One Million BC (1940). The movie was a sensation and turned Carole into a star. A press agent nicknamed her “The Ping Girl” (because “she makes you purr”). Landis appeared in a string of successful films in the early forties, usually as the second female lead. In a time when the singing of many actresses was dubbed in, Landis’s own voice was considered good enough and was used in her few musical roles. She had roles playing opposite fellow pin-up girl Betty Grable in Moon Over Miami (1941) and I Wake Up Screaming (1941).

By 1948, her career was in decline and she began an affair with actor Rex Harrison. Landis was reportedly crushed when Harrison refused to divorce his wife for her; unable to cope any longer, she committed suicide in her Pacific Palisades home on July 5, 1948 from an over dose of drugs. According to some sources, Landis left two suicide notes, one for her mother and the second for Harrison who instructed his lawyers to destroy it. During a coroner’s inquest, Harrison denied knowing any motive for her suicide and told the coroner he did not know of the existence of a second suicide note. Landis is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Who died on this date:

On January 1, 1994, actor Cesar Romero died. He was born on February 15, 1907 in New York City. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and as “The Joker” in television’s Batman series. Romero played “Latin lovers” in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. He starred as The Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. Other film credits include The Thin Man (1934), and Captain from Castile (1947). He made numerous TV appearances from the 1950s to the 1980s, most notably in Batman. Romero died on January 1, 1994 from bronchitis and pneumonia and his ashes are interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Pola Negri was born on December 31, 1899 (although the date and year are in dispute) in Poland. She received fame through femme fatale roles from the silent era through the 1940s. Her Polish film debut was in 1914s, Slave to Her Senses and also appeared in a variety of films made by the Warsaw film industry, including Room No. 13, His Last Gesture, Students, and The Wife. Negri ended up becoming one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the era, and certainly the richest woman of the film industry at the time. Negri’s first two Hollywood films were Bella Donna (1923) and The Cheat (1923). Initially Paramount utilized Negri as a mysterious European femme fatale, as they did with their other major actress Gloria Swanson, and staged an ongoing feud between the two actresses. Film credits include Forbidden Paradise (1924), Woman of the World (1925), Hotel Imperial (1927), Barbed Wire (1927), and The Woman from Moscow (1928), after which she temporarily retired from movies. This turned out to be a short lived retirement, Negri returned to Hollywood in 1931 to begin filming her first talking film, A Woman Commands (1932). The film itself was poorly received, but Negri sang the song “Paradise” in the film, and the song was a hit and for many years was considered to be a standard.

She made headlines and gossip columns with a string of celebrity love affairs with stars such as Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino. Negri met Rudolph Valentino at a costume party held by Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst at San Simeon, and was Valentino’s lover until his death in 1926. Negri caused a media sensation at his New York funeral in August 24, 1926, at which she “fainted” several times, and arranged for a large floral arrangement, which spelled out “P-O-L-A”, to be placed on Valentino’s coffin. The press dismissed her actions as a publicity stunt. At the time of his death and for the remainder of her life, Negri would state that Valentino was the love of her life. Negri came out of retirement once to appear in the Walt Disney’s, The Moon-Spinners (1964). She spent the remainder of her years largely out of the public eye. Pola Negri died on August 1, 1987 from pneumonia; however she was also suffering from a brain tumor (for which she had refused treatment). Negri was interred in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.
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Who was born on this date:

Actor Tom Keene was born on December 30, 1896 in Rochester, New York. He is best known for his roles in B-Westerns of the 1930s and 1940s. He made his film debut in the 1923 short, The Just a Little Late Club. Other movie credits include, The Godless Girl (1929), Tide of Empire (1929), Sun Down Trail (1931), Our Daily Bread (1934), The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944), Dick Tracy’s Dilemma and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). His last film was Ed Wood directed, cult classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). Keene died from cancer on August 4, 1963 and is buried at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Who died on this date:

On December 30, 2002, actress Mary Brian died. She was born on February 17, 1906 in Corsicana, Texas. At the age of 16, she was discovered at a local Long Beach, California bathing beauty contest. Her first film was Peter Pan (1924) and Brian was dubbed “The Sweetest Girl in Pictures.” During her years at Paramount, Brian appeared in more than 40 movies. She successfully transitioned to talking pictures with Varsity (1928) and The Virginian (1929) co-starring Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. Other film credits include The Royal family of Broadway (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), The Front Page (1931), Manhattan Tower (1932), Shadows of Sing Sing (1933), College Rhythm (1934), Charlie Chan in Paris (1935), Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), Navy Blues (1937), The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) and Affairs of Cappy Ricks (1937). She was absent from the screen from 1937 to 1943, and appeared in only a handful of films thereafter. Her last performance on the silver screen was in Dragnet (1947). Over the course of 22 years, Brian had appeared in more than 79 movies. Though she was engaged numerous times and was linked romantically to numerous Hollywood men, including Cary Grant and notorious womanizer Jack Pickford. She died of heart failure at on December 30, 2002 in Del Mar, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

On December 10, 1996, actor Lew Ayres died. He was born on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in several movies of the late 1930s. Ayres appeared with Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), Janet Gaynor in Servant’s Entrance (1934), with Joan Crawford and Jimmy Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939). In 1948 he was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role in Johnny Belinda. His co-star, Jane Wyman fell in love with Ayres and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him. He was married three times, most notably to Ginger Rogers from 1934-1940. Ayres also made numerous TV appearances from the late 1950s to 1990s. Ayres died December 30, 1996 and was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of Frank Zappa.

On December 30, 1971, actress Dorothy Comingore died. She was born on August 24, 1913in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her portrayal of Susan Alexander in Citizen Kane (1941). Other film credits include The Hairy Ape (1944) and The Big Night (1951). Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist and refused to answer question by the House Un-American Activities Committee. She struggled with alcoholism during her later life, and died from pulmonary disease on December 30, 1971 in Stonington, Connecticut. Her ashes were given to family and final disposition of her remains is unknown..

Who was born on this date:

Actor Lew Ayres was born on December 28, 1908 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in several movies of the late 1930s. Ayres appeared with Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), Janet Gaynor in Servant’s Entrance (1934), with Joan Crawford and Jimmy Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939). In 1948 he was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his role in Johnny Belinda. His co-star, Jane Wyman fell in love with Ayres and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him. He was married three times, most notably to Ginger Rogers from 1934-1940. Ayres also made numerous TV appearances from the late 1950s to 1990s. Ayres died December 30, 1996 and was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California next to the unmarked grave of Frank Zappa.

Who died on this date:

On December 28, 1938, actress Florence Lawrence died. She was born on January 2, 1886 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She is often referred to as “The First Movie Star.” When she was popular, she was known as “The Biograph Girl,” “The Imp Girl,” and “The Girl of a Thousand Faces.” Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies. Lawrence was unsuccessful in transitioning from silent film to talkies.

During the filming of Pawns of Destiny 1914), a staged fire got out of control and Lawrence was burned and she suffered a serious fall. She went into shock for months. She returned to work, but collapsed after its completion. Universal refused to pay her medical expenses. Although only 29 years old, she never regained her stature as a leading film actress after taking time off to recover from her injuries.

Lawrence returned to the screen in 1936, when MGM began giving small parts to old stars for seventy-five dollars a week. Alone, discouraged, and suffering with chronic pain from a rare bone marrow disease, she was found unconscious in bed in her West Hollywood apartment on after she had ingested ant paste. She was rushed to a hospital but died a few hours later on December 28, 1938. Lawrence was interred in an unmarked grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. She remained forgotten until 1991, when actor Roddy McDowall paid for a memorial marker that reads: “The Biograph Girl/The First Movie Star.”
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Who was born on this date:

Actress Marlene Dietrich was born on December 27, 1901 in Berlin, Germany. Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), brought her international fame and provided her a contract with Paramount Pictures. Hollywood films include Morocco (1930), for which she was nominated for a best actress Academy Award, Dishonored (1931), Blonde Venus (1932), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil is a Woman (1935), Desire (1936), and I Loved a Soldier (1936).

Extravagant offers lured Dietrich away from Paramount to make The Garden of Allah (1936) and Knight without Armour (1937). By this time, Dietrich was labeled “Box Office Poison.” She returned to Paramount to make another romantic comedy, Angel (1937) but reception to the film was so lukewarm and Paramount bought out the remainder of her contract. In 1939, she appeared the western, Destry Rides Again, opposite Jimmy Stewart. The bawdy role revived her career. She played roles in Seven Sinners (1940) and The Spoilers (1942), both opposite John Wayne. While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in the movies.

From the early 1950s until the mid-1970s, Dietrich worked almost exclusively as a highly-paid cabaret artist, performing live in large theaters in major cities worldwide. In her sixties and seventies, Dietrich’s health declined: she survived cervical cancer in 1965 and suffered from poor circulation in her legs. Dietrich became increasingly dependent on painkillers and alcohol. Dietrich’s show business career largely ended on September 29, 1975, when she broke her leg during a stage performance in Sydney, Australia. Dietrich withdrew to her apartment in Paris and spent the final 11 years of her life mostly bedridden, allowing only a select few, including family and employees to enter the apartment. She died from renal failure on May 6, 1992 at the age of 90 in Paris and was buried at the Berlin-Schoneberg Cemetery in Berlin.
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Who was born on this date:

Actor Richard Widmark was born on December 26, 1914 in Sunrise Township, Minnesota. He was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award for Kiss Of Death (1947), as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film. Early in his career Widmark specialized in similar villainous or anti-hero roles, but he later branched out into more heroic leading and support roles in westerns, mainstream dramas and horror films, among others. Widmark made his debut as a radio actor in 1938 and made his Broadway debut in 1943 with Kiss and Tell. Other film credits include The Street Car with No Name (1948), Don’t Bother to Knock (1952). Pick Up on South Street (1953), The Alamo (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), How the West was Won (1962), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Coma (1978), and The Swarm (1978). In all, Widmark appeared in over 60 films before making his final movie appearance in the 1991 thriller True Colors. From 1942 until her death in 1997, Widmark was married to playwright Jean Hazlewood. He died after a long illness on March 24, 2008, at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut and is buried at the Roxbury Center Cemetery.

Who died on this date:

On December 26, 1986, actress Elsa Lanchester died. She was born on October 28, 1902 in Lewisham, London. She met actor Charles Laughton in 1927, and they were married two years later. She began playing small roles in British films, including the role of Anne of Cleves with Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Her role as the title character in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), brought her recognition. She played supporting roles through the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for a best supporting Academy Award for Come to the Stable in 1949 and Witness for the Prosecution 1957. Lanchester died on December 26, 1986 from pneumonia at the Motion Picture Actor Home. Her ashes were scattered at sea..