FOUND A GRAVE

Robert Alda (1914 - 1986)

Alda, an American of Italian descent, was born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D’Abruzzo in New York, New York, the son of Frances (née Tumillo) and Antonio D’Abruzzo, a barber born in Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Benevento, Campania, Italy. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York in 1930. He began as a singer and dancer […]

Isabella MacDonald Alden (1841 - 1930)

Author. She was a popular writer of books for children in the Nineteenth century, using the pseudonym of “Pansy”.  Family links:  Parents:  Isaac MacDonald (1800 – 1870)  Myra Spafford MacDonald (1803 – 1885)  Sibling:  Marcia B. MacDonald Livingston (1832 – 1924)*  Isabella MacDonald Alden (1841 – 1930) *Calculated relationship

Norman Alden (1924 - 2012)

Actor. Following his service with the US Military whom he was station with in Europe during World War II, Alden returned home and from the aid of the GI Bill, he enrolled at Texas Christian University. It was while there, he caught the acting bug and began to perform in on-campus stage productions. Alden initiated […]

Norman Alden (1924 - 2012)

Alden was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He served in the military during World War II and returned to Fort Worth to attend Texas Christian University under the GI Bill of Rights. Some of his acting ability was developed while at TCU with participation in the on-campus theater. Alden appeared in dozens of television series […]

Mary Alden (1883 - 1946)

Born in New York City, Alden began her career on the Broadway stage. She spent five years on Broadway before moving to Hollywood where she worked for the Biograph Company and Pathé Exchange in the first portion of her career. Her most popular role in movies came in Birth of a Nation directed by D.W. […]

John Alderman (1934 - 1987)

Actor. He appeared in the theater, in motion pictures, and on television in an acting career that spanned from the 1950s to the 1980s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  Bernard L. Alderman (1905 – 1955)  Gertrude Fitzer Alderman (1901 – 1990)

Wroe Alderson (1898 - 1965)

Author.  Considered by many to be a leading marketing executive ahead of his time, he authored the books “Marketing Behavior and Executive Action,” “Theory in Marketing,” and “Planning and Problem Solving in Marketing,” in which he theorized that mathematical models and quantitative techniques could be used to analyze consumer tastes and determine the best methods […]

Erville Alderson (1882 - 1957)

Actor. He appeared in nearly 200 motion picture roles in a career that spanned 40 years. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he made his screen debut in 1918. He first gained notice as a member of director D.W. Griffith’s stock company, with prominent roles in “The White Rose” (1923), “America” (1924), “Isn’t Life Wonderful?” (1924), […]

Tom Aldredge (1928 - 2011)

Actor. Born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of an Air Force colonel, he attended the Goodman School of Drama and made his professional debut in the production of “Electra” (1957), later marking his Broadway introduction with “The Nervous Set” (1959). From that point on, Aldredge appeared in a wide range of stage roles and garnered […]

Tom Aldredge (1928 - 2011)

Aldredge was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Lucienne Juliet (née Marcillat) and William Joseph Aldredge, a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps. He originally planned to become a lawyer and was a Pre-Law student at the University of Dayton in the late 1940s. In 1947 he decided to pursue a career […]

Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881 - 1954)

Author, Novelist. Her writing career spanned over forth years, during which she published of around 200 short stories and articles, 13 novels, and two books of short stories. Born Geneva Streeter, she was the youngest of eight children. A writer since early childhood, she won a writing contest at age 14 and another at age […]

Robert Aldrich (1918 - 1983)

Aldrich was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, the son of Lora Lawson and newspaper publisher Edward Burgess Aldrich. He was a grandson of U.S. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich and a cousin to Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller. He was educated at the Moses Brown School in Providence, and studied economics at the University of Virginia where he […]

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836 - 1907)

Author, Poet, Editor. Aldrich was an only child and his father often moved the whole family as he followed business opportunities. Shortly after his birth, the family moved from New Hampshire to New York for four years, then to New Orleans for about three years. He would later fictionalize these experiences of his childhood in […]

Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881 - 1954)

Author, Novelist. Bess Aldrich’s writing career spanned over forth years, during which she published of around 200 short stories and articles, 13 novels, and two books of short stories. Born Geneva Streeter, she was the youngest of eight children. A writer since early childhood, she won a writing contest at age 14 and another at […]

Gale Gordon (1906 - 1995)

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon is one of the most recognized supporting actors in show business most notably working with Lucille Ball on all of her shows.  What is not so well known among the general public is that Gordon had a long and extensive career in radio, even becoming radio’s highest paid actor at one […]

Kay Aldridge (1917 - 1995)

Katharine Gratten Aldridge was born on July 9, 1917 in Tallahassee, Florida. Her father was a surveyor and her mother was an artist and writer. Following her father’s death when she was two years old, her mother moved the family to Lyells, Virginia, where she and her four siblings were raised with the help of […]

Ira Frederick Aldridge (1807 - 1867)

Victor E. Aldridge (1893 - 1973)

Major League Baseball Player. He played Major League baseball as a pitcher for nine seasons (1917 to 1918, 1922 to 1928) with the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Giants. He helped the 1925 Pirates clinch the National League pennant, and started Games 2, 5 and 7 in the subsequent World Series against the […]

Victor “Vic” Aldridge (1893 - 1973)

Born in Indian Springs, Indiana, Vic Aldridge attended Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana, and taught school in Miami County. He was married to Cleta B. Wadsworth of Indian Springs.  Aldridge was a dependable second or third starter throughout most of his career. He was known for his curveball and pinpoint accuracy. Aldridge batted and […]

Ira Frederick Aldridge (1807 - 1867)

Actor. He gained fame in the 19th century as one of the most prominent African-American Shakespearian actors and the first American actor to perform in Russia. Born in New York City, New York, he was the son of poor citizens of class known as “Free Negroes.” Educated at New York’s African Free School, he won […]

Sholem Aleichem (1859 - 1916)

Author. Born Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich in Voronko, Russia, he became to be considered one of the great Yiddish writers, being best known for his humorous tales of life among the poverty-ridden and oppressed Russian Jews of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include five novels, many plays, and some 300 short stories. […]

Mayra Alejandra (1955 - 2014)

Actress. A regular presence in her country’s media for 35 years, she is remembered for her numerous appearances on Venezuelan television soaps. Born Mayra Alejandra Rodriguez Lezema to a show business family, she finished high school at 17 and made her professional bow in the 1975 “Valentina”, a series written by her mother, Ligia Lezema. […]

Henri Alekan (1909 - 2001)

Henri Alekan (10 February 1909, Paris – 15 June 2001, Auxerre, Bourgogne) was a French cinematographer. Alekan was born in Montmartre in 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at the Billancourt Studios. He then spent a short time […]

Vasily Alekseyev (1942 - 2011)

At the age of 18, Vasily Alekseyev began practicing weightlifting at Trud Voluntary Sports Society, trained by his coach Rudolf Plyukfelder until 1968, when he began to train solo. He was not a naturally large man like other super heavyweights but was encouraged to gain strength by adding weight. In January 1970 Alekseyev set his […]

Sibilla Aleramo (1876 - 1960)

Author, Social Reformer. Born Rina Faccio in Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy, her first novel, “A Woman” was published in 1906 and republished in 1973. It gained wide acclaim for it’s autobiographical telling the story of her escape from a forced marriage to a man who had raped her and of her struggle to live independently as […]

Tony Alescio (1893 - 1920)

Tony Alescio Organized Crime Figure. Born in Alcamo, Sicily, he was orphaned as a young child and immigrated to Detroit, Michigan in the spring of 1911. Escaping an abusive uncle, mob boss Antonino “Tony” Giannola took him in and treated him as one of his own. He grew to be Giannola’s personal bodyguard, but during […]

Lennie Aleshire (1890 - 1987)

Lennie Aleshire was born April 27, 1890 in Christian County, Missouri, just south of Springfield. He was playing the fiddle by age six and learned the guitar, banjo and other instruments by ear. At 15, he lived with the Creek Indians near Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, though his mother was half Cherokee. After his parents died, […]

Leonard Harrison “Lennie” Aleshire (1890 - 1987)

Entertainer, Musician. He teamed up with Floyd Rutledge as the musical comedy due “Lennie and Goo Goo”, and were pioneers that set the stage for became known as “hillbilly music.” Famous for their comedy and musical talent by playing cow bells and their crude homemade instruments, their career spanned from the 1920s to the 1960. […]

Frank Aletter (1926 - 2009)

Frank Aletter (January 14, 1926 – May 13, 2009) was an American stage, film, and television actor.  During the 1950s, Aletter appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, Time Limit, and Wish You Were Here.  He soon moved on to a prolific television career, appearing as a guest on numerous shows between 1956 and 1988. […]

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818 - 1895)

Alexander was born in Dublin, the third child and second daughter of Major John Humphreys (of Norfolk, land-agent to 4th Earl of Wicklow and later to the second Marquess of Abercorn), and Elizabeth (née Reed). She began writing verse in her childhood, being strongly influenced by Dr Walter Hook, Dean of Chichester. Her subsequent religious […]