Alexander Benois (1870 - 1960)

Theatrical Designer, Painter, Historian. An imaginative Classicist, his colorful style blended Russian Folk and French Rococo influences. He played an instrumental role in the founding of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.  Alexander Nikolayevich Benois was born in St. Petersburg,  Russia,  into a distinguished family of French-Italian descent.  Apart from a brief course in stage design at […]

Peppino “José” Benlliure Ortiz (1884 - 1916)

Valencian Painter. Son of painter José Benlliure y Gil and nephew of sculptor Mariano Benlliure, he was known as Peppino, because she was born in Rome, where his father lived and worked. In his Italian period, he painted oils and landscapes as “Vía del Cardenal Merry del Val.” From 1901, he established himself in Valencia. […]

Dorothy Burgess (1907 - 1961)

Actress. After learning her art on the stage, she appeared in several dozen Hollywood features during the 1930s. Raised initially in Los Angeles where her father was in the transportation business, she studied painting and sculpture in New York, then got her theatrical start as a bit-player and dancer in productions that featured her maternal […]

José Benlliure Gil (1855 - 1937)

Painter. He was born in El Canyamelar (Valencia, Spain), and was member of an artist family. He was son of painter Juan Antonio Benlliure and brother of sculptor Mariano Benlliure and painters Blas and Juan Antonio. Soon, he showed his talent for painting and after spent a time working in Valencia and Madrid, he moved […]

Mariano Benlliure (1862 - 1947)

Spanish sculptor. He was born in a family of artists. He studied in Valencia, Madrid, Rome and Paris. Among his sculptures: “Accidente,” “Monument to Velázquez,” “Goya,” and religious figures such as “María Magdalena” and “Santísimo Cristo Yacente.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)  Family links:  Spouses:  Carmen Quevedo Pessanha*  Leopoldina Tuero O’Donnell (1867 – 1952)* […]

Robin Nadine Benedict (1961 - 1983)

Murder Victim. She was a recent graduate of the Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational School. At the time of her death, she was pursuing a freelance a career in graphic arts and had a small contract with Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.  Tufts biology professor Dr. William Douglas allegedly “picked her up” as a prostitute in […]

Ed Benedict (1912 - 2006)

Cartoon Animator. Best known for designing the characters of “The Flintstones” cartoon series. He designed the look of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty as well as their houses and foot-driven cars. He was working for MGM, Universal and various other studios on cartoon shorts when, in the late 1950s, he joined Bill Hanna and Joe […]

Federico Beltrán-Masses (1970 - 1949)

Spanish painter. He was born in 1885 in Guaira de la Melena, Cuba, where his father was a Spanish military envoy to Cuba.  After the war between the United States and Cuba ended in 1899, the family returned to Spain.  Beltran-Masses studied with the painter Sorolla at l’École des Beaux-Arts de Barcelone. In 1905 he […]

Argentina Brunetti (1907 - 2005)

Actress. Best remembered as ‘Mrs. Martini’ in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She began her show business career at the age of three in a walk on part in the opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana” and followed her mother actress Mimi Aguglia’s footsteps in the theater performing several supporting roles on stages in Europe, and […]

Vicente Beltrán Grimal (1896 - 1963)

Artist. He was born in Sueca, Valencia. Son of peasants, he studied in Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos with Vicente Ballester Marco, among others. In 1922, he moved to Roma where obtained big success with sculptures such as “Aurora” and “Aretusa.” Also he was married with radio host Anita Ricci. In 1928, he […]

Paul Belmondo (1898 - 1982)

Sculptor. Paul was born in Algiers into a poor family. His early schooling was at Dordor in Algiers. Passionate about art and design, he began carving at the age of 13 years. He studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Algiers, but his studies were interrupted by the First World War.  A grant from […]

George Wesley Bellows (1882 - 1925)

Artist. He was a realist painter-lithographer noted for his paintings of action scenes, expressive portraits and seascapes. While attending Ohio State University, he started by providing illustrations for the school’s student yearbook, then relocated to New York in 1904, to study at the New york School of Art. By 1908, he had his own studio […]

Vanessa Stephen Bell (1879 - 1961)

Artist. She was a painter, the elder sister of author Virginia Woolf and a leading member of the Bloomsbury Group. The daughter of the Victorian writer Sir Leslie Stephen, in 1901 she entered the Royal Academy painting school. In 1907 she married the poet and art critic Clive Bell who was also a member of […]

Robert Anning Bell (1863 - 1933)

Artist and Member of Royal Academy. (bio by: David Conway)

Bill Belew (1931 - 2008)

Costume Designer. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, designed costumes for over 70 theatrical productions, musicals, operas, ballets, Television specials and series. He was once former head costumer at NBC Studios in Burbank, California until the early 1980’s. He designed apparel for such celebrities as Lynne Redgrave, Lena Horne, Josephine […]

John Belcher (1841 - 1913)

British architect. A renowed architect, his numerous projects included Whiteley’s store in Bayswater (1910), Colchester Town Hall (1898) and the Aston Memorial in Lancaster (1906), which was built in the lavish Edwardian Baroque style. He was also an accomplished musician and artist, and was elected President of the RIBA, (1904-1906) and the Royal Academy in […]

Zdzislaw Beksinski (1929 - 2005)

Renowned Polish painter, photographer, and fantasy artist. He is the only modern European artist to have had an exhibition in the Osaka Museum of Art in Japan. A prestigious exhibition in Warsaw in 1964 proved to be his first major success, as all his paintings were sold. In the 1980s his works gained on popularity […]

Claud Beelman (1884 - 1963)

American Architect. Beelman de­signed numerous buildings in the Beaux-Arts, Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. In the 1920s, Beelman and his then partner, William Curlett, designed no fewer than 22 structures in Los Angeles.  Following the dissolution of the partnership in the early 1930s, Beelman designed the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, an addition to the […]

Charlotte Bridgwood (1861 - 1929)

Stage actress using the name Lotta Lawrence, Bridgwood was the mother of the “world’s first movie star,” Florence Lawrence.  Charlotte was the inventor of the automobile turn signal as well as the windshield wiper, which she patented in 1917.  She also invented an application that would prevent glass from fogging, which was offered to the […]

Alan Brookman Beddoe (1893 - 1975)

Artist. He is best remembered as Canadian war artist, artist and consultant in heraldry, and founder and first president of the Heraldry Society of Canada in 1965. After completing high school, he studied at Ashbury College in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, Canada. During World War I, he volunteered for the Canadian Army and in 1915 he […]

William Sutherland Beckett (1921 - 1977)

American Architect. Beckett, who graduated from Yale University and graduated in 1943 with a B.A. in architecture, moved to California and worked for Douglas Aircraft for a short time during World War II. He went to work for the architectural firm of Spaulding and Rex from 1944 to 1949, eventually achieving the title Chief Designer. […]

Edmund Beckett (1816 - 1905)

British Peer. Born at Carlton Hall, Nottinghamshire, the son of Sir Edmund Beckett, 4th Baronet Beckett. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1841, eventually becoming a very successful litigator. He was also a noted amateur horologist and published ‘Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches, and Bells’ in 1850. […]

Welton David Becket (1902 - 1969)

American Architect. Becket, who graduated from the University of Washington in 1927 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, studied at the École des Beaux Arts, Fontainbleu in France for a year before working several years as a junior designer for firms in Los Angeles and his native Seattle. In 1933, he settled in Los Angeles, […]

Cecil Beaton (1904 - 1980)

English society photographer, artist and film/theatre designer. Academy awards: Best Costume 1958 (‘Gigi’), 1964 (‘My Fair Lady’). (bio by: Dominic Druce) Cause of death: stroke

Aubrey Beardsley (1872 - 1898)

Artist-illustrator, pianist. Aubrey Beardsley, whose elegant, edgy and often erotic drawings helped to define the Art Nouveau style, first came to public attention as a musical child prodigy, giving piano recitals at the Royal Pavilion in his native Brighton, England. Stalked by tuberculosis nearly all of his brief life, he lived in the creative “fast […]

Elizabeth Bradley (1922 - 2000)

Actress. The youngest of two daughters born to senior civil servant Sir John Abraham and his wife, She attended Wentworth School, which she left at the age of 17 , and after studying nursing,  joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment with the British Red Cross where she worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London. […]

Mary Beale (1633 - 1970)

Artist. Famed British portrait painter and is regarded as Britain’s first professional female artist. Born Mary Cradock in Suffolk, Mary Beale was one of the very few women artists working in England during the seventeenth century. Mary Beale’s mother died when she was young, her father, who knew the artist Robert Walker, introduced her to […]

Peter Baumgras (1827 - 1903)

Artist. Born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe,  Germany,  he studied painting at the Academy of Arts, Dusseldorf and in Munich with August von Kaulbach and Karl Schorn. He worked first as a lithographer and miniaturist. In 1849 he joined the Munich art association. In 1853, he emmigrated to the United States. First settling in […]

Willi Baumeister (1889 - 1955)

Artist, writer, stage designer. He studied under Adolf Hölzel at the Kunstakademie in Stuttgart, and his early works were displayed there and in Zurich, Berlin, and Cologne. He was acquainted with the Expressionist painters Franz Marc, Oskar Kokoschka, and Paul Klee. After his service in the World War, he participated in several artists’ alliances, among […]

Denise Borino Borino-Quinn (1964 - 2010)

Actress. She portrayed overweight mob wife Ginny Sacramone in the hit HBO series “The Sopranos” from 2001 until its conclusion in 2007. A graduate of West Essex High School, she was a legal assistant in New Brunswick, New Jersey, who accompanied a childhood friend to an open casting call for the successful Mafia-themed show; to […]