Ita Tamara Djordjevic Rina (1907 - 1979)

Actress. Ostermayer company from Berlin noticed her in a contest for Miss 1926 and invited her to a screen test. Her moust popular film was “Erotikon” (1929). (bio by: Jelena)

Leni Riefenstahl (1902 - 2003)

Motion Picture Filmmaker. Born Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl, she was an actress and dancer who became a film pioneer and one of the most controversial film directors in the 20th century.  Her parents, Alfred and Bertha Sherlach Riefenstahl, did not want her to become an actress, but she loved dancing, performing in Berlin, Munich, and […]

Suzanne Ridgeway (1918 - 1996)

Actress. She appeared in over 40 movies in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, including “Gone With the Wind”, “The Road To Morocco”, and “The Best Years Of Our Lives”. She also appeared in a number of Three Stooges shorts, including “Loose Loot” and “Tricky Dicks”. Upon her passing, she was cremated and her ashes were […]

Shirley Jean Rickert (1926 - 2009)

Child Actress. She played “Shirley Jean” in five of the “Our Gang” comedies from the early 1930s. Born to a stereotypical “stage mother”, she was pushed into acting as a youngster. After appearing in the “Our Gang” series, she left to join Mickey Rooney’s rival “Mickey McGuire” comedies, where she also acted in five episodes. […]

Rotraut Richter (1915 - 1947)

Actress. At age 16 she attended “die Staatliche Schauspielschule” (National Acting School) in Berlin. Her first stage role was in the play “Die Ratten” in Darmstadt in 1932. Spotted by director Joe May (see his memorial on this website), he hired her for the film “Das erste Recht des Kindes,” her film debut, but the […]

Natasha Jane Richardson (1963 - 2009)

British Actress. She is best remembered for her role of Sally Bowles in the Broadway musical “Cabaret” (1998) and as Elizabeth James in the movie “The Parent Trap” (1998). A member of the acting Redgrave family, she was born Natasha Jane Richardson, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson, and niece of […]

Carmen Belén Richardson (1930 - 2012)

Puerto Rican Actress, Comedian. In a career that spanned 57 years, she was considered to be a pioneer of Puerto Rican television. When she was nine years old, she auditoned for, and won, a children’s role on a radio soap opera. In high school, she had the lead in the plays in which she participated. […]

Billie Mae Dinsmore Richards (1921 - 2010)

Actress. Known primarily for voice characterizations, she shall be remembered as the title lead in the 1964 television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Raised in Toronto, she was dancing by age two and at five was appearing in a revue titled “The Merry Makers”. During World War II she joined the Royal Canadian Navy and […]

Ann Richards (1917 - 2006)

Actress.  Shirley Ann Richards was born to an American father and a New Zealand mother and educated in Australia.  Her acting career began at the Sydney Players Club when her amateur talent was recognized by Cimesound Productions.  In 1937 she was given a role in noted Australian producer and director Ken Hall’s film, “It Isn’t […]

Viola Richard (1904 - 1973)

Actress. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,  she was a vivacious leading lady in several Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase comedies of the 1920s. They include “Why Girls Love Sailors”, “Sailors Beware”,  “Do Detectives Think?”,  “Flying Elephants”,  “Leave ‘Em Laughing”,  “Should Married Men Go Home?”,  “Dumb Daddies”,  and “Limousine Love”.  Richard left films when talkies […]

Lillian Rich (1900 - 1954)

Actress. Rich played in a number of Jack Hoxie Westerns before she found her way into a DeMille picture and from there went to play society women. Actress in 66 films from 1919 to 1940 including: “The Man From Wyoming” (silent), “Ship of Souls” (silent), “Once a Lady,” “Riptide,” “Dangerous Intrigue,” and “Dr. Kildare’s Crisis.” […]

Irene Rich (1891 - 1988)

Actress. Born Irene Luther in Buffalo, New York, she had a successful career as a real estate agent and two failed marriages behind her when she broke into films as an extra in 1918. Her bedroom eyes and mature, patrician beauty made her a natural to play worldly women in scores of silent-era tearjerkers, and […]

Rosemary Rice (1925 - 2012)

Actress. Fondly remembered for playing Katrin in the long-running TV series “Mama” (also sometimes referred to as “I Remember Mama”, 1949 to 1956). Raised in North New Jersey, with the proximity of New York City minutes away where the abundance of opportunities for parts on radio awaited, Rosemary launched her career in entertainment while a […]

Renie Riano (1899 - 1971)

Actress. She appeared in many films including, “Three On A Couch” (1966), “Pajama Party” (1964), “Clipped Wings” (1953), “Jiggs And Maggie In Court” (1948), “Anchors Aweigh” (1945), “Whispering Ghosts” (1942), “Affectionately Yours” (1941), “Bachelor Mother” (1939), “Women Are Like That” (1938) and “Tovarich” (1937). Also appeared on television programs, “The Partridge Family” (1970-1974), “Mayberry R.F.D.” […]

Alicia Rhett (1915 - 2014)

Actress. A respected painter and stage performer, she is remembered for her one and only movie role, that of India Wilkes in the 1939 Oscar-winning classic “Gone With the Wind” (GWTW). The child of an aristocratic Southern family (her great-grandfather was Senator Robert Barnwell Rhett, called the “Father of Secession”), she relocated to Charleston with […]

Adeline deWalt Reynolds (1862 - 1961)

Actress. One of 10 children, she wanted to be an actress at age 5. She took up post-graduate studies in drama, and her stage work opened doors in the movie industry. Reynolds worked in more than 30 films, with one of her most memorable as Barry Fitzgerald’s mother in “Going My Way.” Her personal favorite […]

Rosa Rey (1892 - 1969)

Actress and Singer. She was born in Madrid (Spain) and died in Woodland Hills (California). Her real name was Isabel Mercedes Tárrago. She was married with actor Martín Garralaga and moved to the United States where she began a stage career. From 1934 to 1955, she appeared in films such as “La Buenaventura” (1934), “El […]

Sherril Lynn Katzman Rettino (1956 - 1995)

Actress. The daughter of producer Leonard Katzman, she is best known for her role of “Jackie Dugan” on prime time television drama “Dallas”. She appeared in every season the show was on the air.

Ruth Renick (1893 - 1984)

American stage and motion picture actress of the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Liz Renay (1926 - 2007)

Author, actress, and convicted felon who appeared in John Waters’ film Desperate Living (1977). Renay was mobster Mickey Cohen’s girlfriend. Renay was convicted of perjury and served 27 months at Terminal Island. In her book, My First 2,000 Men, she claimed flings with Joe DiMaggio, Regis Philbin, and Cary Grant among many other male celebrities. […]

Madeleine Renaud (1900 - 1994)

Actress, she was the wife of JL Barrault.

Simone Renant (1911 - 2004)

French Actress and Comedienne. Best known for starring in the original French version of “Dangerous Liasions” in 1959. She appeared in over 50 other films from 1935 to 1983. (bio by: Butterfly)

Rejane (1856 - 1920)

French Stage and Silent Film Actress. She is most famous for her role of Catherine, in Sardou’s play “Madame Sans-Gene” (1893). Born Gabrielle Charlotte Reju, the daughter of a French actor, in Paris, France, she naturally became interested in the stage at an early age. She soon became a student of famed actor, Regnier, at […]

Selma Reis (1960 - 2015)

Brazilian Actress, Singer. Reis was an actress who started in music, but later became very prominent on television. She studied music in Nantes, France in the 1980s and then released her first album, one of eleven released during her career.    Reis later went into acting in television with credits including “Páginas da vida” (2006), […]

Alice Reinheart (1910 - 1993)

Actress. Born in San Francisco, California, she began her career on the stage appearing in a number of plays on Broadway, among them “The Wooden Slipper” and “Journey to Jerusalem”. She made her debut in motion pictures appearing in “The Lieutenant Wore Skirts” (1956) followed by “Bachelor Flat” (1962), “Rat Fink” (1965), “Horror Express” (1972) […]

Estelle Lebost Reiner (1914 - 2008)

Actress, Singer. The wife of comedian Carl Reiner and the mother of motion picture director Rob Reiner, she was raised in the Bronx, New York City, New York, where she studied art after graduating from high school and met her future husband while designing sets in the Catskills. The family lived in New Rochelle, New […]

Juanita Reina (1925 - 1999)

Noted spanish actress and singer of andalusian folklore (copla). Among her songs, “Soltera ya no me Quedo,” “Cinco Farolas,” and “Francisco Alegre.” She is remembered for her films “La Lola se va los Puertos” (1947) and “La Novia de Juan Lucero” (1959). (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)  Family links:  Spouse:  Federico Casado (1933 – […]

Margaret L. Reid (1903 - 1965)

Actress. She appeared in The Sentimental Bloke (1919), Sleepy Lagoon (1943) and It Happened One Night (1934). She was previously married to screenwriter David Hertz.

Dana Morosini Reeve (1961 - 2006)

Social Reformer, Actress. A native of New York City she graduated with honors from Middlebury College before venturing to California to pursue an acting career. She made appearances on television’s “Law and Order” and “All My Children” and hosted a talk show on the Lifetime Network. She performed on Broadway as well as regional theaters […]

Angharad Rees (1944 - 2012)

Actress. Born in London to a father who was a well-respected Welsh psychiatrist, she moved with her family to their place of origin in Cardiff. After coming to the realization the she wished to pursue a career in entertainment, she joined the West Cliff Theatre in England and worked as a stage manager, in addition […]