Tracy Reed (1942 - 2012)

Actress. Born Clare Tracy Compton Pelissier, the daughter of director Anthony Pelissier and actress Penelope Dudley-Ward, she was the granddaughter of actress Fay Compton, her parents divorced while she was a child. After her mother’s remarriage to director Carol Reed, she took her stepfather’s surname and broke into the film industry at the age of […]

Aurora Redondo (1900 - 1996)

Actress. An acclaimed Spanish stage and screen figure, she made her debut on stage in 1907 and became one of the most important actresses in the Spanish theater. She is best remembered for her plays “Maribel y la Extraña Familia” and “La Casa de Bernarda Alba”. She also appeared in a few films, such as […]

Moira Redmond (1928 - 2006)

Actress. She was born in East Sussex, England. She appeared in films such as “Violent Moment” (1958), Doctor in Love (1960), Parnter in Crime (1961), Jigsaw (1962), Freud (1962), A Shot in The Dark (1964) and The Winter’s Tale (1968). She also is remembered for her work in TV series “The Avengers” and “I,Claudius.” (bio […]

Lady Rachel Kempson Redgrave (1910 - 2003)

Actress. She was an acclaimed British figure of theater, television, and motion pictures. She is the matriarch of the Redgrave acting dynasty. She married actor Michael Redgrave in 1935 and became Lady Redgrave when Sir Michael was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959. Mother of actors Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave. Grandmother […]

Peggy Rea (1921 - 2011)

Actress. Born in Los Angeles, she worked as a saleslady and served as secretary to Arthur Freed at MGM Studios, before initiating her career in entertainment, debuting on Broadway in the production of “A Streetcar Name Desire” (1950), followed by “Out of This World” (1950 to 1951). During the early 1950s, she began appearing on […]

Mabel Rea (1932 - 1968)

Mabel Rea was a native of Mecklenburg County who left suburban Charlotte right after graduating from Sharon High School and headed for New York City. There, according to what research I was able to dig up on her, she studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It was during this period that she […]

Stella Razetto (1880 - 1948)

Actress. Married to actor Edward LeSaint, Stella started on the stage with the Florence Roberts company in San Francisco. She then moved on to vaudeville in New York City and formed the “Stella Razeto and Company” group. Due to illness, she left the stage, eventually joining the Majestic Company where she played with Mabel Trunnelle […]

Martha Raye (1916 - 1994)

Entertainer, Actress. Born Margaret Yvonne Teresa Reed, she joined her parents’ vaudeville act at three years old. The singer, dancer, actress, comedienne performed on Broadway, in movies and on television. Beginning in 1942, she entertained American troops through World War II, Korea and Viet Nam. For nine years she made trips to Viet Nam, sometimes […]

Barbara Ray (1914 - 1955)

Actress. Born in Harrisburg, Illinois, she began performing in traveling road shows in the mid west before relocating to California. She appeared in a few films and was most noted for her role in “Millions in the Air” (1935). She died in Los Angeles, California. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)

Judith Riedel Rawlins (1936 - 1974)

Actress. Born Judith Ellen Riedel, in Wisconsin, she began her career performing several roles with the Walt Disney Players Group. In the 1950s and 60s, she appeared on the television shows “The Rebel”, “Bat Masterson”, “Wanted Dead or Alive”, “Surfside 6” and “77 Sunset Strip”. She was also the wife of movie editor David Rawlins […]

Françoise Marie-Antoinette Saucerotte Raucourt (1756 - 1815)

Actress. Françoise Raucourt was a favourite of Marie Antoinette and later Napoleon I who appointed her director of imperial theatres in Italy. During the Directory Raucourt was named director of the Théâtre Louvois. She was famous for her tragedy roles and played to full houses, though at times controversy about her private life eclipsed her […]

Marlene Rasnick (1944 - 2001)

Stage and motion picture actress of the 1960s through the 1990s. She co-founded the Public Works Improvisational Theatre in 1973. (bio by: A.J. Marik) Cause of death: Ovarian Cancer

Virginia Rappe (1895 - 1921)

Actress. Subject of Hollywood scandal. Born in New York in 1895 to a part-time chorus girl Mabel Rapp and an unknown father. It’s not clear as to when she added the “e” to her last name but it was under that name she became a successful commerical model in Chicago department stores. At the time […]

Jane Randolph (1915 - 2009)

Actress. A veteran of around twenty Hollywood films during the 1940s, she was best known for playing Alice Moore in Jacques Tourneur’s 1942 classic “Cat People”. Born Jane Roemer, she was raised in Kokomo, Indiana, and in 1939 moved to Hollywood to study acting. Briefly under contract to Warner Brothers, she made her 1941 silver […]

Amanda Randolph (1896 - 1967)

Actress. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, she began her career in black musical revues in the 1920s. In 1949, she become a comedy favorite on television appearing on “Amanda” the first network-televised series to feature an African-American performer in a regular role. She became a regular on the top early black TV shows “Amos ‘n’ Andy” […]

Lois Ramsey (1922 - 2016)

Actress. Born Lois June Dickson, she was a prominent actress who was known for her performances as eccentric old ladies on various television series. Her first acting role was in the television series “Consider Your Verdict” which aired from 1962 to 1963. She would go on to have a long career in television with such […]

Anne Ramsey (1929 - 1988)

Actress. Born Anne Mobley in Omaha, Nebraska, she performed in several Broadway productions in the 1950s and married actor Logan Ramsey in 1954. She began a career in Hollywood in the 1970s, appearing in films to include “The Sporting Club” (1971), “Rhinoceros” (1974), “Goin’ South” (1978), “Getting Physical” (1984) and “Scrooged” (1988). She is most […]

Zinaida Raikh (1894 - 1939)

Actress. She was married to the poet Sergei Essenin from 1917 to 1921. Known more for her great beauty and fiery temperament than for her acting ability, she nevertheless became a star at the theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold, whom she married in 1924. In 1939, Josef Stalin had Meyerhold arrested on trumped-up charges of anti-Soviet […]

Frances Raeburn (1924 - 1976)

Actress. Born Mildred Frances Anne Hedrick in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she made her film debut in “Joe Smith, American” (1942). Nick named ‘Bubba’, her other credits included “Seven Sweethearts” (1942), “Calling Dr. Gillespie” (1942), “The Canterville Ghoust” (1944) and “Swing Out, Sister” (1945). She died of a heart attack in Los Angeles County, California. (bio […]

Gilda Radner (1946 - 1989)

Actress, Comedienne. She gained wide fame in the mid-1970s as an original cast member of television’s hit comedy series, “Saturday Night Live” (SNL).  Born Gilda Susan Radner in Detroit, Michigan, to Henrietta Dworkin Radner, a legal secretary, and Herman Radner, a businessman who operated Detroit’s Seville Hotel, where many nightclub performers and actors stayed when […]

Camila Quiroga (1891 - 1948)

Famed stage and cinema actress. She made several tours for Europe and America divulgating the works of the Argentine authors. She also was a pioneer of the Argentine cinema (5 movies.) (bio by: 380W)  Family links:  Children:  Nélida Quiroga (1909 – 1982)* *Calculated relationship

Rita Quigley (1923 - 2008)

Actress. She appeared in more than a dozen films during the 1940s. After making her big screen debut at the age of seventeen in the 1940 picture “Susan and God”, she would have memorable roles in the pictures “Five Little Peppers in Trouble” (1940), “The Howards of Virginia” (1940), “Jennie” (1940), “Ride, Kelly, Ride” (1941), […]

Menchu Quesada (1918 - 2005)

Actress. She participated in 15 movies, but she is specially remembered for her role of ‘Lucía Campanelli’ in the successful television comedy “Los Campanelli” (1969 to 1974.) and for her secondary roles in many soap operas. Between 1954 and 1960 she lived and worked in Spain, achieving good critics. (bio by: 380W)

Isa Quensel (1905 - 1981)

Swedish Actress and Opera singer. She was recognized as a great personality and became one of the most respected actresses in Swedish film history. She made her dubute 1929 in the play ”Rose-Marie” at Vasateatern in Stockholm. She then commenced a career containing over 50 films, leading roles in many operas, TV-series, radio shows etc. […]

Valérie Quennessen (1957 - 1989)

French Actress. She dedicated much of her childhood to pursuing her dream of becoming an acrobat. She quickly reached a level of competence and received an award for her expertise at the age of ten. By her teens, she had given up acrobatics and enrolled in acting classes, not because she particularly wanted to get […]

Constance Purdy (1884 - 1960)

American film actress of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Appeared in ‘Spellbound’ (1945) and ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’ (1945). (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Wilbur Mack (1874 – 1964)* *Calculated relationship

Anna Przybylska (1978 - 2014)

Actress, Model. A pretty brunette, she is remembered for numerous film appearances as well as for a large number of print and television ads. Raised on the north central coast of Poland, she had early modeling ambitions but in 1997 got her initial assignment in the form of her silver screen debut in “The Dark […]

Louise Victoria Prussing (1895 - 1994)

Actress. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was a successful Broadway performer when she entered films appearing in “Out Yonder” (1919). Her many other credits included “His Wife’s Money” (1920), “World’s Apart” (1921), “Virgin’s Sacrifice” (1922), “The Thoroughbred” (1928), “The Woman in White” (1929) and “Before Morning” (1933). She died in Los Angeles, California. (bio by: […]

Nelly Prono (1926 - 1997)

Actress. Born in Paraguay, she was a very versatile actress, performing stage, motion pictures and television. (bio by: 380W)

Yvonne Wignolle Printemps (1895 - 1977)

Singer, Actress. Born Ermont Yvonne Willigniolle Dupre, she earned the nickname “printemps” (“spring”) for her cheerful personality. She rose to fame while dancing in cabaret and performing on Broadway. Some of her motion pictures include “Le Voyage en Amérique” (1951; “Voyage to America”), “La Valse de Paris” (1949; “The Paris Waltz”); “Les Condamnés” (1948; “The […]