Francelia Billington (1895 - 1934)

Actress, Cinematographer. Blonde, slender star of silent films. Born and raised on a ranch near Dallas, Texas, she entered films in 1912 with the Kalem Company and was quickly promoted to leads after the departure of their star, Alice Joyce. Her expertise in horse riding made her a natural for westerns though she was versatile […]

Zina Bethune (1945 - 2012)

Actress, Disability Advocate. Perhaps best remembered for playing Gail Lucas in the TV series “The Nurses” (1962 to 1965). The daughter of an actress, her father died when she was five years old. She followed her mother’s path to the entertainment industry and at the age of six began taking lessons at George Balanchine’s School […]

Regina Bianchi (1921 - 2013)

Actress. She will perhaps be best remembered for her leading role in the successful play “Filomena Marturano”. Born to parents of French origin, she was cast at young age in Raffaele Viviani’s company theater and then in that of Eduardo De Filippo becoming one of the most popular actresses of the Neapolitan theater. Regina was […]

Eugenie Besserer (1868 - 1934)

Actress. She is best-remembered for playing Al Jolson’s doting mother in the landmark talkie “The Jazz Singer” (1927). In the film’s most famous scene, Jolson serenades her with Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” and then utters the immortal phrase, “You ain’t heard nothing yet!” Besserer was born in Watertown, New York. She married at 15 and […]

Bibi Besch (1940 - 1996)

Actress. She is best remembered for her role of ‘Dr. Carol Marcus’ in the motion picture “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan” (1982). Born Bibiana Huber in Vienna, Austria, her mother was actress Gusti Huber. She came to the USA after World War II as a child, and grew up in Chappaqua, New York. […]

Mary Bertrand (1871 - 1955)

Actress. Born Mary Bertrand Steenbergen in Illinois, she began her career in the early 1900s, performing at the Liberty Theatre New York and on Broadway. For feature films she appeared in “The Wife Takes A Flyer” (1942) and “Tahiti Honey” (1943).

Margeurite Bertrandias (1891 - 1968)

Actress. Appearing in more than 60 Westerns melodramas, she was ‘Margaret Fowler’ in “A Daughter of the City,” (1915) ‘Mary Lawton’ in “The Man of Bronze,” (1918) ‘Eileen Arden’ in “Forbidden Lover” (1923) and ‘Julia’ in “The Palm Beach Girl”(1926). She died for injuries from road accident.

Francesca Bertini (1892 - 1985)

Actress. Born Elena Seracini Vitiello. Described as one of the first divas of cinema. She made her film debut in 1907 with “La Dea del Mare”. With the movies “Lucrezia Borgia,” “Giulietta e Romeo,” and “L’arrivista,” Her popularity obtained gigantic dimensions as they are hardly imaginable today. In 1921 she married the Swiss banker Paul […]

Flo Bert (1898 - 1981)

Actress. She appeared in the films, “I’m From Arkansas” (1944), and “The She-Creature” (1956). Also a stage actress she appeared as ‘Cinderella’ on Broadway in the play, “Cinderella On Broadway: A Fantasy Of The Great White Way” which opened on June 24, 1920, and it ran for 126 performances. She also played ‘Miss Moffet’ in […]

Simone Berriau (1896 - 1984)

Actress, Theater Producer. Raised in France, she moved to Morocco at 15, and soon married her first husband, a French Army colonel whose name she took. She made her theatrical debut at the Opera-Comique in a production of “Pelleas et Melisande” under the name Simone Berry. Thru the 1930s, she appeared in a dozen movies, […]

Sarah Bernhardt (1844 - 1923)

French Classical Actress.

Nora Bernard (1890 - 1955)

Actress in 84 silent films from 1908 – 1941 including: “Ramona,” “The Failure,” “A Chance Deception,” “Princess Romanoff,” “Little Women” and “The Great Shadow.”

Barbara Berjer (1920 - 2002)

Actress. She was born Barbara Berger but changed her last name to Berjer for the proper pronunciation. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from DePaul University in 1943. She moved to New York City and pursued a successful acting career in daytime television. She played Bridget Connell on “Another World” from 1985 to […]

Mina Bern (1911 - 2010)

Actress, Singer. Though she appeared on Broadway and in a number of Hollywood films, she shall be best remembered as a star of the Yiddish theater scene of New York. Born Mina Bernholtz in what is now Poland, she was introduced to the stage early on with the traveling group Ararat. Fleeing the Nazi invasion […]

Ingrid Bergman (1915 - 1982)

Actress. She was an international star of films, television and on the stage. Ingrid Bergman made 50 films in her movie career winning two best Actress Oscars, an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award. Some of her films: Intermezzo, Casablanca, Walk in the Spring Rain, Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, For Whom the Bell Tolls, […]

Frances Bergen (1922 - 2006)

Actress. The wife of entertainer Edgar Bergen and mother of actress Candice Bergen. She started her career as a model in New York. She was “the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl” and “the Ipana Girl” in magazines and on billboards. At age 19 she caught the eye of her future husband at one of his shows. He […]

Elsa Berenguer (2026 - 2006)

Actress. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An award-winning stage, screen and television actress, Berenguer was a member of the stage group “La Nueva Máscara”, in the late 1950s. She received the prestigious Molière Award in 1974 for her work on the play “Sabor a Miel” and in 1981 the Estrella de Mar Award […]

Anita Berber (1899 - 1928)

Dancer, Actress. She was the daughter of a classical violinist and a cabaret singer. She studied dance with Rita Sacchetto and founder of rhythmic gymnastics Emile Jacques-Dalcroze. She began dancing professionally in 1917. Between 1918 and 1925, she also appeared in more than 20 silent movies, including Richard Ostwald’s sex education films and his 1919 […]

Marjorie Bennett (1896 - 1982)

Actress. Born in York, Australia. Died of cancer. Sister of actress Enid Bennett and Catherine Bennett. Appeared in “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) and “Coogan’s Bluff” (1968).

Mary Benny (1905 - 1983)

Actress, Comedienne. The real life wife of actor Jack Benny, she played the role of the long-suffering housewife who is given no money to run the household. Born Sadye Marks in Seattle, Washington, she first worked as a department store clerk, when she met Jack Benny, who was then a beginning radio star. She married […]

Mabel Bennett (1883 - 1940)

Actress. Mother of Constance, Barbara and Joan Bennett. Stage actress and daughter of Rose Wood and stage actor Lewis Morrison. In films from 1914 to 1917. Married to Richard Bennett from 1903 to 1925. Married Eric Pinker in 1927. 

Norma Bengell (1935 - 2013)

Actress. An award-winning romantic lead of the Brazilian and Italian cinema, she is perhaps best remembered for the dubious distinction of being the first ‘big name’ actress to be depicted frontally nude on screen. Born norma Aparecida Almeida da Pinto Guimaraes d’Aurea Bengell, she first earned notice as a magazine and runway model then began […]

Nelly Beltran (1925 - 2007)

Actress. Considered one of the most beloved Argentinian performers. Beltrán debuted on stage in the late 1940s, playing in “Las Lágrimas También Se Secan.” She then made her 1955 screen debut in “Para Vestir Santos.” During her lengthy career Beltrán played both comedic and dramatic roles and became one of the most popular faces of […]

Bea Benaderet (1906 - 1968)

Bea Benaderet Was an actress whose career spanned four decades but was probably best known for her comedic performances in “Petticoat Junction,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Flintstones.” Benaderet was born April 4, 1906, in New York and made her professional debut in a children’s production of “The Beggar’s Opera” in San Francisco when she […]

Brenda Benet (1945 - 1982)

Actress. She is best remembered for her role as the scheming villainess ‘Lee Dumonde’ on the daytime serial “Days of our Lives,” which she played from 1979 until her death in 1982. A classic example of a modern-day Hollywood tragedy, her acting career spanned just over 16 years with a wide range of guest appearances […]

Diana Bellamy (1943 - 2001)

Actress. She was a character actress in theaters, television and on stage. She graduated with a master’s degree in Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in 1970. Her acting career began in a puppet theater in Los Angeles. She was popular in regional theaters and she also appeared on television and in such movies as […]

Eleanor Belmont (1879 - 1979)

Actress, Writer. She was the author of the play, “In The Next Room” (1930), and the book, “The Case Of The Black Parrot” (1941). Born in England on December 13, 1879, she acted on stage for 10 years, but gave it up to marry, August Belmont Jr., on February 26, 1910, who she stayed married […]

Adele Belgrade (1866 - 2026)

Stage and Motion Picture Actress. She appeared on stage and in silent films, among them the 1917 comedy/drama production of “Happiness.” Married to actor Fred J. Butler, mother of prolific director/actor David Butler.

Mary Bell (1911 - 2005)

Actress, Playwright and novelist. Widow of actor Sir John Mills. Mother of Juliet, Jonathon, and Hayley Mills. Best known for her 1958 novel “Whistle Down the Wind,” which would later become a stage production and a film starring her daughter Hayley. Mary Hayley Bell was born in Shanghai, China where her father was a customs […]

Ena Begovic (1960 - 2000)

Actress. She won a dozen Best Actress awards and prizes over her 17 years in theater, films, and television. She appeared in 45 plays, mostly with the Croatian National Theater, in roles ranging from Desdemona in “Othello,” Gertrude in “Hamlet,” and Goneril in “King Lear,” to Antigone and Medea in “Antigone” and “Medea,” and to […]