Ernestine Wade (1906 - 1983)

Actress. In the 1940s, she went to Hollywood, got a job as a secretary, later auditioned for music opportunities and was cast to do voice-overs in the animated Disney film “Song of the South” (1946). She is best remembered for her role as ‘Sapphire Stevens’ on the comedy “Amos ‘n’ Andy” radio show and later […]

Lenore Ulric (1892 - 1970)

Actress. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, she was a star of the Broadway stage making her silent screen debut in “The First Man” (1911), followed by “A Polished Burglar” (1911). Her many film credits included “Kilmeny” (1915), “The Better Woman” (1915), “The Intrigue” (1916), “Her Own People” (1917), “Tiger Rose” (1923), “South Sea Rose” (1929), […]

Sigrid Valdis (1935 - 2007)

Actress. Best known for her role as Colonel Klink’s secretary “Hilda” on the televsion series “Hogan’s Heroes.” She married the show’s star Bob Crane on the set in 1970, the couple had two children. Crane was murdered in 1978. Though of Swedish decent she was born Patricia Olson in Bakersfield, California. She grew up in […]

Joan Tabor (1932 - 1968)

Actress. Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, she made her feature film debut in “The Teenage Millionaire” (1961). She was most noted for her many television series appearances on programs such as “Have Gun Will Travel”, “Bat Masterson”, “Perry Mason, “Laramie”, “Bachelor Father”, “Mister Ed” and “Arrest and Trial”. From 1962 to 1967, she was […]

Hideko Takamine (1924 - 2010)

Actress. Called “Japan’s Shirley Temple”, she extended her film career over a long span of years. After making her silver screen bow in the 1929 silent “Mother”, she had a steady succession of film roles, the depth of her assignments increasing with maturity. Takamine became a freelance performer in 1950 when she took the risk […]

Marian Uhlman (1922 - 2003)

Actress. Known as “The Polka Dot Girl” of World War II pinups, using the name of Chili Williams, later appearing as a Goldwyn Girl. A graduate of the Marshall High School, she was discovered by a modelling agent in 1943 at Fire Island in New York. The modelling agent’s photographer took her picture while she […]

Laura Sadler (1980 - 2003)

Actress. Born in Ascot, Berkshire, England. She was identified as a future talent at early age by Dustin Hoffman, who had seen her in a play. Sadler is best remembered fo her roles on such British television series’ as, ‘Judi Jeffreys’ on “Grange Hill” from 1997 to 1999, ‘Skirty Marm’ in “Belfry Witches” in 1999, […]

Renee Saint-Cyr (1904 - 2004)

Awarded French Actress. She began her career in the thirties. Among other films, she appeared in “Deux Orphelines” (1933), “Le Dernier Millardaire” (1934), “Les Perles de la Couronne” (1937), “La Symphonie Fantastique” (1942), “Étrange Destin” (1946), “Fusillé à l’Aube” (1950), “Si Paris nous Était Conté” (1955), “Le Monocle Rit Jaune” (1964), “O.K. Patron” (1974), “Room […]

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 […]

Valerie 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 […]

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. […]

Doris Packer (1904 - 1979)

Noted stage, motion picture, and television actress. Among her film credits are: “Meet Me at the Fair” (1953) as Mrs Swaile; “Annette” (1958) as Helen Abernathy; “Bon Voyage” (1962) uncredited as Mrs Henderson; “Paradise, Hawaiian Style” (1966) uncredited as Mrs Barrington; “The Perils of Pauline” (1967) as Mrs Carruthers, and her last film “Shampoo” (1975) […]

Christa Paffgen (1938 - 1988)

Christa Päffgen, better known as Nico started out as a model, doing shoots for Vogue and other popular publications in the early 1960’s. Andy Warhol placed her in some of his experimental films and introduced her to The Velvet Underground with whom she recorded the legendary ‘Banana’ album. She recorded several solo albums during the […]

Vivien Oakland (1895 - 1958)

Actress. Born Vivian Ruth Anderson to norwegian immigrant parents, she started out in vaudeville as a child and made her screen debut in “Destiny: Or, The Soul of a Woman” (1915). She married actor John T. Murray in 1917 and divided her time between movies and Broadway appearances until 1928, when she settled in Hollywood. […]

Florence Oakley (1881 - 1956)

Actress. Born Florence McKim, in Pennsylvania, she began her career at age 10 and was best known as brilliant stage performer. As a part of the Carlton Macy stock company of Cleveland, Ohio, she worked on stages from New York City to San Francisco. At age 20, she relocated to California as a member of […]

Katherine Macdonald (1881 - 1956)

Actress/Producer. Born Katherine Agnew MacDonald, Sister of Actress Mary MacLaren. Well remembered as ‘Flora Edwards’ in “The Spirit of 17,” as ‘Helen Haynes/Elsie Parmelee’ in “The Beautiful Liar,” as ‘Priscilla Hobbs’ in “Money! Money! Money!” and as ‘Flora Brookes’ in “The Unnamed Woman.”

Anne Nagel (1915 - 1966)

Actress. Born Anne Dolan, she played in adventures, mysteries and comedies for twenty-five years. She appeared in over 80 motion pictures such as “Sitting Pretty” (1933), “Guns of the Pecos” (1937), “Three Legionnaires” (1937), “Mutiny in the Arctic” (1941), “Sealed Lips” (1942), “The Trap” (1945), “An Innocent Affair” (1948) and “Pal, Fugitive Dog” (1950). For […]

Leela Naidu (1940 - 2009)

Actress. The multilingual star of several Indian films of the 1960s, she was once named by “Vogue” magazine as one of the world’s ten most beautiful women. The child of a distinguished nuclear physicist Indian father and a French journalist mother, her good looks were apparent early and won her the title of Miss India, […]

Barbara La Marr (1896 - 1926)

Actress. A major star during the silent era (1910s and 20s). She was known as the “Too-Beautiful Girl.”

Mary Ann Jackson (1923 - 2003)

American former child actress who appeared in Our Gang short subjects series between 1928 and 1931. Her career began under the shadow of her actor relatives, mother Charlotte Jackson, and older sister, “Peaches” Jackson”. Jackson made her film debut in a 1925 Ruth Taylor short, “Dangerous Curves”. Her first big break came with the role […]

Suzanne Kaaren (1912 - 2004)

Star of stage and screen in the 1930s and 1940s, she appeared alongside such luminaries as Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. She made over 30 movies, 8 with The Three Stooges. Her legs were known as the “Toast of Broadway” and were insured for $1 million during her heyday. She held the world’s record for […]

Madeline Kahn (1942 - 1999)

Actress. A versatile talent of both comedic and vocal skills, she will be perhaps best remembered for her roles in the Mel Brooks pictures “Blazing Saddles” (1974) and “Young Frankenstein” (1974). Born Madeline Wolfson, her parents separated while she was young and in order to support her family Madeline’s mother worked as a model, nightclub […]

Mary Jackson (1910 - 2005)

Stage, Film and TV Actress. She played ‘Miss Emily Baldwin’ on “The Waltons.” Through the 1940s and 50s, she worked in summer stock and on Broadway as well as stage productions in Chicago and Los Angeles. On Broadway, Jackson appeared in shows including “Kiss & Tell,” “Eastward in Eden,” “The Flowering Cherry” and “The Trial […]

Ellen Idelson (1961 - 2003)

Idelson was born Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of actor and television writer Bill Idelson and actress Seemah Wilder.  She attended San Francisco State University and the Harvard University American Repertory Theatre Advanced Training Institute, following the career paths of both her parents. As a television producer and writer she worked on the […]

Pola Illery (1908 - 2012)

Actress. The exotic vamp of roughly 15 French movies, she was possibly the last performer to have starred in silent films as an adult. Born Paula Illiescu in the small town of Corabia, she took to show business early and made her silver screen bow in the 1928 “Le Desir”. After first attracting major notice […]

Kathe Haack (1897 - 1986)

Actress. Born in Berlin, she was one of the most prolific actresses in German cinema, with a career that spanned over 70 years and 250 films. She began performing on stage in 1914 and made her screen debut two years later. Her films include “Der Skandal” (1916), “Sein bester Freund” (1917), “Wilhelm Tell” (1923), “Hedda […]

Magda Gabor (1915 - 1997)

Magda Gabor The eldest daughter of a jeweler, Jolie (1896–1997), and a soldier, Vilmos Gábor (1884-1962), she was born in 1915 in Budapest. Of Jewish descent, she is listed in Hungary: Jewish Names from the Central Zionist Archives, under her first married name, as Magda Bychowsky. She stood 5’6″ tall with red hair and gray […]

Christine Fabrega (1931 - 1988)

Actress. 

Myrna Fahey (1933 - 1973)

Actress. Born in Carmel, Maine, she was a cheerleader in high school and a runner-up in the 1952 “Miss Maine” contest. She arrived in Hollywood in 1955, chaperoned by two family friends at her parents’ insistence, and studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse while landing uncredited bits in such films as “I Died a Thousand […]

Jeanne Eagels (1894 - 1929)

Actress. She was a former Ziegfeld Follies Girl who went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films. Born Eugenia Eagles, the second of six children, she moved with her family at the age of 2 to Kansas City, Missouri where she often appeared in Kansas City pageants and […]