Leith Stevens (1909 - 1970)

The music accompanying the film The James Dean Story was composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. An eponymous album containing this music was released by Capitol Records in 1957, and its anonymous sleeve notes say, “Here is the music direct from the soundtrack of The James Dean Story, a different kind of motion picture. This […]

Leland “Bud” Kilpatrick (1915 - 1993)

Fashion and Costume Designer.  Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a teenager he started working with his mother as a custom clothing designer.  He moved to California in 1955 because he was attracted by the casual, well made fashions there and landed a job working for 20th Century Fox in the costume department. During the 1960s […]

Leland “Bud” Kilpatrick (1915 - 1993)

Fashion and Costume Designer.  Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a teenager he started working with his mother as a custom clothing designer.  He moved to California in 1955 because he was attracted by the casual, well made fashions there and landed a job working for 20th Century Fox in the costume department. During the 1960s […]

Leland Stanford (1824 - 1893)

19th Century politician and railroad tycoon. Best known as the founder of Stanford University.  Leland Stanford was born into affluent circumstances in 1824 near Albany, New York. He attended school until adolescence before being tutored at home in his teens. In his later teens he attended Clinton Liberal Institute and Cazenovia Seminary in New York […]

Lélia Abramo (1910 - 2004)

Actress. Born to Italian immigrants in São Paulo, Brazil, he was a figure in Brazillian theater, motion pictures and television. Her best known roles were in the films “Veredas da Salvação” (1965) and “O Quarto” (1968). She was also a well-known political activist and one of the founders of President Lula da Silva’s Workers Party. […]

Lemmy Kilmister (1945 - 2015)

Lemmy Kilmister Heavy Metal Musician. Born Ian Fraser Kilmister, he was a founding member and frontman of the heavy metal rock group “Motörhead”. Inspired to become a musician after seeing the Beatles perform in concert, he spent his early years playing in a variety of bands, as well as working on the road crew for […]

Lemuel Chenoweth (1811 - 1887)

Architect, Politician. He was a local carpenter, legislator, and a holder of public office. However, his claim to fame was in his role as a self-educated architect. He would become West Virginia’s most famous builder and designer of covered bridges. Chenoweth lived in Randolph County his entire life. He built the Huttonsville Presbyterian Church as […]

Lemuel Oscar Motlow (1970 - 1947)

Businessman. He was the owner and operator of the famous Jack Daniel Distillery. Jasper “Jack” Daniel took over the distillery just after the Civil War. It’s ownership eventually passed to Daniel’s nephew Lemuel Motlow. Prohibition had begun in the 1920s and he moved his distillery to St. Louis, Missouri and in 1923 he made a […]

Lemuel Oscar Motlow (1970 - 1947)

Businessman. He was the owner and operator of the famous Jack Daniel Distillery. Jasper “Jack” Daniel took over the distillery just after the Civil War. It’s ownership eventually passed to Daniel’s nephew Lemuel Motlow. Prohibition had begun in the 1920s and he moved his distillery to St. Louis, Missouri and in 1923 he made a […]

Len Lesser (1922 - 2011)

Lesser was born in The Bronx in 1922. His father, a grocer, was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Lesser received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York in 1942 at the age of 19. Lesser enlisted in the United States Army the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and served in […]

Len Lunde (1936 - 2010)

Leonard Melvin Lunde (November 13, 1936 – November 22, 2010) was a professional ice hockey player who played 321 games in the National Hockey League and 72 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Minnesota North Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Detroit Red Wings. Len Lunde was born in […]

Lena Baker (1900 - 1945)

Baker was born June 8, 1900, to a poor black family of sharecroppers and raised near Cuthbert, Georgia. Her family moved to the county seat when she was a child. As a youth, she worked for a farmer named J.A. Cox, chopping cotton.  By the 1940s, Baker was the mother of three children and worked […]

Lena Nyman (1944 - 2011)

Lena Nyman (23 May 1944 – 4 February 2011) was a Swedish film and stage actress. Out of a career that saw her in several dozen Swedish film features she shall probably be remembered for starring in 1967’s controversial “I Am Curious (Yellow)”. Starting in show business at an early age, Lena made her silver […]

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 […]

Lenita Lane (1901 - 1995)

Actress. She appeared in films for three decades, from the 1930s to the 1950s, usually in uncredited roles. In 1924 she began her career on Broadway, in the play “Flame of Love” and appeared on stage in “Kept” (1926), “Congratulations” (1929), “Penny Arcade” (1930, and “Border-Land” (1932). Her most notable film role was in the […]

Lennie Aleshire (1890 - 1987)

Lennie Aleshire was born April 27, 1890 in Christian County, Missouri, just south of Springfield. He was playing the fiddle by age six and learned the guitar, banjo and other instruments by ear. At 15, he lived with the Creek Indians near Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, though his mother was half Cherokee. After his parents died, […]

Lennie Baker (1946 - 2016)

Lennie Baker Leonard Baker, a member of the band Sha Na Na, died Wednesday in Weymouth, Mass., his nephew David Baker confirmed Friday in an obituary on the website of a local funeral home. He was 69. Lennie Baker was a people person. He had many friends and truly enjoyed time spent with all of them. His […]

Lennie Hayton (1908 - 1971)

While playing at the Park Central, Lennie Hayton was heard by Paul Whiteman and immediately engaged by him in April 1928 as second pianist, playing piano and celeste as well as acting as a part-time arranger. Whilst with the Paul Whiteman orchestra, he played with musicians such as Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols and […]

Lenny Baker (1945 - 1982)

Actor. His professional career spanned ten years, from 1969 until 1979 and is best remembered for his performance in the 1977 musical “I Love My Wife,” that won him a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. Born Leonard Joel Baker, he graduated in 1962 from Brookline High School in […]

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), […]

Leo Baekeland (1863 - 1944)

Leo Baekeland was born in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland was the son of a cobbler and a house maid. He told The Literary Digest: “The name is a Dutch word meaning ‘Land of Beacons.’” He graduated with honours from the Ghent Municipal Technical School and was awarded a scholarship by the City of Ghent to study […]

Leo Burnett (1891 - 1971)

Advertising Executive. He founded the highly successful Leo Burnett Advertising Company, which over time served giant corporate clients such as Proctor and Gamble, Philip Morris Company, Pillsbury, United Airlines, and General Motors, and created iconic advertising characters such as the “Marlboro Man”, and “Tony the Tiger”.  Family links:  Parents:  Noble I Burnett (1864 – 1928) […]

Leo Burnett (1891 - 1971)

Advertising Executive. He founded the highly successful Leo Burnett Advertising Company, which over time served giant corporate clients such as Proctor and Gamble, Philip Morris Company, Pillsbury, United Airlines, and General Motors, and created iconic advertising characters such as the “Marlboro Man”, and “Tony the Tiger”.  Family links:  Parents:  Noble I Burnett (1864 – 1928) […]

Leo Carrillo (1880 - 1961)

lthough he played many different ethnicities in his acting career, Leo Carrillo was Castillian Spanish and traced his ancestry in Spain to the year 1260. His great-great grandfather José Raimundo Carrillo (1749–1809), was a soldier in the Spanish Portolá expedition colonization of Las Californias, arriving in San Diego on July 1, 1769. Franciscan Friar Junípero […]

Leo Carroll (1886 - 1972)

Leo Carroll was born in Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, to William and Catherine Carroll. His Roman Catholic parents named him after then-Pope Leo XIII. In 1897, his family lived in York, where his Irish-born father was a foreman in an ordnance store. In the 1901 Census for West Ham, London, his occupation is listed as “wine […]

Leo Clarke (1892 - 1916)

Leo Clarke was born in Waterdown, Ontario. He spent his early years in England, home of his parents, but later returned and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba in about 1903. When World War I started, he was working as a surveyor for the Canadian Northern Railway in the Canadian north. He returned to Winnipeg to enlist […]

Leo Diamond (1915 - 1966)

Musician, Songwriter, Actor. Considered a master on the harmonica, he led his own musical trio called “The Solidaires.” He acted in several motion pictures throughout the 1930s and ’40s, among them “One In a Million” (1936), “Hit Parade of 1941” (1940), and “Top Man” (1943). His popular compositions and recordings include “Off Shore,” “Hold on […]

Leo Frank (1884 - 1915)

Leo Frank (April 17, 1884 – August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His legal case, and lynching two years later, attracted national attention and became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. Born to […]

Leo Fuchs (1911 - 1994)

Motion picture, stage, and television actor of the 1930s thru 1990s. He appeared in several classic TV series, among them “Wagon Train,” “Mister Ed,” and “Green Acres.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Inscription:Adored FatherGrandfatherLoved ForeverJonathan And Family

Leo G. Carroll (1886 - 1972)

Actor. He is best remembered for his roles of Alexander Waverly on the 1960s television series, “The Man from UNCLE” (1964 to 1968) and as the title character in the 1950s comedy sitcom “Topper”(1953 to 1956). Born Leo Grattan Carroll in Weedon, England, the son of a wealthy Catholic army officer, he was named for […]