Herman Hoffman Birney, Jr (1891 - 1958)

Author. Wrote such books as “King of the Mesa,” “Vigilantes,” and “Two Little Navajos.”  Family links:  Parents:  Herman Hoffman Birney (1866 – 1926)  Elizabeth C Boude Birney (1867 – 1931)  Spouse:  Marguerite Bovington Birney (1902 – 1975)*  Sibling:  Herman Hoffman Birney (1891 – 1958)  Knox Boude Birney (1892 – 1918)* *Calculated relationship

Russell Birdwell (1903 - 1977)

Motion-Picture Publicist. He won almost legendary status as one of Hollywood’s most flamboyant press agents. Birdwell launched his first big publicity stunt in 1927, when he hired an actress to dress in widow’s garb and place flowers at the tomb of Rudolph Valentino on the first anniversary of his death. An anonymous “Woman in Black” […]

Robert Montgomery Bird (1806 - 1854)

Playwright. Known for plays such as “The Gladiator” (1834) and “The Broker of Bogota” (1834).  Family links:  Spouse:  Mary Elizabeth Mayer Bird (1809 – 1868)* *Calculated relationship

Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)

British poet and critic. Robert Laurence Binyon was born in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman. He was educated at St. Paul’s School in London and at Trinity College, Oxford; where, in 1890, he won the Newdigate Prize for his poem “Persephone.” After he graduated, he worked at the British Museum in the Department of […]

Claude Binyon (1905 - 1978)

Writer and film director of the 1930s through the 1960s. Wrote the famous 1929 Variety headline concerning the stock market carsh, ‘Wall Street Lays An Egg.’ He died in 1978 of a heart condition. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Micha Josef Bin-Gorion (1865 - 1921)

Author. Born Micah Josef Berdichevsky, the son of an Hasidic Rabbi, at Medzhaybizh, Ukraine. An early marriage was ended when his traditionally minded father-in-law found that he was studying the so called Haskala or Enlightenment, which was a movement advocating that Jews integrate into modern secular society. After study at Volozhin Yeshiva, in 1890, he […]

Ray Allen Billington (1903 - 1981)

Educator, historian and author. Billington held two Ph.D. degrees (University of Wisconsin 1926, and Harvard University 1933), taught at several universities in the U.S. served as a professor at Oxford University in England. He retired from his teaching career in 1960 and became the Senior Research Associate at the renowned Huntington Library. He wrote more […]

Earl Derr Biggers (1884 - 1933)

Mystery Novelist. He created the fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan. Born in Warren, Ohio, he graduated from Harvard in 1907. His first novel,  “Seven Keys to Baldpate” (1913),  was adapted into a hit Broadway play by George M. Cohan,  and later filmed several times.  With “The House Without a Key” (1925) Biggers introduced Charlie Chan, […]

Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1970)

Author, Journalist. Best known for his classic Civil War story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (1890) and the satirical lexicon “The Devil’s Dictionary” (1911). Bierce vanished without a trace in late 1913, allegedly in Mexico while covering the exploits of Pancho Villa. His disappearance is one of literature’s great mysteries.  Family links:  Parents:  Marcus […]

Albert Isaac Bezzerides (1908 - 2007)

Albert Isaac Bezzerides Albert Isaac Bezzerides, screenwriter of film noir classics “Kiss Me Deadly,” “On Dangerous Ground” and “Thieves Highway,” died Jan. 1 in Woodland Hills after a brief illness. He was 98. Albert Isaac Bezzerides, known as “Buzz,” started as a novelist and short-story writer. He was working for the Los Angeles Dept. of […]

Edyth Gertrude Carter Beveridge (1970 - 1927)

Journalist. A pioneering female photojournalist, she gained recognition with photo-essays in the “Confederate Veteran” in 1896 and “Illustrated American”, the first photojournalism magazine in the United States, in 1897. Her later commissions included works for “Collier’s”, “Harper’s Weekly”, and her most famous photo-essay, “Where Southern Memories Cluster”, in “Ladies’ Home Journal” in 1906. (bio by: […]

Donald Bevan (1920 - 2013)

Playwright, Screenwriter, Artist. He will be best remembered for co-penning “Stalag 17” which became a successful Broadway production and motion picture adaptation. Raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, his father was an engineer whom became a victim of “the Depression”, Donald has a fondness for drawing an upon high school graduation, he enrolled at the Grand Central […]

Hubert Beuve-Mery (1902 - 1989)

He founded the great french Newspaper “Le Monde.”

Hugo Bettauer (1872 - 1925)

Austrian novelist, journalist and playwright. One of his most famous novels is Die freudlose Gasse (The Joyless Street), which was filmed by G. W. Pabst with Greta Garbo, and he was also famous for his anti-Nazi satire of anti-semitism Die Stadt ohne Juden (The State without Jews), which was subsequently made into a play and […]

Sir John Betjeman (1906 - 1984)

Poet. British poetry figure known for the works “Summoned by Bells” (1960), “Mount Zion”, “Collected Poems” (1958), “High and Low” (1966), “A Nip in the Air” (1974), “Church Poems” (1981), and “Uncollected Poems” (1982).

Elsa Maartman Beskow (1874 - 1953)

Children’s book writer, artist. She both wrote and illustrated numerous children’s books, many of which have reached international fame. (bio by: Klas Grönqvist)

Louis Nicolas Bescherelle (1802 - 1970)

French grammarian and lexicograph.

Walter Besant (1836 - 1901)

Influential social reformer and  also a novelist, sometimes in collaboration with James Rice. Besant also finished Wilkie Collin’s last novel, Blind Love, after the author died. He was knighted in 1895. (bio by: Mark McManus)

Aloysius Bertrand (1807 - 1841)

Poet. Born Louis-Jacques-Napoléon Bertrand, he was instrumental in the introduction of the prose poem into French literature with his poetic collection entitled “Gaspard of the Night”, published posthumously in 1842. Settling in Dijon, France in 1815, Bertrand found little success during his lifetime and spent most of his career publishing his works in the newspaper […]

Pierre Berton (1920 - 2004)

Canadian Author, Historian, and Journalist. A prolific writer, he authored 50 non-fiction books. He wrote on popular culture, Canadian history, critiques of mainstream religion, anthologies, children’s books and historical works for youth. His books became popular because his light and fast-paced style was not weighted down by footnotes or deep probes into primary sources. He […]

John Allyn Berryman (1914 - 1972)

American Confessional Poet, Pulitzer Prize Winner. He is best known for his poetic works “The Dream Songs,” which often revolved around the sordid details of his personal problems. Born John Allyn Smith in McAlester, Oklahoma, his father was a banker and his mother a schoolteacher. When he was 10, his family moved to Tampa, Florida, […]

Henry Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (1876 - 1953)

Author. Principle works include “Le Marché” (1900; “The Market”), “Frère Jacques” (1904; “Brother Jacques”), “La Rafale” (1905; “The Whirlwind”), “La Griffe” (1906; “The Claw”), and Samson (1907), Isräel (1908; “Israel”), “Après moi” (1911; “After Me”), “Le Secret” (1913; “The Secret”), “La Galerie des glaces” (1924; “The Gallery of Mirrors”), “Mélo” (1929), “Le Voyage” (1937; “The […]

Josep Bernat i Baldoví (1809 - 1864)

Author. Born in Sueca, Valencia, Spain, Bernat i Baldoví had a prolific career as journalist, poet and playwright, both in Valencian and Spanish Language. He is best remembered for his popular plays  that reflected the life of simple people with realism and acid humor, such as “El Virgo de Vicenteta” (later made into a film), […]

Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre (1737 - 1814)

Author. His most famous work is “Paul et Virginie”.

Tristan Bernard (1866 - 1947)

French playwright, novelist, journalist and lawyer.

Georges Bernanos (1888 - 1948)

Author. His novels reflect his fervent Catholicism and intense concern for moral and spiritual problems. They include “The Star of Satan” (1926), “Joy” (1929), “Night Is Darkest” (1935), “The Diary of a Country Priest” (1936),  and “Monsieur Ouine” (1945).  Bernanos was born in Paris and served in the French Army during World War I.  A […]

Susan Jane Berman (1945 - 2000)

Author, Murder Victim. Berman was the daughter of a mob figure who wrote extensively of her father, who replaced Bugsy Siegel in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel after Siegel’s 1947 murder. In 1981, she published the memoir “Easy Street” about her life. Berman was a reporter for The San Francisco Examiner and also wrote […]

Charles Berlitz (1913 - 2003)

Author of several books on paranormal phenomena including the best selling “The Bermuda Triangle.” Grandson of the founder of the Berlitz language schools. (bio by: Kelly Whyte)  Family links:  Spouse:  Valerie Anne Seary Berlitz (1916 – 2004)* *Calculated relationship

Emmanuel Berl (1892 - 1976)

French Journalist, Historian and Writer.  He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern département of Yvelines.  He was from an upper middle class Jewish family related to Bergson and Proust and the novelist and screenwriter Monique Lange. He studied philosophy before volunteering for the armed services in 1914. He was discharged in 1917 with […]

Ted Berkman (1914 - 2006)

Screenwriter, Author. Berkman wrote the story for the film “Bedtime for Bonzo”, (1951) starring Ronald Reagan. Born Edward Oscar Berkman in Brookyln, NY. he was author of the book “Cast a Giant Shadow”, which was made into a film starring Kirk Douglas. Berkman’s other screenplays included “Fear Strikes Out”, (1957) about real-life ballplayer Jimmy Piersall, […]