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A legendary stage actress and character player in early films, Lucille La Verne is one of those forgotten legends who seem to fade as the years go on. However, at her prime she was one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation.

Lucille La Verne Mitchum was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 7, 1872. Little is known about her family. She made her stage debut at the local summer stock theater in 1876. The production was called "Centennial" in honor of America's 100th birthday, and the three-year old Lucille was among a handful of child extras in the play. In 1878 she returned to play another child part. She continued to return every summer, sort of becoming the playhouse's resident child star. She quickly proved herself a talented actress, and as she got older she was given better parts. She won great acclaim when during the summer of 1887 she played both Juliet and Lady Macbeth--at only 14 years of age.

On the night of her 16th birthday in 1888, made her Broadway debut with a supporting role in "La Tosca". The play closed after four weeks. In the fall of 1889 she performed with a stock company in Washington, DC, where she played May in "May Blossom" and Chrissy Rogers in "The Governess". She also toured as Ethel in "Judge Not". Her breakthrough performance was a limited-run Broadway revival of "As You Like It" with an all-female cast in March 1894, and she won much acclaim for her performance as "Corin". In the 1894-95 season, she played Patsy in Frank Mayo's Broadway production of Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson". She also scored great success by playing the female lead roles in three different acclaimed touring productions over the next three years: "Notre Dame" (1895-96), "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1897-98) and "Lady Windermere's Fan" (1897-98). In 1898 La Verne was made manager and director of the newly built Empire Theater in Richmond, VA. She staged five shows every season, and received mostly rave reviews. She played everything from leading roles in "Hedda Gabbler" and "Antigone" to character parts such as "Ma Frochard" in "The Two Orphans." She also wrote an adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which she first staged in 1900, and her version was used by several other theaters in the early 1900s. She received much acclaim for her work at the Empire, and even received the Woman of the Year Award from the Virginia Women's Society in 1901.

She stepped down from the Empire Theater at the end of the 1903-04 season to make her London debut in a comic supporting role in the play "Clarice". She again received acclaim and repeated her success in the Broadway production three months later. She remained a staple of the Broadway stage for the next several years, specializing in character parts. She also returned on occasion to stock theaters to act and direct. She made her film debut in 1914 in Butterflies and Orange Blossoms (1914). From then on she would divide her time between film and the stage. She was used in film frequently by D.W. Griffith for various character parts. While she was a versatile actress, her most memorable parts in film were always those of vengeful women.

Her greatest stage triumph was the creation of the Widow Caggle role in the original Broadway production of "Sun Up". After the Broadway engagement she directed, as well as continued to perform, in the US and European tours of the play. She also recreated her role for the film version (Sun-Up (1925)). In 1927 Broadway's Princess Theater was renamed the Lucille La Verne Theater in her honor, and she was named manager and director. For her first outing as a Broadway producer and director she chose an original play called "Hot Water", giving herself the role of Jessica Dale. The play received mixed reviews and closed rather quickly. Later that same season she launched a revival of "Sun Up" repeating her Widow Caggle role, but it also closed quickly. Since the theater had lost money, she was let go as manager and the name reverted to being the Princess Theater. Upset, she moved to California for the time being to make more movies.

By 1928 she had already established herself as a good character actress in silent films and made the transition easily to talkies. As with her stage career, however, she tended to get typecast as unlikable women, despite her acclaim on Broadway for being able to play almost any character type. She did not abandon the stage entirely, however, and appeared frequently in regional productions in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1936 she returned to Broadway in the lead role of the thriller "Black Widow". Despite the rave reviews she received, the play itself got mixed reviews and closed after just a few performances. It would be her last stage production. La Verne quickly returned to Hollywood to take on her most famous role. She voiced both the Wicked Queen and her alter ego, the Old Hag in Walt Disney's first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). She also worked as a live-action model for the artists.

After working on "Snow White", Lucille La Verne retired from acting and became co-owner of a successful nightclub. She died at age 72 of cancer on March 4, 1945, in Culver City, CA.

Jeff was born in Brooklyn and attended Erasmus High School. After high school, he took a drama course and worked in stock companies for two years. His next role was that of an officer in World War II. After he was discharged from the service, he became busy acting in radio dramas and comedies until he was signed by Universal. It was in the fifties that Jeff would become a star, making westerns and action pictures. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Cochise in Broken Arrow (1950). He followed this by playing the role of Cochise in two sequels: The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and Taza, Son of Cochise (1954). While his premature gray hair and tanned features served him well in his westerns and action pictures, the studio also put him into soaps and costume movies. In his films, his leading ladies included Maureen O'Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Jane Russell, Joan Crawford, and June Allyson. Shortly after his last film Merrill's Marauders (1962), Jeff died, at 42, from blood poisoning after an operation for a slipped disc.

Tom Conway played "The Falcon" in ten of that series' entries. He starred in three Val Lewton horror classics. He appeared in comedies, musicals, two Tarzan films and even science fiction films.

He was early television's Detective Mark Saber, but Conway will probably be best remembered as George Sanders' brother.

Born into a wealthy family in pre-Bolshevik Revolution Russia, Thomas Charles Sanders might have followed his father as a rope manufacturer and inherited several estates. Had the family not been forced to flee to England, the brothers Sanders may never have added their names to the Hollywood saga.

But the Russian Revolution came, and Tom (age 13), George (age 11), sister Margaret (age 5), together with their parents, fled to England, leaving most of their wealth in the hands of the Bolsheviks.

The brothers attended Dunhurst and Bedales, private schools, and eventually Brighton College.

After college, Tom went to Northern Rhodesia where he worked in gold, copper and asbestos mines and even attempted ranching. Frustrated and "pretty well fed up to the teeth" with his failures, he borrowed passage home. In England, Conway worked as an engineer in a carburetor company and later sold safety glass.

He was discovered by a representative from a little theater group who persuaded him to join them. Conway eventually worked for the Manchester Repertory Company and toured with them in over twenty-five plays. He also appeared in BBC radio broadcasts.

Brother George persuaded him to come to Hollywood. To prevent confusion on the part of the public, they tossed a coin to see who would have to change his name. Tom lost, thereby becoming Tom Conway.

Conway began work at MGM, eventually appearing as a contract player in twelve films there, including a bit part in Mrs. Miniver (1942).

Brother George, tiring of B-film appearances in RKO's Falcon series and with better roles at two studios looming on the horizon, offered Tom his first big break. In The Falcon's Brother (1942), George was conveniently eliminated by a Nazi sniper so that Tom, as Tom Lawrence, could inherit the role. Conway played the role with even greater success than that of his brother in the next ten installments, concluding with The Falcon's Adventure (1946).

During those years, he also appeared in Val Lewton's Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and The Seventh Victim (1943). These led to two major film appearances, Universal's One Touch of Venus (1948), with Ava Gardner and Eve Arden and Warner Brothers' Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951).

Amidst the collapse of the studio system, Tom found his opportunities shrinking. There were to be no further major roles for him. His next film was Bride of the Gorilla (1951).

Alert to new possibilities for work, he accepted the part of homicide detective Mark Saber in the television series, Mark Saber (1951). Conway also made several mystery films in England during the same period. He played a cameo role as a bearded and be-wigged Sir Kay in Prince Valiant (1954) with two brief lines.

Back in the states, there were guest appearances on TV's Rawhide (1959), Adventures in Paradise (1959), and Perry Mason (1957).

In October, 1957, Tom turned in a brilliant performance as ventriloquist Max Collodi in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) chilling tale "The Glass Eye". He appeared regularly as the boyfriend on the The Betty Hutton Show (1959).

Conway also lent his voice to One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). His final appearance was an uncredited part, in What a Way to Go! (1964).

Failing eyesight and prolonged bouts with alcohol took their toll on Conway in his last years. His second wife, Queenie Leonard divorced him in 1963. George Sanders broke off all contact with him over his drinking.

Conway underwent cataract surgery during the winter of 1964/65. In September of 1965 Tom briefly returned to the headlines when he was discovered living in a $2-a-day room in a Venice, California flophouse. Gifts, contributions and offers of aid poured in - for a time. Conway, still standing tall and trim, his hair now white, peered owl-like through thick-lensed glasses at the newspaper cameras.

His last years were marked with further visits to the hospital. It was there that former sister-in-law Zsa Zsa Gabor visited him one day and gave him $200. "Tip the nurses a little bit so they'll be good to you," she told him. The following day, the hospital called her to say that Conway had left with the $200, gone to his girlfriend's and died in her bed.

First came to notice as a contestant on Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life (1950). His highly amusing personality won him bit parts in films, and he continued to work as a minor supporting player for years. He is the brother of Jose Gonzales-Gonzales. His most famous role was on John Wayne's movie Rio Bravo (1959).

Tubby 5' 10 1/2" character actor Bruno VeSota had a remarkably long, varied and impressive career acting and directing in the mediums of stage, radio, movies and television. He was born Bruno William VeSota on March 25th, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the second of three sons born to Lithuanian immigrants Kasmir and Eleanora VeSota. Bruno first began acting in the 7th grade while attending the Catholic parochial school St. George's. He made his stage debut as the villain in the children's play "Christopher's Orphans." At age 19 VeSota went to the Hobart Theatre in Chicago where he learned the basics on acting, make-up and direction. He made his stage directorial debut with a production of "Richard III" and went on to direct everything from the classics to light comedies. After briefly working in Lithuanian radio in the 40s Vesota did a longer stint on English-language radio. He even provided the voice of Winston Churchill for a radio production. Moreover, Bruno joined the Actors Company of Chicago and continued to perform on stage. VeSota then worked in live television in Chicago in 1945. He directed over 2,000 live TV programs and acted in some 200 more. VeSota moved to Hollywood, California in 1952. Bruno began acting in films in 1953. He achieved his greatest cult feature popularity with his frequent and delightful appearances in a bunch of hugely enjoyable low-budget Roger Corman exploitation pictures. Bruno was especially excellent as Yvette Vickers' angry cuckolded husband in the Grade B monster classic "Attack of the Giant Leeches." Other notable movie roles include a disgusting slob junkyard owner who sells stolen automobile parts on the side in "The Choppers," a bartender in "The Haunted Palace," a hapless night watchman who becomes a victim of "The Wasp Woman," a snobby coffeehouse regular in the hilarious black comedy gem "A Bucket of Blood," a perverse oddball named Mr. Donald Duck from Duluth in "Single Room Unfurnished," a nervous innkeeper in "The Undead," a Russian spy in "War of the Satellites," a minister in "Hell's Angels on Wheels," a cultured gangster in "Daddy-O," and a brutish loan enforcer in "Carnival Rock." Bruno narrated the atrocious cheapie clunker "Curse of the Stoned Hand" for notorious schlockmeister Jerry Warren. He also worked on the make-up and has a bit part in Curtis Harrington's nicely spooky "Night Tide." VeSota does a cameo in Steven Spielberg's made-for-TV fright feature "Something Evil." Bruno directed three movies: the entertainingly lurid crime potboiler "The Female Jungle," the fun alien invasion entry "The Brain Eaters," and the silly spoof "Invasion of the Star Creatures." VeSota had a recurring role as a bartender in a handful of episodes of the hit Western TV show "Bonanza." Among the TV shows VeSota had guest spots on are "Kojak," "McMillan and Wife," "Hogan's Heroes," "Mission: Impossible," "It Takes A Thief," "Hondo," "Branded," "My Mother the Car," "The Wild, Wild West," "The Untouchables," and "Leave It to Beaver." VeSota had six children with his wife Genevieve. Bruno VeSota died of a heart attack at age 54 on September 24th, 1976.

Mr. McLean appeared for years on television commercials as the Marlboro Man. After he learned he had cancer, he became an anti-smoking crusader. At a meeting of stockholders of Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, Mr. McLean asked them to limit their advertising. In addition to his movie credits, Mr. McLean also appeared on the television programs 'Tate', 'Bonanza', 'The Westerner', 'The High Chaparral', 'The Virginian', and 'Gunsmoke'.

Of Irish descent, Helena Carter pursued a master's degree in English Literature at Columbia University with which she hoped to teach, but due to her striking beauty was sidetracked into modeling, signing with the Conover agency. Renowned photographer Dick Isaacs shot some magazine covers of her that drew the notice of film studios, and soon producer Leonard Goldstein at Universal Pictures offered her a contract. She made only thirteen films before leaving show business, her best-known the cult sci-fi classic Invaders from Mars (1953).

Don Kelly was born on March 17, 1924 in New York City, New York, USA as Donald Patrick Kelly to Robert T. Kelly and Rachel Marie Knudsen. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Don was an actor, known for Bombers B-52 (1957), Tank Battalion (1958), and The Hostage (1967), his final starring role. The Hollywood Reporter sated in its film review that "the film owes its vitality primarily to the dynamic forces of the murderer, Bull, played by Don O'Kelly." He appeared in numerous television westerns including Bat Masterson, Cheyenne, The Virginian, and Bonanza. He died on October 2, 1966 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Sybil Seely was born on 2 January 1900 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for One Week (1920), Love, Honor and Behave! (1920) and Down on the Farm (1920). She was married to Jules Furthman. She died on 26 June 1984 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Gladys Lloyd was born on 11 October 1895 in Yonkers, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Two Seconds (1932) and Smart Money (1931). She was married to Edward G. Robinson and Ralph Lent Westervelt. She died on 6 June 1971 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Danny Lerner was born in Israel, his industry career started with working in the distribution of films: he went on to manage a cinema chain and subsequently moved into production when he joined Nu World Productions in 1986.

Since then, he has produced over 70 films, shot on location in South Africa, Namibia, Israel, Mexico, Bulgaria, Canada and United States.

In 2003, he found a Tosca Pictures with a long time friend, Les Weldon with whom he's written and produced many movies. Both of them continue to work closely on many future projects.

His directorial credits include "Traitor's Heart" (1999) with Bryan Genessse and "Shark Zone" (2003) with Dean Cochran, which was followed by "Raging Sharks" (2005), "Rin Tin Tin" (2006), "Shark in Venice" (2007) and "Direct Contact" (2008) with Dolph Lundgren.

Lee Phelps was born on 15 May 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Anna Christie (1930), Scouts to the Rescue (1939) and The Girl from Rio (1939). He was married to Mary Warren. He died on 19 March 1953 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Lenita Lane was born on 16 December 1901 in Parnassus, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for The Bat (1959), The Mad Magician (1954) and While America Sleeps (1939). She was married to Crane Wilbur. She died on 15 March 1995 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Thelma Hill was born Thelma Floy Hillerman in Emporia, Kansas. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California during her early teen years. Living just blocks from the Mack Sennett studio, Thelma became one of the star struck, wide eyed girls who hung out near the studio peering through the gates. It took her five years, but eventually, using her womanly wiles, she weaseled her way through the gates and quickly caught the eye of Sennett himself and F. Richard "Dick" Jones, a producer and director who would work with Thelma in over a dozen films.

Thelma did bit parts and extra work throughout her school years, working weekends and during vacations. Because of her youth, beauty, and spunk, she quickly became "everybody's protégé."

When Mack Sennett revived his famous "Bathing Girls," Thelma the first to don the suit, as most of her parts up till then had been in bathing suits. In her first movie, "Picking Peaches," she had dived off a pier.

Because of her "mah jongg" bathing suit, she became quickly known as the "Mah Jongg Bathing Girl," although she'd already carried around a nickname since her first days on the set: "Pee-Wee," the little black-eyed youngster who grew up on the old lot.

As she matured she was hired to double for Mabel Normand, who, because of a roaring cocaine habit often showed up late for work or not at all. It was about this time that Thelma became a flapper; a style of women who were known for their androgynous bodies, flimsy and revealing clothing, and the traditional male behaviors smoking, heavy drinking, and casual sex. It was the drinking that eventually led to Thelma's downfall. Near the end of her first year in film, 1924, her big break came when she got the lead opposite Ralph Graves in the two reel comedy "Love's Sweet Piffle" directed by Edgar Kennedy.

Thelma was the first Sennett bathing beauty, and one of the few, to make it into feature films. She starred opposite Ben Turpin in "The Prodigal Bridegroom," and got one of the two female leads in the hilarious Laurel & Hardy "Two Tars" in 1928.

When Hollywood brought Jimmy Murphy's comic strip "Toots and Casper" to life on the big screen, Thelma got top billing opposite Bud Duncan as Casper, with Cullen Johnson as Buttercup and George Gray as Casper's boss. The series ran from 1927 through 1929.

One biographer wrote that she starred opposite a solo Stan Laurel (in "Pie-Eyed") but calling 24 seconds on the screen as a starring role seems a stretch.

Everyone in Hollywood knew Thelma was a real trooper with a knack for comedy. She willingly dropped her good looks to don thick black-rimmed glasses and a wild hairdo and work on two reel comedies rather than full length dramatic films. No part was too small for her. Later, during talkies, she played a bit part of a patient in the waiting room in W. C. Fields' "The Dentist." Today, all copies have been so cut up and repaired that her short scene has been lost.

She left Mack Sennett for a short stint with the Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) (also known as FBO Pictures Corporation) in 1927, and afterwards was signed by MGM to play a role in "The Fair Coed." It was about this time that she got engaged to St. Elmo Boyce, her director on the "Toots and Casper" shorts and a former Sennett cinematographer. Boyce and Hill both had drinking problems, Boyce having DUI arrests on his record. The relationship and Boyce's career began to fizzle and Boyce committed suicide in 1930 by poisoning. He'd just finished work on Columbia Pictures' most expensive film to date, "Dirigible."

Thelma Hill did not make the transition to talkies well. Her drinking and depression were starting to take their toll. She began working free lance for a variety of studios. She had made over 20 films in 1929, but with the advent of talkies and the end of frenetic slapstick comedy, she would work on just seven films over the next five years.

Her first sound film was "The Golfers" with the Sennett studios. Her next role was in a musical called "Two Plus Fours" featuring Bing Crosby as one of the Rhythm Boys. She took a small role in Frank Capra's drama, "The Miracle Woman," starring Barbara Stanwyck, a few more small, uncredited parts, one short educational film starring a very, very young Shirley Temple, and ended her career in 1934 at "The Lot of Fun," Hal Roach Studios, in the movie "Mixed Nuts." Her role was small, but unforgettable as she becomes the target of a professor of entomology's Arabian Sand Fleas.

She married John Sinclair (I), W. C. Fields' stunt double and gag writer, and settled into the role of housewife less than ten minutes away from the original Mack Sennett studios.

Whether fueled by her depression or her husband's hanging around with W. C. Fields, famous for his drinking, Thelma drank away her health and youth and died before her thirty-second birthday in 1938.

Biographers mistakenly attribute her cause of death to acute alcohol poisoning (erroneously reported as a "stomach ailment" in her obituary), but records show she had spent the last month of her life at the Edward Merrill Sanitarium (mistakenly listed in Culver City; actually in Venice, CA). She had been diagnosed with chronic alcoholism in 1932 and with pellagra (a B-vitamin deficiency, specifically niacin, often found in alcoholics) in 1937. The effects of malnutrition caused by alcoholism affect all organs in the body, and her official cause of death following an autopsy was cerebral hemorrhage.

Her body was cremated and the ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

A former attorney and professional singer, James V. Kern started out as a screenwriter and eventually turned to directing. His directorial output consisted of mostly routine "B" pictures, but he found his niche in television, where he directed hundreds of series episodes; he was one of the house directors on I Love Lucy (1951) and My Three Sons (1960).

Saul David was born on 27 June 1921 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for Logan's Run (1976), Von Ryan's Express (1965) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). He died on 7 June 1996 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Joan Blair was born on 8 June 1903 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline for Murder (1946), Poppa Knows Worst (1944) and New Orleans (1947). She was married to David A. Coplin, John B. Mayes and Kubec Glasmon. She died on 9 January 1997 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

J. Lewis Smith was born on 24 May 1906 in Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for To Please a Lady (1950), The Lieutenant (1963) and The Mickey Rooney Show (1954). He died on 12 September 1964 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Bennett Ohta was born on 20 December 1934 in Holualoa, Hawaii, USA. He was an actor, known for The Golden Child (1986), Noble House (1988) and Under the Rainbow (1981). He died on 26 October 2013 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Herbert W. Spencer was born on 7 April 1905 in Santiago, Chile. He was a composer, known for Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Superman (1978). He was married to Diana Reid Spencer. He died on 18 September 1992 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Arthur Forde was born on 29 July 1871 in Plymouth, Devon, England, UK. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Price of a Good Time (1917), The Mysterious Mrs. Musslewhite (1917) and The Employer's Liability (1912). He was married to Maude George. He died on 30 December 1952 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Renowned cinematographer Joseph August began his film career not as a cameraman but as a wrangler--he was born and raised in Colorado--at Inceville, the studio begun by pioneering producer/director Thomas H. Ince. He soon switched careers, becoming an assistant to cinematographer Ray C. Smallwood. He shot his first film, Lure of the Violin (1913), in 1912. His reputation became such that only three years later he was picked as "official" cameraman for western star William S. Hart, shooting more than 40 of Hart's westerns. When Hart retired August went to Fox, where he worked with director John Ford, who appreciated August's expertise at outdoor photography. August was also known for his affinity for and facility with low-key lighting, a technique he initially developed out of necessity, since the types of lighting units that could light up a set were expensive, extremely hot and not particularly efficient when August first started out as a cameraman.

He and Ford developed both a professional and personal relationship, and during World War II August joined Ford in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of the modern-day CIA. Both Ford and August were wounded while shooting combat for the documentary The Battle of Midway (1942).

In addition to his other accomplishments, August was also a founding member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

Fred A. Datig was born on 23 October 1891 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, USA. Fred A. was a casting director, known for Sporting Youth (1924), The Cheerful Fraud (1926) and Why Bring That Up? (1929). Fred A. was married to Celia Villa. Fred A. died on 11 December 1951 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Barney Bigard was educated at Straight College, and was a clarinetist in Duke Ellington's orchestra, 1928-1942, and was also with King Oliver, Charlie Elgar, Luis Russell, Freddie Slack, Kid Ory, and the Louis Armstrong All-Star Concert Group, touring worldwide, 1947-1955. He led his own sextet, and toured Europe and Africa for the State Department, 1961-1962. He was awarded the Esquire Jazz (Silver) Award, 1945-46-48. He was a member of the Hot Club of France. Joining ASCAP in 1956, his chief musical collaborator was Duke Ellington. His song compositions include: "Mood Indigo", "Clouds In My Heart", "Rocking In Rhythm", "Minuet In Blues", "Stompy Jones", "Steps Steps Up And Steps Steps Down", "Clarinet Lament", "Saturday Night Function", "Lament For a Lost Love", and "C-Jam Blues".

Peggy Ahern was born on 9 March 1917 in Douglas, Arizona, USA. She was an actress, known for Not So Long Ago (1925), The Vanishing American (1925) and The Sun Down Limited (1924). She died on 24 October 2012 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA.