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1-11 of 11
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ruth Roman was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the youngest of three daughters of Lithuanian-Jewish parents Mary Pauline (Gold) and Abraham Roman. Her father, a carnival barker, died when she was a small child, forcing her mother to support the family by working as a waitress and cleaning woman. Ruth grew up in the poor tenement district of Boston, Massachusetts, where she went to school. However, she left school after just two years to pursue an acting career. Her chosen path proved to be strewn with obstacles: in New York, she obtained a job posing for stills for a crime magazine, but theatrical work eluded her. She then worked as a hat check girl at a night club before calling it quits and returning to Boston. There, she made ends meet as an usherette during the day while at night performing with the New England Repertory Company, her first steady acting job. She also studied drama and eventually graduated from the Bishop-Lee Theatre School.
Trying to get into films, Ruth unsuccessfully made the rounds of agents and producers for two years (1940-42), until a bit part as a WAVE came her way in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943). With $200 to her name, she purchased a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where she found shared accommodation with other aspiring starlets, naming it, optimistically, 'the House of the Seven Garbos'. After a screen test with Warner Brothers failed to result in a contract, Ruth had another run of six hard years playing bit parts, many of them uncredited, some ending up on the cutting room floor. A sole speaking part of consequence was in the titular role of Jungle Queen (1945), a Universal serial (after subsequent acting lessons, Ruth was aghast when the serial was rereleased in 1951).
Ruth finally got her big break when producer Dore Schary cast her (against character, as a murderess) in the RKO thriller The Window (1949). That same year, she successfully auditioned for Stanley Kramer's boxing drama Champion (1949) as the dependable wife of the fighter (Kirk Douglas). After this turning point in her life, the shapely, smoky-voiced brunette secured a contract with Warner Brothers. During the next phase of her career, she moved effortlessly from glamorous and seductive to demure and wholesome in films opposite stars like James Stewart, Errol Flynn, and Gary Cooper. Look Magazine billed her as the 'Big Time Movie Personality of 1950', and by the following year she was receiving some 500 fan letters per week.
While many of her leads were in westerns (albeit mostly A-grade ones), Ruth was somewhat more memorable in support of Farley Granger (as his upper-crust lover and the raison d'etre for the planned murder of his wife) in Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951). Another offbeat role was as a gangster's moll in the British-made updated adaptation of Shakespeare's Joe MacBeth (1955). As Lily, she is the power behind angst-ridden Paul Douglas ('Joe'), whom she easily manipulates to do her bidding. In The Bottom of the Bottle (1956), she was at her dependable best as the supportive wife of lawyer Joseph Cotten. Arguably, her last noteworthy performance on the big screen was in Alexander Singer's romance/drama Love Has Many Faces (1965).
By the 1960s, Ruth had made the transition to middle-aged character parts and began to appear mostly on television in shows like The Outer Limits (1963), Mannix (1967), Gunsmoke (1955), and (in a recurring role) in The Long, Hot Summer (1965). She also toured nationally with theatrical productions of "Plaza Suite", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", and "Two for the Seesaw". For the actress, who was said to disdain the trimmings of Hollywood stardom, real-life drama came when she and her son counted among the 760 survivors of the sinking of the luxury cruise liner 'Andrea Doria' in 1956. In September 1967, she jumped from her burning car but still managed to make her scheduled performance in "Beekman Place" at the Ivanhoe Theatre. Ruth died in September 1999 at her home in Laguna Beach, aged 76.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Glamorous, dark-eyed leading lady, touted as Britain's answer to Hollywood's Clara Bow, the 'It Girl'. She was also sometimes referred to as 'Britain's first female sex symbol', reflected by having her initially cast as vamps or flappers. Born Dorothy Irene Boucher, she started out as a typist and then joined her brother at Harrods department store, where she was employed as a fashion model. After being a finalist in a Daily Mirror beauty contest, she became a photographer's model, and, from there, segued into acting. Until 1934, she continued to be billed in some of her pictures as 'Dorothy Bouchier'. However, she had by then adopted her stage name 'Chili', derived from a novelty song, popularised by the Savoy Havana Band in 1923 ("I Love My Chili Bom Bom").
On screen from 1927, Chili was under contract to Herbert Wilcox at British & Dominions. She made a few modestly successful films at the studio, notably Venetian Nights (1931). However, her position as pre-eminent leading lady at the studio was eventually usurped by new discovery Anna Neagle (who was diligently mentored by Wilcox and later became his wife). Chili's film career thus went into decline. The situation was not helped by an unhappy interlude in Hollywood, which came about as a stipulation of her 1935 contract with Warner Brothers. Finding herself essentially unemployed, she returned to Britain, but was henceforth relegated to appearing in second features. She spent the war years entertaining troops as part of ENSA. Chili remained a busy performer on the London stage (into her eighties), interspersed with occasional character parts on screen until 1960.- Costume Designer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Tony Duquette was born on 11 June 1914. He was a costume designer, known for Kismet (1955), Lovely to Look At (1952) and Can-Can (1960). He was married to Elizabeth Johnstone. He died on 9 September 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Catfish Hunter was born on 8 April 1946 in Hertford, North Carolina, USA. He was married to Helen Hunter. He died on 9 September 1999 in Hertford, North Carolina, USA.
- Piero Di Iorio was born on 26 December 1947 in Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy. He was an actor, known for Seven Beauties (1975), The Divine Nymph (1975) and Alle origini della mafia (1976). He died on 9 September 1999 in Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy.
- Actor
Speirs Ruskell was born on 20 June 1915. He was an actor. He was married to Shelmerdene Ruskell. He died on 9 September 1999 in Carmel, California, USA.- Soundtrack
Chan Parker was born on 29 June 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. She was married to Phil Woods and Charlie Parker. She died on 9 September 1999 in Étampes, France.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Actor
Jan Mimra was born on 26 April 1934 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was an assistant director and director, known for Ta nase písnicka ceská (1967), The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) and Dábelské líbánky (1970). He died on 9 September 1999.- Girly Chew Hossencofft was born on 27 August 1963 in Malaysia. She died on 9 September 1999 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
- Marianne Schulze Zilles was born in 1950. She was an actress, known for Sturm im Anzug (1996), Lady Cop (1994) and Rote Erde (1983). She died on 9 September 1999 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
- Additional Crew
David Stafford-Clark was born on 17 March 1916 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. He is known for Freud (1962), Treasures of the British Museum (1971) and Time Out of Mind (1968). He was married to Dorothy Oldfield Stewart. He died on 9 September 1999 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.