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1-15 of 15
- Sylvia Sidney was born in The Bronx, New York City, on August 8, 1910 as Sophia Kosow to Jewish parents. Her father was born in Russia and her mother was born in Romania. They divorced not long after her birth. Her mother subsequently remarried and young Sophia was adopted by her stepfather, Sigmund Sidney.
A shy, only child, her parents tried to encourage her to be more outgoing and gregarious. As an early teen, Sophia (later Sylvia) had decided she wanted a stage career. While most parents would have looked down on such an announcement, Sylvia was encouraged to pursue the dream she had made. She enrolled in the Theater Guild's School for Acting. Sylvia later admitted that when she decided to become a stage actress at 15, it wasn't being star struck that occurred to her, but the expression of beauty that encompassed acting. All she wanted was to be identified with good productions.
One school production was held at a Broadway theater and in the audience there was a critic from the New York Times who had nothing but rave reviews for the young woman. On the strength of her performance in New York, she appeared onstage in Washington, D.C. Further stage productions followed, each better than the last and it wasn't long before the film moguls were at the doorstep. She was appearing in the stage production of "Crime" when she made her first appearance on the silver screen in 1927. The film in question was Broadway Nights (1927) which dealt with stage personalities of which Sylvia, despite her extremely tender age, was one. After the film she returned to the stage where she appeared in creations which were, for the most part, forgettable. She moved to Colorado to tour with a stock company. She later returned to Broadway for a series of other plays. By 1929, she was on the big screen with Thru Different Eyes (1929) as Valerie Briand. This was followed by a short film, Five Minutes from the Station (1930). Sylvia Sidney was slowly leaving the stage for the production studios of Paramount.
1931 saw her appear in five films, one of which, City Streets (1931), made her a star. Aware that she was replacing the great Clara Bow, who was suffering from severe and debilitating health issues, mainly depression. The contrast between the two actresses was great but the movie was a hit. The sad-eyed Sylvia made a tremendous impact and her screen career was off a running. Her next film was Ladies of the Big House (1931) as Kathleen Storm McNeil, part of a couple framed for a murder they didn't commit. The film made huge profits at the box-office. She then made Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), appearing opposite Fredric March. The film was an unqualified success. Later, in Madame Butterfly (1932), she starred as the doomed geisha girl (Cho-Cho San); critics agreed that only her performance saved the film from being a total disaster.
In 1933, she starred in the title role in Jennie Gerhardt (1933). Yet another doom and gloom picture, she played a girl beset with poverty and the death of her young husband before the birth of their child. Sidney received the star spotlight in Good Dame (1934). Despite her fine performance, the film failed at the box-office. She scored big with the film critics as the lead female in Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935), a restaurant owner who falls for a big time gangster. Her performance was overshadowed by Alan Baxter, who gave an outstanding portrayal as the gangster. That film was quickly followed by "Accent On Youth", in which she played Linda Brown, a young lady fascinated by older men. In 1938, Sidney played in "You and Me", opposite George Raft. The film critics gave it mixed reviews but it did not fare well at the box-office. Afterward, the roles began to dissipate. She filmed ...One Third of a Nation... (1939) and would not be seen again onscreen until The Wagons Roll at Night (1941). There was a four year hiatus before Blood on the Sun (1945), opposite James Cagney.
In 1946, she starred in The Searching Wind (1946) as Cassie Bowman. The film was based on a Broadway play but it just didn't transfer well onto the big screen. It was widely considered to be too serious and flopped with the movie fans. After Love from a Stranger (1947), she didn't appear onscreen again until Les Miserables (1952), as "Fantine". Only three more films followed that decade. There were no films throughout the 1960s. After appearing in a made-for-television movie, she returned to the big screen in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), playing the mother of the character played by Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward. For her performance, Sidney received her only Oscar nomination, losing to another actress who also only received one Oscar nomination in her lifetime, Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon (1973)). O'Neal was 10 years old when she accepted the award.
Aside from a few more supporting role film appearances strewn here and there, Sidney mostly appeared on television thereafter. In 1988, she appeared as Juno in Tim Burton 's hit film Beetlejuice (1988). Her last film for the big screen was Mars Attacks! (1996) as the unlikely heroine whose taste in music saves Earth from an exceptionally brutal Martian victory. She had been seriously injured after being hit by a car but director Burton waited for her to be able to appear (in a wheelchair) rather than recast the role. In 1998, she played Clia, the irritable elderly travel agency clerk, who appeared (along with Fyvush Finkel) at the beginning of every episode of Fantasy Island (1998), the short-lived black-humored reboot of the iconic 1970s series of the same name.
A lifelong heavy smoker, Sidney died on July 1, 1999, aged 88, of throat cancer. - Director
- Editor
- Editorial Department
Edward Dmytryk grew up in San Francisco, the son of Ukrainian immigrants. After his mother died when he was 6, his strict disciplinarian father beat the boy frequently, and the child began running away while in his early teens. Eventually, juvenile authorities allowed him to live alone at the age of 15 and helped him find part-time work as a film studio messenger. Dmytryk was an outstanding student in physics and mathematics and gained a scholarship to the California Institute of Technology. However, he dropped out after one year to return to movies, eventually working his way up from film editor to director. By the late 1940s, he was considered one of Hollywood's rising young directing talents, but his career was interrupted by the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee that employed ruthless tactics aimed at rooting out and destroying what it saw as Communist influence in Hollywood. A lifelong political leftist who had been a Communist Party member briefly during World War II, Dmytryk was one of the so-called "Hollywood Ten" who refused to cooperate with HUAC and had their careers disrupted or ruined as a result. The committee threw him in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after having spent several months behind bars, Dmytryk decided to cooperate after all, and testified again before the committee, this time giving the names of people he said were Communists. He claimed to believe he had done the right thing, but many in the Hollywood community--even those who came along long after the committee was finally disbanded--never forgave him, and that action overshadowed his career the rest of his life. In the 1970s, as his directing career ground to a halt, Dmytryk recalled some advice once given him by Garson Kanin, and returned to academic life, this time as a teacher. From 1976 to 1981 he was a professor of film theory and production at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1981, was appointed to a chair in filmmaking at the University of Southern California, a position he held until about two years before his death. During his teaching career, he also authored several books on various aspects of filmmaking, as well as two volumes of memoirs.- Actor
- Soundtrack
He was signed by Warner Brothers as a child for his possible future potential but became known as a singer on the San Francisco radio. After U.S. Navy service, he sang with Carmen Cavallaro's band from 1946-1947. In 1950, he joined Columbia records and, accompanied by Mitch Miller and his Orchestra, had some great hits that included gold records for "My Heart Cries for You" in 1950, "My Truly Truly Fair" in 1951, "The Roving Kind" in 1951, "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" in 1952 and "Singing the Blues" in 1957. Mitchell appeared in the films Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) in 1953 and Red Garters (1954) in 1954.- David Fredericks was an actor, known for Fear (1996), Rumble in the Bronx (1995) and Double Jeopardy (1999). He died on 1 July 1999 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dennis Brown was born on 1 February 1957 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was an actor, known for Chungking Express (1994), The Harder They Fall (2021) and The Sex Monster (1999). He was married to Yvonne. He died on 1 July 1999 in Kingston, Jamaica.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Nettie Scott is known for Petticoat Junction (1963). She was married to Rufe Davis and Orliff Shirton. She died on 1 July 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Production Manager
John W. Rogers was born on 16 September 1916 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an assistant director and producer, known for Blade Runner (1982), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Buccaneer's Girl (1950). He died on 1 July 1999 in Tarzana, California, USA.- Actress
Zsuzsa Vadas was born on 6 March 1926 in Budapest, Hungary. She was an actress, known for Tüz (1948). She died on 1 July 1999 in Budapest, Hungary.- Jacqueline Marbaux was born on 8 January 1917 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France. She was an actress, known for Die schöne Lügnerin (1959), Ce soir les jupons volent... (1956) and Casque d'Or (1952). She died on 1 July 1999 in Eaubonne, Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France, France.
- Stefan Servátka was born on 5 November 1925 in Jesenské, Czechoslovakia [now Slovakia]. He was an actor, known for Národný hriesnik (1994), Belisa (1990) and Explózia (1982). He died on 1 July 1999 in Presov, Slovakia.
- Shirley Thoms was born on 12 January 1925 in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. She was married to George Bystrynski and John Sole. She died on 1 July 1999 in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.
- Richard M. Pack was born on 22 November 1915 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970) and Eagle in a Cage (1972). He was married to Laura. He died on 1 July 1999 in Laguna Hills, California, USA.
- Cyclist Ernst Nievergelt was born on March 23, 1910 in Affoltern, Zurich, Switzerland. Ernst won the amateur standings in the Championship of Zurich in 1935. Nievergelt represented Switzerland at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he won a bronze medal in the men's individual road race and was a member of the team that won the silver medal in the men's team road race. Moreover, Ernst competed in professional racing from 1937 to 1939: He took second place in Berlin in 1937, won the ninth stage of the International Tour of Germany in 1938, and at the Tour de Suisse he finished on the sixth stage in second place in the standings and 19th place overall. Nievergelt died at age 89 on July 1, 1999 in Kappel am Albis, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Richard Dubelman was born on 1 January 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for The Execution of Private Slovik (1974). He died on 1 July 1999 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA.
- William Whitelaw was born on 28 June 1918 in Nairn, Scotland, UK. He was married to Celia Sprot. He died on 1 July 1999 in Penrith, Cumbria, England, UK.