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1-17 of 17
- Handsome, strapping, wavy-haired, New Jersey-born Bill Edwards started out to be an artist but sidetracked somewhat successfully into acting during WWII. Born on September 14, 1918, he was raised in Wyoming country and rode on the rodeo circuit for a couple of years until a number of broken bones forced him to rethink his life's direction. He traveled to New York to pursue art and studied at the Art Students League. To supplement his tuition he worked as a 6'5", 215 lb. Conover model. A talent agent saw his pictures and encouraged him to try acting.
Despite his complete lack of experience, Warner Brothers saw promise in Bill's blond-haired, blue-eyed good looks and solid-oak build and placed him under contract in 1942. For the first two years he appeared in a number of unbilled parts as reporter and military types in such films as Murder in the Big House (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Escape from Crime (1942), Air Force (1943) and Princess O'Rourke (1943). Unable to rise above these small parts, he moved to Paramount where he earned his first featured part as Forrest Noble, the mayor's son who is engaged to Ella Raines in the Preston Sturges classic Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). He then went on play Diana Lynn's hunky love interest in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944) and its sequel Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) but couldn't do better than being billed sixth and eighth in the films Miss Susie Slagle's (1946) with Veronica Lake and The Virginian (1946) with Joel McCrea, respectively.
Freelancing by 1947, Bill found himself cast in primarily "Poverty Row" programmers. He was billed third behind Jane Withers and Robert Lowery in the Pine Thomas production Danger Street (1947) and made use of his cowboy-raised upbringing with the westerns, again third billed in Home in San Antone (1949) starring Roy Acuff, Panorama from a Moving Train on White Pass & Yukon Railway, Alaska (1905) starring Kirby Grant and Border Outlaws (1950) starring cowboy singer Spade Cooley. He received his one and only star status in the western The Fighting Stallion (1950) for the Jack Schwarz Productions.
It would have seemed Bill could have continued on as a cowboy star but his acting proved wooden and following a few more years in films and TV guest spots ("Bonanza," "Dragnet," etc.), abandoned his career and returned to his first joy -- art. He later became a familiar name in California as an exhibited oil and acrylic painter of the Old West and as an illustrator. A well-known scuba diver and instructor in the Southern California area, he at one time owned a diving and scuba gear shop. Bill also returned to occasional acting in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and the TV movies Pearl (1978) and Gidget's Summer Reunion (1985).
Long married to Hazel Allen in 1946, the couple had one daughter, Linda. They divorced in the mid 1970s after nearly 30 years of marriage and Bill married Beryl Hunter in the ensuing years. Following their divorce, he remarried first wife Hazel, who survived him. Bill suffered from a disease that attacked his muscular system in his final years and he died of pneumonia in Southern California in 1999 at age 81. - John Edwin Arnatt was born in Petrograd on the eve of the Russian Revolution, the son of a manager for Vauxhall Motors. Forced to leave Russia during the turmoil, his family returned to England where John was schooled at Epworth College and later trained for acting at RADA. On stage from 1936, he made his debut at the London West End in 1938 (in the revue "Happy Returns"). He resumed his theatrical career following wartime army service, even enjoying a brief stint as a stand-up comic at the Windmill Theatre. During the 1950's, he appeared in plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov at the Arts Theatre Club and at the Old Vic (both in London and in Bristol), as well as doubling up reporting sports on commercial television under the nom de plume 'Howard Peters'.
A tall man with urbane manners, a no-nonsense attitude, often sporting a pencil moustache, Arnatt is best remembered for his many impersonations on screen of thoughtful, pipe-smoking authority figures: Scotland Yard inspectors, commissioners, diplomats, aristocrats and army officers. In Doctor Who (1963) ("The Invasion of Time"), he played the Time Lord Borusa, one-time Lord Chancellor of Gallifrey. He was, perhaps, most effectively employed as deputy sheriff (temporarily replacing Alan Wheatley) or as the high sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), a worthy antagonist to Richard Greene. - Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Stanley was born on 5 May 1922 in New York, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Magnum Force (1973), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and 1941 (1979). He died on 21 December 1999 in Sarasota, Florida, USA.- Silvia Richards was a writer, known for Secret Beyond the Door... (1947), Possessed (1947) and Ruby Gentry (1952). She was married to A.I. Bezzerides. She died on 21 December 1999 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
- Bernard Smith Joined the Alfried A. Knopf publishing company in 1928. As Editor-in-Chief he published Langston Hughes and was the first American publisher of B. Traven, including THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. Smith edited the original German manuscripts into publishible English. He came to Hollywood in 1947. In 1971 Bernard Smith retired from the film biz to write his memoirs. "A World Remembered: 1925-1950" was published in 1994.
- Jack Le White was born on 4 January 1912 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Danny the Dragon (1967), Emmerdale Farm (1972) and Softly Softly (1966). He was married to Pauline Simonne and Nora McCourt. He died on 21 December 1999 in England, UK.
- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
Frank Onaitis was born on 5 January 1918. Frank is known for Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase (1982), Shinbone Alley (1970) and Flash Gordon (1979). Frank died on 21 December 1999.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Vladimir Vorobyov was born on 11 September 1937 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Truffaldino iz Bergamo (1977), Kogda svyatye marshiruyut (1990) and In Those Days (1970). He died on 21 December 1999 in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Vasos Andrianos was born in 1941 in Alexandria, Egypt. He was an actor and writer, known for To diavolothilyko (1986), Erhontai oi gymnistes! (1988) and To koroidaki tis prigipessas (1972). He was married to Rena Voutsina. He died on 21 December 1999 in Glyfada, Greece.- Jan Sebor was born on 17 April 1913 in Zilina, Austria-Hungary [now Slovakia]. He was an actor, known for Filosofská historie (1938), Klapzubova XI. (1938) and Velbloud uchem jehly (1937). He died on 21 December 1999 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
- Muza Sedova was born on 24 November 1926 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR. She was an actress, known for Gravyura na dereve (1966), Grekh (1969) and Pered zakhodom solntsa (1974). She died on 21 December 1999 in Moscow, Russia.
- Hubert Antoszewski was born on 21 April 1932 in Warsaw, Poland. He was an actor, known for Tajemnica szyfru Marabuta (1980). He died on 21 December 1999 in Warsaw, Poland.
- Director
- Writer
Anna Hilda Matzner was born on 3 December 1921 in Wien, Österreich. Anna Hilda was a director and writer, known for Der Fenstergucker (1957) and Wegmarken zu Gott - Zur Romantikausstellung in Krems 1964 (1964). Anna Hilda died on 21 December 1999 in Wien, Österreich.- Cinematographer
- Producer
Stefan Petrov was born on 10 December 1921 in Bulgaria. He was a cinematographer and producer, known for Za Rodinata (1940), Shushu-mushu (1941) and Toy ne umira (1949). He died on 21 December 1999 in Sofia, Bulgaria.- Actress
Barbara Sutton Smith was an actress. She died on 21 December 1999.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Walter Marti was born on 10 July 1923 in Zürich, Switzerland. He was a writer and producer, known for Flamenco vivo: L'école du flamenco (1985), Die Selbstzerstörung des Walter Matthias Diggelmann (1973) and Ursula oder das unwerte Leben (1966). He died on 21 December 1999 in Zürich, Switzerland.- Rikiya Iwaki was born on 26 August 1915 in Toyama, Japan. He was an actor, known for Choujin Sentai Jetman (1991), Return of Ultraman (1971) and Kamen Rider (1971). He died on 21 December 1999.