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1-8 of 8
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Pittsburgh-born actor William Tracy was born on December 1, 1917, and began performing professionally as a youth. Trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, he appeared in musical and comedy roles until his big break arrived in 1937 at age 19 when he took over the role of fidgety military school "plebe" Misto Bottome in the hit Broadway show "Brother Rat." The following year he recreated the role in the film version of Brother Rat (1938) that had him in good standing company alongside up-and-coming Warner Bros. actors Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert (also from the Broadway show) and both Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, who would marry a short time later. William's second film assignment for Warners was playing 'Pat O'Brien' (I)'s as a young adult in the classic yarn Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).
Hal Roach saw promise in the tousle-haired, innocent-looking youth with the slightly squealy voice and signed him up for a some WWII comedy programmers teamed up with actor Joe Sawyer. He and the tough-looking Sawyer played Sgts. "Dodo" Doubleday and William Ames, respectively, in the flimsy but amusing misadventures of two soldiers at odds with each other. Tracy's character has a photographic memory which steers him into all sorts of unexpected trouble. Audiences took to the harmless escapism and Roach obliged by churning out more of these lowbudgets, recreating the characters in About Face (1942), Hay Foot (1942), Fall In (1942) and Yanks Ahoy (1943).
Tracy is best remembered for playing the lead role in the film adaptation of the popular comic strip Terry and the Pirates (1940). Featured roles in such classics as The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Tobacco Road (1941), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and George Washington Slept Here (1942) also endeared him to the public usually enacting an amiable but somewhat dull-witted fellow. Offers started drying up in post war years, however, and an attempt to re-team Tracy and Sawyer's sergeant characters with As You Were (1951) and Mr. Walkie Talkie (1952) fell flat.
Tracy went on to appear on TV and was featured in the series cast of Terry and the Pirates (1952), not as the lead this time but in the role of Hotshot Charlie. From there he faded away into relative obscurity. He died in 1967 at age 49 in Los Angeles.- Actress
- Art Director
Ruth Sobotka was born on 4 August 1925 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress and art director, known for Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956). She was married to Stanley Kubrick. She died on 18 June 1967 in New York City, New York, USA.- Cinematographer
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Rollie Totheroh worked as cinematographer on Charles Chaplin's movies for over 30 years, right from the earliest shorts in 1915 to Monsieur Verdoux (1947), including all of Chaplin's masterpieces: The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). Totheroh was the man with whom Chaplin had the longest working relationship, other than his brother Syd Chaplin.- Writer
- Editorial Department
- Director
Wyndham Gittens was born on 7 February 1885 in Barbados, British West Indies [now Barbados]. He was a writer and director, known for Radio Patrol (1937), Forbidden Valley (1938) and The Three Musketeers (1933). He died on 18 June 1967 in Dunedin, Florida, USA.- Visual Effects
Louis J. Kerekes was born on 21 June 1900 in Ohio, USA. Louis J. is known for The Big Chance (1933). Louis J. died on 18 June 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Composer
- Director
- Writer
Harold A. Levey was educated at the National Conservatory (with a scholarship at age ten), and studied with Soffaroff and Joseffy. He was first-clarinetist with the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted it in 1949 and 1950. He performed with Victor Herbert for many years, conducted Broadway musicals, and wrote the stage scores for "Lady Billy", "The Clinging Vine", "Rainbow Rose", and "Lovely Lady". For radio, he composed and arranged music for "Cavalcade of America", "Armstrong Theater" and "Theatre Guild of the Air". Joining ASCAP in 1925, he collaborated with Zelda Sears, Owen Murphy and Kenneth Webb, and his chief popular-song compositions include "Just Plant a Kiss", "Love Needs No Single Word", "First Last and Only", "The Clinging Vine", "Rainbow", and "Lovely Lady".- Gert Niemitz was born in 1911. He was an actor, known for Im sechsten Stock (1961), Confessions of Felix Krull (1957) and Neues aus dem sechsten Stock (1954). He died on 18 June 1967 in Hamburg, West Germany.
- Cinematographer
Victor L. Ackland was born on 6 November 1882 in Missouri, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for You Never Can Tell (1920), Venus in the East (1919) and Thou Art the Man (1920). He died on 18 June 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.