People from showbusiness born before 1920 that are still alive
by newt_jorden | created - 13 Jun 2014 | updated - 05 May 2015 | PublicIf i forgot anyone, please let me know
R.I.P.
Carla Laemmle, October 20, 1909 - June 12, 2014
Eli Wallach, December 7, 1915 - June 24, 2014
Louis Zamperini, January 26, 1917 - July 2, 2014
Zohra Segal, April 27, 1912 - July 10, 2014
Don Pardo, February 22, 1918 - August 18, 2014
Don Keefer, August 18, 1916 - September 7, 2014
Renée Asherson, May 19, 1915 - October 30, 2014
Phil Stern, September 3, 1919 - December 13, 2014
Arthur Gardner, June 7, 1910 - December 19, 2014
Luise Rainer, January 12, 1910 - December 30, 2014
Robert Boon, October 26, 1916 - January 13, 2015
Ed Sabol, September 11, 1916 - February 9, 2015
Movita, April 12, 1916 - February 12, 2015
Richard L. Bare, August 12, 1913 - March 28, 2015
Manoel de Oliveira, December 11, 1908 - April 2, 2015
Jayne Meadows, September 27, 1919 - April 26, 2015
Patachou, June 10, 1918 - April 30, 2015
Ellen Albertini Dow, November 16, 1913 - May 4, 2015
1. Lupita Tovar
Actress | María
Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lupita Tovar appeared first in silent Fox films before making the move to Universal and co-starring in the Spanish-language version of 1930's "The Cat Creeps" (La voluntad del muerto (1930)). For the same producer, Czech-born Paul Kohner, she appeared as Eva Seward (the ...
July 27, 1910
2. Yutaka Sada
Actor | Tengoku to jigoku
Yutaka Sada was born on March 30, 1911 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for High and Low (1963), Yojimbo (1961) and The Hidden Fortress (1958). He died in 2017.
March 30, 1911
3. Urho Harkola
Actor | Huijarien huvittavat huiputtajat
Urho Harkola was born on September 13, 1911 in Tampere, Finland. He is an actor, known for Huijarien huvittavat huiputtajat (1945), Katariina kaunis leski (1961) and Rakas Wenander (1966).
September 13, 1911
4. Wolfgang Suschitzky
Cinematographer | Get Carter
Wolfgang Suschitzky was born on August 29, 1912 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a cinematographer, known for Get Carter (1971), Ulysses (1967) and Worzel Gummidge (1979). He was married to Beatrice Cunningham, Ilona Suschitzky and Helena "Puck" Voute. He died on October 7, 2016 in ...
August 29, 1912
5. Connie Sawyer
Actress | Dumb and Dumber
Connie Sawyer was born on November 27, 1912 in Pueblo, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Dumb and Dumber (1994), Pineapple Express (2008) and Out of Sight (1998). She was married to Marshall Schacker. She died on January 21, 2018 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
November 27, 1912
6. Douglas Slocombe
Cinematographer | Rollerball
London-born Douglas Slocombe has long been regarded as one of the film industry's premiere cinematographers, but he began his career as a photojournalist for Life magazine and the Paris-Match newspaper before World War II. During the war he became a newsreel cameraman, and at war's end he went to ...
February 10, 1913
7. Elmo Williams
Editor | High Noon
Elmo Williams was born James Elmo Williams in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. Orphaned at 16, he attended schools in Oklahoma and New Mexico before moving to Los Angeles. In 1933 he struck up a relationship with film editor Merrill G. White, who hired Williams as his assistant on a business trip to England. ...
April 30, 1913
8. Mary Carlisle
Actress | The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
She was the standard prototype of the porcelain-pretty collegiate and starry-eyed romantic interest in a host of Depression-era films and although her name may not ring a bell to most, Mary Carlisle enjoyed a fairly solid decade in the cinematic limelight.
The petite Boston-born, blue-eyed blonde ...
February 3, 1914
9. Olaf Pooley
Actor | The Corpse
He was born in Parkstone, Dorset, England. His father was English and his mother was Danish. Olaf was a student of architecture at the Architectural Association, London, and of painting at the Chelsea School of Art. In Paris, he studied under the tutelage of Marcel Grommaire, at the Acedemie ...
March 13, 1914
10. Shep Houghton
Actor | Dragnet
Born George Shephard Houghton on June 4, 1914, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Shep is the youngest of two sons born to George Henry Houghton and Mabell Viola Shephard. Far from being born into show business, his father was an insurance company representative who moved his family to Hollywood for business...
June 4, 1914
11. Gisèle Casadesus
Actress | Les aventures de Casanova
Gisèle Casadesus was born on June 14, 1914 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Loves of Casanova (1947), Paméla (1945) and Sous le figuier (2012). She was married to Lucien Pascal. She died on September 24, 2017 in Paris, France.
June 14, 1914
12. Irwin Corey
Actor | The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
Professor Irwin Corey, "The World's Foremost Authority," was born on July 29, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York. He and his five siblings were wards of the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and during the Great Depression, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp. Possessing brawn as well as brains, ...
Juy 29, 1914
13. Norman Lloyd
Actor | Dead Poets Society
Norman Lloyd was born Norman Perlmutter in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Sadie (Horowitz), a housewife and singer, and Max Perlmutter, a furniture store manager. His family was Jewish (from Hungary and Russia). He began his acting career in the theater, first "treading the boards" at Eva Le Gallienne...
November 8, 1914
14. Meg Mundy
Actress | Fatal Attraction
Meg Mundy was born on January 4, 1915 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Fatal Attraction (1987), The Doctors (1963) and Ordinary People (1980). She was married to Konstantinos "Dino" Yannopoulos. She died on January 12, 2016 in The Bronx, New York, USA.
January 4, 1915
15. Leslie H. Martinson
Director | Batman: The Movie
Leslie H. Martinson was born on January 16, 1915 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and assistant director, known for Batman: The Movie (1966), Mission: Impossible (1966) and Hot Rod Girl (1956). He was married to Connie Martinson. He died on September 3, 2016 in Los Angeles, ...
January 16, 1915
16. Wally Cassell
Actor | White Heat
Wally Cassell was born on March 3, 1912 in Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. He was an actor, known for White Heat (1949), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and Story of G.I. Joe (1945). He was married to Marcy McGuire. He died on April 2, 2015 in Palm Desert, California, USA.
March 3, 1915
17. Patricia Morison
Actress | The Song of Bernadette
Woefully misused while in her prime screen years at Paramount during the late '30s and '40s, Patricia Morison, lovely and exotic with Rapunzel-like long, dark hair, nevertheless became a star in her own right -- as a supremely talented diva on the singing stage.
Born on March 19, 1915, in New York ...
March 19, 1915
18. Pierre Chevalier
Director | The Panther Squad
Pierre Chevalier was born on March 23, 1915 in Orbec, Calvados, France. He was a director and assistant director, known for The Panther Squad (1984), Pigalle carrefour des illusions (1973) and House of Cruel Dolls (1974). He was married to Brigitte Leleu, Dominique Lubin and Colette Desboeuf. He ...
March 23, 1915
19. James Edmond
Actor | Black Christmas
James Edmond was born on February 7, 1924 in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor, known for Black Christmas (1974), Devil Girl from Mars (1954) and ABC Weekend Specials (1977). He was married to Shirley Faessler. He died on November 4, 2000 in Paris, Ontario, Canada.
February 9, 1916
20. Beverly Cleary
Writer | Ramona and Beezus
Beverly Cleary was born on April 12, 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon, USA. She was a writer, known for Ramona and Beezus (2010), Ramona (1988) and ABC Weekend Specials (1977). She was married to Clarence Thomas Cleary. She died on March 25, 2021 in Carmel, California, USA.
April 12, 1916
21. Kevin O'Morrison
Actor | Sleepless in Seattle
Kevin O'Morrison was born on May 25, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Funny Farm (1988) and Dear Ruth (1947). He was married to Linda Soma. He died on December 11, 2016 in Lynnwood, Washington, USA.
May 25, 1916
22. Olivia de Havilland
Actress | Gone with the Wind
Olivia Mary de Havilland was born on July 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan to British parents, Lilian Augusta (Ruse), a former actress, and Walter Augustus de Havilland, an English professor and patent attorney. Her sister Joan, later to become famous as Joan Fontaine, was born the following year. Her ...
July 1, 1916
23. Jean Rouverol
Actress | It's a Gift
Jean Rouverol was born on July 8, 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for It's a Gift (1934), Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) and Guiding Light (1952). She was married to Hugo Butler. She died on March 24, 2017 in Wingdale, New York, USA.
July 8, 1916
24. Kirk Douglas
Actor | The Final Countdown
Cleft-chinned, steely-eyed and virile star of international cinema who rose from being "the ragman's son" (the name of his best-selling 1988 autobiography) to become a bona fide superstar, Kirk Douglas, also known as Issur Danielovitch Demsky, was born on December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York. ...
December 9, 1916
25. Edward Burnham
Actor | To Sir, with Love
Edward Burnham was born on December 25, 1916 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for To Sir, with Love (1967), Quatermass and the Pit (1958) and Little Dorrit (1987). He was married to Lucille. He died on June 30, 2015 in the UK.
December 25, 1916
26. Elisa Stella
Actress | Amar al ladrón
Venezuelan veteran actress Elisa Stella was born on June 15, 1933 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She spent many years working in theatre and made her film debut in 1971 and TV debut in 1975. Through the years she gave some of the finest performances in series such as Mi Gorda Bella (as Dona Elena), ...
1916
27. Shannon Bolin
Actress | Damn Yankees
Shannon Bolin was born on January 1, 1917 in Spencer, South Dakota, USA. She was an actress, known for Damn Yankees (1958), If Ever I See You Again (1978) and The Children (1980). She was married to Milton Kaye. She died on March 25, 2016 in New York City, New York, USA.
January 1, 1917
28. Elaine Riley
Actress | Highway Patrol
Elaine was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, to the engineer Allen B. Riley (owner of the local Riley Electrical Company) and his wife Pearl, on January 15 1917. Like other aspiring starlets, she took the route to Hollywood via beauty contests. She was elected 'Miss Chic' at the Cleveland exposition ...
January 15, 1917
29. Zsa Zsa Gabor
Actress | A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Undoubtedly the woman who had come to epitomize what we recognize today as "celebrity," Zsa Zsa Gabor, is better known for her many marriages, personal appearances, her "dahlink" catchphrase, her actions, gossip, and quotations on men, rather than her film career.
Zsa Zsa was born as Sári Gabor on ...
February 6, 1917
30. Vera Lynn
Soundtrack | Hellboy
Vera Lynn was born on March 20, 1917 in East Ham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Hellboy (2004), Lolita (1997) and Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982). She was married to Harry Lewis. She died on June 18, 2020 in Ditchling, East Sussex, England, UK.
March 20, 1917
31. Danielle Darrieux
Actress | 8 femmes
Danielle Darrieux was born in 1917 in Bordeaux, France, to Marie-Louise (Witkowski) and Germain Jean Darrieux, a physician. She was raised in Paris. She was only fourteen when she auditioned for a secondary role in Le bal (1931): she got the part, and the producer offered her a five-year contract. ...
May 1, 1917
32. George Gaynes
Actor | Tootsie
George Gaynes was born in Helsinki in May, 1917, which was then the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Grand Duchy was part of the Russian Empire, which was in a state of collapse at the time of Gaynes' birth. The Emperor Nicholas II of Russia had abdicated the throne on March 15, two ...
May 16, 1917
33. Lee Miller
Actor | Perry Mason
Lee Miller was born on March 21, 1918 in Hollywood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Perry Mason (1957), Please Murder Me! (1956) and Vacation Playhouse (1963). He was married to Bertha Maxine Lynch and Bertha Elizabeth McClean. He died on July 26, 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
May 18, 1917
34. Harvey Pierce
Actor | Deadtime Stories
Harvey Pierce was born on June 24, 1917 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Deadtime Stories (1986). He died on March 22, 2017 in Larchmont, New York, USA.
June 24, 1917
35. William Woodson
Actor | Escape from the Planet of the Apes
He was the narrator of the famous TV series The Invaders, an American science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968. Dominic Frontiere, who had provided scores for Twelve O'Clock High and The Outer Limits, ...
July 16, 1917
36. Lorna Gray
Actress | Daughter of Don Q
Born Virginia Pound, Lorna Gray was "discovered" by an agent while modeling in a fashion show. She was given a screen test, and Columbia was impressed enough to sign her to a contract. (It was at this time that she was given the name "Lorna Gray", which she kept until 1945, when she changed it to "...
July 26, 1917
37. Earl Cameron
Actor | Inception
Earl Cameron did not set out to be an actor. Bermudian by birth, Cameron joined the British Merchant Navy in the 1930s for the travel opportunities that it afforded. By the early 1940s, with World War II in full swing, Cameron found himself in London working menial jobs to survive. After seeing a ...
August 8, 1917
38. June Foray
Actress | Mulan
Legendary voice actress June Foray was born June Lucille Forer on September 18, 1917 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Maurice Forer and Ida Edith Robinson, who wed in Hampden, Massachusetts. Her father, who was Jewish, emigrated from Novgorod, Imperial Russia, while her Massachusetts-born mother ...
September 18, 1917
39. Mary Brodel
Actress | Sunset Murder Case
Mary Brodel was born on September 27, 1916 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Sunset Murder Case (1938), Down the Wyoming Trail (1939) and Signing Off (1936). She died on June 3, 2015.
September 27, 1917
40. Prince C. Spencer
Actor | Harlem Nights
Prince C. Spencer was born on October 3, 1917 in Jenkinsville, South Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for Harlem Nights (1989), Sanford and Son (1972) and The Redd Foxx Show (1986). He was married to Gerri. He died on October 29, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
October 3, 1917
41. Marsha Hunt
Actress | Pride and Prejudice
Stardom somehow eluded this vastly gifted actress. Had it not perhaps been for her low-level profile compounded by her McCarthy-era blacklisting in the early 1950s, there is no telling what higher tier Marsha Hunt might have attained. Perhaps her work was not flashy enough, or too subdued, or ...
October 17, 1917
42. Fay McKenzie
Actress | The Party
Fay Eunice McKenzie was born February 19, 1918 into a show business family where she was the youngest of two sisters and an actress cousin, and made her screen debut at only ten weeks old in "Station Content" (1918) in which she was carried in the arms of Gloria Swanson. Her parents, Eva & Bob "...
February 19, 1918
43. Murray Westgate
Actor | Countdown to Looking Glass
Murray Westgate was born on April 16, 1918 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was an actor, known for Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), Happy Birthday to Me (1981) and Blue City Slammers (1988). He was married to Alice Hill. He died on August 27, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
April 16, 1918
44. Ivy Bethune
Actress | Back to the Future
Ivy Bethune was born on June 1, 1918 in Sevastopol, Russia [now Crimea, Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for Back to the Future (1985), Get Smart (2008) and Will to Die (1971). She was married to Stuart Lancaster and William Charles Bethune. She died on July 19, 2019 in Woodland Hills, ...
June 1, 1918
45. Marjorie Lord
Actress | Make Room for Daddy
Poised and lovely Marjorie Lord started her long and varied career on the Broadway stage and in "B" films as a sweet-natured ingénue. Born Marjorie F. Wollenberg, of German and Czech heritage, on July 26, 1918 in San Francisco, California, her family transported themselves to New York City when she...
July 26, 1918
46. Rosanna Carter
Actress | I'll Fly Away
Rosanna Carter was born on September 20, 1918 in Rolle Town, Bahamas. She was an actress, known for I'll Fly Away (1991), Night of the Juggler (1980) and American Playhouse (1980). She died on December 30, 2016 in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA.
September 20, 1918
47. John Zacherle
Actor | Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater
John Zacherle (later known as John Zacherley) was born September 26, 1918 in Philadelphia, PA, the youngest of four children. He went to high school in the Germantown area, then enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor's Degree. During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. ...
September 26, 1918
48. Baby Peggy
Actress | Helen's Babies
Silent moppet star Jackie Coogan, immortalized as Charles Chaplin's The Kid (1921), had only one screen rival during the early 1920s, and that was none other than Baby Peggy. She was "discovered" while visiting the Century Studios lot on Sunset Boulevard with her mother when she was a mere 19 ...
October 29, 1918
49. Jack H. Harris
Producer | The Blob
A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jack H. Harris first entered show business by way of vaudeville, singing and dancing with Cliff Edwards' (aka "Ukeleke Ike") Kiddie Revue at age six. Working his way up from an early job as a theater usher, Harris went into publicity and learned distribution, ...
November 28, 1918
50. Dorothy Morrison
Actress | Hearts in Dixie
Dorothy Morrison was born on January 3, 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Hearts in Dixie (1929), Sleepless Hollow (1936) and The Champeen (1923). She died on October 18, 2017 in the USA.
January 3, 1919
51. Patricia Laffan
Actress | Quo Vadis
A statuesque and striking actress with vaguely reptilian aspects, at once sinister and alluring; a smile never more than a whisker away from a sneer and a commanding, imperious presence suggesting innate superiority. Difficult to cast, Patricia Laffan seemed destined to portray the villainous or ...
March 19, 1919
52. Joachim Tomaschewsky
Actor | The Reader
Joachim Tomaschewsky was born on April 1, 1919 in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Reader (2008), Archiv des Todes (1980) and Jeder stirbt für sich allein (1970). He was married to Gisela Morgen. He died on February 8, 2019 in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany.
March 31, 1919
53. Caren Marsh
Actress | Secrets of a Sorority Girl
Caren Marsh was born in Los Angeles. Her sister, actress Dorothy Morris, was born Feb. 23, 1922. Getting into show business in 1937, Caren changed her name to Marsh because "there were too many people named Morris at the time." Caren's parents wanted her to go to college but she wanted to be a ...
April 6, 1919
54. Al Molinaro
Actor | The Odd Couple
Albert was born on June 24, 1919 to Raffaele Molinaro and Teresa Marrone. His father was born in Calabria, Italy and immigrated to the US when he was 15 years old and worked as a water boy with a railroad crew going west from New York. He ended up in Kenosha Wisconsin where he met and married ...
June 24, 1919
55. Nehemiah Persoff
Actor | An American Tail
Born in 1919 in Jerusalem, Nehemiah Persoff emigrated with his family to America in 1929.
Following schooling at the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, he found a job as a subway electrician doing signal maintenance until an interest in the theater altered the direction of his life.
He joined ...
August 2, 1919
56. Grace Albertson
Actress | Arson Squad
Grace Albertson was born on August 4, 1918 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Arson Squad (1945), Unmasked (1950) and Mission: Impossible (1966). She was married to Robert E. Meredith and Frank Albertson. She died on November 3, 2014 in the USA.
August 4, 1919
57. Philip Perlman
Actor | Throw Momma from the Train
Philip Perlman was born on August 15, 1919 in Poland. He was an actor, known for Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Out of Sight (1998) and The War of the Roses (1989). He was married to Adele Perlman. He died on April 29, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
August 15, 1919
58. Walter Bernstein
Writer | The Front
Blacklisted writer in the 1950s, a victim of the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), he still continued to write under pseudonyms as did many other blacklisted writers such as Ring Lardner Jr. and Dalton Trumbo, and his biggest contribution during that time was probably his writing work ...
August 20, 1919
59. Marge Champion
Actress | The Party
One of the great dancer and choreographers in both movies and stage, Marge Champion was best known as the former wife of Gower Champion, when they worked together as a highly successfully dancing team in the MGM musical years. After retiring from movies, Champion worked as a dance teacher and as a ...
September 2, 1919
60. Rico Alaniz
Actor | The Magnificent Seven
Rico Alaniz was born on October 25, 1919 in Juarez, Mexico. He was an actor, known for The Magnificent Seven (1960), War of the Colossal Beast (1958) and Wolf Larsen (1958). He died on March 9, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
October 25, 1919
61. Nova Pilbeam
Actress | Young and Innocent
Nova Pilbeam was a famous child actress on stage and screen in the UK. Her biggest successes were her two movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and this film. She married director Pen Tennyson in 1939, but unfortunately she was widowed less than two years later when ...
November 15, 1919
62. Joseph Wapner
Self | The People's Court
Joseph Wapner was born on November 15, 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The People's Court (1981), Sliders (1995) and Malcolm & Eddie (1996). He was married to Mildred (Mickey) Nebenzahl. He died on February 26, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
November 15, 1919
63. Alan Young
Actor | Mister Ed
Alan Young was born in Northern England in 1919, but his Scots father moved the family to Edinburgh, Scotland, when Young was a toddler and then to Canada when Young was about 6 years old. As a boy, he suffered from severe asthma, which kept him bedridden for long periods of time but encouraged his...
November 19, 1919
64. Louise Watson
Actress | Bingles
Louise Watson was born on November 22, 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Bingles (1992), Angel Baby (1995) and Stark (1993). She died on June 5, 2018 in Burbank, California, USA.
November 22, 1919
65. Betty Brodel
Actress | Swing Hostess
Elizabeth (Betty) Ann Brodel Franzalia, older sister to actress, Joan Leslie, turned 100 years old on February 5, 2020. Betty along with sisters Mary and Joan were actresses in Hollywood and Betty was in the following movies: 'Swing Hostess' (1944), 'Too Young to Know' (1945), 'Cinderella Jones' (...
November 25, 1919
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