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1-8 of 8
- Reliable "B" character actor Rick Vallin had the rangy physique, prominent cheekbones and swarthy look ideal for rugged films. In the 1940s and '50s he was seen almost everywhere -- in mysteries, musicals, oaters and, especially, the ever-popular edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers. Born in Russia in 1919, he was the son of Nedja Yatsenko, an aspiring ballerina. He came to America while still young. By the time he was in his late teens, he was doing stock productions and had somehow elbowed his way into the radio and movie business. He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse in 1942.
After a few years of unbilled parts, he finally made some leeway in "poverty row" pictures and received his first co-star billing in the whodunnit film The Panther's Claw (1942) with Sidney Blackmer. He also showed promising leading man material in such films as Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942), Smart Guy (1943), Secrets of a Sorority Girl (1945), and Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947). He played the first of many Indians in the serial Perils of the Royal Mounted (1942) and the feature-length King of the Stallions (1942). Vallin found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, however, when it came to moving up. In the minds of studio filmmakers, he had a tight "B" movie image and found any advance to the "A" ranks an almost impossibility. Making do, he continued along on the lowbudget assembly-line, appearing in a few of the Bowery Boys capers such as Clancy Street Boys (1943) and Ghosts on the Loose (1943) and the Charlie Chan mystery Dangerous Money (1946).
By the late 1940s Vallin had moved considerably down the credits list. He forged a successful union with Columbia Studios where he kept active in minor roles in Johnny Weissmuller's "Jungle Jim" movies, including Jungle Jim (1948), Captive Girl (1950), Jungle Manhunt (1951), and Voodoo Tiger (1952) playing both civil and savage natives. Vallin also became a mainstay in Columbia's serials that started with The Sea Hound (1947). Usually a shady or villainous character, he showed up in several including Batman and Robin (1949), Cody of the Pony Express (1950), Son of Geronimo: Apache Avenger (1952), King of the Congo (1952), and Perils of the Wilderness (1956), one of the last multi-chaptered serials ever made. Occasionally he stood out more when cast as the hero's dullish sidekick such as in the cliffhangers Brick Bradford (1947), Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom (1952), Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954), and Adventures of Captain Africa: Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955), but, for the most part, his leaden look and dark complexion kept him a secondary villain (henchman, outlaw) or ethnic type (Indian, Arab, Russian).
Vallin also picked up dusty work on most of the popular 50s western TV series: "Cowboy G-Men," "Annie Oakley," "Wild Bill Hickok," "The Lone Ranger" and both Gene Autry and Roy Rogers' weekly shows. Work grew scarce in the late 1950s unfortunately, and he developed a drug problem, retiring in 1967. One of his last programs was a guest role on "Daniel Boone." Vallin died a decade later in Los Angeles at age 57, and was buried in Eden Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Yuliya Mavrina was born on 10 September 1984 in Feodosiya, USSR. She is an actress, known for Pisma k Elze (2002), Igra v shindai (2007) and Uboynaya sila (2000).- Art Department
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovannes Aivasian) was born on July 29, 1817, in Feodosia, Crimea, Russian Empire, into a poor Armenian family. His father was a modest Armenian trader. His mother was a traditional homemaker. His early talent as an artist earned him a scholarship to study at the Simferopol gymnasium. From 1833-1839 Aivasovsky studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he was a student of professor Mikhail Vorob'ev, and graduated with the Gold Medal.
Aivazovsky was sent to paint in Crimea and in Italy, being sponsored by the Russian Imperial Academy for 6 years from 1838-1844. His numerous paintings of Mediterranean seascapes won him popularity among art collectors, such as the Russian Czars, the Ottoman Sultan, and among the various nobility in many countries. His dramatic depiction of a sea storm with the survivors from a shipwreck, known as 'The Ninth Wave' (1850), made him extremely famous. The original canvas is in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. He also made many variations and repetitions of this particular painting, as well, as of his other popular works.
Aivazovsky produced over six thousand paintings of variable quality over the course of his long life. Most of his works were made on a longstanding commission from the Imperial Russian Navy Headquarters, where he worked for the most of his life, from the 1840s until 1900. He earned a considerable fortune, which he spent for charity, and also used for the foundation of the first School of Arts (in 1865) and the Art Gallery (in 1889) in his home town of Feodosia.
Aivazovsky was a member of Academies of Rome, Florence, Stuttgart and Amsterdam. He died on May 5, 1900, in Feodosia.- Production Designer
- Director
- Art Director
André Barsacq was born on 24 January 1909 in Feodosiya, Crimea, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a production designer and director, known for Le rideau rouge (1952), Misdeal (1928) and L'idiot (1968). He died on 3 February 1973 in Paris, France.- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Léon Barsacq was born on 18 October 1906 in Feodosiya, Crimea, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a production designer and art director, known for The Longest Day (1962), Diabolique (1955) and Beauty and the Devil (1950). He died on 23 December 1969 in Paris, France.- Larisa Verbitskaya was born on 30 November 1959 in Feodosiya, Crimea, Ukrainian SSR, USSR.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mikhail Novokhizhin was born on 15 September 1921 in Feodosiya, RSFSR. He was an actor, known for Night Watch (2004), Srochno... sekretno... Gubcheka (1982) and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1965). He died on 12 January 2012.- Composer
- Music Department
Viktor Oranskiy was born on 4 May 1899 in Feodosiya, Tavrida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Russia]. Viktor was a composer, known for Shuquras saidumloeba (1925), Diary of a Revolutionist (1932) and The White Fang (1946). Viktor died on 27 September 1953 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].