ginnyfan

I had never heard this sad story until I saw it the other day. It is certainly tragic. I had a classmate in elementary school whose little sister died near Christmas one year, and I remember what a pall it put over our entire school for a long period of time. Caryll Ann also had an older sister who went into acting, Jana Lund. Jana gave Elvis his first screen kiss in LOVING YOU.

That's sad. The disparaging remarks from fans are unfortunate but inevitable. I admit that I've made a running joke out of calling Shirley Temple 'The One Who Shall Not Be Named" or TOWSNBN on my Virginia Weidler site, but it's just that, a joke, and the members get it. I recently found some really cruel, flip comments Judy made about the career or lack of one of Ronald Sinclair, her co-star in THOROUGHBREDS DON'T CRY. I suspect Judy said a lot of hazy, silly things when being interviewed late in life, but I can't account for any animosity she had toward Deanna at the time. I really like Deanna and I prefer to remember the Judy who was helpful to younger talent, like Weidler and O'Brien, while they were all at MGM and to try to understand that this was one really troubled, insecure soul.

I know TCM and Universal aren't exactly buddy-buddies, but I would think TCM would have shown at least a movie or two as a tribute, they have done it before for far less deserving performers. I'm sure they will. It will take a few weeks, just like it did for Andy Griffith and Ann Rutherford last year. And some of us will be mad either because of films chosen or because of what from the already released schedule gets bumped, just like last year. TCM showed 100 MEN AND A GIRL last year and IT'S A DATE even more recently, so we know those will show up. What else is a mystery.

TODAY IN GINNY is a little different because I found no pictures I could guarantee were the actors and technicians in several cases, so I bagged it in favor of one photo. Actor Edward Clark (1878) was a jack-of-all-trades. He wrote music such as "Heart of my Heart" and "Pastafazoola", wrote Broadway scores, was a contract screenwriter, ran an acting school, and still found time to act in 155 films. He was in silents like THE IRON HAND and stuck around long enough to be in BEDTIME FOR BONZO. He's listed as cabbage patch character in MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH. Cinematographer Lucien Ballard (1904) worked from 1930 to 1985. He became best known for his work with Sam Peckinpah, but is less remember for his work with Virginia Weidler on OUTSIDE THESE WALLS. Showing that his life wasn't all roses, he was also the cinematographer for RABBIT TEST (1978). Helen Conway (1907) was an actress who gave it up to be a set decorator at MGM in 1943-44. One of her seven credits in that role was as associate set decorator for THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION. June Gittelson (1910) had 95 titles over twenty years. It seems her specialty was being fat. Most of her roles indicate this in their description. One that doesn't is her role in THE WOMEN where she was given the name Mrs. Goldstein. I've chosen to let the Wiggs Family represent all of these TIGers. And, finally, if you haven't looked at my thread on the birthday of poor Caryll Ann Ekelund, please do.

In putting together TODAY IN GINNY for my Weidler thread, I came across child actress Caryll Ann Ekelund (1935). She had one uncredited role in Shirley Temple's THE BLUEBIRD. Ekelund died in 1939 prior to the film's release. In Temple's "Child Star" she mentioned that Caryll suffered fatal burns when a birthday cake candle caught her party dress on fire. Joe Walker told FINDADEATH.com that he actually found an article for the event attributing it to a slightly different cause. "Emergency hospitals were kept busy with calls from mothers whose overzealous pixies got fingers burned from jack o' lanterns. Most serious was the case of Carol Ann Ekeland, 4, treated at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital for first and second-degree burns received when her costume caught fire from her lantern in front of her home." Caryll died on November 3, 1939 as a result of her Halloween burns. We remember her as well on what should have been her 78th birthday and are saddened to think of all those ones she missed.

It's deja vu! Or maybe it's just that I think I've done this before! TODAY IN GINNY! Scowling villain Harry Woods (1889) had 256 roles in his career, ending with TV's LAWMAN in 1961. He made a lot of westerns, but still ventured out into roles in films like THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON, and BEAU GESTE. He played Baker in MEN WITH WINGS. Buddy Williams (1896) played a lot of porters, as African American actor of his era had to do. His most varied role was as Chief Bosuto in ROUND-UP TIME IN TEXAS, a Gene Autry film which is set, oddly, in South Africa. IMDb claims he played Hansel in Baby Peggy's version of HANSEL AND GRETEL, but I'm quite sure that was another Buddy Williams. He was the porter helping Ann Rutherford with her bags in THIS TIME FOR KEEPS. Radio star Freeman Gosden (1899) played his most famous character, Amos Jones, in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936. Here we see Mr. Gosden out of makeup looking, to me, a little like Robert Wilke. Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925) is the son of The Tramp. He was also a friend of the Krisel brothers and an alleged beau of Virginia's in the mid-1940s. In two photos from the same shoot, you see Mr. Chaplin as himself and as his father's famous character. In an odd coincidence, Chaplin would die of a blood clot in 1968 just three months prior to Ginny's death.

Here's the first dose of TODAY IN GINNY. It's the one for...yesterday! Scottish stage actor Norman Ainsley (1881) had a nice little career in 1930's and 40's Hollywood. Some butler, some clerk, some clergy, even two immigration officials. He played a ticket taker in SOULS AT SEA. I wonder if Ginny got half fare? Earl Pingree (1887) had a short career of only eight years and 25 parts. He seemed to specialize in policeman, but broke out to play a brakeman in MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH. Edgar Deering (1893) had a very long career of uncredited specialty parts. He has 342 roles posted to IMDb and I counted 42 times he played a motorcycle cop! I didn't count the times he was listed as traffic cop or cop writing ticket or cop at roadblock even though a motorcycle could have been involved in some of them. He got to travel like a regular person when he played Det. 'Pinch' Reardon in LOVE IS A HEADACHE, but was back on the two-wheeler for THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA. He's seen here coming to the realization that Allyn Joslyn didn't kidnap Martha after all. Robert Odell (1896) was the art director for three Ginny films, MRS. WIGGS, TIMOTHY'S QUEST, and MEN WITH WINGS. He was known for his exacting period research. A French poster for MEN WITH WINGS featuring Mlle. Weidler will work for him. I'm unsure that actor James Ellison (1910) actually belongs here. James had a good career as a leading man in westerns and some B pictures going on when he suddenly appears on IMDb with an uncredited appearance as a cadet in BEST FOOT FORWARD at age 33. This comes right after his starring role in I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. I suspect ours might have been a different James Ellison, but I'll post his autographed picture anyway. Screenwriter Hugo Butler (1914) co-wrote two Ginny films, YOUNG TOM EDISON and BARNACLE BILL. He also worked on EDISON, THE MAN, garnering an Oscar nomination. He and his screenwriter wife, Jean Rouverol, both fled to Mexico after Butler was blacklisted. HE RAN ALL THE WAY, possibly his best work in collaboration with Dalton Trumbo, was produced under the pseudonym of Guy Endore. Butler's wife later published a book of her journal from their exile.

Once again today a TIGer gets cheated out of a photo. Walter DeLeon (1884) was yet another screenwriter on THE BIG BROADCAST series. I found no photo and I've posted every poster, which is what you do with posters, so Walter goes photoless. Walter also worked on COLLEGIATE, COLLEGE HOLIDAY, COLLEGE RHYTHM, RED HOT RHYTHM, and RUGGLES OF RED GAP. See what I did there without even mentioning COLLEGE SWING and SWING HIGH, SWING LOW? Walter even flexed his writing muscles into more serious fare, like UNION PACIFIC and THE MAN WHO TALKED TOO MUCH. Prior to the movies, Walter had a vaudeville comedy act with his wife Mary. Mary worked professionally as Muggins Davies. Actress Marion Sheldon (1885) only made nine films and all the roles were uncredited. Her final film was as a train passenger in YOUNG TOM EDISON. The photo is of her appearance as a specialty dancer in AFTER THE THIN MAN. I wish I had a photo of her as a Balkan Steerage Woman in WHOM THE GODS DESTROY. Beulah Bondi (1889) is one of two big TIGs today. Bondi is one of my favorite character actresses. She could play kind, haughty, catty. She wasn't a type. She played the stern camp director Miss Thornton, who has her steely heart melted by Pip-Emma in THE UNDER-PUP. You certainly know her as Ma Bailey in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, a role in which she got to show two of the types she could play. I really liked her first role as a gossiping neighbor in STREET SCENE. I also remember her playing the tough matriarch in an episode of ROUTE 66. Hugo Friedhofer (1901) was orchestral arranger and composer for ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO and PETER IBBETSON. He won an Oscar for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and was nominated eight other times, including twice in 1958. The photo is of him appearing on an LA game show, BEAT THE GENIUS. Leni Lynn (1923) is one of the many talented girls MGM hired and trained from scratch to be in the movies. Unfortunately, they didn't put her in many. A singer by trade, Leni only made five films at MGM in 1939 and 1940 before moving on to making films in England with greater success. She played Edith's oldest daughter in THE WOMEN. Finally, Robert Osborne (1932) has been the face of TCM since it started operations and has stated his affinity for Virginia Weidler, which is good enough for ginnyfan. He is seen here practicing for the day he presents Virginia's representative with her lifetime achievement Oscar.

HIGH SOCIETY is a thoroughly entertaining film. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is a classic. I don't accept your trade offs, except for the fact that you needed people like Crosby and Sinatra since it was a musical. Kate and Grace a trade off, I don't think so. And there is no Virginia Weidler...

We have a slew of legitimate TIGs TODAY IN GINNY! Otto Hoffman (1879) played a stage doorman in BORN TO SING. I wonder if someone at MGM saw him as a stage doorman in BALL OF FIRE, his film immediately prior to BTS, and exclaimed, "We need a stage doorman! Get me THAT GUY!" (Quick cut to train tracks in upstate New York-and if you get the reference, let me know.) Hoffman's career ran from 1915 to his death in 1944. He played printers, clock makers, editors and even yet another stage doorman in his career. The photo is from THE MUMMY'S TOMB. Hedda Hopper (1885) would have been an honorary TIG for the positive way in which she presented Virginia to the public in her column. I have yet to find a columnist at the time who was negative on Ginny, in part because she was a little girl and mostly, I'm sure, because there wasn't anything not to like about her. I'll have to research to find out if brother George came in for some rough treatment in the late forties, though. Hedda makes to list for real because she played Dolly Dupuyster in THE WOMEN. I was shocked to discover she actually played 141 roles in her on-screen career. Vernon L. Walker (1894) was responsible for special effects on both FIXER DUGAN and MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS. I wonder what the special effects were on MCC; did he make the chickens fly or something? He also worked on NOTORIOUS, SUSPICION, and CITIZEN KANE, so his career only suffered slightly after ending his professional relationship with Virginia. Some whistling guy named Harry Lillis Crosby (1903) shows up next. He was in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 playing "Bing". He also was in that photo with Ginny in boxing gloves, Ra "Ronald Sinclair" Hould in a sailor suit, and Norman Taurog in a pith helmet. Bing chose the cowboy hat. Ginny later was heard on his radio show in the early 1940s in an episode in which they had a date (eww!). The photo is with another favorite, Gloria Jean. J. Anthony Hughes (1904) had a career that ran on and off from the mid 1930s to the early 1960s. There is a seven year gap in the mid to late forties indicating either a hole in his career or a hole in the recordkeeping. He continued to work, with out any real distinction, in the early years of television. He played the costume party bartender in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT. Finally, William Bakewell (1908) got started in the business in the mid 1920s. He scored a fairly strong role in ALL'S QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT in 1930 and worked regularly, primarily in "B's" throughout the decade. He was a mounted officer in GONE WITH THE WIND. In his sixties he played a baker in an episode of ALIAS SMITH AND JONES. I'll have to be on the lookout for him. He played Robert Pryor in LADDIE.

Anyhow what is strange is that the article says "She died in April in France,,,'. I find it strange they didn't list the exact day of her death. To me this implies they don't know when it was. My understanding is that her son reported her death to her fan club and they released it to the public. I don't think anyone knows when it actually happened, although I'm sure records could be checked. I assume that deaths have to be reported and recorded in France.

> {quote:title=MerryPickford wrote:}{quote}I don't know much about this actress but I had originally thought she was a rival to Shirley Temple. From the responses, it seems she was a rival of Judy Garland so maybe I got the two girls mixed up. BTW, out of curiousity anybody know who that little girl was who rivaled Shirley Temple? > > I don't believe I've seen any of Deanna Durbin's films unfortunately but then again I never see TCM really doing many tributes for her besides the TCM Remembers one they are starting to loop now. > You are probably thinking of Jane Withers, who was also at Fox with Temple. At the time, there were several. My own favorite, Virginia Weidler, was at Paramount but most remember for her time as a tween at MGM. Gloria Jean was at Universal as a second, younger Durbin. Sybil Jason was fairly popular as well. At one point in the 1930s, Paramount had a huge stable of girls and boys out of which Weidler is the most remembered. No one could touch Temple for sheer popularity in the 1930s as a young child. Durbin and later Garland made their marks as teens as they were both about six years older than Shirley.

There was also a White Tower, Was that just a local chain? There was also a Burger Chef, not to be confused with Burger King, and Gino's, founded by Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts. White Tower was regional like Little Tavern and like White Castle still is. Of course, Gino's has been reborn as a more upscale chain local to Baltimore. I still miss the Little Tavern, which made sliders before anyone called them that. The location in the photo still sells the burgers even though it's now a donut shop. And I also remember Burger Chef.

TODAY IN GINNY we spent most of the day posting items about Deanna Durbin on the [VWRS|https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaWeidlerRemembranceSociety] Facebook page. Feel free to check it out. Before I start TIG I must note that in an odd coincidence toady is the birthday of Henry Koster, director of several Deanna Durbin films. First up, we have screenwriter Francis Martin (1900). Martin was on the team writing both THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 and of 1937. Martin didn't write any award winners, but he did write the W.C. Fields comedy TILLIE AND GUS which featured Baby Leroy as "The King". He also wrote MISSISSIPPI featuring Fields and Bing Crosby. I have no photo of Martin and only one photo of Ginny in those two films, so I'm going to skip it tonight. Ralph Bushman (1903) was the son of Francis X. Bushman and was nowhere near as successful. He actually spent the greater portion of his life going by Francis X. Bushman Jr. professionally. Using his own name, Ralph was one of the legions of Newsreel men in TOO HOT TO HANDLE. He was Man with Nitroglycerine in BOOM TOWN which I guess is how the town got its name. We have a new TIG brother connection. Ralph Freed (1907) is the brother of MGM's musical guru Arthur Freed. Ralph wrote "How About You?", "Anything Can Happen in New York", and "Hoe Down", all of which were played in BABES ON BROADWAY. "How About You?" was also played in THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION. He also wrote "Lesson in Latin", which was performed during the night club scene in I'LL WAIT FOR YOU. He's listed on IMDb as "Composer, THE FISHER KING". He could have been listed as "Composer, THE MUPPET SHOW" which I would prefer if they aren't going to list a film made during his life. IMDb is a necessary evil, unfortunately. As a side note, he also wrote songs for THIS TIME FOR KEEPS, but it was the unrelated 1947 film and not Ginny's. One of these days I'm going to get tripped up on that one, but NOT TODAY. I now wish to induct two honorary TIGs. Both these actors went into a film believing that they were becoming TIG eligible, only to be cheated out of it by the cruel execs at MGM. First, Irish born Tom Moore (1883) appeared in 191 films and TV shows from 1912 to 1954. He played everything from doctors and judges to bartenders, so he was not limited by type. His most interesting film might have been a 1918 short STAKE UNCLE SAM TO PLAY YOUR HAND. IMDb describes the film as, "The Kaiser is playing cards with King Albert of Italy, who loses, but is rescued by Miss Liberty Loan." Anyway, old Tom signed to play Major O'Rook in TROUBLE FOR TWO (1936), no doubt after hearing that Ginny and David Holt had been loaned by Paramount to MGM to play Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery as children. Tom knew he was destined for TIGdom. Imagine his dismay when he saw the final product, no Ginny, no David, no TIG. Since the film was certainly a Ginny film at the time of shooting, I've decided to count him. I'm sure his descendants will be pleased. Next, John Butler (1884) has an equally cruel story. His hopes for TIGdom were dashed twice. First, MGM told him to report for work playing a mechanic on "the Edison picture". Thrilled to be working with Ginny as Tannie, it is rumored* he signed for far less than his usual fee. He was heartbroken to arrive on the set and be greeted by Spencer Tracy. The following year Butler signed to play a fish store owner in what was described to him as "that big budget Weidler feature". He shows up for the scene and guess who pedals up on her bike. Hint: It isn't Ginny. I welcome him to TIG as well. *- I may have started that rumor.

> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}WOW. RO was a **** in his younger days. I dont even recognize him from that photo! I was laughing over his slamming Martha Stewart. I remember her being on, but not much about what she said......... That's a screen capture of RO as Mr. Drysdale's assistant in The Beverly Hillbillies pilot film. I'm rather proud that Danny borrowed that from my Virginia Weidler FB page. Usually I'm borrowing photos from everyone else... By the way, RO's voice hasn't changed one whit.

My friend Danny Miller interviewed Robert Osborne at the film festival last week and he did happen to get a quote from Bob on Deanna. http://social.entertainment.msn.com/movies/blogs/blog--interview-robert-osborne-returns-to-hollywood-with-the-tcm-classic-film-festival?_blg=3

OK, I was fifteen but I never really got over Arlette in WESTWORLD.

> {quote:title=mariah23 wrote:}{quote}I think in honor of Deanna's passing, we watch one (or twenty) of her films on YouTube today. I just watched her sing, "Begin the Beguine" from HERS TO HOLD. Deanna was my first Ginny, in a way. My mother had a book on Judy's life in pictures and when I was 10 or so I read about the making of EVERY SUNDAY and Deanna being dropped by MGM after that. I was so sad for this girl who basically, according to the legend, had lost her "sing-off" with Miss Garland. I would only learn recently that the story was all wrong and that Deanna was dropped by MGM before the short was filmed and then called back under the terms of her departure because MGM wanted her for the short and Universal hadn't cast her in a film yet. Deanna had a contract, Judy had a contract, and there was no fateful decision connected to EVERY SUNDAY at all.

Since the 1st has come and gone, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 18th, 22nd, 26th based on my own personal preference.

Finally, TODAY IN GINNY. Dick Elliott (1886) is really, truly one of the most "that guy"-ish of all the "that guys". You know him, anytime a film needed a blustering fat guy, Dick Elliott was there. He appeared in two Ginny films, the first being as Stumpy Carter in THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT. His role as the cop on the left in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT was a rarity not because he was blustering and rather dim, but because he was blustering, dim, and NOT the guy in charge. The other cop is the Sergeant. You probably know him best for his final role. He was the Mayor of Mayberry, Mayor Jefferson Pike, during the first two seasons of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. The role ended with Elliott's death in late 1961. He was, of course, replaced with another of the "that guys", Parley Baer as Mayor Stoner. Hooper Atchley (1887) managed to appear in 214 films in just twelve years. You only accomplish that by proving you'll showup, hit your mark, and get out of the way. Atchley couldn't have amassed this sort of record without a Ginny film or two..or three! He's at far right as a masquerade judge in THIS TIME FOR KEEPS. He also appeared as a Turkish Colonel in STAMBOUL QUEST and a Captured Contact in AFTER TONIGHT, both spy yarns with Ginny in small cameos. I always wonder if Ginny actually knew she had worked with these guys before. Pretty Carol Holloway (1892) had been a bit of a silent star. She was known as one of the biggest screen serial queens of the 1910s. By her time in the Weidler Stock Company, she was playing smaller character roles. She played a townswoman in MAID OF SALEM and Sadie in SCANDAL STREET. Joe Yule (1894) was an Scottish born comedian who worked vaudeville and burlesque. He and his wife Nell broke up when Joe Jr. was only three and Nell took Jr. to Hollywood. Years later and down on his luck, Yule was reunited with Jr. as he found work at MGM, the studio where Jr.-now called Mickey Rooney-was one of the biggest stars. Yule was able to do small parts in Hollywood from 1939 until his death in 1950. He played Mason in BABES ON BROADWAY and IMDb says he was "Little Butch" in I'LL WAIT FOR YOU, but I just scanned that film and didn't find him. Either he was cut out or I was hasty in my review of the film.

We have a small and almost on time TIG today. John Smirch (1895) represents a first for TODAY IN GINNY. I'm pretty sure he's the first mike grip to be honored. He was a mike grip for his entire career, once or twice being listed as a boom grip (which is still a mike grip, isn't it?) He plied his trade on THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 and we have one of the lobby posters to represent. Actor Richard Carlson (1912) was still in the very early stages of a solid career when he played Miranda's brother Jeff Sommerfield in THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA. Here we see him loudly protesting maid Martha's tell-all book about the neighborhood, that most everyone else doesn't know Martha wrote. As I've joked before, it's kind of an all-white version of THE HELP. Ginny's Miranda proclaimed "It's A Filibuster!" just before this shot. He's best known today for sci-fi like THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, but he was also the star of two TV series. He was undercover as a communist in I LED 3 LIVES and was Col. Ranald Mackenzie of MACKENZIE'S RAIDERS. In an oddity, he played Mike Connor in the 1954 TV version of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. Here's the fascinating cast for that production (for the series, BEST OF BROADWAY): Mary Astor ... Margaret Lord Richard Carlson ... Mike Connor Dick Foran ... George Kittredge Herbert Marshall ... Seth Lord Dorothy McGuire ... Tracy Lord Neva Patterson ... Liz Imbrie John Payne ... C.K. Dexter Haven Charles Winninger ... Uncle Willie It's a cast I certainly can picture in my mind. No one is listed as playing Dinah, I hope the role wasn't cut. *Update: We later found out that Jane Sutherland played Dinah in that version.*

Do Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo count?

Here's an idea. How about they actually pick a movie historian or at least a good reviewer of films some year? Of course, at least half of us would hate him or her as well.

Here's Danny Miller's final thoughts on his time at the TCM Film Festival. If you want to read his non-Ginny stuff you can find him regularly at MSN. "Coming down from my TCM Festival high (it ended last night), I thought I'd post this photo I found in a magazine recently since I don't think I've seen it before. The caption reads: "Virginia Weidler opens a charge account for a favored customer, Buck, the giant St. Bernard of 'Call of the Wild' fame. Virginia got salvos of cheers for her work in 'Girl of the Ozarks." Now she's a full fledged star with a nice seven year contract." (I didn't realize the term "charge account" was used in the 30s!) As a member of the VWRS, I have to say it was very poignant for me to be face-to-face with Ginny's contemporaries such as Mickey Rooney, Jane Withers, and Ann Blyth this weekend. I kept thinking that she should be there screening some of her great movies and sharing fascinating stories about her experiences while being interviewed by her big fan, Robert Osborne. I can imagine what she would have been like at 86 and wish she could have been part of that Withers/Blyth lunch group." I owe Danny an unmeasurable amount of gratitude for these reports and the fact that he managed to squeeze many of our questions in during his regular work.

TODAY IN GINNY was a chore rather than a joy. First, one of the actors is someone I know came up before, so I had to backtrack to be sure he wasn't somehow on IMDb under two different birthdates. Plus we have a potential misidentification, but I'll let you be the judge. Before I start, though, I want to mention two people who aren't TIGs. First, will someone explain to me how Ginny spent six years at MGM and never worked with Lionel Barrymore? It just seems odd to me. Next, we talked about Connie Marshall at the VWRS earlier this month when I saw her in KILL THE UMPIRE. Today is also Miss Marshall's birthday. Now to the actual TIG. Eric Mayne (1865) had two small roles in Ginny films, playing a member of the court in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO and an extra at the party in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. Mayne was known for his Shakepearean roles on the stage and was a fairly popular silent screen actor. In fact, after he stopped acting he taught Shakepeare at Los Angeles University College. He's seen here as Don Diego in the Mabel Normand film, SUSANNA. Ralph Fitzsimmons (1876) was a general in STAMBOUL QUEST. He is listed as having been born in Romania. He had six small roles between 1913 and 1938 and I found no photo. A Myrna Loy photo from that film is always a good thing, though. Now for the troublemakers. I could swear we've already discussed Bryant Washburn (1889), so I spent a long time trying to find out if he was listed somewhere else on IMDb with a different birthdate or something. Apparently, he came up at the VWRS based on a newspaper clipping. He was the crooked dealer at Oakhurst's place on the night Luck was born in THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT and Reed's director in BABES ON BROADWAY. Washburn was in 369 films between 1911 and 1947. He didn't get locked into a type, playing bankers and chauffeurs and even a 'John' in a 1938 exploitation film. I don't think Morgan Roberts (1912) actually belongs here. He's listed as Medicine Man in TOO HOT TO HANDLE. I already saluted William Broadus for that role previously. IMDb listed three separate uncredited Medicine Men for that film. The reason I don't recognize Roberts' claim is that it's listed as his first role and then there is a 15 year gap before the next one. I suspect someone misidentified him when watching the film and added him to the cast list. He became a popular character actor later in life, appearing with Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones in the 1970s and '80s. Since Loy was also in THTH and I'm unsure of this one, the same Loy photo covers Roberts as well.