1896-1977
Silent film actress Zena Virginia Keefe was born on this day in San Francisco, California. She was a child stage actress in her. According to Moving Picture World, she made her film debut as "Mattie" when you was 15 years of age in the Vitagraph short All is Fair in Love and War released in early 1911 [though at least one source claims that she worked for Fox at the start of film career]. Her film career lasted through 1924. She stayed with Vitagraph for what in those time would be considered an eternity--through 1915--in a world where the standard player contract was for 1 year; having a bit part in their The Spider's Web (1912) along the way. Her last film for them--Putting Pep in Slowtown--was released in March of 1916. Her first real major role in an actual feature came in the Paragon produced drama Her Maternal Right also in 1916. She next appeared in Albert Capellani's huge epic La vie de Bohème (the film is 112 minutes long) in 1916; it stars amongst others: Alice Brady, Frederick Truesdell, June Elvidge, and Capellani's brother Paul. Also in 1916, she was cast in the serial Perils of Our Girl Reporters. By 1917 she was a leading lady, albeit in smaller productions from various companies that included World Film and Albert Capellani Productions. As an child/teenage actress, she had been known to the Ince Brothers and the first major production that she had the leading lady role in the 1920's was directed for Ralph Ince for Selznick Pictures; she played opposite matinee idol Eugene O'Brien in the melodrama His Wife's Money (1920). By 1921 she was a big enough star to appear in one of Federated's Screen Snapshots. In all, she appeared in some sixteen films in the 1920's, when she retired in 1924. He last film was Trouping With Ellen, a romantic comedy made with Eastern Productions. It's pure speculation as a why she retired. She had reportedly been unhappy with not gaining more acting work during her adult career. She was also married, so perhaps that played a role. She instead lived in Danvers, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter, where she died at the age of 80 in 1976 on the 17th of November. She is interred at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA in the Columbarium there. A very attractive young woman, also she posed for some fashion photography.
1822-1861
French writer Henri Murger, given name Louis-Henri, was born on this date in Paris, France. His father was a native Savoyard who had moved to Paris, where he worked two jobs: one as a tailor and the other as a janitor for an apartment building. Young Henri's education was very fragmented, owed to the family's poverty. He, in fact, left school at the age of 15 to work. He toiled at a variety of menial occupations, before landing work in a lawyer's office. While working there, he began to write poetry. These were circulated, and that brought him to the attention of writer Étienne de Jouy, who in turn secured him a position in the home of Russian nobleman who was living in Paris at the time. This allowed him to began a full-fledged literary career; this was some time around the year 1841. He began writing poetic essays, but soon found that in order to actually make a living by writing, he'd have to broaden his genres; he began writing prose with such speed, as he put "at the rate of 80 francs an acre." He also spent time editing a fashion newspaper; and he edited a paper for the millinery (or hat) trade. He then decided to change his name in bid to gain more attention, first adopting "Henry Mürger," then dropping the umlaut. All of his work from this change on are published under the name "Henry Murger." Though, he did eventually find success, it took some time and was fleeting. He was part of a group of writers who dubbed themselves "the water drinkers," because they were too poor to afford wine. While he found success from a number of works during his lifetime, he is best remembered today for just one work: Scénes de la vie bohéme. If this looks familiar, it is because it was the source material for 4 operas and one Broadway musical Rent, including the very famous Puccini opera La Bohéme. Six films were made from his work in the silent era; all but one was based bohéme. The first was released in 1912 with La Bohéme, a French production. The only film produced from works other than Bohéme also came in 1912; The Kind Old Man, also a French production, was based on one of his plays. The first English language film produced from his work was the U.S. produced La vie de Bohéme in 1916. In 1926, MGM produced a lavish version of Bohéme, starring Lillian Gish and directed by King Vidor; it's IMDb page can be found here. The first film produced in the sound era using his work for source material, came in 1935 with the British production Mimi, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The most recent film using his work is La Bohéme, Oper in vier Bildern, a made for television film broadcast in 2012. Murger spent the last ten years of his life in financial trouble and increasingly ill health. In serious decline, he died in Paris hospital the 28th of January 1861 at only 38 years of age. The French government paid for his funeral, which attended by over 250 "luminaries." He is buried in Montmartre Cemetery there.
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