Born Today March 2: Leo XIII

1810-1903

Pope Leo XIII was born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci on this day in Carpineto Romano, a small province that was near Rome.  He was the sixth of seven sons born into family with minor aristocratic ties.  He lived at home with his family until 1818, when left with a brother to study at a Jesuit College.  There he remained until 1824.  He had a real fondness and talent for the Latin language, and was composing poems in that language by the age of 11.  In 1824, his mother died suddenly,  and his father subsequently  wanted all his children close to him as a result.  His kids stayed with him in Rome and entered the Collegium Romanum.  In 1829, his brother Guiseppe decided to go into the Jesuit order, while Vincenzo opted for secular clergy.  He would then go on to study law and diplomacy.  In 1834, he gave a student presentation that was widely attended and this gained him the attention of the Vatican itself.  In 1836, he received his doctorate in theology and also doctorates in both civil and Canon Law. By early 1837, during a deadly cholera outbreak in Rome, Pope Gregory XVI appointed him as personal prelate, and this was before Vincenzo was ordained as a priest.  In December of that same year, he was ordained by the Vicar of Rome.  He celebrated his first mass with his brother Guiseppe. He was first appointed a provincial administrator of Benevento by the Pope, where he would take on the Mafia and other organized crime elements there.  He would become Bishop and Archbishop at very early age, and would serve the Holy See both domestically and abroad.  He was crowned Pope the 3rd of March 1878.  In regards to film, he became the very first Pope to appear in film and that came in 1896 with the short Leone XIII; it is one of only 4 films ever listed as having been filmed completely in and produced by the Holy See to this day.  It still exists and has been restored.  From then on, he was featured in several newsreel short "documentary" films right up until the time of his death; most of them date from the year 1898.  The last film to feature the Pope came in 1903 (one of 3 from that year) that reported on his death:  La mort du pape Léon XIII, it was a Pathé Freres (of France) production.  Leo XIII died on the 20th of July in 1903 at the age of 93; this made him the longest lived Pope so far.  At the time, he was also the second longest reigning Pope of all time (that has since gone to 3rd, after the the reign of Pope John Paul II).  He was initially interred in St. Peter's Basilica, as expected; however in 1924 he was re-interred in St. John Lateran, his cathedral church as Bishop of Rome.  As with all historical figures featured here, follow the links for more in depth lifetime information.

For More:

Wikipedia

New Advent

Enclyclopedia.com

Britannica

For Films IMDb

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today February 16: Julia Grant

1826-1902

Julia Grant was the 18th First Lady of the United States, being married to Ulysses S. Grant.  She was born Julia Boggs Dent on this date in 1826 in the White Haven section of St. Louis, MO to a slave owning planter and merchant and his wife.  She was the fifth of eight children.  She married the future president in 1848, with Grant's father refusing to attend the wedding on the grounds that he objected to her family owning slaves.  After enduring life as a military wife--being away from her husband for long stretches; and then as the wife of a poor farmer, the Grants found themselves caught up in the Civil War.  Ulysses Grant eventually found himself appointed commander of the Union armies; Lincoln sent for Julia, understanding her positive effect upon her husband.  In 1868 U. S. Grant won the nomination for the Republican party, Julia was much more elated than he was.  He felt he had been compelled to enter the race for highest office in land by the political storm surrounding the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.  She was deeply involved in her husband's political career, and she proved astute in her assessments of situations.  In regards to silent film, she appeared in two news reels the date from the year 1899.  The first was First City Troop Of Philadelphia, appearing with President McKinley.  The second was Mrs. Grant and President McKinley, which also includes Ida McKinley.  Both films were produced by American Mutoscope & Biograph. Her views on slavery and racism have always been a matter of conjecture; what is known is that she thought that the "black race" was inferior to the "white race," though she never supported post-war white supremacists--which included member of her own family--even a brother.  On women's rights, she was much clearer.  She was a complete defender of women's rights and would permit no jokes being told at a woman's expense in her company (especially in Washington D.C.).  After her husband left the office of the presidency, she joined several other former first ladies to become "Queen Mother" figures in the country.  Her husband died of throat cancer in 1885, she continued to live on until she passed away from kidney failure in Washington D.C. in 1902 on 14 December.  She was interred in General Grant's National Monument, affectionately known as "Grant's Tomb," in New York City.   As a curious fact, she always appears in profile in photographs, because she was born with strabismus; a condition that she wanted to correct after becoming first lady.  President Grant was having none of that, proclaiming to her "Did I not see you and fall in love with you with these same eyes? I like them just as they are, and now, remember you are not to interfere with them. They are mine, and let me tell you, Mrs. Grant, you had better no make any experiments, as I might not like you half so well with any other eyes."

 

[source: Found a Grave]

 

[source: Wikipedia]

For More:

Wikipedia

First Ladies (firstladies.org)

White House

PBS

IMDb

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today February 2: William J. Gaynor

1848-1913

Judge and New York City Mayor William Jay Gaynor was born on this date in Oriskany, New York into a devoutly Catholic Irish family on a farmstead.  He grew up there with his brother and his parents.  From an early age, he developed a keen fascination with the natural world, reportedly spent hours roaming the countryside attempting to understand and figure how various things worked the way that they did.  This curiosity lead him to be an excellent student from the very start of his education.  His parents pushed him toward a vocation in church, but while studying toward this goal, he became intensely interested in Stoic philosophy.  This lead him to lose his faith in the Christian religion all-together and as a result he left religious studies to move back in with his family in Utica, where they had since relocated.  His father then managed to procure for him a position with a local law firm, with the goal of him actually taking the bar exam and becoming a full fledged practicing lawyer.  It, instead, lead to a interest and career in politics.  Gaynor was first a judge on the New York Supreme court, before becoming Mayor of New York.  Amongst a lot of other things Gaynor did as mayor, one big move was to remove any lasting opposition to the finishing of the New York subway system.  He also, to the chagrin of the city coffers, removed tolls on the Williamsburg Bridge.  To read more about his life and his politics, follow links below.  For the purposes of film, all the shorts he appeared in (many of them in Pathe's Weekly's) were in newsreels in the capacity of mayor, save one--the very first one.  He appeared in 1909 in Vitagraph's Judge Gaynor and Hon. John McCooey.  In all, he was in 12 known newsreels between 1909 and 1913, the year of his death.  Very early in his term as mayor, Gaynor survived an assassination attempt by a disgruntled ex-city employee.  He was struck in the neck and the bullet was never removed.  He died on board the RMS Baltic on his way to Europe on September 10, 1913.  Doctors determined that he most likely died of a massive heart attack while lounging in a deck chair.  It was also determined that his old wound likely played no role in his passing.  His remains were returned to the U.S., where he was buried in Brooklyn's famed Green-Wood Cemetery (family burial located in Section 7, Lot 7051).  As a matter of film and television related trivia, one of his granddaughters Jean "Foxy" Rennard was actor Fred Gwynne's (Herman of "Munsters" fame) first wife; together they had 5 children.  

The is the marker for the entire Gaynor family in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn New York.

Wikipedia

City Room Blog (NYTimes)

IMDb

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today January 30: (François) Félix Faure (Slightly Sorted Edition!)

1841-1899

France's future president Faure was born Félix François on this date in Paris.  He was the son of a furniture maker. He worked as a tanner and later as a merchant at France's second largest port in Le Havre (where he was also initiated into Freemasonry); managing to acquire a significant amount wealth along the way.  He entered politics, and in August of 1881 he was elected to the National Assembly.  From this seat, he worked his way up the political ranks, until reaching the office of President in 1895.  He would remain President until his untimely death in 1899. For the purposes of silent film, Faure was the subject of numerous short documentaries (or early newsreels) detailing some his presidential activities starting in 1896--most of them were produced by Lumiere. The first was Fêtes franco-russes: Cherbourg, Entrée des Souverains russes et du président de la Republique sous le hall (with a title like that, who needs to watch the 1 minute film??).  The last film featuring his appearance as President of France came posthumously in a German reel entitled Leichenbergräbnis des verstorbenen französischen Präsidenten Félix Faure, and was released in April 1899 following his death in February of the same year.  Faure died under a cloud of scandal on the 16th of February while engaging in some type of sexual activity with his 30 year old mistress, Marguerite Steinhall; he is reported to have had a "bout of apoplexy" which caused his death several hours later--his was 58 years old.  Famed French trickster filmmaker Meliese was reported to have filmed his funeral, but it doesn't seem to have survived.  During his presidency the infamous and shameful Dreyfus Affair came to a head; it remains a stain on his reputation to this day. Faure is buried (like so many other famous Frenchmen) in the huge Parisian burial ground of Pére Lachaise Cemetery in very melodramatic sculpted tomb.

Wikipedia

IMDb

Born Today January 30: FDR

1882-1945

So this may be a bit confusing.  FDR was a politician, right?  Not an actor.  True enough; but he did become one of the first politicians and "man of government" to take advantage of the new technology of film to promote government efforts. He was, of course, born Franklin Delano Roosevelt (which he personally pronounced in the proper Dutch fashion as "Roos-ah-veldt," not as "Rose-ah-velt" as most do today).  He was born in a Hyde Park home in New York state.  The family were as close to aristocracy as this country got.  He was also the distant cousin of the first Roosevelt in high office Theodore (Teddy).  In fact, they became more closely related after Franklin's marriage to Eleanor in 1904, when he was 23 and she was 21, as President Teddy Roosevelt--who gave her away at her weddin--was her uncle (her maiden name was the same as her married name).  After entering politics in 1910 on the state level (New York), he was by 1913 appointed Assistant Secretary to the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson.  In 1914 World War I broke out.  By 1916 he was actively campaigning for naval issues in regards to war, including arming the navy with more modern equipment and much more extensively than had been previously done.  The Germans then launched their submarine campaign in 1917; Roosevelt went to Wilson and asked permission to fit the naval fleet out for full war duty--the request was denied.  Roosevelt had by this time, developed a deep fascination with submarines.  [As an aside note:  submarines were not new to the U.S., as they were used in a very limited way in the Civil War.]  By the 1910's, newsreels had become a part of the movie going experience.  This exploded after the 1914 here in the U.S., because the country was not actively involved in a war the likes of which the country, or the world--for that matter--had ever seen before.  Citizens became anxious, and this catapulted the newsreel into extreme importance to the movie going public; they actually drove ticket sales for main features. People would attend showings just catch the latest in the news.  The first newsreel that Roosevelt appeared in was part of a series called the "Animated Weekly."  Roosevelt appeared as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Animated Weekly, No. 31 in 1916; this included the christening of the U.S.'s "first undersea fighter" in Quincey, MA, which Roosevelt was present for (oddly enough, it also includes information about a great white shark--over 400 lbs.--caught off the shore in New England, blamed for the death of "five bathers."  This was the inspiration for the novel Jaws! [BTW, it had to be a bull shark--not a great white.]).  The next newsreel that he appeared as Assistant Secretary of the Navy came in a series called "Mutual Weekly."  He appeared, this time by name, in Mutual Weekly, No. 111 in 1917.  The description given, is that of him inspecting the the marine forces in Philadelphia.  This is the last of the silent Newsreels of him that exited, as far as anyone knows.  In 1924, the Lee De Forest Films company filmed him giving a speech nominating New York governor Al Smith as the Democratic candidate for President at the Democratic National Convention:  the little film was simply entitled Franklin D. Roosevelt Speech.  De Forest was one of the leading pioneers in early sound film; they had that same year, produced the first sound film that was shot at the White House.  They managed to get "Silent Cal," President Calvin Coolidge to make campaign speech in a garden (Rose Garden?) at the famous residence.  It was a first on many levels.  It has been called the first sound newsreel, but in reality it is the first sound campaign pitch or appeal to voters on the part of a campaigning politician (even if he is already the President).  Most importantly, it was the first time any president of the U.S. had spoken on film!  It still survives to this day and is preserved at the Library Of Congress.  The fate of the Roosevelt speech, on the other hand, is currently unknown.  Of course, FDR would go on to be the longest serving president in U.S. history; elected to office an unprecedented 4 times, serving between 1933 until his death in 1945, when he was succeeded by then vice-President Harry Truman.  Roosevelt succumbed to a massive cerebral hemorrhagic event (bleeding stroke) in Warm Springs, GA (a favorite resting place of his) on the 12th of April 1945.  On the 13 of April his flagged draped coffin was returned to the White House, in Washington D.C..  On the 14th his funeral was held there and his body was returned to Hyde Park in New York for burial.  He remains one of the earliest high ranking members of the federal government to show up on film.

For More:

Wikipedia

White House Historical Website

FDR Library

The Mystery Of The Missing Jewel Casket (1905)

An odd little newsreel from 1905.  Newsreels were the "television" of the silent era.