Born Today February 28: Geraldine Farrar

 

1882-1967

Famous American operatic soprano, noted for her talent in dramatic performance, both on the stage and in film, Geraldine Farrar was born Alice Geraldine Farrar on this day in Melrose, Massachusetts. Her father was major league baseball player Sidney Farrar. She began studying music in Boston at the young age of just five and was giving public/professional recitals by her early teens.  As an older teen, she studied voice in New York and Berlin, Germany. She also made her professional opera debut in Berlin in 1901 at the age of 19 in a performance of Gounod's Faust. She stayed employed there at the Berlin Hofoper under famous soprano Lilli Lehmann for three years, thereafter moving to the Monte Carlo opera in Monaco; finally making her New York operatic debut at The Met in 1906.  She remained there until 1922, giving literally hundreds of performances. She enjoyed a local popularity unusual even for the times amongst young women, helped greatly along by recordings that she made for Victor, and only heightened by the fact that during the teens, she had a short film career. She made her film debut in 1915 in Cecil B. DeMille's Carmen, opposite Wallace Reid as Don José (the film does survive and is available on disc).  I don't think it's going too far to say that the film made her a kind of movie star outside of the New York area among people who were unaware that she was first, and foremost, an opera singer.  For such a busy opera star, she had a surprisingly prolific film career between 1915 and 1920, making more than a dozen films by the end of 1919; with all of her films through 1917 being directed by DeMille and a few of them quite famous. They include:  Joan the Woman (1916), The Devil-Stone (1917) a rather famously partially lost DeMille film and The Woman God Forgot (1917) in which she plays an "Aztec" princess. Wallace Reid is the male lead in all of these films. Most of the rest of her film performances were directed by Reginald Barker, though she did appear in one film directed by Frank Lloyd: The World and its Woman (September 1919). That film had Farrar appearing opposite actor Lou Tellegen, to whom Farrar was also married at the time. Tellegen appeared in two more of her films in the later portion of her career:  Flame of the Desert (1919) and The Woman and the Puppet (1920).   The couple divorced in 1923 in a very public fashion (Tellegen would take his own life a decade later).  Farrar's last film role came in The Riddle: Woman in 1920; the film starred Farrar opposite Montagu Love with Madge Bellamy and Adele Blood in supporting roles. Farrar retired from the opera just two years later in 1922 at the age of 40, switching to recitals and recording sessions for records. She also briefly worked in radio, but as an opera commentator, not a performer. Additionally, she penned an autobiography that was published in 1938; it was written in, shall we say, an "unconventional style" with part of the narration coming from the point of view of her deceased mother.  Farrar never remarried or had any children, but always had a small dog to keep her company. Interestingly, her recorded music has not been used much for soundtracks; given that she recorded so much music, one would think that it would have been used more twice (the latest use of her voice came in the horror anthology film Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark). Unusual for an opera performer, never mind such a prolific star of the operatic stage, Farrar did take her film acting completely seriously. She was even willing to do promotion work for the films before and after release. As a result of this, a number of lengthy quotes from her remain even for lost films in which she acted. Farrar died of heart failure in Ridgefield, Connecticut on the 11th of March in 1967 at the age of 85. She is buried at the Kensico Cemetery which is located on Valhalla, New York in Westchester county.

[Source: Wikipedia]

 

Wikipedia 

IMDb 

Find a Grave entry  

Born Today August 11: Hobart Bosworth

 

1867-1943

Prolific (!) actor and director Hobart Bosworth was born in Marietta, Ohio on this day in 1867.  His birth name was Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth; the "Van Zandt" name coming from his mother's side of the family, giving away that she was descended from the Van Zandt's of New York fame--one of the original families of "New Amsterdam." On his father side of the family, he was reportedly descended (at least according to Bosworth himself) from two lines that came over on the Mayflower.  His mother died when he was quite young; his father's remarriage caused trouble for the youngster from the get-go. He revealed later in life that he had run away from home while just a lad and wound up on the east coast in New York City. He found work on board ship sailing the dangerous route to and fro the west coast.  He also told interviewers that he had spent time as a child laborer on board arctic whalers. As he got older, he added boxing to his list of job titles, something he was determined to turn pro at; that not working out, he said he wound up in ranching, mostly in Mexico. He tried a number of things in  various lines of work, I would suppose, given his circumstances. The important thing is that they were all on the west coast, which eventually lead to his trying out the theater in San Francisco. At first working in the managerial side of theatrical work, he would drift into acting. With his acting skills improving, he would eventually end up in a touring company.  And, he was still not quite 20 years of age! The acting gig wasn't one continuous career for him however, by way of mines in Utah, he wound up a touring stage performer in Mexico (if his personal account of his life's early exploits are to be completely believed, he must have been at least somewhat proficient in Spanish). I have no idea how true most of his accounts of his life outside of acting are true or "truish"--his work in San Francisco and touring company information can be verified.  As can his work back east afterward.  By 1888, he made it all the back to New York (more ship work??). Already proficient with Shakespearean material, he was able to find pretty easy stage work there, even touring Europe for a time. Bosworth then contracted tuberculosis, then a life long condition (if you survived it at all!), which forced him to scale back acting engagements. He was eventually well enough to finally make his Broadway debut some time after the turn of century. His health condition forced him to abandon New York City all together and return to the desert southwest (I can only imagine what a nightmare the air conditions were in New York at the time, even for the healthy!!).  Despite his health issues, he would go on to live a full life, brimming with work for us to enjoy today. Back on the west coast, where he moved due health concerns, he made his way into acting in the earliest film efforts out there; making his film debut in a Selig film that made some history:  The Count of Monte Cristo in 1908.  The film is thought to be the very first motion picture made in Los Angeles (well...greater L.A.).  He next showed up in one of my favorite genre's "early horror" in another history making film as the first filmed version of Stevenson's (by way of the stage) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1908. He quickly moved on to more literary depictions in Rip Van Winkle and Damon and Pythias. He subsequently became a mainstay at Selig.  He stayed with them through the first half of 1913, when he left to start his own production company: Hobart Bosworth Productions. During his time at Selig, he made dozens and dozens of films; in fact the lion's share of his appearances in silents came in shorts produced at the company. In 1910 he played one of his claimed ancestors in the film named for another one; he was "John Alden" in The Courtship of Miles Standish (one of his co-stars in this was a very young Bebe Daniels); and he played Cotton Mather in one of his last Selig films In the Days of Witchcraft in 1913. His last film for the compnay was In the Midst of the Jungle -- a three reeler released in October. When he formed his own company, the focus was on two things: one was principally to produce films based on the writings of Jack London, and two, was to make those films feature length. The company's very first production is now amongst one of the more famous lost films. The Sea Wolf; directed by Bosworth and a featuring London himself as a member of the cast; he played the lead himself (it was released on the 7th of December of 1913).  The company produced five such films, before branching out a bit in mid-1914, by also agreeing to produce a film by important film maker Lois Weber; that short was The Traitor in which Bosworth personally appeared.  Four Jack London pictures later, his production company then produced a script that he had written himself.  The Country Mouse, also directed and starring Bosworth. This marked the beginning of his company moving on to other authors.  Eventually the company would be successfully folded into Paramount. [It's last named production was The Sea Lion in 1921 (starring Bosworth, of course).] In 1915, Bosworth took the lead in a film produced by Universal that was directed Otis Turner, whom he first worked with at Selig: The Scarlet Sin had him acting opposite Jane Novak.  A Little Brother of the Rich (1915) had him doing the same.  In 1916, he became a frequent player in westerns, allowing his ranching experience from his childhood to be of use.  Also in the later teens he showed up in films by directors as diverse as Marshall Neilan to Norval MacGregor; Phil Rosen to Cecil B. DeMille (he was in several of his films and DeMille's Joan the Woman is still widely available, Bosworth's role was Gen. La Hire).  In the 1920's he was back to acting full time; he mostly starred in B-level pictures, though he did appear in a few films by noted directors, but as the 1920's wore on, he largely occupies supporting roles (at least one notable exception to this was John Ford's Hearts of Oak). Still from the shear number of credits that he had during that decade it is clear that he was a bit of a workaholic (I mean that in a good way of course 😊). In 1928, he appeared in the lead role of an all talking Warner Bros. short entitled A Man Of Peace (it's copyright title was Hobart Bosworth's in A Man of Peace), it was his first talkie--sound by Vitaphone. And though he was among the throng of stars featured in Show of Shows in 1929, there was little need to introduce his voice; after A Man of Peace, he never appeared in a fully silent film again--in fact most of the films in which he acted in 1928 and 1929 were full talking pictures. This may offer a clue why he was able, as a much older actor, able to make the successful transition to acting in the 1930's, when so many younger, more famous actors did not. During the 1930's he did work with a number of directors of later Hollywood success, including Frank Capra and Michael Curtiz and a few a past Hollywood superstardom, like D.W. Griffith--he mostly had supporting roles in lesser films. To his credit, however, almost all of his roles were solidly in the supporting category and were named parts (so many players from silent films that did act into the era of sound were relegated to "uncredited" appearances). He acted into the 1940's; in fact, he had kept acting until his health forced him to quit at the age of 75. I am quite sure, if he could have, he would have kept on if he could. He passed away at the age of 76 in Los Angeles on the 30th of December, having succumbed to pneumonia--but far outlived so many others who had contracted lung illnesses in the early 20th century. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. His first marriage was to actress Adele Farrington.  In the end, he had almost 300 acting credits to his good name. He had also contributed a great deal to the production side of films, though he wasn't remembered long for it.

 IMDb

Wikipedia

Find A Grave entry 

Born Today February 6: Ramon Novarro

1899-1968

Born Jose' Ramón Gil Samaniego in Durango, Mexico to a well off family (his father was a prominent dentist there); the family fled the Mexican Revolution in 1913 and relocated in the Los Angeles area here in the U.S.  His mother, Leonor, was said to be of prominent mixed ancestry and a descendant from the Aztec royal house.  His father's side of the family were pure Castilian.  As a young man in the L.A. area, he decided to study ballet.  By 1917 he had gotten the attention of the movie industry.  He made his motion debut in 1916 in Cecil B. DeMille's epic Joan the Woman as a starving peasant.  By the next year he had steady work in various extra roles; supplementing his income by working as a singing waiter.  By the 1920's, he as being promoted by MGM as a "Latin Lover" type--even as a rival of Rudolph Valentino.  This was done at the urging director Rex Ingram and his wife Alice Terry; early Hollywood friends of Ramon.  It was Terry who suggested that he change his name to "Novarro," though the name had no familial connection and he had plenty of prominent names that he could use that did.  His break through role came in Scaramouche in 1923; a film directed by Rex Ingram.  The film also starred Alice Terry.  By 1925, he had full blown, and well known, leading man status; playing the lead role in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ--his revealing costume causing quite the stir.  After Valentino's untimely demise in 1926, only Novarro was left as Hollywood's Latin Lover.  Oddly he did not make any films in 1926, opting instead for the stage (his work on the stage, is undoubtedly what allowed him to make the transition to talking films).  The Flying Fleet (1929), was his first partial sound film, with the soundtrack and sound effects being provided by Movie Tone.  His next film, the rather infamous The Pagan, in which he plays a "half-caste Pacific islander" who refuses the Christianity of his white father, had a specialized synchronized full musical soundtrack, also by Movie Tone--one of the first of it's kind.  His next role Devil-May Care, based on a French drama, was his first full sound talking film; sound provided by Western Electric.  It also featured on full scene in early 2 strip technicolor.  This would be the last film that he made in the 1920's.  During this time, and through the early 1930's he had prominent roles opposite the greatest leading ladies of their time, including:  Myrna Loy, Greta Garbo, & Lupe Velez; becoming one of the highest paid actors in town.  After his contract with MGM expired in 1935, he made fewer and fewer films; largely retreating from public life.  He developed a drinking problem that was the result of his homosexuality being at odds with his strict Catholic upbringing.  Supposedly, Louis B. Mayer tried on more than one occasion to arrange for a "lavender marriage," the term used for men and women (largely actors) who were gay that marry each other out of convenience; Novarro was having none of it.  Things only got worse for him, when he, and Lupe Velez, Dolores del Rio and James Cagney were all accused of promoting communism in California after they attended a special screening of Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein's ¡Que viva México!.  Fortunately for Novarro, he had used some the hundreds of thousands of dollars he was paid as a leading man to invest smartly in real estate around Hollywood.  His own personal residence as designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright.  From this he was able to maintain quite an easy lifestyle, working in acting when he felt like it.  It also allowed him to keep a comfortable low profile.  Throughout the rest of his life, he acted sporadically in films and later television, until his horrific death on 30 October in 1968.  Two young men, one a minor and one not (ages 17 and 22)--brothers Tom and Paul Ferguson--were hired by Novarro from an agency for the purposes of sex.  Apparently they thought the actor kept $5000 hidden behind a portrait.  They tied him up and beat him incessantly, demanding to know where the money was (one of them would later deny this part of the story).  Novarro died from asphyxiation on his own blood.  The brothers left the house with the $20 dollars that the actor had in his bath robe.  They were caught, tried and convicted and spent several years in jail, before being released in the 1970's (they were both rearrested several times, and one of them, committed suicide).  Novarro was buried by his sibling under his stage name at the Catholic Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles as "Beloved Brother."

[Source: AJM (Find a Grave)]

IMDb

Wikipedia