Born Today March 15: Camilo Castelo Branco

1825-1890

Portueguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco (Camilo Ferreira Botelho Castelo Branco, 1st Viscount de Correira Botelho) was born on this date in Lisbon.  He born out of wedlock and soon orphaned; he was taken in by three unmarried aunts, and was schooled by them at home. At the age of 13, he was enrolled in a Catholic seminary run near Vila Real, and educated there by priests; he soon showed a remarkable talent with the ancient languages of Greek and Latin and took to reading great Portuguese poets--though he ultimately proved an easily distracted and undisciplined student.  From the age of 17 until sometime in his early 20's, he studied medicine and theology.  From then, he spent a short time as a journalist in Lisbon and Oporto.  During this period of time, he wrote several works of a religious nature.  He also attended the episcopal seminary with the aim of becoming a priest.  He did take holy orders, but didn't remain a priest for very long.  He instead decided to devout his life to writing.  And that he did, becoming one of Portugal's most prolific writers of all time.  His works included plays, essays and novel.  He also wrote memoirs, one of which was about his time spent incarcerated (he was sent to prison twice in life, strangely, one of the crimes that he was convicted of was that of digging up the remains of his first wife).  In terms of film, 3 movies were made during the silent era utilizing his work for source material.  The first of these was Love Of Perdition which was a Brazilian production and was released in 1914; it was based on his novel Amor de Perdiçao.  In 1918 another Brazilian production company came out with Amor de Perdiçao. And finally, 1921 saw the release of the first Portuguese production of his work, again it was Love Of Perdition.  The first film using his material for a screenplay in the sound era came in 1943 with Ill-Fated Love, also produced in his native country.  The latest use of his work came with the television mini-series Mysteries of Lisbon in 2011; it was a joint Portugal/France production.  Branco was made Viscount in 1885 and when his health declined, he was given a government pension to live off of.  He suffered from syphilis which was causing him to slowly go blind.  He also suffered from a degenerative nerve disorder.  With his eyesight failing, he committed suicide by revolver on the 1st of June in 1890 at the age of 65.  He was living in Sao Miguel de Ciede at the time of his death. He did have three children by two marriages; at the time of his death, he reportedly had several grown grand-children and some 20 great grand-children. His is known to have been buried at the Lapa Cemetery in Oporto, a friend who died in 1899 requested to be buried beside or near him, but his grave within the burying place has apparently been lost.

Public monument to him in Vila Real Portugal

For More:

Wikipedia

Portuguese Wikipedia (can be translated)

IMDb

 

Find a Grave entry 

Born Today March 15: Mrs. E. M. Kimball (nee) Pauline Garrette

Still used from The Little Minister (1913) showing her daughter Clara Kimball Young as a poster for the film. 

1860-1919

Mother of famed silent actress Clara Kimball Young and wife to silent actor Edward Kimball, was born on this date in Chicago, IL.  It is widely reported that her maiden name was Garrette, though some sources has listed it as "Maddern."  She was an actress herself, and appeared in many films with her daughter, and her husband.  Her first appearance in a motion picture came in 1912 in Susie To Susanne, a dramatic short that did not feature any of her other family members.  The first film that she appeared in with her husband was her next film role in the Ralph Ince directed/Vitagraph produced short The Delayed Letter (1913).  Her very next film, referenced above, was The Little Minister (1913), this was the first film to feature both her husband and her daughter together with her, with Clara Kimball Young taking the starring role.  She continued to act in films through 1916, variously being credited as "Mrs. E. M. Kimball," "Mrs. Edward M. Kimball," "Mrs. Kimball," and "Pauline Kimball."  Her last film was The Feast Of Life (1916), another vehicle for her daughter--which is amongst the many films from silent era that have been lost. Pauline Kimball died at the age of 59 on the 11th of December in 1919. She is interred in the West Mausoleum at Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

A photograph believed to be of Pauline Garrette (or Maddern) Kimball

See:

IMDb

 

Find a Grave entry 

Born Today March 14: Manuel Fernández Caballero

1835-1906

Threading the needle between composer and author, Spanish musician Manuel Fernández Cabellero was born on this date in Murcia, Spain.  He was a prolific writer of the Spanish performance form known as Zarzuelas.  These were a form of "low" opera that included spoken word segments.  Cabellero took them to a whole new level.  Adding in many more operatic forms, updating folk songs and having some high choreography written in the direction for his "operas."  Zarzuelas are regional by nature and often tell the story of a particular region or people from a particular region (remember that a large portion of the population in Spain do not actually speak Spanish as a first language, or even at all).  His compositions did to take on many elements of 20th century forms of these performances, which tended to rely much more heavily on folk-tunes and stories; yet his works were utterly unique in form, though not in subject matter.  It is known that he did spend some time in his youth in Cuba as a conductor of zarzuelas (the art form had spread to several Spanish colonies--from Cuba to the Philippines).  His film credits come mostly under the "composer" category, though he gets at least one credit for "writer;" in fact, he should be credited with both.  The nature of his compositions meant that they could be used successfully in silent film as easily as sound film, and that they were.  The first use of his material for a film came with La drapaire in 1925, a silent film produced by the Artistic Films of Valencia (my translation).  The next year saw the release of Gigantes y cabezudos.  Finally in 1927 came the release of Los aparecidos.  Al them silent films; all of them based on his Zarzuelas.  The first full sound film to use any of his work came in 1952 with De Madrid al cielo, which only used one song from one of this zarzuela compositions.  His writing credit came in the 1973 Los sobrinos del capitán Grant, as made for television film in Spain.  Gingantes was remade in 1969, again for Spanish television.  The most recent use of his work in a film came in 2004, with El dúo de la africana.  All of the films made from his work have been productions in his native Spain.  Caballero died at the age of 70 in the Spanish capital of Madrid on the 26th of February, shortly before his 71st.  I cannot find any information on his funerary rites or burial.  

Spanish stamp featuring the aged profile of Caballero

For More:

Wikipedia

HIs Biography (in Spanish, can be translated)

IMDb

Born Today March 13: Paul Fix

1901-1983

Character actor Paul Fix was born on the date in Dobbs Ferry, New York to German immigrant parents.  There is confusion about his birth name, some give it as Peter Paul Fix (though his World War I service record lists him a Paul Peter Fix); other seemingly less reliable sources, have his birth name as Paul Fix Morrison.  What ever the case, he would become a familiar face in westerns of all sort in the 1940's or 50's.  He would even go on to be the first doctor on the USS Enterprise in the pilot for the original Star Trek series.  He got his start in acting after returning from the Great War around 1920 in and around New York.  In the early 1920's, he moved to Los Angeles.  Fix first appeared on film in 1924 in the uncredited role of "bellhop" in the Paul Semon vehicle The Perfect Clown, a film that also featured Oliver Hardy.  His first credited role came in 1928 in the Fay Wray/Gary Cooper film The First Kiss.  He was also in the 1929 partial silent Lucky Star, with some talking sequences provided by Western Electric.  He would suffer through several uncredited roles in the early 1930's, before finding a home in early talking westerns.  The first full sound film he was in came in 1930 with a small uncredited role in Ladies Love Brutes.  By the mid-1950's he had gotten into television as well.  He is probably best known for his recurring role in the series The Rifleman.  He is also recognizable in the recurring role of a district attorney in Perry Mason.  He was also in a number a cult horror films through the years, from 1956's The Bad Seed to the hokey 1972 release Night Of The Lepus.  Fix died on the 14th of October in 1983 of renal (kidney) failure at the age 82 in Los Angeles.  He is buried, with his wife, in Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica.

For More:

IMDb

Wikipedia

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today March 12 (Not So Silent Edition): Thomas Augustine Arne

1710-1778

English composer Thomas Augustine Arne was born in Convent Garden, London, UK on this date to an Catholic mother and an Anglican father.  Despite that his grandfather and father, both ulpholsterers, had fallen on hard times (his grandfather actually died in a debtors prison), his father had saved enough monies back to have young Thomas educated at Eton.  The young Arne showed a very early interest in music and smuggled a spinet into his room to practice on during the night when the rest of the family slept.  He also would dress up as a liveryman to gain access to the opera, which eventually lead to his having an apprenticeship of sorts with musician and composer Michael Festing; who among other things, taught Arne to play the violin.  When he finished school, he was articled to a solicitor for a period of three years.  He had, though, continued to work with Festing; a situation that his father found out about.  Festing was mostly likely the person responsible for persuading Arne's father to allow him to leave the legal service and pursue a career in music instead.  What Arne is by far and away most famous for is his composition Rule Britannia; he also penned A-Hunting We Will Go and a version of God Save The King (which in movies, he is also credited for when it is listed as God Save The Queen).  Three partial-sound or full sound films made use of his Rule Britannia and one short featuring "Hunting" were made in the late 1920's.  The first of these is a very famous, one could say infamous, film:  the Paramount produced, William A. Wellman directed (at least most of...) Wings, starring Clara Bow and Charles Rogers.  The film was made in 1927, but not released formally until 1929.  The mono musical score and sound effects were furnished by Western Electric.  The Divine Lady (1929) was also a partial sound film.  The first full sound film featuring his music also came in 1929, with the Mickey Mouse short animation When The Cat's Away, featuring sound from the Powers Cinephone Sound System; this marks the first use in a film of A-Hunting We Will Go.  Finally, the first all sound feature film to use the work was Disraeli (1929). Rule Britannia was used next in King Of Jazz  in 1930.  Of course, over the decades, such well known music has been used in dozens of films from the likes of The King and I  to Minions.  The most recent use came last year in the series The Crown.  Arne died at the age of 67 close to the place of his birth in London on the 5th of March, just shy of his 68th.  He is buried in St. Paul's, Covent Garden, a church designed by the renowned Inigo Jones; it is known as "The Actors Church."

Scene from When The Cat's Away (1929)

For More:

Wikipedia

List Of Compositions--Wikipedia

Britannica

IMDb

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave  

Born Today March 11: Torquato Tasso

1544-1595

16th century Italian poet Torquato Tasso was born on this day in Sorrento, in what was then the independent Kingdom of Naples (now Campania, Italy).  He had aristocratic ties in his family, with his mother being closely connected to prominent Neapolitan families; his father was secretary in service to the Prince of Salemo, Ferrante Sanseverino (so much so, that when the Prince was exiled, Tasso's father went with him).  He grew up with his mother and sister in Naples and was educated by the Jesuits there.  He possessed a fierce intellect and religious devotion that he attracted wide spread attention at only 8 years of age.  He was subsequently sent to live with his father just outside of Rome; as it happens his father was also a poet.  While he was there, his mother died suddenly and suspiciously; the elder Tasso was convinced that her own brother murdered her in order to take control of her estate.  This, no doubt, had an ill effect on the young man.  Torquato traveled with his father when he accepted a position in the court of Urbino.  At court there, Torquato's education was advanced by the general atmosphere of philosophical studies and regular poetry recitation. Torquato also followed his father to Venice, where he had relocated to get his own epic published.  His father was greatly influenced in the negative by the fortune of his lot in life as a writer, and he was determined to turn Torquato to a more lucrative profession.  He was sent to study law in Padua.  But when he arrived there, he fell to studying philosophy and poetry instead.  By 1562 he had written a 12 canto epic of his own.  It was an impressive enough work to have the younger Tasso deemed the most promising young poet of his time; this so flattered his father, that he allowed the for the poem's publication.  Tasso's renown career in writing poetry was off.  He also was able to indulge his love for religion by taking up work with a Cardinal.  His career and relationships would have serious up and downs however, due to a disease that had already begun to manifest itself.  It is thought that if he had lived in modern times, he would have been diagnosed as Bi-polar.  The result of this, was that he slipped from one illustrious house to another, before being admitted to a "mad house" run by the church.  He stayed confined for some time, though is condition seemed to improve and he was released and continued to write, he never fully recovered, as the case even today, if the disease goes untreated.  In regards to film, 8 films have been produced from his poetry over the years, with 5 of those produced in the silent era.  The first of these came in 1910 with Le tyran de Jérusalem, a French film produced by Pathe' Freres.  The first film to be produced in his native Italy from his work came the next year with The Crusaders.  The short Aminta also came out in 1911.  Jerusalem Liberated was produced in 1913 and remade in 1918.  The most recent film produced from his work came in 2001 with Rinaldo, a made for television film in Germany, based on his very first epic poem.  Though he would eventually be named Poet Laureate and would be afforded several pensions, he retired himself to a monastery located in what is now Vatican City, stating upon his arrival that he was there to die.  And die he did, 24 days later at the very young age of 51 on the 25th of April.  There are no details as to his funerary rites or burial.  He is now remembered as being the greatest Italian poet of the late Renaissance.

Poster from the 1918 version of Jerusalem Liberated

For More:

Wikipedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

Britannica

Poem Hunter

IMDb

Born Today March 10: Barry Fitzgerald

1888-1961

Irish actor Barry Fitzgerald was born on this date in Dublin (birth name:  William Joseph Shields) to an Irish father and a German mother.  He was educated to enter the banking industry and did become a civil servant.  He was working at the Abbey Theater at the same time.  His tenure as an actor at that theater lasted from 1914-1936.  In the silent era, he appeared in two British films--only one of which was actually silent.  The first of these came in 1924 with Land Of Her Fathers.  The second was an early sound film by Alfred Hitchcock released in 1929; The Shame Of Mary Boyle, better known by it's alternative name Juno And The Paycock. By the late 1930's, he had made the move to Hollywood and found regular work there as a beloved character actor.  In 1959, he retired and returned to his native Dublin and assumed his birth name.  He passed away there on the 14th of January in 1961 of a heart attack, he was 72 years old.  He was the older brother of actor Arthur Shields.  He is buried there in Deansgrange Cemetery, next to his brother Arthur.

He and his brother's graves in Dublin, Ireland

Close up of his tombstone bearing his birth name

For More:

IMDb

Wikipedia

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today March 9: Leland Stanford

1824-1893

Amasa Leland Stanford was born on the day in Watervliet, New York (the town is now known as Colonie); he was one of eight children.  His father was a well off farmer and several of his brothers went on to become successful, even famous, in their own rights.  He would go on in life to be a general renaissance man: an industrialist, railroad executive, politician, winery owner, and co-founder of Stanford University.  He was also the founder of the Pacific Life insurance company.  He got his start, when he migrated out to California during the Gold Rush there; but instead of getting directly into mining, he set up shop as a merchant and grew his business into a wholesale company.  He served a term as California governor and eventually became the president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and later Central Pacific railroad.  He is considered today to have been a robber baron.  As railroad president, he was wont to throw his weight around in the region, and not always to the good of anyone but Stanford and his family.  The reason for his inclusion here is his unique place in the history of earliest cinema.  He owned a huge horse ranch in Santa Clara County in California.  He had interest in horse movement and hired photographer Eadweard Muybridge to set up a series of cameras at the track that he had built at his Palo Alto Stock Farm.  All of his horses were trained to race as trotters, and he was interested in whether it could be proven that horses, at full gallop ever had all four legs off the ground at once.  Muybridge set up a series of cameras inside the track and every few feet, trip wires would set off a different camera.  What resulted was what is known as "series photography."  Using a simple "flip method"--as with animation--the photographs could show movement of the animal and rider.  The result was a film called Sallie Gardner At A Gallop (the horse's name being in the title).  This dates from the year 1878, and was previously (and erroneously) listed as being the very first motion picture. Because it was Stanford's scheme, and he hired Muybridge, he is given a producer credit on the film.  Standford had long suffered from Locomotor Ataxia, which caused him to rely heavily on a cane to walk.  The condition probably, over time, affected his heart muscle and he died of heart failure at the age of 63 on the 21st of June 1893 in Palo Alto; he is buried in the family mausoleum on the Stanford campus.

The exterior of the mausoleum

Interior showing Stanford's tomb

For More:

Wikipedia

PBS

The Birth Of Stanford University

IMDb

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave

Born Today March 8: Ede Szigligeti

1814-1878

Hungarian dramatist Ede Szigligeti was born József Szathmáry on this date in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now the town where he was born is located in present-day Romania.  His parents wanted him to become a priest; he, however, wanted to be a doctor.  He wound up instead an apprentice engineer.  He had developed a love of drama as a child, and despite his father reportedly being a tyrant who hated the theater, Szigligeti appeared on the stage in 1834 in Budapest.  Because of this, his father forbade him the use the family name, so he changed it.  The name he chose came from a romance drama that he loved.  While barely supporting himself, he dove deeper into the world of theater and began to sketch plays for himself.  He gained the attention of Hungarian theater connoisseurs, who helped him and encouraged him to write more.  Finally in 1840, he was rewarded when one of his full length plays was produced by the newly found Hungarian Academy, starring the wife writer M. Jókai, Rosa Laborfalvy.  The production was well received and quite successful.  It also made Szigligeti famous.  He would go on to be elected to two dramatic academies, pen many full length plays in several genres; and would become not just the leading Hungarian playwright, but also a mentor to younger up and coming dramatists.  In addition to his own original writing, he also translated Goethe from the German and Shakespeare from English into Hungarian.  Some of his own plays were likewise translated into German.  In regards to film, 9 films have been produced using his plays as source material, 4 of them were made during the silent era.  The first of these, A csikós was released in 1913 and was a Hungarian production.  In fact, all four films were made in his home country of Hungary; they are:  A szökött katona (1915), Liliomfi (1915) and A. cigány (1925).  The most recent film made from his work came in 1993, a version of the same play filmed in 1925; it was produced for Hungarian television.  Szigligeti died in Budapest on Januray 19 in 1878 at the age of 63.  He is buried there in the Fiumei úti Nemzeti Sírkert (National Cemetery in Fiumei Street).

For More:

Wikipedia

Wikipedia Hungary  (can be translated)

IMDb

Born Today March 7: Anna Magnani

1908-1973

Italian stage and film actress Anna Magnani was born on this day possibly in Rome (some sources cite Egypt as her birthplace).  Her parentage remains a mystery.  Famed film maker Franco Zeffirelli, who claims to have known her well, stated in a book that she was, in fact, born in Alexandria, Egypt to an Egyptian father and an Italian-Jewish mother.  He further states that she was raised in Rome by a grandmother.  Whatever the case, she was supposedly sent at age 17 to study at the Eleonora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; though other sources claim she never formally studied acting.  It is known for sure that to support herself, she began to work in nightclubs and cabarets as a singer around this time.  She formally started her career on the stage in Italian music halls, singing Italian folk songs--this earned her the nickname "the Italian Edith Piaf."  She then began to get parts in speaking roles on the stage as well. She was said to be quick learner and a fine stage actress, and had some success early in her career as a result.  She is appearing here because it is thought that her first film appearance came in a late silent filmed in Rome by a German production company.  The film Scampolo featured a mostly Italian cast in the lead roles, but also featured German players, even featuring Max Schreck in a smaller role; it was released in 1928. Magnani's part is uncredited.  Her first credited role came in 1934 with The Blind Woman of Sorrento.  She would go on to have a bright career in film, working with and befriending a wide swath of famous people from Frederico Fellini to Tennessee Williams (a point of trivia: her friendship with Williams became the subject of an off-Broadway play).  She is also the grandmother of Italian actress Olivia Magnani, who was born after her death.  She died suddenly on the 26th of September 1973 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, she was 65 years old.  A huge crowd gathered for her funeral in Rome and she was interred the family mausoleum of Roberto Rossellini, with whom she had a relationship with before he married Ingrid Bergman.  She was later moved to the Cimitero Comunale di San Felice Circeo, where she is entombed behind a glass enclosure.  

Site of her first interment.

Her current resting place.

For More:

IMDb

Wikipedia

BAMPFA

Leave Virtual Flowers @ Find A Grave