Monday, September 5, 2011

Darryl F. Zanuck, Kathleen Burke, Doris Kenyon, Gloria Holden

Who was born on this date:


Legendary director/ studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck was born on September 5, 1902 in Wahoo, Nebraska. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He earned three Academy Awards during his tenure. In 1933 he founded 20th Century Films, releasing material through United Artists. In 1935 he bought out Fox studios, which became 20th Century Fox. Zanuck was vice-president of this new studio and took an interventionist approach, closely involved in editing and producing. In the 1950s, he withdrew from the studio to concentrate on independent producing in Europe. He returned to control of Fox in 1962, but became involved in a power struggle with the board and his son from around 1969. In May 1971 Zanuck was finally forced from "his" studio. Zanuck died from jaw cancer in Palm Springs, California on December 22, 1979. He is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.


Actress Kathleen Burke was born on September 5, 1913 in Hammond, Indiana.  An actress who appeared in over 20 films during the 1930s, she worked as a dental assistant in Chicago, before winning a talent contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures. Her film debut was as Lota, the "Panther Woman" in Island of Lost Souls (1933). This success led to more than a score of screen appearances over the following seven years, most notably as the leading lady in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) opposite Gary Cooper, and The Last Outpost with Cary Grant that same year. Her final film role was in 1938, whereupon she retired from screen acting at the age of 25. She died on April 9, 1980 in Glendale, California and is buried at the Montrose Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.


Actress Doris Kenyon was born on September 5, 1897 in Syracuse, New York. In 1915 she made her first film, The Rack, with World Film Company. One of the most remembered films of her early career is Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). In this production she starred opposite Rudolph Valentino. She was with Paramount Pictures for the studio's first dramatic, all-talking movie, Interference, in 1928. She was cast opposite actor George Arliss in two films, Alexander Hamilton (1931) and Voltaire (1933). After sixty movies, Kenyon's picture career ended with a cameo in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Kenyon continued her acting career in television in the 1950s.  Kenyon died on September 1, 1979 at her Beverly Hills home from a cardiac arrest and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.


Actress Gloria Holden was born on September 5, 1908. She studied at the American Acade,y of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She may be best remembered for two roles in her long career, that of Mme. Zola in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), and her "exotic" depiction of the title role in Dracula’s Daughter (1936). In July 1937, Holden appeared in The Man without a Country (1937), which was nominated for a best picture Academy Award. She also appeared in Dodge City (1939). Holden accumulated film credits throughout the 1940s and 1950s, including films such as The Hucksters (1947), Killer McCoy (1947), Precious Waters (1948), and A Kiss for Corliss (1949). Holden died on 22, 1991 in Redlands, California from a heart attack and is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands.

No comments:

Post a Comment