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You are here: Home / Archives for Movie Star Biographies

Movie Star Biographies

Biographies of movie stars from the Silent period through Hollywood's Golden Age. These include a great amount of research and are often annotated throughout. Since mid-2008 these are all written by Cliff Aliperti. Older entries point to freelance articles by other contributing authors that were originally posted at an older version of this website.

Loretta Young TCM Star of the Month January 2013 Centennial

December 31, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 8 Comments

Still Gretchen Young in this May 17, 1927 pic from the Appleton Post Crescent

A biography of Loretta Young, the January 2013 TCM Star of the Month on the centennial of her birth. Rare Loretta Young quotes and the entire TCM schedule along with images of vintage collectibles.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies, News - Notes Tagged With: Loretta Young, schedules, she had to say yes, SOTM, Star of the Month, TCM, Turner Classic Movies

Sara Haden – Charlotte Walker’s Daughter and Andy Hardy’s Aunt Milly

December 17, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 1 Comment

Sara Haden and Minor Watson 1939 A and M Wix Film Favourites Tobacco Card

Character actress Sara Haden was stage and screen star Charlotte Walker’s daughter. Originally famed for playing cranks became Andy Hardy’s Aunt Milly in 14 of the Hardy Family movies.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: aunt millie, aunt milly, character actors, Charlotte Walker, Hardy Family, Sara Haden

Una Merkel – Biographical Notes and Quotes

December 10, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 10 Comments

Una Merkel early 1930s 5x7 Fan Photo

A critique of the 2012 TCM Una Merkel birthday schedule along with highlights of her biography and several quotes attributed to her throughout her career.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: Birthdays, Broadway, character actors, schedules, TCM, Turner Classic Movies, Una Merkel

Barbara Stanwyck, Biographical Beginnings to Baby Face and Beyond

December 4, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 10 Comments

Barbara Stanwyck Early 1930s Warner Brothers Press Photo

A Barbara Stanwyck biography that leaps over Hollywood highlights in favor of her early days as Ruby Stevens, including the popular theory about her name change. Following that a jump forward to look at Stanwyck’s later career. A brief case is made for Baby Face (1933) as her defining performance.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies, News - Notes Tagged With: baby face, Barbara Stanwyck, double indemnity, jane stanwyck, schedules, SOTM, Star of the Month, stella dallas, TCM, Turner Classic Movies

Edward Ellis – A Biography of The Thin Man, an Actor to Remember

November 13, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 4 Comments

Edward Ellis in A Man to Remember

A biography of actor Edward Ellis, best remembered for playing the title role in 1934’s The Thin Man. But Ellis, an acting pro since the 1870s, became a full fledged movie star with 1938’s A Man to Remember.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: a man to remember, Anne Shirley, character actors, Edward Ellis, fury, i am a fugitive from a chain gang, josephine stevens, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The Thin Man, three sons

John Boles, Sinatra of the 30s and Elvis Presley of the Stone Age

November 4, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 3 Comments

John Boles 1934 Player Film Stars Tobacco Card

John Boles appeared in Universal’s Frankenstein, three Shirley Temple films, and co-starred with many of Hollywood’s most beloved leading ladies. Do you remember him?

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: back street, Broadway, Frankenstein, Gloria Swanson, John Boles, rio rita, Shirley Temple, singers, stella dallas, the desert song

Marian Marsh – Forever Trilby, Biography of the 1930s Screen Beauty

October 17, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 8 Comments

Marian Marsh early 1930s publicity photo

Marian Marsh will always be first recalled as John Barrymore’s Trilby in Svengali but don’t overlook her in Beauty and the Boss and Crime and Punishment. A biography of the gorgeous young actress of the 1930s.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: beauty and the boss, crime and punishment, jean fenwick, Marian Marsh, marilyn morgan, svengali, youth on parole

Harold Huber “A Sort of Assistant Gangster” You’ve Seen Many Times

October 15, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 7 Comments

Harold Huber and Warren William

Legendary journalist Ernie Pyle tabbed character actor Harold Huber as “a sort of assistant gangster.” Following is a biography of the youthful actor with the scarred cheek who appeared in so many 1930s gangster roles.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: character actors, Charlie Chan, Gangsters, Harold Huber, midnight taxi, The Devil Is a Sissy, the match king, The Mayor of Hell, The Thin Man

Helen Hayes Achieves Much More Than a Rose Garden

October 10, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 3 Comments

Helen Hayes 1930s Picturegoer Postcard

Later in life Helen Hayes said all that was left for her to achieve was a good rose garden. The First Lady of American Theater managed much more than that over her 80 year career on stage and screen.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: calendar, Helen Hayes, october 10, stage actress

Robert Warwick, Broadway and Silent Film Star Turns Talkie Character Actor

October 9, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 9 Comments

Robert Warwick 1910s Kromo Gravure Trading Card

You’ve seen Robert Warwick dozens of times. Born Robert Taylor Bien the aspiring opera singer went to Broadway and became a Silent Film Matinee idol long before talkies came into play.

Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: calendar, character actors, Josephine Cunningham, Robert Warwick

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About Cliff

I write about old movies and movie stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also sell movie cards, still photos and other ephemera. Immortal Ephemera connects the stories with the collectibles. Read More…

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Helen Twelvetrees Perfect Ingenue by Cliff Aliperti

Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue

Kindle $5.99

Paperback $21.95

11 Pre Code Hollywood Movie Histories book

11 Pre Code Hollywood Movie Histories

Still Just $2.99

Freddie Bartholomew An Informal Biography by Cliff Aliperti

The first Freddie Bartholomew biography in over 75 years!

Still just 99c

Praise for Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue

Recommended BooksJames L. Neibaur of Examiner.com calls it: "One of the most interesting and important film books of the young year," adding, "the documentation is original and significant." Full review.

Recommended BooksJacqueline T. Lynch, author of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer.Star., says: "A prime example of a classic film fan taking the reins to produce a scholarly study of a neglected figure from the Golden Age of classic films in a way that I feel is refreshing, infinitely helpful to fans and students of old movies." Full review.

Recommended BooksSilver Screenings says: "A fascinating account of an ambitious and hard-working woman ... Aliperti’s book is well written and incredibly well researched." Full review.

Recommended BooksSpeakeasy says: "Despite her decline, this is not a sad or bleak book but an enjoyable history ... Any fan of the collectible Citadel “Films of” book series will appreciate the modern twist on that format, a full biography followed by an expanded filmography." Full review.

Recommended BooksA Classic Movie Blog says: "I think this is a good format for performers with short lives and brief careers ... I went into it with only mild curiosity about Twelvetrees and now I find my self pining for copies of unavailable, but intriguing films." Full review.

Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue is available in paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon.com.


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Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue

Available through Amazon.com in paperback at $21.95 or for your Kindle at $5.99 — Buy the paperback and get the Kindle edition for FREE.

Helen Twelvetrees, Perfect Ingenue is one-half biography, one-half film retrospective. The life, loves, and career of an unexpectedly modern woman are presented in Part 1, while Part 2 is comprised of separate chapters covering each of her 32 movies: the good, the bad, and the lost.

Buy it Now, at Amazon.com

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Edward Everett Horton 1926 Publicity Still

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Ten Cents a Dance 1931

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