James Thorne Smith, Jr. was an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction under the byline Thorne Smith. He is best known today for the two Topper novels, comic fantasy fiction involving sex, much drinking and ghosts. With racy illustrations, these sold millions of copies in the 1930s and were equally popular in paperbacks of the 1950s.
Howard Roger Garis was an American author, best known for a series of books that featured the character of Uncle Wiggily Longears, an engaging elderly rabbit. Many of his books were illustrated by Lansing Campbell. Garis and his wife, Lilian Garis, were possibly the most prolific children's authors of the early 20th century.
Charles Leslie McFarlane was a Canadian journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker, who is most famous for ghostwriting many of the early books in the very successful Hardy Boys series, using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.
The Our Gang personnel page is a listing of the significant cast and crew from the Our Gang short subjects film series, originally created and produced by Hal Roach which ran in movie theaters from 1922 to 1944.
Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist. He is perhaps best known for his role as Lampwick, the unlucky boy who turns into a donkey in Walt Disney's second animated feature, Pinocchio (1940). In early credits, his last name was spelled Darrow.
Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle Hammons (1882–1962). Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934–37) and the earliest screen appearances of Shirley Temple (1932–34). The company ceased production in 1938, and finally closed in 1940 when its film library was sold at auction.
The Ted Scott Flying Stories was a series of juvenile aviation adventures created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate using the pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon and published almost exclusively by Grosset & Dunlap. The novels were produced between 1927 and 1943. The principal author was John W. Duffield, who also contributed to the Don Sturdy and Bomba the Jungle Boy series. As "Richard H. Stone" he also launched a second Stratemeyer aviation series, the Slim Tyler Air stories (1930–1932). Duffield was a conscientious student of aeronautical technology, and long passages in the Ted Scott books can be traced to such sources as Aviation, the New York Times,Aero Digest, and Science.
Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Comancheros (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" as he was 6' 2" and had a muscular build from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and professional baseball, and at the height of his movie career was frequently billed above the title simply as Big Boy Williams or as "Big Boy" Guinn Williams on posters and in the film itself.
William Collier Jr. was an American stage performer, producer, and a film actor who in the silent and sound eras was cast in no fewer than 89 motion pictures.
William Robertson Bakewell was an American actor. He achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Margaret Sutton was the pen name of Rachel Beebe, an American author and teacher who is famous as being the author of the Judy Bolton Series of mystery books, 38 volumes published between 1932 and 1967. In addition to this series, she also wrote the Gail Gardner series, The Magic Maker series, Palace Wagon Family, Jemima, Daughter of Daniel Boone, as well as several other books.
Harry L. Fraser was an American film director and screenplay writer.
John Grant Mitchell Jr. was an American actor. He appeared on Broadway from 1902 to 1939 and appeared in more than 125 films between 1930 and 1948.
Frank Coghlan Jr. also known as Junior Coghlan, was an American actor who later became a career officer in the United States Navy and a naval aviator. He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a popular child and juvenile actor, appearing in films with Pola Negri, Jack Dempsey, William Haines, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, William Boyd and Bette Davis. He appeared in early "Our Gang" comedies, but he is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial, and first comic book superhero film, Adventures of Captain Marvel. Coghlan later served 23 years as an aviator and officer in the U.S. Navy, from 1942 to 1965. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to acting and appeared in television, films, and commercials. He published an autobiography in 1992 and died in 2009 at age 93.
Warner Richmond was an American stage and film actor. He began his career as a stock theatre actor and appeared in films in both the silent film and sound eras. His career spanned four decades. He is possibly best recalled for appearances in Westerns in his later career in sound films. Between 1912 and 1946, he appeared in more than 140 films.
Raymond Edgar Taylor was an American film director. He directed 159 films between 1926 and 1949. His debut was the 1926 film serial Fighting with Buffalo Bill.
Armand Schaefer was a Canadian film producer and director. He produced more than 100 films between 1932 and 1953. He also directed 24 films between 1931 and 1946. He was born in Tavistock, Ontario, Canada. From 1955 to 1956, he joined Gene Autry as co-executive producers of the Dickie Jones western television series Buffalo Bill, Jr.
Noel Madison was an American character actor in the 1930s and 1940s and appeared in 75 films, often as a gangster.
Frank Gruber was an American writer. He was a writer of stories for pulp fiction magazines. He also wrote dozens of novels, mostly Westerns and detective stories. Gruber wrote many scripts for Hollywood movies and television shows and was the creator of three TV series. He sometimes wrote under the pen names Stephen Acre, Charles K. Boston and John K. Vedder.
