Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.
Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.
Lewis Edward Lawes was a prison warden and a proponent of prison reform. During his 21-year tenure at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, he supervised the executions of 303 prisoners.
Julia Frances Newbern-Langford was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades.
William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood legend James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.
Jane Bryan was an American actress groomed by Warner Bros. to become one of its leading ladies until retiring in 1940.
Veda Ann Borg was an American film and television actress.
June Travis was an American film actress.
Ceiling Zero is a 1936 American adventure drama film directed by Howard Hawks and starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The picture stars Cagney as daredevil womanizing pilot "Dizzy" Davis and O'Brien as Jake Lee, his war veteran buddy and the operations manager of an airline company. Based on a stage play of the same name, the film blends drama with some light comedy. The title, as defined at the beginning of the picture, is an insider term referring to those moments when the sky is so thick with fog that navigating an aircraft is nearly impossible.
Eadie Adams was an American singer and film actress. She appeared in several films between 1935 and 1937.
She Loved a Fireman is a 1937 film directed by John Farrow and starring Dick Foran and Ann Sheridan.
Edwin Collins "Alabama" Pitts Jr. was an American convicted felon who garnered media attention in his attempt to play professional baseball after his release from Sing Sing prison. While serving five years for robbing a grocery store at gunpoint, he played for the prison baseball and American football squads. After being denied the ability to play for the Albany Senators of the International League in 1935 by the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, he appealed to Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who granted his request.
Boy Meets Girl is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The supporting cast features Marie Wilson, Ralph Bellamy, Frank McHugh, Dick Foran and Ronald Reagan. The screenplay by Bella and Sam Spewack is based on their 1935 stage play of the same name, which ran for 669 performances on Broadway. The two zany screenwriters played by Cagney and O'Brien were based on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, while Ralph Bellamy's part as the producer was based on Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century Fox.
Men in Exile is a 1937 film directed by John Farrow. A "B" movie from Warner Bros, it was the first feature Farrow directed. It is essentially a remake of their 1931 melodrama Safe in Hell, albeit with the lead switched from female to male, with some plot changes as a result.
Brown Holmes was an American screenwriter who worked for several major Hollywood studios in the 1930s and 1940s.
Public Enemy's Wife is a 1936 American crime film directed by Nick Grinde and written by Abem Finkel and Harold Buckley. The film stars Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, Robert Armstrong, Cesar Romero, Dick Foran and Joe King. The film was released by Warner Bros. on July 25, 1936.
Alcatraz Island is a 1937 American drama film directed by William C. McGann and written by Crane Wilbur. The film stars John Litel, Ann Sheridan, Mary Maguire, Gordon Oliver, Dick Purcell and Ben Welden. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 6, 1937.
Missing Witnesses is a 1937 American crime film directed by William Clemens and written by Kenneth Gamet and Don Ryan. The film stars John Litel, Dick Purcell, Jean Dale, Sheila Bromley, Ben Welden and William Haade. The film was released by Warner Bros. on December 11, 1937.
The 1935 Pittsburgh Panthers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Pittsburgh as an independent during the 1935 college football season. In its 12th season under head coach Jock Sutherland, the team compiled a 7–1–2 record, shut out six of its ten opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 135 to 28. The team played its home games at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.
