December

1 st             1903
Thomas Edison’s company received a copyright for “The Great Train Robbery”, a short film starring Gilbert “Bronco Billy” Anderson. It was the first film ever to tell a story but the actors received no credit. The budget? $150.00!

3 rd            1907
Gladys Smith, 14 years old, made her Broadway debut in “The Warrens of Virginia” also featuring a more seasoned actor, Cecil B. DeMille. But they changed her name. On the marquee she was …Mary Pickford.

6 th           1967
Vanessa Redgrave gave the extras and crew on the set of “Isadora” quite a shock by dancing barebreasted. The audible gasp gave director Karl Reisz just the reaction he wanted. The movie depicted the life of eccentric dancer Isadora Duncan.

8 th           1980
During the telecast of ABC’s Monday Night Football’s game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, a visibly shaken Howard Cosell announced that Beatle John Lennon had been murdered in the New York City street outside his apartment.

John Lennon

Howard Cosell

10 th          1978
Ed Wood, considered to be Hollywood’s worst director and now a cult figure, died at the age of 54. He was portrayed on film by Johnny Depp in the 1994 movie “Ed Wood”.

11 th          1868
The Reno Brothers, who committed the first train robbery in North America (1866), were lynched by a mob. A fictitious tale about their exploits was made into a 1956 film originally titled “The Reno Brothers”. However the title was changed to “Love Me Tender” and it starred Richard Egan, Debra Paget and gave singer Elvis Presley his first big screen role.

12 th       1976
Jack Cassidy, actor/singer/dancer and former husband of actress Shirley Jones, died as a result of a fire in his apartment.

14 th         1955
Actress Barbara Payton was found guilty of passing bad checks. She was also the reason for an earlier near-fatal fight between Franchot Tone and Tom Neal.

15 th         1944
The military plane carrying Glenn Miller disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. The immensely popular big band maestro appeared in several movie musicals.

16 th        1905
Variety, the show business trade paper that became the “bible” of the industry, published its first issue.

21 st        1960
“Where The Boys Are” opened at the Gateway Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where the story was based. The cast included Connie Francis (with her hit title song), Jim Hutton, Yvette Mimieux, George Hamilton and Dolores Hart. Not long afterward, the lovely Ms. Hart went where no boys are allowed to go…into the convent!

29 th         1913
Hollywood’s very first full-length movie began production…Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Squaw Man”.

30 th        1960
It was reported that actor Ernest Borgnine and his tempestuous wife, Katy Jurado celebrated their first wedding anniversary with….a fist fight!

2 nd            1974
Tex Ritter, the country western singer who gave us the haunting title song on the soundtrack of “High Noon”, died at 68. He was the father of the late John Ritter, film and television star.

3 rd             1925
Lucille Fay Le Sueur, 20 years old, arrived in Hollywood to work at MGM. Her goal… to become a star. Her new name…Joan Crawford!

                    1967

Glenn Ford, at age 50, was called up for active duty in the Navy. As a Naval Reserve Commander, his mission was to produce a documentary in Vietnam about the Marine Corps.

5 th              1955
Director/screenwriter Clyde Bruckman committed suicide at age 60. He borrowed a gun from comic actor Buster Keaton and took it with him into a restaurant. After eating a meal he couldn’t afford, Clyde shot himself to death in the rest room.

6 th               1967
Charlie Chaplin got the word from British film reviewers that they gave “thumbs down” to his movie “A Countess From Hong Kong” starring Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. Chaplin’s reply was “They are all bloody fools”. The movie failed at the box office.

7 th            1894
Thomas Edison got the first copyright ever given to for a film…his 1891 movie of Fred Ott sneezing! In order for a film to get a copyright, the images had to be printed on paper because motion picture film was not yet covered under copyright laws.

9 th             1947
Actor Herman Bing committed suicide at age 58.

11 th           1936
John Gilbert, one of the screen’s most popular leading men and once left at the altar by Greta Garbo, was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery. His career had taken a nosedive and he was drinking heavily before his death.

13 th 1961
Ann-Margret Olsson got an A on her screen test at 20 th Century Fox. She was discovered by George Burns who encouraged her to drop her last name and become just plain (?) Ann-Margret!

19 th         1907
Variety, after 2 years of covering Burlesque and Vaudeville, published their first film reviews.

                 1993
The stars came out…to meet, eat and dance the night away. The Hollywood elite traveled down Washington, DC way to attend the inaugural ball for their favorite President-elect Bill Clinton.

20 th          1943
By court order, actress Frances Farmer was sent to a sanitarium because of her erratic behavior. Once there, she was subjected to electroshock therapy.

Frances Farmer

22 nd         1958
Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper scooped her rival, Louella Parsons with her story that Charlton Heston had won the coveted title role of “Ben-Hur” (1959). It was the same role played by Ramon Novarro in the 1925 silent version.

25 th          1943
British actor Rex Harrison married German-born actress Lilli Palmer. Fourteen years later she would give Harrison a divorce so he could marry his mistress Kay Kendall who was dying of cancer.

26 th          1947
Grace Moore, opera singer/actress, was killed in a plane crash over Copenhagen, Denmark during a European concert tour. She was 48.