The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers: A Necrology of Actors and Actresses

by Billy H. Doyle

Overview

A follow-up to The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers (1995), this text includes the birth, death, and career dates of actors during the transition from silents to sound and into the sound era in filmmaking. The book includes individuals from Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America, ranging from stars and featured actors to character and minor actors. The reader will find actors that bridge the silent and the sound eras, actors from the "Golden Age of Hollywood," and actors who straddle the big screen and the small screen of television.

Information is included on thousands of actors from throughout the world, creating a populated map of film history. With the continued popularity of classic films, from early Hollywood and around the world, The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers will be a welcome resource.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810835474
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/19/1999
Pages:	636
Product dimensions:	5.76(w) x 8.78(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Billy H. Doyle is a retired school teacher and writer who lives in Valley Station, Kentucky.

Editorial Reviews

Doyle's volumes are a staggering achievement...It's hard to imagine anyone challenging Doyle.

Movie Collector's World

...an excellent, comprehensive compendium for serious film scholars...

Choice Reviews

Taken individually or as a group, these necrologies stand as useful reference works for the film scholar or enthusiast. This work is recommended for academic and public libraries that support a strong interest in film studies.

American Reference Books Annual

I found it to be a reliable resource with no missing actors that I could determine.

The Big Reel - Paul Holbrook

...an excellent, comprehensive compendium for serious film scholars...

Choice

...an excellent, comprehensive compendium for serious film scholars...

CHOICE

I found it to be a reliable resource with no missing actors that I could determine.
— Paul Holbrook

The Big Reel

Taken individually or as a group, these necrologies stand as useful reference works for the film scholar or enthusiast. This work is recommended for academic and public libraries that support a strong interest in film studies.

American Reference Books Annual (ARBA)

From marquee stars of the past--like Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis--to obscure character actors, this volume provides an alphabetical list of over 15,000 actors and actresses from around the world who made their way into U.S. films. They include performers who had both silent and sound careers and performers who acted in both films and television. Each entry includes the actor's date and place of birth, date and place of death, and, frequently, dates of their screen career. This volume is a companion to Doyle's two previous necrologies (The Ultimate Directory of the Silent Screen Performers, Scarecrow, 1995; The Ultimate Directory of Film Technicians, Scarecrow, 1999); in this latest volume, there's an addendum of silent performers not included in Doyle's earlier book. Be advised, though: necrologies often serve merely to whet the user's appetite for information; most people will find this volume helpful only when consulted in conjunction with other directories, dictionaries, biographies, or a tool like the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). Larger libraries will find this volume a good supplement to their film reference sources, and serious film buffs will want it for their home libraries.--Kathy Breeden, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lib. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Provides the dates and places of the births and deaths of some 15,000 actors and actresses involved in the movie business in the silent and sound eras. The alphabetical listings also include dates on when their subjects were most active in acting. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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