- published: 16 May 2015
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Huntley Gordon (October 8, 1887 - December 7, 1956) was an actor born in Montreal, Quebec.
Gordon was educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including working in a bank, in a silver mine, contracting, as a commercial traveller, and being a cigarette factory owner before settling on the stage and at one time acted with Ethel Barrymore. He began his screen career in 1916 when given a chance by Thomas Ince.
He served in the Canadian Army during World War I and began a career in motion pictures in England where he had been stationed during the war. With his suave manner and classic good looks he was sought out in Hollywood, California where he acted in both silent and talking films.
In Hollywood, he appeared in numerous films including starring opposite Gloria Swanson in the 1923 film Bluebeard's Eighth Wife. That same year he starred in The Wanters with Norma Shearer and Marie Prevost.
For most of his career, Gordon traveled between America and Britain, making films in both countries, appearing in more than 120 films. He was with MGM studios when he retired from film in 1940 and invested in the manufacture of silk stockings, a lucrative business at a time when Canadian and British women could not get them due to the rationing brought on by the Second World War. Although he no longer made motion pictures, Huntley Gordon remained active in the world of network radio.
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.
In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (20 October 1882 – 16 August 1956), commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his career.
Lugosi, the youngest of four children, was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blaskó, a banker. He later based his last name on his hometown. He and his sister Vilma were raised in a Roman Catholic family. At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school. He began his acting career probably in 1901 or 1902. His earliest known performances are from provincial theaters in the 1903–1904 season, playing small roles in several plays and operettas. He went on to Shakespeare plays and other major roles. Moving to Budapest in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theater of Hungary in the period 1913–1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theater", almost all his roles there were small or supporting parts.