Reel Character Series

 

Henry Daniell (Charles Henry Pywell Daniell 1894-1963) was an English actor who had a long career in the US on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films many classics in the Thirties and Forties but it Is unfair to limit him to these roles.

Daniell made his first appearance on the stage 1913, and a year later on the London stage at the Globe Theatre in a walk-on role. By the 1920s he was appeaaring on Broadway which led to film roles in the early talkies. MGM cast him a few late Thirties films. But it was at Warner Bros where Daniell found fame in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and the following year as the treacherously slimy Lord Wolfingham in The Sea Hawk (above). It proved to be a seminal year for Daniell with a small tole in the comedy/satire The Great Dictator, then it was back to MGM for The Philadelphia Story.

He had a lead role in The Body Snatcher (1945), with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and many swashbuckling roles finished out the decade and into television in the early Fifties. He appeared on numerous popular series during this decade. Daniell was in countless dramatic roles of varying ethnicity and as a straight man in a few comedies. His last role was a small uncredited appearance as the British Ambassador in the 1964 film My Fair Lady.

A Noted Film Composer

 

Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. After his move to Hollywood, he became best known for his scores for Western films, including Duel in the Sun, Red River, High Noon, The Big Sky, 55 Days at Peking, and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He could not be pigeon-holed into one style. From sweet melodies to his pounding "rolling thunder" timpanis, his music enhanced a film. It all worked well for contemporary dramas or science fiction such as Dillinger, Champion, D.O.A., The Thing from Another World, Giant, and Dial M for Murder.  

Tiomkin received 22 Academy Award nominations and won four Oscars, three for Best Original Score for High Noon, The High and the Mighty, and The Old Man and the Sea, and one for Best Original Song for "The Ballad of High Noon" from the former film. During the 1950s Tiomkin was the highest-paid film composer, composing nearly a picture each month. Between 1948 and 1958, his "golden decade," he composed 57 film scores. 

Note: Tiomkin composed for television as well, most famously for his memorable theme song for Rawhide. Initially he was not interested in the television medium. The now-famous legend has it that when the producer told him it would star Eric Fleming, Tiomkin was all-in. His broken English translating only heard, Errol Flynn. He said, "Oh, for Mr. Fleen I will do it!"

Kelly Conquers Chicago

 

The Kelly-Springfield Tire Company was founded in Springfield, Ohio by Edwin Kelly and Arthur Grant in 1894. It is the oldest tire company in the United States,  manufacturing tires for motor vehicles in Akron, and Wooster, Ohio. It was acquired in 1935 by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which maintained it as a subsidiary until 1999 when it was integrated into Goodyear North America. It remains a major brand under Goodyear.