Monday, August 3, 2026

Born on this day – P. D. James:


P. D. James


Writer

August 3, 1920 – November 27, 2014

Credits:

Books:

A Certain Justice (1997); A Mind to Murder (1963); A New Omnibus of Crime (2009); A Taste for Death (1986); An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972); Bad Behavior (1995); Cover Her Face (1962); Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime (2013); Criminal Elements (1988); Death Comes to Pemberley (2011); Death in Holy Orders (2001); Death of an Expert Witness (1977); Devices and Desires (1989); Felonious Assaults (1989); Future Crimes (2021); Girl Who Loved Graveyards (1996); Great Law and Order Stories (1990); Innocent Blood (1980); More Murder Most Cozy (1993); More Murders for the Fireside (1994); Murder in Triplicate (1980); Murders for the Fireside (1992); Nursing Stories (1979); Original Sin (1994); Shroud for a Nightingale (1971); Sightlines (2001); Sleep No More (2017); Sleuths of the Century (2000); Suspicious Characters (1987); Tales of Obsession (1994); Talking about Detective Fiction (2009); Taste for Death / Devices and Desires / Original Sin (2008); The Black Tower (1975); The Children of Men (1992); The Detection Collection (2005); The Lighthouse (2005); The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories (1985); The Man Who... (1992); The Maul and the Pear Tree (1971); The Mistletoe Murder (2016); The Murder Room (2003); he New Mystery (1993); The Oxford Book of Detective Stories (2000); The Part-Time Job (2020); The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women (1995); The Picador Book of Crime Writing (1993); The Private Patient (2008); The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982); The Verdict of Us All (2006); The Victim (2019); The Vintage Book of Classic Crime (1997); The Web She Weaves (1983); Time to Be in Earnest (1999); Unnatural Causes (1967).

Movies and television:

60 Minutes / Segment: Murder She Writes (1992); A Better Read (1980); A Certain Justice (1998); A Mind to Murder (1995); A Ripe Old Age (2002); A Taste for Death (1988); A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley (2013); An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1982–1999); Ànima (2009); Apostrophes (1989–1990); Bestseller (2001); Book Four (1982); Bookmark (1988–1992); Breakfast (2005); Call My Bluff (1998); CBS News Nightwatch (1990); Children of Men (2006); Close-Up (1995); Cover Her Face (1985); Crime Writers (1978); Dalgliesh (2021–2023); Daphne Du Maurier - A Loving Spirit (1997); Death Comes to Pemberley (2013); Death in Holy Orders (2003); Death of an Expert Witness (1983); Desert Island Discs: Archive 1981-1985 (1985); Devices and Desires (1991); Did You See..? (1980–1987); Dinner with Portillo (2005); Elementary My Dear Viewer (2007); Forty Years at the I.C.A. (1987); Good Afternoon! (1983); ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards (2008); Late Night with David Letterman (1990); Late Review (2003–2007); Les Carnets de route de François Busnel (2014); Los Siete Locos (1987); Mark Lawson Talks to... (2006); My Life in Books (2011); Omnibus (1994); Original Sin (1997); P.D. James by Michael Taylor (2002); Pebble Mill at One (1983); Presumption: The Life of Jane Austen (1995); Pride & Prejudice: From Page to Screen (1995); Prisoners of Conscience (1991); Prisoners of Gravity (1993–1994); Profiling (2008); Question Time (1994–2004); Rankin on the Staircase (2005); Read All About It (1979); Reader, I Married Him (2006); Ruby (1998); Samtaler i natten (1995); Shroud for a Nightingale (1984); Speaking Volumes (1990–1991); Stevensons Travels Part 1 (1994); Sunday AM (2006); Sunday Best (2001–2007); Talking Books (2010); The Big Questions (2009); The Black Tower (1985); The Book Programme (1975 / 1976); The Book Show (2008–2011); The Fens (1991); The Heaven and Earth Show (2005); The Media Show (1990); The Murder Room (2005); The South Bank Show (2004–2010); The Violent Highway (2009); The Write Stuff (1988); This Week (2005); Timeshift (2014); Travels with Pevsner (1998); Unnatural Causes (1993); Upon Reflection (1990); Wogan (1987); Writers and Places (1983); Writing with PD James (1998).

Born on this day – Louise Platt:


Louise Platt


Actress

August 3, 1915 – September 6, 2003

Credits:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957–1958); Captain Caution (1940); Forgotten Girls (1940); Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984); Goodyear Playhouse (1956); Guiding Light (1958-1959); I Am Not Your Negro (2016); I Met My Love Again (1938); John Wayne: Behind the Scenes (2007); Kraft Theatre (1956); Kraft Theatre / The United States Steel Hour (1957); Lamp Unto My Feet (1959); Look Up and Live (1959); Naked City (1963); New York Confidential (1959); Playwrights '56 (1955); Spawn of the North (1938); Stagecoach (1939); Star Tonight (1956); Street of Chance (1942); Tell No Tales (1939).

Born on this day – Frances Morris:


Frances Morris


Actress

August 3, 1908 – December 2, 2003

Credits:

A Child Is Born (1939); A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949); A Dangerous Profession (1949); A Man Betrayed (1941); A Tragedy at Midnight (1942); Abie's Irish Rose (1946); Adventures of Superman (1952); Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951); Afraid to Talk (1932); Again... Pioneers (1950); Against the Law (1934); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1962); Alias Mary Dow (1935); Alias Nick Beal (1949); Always Tomorrow: The Portrait of an American Business (1941); As Good as Married (1937); Because of You (1952); Benjy (1951); Bermuda Mystery (1944); Between Midnight and Dawn (1950); Big Brown Eyes (1936); Big Town (1955); Blaze of Noon (1947); Blue Skies (1946); Bobby Ware Is Missing (1955); Bonnie Scotland (1935); Bullets or Ballots (1936); Caged (1950); Cain's Hundred (1962); California (1947); Carrie (1952); Casanova Brown (1944); Case of the Missing Man (1935); Caught (1949); Caught in the Draft (1941); Cavalcade of America (1954); Centennial Summer (1946); Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939); Cheyenne (1957–1959); Cocoanut Grove (1938); Conflict (1945); Cover Girl (1944); Crime Against Joe (1956); Crime of the Century (1946); Dance Charlie Dance (1937); Dangerous Intrigue (1936); Devil's Squadron (1936); Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941); Dixie Dugan (1943); Doctors Don't Tell (1941); Duffy's Tavern (1945); Earl Carroll Sketchbook (1946); Easy Living (1937); Edge of Doom (1950); Exclusive (1937); Fireside Theatre (1953); Flaxy Martin (1949); Florian (1940); Footlights Theater (1953); Four Jills in a Jeep (1944); From This Day Forward (1946); Fury at Showdown (1957); 'G' Men (1935); Give Us This Night (1936); Go Into Your Dance (1935); Gun for a Coward (1956); Guns for Hire (1932); Hangmen Also Die! (1943); Having Wonderful Crime (1945); Hazard (1948); Here Come the Waves (1944); Here's to Romance (1935); Hit Parade of 1941 (1940); Holiday Affair (1949); Hollywood Boulevard (1936); Hollywood Hotel (1937); Hollywood Mystery (1934); I Stole a Million (1939); I Want a Divorce (1940); Ichabod and Me (1962); I'll Sell My Life (1941); In Old Kentucky (1935); Internes Can't Take Money (1937); It's a Great Life (1935); It's the Cats (1934); I've Been Around (1935); Joan of Arc (1948); Joe Smith, American (1942); Just My Luck (1935); Keep Your Powder Dry (1945); King of the Newsboys (1938); Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963); Ladies of the Big House (1931); Lady Bodyguard (1943); Lassie (1954–1958); Lawless Riders (1935); Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941); Life with Henry (1940); Little Miss Roughneck (1938); Living in a Big Way (1947); Lumberjack (1944); M Squad (1960); Man Without a Gun (1958–1959); Manhattan Heartbeat (1940); Manhattan Love Song (1934); Maverick (1958); Miss Annie Rooney (1942); Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen (1934); Miss Sadie Thompson (1953); Missing Witnesses (1937); Money to Loan (1939); Monkey on My Back (1957); More Than a Secretary (1936); Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); Mrs. Mike (1949); Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942); My Girl Tisa (1948); My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1942); My Son John (1952); Neighborhood House (1936); Nevada Cyclone (1934); Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941); Never Wave at a WAC (1953); New York Town (1941); Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948); No Greater Sin (1941); On an Island with You (1948); On the Wrong Trek (1936); One More Tomorrow (1946); Onionhead (1958); Our Leading Citizen (1939); Our Neighbors - The Carters (1939); Over My Dead Body (1942); Palm Springs (1936); Pals of the Range (1935); Paula (1952); Perry Mason (1960–1964); Pick-Up (1944); Pilgrimage (1933); Pittsburgh (1942); Playhouse 90 (1956); Portrait of a Mobster (1961); Private Affairs (1940); Professor Beware (1938); Rawhide (1960); Redheads on Parade (1935); Rhythm on the Range (1936); Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1959); Rose Bowl (1936); Safety in Numbers (1938); Sailor's Lady (1940); Samson and Delilah (1949); Sandy Gets Her Man (1940); Schlitz Playhouse (1958); Sealed Verdict (1948); Sergeant Madden (1939); She Loves Me Not (1934); She Married an Artist (1937); Shoot the Works (1934); Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957); Show Business (1944); Silver Queen (1942); Sing and Like It (1934); Sky Raiders (1941); Slightly Dangerous (1943); Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947); So Proudly We Hail! (1943); Stand Up and Cheer! (1934); Stand-In (1937); Star Dust (1940); Stella Dallas (1937); Strangers in the Night (1944); Strictly in the Groove (1942); Suddenly It's Spring (1947); Summer Storm (1944); Swing High, Swing Low (1937); That Brennan Girl (1946); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964); The Big Clock (1948); The Big Show (1936); The Boss Cowboy (1934); The Bridge of Sighs (1936); The Captive City (1952); The Case of the Dangerous Robin (1960); The Cat's-Paw (1934); The Chase (1946); The Company She Keeps (1951); The Deputy (1960); The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940); The Feminine Touch (1941); The Ford Television Theatre (1952–1953); The Forgotten Woman (1939); The Ghost Goes Wild (1947); The Golden Fleecing (1940); The Hard Way (1943); The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956); The House Across the Bay (1940); The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1959); The Kid from Brooklyn (1946); The Killer That Stalked New York (1950); The Lady Is Willing (1942); The Last Warning (1938); The Leather Pushers (1940); The Lineup (1957); The Lost Missile (1958); The Man Behind the Badge (1955); The Millerson Case (1947); The Millionaire (1957–1959); The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952); The Naked Hills (1956); The Night of the Hunter (1955); The Parson of Panamint (1941); The Perils of Pauline (1947); The Preview Murder Mystery (1936); The Price of Fear (1956); The Rawhide Terror (1934); The Razor's Edge (1946); The Restless Gun (1958); The Ridin' Fool (1931); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947); The Silver Streak (1934); The Singing Marine (1937); The Sisters (1938); The Snake Pit (1948); The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944); The Unfaithful (1947); The Virginian (1946 / 1963–1964); The Walls of Jericho (1948); The Woman in the Window (1944); The Woman of the Town (1943); They Wanted to Marry (1937); This Gun for Hire (1942); This Side of the Law (1950); Thriller (1962); Thunder (1929); Till We Meet Again (1936); Trailing North (1933); Turnabout (1940); Two Heads on a Pillow (1934); Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936); Venus Makes Trouble (1937); Wagon Train (1957–1964); We Go Fast (1941); Wedding Present (1936); Week-End at the Waldorf (1945); Whispering Smith (1961); Wild Harvest (1947); Wild Is the Wind (1957); Winterset (1936); Woman in Distress (1937); Women's Prison (1955); World Premiere (1941); Young Tom Edison (1940).

Born on this day – Adrienne Ames:


Adrienne Ames


Actress

August 3, 1907 – May 31, 1947

Credits:

24 Hours (1931); A Bedtime Story (1933); Abdul the Damned (1935); Beautiful Dreamer (1935); Black Sheep (1935); Broadway Bad (1933); City Girl (1938); Disgraced (1933); From Hell to Heaven (1933); Fugitives for a Night (1938); George White's Scandals (1934); Gigolette (1935); Girls About Town (1931); Guilty as Hell (1932); Harmony Lane (1935); Hollywood on Parade No. B-5 (1933); Hotel Imperial (1927); Husband's Holiday (1931); I Take This Woman (1940); La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935); Ladies Love Danger (1935); Panama Patrol (1939); Sally (1929); Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 5: Art and Artists (1940); Sinners in the Sun (1932); Slander House (1938); The Avenger (1933); The Death Kiss (1932); The Road to Reno (1931); The Zero Hour (1939); Two Kinds of Women (1932); Woman Wanted (1935); Working Girls (1931); You're Telling Me! (1934).

Born on this day – Dolores del Río:


Dolores del Río

Actress

August 3, 1904 – April 11, 1983

Born on this day – Allen Holubar:


Allen Holubar


Actor

Director

Writer

August 3, 1890 – November 20, 1923

Credits:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916); A Double Fire Deception (1916); A Gentleman of Art (1915); A Soul for Sale (1918); A Wolf Among Lambs (1913); Any Youth (1916); Ashes of Remembrance (1916); Behind Life's Stage (1916); Behind the Curtain (1916); Broken Chains (1922); Conscience (1915); Courtmartialed (1915); Fear Not (1917); Heart Strings (1917); Hurricane's Gal (1922); Into the North (1913); Man-Woman-Marriage (1921); Midnight (1917); Once to Every Woman (1920); Paid in Advance (1919); Seeing Stars (1922); Sirens of the Sea (1917); Slander the Woman (1923); Stronger Than Steel (1916); The Black Pearl (1915); The Bombay Buddha (1915); The Double-Topped Trunk (1917); The Eleventh Dimension (1915); The Field of Honor (1917); The Grip of Love (1917); The Health Road (1916); The Heart of Humanity (1918); The Heart Punch (1915); The House of Fear (1915); The Human Mill (1923); The Mortgaged Wife (1918); The Old Toymaker (1917); The Phone Message (1916); The Prodigal Daughter (1916); The Prophecy (1913); The Pursuit Eternal (1915); The Reed Case (1917); The Right to Happiness (1919); The Shadow (1916); The Son of His Father (1915); The Story the Clock Told (1914); The Taint of Fear (1916); The Talk of the Town (1918); The War Waif (1917); The White Terror (1915); The Wrong Label (1915); Treason (1917); Two Social Calls (1913); Where Glory Waits (1917).

Recommended reading - The Origins of the American Detective Story (2006):


The Origins of the American Detective Story

By LeRoy Lad Panek.

Published by McFarland.
Paperback.
Published 2006.
ISBN-10: 0786427760
ISBN-13: 978-0786427765

Description:

Edgar Allan Poe essentially invented the detective story in 1841 with Murders in the Rue Morgue. In the years that followed, however, detective fiction in America saw no significant progress as a literary genre. Much to the dismay of moral crusaders like Anthony Comstock, dime novels and other sensationalist publications satisfied the public's hunger for a yarn. Things changed as the century waned, and eventually the detective was reborn as a figure of American literature. In part these changes were due to a combination of social conditions, including the rise and decline of the police as an institution; the parallel development of private detectives; the birth of the crusading newspaper reporter; and the beginnings of forensic science. Influential, too, was the new role model offered by a wildly popular British import named Sherlock Holmes.

Focusing on the late 19th century and early 20th, this volume covers the formative years of American detective fiction.