Born on this day – Ann Harding:

Ann Harding

Actress

August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981

Credits:

A Night of Terror (1937); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1963); Ben Casey (1965); Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935); Burke's Law (1963); Cavalcade of America (1957); Celebrity Playhouse (1956); Christmas Eve (1947); Climax! (1955–1957); Complicated Women (2003); Compression (2024); Condemned! (1929); Crossroads (1955); Damon Runyon Theater (1955); Devotion (1931); Double Harness (1933); Dr. Kildare (1964); East Lynne (1931); Enchanted April (1935); Eyes in the Night (1942); Front Row Center (1956); Gallant Lady (1933); General Electric Summer Originals (1956); General Electric Theater (1955–1956); Her Private Affair (1929); Holiday (1930); Hollywood Opening Night (1952); It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947); I've Lived Before (1956); Janie (1944); Janie Gets Married (1946); Kraft Theatre (1957); Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn (2016); Lux Video Theatre (1954–1955); Matinee Theatre (1955–1958); Nine Girls (1944); Our American Heritage (1960); Paris Bound (1929); Personalities (1942); Peter Ibbetson (1935); Play of the Week (1960–1961); Playwrights '56 (1956); Prestige (1931); Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1952); Schlitz Playhouse (1953–1954); Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 1 (1936); Stage 7 (1955); Strange Intruder (1956); Studio 57 (1955); Sunday Showcase (1960); The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955–1957); The Animal Kingdom (1932); The Art Director (1949); The Bigelow Theatre (1951); The Conquerors (1932); The Defenders (1963); The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959); The Eleventh Hour (1963); The Flame Within (1935); The Ford Television Theatre (1953–1955); The Fountain (1934); The Girl of the Golden West (1930); The Hollywood Gad-About (1934); The Hollywood Movie Parade (1934); The Lady Consents (1936); The Life of Vergie Winters (1934); The Magnificent Yankee (1950); The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956); The North Star (1943); The Right to Romance (1933); The Unknown Man (1951); The Voice of Hollywood No. 12 (1930); The Witness Chair (1936); Those Endearing Young Charms (1945); TV Club (1950); Two Weeks with Love (1950); Westinghouse Presents: Come Again to Carthage (1961); Westward Passage (1932); When Ladies Meet (1933); Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007).

Born on this day – Irene Purcell:

Irene Purcell

Actress

August 7, 1896 – July 9, 1972

Credits:

Bachelor's Affairs (1932); Just a Gigolo (1931); Just One Word (1929); Le plombier amoureux (1932); The Crooked Circle (1932); The Man in Possession (1931); The Passionate Plumber (1932); Westward Passage (1932).

Born on this day – Billie Burke:

Billie Burke

Actress

August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970

Credits:

Radio:

Biography in Sound (1955–1956); Doubting Thomas (1935); Duffy's Tavern (1944); Family Theater (1948–1952); Good News of 1939 (1938); Mail Call (1944); Show Stoppers (1946); Stagestruck (1954); The Bill Stern Colgate Sports Newsreel (1949); The Billie Burke Show (1943–1946); The Charlie McCarthy Show (1944–1947); The Danny Kaye Show (1946); The Eddie Cantor Pabst Blue Ribbon Show (1948); The Gulf Screen Guild Theater (1939); The Martin and Lewis Show (1949); The Pepsodent Show (1941); The Rudy Vallee Hour (1939); The Rudy Vallee Sealtest Show (1940–1941); The Rudy Vallee Show (1945); The Sealtest Village Store (1944); The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air (1932); This Is Show Business – CBS-TV (1949); Tribute to Ethel Barrymore (1945); WOR 25th Anniversary (1947); Your Movietown Radio Theatre (1948).

Stage:

Annie Dear (1924); A Marriage of Convenience (1918); Caesar's Wife (1919); Family Affairs (1929); Jerry (1914); Love Watches (1908); Mrs. Dot (1910); Mrs. January and Mr. X (1944); My Wife (1907); Rose Briar (1922); Suzanne (1910); The Amazons (1913); The Happy Husband (1928); The Intimate Strangers (1921); The Land of Promise (1913); The Marquise (1927); The Philosopher in the Apple Orchard (1911); The Rescuing Angel (1917); The Runaway (1911); The Truth Game (1930); This Rock (1943); Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 – 1934; Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 – 1936; Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 – 1943.

Movies and television:

77 Sunset Strip (1960); A Feather in Her Hat (1935); ABC News Breakfast (2024); After Office Hours (1935); All Star Revue (1951); And Baby Makes Three (1949); And One Was Beautiful (1940); Arms and the Girl (1917); At Home with Billie Burke (1951–1952); Away Goes Prudence (1920); A Bill of Divorcement (1932); Because of the Wonderful Things It Does: The Legacy of Oz (2005); Becky Sharp (1935); Billie Gets Her Man (1948); Biograph Beauty Postcard (1905); Blow up: Le web magazine cinéma d'Arte (2020); Bob Hope's World of Comedy (1976); Breakfast in Hollywood (1946); Bridal Suite (1939); Britain's Most Dangerous Songs: Listen to the Banned (2014); Broadway: The American Musical (2004); CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (2020); Christopher Strong (1933); Columbia Laff Hour (1956); Craig's Wife (1936); Delta Kappa Alpha Silver Anniversary Banquet (1963); Dinner at Eight (1933); Doc Corkle (1952); Doubting Thomas (1935); Dulcy (1940); Eternally Yours (1939); Everybody Sing (1938); Eve's Daughter (1918); Father of the Bride (1950); Father's Little Dividend (1951); Finishing School (1934); Footlights Theater (1952); Ford Star Jubilee (1956); Forsaking All Others (1934); Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943); Girl Trouble (1942); Gloria's Romance (1916); Glorifying the American Girl (1929); Good Gracious, Annabelle (1919); Hal Roach: Hollywood's King of Laughter (1994); Hi Diddle Diddle (1943); Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972); Hollywood: The Selznick Years (1969); Hullabaloo (1940); In Pursuit of Polly (1918); Inside Edition Weekend (2022); Irene (1940); I've Got a Secret (1954); Let's Get a Divorce (1918); Lights Out (1950); Matinee Theatre (1956); Merrily We Live (1938); My American Wife (1936); Navy Blue and Gold (1937); One Night in Lisbon (1941); Only Yesterday (1933); Our Mutual Girl, No. 4 (1914); Parnell (1937); Peggy (1916); Pepe (1960); Piccadilly Jim (1936); Picture People No. 2: Hollywood Sports (1941); Playhouse 90 (1957–1958); Remember? (1939); Sadie Love (1919); Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 20 (1930); Sergeant Rutledge (1960); She Couldn't Take It (1935); Sid & Judy (2019); Silly Billy (1948); Small Town Girl (1953); Society Doctor (1935); So's Your Uncle (1943); Splendor (1935); Swing Out, Sister (1945); That's Entertainment! III (1994); The Bachelor's Daughters (1946); The Barkleys of Broadway (1949); The Best of Broadway (1955); The Bigelow Theatre (1951); The Boy from Indiana (1950); The Bride Wore Red (1937); The Captain Is a Lady (1940); The Cheaters (1945); The Dark Side of the Rainbow (2000); The Ed Wynn Show (1950); The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater (1955); The Education of Elizabeth (1921); The Frisky Mrs. Johnson (1920); The Ghost Comes Home (1940); The Golden Twenties (1950); The House That Shadows Built (1931); The Land of Promise (1917); The Laurel and Hardy Show (1986); The Make-Believe Wife (1918); The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941); The Milton Berle Show (1949); The Misleading Widow (1919); The Mysterious Miss Terry (1917); The Name's the Same (1954); The Project (2024); The Red Rowe Show (1960); The Wild Man of Borneo (1941); The Wizard of Oz (1939); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic (1990); The Young in Heart (1938); The Young Philadelphians (1959); These Amazing Shadows (2011); They All Kissed the Bride (1942); This Is Your Life (1952–1957); This Our Life (1942); Three Husbands (1950); To Oz! The Making of a Classic (2009); Today Tonight (2009); Topper (1937); Topper Returns (1941); Topper Takes a Trip (1938); TV Club (1951); Unit Tapes (2020); Vito (2011); Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular (1988); Wanted: A Husband (1919); We Haven't Really Met Properly...: Billie Burke as Glinda, Good Witch of the North (2005); We're Rich Again (1934); What's Cookin' (1942); Where Sinners Meet (1934); You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943); Zenobia (1939); Ziegfeld on Film (2004).

Recommended reading - Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City (2012):

Pittsburgh Film History: On Set in the Steel City

By John Tiech.

Published by The History Press.

Published 2012.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1540207331

ISBN-13: 978-1540207333

Contents: The Genesis of Pittsburgh Film; Pittsburgh Classics; Chilly Billy; Fred Rogers and His Legacy; Night of the Living Legends; The Straggling Seventies; Dawn of the Pittsburgh Film Industry; Diverse Filmmaking; Day of the Dead; Hollywood of the East; Demme God; The Remake; The Pittsburgh Film Office; Five Years of Full Time; The Canadian Effect; Lights! Camera! Life Support!; Perseverance; Pittsburgh Rises.

Description:

Pittsburgh has been part of the film industry since the days of silent film. Yet, it was not until the 1951 classic Angels in the Outfield – set at Forbes Field – that the Steel City had its first major role on the silver screen. Greater Pittsburgh’s film and television industry has since produced everything from the beloved children s program Mister Roger’s Neighborhood to the cult classic Night of the Living Dead. Most recently, Christopher Nolan has chosen to set the conclusion to his Batman trilogy in the city. From the first nickelodeon and “film row” of those early days to the locations and cutting-edge sets of today, local author John Tiech takes a behind-the-scenes tour of Pittsburgh cinema.

Recommended reading - Find a Victim (1954):

Find a Victim

By Ross Macdonald.

Paperback.
Published 1954.

ISBN-10: 0446358924
ISBN-13: 978-0446358927

Description:

The hitchhiker rose to his knees on the side of the dark road. When Archer stopped the car and got to him, he knew he was in for a ride – for this boy was dying of a gunshot wound. In a matter of hours, Archer would be suspected by the law, hired by a target-shooting trucking magnate, and propositioned by an adulterer’s wife. A hijacked load of hootch and a band of sinners are on the loose in the hills and desert around this nice Southern California town. So is this L.A. private eye, who keeps getting blood on his hands…

“[The] American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brough to its zenith by Macdonald.”

– New York Times Book Review.

A selection of the mysterious book club.

Lisa Scottoline, on books:

Do you know what they call people who hoard books?

Smart.

- Lisa Scottoline.

On this day in movie history - Collateral (2004):

Collateral

directed by Michael Mann,

written by Stuart Beattie,

was released in the United States on August 6, 2004.
Music by James Newton Howard.

Cast:

Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Richard T. Jones, Klea Scott, Bodhi Elfman, Debi Mazar, Javier Bardem, Emilio Rivera, Jamie McBride, Ken Waters, Charlie E. Schmidt, Michael Bentt, Ian Hannin, Robert Deamer, David Mersault, Anthony Ochoa, Edgar Sánchez, Cosme Urquiola, Thomas Rosales Jr., Wade Williams, Paul Adelstein, Jessica Ferrarone, Troy Blendell, Inmo Yuon, Howard Bachrach, Chic Daniel, Corinne Chooey, JoNell Kennedy, Steven Kozlowski, Roger Stoneburner, Rodney Sandberg, George Petrina, Donald Dean, Elliott Newman, Trevor Ware, Bobby English, Auggie Cavanagh, Ronald Muldrow, Peter McKernan, Ivor Shier, Daniel Luján, Eddie Diaz, Joey Burns, John Convertino, Josh Cruze, Martin Flores, Rick Garcia, Larry G. Goldman, Maurilio Pineda, Dan Sistos, Jacob Valenzuela, Luis Villegas, Yussi Wenger, Jason Statham, Angelo Tiffe, Ismeal Vidrio, Ron Eckert, Manuel Urrego, Jessie Bernard, Luis Moncada, Dyna Teal, Sandi Schroeder, Michael-John Wolfe, Addie Yungmee, J.D. McElroy, Megan Hiratzka, Kate Gopacco, Christy Yi, Lisa Marie Basada, Wilson Wong, Mark Stainbrook, Brandon Molale, Marianne M. Arreaga, Spike Silver, Ben Mihm, Niles Roth, Linda Asuma, Esther K. Chae, Danny Del Toro, Tara Erickson, Melissa Gomez, Annabella Gutman, Janet Linn, Gino Montesinos, Janessa Mun, Masami Okada, Janice Paik, Neil Patil, Gary Rodriguez, Erina Sako, Emily VanSonnenberg, Emily Ming-An Wang, Michael Waxman, Henry T. Yamada.