In Theda Bara's Tent (as Reviewed by Publisher's Weekly)

AFTERWORD

Anita Stewart (1895-1961) married George Peabody Converse and divorced him twelve years later. She died of a heart attack in 1961 in Beverly Hills, some saying she was fifty-nine, others claiming she was sixty-five. For her contribution to the motion-picture industry as an actress, Stewart was given a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

    Louis B. Mayer (1884-1957) became a Hollywood legend. While he was chief of production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer became the most glamorous movie studio in the world, boasting more stars than are in the heavens. It was home to Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly and other luminaries. Its logo of a roaring lion was perhaps the most famous logo in the world. Louie was eventually forced out of the company in the late 1950s and failed to regain his position. He divorced Maggie after forty years of marriage, remarried and became an owner of racehorses. He died of leukemia in 1957 when he was seventy-two.

    The Red Head speakeasy in Greenwich Village, opened in 1922, moved uptown and was renamed the Puncheon.  After Prohibition, the business moved to Fifty-second Street with a new name, the 21 Club.

    William Fox (1879-1952) served several months in prison and lived the rest of his life, an additional twenty-five years, in such obscurity that the New York Times described him as the late William Fox while he was still alive. His dream came true, just not as he imagined. The name Fox is everywhere now, but no one knows it stands for him.

    Kenny Anderson “went Hollywood” after moving there. He dressed in a flamboyant style, drove sports cars, invited pretty starlets to his pool, and won many awards for cinematography.

    Harry Sirkus became televisions premier news broadcaster. His weekly television show, Watch It Now, was a consistent favorite from 1950 to 1970, its popularity matched by only The Ed Sullivan Show. Harry interviewed the great newsmakers of his day, always asking the questions viewers at home wished they could ask. He married Molly and lived happily with her in a Dutch colonial house in Larchmont, New York. Harry died of lung cancer in 1972. Thousands of mourning fans lined Madison Avenue outside the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel. The pallbearers were Walter Cronkite, Ed Sullivan, Freckles, Kenny Anderson and Harry’s three sons, Richard, Donald and Franklin.