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1-50 of 187
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Composer chiefly remembered for his symphonic poems -the first of that genre to be written by a Frenchman- and for his opera 'Samson et Dalila'. Notable for his pioneering efforts on behalf of French music, he was also a gifted pianist and organist, and a writer of criticism, poetry, essays, and plays. Of his concerti and symphonies, in which he adapted the virtuosity of Franz Liszt's style to French traditions of harmony and form, his 'Third Symphony' is most often performed.- An actress best known for her death, her controversial demise occurred the day after being discovered in a hotel bedroom during a party that involved a large amount of alcohol consumption. Actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was the last person seen with Rappe before she was found seriously injured. After her death, Arbuckle went through a murder trial and retrials before being found not guilty. The trials severely damaged the reputations of both Arbuckle and Rappe, and Arbuckle's career never recovered from the scandal.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
A former railroad clerk, Tucker made a name for himself in 1913 with a film entitled Traffic in Souls (1913), a six-reel expose of white slavery. Tucker and Carl Laemmle financed the sum of $57,000 to make the film in New York, the film ultimately grossed $450,000. The success of the film enabled Laemmle, under pressure from Thomas Edison's Patent Trust, to follow the exodus to Hollywood and create his own studio, Universal City. Tucker was married to actress Elisabeth Risdon.- Billie Ritchie was born in Scotland in 1874 and joined the world-renowned Karno Fun Factory and Comedy Troupe traveling the world with Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, among others. In 1914 he left Karno and began making silent films for director Henry "Pathe" Lehrman's L-Ko Comedy studios and then his Fox/Sunshine Studios. Ritchie always claimed that Charlie Chaplin imitated his on-stage character of a rag-bedecked "little tramp," although he himself was saddled with the description of being one of the many Chaplin imitators. In late 1919 Ritchie was injured while making a Lehrmann comedy when several ostriches used in filming attacked the unfortunate actor. He was severely injured, and over the next two years was confined to his bed with serious back and internal injuries. He eventually succumbed to his injuries on July 6, 1921, dying in bed at his Hollywood home at 1200 North McCadden Place. He was only 42.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Enrico Caruso (b. Errico Caruso) was born on February 25, 1873, in Naples, Italy. He was the third of seven children to a poor alcoholic father. He received little primary education and briefly studied music with conductor Vicenzo Lombardini. His early income was from singing serenades.
Caruso made his operatic debut on March 15, 1895 at a back street theatre in Naples. After a two-year stint on the South Italian circuit he auditioned for Giacomo Puccini in the summer of 1897. Puccini was looking for a leading tenor for a performance of 'La Boheme' in Livorno. Puccini was so impressed with the range and tone of the young Caruso's voice, that he reportedly mumbled in awe, "Who sent you to me? God himself?" After an unfriendly reception of his performance in Naples, Caruso vowed to never sing in Naples again, and he never did.
His first major role creations were in operas 'Il Voto', composed by Umberto Giordano, on November 10, 1897, and 'L'Arlesiana' by Francesco Cilea on November 27, 1897, at the Teatro Lirico di Milano. Next season Caruso started with a role creation in 'Fedora', composed by Umberto Giordano, performed on the same stage on November 17, 1898. His first recording contract was signed in 1902, in London, with the Gramophone and Typewriter Company for ten arias at the rate of 10 pounds per take. In May, 1902, Caruso debuted at the Covent Garden Opera in 'Rigoletto' by Giuseppe Verdi. With the help of the banker Pasquale Simonelli, he went to New York. There Caruso made his Metropolitan Opera debut in November 1903. He performed for the Met the next eighteen seasons, making 607 appearances in 37 different operatic productions.
Caruso was the first recording star in history, who sold more than a million records with his 1902 recording of 'Vesti le gubba' from 'Pagliacci' (Clowns) by 'Leoncavallo'. His voice had a combination of the full baritone-like character with the smooth and brilliant tenor qualities. His range was broadened into baritone at the expense of the higher tenor notes, Caruso never sang the high C, and often transposed in order to avoid it. He was a master of interpretation, having a rare gift of portamento and legato, and a superior command of phrasing. His legendary 1904 Victor recording of 'Una furtiva lagrima', by Gaetano Donizetti is used in many film soundtracks.
He contracted pneumonia and developed a complication in the form of pleural inflammation (plerisy), followed by abscesses in his lungs. After a series of unsuccessful surgeries Enrico Caruso died on August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was laid to rest in Naples, Italy.- Georges Feydeau was born on 8 December 1862 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Ooh La La! (1968), The Girl from Maxim's (1933) and La vida en broma (1950). He was married to Marie-Anne Carolus-Duran. He died on 5 June 1921 in Paris, France.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Séverin-Mars was born on 21 February 1873 in Bordeaux, Gironde, France. He was an actor and director, known for The Wheel (1923), Macbeth (1915) and La dixième symphonie (1918). He died on 17 July 1921 in Courgent, Yvelines, France.- E.W. Hornung was born on 7 June 1866 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Raffles (1939), Raffles (1930) and Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1925). He was married to Constance Conan Doyle. He died on 22 March 1921 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Prince Louis of Battenberg was born on 24 May 1854 in Graz, Styria, Austria. He was married to Victoria Mountbatten. He died on 11 September 1921 in Naval & Military Club, London, England.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Hayward Mack was born on 20 March 1882 in Albany, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Oliver Twist, Jr. (1921), By the House That Jack Built (1911) and Frau Van Vinkle's Crullers (1913). He was married to Marjorie Ellison. He died on 24 December 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Born in Illinois in 1855, William Barclay Masterson, nicknamed "Bat", drifted westward as a teenager and tried his hand at such professions as buffalo hunter, army scout and gunfighter. While visiting his brother Jim in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1876, he was offered a job as deputy city marshal by the assistant city marshal, Wyatt Earp. Since Jim Masterson was already a deputy marshal, Bat took the job. His instincts as a lawman and gunfighter were so good that the next year he was elected sheriff of Ford County, which included Dodge City, where his brother was still a marshal. However, two years later he ran for re-election as county sheriff and lost. He left Kansas and traveled to Arizona, where he spent much time as a professional gambler in the Tombstone vicinity, returning to Dodge City in 1882 to help his brother Jim in a business dispute. For the next ten years Masterson divided his time between being a professional gambler and short stints as a lawman in various small towns in Colorado. His reputation often preceded him, however; in Denver the local sheriff, after being advised that Masterson was in town and drinking heavily, demanded that he either surrender his guns or leave town. Not wanting to go unarmed in a town where he had a lot of enemies, Masterson was forced to leave. The incident apparently did no lasting damage to his reputation, however, as in 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Masterson as United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York State. Although he was also offered an appointment as marshal of the Oklahoma Territory, Masterson said that because of his reputation anyone wanting to make a reputation for himself would come after him, and since he saw no use in getting caught up in a kill-or-be-killed situation, he turned it down. He remained U.S. Marshal in New York State for two years, resigning in 1907 to take a job he had never done before: a sportswriter with a New York City newspaper, the Morning Telegraph. He kept that job for the rest of his life, and in fact was at his desk working on October 25, 1921, when he dropped dead.
- Katherine Griffith was born on 30 September 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1913), Huckleberry Finn (1920) and A Little Princess (1917). She was married to Harry Griffith. She died on 17 October 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- John Charles was born in 1885. He was an actor, known for Sogarth Aroon (1912), Mates and Mis-Mates (1912) and A Texas Steer (1915). He died on 7 November 1921 in Whitestone, New York, USA.
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Producer
William Friese-Greene was a prolific English inventor and professional photographer born in Bristol, England. He studied at the Queen Elizabeth's Hospital school. In 1871, he was apprenticed to the Bristol photographer Marcus Guttenberg, but later successfully went to court to be freed early from the indentures of his seven-year apprenticeship. He married the Swiss, Helena Friese, on 24 March 1874 and, in a remarkable move for the era, decided to add her maiden name to his surname. In 1876, he set up his own studio in Bath and, by 1881, had expanded his business, having more studios in Bath, Bristol and Plymouth. In Bath he came into contact with John Arthur Roebuck Rudge, a scientific instrument maker, who built what he called the Biophantic Lantern, which could display seven photographic slides in rapid succession, producing the illusion of movement. Friese-Greene was fascinated by the machine and worked with Rudge on a variety of devices over the 1880s, various of which Rudge called the Biophantascope. Moving his base to London in 1885, Friese-Greene realised that glass plates would never be a practical medium for continuously capturing life as it happens. Hence he began experiments with the new Eastman paper roll film before turning his attention to experimenting with celluloid as a medium for motion picture cameras. In 1888, he had some form of moving picture camera constructed, the nature of which is not known. On 21 June 1889, he was issued patent no. 10131 for a motion-picture camera, in collaboration with a civil engineer, Mortimer Evans. It was apparently capable of taking up to ten photographs per second using paper and celluloid film. In 1890 he developed a camera with Frederick Varley to shoot stereoscopic moving images. This ran at a slower frame rate, and although the 3D arrangement worked, there are no records of projection. He worked on a series of moving picture cameras into 1891, but although many individuals recount seeing his projected images privately, he never gave a successful public projection of moving pictures. His experiments with motion pictures were to the detriment of his other business interests and in 1891 he was declared bankrupt. From 1904 he lived in Brighton and, in 1905, he patented a two-colour moving picture system using prisms. Eventually, the arrival of the war and personal poverty meant there was nothing more to be done with colour for some years. On 5 May 1921, Friese-Greene, then a largely forgotten figure, attended a stormy meeting of the cinema trade at the Connaught Rooms in London to discuss the current poor state of British film distribution. Disturbed by the tone of the proceedings, Friese-Greene got to his feet to speak. The chairman asked him to come forward onto the platform to be heard better, which he did, appealing for the two sides to come together. Shortly after returning to his seat, he collapsed. People went to his aid and took him outside, but he died almost immediately of heart failure.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych was born on 13 December 1877 in Monastyrok, Podolia, Russian Empire [now Monastyrok, Vinnytsia Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine]. Mykola Dmytrovych was a composer, known for Die Hard 2 (1990), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005). Mykola Dmytrovych died on 23 January 1921 in Markivka, Podolian Governorate, Ukrainian SSR [now Markivka, Haisin Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine].- Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko was born July 27, 1853, into the family of a district judge in Zhitomir, Ukraine, Russian Empire. He studied at the St. Petersburg College of Technology, then at the Moscow Academy of Agriculture. In 1876 he was expelled from college for his revolutionary activities, and imprisoned in Kronstadt, St. Petersburg. In 1877-79 he was a student at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute. In 1879 he was arrested again on false political accusations and exiled to Siberia, but returned and settled in the city of Perm.
Korolenko published his first stories in 1879, calling for social justice in the Russian Empire. In 1881 he refused to pledge to the new Russian Tsar Alexander III and was sentenced to his second exile in Siberia, where he spent 3 years. After the Siberian exile he was allowed to settle in Nizhni Novgorod on the Volga river. There he got married and had a daughter. His impressions from his life in exile and his life in several provincial cities provided him with rich material for his writings. His story "Makar's Dream" (1885) about the dying peasant's dream of heaven was translated and published in English in 1891, bringing him international recognition. His masterpiece novel "The Blind Musician" (1886) was published in English in 1892, and made him the internationally renown writer.
Korolenko made a trip to United States in 1893, visiting the Chicago World Exibition. There Korolenko met recent immigrants from Russia, which gave him material for the short novel "Without a Language", a story of an uneducated Ukrainian peasant, who struggles in America without ability to speak a word in English. After 1900 Korolenko turned from fiction to journalism. In 1902 Korolenko together with Anton Chekhov resigned from the Russian Academy of Sciences in solidarity with Maxim Gorky. He regarded writers Nikolay Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai A. Nekrasov, and Lev Tolstoy as his most important influences.
Korolenko was a human rights advocate and a prominent journalist. He took strong public stand against the anti-Semitic Beilis trial and wrote the powerful essay "Call to the Russian People in regard to the blood libel of the Jews" (1911-13). His historic description of the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903 was also published in English. During the Russian Revolution and the following Civil War Korolenko opposed to the bloody methods of the communist regime, and called against the terror and destruction. He died in Poltava, Ukraine on December 25, 1921, after being ignored by the communist leaders of that time.
In his story "Paradox", a cripple, born without arms, says, "Man is created for happiness, as a bird for flight." - Rudolph Christians was born on 15 January 1869 in Middoge/Oldenburg, Germany. He was an actor, known for Foolish Wives (1922), Deep Waters (1920) and Dissonanzen des Lebens (1913). He was married to Bertha Klein (opera and concert singer). He died on 2 February 1921 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- 'La Belle' Fatima born Fatima Djemille in Syria in 1870. Began working as a dancer in American vaudeville from the late 1880's, the original 'Little Egypt' became America's first renown belly-dancer she was seen as something of a curiosity after appearing at the St. Louis World's Exhibition Fair in 1893, Thomas Edison asked her to perform her belly-dancing act for the movie camera in 1896 and 1897 at the Black Maria studio in West Orange and in 1903 she is seen performing her Turkic-inspired Couchee Dance, also referred to as a 'Muscle dance' for the American Mutoscope Film Co, this film was to be censored in Chicago in 1907 - part of Fatima's body were covered by blind-out tags. Her last stage appearance as a Harem dancer was at William and Oscar Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre in 1913. She sadly died from a heart attack in 1921 age 51 in Venice, California.
- Ivan Vazov was born on 27 June 1850 in Sopot, Vazovgrad, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire [now Bulgaria]. He was a writer, known for Gramada (1936), Pod igoto (1952) and Pod igoto (1990). He was married to Athena Boliarska. He died on 22 September 1921 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Robert Broderick was born in 1864 in Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Redemption of David Corson (1914), Just for Tonight (1918) and The Dictator (1915). He was married to Maureen Broderick. He died on 9 July 1921 in New York City, New York, USA.
- John Cook was born on 1 October 1876 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Girl from Nowhere (1919), Gloriana (1916) and The Right to Be Happy (1916). He died on 2 October 1921.
- Ludwig Thoma was born on 21 January 1867 in Oberammergau, Kingdom of Bavaria [now Bavaria, Germany]. He was a writer, known for Moral (1928), Moral (1936) and Oh, diese Bayern! (1960). He was married to Marietta di Rigardo. He died on 26 August 1921 in Rottach, Bavaria, Germany.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Engelbert Humperdinck was born on 1 September 1854 in Siegburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was a composer and writer, known for Hannibal Rising (2007), Lore (2012) and Hänsel und Gretel (2015). He was married to Hedwig Taxer. He died on 27 September 1921 in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.- Juhani Aho was born on 11 September 1861 in Lapinlahti, Finland. He was a writer, known for Juha (1937), Johan (1921) and Juha (1999). He was married to Venny Soldan. He died on 8 August 1921 in Helsinki, Finland.
- Gaston Michel was born in 1856 in France. He was an actor, known for Judex (1916), The New Mission of Judex (1917) and Les vampires (1915). He died on 15 November 1921 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Born in 1858 to Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife, Princess Adelheid zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Augusta-Victoria's family was uprooted from their hereditary fief due to war, and as a consequence she lived throughout Europe as a girl. She met then-Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany in 1879 and married him two years later; she was a dutiful wife and mother, and posed no challenge to her husband's dominating personality. When his father died in 1888, Wilhelm became Kaiser of Germany. After World War I, she followed her husband into exile in the Netherlands, where she died in 1921.
- Kate Adams Keller was born on 12 October 1856 in Arkansas, USA. She died on 15 November 1921 in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, USA.
- Caroline Fowler was born on 16 April 1859 in Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Undine (1916), Birds of a Feather (1916) and The Power of Fascination (1915). She died on 19 August 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Renato Fucini was born on 8 April 1843 in Monterotondo Marittimo, Grosseto, Grand Duchy of Tuscany [now Tuscany, Italy]. Renato was a writer, known for Times Gone By (1952). Renato died on 25 February 1921 in Empoli, Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
- Sam McVey was born on 17 May 1884 in Waelder, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Leather Pushers (1922) and Forgotten Fighters II (2022). He died on 23 December 1921 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Max Kalbeck was born on 4 January 1851 in Breslau, Silesia, Germany. He was a writer, known for Prodaná nevesta (1976) and Die verkaufte Braut (1982). He was married to Julie Freund. He died on 4 May 1921 in Vienna, Austria.
- Emma Gad was born on 21 January 1852 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She died on 8 January 1921 in Denmark.
- Aenderly Lebius was born on 6 December 1867 in Tilsit, East Prussia, Prussia [now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia]. He was an actor, known for Die Gespensteruhr (1916), Jettatore (1919) and Vergiftetes Blut (1921). He died on 5 March 1921 in Berlin, Germany.
- George Foottit was born in Manchester, England. His parents were George Foottit and Sarah Crockett, both circus performers. He began his career at the age of twelve. He went into exile in France where he quickly established himself as a clown. In 1895, the clown duo, Foottit & Chocolat (Chocolat) was formed. The two played together for twenty years. After retiring, he ran a bar and restaurant near the Rond Point des Champs-Élysées. He died from cancer in Paris on 21 September 1921.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
A longtime and respected stage actor, Van Dyke Brooke went into the film business in 1909. A prolific actor, writer and director for Vitagraph, he stayed with the company until 1916, when the studio cleaned house and fired many of its "old-timers". He stayed in the business as an actor until his death in 1921.- John Burroughs was born on 3 April 1837 in Delaware County, New York, USA. He died on 29 March 1921 in Ashtabula County, Ohio, USA.
- Jean Aicard was born on 4 February 1848 in Toulon, Var, France. Jean was a writer, known for Notre Dame d'amour (1923), Notre-Dame d'amour (1936) and Le diamant noir (1922). Jean died on 13 May 1921 in Paris, France.
- Frank Mills was born on 24 January 1868 in Kendall, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), The Unchastened Woman (1918) and The House of Mirrors (1916). He was married to Helen McBeth. He died on 11 June 1921 in Galesburg, Michigan, USA.
- John Hare was born on 16 May 1844 in Giggleswick, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Vicar of Wakefield (1916), Caste (1915) and A Pair of Spectacles (1916). He was married to Mary Adela Elizabeth Holmes. He died on 28 December 1921 in London, England, UK.
- Devil Anse Hatfield was born on 9 September 1839. He was an actor, known for Vendettas (2002). He was married to Levicy Chafin. He died on 6 January 1921 in Island Creek, Logan County, West Virginia, USA.
- Fred Starr was born in 1878 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Riders of the Dawn (1920), Man of the Forest (1921) and The Lure of the Circus (1918). He died on 20 August 1921 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Master Breezy Reeves Jr, born Reeves Barnes Eason, also billed as "Breezy" Eason Jr, was born in California in 1914, son of actor/film director B. (William) Reeves Eason and actress Jimsy Mayo. Handsome, cute blonde boy who starred in mostly westerns from the age of two. He was known as 'Universal's Littlest Cowboy' until he was hit by a truck at the age of six while riding his bike to a music lesson near his home at 6200 Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles. He never regained consciousness and died of his injuries after surgery at California Hospital.
- Director
- Cinematographer
Alexander Michon was a Russian photographer and cinematographer. Born to a French family in Kharkiv, he started his career as a photographer and owned a photo studio in his hometown. He later settled in Baku, Azerbaijan and lived there for 25 years. In Baku, he shot his first films using a Lumiere cinematograph in 1898.- King Peter of Serbia was born on 11 July 1844 in Belgrade, Serbia. He was married to Zorka of Montenegro. He died on 16 August 1921.
- Director
- Cinematographer
Jan Krízenecký was born on 20 March 1868 in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Dostavenícko ve mlýnici (1898), Výstavní párkar a lepic plakátù (1898) and Výjezd parní stríkacky k ohni (1898). He died on 9 February 1921 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].- Kálmán Ujj was born on 22 April 1883 in Kassa, Austria-Hungary. He was an actor, known for Az utolsó hajnal (1917), Das Spiel mit dem Tode (1918) and Az anyaszív (1917). He was married to Juliska Dinnyési. He died on 4 December 1921 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt was born on 4 July 1868 in Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA. She died on 12 December 1921 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
- American novelist Edgar Evertson Saltus was born in New York City in 1855. His family had been in New York City for quite some time--his ancestor, Adm. Kornelis Evertson of the Dutch Navy, had led the expedition that captured New York from the British in 1673.
Saltus got his schooling in New York City and attended Yale University in 1876, but left after a year. He spent several years traveling around Europe. He returned to the US and attended Columbia University, where he obtained a law degree (although he never practiced law). His first published work was a biography of 'Honore de Balzac', "Balzac", in 1884. "The Philosophy of Disenchatment", which came out the next year, was an account of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and his school.
His first novel was "Mr. Incoul's Misadventure" in 1887, and was well received. He turned out several more works over the next few years, both fiction and non-fiction (his 1893 book "Imperial Purple", a study of Roman emperors, was a favorite of US President 'Warren G. Harding'). He is also thought to have written several "potboilers" under other names, including such works as "The Lovers of the World" and "The Great Battles of All Nations".
Married three times--the last to the woman who wrote his biography--he died in 1921 in New York City after a long illness. - Actor
- Producer
Harry Walden was born on 22 October 1875 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor and producer, known for Der Umweg zur Ehe (1919), Zwei Welten (1919) and Der Mandarin (1918). He was married to Frieda Wagen-Hohenthal. He died on 4 June 1921 in Berlin, Germany.- George Formby was born James Booth in 1875 in Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire. He began his career, as a singer, in 1899 as one half of the Brothers Glenray. Three years later when his voice was changing, he added comedy to the act. While waiting for a train to an engagement, he noticed a passing freight with a number of cars labelled Formby, the name of a small town for which they were bound. Booth liked the sound of the name, added George & became George Formby star of the British Music Halls. The same year that he began his career, he met & married Eliza Hoy who bore him a son in 1904 who took the name of George Hoy. Formby made his first recordings in 1907 but, unlike other Music Hall stars of the day, he found no trouble in performing for just the microphone & no audience. He even conversed with the microphone as if it were a living person.
In 1914, he made his only screen appearance in 'No Fool Like an Old Fool' & the following years his son made his screen début in 'By the Shortest of Heads' as George Formby Jnr. Formby was plagued with ill health early in life which led to one of his opening lines, 'I'm coughing better today' & 'It's not the coughin' that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in!' Few people were aware that he had been stricken with consumption. In 1920, while performing in a Xmas pantomime in Newcastle, George Formby collapsed. He was taken to his hôme in Warrington where he died on February 8, 1921. He was survived by his wife & son.