I’m a day behind and may be for awhile. Here are the birthdays for August  21.

Edward Mortimer (1874) was an actor of small parts in over 300 films. He played a lot of guests in party scenes and openings, etc..  In fact I have never seen so many credits as a guest of some type. He was (wait for it)…a  party guest in THE ROOKIE COP (1939), a masked party guest in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT  (1939) and an audience member in THE UNDER-PUP (1939). I couldn’t find him, but here’s a group of guests surrounding Ida Lupino in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT.

Google actor Richard Kipling (1879) and the search engine changes your request to Rudyard. Kipling played dignified men, senators, judges, respected businessmen, with a few exceptions of course. He’s listed as having played a golfer in THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1941), but the only people actually playing golf on camera in the film are Robert Sterling and Guy Kibbee. I’m betting he’s one of the two guys leaving the clubhouse at the country club.

Bert Roach (1891) played Jim, the hotel clerk in I’LL WAIT FOR YOU (1941). In an odd coincidence Richard Kipling listed above played Jim in the original version HIDE-OUT in 1934. Bert started out as a Keystone Kop and continued in character roles until his final appearance in THE TALL TARGET in 1951. He played a lot of clerks and guys on both sides of a bar. Roach is seen here with Robert Sterling in IWFY.

Hans Dreier (1885) was the supervising art director at Paramount throughout Virginia’s time under contract. As a result, he has the credit for every one of her films at the studio. Hans won three Oscars, including two in one year, and was nominated 20 times including a nomination for SOULS AT SEA (1937).

Marie Blake (1895) is an actress who during her Hollywood heyday was known for her recurring role as the switchboard operator, Sally, in the Dr. Kildare series. Born Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald, Marie married Clarance Rock in 1926 but waited until the early 1950s before she began to be billed as Blossom Rock, the name she would use when she played the role most boomers know her for, that of Grandmama on THE ADDAMS FAMILY. She entered Ginnyworld by playing a stockroom girl in THE WOMEN. (1939). She’s seen here with a friend in RICH MAN, POOR GIRL.

Arthur S, Black (1901) spent his entire career as a second director. He was involved with some really good films, including IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. A longtime employee of Columbia Pictures, he was the second director on THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT. Consider the earlier photo of Ida Lupino to count for him as well.