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Moonlight and Valentino

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Conversations with Loretta

By Michael G. Ankerich Loretta Lynn’s death on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, stunned me, caught me off guard. I was working at home when my phone beeped. I looked down at the text message from The Washington Post. “Loretta Lynn dead at 90.” I got up from my desk, walked into the den and told Charlie the news. “Loretta’s dead,” I said. I didn’t shed tear. Instead, a cold chill went from the top of…

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A fauvism style portrait of Lottie Pickford

A fauvism style portrait of Lottie Pickford

Just finished a portrait in the fauvism style of Lottie Pickford, the sister of Mary and Jack. You can read about Lottie’s tragic life in my book, Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood. What symbolism do you see in the painting? 9×12 oil on wood A portrait of Lottie Pickford

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Happy Birthday, Mr. Jimmy!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Jimmy!

President Carter celebrated 98 years this weekend. I have said before that he is one of the most decent, inspiring, and giving human beings I have ever known. I offer this little anecdote. One Sunday at church, I was sitting a row being Mr. Jimmy. He was sitting by himself. I’m not sure where Ms. Rosalynn was that day. Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Rosalynn at their 75th wedding anniversary party in…

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Hairpins and Dead Ends: A review by Diane MacIntyre

Hairpins and Dead Ends: A review by Diane MacIntyre

Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood By Michael G. Ankerich

Reviewed by Diane MacIntyre. This is companion book to his Dangerous Curves ‘a top Hollywood Heels– The Lives and Careers and Misfortunes of 14 Hard-Luck Girls of the Silent Screen. It’s not hard to imagine Hollywood as a treacherous goldfields that stretch beyond the horizon. The miners…

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Fontaine La Rue: Her story told in Hairpins and Dead Ends

Fontaine La Rue: Her story told in Hairpins and Dead Ends

Fontaine La Rue fascinated me for years, but she was elusive. I wanted to know what became of her and what her life was like before and after she left films. She was Dora Rogers, the Keystone Vamp, in the 1910s, and Fontaine La Rue in the 1920s. That I knew, but what became of her?

Dora Rogers

I hit a number of dead ends. But, I was on the right track. Just before pulling out the old Ouija board…

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Hairpins and Dead Ends -- Barbara La Marr's Early Years

Hairpins and Dead Ends — Barbara La Marr’s Early Years

I featured Barbara La Marr’s life and career in Dangerous Curves.  I came away convinced that her teen years were more interesting than any film she made in Hollywood in the 1920s. At least, those troubled years set Barbara on a course of self-destruction that would end her life in 1926.

A teenage Barbara La Marr

When I began working on  Hairpins and Dead Ends, I knew the beautiful Barbara would…

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Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Dedication

Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Dedication

When it came time to dedicate Hairpins and Dead Ends, I couldn’t settle on one, so I chose two important ladies in my life, two larger-than-life characters who had perilous journeys of their own: silent film actress Lina Basquette and Carol Ankerich, my mother.

My mom has been gone over two years and the wound is still raw. She left a hole in my heart that no one will ever fill. I wrote about…

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The Hairpins and Dead Ends Address Book

The Hairpins and Dead Ends Address Book

Old Hollywood still exists, but you have to look for it. While researching Hairpins and Dead Ends, I spent a lot of time in the rat race that is Los Angeles 2017 trying to understand what it was like in, say, 1912 or 1926.

As a biographer, it is important for me to visit the homes and graves of those actresses I write about. It helps me to better understand my subjects.

What follows are some of…

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Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Girl on the Cover

Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Girl on the Cover

By Michael G. Ankerich

After the title Hairpins and Dead Ends came to me, there was only one photo destined to be the cover. Edwina Booth with her hair in pins.  Well, maybe they aren’t supposed to be hairpins, but you get the picture.

Edwina survived a mysterious illness she contracted while on location in Africa for Trader Horn(1931). The beautiful blonde was never the same. She soon vanished…

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Hairpins and Dead Ends is Waiting! Are You Ready for the Journey?

Hairpins and Dead Ends is Waiting! Are You Ready for the Journey?

You survived Dangerous Curves ‘atop Hollywood Heels, my 2011 book about ill-fated actresses of the silent screen . . .

. . . but are you ready for the companion book, Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood? Get ready!  It’s here.

  My new book takes you on a hair-raising rollercoaster ride through a time when Hollywood was surrounded by orange…

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A Visit With Actress Margaret Lindsay

A Visit With Actress Margaret Lindsay

Michael’s Note: Lenore Heidorn was the president of Billie Dove’s fan club in the early 1930s. A Chicago native, she made lots of visits to Hollywood to meet her favorites.  Here is her story about meeting Margaret Lindsay. Enjoy.

By Lenore A Heidorn

The highlight of my recent visit to sunny California was my meeting with the charming Warner Brothers actress, Margaret Lindsay. I had long admired…

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You Made It! Happy Birthday, Olivia! Happy 100th to a true legend, Olivia de Havilland!

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Author Joan Craig Shares Her Memories of Theda Bara in New Book

Author Joan Craig Shares Her Memories of Theda Bara in New Book

Theda Bara, My Mentor: Under the Wing of Hollywood’s First Femme Fatale by Joan Craig, with Beverly E. Stout, is the book that I have been waiting for. They don’t come along everyday, these intimate and personal recollections of someone who actually knew the silent film greats, but when they do, they have my attention.

I was delighted that Joan agreed to talk with me about her new book. Read on .…

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Life is Good at Hollywood Forever: A Chat With Karie Bible, Tour Guide

Life is Good at Hollywood Forever: A Chat With Karie Bible, Tour Guide

If you know me at all, you know I like to hang out in cemeteries. I’ve haunted graveyards all over the world, but my absolute favorite is Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In the middle of crowded and congested Hollywood, it is a haven of rest, for sure, but also a lovely park and a place to spend some quiet time with the Hollywood greats.

The truth is, friends, I’d rather be here than at Universal…

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Billie Dove and the End of a Nagging Question

Billie Dove and the End of a Nagging Question

It was one subject I couldn’t bring up to Billie Dove.  What I wanted to ask was, “Billie, how old are you?”  Well, I would have never asked it in those exact words. But I wanted to clear up the question of her year of birth.  To a researcher determined to set the record straight, asking those questions is critical, especially when film reference books cannot agree on one date.

“To you, Lenore…

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Michael G. Ankerich: The SVM Interview

Michael G. Ankerich: The SVM Interview

I was delighted to be interviewed for the February/March issue of Southern Views Magazine (SVM). For those of you who may not have access to the publication, I am providing some of what we discussed in this blog.

  You have been writing books about American silent film and early twentieth century actors and actresses for the last couple of decades now. What made you decide to write about this…