the State Historical Society of Missouri
![Joan Crawford in 1928. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-133571]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Joan-Crawford.jpg?h=3a3a887f&itok=dzrcMkNh "Joan Crawford in 1928. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-133571]")
Joan Crawford was born Lucille LeSueur on March 23, 1908, in what she described as “a drab…
![Jane Darwell in a photo taken in 1918. [University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, 22471]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Jane-Darwell.jpg?h=1ca7a6de&itok=LFTKxWAv "Jane Darwell in a photo taken in 1918. [University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, 22471]")
Jane Darwell, a pioneering film actress whose career spanned more than sixty years, was…
Elizabeth Jane Dugan, better known by her pseudonym “Rosa Pearle,” was the founder, editor…
![Jeanne Eagels in costume. [The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, ID#100058, New York Public Library Digital Collections]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-03/1.%20Jeanne%20Eagels.jpg?h=8b88be68&itok=FtD0mArZ "Jeanne Eagels in costume. [The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, ID#100058, New York Public Library Digital Collections]")
Although there is some dispute about the date and place of her birth, most sources state…
![Cliff Edwards. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, TH-10109]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-08/1.%20Cliff%20Edwards.jpg?h=29e77187&itok=ShK3DfnA "Cliff Edwards. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, TH-10109]")
Singer-actor Cliff Edwards was born in Hannibal, Missouri, on June 14, 1895, and is best…
![A publicity photo of Gordon “Wild Bill” Elliott. [Find a Grave / William Bjornstad]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-10/1.-gordon-wild-bill-elliott.jpg?h=698ee15c&itok=liAhLhoD "A publicity photo of Gordon “Wild Bill” Elliott. [Find a Grave / William Bjornstad]")
Gordon “Wild Bill” Elliott was one of the film industry’s top moneymakers in westerns…
![Jean Harlow in a publicity photo. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Collection Photograph File, ID# TH-190010]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-06/Jean-Harlow-Pub-Still.jpg?h=4cc55283&itok=QHj0lS7X "Jean Harlow in a publicity photo. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Collection Photograph File, ID# TH-190010]")
Jean Harlow was born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911. Her…
![Rupert Hughes and his second wife, Adelaide Manola Mould Bissell. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-32320]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Rupert%20Hughes.jpg?h=70a94650&itok=RrY2h_E1 "Rupert Hughes and his second wife, Adelaide Manola Mould Bissell. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-32320]")
Rupert Hughes, a versatile popular writer, was born in Lancaster, Missouri, on January 31,…
![Kathryn J. Kuhlman. [Courtesy of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Kathryn_Kuhlman.jpg?h=71eec0dc&itok=gcLwm7Sd "Kathryn J. Kuhlman. [Courtesy of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives]")
Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman, born in Concordia, Missouri, on May 9, 1907, became…
![The Figure 8 roller coaster at Lakeside Park, added in 1907, was a “huge reversing spiral” in which cars rushed down a half-mile curving track with “three figure eights in a descent of 50 feet.” [Courtesy of the Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-06/1.%20Figure%208%20Roller%20Coaster%20Lakeside%20Park%20Joplin%20Museum%20Complex.JPG?h=c36628e1&itok=hcrmvx97 "The Figure 8 roller coaster at Lakeside Park, added in 1907, was a “huge reversing spiral” in which cars rushed down a half-mile curving track with “three figure eights in a descent of 50 feet.” [Courtesy of the Joplin Historical & Mineral Museum]")
“Once the most important and popular play place of the Tri-State district,” Lakeside Park…