CELEBRITIES IN THE 1930 CENSUS: Q&A with Author Allan R. Ellenberger

As it says on the cover, Allan R. Ellenberger's Celebrities in the 1930 Census (McFarland, 2008, US$49.95) is a compilation of household data — as collected by 1930 census takers — of more than 2,000 "U.S. actors, musicians, scientists, athletes, writers, politicians and other public figures." (The woman in the photo is aviatrix Amelia Earhart.)

The book, of course, doesn't offer any saucy insights into the lives of those people. Instead, it's a straightforward amalgam of un-dramatic — but important — information for researchers. (Though non-researchers may find the myriad listings addictive as well.)

For instance, when I wrote the Ramon Novarro (above right) biography Beyond Paradise, I didn't have access to the 1930 census, which became part of the public record only in 2005. It would have helped to realize that Novarro's "valet" — éminence grise Frank Hansen — was living with the actor at that time.

The census also lists the dates for Novarro's and his family's arrivals (a year apart) in the U.S, and that his West Adams District house, a couple of miles west of downtown Los Angeles, was valued at $50,000.

Among other tidbits found in Celebrities in the 1930 Census are:

• Lucy Smith Doheny's Beverly Hills estate was valued at $2.5 million
• Vincente Minnelli was living at 89 Bedford Street in Manhattan (and didn't have a radio)
• Katharine Hepburn (listed as Katharine H. Smith), 22, and husband Ludlow O. Smith, 31, were paying $110 a month for a place at 146 E. 39th Street in Manhattan
• Judy Garland was living with her family in Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County (rent: $40/month)
• Jascha Heifetz and wife, Florence Heifetz (better known as silent-film star Florence Vidor), were renting their 247 Park Avenue pied-à-terre for $25,000 a year
• Upton Sinclair owned a $10,000 residence at 1513 Sunset Avenue in Pasadena
• Most celebrities had European servants
• People like Greta Garbo, Bugsy Siegel, and Humphrey Bogart, whether because they were out of the country, in transition, or in hiding, were not listed in the census

Ah, and Marie Dressler (right), a recent q&a subject on this blog, then living in Los Angeles' Whitley Heights neighborhood (in the Hollywood Hills) miraculously became 20 years younger between 1929 (when she was 60) and 1930 (when she turned a youthful 40).

I've known Allan for many years — the first Ramon Novarro biography (McFarland, 1999) was his. After much begging, cajoling, and some serious threatening, he finally agreed to spend a few precious minutes away from his current Miriam Hopkins project to answer several questions about his census book.

In the very near future (one hopes), another q&a with Herr Ellenberger — on Miriam Hopkins herself — will be posted on this blog. (Previous Ellenberger q&a's on Alt Film Guide: Anita Page, Rudolph Valentino, June Mathis.)

Surprisingly, non-celebrities were interviewed, too.

How did you go about compiling more than 2,000 names in Celebrities in the 1930 Census?

Having had an interest in film history my entire life, the names of actors, directors, producers, and others in the entertainment field came easily. As for other groups, I used the Internet almost exclusively to find "lists" of people that excelled in their particular area of achievement. For each person I had to do additional research of where they were living in 1930, which in most cases coincided with the census. The official census information came from Ancestry.com, which has compiled the entire 1930 census on line, along with a search engine.

There are approximately 2,265 names of famous persons listed in my book. If I could not find a celebrity in the census, I still entered their name with the note "data not found." That way you will know that I looked for them.

There are five appendices, including U. S. Constitution references; the complete 32 questions asked on the census; population figures from 1930; National Archives and regional branches locations; and a list of websites.

What were the difficulties involved? How long did it take you to compile all that information?

During the three years that it took to complete this book, I faced several obstacles while searching for the famous.

Ancestry.com's search engine gives the ability to look for someone in several ways. Sometimes, just putting in a name brings up the person you are looking for. However, more often you will get multiple, sometimes hundreds of hits. When that happens, I tried using the person's year of birth to eliminate everyone else or at least narrow down the choices. If I still had multiple hits, I continued weeding out prospects with the advanced search options.

Several choices were considered when I tried to decipher census information. First, the census takers' handwriting varies from excellent to illegible. With practice, I was able to find several ways around this. When it was hard to decipher a street name, I leaved through the next pages until I found an address that was legible and entered that address into Googlemaps.com. From there, I could look at the surrounding streets until I found one that matched the lettering for the illegible one. This procedure worked in almost every case.