5 TERESA CAPONE (mother of AL CAPONE, US gangster) Born in Italy, Teresa emigrated with her husband to New York City, in 1893, where she worked as a seamstress to help support her family in Brooklyn’s Italian colony. Alfonso, Teresa’s fourth son, was forced to take over as head of the household when his father died in 1920. By that time, Al had already begun to establish his underworld connections. Later, during the periods when he was imprisoned, Teresa visited him regularly and she always maintained, ‘Al’s a good boy.’
6 MARIE ÉLÉNORE MAILLÉ DE CARMAN (mother of the MARQUIS DE SADE, noted debauchee and author) Marie Élénore, lady-in-waiting in a royal family related to the de Sades, married the Count de Sade in 1733 and gave birth to a son, the future Marquis de Sade, in 1740. By 1750, the count had become increasingly difficult to live with, and as a result Marie Élénore removed herself to a Carmelite convent in Paris, where she remained until her death in 1777. Despite her pleas to the king, her son was imprisoned numerous times for his debauchery. Upon hearing of his mother’s impending death, he escaped from prison and hurried to Paris. Unfortunately, he arrived too late and was rearrested through the efforts of his mother-in-law. During his subsequent 13 years in prison the marquis wrote the books which made him infamous.
7 VANNOZZA DEI CATTANEI (mother of CESARE BORGIA, ruthless Renaissance politician) Vannozza was the mistress of Cardinal Rodgrigo Borgia (who later became Pope Alexander VI), and bore him at least four children, of whom Cesare was reputedly the first. During the course of her life Vannozza also had four husbands, the last one hand-picked by the pope. Always known for her piety, by the time of her death in 1518 she had left so much money to the Church where she was buried that Augustine monks were still saying masses for her soul 200 years later.
8 EKATERINA GHELADZE DZHUGASHVILI (mother of JOSEPH STALIN, dictator of the USSR) Born in 1856 in a Georgian village, Ekaterina was the daughter of serfs. After her marriage to Beso Dzhugashvili she supported her new family by working as a washerwoman and seamstress. When her son Joseph was born, she hoped he would become a priest, and throughout her life she was disappointed at his choice of a different career. Ekaterina never learned to speak Russian, and even after her son’s rise to power, she had no desire to leave her home in the Caucasus.
9 KLARA PÖLZL HITLER (mother of ADOLF HITLER, Nazi dictator) A simple, uneducated Bavarian girl, 18-year-old Klara joined the household of her second cousin, ‘Uncle’ Alois Hitler, whose mistress she became and whom she eventually married. Three of her children died in infancy prior to the birth of Adolf, and Klara was always fearful of his death as well. Disappointed in her marriage, she pinned all hopes on her surviving son. When she died of breast cancer in 1908, Hitler was overcome with grief.
10 ZERELDA COLE JAMES (mother of JESSE JAMES, US bandit) Married at the age of 17, Zerelda went west with her husband Robert to homestead in Missouri in the early 1840s. Jesse was their second son. The elder James died while Jesse was still a boy, and Zerelda then married a man named Simms. The marriage failed, but she embarked upon a third marriage, this one to Dr Reuben Samuels. Throughout the bank-robbing careers of Jesse and his younger brother Frank, Zerelda remained loyal to her sons. A very pious woman, Zerelda would often attend church in Jesse’s company. Zerelda was described by a newspaper reporter who interviewed her in later years as ‘graceful in carriage and gesture, calm and quiet in demeanor, with a ripple of fire now and then breaking through the placid surface’. Perhaps it was this fire which she had imparted to her sons.
11 ROSA MALTONI MUSSOLINI (mother of BENITO MUSSOLINI, Italian dictator) Born in a small Italian village in 1858, Rosa Maltoni was known for her retiring and gentle disposition. While employed as a schoolteacher in the village of Dovia, she met and married the village blacksmith, Alessandro Mussolini. Benito, their first child, was constantly in trouble and the source of much anxiety to Rosa. She was worn out and disheartened when she died of meningitis in 1905.
12 ALIA GHANEM (mother of OSAMA BIN LADEN, terrorist leader of al-Qaeda) The daughter of a Syrian merchant, Alia Ghanem married Mohammed bin Laden, a prominent Saudi citizen of Yemeni origin, when she was 22 years old. Having experienced a more worldly society, she did not fit into the bin Laden family and was known sarcastically as ‘The Slave’. Osama, who was mockingly called ‘The Son of the Slave’, was her only child by bin Laden. Pushed to the outskirts of the bin Laden clan, Alia had to watch as her son was raised by others. Mohammed died when Osama was 10 years old, and it was only then that he was sent to live with his mother. They lived together for only a few months, after which Osama went back to live with an uncle. Alia Ghanem later married another Saudi businessman, but she did remain in contact with her son.
13 SUBHA TULFAH AL-MUSSALLAT (mother of SADDAM HUSSEIN, dictator of Iraq) Subha’s husband, Hussein al-Majid, either died or abandoned the family before Saddam’s birth. Subha considered having an abortion, but was talked out of it by a midwife. She gave birth to Saddam in a mud-brick house outside Tikrit belonging to her brother, Khairaillah al-Talfa. Subha, in a deep depression, could not take care of her newborn son, so she left him with Khairaillah. Saddam did not live with his mother until he was three years old, when Khairaillah was imprisoned for taking part in an anti-British, pro-Nazi uprising. By this time, Subha had married her first cousin, Hasan al-Ibrahim, known as ‘Hasan the Liar’. Hasan refused to send his stepson to school and forced him to steal chickens and sheep. At the age of 10 Saddam, wanting to go to school and fed up with his stepfather’s abuse, ran away from home to live with his uncle Khairaillah. Despite her indifferent parenting, when Subha died in 1982 her son ordered a huge shrine built at government expense in Tikrit to honour the ‘Mother of Militants’.
– F.B.
14 MOVIE STARS WHO FELL IN LOVE ON THE SET
23 ACTORS AND ACTRESSES WHO TURNED DOWN GREAT ROLES
15 FILM SCENES LEFT ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
37 FAMOUS WRITERS WHO WORKED FOR THE MOVIES
8 MEMORABLE LINES ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED TO FILM STARS
17 MOVIE STARS AND HOW THEY WERE DISCOVERED
PATRICK ROBERTSON’S 10 TALES OF THE MOVIES
ANTHONY BOURDAIN’S 10 GRITTIEST, MOST UNCOMPROMISING CRIME FILMS
STEPHEN KING’S 6 SCARIEST SCENES EVER CAPTURED ON FILM
10 MOVIES THAT WERE PART OF HISTORY
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN’S 10 FAVOURITE MOVIES
KEVIN MACDONALD’S 10 FAVOURITE DOCUMENTARIES OF ALL TIME
WALTER MATTHAU’S 10 FAVOURITE COMEDIES OF ALL TIME
© The Inflatable Crowd Company, Inc
SEABISCUIT INFLATABLE EXTRAS
14 Movie Stars Who Fell in Love on the Set
1.-2. VIVIEN LEIGH and LAURENCE OLIVIER
Cast as lovers in Fire over England (1937), Leigh and Olivier had little difficulty playing the parts convincingly. They were both married when they became powerfully infatuated with each other. Leigh was the opposite of Olivier’s cool, calm wife, and he was a contrast to her intelligent but rather dry and unromantic husband. The affair was ill-timed: Olivier’s wife was about to give birth and she guessed what was going on. At the christening party for his newborn son, Olivier stepped outside with Leigh and returned with lipstick on his cheek. On the set they were known as ‘the lovers’. This was all too true for Olivier, who complained to another actor that he was exhausted. ‘It’s not the stunts,’ he groaned. ‘It’s Vivien. It’s every day, two, three times. She’s bloody wearing me out.’