Billie Burke was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1885, in Washington, DC. As a child she toured the US and Europe with the circus because her father was employed with them as a clown (before motion pictures and after the stage, circuses were the biggest form of entertainment in the world). One could say that Billie was bred for show business. Her family ultimately settled in London, where she was fortunate to see plays in the city's historic West End, and decided she ...[Read Story]
