More about Ethel 2

To quote from Jesse
"Now THIS is interesting...
John Frederick Weiss was born September 24, 1914 in Cook, IL (Leo would have been working for Essanay at the time, I believe)
Leo Weiss' age is 32 (birthdate: November 10, 1881), born in Berlin, Germany
Ethel Caroline McCann's age is 22 (birthdate: circa 1892), born in London, England"
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NQ14-CHD
So Leo and John, later known as White, appear in the records as Weiss.

"WWI Draft Card (Sept. 12, 1918)
Leo Weiss (AKA Leo White) is age 36, born November 10, 1881
Lives at 6806 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
He was born in Germany
He is an actor at Universal Film Co.
His wife is listed as Ethel Veronica White (GAHHH!)"
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZVN-KKP
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-26181-16483-54?cc=1968530
This must be the same as I have a postcard from Ethel - date uncertain - where she gives her address as 6806 Hollywood Blvd. So the listing of Ethel's middle name as Veronica must be an error. Leo's date of birth is given her as November 10, 1881 but other sources say 1882. Since he has his wife's middle name is wrong, the date of birth may be unreliable.

"1920 Census (Jan 7 1920)
Leo (38 - birth year 1881) and Ethel (37? - 1882; adding 10 years?) live with their sons in Los Angeles
Leo's parents were born E Prussia, Germany (Leo's birthplace simply says Germany)
Ethel's dad was born in Scotland, her mom in Ireland; Ethel was born in England
Both act in motion pictures"
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHQF-ZLF
https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu106unit#page/n605/mode/1up
So in the 1920 census, the family name is given a Weiss, not White. Dates of immigration for Leo and Ethel are given as 1903 and 1910 respectively. Ethel's age is given as 37 in the transcription, but the original actually shows 27. Ethel gives her father's birthplace as Scotland, although he was actually born in Mauritius. Both her father James and his father John were in the army and some of their children were born overseas. James's elder sister was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire. So it is quite likely that Ethel, after hearing family stories of relatives born abroad, got mixed up about who was born where.

"In the meantime, John (Fred) (25) and Leo (28) in the 1940 Census (Apr 8)
Interesting, John/Fred is an actor in motion pcitures as well!
Leo is a shop foreman (Venetian blinds)"
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K97C-1HS
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27791-13474-97?cc=2000219
Brothers John and Leo at 202 North La Peer Drive. This is the address Leo's address at the time of his marriage in 1947. Possibly Leo's job as a shop foreman was a stopgap, as by 1947 his occupation was singer.

To be continued...

A couple of Ethel's boy Jack in uniform

There are no captions on the back. Obviously taken at different stages of his army career.

Ethel and Jack - some years later

These are clearly taken a few years on from the previous batches of photos. Ethel is noticeably older, Jack has been in the army long enough to earn his sergeant's stripes and a couple of rows of medal ribbons and they have a new dog. Ethel mentions some of the pictures are taken in a vacant lot in rear of Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The hotel is 9500 Wilshire Blvd. I think the vacant lot

must be in the angle between North Beverly Drive and Wilshire Blvd, which is now occupied by No 9465, a modern office tower which is home to various theatrical agents. (I had fun playing with Street View on Google Maps to find that out. Alas Street View does not include Clark Drive, where Ethel and her family lived.) Another picture is taken on the corner of Charleville Blvd and El Camino Drive. She mentions telephoning Walsingham Lodge. That was in Manor Park, Chislehurst. I have a document dated June 1943 where this is given as Ada and Bert's address. [Entry updated. I have now added a few specific posts about Walsingham Lodge.] The mention of similarities between Jack, Fred and her father leads me to think that Fred must be her brother. Father and son were both James McCann and the son's middle initial was F. so maybe Frederick was his middle name and they called him Fred in the family to distinguish one from t'other. And how come Ethel was taking such an interest in where they wear out their trousers? (Actually this is not something peculiar to the McCann menfolk. That is where trousers tend to "go".)

Ethel's boy Jack in the army

Ethel's "baby" - John Frederick

One of these pictures went to Ada and the other to Fred (who I think must be Ethel and Ada's brother - see later posts), but they are both part of Ada's archive. Ethel is asking for photos of Ada's son Donald in uniform, so presumably this is some time during WWII. She mentions that these were taken a few months ago "over on Clark Drive". In the "after 4 p.m." pictures, she tells us that they lived on Clark Drive. The "Easter Sunday" pictures were taken outside their house and part of Arnaz Drive is visible. Clark Drive and Arnaz Drive run parallel and are fairly close together, but Robertson Boulevard runs between the two and I don't think you could see one from the other. Did they move house? I really need to go on a fact-finding visit to Beverly Hills to sort this one. Any sponsorship deals would be most welcome! References to studios and rehearsals tell us that Jack and Peter both followed in their parents' footsteps into movie acting.