March 19, 1874

Cecil Hepworth ( March 19, 1874 to February 9, 1953) was one of the founders of the British film industry. He contributed to the young art form such concepts as the idea of movie stars, even animal stars. He used his family for most of his early movies: his wife was the queen in his 1903 movie: Alice in Wonderland. This 10 minute long movie featured an actual cat. He also made a movie called "The Burglar and the Cat," which I cannot find information on. His movies were not in the long run financially successful and in 1923 his business failed. He did live to be recognized, in the 1940s, as a pioneer in his field, although by then, many of his films were lost.