Kansas City spawned several stars of the silver screen, such as the Beery brothers and Alice Joyce. One of the most well known and unforgetable of these was Billie Cassin. After her family moved to Kansas City in 1917, Billie attended Scarritt elementary, St. Agnes Academy, and Stephens College in Columbia. But, more interested in the stage, she joined a traveling stage revue where she was eventually discovered. By the time she was 18, Billie had signed with MGM for $75 a week, worked her way up to feature parts, and changed her name to Joan Crawford. Over the next decade she became one of Hollywood’s top-10 stars, and established a career that would include over 80 films and an academy award for her role in Mildred Pierce.
Kansas City’s own Harlean Carpentier (shown on far right with her mother and grandmother outside Union Station circa 1930) endured a turbulent life marked by failed marriages and her mother’s overbearing presence. But, as Jean Harlow, she captured movie audiences with her sheer beauty and unmatched wit, setting the standard for Hollywood divas to follow. Harlow attended Miss Barstow’s School at Westport Road and 40th Street before moving to Los Angeles in 1927 with her first husband. Between 1930-1937, Harlow starred in over twenty films as a leading actress. Her untimely death in 1937 at the age of 26 shocked the nation.
In 1919, Walt Disney moved to Kansas City, working as an illustrator at the Pesman-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. Disney befriended another illustrator who started the same day, Ub Iwerks, and the two soon formed their own company, Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. The company filed for bankruptcy the following year, and Walt went to work for Kansas City Film Ad Company making animated commercials, with Ub joining him a few months later.
Fascinated by animation, and convinced that he could improve on the current state of the art, Walt began producing his own work, making animated short subjects for the local Newman Theater—Newman Laugh-O-grams.
Laugh-O-gram started big, with offices, a staff of artists, the return of friend Ub Iwerks, and an $11,000 contract for a series of cartoons. But just months later, Walt’s client was bankrupt, the staff was gone, and he was forced to live in his office. It was during these desperate days—working and sleeping in the same room, barely scraping up enough money to eat—that Walt adopted and began feeding a small mouse that shared the Laugh-O-gram offices. This mouse, according to Walt, became the inspiration for Mickey Mouse.
Isadore Friz Freleng honed his drawing skills in the art studios of Kansas City alongside Walt Disney and U. B. Iwerks. Freleng taught himself to draw, gracing the pages of the The Herald, the yearbook of Westport High, with his illustrations from 1919 until his graduation in 1923. He worked with Walt Disney in Hollywood, and in 1931 began making cartoons for Warner Brothers, establishing a 30-year legacy at the company, helping to create memorable characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig.
Special Thanks to UMKC and the "Paris of the Plains" online exhibition a part of Kansas City's 150th Anninversary Celebration for contributing to this page.
Beery brothers and Alice Joyce. One of the most well known and unforgetable of these was Billie Cassin. After her family moved to Kansas City in 1917, Billie attended Scarritt elementary, St. Agnes Academy, and Stephens College in Columbia. But, more interested in the stage, she joined a traveling stage revue where she was eventually discovered. By the time she was 18, Billie had signed with MGM for $75 a week, worked her way up to feature parts, and changed her name to Joan Crawford. Over the next decade she became one of Hollywood’s top-10 stars, and established a career that would include over 80 films and an academy award for her role in Mildred Pierce. 
mother and grandmother outside Union Station circa 1930) endured a turbulent life marked by failed marriages and her mother’s overbearing presence. But, as Jean Harlow, she captured movie audiences with her sheer beauty and unmatched wit, setting the standard for Hollywood divas to follow. Harlow attended Miss Barstow’s School at Westport Road and 40th Street before moving to Los Angeles in 1927 with her first husband. Between 1930-1937, Harlow starred in over twenty films as a leading actress. Her untimely death in 1937 at the age of 26 shocked the nation. 
just months later, Walt’s client was bankrupt, the staff was gone, and he was forced to live in his office. It was during these desperate days—working and sleeping in the same room, barely scraping up enough money to eat—that Walt adopted and began feeding a small mouse that shared the Laugh-O-gram offices. This mouse, according to Walt, became the inspiration for Mickey Mouse. 
