Thomas Ince Studios Archives

Happy 118th Birthday, John Gilbert!

Legendary silent-picture star John Gilbert was born John Cecil Pringle on July 10, 1899, in Logan, Utah.

Happy 118th birthday, Mr. Gilbert, wherever you may be!

Here are 10 things you should know about John Gilbert…

You think that money is everything
And yet it's anybody's spring.
Go make a fortune, become a king
And still it's anybody's spring.

And if you flash a bank roll
Do you suppose the brook would care?
Or that a rose would say
'There goes a millionaire!'?
It's more than diamonds around a ring
Because it's anybody's spring.

You may be born with the silver spoon
And yet it's anybody's moon.
You couldn't buy a ticket
To hear the first robin sing.
It's free because
It's anybody's spring.

—It's Anybody's Spring; music by James Van Heusen; words by Johnny Burke 1945