Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: Gave A-Bomb Secrets to Russia

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953 for conspiring to commit espionage to aid the Soviet Union.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were born in New York City in 1918 and 1915 respectively and were the children of Jewish immigrants.

He met his wife Ethel Greenglass in 1936 when both were members of the Young Communist League. Julius was instrumental in obtaining thousands of top secret reports from Emerson Radio and those reports helped Russia develop a proximity fuze and that information was used to shoot down the U2 plane that Gary Powers was piloting in 1960.

Rosenberg recruited many individuals into the KGB. The Russian intelligence learned that Rosenberg’s brother in law David Greenglass was working at Los Alamos National Laboratory on the Manhattan Project which was a program to develop nuclear weapons. Rosenberg was asked to recruit Greenglass to obtain top secret information from the laboratory and Greenglass agreed after Rosenberg had Ruth Greenglass the wife of David Greenglass assist in recruiting Greenglass.

Ruth Greenglass contacted her husband in 1944 and Klaus Fuchs meanwhile had been giving the Soviets information about the Manhattan Project during World War II while working as a British operative there.

David Greenglass testified at the trial that Ethel Rosenberg had typed the reports he had given Julius Rosenberg. He had drawn a sketch of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and gave it to Julius Rosenberg.

The U.S. Deputy Attorney General William Rogers said Ethel Rosenberg had called their bluff when they arrested her to put pressure on Julius to implicate others in the conspiracy. Neither of them would give names of additional conspirators.

The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951 and were sentenced to death by the electric chair by Judge Irving Kaufman who said the Rosenbergs were responsible for all the deaths in the Korean War.

They were executed 26 months later on June 19,1953.

The Rosenberg children who are not identified by name in this photo but were named Robert and Michael.

The sons of the Rosenbergs were left as orphans after the execution and changed their last name to Meeropol and would be adamant in professing the innocence of their parents till 2008 when 91 year old Martin Sobell admitted he had spied for the Soviet Union and said Julius Rosenberg was part of the conspiracy but said Ethel’s only crime was being the wife of Julius.

There is much more information available online about the Rosenbergs and the second link is about the trial itself.

This video shows the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as she tries to learn more about her grandparents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rosenbergs

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_ACCT.HTM

Box Office Bomb: Zyzzyx Road Sold Six Tickets, Grossed $20

Zyzzyx Road released in 2006 is the lowest grossing in movie history grossing $20.

Zyzzyx Road cost $2 million to produce according to imdb.com but Leo Grillo one of the actors in the movies says it was $1 million but only grossed $20 when it was released in 2006. It would have grossed $30 but the makeup artist who had worked on the film brought a friend to see the movie and was admitted free.

It is considered the lowest grossing movie in movie history.

It was shown in a Dallas theater for seven days and only six people saw the movie. It cost $1,000 to rent the theater for six days. The thought process behind this move was that it was required by the Screen Actor’s Guild to have a movie shown in a U.S. theater before being released worldwide.

Surprisingly the low budget movie had two well known stars in the movie with Katherine Heigl and Tom Sizemore both appearing in the film. They couldn’t have been paid too much with such a low budget when considering the cost of filming the movie.

Sizemore was arrested during filming for violating his probation by failing drug tests but was allowed to finish filming of the movie which took only 18 days.

The page for the movie at imdb.com gives more details about the movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429277/

Leo Grillo submitted his comments on the movie to a message board:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429277/board/thread/103524562

Billy Ray Cyrus: Achy Breaky Heart

Billy Ray Cyrus singing his best selling single Achy Breaky Heart.

The Achy Breaky Heart was a worldwide hit written by Don Von Tress and was danced to all over the world including Italy where this video was apparently shot.

Billy Ray Cyrus recorded Achy Breaky Heart in 1992 and the single enabled the Some Gave All album to sell 9 million copies in the United States and 20 million copies worldwide.

Only the most ardent Billy Ray Cyrus fans could probably think of another song on the album. The album was a monster hit in Australia becoming the first album to sell triple platinum in the country down under.

It was a huge crossover hit going to No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was the first country single since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers had recorded Islands in the Stream in 1983 to be certified platinum.

The Oak Ridge Boys had a chance to record the song in 1990 but turned it down when Duane Allen said he didn’t like the words “achy breaky”.

After it became popular even the Chipmunks recorded it and it was No.71 on the Hot 100 Billboard Country chart giving them their first charted song in 42 years.

The song was No.2 on VH1′s list of Most Awesomely Bad Songs. One thing for sure is that it was one of the most played songs on radio.

Brad Pitt As Jerry Lee Lewis?

Jerry Lewis may be the subject of another movie with Brad Pitt portraying Lewis.

Latest rumors on the internet say that Brad Pitt may portray Jerry Lee Lewis in an upcoming biopic.

It has been 21 years since Dennis Quaid was Jerry Lee Lewis on the bigscreen in Great Balls of Fire. Now the internet is full of articles about another Lewis biopic with Brad Pitt rumored to portray the rock and roller.

It will be interesting to see what the focus of the movie would be because it is not likely go over the same ground that was covered in the 1989 movie.

Natalie Portman is also rumored to be in the movie. So far the movie is only in the talking stage and few details are available but more news should be forthcoming in the coming days and months.

http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid2=844&fid1=49455&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+NewsExclaimca+(!+Exclaim.ca+-+News)

Afternoon Western Heroes: Ken Maynard

Ken Maynard in Tombstone Canyon a 1932 western that was released 78 years ago. This movie is typical of the western movies we used to see in the afternoons back in the 1950′s.

Maynard along with Bob Steele, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Jimmy Wakely and many other western stars kept us entertained after coming home from school.

I saw Jimmy Wakely in person while serving in the Army in Hawaii in the middle 1960′s when he put on a show at the service club. He was not only a movie star but also sang with Margaret Whiting on Slippin’ Around which went to No. 1.

He also had two No.1 hits in One Has My Name the Other Has My Heart and I Love You So Much It Hurts Me as a solo country and western artist.

Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell 25 Years Ago

Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell speak to Jane Pauley on Today show in 1985 about an upcoming concert in Philadelphia with all three of the Philadelphians on the same stage.

Carpenters: We’ve Only Just Begun

Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters singing We’ve Only Just Begun

Joan Rivers on Ed Sullivan 43 Years Ago

A young Joan Rivers (born Joan Alexandra Molinsky) at the age of 34 on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967.

Ann Sothern: My Mother the Car

The 1928 Porter featured in My Mother the Car.

My Mother the Car was named by TV Guide in 2002 as the second worst show in television history with Jerry Springer being the very worst show.

Ann Sothern portrays the mother in the series but is never seen and for good reason. She probably didn’t want to be seen in such an inane show and the show was definitely the lowlight of her career.

Jerry Van Dyke plays the son of Ann Sothern’s character and in an unbelievable plot line buys a car when his mother’s voice is heard from a 1928 Porter automobile in the car lot.

Surprisingly the co-creator of the series was Allan Burns who went on to create the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

The first three episodes of the series had titles that had a car connection:

Come Honk Your Horn

The De-Fenders

What Makes Auntie Freeze

The last episode is a play on Desperate Hours movie with this show being titled Desperate Minutes.

http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows/my-mother-the-car/129684986-desperate-minutes

The Desperate Minutes episode was better than I expected.

Eddie Fisher Dies at 82

Eddie Fisher has died at the age of 82.

Eddie Fisher pop singer died Wednesday at his home in Berkeley, California at the age of 82 from complications after hip surgery on September 10.

Fisher got his start as the vocalist for the Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura orchestras during the 1940′s.

Eddie Cantor helped Fisher gain recognition in the late 40′s when he sang on the Eddie Cantor radio show. Fisher would go on to appear on 200 old time radio programs according to radiogoldindex.com.

Fisher was married to Debbie Reynolds from 1955-1959, to Elizabeth Taylor from 1959-1964 and Connie Stevens from 1967-1969.

He was more popular before the advent of the rock and roll era and had No. 1 hits in 1952 with Wish You Were Here and I’m Walking Behind You,Oh My Pa-Pa in 1953 and I Need You Now in 1954.

He never had another No.1 hit once rock and rock took over the music scene in the middle 50′s.

Eddie Fisher singing Tell Me Why in 1953.

The New York Times has this obituary about the life of Eddie Fisher:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/24/arts/music/AP-US-Obit-Eddie-Fisher.html?_r=1&hp

Boogie Woogie Dancing 2007 World Championships

Boogie Woogie dancers dancing at the 2007 World Championships.

Beginning of the End For American Idol?

Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler shown pictured with Ryan Seacrest will be the American Idol judges for the 2011 season.

After many months of conjecture the names of the American Idol judges were released on Wednesday. It is unlikely that any of these three judges will make Idol fans forget Simon Cowell and it wouldn’t surprise me to see his American version of  X-Factor become more popular when it debuts next fall on the Fox network.

Randy Jackson will return so we will be hearing a lot of his catch phrases again like “yo dawg”, “blew it out of the box”, “check it out”, “that was bad dawg”, “dude that was not good for me”, “sorry dawg that just didn’t work for me” and the old standby “too pitchy.” Most viewers if they are like me have no idea what being too pitchy means.

Jennifer Lopez who has been a guest mentor in the past will be the only female judge and is reportedly making $12 million for her judging stint with American Idol.

If my memory serves correctly Paula Abdul asked for $10 million and was turned down when she knew Ryan Seacrest was earning $15 million a season for hosting the show. In retrospect it would have been better to pay Paula what she requested since she was more important to the show than Ryan Seacrest.

Steven Tyler will be the other judge and is the least known judge except to Aerosmith fans who should enjoy seeing their frontman on national television twice a week in 2011.

Losing Simon Cowell may lose a lot of fans of the show. His sarcastic and sometimes cruel remarks were a hallmark of the show and now we don’t know who will assume his role or if any of the judges in 2011 will assume that role.

Ellen Degeneres did everyone  a huge favor by resigning from the judges’s panel. Her attempts to be funny fell flat many times last season when her “jokes” fell flat. She was out of her element and should never been selected in the first place. Her forced humor and lack of musical knowledge was too much for her to overcome.

Kara Dioguardi did a credible job as a judge in my estimation. I am not sure if she left the show on her own or was told to quit by the producers. She may have tired of hearing the rumors that she was going to be let go and quit so she could concentrate on her songwriting career since it was evident she wouldn’t be asked to return.

Kara was the perfect judge to me. She felt compassion for the contestants and her musical knowledge far exceeded that of Ellen Degneres. She was the best at offering constructive criticism by telling the contestants they had not sang well but still encouraged them to do better.

The jury is out on Lee DeWyze whose debut album will probably be released in November but it wouldn’t surprise me too see Crystal Bowersox outsell DeWyze when she releases her debut album.

I thought Casey James did better than either of them when he was allowed to play his music the way he wanted but the judges seemed intent on making him into the singer they wanted instead of letting him stay in his element and discouraged him from playing his great guitar riffs.

The 2009 winner Kris Allen was a surprise winner but his debut album is listed 1,523rd in sales at Amazon.com while runner up Adam Lambert who probably had fewer negative comments than any other American Idol contestant is 239th in sales for his debut album.

David Cook the 2008 American Idol winner is listed 2,224th in sales for his debut album while second place David Archuleta’s debut album was way down the list with 6,643rd ranking but his latest album that won’t be released till October 5 is already 407th in sales.

The 2011 season could be a crossroads season for American Idol. American Idol needs another Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry or Carrie Underwood who have been the best selling artists of the American Idol winners.

Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks is probably the least successful of past winners with his debut album listed 69,140th in sales and his 2009 album 50,259th in sales.

Contrast that to Chris Daughtry another Season Five contestant whose debut album from four years ago is listed 521st in sales and his 2009 album is 107th in sales over a year after its release.

The voters who vote for the contestants have not voted for the most commercially successful artists lately. Chris Daughtry is an excellent example of the voting prowess of the voters. He finished fourth in the voting yet his debut album reached a million in sales in only five months which was a record for any debut rock album in history.

Daughtry is third among American Idol winners in record sales trailing only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

So the winner of American Idol is not always the best singer of the contestants.

The producers have a difficult task ahead of them in 2011. They hope the chemistry of the judges will gel early in the season and that they will have some contestants that will keep viewers watching the whole season.

They will fight another ratings battle with Dancing With the Stars and with Simon Cowell gone American Idol may finish behind Dancing With the Stars more often in 2011.

There has to be some questions about the audition process since it is evident that the judges will have to come up with a better final twelve than they have had in the last two years.

We will know if American Idol is on the way out or rebounds from one of their worst seasons to be the force they have been in the past by next May’s finale night.

John Dillinger and Lady in Red

John Dillinger who terrorized the midwest by robbing banks and stealing guns, rifles, ammunition and bulletproof vests from police stations across the midwest.

John Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903 in Indianapolis , Indiana and had a troubled childhood after his mother died when he was three and he resented his stepmother and he would later be sent to prison for attempting to rob a grocer. He spent over eight years in prison and then was released from prison on parole on May 10, 1933.

He  robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio and was captured by police on September 22, 1933 and incarcerated in the Lima, Ohio jail. The sheriff in Lima was shot and prison escapees who had escaped from the Indiana state prison unlocked Dillinger’s cell and he was freed by them on October 12 of that year.

He escaped from another prison in Crown Point, Indiana on March 3, 1934 when he pulled a wooden gun he had whittled on prison guards and forced them to open his cell door and stole two machine guns while making his escape.

Dillinger made a mistake when he stole the sheriff’s car and crossed into Illinois from Indiana when the FBI became involved in the case.

Even though Dillinger was apparently trapped at the Little Bohemia Lodge 50 miles north of Rhinelander, Wisconsin  after a tip informed the FBI that there was suspicious activity in the building he was able to escape before the building could be completely surrounded.

Anna Sage whose real name was Ana Cumpanas contacted the FBI on July 21, 1934 saying that she knew that Dillinger would be at either the Biograph or Marbro theater the next evening.

In exchange Sage who was running a brothel and was harboring Dillinger asked the FBI to assist her in avoiding deportation if she gave the info on Dillinger to the FBI.

She told them she would be wearing a red dress to make it easier to spot Dillinger and that another lady who would turn out to be Polly Hamilton would also be with Dillinger.

Sage would later call the FBI and tell them she wasn’t sure of which theater they would be attending so FBI agents were present at both theaters but when Dillinger, Sage and Hamilton entered the Biograph theater the agents at the Marbro theater were dispatched to the Biograph.

Dillinger entered the Biograph at 8:30 PM and would leave at 10:30 PM. When special FBI agent Melvin Purvis spotted Dillinger leaving the theater he lit a cigar to warn the other agents to close in on Dillinger. For some reason Dillinger sensed something was wrong and reached for the gun in his pocket and began to run. Three FBI agents fired five shots at Dillinger with three hitting him and Dillinger fell to the ground and he was pronounced dead at 10:50 PM.

The reign of terror of Dillinger ended that night about ten months after he robbed his first bank. It turned out that Sage who had delivered Dillinger to the FBI was still deported despite her assistance in nabbing Dillinger.

The FBI website clears up some myths about John Dillinger:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/july09/dillinger_072209.html

Lennon Sisters: Success Led to Tragedy

The Lennon Sisters singing on Lawrence Welk Show.

It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 57 years since the Lennon Sisters first appeared on the Lawrence Welk Show on Christmas Eve of 1955.

Who can forget the great harmony of their voices on Lawrence Welk Show and on their recordings? They were on Lawrence Welk Show for 13 years before embarking on their own path.

The oldest sister Dianne will be 73 in December while Janet who was the youngest Lennon Sister is now 66.

Their success attracted a stalker named Chet Young, who thought he could marry Peggy Lennon, if he could eliminate her dad William Lennon. He shot and killed William Lennon in a  golf course parking lot in 1969 and committed suicide two months later with the same gun.

This website gives much more information about the murder and about how Young stalked the family for five years before murdering their father.

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/l/LennonSisters/WilliamLennon.htm

On a brighter note here are some videos of the Lennon Sisters singing over the years:

Lennon Sisters sing May You Always on the Lawrence Welk Show.

The Lennon Sisters singing Harbor Lights one of my favorite songs.

The Lennon Sisters singing Love This is My Song on the Hollywood Palace on December 5, 1967.

The Lennon Sisters and Osmond Brothers singing It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

The Lennon Sisters were a wholesome influence during the turbulent 60′s when the music scene had turned into a haven for hippies getting high on drugs while listening to war protest songs with the decade ending in 1969 with Woodstock at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm at Bethel, New York.

Weird Movie Titles: Billy the Kid Versus Dracula

Circle Productions released Billy the Kid Versus Dracula in 1966 and was one of the weirdest movie titles ever released. Mixing the wild west with the horror film genre was bound to draw attention.

Dracula portrayed by John Carradine intends to make Billy the Kid’s fiancee his vampire wife by impersonating his fiancee’s uncle but Billy the Kid is warned about Dracula’s plans and triumphs in the end thwarting the plans of Dracula.

The internet movie database reviews rate the movie at 2.3 stars out of 10 stars.  This movie has nothing to do with history since Billy the Kid was killed in 1891 at the age of 19 by Sheriff Pat Garrett but in this movie Billy is reformed and working as a ranch hand.

Dracula is supposed to not be able to walk in broad daylight but does in this movie. The only good thing about the movie is that it is over in only 73 minutes.

The Internet Movie Database has this review of the movie by someone who saw the movie:

A HORROR FILM IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!, 30 October 2003
Author: wdrr

I actually stayed up late to watch this one night. How could I resist a title like “Billy The Kid Versus Dracula.”

Not only was it incredibly historically accurate, but Dracula was very well played by John Carradine. I was thankful that it was shortly followed by another treat with “Jesse James meets Frankensteins Daughter.”

The fact that someone actually green lighted this movie is the most horrifying thing around.

I will say, it is worth the watch just for the final showdown between Billy and Dracula. After firing about six shots into Dracula, Carradine stands with the most sinister of stares only to be belted squarely across the nose with a gun that Billy throws across the room. The quickness and “Doh!” factor almost makes me think John Carradine wasn’t acting. It is a little too realistic (something not characteristic of John Carradine’s acting). I was laughing myself to tears when I saw that.

If you want a good laugh, stick around to the end.

The movie had an obvious goof that was repeated several times but was left in the movie:

Continuity: At many points in the film, “Mrs. Oster” (Virginia Christine) is called “Mrs. Olson”, the character she made famous in the Folger Coffee Commercials – hardly enough reason for director “One-Shot” Beaudine to stop the cameras.

It seems like this movie was supposed to be more of a horror film but turned out to be a comedy and John Carradine called this movie the low point of his career even lower than Bikini Drive-in.

Unusual Mailboxes

This mailbox is not likely to be knocked over anytime soon.

A great mailbox for a railroad aficionado.

Postal delivery person had to do a doubletake when they saw this microwave oven monstrosity of a mailbox for the first time and is an excellent way to recycle.

Latest in mailboxes that receives email and regular mail in the same mailbox.

One way to stop bills from coming in the mail.

A colorful way to use markers that no longer work.

Normandy Invasion: 56 Large Photos Tell the Story

June 6, 1944 changed the world and spelled the end for Adolf Hitler the German leader and Benito Mussolini the Italian leader. Mussolini died ten months later on April 28, 1945 and Hitler would die two days later on April 30,1945.

Only those soldiers who participated in the invasion 66 years ago can understand what it was like for them to step off landing crafts into the water seeing their fellow soldiers gunned down in front of them as they made their way to the beach.

It was the same for the paratroopers as they exited the aircraft to uncertain futures as they were like targets in a shooting gallery for any German soldiers in the area and were at risk of being captured.

We will never know the fear that those participating in the Normandy invasion felt that day as they started their journey across the French countryside on their way to a date with destiny as they were almost certain to face German troops armed with tanks.

A lot of boys became men that day as they saw for the first time the horrors of being on a battlefield. D-Day was only the start of the European theater for the 156,000 Allied troops that landed in Normandy that day.

There may never be an accurate count of the deaths during the Battle of Normandy but it is estimated that 2,499 Americans died at Normandy on D-Day.

The following 56 photos from the Denver Post tell the story of D-Day better than the written word:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2009/06/05/the-65th-anniversary-of-d-day-on-the-normandy-beaches/

Former NBC Newsman Edwin Newman Dies at 91

Edwin Newman has died at the age of 91 in Oxford, England. I can remember seeing Newman as he covered the political conventions. He covered seven national political conventions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/business/media/16newman.html?src=busln

Newman was the first to announce on NBC radio that  President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas and the following video shows his commentary on the assassination of President Kennedy:

Classic TV: Gomer Pyle

An exasperated Sergeant Carter portrayed by the late Frank Sutton shown chewing out Private Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) in Gomer Pyle USMC in a spinoff from the Andy Griffith Show that ran from 1964 to 1969 on the CBS television network.

Gomer Pyle USMC was not the most realistic show ever filmed since a recruit like Gomer Pyle in a real Marine boot camp would never have made it even halfway through the arduous training that a Marine experiences.

It also was unrealistic in that Pyle and his exasperated sergeant would be in the same unit for five years. Still it was comedy at its best when the country bumpkin Pyle locked horns with the go by the book Sergeant Carter.

There were other storylines during the five years but the basic ingredient for the popularity of the show was the interaction between Pyle and Sgt. Carter.

The first episode with Andy Griffith lurking around the Marine base while watching his friend Pyle being berated by an angry Sgt. Carter was one of the funniest episodes. The highlight was when the other recruits talked Pyle into wearing Sgt. Carter’s dress blue uniform and the reaction of Sgt. Carter.

The following clip shows some of the interaction between Pyle and Sgt. Carter and the comedy that develops from the scene:

This clip shows Sgt. Carter at his best as he tries to get Private Pyle to stop smiling.

Jim Nabors as Pyle shows off his singing voice in this episode as he sings The Impossible Dream in a voice that resembles in no way the voice Pyle uses during his encounters with Sgt. Carter.

An interesting sidenote is how Pyle was named on the Andy Griffith Show. He was named after Gomer Cool a writer and Denver Pyle the actor who was featured as the patriarch of the Darling family in several episodes of the Andy Griffith Show.

Everett Greenbaum conceived the idea of having an inept mechanic on the show after he pulled into a service station with motor problems and the mechanic’s only solution to the problem was to add more gasoline to the tank.

Nabors like Don Knotts had left the Andy Griffith Show to pursue other career opportunities left Gomer Pyle after five years to have his own variety show. Since then he recorded many albums, acted in movies and television and performed on the night club circuit.

He almost died in 1994 from Hepatitis B but a transplant saved his life and Carol Burnett had a hand in finding a transplant for Nabors.

He turned 80 last June and now lives in Hawaii and has sung Back Home in Indiana for 30 years at the Indianapolis 500.

The tombstone for Frank Sutton who portrayed Sgt. Vincent Carter on the Gomer Pyle USMC television show.

Frank Sutton who portrayed Sergeant Carter died at the age of 50 on June 28, 1974 only five years after the end of the run for Gomer Pyle USMC. He suffered a heart attack before going on stage at a dinner theater in Shreveport, Louisiana.

His main claim to fame before becoming Sgt. Carter was when he acted in Marty a movie which won a Best Actor Award for Ernest Borgnine.

For some reason Gomer Pyle USMC reruns have not been easy to find on television today. It is classic television comedy at its best but apparently network executives today don’t think it is worthy of being shown in reruns as I am not even sure it can be found on any network today and anyone knowing where it can be seen is welcome to share that information with Nostalgia and Now readers.

Real Names of Celebrities

Kirk Douglas was born Issur Danielovich and also used the name Izzy Demsky growing up and changed his name to Kirk Douglas while doing summer stock theater.

Doris Day was born Doris Mary Ann Kapplehoff 86 years ago and the late Danny Thomas pictured with her was born Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yakhoob on January 6, 1912 and was also known as Amos Jacobs before changing his name to Danny Thomas. He and his wife are buried on the grounds of St. Jude's Hospital which he supported many years.

The late Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois. He changed his name to Ben Benny when a violinist named Jan Kubelik whose last name was similar to Kubelsky and he thought Benny's comedy act would damage his reputation. He had to change his name again when comedian Ben Bernie threatened to sue him because of his name being so similar so he changed his name to Jack Benny.

Chubby Checker was born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was given the nickname Chubby by his boss at the Produce Market where he worked and would later have Checker added to his name by the wife of Dick Clark and he has recorded mostly dance songs during his entire career including The Twist which was named the No.1 chart hit by Billboard Magazine among all songs recorded between 1958 and 2008.

In the coming months and years there will be more posts about the real names of celebrities. This comprehensive list of celebrities who changed their names for different reasons.

http://celebrityalmanac.com/realnames.html

Some of the facts learned while looking at the list are that the late Tammy Wynette’s real name was Wynette Pugh and used her real first name for her last name and that Harry Morgan of Dragnet and MASH fame was born Harry Bratsburg and the late Dean Martin was born Dino Crocetti.

Manual Typewriters Almost Extinct

Manual typewriters like this should be extinct in the coming years as computers make it easier to type and make corrections without having to align paper.

Manual typewriters are coming closer to extinction as electronic typewriters and computers make it much easier to type than the typewriters baby boomers grew up with.

Sticking keys, making corrections and changing ribbons were just some of the headaches connected with using a manual typewriter. However they were the only way to write a letter besides handwritten letters and used in offices till the word processors and computers made a manual typewriter obsolete.

Electronic typewriters are still being sold today but the typewriter pictured is thought to be the first commercially sold typewriter in 1870.

The Hansen Writing Ball the first commercially sold typewriter first sold in 1870.

Electric typewriters were manufactured as early as 1902. The QWERTY keyboard first was used in 1874 and is still the standard for most keyboards built today.

Corrections are much easier using computers than the manual typewriters. Instead of dealing with an correction paper an error can be corrected on a computer in a matter of seconds.

There may be manual typewriters still in use but most offices today use computers to expedite typing of documents and business letters.

Jerry Lewis pretending to be using a typewriter in Who’s Minding the Store movie.

Chuck Connors: Actor, Athlete

The tombstone of Chuck Connors located at San Fernando Mission Cemetery near Los Angeles, California mentions both his acting career with the inscription The Rifleman and logos of professional baseball and basketball teams he played for before turning to acting on a fulltime basis before dying 18 years ago.

Chuck Connors was born Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors on April 10, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. He picked up the name Chuck from his days as a first baseman when he would tell the other players to “chuck it to me”.

Chuck Connors who grew up in Brooklyn was a Dodgers fan but only played in one game for the Dodgers before being traded to the Chicago Cubs.

The Brooklyn Dodgers signed Connors in 1940 but he only played in one major league game for the Dodgers  in 1949 and was then traded to the Chicago Cubs where he played in 66 games in 1951.

He batted .239 for the Cubs in 1951 and had an OBP of .282 slugged .303. He would never play in another major league game after the 1951 season.

Connors played minor league baseball for nine seasons hitting for a respectable .289 average. He hit 108 home runs during his minor league career. His best season was 1949 when he hit 20 home runs and drove in 108 runs and hit .319 for the Montreal Royals.

Chuck Connors pictured in his Boston Celtics uniform played for the Celtics in their inaugural 1946-1947 season and also played for them in the 1947-1948 season.

Connors made his big screen debut in 1952 in Pat and Mike which starred Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. He continued to appear in movies and television till he signed to star in The Rifleman.

Chuck Connors starred as The Rifleman from 1958-1963 in 168 episodes.

He beat out 40 actors for the role of Lucas McCain in The Rifleman. Johnny Crawford played the role of his son. He would play baseball sometimes with Connors but said it was hard to find the ball after Connors hit it.

It was the singular achievement of his career but stayed busy after the show ended making appearances in numerous movies and television shows.

The show was No.4 in the ratings during the first year. Connors wrote four of The Rifleman episodes.

Leonid Brezhnev made a trip to the United States and asked only to meet one person and that person was Chuck Connors. There was only one U.S. television show allowed on Russian television and it was The Rifleman which was Brezhev’s favorite show.

This quote by Connors from Life.com shows that Connors also liked Brezhnev:

Chuck who said in 1973: The President gave me about two dozen presidential tie clips and ladies’ pins, with instructions to spread them around when I thought it appropriate, Brezhnev will get more than a tie clip. I’ve ordered two engraved Colt revolvers  for the General Secretary, Brezhnev is quite a western buff. (Source: Life.com)

Connors was a heavy smoker and he died from pneumonia due to lung cancer on November 10, 1971 in Los Angeles. Johnny Crawford was one of those who spoke at the funeral.

Ourchuckconnors.com has manyphotos and  statements by those who knew Chuck:

http://www.ourchuckconnors.com/Memories.html

Dove Brothers Quartet: Get Away Jordan

I will never forget seeing the Dove Brothers Quartet singing Get Away Jordan the first time in Texarkana, Texas in 1999.  I have never seen a crowd so much into a song as they were when this song was sung.

The video is from a Bill Gaither Homecoming video and Burman Porter the bass, John Rulapaugh the tenor and Richard Simmons the pianist are no longer with the quartet.

Dove Brothers Quartet: I Can Pray

Dove Brothers Quartet singing I Can Pray one of the best songs written.

Statesmen Quartet: You Sho Do Need Him Now

Hovie Lister and the Statesmen Quartet sing the You Sho Do Need Him Now one of the southern gospel classics.

Ricky Nelson Would Be 70 If Still Living

Ricky Nelson singing Fools Rush In 47 years ago in 1963 and James Burton the guitarist on his right later played in the Elvis Presley band.

It is hard to believe that Ricky Nelson would be 70 years old if still alive but his life ended tragically on New Year’s Eve of 1985 when the plane he was traveling in crashed in DeKalb, Texas. There were rumors that the crash was caused by Nelson freebasing cocaine but later it was attributed to mechanical problems.

His fiancee Helen Blair was also killed in the crash. She was already cocaine-addicted when Nelson met her. His first wife Kris Nelson was the sister of NCIS star Mark Harmon.

Nelson is thought of as the clean cut youth that appeared on Ozzie and Harriet but in his adult years became a drug user that would take drugs till his life ended.

Ricky singing Garden Party in 1985  which recounted in song a  oldies concert in 1971 at Madison Square Garden in which Ricky sang new songs rather than the oldies the concertgoers had came to hear.

Before 1985 ended Nelson died on the last day of the year in the plane crash in which seven would die but both pilots survived.

Fame has it’s advantages but for Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley that fame brought an early death to both of them in their 40′s.

Great Depression Photos

The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn that lasted from 1929 to 1940 in most countries. The U.S. stock market started falling on September 4, 1929 and culminated on Black Tuesday on October  29 when the stock market crashed.

Unemployment rose 607 percent from 1929-1932 in the United States. Investors could buy a $10 stock for only $1 at the time of the stock market crash and when the brokers requested the balance to be paid the investors didn’t have the money to pay the brokers.

The following photos tell the story of the Great Depression better than words could ever say: