America has lost another comedy icon of the early days of television, with the passing of Jonathan Winters today at the age of 87 in Montecito, California. Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio on November 11, 1925.
The thing I remember most about Jonathan Winters were the funny faces he could make. He first made a name for himself in stand-up comedy and released 22 comedy albums from 1960-2011.
His first television appearance appearing as someone other than himself was when he appeared, on Omnibus in 1954. He was heard on one old-time radio show Monitor in 1959, before old-time radio died on September 30, 1962.
Winters appeared in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963. This is physical comedy at its best as Winters levels a service station singlehandedly and he earned $130,000 for his appearance in the movie. :
He later appeared as Mearth on Mork and Mindy television series. His last movie appearance was as Papa on Smurfs 2, which is in post-production. He was to have appeared in Big Finish, but it is in pre-production, so he won’t be seen in that film.
Many of his best known television appearances were Tonight Show, Jack Paar Show and Hollywood Squares.
The world has lost of the best improvisational comics ever. Jonathan Winters will be missed by a legion of fans.
The Celebrity Net Worth website lists 80 year-old Petula Clark as being worth $10 million. Clark has now been singing for 74 years. When I think of Petula Clark I think of her hit song Downtown.
Fabian – $25 Million
Fabian Forte known only as Fabian by most rock and roll fans was 70 last February and although he may not have a lot of hit songs he made his mark in the movies, appearing in a total of 45 movies and TV shows from 1959-1996. Celebrity Net Worth lists Fabian’s net worth at $25 million.
Prince Michael Joseph Jackson – $100 Million
Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. may be only 16, but he is already worth $100 million.. He may or may not have access to that money now, but his financial security is insured, if he doesn’t go through his money too fast.
Connie Francis – $25 Million
The net worth of Connie Francis is listed at $25 million despite the fact that she only had three No.1 hits in her 70 year career. The 74-year-old Francis had her first No.1 hit in My Heart’s Got A Mind Of Its Own in 1960. Her next No. 1 hit was released in 1961 when Together was No.1 on adult contemporary chart and her last No. 1 hit was Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You which reached No.1 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Francis has not even released an album since 1969. One of her best known songs was Who’s Sorry Now, but it peaked at No.4 for her first Top 10 hit in 1957.
Her biggest regret was not marrying Bobby Darin, after her dad chased Darin out of a building at gunpoint. He then said Darin was out of their lives, when the news of his marriage was broadcast on the radio. Francis said she wished their car had been filled with water, while driving in the Lincoln Tunnel and hoping her father would both be killed.
Gordon Lightfoot in 1967 – $30 Million
The 74 year-old Gordon Lightfoot is listed as being worth $30 million. Lightfoot has been singing since 1956 at the age of 18. Bob Dylan said Lightfoot was one of his favorite songwriters. He wrote Early Morning Rain, which was covered by many well-known singers including Elvis Presley.
His first No.1 song was If You Could Read My Mind, which reached No.1 in Canada in 1970. His other No. 1 hits on Canadian pop charts were Sundown in 1974 and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald in 1976. Lightfoot had nine songs reach No.1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Sundown was the only Lightfoot song to reach No.1 on the U.S. pop charts, but he placed four songs on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts.
He released his last album All Live on Rhino Records in 2012. It includes most of his most well-known hits in this list from Wikipedia:
When I think of Henry Kulky I think of him playing Otto Schmidlap on Life of Riley television series in 16 episodes from 1953-1958.
Kulky was born Henry Kulakowich on August 11, 1911 in Hastings – on – Hudson, New York. He died February 12, 1965 in Oceanside, California at the age of 53.
He was a professional wrestler using the name Bomber Kulkavich, before he made his first movie. You would never guess it by looking at him, but he played the piano in San Clemente, California night spots.
Kulky was extra busy from 1953-1958, since he also appeared in six episodes of Ozzie and Harriet during those years.
His movie career started in 1947, when he appeared in A Likely Story. Kulky’s movie career really took off in 1949, when he appeared in nine films. He would add eight more films to his resume in 1950, with him appearing in 17 movies during 1949 and 1950. 1951 and 1952 were also busy years for Kulky with seventeen more film appearances. He also appeared in the Abbott and Costello, Racket Squad and Adventures of Superman shows in 1952. From 1947-1952 he had appeared in 39 movies and three television shows.
He continued to appear in films and television shows during the rest of the 50′s and would appear in six Red Skelton shows from 1956-1961.
Kulky is best known for his portrayal of Chief Max Bronsky in the Hennessey television series, which ran from 1959-1962, in which he appeared in 46 episodes. He appeared in 22 episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea television series from 1964 till the year of his death in 1965. Kulky appeared in a total of over 80 movies, in only 17 years of being in the movies.
I had no idea that Kulky was such a prolific actor, before researching for this article.
This website has more info on the career of Kulky, but the wrestling numbers don’t jive, with one portion saying he was 172-3 as a wrestler, while another part says he wrestled in 7,000 matches.
For some reason my memory of the 1986-1990 period in my life is drawing a blank for the most part. Anyone with memories of what happened in Pineville-Alexandria during these years are welcome to comment.
1986 – Halley’s comet appeared in 1986 and won’t reappear till the year 2061. It had last appeared before 1986 in 1911. IBM launches the first laptop computer 27 years ago. Smoking was banned on all public transportation, in the United States which had to be tough for smokers on coast to coast airplane flights. The nicotine patch was invented in 1986. A Plymouth Colt could be purchased for $4,999. A gallon of gas only cost 89 cents. Average rent was $385 a month. Top Gun, Platoon and Crocodile Dundee were popular movies in 1986.
1987 – A Private First Class in the Army was earning $9,385.20 a year. When I joined the Army in 1962 a recruit earned $936 a year as a E-1. A gallon of gas was 89 cents, the same price as in 1986. The U.S. stock market crashed on October 19 with a 508 point drop. Fox Broadcasting made its debut 26 years ago. A seven-day Caribbean cruise cost $1195.
1988 – The price of a gallon of gasoline remained relatively stable, rising to only 91 cents, after being 89 cents the previous two years. Movie tickets were $3.50 and average rent was now $420. Yellowstone National Park had 250 separate fires in 1988 that destroyed 793,880 acres of the park, which was a third of the total acreage of the park. A Logitech mouse cost $89.99, while a Amiga 500 with a color monitor cost $849.
1989 – I had surgery in July of 1989 at Rapides Hospital. I would be off work for six weeks. I would then work from 1989-2004 at the Town Talk , while missing a total of one day of work and was in the hospital that day, after being admitted from emergency room, due to emergency room physician thinking I may had a blood clot, but it turned out to be a muscle tear. I think I got my work ethic from my dad who didn’t miss a day of work over a 40 year period.
That same month before the surgery I had gone to grocery store to get snacks to watch the 1989 All Star game. By the time I got back an earthquake had hit the San Francisco area and film was being shown of the players leaving the stadium with their families. Then we saw hours of coverage of the devastation in the area. Hard to believe 24 years have passed since that date.
Other big news in 1989 is that the Yugo cars went bankrupt. The Yugo is 39th on the list of worst cars in history. One feature was the rear window defroster, which kept your hands warm, while you pushed it. The car looked like it had been assembled at gunpoint. The article also has this to say about the Yugo:
The engines went ka-blooey, the electrical system — such as it was — would sizzle, and things would just fall off.
1990 – I think this is the year my son Steve played football for the Pineville High School Rebels. He played end and endured practices from summer till the end of the season, but only played in the last game of the season, for only one play and the worst thing is that his mom had left the stadium, by the time he played in the game and I was at work, so no family member was there to see him in that one play. I still respect his work ethic to stick with it all season, even if he didn’t get to play but in that one play.
Gasoline had skyrocketed to $1.34 by 1990. Today gasoline is in the $3.25 range in our area. A Super Nintendo cost $159. Cabbage Patch Kids were $29.99. A six volt Batman car could be purchased for $199 and had a top speed of 3 MPH. A Smith Corona Daisy Wheel Typewriter could be purchased for $179, while a cellular car phone could be bought for $325.
George Strait and Alan Jackson singing Murder on Music Row.
The best known version of Murder on Music Row was recorded by George Strait and Alan Jackson, but was originally recorded by Larry McCordle and Lonesome Standard Time.
The following link takes you to a website where the lyrics are shown and you can hear George and Alan singing the words and sing along with them if you want.
I had liked country music over the years, but really got interested after seeing Your Cheatin’ Heart the life story of Hank Williams Sr. The movie told the life story of Hank Williams Sr. in a way that showed his struggles on the way to the top and how his drinking habit caused him to lose jobs and probably caused his early death at the age of 29, in the backseat of a car on the way to a concert. The part I best remember was when the audience found out Hank had died enroute to the concert and started singing ” I Saw The Light . ” which was the most poignant part of the movie.
When I saw the movie in the 60′s when stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii it jump started my collection of country music record albums.
I particularly liked Buck Owens and Buckaroos and at one time owned fifteen of their albums. I became a Ernest Tubb fan and bought his Ernest Tubb Life Story Album, which contained many of his older songs from the World War II era. Songs like Filipino Baby, Driftwood on the River, Rainbow at Midnight and others brought home what it was like for soldiers during World War II.
It was exciting to be able to buy a record album of Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn, when they appeared in concert as a duet in Alexandria, Louisiana and to top it off both of them autographed their albums. I was struck by how beautiful Loretta Lynn was in person.
Country Music Not the Same
Country music isn’t the same today. You might hear a few traditional singers like George Strait, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Randy Travis, but for the most part traditional country music has died. Like the song says murder was committed on Music Row and is being committed with each release of this non-traditional music.
I couldn’t name one country song from 2012, since I spend my time listening to the old music on my MP3 player of George Strait, Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubb, Porter Wagoner, George Jones and others previously mentioned in this article. There are no songs that stand out like He Stopped Loving Her Today, Take This Job and Shove It, Heartaches by the Number, Hello Darlin’, Together Again, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Welcome To My World, Okie From Muskogee, Big City and the great George Strait songs from the 80′s and 90′s.
So if you want to start a collection of traditional country music at its best, then this is the time to start. I found a 99 song Ernest Tubb collection for only $11.02 used. I bought this collection two or three years ago at a good price from Amazon. I have bought many used CD’s from Amazon dealers and have never had a CD that didn’t work. It might pay to compare prices with eBay dealers.
Chuck Barris is best known for hosting the Gong Show at various times from 1976-1989. However, Barris told of his life as a CIA hitman in his so-called unauthorized 1984 biography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
The book was made into a movie, by the same name starring George Clooney has the Barris character portrayed by Sam Rockwell killing 33 people. The movie cost $29 million to make and earned only $16 million in the U.S.
Charles Hirsch Barris was born on June 3, 1929 in Oakland, New Jersey and is presently 83 years old.
A Time magazine article on January 7, 2003 disputes the veracity of his claim. Barris has failed to answer questions about his allegations. The most telling aspect to me is that a CIA spokesman has made this statement: “It is ridiculous and absolutely not true”. On the other hand CIA probably would not reveal if Barris had been a CIA hitman, due to the secretiveness of the CIA.
We may never know if his claims about being a CIA hitman are true, since he refuses to discuss the subject.
Barris was a songwriter, who wrote Palisades Park, which peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1962.
Dating Game fans will be interested to know that he was the creator of the show.
Michael J. Pollard may not be a household name, but anyone that ever saw him in a film or television show instantly will recognize his face.
He always reminded me of a kid that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and his face said that he knew no excuse to extricate himself from the situation.
Pollard was born Michael John Pollack Jr. in Passaic New Jersey on May 30, 1939. He has been acting since 1959 and is still active 53 years later in 2012.
He was married to Beth Howland, who television fans will remember her playing Vera on the Alice situation comedy. They were married from 1961-1969.
Since Pollard was only 5′ 6″ he had to play youthful roles into his 20′s.
One of the most hilarious shows I have seen him in is the April 30,1962 episode of Andy Griffith, when he played Barney Fife’s cousin Virgil who could do nothing right. He was 22 when this episode was filmed.
Fate intervened when he was cast as Jerome Krebs the weird cousin of Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis Show, portrayed by Bob Denver, when Denver was going to be drafted in the Army. However, Denver soon returned when he was classified 4-F, which resulted in the dismissal of Pollard from the series.
Once again fate handed Pollard more bad news, when after starring as Hugo Peabody in the Broadway version of Bye Bye Birdie the role was given to Bobby Rydell, when the role was changed to require a singer.
Pollard played a 14-year-old despite being 27 in a Star Trek episode, when he played Jahn in the “Miri” episode.
He played C.J. Moss in the Bonnie and Clyde film in 1967 and would receive an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Three years later he starred in Little Fauss and Big Halsey with Robert Redford. Another memorable role was when he played the homeless man who thought Bill Murray was Richard Burton in the 1988 film Scrooged.
This more recent photo of Pollard shows he is the same Michael J. Pollard, just a little older. He is still very busy at 73 having released Sunburnt Angels in 2011, completed The Woods this year and is filming The Next Cassavetes presently.
Even though Pollard is not that well-known, actor Michael J. Fox inserted the J in the middle of his name out of respect to Michael J. Pollard.
He made his first television appearance in 1959 appearing in the DuPont Show of the Month in the “Human Comedy” episode. He made his film debut the same year in It Happened To Jane but was uncredited.
This list compiled by the Internet Movie Database shows that Pollard has been a prolific actor for many years and his resume will bring back memories of the television shows we grew up with and a few of the movies we remember seeing him in.
Phyllis Diller has died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles California. Diller died Monday, August 20 at her home.
Diller paved the way for female stand-up comediennes when she took up comedy at the age of 37.
She was born Phyllis Ava Driver in Lima, Ohio on July 17, 1917. Her mom Frances Ada Driver was born in 1881 and her father Perry Marcus Driver was born during the Civil War in 1862.
She pursued a career as a pianist attending Sherwood Music Conservatory in Chicago for three years, but eventually gave up on a career as a musician.
Diller launched her career in an unlikely place, the neighborhood laundromat as she told stories of her life at home and eventually was asked to do her comedy act at PTA meetings.
When she made her comedy club debut in 1938 at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, her two-week engagement lasted a year-and-a-half.
She was seen in many television shows and movies over the years:
Phyllis Diller appearing on Ed Sullivan Show 43 years ago in 1969.
She has appeared with 100 symphony orchestras across the United States as a guest piano soloist.
Female comediennes today like Joan Rivers, Ellen Degeneres and others owe a debt of gratitude to Diller, since there were very few female stand-up comediennes when Diller hit the comedy circuit.
Plastic surgery became another source for comedy material, after she had fifteen surgical procedures done according to her 2005 autobiography.
Since Diller has been out of the spotlight for many years, we may have forgotten just how good of a comedienne that she was.
The world has lost another voice of laughter, at a time when the world could use more laughter, instead of less.
Skyliners released Since I Don’t Have You in December of 1958.
The Skyliners hit Since I Don’t Have You reached No.12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. Personally, it is my favorite doo-wop song ever to be recorded.
It was amazing that they recorded their first hit, in the first year of the group. The group stayed together till 1963, then re-formed in 1974 and have been active since then. The Skyliners still have a busy schedule of performances, mainly performing at doo-wop revival concerts across the country.
This is the original group recording of Since I Don’t Have You from 1959:
I was in my second year of high school in 1959 and hearing it today brought memories of those days to mind.
This is The Skyliners singing their signature hit 46 years later in 2005. Jimmy Beaumont is still the lead singer, all these years later in this concert, at the Sands Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Janet Vogel one of the singers in the group died a tragic death, of carbon monoxide poisoning on February 21, 1980. Her story was made into a movie Since I Don’t Have You, that will be released in September of this year. This trailer from the movie shows how tragic of a life Janet had, before her suicide and the backstage story of her life as a singer with the Skyliners.
The movie shows that there is a price to pay for success and the toll it takes on a child, who grows up in a musical environment.
A young Robert Smith before he became known as Wolfman Jack, a rock and roll disc jockey.
Robert Weston Smith was born January 21, 1938 in Brooklyn New York. He became better known as Wolfman Jack, when he adopted that name while broadcasting on KCIJ, a country and western radio station. located in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1962.
Part of the inspiration for the Wolfman Jack personna was derived from the style of bluesman Howlin’ Wolf. His love of horror films also influenced him in becoming Wolfman while he picked up the Jack part of his name from hipster lingo, which commonly mentioned Jack.
This is the way most rock and roll fans remember Wolfman Jack.
Wolfman Jack moved to XERF a powerful 250,000 watts station in Mexico. U.S. radio stations were limited to only 50,000 watts. A car driving from New York to California reportedly would never lose the station during the trip.
After eight months in Mexico, Wolfman Jack was managing a Minneapolis radio station, while still sending his tapes to XERF for broadcast in Mexico. He then moved to Los Angeles in 1966 and sent his tapes to another border blasting station XERB in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
His popularity was so widespread that artists like Freddy King, Todd Rundgren and Guess Who wrote songs about the Wolfman. George Lucas a film-maker was a Wolfman Jack fan and included a scene in his movie American Graffitti with Richard Dreyfuss walking into his radio station. The Wolfman pretends to not be the Wolfman in this scene:
He was the regular announcer on the Midnight Special on the NBC television network. He is seen on Midnight Special, while the Guess Who sing a song about the Wolfman.
Wolfman Jack died on July 1, 1995 in Belvidere, North Carolina from a massive heart attack. He reportedly had just finished a promotional tour for a book, when he arrived home and died in his wife’s arms.
Music had changed after 1962 and Wolfman Jack said the happy music ended in 1962. Music became a part of the war protests of the 60′s and he longed for the days of happy songs like Short Fat Fanny, as he chose this song to illustrate a happier type of music.
One last clip that lets you hear Wolfman Jack in action:
James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion Indiana. His father moved the family to California, but he sent James to live with an aunt and uncle in Indiana, when his mother died.
Dean appeared in five movies from 1951-1952, but they were all uncredited appearances. Meanwhile, he was appearing in many television series and in live theater television productions.
He also appeared in live drama productions on television, including I’m A Fool which was shown on GE Theater. The production also starred Natalie Wood, when it was shown on November 14, 1954.
Dean’s next movie East of Eden would be released in April of 1955. Dean who appearing in his first starring role as Cal Trask would be nominated, for Best Actor Award for his role. He was nominated posthumously, becoming the first actor ever nominated after his death.
James Dean and Julie Harris in a scene from East of Eden:
James Dean refused to attend the premiere of East of Eden, which almost caused him, to lose his lead role in Rebel Without a Cause. Dean beat out Paul Newman for the role of Cal Trask, when they both were in the same scene, during the screen test.
East of Eden was the only one of Dean’s best known movies to be released before his death.
Rebel Without a Cause
Later in 1955, Dean and Wood would be paired again in the movie Rebel Without a Cause. This movie made a huge impression on me, when I saw it on television. I can still remember the planetarium scene in the movie.
This first clip from Rebel Without a Cause shows James Dean and Natalie Wood:
Romantic scene with James and Natalie:
Natalie Wood is the starter for a chicken race between James Dean and the villain:
James Dean is remembered for his role in Rebel Without a Cause, but Natalie Wood would be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Judy, while Sal Mineo would be nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Plato.
Some interesting trivia about the movie: Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) had submitted a script considered for the movie, but was rejected. Jayne Mansfield and Debbie Reynolds were both considered for the Natalie Wood role of Judy.
The three stars of the movie all met tragic deaths, with James Dean dying in a car accident, Natalie Wood dying in a drowning accident, which is still being investigated by the Los Angeles police and Sal Mineo who was stabbed to death. The policeman (Edward Platt) who knocks down Dean in the police station scene, would take his own life in later years. Platt is best remembered for his role as Control Chief on Get Smart television series.
Giant
James Dean would be nominated for Best Leading Actor Oscar posthumously, for his role as Jett Rink in Giant, while Rock Hudson also was nominated for Best Leading Actor. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, but only director George Stevens won an Oscar for Best Director.
James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor seen in a scene from Giant.
James telling Rock Hudson’s character and the others that he just struck oil:
Nick Adams provided the voice for Dean in some lines, due to Dean dying before production ended. Hudson had been given a choice, between Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor and chose Taylor.
Giant was the highest grossing movie for Warner Bros. until Superman was released. Sal Mineo who had appeared in Rebel Without a Cause was also cast in Giant.
Death
Dean was forbidden to race during the filming of Giant. He had been a successful car racer at the Palm Springs Road Races and had won some races and had placed in the top two in some other races.
He was eager to impress actor Alex Guinness with his new car, a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder and showed the famous actor his car. Guinness was not impressed and made this prophetic statement and told Dean ”If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.” Dean was dead seven days later after having been hit in a head-on collision.
This is all that remained of James Dean’s Porsche after the September 30, 1955 accident that ended his life at the age of 24.
September 30, 1955 started off as a normal day for Dean, as he planned to put his Porsche on a trailer on way to racetrack, but his mechanic Walter Wutherich thought it would be better for Dean to drive it to Salinas, California, so he could get used to being in the driver’s seat. Dean was stopped at 3:30 PM PDT for speeding, since he had been driving 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone.
It was at approximately 5:45 PDT that Dean noticed a 1950 Ford Custom coupe coming toward him at a high rate of speed. He tried to maneuver his Porsche to avoid a direct hit, when the driver Donald Turnupseed crossed the middle line, causing him to hit Dean’s car head-on.
Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Pablo Robles Memorial Hospital, which was 28 miles from the crash scene. Surprisingly Turnupseed only suffered facial bruises and a bloodied nose from the accident. He was well enough to walk and hitch-hike on his way to Tulare, California.
Legacy
James Dean’s death at the age of 24 raised a lot of questions. Would he have went on to become one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history? We will never know the answer to that question.
What we do know is that is that from 1951-1955 he left behind memories of him being on Broadway, on television and in the movies. His most memorable movies were released in 1955 and 1956, when Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant were released.
Many actors never are nominated for an Academy Award in their entire career, yet Dean was nominated twice for two of the three movies he appeared in over a two-year span.
Rebel Without a Cause best exemplified for me the James Dean I remember, as a troubled youth in that movie, that couldn’t find happiness in a troubled world.
Ernest Borgnine has died in Los Angeles at the age of 95 due to renal failure. He was born as Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut. His wife of 39 years Tovah survived him. Borgnine served in the U.S. Navy from 1935-1945. His mom talked him into pursuing an acting career and he appeared as a male nurse in Harvey on Broadway in 1951.
Ernest Borgnine as seen in a scene in From Here To Eternity.
Two years later Borgnine appeared in the movie From Here To Eternity in 1953 as Sgt. Fatso Judson. Borgnine had appeared in three movies in 1951, including China Corsair, The Whistle At Eaton Falls and The Mob.
He also made his television debut in 1951 in Captain Video and His Video Rangers. He appeared in many television programs includingtwo episodes of Waterfront in 1954.
Burt Lancaster introduces this trailer for the movie Marty that won Ernest Borgnine an
Academy Award.
Borgnine’s twelfth movie Marty would win him a Best Actor Oscar defeating much better known actors in James Cagney, James Dean, Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy. Marty was only one of six movies that Borgnine would make in 1955.
1956-1961 would be busy years for Borgnine as the free-lanced in television, while making movies on the side. Then he won the starring role in the television series McHale’s Navy. The show would run from 1962-1966 and the show’s popularity caused his marriage to Broadway star Ethel Merman to last only 32 days, since she couldn’t handle seeing him receive the adulation of the fans. She devoted a chapter of her life story, to her marriage to Borgnine which consisted of one blank page.
After McHale’s Navy ended he appeared in an episode of three different television shows, then acted in 12 consecutive movies before appearing in a TV movie The Trackers.
Ernest Borgnine describes his experiences filming Poseidon Adventure.
Borgnine appeared in the blockbuster Poseidon Adventure in 1972. Airwolf would be his next television series that lasted more than a few episodes, with Borgnine appearing in 55 episodes from 1984-1986.
He mostly acted in movies till he appeared in Single Guy which ran from 1995-1997.
One constant of Borgnine’s career was that he made a lot of movies from his first one in 1951 to his last one The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez, which was completed this year and is in post-production. His movie career spanned 61 years from his first movie to his last one.
This list of his movie and television appearances shows just how a prolific an actor, that Ernest Borgnine was:
One thing about Ernest Borgnine that most fans don’t know is that he was the first center square in the history of the Hollywood Squares television program.
Other interesting facts about Ernest Borgnine:
He is only actor to appear in all four Dirty Dozen movies.
Lives in same home that he bought in 1965, living there till his death 47 years later.
Earned only $5,000 for his role in Marty, which won him the Academy Award.
His wife Tovah who survived him was 25 years younger than Borgnine.
Just a few quotes from Ernest Borgnine at imdb.com
[on why he wanted to star in "McHale's Navy" (1962)]: Theater business was disappearing and so were night clubs, which I don’t like to play anyway because they keep me up too late. There were TV guest shots, but how many times can you play Ed Sullivan? My biggest pay was from industrial shows, but they don’t come along too often.
Where can we find the great actors we had yesteryear, guys like Spencer Tracy and Gary Cooper and Edward G. Robinson? You know, I was talking to Lee Marvin the other day and we agreed that we were the last of a breed. We’re the last who had the opportunity of working with these fine actors. I feel very humble. It makes me feel that I’ve got to try that bit harder.
Ernest Borgnine may have only won one Academy Award, but that doesn’t mean none of his other movies haven’t entertained theater goers, who saw his movies for the last 61 years and enjoyed watching McHale’s Navy on television.
His New York Times obituary tells more about the life of Ernest Borgnine:
The late Andy Griffith in a scene from No Time For Sergeants.
The first time I heard of Andy Griffith was when he appeared in the movie No Time For Sergeants. He played Will Stockdale a mountain boy, who is drafted into the U.S. Army. He had already played the part in the Broadway play by the same name three years, before the 1958 movie was released.
The funniest scene of the movie to me was when he was named PLO (Permanent Latrine Orderly). He rigged the toilet seats to stand up all at once, which shocked the inspecting officer to say the least. However, this scene of him being tested by a corporal for manual dexterity may be even funnier. Don Knotts plays the corporal, who is utterly frustrated by the way Andy’s character Will Stockdale puts the two links together. Don Knotts appears at about the 1:15 mark.
I hadn’t even known Andy Griffith had appeared in A Face in the Crowd in 1957, in a dramatic role unlike the Andy Griffith I had known in No Time For Sergeants and on the Andy Griffith show.
Andy received top billing in the movie portraying an Arkansas hobo Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes who becomes rich overnight. This is a scene from A Face In The Crowd:
Made Television Debut On U.S. Steel Hour
Andy had made his television debut on the U.S. Steel Hour when he played Will Stockdale on television. He played the role on Broadway, on television and in the movies, which probably has not been done very often, by any actor in the same role.
He also made the movie Onionhead in 1958, so it was a very busy year for him.
Danny Thomas Show Role As Sheriff
Andy got a big break when he appeared on a Danny Thomas episode in 1960, where Danny is given a ticket, by a small-town sheriff. Andy is perplexed when he finds out that Andy is not only the sheriff, but also the justice of the peace.
The Danny Thomas episode led to the formation of the Andy Griffith show which was shown that same year, on the CBS television network. 249 episodes later the Andy Griffith show would complete its run.
He appeared on Mayberry RFD for two years, then had two series fail in short order, when Headmaster lasted 13 episodes in 1970, followed by the New Andy Griffith show which lasted only 10 episodes. He didn’t return to another series until 1979 when Salvage One only last 19 episodes. He had appeared in three series since leaving Mayberry RFD, but only 42 shows were made of those three series combined.
Seven years later Andy tried again for a hit series and he struck gold with Matlock which ran from 1986-1995. He appeared in various television series and movies till he made his last acting appearance in Play the Game in 2009 at the age of 83.
Andy non only was an actor, but recorded gospel songs. This is Andy singing How Great Thou Art:
I looked at Andy Griffith and saw a role model, for the right way to live life.
My wife and daughter surprised me in 2006, when we went to Mt. Airy, N.C. to see Andy’s boyhood home. I didn’t know we were going to stay there that night and it was the surprise of my life, when I found out we were actually spending the night there. Hampton Inn rents out the home to tourists and it was something I will never forget. I even played baseball with my grandson in Andy’s backyard.
The late Andy Griffith’s boyhood home in Mt. Airy, NC.
Andy had also made some comedy records early in his career. I had the record that has him giving his impression of seeing his first football game. He said in his monologue that 5 or 6 convicts were running up and down the field blowing whistles. The game was played in a cow pasture and Andy concludes saying that the object of the game must be to keep from being knocked down or stepping in something.
The only remaining actors still alive from Andy Griffith are Jim “Gomer Pyle” Nabors and Betty “Thelma Lou” Lynn.
I was 15 when the first Andy Griffith show was televised in 1960 and was 23 when the last show aired, so have been watching Andy Griffith during the first eight original years and in 44 years of re-runs.
Kenny Rogers as he appeared when singing with First Edition.
Kenny Rogers was born August 21, 1938 in Houston, Texas. Rogers is in his sixth decade of being in the music business, starting the mid 50′s with the The Scholars, which was disbanded and Rogers struck out on his own.
Kenny singing That Crazy Feeling in 1958 on Carlton Records singing in the doo-wop style.
Only 194 people have viewed this video of Kenny Rogers at the House of Blues, which apparently was on the Disney Channel sometime in the past. He is seen early in the video singing Walkin’ My Baby Back Home a 1931 song and nothing like a song, you would expect him to sing. He is shown playing the upright bass in another song at the 14:25 mark in the video.
When he sings When I Fall In Love, one of the girls in the audience rests her head on the shoulder of the man, that she is sitting with, which demonstrates the emotion which Rogers sings with carries over to the listeners. He sings another song from the past, in I Get Along Without You Very Well a 1939 tune, penned by Hoagy Carmichael and demonstrates the gift of Rogers to sing any genre. At 43:53 in the video Rogers sings perhaps the best rendition of I Remember You, that I have ever heard sung.
The video is interspersed with Kenny telling about the highlights of his career. Clips from the past are shown, in addition to him singing at the House of Blues, with the backing of a string orchestra. The video shows Kenny singing Sweet Home Chicago, showing Kenny can sing blues music too. He also sings some of his big hits like Lady and The Gambler. This video is worth watching, because it shows how multi-talented Kenny is and helps bring home the fact, that he may be one of the best singers, to ever walk on a stage.
This is why it is a mystery, why he has never been enshrined in the Country Music or Rock and Roll Hall of Fames. Maybe his crossover hits, prevented him from being defined into either category. One thing for sure is that he is going to sing well, regardless of what genre he is singing at any particular time.
Kenny Rogers seen while part of the Bobby Doyle Trio with Kenny on top, without his beard.
Kenny joined the New Christy Minstrels in 1966, but he left the folk group the next year to form the First Edition. The group’s best known hits were songs like Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town and my personal favorite Reuben James.
Kenny and the First Edition singing Reuben James.
Ten years later in 1976, Kenny would begin his solo career which is still going strong 36 years later.
1977 would produce his first No.1 hit in Lucille, which would be the first of many No.1 hits. He would have seven No.1 hits when the 1980′s started. Then he recorded his first song to be No.1 in U.S. Country, U.S. and Adult Contemporary, which was Lady and maybe his most popular song recorded and was written by Lionel Richie. 1983′s Islands in the Stream recorded as a duet with Dolly Parton placed first in all three of the categories again.
It has been 26 years since Kenny recorded a non-duet No.1 with his recording of Tomb of Unknown Love in 1986.
Kenny recorded many duets and eight of those songs made the Billboard charts.
Kenny singing Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer with Kim Carnes.
Kenny singing Islands In The Stream with Dolly Parton at the 25th anniversary of Dollywood in 2010.
Kenny and Dolly singing the same song a few years earlier.
Kenny and Dottie West singing Everytime Two Fools Collide
Yesterday, I found a Kenny Rogers DVD of his appearance on Live By Request on the CBS television network. I had given it to my wife for her birthday several years, but she had never gotten around to watching it till yesterday and that is why I am writing this article today.
I was surprised to look in my MP3 player and there wasn’t one Kenny Rogers song in the player. I will have to rectify that situation, as soon as possible but I do have a Kenny Rogers LP, which I hope to listen to today.
Any collection of Kenny Rogers hits would need to include Lady and The Gambler.
Kenny singing Lady in the Live By Request program on CBS television. Viewers called in any Kenny Rogers song they wanted to hear and Kenny would sing it.
Kenny singing one of his classics The Gambler.
Kenny singing She Believes In Me.
Kenny singing Through The Years at Giants Stadium 26 years ago.
Kenny Rogers is not only a great singer, but is also a talented photographer. This short article shows some of his photography. Kenny is so well-respected in the photography field, that he has been a judge in a Digitial Camera’s Photographer of the Year competition, which is described in this undated article, but appears to have happened in 2011.
Kenny Rogers decided to have plastic surgery, when he married his wife Wanda Miller, that is 29 years younger than him. They are still married 15 years later. He has been married for 48 years combined, after five marriages. He has twin sons Justin and Jordan who will be 8 on July 6. His wife is a twin and both he and his wife have a history of twins in their families.
Kenny singing Love Or Something Like It at Bonaroo festival three weeks ago. Sorry for the poor sound quality, but thought readers would want to see Kenny is going strong at 73.
Kenny and Lionel Richie singing Lady after Kenny tells about the history of the song. If you only watch one video in this article this is the one to see. To see two professionals like Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie singing one of the greatest songs ever written, makes taking the time to watch it worth every minute.
No article on Kenny Rogers would be complete without mentioning his movie career. Kenny appeared in the The Gambler TV movies five times from 1980-1994, which again proved how talented Kenny is in any endeavor that he undertakes.
Kenny as he appeared in the series of The Gambler TV movies.
Not everything Kenny touched turned to gold, even though it may have in the early days, when his Kenny Rogers Roasters expanded to 350 restaurants in 1995. Three years later, the company was bankrupt and sold for $1.25 million. Kenny must have taken a financial bath, for the company to be sold for only $1.25 million. No Kenny Rogers Roasters remain open in the United States today.
The following article gives extensive details about the life of Kenny Rogers, but it may take close to an hour to read the entire article:
I knew Kenny Rogers was a successful singer, but only in the last two days have I learned, just how great he was and is still great today. It is safe to say that Kenny Rogers has made a lasting impression on many Americans, through his music and his acting. I have developed a new appreciation for Kenny Rogers and will be looking for his LP as soon as this is posted.
In closing it amazes me that Kenny Rogers is not in the Country Music Hall of Fame, even though he has had 21 country hits. Part of the problem is that maybe the voters who elect singers to the Country Music Hall of Fame don’t consider Rogers a pure country singer, but just sang songs that found their way to the top of the country charts.
In addition, I can’t see why he isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame either, because if any singer belongs, in both Hall of Fames it would be him. Hopefully he will be inducted to one or the other or both, while he is still with us and can enjoy being inducted, like so many others have in past years.
Jackie Gleason was best known for portraying Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners but also appeared on the big screen from 1941-1986.
Jackie Gleason grew up in Brooklyn, New York and didn’t have much of a childhood, with his father abandoning the family, when Gleason was eight years old. His mother died when he was 16. His brother Clemence had died when he was three, so Jackie was an only child during most of his childhood.
Jackie Gleason as he appeared in Larceny Inc. movie in 1942 at the age of 26.
Gleason’s first foray into the movies lasted only two years, but he appeared in nine movies in those two years, including Orchestra Wives and Larceny, Inc. Then he performed in nightclubs and appeared in some Broadway plays till he received his first television starring role in Life of Riley, portraying the title character. He was not really suited well for the role and it was cancelled, but revived when William Bendix, the voice of Riley on radio became the star of the show.
Jackie Gleason Orchestra Formed
Jackie Gleason saw there was a place for romantic music and formed the Jackie Gleason Orchestra. I have read that there was never an actual traveling Jackie Gleason Orchestra but this article proves that assumption is incorrect, since this review of a performance with Gleason proves they did travel to different venues. Music showed there was a serious side to Jackie Gleason. I was surprised to read that Gleason actually was conducting the orchestra. Bobby Hackett is the one playing the trumpet solos on most, if not all of his albums.
Music For Lovers, the debut album for the orchestra was a tremendous hit and showed their was a market for romantic music:
Gleason’s first album, Music for Lovers Only, still holds the record for the album staying the longest in the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums all sold over one million copies.[19]
I have his Best of Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra album and it includes these songs:
The now defunct Dumont Television network hired Gleason as summer host of Cavalcade of Stars. He handled the hosting duties so well, that he was named permanent host. He introduced his Ralph Kramden character during the series and the sketches would evolve into The Honeymooners in 1955.
Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows in a scene from The Honeymooners television series 1955-1956.
There is no doubt that The Honeymooners television series is what made Jackie Gleason a household word. The show centered around his character Ralph Kramden and the show was clearly focused on whatever hare-brained scheme, that he was planning at the time.
The Jackie Gleason Show was telecast from 1952-1957 and then revived again to run from 1966-1970. In between he also hosted the Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine from 1962-1966.
You’re In The Picture Bombs
Jackie Gleason did have one colossal failure, when he was the host of a new game show named You’re In The Picture in 1961. This article details the failure of the show the first week and how Gleason came back the second week with a new format:
1961 would see Gleason also have one of his biggest triumphs on the big screen in The Hustler. He played Minnesota Fats the pool hustler and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor but did not win. It was an awesome achievement, considering that he hadn’t appeared in a movie, since appearing in Desert Hawk in 1950.
He is seen with Paul Newman in this pool room scene from The Hustler:
The next year Gleason would return in Gigot, in which he played a mute and would be nominated for a Golden Globes Award as best actor. Gleason wrote the screenplay, starred and wrote the music for Gigot. Gleason was the only recognizable name in the entire cast of this movie. He is seen in this clip from Gigot:
Gleason also appeared in Requiem For A Heavyweight in 1962. He acted well in the movie, but failed to garner any nominations or awards, for his performance.
He appeared in Papa’s Delicate Condition and Soldier in the Rain in 1963 and wouldn’t appear in another movie, till he appeared in Skidoo in 1968. It is strange that he appeared in so many successful movies, than stopped his movie career for the next five years. He could be that filming his American Scene Magazine television show and appearing in movies was too much for him.
Next he appeared in How To Commit Marriage and Don’t Drink The Water in 1969, then took an eight year hiatus from making movies till 1977. He appeared in Mr. Billion and Smokey and the Bandit in 1977. I was going to include some clips of Gleason portraying Sheriff Buford T. Justice, but the dialogue was filled with so much bad language, that I decided not to use it, in case some kids were to watch it. He would go on to appear in Part II and Part III of the Smokey and the Bandit movies in 1980 and 1983.
Gleason also appeared in The Toy in 1982 and The Sting II in 1983, before appearing Nothing In Common in 1986, which would be his last movie. His movie career spanned 45 years from 1941-1986.
It is ironic that Gleason only won a Tony Award in his long career for Take Me Along, while never winning a Emmy, Grammy or Academy Award.
Jackie Gleason died of cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 24, 1987 at the age of 71. Gleason left his mark on Broadway, in the movies, on television and music. He truly was an entertainer of the first magnitude.
Dick Haymes seen singing I Wish I Knew in Diamond Horseshoe (1945)
Fans of music from the 1940′s remember Dick Haymes as the singer, who never reached the name recognition of his contemporaries, of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, but still possessed one of the best baritone voices of that era.
Haymes was born September 13, 1918 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and died in Los Angeles, California on March 28, 1980 at the age of 61 of lung cancer.
His first big break was when he was signed as the soloist for the Harry James Orchestra in the early 1940′s. He went on to sing with the big bands of Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.
Next he would become a major recording star and appeared in 13 movies in the 1940′s, while also having his own radio program.
While his career was going well, he encountered marital problems in all of his six marriages, including the last one to Wendy Smith. She didn’t even attend his funeral, since she had filed for divorce before his death.
Wikipedia lists his six marriages:
Edith Harper
(1939; annulled) annulled when Haymes found out Harper was not pregnant, after Harper had told Haymes she was pregnant, causing him to marry her. Joanne Dru
(1941-1949) Nora Eddington
(1949-1953) Rita Hayworth
(1953-1955) Fran Jeffries
(1958-1965)
Wendy Smith
(1966-1980)
The six marriages produced six babies with three of them coming from his marriage with Joanne Dru.
Fran Jeffries was divorced from Haymes at the age of 28 and is 75 today and never remarried. She is famous for appearing in the movie The Pink Panther singing Meglio Stasera in the following scene.
Haymes had a serious drinking problem that plagued him for years. Then when his career took a downturn he began experiencing financial difficulties, due to his record and film contracts being canceled.
No matter how bad things were going for him, Haymes continued to possess one of the best baritone voices, ever heard in American music in songs like these:
Dick Haymes singing The Nearness of You.
Dick Haymes singing The More I See You to Betty Grable in the movie Diamond Horseshoe.
Life didn’t always treat Haymes well, but he never lost that rich, golden baritone voice, that he used for almost 40 years to entertain on radio, records, appearing with big bands and in the movies.
The world lost a great singer when Haymes died, but we can listen to his albums like this one that I have in my collection.
Spotify users that like music from the 1940′s will find a long list of Dick Haymes music by just typing Dick Haymes in the search box.
If there is a listing for the word Easy Listening in the encyclopedia, it should be accompanied by a photo of Dick Haymes, since he best epitomizes what a easy listening singer should sound like.
His music is the kind of music you want to listen to after having a bad day, as you forget the troubles of the day and listen to the soothing music of Dick Haymes.
Dick Haymes may be gone, but he surely is not forgotten.
Jessica Sanchez will be the next American Idol according to the latest TV Guide poll which showed her garnering 36 percent of the vote.
The latest TV Guide poll shows Jessica Sanchez with 36 percent of the vote and Phillip Phillips second with 24 percent. Colton Dixon is third with 15 percent of the vote. The rest of the contestants have less than 10 percent of the vote. Elise Testone has 9 percent, Hollie Cavanagh 6 percent, Joshua Ledet 5 percent, Skylar Laine 4 percent and DeAndre Brackensick is last with only two percent of the votes in the poll.
I am surprised that Joshua Ledet only received 5 percent of the vote in the poll. It may be hurting for him to be from a small city in Louisiana, rather than living in a metropolitan city. I have to admit I am prejudiced in favor of Ledet, considering we live less than 10 miles from his house. That 5 percent may be a harbinger telling us that Ledet may not even make the top five contestants.
Votefortheworst.com has chosen DeAndre Brackensick as the worst remaining singer and urges their readers to vote for DeAndre to keep him on the show till the end. The website bought a little time for Heejun Han as he remained on the show much longer than anyone imagined. As far as I am concerned DeAndre should have left the show before Heejun, based on his performance on Wednesday night.
I think Heejun outsung him, but Heejun apparently didn’t have the teenybopper vote this year, so DeAndre didn’t even make the bottom three. I predict he will not only make the bottom three, but will be voted off next week, if the teenyboppers forget to vote for him next week.
It is a big deal for Ryan Seacrest to say we had 50 million voters register their vote last night, but it is an even bigger deal if good singers like Erika Van Pelt are sent home due to teenage girls voting over and over for an undeserving singer.
Seacrest who had elbow procedure done before the show continues to make a contestant feel like they are in bottom three, then tells them they are safe.
Scotty McCreery may be the first American Idol in years to sell a million albums, besides Carrie Underwood. I am positive that Lee DeWyze the previous winner didn’t come close to selling a million albums. DeWyze will be the answer to a trivia question someday that asks which American Idol singer had the least success. DeWyze’s Live It Up debutalbum only sold 146,000 copies. Taylor Hicks will give him a run for his money but DeWyze is in a class by himself. Quick, name one song either singer recorded. I rest my case.
Update On Past American Idol Winners
If you are in the market for a $1.5 million house in the Los Angeles area, then David Cook has the house for you:
Carrie Underwood sent a necklace to Hollie Cavanagh before Hollie sang her song. My personal favorite after Joshua Ledet is Hollie but I have a feeling she won’t make it much further, considering she was in bottom three with nine singers in the competition last night before the voting.
How soon they forget….Just searched three pages of links after typing in Taylor Hicks in the search box and found nothing about Taylor Hicks the singer from American Idol. I did check on how the albums by Hicks have sold. His debut album Taylor Hicks went platinum selling 705,000 copies, but his next album The Distance has sold 52,000 copies since being released three years ago.
Kris Allen surprisingly did even worse than Hicks, selling 329,000 copies of his debut album Kris Allen in the last two-and-a-half years. Hicks reportedly is working on his third album.
Carrie Underwood sold 315,000 copies of her Some Hearts debut album before it even charted and it has now sold 7.1 million copies making it platinum times 7 in sales. Her last two albums Carnival Ride and Play On have sold 3.2 million and 2.1 million respectively. She will release her fourth album Blown Away this May. She has sold over 12 million copies combined of her first three albums.
Fantasia Barrino, in comparison has sold less than 3 million copies combined of her three albums. Jordin Sparks sold barely over a million of her debut album Jordin Sparks, but has sold 177,000 copies of her July 2009 release Battlefield.
Sparks will be appearing in the movie Sparkle as a singer with Whitney Houston portraying her mother. The movie will be in theaters on August 17.
Jack Webb was born on April 2, 1920 in Santa Monica, California. He died at the age of 62 on December 23, 1982 in West Hollywood California.
His father left home before Webb was born and he never knew his dad. He joined the Army Air Force but asked for a hardship discharge after not making the grade in flight training.
Acted in Old Time Radio
Webb starred in an ABC radio comedy the Jack Webb Show in 1946. He then starred in several detective themed old-time radio shows. Pat Novak For Hire, Johnny Modero, Pier 23 and Jeff Regan, Investigator which were his best known radio programs prior to Dragnet.
His big break came when Dragnet was first broadcast on radio in 1949, then would run till 1954. Webb portrayed Sgt. Joe Friday as a no-nonsense detective, who didn’t mince words. The television version of Dragnet began televising in 1952 with Ben Alexander cast as Detective Frank Smith, concurrently with the radio version till 1954, when the radio series ended. The televised version would remain on the air till 1959. There was a radio or television version of Dragnet being heard or seen for ten continuous years.
Webb loved jazz and starred in Pete Kelly’s Blues which on radio for less than two months, but would be the predecessor to the film version, of Pete Kelly’s Blues released in 1955. Then Pete Kelly’s Blues was also shown on television in 1959, but only 13 episodes were aired, before it was cancelled.
Dragnet also had a presence in radio, television and movies and it was successful in all three forms of media. A new television version of the original Dragnet named Dragnet 1967 ran till 1970 with Harry Morgan portraying Officer Bill Gannon.
Jack Webb grew up with severe asthma yet was a heavy smoker as can be seen by this advertisement mentioning that he smoked two packs a day. Smoking two packs a day today would cost roughly $180 a month.
Webb became so involved in production, that he wasn’t seen on the television screen often. He created Adam 12 which ran from 1968-1975 and Ohara, U.S. Treasury which was shown from 1971-1972.
Julie London former wife of Jack Webb and her husband Bobby Troup on Emergency television program that aired on NBC.
Jack Webb showed he had no animosity toward his former wife Julie London, by hiring her and her husband to appear in his Emergency television program. They appeared in but two of the 133 episodes that were aired.
Webb was married to Julie London from 1947-1953. He then married Dorothy Towne from 1955-1957, Jackie Loughery from 1958-1964. He widowed his last wife who he was married to from 1980-1982.
Jack Webb was working on a third television version of Dragnet with Kent McCord from Adam 12 lined up to be his partner, but died of a heart attack at 62.
Chief Daryl Gates of the Los Angeles Police Department retired Badge 714 after his death and Mayor Tom Bradley ordered all flags to flown at half-mast in his honor. He would be buried with a replica Badge 714.
Jack Webb’s tombstone is typical of Webb. There is no huge ornamental tombstone, but a plain tombstone, with his name and his life span.
This article written by Ben Alexander, gives us a better idea of what the real Jack Webb was like. This paragraph tells me all I need to know about Jack Webb. I am inserting it here for those who may not have time to read the article:
Look at Victor Rodman. He had been disabled in an accident, and one of Jack’s joys about creating “Noah’s Ark” was the chance it gave him to employ Victor in a role that didn’t require walking around. Jack was thrilled with “Noah’s Ark” because it gave Victor a chance to prove what a fine actor he is. And a big reason Jack is eager to revive the show is that Victor will be working again.
The Internet Movie Database biography includes some interesting trivia about Jack Webb:
Was buried with full honors befitting a LAPD detective, including a 17-gun salute.
Had just over 6,000 jazz albums in his private collection.
At the height of “Dragnet’s” popularity, people would actually call the LAPD wanting to speak to Webb’s character, Sgt. Joe Friday. The Department eventually came up with a stock answer to the large volume of calls: “Sorry, it’s Joe’s day off.”
Was a huge baseball fan, and chose badge number 714 for Sgt. Friday because it was the number of home runs Babe Ruth hit.
Jack Webb has created a lot of shows since Dragnet, but will always remember him, telling us what department he was working out of in the police department.
The color version of Dragnet was good, but there was something special, about the black and white version of the 50′s. Those shows seemed to be more simple. Who can ever forget the show, about the boy who got a rifle for Christmas and accidentally shoots his friend? This is the three-part The Big .22 Rifle For Christmas episode. Part 3 is very emotional as the father talks to his dead son, telling him what he would have received for Christmas. Then to make it even more emotional, the father of the boy killed,then gives the presents for his son, to the boy who shot his son.
Paul McDonald of American Idol fame and actress Nikki Reed were married on Sunday in Malibu, California.
Paul McDonald may not have won Season 10 of American Idol, but he won the heart of actress Nikki Reed. They were married in Malibu, California after having announced their engagement in June.
McDonald finished eighth on the American Idol reality show and was eliminated on April 14, 2011. He had met Reed at a Hollywood premiere and his early elimination gave them more time to see each other.
Reed has appeared in five Twilight movies, with the fifth one The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II currently in post-production.
This wall phone reminds me of the wall phone at my grandpa's farm in Allendale Missouri on his 80 acre farm, back in the late 50's.
This rotary phone was seen in most American homes in the 50's and 60's.
This touch tone phone was found in almost any office for many years for office workers with a phone at their desk.
The latest cell phone today is the Apple iPhone 4s which looks nothing like the phones we grew up with over 50 years ago.
I remember back in the old days, when we would have to rent our phones from Bell South, paying a monthly charge to use the phones.
Now after the evolution of the phone from a wall phone, to a rotary phone, then to a touch tone phone found in most offices and also used at home.
It seems like it was only yesterday, when we only used phones to make phone calls and receive phone calls. Nowadays cell phones not only make and receive calls, but allow you to not call at all by using texts to transmit messages back and forth.
Cell phones have become a multi-purpose electronic device that enables owners to listen to music, watch television shows, movies and videos.
They can be used to play games, pay bills, make bank transactions on the phone, take notes, take photos and shoot HD quality videos. The iPhone 4s also can browse the web and remind you of an important event, that is approaching. If you get lost, you can use a built-in GPS to find your way.
The Apple 4s also has an intelligent assistant named Siri which will let you use your voice to ask questions:
It knows what you mean.
Siri not only understands what you say, it’s smart enough to know what you mean. So when you ask “Any good burger joints around here?” Siri will reply “I found a number of burger restaurants near you.” Then you can say “Hmm. How about tacos?” Siri remembers that you just asked about restaurants, so it will look for Mexican restaurants in the neighborhood. And Siri is proactive, so it will question you until it finds what you’re looking for.
This is taking smart phones to a whole new level.
It helps you do the things you do every day.
Ask Siri to text your dad, remind you to call the dentist, or find directions, and it figures out which apps to use and who you’re talking about. It finds answers for you from the web through sources like Yelp and WolframAlpha. Using Location Services, it looks up where you live, where you work, and where you are. Then it gives you information and the best options based on your current location. From the details in your contacts, it knows your friends, family, boss, and coworkers. So you can tell Siri things like “Text Ryan I’m on my way” or “Remind me to make a dentist appointment when I get to work” or “Call a taxi” and it knows exactly what you mean and what to do.
One of the best features is that the iPhone 4s takes dictation, then converts your spoken words into text. If you are sitting at a dinner table, trying to make conversation with a 4s user, it will be a futile endeavor, since they will be too busy using the features of the 4s, to even notice you are in the room.
iPhone 4S takes dictation.
Here’s another amazing way to get things done: just use your voice. Instead of typing, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard. Then say what you want to say and iPhone listens. Tap Done, and iPhone converts your words into text. Use dictation to write messages, take notes, search the web, and more. Dictation also works with third-party apps, so you can update your Facebook status, tweet, or write and send Instagrams.
Summary: We have come a long way from the wall phones of the past, which couldn’t be used to text or send emails, shoot videos or play music, to phones that are the electronic center of what is going on in our lives.
My problem is that I don’t have a cell phone, so still use a regular home phone to make and receive calls. The new technology is astounding, but if you can’t afford it, then it becomes worthless.
We all remember the high telephone bills of the past, when making a lot of long distance calls in a month. Owning a cell phone today may actually be cheaper, if someone was having $150 worth of long distance calls, month after month.
It becomes cost prohibitive to own a iPhone, a iPod and a iPad and a laptop not to mention paying for monthly cable and internet service.
A young Steven Jobs pictured with three Apple computers.
Steven Paul Jobs was born February 24, 1955 in San Francisco. Jobs died yesterday (Oct. 5, 2011) at the age of 56. He was given up for adoption by his parents, who were two University of Wisconsin graduate students. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs and grew up in Silicone Valley.
His dad taught him how to take apart electronics and then rebuild electronics. He would spend a lot of time at Hewlett-Packard during his high school years and met his future business partner Steve Wozniak during those years.
Jobs quickly tired of the college scene, dropping out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon after only six months. He then went to work as a game designer for Atari, but left that job to travel to India and dabble in psychedelic drugs.
He and Wozniak founded Apple Computers when he was 21 years old and funded their operation by him selling his Volkwagen bus and Wozniak selling his scientific computer.
They developed computers which were smaller and easier to use. Their first computers were sold for $666 each and were part of the Apple I line. They earned $774,000 from the sales of that model. Then the Apple II took off and the sales totaled $139 million three years after its release.
By 1980 the value of the company was $1.2 billion. Then came a devastating blow when Apple president John Scully phased Jobs out of Apple. He left Apple in 1985 and bought an animation company, which later would become Pixar. He then invested $50 million of his own money into Pixar. The company would make huge hits like Toy Story and Finding Nemo and the company has made $4 billion in sales.
Jobs would return to Apple in 1997 as CEO with a contract of $1 a year. He was discovered to have pancreatic cancer in 2003. That tumor was removed in 2004.
The year 2007 would see Apple stock worth $199 a share. The company also recorded a profit of 1.58 billion with $18 billion in the bank. Even more amazing was the fact the company didn’t owe any debt.
The iPod and the iTunes music downloading service account for half of the revenue earned by Apple. The iPhone and iPad have kept the Apple name at the forefront of technology today.
Jobs resigned from his job as CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011. He died about six weeks later, yesterday in Palo Alto, California.
For a more extensive biography of the life of Steven Jobs:
Drive-in Movie theatre located next to a railroad track.
My home state of Louisiana has no drive-in theatres, left in existence the last time I checked. I can remember when we had the Fox Drive-in , Joy Twin Drive-in, Showtown Drive-in and Kings Drive-in located in Alexandria and Kingsville.
There are probably some others that were thriving at one time in the Cenla area.
I will never forget the speakers by the side of the car that let us listen to what the actors were saying on the screen. I remember stories of kids hiding in the trunks of cars to avoid paying to see the movies.
Five years ago we went to a drive-in theatre in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. We saw a cartoon that night, so wasn’t too memorable, except for turning back the clock that one night, going back in time, even though the new technology let us hear the movie over the radio, if turned to a certain frequency.
Eight track players came and left before I ever owned one.
Think most of us owned a record player before we owned a television since it
was only form of home entertainment before the radio and television in most homes.
I can still remember my dad wearing hats like these in the 50′s and
it used to be common for men to wear hats like these to baseball games.
A typical soda fountain back in the day.
There was something special about a trip to a soda fountain. Whether you bought an ice cream cone, a banana split, a root beer float, a milk shake or a sundae, it just tasted better coming from a soda fountain. I still have not found a cherry coke with the taste of a soda fountain cherry Coke.
Who can ever forget those 15 cent hamburgers at McDonalds when you could get a combo for less than a dollar. Those days are gone forever, but the memories of those days lingers on about 50 years later.
The Paramount Theater in downtown Alexandria where I watched No Time For Sergeants three times in a row without having to pay for the second and third showings.
I can still remember kids delivering newspapers on their bikes. I also remember them selling papers on the street corners downtown. The demise of the afternoon newspaper ended for the most part the delivery of newspapers by kids as the grown-ups began to deliver papers in their cars and trucks, very early in the morning. The Alexandria Town Talk carriers would start their deliveries about 1 AM in the morning, but the last papers might not be delivered to 6 or 7 in the morning.
I know next to nothing about cigars, but am almost certain that there are no five cent cigars being sold in 2011.
The five cent cigars in the photo were apparently being sold during the 1968 presidential campaign by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey.
That campaign was 43 years ago, but it still may have been near the end of a time when cigars were being sold for five cents.
When was the last time you told a gas station attendant to “filler up”? There may be some full service gas stations still around, but they are getting harder to find all the time. The full service gasoline stations would fill your tank, wipe your windshield, check your tires and give or sell you a map, so you would know how to get to your destination. You used to get glasses or some other item when you bought gas. All you get now is high prices for gas we used to pay about 50 cents for.
I can remember selling books of 20 five cent stamps for a dollar in the Army post office in Hawaii and Vietnam. The five cent price went into effect in January of 1963 and didn’t increase to six cents until 1968. So the five cent price stayed the same during my entire time working in the Army post office.
The penny postcard had risen to four cents by 1963.
Today the five cent stamp of 1963 has risen to 44 cents and the $1 book of stamps is now $8.80. The penny postcard has risen to 29 cents.
Johnny Lee singing his signature song Looking For Love and talking to Ralph Emery.
It doesn’t seem possible that it has been about 31 years since Johnny Lee recorded Looking For Love. It went to No.8 on the country music charts in the U.S and was also featured in the movie Urban Cowboy.
Lee was about 34 at the time he recorded Looking For Love. Now he is old enough to retire at 65. Lee wasn’t a one hit wonder as he would record 20 albums and five of his songs would reach No.1 on the country music chart.
Johnny Lee’s No. 1 songs
Looking For Love
One In A Million
Bet Your Heart on Me
The Yellow Rose Of Texas (With Lane Brody)
You Could’ve Heard A Heart Break
The Yellow Rose of Texas video with Johnny Lee and Lane Brody.
Johnny Lee and Lane Brody singing Yellow Rose of Texas again over 30 years later at a country music reunion.
An audio only version of Johnny Lee singing You Could’ve Heard A Heart Break
Johnny Lee may not have had a Top 100 hit since 1989 or recorded an album since 2006, but from 1980-1984 he had 12 songs in the Top 10 country music chart.
Since appearing in Urban Cowboy Lee has been seen in many television series and sang Looking For Love in the 2002 movie The New Guy.
Looking For Love had been rejected by 20 artists according to allmusic.com before Lee made it a gigantic hit, mainly because it was sung in Urban Cowboy.
Lee married actress Charlene Hilton from the Dallas television series in 1982 but their marriage had collapsed by 1987.
Like many celebrities he found out his management had been taking much of the money he had earned during the time when he was earning the most money.
He may never be voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, but for five years he was one of the hottest country music stars in the business.
Paul Albert Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 1941. He will be 70 on his birthday which is hard to believe. It seems like only yesterday I was listening to him sing Diana, You Are My Destiny, Put Your Head on My Shoulder and Lonely Boy. Lonely Boy would be his last No.1 hit until he hit No.1 again in 1974 with You’re Having My Baby and his last No.1 in 1975 with Times of Your Life.
Paul Anka singing a medley of his hits including the title song for The Longest Day.
Paul Anka singing his classic composition My Way.
His best known song My Way a song he wrote for Frank Sinatra. He wrote English words for the song, which is one of the most sung songs today.
He was married to Anne Zogheb from 1963 to 2000 and one of his daughters from that marriage, Amanda, is married to actor Jason Bateman. He later married Swedish model Anna Yeager who thirty years younger than Anka, but the marriage only lasted from 2008 to 2010.
Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood shown together on stage in this photo from a CMT blog.
Carrie Underwood is now the biggest selling American Idol ever after surpassing Kelly Clarkson and has sold 12,296,000 albums since winning Season 4 of American Idol.
Clarkson who won Season 1 has sold 10,674,000 albums which is 1, 622,000 less than sold by Underwood despite having a three year head start.
Underwood also leads in digital track sales with 18,482,000 while Clarkson has sold 15.6 million digital tracks with Underwood selling almost three million more digital tracks than Clarkson.
When it comes to gross earnings from concert tours, Underwood holds a commanding lead over Clarkson, earning $66 million in concert revenue compared to $32 million earned by Clarkson.
Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks didn’t even make the list, while fourth place finisher that season, Chris Daughtry is third on the list at Hollywoodreporter.com.
However, Kellie Pickler the sixth place finisher in Season 5 also is tenth on the list of top American Idol earners.
It is ironic that the American Idol of Season 5, Taylor Hicks didn’t even make the Top 10, while the fourth and sixth place finishers both made the list.
I can’t see Season 8 winner Kris Allen or Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze making the Top 10 list anytime soon, as they haven’t done well in album sales and probably are not booked in the larger arenas, which limits their revenue.
Scotty McCreery should sell well if he is voted the American Idol, while Lauren Alaina probably will sell less albums than McCreery if she is voted the American Idol of Season 10.
For more complete details of the Top 10 money earning Idols and contestants who have sold well, despite not being voted the American Idol.
These are just some of my memories of the good old days:
When the ice man brought ice to place in your icebox.
When milkmen brought your milk to the house with cream at the top of the bottles.
When attic fans were the only way of getting any air in a house.
When we would walk on the Murray Street Bridge and see the Red River below, when there were missing slats.
When we were hot and didn’t think about it being hot because it was all we knew since nobody had air conditioners then.
When television shows didn’t come on till 3:30 PM. Howdy Doody and Pinky Lee started the telecast day on KALB-TV in Alexandria, Louisiana in the 50′s.
When we listened to old time radio shows like Dragnet and Breakfast Club on the radio, while my mom listened to her soap operas like Just Plain Bill, Stella Dallas, Lorenzo Jones and Guiding Light.
When people would go to local appliance store at night and watch television through the display window at Jimmie Walker’s Appliances on Main Street in Pineville.
When we would come home from school and watch our cowboy heroes in action.
When nativity scenes could be seen in public places before ACLU raised such a fuss, that you can’t find one in a mall today.
When stores like Penneys, Sears and Montgomery Ward were located in free standing stores, before the advent of the shopping centers and malls.
When kids would trick or treat until 10PM at night, filling grocery bags full of candy, with no special Halloween bags.
When families went to drive-in movies together, while teenagers would sneak a extra kid in the trunk, to avoid paying for them.
When theatergoers would throw tomatoes at the movie screen if they were upset with a bad movie.
When Larry McHale of KALB – TV was advertising cigarettes and started coughing, but regrouped and said “Just thinking of those other brands makes me cough.”
When eating TV dinners were more popular than fast food.
When McDonald’s had 15 cent hamburgers.
When you could get a haircut for less than a dollar.
When it cost a dime to see a movie.
When it cost a dime for a school lunch in 1950 at Pineville Elementary in Pineville, Louisiana.
When kids collected baseball cards and put them in bicycle spokes.
When families would go on picnics at the city park, letting the kids play on the playground equipment.
When going to stores we would see white and colored water fountains. One black man tried both kinds and said they tasted the same.
When we watched No Time For Sergeants three times in a row at the movie theater. (One of the funniest movies ever, with Don Knotts being a dexterity expert, that became discombobulated by Andy Griffith’s character.)
When we used to drink Hawaiian Punch and Delaware Punch.
When we used to pay a nickel for a 6 ounce coke out of a machine. Now they charge over a $1.50 for a 20 ounce coke, when in the old days a 24 ounce coke would cost 20 cents.
When we walked a mile to school everyday for the entire 12 years of elementary and high school.
When there was no middle school back in the 50′s.
When Gov. Earl K. Long of Louisiana gave free chickens to voters during a gubneratorial election.
When going fishing meant taking a cane pole and not a expensive rod and reel.
When I bought a $6.50 Nokona baseball glove for $6.00 when the hardware store owner found out I didn’t have enough money to pay the full price.
When we celebrated Christmas by running around with sparklers.
When we would see the miniature church on the city square in Alexandria every Christmas.
When Christmas music was played downtown during the Christmas season.
When we used to play marbles in school.
When playing with a yo-yo was cool.
When hula hoops were the hot fad.
When high school kids rode bikes to school instead of driving cars.
When familes went to church together.
When families actually ate dinner together at a table, instead of in front of the television.
When kids made money by delivering newspapers on bicycle.
When we drank grapefruit juice at breakfast even though we didn’t like it.
When we ate Wheat Chex at breakfast even though we didn’t like it.
When we used to get excited about another school year starting.
When we went to special Christmas Eve services on a cold night in December and watching Christmas movies on television when we got home.
When we had a train set over our bed as a kid.
When we took a trip in 1957 and saw the Howard Johnson restaurants with the orange roofs.
When we got together as a family to hear mother read from the Bible.
When we used to listen to records on the record player.
When homemade ice cream was better than any ice cream bought in a store.
When pizza was delivered to the house the first time.
When mom and pop stores went out of business because of Wal-Mart.
When there used to be neighborhood groceries scattered around in residential neighborhoods.
Paul McDonald the last American Idol to be voted off the reality show last week, has been chosen to provide the music for the Peter Facinelli film, Loosies.
Facinelli, who acted with McDonald’s girlfriend Nikki Reed in the Twilight films, is excited about using the music of McDonald’s band, The Grand Magnolias.
Former American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi’s new book A Helluva High Note to be released April 26, tells of her being sexually abused as a young girl and later as an adult.
Bruce Springsteen will be mentoring the American Idol contestants this week, as they sing songs from the 21st century. There will probably be several songs, most of us older people have never heard this week, since American music scene today has little or no music for senior citizens.
For the Crystal Bowersox fans out there, this article brings you up to date on what she is doing and shows her preparing to make the first pitch for a Toledo Mud Hens game.
Last Wednesday’s performance show for American Idol and Thursday’s results show led the Top 25 shows, in ratings last week.
Over one million fewer fans watched the results show on Thursday night. Dancing With the Stars was third on the performance night, but the results show was 11th in the ratings.
Kimberly Caldwell from Season 2 of American Idol has finally released her first album Without Regret eight years later. She finished seventh that season, but has hosted several television shows since then.
Based on the comments by the judges, Haley Reinhart should be the most concerned among the eight remaining singers on American Idol.
The three judges totally trashed her singing and if Haley goes home it will be because of the comments by the judges. It is like they want Lauren Alaina Suddeth to be only female singer remaining.
Casey Abrams version of the 64 year old song Nature Boy may be great for a lounge act, but can’t see anyone going out and buying an album with that song in it.
My personal opinion is that Haley, Paul and Stefano will be in the bottom three but wouldn’t be surprised to see Jacob in the final three, because of Paul receiving the votes of legions of Twilight fans.
The poll question asks to check the singer most likely to go home on Thursday night based on their performance and the judge’s reaction to their performance on Wednesday night:
Ryan Seacrest is on the fast track ,to becoming one of the richest media moguls. He is earning $20 million, for his radio show alone. He is expected to earn $55 million by the end of year.
Seacrest’s $15 million a year salary, for hosting American Idol, reportedly was the reason Paula Abdul left the show. I can see if Abdul did leave the show, because of the exorbitant salary of Seacrest, wondering why he would deserve that kind of money just to host the show.
Ryan Seacrest will reportedly earn $55 million during 2011, according to onlinejournal.com. He will earn $20 million of that income from his radio show. $15 million will come from his hosting duties on American Idol. Paula Abdul reportedly left the show when she was offered less the $15 million a year, Seacrest is earning.
He negotiated the $15 million a year contract, for three years in 2009. There is a good chance he will earn even more in his next contract for the show.
Seacrest is a master at building suspense, on elimination night. He sometimes tricks contestants into thinking they are going home, when they are safe.
In addition to his American Idol duties, Seacrest is producing reality shows for the E Network including Keeping Up With the Kardashians. In my book, that show has nothing to do with reality, but is an example of staging a situation for maximum drama.
In the planning stages are a cable television channel that won’t bear his name but he will be the mastermind behind the channel.
Nikki Reed of Twilight fame and Paul McDonald of American Idol are now dating according to OK! Magazine.
OK! magazine is saying that Paul McDonald and Nikki Reed are dating. With the Twilight fans on his side, McDonald may go further on American Idol than expected.
It looked like he would certainly be in the bottom three last night, but apparently his Twilight connection kept him safe for at least one more week.
As the article states Peter Facinelli, another Twilight star is urging voters to vote for Paul McDonald. Facinelli has 1.8 million followers on Twitter, so it may explain why McDonald keeps hanging around on American Idol.
Doris Day celebrated her 89th birthday earlier this week.
Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff was born on April 3, 1922. She is better known to her fans as Doris Day.
She hasn’t been seen on television except as a guest or in the movies since the Doris Day Show ended in 1973. For the last 38 years she has lived a low profile life.
When her third husband, Martin Melcher died in 1968, she claimed to not know he had planned a television series the Doris Day Show before his death.
She did the series and it was successful, which was the last time she appeared on television in a regular series of her own.
Her fear of flying probably was a huge factor in retiring, since she probably wouldn’t have consented to fly to movie or television locations.
She never liked anyone swearing around her and once required anyone that swore to place a quarter in the “swear box’ during a recording session.
Day surprisingly believes a couple should live together before being married as she stated in her 1975 autobiography:
[In her 1975 autobiography] You don’t really know a person until you live with him, not just sleep with him. Sex is not enough to sustain marriage. I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together. The young people have it right. What a tragedy it is for a couple to get married, have a child, and in the process discover they are not suited for one another! If I had lived with Al Jorden for a few weeks, God knows I would never have married him. Nor would I have married George Weidler. But I was too young and too inexperienced to understand any of this. Now my heart was busted and I had lost my way.
She didn’t think much of Elizabeth Taylor’s penchant for wearing expensive jewelry saying it could have been better used:
[about Elizabeth Taylor's diamonds] When I see Liz Taylor with those Harry Winston boulders hanging from her neck I get nauseated. Not figuratively, but nauseated! All I can think of are how many dog shelters those diamonds could buy.
Max Baer Jr. portrayed Jethro Bodine, the nephew of Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies. He couldn’t find work for the first three years after Beverly Hillbillies finished its run on television in 1971.
He finally found himself an acting job by producing Macon County Line in 1974. The movie grossed over $18 million according to Box Office Mojo with a budget of $225,000.
However, the Internet Movie Database shows the movie earning $35 million with an initial investment of $100,000.
Max Baer Jr.'s father Max was the World Heavyweight champion from June, 1934 to June, 1935.
Max Baer, his father, was recently the subject of the movie Cinderella Man in which a ring opponent Frankie Campbell loses not only the match, but his life in a match with Baer.
Baer Jr. said his father cried over the death of Campbell and sent the kids of Campbell to college. The movie angered him and he was upset with Ronny Howard portraying his father that way in the movie.
It makes me wonder what other movies are not telling the truth about the characters in that movie.
This following articles tell about the movie with the second article directly referring to Baer being upset with Howard.
Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79 in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure.
She first appeared in a motion picture in 1942 when she acted in There’s One Born Every Minute. Her next movie was Lassie Come Home (1943) which was nominated for an Oscar.
National Velvet (1944) would be her next movie, which co-starred Mickey Rooney. It would be one of the best known movies, she would appear in during her career.
She appeared in both Father of the Bride and the sequel Father’s Little Dividend in 1950 and 1951 respectively.
Other noteworthy movies she appeared in were Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1963) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966).
It was ironic that she would portray Pearl Slaghoople, in The Flintstones theatrical release in 1994. She had not appeared in a movie for 17 years before her death.
This lengthy N.Y. Times obituary tells in detail about her career and her life away from the big screen:
The Conqueror was shot in Utah and starred John Wayne and Susan Hayward.
Five of the first six actors listed in the cast of The Conqueror, at the Internet Movie Database were diagnosed with cancer.
The probable cause of the cancer epidemic, which resulted in 91 of the 220 cast and crew members, was that eleven U.S. atom bomb tests had taken place in Yucca Flats, Nevada in 1953.
After the testing, the radioactive fallout drifted to the site close to St. George, Utah where the movie was shot, exposing the cast and crew to the radioactivity, for 13 weeks.
To further strengthen the thought, that the radioactive fallout caused the cancer, half the citizens of St. George had contacted cancer during the next thirty years.
46 of the movie cast and crew that had contacted cancer died from various forms of cancer.
Dr. Robert Pendleton, professor of biology at the University of Utah, stated that 30 people, diagnosed with cancer out of a group of 220, would be closer to the normal number, of cases for that many people.
He also thinks, because of the tie-in of cancer with the movie, that anyone wishing to file suit would have a good case in a courtroom.
John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, John Hoyt and Pedro Armendariz all died with cancer. Armendariz would be diagnosed with cancer four years after movie was completed and shot himself when he found out his case was terminal.
Smokers among the victims, including John Wayne and Agnes Moorehead were heavy smokers which made them even more susceptible to cancer from the radioactivity.
We may never be 100 percent sure, that the radioactive fallout caused the cancer of 91 cast members and crew of The Conqueror, but there is plenty of circumstantial evidence.
This article from The Straight Dope website, gives more information on the links between the filming of the movies and the resulting cases of cancer.
Mickey Rooney testified before Congress about senior abuse and his passionate testimony told of how he personally has been abused himself.
From the news reports I have read, there has been no mention of him naming his son-in-law Chris Aber as the one who abused him but Aber is under a restraining order preventing him from being in close proximity to Rooney.
Aber’s attorney John O’Meara has stated that these charges of abuse are untrue. However he is saying that more than likely on his talks with Aber who isn’t going to say he abused Rooney. Therefore, O’Meara’s statement can be taken with a grain of salt.
I can’t believe Rooney would go before Congress making up a story about his son-in-law. I am sure Rooney’s testimony will be backed up in a court of law soon.
Mickey Rooney testifying before Congress as he tells how senior abuse left him with no control over his life.
After seeing his testimony it makes me feel terrible knowing that man who entertained us for about 70 years wasn’t enjoying his golden years because a family member allegedly has taken away control of his life leaving him a helpless 90 year old man.
He may have been Andy Hardy to us for many years back in the 30′s and 40′s but today he is a man reduced to nothingness because of senior abuse.
May God grant Mickey Rooney and others like him a peaceful life in the years remaining for them on earth. It is not asking much to be treated with respect and love because that is all Rooney and the other victims of abuse are asking for.
Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 at home in Santa Maria, California of respiratory failure.
Jane Russell has died at the age of 89 with her family beside her in Santa Maria, California. The actress who was discovered by Howard Hughes when she was 19 and working in a doctor’s office.Hughes would cast her in The Outlaw in her first movie appearance. She appeared in nineteen movies between 1943 and 1957. She would only appear in four more movies, with her last movie appearance coming in 1970 in Darker Than Amber. She was 49 the year her last movie was filmed.
Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota on June 21, 1921. Her family moved back to United States from Canada so she would be born a U.S. citizen.
She co-starred with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. Then in 1955 she received top billing in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.
Television appearances were few and far between for Russell as she appeared in only seven television appearances with her last appearance being in a 1986. She hadn’t acted in movies or television in the last 25 years of her life.
Russell would pursue a singing career that started in 1947 but she was more famous for her movie career. She did have a very listenable voice which was very soft. She was part of this singing group that included big band singer Connie Haines and actress Rhonda Fleming:
Jane Russell singing One For My Baby.
Allmusic.com has short clips of many of her songs:
While going to church she became involved in singing with a group that included big band singer Connie Haines and would later include Rhonda Fleming another famous Hollywood actress.
Her first husband Bob Waterfield was a football player who won the Heisman Trophy and would later play quarterback in the NFL for the Cleveland Rams and Los Angeles Rams. He would be inducted later into the NFL Football Hall of Fame. Their marriage lasted twenty four years.
Roger Barrett an actor was her next husband but died only three months after their wedding. She next married John Peoples in 1974 and they would be married till his death in 1999.
Russell battled a drinking problem that got worse after his death but eventually conquered alcoholism and she had this to say about her reliance on God in the last paragraph of her New York Times obituary:
A higher power was always there, she wrote, “telling me that if I could just hold tough a little longer, I’d find myself around one more dark corner, see one more spot of light and have one more drop of pure joy in this journey called life.”
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1989.
Roy Rogers was born as Leonard Franklin Skye November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He claimed to have been born at second base at Riverfront Stadium since he lived on the site of the stadium early in his life. He joined the Sons of the Pioneers singing group and changed his name to Dick Weston.
He appeared in many of his early movies as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers starting in 1935. Then he received his big break when Gene Autry walked off the set of a movie he was making and Leonard Slye became Roy Rogers for the first time in a starring role in Under Western Stars in 1938.
Rogers had been married twice before marrying Dale Evans. He was married to Lucille Ascolese from 1933-1935 and married in 1936 to Grace Wilkins who died in 1946 due to complications after giving birth to Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr.
Dale Evans appeared in her first movie with Rogers in Cowboy and the Senorita in 1944. They would marry after the death of his wife in 1947 and remained married till the death of Rogers in 1998.
In addition to appearing in movies he also could be heard on old time radio for ten years in the 40′s and 50′s. One of the most important old time radio sellers online lists only 77 shows remaining from the ten year run for sale.
He bought his famous horse Trigger in 1938 according to Wikipedia and he trained Trigger to do 60 tricks since he had grew up training animals. B-westerns.com contends that he bought Trigger in 1943 for $2,500. The 1943 date is probably the accurate one since B-westerns.com has seen the bill of sale.
His last credited appearance as Roy Rogers was in the 1951 movie Pals of the Golden West in which he portrayed a border patrolman.
The Roy Rogers television series aired from 1951-1957 and 100 episodes were filmed. When I think of cowboy western stars that appeared on television his show is the one I remember best.
Mackintosh and T.J. released in 1975 would be his last movie appearance. He played a ranch hand and a drifter since by now he was in his 60′s.
He played himself in his last television appearance on The Fall Guy in 1984.
Fourteen years later Rogers died of congestive heart failure on July 8, 1998 in Apple Valley, California at the age of 86. Three years later his wife Dale Evans died at the age of 88.
Gravesites of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
It was interesting to see on the graves the birth names of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans along with their birth names.
Not only were they were radio, television and movie stars they were also excellent role models who personified America at its best.
Roy Rogers is shown in this photo after getting out of his motorboat on the Red River in Alexandria, Louisiana and would stay at Hotel Bentley that night.
I was there the day Roy Rogers arrived in Alexandria. We must have known ahead of time he was coming because we were there when he arrived. I can remember my mom taking photos of the event.
Hotel Bentley was in its heyday then and was on the other side of the Red River levee so Rogers had a short walk to the hotel.
The world lost two of my favorite people in Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Their memory will live on though through the old time radio shows, movies and the Roy Rogers television shows they left behind.
Archive.org will keep a reader entertained for hours.
Archive.org is probably the best source for audio and video online this side of YouTube. The home page for the website as I write this article has a link to an audio version of a Grateful Dead concert at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at New Haven, Connecticut on May 11, 1981.
The concert is only one of 803,305 audio recordings at the website. There are 2,214 old time radio related links to old time radio shows and magazines that were printed during the height of the popularity of old time radio.
One Roy Rogers episode has been downloaded 74,882 times showing that the website is available for downloading many of the old time radio shows we grew up with.
Old time radio fans will love looking at list after list of old time radio shows available for downloading including some of the more obscure shows which have very few episodes in existence.
The live music archive features 88,813 archives while the moving image archives total 451,934.
Avid readers will enjoy knowing that there are 2.694,639 texts including books and ebooks. The new Bookreader at the site includes Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin and is the example shown of how the Bookreader works.
There is an audio version of some books but the one I listened to was not of the best quality and seemed to be a computer generated voice which probably would be tiring to listen to for an entire book.
Most readers may not enjoy the voice and instead opt to read the books without sound. For those that like the audio they should enjoy the feature that highlights the portion of the book being read by the voice.
The Mega Reader iPhone app provides access to the 1.8 million free books at archive.org so they each iPhone user can have their own personal reader.
Each volume of the Warren Report investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is available to read.
The site is an excellent source of reading material for educators and students who are looking for books that are no longer copyrighted.
One word of caution: it could take hours just to look at what is available at archive.org. This website may have the most content of any website online and is worth going to the website to see for yourself what is available.
Even though more famous singers have recorded Sweet Dreams the Tommy McLain version sold the most copies.
The song which was written by country singer-songwriter Don Gibson was sung by Gibson first but it didn’t sell well or get much notice.
Four years later when Gibson was better known he recorded it again and it charted in the No.9 spot among the Top Ten country songs.
However before that Faron Young a Shreveport, Louisiana native had recorded it also in 1956 and took it to No.2 on the country charts.
Then in 1963 Sweet Dreams surfaced again when Patsy Cline had recorded it before her death but wasn’t released on the album she was working on but on Patsy Cline Story album and it topped out at the No.5 spot on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
Sweet Dreams would later be the title of the movie about her life story.
By the end of 1963 the song had been recorded by three artists who took it to No.2, No.9 and No.5 on the record charts.
The song just wouldn’t die and Emmy Lou Harris took it to No.1 on the country charts in 1976. Three years later Reba McEntire’s version would reach No.19 on the country singles chart.
Tommy McLain singing his version of Sweet Dreams with lyrics on the screen.
Meanwhile in 1966 swamp pop singer Tommy McLain recorded his version which went to No.15 on the pop chart and sold three million copies.
The song had been recorded twice in 1956 by Don Gibson and Faron Young, 1963 by Patsy Cline, 1966 by Tommy McLain, 1976 by Emmy Lou Harris and 1979 by Reba McEntire.
Even though Tommy McLain was the least known among those that recorded it his version would sell the most copies.
For a song to be recorded five times by major artists in 23 years is a testament to how great a song Sweet Dreams was. Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded the song along with many others.
Tommy McLain recorded his version 45 years ago and will be 71 years old next month.
Mickey Rooney’s attorneys have secured a restraining order to prevent his stepson Chris Aber from coming closer than 100 yards to Rooney after the attorneys said that his stepson was preventing him from eating and taking his medicine.
Rooney is claiming to be living in fear of his stepson who is alleged to have done the following in this statement to the court:
“Chris is verbally abusive toward Mickey,” the court filing states. “He yells and screams at Mickey. He threatens, intimidates, bullies, and harasses Mickey.
“Mickey is effectively a prisoner in his own home,” the filing states.
His attorneys also took steps to protect his financial interests.
It is sad that the 90 year old actor couldn’t live his golden years in peace without the alleged abuse from his stepson.
My question is how this could have happened with his eighth wife Jan Chamberlin living in the house or did the abuse happen while she was away from home. It makes me wonder if she was being terrorized too and scared to report this. Another question is how long this has been going on.
This story reminds me of other Hollywood celebrities who were physically and/or financially abused by a relative or a caretaker.
It reminds me of Erin Fleming and the way she mistreated Groucho Marx before his death. This paragraph from her Wikipedia page is an example of the way she treated Marx:
In the years leading up to Marx’s death in 1977, his heirs filed several lawsuits against her. One allegation leveled against Fleming was that she was determined to sell Marx’s favorite car, a Cadillac, against his wishes. When Marx protested, it was said, Fleming threatened, “I will slap you from here to Pittsburgh.”
Now many years later Mickey Rooney is enduring the same kind of treatment that Marx received. After all the years that Rooney entertained his fans in his movies 70 years ago while making the Andy Hardy movies he deserves a better fate than to be terrorized by a stepson.
It will be interesting to see what happens at the February 24 hearing that could extend the restraining order. It is a mystery to me how this could go on without his wife notifying someone about the abuse.
Mickey Rooney deserves to live his last years in peace and hopefully the restraining order will be the first step in assuring him that the alleged abuse is over.
The following article from the Baltimore Sun and a video from KTLA in Los Angeles give more details. The stepson is shown in the video denying the charges of abuse.
One of Rooney’s attorneys said that his client had to sneak out of the house at night to meet with the attorneys and showed them an empty wallet with no money or any forms of identification.
Phyllis Diller has died at the age of 95 in Los Angeles California. Diller died Monday, August 20 at her home.
