josh pincus is crying

Twenty-three year-old Debbie Boostrom auditioned, alongside hundreds of anxious and hopeful young ladies, to become the coveted 25th Anniversary Playboy Playmate. Debbie was unsuccessful, but a little over a year later, she was presented in the magazine as Miss August 1981. In the following months, she appeared in several Playboy videos and participated in some of Hugh Hefner’s celebrity events at the Playboy mansion. Eventually, with her brief, minimal fame fading, Debbie married and settled in Kansas with her husband. When her marriage failed, Debbie returned to her Florida roots and started a small business designing jewelry. Although she acted in a handful of infomercials, for the most part, she stayed out of the public eye.

On July 29, 2008, Debbie, now 53 and diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, put a gun to her head and shot herself.

(HERE’S my original sketch of Debbie.)

This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “suspense”.

Alfred Hitchcock - Hollywood’s master of suspense. He was a technical innovator, a masterful storyteller and a visionary director. In his career, that spanned six decades, he never won an Oscar (aside from an honorary and conciliatory lifetime achievement award).

Alexa Kenin began acting as a child, landing her first role opposite Academy Award-winning actor Jason Robards in the 1972 TV movie The House Without a Christmas Tree. She appeared in several more TV productions, including five Afterschool Specials.

The 80s brought Alexa her big-screen debut in the Tatum O’Neal-Kristy MacNichol teen camp film Little Darlings. After more guest roles on episodic television, Alexa found herself in a supporting role alongside Clint Eastwood in Honkytonk Man  in 1982.

Soon, Alexa was cast in her most-remembered role as Jenna in Pretty in Pink  with Molly Ringwald. Just after Pretty in Pink  wrapped production, 23-year-old Alexa was found dead in her Manhattan apartment. Although still officially classified as an unsolved crime, the belief is that she was murdered by a jealous ex-boyfriend.

Teenage aspiring dancer Beryl Heischuber answered a casting call ad and landed a role in the 1928 production of Vanities  at the Earl Carroll Broadway theatre. Using the more accessible (and more pronounceable) name “Wallace”, Beryl appeared amid dozens of other young dancers billed under the umbrella title “the most beautiful girls in the world”. She performed in six more variations of Vanities  at Earl Carroll’s venue, most notable for their risqué premises, scantily costumed females and full nudity for the first time on Broadway.

Beryl began a relationship with theatre owner Earl Carroll, who was 16 years her senior. When Carroll opened his Hollywood location of the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in 1938, the building’s facade boasted a 20-foot high portrait of Beryl in neon. Beryl was featured in small roles in several “B” Westerns with co-stars like Tom Keene and Roy Rogers, but her primary job was star performer at Earl Carroll’s Theatre.

On June 17, 1948, Beryl and Earl Carroll were aboard United Airlines Flight 624 from New York City to Los Angeles when the flight crew received warning of a fire in the cargo hold. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, procedure dictated that CO2 be released into the area to extinguish the flames. However, relief valves were not opened and carbon dioxide seeped back into the cockpit, incapacitating the crew. The aircraft was put into an emergency decent. It struck a high voltage power line, burst into flames and crashed into a wooded hillside near Aristes, Pennsylvania. All 39 passengers, including Beryl Wallace and Earl Carroll, were killed.

The Earl Carroll Theatre continued operation after its founder’s death. In the 1950’s, it fell on hard times and was purchased and re-opened as The Moulin Rouge nightclub. Later, the TV game show Queen for a Day  was broadcast from the theatre during its nine-year run. Once again, the venue changed hands and became the Hullaballoo Rock and Roll Club, capitalizing on its popular TV namesake. In the 1960s, it was renamed “The Aquarius Theatre” and was home to the long-running musical Hair  during its West Coast run.  The Doors even performed there in 1969. In the 80s, the theatre served as the studio for nine seasons of Star Search  and for many Jerry Lewis Telethons. In the early 90s, it was once again renamed, this time ”The Chevy Chase Theatre” for five weeks, until the comedian’s disastrous talk show was canceled. More recently, the location is known as “Nickelodeon on Sunset” and is the filming location for current shows like iCarly  and Victorious,  as well as past favorites like All That  and Drake & Josh.  Although a reproduction is displayed at Universal Hollywood’s CityWalk, the original neon portrait of Beryl Wallace vanished decades ago.

This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “twirl”.

For as long as he could remember, Tommy Lasorda, the longest tenured employee with the Dodgers organization, including twenty years as team manager, loved baseball. Growing up in a poor family in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Tommy could never afford to attend to a real Major League baseball game. When he was fifteen, Tommy joined his high school’s student crossing guard squad, but he had an ulterior motive. Tommy knew that at the end of the school year, the nuns would take the crossing guards to a Phillies game in neighboring Philadelphia in appreciation of service.

On the big day, the Phillies were playing the New York Giants and an excited Tommy Lasorda was beside himself with joy. After the game, he waited patiently by the clubhouse access tunnel at Shibe Park hoping to actually meet one of the ballplayers. One of the Giants outfielder lumbered past the star-struck youngster. “Can I get an autograph, please?”, asked Tommy. The player, Buster Maynard, riding high on the best season of what would be a short career, glanced at Tommy and barked, “Get the hell outta my way!” Tommy checked his line-up card to identify the player by uniform number as he walked into the opposing team locker room. Tommy was crushed and humiliated.

Seven years later, Tommy Lasorda, now a twenty-two year-old pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league team in North Carolina, was on the mound facing the Single A division Augusta Yankees. He quickly struck out the first two batters of the inning, when he was frozen by the name being announced over the small ballpark’s public address system. Lasorda narrowed his eyes and watched as Buster Maynard — now an aging bench-warmer hoping for one last shot at reviving his career — ambled out of the dugout and approached the plate. The old man took a few creaky practice swings and stepped into the batter’s box. Lasorda silently fumed and went into his wind-up. He let the ball fly, rocketing just inches from Maynard’s chin and twirling the old man around in an effort to dodge the leather-clad projectile. Maynard took off his cap, scratched his head and peered across the field at the pitcher. Lasorda shot another head-high bullet at Maynard, this time forcing the elder player to hit the dirt in order to avoid getting some unrequested rhinoplasty. The third pitch from Lasorda wasn’t so forgiving. Maynard took one in the ribs and was awarded first base for his trouble.

After the game, the fading big-leaguer caught up with the young pitcher. “Hey kid,” Maynard began,”What the hell? Why were you throwing at me? I don’t even know  you?”

Lasorda answered, “When I was a kid, I asked you for an autograph and you pushed me aside, you lousy son-of-a-bitch!” Maynard was dumb-founded and he shook his head in disbelief as Lasorda walked away.

During his years as a Major League manager, Tommy Lasorda always reminded his players to happily sign autographs, adding “Because you never know if, one day, one of those kids’ll knock you on your ass!”

Tom Forman was a prolific “triple threat” in the early days of Hollywood. He was an actor in over 50 films beginning in 1913. He wrote seven screenplays and he was a sought-after director, calling the shots on over twenty-seven films. He directed top stars of the day including Lon Chaney and Mary Astor.

In November 1926, Tom was scheduled to direct the Columbia production of The Wreck.  The night before filming was set to begin, Tom shot himself through the heart. He left no explanation. Tom was 33 years old.

This week’s Illustration Friday word is “prepare.”

“Artie is a singer, and I’m a writer and a player and a singer. We didn’t work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.” — Paul Simon

I understand the popularity of Simon and Garfunkel. I am aware of Paul Simon’s songwriting ability and his contributions to his success with one-time partner Art, and as a solo artist. I fully appreciate the longevity of his career…

… but, Jeez!  Paul, that doesn’t give you the right to be a dick.

It was through his piano-playing stepsister that Leon “Chu” Berry was introduced to music at a young age. He stuck with it, playing alto saxophone through high school. He later switched to tenor sax after hearing jazz virtuoso Coleman Hawkins. (Although cited as an influence, Coleman Hawkins considered Chu an equal).

Chu began his professional career at the age of 21, playing with Sammy Stewart, the first of many swing bands. He moved on through several more swing bands, sticking around for two or so years each. He played with Fletcher Henderson before joining up with the great Cab Calloway in 1937. Along the way he gained popularity and respect as a sideman, backing up such musical luminaries as Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Lionel Hampton. The riff from Chu’s original composition “Christopher Columbus” made its way into Jimmy Mundy’s famous arrangement of “Sing Sing Sing” as performed by Benny Goodman.

In October 1941, Chu was travelling between gigs in Ohio and Toronto on a night that was thick with fog. Just outside of Conneaut, Ohio, with poor visibility, the car in which he was a passenger skidded and crashed at the end of a bridge. Chu suffered a skull fracture and other internal injuries. He was taken to a hospital where, due to the severity of his injuries, Chu passed away three days later. He was 33 years old. His funeral was attended by over a thousand mourners, among whom some of the greatest names in jazz and swing were represented.

The term “Chu Berry Sax” is used in reference to any saxophone made by the C.G. Conn Company from 1910 through the mid-1930s, including soprano, alto, baritone and C melody models — none of which Chu ever played. The moniker is misleading since there is no definitive style or model to which it refers.

Over thirty years, Sammee Tong appeared in over seventy movies and television shows as houseboys, cooks, waiters and other stereotypical roles that Hollywood offered Chinese-American actors. Sammee worked regularly in Westerns and the Charlie Chan  and  Mr. Moto  detective series. He even tried his hand at comedy as a laundry owner in the madcap It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  in 1963. On television, Sammee was a regular cast member, playing “Peter Tong”, houseboy to playboy attorney Bentley Gregg (played by John Forsythe), on five seasons of the sitcom Bachelor Father.  When Bachelor Father  was canceled, Sammee was again cast as a houseboy, this time on the new ABC sitcom Mickey  starring Mickey Rooney. The show faced tough competition in its Wednesday night time slot, as it was opposite the popular Dick Van Dyke Show  on CBS. ABC executives debated whether to renew the series. Sammee, a heavy gambler, depended on a regular salary to pay off his serious gambling debts. Fearing the show’s cancellation, Sammee committed suicide on October 27, 1964, effectively ending ABC’s dilemma.

In 1939, Shirley Temple lost the part of Dorothy in MGM’s The Wizard of Oz.  Although she was the foremost child star of the day, her singing was no match for the vocal talents of Judy Garland. In an attempt at consolation, her contracted studio, Twentieth Century Fox, gave Shirley the lead in The Blue Bird,  a fantasy musical co-starring Gale Sondergaard (who had turned down the role of the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz  on objections to the hideous makeup). The film presented little Shirley in the role of a bratty child. The role didn’t sit well with the movie-going public and after six years as America’s Sweetheart, Shirley was faced with her first bonafide flop. Six months later, Fox released Young People,  another flop for the twelve-year-old movie veteran. It was her last film for Fox. Shirley announced her retirement from show business to attend the exclusive Westlake School for Girls. Her retirement was short-lived, however, as MGM coaxed her back to the screen to star in Kathleen  in 1941. It, too, flopped and Shirley severed ties with MGM after mutual consent. Shirley went on to appear in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer  and Fort Apache,  two successful pictures among a crop of clunkers until she retired again - this time for good - in 1950.

Four-year-old Caryll Ann Ekelund appeared in a small role as an unborn child in Heaven in a sequence in The Blue Bird.  Despite her brief screen time, director Walter Lang and producer Darryl F. Zanuck felt she showed potential and promise as a young actress. On Halloween 1939, little Caryll was excitedly preparing for an evening of fun with friends in her Beverly Hills neighborhood, when her costume caught fire from a jack o’lantern that was displayed on her home’s front porch. She received severe first and second-degree burns and died in the hospital four days later.

Caryll was buried in the toga-like costume she wore in The Blue Bird  and a graveside choir sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, her favorite song.