Andy Kaufman took the whole world for a ride.

From his beginnings as a stand-up comic, Andy marched to his own beat. When he performed a short bit on the premiere episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live,  no one knew what to make of him… and that’s just what Andy wanted. After an introduction by guest host George Carlin, Andy took the stage and set up a small phonograph. He stood quietly as a recording of the Might Mouse cartoon theme played - to the awkward chagrin of the studio audience. When the tune reached the familiar “Here I come to save the day” lyric, Andy bounced and gestured dramatically, lip-syncing the words perfectly… then resumed his position and waited for the line to roll around again. When he finished his unusual act, he thanked the crowd in an a unplaceable, but decidedly foreign accent. On a subsequent appearance, he did disastrous impressions of President Carter and Archie Bunker, each in the same uneasy, foreign-tinged voice. The confused studio audience rewarded him with nervous, awkward giggles. Then, he announced his finale — an impression of “de Elvis Presley.” After brief preparation of fixing his hair and altering his clothes to reveal previously hidden sequin accents, Andy transfixed the audience with a dead-on impersonation of The King.

And so began Andy’s life-long quest to baffle everyone.

Andy was a hot property on the stand-up circuit and was soon cast on the sitcom Taxi,  playing mechanic Latka Gravas, a variant of his “Foreign Man” character. He began playing larger venues when his popularity increased and audiences came in droves never knowing what to expect from one of his shows. He gave one performance with his grandmother seated prominently on the stage for the entire show. At the show’s conclusion, it was revealed that Andy’s “grandmother” was fellow comedian Robin Williams concealed under heavy theatrical makeup. Another show concluded with Andy taking the entire audience — twenty busloads — out for milk and cookies. Sometimes, Andy would punish his audience by reading the novel The Great Gatsby,  never yielding even as complaining patrons left the venue. Even as Andy’s fame and recognition heightened, he regularly and dutifully worked as a busboy at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Los Angeles.

Andy gave an infamous performance on the late-night ABC show Fridays  (a knock-off of Saturday Night Live ). He appeared in a sketch in which he broke character and refused to deliver his lines. Cast members grew furious and the audience was bewildered. Cast member Michael Richards (in an early pre-Seinfeld  role) dumped a stack of cue-cards on Andy’s head and producer Jack Burns took a few swings at the comedian. It was all a elaborate practical joke masterminded by Andy.

While on Taxi,  Andy introduced obnoxious lounge singer Tony Clifton and insisted he be given a role on the show. Again, it was another hoax, as Clifton turned out to be Andy in disguise.

In the early 80s, Andy switched gears and adopted a leering, abhorrent personality, becoming the self-appointed “Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World”. He wrestled women, taunting and humiliating them, offering $1000 to any woman who could pin him in the ring. Among his “opponents” were his friend, singer Laurie Anderson. Andy accepted a challenge from professional wrestler Jerry Lawler. During their match, Lawler delivered a piledriver that seriously injured the much-smaller Andy. A hospitalized Andy threatened a lawsuit. Years later, it was revealed to be a hoax executed by long-time friends Andy and Lawler.

In late 1983, Andy’s family expressed concern at the persistent cough Andy exhibited during a visit for Thanksgiving dinner. Andy, a life-long, non-smoking, health conscious vegetarian, was diagnosed with a rare type of lung cancer. He took all sorts of measures to combat the disease, from special diets to chemotherapy to psychic surgery performed in Philippines. Keeping his illness a secret from the public, Andy passed away from kidney failure in May 1984 at the age of 35. Once again, Andy’s death was believed by some to be just another extravagant prank. A year later, when Tony Clifton appeared at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, those beliefs were reinforced. (Tony was actually portrayed by Andy’s long-time collaborator Bob Zmuda.)

Although, Andy had the last laugh.

In 1951, 44-year old Orville Redenbacher and his partner Charles Bowman purchased the George F. Chester and Son seed corn plant near Valparaiso, Indiana, with money earned from Orville’s lucrative fertilizer business. The pair tested thousands of hybrid strains and combinations until they were satisfied with what they considered a successful, marketable varietty of popcorn. Originally called “Redbow” (a blend of the first syllables of the two partner’s names), an advertising agency suggested they market the product under the folksy-sounding name “Orville Redenbacher”. By the mid 1970s, their upstart company had seized one third of the popcorn market. Through a series of sales and mergers, the company became the property of food conglomerate ConAgra. Orville and his partner were very generously compensated and Orville, in the manner of Colonel Harland Sanders, became the spokesman for the product. He appeared in a series of televison commercials and his friendly face graced the product’s labels.

On September 19, 1995, 88-year old Orville was found dead in the jacuzzi at his home in Coronado, California. While relaxing, he had suffered a heart attack and drowned.

Orville Redenbacher’s brand is currently the number one selling popcorn in the United States.

After Jim’s death, Pamela returned to Los Angeles and shunned all publicity, essentially becoming a recluse. She became a heavy heroin user and allegedly began working as a prostitute to subsidize the high cost of her lavish lifestyle and ever-increasing drug habit. She often talked about seeing Jim Morrison again and on April 25, 1974, Pamela got her wish. She overdosed on heroin in the apartment she shared with two friends.

Pamela’s parents made plans to have their daughter interred next to Jim in a Paris cemetery, but their plans were dashed by legal issues involving the international transport of the body. Although her death certificate lists “Père Lachaise Cemetery” as her final resting place, Pamela is, in fact, buried in Santa Ana, California.

Upon her death, Pamela’s parents inherited the remains of the fortune that Jim Morrison had left when he died. Jim’s parents contested the legalities of the Morrison-Courson union. Eventually, the Coursons retained control of the estate, as the California courts recognized that Pamela and Jim had a common-law marriage.

Sandy began to feel stifled with The Strawbs and looked for a band with which she could expand her vocal reach. The popular folk group Fairport Convention was auditioning vocalists to fill the spot left by the departing Judy Dyble. Sandy was the unanimous choice. She stayed with the band for just over a year, recording three albums before starting her own band, Fotheringay, and then embarking on a solo career.

In the 70s, Sandy released several solo albums. In 1971, she was asked by Robert Plant to perform a duet. The song, “The Battle of Evermore” on Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, became the only appearance by a guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin album. In 1974, she returned briefly to Fairport Convention for a world tour.

Sandy was feeling the pressures of recording, writing and touring and found comfort in alcohol and cocaine. By the late 70s, Sandy’s drug intake was increasing. She continued using cocaine even while pregnant. After her daughter was born, Sandy exhibited erratic, irresponsible behavior. According to her friend, singer Linda Thompson, “Sandy was in car accidents and was leaving her baby in pubs.” In March 1978, while on vacation with her daughter and parents, an inebriated Sandy fell down a flight of stairs and hit her head on a concrete floor. She was prescribed a powerful painkiller to combat her intense headaches. Just days after the fall and not fully recovered, Sandy performed a concert, while her husband, producer Trevor Lucas, fled to his native Australia with their daughter, hoping to avoid further possible harm. A few weeks later, in mid-April, Sandy fell into a coma and passed away from a mid-brain hemorrhage, a result of her spill down the stairs. Sandy was 31.

Sandy’s husband Trevor suffered a fatal heart attack in 1989. Control of Sandy’s estate was turned over to Trevor’s second wife. Sandy’s daughter, Georgia, has never spoken about her mother in public. She turned down an offer to write the liner notes for a 2000 posthumous release Sandy Denny Live at the BBC.  A group of Sandy’s friends and colleagues recorded an album of Sandy’s compositions to honor the birth of Georgia’s twin daughters - Sandy’s grandchildren.

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born in 1912 and his life reads like an adventure story. He was a prolific songwriter and poet, a political activist and the inspiration for every folk singer who ever plunked out a tune on the acoustic guitar. He never stopped singing, composing and adventuring… until he succumbed to the effects of Huntington’s disease (the same disease that claimed his mother and two of his children) at age 55.

After abandoning a brief basketball career in Venezuela, Kevin landed his first role in the 1979 horror film Prophecy.  Under special effects make-up that concealed his face but enhanced his imposing frame, he was featured in two more films, the 1980 sci-fi thriller Without Warning  and the early Tom Hanks sword-and-sorcery TV-movie Mazes and Monsters.  Kevin guest starred on episodic television including Night Court  (in a comedic turn opposite 6′ 8″ cast regular Richard Moll) and The Dukes of Hazzard.  He was part of an ensemble cast of the short-lived series Misfits of Science.  He returned to the big screen as the title character battling Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator.  Kevin followed that again as the title character bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons,  another role showcasing his impressive height.

For two years, Kevin had a recurring role on the sitcom 227.  While working on the show, he met actress Alaina Reed. Alaina, who played the good-natured Rose Lee Holloway, had previously played Gordon’s sister Olivia on Sesame Street  for over a dozen years. In 1988, the couple were married on the show and  in real life.

In 1990, Kevin was involved in a serious car accident and required a blood transfusion. At the hospital, he received blood contaminated with the HIV virus. With his immune system compromised, Kevin died from pneumonia several months later. He was 35 years old.

Seventeen-year old Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre was riding in a carriage in Paris when she was spotted by a fashion photographer. With a little encouragement, she used that chance meeting to kick off a career as a model for the likes of Givenchy and Christian Dior. She changed her name to the mysterious Capucine (French for the flower nasturtium ). While modeling, she met fellow model (and future actress) Audrey Hepburn. The two remained life-long friends.

In 1949, Capucine made her film debut in the French-produced Rendez-vous de Juillet. On the set, she met actor Pierre Trabaud and the two were married the next year — a marriage that would last only six months before ending in divorce. Soon Capucine was signed to a contract with Columbia Pictures and made her English-speaking film debut in 1960’s Song Without End,  a biopic of composer Franz Liszt. She followed that with the John Wayne comedy-Western North to Alaska.  After a few forgettable melodramas, she returned to comedy, landing the role of Lady Simone (wife of Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau) in The Pink Panther.  Capucine reprised the role in several sequels, including the critically-panned Trail of the Pink Panther  in which Sellers’ scenes were culled from outtakes from previous films. (Sellers had died before production on the film had begun.) She also appeared as part of an all-star cast in 1965’s Woody Allen acting debut What’s New Pussycat?,  which was Allen’s screenwriting debut as well.

Capucine moved to Switzerland in the early 1960s and continued to make films in predominantly in Europe, with the occasional appearance on American episodic television. While working on the French film The Lion,  she began a two-year affair with married actor William Holden.

In March 1990, an ill Capucine, battling depression, jumped to her death from the eighth-story window of her Swiss apartment. She was 62.

In 1963, The State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. As a result of the takeover, employee morale plummeted. Freelance artist Harvey Ross Ball was hired to create something as a confidence builder for distribution among the distraught employees. Harvey’s creation would be plastered everywhere — cards, posters and buttons. Harvey set to work and, in the short span of ten minutes, he created the smiley face.

State Mutual launched a “friendship” campaign. Smiley face buttons were handed out to encourage a cheerful attitude among employees when dealing with customers in person and on the phone. The campaign was so popular that, by 1971, over fifty million buttons were circulated.

Harvey’s son Charles said of his father, “He was not driven by money. He would often say ‘Hey, I can only eat one steak at a time, drive one car at a time’.” Harvey never had his design trademarked or copyrighted. He was paid $45 for his work.

Two soldiers who were in boot camp together meet out on maneuvers.

“Hey, I heard you joined the paratrooper division.,” the first recruit says, “Pretty impressive.”

“Yeah.” answers his colleague, “Last week we went up for our first jump.”

“Great! So, how did that  go?”

“Well,  they take us up and I was the last one in a group of about twenty-five guys. So, one by one, the other guys are all jumping out of the plane and I’m getting real nervous and scared. With each guy that jumps, I’m getting more and more scared. So, they’re all gone and my turn comes up next and I can’t do it. I just can’t bring myself to jump. I say to the sergeant ‘I can’t jump, sir, I just can’t.’ and he says, ‘Get going, soldier! Jump outta this plane!’ and I tell him, ‘I can’t do it.’ He yells, ‘Soldier! If you don’t jump outta this plane right now,  I’m gonna fuck you right up the ass!’”

“Wow!,” the first soldier says, “Did you jump?”

“A little at first.”

Thelma Todd, Hollywood’s “Ice Cream Blond”, was most famous for the comedy short subjects she made for producer Hal Roach starring opposite Laurel and Hardy. She appeared with the Marx Brothers in their classic Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. One of Hollywood’s original “party girls,” Thelma was in a tumultuous marriage with gangster Pat DiCicco. Many nights with DiCicco ended with drunken brawls. Thelma divorced DiCicco and found comfort in the arms of director Roland West. West offered salvation with companionship, drugs and liquor. With West’s guidance, Thelma opened Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe, a seaside restaurant in Pacific Palisades. The restaurant gained popularity among Hollywood’s elite, as well as tourists, and was very successful.

In 1934, Thelma began an affair with another gangster, Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Luciano kept Thelma supplied with amphetamines, hoping to persuade her to allow him the use of a room at her restaurant for a secret gambling den. She flatly refused. “Over my dead body!,” she said. “That can be arranged.,” Luciano replied.

On December 14, 1935, Thelma met comedian Stanley Lupino and his daughter, actress Ida, at Cafe Trocadero in Hollywood. Before she left the luxurious apartment she shared with Roland West, he told her to “be in by 2 a.m. or I’ll lock you out.” Their apartment was situated at the top of a long narrow staircase above the restaurant.

On Monday morning, December 16, May Whitehead, Thelma’s maid, came as scheduled, to clean the apartment. When May climbed the stairs, she saw the garage door slightly ajar. May looked inside and found Thelma dead, slumped over the steering wheel of her Packard convertible. An investigation yielded a smeared hand-print (not Thelma’s) on the car’s door. A death certificate was issued with the cause as “accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.” It appeared  that Thelma has passed out in the closed garage with the engine running. However, there was blood on her dress from a wound. Several people close to her believed she had been the target of an extortion plot and she was murdered. Thelma’s body was cremated, so a thorough autopsy was not possible. A definitive conclusion was never determined and Thelma Todd’s death, at the age of 29, remains one of Hollywood’s greatest mysteries.

A prophetic footnote to the story… In Monkey Business,  Groucho Marx quips to Thelma: “You’re a woman who’s been getting nothing but dirty breaks. Well, we can clean and tighten your brakes, but you’ll have to stay in the garage all night.”