Terry Burnham was a natural actress. She made her television debut at 6 years-old with a bit part in an installment of the anthology series Climax!, best known for introducing the James Bond tale Casino Royale. Terry appeared in small roles on I Love Lucy and The Danny Thomas Show, leading up to her most notable role. In a late Season One episode of Twilight Zone entitled “Nightmare as a Child,” Terry was suitably creepy as the younger self of star Janice Rule. Acting well beyond her years and limited experience, Terry’s performance was memorable among fans of the series and was instrumental in maintaining the malevolent tone of the episode.

Terry continued to land roles in episodic television, including five different episodes of Wagon Train playing five different characters. In between TV parts, she made the jump to motion pictures. She played Sandra Dee‘s character as a child in the 1959 remake of Imitation of Life and, later, she was cast as Bob Hope’s daughter in the 1966 mystery send-up Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! As a teen, she appeared as Cissy’s friend in two different episodes of Family Affair. In 1971, at 22, she made her final filmed appearance in the moral-leaning syndicated series Insight.

And then, Terry Burnham disappeared.

In 2010, an auction was held for the contents of a storage locker in Southern California. The high bidder found a cache of personal items — tax documents, pay stubs, letters, medical records, contracts and loads and loads of photographs. The photos were promotional in nature and depicted a cute, smiling little blond girl — Terry Burnham. Over the next few months, many of these items would pop up at area flea markets and swap meets. Leonard Lightfoot, a moderately successful character actor, bought a lot of Terry’s belongings at various flea markets. He sold the bulk of them on eBay, splitting most between two specific collectors — one in the eastern United States, the other in Australia. The domestic collector tried to contact Terry to return the items. He located her last known address — at a Compton, California trailer park — but, after many attempts, his efforts were unsuccessful. The Australian collector hung onto his purchases, among which were Terry’s birth certificate, high school diploma and graduation tassel. While sifting thorough his collection, he noticed that signatures had been cut from contracts. These had most likely been sold along the way with a photograph of the actress.

In 2013, Terry Burham passed away at the age of 64. Because she had no immediate family and a “next-of-kin” could not be located, her body became the property of the County of Los Angeles. According to LA County law, unclaimed bodies are cremated if no one comes to retrieve them within a month of death, after which the cremains are kept in the county coroner’s office for another three years. After that time, anyone who shows up and pays the $340 cremation fee can do so and take possession of the cremains. This was the fate of Terry Burham. Her cremated remains were purchased by a New York fan in hopes of giving the actress a proper, dignified burial. He set up an online fundraiser to pay for burial services in Kensico (New York) Cemetery‘s designated Actors Fund plot. This is a section set aside for actors who died without the assets to provide for a burial. Its permanent residents include John Call (who played the title role in the cult film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians) and Sammy Petrillo (notorious for his portrayal of a Jerry Lewis lookalike in the 1952 unintentional comedy Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla), among many others. This fan raised sufficient funds and Terry was laid to rest a little closer to her home. She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach, California — five years after her death — on what would have been her 67th birthday.

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Irving Kanarek was a character. He was an aerospace engineer until his government security clearance was revoked. He pursued a law degree and was admitted to the California Bar in 1957.

In 1963, Irving represented Jimmy Lee Smith, who was arrested for kidnapping and murder. Smith’s case was chronicled in the 1973 book The Onion Field.

In 1969, Irving was the attorney for Charles Manson. LA County prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, in his account of the trial, remembered that Irving objected nine times during opening statements, despite warnings from the judge. Irving called witness Linda Kasabian “insane.” By Day Three of the trial, Irving had raised objections over 200 times. Jurors allegedly requested NoDoz to keep them awake during Irving’s long-winded — often rambling — presentations. His actions prompted Manson to physically attack him in the courtroom. Irving was jailed twice during the course of the trail for contempt of court.

Irving suffered a mental breakdown in 1989. An assessment by the California Bar resulted in Irving’s licence to practice law to be revoked. By the late 1990s, he was living in poverty and drifting among motels. Irving passed away on September 2, 2020, at age 100.

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RIP Mrs. Peel

Diana Rigg, 1938 – 2020

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Rosemary Dexter had absolutely no aspiration to become an actress. On a vacation in Rome in 1963, the pretty nineteen year-old met Italian director Ugo Gregoretti. He was taken with Rosemary and cast her in a featured role in his science-fiction film Omicron. Whether she liked it or not, Rosemary’s film career was officially launched. She appeared in mostly uncredited roles in both Italian and American films, but her dark and mysterious looks always made her stand out on the screen.

Rosemary worked with “spaghetti Western” icon Sergio Leone in For a Few Dollars More and appeared in the epic The Shoes of the Fisherman as David Janssen‘s mistress. She even portrayed “Juliet” in a version of the Shakespeare play produced for Italian cinema. In 1975, Rosemary graced the cover of Playboy magazine. However, the following year, she abruptly retired from the screen.

Rosemary lived in relative seclusion in an apartment in Recanati, Italy, venturing out only for an occasional visit and errands. After missing an appointment with a friend, Rosemary was found dead in her apartment. Coroner’s reports estimated she had died two days earlier. Rosemary had been suffering from a long-term, yet undisclosed, illness. She was 66 years old.

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You know Pat Hingle, right? Gosh, this guy was in everything! He made his motion picture debut in an uncredited role in Elia Kazan’s On The Waterfront. Over the years, he was cast as Warren Beatty’s father and Sally Field’s father. He played such diverse characters as “Colonel Tom Parker” in John Carpenter’s Elvis biopic to no-nonsense “Commissioner Gordon” in Tim Burton’s take on Batman. He also appeared in numerous guest roles on television including M*A*S*H, Cheers, Mission: Impossible, The Invaders and many others.

Pat was primarily a stage actor in the beginning of his career. In 1959, while performing in the award winning Broadway play J.B., Pat was offered the title role in the proposed film Elmer Gantry, slated for a 1960 release. Flattered by the recognition, Pat humbly accepted. A short time after accepting the role, Pat became trapped in the elevator of his Manhattan apartment building. when it stalled between the second and third floors. Panicked, he crawled out of the immobile elevator car and tried to reach the second floor corridor. However, Pat lost his footing and fell 54 feet down to the bottom of the shaft. He fractured his skull, wrist, hip and most of the ribs on his left side. He broke his left leg in three places and lost the little finger on his left hand. He lay near death for two weeks in the hospital. He slowly gained strength — a little every day — but his full recovery required more than a year. Unable to put off production on the film, the title role of Elmer Gantry was given to Burt Lancaster, who went on to win an Oscar for the performance.

After his recovery, a determined Pat enjoyed a very prolific career than spanned five decades. He passed away in January 2009 at the age of 84.

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