After several silent films in her native Mexico, Lupita Tovar signed with Universal Pictures. She starred in 1930’s La Voluntad del Muerto, a Spanish-language version of The Cat Creeps. The atmospheric horror film was shot at the same time as its English counterpart, using the same sets. Luptia was then cast as “Eva” in a …
I met Carrie Fisher a few years ago at a horror and science-fiction convention in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It’s a convention that I have attended on-and-off over the past fifteen years. While I am amused by the various costumed attendees and the unusual items of memorabilia on display, I mostly go to add to my …
Bernard Fox was one of those “Oh! That guy!” actors, despite having a career that spanned six decades. He made his acting debut at 18 months, launching a career that touched both television and films in both drama and comedy. He was featured in numerous films, mostly broad comedies like Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, …
Upon his graduation from college, Gunpei Yokoi was hired as a maintenance man at the Nintendo Corporation. His job was to maintain the machinery on the assembly line that produced the company’s main product, Hanafuda cards, a deck of playing cards used for various games. In 1966, after a year in his position, Hiroshi Yamauchi, the president …
In the opening scenes of the 1976 concert/fantasy/chronicle film The Song Remains the Same, Robert Plant can be seen strolling through the fields of his Kidderminster farm with his son Karac. Plant cradles the boy in the crook of his arm as the sun shines down, giving their lion’s mane-like hair an ethereal glow. The smile …
Twenty-year-old photographer’s model Susan Hayward headed to Hollywood in 1937. Her goal was to land the coveted role of “Scarlett O’Hara” in the big-screen adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel Gone with the Wind. She lost the role to Vivien Leigh, but was cast in bit parts until her breakout role opposite Gary Cooper in …
Right out of high school, Ralph “Putsy” Caballero signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. After a few years in the minor leagues, Putsy made his major league debut at third base for the Phillies in 1948. In his one season as an everyday player, Putsy achieved a batting average of .245, amassing only 86 …
Pat Upton, a guitarist and singer from Sacramento, formed a small group for an Air Force talent show. Pleased with their sound, the group, then called The Fydallions, played small gigs wherever they could. They wound up in a Las Vegas lounge doing five hour shifts. While playing in a club in east Los Angeles, …
Brooklyn-born Carmine Tilelli grew up in the close-knit, predominately Italian neighborhood of East Passyunk in Philadelphia. Just after his 18th birthday, tough Carmine turned to boxing. He made his professional debut in Atlantic City, New Jersey using the name “Joey Giardello,” supposedly a cousin’s name he used in an attempt to join the army before he …
I did this drawing for my friend Kathy. Kathy, who is the long-time host of a popular children’s call-in show on a local Philadelphia radio station, has single-handedly kept the memory of Soupy Sales alive for a generation that would, otherwise, have no interest in the late comedian. Soupy Sales, born in North Carolina as …
