The daughter of sharecroppers, Theresa Harris was born on New Year’s Eve 1906. Her family moved to Southern California when she was 11 and she longed to become an actress. In 1930, she made he debut in the gangster tale Thunderbolt, where she was featured in an uncredited performance singing “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” Soon. she …
“I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
Abe Vigoda died earlier this week. His career bridged eight decades and he spent the last few of those decades convincing the public that he wasn’t dead. He played mostly bit parts in the early days of television including long stints on the popular soap operas As The World Turns and Dark Shadows. Always giving the …
Oh buy the corned beef if you must, The pickled herring you can trust, And the lox puts you in orbit A-OK. But that big hunk of liverwurst Has been there since October First, And today is the Twenty-Third of May!
Kevin Connors dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, one day playing for his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. At an imposing six-foot-five, the athletic Connors was a natural at first base, often yelling “Chuck it to me! Chuck it to me!” to his teammates on the neighborhood ball clubs, thus earning him the nickname “Chuck.” Equally …
I remember watching this guy on The Ed Sullivan Show when I was a kid. Wedged in a slot somewhere between Buddy Hackett and Jerry Vale, this guy came out onto a stage that was already set up with a series of tall sticks and a long table piled high with colorful plates. Looking dapper in …
In 1975, I entered high school as a rambunctious, unwieldy fourteen year-old. After rattling the nerves of most of my teachers, I was quickly dismissed and sent to the only class that could keep me under control — art. The art class to which I was relegated was a senior class. I was the lone …
There’s old Trader Sam, head salesman of the area. Business has been shrinking lately, so this week only, Sam’s offering a two-for-one special: two of his, for one of yours!
Born in Japan in 1929, Umeki Miyoshi was the youngest of nine children of the owner of an iron factory. In her 20s, using the stage name “Nancy Umeki,” she recorded a succession of American jazz standards for the RCA Victor Japan label and performed a popular nightclub act. A talent scout saw her act …
“Tom Cullen. M-O-O-N, that spells ‘Tom Cullen’.”
