from my sketchbook: brian keith

Brian Keith had show business in his blood. The son of stage actor Robert Keith and actress Helena Shipman, young Brian made his motion picture debut in the 1924 silent film Pied Piper Malone at the age of 3. After his parents’ divorce, Brian’s father briefly married actress Peg Entwistle, whose claim to fame was …

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from my sketchbook: george carlin

I was always a big fan of George Carlin, the original purveyor of counterculture, hippie humor. I remember watching him on The Tonight Show, always amused by the hearty laughs he coaxed out of host Johnny Carson. I remember hearing a George Carlin comedy album at a friend’s house and rolling on the floor in hysterics at …

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IF: secret

This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “secret”. “Bachelor number one is a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes you might find him skydiving or motorcycling.” — Host Jim Lange’s introduction of Rodney Alcala on  The Dating Game, …

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from my sketchbook: helen chandler

By the late 1920s, Helen Chandler was a huge star on Broadway. Her credits numbered twenty plays ranging from broad farce to Shakespeare. As the 30s approached, she hoped her popularity would continued as she headed for Hollywood. Helen had roles in a few pictures including the film version of her popular stage production Outward Bound,  about passengers …

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from my sketchbook: martine carol

The 1950s were Martine Carol’s time to shine. The seductive blond bombshell was a top box office draw in French cinema. She starred in 15 films and was regularly compared to Marilyn Monroe. She was married to Stephen Crane, fresh from his divorce of Lana Turner (and father of Cheryl Crane, who was accused of …

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from my sketchbook: roger peterson

Roger Peterson was born and raised in Alta, Iowa, and earned his private pilot’s license in 1954, just after graduating from high school. Four years later, he got his commercial pilot’s certificate and was quickly hired by Dwyer’s Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City was just a short drive from where Roger and …

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DCS: brenda benet

From her first part on the early 60s ABC soap opera The Young Marrieds,  Brenda Benet became an in-demand character actress. She played roles in both top prime-time comedies and dramas in the 1960s and 70s, appearing in Mannix, Love American Style, I Dream of Jeannie, Hogan’s Heroes  and many others. She even landed a part …

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