Josephine Workman was born in Los Angeles in 1882, one of seven children. With no experience or aspirations, she innocently answered an ad in a local newspaper seeking women with “the physical attributes for playing a Native American.” The ad was placed by Bison Motion Pictures’ director/producer Thomas Ince, known in Hollywood as “The Father …
At 17, Dee Lampton made his big screen debut in a 30 minute short subject opposite Charlie Chaplin. He was billed in the silent production as “Fat Boy.” Dee was signed on to producer Hal Roach’s stable of players, usually relegated to playing characters that exploited his considerable weight. At nearly 300 pounds, Dee was …
Born to an affluent Philadelphia family, Marc Blitzstein was something of a child prodigy. He displayed a natural talent to for the piano, playing Mozart pieces at age 7. Later, he studied under Alexander Siloti (himself a student of Tchaikovsky and Liszt) and made his professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at 21. Marc’s musical …
Born the tenth of eleven children to a grocery store owner in Tacoma, Washington, Helen Greco, as they say, came out singing. She began belting out songs at the age of 4 and by 8, little Helen was singing on local radio. While performing on a Seattle variety show, a young Bing Crosby caught Helen’s …
Murray Roman… the man who would be Lenny Bruce. Murray was a clean-cut observational comedian much in the same vein as George Carlin. And like Carlin, Murray’s act changed when he began dabbling in and experimenting with LSD and marijuana. He managed a few small roles in episodic television, including brief appearances on The Monkees, …
At nineteen, aspiring model Mary Hartline was cast in a fifteen-minute radio series called Teen Town. Shortly after its start, the title was changed to Junior Junction. It featured the vivacious blond as the leader of a town inhabited my teenagers — eight boys and eight girls — along with the town’s mayor, played by …
