I have a confession to make. I love Gilligan’s Island, the 60s sitcom that, for three seasons, chronicled the totally-implausible antics of seven castaways stranded on an uncharted island somewhere in the vicinity of Hawaii. Don’t turn your nose up at me. You’ve seen it. Despite the show exhibiting slapstick humor and unrealistic situations, creator …
Berinthia Berenson was born into a privileged, aristocratic family in the upper-class Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. Her father was an American diplomat. Her mother was Countess Maria-Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, but was better known as socialite Gogo Schiaparelli. Berinthia, or “Berry,” as her family called her, was also a descendant of prominent fashion …
Remember those dreaded visits to the doctor’s office when you were a kid? The only pleasant aspect of that terribly sterile and unwelcoming waiting room was the few cheerful moment spent perusing the latest issue of Highlights for Children. Remember the lessons we learned from the antics of Goofus and Gallant? Remember the endearing, if …
Dean Martin was a lot of things. Singer. Actor. Variety show host. Comedian. Womanizer. But, one thing Dean Martin was not. Lush.
WFMZ, a local affiliate just outside of Philadelphia, picked up MeTV, the syndicated retro television network that presents programming exclusively from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, around the same time that Meredith Viera stepped down as co-host of The Today Show on NBC. When the insipid and unwatchable Ann Curry took over Meredith’s duties, I …
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Evelyn Ankers was born in Chile to British parents. Once her family moved back to England, young Evelyn was bitten by the acting bug. She took in small parts in British films, including The Bells of St. Mary’s with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in 1937. Evelyn left England at the start of World War …
“Hey McFly, you bojo! Those boards don’t work on water! Unless you got POWAH! “
After serving in the US Army during World War II, William Talman found work in Hollywood as a character actor, first in films then in various roles in anthology television series. In 1957, he went to an audition that would change his career. He read for the lead in a proposed courtroom drama series opposite another character actor Raymond …
As a young boy, Dudley Dickerson was inspired by the Ringling Brothers Circus. After a stop in his hometown of Chickasha, Oklahoma, Dudley gathered some props left behind by the circus. He cobbled together an act, calling it “Pin-Penny Circus” and performed acrobatics under the name “Paddlefoot” Dickerson. Soon, Dudley was off to California in …
Sheb Wooley was the real deal – born in Oklahoma on a ranch; grew up as a cowboy; became a rodeo star and formed a country & Western band. In the 1950s, Sheb moved to Hollywood and starred in dozens of Westerns, including High Noon, Giant and The Outlaw Josie Wales. On television, he appeared …
