After finishing school, Michael Wilding got a job in the art department of a London film studio. Despite his ability as an artist, he was recruited and groomed by the studio to be a movie star. With his dashing good looks and relaxed demeanor, he launched what would become a three-decade career in 1933. He …
In 1947, twenty-year old Virginia-born Peggie Blair was eating at a Beverly Hills restaurant when her striking good looks caught the attention of a talent scout. She began her whirlwind career in Hollywood, using the stage name “Peggie Castle” and started off appearing in a slew of uncredited roles. Peggie was perpetually cast as b-girls, gun molls …
The Illustration Friday challenge word this week is “swell”. “Gee, Dad, as far as fathers go… you’re swell!” Even as Dennis Mitchell was wreaking havoc in Mr. Wilson‘s petunia bed (no, that’s not a euphemism), he loved his dad. And what was not to love? Herbert Anderson was born in Oakland, California in 1917. At …
Nafisa Joseph was born in the southern India city of Bangalore. With the help of a neighbor, Nafisa began a modeling career at the age of twelve. Her beauty caught the eye of Indian fashion designer Prasad Bidapa. With Bidapa’s direction and assistance, she entered the Miss India Universe pageant in 1997 and at nineteen …
Marion Martin was born in Philadelphia and grew up going to private schools and living an entitled Main Line life of as the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. In 1929, her family’s fortune was wiped out in the stock market crash. Twenty year-old Marion pursued a career in show business to help her family’s financial …
This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “obsession”. Regular readers of my blog (all four of you) are already familiar with my obsession the one aside from drawing. I love old movies, Hollywood scandals, obscure actors and actresses and stories of untimely demise. So, how do I satisfy all of those interests at one shot? I visit cemeteries, …
Charles McGraw made a career as a B-move leading man. With his hulking build, gravelly voice and craggy looks, he starred as countless military men and law enforcement officers, and the occasional gangster, in over 140 movies and television shows from the early 40s until the mid-70s. Although mostly cast in film noir, he played …
In 1935, Münir Ertegün moved his family to Washington, DC when he served as the first ambassador of the new republic of Turkey. Son Nesuhi Ertegun took his nine year-old brother Ahmet to jazz clubs to see Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Soon Ahmet and Nesuhi were staging jazz concerts, booking the acts themselves. Expanding …
Kitty Genovese was headed home after another late evening at Ev’s Eleventh Hour, the bar in Hollis, Queens where she worked as the night manager. She parked her car in the Long Island Railroad parking lot and began to walk the one hundred feet to her apartment across the street. The entrance was located at …
Billy Laughlin was discovered by an MGM talent scout outside a movie theater doing Popeye imitations for his friends. Soon, Billy was starring in the final run of the Our Gang film series as “Froggy”. He spoke in the gravelly croak that brought him fame in 29 shorts beginning with The New Pupil in 1940 through Dancing …
