In 1961, 22-year old college dropout Calisto Tanzi opened a small pasteurization plant in Parma, Italy. As time went on, the business, Parmalat, grew and grew, branching out from dairy products to include bakery items, juices and other beverages. The company began trading on the Milan Stock Exchange as its expansion continued, mostly by acquisition. …
Five-year old Linda Blair modeled for catalogues from Sears, JC Penney’s and Macy’s. Her print work led Linda to over 70 television commercials, including Welch’s Jelly and other national products. She enhanced her marketable skills by taking equestrian training. At 10, Linda had a regular role in a soap opera and landed small roles in …
Poor Sal Mineo. After a couple of film roles (including one for which he beat out another up-and-coming actor named Clint Eastwood), Sal Mineo was cast as “John ‘Plato’ Crawford” in Rebel Without a Cause alongside James Dean and Natalie Wood. The film earned Sal an Academy Award nomination and made him a household name, …
It’s Week 2 of Inktober 2025 and this week’s “Scream Queen” is Marilyn Burns. Armed with a drama degree from the University of Texas, Marilyn Burns made her film debut as a tour guide in Robert Altman’s 1970 offbeat comedy Brewster McCloud. She was later cast in a leading role in the Sidney Lumet-directed drama …
Alma Rubens rose to stardom after her role opposite Douglas Fairbanks in the 1916 film The Half-Breed. She made a run of pictures for Triangle Studios before signing with William Randolph Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions. Hearst had his publicity team tout Alma as a direct descendant of Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. (She was not.) …
Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! It’s October! Summer is over. Hallowe’en is approaching! Pumpkin spice everything is just…. who are we kidding? Pumpkin spice flavoring has been infiltrating our cornflakes, lattes, hand soap, shoelaces… our everything since the last week of July! Nevertheless, October also marks the arrival of Inktober, the annual drawing exercise …
Philip Taylor Kramer joined psychedelic rock group Iron Butterfly in 1974, playing bass on two albums and touring for a few years. After the band’s breakup, he played with founding member Ron Bushy in several off-shoot projects. Leaving his music career behind, Taylor earned a degree in aerospace engineering. He worked on the MX missile …
