Heavily influenced by her parents’ love of traditional Romanian folk music, teenage Mădălina Manole began taking guitar lessons and joined a local youth choir. After college, Mădălina worked as an air traffic controller while performing at festivals in her free time. She met and married fellow singer Şerban Georgescu, who took an interest in furthering …
June Wilkinson was a born performer. She danced on stage at twelve and, at 15, became the youngest topless dancer at London’s venerable Windmill Theater. While on a promotional tour of the United States, the young star-to-be caught the eye of publisher Hugh Hefner. He immediately arranged for a photoshoot for the 18-year old and …
John Scott Harrison was one of ten children born to Indiana Territory Governor (and future United States President) William Henry Harrison. John was elected to and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1852 to 1857. After he was defeated for a third term, he retired to his farm in Ohio. John and his …
Alice and Ellen Kessler were born performers. The pretty twin blonds joined the Leipzig Opera Company in their native Germany as children. Later, they were featured performers at famed Le Lido on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. There, met even met Elvis Presley while he was on leave from the US Army. Alice and Ellen went on to …
Angela Aames had a handful of roles in both B pictures and Hollywood blockbusters. Relegated to roles reserved for dimwitted buxom bombshells, Angela made her big screen debut in Harry Hurwitz’s Fairy Tales, an adult take on familiar bedtime stories, as “Little Bo Peep.” She also appeared in Scarface, Bachelor Party, All The Marbles and …
Evelyn West was a pioneer… sort of a Hernando de Soto of Burlesque. In the early days of the art form theater, the emphasis for titillation was placed on sexy walks and suggestive pelvic gyrations. Evelyn, with her reputed 39 1/2 inch bust line, moved the focus upward. She employed her own style of publicity, …
June Lockhart passed away on October 23, 2025 at the age of 100. 100 — boy! what a run! June was most identified as the all-American wholesome model Mom, playing the definitive role in — not one but two — popular TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. Well, I never watched Lassie and I’ve …
I was a KISS fan for a few months when I was in 10th grade. I was one of the first people to wear a KISS t-shirt in my high-school. It was a big plastic-like iron-on decal of KISS’s debut album cover that I selected from a wall of designs on display at a local …
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. …
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, …
