Hank McKinnies, Jr. began his acting career on radio and in local theater. His big break came when he was spotted by talent scouts and offered a contract with 20th Century Fox. Using the stage name “Jeffrey Hunter,” he was cast in a bit part in a 1950 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with a young …
Using a nickname “Haji” given to her as child, the former Barbarella Catton worked as a topless dancer in her native Quebec, Canada at the age of 14. She was recruited by notorious sexploitation director Russ Meyer and in 1965, Haji made her film debut as “Rosie” in the campy cult classic Faster Pussycat! Kill! …
Gene MacLellan grew up in Toronto, raised in a traditional Presbyterian household. As a child, he contracted polio. Despite his illness, he was a determined singer and songwriter, using his music to overcome his physical ailments. As a teenager, he formed a band called The Consuls. They evolved into Little Caesar and the Consuls, a …
After performing with his brothers in a traditional Latin music group, Sergio Vega branched out as a solo act in 1994. An accomplished singer and accompanist on the bajo sexto, Sergio turned his musical focus to the Narcocorrido musical sub-genre, a style of narrative ballad that glorifies the world of drug smuggling, trafficking and other …
John Anthony Bailey performed in various college productions and improvisational theater as a student at Oakland’s Merritt College. He appeared in the Sun Ra science fiction film Space is the Place in 1972. John landed a regular role in the Sid and Marty Krofft children’s fantasy series Wonderbug in 1976. He also played the character …
Dorothy Short aspired to be an actress. She made her debut in 1935 starring alongside Noah Beery Jr. in the 12-part Universal Studios serial The Call of the Savage. Her next role was the one for which she is best remembered. In 1936, Dorothy was part of a cast of unknown actors and actresses tapped …
Judith Cohen was as smart as a whip. By the time she was in fifth grade, her classmates were paying her to do their math homework. Inspired by her natural ability with numbers, Judith set her sights on becoming a math teacher. She entered Brooklyn College on a math scholarship, but soon switched her major …
The sixth of eleven children, Wilma Mankiller was born in 1945 in Oklahoma. Her father was a full-blooded Cherokee. Her mother was of Dutch and English heritage. Wilma grew up in her family’s ancestral home — without running water, electricity or telephones. In an act that echoed her family’s history, the Mankillers were moved to …
When her parents died, teen-age Marjorie House took over the responsibility to support her younger brother and sister. Taking the name “Marjorie Daw” from a popular children’s story, she pursued an acting career. With much determination, she was successful. Marjorie appeared in 76 films between 1914 and 1929. Along the way, she had a brief …
Charles Haeger had a pretty unremarkable baseball career. In six years, he played for three different teams, regularly moving from the minor leagues to the majors. His pitching was erratic, with good games followed by early exits from the mound after a shelling. He called it a career in 2010 with a 2-7 record, but …
