Teen-age Harry Anderson moved from Rhode Island to San Francisco, where he performed street magic for tips. He made eight appearances on early episodes of Saturday Night Live, wielding his cocky humor and close-up illusions under the guise of a street-wise con artist. With a grin on his face, Harry would explain how everything he …
It was while attending the University of Iowa that Don DeFore decided to become an actor. Originally a law major, he enjoyed performing in plays, but was disappointed when he discovered that “drama” was not recognized as a major at the university. He dropped out and enrolled in the famed Pasadena Community Playhouse. Don was a …
Lynne Ripley — “Twinkle”, as she was known to her family — was born in fairly affluent London suburb. She attended Queen’s Fate School, where Camilla Parker Bowles, the future Duchess of Cornwall, was a classmate. At 16, Twinkle entered the music business with the help of her boyfriend Dec Cluskey, of the popular vocal group The Bachelors. …
Please open your American History books and turn to the chapter about Francis Hopkinson. What? You can’t find that chapter? You can’t even find a mention of his name? Disgraceful. Francis Hopkinson’s contributions to the fledgling United States were as important and as symbolic as the Liberty Bell or the bald eagle. Oh…. wait a …
Barry Bremen was an insurance salesman, a happy husband and father of three from West Bloomfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In high school and after, he regularly played football, softball and basketball with guys from work and the neighborhood. He loved sports, but playing them on an amateur level wasn’t enough. He wanted more. …
Odessa Cowan was born in 1916 in a predominantly African-American neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. She studied dance and her performances received rave reviews in local newspapers. Soon she was starring in dance reviews, landing on Broadway at 14 years old. Jazz producer Irving Mills assembled an all-girl orchestra and signed Odessa as their leader. …
In the early 70s, a group of Hollywood friends — all homosexual — gathered for an annual party in Huntington Beach. According to actor Rock Hudson, invitations were printed announcing the marriage of Jim Nabors and Hudson, explaining that the heartthrob would be taking Jim’s TV character’s surname, the popular “Gomer Pyle,” the naive yet …
No reservations.
Candy Darling was an actress. Her friend Jackie Curtis invited pop artist Andy Warhol to a play that Curtis had written starring Candy and a young actor named Robert DeNiro. Warhol was impressed and cast Candy in his film Flesh in 1968 and then in a more substantial role in his film, Women in Revolt …
Imogene Coca was funny. Very funny. She starred opposite Sid Caesar on the early live TV showcase Your Show of Shows and she kept up with Caesar’s comic shenanigans every step of the way. Imogene was nominated five times for her work on Your Show of Shows, finally winning in 1951. In the early 1960s, …
