A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, budding filmmaker George Romero was making commercials and shooting segments for the popular children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He teamed up with writer John Russo and wrote a script for a comedy-horror film called Monster Flick. The pair raised $114,000 and shot the film in and around their native Pittsburgh with …
Albert Salmi loved the stage and believed that film and television roles paled in comparison to the legitimate theater. In 1955, Albert starred as “Bo Decker” in the Broadway production of William Inge’s Bus Stop. He was offered to reprise the role in the 1956 film opposite Marilyn Monroe, but declined. Don Murray took the …
Young Josephine Lederer was a welcome and frequent guest at Hearst Castle, the guest of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and her aunt, Hearst’s lover, actress Marion Davies. Hearst was fond of Marion’s niece, as well as Josephine’s brother, future screenwriter Charlie Lederer. The energetic and vivacious Josephine earned herself the nickname “Peppy.” She altered …
“Adventures are always better with friends.” After surviving a building collapse following a World War II air raid, Michael Bond joined to Royal Air Force, but was dismissed after a severe bout of air sickness. He spent the rest of the war in an administrative position. After the war, Michael became a cameraman with the …
“Flounder, you can’t spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You fucked up! You trusted us!” Stephen Furst was delivering pizzas to supplement his struggling acting career. Ever the innovator, he included his head shot with every pie he delivered. One day, he made a delivery to producer Matty Simmons, who was getting ready …
Adam West ended the decades-long controversy in a single sentence on an episode of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory: “It should be me, Keaton, Kilmer, Lego, Bale, and the pretty boy Clooney.” Adam passed away on June 9, 2017 after a short battle with leukemia. He was 88. Here’s my own memory of West’s …
Kurt Cobain never wanted to be the voice of his generation. In a suicide note to his imaginary childhood friend “Boddah,” Kurt lamented that he no longer “felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing for too many years now.” Kurt took his own life on April 5, 1994. His body …
Linda Martinez was a child prodigy. From the time she was able to stand and reach the piano, she was picking out melodies on the ivory keys. She began formal lessons at Yamaha Music Education System in Orange County, California. Linda began winning music competitions as a youngster, winning the 1991 Yamaha International Junior Original Concert …
Born Alice Jones in Edinburgh, Scotland, Quinn O’Hara (taking the more colorful Anglo name) was named the first “Miss Scotland” as an entrant in a beauty contest that predated the Miss Universe Pageant. She moved to southern California when she landed uncredited roles in a trio of Jerry Lewis films in the early 1960s. In 1966, …
Chris Cornell, the pioneering grunge guitarist and founder of the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, performed for the last time on May 17. His final song of the evening was a cover of Led Zeppelin’s In My Time of Dying. After the show, he hanged himself in his Detroit hotel room. He was 52.
