Diana (pronounced “DEE-ana”) Dors was under contract to The Rank Organization, a large British entertainment conglomerate, and appeared in many of their films beginning in the mid-1940s. Her portrayals of femme fatales and objects of unrequited love, coupled with her striking, yet familiar, good looks led to her comparison to a certain American sex symbol. By …
Beverly Neill was working as a telephone operator when she began to take some small roles in a few MGM productions. Using the stage name “Amanda Blake” , she appeared with Judy Garland and James Mason in the first remake of A Star is Born in 1954. The following year, she signed on for the …
Marie McDonald, daughter of a Ziegfeld girl, began modeling as a teenager. Her aspirations took her to Hollywood where she danced at nightclubs and sang with big bands, including a brief stint with Tommy Dorsey. She was soon signed to a contract with Universal Pictures and got her first credited role in Abbott & Costello’s …
Larry and Roger Troutman had no idea how influential their band would be. They just wanted to play the funk. Roger made a deal with his childhood friend, bassist Bootsy Collins. They vowed that whoever became more famous would help the other achieve the same level of fame. In 1978, Roger founded Zapp with his …
In 1964, Barbara Colby gave a well-received performance in Six Characters in Search of an Author. This led to Broadway, where she made her debut the following year in The Devils with co-stars Anne Bancroft, Jason Robards, James Coco and Albert Dekker. She garnered positive reviews for her roles in numerous plays throughout the remainder …
Bobby Buntrock got his first taste of acting on an episode of Wagon Train at the age of seven. He landed the part of little Harold Baxter on the sitcom Hazel with Oscar winner Shirley Booth as the problem-solving maid for George and Dorothy Baxter as played by Don DeFore and Whitney Blake (Meredith Baxter’s mother). …
Dick Shawn was a difficult performer to peg. He was an film actor, a stand-up comic, a singer, a voice actor and a stage actor. And he did them all well. But he never achieved the fame for his performances that he really deserved. He actually became more famous for the circumstances surrounding his death. Born Richard …
Eighteen year-old Leo Gorcey had just lost his job as a plumber’s apprentice. His father and younger brother, both successful vaudeville performers, persuaded Leo to try out for a part in the play Dead End. The Gorceys each got small roles as members of a street gang. When featured actor Charles Duncan left the production, Leo …
Pete Ham formed his first band at the age of 14. The band evolved over the next few years, experiencing personnel changes until they gained local notoriety as The Iveys in 1965. The Iveys caught the attention of Mal Evans, personal assistant to the Beatles, and they were soon signed to Apple Records. Changing their …
Jean Seberg made her motion picture debut at age 19 in Otto Preminger’s unusual interpretation of George Bernard Shaw’s play Saint Joan, about Joan of Arc. Preminger’s daring casting of the unknown Jean received a huge build-up in the press, but Jean’s performance was panned by critics. Jean noted “I have two memories of St. …
