I only remember Maria Ouspenskaya from two movies — Universal’s 1941 horror classic The Wolf Man with Lon Chaney Jr. and its sort-of sequel Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man two years later. The diminutive actress played the same role in both films. She was the mysterious “Maleva,” an omniscient Gypsy woman who explains to poor …
For his follow-up to the celebrated Dracula, director Tod Browning recruited a number of real-life sideshow performers for the decidedly darker Freaks. The film shocked 1932 movie audiences. It was banned in the Untied Kingdom for over thirty years and was labeled “brutal and grotesque” by Canadian critics. However, in 1994, Freaks was added to …
After making her stage debut in Pittsburgh at the age of 17, Myrna J. Darby moved to New York City. She won a beauty contest that was sponsored by a newspaper. Showbiz impresario Florenz Ziegfeld saw Myrna’s photograph and hired her to appear in his 1926 production No Foolin’ on Broadway. The following year, Myrna …
Leo Gallagher Jr, better known by his single stage name “Gallagher,” died this past week at the age of 76. At the height of his popularity in the early 1980’s, Gallagher was arguably one of the hottest comedians in show business. He pioneered the stand-up comedy cable TV special, producing more than a dozen of …
In a career that spanned an unprecedented nine decades, Angela Lansbury did it all. She sang. She danced. She played dramatic roles. She played comedic roles. She lit up movie screens with her delightful characters in family classics like Bedknobs & Broomsticks and Mary Poppins Returns. She chilled audiences with her sinister turn in The …
Actors like Luana Anders were the foundation on which Hollywood was built. Unassuming, nondescript and modestly attractive, Luana, like her mentor Jeff Corey, was a versatile, reliable actor — able to handle any type of role that came her way. She became early friends with up-and-coming directors and was only happy to help out their …
After early interest in football, Reggie Lisowski turned his sights on professional wrestling once he joined the army. He trained in his native South Milwaukee neighborhood and made his ring debut in 1949. His early matches only netted the budding wrestler a mere five dollars a night, so he took menial jobs to supplement his …
Mark Sandman was an interesting and mysterious guy. He worked a number of blue-collar jobs, including construction, commercial fishing and driving a cab. He was stabbed and robbed as a cab driver, a traumatic incident that had a lasting effect on him for the rest of his life. The untimely deaths of his two brothers …
Don Wilson was an integral part of the Houston Astros for nine seasons. His career could have continued… but other circumstances changed that. Don won over 100 games for the Astros. He was selected to the All Star Game in 1971, where he pitched two scoreless innings. Her also threw two no-hitters – one in …
