Hungarian-born Michael Curtiz was one of the most prolific directors that ever worked in Hollywood. He directed over one hundred films beginning with The Third Degree in 1926, just after his arrival in America. (He directed nearly a hundred films in his native Hungary). As the 20s became the 30s, Michael was cranking out five …
Nine-year old June Preisser, along with her sister Cherry, performed as child acrobats from their hometown of New Orleans to New York City, to the famous music halls of Paris, Berlin and London. They even were given an audience with King George of England. Their act caught the interest of show-biz impresario Florenz Ziegfeld and …
Beginning with his first film, 1935’s I ragazzi della via Paal, Mario Monicelli wrote and directed over one hundred films and earned praise as one of the most beloved masters of the Commedia all’Italiana (Italian-style comedy) in a career that spanned eight decades. He worked quite often with stars Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, as well …
In the early 1920s, young Lee Nash developed a comedy vaudeville act and was soon joined by his childhood friend Morris Horowitz. Lee, now known by the stage name “Ted Healy”, told jokes onstage and was heckled by Morris, who was planted in the audience. Morris would then come up to the stage and engage Ted …
No one played the tramp like Gloria Grahame. After her 1944 film debut as trampy Sally Murfin in Blonde Fever, Gloria shot to stardom as trampy Violet in the Frank Capra holiday favorite It’s A Wonderful Life. She went on portray sluts, bad girls and tramps in a career that spanned five decades. With her pouty …
After appearing in bit parts in films throughout the late 1930s, Carole Landis made a huge splash as “Loana” in the 1940 prehistoric fantasy One Million BC. That film was a springboard for her career. Carole was cast in 22 films over the next eight years, mostly due to her secret affair with powerful producer …
This week’s challenge word on the Illustration Friday website is “burning”. At 2 AM on July 2, 1951, Pansy Carpenter smelled something burning. She checked on the finicky water pump in her apartment building’s basement, since it had a tendency to overheat. Concerned for the safety of her tenants, she turned the pump off and …
Roger C. Carmel and Richard Deacon were mainstays of episodic television from the 1950’s through the early 1980’s. Roger was best known for his role as intergalactic criminal Harry Mudd in two episodes of the original Star Trek series. Roger made many one-shot guest appearances in TV sit-coms and dramas throughout his career, including memorable …
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My wife has celebrated 28 birthdays since we met. Last year, we enjoyed a wonderfully intimate concert by banjo impresario Tony Trischka at the elegant, historic Elkins Estate, around the corner from our house. Two years ago, we spent a wonderful birthday in New York City. We went to a huge street festival on Sixth Avenue, wandered around …
This week’s challenge word on Illustration Friday is “spooky”. (This is the third illustration I’ve done for this week’s word. HERE is the first and HERE is the second.) After a failed attempt at becoming an opera singer in the style of Paul Robeson, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins settled on playing piano and singing standard blues. …
