At 6′ 11″, Mel Turpin dominated the court as starter for the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team in the 1984 NCAA Final Four. He was the Southeastern Conference scoring leader and still holds the record for most field goals in SEC tournament play. At center, he was an aggressive player, scoring 42 points in …
Ernie Kovacs’ influence can still be seen. Groundbreaking shows like Laugh-In, Monty Python, Saturday Night Live even Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street owe a large debt to the pioneering techniques of this comedic wizard. From his humble beginnings as a disc jockey, Ernie landed his own early morning show on Philadelphia NBC-affiliate WPTZ (now …
Tokyo Rose didn’t exist. The name “Tokyo Rose” was a catch-all for a collective of women whose voices were heard on Radio Tokyo’s “Zero Hour” broadcasts during World War Two. These were radios shows presented specifically for US servicemen. They featured popular American swing and big-band music and brief comedy and chit-chat mixed with non-political news. …
This week’s Illustration Friday challenge word is “giant”. Robert Wadlow was a relatively normal eight pounds six ounces at his birth in 1918, however an overactive pituitary gland would soon change the course of his life. By eighteen months, Robert weighed sixty-two pounds and by the age of eight, he was 6 feet 2 inches tall. By …
After making his Broadway debut in 1939, Richard Quine was a hit in the play My Sister Eileen and made a handful of motion pictures before entering the Coast Guard in World War Two. After his discharge from the service, he married Susan Peters, a promising young actress. Fresh off her Academy Award nominated performance …
Pushed into acting as a teenager, Veronica Lake, the former Connie Ockelman, picked up some early roles which led to a contract at Paramount Pictures in 1941. Veronica’s roles became bigger and eventually she starred in a string of hits including Sullivan’s Travels, This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, and So Proudly We Hail! …
Because of her straight-laced upbringing, Linda Boreman earned herself the nickname “Miss Holy Holy” at her strict Catholic high school. Later, in the “free love” times of the 1960s, Linda gave birth to a son. Her mother insisted the boy be given up for adoption to spare humiliation and preserve the family’s good name. Soon …
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In 1958, Lana Turner was between husband number five and husband number six when she entered into a torrid and volatile relationship with Johnny Stompanato. Johnny was the bodyguard for notorious gangster Mickey Cohen. Lana didn’t care about Johnny’s connections. She was content with his dark good looks and expertise as a lover. So, he …
The current Illustration Friday challenge word is “paisley”. Gerome Ragni performed in several small theatre productions until he collaborated with fellow actor James Rado on the first Broadway musical to celebrate hippie culture Hair. Hair was unlike anything that was previously presented on the Great White Way. Audiences were assaulted and enraptured by free-form dancing, …
Eighteen-year old Meredith Hunter, known to his friends as “Murdock”, picked up his girlfriend Patty Bredahoff early on December 6, 1969. Meredith, a flashy dresser with a large Afro, was decked out in a lime green suit and matching derby hat. His destination was an all-day concert at Altamont Speedway featuring some of the top …
