Robert Lees began his career as a screenwriter in the middle 1930s. He wrote several screenplays for the “Crime Does Not Pay” short subject series produced by MGM Studios and based on real-life crimes. He graduated to science fiction and ultimately wrote for Abbott and Costello, penning screenplays for five of the comedy team’s films, …
The illustration friday.com challenge word this week is “theater”. After arriving in Hollywood, William Castle worked as an assistant director with Orson Welles. Castle directed his first film at 29 and went on to make a name for himself as the “King of the Gimmicks”. Always thinking of ways to drum up an audience, Castle …
The Monday Artday challenge word this week is “spider”. After finishing 5th in the slalom at the 1968 Winter Olympics, charismatic skier Spider Sabich joined the World Cup circuit for several seasons. He turned professional after the 1970 season. Pro ski racing had just completed its first season, and was conducted in a dual slalom …
The inspirational word on Inspire Me Thursday is “green”. In 1955 for a five-minute puppet show called “Sam and Friends”, Jim Henson created Kermit the Frog from a green ladies’ coat that Henson’s mother had thrown into a waste bin, and two ping pong balls for eyes. From there, he launched a creative empire that stretched …
Three nights ago, the only thing on 22-year old rookie Nick Adenhart’s mind was not giving up any runs to the Oakland A’s starting lineup. Nick scattered seven hits and three walks across six innings, while ringing up five Oakland batters on strikes. Nick was looking great in his 2009 season debut as part of …
Adrienne Shelly began her career with starring roles in independent filmmaker Hal Hartley’s The Unbelievable Truth in 1989 and Trust in 1990. She followed those roles with parts in Law & Order, Oz, and Homicide: Life on the Street and two dozen off-Broadway plays. She stepped behind the camera as writer and director four times …
On November 22, 1955, while returning home by taxi from attending a boxing match, Samuel “Shemp” Howard, of the Three Stooges, died of a massive heart attack. Shemp was lighting a cigar after telling a joke when he suddenly slumped over. The Stooges still had four more shorts to film in order to fulfill their …
The current challenge on Monday Artday is “the old west”. In addition to my finished illustration, I included my original pencil sketch. (I showed a pencil sketch once before on this post.) Coincidentally, almost two years ago, I did this drawing when another illustration blog posed the same challenge. When I did an illustration for “the …
My wife (who I’ll call “Mrs. Pincus”) and I have had a running joke for 27 years. We met in February 1982 and had our first date soon after. Our conversation was always great. We found that we had so many common interests. The joke was that we would never ask each other: “So, what …
I research a lot. I am always scouring the far reaches of the internet for interesting stories to illustrate. Several weeks ago I came across the story of Jimmy Boyd. In 1946, seven-year-old Jimmy Boyd was singing with his brother at a barn dance in Colton, California. He was approached by a local radio host …
