Gene MacLellan grew up in Toronto, raised in a traditional Presbyterian household. As a child, he contracted polio. Despite his illness, he was a determined singer and songwriter, using his music to overcome his physical ailments. As a teenager, he formed a band called The Consuls. They evolved into Little Caesar and the Consuls, a …
After performing with his brothers in a traditional Latin music group, Sergio Vega branched out as a solo act in 1994. An accomplished singer and accompanist on the bajo sexto, Sergio turned his musical focus to the Narcocorrido musical sub-genre, a style of narrative ballad that glorifies the world of drug smuggling, trafficking and other …
John Anthony Bailey performed in various college productions and improvisational theater as a student at Oakland’s Merritt College. He appeared in the Sun Ra science fiction film Space is the Place in 1972. John landed a regular role in the Sid and Marty Krofft children’s fantasy series Wonderbug in 1976. He also played the character …
Dorothy Short aspired to be an actress. She made her debut in 1935 starring alongside Noah Beery Jr. in the 12-part Universal Studios serial The Call of the Savage. Her next role was the one for which she is best remembered. In 1936, Dorothy was part of a cast of unknown actors and actresses tapped …
Judith Cohen was as smart as a whip. By the time she was in fifth grade, her classmates were paying her to do their math homework. Inspired by her natural ability with numbers, Judith set her sights on becoming a math teacher. She entered Brooklyn College on a math scholarship, but soon switched her major …
River Phoenix died of an accidental drug overdose on Halloween evening 1993… as his career was on a meteoric rise. His untimely death paused a number of projects in development in Hollywood. River was about to start filming his next picture in early November 1993. He had been cast to play “Daniel Molloy” in Interview …
The sixth of eleven children, Wilma Mankiller was born in 1945 in Oklahoma. Her father was a full-blooded Cherokee. Her mother was of Dutch and English heritage. Wilma grew up in her family’s ancestral home — without running water, electricity or telephones. In an act that echoed her family’s history, the Mankillers were moved to …
