Eddie Mekka was more than “Carmine Ragusa,” the singing-dancing, on-again-off-again tough guy boyfriend of Shotz Beer bottle capper “Shirley Feeney” in the 1970s sitcom Laverne & Shirley. Before landing the part of “The Big Ragu,” Eddie performed on Broadway in the rock opera The Lieutenant, a role that earned him a Tony Award nomination. Post-Laverne …
Olga Baclanova apprenticed at the Moscow Art Theatre but was soon appearing in films in the Russian cinema. In 1925, as part of a touring company from the Moscow Art Theatre, Olga came to New York City. She defected during the tour and caught the sight of film producers during a performance in Los Angeles. …
Alice White worked as a script girl and secretary for noted Academy Award-nominated director Josef von Sternberg. She also served as a switchboard operator at the Hollywood Writers’ Club. After a disagreement with von Sternberg, she went to work for Charles Chaplin. Alice was often compared to actress Clara Bow. Her bubbly personality caught the …
Born in Peru in 1925, Carlos Tobalina emigrated to California in 1956. He found work as a used car salesman and, in a second career, doing voice-overs on a Spanish language radio station. Taken in by the appeal of the Southern California film industry, Carlos founded his own production company in 1964. The company — …
While attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Brooklyn, 19 year-old Helen Jurgens married fellow student Clark Twelvetrees and adopted his unusual and unique surname as her own. Clark was a troubled man, who once attempted suicide at a dinner party. He jumped from a high-story window, but survived. Helen divorced Clark in 1931. …
Inktober 2021 comes to a close and the final subject is Dwight Frye. Dwight Frye packed nearly 70 screen credits into a career that spanned almost half a century. He is best remembered for tow roles in classic horror films — both released in 1931. Dwight played the sadistic assistant “Fritz” in the original Frankenstein. …
Twenty-year-old Evelyn McHale boarded a train at 7 in the morning in on May 1, 1947. She was headed back home to Tuckahoe, New York after visiting her fiance in Easton, Pennsylvania to celebrate his 24th birthday. When she arrived at Penn Station, she walked to the Empire State Building and purchased a ticket to …
