Right out of high school, Ralph “Putsy” Caballero signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. After a few years in the minor leagues, Putsy made his major league debut at third base for the Phillies in 1948. In his one season as an everyday player, Putsy achieved a batting average of .245, amassing only 86 …
Pat Upton, a guitarist and singer from Sacramento, formed a small group for an Air Force talent show. Pleased with their sound, the group, then called The Fydallions, played small gigs wherever they could. They wound up in a Las Vegas lounge doing five hour shifts. While playing in a club in east Los Angeles, …
Brooklyn-born Carmine Tilelli grew up in the close-knit, predominately Italian neighborhood of East Passyunk in Philadelphia. Just after his 18th birthday, tough Carmine turned to boxing. He made his professional debut in Atlantic City, New Jersey using the name “Joey Giardello,” supposedly a cousin’s name he used in an attempt to join the army before he …
I did this drawing for my friend Kathy. Kathy, who is the long-time host of a popular children’s call-in show on a local Philadelphia radio station, has single-handedly kept the memory of Soupy Sales alive for a generation that would, otherwise, have no interest in the late comedian. Soupy Sales, born in North Carolina as …
She was a lovely lady, just like the song says.
I saw Sharon Jones and her band, The Dap Kings, at one of the last Appel Farm Music and Arts Festivals in Salem County, New Jersey. Despite blistering hot temperatures, Sharon and her nattily-dressed rhythm ensemble brought the crowd to its feet with its infectious funk. Sharon’s powerful and soulful voice soared and filled the stage …
I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
What was that magical power Rex Harrison had over women? This is the third story I’ve presented about a woman who was obsessed with the late actor. Kay Kendall appeared in both comedies and dramas, including a Golden Globe-winning performance in 1957 musical Les Girls, opposite Gene Kelly. She had a lengthy romance with Charlie …
A dancer since the age of five, Carol Haney left her native New Bedford, Massachusetts for Hollywood. She was spotted by choreographer Jack Cole in some bit parts and was hired as his partner in the middle 1940s. Soon, she paired up with the great Gene Kelly as his assistant choreographer on such classic MGM musicals …
Lupe Velez got her show business start singing and dancing in Mexican vaudeville in the 1920s. She was recommended to American theater director Richard Bennett (father of actress Joan Bennett) by a friend who had seen her perform. Bennett needed an actress to play a Mexican cantina singer for a play he was staging and Lupe fit …
