Lou Pearlman wrote a business plan for a class project and soon put his theory into action. He started a helicopter taxi service in New York City, beginning with a single helicopter. He became interested in blimps and trained with a German businessman. He moved to Orlando, Florida and started an advertising business with blimps, securing …
Cilla White took a job as a hat check girl at Liverpool’s Cavern Club in hopes it would advance her chances at being a singer. She eventually got the chance to sing, performing with club regulars Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and other local bands. She also struck up a friendship with a group of guys …
A woman who did for women’s rights what matches did for forest fires.
“I want everything I’ve ever seen in the movies!” — Leo Bloom, The Producers (1967)
Young, eager Choo-Choo Coleman was drafted by the Washington Senators in 1955, however he was soon released. He was picked up by the Brooklyn Dodgers but signed with the Philadelphia Philles in a Rule 5 draft. In 1961, after getting hit by a pitch in his first Major League plate appearance, he played in 33 …
Philip Finkel was born in in Brooklyn in 1922. Using the Yiddish name “Fyvush” he made his stage debut at nine-years-old in New York’s thriving Yiddish theater. He performed all types of roles, including stand-up comedy. In 1964, he made his Broadway debut in Fiddler on the Roof. He stayed with the show for many performances, …
Paula Osterman, a Mexican-born beauty, made her motion picture debut in the 1928 silent film White Shadows of the South Seas. She used the more exotic-sounding stage name “Raquel Torres” to match her exotic looks. The picture was the first entry into fully synchronized sound effects and music for MGM Studios. She followed that role with …
Youree Harris was born in Los Angeles. She attended an all-girls boarding school and was married and divorced with two children by the time she was in her middle 20s. An aspiring actress, Youree opened a theatrical production company in Seattle. Her first production was an autobiographical play. A year later, after her production of Supper Club Cafe …
Teenage Patsy Lou Blake did some modeling in her hometown of Dallas, Texas for the Conover Agency. She was spotted by a scout from Warner Brothers Pictures and, soon young Pasty, now using the more sophisticated-sounding name “Patricia Blair,” was cast in the war drama Jump Into Hell in 1955. She had roles in several more films …
By the time Inge Landgut was cast by Fritz Lang in the 1931 classic M, she was already known in her native Germany, as “The German Shirley Temple.” Inge played Elsie Beckmann, a victim of child murderer Hans Beckert, as played by Peter Lorre. The film was a hit and Inge continued her career well into …
