“In her false witness, we hope you’re still with us, To see if they float or drown Our favorite patient, a display of patience, Disease-covered Puget Sound She’ll come back as fire, to burn all the liars, And leave a blanket of ash on the ground” — Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle …
Can you imagine my joy when, in 1975, I brought home a newly-released copy of Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare album, popped it onto my turntable and heard a deliciously creepy introduction by none other than the “King of Modern Macabre” — Vincent Price? It was (if I may borrow a word not particularly popular in …
Doris Wishman was bored. As a recent widow, she refused to sit home and spend the rest of her life grieving. So she decided to make movies. Doris, a New York native, skirted recently-passed nudity legislation. The new law permitted nudity in film in a documentary context. Doris borrowed $10,000 from her sister and produced …
While still a teenager, Rhea Mitchell performed on stages across the Pacific Northwest. It was during one performance in Vancouver, British Columbia, that she was noticed by a talent scout from Hollywood. She began her film career – one that would span five decades – with a short subject called The Hidden Trail in 1912. …
Sean Flynn, the only child from the marriage of silver-screen swashbuckler Errol Flynn and French actress Lili Damita, seemed to be destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. A brief role in a segment of TV’s The Errol Flynn Theatre and a background part in his friend George Hamilton’s film Where The Boys Are in 1960, led …
Nineteen-year-old Ruth Steinhagen went to a Chicago Cubs game in 1947 and was never the same. She became obsessed with Eddie Waitkus, the Cubs’ good looking, young first baseman. Ruth began to gather every bit of information she could on Waitkus. She sought out photos and newspaper clippings about him. Her room in her parents’ …
When Elizabeth Taylor, in the prime of her career, graced the silver screen…. it sizzled.
Many decades before another pair of namesake sisters were grabbing headlines, there was conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. Born in the English coastal town of Brighton, Daisy and Violet were joined at the hips and buttocks. While they did share blood circulation, they shared no internal organs. Their mother, an unwed barmaid named Kate …
Continue reading ‘from my sketchbook: daisy and violet hilton’ »
Pascual Pérez wasn’t a great pitcher, but he certainly was an interesting one. After a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pascual was traded to the Atlanta Braves. He had two consecutive career seasons, winning fifteen games in 1983 and fourteen games in 1984, despite joining the team after an arrest in his native Dominican …
When 24-year old Gwili Andre (the former Gurli Andresen) arrived in Hollywood from her native Denmark, she had aspirations of movie stardom. She was undoubtedly beautiful — blond hair, blue eyes and statuesque. She was a near double for Hollywood darling Greta Garbo. Producer David O. Selznick was taken by her appearance and signed her …
