The 1950s were Martine Carol’s time to shine. The seductive blond bombshell was a top box office draw in French cinema. She starred in 15 films and was regularly compared to Marilyn Monroe. She was married to Stephen Crane, fresh from his divorce of Lana Turner (and father of Cheryl Crane, who was accused of …
Roger Peterson was born and raised in Alta, Iowa, and earned his private pilot’s license in 1954, just after graduating from high school. Four years later, he got his commercial pilot’s certificate and was quickly hired by Dwyer’s Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City was just a short drive from where Roger and …
In 1941, Merriman Smith became the White House correspondent for United Press International (UPI), a position he held until the Nixon administration. He began the tradition of closing his presidential conferences with “Thank you, Mr. President,” a practice still used by current correspondents. On November 22, 1963, Merriman Smith sat with several other reporters in …
Andy Kaufman took the whole world for a ride. From his beginnings as a stand-up comic, Andy marched to his own beat. When he performed a short bit on the premiere episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, no one knew what to make of him… and that’s just what Andy wanted. After an introduction by …
Nineteen-year-old Pamela Courson met Jim Morrison in a club on Sunset Boulevard in 1965. They remained a couple for six years, when Pamela found Jim dead in their Paris apartment’s bathtub. After Jim’s death, Pamela returned to Los Angeles and shunned all publicity, essentially becoming a recluse. She became a heavy heroin user and allegedly …
Based on his excellence in high school, Kevin Peter Hall was awarded a basketball scholarship to George Washington University. At 7′ 2″, Kevin dominated the game, but despite his athletic prowess, he decided his major would be theatrical arts. After abandoning a brief basketball career in Venezuela, Kevin landed his first role in the 1979 …
Seventeen-year old Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre was riding in a carriage in Paris when she was spotted by a fashion photographer. With a little encouragement, she used that chance meeting to kick off a career as a model for the likes of Givenchy and Christian Dior. She changed her name to the mysterious Capucine (French …
In 1963, The State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. As a result of the takeover, employee morale plummeted. Freelance artist Harvey Ross Ball was hired to create something as a confidence builder for distribution among the distraught employees. Harvey’s creation would be plastered everywhere — cards, posters …
Thelma Todd, Hollywood’s “Ice Cream Blond”, was most famous for the comedy short subjects she made for producer Hal Roach starring opposite Laurel and Hardy. She appeared with the Marx Brothers in their classic Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. One of Hollywood’s original “party girls,” Thelma was in a tumultuous marriage with gangster Pat DiCicco. Many nights with …
British-born Rod Hull moved to Australia in the early 1960s and got a job as a lighting technician on Sydney’s Channel 9 Network. Soon, he was appearing as Constable Clot, a popular daydreaming character on daytime television aimed at children. At the request of the show’s producer, Rod began performing with an ingenious emu puppet. …
