DCS: louise harrison

Louise Harrison came to the United States from her native England in the 1950s. She settled in Illinois with her husband, a Scottish expatriate. She lived the unassuming life of a mid-Western housewife. In the early 1960s, Louise’s younger brother George formed a rock band with two young men he had recently met. The pair …

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inktober52: elf

For someone who didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas, I sure do love Christmas movies. The end-of-the-year holiday season has produced some great films, including classics like Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas in Connecticut, It Happened on 5th Avenue (recently discovered on Turner Classic Movies), White Christmas (and its cringe-inducing predecessor Holiday Inn), It’s A Wonderful …

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inktober 2023: week 5

The final entry for Inktober 2023 was alluded to last week. It’s The X-Files, a science-fiction-horror series inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tired of the mundane scripts he was churning out for Walt Disney Productions’ teen market, Chris Carter was hired by the upstart Fox Network to develop new programming. Working with his fondness …

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inktober 2023: week 4

Week 4 of Inktober 2023 sort of picks up where last week’s feature left off. After the demise of Dark Shadows, producer Dan Curtis soldiered on in his mission of bringing the horror genre to television. Working closely with writer Richard Matheson, Dan Curtis purchased the rights to an unpublished novel about a vampiric serial …

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DCS: piper laurie

In 1949, budding actress, the former Rosetta Jacobs, signed a contract with Universal Pictures. Studio executives changes the seventeen-year old’s name to Piper Laurie, a name which she used for the rest of her life. The young ingénue was cast opposite the top male leads of the day. She appeared in all genres — comedies …

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DCS: abby dalton

Abby Dalton cut her acting teeth under the tutelage of cult director Roger Corman, mostly playing uncredited roles as tough teenage delinquents. She totally changed her on-screen image to that of the wholesome — though innocently sexy — girl-next-door. She made guest appearances on many series in the early days of television. Abby was cast …

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inktober 2023: week 2

Last week, I discussed Twilight Zone, the venerable “godfather” of horror anthology television series. While not the first, it paved the way for others in the genre like Outer Limits, Thriller, Tales from the Darkside and Masters of Horror. There were others, too. Many others. Many, many others, including one with which you may not …

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inktober 2023: week 1

Summer is over and October is upon is. The leaves are changing. The hot temperatures of July are yielding to cool breezes that bring a nip to the air. The sun is setting at an earlier time and everything  is flavored with pumpkin spice. Well, everything has been flavored with pumpkin spice since the third …

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