And the wind took
The ground shook
And me and my baby traded one last look
The heavens squalled
Push come to shove
Ain’t no escaping the tornado of love
DCS: dick kallman
Dick Kallman got a break when he joined the touring company of How to Succeed in Business (Without Really Trying), replacing Warren Berlinger, Milton Berle’s nephew. After appearing in several more stage productions and guest shots in television shows, Dick landed a starring role in his own sitcom. Hank premiered in 1966. Dick, as the title character, was another in a long line of affable TV goofballs. He played the driver of a snack truck that frequented the parking lot of the local college. Hank would secretly sneak into classes to get himself a free education. He was also dating the pretty daughter of the short-fused college dean. Cast from the same preposterous mold as My Mother, The Car, poor Hank lasted a mere single season. Later in the 60s, Dick got a two-episode stint as a Phil Spector-like producer, one “Little Louie Groovy,” in the waning final season of the camp-superhero classic Batman.
Not content on giving up of the musical career he shelved, Dick recorded an album of standards in 1975, behind the orchestral direction of award-winning composer Ennio Morricone. The album was not popular and soon, Dick found himself out of show business. Not discouraged, he partnered in a manufacturing venture, producing a very successful line of women’s’ clothing. The business allowed Dick to indulge in his hobby-come-true calling: antiques.
Dick collected high end antiques — furniture, jewelry, paintings — and ran a business out of his Manhattan apartment. He bought and sold on a regular basis and 27-year-old Charles Lonnie Grosso of Queens obviously took notice.
On February 22, 1980, Dick and his partner were murdered in their apartment by Grosso during a premeditated robbery. Grosso shot Dick and Stephen Szladek, leaving the pair dead as he collected a number of random items, haphazardly leaving some very expensive pieces behind. Grosso was eventually caught and convicted. He received a sentence of 25 years to life, next eligible for parole in 2021. None of the paintings, jewelry, and antiques stolen from the apartment were ever recovered.
Dick Kallman was 47.
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IF: nose
Tinka-tinka-tee!
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DCS: betsy palmer
Betsy Palmer had a long and illustrious career in films, television and on the stage. She was featured in the original teleplay of Paddy Chayefsky’s Marty in 1953, two years before its big screen adaptation. She originated the role of “Alma” in Tennessee Williams’ The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. She was Williams’ personal choice for the role. In films, she starred opposite Tyrone Power and Anthony Perkins. She was well known to television audiences as a panelist on the popular game show I’ve Got a Secret. She is best remembered, however, for a movie role she took only to earn enough money to replace her out-of-commission car. She was offered the part of “Pamela Voorhees,” mother of the iconic killer Jason, in the 1980 slasher film Friday the 13th. She hated the script, saying it was “a piece of shit,” and predicting “Nobody is gonna see this!” Reluctantly, she took the part. Although the low-budget film did surprisingly well, she distanced herself from it for a long time. Years later, she ultimately embraced the film and regularly appeared at horror conventions to meet fans. She made a cameo appearance in Friday the 13th‘s first sequel, but declined all subsequent sequels.
I met Betsy eleven years ago at one such convention. As a long-time collector of autographed photos, I was anxious to meet Betsy Palmer. She was gracious and charming when she greeted my son and me. I perused the selection of photos displayed on her table and was disappointed when I didn’t see any shots representative of my favorite role of Betsy’s from one of my all-time favorite movies.
I sheepishly asked Betsy, “Nothing from Mister Roberts?” (Mister Roberts was the filmed version of the hit stage show about navy life during World War II featuring an all-star cast including Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon [in a role for which he won his first Oscar], William Powell [in his final role] and James Cagney.)
Betsy smiled, then laughed. She put her arm around my shoulders, gestured to the crowd — a mix of costumed freaks, leather-clad goths and greasy fanboys — and whispered to me, “Do you think any of these people have seen Mister Roberts?”
Betsy passed away in 2015 at the age of 88. Despite a successful career that spanned six decades, she was left out of the “In Memoriam” segment at the 88th Academy Awards ceremony the following February.
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IF: tribal
Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang.
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DCS: madeleine sherwood
A life member of the prestigious Actors Studio, Madeleine Sherwood was featured in over a dozen Broadway productions, including the Tennessee Williams’ dramas Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. She reprised her roles in the film versions of both plays.
On television, she appeared on several soap operas, including two different stints on Guiding Light. She is best known, however, for her role as the stern Mother Superior of Convent San Tanco on the preposterous 60s sitcom The Flying Nun, starring a pre-Oscar Sally Field.
In her personal life, Madeleine was a fierce advocate for civil rights. She worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the late 1950s and 60s and left her native Canada to join Congress on Racial Equality (CORE). She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed, and sentenced to six months hard labor, for “endangering the customs and mores of the people of Alabama.” In the 1970s, she joined activists Gloria Steinem and Betty Dodson at the First Women’s Sexual Conference in New York City. From there, she started a support and counseling group to raise awareness about incest.
Although she had been a long-time resident of the United States, Madeleine remained a Canadian citizen. In 2016, she passed away at her childhood home in Quebec at the age of 93.
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IF: wheels
I’m driving right up to you, babe
I guess that you couldn’t see, yeah yeah
But you were under my wheels honey
Why don’t you let me be?
Only Alice Cooper could sing a love song about running over his girlfriend with his car.
That’s what makes Alice “Alice.”
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DCS: pete maravich
Pete Maravich had a close relationship with his father. The elder Maravich introduced the fundamentals of basketball to seven-year old Pete. He spent long hours drilling Pete with rigorous passing, long shots and tricks. On his high school team, the accomplished Pete was averaging 33 points per game. His unorthodox style of shooting the ball from his side earned him the nickname “Pistol Pete.”
After high school, Pete took an offer to play for LSU. (His father was the basketball coach.) In his first game as a freshman, he put up 50 points. Later, on the varsity squad, he averaged 44 points per game. His NCAA record of 3,667 points still stands. This was in the days before the three-point line and the shot clock were introduced.
Pete played for three NBA teams and was a 5-time All Star and was respected by fans and fellow players. However, knee injuries forced him to retire after 10 seasons. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall cited Pete as “perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history.”
After retirement, Pete had varied interests. He studied Hinduism and yoga. He adopted a vegetarian diet. He investigated UFO sightings. He embraced Evangelical Christianity, saying that he hoped to be remembered as a Christian, not a basketball player.
In 1988, Pete suffered a fatal heart attack during a pick-up game in a church gym. Just minutes before he died, he said “I feel great” — his last words. It was later discovered that Pete had a congenital heart defect that should have taken his life years earlier.
Prophetically, Pete gave an interview after just four years in the NBA, saying, “I don’t want to play 10 years and then die of a heart attack at the age of 40.”
Pete Maravich passed away at 40 years old.
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IF: nostalgia
I have fond memories of Frank Sinatra’s music and how it spanned several generations. My mom loved Frank Sinatra beginning in his early days as a big band singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, when he appealed to the bobbysoxers… and my mom was a bobbysoxer.
When I was a teenager in the 70s, Frank Sinatra was enjoying a career renaissance, culminating in the 1980 release of his ambitious triple album, Trilogy: Past, Present and Future. This album, featuring composition spanning pre-rock and rock eras, appealed to those in my parents’ age group, as well as my peers. My friends and I referred to Frank’s recording of “The Theme from ‘New York, New York'” as “Our National Anthem.” We would play it on the jukebox at The Tavern on the Mall, a favorite watering hole, and force the occupants of the place to stand, salute and sing along.
My mom passed away over twenty years ago. I still love Frank Sinatra’s music. Every time I hear him sing, I still think of my mom.
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DCS: ron hughes
After three attempts, Ron Hughes finally passed the California Bar exam. He had never tried a case when he met with Charles Manson in December 1969, just after warrants had been issued and arrests had been made for the August 8 murders of five people at the home of actress Sharon Tate and the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the next evening. Although Ron was contracted to represent Manson, he was replaced by defense attorney Irving Kanarek. Ron, however, went on to represent Manson “Family” member Leslie Van Houten.
Ron, who had earned the nickname “The Hippie Lawyer,” hoped to show that Van Houten’s actions were a result of complete mind control by Manson. This strategy infuriated Manson, as it contradicted his plan to have each “Family” member implicate themselves, thus clearing the cult leader of all involvement.
Twenty-two weeks into a trial that was regularly interrupted by bizarre outbursts, the prosecution rested. Surprisingly, the defense team that included Ron Hughes, rested as well. Leslie Van Houten, along with “Family” colleagues Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, shouted out in the courtroom for a chance to testify. They wanted to admit to committing murder of their own free will. Ron Hughes objected in defiance of Manson’s plan. Judge Charles Older called for a ten-day recess so both sides could prepare final arguments. Ron was confident he had secured an acquittal for Van Houten.
In November 1970, Ron Hughes decided to take a camping trip during the recess in the trial. He and two friends drove to a remote area of Ventura County, but their trip was marred by heavy rains and flooding. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Ron to abandon the idea of camping, Ron’s companions left, leaving Ron to brave the elements alone. When court reconvened on November 30, Ron did not show up. Ventura County authorities had to wait for two days until the rains subsided before a search could commence. In the meantime, a new attorney was appointed for Van Houten.
On March 29, 1971, the same day that a jury returned death penalty verdicts for Charles Manson, Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel, two fishermen discovered Ron Hughes decomposed body wedged between two boulders in a gorge in Ventura County. He was identified by dental records. Due to the state of his remains, Ron’s cause of death was undetermined. He was 35 years old.
Manson “Family” members Sandra “Blue” Good and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme claimed that Ron’s death was one is a series of “retaliation murders” ordered by Manson. Ventura County Sheriff Charlie Rudd, however, stated that Ron’s death was accidental, a result of being trapped and knocked unconscious by the raging flood waters.
Leslie Van Houten was retried after it was determined that she was denied proper representation due to Ron Hughes’ disappearance. In 1977, that trial ended in a hung jury. A subsequent trial in 1978 yielded a verdict of guilty of first degree murder of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca. Van Houten was sentenced to life in prison and, after twenty denials, she was granted parole in April 2016. The final word on her release remains in the hands of the Governor of California.