After a stint as a backup singer on for Leonard Cohen on an early 70s European tour, Laura Branigan knew she wanted a career as a professional singer.

Impressed by her four-octave range, Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun signed Laura to a contract. She released her debut album, a collection of up-beat pop songs and ballads, in 1982. The record’s lead single, “Gloria,” earned Laura a Grammy nomination. It was featured in the popular film Flashdance, although it did not appear on the soundtrack album. She was a guest star on the 1983 edition of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, where she performed her hits “How am I Supposed to Live Without You” and “Solitaire.”

The 80s saw Laura’s greatest success with a slew of albums and singles, including her biggest hit “Self Control” and guest appearances on popular TV series like CHiPs and Knight Rider. In the 90s, Laura concentrated on versions of songs made famous by other artists, including Vicki Sue Robinson’s “Turn the Beat Around.”

In 2002, Laura performed the title role in Love, Janis, an off-Broadway musical based on the life of Janis Joplin. Her time with the production was short-lived, as a misunderstanding in filing with the Actors’ Union forced her to drop out.

Laura died in her sleep, in 2004, of a previously undetected cerebral aneurysm. She had been experiencing regular headaches, but did not seek medical attention. Laura was 52. Her management company still maintains her musical catalog and has released three “Greatest Hits” packages, as well as re-releases of all of her studio albums, in the years since her death.

Stig-Åke Persson is a devoted fan of Miss Branigan, standing up for the truth about her life (and death). Mr. Persson was adamant that I change her age at the time of her death, citing his own research as the source. Hey, it’s the internet. Who am I to argue? If you want to know everything there is to know about Laura Branigan, I suggest you peruse this little corner of Pintrest: https://se.pinterest.com/born53/boards/.  According to his convoluted tag line, “This site has only one (1) purpose, to show That Laura Ann Branigan was born in 1952, Mt Kisco, Westchester County. Everything else is wrong.” He is very up front in stating that “everything else is wrong.” (Mr. Persson overstepped my kindness and asked to have his Laura Branigan Facebook page posted here as well. Here it is, but you are trying my already-limited patience: https://www.facebook.com/LauraBraniganForever)

When you get there, tell ’em Josh sent you.

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Marc Feld was in love with rock and roll. The former child catalog model was obsessed with the music of Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent. At 12, he bought a guitar and formed a skiffle trio with future British pop singer Helen Shapiro. Marc played with dozens of bands and went through just as many stage names until he settled on “Marc Bolan.”

Marc and his friend, drummer Steve Took, performed as Tyrannosaurus Rex after paring down a full band to a duo. Soon the pair grew apart, mostly due to Took’s heavy drug use. Marc hired multi-instrumentalist Mickey Finn and told Took to beat it. The new duo named themselves T. Rex and, with the help of some studio musicians, released their debut in 1970.  Marc also married his longtime girlfriend June Child, a secretary to Syd Barrett‘s manager.

The usually shy Marc began sporting top hats and glitter makeup, unintentionally starting the musical genre that came to be known as “Glam Rock.”  T. Rex’s popularity took off with the consecutive hits “Hot Love,”  “Bang a Gong ” and “Jeepster.” Marc began lending his talents to some of his famous friends. He played guitar on two tracks on Electric Light Orchestra’s On The Third Day for his friend Jeff Lynne. He also played on Ringo Starr’s eponymous 1973 release, as well as tracks for Ike and Tina Turner and David Bowie. As busy as he was, Marc found time to begin an affair with backing vocalist Gloria Jones, best known for the original recording of “Tainted Love” in 1965.

In 1975, Gloria gave birth to a son. Marc and Gloria left England for the United States. Marc continued to release singles, although his days of massive success were behind him.

In early 1977, Marc formed a new band and returned to England, going on tour with the punk band The Damned. He found a new audience and was, once again, gaining popularity.

In September 1977, Marc and Gloria were drinking in a West London pub. They left and Gloria got behind the wheel of their Mini. On a rain-slicked street, Gloria misjudged a bridge and struck a steel fence post. She lost control of the car and slammed into a tree. Marc was ejected from the vehicle and was killed instantly. Gloria was thrown through the windshield. She was found unconscious, sprawled across the hood of the car. She suffered a broken arm and a broken jaw. During a lengthy hospital stay, Gloria was informed of Marc’s death. It was two weeks before his 30th birthday. Shortly after the accident, Marc’s house was looted by fans.

Gloria was summoned to appear in British court to face reckless driving charges. She moved to Los Angeles with her son and never returned to England.

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In 1950, Brandon deWilde became the talk of Broadway when he debuted in Member of the Wedding at the age of 7. Three years later, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his heart-rending performance as Joey Starrett opposite star Alan Ladd in Shane.

Based on his popularity, Brandon was given his own weekly sitcom on ABC, called Jamie, in which he played a young orphan being shuffled among many reluctant family members. The show lasted one season. He continued his career with roles in television and movies, including the controversial Blue Denim in 1959, with co-star Carol Lynley. The film dealt with a young couple and the dilemma over abortion, although the taboo word is never spoken.

He also filmed in a segment of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, playing a mentally-challenged youngster who has difficulty separating fantasy from the real world. After watching a magician on television, he kills a girl by sawing her in half. NBC deemed the episode “too gruesome” and it was never aired.

In 1963, he once again received critical acclaim in Hud, alongside Paul Newman, Patricia Neal and Melvyn Douglas. Although he, himself, was not nominated, Brandon graciously accepted the Oscar for co-star Douglas, who was out of the country during the awards ceremony.

In the early 70s, Brandon hoped to embark on a career in music, with the help of his friend singer-songwriter Gram Parsons. A Parsons associate cited Brandon as the best harmony singer after Emmylou Harris.

Just days after finishing a run of the play Butterflies are Free in Denver, Colorado, Brandon was driving his van to Colorado State Hospital to visit his wife after recent surgery. In a light rain, his vehicle struck a flatbed truck piled high with guardrails that workers had yet to install. Brandon’s van overturned and he was pinned in the wreckage. He died in the hospital, three hours later, of multiple injuries. Brandon was 30 years old. His last film was Wild in the Sky, a story of a hijacking co-starring The Rookies’  Georg Stanford Brown, Keenan Wynn, The Love Boat’s Bernie Kopell and Hogan’s Heroes‘ Larry Hovis in his film debut.

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Everyone (of a certain age) remembers Gale Gordon, the eternal curmudgeon, easily excitable and forever exasperated by the likes of Dennis Mitchell and Lucy Carmichael. Gale was a master of the “slow burn” — his temper rising, his brow furrowing, until he blasted forth with “gale-force” anger.

His career spanned seven decades, starting out in radio, simultaneously appearing on several popular programs like Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve and even using his distinctive voice for the title role in The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon. He also starred opposite Bea Benaderet in Granby’s Green Acres, the forerunner to the Eddie Albert/Eva Gabor sitcom Green Acres.

When his pal Lucille Ball was preparing to bring her radio show My Favorite Husband to television (as I Love Lucy), she tapped Gale to play her neighbor Fred Mertz. Unfortunately, the always in-demand Gale had already committed to a role as the pompous school principal Osgood Conklin on Our Miss Brooks and the role went to William Frawley. He did, however, oblige Lucy with a few guest shots as the owner of the Tropicana Club that employed her husband Ricky Ricardo (as played by Desi Arnaz).

After I Love Lucy ended, Lucille Ball cast Gale in her solo sitcom The Lucy Show and again in the subsequent series Here’s Lucy. He was coaxed out of retirement in the 80s to costar with Ball in her short-lived Life with Lucy. He was the only actor to have appeared in every one of Lucille Ball’s series since the 1940s.

Gale made appearances in many television comedies, plying his patented short fuse in Pete and Gladys, The Real McCoys and his best remembered turn as the replacement Mr. Wilson on Dennis the Menace after the sudden death of Joseph Kearns.

Gale retired to his ranch in southern California where he had built a house and painting studio (doing most of the construction himself). Aside from his on-screen work, he quietly made a fortune as one of the only commercial carob growers in the United States.

Gale passed away in 1995 at the age of 89, just after filming the premiere episode of the Nickelodeon Network’s sitcom homage Hi Honey, I’m Home, in which he reprised his role of bank president Theodore J. Mooney.

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