Born the daughter of an engineer and executive with the Royal Dutch Shell Company, Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer became fluent in eight languages, a result of her family’s frequent relocations around the world.

With original aspirations to enter the field of medicine, a chance meeting with screen idol Errol Flynn changed her mind. Flynn convinced the young beauty to try her hand at acting. He even offered to pay to fix a few of her crooked teeth, an offer which Blanca happily accepted. Flynn even gave Blanca her stage name — “Linda Christian” — taken from the character of “Fletcher Christian,” which he played in a 1933 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty. Flynn was later shocked when the bill he received for some light dental work tacked on some extensive cosmetic work.

Now using her new name, Linda made her film debut alongside Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore in Up In Arms, which was also Kaye’s first film. She quickly followed-up with several more films including 1948’s Tarzan and the Mermaids, the final Tarzan adventure to feature Johnny Weissmuller. Linda was later cast in a TV production of Casino Royale opposite Barry Nelson as “James Bond,” thus becoming the very first “Bond Girl,” beating Ursula Andress to the title by eight years.

Despite appearing in over two dozen movies, Linda Christian is best remembered for her eight-year marriage to actor Tyrone Power. The couple were both offered roles in From Here to Eternity. Tyrone Power was not interested in the film. The roles were eventually given to Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed. Linda is the mother of actress Taryn Power and singer Romina Power. The couple divorced in 1956. One month later, Linda was dating Spanish racecar driver Alfonso de Portago. Linda is seen kissing de Portago in a photo taken just prior to a race — a race in which de Portago’s Ferrari crashed, killing him, his navigator and nine spectators. The press labeled the photo “The Kiss of Death.” In the 1960s, Linda had a relationship with actor Glenn Ford.

Linda essentially retired from acting in the late 1960s, with only two more screen appearances in the 80s. She passed away in 2011, at the age of 87. Her daughter Taryn died in 2020.

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As a teenager, Ray Nelson was an avid science fiction fan and budding writer in the genre.  After graduation from high school, Ray attended the University of Chicago, where he majored in theology. Post college, he spent four years in Paris, where he rubbed elbows with such iconic and influential writers as William S. Burroughs, Jean-Paul Sarte and Allen Ginsburg. He worked with other writers smuggling government-banned Henry Miller novels out of France.

Ray had a number of his stories and cartoons published in a variety of science fiction periodicals. His most famous story — Eight O’Clock in the Morning — was published in late 1963. Nearly twenty years later, director John Carpenter used the tale as the basis for his film They Live. The the late 1960s, Ray befriended and collaborated with author Philip K. Dick on several projects. He also supplied Dick with LSD on several occasions. Ray continued to write into his later years, winning the prestigious Philip K. Dick Award in 1982 for his novel The Prometheus Man.

Ray Nelson passed away in November 2022 at the age of 91.

Despite his success and recognition as a writer, Ray is better remembered for something else. As a high school student in Cadillac, Michigan, Ray invented the propeller beanie cap as a symbol for the science fiction fan community. He also claimed that he created the “Beany” character for the children’s’ television series Time For Beany (later known as Beany and Cecil). Ray said that he submitted the character to a contest in 1948 as a 17-year old. This story is debated and animator Bob Clampett is officially credited as the creator of Beany and Cecil.

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Baroness Daisy von Freyberg zu Eisenberg was born to an  impoverished, yet aristocratic German family in the early 1900s. Using the stage name “Daisy D’Ora,” she pursued an acting career. She changed her name to avoid embarrassment to her family. Although they lacked wealth, they still had their pride. At the time, a career in “show business” was looked down upon by high society.

Daisy appeared in a number of silent films, moist notably Pandora’s Box with Louise Brooks. The film was acclaimed worldwide and Daisy’s stardom soared. However, she left her chosen profession in 1930 to enter the world of beauty pageants, becoming Miss Germany and eventually entering the 1931 Miss Universe contest.

Daisy later married Nazi diplomat Oskar Schlitter and gave birth to two children. She outlived her spouse and both of her offspring, passing away in June 2010 at the age of 97.

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From his humble beginnings as an in-hose songwriter getting paid fifty dollars a week, Bern Berns elevated himself to one of the most prolific songwriters and producers you never heard of.

In 1960, Bert Berns took a job with a music publishing company. In 1961, the Jarmels recorded “A Little Bit of Soap,” one of Bert’s compositions, and it became a hit. From that point, there was no looking back. Bert wrote or co-wrote hit after hit after hit, including “Twist and Shout” for the Isley Brothers (and later The Beatles), “Tell Him” by The Exciters, “Cry to Me” by Solomon Burke and “Cry Baby” first recorded by Garnett Mimms but later served as a big hit for Janis Joplin.

In 1962, Bert replaced the great Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as staff producer at Atlantic Records. Here, Bert worked the board and his magic for the likes of  his pal Solomon Burke as well as the Drifters, Barbara Lewis, Little Esther Phillips, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett and LaVern Baker.

With the burgeoning British Invasion taking over the music charts and a number of Bert’s songs being recorded by British bands, Bert became the first American producer to travel to England. He produced songs for Decca recording stars like Van Morrison’s Them and Lulu.

My the mid-60s, Bert started his own record label — BANG Records — where he signed The McCoys, The Strangeloves, Van Morrison and an up-and-coming singer-songwriter named Neil Diamond. A year later, Bert formed Shout Records to showcase his love of rhythm and blues. He wrote “Piece of My Heart” for singer Erma Franklin, but, a short time after, psychedelic band Big Brother and the Holding Company recorded the song with singer Janis Joplin taking the vocals.

With a history of heart trouble from an early age when he contracted rheumatic fever, Bert passed away in his New York apartment in the last week of December 1967. He accomplished a lifetime of success by the age of 38.

Led Zeppelin recorded the unreleased tune “Baby Come On Home,” in 1968. Originally entitled “A Tribute to Bert Berns,” the song finally saw the light of day in a rarities box set released in 1993. The song was credited to Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Bert Berns.

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