Entering show business as a child using a doctored birth certificate, Mary Miles Minter fit the mold of perceived innocence. With blonde curls and soulful eyes, she was groomed by studio heads to rival — and hopefully replace — Mary Pickford.

In spite of her youth, Mary had nearly 30 films to her credit when she was cast in the title role in director William Desmond Taylor’s take on Anne of Green Gables in 1919. The film was a success and Taylor began to heavily promote his new star. Seventeen-year-old Mary claimed that she began a romantic relationship with the director — despite their 30 year age difference. However, Taylor countered that such a relationship only existed in Mary’s imagination.

On February 1, 1922, William Desmond Taylor was found dead in his Los Angeles home. An unidentified doctor cited the cause of death to be a stomach hemorrhage and offered no further details. A subsequent forensic investigation, however, revealed that Taylor had been shot with a small-caliber pistol, although a weapon was never recovered or identified. Hollywood was faced with a new scandal, just a few months after reeling from the Labor Day incident involving disgraced actor Roscoe Arbuckle,

As the story unfolded in the press, it was reported that a number of love letters authored by Mary were found in Taylor’s home. Suddenly, Mary was attached to the mystery. Her “innocent” image was tainted in the eyes of the fickle Hollywood fans. With her reputation in question, her popularity began to plummet. She made only two more films after Taylor’s murder.

In 1925, she sued her mother for mishandling her income during the height of her film career. The case was settled out-of-court. In 1945, Mary was accused of stealing a dress from a shop on Wilshire Boulevard. Mary claimed that she had helped to finance the shop and was merely taking the dress in lieu of interest owned to her. Charges were dropped, as it was decided that there was no evidence of malicious intent.

Mary had invested in Los Angeles real estate later in her life and was content to live off of her acquired affluence. In 1981, a frail Mary was beaten and her Santa Monica home burglarized of antiques by a live-in companion and three accomplices. Police who were called to the scene were surprised to learn that Mary was once a famous movie star.

Three years later, Mary suffered a fatal stroke. She was 82. The bulk of her film catalog is considered lost.

Comments

comments

As a teen singing in a central New Jersey church choir, Roy Hamilton had aspirations of becoming a professional singer. In 1947, the seventeen-year-old won a talent contest held at the legendary Apollo Theater. However, as Roy lamented, he couldn’t get a break. “There were plenty of opportunities for blues singers,” he recalled, “but I didn’t know any blues songs.” While he developed his singing style, Roy worked as an electronics technician by day and a heavyweight boxer by night. He joined the Searchlight Gospel Singers, working with a vocal coach for over a year. When the group disbanded, Roy was ready to head into the world of pop music again — this time, with renewed confidence.

In 1953, 24 year-old Roy was singing at a Newark, New Jersey nightclub when he was approached by Bill Cook, the first African-American radio DJ on the East coast. Cook liked Roy’s singing and proposed becoming the young singer’s manager. Roy agreed and Cook sent a demo recording of Roy’s performance to Columbia Records. Executives at Columbia were impressed by what they heard and signed Roy to the Okeh label, their rhythm & blues subsidiary. Roy was brought into the studio, where he recorded “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the musical Carousel!, one of the few secular songs that was included in Roy’s live act. Just before its release, Columbia switched Roy to their pop Epic label, a bold move on their part. Epic’s only other African-American singers on the label were Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine. Columbia had faith that Roy would have the same appeal to white audiences. Their gamble paid off. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” topped the Billboard R&B charts for eight consecutive weeks and became a Top 30 hit on the national chart. His follow-up, “If I Loved You” (also from Carousel!), was not as successful nationally, but it did hit Number 4 on the R&B chart.

Riding the popularity wave, Roy was booked on the “Star Night” concert tour with headliners Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. As a newcomer, Roy was allotted just six minutes of stage time, enough to barely sing two songs. Obviously, he decided on his hit “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and its B-side “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You). ” However, at afternoon rehearsals for the show, Como announced that he’d be closing his set with “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Roy was crushed. Scrambling for a replacement song, he opted for “Ebb Tide,” a song that was a recent hit for Vic Damone. When Roy delivered “Ebb Tide” in his final three minutes on stage, he brought the entire crowd at Soldier Field — 82,000 people — to its feet, lavishing Roy with wild applause. Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan and band leader Ray Anthony joined in, as well. Four days later, Roy recorded “Ebb Tide” and it became an instant hit.

In 1954, Roy made his network television debut on the Dorsey Brothers hosted variety show Stage Show. Six months later, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing his signature “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The performance was noted favorably in Variety, prompting Columbia to rush Roy into the studio to record, mix and release “Unchained Melody” in an unheard-of two weeks. It reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s national chart. As a result, Down Beat Magazine named Roy “1955 Vocalist of the Year.” Roy recorded a succession of show tunes to continued acclaim.

In 1956, Roy announced his retirement from show business, citing an unnamed “lung condition,” which may have been tuberculosis. A year later, he was ready to make a comeback. However, music tastes had changed and rock & roll was the popular trend. Although not keen on the idea, Roy was coaxed into recording “Don’t Let Go” for influential producer Otis Blackwell. The single was the first Top 40 hit recorded in stereo and it became Roy’s Top 15 hit of his career.

The 1960s saw Roy’s career decline. His recordings no longer charted and his health was failing. In July 1969, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and remained in a coma for a week. The difficult decision to remove life support was made and Roy passed away on July 20, 1969 at the age of 40.

Roy was cited as an inspiration by Sam Cooke, who had submitted songs to Roy early in his career. The Righteous Brothers patterned their cover of “Unchained Melody” after Roy’s vocal style. Gerry Marsden also tried to capture Roy’s inflection in the Gerry & The Pacemakers’ take on “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Comments

comments

Two things I learned about Bettie Page.

1. In her later years, she refused to be photographed, hoping to preserve the magical appeal of her youthful good looks in the minds of her scores of fans.
2. Bettie Page is hard to draw. Sure, she’s been artistically portrayed by countless artists all over the world, paying homage to her allure. But, I had a very, very difficult time capturing her likeness. I’m still not convinced I did her justice. Nevertheless, this is the best you’re gonna get from me.

Comments

comments

Juan Kachmanian was born in Argentina in 1930. His father was a boxing promoter and the family moved all over the world. Juan, a stocky, muscular fellow, entered the world of professional wrestling under the tutelage of trainer Rudy Dusek. Wresting under various ring names — Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, The Missing Link — he finally settled on “Pampero Firpo” at the suggestion of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey. Dempsey said the young Juan reminded him of an Argentinian boxer that he once faced named Luis Ángel Firpo. Firpo was known as “Wild Bull of the Pampas.” Juan adopted the boxer’s surname and modified his nickname. Dempsey suggested that he bill himself as Luis Firpo’s son.

Pampero Firpo was an early proponent of “hardcore wrestling,” a no-holds-barred, often violent style of the sport. With his wild hair and bushy beard, Pampero cut an imposing figure in the ring. He engaged in bloody battles, bringing matches to conclusion with his signature “El Garfio,” a crushing bear hug that (allegedly) rendered opponents unconscious. During interviews, the wild-eyed Pampero with rub his talisman Chimu, the (supposed) shrunken head of a tribe leader from Ecuador. Pampero wrestled with the NWA [National Wrestling Alliance] and its rival WWF [World Wide Wrestling Federation] (currently the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment) until his retirement in 1986, leaving a successful 33-year career. Along the way, he became a United States citizen, an event he noted as “one of the proudest moments of his life”

Pampero moved to San Diego and began a new direction in his life. He spent the next twenty-five years working for the United States Postal Service. He retired at the age of 78 and moved into an assisted living facility in San Diego. Pampero passed away in January 2020 at the age of 89.

Comments

comments

While still a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Bobby Troup wrote “Daddy” for a production staged by the school’s Mask & Wig Club, a campus theatre group. It was recorded by Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra. The recording was a hit and it stayed at Number One on the Billboard charts for eight weeks and was one of the top songs of 1941. “Daddy” was later recorded by Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Kay Kyser, and The Andrews Sisters. It was even included in a 1943 Tex Avery short, sung by an animated Little Red Riding Hood.

During a stint in the US Marine Corp, Bobby organized the Marines’ first African-American band at his home base of Montford Point, North Carolina. He wrote the song “Take Me Away from Jacksonville,” which went on to become an anthem for the Marines at Montford Point.

While on a road trip to California, Bobby wrote a travelogue of sorts that became the hit song “Route 66.” It was recorded by Nat King Cole and became an instant hit. While Bobby’s own recordings were disappointing on the charts, he continued to write songs that were made popular by other artists, including the title song for the Jayne Mansfield film The Girl Can’t Help It in 1956.

With songwriting royalties as his main source of income, Bobby entered the world of acting, taking roles in episodic television and in films where he played “Tommy Dorsey” to Sal Mineo’s “Gene Krupa” in The Gene Krupa Story. In 1970, he appeared in Robert Altman’s army comedy M*A*S*H, where he holds the distinction of saying the film’s final spoken line of dialog — “Goddamned army!” His name is also the last mentioned by the PA announcer in the closing credits.

After appearing in a 1967 episode of the procedural police drama Dragnet, Bobby was hired by producer Jack Webb to star in his newest series about the adventures of the LA Country emergency services team, creatively entitled Emergency! The series would also feature Bobby’s wife, actress/singer Julie London, who was previously married to Jack Webb.

Bobby passed away early in 1999 at the age of 80. His wife, Julie London died the following year. Bobby, Julie and Jack Webb are all interred at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery.

Comments

comments