DCS: marsha hunt
Not wanting to interrupt her modeling career, 17-year old Marsha Hunt reluctantly accepted a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. She made 12 movies in her first three years at Paramount, before her contract was terminated early. She headed to the smaller studios, appearing in run-of-the-mill Westerns.
Growing impatient with Hollywood, Marsha headed for New York to work in summer stock productions, only to return to Tinsel Town in 1941. Marsha was cast in None Shall Escape, the first acknowledged Hollywood film dealing with the Holocaust.
In 1945, Marsh was one of a group of actors, writers and directors to take on the House Committee on Unamerican Activities. She was blacklisted, determined by the Committee to be a Communist sympathizer. Her career didn’t rebound until 1957.
Masha worked in both film and television in the 50s and 60s and well into the 70s, when she was featured in the anti-war film Johnny Got His Gun, written by fellow blacklist member Dalton Trumbo.
In addition to acting, Marsha was a prolific songwriter, penning over 50 tunes in her lifetime. She was also an outspoken advocate for the homeless, Third World countries, world hunger, poverty and pollution causes, same-sex marriage and other humanitarian issues.
Marsha passed away in September 2022 at the age of 104. She was one of the last connections to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
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DCS: norm macdonald
Norm Macdonald told this joke often…
A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office.
“What’s wrong?” asks the podiatrist.
The moth replies:
“Doc, I hate my career. My marriage is failing. My family is exhausting. My relationships with my children are terrible. Sometimes it’s all too much to bear. I don’t know where to turn.”
“You need help,” replies the podiatrist. “But you need a psychiatrist, not a podiatrist. Why did you come here?”
“Because,” the moth replies. “The light was on.”
Norm passed away in September 2021 after a decade-long battle with cancer. Although he joked about death in his act, he kept his illness a secret. Norm was 61. He was a funny guy.
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inktober52: artemis
Ross Martin — the former Martin Rosenblatt — was something of a true Renaissance Man. As an infant, he emigrated to the United States from his native Poland. He spoke Polish, Russian and Yiddish before he learned to speak English. Later, he added Spanish, Italian and French to his fluent languages.
He graduated magna cum laude with a degree from the National University of Law. He also studied business and teaching, but Ross decided on a career in show business. He formed an early comedy partnership with future comedy writer Bernie West (All in the Family, The Jeffersons and Three’s Company), eventually branching out to radio dramas as well as Broadway.
Ross made his motion picture debut in George Pal’s 1965 sci-fi adventure Conquest of Space. Moving to television, Ross landed roles in Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky. His villainous take in Blake Edwards’ The Great Race led to the role for which be is best remembered — Secret Service agent “Artemus Gordon” in the sophisticated spy Western The Wild Wild West.
For four seasons, Ross delighted viewers with an array of costumes, characters and accents. He designed and created the make-up for his disguises himself, often surprising and confusing co-stars who didn’t recognize him. A near-fatal heart attack and a subsequent broken leg sidelined the actor from a number of episodes, but the series was eventually canceled due to concerns of abundant violence on TV.
Never one to sit still, Ross became a new phase of his career — voice acting. He lent his vocal characterizations to dozens of animated cartoons, including Sealab 2020 and Wait ‘Til Your Father Gets Home. He also made numerous guest appearances in episodic television, including directing several episodes of the comedy anthology Love, American Style. He even reprised his role of “Artemus Gordon” in two Wild Wild West reunion movies.
In July 1981, just after finishing a tennis match at a San Diego country club, Ross suffered a fatal heart attack. He was pronounced dead at a hospital at the age of 61.
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DCS: mona darkfeather
Josephine Workman was born in Los Angeles in 1882, one of seven children. With no experience or aspirations, she innocently answered an ad in a local newspaper seeking women with “the physical attributes for playing a Native American.” The ad was placed by Bison Motion Pictures’ director/producer Thomas Ince, known in Hollywood as “The Father of the Western.” Ince produced over 800 films in the genre, but famously shunned the hiring of actual Native Americans. Ince liked Josephine’s looks. Once she quickly accomplished the necessary horseback riding skills, the 27 year-old was renamed “Mona Darkfeather” by the studio and given a fabricated backstory involving a Native American lineage.
In a whirlwind six years, “Mona” appeared in over 100 silent films, usually portraying Native American maidens. She became adept at stunts and the trick riding required for some scenes. She married director Frank Montgomery in 1912 and he guided her career, having her “branch out” to play characters of Spanish ancestry. Her persona of “Princess Mona Darkfeather” was renowned and she often made live promotional appearances to the delight of her strong fanbase. She was pursued by Cecil B. DeMille for roles, but declined as she worked exclusively with her husband on independent pictures. But in 1917, “Mona” retired from the screen and later divorced Montgomery… only to marry him again following an eight-year marriage to banker Alfred Wessling. Her second marriage to Montgomery lasted until his death in 1944.
In her retirement, “Mona” lived in relative obscurity until her passing in 1977 at the age of 95. A ward of the State of California, she was destitute at the time of her death. Her stardom had faded along with any interest in her career. Her film catalog had long been discarded by the studios leaving her with no legacy. She was interred in an unmarked grave until 2014 when a great-nephew paid for a grave marker.
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inktober52: armor
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DCS: dee lampton
At 17, Dee Lampton made his big screen debut in a 30 minute short subject opposite Charlie Chaplin. He was billed in the silent production as “Fat Boy.” Dee was signed on to producer Hal Roach’s stable of players, usually relegated to playing characters that exploited his considerable weight. At nearly 300 pounds, Dee was surprisingly agile and was able to tackle the physical requirements of the roles he was given. In five years, Dee appeared in over fifty films, mostly as a supporting player to comedian Harold Lloyd, including the “Luke” series of shorts. Dee was featured in a starring role in a series of shorts playing the unlikely-named character “Skinny Schemer.”
In 1919, Dee died as a result of appendicitis. He was just twenty years-old. His last film was delayed in its release for a year, while star Harold Lloyd recovered from an accident involving a prop bomb explosion while on a promotional tour. Because of this, Dee had faded from the public’s memory.
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inktober52: one line
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DCS: marc blitzstein
Born to an affluent Philadelphia family, Marc Blitzstein was something of a child prodigy. He displayed a natural talent to for the piano, playing Mozart pieces at age 7. Later, he studied under Alexander Siloti (himself a student of Tchaikovsky and Liszt) and made his professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at 21.
Marc’s musical studies took him to Europe, where he became a student of Nadia Boulanger, the respected and influential teacher of some of the greatest composers of the 20th century, including Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones and many others. In addition to developing his talent and ability, Marc also developed a superiority complex, publicly belittling other composers. He often denigrated contemporaries like Kurt Weill, accusing them of compromising their musical integrity for the sake of making a buck.
Marc composed a number of piano pieces and eventually wrote and scored musical theater. His pro-union musical, The Cradle Will Rock, received widespread praise. However, it could have been the trigger for his later investigation by the House Un-American Committee in 1958. Marc was accused of being a Communist… an allegation that was, most likely, true.
Considering his negative feelings regarding Kurt Weill, Marc is best known for translating Weill’s Threepenny Opera into English for a 1954 revival. His words to songs like “Mack the Knife” are the ones that are so familiar today.
In 1964, on a vacation in Martinique, Marc met three sailors in a bar. After some brief conversation, he solicited the trio for sex. Marc was taken outside, where he was severely beaten and robbed by the three. He was found in an alley near the bar and taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. He was 58.
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DCS: helen grayco
Born the tenth of eleven children to a grocery store owner in Tacoma, Washington, Helen Greco, as they say, came out singing. She began belting out songs at the age of 4 and by 8, little Helen was singing on local radio. While performing on a Seattle variety show, a young Bing Crosby caught Helen’s act, prompting him to exclaim “That girl sings Hollywood!” Helen and her family moved to Los Angeles and the young singer was given a job in Hollywood, earning $75 a week.
In 1935, eleven-year old Helen (now using the last name “Grayco”) appeared in a non-speaking role in the Marx Brothers’ film A Night at the Opera. A few years later, producer Joe Pasternack signed Helen to replace teen sensation and Universal Studios leading child star Deanna Durbin. Helen was cast in a supporting role in That Certain Age, a Durbin picture.
In the 1940s, Helen began a string of featured vocalist positions with a number of popular big bands, including Red Nichols’ ensemble. She met wildly popular “murderer of modern music” Spike Jones backstage at the Hollywood Palladium. Jones offered the songstress a job with his group, The City Slickers. Familiar with the type of music the Slickers performed, Helen lamented, “But I’m no comedian. How will I fit in?” Jones promised her that nothing would change. She would be given her own spotlight between comedy bits, to allow the audience to calm their fits of laughter. It was a perfect match and audiences loved it. Helen also worked with Jones’ other band, appropriately named Spike Jones’ Other Orchestra. This group played things straight, offering so-called “pretty” music that differed greatly from the City Slickers’ raucous on-stage antics. However, the public preferred the Slickers’ crazy tunes and The Other Orchestra broke up after a year. Along the way, Helen married Spike Jones.
Helen moved on to a solo career, releasing several albums. She also was a featured performed on her husband’s network television variety show The Spike Jones Show. The show ended in 1961. After Jones’ untimely death in 1965, Helen began singing in various nightclubs for the next decade. She met and married successful restaurateur Bill Rosen. After a few television appearances, including her final public performance on The Dean Martin Show, Helen stepped out of the spotlight for good.
She passed away in August 2022 at the age of 97.