Ron and Russell Mael moved to England in 1973 with plans to conquer the United Kingdom. The brothers placed an ad in Melody Maker to fill out the new incarnation of their band Sparks. Along with bassist Martin Gordon and guitarist Adrian Fisher, they signed self-taught drummer “Dinky” Diamond. The newly-formed band recorded and released Kimono My House, spawning the Top Ten single “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us.” Producer Muff Winwood commented: “Dinky was by no means a great drummer but he suited the material perfectly.”

Sparks’ popularity took off. They became the UK’s new pop darlings. They found their pictures on the covers of music magazines and were soon making multiple appearances on the BBC’s Top of the Pops. The Maels released two more albums with this line-up before announcing their plans to return to the United States. Dinky was devastated. He turned to alcohol to cope.

Dinky joined another a band, but they struggled without success and eventually disbanded. He took odd jobs out of the music industry to pay the bills. In 1998, Dinky and his girlfriend of 21 years moved into a small house in southeast England. Their neighbors were a belligerent couple who played loud music in the middle of the night and had loud, raucous arguments at all hours — in the middle of the street. Dinky regularly called the police, but they failed to handle the situation. He became increasingly frustrated by the menial jobs he was forced to take and the irritating situation with his neighbors. In September 2004, Dinky hanged himself from the loft ceiling of his home. A toxicology report showed a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit for driving. Dinky was 53 years old.

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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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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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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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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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