DCS: nora lane
After some modeling work, 22-year old Nora Lane was cast in the silent Western Jesse James in 1927. She went on to co-star in over 80 films throughout her career, including a recurring role in the Hopalong Cassidy serials. Her popularity led to a spokesperson gig for Lux Soap in the early 1930s.
In the summer of 1931, Nora was travelling aboard the Southern Pacific Railroad to Yuma, Arizona. Two trainmen and sixteen passengers were killed when the train wrecked in a rain-softened section of roadbed and track. Nora escaped without injury.
In 1941, Nora married Burdette Henney, a Los Angeles insurance broker and public address announcer at the LA Coliseum. In 1948, the couple vacationed in Bishop, California where they enjoyed some fishing. But, during the trip, Burdette suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 46 years old.
One month to the day after Burdette’s death, Nora died from a self-inflicted gunshot. She left a note for her stepson, explaining that she could not go on living without her husband. Nora was 43.
Comments
inktober 2021: week 3
Inktober 2021: Week 3 highlights Dick Miller.
Dick Miller appeared in nearly 200 films and was happy to take lead character roles as well as those that required just a few lines of dialogue. In his 1955 debut, he played two roles — a townsperson and a Native American. In one scene in the film, his character shoots his other character.
The guy just loved to work. And work he did! Dick had supporting roles in films by James Cameron, Roger Corman and Martin Scorsese. He appeared in every single one of Joe Dante’s films. Over the course of his career, Dick played a character named “Walter Paisley” in several films. This became a running joke among Dick’s fans.
Less than a month after his 90th birthday, Dick suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away.
Comments
retro movies that never were 66
What if Philip had to be killed in 1946?
Comments
inktober52: tick
Comments
DCS: bill thompson
The child of vaudeville performers, Bill Thompson’s destiny was show business. At 21, he started singing and doing voices on The Breakfast Club, a popular national morning radio show originating in Chicago. He developed a slow-speaking, mush-mouth character he dubbed “Mr. Wimple.” Bill would nurture this voice for the rest of his career.
In 1936, Bill joined the cast of Fibber McGee and Molly, employing his roster of voices. He played a variety of characters, unknown to the listening audience that it was just one actor. Bill voiced boisterous conman “Horatio K. Boomer” (a parody of W.C. Fields), as well as “Nick Depopulis,” the Greek restaurant owner and “Wallace Wimple,” his mush-mouthed old favorite.
Animation whiz Tex Avery began to build a character around Bill’s distinctive voice. He created a sad-faced dog named “Droopy,” making his screen debut in 1943, although he was not given his official name until his fifth cartoon appearance. Droopy’s slow, lethargic demeanor was contrasted by his shrewd ability to outwit his adversaries and his Bill Thompson-provided voice was perfect for the character. His jowly greeting of “Hell-o all you happy people” became an instantly-imitated catchphrase.
Bill was soon in demand by other studios including Disney, where he provided the voice of “Mr. Smee,” Captain Hook’s loyal sidekick in Peter Pan, as well as “J. Audubon Woodlore,” the befuddled forest ranger bothered by goofy Humphrey Bear and a variety of characters in Lady and the Tramp. Disney loved Bill and cast his vocal skills for years. (My favorite is the beleaguered pet owner “Flannery” in Disney’s 1954 short Pigs is Pigs.)
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera originally nabbed Bill for the role of Fred Flintstone, but recast Alan Reed before the series premiered. All of Bill’s lines were re-dubbed, although Bill delivered a single line in a Season One episode. Hanna and Barbera did use Bill’s talents in other animated shows, including Touché Turtle and Dum Dum.
After completing voice work for the 1970 Disney animated feature The Aristocats, Bill suffered septic shock and passed away a week after his 58th birthday.
Comments
inktober 2021: week 2
It’s week number two of Inktober (the JPiC version) and prolific character actor Lionel Atwill is the featured star.
While Lionel Atwill appeared in a slew of films in all genres, including romance and comedy, he is best remembered for his supporting work in a number of Universal horror films. Beginning with 1932’s Dr. X, Lionel was cast in various roles in pictures in Universal’s ongoing Frankenstein saga, mostly as representatives of the law. He played one-armed “Inspector Krogh” in Son of Frankenstein, a part that was famously parodied by Kenneth Mars in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.
In 1942’s Ghost of Frankenstein, he played a colleague of the good doctor. (This was the first film featuring Lon Chaney Jr as the Monster.) that same year, Lionel was indicted for perjury for testimony related to the alleged occurrence of a sex orgy at his home. He was given five years probation, but Hollywood producers and other executives blacklisted him for minor criminal activity. Lionel had difficulty getting work and was relegated to small roles in small pictures until his death in 1946 at the age of 61.
Comments
retro movies that never were 65
What if the Sanderson sisters returned to Salem a few decades earlier?
Comments
inktober52: fan
Comments
DCS: tommy kirk
A chance audition for the role of “Joe Hardy” on a serialized version of The Hardy Boys was Tommy Kirk’s ticket to stardom. The show, broadcast as part of the popular Mickey Mouse Club, was the first installment in Tommy’s long, productive and lucrative association with the Walt Disney Company.
1957 saw Tommy star in the perennial heartbreaker OId Yeller. Next he was cast in hits like The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent-Minded Professor, Babes in Toyland, as well as a couple of clunkers like Moon Pilot and Bon Voyage, which was his second pairing with Fred MacMurray. Tommy revealed that he didn’t get along well with MacMurray. He also butt heads with Jane Wyatt, who played his mother in the film. He suspected that her dislike of Tommy was her apparent homophobia.
Tommy kept his homosexuality a guarded secret throughout his youth. But, while filming the comedy The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, 22-year old Tommy began a relationship with a 15 year old boy he met at a Burbank swimming pool. The boy’s mother discovered the affair contacted the Disney Studios. Upon hearing this information, Tommy’s contract was not renewed and Walt himself fired the young actor. Tommy was picked up by AIP Pictures and was cast opposite Annette Funicello in Pajama Party. The film was a box-office hit, as was Merlin Jones when it was released. Disney humbly contacted Tommy to appear in the sequel.
After a 1964 arrest for drug and barbiturates charges, Tommy was replaced in a number of proposed roles including How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and The Sons of Katy Elder. His career was beginning to spiral downward. He took roles wherever he could, including a few nearly plotless headscratchers like Mars Needs Women costarring Yvonne Craig. His drug use increased and it affected his career. Roles dried up and soon Tommy found himself working as a busboy.
In the early 70s, he finally kicked his drug addiction. He also said “goodbye” to his acting career, taking jobs as a waiter, a chauffer and eventually opening a carpet cleaning business that he ran for two decades. He frequently appeared at fan conventions to tell stories and sign autographs.
Tommy only blamed himself for the highs and lows in his life. And he seemed to be okay with that. He passed away in September 2021 at his home in Las Vegas. Tommy was just shy of 80 years old.