WA2K Radio is now on the air

Yea Yitwail. Thank you.
Having a screen freezing problem, but am giving it a whirl:
Penny Singleton and Jackie Cooper, I hope.

hope this song won't make you teary-eyed ; rosa seemed to be able to smile !
hbg

47 Ginger-Headed Sailors

Now there's a good ship,
H.M.S. Cock-Robin.
On her home trip,
Up and down she's bobbin'
So the crew's pretty tough.
The weather's so rough.
They're all fed up and say
That they've had more than enough.

I've got a brother
He's an able seaman
And they call him Redhead Tom

I wire to say I'll meet you
And with your pals I'll treat you
So who do you think I've had a message from?

Forty-seven ginger-headed sailors
Coming home across the briney sea
When the anchor's weighed
And the jouney's made
Then they'll start the party
With a heave-ho, me-hearty

When there's Forty-seven ginger-headed sailors
You can bet you're going to hear them when they hail us
And as they step ashore
There'll be one mighty roar
For forty-seven ginger-headed sailors!

An old maid down in Devon
Said my idea of heaven
Is forty-seven ginger-headed sailors!

The rooms were so much colder then
My father was a soldier then
And times were very hard
When I was young

I smoked my first cigarette at ten
And for girls, I had a bad yen
And I had quite a ball
When I was young

When I was young, it was more important
Pain more painful
Laughter much louder
Yeah, when I was young
When I was young

I met my first love at thirteen
She was brown and I was pretty green
And I learned quite a lot when I was young
When I was young

When I was young
Pain more painful
Laughter much louder
Yeah, when I was young
When I was young

My faith was so much stronger then
I believed in fellow man
And I was so much older then
When I was young
When I was young
When I was young


The Animals

I feel so bad. The lovely Miss Letty is in Virginia tonight. just one county to the south of me, on a road trip to a family reunion in our red clay country.
She sent me an email that I failed to open before she left Florida. with all the info I needed to arrange for us to get together. But I never saw it in time. I hope that we can salvage this before she heads back home.

I Breathe

I breathe clouds beneath my window.
I see rockets in the sky.
I feel satellites in limbo.
I breathe oxygen up high.

I load lead inside my engine,
Lead and alcohol.
On the radio depending
I sign the protocol.
Hail the audience, the media, peoples everywhere.
In the hours ahead I´ll see your

Green biosphere,
Clean biosphere.
Castles in air
Climbing the stair,
Way to heaven, when

I breathe clouds beneath my window.
I see rockets in the sky.
I feel satellites in limbo.
I breathe oxygen up high.

I've been trained to navigate my futurist balloon.
After years a week will see me landing on the moon.
Raise a banner on the planets,
Life grows everywhere.
In the manner of the mission?

Green biosphere,
Clean biosphere.
Castles in air
Climbing the stair,
Way to heaven, when

I breathe clouds beneath my window.
I see rockets in the sky.
I feel satellites in limbo.
I breathe oxygen up high.

Vacuum

Janis Paige
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Janis Paige (b. Donna Mae Tjaden, September 16, 1922, Tacoma, Washington) is an American film, musical theatre and television actress.

She began singing in public from the age of five in local amateur shows. She then moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and then got a job as a singer at the Hollywood Canteen during World War II.

The Canteen, which was a studio-sponsored gathering spot for servicemen, is where Warner Bros. saw her potential and signed her up. She began her film career co-starring in secondary musicals, often paired with either Dennis Morgan or Jack Carson. She later was relegated to rugged adventures and dramas in which she was out of her element. Following her role in the forgettable Two Gals and a Guy released in 1951, she decided to leave the Hollywood scene.

She then took to the Broadway boards and scored a huge hit with the 1951 comedy-mystery play, Remains to Be Seen, co-starring Jackie Cooper. She also toured successfully as a cabaret singer, performing everywhere from New York City and Miami to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Real stardom came in 1954 with the feisty role of "Babe" in the hit Broadway musical, The Pajama Game, co-starring John Raitt. However, Doris Day, a bigger name in Hollywood, went on to play the role on film with Raitt. After a six-year hiatus, Janis returned to films in tongue-in-cheek support, all but stealing the movie Silk Stockings in 1957 from co-stars Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

She then grabbed her share of laughs in Please Don't Eat the Daisies in 1960, which starred Doris Day. One of her most remarkable dramatic roles was her streetwise characterization of "Marion", an institutionalized hooker, in the 1963 drama, The Caretakers. Paige returned to Broadway in 1963 in Here's Love and as one of a succession of actresses playing the title role in the musical Mame. She also appeared in touring productions of musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, as "Margo Channing" in Applause, "Mama Rose" in Gypsy: A Musical Fable, and as "Miss Adelaide" in Guys and Dolls.

From the mid-1950s on Janis also made a name for herself on television with such series as It's Always Jan, Lanigan's Rabbi, Trapper John, M.D., Caroline in the City, and All in the Family.

In the 1980s and 1990s, she was seen on soap operas such as General Hospital, Capitol, and Santa Barbara.

Thrice married, but childless, she is the widow of composer Ray Gilbert, who wrote the classic song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

Lauren Bacall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Betty Joan Perske
Born September 16, 1924 (1924-09-16) (age 83)
New York City, New York, United States
Years active 1944 - present
Spouse(s) Humphrey Bogart (1945-1957)
Jason Robards (1961-1969)
Children Stephen H. Bogart (b.1949)
Leslie Bogart (b.1952)
Sam Robards (b.1961)
[show]Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Cecil B. DeMille Award
1993 Lifetime Achievement
Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1997 The Mirror Has Two Faces
Tony Awards
Best Actress in a Musical
1970 Applause
1981 Woman of the Year

Betty Joan Perske (born on September 16, 1924), better known as Lauren Bacall, is a Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning, as well as Academy Award-nominated, American film and stage actress. Known for her husky voice and sultry looks, she became a fashion icon and role model for women in the late 1940s. Today, she is considered a legendary actress, partly due to the longevity of her career.

She is best known for being a film noir leading lady in films such as The Big Sleep (1946) and Dark Passage (1947), as well as a comedienne, as seen in 1953's How to Marry a Millionaire.

Bacall also enjoyed success starring in the Broadway musicals Applause in 1970 and Woman of the Year in 1981.




Career

Early life

Born in New York City as Betty Joan Perske, Bacall is the only child of German-Jewish immigrants,[1] William Perske and Natalie Weinstein-Bacal.[2] Her first cousin is former Prime Minister and current President of Israel Shimon Peres. Her father was a salesman and her mother was a secretary. They divorced when she was six years old. Bacall no longer saw her father and formed a bond with her mother, whom she took with her to California when she became a movie star.

Bacall studied acting for thirteen years, taking lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. During this time, she became a theater usher and worked as a fashion model. As Betty Bacall, she made her acting debut on Broadway in 1942, in January Two by Four. According to her autobiography, Bacall met her idol Bette Davis at Davis's hotel. Years later, Davis visited Bacall backstage to congratulate her on her performance in Applause, a musical based on Davis's turn in All About Eve.

Bacall became a part-time fashion model. Howard Hawks's wife Slim spotted her on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and showed the photo to her husband, who invited Bacall to Hollywood for a screen test.


The breakthrough

Hawks gave her the first name Lauren. After several screen tests, he cast her in To Have and Have Not (1944). She was nervous, so she pressed her chin against her chest and tilted her eyes upward to face the camera. This effect became known as 'The Look', Bacall's trademark.[2]

To Have and Have Not catapulted Bacall to instant stardom. Her turn in the film has later been acknowledged as one of the most powerful on-screen debuts in film history.[3]

On the set, Bacall met Humphrey Bogart. Bogart, who was married to Mayo Methot, initiated a relationship with Bacall some weeks into shooting and they began to see each other off set.

The 20-year-old Bacall made worldwide headlines on a visit to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on 10 February 1945. Her press agent Charlie Enfield, chief of publicity at Warner Bros., asked her to sit on the piano which was being played by then Vice-President of the United States Harry S. Truman. The photos of the incident caused controversy.[3]

After To Have and Have Not, Bacall was seen opposite Charles Boyer in the critically panned [4] Confidential Agent (1945). Then, she appeared with Bogart in three more pictures: the film noir The Big Sleep (1946), the thriller Dark Passage (1947), and John Huston's melodramatic suspense film Key Largo (1948). She was also cast with Gary Cooper in the adventure tale Bright Leaf (1950).[5]


1950s

Bacall kept turning down scripts she didn't find interesting. This earned her a reputation for being difficult to deal with. Yet, she continued to get favorable reviews for her leads in a string of significant films.

In Young Man with a Horn (1950), co-starring Doris Day and Kirk Douglas, Bacall played a two-faced femme fatale, with more than a hint of lesbianism to her character.[6] This film is often considered the first big-budget jazz film.[7]

In 1953 Bacall starred in the colorful comedy How to Marry a Millionaire, a runaway hit [8] that saw her teaming up with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable. Bacall garnered positive notes for her turn as the witty gold-digger, Schatze Page.[9] According to her autobiography, Bacall refused to press her hand- and footprints in the cemented forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the Los Angeles premiere of the film.

Written on the Wind, directed by Douglas Sirk in 1956, is now considered a classic tear-jerker.[10] Teaming up with Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack, Bacall delivered a performance as a determined soap opera woman. Bacall states in her autobiography that she didn't think much of the role.

While struggling at home with Bogart's severe illness, Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in the 1957 slapstick comedy Designing Woman for rave reviews. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli.



1960s and 1970s

In the 1960s, Bacall's movie career waned, and she was only seen in a handful of films. Her saving grace was on Broadway, where she starred in Goodbye, Charlie (1959), Cactus Flower (1965), Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). She won Tony Awards for her performances in the latter two.

The few movies Bacall shot during this period were all-star vehicles such as Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, Harper (1966) with Paul Newman and Janet Leigh, and Murder on the Orient Express (1974), with the likes of Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney and Sean Connery.

For her work in the Chicago theatre, she won the Sarah Siddons Award in 1972 and again in 1984. She also frequently appeared on London's West End [citation needed].

In 1976, Bacall co-starred with John Wayne in his last picture, The Shootist. The two created a bond, even though Wayne was politically conservative and Bacall was a liberal. The two had previously been cast together in 1955's Blood Alley.


Later career

During the 1980s, Bacall appeared in the poorly received star vehicle The Fan (1981) as well as some star-studded features such as Robert Altman's HealtH (1980) and Michael Winner's Appointment with Death (1988).

In 1997, Bacall was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), for which she had already won a Golden Globe. She was widely expected to win the award, which went to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient.

She received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997. In 1999, she was voted one of the 25 most significant female movie stars in history by the American Film Institute. Since then, her movie career has seen a new renaissance and she has attracted respectful notices for her performances in high-profile projects such as Dogville (2003) with Nicole Kidman, The Limit (2003) with Claire Forlani, and Birth (2004), again with Kidman.

In March 2006, she was seen at the 78th Annual Academy Awards introducing a film montage dedicated to the film noir genre. She also did a cameo appearance on The Sopranos in April 2006, during which she was both punched and robbed by a masked Christopher Moltisanti. In September 2006, Bacall was awarded the first Katharine Hepburn Medal, which recognizes "women whose lives, work and contributions embody the intelligence, drive and independence of the four-time-Oscar-winning actress," by Bryn Mawr College's Katharine Houghton Hepburn Center. She gave an address at the memorial service of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr at the Reform Club in London in June 2007.

Bacall is the spokesperson for the Tuesday Morning discount chain. Commercials show her in a limousine waiting for the store to open at the beginning of one of their sales events.

She is one of the leading actors in Paul Schrader's upcoming movie The Walker.



Personal life

On May 21, 1945, Bacall married Humphrey Bogart. Their wedding and honeymoon took place at Malabar Farm, Lucas, Ohio (the country home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, a close friend of Bogart). The wedding was held in the Big House. Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45. They remained married until Bogart's death from cancer in 1957. Bogart usually called Bacall "Baby", even when referring to her in conversations with other people.

During the filming of The African Queen in 1951, Bacall and Bogart became friends of Bogart's co-star Katharine Hepburn and her partner Spencer Tracy. Bacall also began to mix in non-acting circles, becoming friends with the historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and the journalist Alistair Cooke.

In 1952, she gave campaign speeches for Democratic Presidential contender Adlai Stevenson.

Shortly after Bogart's death in 1957, Bacall had a relationship with singer and actor Frank Sinatra. In her autobiography, Bacall stated that the relationship began after Bogart's death.

She told Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in an interview that she had ended the romance. However, in her autobiography, she wrote that Sinatra abruptly ended the relationship, having become angry that the story of his proposal to Bacall had reached the press. Bacall and her friend Swifty Lazar had run into the gossip columnist Louella Parsons, to whom Lazar had spilled the beans. Sinatra then cut Bacall off and went to Las Vegas.

Bacall was married to actor Jason Robards from 1961 to 1969. The divorce was mainly due to Robards' alcoholism, according to Bacall's autobiography.

Bacall had two children with Bogart and one child with Robards. Her children with Bogart are Stephen Bogart, a news producer, documentary film maker and author, and daughter Leslie Bogart, a nurse. Sam Robards, her son with Robards, is an actor.

Bacall has written two autobiographies, Lauren Bacall By Myself (1978) and Now (1994). In 2005, she updated and renamed them by the title By Myself and Then Some.


Quotes

Bacall is known for speaking out her mind and her sarcastic remarks on her colleagues and peers. She has also delivered some of the most iconic lines in movie history.


Movie Quotes

From To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

From The Big Sleep (1946): Humphrey Bogart: "What's wrong with you?" Lauren Bacall: "Nothing you can't fix."

From How to Marry a Millionaire (1953): "Look at that old fellow, what's his name, in The African Queen. Absolutely crazy about him!" (in reference to her then-husband, Bogart)


On Howard Hawks

Of Mr. Hawks, Bacall told Larry King on CNN:

"He was a Svengali. He wanted to mold me. He wanted to control me. And he did until Mr. Bogart got involved."

On Frank Sinatra

She told Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne:

"He was a womanizer, he wanted to be in the sack with everybody and I liked that."

She said of Sinatra to Larry King:

"Well, his attention span was not long, shall we say."

On her political leanings

From the Larry King interview:

BACALL: "I'm a total Democrat. I'm anti-Republican. And it's only fair that you know it."
KING: "Wait a minute. Are you a liberal?"
BACALL: "I'm a liberal. The L word!"

On Tom Cruise

From the 8 August 2005 issue of Time Magazine:

"When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking. It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but, I think it's kind of a sickness."



Cultural references

The conclusion of the Bugs Bunny cartoon Slick Hare (1947) features a blonde likeness of Bacall (addressed by Bogart and Bugs as "Baby"). Bacall is also featured in a cartoon spoof of To Have and Have Not, called Bacall to Arms (1946), which stars Laurie Becool and Bogey Gocart in a film within the cartoon.
The 1981 romantic ballad, "Key Largo" (written and sung by Bertie Higgins) referenced the Bogart/Bacall movie of the same name, and their relationship.
In the song "Rainbow High" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita, the main character Eva Peron orders her stylist to "Lauren Bacall me!"
Bacall is mentioned among some other Hollywood icons in the lyrics for Madonna's 1990 hit single "Vogue". Out of the dozen icons Madonna mentions, Bacall is the only one still alive today.
Bacall is mentioned in The Clash song "Car Jamming" from Combat Rock: "I thought I saw Lauren Bacall/I swear/Hey fellas/Lauren Bacall/In a car jam".
Mentioned along with Humphrey Bogart in the Nas song "Blunt Ashes", featured on the 2006 album, Hip Hop Is Dead.
Appeared alongside Humphrey Bogart in the article he wrote titled "I'm no communist" in the May 1948 edition of Photoplay writen to counteract negative publicity resulting from his appearance before the House Unamerican Activities Committee (Bacall had accompanied him to Washington along with a planeload of other Hollywood stars). In the article, Bogart distances himself from the Hollywood Ten.
In 1980 Kathryn Harrold played Bacall in the TV movie Bogie that was directed by Vincent Sherman and was based on the novel by Joe Hymans. Kevin O'Connor played Bogart, and the movie focused primarily upon the disintegration of Bogart's third marriage to Mayo Methot, played by Ann Wedgeworth, when Bogart met Bacall and began an affair with her.
In 2005's Thank You for Smoking Bacall's famous first scene is used by the protagonist Nick Naylor as his pitch for bringing cigarettes back into film, citing the obvious sexual tension between Bacall and Bogart incited people to smoke: "The greatest on-screen romance in film history; how did it start? With a cigarette."
Bacall is mentioned in the Butthole Surfers song "P.S.Y." off the album "Pioughed": "I know you don't believe it but I really should be leavin', She fell in love with Lauren Bacall"

B. B. King
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





Background information

Birth name Riley B. King
Born September 16, 1925 (1925-09-16) (age 81)
Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA
Genre(s) Memphis blues, soul-blues, rhythm and blues
Years active 1947-present
Label(s) Geffen
Website www.bbking.com
Notable instrument(s)
Lucille

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi) better known as B. B. King or "The King of Blues", is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, widely considered one of the best and most respected blues musicians of all time. He was also ranked 3rd on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[1]




Career

Recording years

In 1947, B.B. King began recording songs under contract with Los Angeles based RPM Records. Many of King's early recordings were produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. King was also a disc jockey in Memphis, where he gained the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to B.B.

In the 1950s, B.B. King became one of the most important names in R&B music, amassing an impressive list of hits under his belt including "You Know I Love You," "Woke Up This Morning," "Please Love Me," "When My Heart Beats like a Hammer," "Whole Lotta Love," "You Upset Me Baby," "Every Day I Have the Blues," "Sneakin' Around," "Ten Long Years," "Bad Luck," "Sweet Little Angel," "On My Word of Honor," and "Please Accept My Love." In 1962, King signed to ABC-Paramount Records, which was later absorbed into MCA Records, and then his current label, Geffen Records.

In November 1964, King recorded the legendary Live at the Regal album at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois.


King's first success outside the blues market was his 1969 remake of Roy Hawkins' tune "The Thrill Is Gone." King's version became a hit on both pop and R&B charts, which was rare for an R&B artist. It also gained the number 193 spot in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs Of All Time. He gained further rock visibility as an opening act on The Rolling Stones much-ballyhooed 1969 American Tour. King's mainstream success continued throughout the 1970s with songs like "To Know You Is to Love You" and "I Like to Live the Love." Between 1951 and 1985 King appeared on Billboard's R&B charts an amazing 74 times.


Going mainstream

The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw King recording less and less. Yet throughout this time he maintained a highly visible and active career, appearing on numerous television shows and performing 300 nights a year. In 1988 King reached a new generation of fans with the single "When Love Comes To Town," a collaborative effort between King and the Irish band U2 (on their Rattle and Hum album). In 2000, King teamed up with guitarist Eric Clapton to record Riding With the King. In 1998 B.B. King appeared in "The Blues Brothers 2000" playing the part of the lead singer of the Louisiana Gator Boys, along with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Koko Taylor, and Bo Diddley.

In 2003, King shared the stage with the rock band Phish in New Jersey, performing three of his classics and jamming with the band for over 30 minutes.

In June 2006, King was present at a memorialization of his first radio broadcast at the Three Deuces Building in Greenwood, Mississippi, where an official marker of the Mississippi Blues Trail was erected.

B.B. King also made an appearance at the Crossroads Guitar Festival put on by Eric Clapton. On the DVD he plays "Rock Me Baby" with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Jimmie Vaughan.

Over the years more than 100 B.B. King concerts have been broadcast on radio and TV in many countries.

In June 2006, a groundbreaking was held for a new B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi. The museum is scheduled to open May 1, 2008.


Farewell tour

Aged 80 at the time, on March 29 2006, King played at the Sheffield's Hallam Arena. This was the first date of his UK and European farewell tour. He played this tour supported by ex-shredder/rocker turned bluesman Gary Moore, with whom King has previously toured and recorded, including the song "Since I Met You Baby". The British leg of the tour ended on April 4 with a final UK concert at Wembley Arena.

In July King went back to Europe. He bid a fond farewell to Switzerland, playing twice (July 2nd and 3rd) in the 40th edition of the world famous Montreux Jazz Festival and also in Zürich at the Blues at Sunset on July 14th. During his show in Montreux at the Stravinski Hall he jammed with Joe Sample, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Gladys Knight, Lella James, Earl Thomas, Stanley Clarke, John McLaughlin, Barbara Hendricks and George Duke. The European leg of the Farewell tour ended in Luxembourg on the 19th of September 2006 at the D'Coque Arena (support act: Todd Sharpville).



Live at Montreux, July 2006In November and December, King played six times in Brazil.

During a press conference on November 29th in São Paulo, a journalist asked King if that would be the actual farewell tour. He answered: "One of my favorite actors is a man from Scotland named Sean Connery. Most of you know him as James Bond, 007. He made a movie called "Never Say Never Again."

On July 28th 2007, B.B. King Played at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival with 20 other Guitarists to raise money for the Crossroads Center, Antigua for addictive disorders.


Legacy

Over 52 years B.B. King played at least 15,000 performances. [2]

According to a 2003 listing in Rolling Stone magazine, King is the greatest living guitarist, ranked 3rd among the "100 greatest guitarists of all time" (after the late Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman).[3]

He has made guest appearances in numerous popular television shows, including "The Cosby Show,[4]" "The Young and the Restless,[4]" "General Hospital"[5]"," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,[4]" "Sesame Street[6]", "Married With Children[4]" and "Sanford and Son.[4]"

King is the subject of an acclaimed biography, B.B. King: There is Always One More Time, by the noted New York-based music writer David McGee.


Personal life

B.B. King has been a licensed pilot, a known gambler and is also a vegetarian, non-drinker and non-smoker.[7] King has lived with diabetes for over ten years and has been a visible spokesman in the fight against diabetes, appearing in advertisements for diabetes-management products

On January 26, 2007, while on tour, King was hospitalized in Galveston, Texas due to a low grade (100.4) fever after a recent bout with influenza. He was released on January 27, after an overnight stay.[8] He resumed his tour with his next performance on January 30 in Texas and gave another 30 performances in the US.

His favorite singer is Frank Sinatra. In his biography King speaks about how he was, and is, a "Sinatra nut" and how he went to bed every night listening to Sinatra's classic album In the Wee Small Hours. King has credited Sinatra for opening doors to black entertainers who weren't given the chance to play in "white dominated" venues. Sinatra got B.B. King into the main showrooms in Vegas during the 1960s.[9]

Each year, during the first week in June, a B.B. King homecoming festival is held in Indianola, Mississippi.[10]

Boxer Sonny Liston was King's uncle.[11]

It is reported that King had sexual relationships prior to age 10, and went on to father 17 children to several different mothers.[12][13]


Philanthropy

King is a proponent of music education for children. In 2002, he signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock; a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.


Lucille

One of his trademarks is "Lucille", the name he has given to his guitars since the 1950s after he escaped a fire at a juke joint he was playing in. The fire was started by two men who were fighting over a woman named "Lucille". During their fight, they knocked over the bucket of burning kerosene used for heat. When King escaped the building, he realized that he had left his guitar in the burning building. He ran back inside to get it and after learning of what happened, he named his guitar "Lucille" to remind himself not to do it again.

By his own admission, he cannot play chords very well. [14]

Peter Falk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Peter Michael Falk
Born September 16, 1927 (1927-09-16) (age 80)
New York City, New York, U.S.

Peter Michael Falk (born September 16, 1927) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated, six-time Emmy Award-winning American actor, best known for his role as Lt. Columbo in the television series Columbo.




Early years

Peter Falk attended Ossining High School in Westchester County, NY and was president of his class. After graduating, he joined the United States Merchant Marine as a cook, before completing a Bachelor of Arts in political science at the New School for Social Research in 1951. Gaining a Masters degree in public administration at Syracuse University in 1953, he applied unsuccessfully for a job with the CIA before becoming a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford.


Acting

After deciding to be an actor and studying at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, in 1956 at the age of 29, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village. He made his professional debut Off Broadway in Molière's Don Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre on January 3, 1956, and the same year his Broadway debut playing an English soldier in Shaw's Saint Joan with Siobhán McKenna. He won an Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes", a Dick Powell TV drama. Falk has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award twice, for Murder, Inc., and Pocketful of Miracles.


Columbo

Falk is best known for the title role in the long-running TV series Columbo, a shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective. In reality, Columbo possessed a keen mind and invariably solved his cases by paying close attention to tiny inconsistencies in a suspect's story, hounding them until they confessed; he merely put on a good show of being dim-witted so that the criminals and even his colleagues would be more at ease around him. Columbo's signature technique was to exit the scene of an interview, only to stop in the doorway to ask a suspect "just one more thing" (the title of Falk's recent memoir), which always brought to light the key inconsistency. The role won Falk five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.

Later

Falk was a close friend of independent film director John Cassavetes and appeared in Cassavetes's films Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence, and a cameo appearance at the end of Opening Night. Cassavetes guest-starred in the Columbo episode "Étude in Black."

Falk is also known for his roles in several films, including his performance as a possible ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the Arthur Hiller comedy The In-Laws. He also starred in such films as The Great Race, The Princess Bride, Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire (cast as himself) and the 1963 mega-comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. He also played Guy Gisborne in the 1964 Robin Hood spoof Robin and the 7 Hoods.

In 1998, Falk returned to the New York stage to star in an off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Mr. Peters' Connections.


Personal life

Falk's unusual gaze is due to a glass eye that he has had for most of his life. His right eye was surgically removed at the age of three because of a malignant tumor. He married Alyce Fayo on April 17, 1960 and has two daughters, Catherine (who is a real life private investigator) and Jackie. They were divorced in 1976 and on December 7, 1977, he married Shera Danese. Falk's most recent role was a brief appearance in the Nicholas Cage thriller film Next.

Anne Francis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anne Francis (born September 16, 1930, in Ossining, New York) is an American actress, famous for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and as private detective Honey West in the television series Honey West (1965-1966).

For her role in Honey West, Ms. Francis won the Golden Globe award as best actress in a TV series, and she was nominated for an Emmy award for the same role.

Francis entered show business at a young age, working as a model at age 5, to help her family make ends meet during the Great Depression, and making her Broadway debut at age 11. Over her career, Ms. Francis appeared in scores of TV shows and several movies, including several appearances on The Twilight Zone, most notably as Marsha White in the episode titled "The After Hours". In it, Francis is gradually revealed as a department store mannequin who has enjoyed a brief vacation amongst the living. Francis was a mainstay of 1970s television movies, and she returned to TV to portray "Mama Jo" for the 1984-86 TV-detective series Riptide.

In 1956, Anne appeared as Altaira in Forbidden Planet, a quite literate and well-produced "A" picture (based upon William Shakespeare's The Tempest), released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer, co-starring Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen. Playing the naive daughter of Pidgeon's brilliant but conflicted Dr. Morbius (the "Prospero" character from "The Tempest"), she added a needed touch of budding sexuality to shake up the otherwise wooden acting talents of her intended love interest, a serious starship captain Leslie Nielsen. The role garnered her a generation of baby-boomer sci-fi fans.

In 1965, Francis turned to series television and was cast as "Private Eyeful" Honey West. The character was initially introduced on the popular TV series Burke's Law. Although the half-hour Honey West lasted only one season, the role added lustre to the actress' reputation. Anne is still widely recognized, as indicated in the lyrics of the song Science Fiction Double Feature from The Rocky Horror Show. During the 1981-82 television season, she had a recurring role as Alyssa Cooper on Dallas.

Francis was married to Bamlet L. Price, Jr., from May 1952 to April 1955, and to Dr. Robert Abeloff from 1960-1964. Abeloff and Francis had one daughter. She did not remarry after divorcing Dr. Abeloff. As of March 2006, she lives in Santa Barbara, California.

In 1953, Anne's measurements were a trim 34-22-34 as a starlet. By 1965, in time for her Honey West role, she was a lusher 36-24-36.

George Chakiris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Chakiris (born September 16, 1934) is an American dancer and Academy Award winning film actor.

Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio to immigrants from Greece. He made his film debut in 1947. For several years he appeared in small roles, usually as a dancer or a member of the chorus in various musical films. He was one of the dancers in Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and also appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas. He can also be seen in the "Chop Suey" number in the musical film Flower Drum Song.

His biggest success came with the film West Side Story (1961), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Bernardo. He also had a starring role as a doctor in the film Diamond Head opposite Charlton Heston and Yvette Mimieux in 1963. He also acted (along with Gene Kelly) in Jacques Demy's French musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967).

Chakiris has also appeared on Broadway and television. In the early 1960s, he embarked on a career as a pop singer which resulted in a couple of minor hit songs (In 1960, he recorded one single with legendary producer Joe Meek).

Chakiris had a recurring role on the popular TV show Superboy as Professor Peterson during the series' first two seasons from 1988-1990. Chakiris last acted in a 1996 episode of the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and has given occasional television interviews since then. He is mostly retired and has taken up jewelery making as an occupation.

Ed Begley, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Edward James Begley, Jr.
Born September 16, 1949 (1949-09-16) (age 58)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active 1970-
Spouse(s) Rachelle Carson (2000-pres)
Ingrid Taylor (1976-1989)
Children Amanda (Rachelle)
Nick (Ingrid)
Hayden (Ingrid)
Official site http://www.edbegley.com

Edward James Begley, Jr. (born September 16, 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is a character actor and game show panelist (son of veteran character actor Ed Begley) and environmentalist who is perhaps best known for his work as Dr. Mark Craig's's intern, Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series St. Elsewhere, for which he received six consecutive Emmy Award nominations.

Other numerous works in television and film include recurring roles on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, 7th Heaven, Arrested Development and Six Feet Under, and starring roles in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital and Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central). He has played significant roles in the mockumentary films Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Additionally, Begley played Viper pilot Greenbean on the original Battlestar Galactica tv series, Boba Fett in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi and Seth Gillette, a fictional Democratic U.S. senator from North Dakota in the television drama The West Wing. Since 2000, he has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Begley also is recognized for his environmentalism and his promotion of eco-friendly products like the Toyota Prius and Begley's Best Household Cleaner. A vegan for many years, his home is completely solar powered and he usually rides bicycles or uses public transportation. His hybrid electric bicycle often features on his television show, Living with Ed.

He has guest-starred on shows such as Scrubs, Boston Legal and Star Trek: Voyager. He had a recurring guest role in season three of Veronica Mars.

As of 2007, Begley and his wife Rachelle Carson star in their own reality television series, Living With Ed, on the Home & Garden Television channel [1].

Mickey Rourke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Philip Andre Rourke Jr.
Born September 16, 1956 (1956-09-16) (age 51)
Schenectady, New York

Mickey Rourke (born September 16, 1956, is an American actor who has primarily appeared in drama, action, and thriller films. Trained as a boxer in his early years, he had a short stint as a professional boxer in the 1990s. Although his acting career has been uneven, he has carved out a niche over the last decades in gritty, marginalized anti-hero roles.




Career

Early life

Mickey Rourke was born Phillip Andre Rourke, Jr., in Schenectady, New York. As a teenager he attended Miami Beach Senior High School. Rourke played second-string first baseman on the school's baseball team under coach Skip Bertman. Yet another mystery regarding his high school days is his acting career. It's reported that he took drama classes with the legendary "Teacher To The Stars", Jay W. Jensen; appearing in at least one stage-play. However, a P. Rourke listed in the play's credits, could be his sister, Patricia Rourke, who also attended Miami Beach Senior High School.

Rourke's teenage years were more aimed toward sports than acting. Raised in the tough inner city, Rourke took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami. It was there he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career. At the age of 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as a 118 pound bantamweight. Some of his early matches were fought as Andre Rourke.

He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, Florida; joining the Police Athletic League boxing program. In 1969, Rourke, now weighing 140lbs., sparred with former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the number one rated middleweight boxer in the world, and was training for his match with world champion Nino Benvenuti. Rourke claims to have received a concussion in this sparring match.

In 1971, at the Florida Golden Gloves, he received another concussion from a boxing match. He was told by doctors to take a year off and rest, but Rourke decided to retire from the ring. From 1968 to 1972, Mickey Rourke compiled an amateur boxing record of 20-6, with 17 knockouts. He was disqualified 4 times, and lost 2 decisions. At one point, he reportedly scored 12 consecutive first round knockouts. As an amateur, Rourke had been friendly with pro-boxer Tommy Torino. When Rourke decided to return to boxing as a professional, Torino promoted some of Rourke's fights.

Rourke was trained by former pro-boxer Freddie Roach at Miami Beach's 5th Street Gym and the Outlaw Boxing Club Gym in Los Angeles. Rourke made $250 for his pro debut, but by the end of his 2nd year of boxing, he earned a million dollars. Rourke appeared on the cover of World Boxing Magazine in June 1994. He sparred with world champions James Toney, John David Jackson, and Tommy Morrision. Rourke wanted to have 16 professional fights and then fight for a world title. However, he retired after seven bouts and never got his desired title fight. His boxing career resulted in severe facial injuries which required a number of operations to repair his damaged face.


Early acting roles

Rourke's film debut was a small role in Steven Spielberg's film 1941. Though it was not his first role, his portrayal of an arsonist in Body Heat garnered significant attention despite his modest time onscreen. During the early 1980s, Rourke starred in the cult classic Diner, which also starred Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly and Kevin Bacon. The film was directed by Barry Levinson who is well known for his direction on the movie Rain Man. Most of the principal actors continued on to become well-known stars. Soon after, Rourke starred in Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up to The Outsiders in the coming-of-age tale, Rumble Fish. Playing the enigmatic older brother of Matt Dillon's character, he was praised as a standout in a film that also featured such talents as Dennis Hopper, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Chris Penn, Laurence Fishburne and Tom Waits.

Rourke's performance in the film The Pope of Greenwich Village alongside Daryl Hannah and Eric Roberts caught the attention of critics. While the film was a box office flop during its initial release, it has become somewhat of a minor cult hit. Actor Johnny Depp calls it "perfect cinema" and HBO's Entourage has praised it. Rourke has said the film is his favorite movie, and both Hannah and Roberts have cited it as a highlight of their careers.

In the mid-1980s, Rourke earned himself additional leading roles. His role alongside Kim Basinger in the controversial, sexually-themed box-office hit 9½ Weeks helped him gain "sex symbol" status. He received critical praise for his work in Barfly as the alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski, and in the Oliver Stone-penned Year of the Dragon. Critics generally consider his finest performance to be in the 1987 movie Angel Heart. This film by Alan Parker was seen as controversial due to a sex scene involving Cosby Show cast member Lisa Bonet. Although some of Rourke's work was viewed as controversial in the US, he was well-received by French audiences who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid...rebel persona" [1] that he projected in Year of the Dragon, 9 1/2 Weeks, Angel Heart, and Desperate Hours.

In the late 1980s, Rourke performed with musician David Bowie on the Never Let Me Down album. Around this same time, he also wrote his first screenplay, Homeboy, a boxing tale in which he starred. In 1991 Rourke starred in the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man as Harley Davidson, a biker whose best friend, Marlboro, is played by Miami Vice star Don Johnson. Even though it was a box office bomb, it later achieved some level of popularity. Rourke's acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and seemingly eccentric career decisions. Directors such as Alan Parker found it difficult to work with Rourke. Parker stated that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do" [1]. He is alleged to have turned down a number of high-profile acting roles. While Rourke turned down major film roles, he did perform in "soft-core" adult-themed films such as Wild Orchid, which may have had an impact on his reputation as an actor.


From actor to boxer

In 1991, Rourke decided that he "…had to go back to boxing," because he felt that he "…was self-destructing…[and] had no respect for myself being an actor." When Rourke became a professional boxer, he won all of his fights against minor opponents (and had one fight come to a draw). However, he never achieved national prominence, and he received a number of injuries, including a broken nose, toe, ribs, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone. His trainer during his boxing career was Hells Angels member Chuck Zito.

Boxing promoters have claimed that Rourke was too old to do well against top-level fighters. Indeed, Rourke himself admits that entering the ring was a sort of personal test: "…just wanted to give it a shot, test myself that way physically, while I still had time (interview in The Gate with Christopher Heard). In 1995, Rourke retired from boxing and returned to acting.


1990s: return to acting

In the early 1990s, Quentin Tarantino offered Rourke the part of Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction. Rourke declined, and the role eventually was offered to Matt Dillon and Sylvester Stallone, before Bruce Willis invested in the film and was given the part. After his retirement from boxing, Rourke did accept brief roles in several 1990s films, including John Grisham's The Rainmaker, Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66, Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory and Sylvester Stallone's remake of Get Carter.

While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, Rourke's part ended up on the editing room floor. Rourke also played a small part in the film Thursday, in which he plays a crooked cop. One of his most interesting film roles was in 1997's Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was Rourke's first over-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain.


2000s

In 2000, Rourke took the role of The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund's Spun, teaming up with Eric Roberts. In 2001 appeared as the villain in Enrique Iglesias music video for Hero which also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt. His first collaborations with directors Robert Rodriguez and Tony Scott in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire, were for smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films.

In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role (Marv) in Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City. Rourke received awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the IFTA and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as "Man of the Year" from Total Film magazine that year. Rourke followed Sin City with a supporting role in Tony Scott's Domino alongside Keira Knightley, in which he played a bounty hunter.

Rourke played the role of The Blackbird in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Killshot, the role of "Darrius Sayle" in an adaptation of the Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker. He will also appear alongside Ray Liotta in John McNaughton's The Night Job, as well as reprising the role of "Marv" in the Dame to Kill For segment of Sin City 2.

In addition, in 2003, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the Driver video game series. Rourke also recently appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams for Berlin's Zoo Magazine. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled Mickey Rourke Rising (from The Gate), Christopher Heard stated that actors Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Brad Pitt have "…animated praise for Rourke and his work."

Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made movies that he now sees as a creative "sell-out" (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke has stated that "…all that I have been through…[has] made me a better, more interesting actor." Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "…my best work is still ahead of me" (article in The Gate).

In November 2006, during an interview, he called Tom Cruise a '****' for his attacks on Brooke Shields and Psychiatry. In February of 2007 he was in South Beach, Florida, protesting against a puppy store he claims sells dogs with parvo. He wanted the store to shut down, claiming a puppy he bought for his friend at the store died. He was supported with other activists.


Previous collaborations

During his career, Rourke worked with directors including Steven Spielberg, Lawrence Kasdan, Francis Ford Coppola, Barry Levinson, Stuart Rosenberg, Nicolas Roeg, Michael Cimino, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Mike Hodges, Barbet Schroeder, Walter Hill, Tsui Hark, Terrence Malick, Jonas Åkerlund, Wong Kar Wai, Tony Scott, Robert Rodriguez and John Madden, as well as actors-turned-directors Sean Penn, Vincent Gallo and Steve Buscemi.


Political and religious views

Rourke's political views came under fire when he claimed to have donated part of his salary from the 1989 film, Francesco, to the Provisional Irish Republican Army [2]. He later backed away from that statement, although he has an IRA symbol tattooed on his left forearm [3]. In 2006, Rourke declared his support for the Republican US President George W. Bush. Rourke was born into an Irish-American family, and is still a devout Roman Catholic.[4]

Joe died. His will provided $30,000 for an elaborate funeral. As the last guests departed the affair, his wife, Helen, turned to her oldest friend. "Well, I'm sure Joe would be pleased," she said. "I'm sure you're right," replied Jody, who lowered her voice and leaned in close.

"How much did this really cost?" Helen answered, "Thirty-thousand all together."

"No!" Jody exclaimed. "I mean, it was very nice, but $30,000?"

Helen answered, "The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the church. The wake, food and drinks were another $500. The rest went for the memorial stone."

Jody computed quickly. "$22,500 for a memorial stone? My God, how big is it?!"



"Two and a half carats."

Angels And DevilsCall it a day
When night becomes our mad escape
Forgetting the things you mean to say
When all the right words come too late and
Everything falls out of place
Under the pillow
Out of the race
Out of the window
Devils on my shoulder
So, so happy
When happiness spells misery
And mister me hoping to be
Where ugliness meets beauty
Hope if you`ll see
The demon in you
The angel in me
The Jesus in you
The devil in me
Angels on my shoulder
Call it a day
When night becomes our bad escape
Forgetting the things you mean to say
When all the right words come too late and
Everything falls out of place
Under the pillow
Out of the race
Out of the window
Devils on my shoulder
So, so happy
When happiness spells misery
And mister me hoping to be
Where ugliness meets beauty
And if you see`ll see the demon in you
The angel in me
The Jesus in you
The devil in me
The demon`s in you
The devil`s in me
Devil on my shoulder
Angels coming closer

Echo and the Bunnymen
Angels And Devils

That is beautiful Edgar!

Thank-you!

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake
Eileen Barton

(Sound of knocking on door)

(Spoken)
Come in
Well, well, well, look who's here
I haven't seen you in many a year

If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Baked a cake, baked a cake
If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do
Had you dropped me a letter, I'd a-hired a band
Grandest band in the land
Had you dropped me a letter, I'd a-hired a band
And spread the welcome mat for you

Oh, I don't know where you came from
'Cause I don't know where you've been
But it really doesn't matter
Grab a chair and fill your platter
And dig, dig, dig right in

If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Hired a band, goodness sake
If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do

---- Instrumental Interlude ----

If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
baked a cake, baked a cake
If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do

Had you dropped me a letter
I'd a-hired a band
Grandest band in the land
Had you dropped me a letter
I'd a-hired a band
Spread the welcome mat for you

Oh, I don't know where you came from
'Cause I don't know where you've been
But it really doesn't matter
Grab a chair and fill your platter
And dig, dig, dig right in

If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Hired a band, goodness sake
If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do

Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do
Howd-ya do-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Roddy McDowall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall
Born September 17, 1928(1928-09-17)
London, England, United Kingdom
Died October 03, 1998 (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California
Years active 1938 - 1998
[show]Awards
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
1961 Sunday Showcase: Our American Heritage: Not Without Honor
Tony Awards
Best Featured Actor in a Play
1960 The Fighting Cock

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (September 17, 1928 - October 3, 1998) was an English/American actor.




Biography

Early life

McDowall was born in London in Herne Hill to Thomas Andrew McDowall, a Merchant Mariner of Scottish descent, and Winsfriede L. (née Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress.[1] Both his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He had a sister, Virginia (1927 - 2006).

McDowall made his first major film appearance at age twelve (though he had previously appeared in several British films), after he and his family came to America because of The Blitz. He played as "Huw" in How Green Was My Valley (1941) that he made his name, and he appeared in other films as a child actor, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and Lassie Come Home (1943) where he co-starred (on the first of many occasions) opposite lifelong friend Elizabeth Taylor.


Adult career

McDowall was one of the few child actors to continue his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles, notably in heavy makeup as various "chimpanzee" characters in four of the Planet of the Apes movies (1968 - 1973) and in the 1974 TV series that followed. Other film appearances included Cleopatra (1963), in which he played Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus; It! (1966), in which he played a Norman Bates character reminiscent of Psycho; The Poseidon Adventure (1972), in which he played Acres, a dining room attendant; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974); Class of 1984 (1982); Fright Night (1985), in which he plays Peter Vincent, a television host and moderator of telecast horror films; and Overboard (1987) in which he played a kind-hearted butler. He also appeared on stage and frequently guest starred on television, appearing on such series as the original The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Invaders, The Carol Burnett Show, Fantasy Island and Quantum Leap.

He appeared frequently on Hollywood Squares, and occasionally came up with funny quips himself. For example:

Q. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, what does Queen Gertrude get that was meant for her famous son?
McDOWALL: A dozen roses and a box of candy.

He played a character villain, "The Bookworm", in the camp 1960s TV series Batman and had an acclaimed recurring role as The Mad Hatter in Batman: The Animated Series as well as providing his adroit dramatic tones to the audio adaptation of the 1989 Batman film. He also had a starring role in the 1970s Bermuda Triangle based sci-fi series, The Fantastic Journey. His final acting role in animation (at least), was for an episode of Godzilla: The Series in the episode "Dreadloch". In A Bug's Life (1998), one of his final contributions to motion pictures, he provides the voice of the ant "Mr. Soil".

During the 1990s, McDowall became active in film preservation and participated in the restoration of Cleopatra (1963), which had been severely cut by 20th Century Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck after skyrocketing production costs. McDowall served for several years in various capacities on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Oscar Awards. He was Chairman of the Actor's Branch for five terms. He was elected President of the Academy Foundation the very year he died.

McDowall received recognition as a photographer and published five books of photographs, one being of his celebrity friends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday and Maureen O'Hara.


Personal life

In 1974, the FBI raided the home of McDowall and seized the actor's collection of films and television series in the course of an investigation of movie piracy and copyright infringement. His collection consisted of 160 16 mm prints and over 1,000 videocassettes, at a time before the era of videotapes when there was no legal aftermarket for films. (Copying or selling prints obtained from studios without owning the copyright was illegal). McDowall had purchased Errol Flynn's home movies and the prints of his own directorial debut Tam Lin (1970) starring Ava Gardner, and transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage. McDowall was quite forthcoming about those dealt with him: Rock Hudson, Dick Martin and Mel Tormé were just a few of the celebrities interested in his film reproductions. No charges were pressed against McDowall.


Death

He died in Studio City, California from lung cancer at the age of 70. One of his last public appearances occurred when he accompanied the then-88 year old actress, Luise Rainer to the 70th Oscar ceremony. Rainer was the earliest recipient of a Best Actress Oscar who attended that year's Academy Award telecast, which featured all the living previous Oscar winners willing and able to attend (of whom more than 70 did).