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Anne Bancroft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Anna Maria Louisa Italiano
Born September 17, 1931(1931-09-17)
The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Died June 6, 2005 (aged 73)
New York City, New York
Spouse(s) Martin May
Mel Brooks
[show]Awards
Academy Awards
Best Actress
1962 The Miracle Worker
BAFTA Awards
Best Actress
1962 The Miracle Worker
1964 The Pumpkin Eater
1987 84 Charing Cross Road
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1999 Deep in My Heart
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1965 The Pumpkin Eater
Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1968 The Graduate
Tony Awards
Best Actress in a Play
1960 The Miracle Worker
Best Featured Actress in a Play
1958 Two for the Seesaw

Anne Bancroft (September 17, 1931 - June 6, 2005) was an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, and Emmy-winning American method actress.




Early life

Bancroft was born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano in the Bronx, New York to Michael and Mildred Italiano, both children of Italian immigrants.

Bancroft graduated Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx in 1948, and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Actors Studio, and the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women at UCLA.

After appearing in a number of live television dramas under the name "Anne Marno", she was told to change her surname for her film debut in Don't Bother to Knock in 1952, and she chose the surname "Bancroft" because she felt it was "elegant".


Career

Bancroft was a contract player in the early days of her career just as the studio contract system was ending. She left Hollywood and returned to New York due to the quality of roles she was being offered.

In 1958 she appeared opposite Henry Fonda in the Broadway production of Two for the Seesaw, for which she won a Tony Award, and another in 1960 for The Miracle Worker. She took the latter role back to Hollywood, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1962.

A highly acclaimed television special, "Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man" won her an Emmy award for her clowning, singing and acting. Bancroft is one of a very select few entertainers to win an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony award.


Other major film roles were in The Pumpkin Eater, 7 Women, and, in what may be her most well-known role, as Mrs. Robinson opposite Dustin Hoffman in the film The Graduate. Ironically, Bancroft, then only 36 years old, played opposite a 30-year-old Hoffman. Although Bancroft is now iconically identified as Mrs. Robinson, she was not the first choice for the role; Patricia Neal (who had concerns owing to her then recent stroke), Doris Day and Jeanne Moreau turned it down. Bancroft was ambivalent about her appearance in The Graduate; she stated in several interviews that the role overshadowed all of her other work.

In 1980, she made her debut as a screenwriter and director in Fatso, in which she starred along with Dom DeLuise. Bancroft was also the original choice to play Joan Crawford in the 1981 movie Mommie Dearest, but backed out at the 11th hour, and was replaced by Faye Dunaway. She was also a front-runner for the role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment, but declined in order to partake in the remake of To Be or Not to Be (1983).


Marriage and family

From July 1, 1953, to February 13, 1957, she was married to Martin May. The marriage produced no children.

In 1961, Bancroft met Mel Brooks in a rehearsal for the Perry Como variety show. Brooks bribed a studio employee to find out where she was having dinner so he could meet her again. Once Bancroft met Brooks, she went to her therapist and told him they had to conclude the therapy as fast as possible because she had met the man she was going to marry.

They married on August 5, 1964, in New York City Hall and were together until her death. They had one son, Maximillian, in 1972. They were seen three times on the screen together: once dancing a tango in Brooks's 1976 Silent Movie, in Brooks's 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be, and in the episode entitled "Opening Night" of the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm. Brooks produced the 1980 film The Elephant Man, in which Bancroft acted. He also executive-produced the 1987 film 84 Charing Cross Road in which she starred.


Death

Bancroft died on June 6, 2005 of uterine cancer aged 73 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Her death came as a surprise to even some of Bancroft's friends; she was intensely private and had not released details of her illness.

Mel Brooks held a memorial service for her some weeks later and advised the guests that if anyone felt like grieving, to "keep it to yourself". Among the attendees was Bancroft's costar in The Miracle Worker, actress Patty Duke. When a reporter asked Duke's opinion of Bancroft, Duke replied that she could not think of enough superlatives.

Bancroft was survived by Brooks, their son, a grandson, her mother and two sisters. She is interred at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, near her father, Michael Italiano.

John Ritter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Johnathan Southworth Ritter
Born September 17, 1948(1948-09-17)
Burbank, California
Died September 11, 2003 (aged 54)
Burbank, California
Other name(s) Johnny Ritter
Years active 1971 - 2003
[show]Awards
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
1984 Three's Company
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical
1984 Three's Company

Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter (September 17, 1948 - September 11, 2003) was an American actor and comedian best known for his role of Jack Tripper in the sitcom Three's Company.




Career

Ritter headlined several stage performances before he was made a star by appearing in the hit sitcom Three's Company (the Americanized version of the 1970s British Thames Television series Man About the House) in 1977, playing a single ladies' man and culinary student, Jack Tripper, who lived with two female roommates. Jack pretended to be homosexual to keep the landlords appeased over their living arrangement. The show spent several seasons at or near the top of the TV ratings in the U.S. before ending in 1984. Ritter went on for one more year on the spin-off Three's a Crowd. The original series has been seen continuously in reruns. It is also available on DVD. During the run of the show, he appeared in the feature films Hero At Large, Americathon, and They All Laughed. In 1978, he played Ringo Starr's manager on the television special Ringo, and in 1982, played the voice of Peter Dickinson in Flight of Dragons.

Previous to his role in Three's Company, he occasionally appeared in the first five seasons of The Waltons on CBS as the Reverend Matthew Fordwick (1972-1976). He appeared in the Charles Bronson film The Stone Killer alongside Norman Fell. He also guest starred in one episode of The Cosby Show in 1991.

After Three's Company, he appeared in a number of movies, notably Problem Child and its first sequel, Problem Child 2. He also appeared in the Academy Award-winning Sling Blade (almost unrecognizable as the discount store manager) and Noises Off. He also starred with Markie Post in the early-1990s sitcom Hearts Afire and on the 1980s police comedy-drama Hooperman.

He starred in many made-for-TV movies including It Came From the Sky in 1999 with Yasmine Bleeth and made guest appearances on TV shows such as Ally McBeal, Scrubs and Felicity. He also provided the voice for Clifford in the animated children's show Clifford the Big Red Dog, a role for which he received two Emmy nominations.

Ritter played Claude Pichon in The Dinner Party (2000) at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, which was written by Neil Simon. It ran for three hundred and sixty-four performances. Ritter won the Theatre World Award in 2001 for his performance in The Dinner Party.

In 2002, he made a TV comeback with the ABC family sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.

Ritter's final two movie roles were as the store manager in Bad Santa (2003), starring personal friend Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac, and Clifford's Really Big Movie.

Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.


Personal life

The son of singing cowboy matinee star Tex Ritter and American actress Dorothy Fay, Ritter was born in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948. Ritter attended Hollywood High School, where he was Student Body President. He went on to the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, majored in psychology and minored in architecture. He married twice, once to actress Nancy Morgan (married 1977-divorced 1996) and then to actress Amy Yasbeck (married 1999-his death). Yasbeck had played his wife or love interest in the first two Problem Child movies (interestingly, she played a different character in each movie). Yasbeck also played Ritter's wife in two sitcom appearances. In 1991, both were guest stars on The Cosby Show, where Yasbeck played the in-labor wife of Ritter's basketball coach character. In 1996, Ritter guest starred on Yasbeck's sitcom Wings as the estranged husband of Yasbeck's character Casey. Ritter and Morgan had three children: Carly, Tyler, and Jason. He and Yasbeck had one daughter, Stella.


Death

On September 11, 2003, Ritter became seriously ill during rehearsals for an episode of 8 Simple Rules that was to have Henry Winkler as a guest star. He was taken across the street from the studio to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he died hours later, a week before his 55th birthday, in the same hospital in which he was born. The date of his death was also the same as his daughter Stella's fifth birthday, the day before wife Yasbeck's forty-first birthday, and six days before their wedding anniversary. He died from an aortic dissection caused by a previously undiagnosed congenital heart defect. Ritter was interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.

8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter was retitled 8 Simple Rules after Ritter's death and continued for two more seasons. The first three episodes of Season 2 had been taped before his death, and were aired as a tribute to him. The fourth episode presented the backstory that his character had collapsed at the grocery store and died. The remainder of the season dealt with the family trying to grapple with their patriarch's death. New male characters, played by James Garner and David Spade, were added to fill the gap.

Ritter was posthumously honored with an Emmy nomination for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in 2004. He lost to Kelsey Grammer for Frasier. Upon accepting his trophy, the first remark that Grammer made was in tribute and remembrance of John Ritter.

Ritter's last films, Bad Santa and Clifford's Really Big Movie, were dedicated in his memory. Ritter also played the father of protagonist John Dorian in the TV series Scrubs. He makes one appearance in the 19th episode of Season 1, "My Old Man". The 6th episode of Season 4, "My Cake", revolves around Dorian's father's sudden death and the episode is dedicated to Ritter.

Q. Why did the blonde give up bowling for screwing?
A. The balls are lighter, and you don't have to change shoes.


First, I got angina pectoris and then arteriosclerosis. Just
as I was recovering from these, I got tuberculosis, double
pneumonia and phthisis. Then they gave me hypodermics.

Appendicitis was followed by tonsillectomy. These gave way to
aphasia and hypertrophic cirrhosis.

I completely lost my memory for a while. I know I had diabetes and
acute ingestion, besides gastritis, rheumatism, lumbago and neuritis.

I don't know how I pulled through it.

It was the hardest spelling test I've ever had.

I Almost Lost My Mind
Pat Boone

[Words and Music by Ivory Joe Hunter]

When I lost my baby (baby)
I almost lost my mind
When I lost my baby (baby)
I almost lost my mind
My head is in a spin since she's left me behind

I went to see the gypsy
And had my fortune read
I went to see the gypsy
And had my fortune read
I hung my head in sorrow when she said what she said

Well, I can tell you, people (people)
The news was not so good
Well, I can tell you, people (people)
The news was not so good
She said "Your baby's left you"
"This time she's gone for good" (gone for good)

Bah-ooh-ah-ooh-ah-ooh-ah-ooh-ooh

I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

I told her that I was a flop with chics
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"

She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like India Ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine

Gypsy gal, the hands of Harlem
Cannot hold you to its heat.
Your temperature's too hot for taming,
Your flaming feet are burning up the street.
I am homeless, come and take me
To reach of your rattling drums.
Let me know, babe, about my fortune
Down along my restless palms.

Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed.
I have fallen far beneath
Your pearly eyes, so fast an' slashing,
An' your flashing diamond teeth.
The night is pitch black, come an' make my
Pale face fit into place, ah, please!
Let me know, babe, I got to know, babe,
If it's you my lifelines trace.

I been wond'rin' all about me
Ever since I seen you there.
On the cliffs of your wildcat charms I'm riding,
I know I'm 'round you but I don't know where.
You have slayed me, you have made me,
I got to laugh halfways off my heels.
I got to know, babe, will you surround me
So I can know I am really real.


Spanish Harlem Incident
Bob Dylan

Angel From Montgomery

I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that's grown old
If dreams were lightning thunder was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go

When I was a young girl well, I had me a cowboy
He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man
But that was a long time and no matter how I try
The years just flow by like a broken down dam.

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go

There's flies in the kitchen I can hear 'em there buzzing
And I ain't done nothing since I woke up today.
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say.

Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go


John Prine

Good morning edgar, george and rex. Thanks for your contributions. Love the songs as this is the day I sing karaoke. I often check to seek inspiration for new songs to sing. Since we are Lettyless for a time your entries are all the more valuable. On to my alter ego as Biobob.

Agnes de Mille
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 - October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. She was born in Harlem into a well-connected family of theater professionals (her uncle was Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille; Agnes de Mille was also the granddaughter of economist Henry George).




Biography

Agnes originally wanted to be an actress and always had a love for acting, but she was told that she was 'not pretty enough'. It was then that she turned to dance. Agnes longed to dance from a young age, but her parents did not allow her to. Dancing at this time was not considered a viable career option but more of an activity. Agnes's younger sister was prescribed to take ballet classes to cure her flat feet. Agnes joined her and finally explored her world of dance. She lacked flexibility and technique, however. Classical ballet was the most widely known dance form at this time. Therefore, Agnes was limited in opportunities. Still, through her strong character work and compelling performances, she taught herself from watching movie stars on the set with her father in Hollywood; these were more interesting for her to watch than perfectly turned out legs. One of Agnes' earliest jobs, thanks to her father's connections, was choreographing the movie Cleopatra in 1934, though the dances were later cut from the movie. She appeared in The Ragamuffin in 1916, which was her first job.

She graduated from UCLA where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and moved to London in 1933 to study at Marie Rambert's Ballet Club.

De Mille began her association with the fledgling American Ballet Theatre (then called Ballet Theatre) in 1939, but her first significant work, Rodeo (1942) was staged for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Although de Mille continued to choreograph nearly up to the time of her death--her final ballet, The Informer, was completed in 1992--most of her later works have dropped out of the ballet repertoire. Besides Rodeo, two other de Mille ballets are performed on a regular basis: Three Virgins and a Devil (1934), adapted from a tale by Giovanni Boccaccio, and Fall River Legend (1948), based on the life of Lizzie Borden.

On the strength of Rodeo, de Mille was hired to choreograph Oklahoma! (1943). The dream ballet, in which dancers (Marc Platt, Katherine Sergava, and George Church) doubled for the leading actors, successfully integrated dance into the musical's plot. Instead of functioning as an interlude or divertissement, the ballet provided key insights into the heroine's emotional troubles. De Mille went on to choreograph over a dozen other musicals, most notably Bloomer Girl (1944), Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), Paint Your Wagon (1951), Goldilocks (1957), and 110 in the Shade (1963).

De Mille's success on Broadway did not translate into success in Hollywood. Her only significant film credit is Oklahoma! (1955). She was not invited to recreate her choreography for either Brigadoon or Carousel. Nevertheless, her two specials for the TV series Omnibus, "The Art of Ballet" and "The Art of Choreography" (both televised in 1956), were immediately recognized as landmark attempts to bring serious dance to the attention of a broad public.

Her love for acting played a very important role in her choreography. De Mille revolutionized musical theatre by creating choreography which not only conveyed the emotional dimensions of the characters but also enhanced the plot. Her choreography, as a reflection of her awareness of acting, reflected the angst and turmoil of the characters instead of simply focusing on a dancer's physical technique.

De Mille regularly worked with a recognizable core group of dancers, including Virginia Bosler, Gemze de Lappe, Lidija Franklin, Jean Houloose, Dania Krupska, Bambi Linn, Joan McCracken, James Mitchell, Mavis Ray, and, at American Ballet Theatre, Sallie Wilson. Krupska, Mitchell, and Ray also served as de Mille's assistant choreographers, while de Lappe has taken an active role in preserving de Mille's work.

In 1953, de Mille founded the Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre, which she later revived as Heritage Dance Theatre.


Death

De Mille suffered a stroke on stage in 1975, but recovered. She died in 1993 of second stroke. [1]


Legacy

Her many awards include a Tony Award, the Handel Medallion for achievement in the arts (1976), and an honor from Kennedy Center (1980).

Agnes de Mille was a lifelong friend of modern dance legend Martha Graham. The publisher of many books about dance, de Mille, in 1992, published Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham (ISBN 0-679-74176-3), a 509-page biography of Graham. Agnes de Mille had been working on the Graham manuscript for over 30 years.

At present, the only commercially available examples of de Mille's choreography are Fall River Legend (filmed in 1989 by the Dance Theatre of Harlem) and Oklahoma!

Rossano Brazzi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born 18 September 1916(1916-09-18)
Bologna, Italy
Died 24 December 1994
Rome, Italy

Rossano Brazzi (September 18, 1916 - December 24, 1994) was an Italian actor.

Brazzi was born in Bologna, and attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, a city in which he lived since the age of four. He made his film debut in a 1939 Italian film.

Brazzi had an extensive filmography, much of it in Italian and French films, but the film that propelled him to international fame was Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), a Hollywood blockbuster, followed by the leading male role in David Lean's romance Summertime (1955). Other Brazzi's notable roles include an early Hollywood part in Little Women (1948), as well as visible roles in The Story of Esther Costello (1957), South Pacific (1958), The Barefoot Contessa, The Light in the Piazza (1962), and as the murdered Roger Beckermann in The Italian Job. In 1966, he starred in the family feature, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't.

In 1940, Brazzi married Lidia baroness Bertolini (1921-1981), to whom he stayed married until her death. The couple had no children. In 1982, he married the German Ilse Fischer. There were no children from the marriage. Brazzi died in Rome on Christmas Eve 1994 at the age of 78, from a neural virus.

Jack Warden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name John H. Lebzelter
Born September 18, 1920(1920-09-18)
Newark, New Jersey
Died July 19, 2006 (aged 85), age 85
New York City, New York
[show]Awards
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
1972 Brian's Song

Jack Warden (September 18, 1920 - July 19, 2006) was an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated American character actor.




Biography

Early life

Born John H. Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey to a poor Jewish family,[1] he was the son of Laura M. (née Costello) and John Warden Lebzelter, an engineer and technician.[2][3] Raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he was expelled from high school for fighting and eventually fought as a professional boxer under the name Johnny Costello. He had 13 welterweight bouts but earned little money. He worked as a nightclub bouncer, tugboat deckhand and lifeguard before joining the Navy in 1938. He was stationed in China for three years with the Yangtze River Patrol.

In 1941, he joined the United States Merchant Marine; but quickly tiring of the long convoy runs, he switched to the Army in 1942 where he served as a paratrooper in the elite 101st Airborne Division during World War II. In 1944, on the eve of the D-Day invasion (during which many of his friends died), Warden shattered his leg by landing on a fence during a night-time practice jump in England. After almost a year in the hospital (during which time he read a Clifford Odets play and decided to become an actor after the end of the war), he recovered enough to participate in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

After leaving the military with the rank of sergeant, he moved to New York City and pursued an acting career on the G.I. Bill. He joined the company of the Dallas Alley Theater and performed on stage for five years. In 1948 he made his television debut on The Philco Television Playhouse and Studio One. He made an uncredited film debut in 1951 in You're in the Navy Now, a movie which also featured the film debuts of Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.


Career

Warden had his first credited film role in The Man with My Face in 1951, and in 1952 he began a three-year role in the television series Mr. Peepers. After a role as a sympathetic corporal in From Here to Eternity (1953), Warden's breakthrough film role was his performance as Juror No. 7, a salesman who wants a quick decision in a murder case, in 12 Angry Men (1957).

He received a supporting actor Emmy Award for his performance as Chicago Bears coach George Halas in Brian's Song (1971), and was nominated for Academy Awards as Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). He also had notable roles in such films as All the President's Men (1976), ...And Justice for All and Being There (both 1979), The Verdict (1982), Problem Child (1990) and its sequel (1991), While You Were Sleeping (1995), and the Norm MacDonald film Dirty Work (1998).

Warden appeared in over one hundred movies, typically playing gruff cops, sports coaches, trusted friends and similar roles, during a career which spanned six decades. His last film was 2000s The Replacements, opposite Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves.


Personal life

Warden married French actress Vanda Dupre in 1958 and had one son, Christopher. Although they separated in the 1970s they never divorced.[4]

Warden died of heart and kidney failure in a New York hospital on July 19, 2006 at the age of 85.

Robert Blake (actor)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Blake (born September 18, 1933) is an American actor most famous for starring in the U.S. television series Baretta.




Early years

He was born Michael James Vincenzo Gubitosi in Nutley, New Jersey, the son of Giacomo Gubitosi (January 14, 1906-August 15, 1956) and Elizabeth Cafone (born December 28, 1910). His brother was James Gubitosi (October 26, 1930-January 30, 1995) and his sister Giovanna Gubitosi.

His father was born in Italy, arriving in the United States in 1907, and his mother was an Italian-American born in New Jersey. They married in 1929. In 1930, James worked as a die setter for a can manufacturer. Eventually, James and Elizabeth began a song-and-dance act. In 1936, the three children began performing, billed as "The Three Little Hillbillies." They moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1938, where the children began working as movie extras.



Film career

As a child actor

Mickey Gubitosi's acting career began when he appeared as Toto in the MGM movie Bridal Suite (1939) starring Annabella and Robert Young. Gubitosi then began appearing in MGM's Our Gang short subjects under his real name, replacing Eugene "Porky" Lee. He appeared in 40 of the shorts between 1939 and 1944, eventually becoming the series' final lead character. James and Jovanni Gubitosi also made appearances in the series as extras.

During his early Our Gang period, Gubitosi's character, Mickey, was often called upon to cry, and the young actor has been noted by some film critics as having been unsubtle and unconvincing.[1] In 1942, he acquired the stage name Bobby Blake, and his character in the series was renamed "Mickey Blake". In 1944, MGM discontinued Our Gang, releasing the final short in the series, Dancing Romeo, on April 29.

To date, Gubitosi is one of the few living Our Gang actors from the original series. Other notable surviving members are Jackie Cooper, Dorothy DeBorba, Dickie Moore, Shirley Jean Rickert, Jean Darling, Jerry Tucker, and Jacqueline Taylor.

In 1944, Blake began playing an Indian boy, "Little Beaver," in the Red Ryder Western series at Republic Pictures, appearing in twenty-three of the movies until 1947. He also had roles in one of Laurel and Hardy's later films The Big Noise (1944),and the Warner Bros. movies Humoresque (1946), playing John Garfield's character as a child, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), playing the Mexican boy who sells Humphrey Bogart a winning lottery ticket, getting a glass of water thrown in his face in the process.

According to Blake, he had an unhappy childhood with a miserable home life and was abused by an alcoholic father. When he entered public school at age ten, he could not understand why the other children were hostile to him. He had fights, which led to his expulsion. When he was fourteen, he ran away from home. The next few years were a reportedly difficult period in his life.[citation needed]


As an adult actor

In 1950, he went into the army. When he returned to Southern California he entered Jeff Corey's acting class and began turning his life around, both personally and professionally. He matured and became a seasoned Hollywood actor, playing some choice dramatic roles in movies and television. In 1956, he was billed as Robert Blake for the first time.

Blake performed in numerous theatrical motion pictures as an adult, including his starring role in The Purple Gang (1960), a gangster movie, and featured roles in such movies as Ensign Pulver (1964) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1967, he starred in his acclaimed role of real-life murderer Perry Smith in In Cold Blood, which was directed by Richard Brooks, who also adapted the story for the screen from the Truman Capote non-fiction work. Blake also starred in the role of an Indian fugitive in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), a film adaptation of Of Mice and Men (1981) and as a motorcycle highway patrolman in Electra Glide in Blue (1973). He played a small town stock car driver in search of a shot at the big time in Nascar in the film "Corky" made in 1972 by MGM. The film featured small scenes with real nascar drivers of the day such as Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough,Blake driving a customised Plymouth Barracuda across the country to meet up with a supposed contact at Talladega speedway. It was a gritty role with Blake acting an emotional rollercoaster, going back to shoot his old boss as his life disintegrates around him,his inability to "straighten up" for his wife leading to their estrangement and ultimately his downfall.

Blake is probably best known for his Emmy Award-winning role of Tony Baretta in the popular TV series Baretta (1975 to 1978), in which he played an undercover police detective who specialized in disguises. Trademarks of the show include his character's pet cockatoo, the proverbial sentence "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," and a memorable theme song "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" written by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames and performed by Sammy Davis, Jr.

He continued to act through the 1980s and 1990s, mostly in television, including the role of Jimmy Hoffa in the miniseries Blood Feud (1983) and John List in the murder drama Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), for which he received another Emmy. He had character parts in the theatrical movies Money Train (1995) and Lost Highway (1997). Blake also starred in another television series called Hell Town in which he played a priest working in a tough neighbourhood.


Personal life

He and actress Sondra Kerr were married in 1962 and divorced in 1983. They had two children, actor Noah Blake (born 1965) and Delinah Blake (born 1966).


Bonnie Lee Bakley

In 1999, Blake met Bonnie Lee Bakley, reportedly a woman with a history of exploiting older men for money, especially celebrities.[2] She was seeing Christian Brando, son of Marlon Brando, during her relationship with Blake. Bakley became pregnant and told both Brando and Blake that they were the father. Initially, Bakley named the baby "Christian Shannon Brando" and stated Brando was the father of her child. Bakley wrote letters describing her dubious motives to Blake.[3] Robert Blake ordered her to take a DNA test to prove the paternity. Blake and Bakley married November 19, 2000 after DNA tests proved that he was in fact the biological father of her child, renamed Rose. It was his second marriage, her tenth.

Although they were married, it was unconventional. Bakley lived in a small guest house behind her husband's house in the Studio City area of the San Fernando Valley.

On May 4, 2001, Blake took Bakley to an Italian dinner at Vitello's Restaurant on Tujunga Avenue in Studio City. Afterward, Bakley was murdered by a gunshot to the head while sitting in the car, which was parked on a side street around the corner from the restaurant. Blake told the police that he had gone back to the restaurant to get a gun he left at the table and was there when the shooting occurred. When questioned later, no other diners or employees recalled Blake returning to the restaurant.


Arrest and trial for murder

He was arrested on April 18, 2002, and charged in connection with the murder of his wife. His longtime bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy in connection with the murder. The arrest came almost one year after the murder on May 4, 2001 in Studio City, California. The final break in the case, which gave the LAPD the confidence to arrest Blake, came when a retired stuntman, Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, agreed to testify against Blake.[4] Hambleton alleged that Blake tried to hire him to kill Bonnie Lee Bakley. Another associate of Hambleton's, retired stuntman Gary McLarty, came forth with a similar story.

According to author Miles Corwin, Hambleton agreed to testify against Blake only after being told he would be subject to a Grand Jury subpoena and a pending misdemeanor charge.[5] Hambleton's motives to testify against Blake were successfully called into question by Blake's defense team during the criminal trial.[6]

On April 22, Blake was charged with one count of murder with special circumstances, an offense eligible for the death penalty. He was also charged with two counts of solicitation of murder and one count of murder conspiracy. Blake pled not guilty to all charges. Caldwell was charged with a single count of murder conspiracy and also pled not guilty.

On April 25, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office announced they would not seek the death penalty against Blake should he be convicted, but prosecutors would seek a sentence of life in prison without parole.

After Blake posted $1 million bail, Caldwell was released on April 27. But a judge denied bail for Blake on May 1. On March 13, 2003, after almost a year in jail, Blake was granted bail, which was set at $1.5 million, and allowed to go free to await trial.

Blake's story inspired an episode of the TV crime show Law & Order, titled Formerly Famous. It aired on NBC on November 7, 2001.


Acquittal

On March 16, 2005, Blake was found not guilty of the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley, and of one of the two counts of soliciting a former stuntman to murder her. The other count of solicitation was dropped after it was revealed that the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of an acquittal. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, commenting on this ruling, called Blake a "miserable human being" and the jurors "incredibly stupid." Blake's defense team and members of the jury responded that the prosecution had failed to prove its case.[7] Trial analysts also agreed with the jury's verdict.[8]


Civil case

Bakley's four children filed a civil suit against Blake asserting that he was responsible for their mother's death. On November 18, 2005, the jury found Blake liable for the wrongful death of his wife and ordered him to pay $30 million. On February 3, 2006, Blake filed for bankruptcy. Expressing disbelief that Blake was found liable by the jury in the civil trial, M. Gerald Schwartzbach (Blake's attorney in the criminal trial) vowed to appeal the jury verdict.[9]


Civil trial verdict appeal

According to the Associated Press, M. Gerald Schwartzbach filed the appeal brief on February 28, 2007.[10][11] It was also reported in the AP article that an LAPD Internal Affairs investigation has been opened regarding the lead detective in the original murder case, Detective Ron Ito. The complaint was filed by M. Gerald Schwartzbach and civil trial witness Brian Allan Fiebelkorn.[12] The complaint alleges that the detective failed to investigate leads that persons other than Robert Blake could have been responsible for the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley. Fiebelkorn testified that associates of Christian Brando (originally claimed to have been the father of Bonnie Lee Bakley's daughter) may have been responsible for the murder of Ms. Bakley.[13] The defense theory of who may have been involved in the conspiracy to kill Bonnie Lee Bakley was laid out in a defense motion filed during the criminal trial proceedings.[14]


Post acquittal

Following filing for bankruptcy, Blake has gotten a job as a ranch hand. He has moved into a small apartment and hopes to return to acting. His young daughter, Rosie, has been adopted by his older daughter.

Jimmie Rodgers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Birth name James Frederick Rodgers
Born September 18, 1933(1933-09-18), Camas, Washington, United States
Genre(s) Folk, Traditional Pop, rock and roll
Years active 1957-1967
Label(s) Roulette, Dot, A&M
James Frederick Rodgers (born September 18, 1933, Camas, Washington) is sometimes classified as a rock and roll singer, but his style was more typical of traditional pop music. He is not related to the legendary country singer of the same name.




Career

He was taught music by his mother, learned to play the piano and guitar, and formed a band while he served in the United States Air Force. Like a number of other entertainers of the era, he was one of the contestants on Arthur Godfrey's talent show on the radio. When Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore left RCA Records to found a new record company, Roulette Records, they became aware of Jimmie's talent and signed him up.

In the summer of 1957, he recorded a song called "Honeycomb", which had been done by Bob Merrill three years earlier. It was his first big hit, staying on the top of the charts for four weeks. The following year, he had a number of other hits that reached the top ten on the charts: "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again", "Secretly", and "Are You Really Mine". Other hits include "Bimbombey", "Ring-a-ling-a-lario", "Tucumcari," and "Tender Love and Care (T.L.C)". In 1959 he had a televised variety show on the NBC network.

In 1962, he moved to the Dot label, and four years later to A&M Records. He also appeared in some movies, including The Little Shepard of Kingdom Come, opposite Neil Hamilton, and Back Door to Hell, which he helped finance.

In 1967, he had his last top-100 single, "Child of Clay". On December 20, 1967, while preparing to do a film for 20th Century Fox, he was a victim of an assault after allegedly being pulled over by an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer on the San Diego Freeway in Southern California, receiving a severe beating, leading to a fractured skull[citation needed]. Neither the assailant(s) nor the reason for the assault has ever been verifiably established. Not long after the assault, he appeared on a late-night talk show and discussed it, but all he could recall were bright lights, presumably from the car of his attacker(s). Rodgers later claimed that members of the San Diego Police Department had assaulted him[citation needed]. After Rodgers sued the Los Angeles Police Department[citation needed], the LAPD settled out of court for $200,000[citation needed].

Recovery from his injuries caused an approximately year-long period in which he ceased to perform. He eventually returned, though not reaching the top singles chart again. He did, however, make an appearance on the album chart as late as 1969[citation needed]. Also, during the summer of 1969, he made a brief return to network television with a summer variety show on ABC[citation needed].

His first wife, Colleen, with whom he had two children, Michelle and Michael, had a fatal blood clot shortly after the 1967 beating. He remarried in 1970, and Jimmie and Trudy Rodgers had two sons, Casey and Logan. He and Trudy divorced in the late 1970s, and he remarried again. Jimmie and Mary Rodgers are still married today, and they have a daughter, Katrine, who was born in 1989.

Frankie Avalon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born September 18, 1939 (1939-09-18) (age 68)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Spouse(s) (Kathryn Diebel 1963-present)

Frankie Avalon (born Francis Thomas Avallone, September 18, 1939, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol.




Career

By the time he was 12, Avalon began making appearances on U.S. television for his trumpet prowess, and as a teenager, played with Bobby Rydell in a band known as Rocco and the Saints. In 1959, his songs "Venus" and "Why" both went to number one on Billboard magazine's Hot 100. Indeed, "Why" was the last #1 hit of the 1950s. Avalon had 31 charted Billboard U.S. singles during his career from 1958 to late 1962, with most of the hits written and/or produced by Bob Marcucci, head of Chancellor Records.

In his acting, he was best known for his starring roles in the teenage Beach Party film genre, though he also had straight dramatic parts in films such as The Alamo as well as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Avalon also appeared in nearly two-dozen TV episodes, including a role in "The Patty Duke Show" titled "A Foggy Day in Brooklyn Heights," appearing as himself (Frankie Avalon). Later, he became the U.S. national television spokesperson for Sonic Drive-In.

The 1980 film The Idolmaker, written by Gene Kirkwood and directed by Taylor Hackford, was a thinly-disguised biography of Frankie Avalon (called "Tommy Dee" in the film) as well as 1950s teenage star Fabian (called "Caesare" in the film), as well as songwriter/producer Marcucci (called "Vinnie Vacarri" in the film). In the movie version, Tommy Dee clashes frequently with the producer and younger singer Caesare, whom he feels threatens his career as an upstart. Eventually, both "Dee" and "Caesare" quit the label, but both their record careers collapse, just as the British Invasion begins. The real-life Fabian threatened a lawsuit at the time of the film's release, though the filmmakers insisted that the film presented only fictional characters (though Marcucci was a paid consultant on the film). Avalon later denied most of the movie's events in interviews.

Frankie Avalon married Kathryn Diebel on January 19, 1963. She was a former beauty pageant winner, and Avalon met her while playing cards at a friend's house. He told his friend that Kay was the girl he was going to marry. His agent warned Avalon not to marry, as it would spoil his teen idol mystique, but Avalon ignored his advice. Still together, the couple has eight children--in order of age, they are Frankie Jr., Tony, Dina, Laura, Joseph, Nicolas, Kathryn and Carla. They also have 10 grandchildren. Frankie Jr. is a drummer and Tony, the second oldest son, currently plays guitar and teaches at the Paul Green School of Rock; both still tour and perform with their father.

In 1987 Avalon and Annette Funicello returned to the movies, with the aptly titled Back to the Beach. Not long afterwards, Funicello was diagnosed with MS, and retired from acting.

With the fading of his music and acting career, Avalon has turned to marketing, and has created Frankie Avalon Products, a successful line of health supplements and cosmetic products. Avalon personally promotes his products live on the Home Shopping Network, along with veteran host Bob Circosta.

He regularly guest stars in stage productions of Grease in the role of Teen Angel (a role he played in the popular 1978 film adaptation) and Tony n' Tina's Wedding as a characterized version of himself. Additionally, in 2007, he performed the song "Beauty School Dropout" with the four remaining female contenders (Kathleen Monteleone, Allie Schulz, Ashley Spencer, and winner Laura Osnes) for the role of Sandy on the NBC television reality show Grease: You're the One that I Want!. Also, his first son, Frank B Avalon Jr., frequently plays the drums on tour with his father.

Legacy

He was mentioned in the System of a Down song "Old School Hollywood." It is about Daron Malakian's experience in a celebrity baseball game, where he and Frankie Avalon were both ignored.

His song "Venus" was featured in Cranium Command (1989 - 2005), an attraction at Epcot's Wonders of Life Pavillion (now closed) at Walt Disney World. In the attraction, a 12 year old boy named Bobby (Scott Curtis), tries to survive the pressures of life and falls in love with a beautiful girl named Annie (Natalie Gregory) at school.

Golfer: "Think I'm going to drown myself in the lake."
Caddy: "Think you can keep your head down that long?"

Golfer: "I'd move heaven and earth to break 100 on this
course."
Caddy: "Try heaven, you've already moved most of the earth."

Golfer: "Do you think my game is improving?"
Caddy: "Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now."

Golfer: "Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?"
Caddy: "Eventually. "

Golfer: "You've got to be the worst caddy in the world."
Caddy: "I don't think so, sir. That would be too much of a
coincidence. "

Golfer: "Please stop checking your watch all the time. It's
too much of a distraction. "
Caddy: "It's not a watch - it's a compass."

Golfer: "How do you like my game?"
Caddy: "Very good sir, but personally, I prefer golf."

Golfer: "Do you think it's a sin to play on Sunday?
Caddy: "The way you play, sir, it's a sin on any day."

Golfer: "This is the worst course I've ever played on."
Caddy: "This isn't the golf course. We left that an hour ago."

Golfer: "That can't be my ball, it's too old."
Caddy: "It's been a long time since we teed off, sir."

Gubben Noach, Gubben Noach
Var en hedersman
När han gick ur arken
Plantera han på marken
Mycket vin, ja mycket vin, ja
Detta gjorede han.

Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter
Herman's Hermits

[Written by Trevor Peacock

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter
Girls as sharp as her are somethin' rare
But it's sad, she doesn't love me now
She's made it clear enough it ain't no good to pine

She wants to return those things I bought her
Tell her she can keep them just the same
Things have changed, she doesn't love me now
She's made it clear enough it ain't no good to pine

Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well
You'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud

If she finds that I've been round to see you (round to see you)
Tell her that I'm well and feelin' fine (feelin' fine)
Don't let on, don't say she's broke my heart
I'd go down on my knees but it's no good to pine

Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well
You'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud

If she finds that I've been round to see you (round to see you)
Tell her that I'm well and feelin' fine (feelin' fine)
Don't let on, don't say she's broke my heart
I'd go down on my knees but it's no good to pine

Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely daughter (lovely daughter)