WA2K Radio is now on the air

First, let me say to hamburger that Heppler is a bear of a man, and I adore Grieg, especially his piano concerto. I think most of our listeners already realize how much I love Romberg's serenade. Don't know Heppler's folk songs, hbg, but the Foggy, Foggy Dew sounds familiar.

edgar, That one by Andy I am not familiar with, but I do recall his Canadian Sunset. <smile> Perfect for the evening, no?

dj, it is always good to see you here, honey, and I promise that I will have a second look at your "Shopping Cart of Love."

We don't want to fool around with them married men, however.

Time for me to say goodnight, all, and hbg has led me right into it.




SERENADE
Sigmund Romberg

Overhead, the moon is beaming
White as blossoms on the bough
Nothing is heard but the song of a bird
Filling all the air with dreaming
Could I hear this song forever
Calling to my heart anew, my Darling
While I drift along forever
Lost in a dream of you

I hear your voice in the wind that stirs the willows
I see your face in the stars that shine above
(Hold me closer, tonight we love)
The willows bending, the stars that shine
The shore lights blending, they're yours and mine
Drifting along, in my heart there's a song
And the song in my heart will not fade
Oh, hear my serenade, my moonlight serenade

(Love me)

Overhead, the moon is beaming
White as blossoms on the bough
Nothing is heard but the song of a bird
Filling all the air with dreaming
Could this beauty last forever
I would ask for nothing more, believe me
Let this night but live forever
Forever and ever more

Also like his desert song.

Thank you for a wonderful session, my friends.

From Letty with love

Close your eyes, close the door,
You don't have to worry any more.
I'll be your baby tonight.

Shut the light, shut the shade,
You don't have to be afraid.
I'll be your baby tonight.

Well, that mockingbird's gonna sail away,
We're gonna forget it.
That big, fat moon is gonna shine like a spoon,
But we're gonna let it,
You won't regret it.

Kick your shoes off, do not fear,
Bring that bottle over here.
I'll be your baby tonight.

Bob Dylan

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

Well, edgar, I see that Dylan hasn't lost his touch. I slept like the proverbial baby last evening.

How about a gypsy poem for the day, folks.

A Vagabond Song
By Bliss Carman
1861-1929

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood --
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

Good looking Canuck, right?

Aldo Ray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Aldo DaRe
Born September 25, 1926(1926-09-25)
Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania
United States
Died March 27, 1991 (aged 64)
Martinez, California

Aldo Ray, born Aldo DaRe (September 25, 1926 - March 27, 1991) Aldo Ray was born Aldo DaRe on September 25, 1926 to an Italian American family of five brothers and one sister. In 1944, at the age of eighteen, Ray entered the Navy, where he served with the prestigious Frogman unit until 1946 on an underwater demolition team, and saw action at Okinawa.

Upon leaving the Navy, Ray entered the University of California at Berkeley, but his studies there were brief. Shortly after leaving Berkeley, Ray settled in Crockett, California with his first wife Shirley Green. They had one child, a daughter named Claire DaRe, and Aldo was even elected the 12th Township Constable of Crockett, a small bedroom community just north of San Francisco.

While constable of Crockett, California, Aldo drove his brother Guido to an audition for the film "Saturday's Hero". Director David Miller was more interested in Aldo, because, it is rumored, of his voice, than in his brother, and hired him for the small role of a cynical football player opposite John Derek and Donna Reed. Columbia Pictures wasted no time in signing Ray to an exclusive contract, and despite having no acting experience, Aldo soon appeared in several films under his birth name, Aldo DaRe.

Ray's husky frame, thick neck and raspy voice made him perfect for playing tough sexy roles. In his first film as Aldo Ray, he starred with Judy Holliday in 1952's "The Marrying Kind", directed by film legend George Cukor. Cukor famously suggested that Ray go to ballet school because he walked too much like a football player. That same year, Ray appeared in "Pat and Mike", starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in the seventh of their nine films together, and again directed by Cukor.

Ray's work in "Pat and Mike" led to his nomination, along with Richard Burton and Robert Wagner, for a Golden Globe as Best Newcomer. Burton won the award that year, but Ray's career was launched.

The following year, 1953, Aldo's personal life didn't go nearly as well as his professional life. Although he and first wife Shirley Green were divorced, he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in "Miss Sadie Thompson", a remake of the W. Somerset Maugham story "Rain." This began the most productive period of Aldo's career, preceded by his marriage to actress Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell in 1954, a marriage that would only last two years.

In 1955, Ray appeared in starring roles in "Battle Cry", "Three Stripes in the Sun", and one of his best loved films, "We're No Angels", in which he starred with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Basil Rathbone, Leo G. Carroll, and the lovely Joan Bennett. By then he was firmly associated with the macho roles that would continue to characterize his work.

This period of Ray's career would culminate with a starring role in "God's Little Acre", an honest adaptation of Erskine Caldwell's steamy novel. The film featured Robert Ryan, with whom Ray had also worked in "Men in War", and a beautiful, young Tina Louise in her big screen debut. He was also memorable in "The Naked and the Dead", a gritty adaptation of Norman Mailer's novel.

By the dawn of the 1960's Aldo was most often type-cast as the tough guy, capitalizing on his husky good looks and gravelly voice. He also married Johanna Bennet, who continues to work today, under the name Johanna Ray, as a respected casting director. They were divorced in 1967. (Johanna, a long time collaborator with David Lynch, cast Eric DaRe, her son with Aldo, in Lynch's "Twin Peaks" series, as well as the movie "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.") Aldo's work of this decade included "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England", "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?' and "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round." His best known work of the 1960's, however, was his portrayal of Drill Sergeant Muldoon, alongside John Wayne, in "The Green Berets."

Aldo also did two pilots for television in the 1960's. Although neither was ever picked up, one, an American adaptation of the British comedy "Steptoe and Son", was eventually reworked by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear as a vehicle for Redd Foxx as "Sanford and Son."

Hollywood's appetite for Ray's machismo continued to wane in the 1970's. He was typically cast as gruff and gravelly rednecks. Perhaps overly eager for work, Aldo even appeared in a pornographic movie, "Sweet Savage", in a non-sexual role. This decline continued in the 1980's. Aldo, diagnosed with throat cancer, accepted virtually any role that came his way in order to maintain his costly health insurance. What was worse, Aldo's SAG membership was revoked in the 1980s when it was found out he was acting in non-union productions. His last film was the campy "Shock Em Dead" in which he appeared with Traci Lords and Troy Donahue.

In his last years he remained in Crockett, California with his mother and family and friends, where he died on March 27, 1991 at the age of 64. He was cremated and buried in Crockett, with a majority of the residents coming out to pay their respects[citation needed]. Aldo Ray is still considered Crockett California's favorite son and the small Crockett Museum still displays his pictures on a wall depicting his life and times.

[citation needed]

Glenn Gould
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glenn Herbert Gould (birth name "Glenn Herbert Gold"[1]; September 25, 1932 - October 4, 1982) was a Canadian pianist, noted especially for his recordings of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He gave up concert performances in 1964, dedicating himself to the recording studio for the rest of his career, and performances for television and radio.




Life


Glenn Gould was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 1932, to Russell Herbert ("Bert") Gould and Florence ("Flora") Emma Greig Gould, Presbyterians of Scottish extraction. (Greig is the original Scottish spelling of this name, unlike the Norwegian variant Grieg.) His mother's grandfather was a cousin of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Gould's first piano teacher was his mother until the age of ten. From the age of ten he began attending the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero, organ with Frederick C. Silvester and theory with Leo Smith.

At age 5 Gould decided to be a composer, and was playing his own little compositions for family and friends. A lady of advanced years gives an eyewitness account of an occasion when he came with his mother to perform some of these pieces at a meeting of the Women's Missionary Society at Emmanual Presbyterian Church, a few blocks from Gould house.

When he was six Glenn was taken for the first time to hear a live musical performance by a celebrated soloist.

In his own words: "It was Hoffmann. It was, I think, his last performance in Toronto,and it was a staggering impression. The only thing I can really remember is that, when I was being brought home in a car, I was in that wonderful state of through your mind. They were all orchestral sounds, but I was playing them all, and suddenly I was Hoffman. I was enchanted

In 1945, he gave his first public performance (on the organ), and the following year he made his first appearance with an orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, in a performance of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto. His first public recital followed in 1947, and his first recital on radio came with the CBC in 1950. This was the beginning of his long association with radio and recording.

In 1957, Gould toured the Soviet Union, becoming the first North American to play there since World War II. His concerts featured Bach, Beethoven, and the serial music of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, which previously had been suppressed in the Soviet Union during the era of Socialist Realism.

On April 10, 1964, Gould gave his last public performance in Los Angeles, California, at the Wilshire Ebell Theater.[2] Among the pieces he performed that night were Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30, selections from Bach's Art of Fugue, and the Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 92 No. 4 by Ernst Krenek. For the rest of his life he eschewed live performance, focusing instead on recording, writing, and broadcasting. Towards the end of his life he began conducting; he had earlier directed Bach's Brandenburg concerto no.5 and cantata BWV 54, Widerstehe doch der Sünde from the harpsipiano [a piano with metal hammers to simulate harpsichord sound] in the 1960s. His last recording was as a conductor, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll in its original chamber music scoring. He had intended to give up the piano at the age of 50, spending later years conducting, writing on music and perhaps composing. He died in Toronto in 1982 after suffering a stroke, and is buried in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.


Gould as a pianist

Gould was known for his vivid musical imagination, and listeners regarded his interpretations as ranging from brilliantly creative to, on occasion, outright eccentric. His piano playing had great clarity, particularly in contrapuntal passages. Gould was not only a child prodigy, but also in adulthood was viewed by some as a musical phenomenon. He often swayed his torso, always in a clockwise motion, as he played.[3] In 1949 Gould injured his tailbone on a paved boatlaunch near his Ontario home. This incident appears to be associated with injury to Gould's back that affected his playing posture. But it is not clear whether this occasioned the need for the chair that Gould's father subsequently modified with screws to adjust its height, and which Gould sat in to play for the rest of his life. The 1945 photo at the above right, however, shows Gould as a teenager seated at the piano with his back against the back of a chair. This posture is unorthodox, but characteristic of Gould's later posture at the piano, hence suggesting that he developed it very early in life.

Gould disliked and rebelled against what he believed to be a hedonistic approach to music which had become popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. He was rarely virtuosic for the sake of being virtuosic, but rather, often had a refreshingly thoughtful and withdrawn interpretation of the music he played.

Gould had a formidable technique that enabled him to choose very fast tempos while retaining the separateness and clarity of each note. He took an extremely low position at the instrument, which allowed him more control over the keyboard. Charles Rosen's view is that a low position at the piano is unsuitable for playing the technically demanding music of the 19th century. However, this did not seem to impede Gould, as he showed considerable technical skill in both his recordings of Bach, and in virtuosic and romantic works like his own arrangement of Ravel's La Valse and his playing of Liszt's transcriptions of Beethoven's 5th and 6th symphonies. Gould worked from a young age with his teacher Alberto Guerrero on a technique known as finger-tapping, a method of training the fingers to act more independently from the arm.

Gould claimed he practiced little on the piano, preferring to study music by reading it rather than playing it, a technique he had also learnt from Guerrero. His voluminous repertoire, however, would also seem to betray a natural mnemonic gift. He stated that he didn't understand the requirement of other pianists to continuously reinforce their relationship with the instrument by practicing many hours a day.[4] It seems that Gould was able to practice mentally without access to an instrument, and even took this so far as to prepare for a recording of Brahms piano works without ever playing them until a few weeks before the recording sessions. This is all the more staggering considering the absolute accuracy and phenomenal dexterity exhibited in his playing.

Regarding the performance of Bach on the piano, Gould said, "the piano is not an instrument for which I have any great love as such... [But] I have played it all my life and it is the best vehicle I have to express my ideas." In the case of Bach, Gould admitted, "

Juliet Prowse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Juliet Anne Prowse
Born September 25, 1936(1936-09-25)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Died September 14, 1996 (aged 59) (pancreatic cancer)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress and dancer
Spouse(s) Eddie Frazier (1969-1970)
John McCook (1972-1979), one child

Juliet Anne Prowse (September 25, 1936-September 14, 1996) was a South African reared American dancer, whose four decade career include stage, television and film but dancing remained her true love. She was known for her striking beauty, sultry smile and famous long legs. Prowse stood nearly 6 feet tall.




Early life

Prowse was born in Bombay and raised in South Africa.

Prowse began studying dance at the age of four. In her early twenties she was dancing at a club in Paris when she was spotted by a talent agent and eventually signed to play the part of "Claudine" in the 1960 Walter Lang film, Can-Can.


Her dancing labeled "immoral" by Nikita Khrushchev

It was during the filming of Can-Can in 1959, that she captured the international spotlight. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the set of the film Can-Can and after she performed a rather saucy can-can for the Russian leader, he proclaimed her dancing "immoral". Little did Khrushchev know that he was a great press agent, because soon afterwards Prowse was appearing in every magazine cover in the United States. From there, her career took off.[1]


Film and television career

She met Frank Sinatra on the set of Can-Can and also received good reviews and notoriety for her role. Time magazine didn't necessarily care for the movie but said Prowse was the best thing in it, stating In fact, the only thing really worth seeing is Juliet Prowse, a young South African hoofer who puts some twinkle in the stub-toed choreography. And the only thing really worth hearing is the crack that Frank flips back at Juliet when she whips a redoubtable hip in his direction. "Don't point," he gasps. "It's rude." [2] She would go on to appear with him and other notable guest such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Lawford, Hermione Gingold, The Hi-Lo's, Red Norvo, Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra on the 1959, Frank Sinatra Show. She at times would sing in the chorus with other guest or Sinatra would adoringly sing to her. [3] Prowse and Sinatra announced their engagement in 1962. Soon afterwards, they called it quits, they broke, according to publicity handouts because Prowse wanted to concentrate on her career. Actually, she admitted: "I was as much flattered as I was in love. He (Sinatra) was a complex person, and after a few drinks he could he very difficult."[4]

Juliet Prowse went on to co-star alongside Elvis Presley in G.I. Blues. During shooting of the film she had a short and intense fling with Elvis, confessing "Elvis and I had an affair.... We had a sexual attraction like two healthy young people, but he was already a victim of his fans. We always met in his room and never went out." [5]

She also had her own NBC sitcom for one season; 1965's Mona McCluskey, which was produced by George Burns. She also did various feature films, including The Fiercest Heart in 1961, and Who Killed Teddy Bear?, with Sal Mineo in 1965.

Although her film and television career didn't make her the big star that everyone predicted, Prowse had a rather philosophical way of looking at it, stating that, "Things generally happen for the best,...I never worry about what happens in my career, because I can always do something else."[6] Prowse would later go on to headline successful Las Vegas shows, commanding thousands of dollars per week. Stating that Las Vegas was the most demanding place she every worked, she won Entertainer of the Year for the Vegas run of Sweet Charity. She would later show off her famous dancer's legs in a series of lucrative nationwide commercials for L'eggs.

Juliet Prowse was the first guest on The Muppet Show.

In the late eighties, she was mauled by an 80 pound leopard - twice. Once, while filming a scene for Circus of the Stars, in 1989 and later that same year during a promotional stint the same leopard attacked her. However, the latter was much more serious, requiring upwards of 20 stitches to reattach her ear.

Throughout the mid 1980's and 1990's, Prowse hosted the Championship Ballroom Dance Competition on PBS.


Battle with cancer and death

In 1994 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In 1995, she went into remission and was well enough to tour with Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies. Unfortunately, the cancer returned, and Juliet Prowse succumbed to the disease on September 14, 1996, just two weeks short of her sixtieth birthday. She was survived by her son and her mother. Her ex-husband, TV actor John McCook, who is the father of her only child, reconciled with her shortly before she died after many years of acrimony.

Mark Hamill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Mark Richard Hamill
Born September 25, 1951 (1951-09-25) (age 56)
Oakland, California, U.S.A.
Spouse(s) Marilou York

Mark Richard Hamill (born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy.




Early life

Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Bill and Sue Hamill. He was one of seven children; two brothers, Will and Patrick, and four sisters, Terry, Jan, Jeanie, and Kim. As a child, his father's military career meant numerous relocations, and he graduated from Nile C. Kinnick High School in Japan. He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College.


Early Career

Hamill's early career included voicing the character Corey Anders on the Saturday morning cartoon Jeannie by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He also portrayed the oldest son David on the pilot episode of Eight Is Enough, though the role was later performed by Grant Goodeve. He acted in TV series such as The Texas Wheelers, the first comedy TV series without a laughtrack, General Hospital, One Day At A Time, and Matlock. One of his earliest movies was the made-for-TV film The City.


The original Star Wars trilogy

For his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, Hamill was twice honoured with the Saturn Award for Best Actor (Film) (given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films), in 1980 for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and in 1983 for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

George Lucas once asked Hamill to reprise the role of Luke Skywalker in a Star Wars sequel trilogy as an Obi-Wan Kenobi type character who passes the torch to the next generation of Jedi Knights and that it would be made around 2011. Lucas has recently dismissed it as nothing more than an off-hand comment.[1]

Reprints of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (which influenced Lucas as he was developing the Star Wars films) issued after the release of Star Wars in 1977, used the image of Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the cover. [2]


Car accident

On January 11, 1977, a day before he was set to shoot one of the final scenes needed for Star Wars, Hamill was in a car accident[3] that severely injured his face. An A&E Network Biography special from 2002, entitled Mark Hamill: A Force to Be Reckoned With, claimed the damage was extensive and that Hamill had to have multiple plastic surgeries to reconstruct his face. The nature of the accident was recounted in the A&E special by members of Hamill's family, including his older brother, William, and his cousin, Eric Johnson.[4]


Animation

DC Animated Universe

Hamill was the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series (which debuted in 1992), as well as most of the other spin-off series, video games and films. It is perhaps his most popular role outside of his work in the Star Wars series. He replaced Tim Curry, who was originally cast in the role. (Coincidentally, Curry had been considered for the role of the Joker in the 1989 Batman film but lost out to Jack Nicholson). Hamill had initially voiced a guest role as evil businessman Ferris Boyle in the episode "Heart of Ice", and was delighted when offered the role of the Joker, one of his favorite characters.

He received praise from fans and critics for his portrayal of the comic book icon, which combined the Joker's manic, darker qualities with a theatrical, bombastic flair. As a huge comic book fan (and creator) himself, Hamill has said it was an honor and a thrill to play the character. When asked by fans to perform the role in person, he would often insist that they turn around so as not to ruin the illusion.

He had many appearances as the Joker to date, like the two-part Justice League episode "Wild Cards". His last appearance, in terms of DCU chronological order, was in the direct-to-DVD film Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker. "Wild Cards" was the last aired episode in which he appears as the Joker.

While many fans suggested that Hamill be chosen to reprise the role in live-action form for the upcoming The Dark Knight (2008) - the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) - the younger Heath Ledger was ultimately cast.

Hamill also provided voices for villains Solomon Grundy and the Trickster in the DC Animated Universe series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. On a sidenote Hamill also played the Trickster in the Flash TV Series. Hamill has since voiced the criminal Tony Zucco in The Batman, a more recent animated series which is unrelated to the various DC animated universe series.


Other villainous roles

His success as Joker has led to other villain roles in other animated series, including the Gargoyle in the animated series of The Incredible Hulk, the Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Maximus in Fantastic Four, Captain Stickybeard in Codename: Kids Next Door, and the deranged shock jock Dr. Jak in Phantom 2040. He even parodied his Joker role in the Tom and Jerry Kids episode "Droopy Man Returns," and in the Animaniacs episode "The Cranial Crusader", as Johnny Bad-Note. He voiced Py-Ro in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Dr. Julius Pendecker in The Tick, and recorded voice tracks for Zim on Nickelodeon's Invader Zim[citation needed]. He ultimately was turned down for the role; the part was later given to Richard Steven Horvitz. Hamill does the voice of the villain Undergrowth in the Danny Phantom episode "Urban Jungle." More recently, he provides the voice of the shadowed Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Skeleton King on Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go.


Anime

Two recent notable voice performances are Colonel Muska in the English language version of Castle in the Sky and the Mayor of Pejite in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, both directed by Hayao Miyazaki and distributed by Disney. (His role as Muska, in particular, drew praise.) Hamill provided the voice of Commander Taylor in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, the sequel to the 1980s adapted anime series Robotech. He also voiced Christopher "Maverick" Blair in the animated series Wing Commander Academy.

Hamill provides the voice of Jameson Burkright in the mini-series comedy The Wrong Coast, and Yamma in the joint Cartoon Network/Production I.G. anime series IGPX Immortal Grand Prix.


Other work

After the success of the Star Wars trilogy, Hamill found that audiences identified him very closely with the role of Luke Skywalker. Not wanting to be typecast, he left Hollywood and for a few years acted on Broadway. He starred in Amadeus, The Elephant Man, Harrigan and Hart (which was a musical) and other plays, for which he received positive reviews.

Despite his stints on Broadway, Hamill has had an expansive film career. He played the bad guy (known as Hawkins) in the Swedish action movie Hamilton in 1998. Some of his other film credits include Corvette Summer, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, The Big Red One, Slipstream, The Guyver, and the 1995 remake of Village of the Damned. He also narrated the four-part documentary on the influence of science fiction upon present society, The Sci-Fi Files. In 2001, Hamill starred in the feature film Thank You, Good Night as a pragmatic father along side Christian Campbell, J.P. Pitoc, and Sally Kirkland.

In live-action television, Hamill had recurring roles in General Hospital and The Texas Wheelers (both pre-Star Wars), and, foreshadowing his later famous role of the Joker, he appeared as The Trickster in the live-action television series of The Flash, a role he would later reprise in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. He has made cameo appearances on MADtv (where he played the estranged father of Ms. Swan), and appeared on Saturday Night Live (playing himself being sold on a Star Wars themed home shopping sale)[5]. Hamill appeared on an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, and playing Luke Skywalker during one of the scenes. He appeared on an episode of Just Shoot Me! He also had a guest spot on The Muppet Show as both himself and his "cousin" Luke Skywalker, along with C-3PO, Chewbacca and R2-D2. In 1986, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Amazing Stories (TV series) ("Gather Ye Acorns") in the role of Jonathan, who is advised by "Mother Nature's only son" to not discard his childhood belongings, which causes him trouble during his adult life. As he grows older, he is able to auction off his belongings as memorabilia, becoming wealthy in the process. He also had a recurring role as Tobias LeConte on seaQuest DSV.

He also has done numerous voices for TV series and episodes: the Joker in the 2002 TV series Birds of Prey, Larry 3000 in Time Squad, Guinness on Samurai Jack, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron, Principal John Smith on Totally Spies, Bruno the Kid on The Outer Limits, Dr. Cesarian on Stripperella, Himself on The Simpsons Mayored to the Mob, Family Guy, Grim & Evil, The Blues Brothers Animated Series, Cow and Chicken, The Legend of Calamity Jane, Two Stupid Dogs, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Pinky and the Brain, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Loonatics Unleashed, and Night Light (Spongebob episode). He is also a recurring voice actor on Seth Green's Robot Chicken, and as of August 2006, on Adult Swim's Metalocalypse.


Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

He appeared as Cock-Knocker in the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (his entrance heralded by a still shot of him with the caption, "HEY, KIDS! IT'S MARK HAMILL! (applause)", during which he used his "Joker Voice." He parodies The Trickster. He also parodies Luke Skywalker in a "blunt saber" duel with Jay and Silent Bob in which he says, "Don't **** with the Jedi Master, son." When his large, fake right hand prop is cut off in the film's duel, he sighs, looks at the camera and says, "Not again."

This was actually the first time that Hamill and his Star Wars co-star Carrie Fisher appeared in a film together since Return of the Jedi. However, neither of the stars were aware of this until the film's premiere.


Comic Book: The Movie

Hamill also directed and starred in the 2004 direct-to-DVD Comic Book: The Movie. A comic book fan who attended sci-fi and comic conventions before he became famous, Hamill claimed that his character was based on an exaggerated version of himself. He and his crew shot most of the "mockumentary" film during the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con, and enlisted even Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, and Hugh Hefner in small roles. The movie won an award for Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards.


Wing Commander

When the Wing Commander series of computer games started using full motion video cut scenes, Hamill was cast as the series protagonist, Colonel Christopher Blair, a role he played in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994), Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (1995), and Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997). (In the 1999 Wing Commander film, set earlier in the series, the character was played by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) He did however, have a cameo, as did many of the other actors who did voiceovers for the game. Hamill was also cast as the voice of Christopher Blair in the animated television series Wing Commander Academy.



Other computer and video game roles

Other notable computer-game roles (voice only) include Lieutenant Mosely in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Assistant Director Wilson in Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, several characters in the LucasArts game Full Throttle (including the game's main villain, Adrian Ripburger), and Wolverine in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, the tie-in game to the movie X2: X-Men United. Hamill also provided the voice for two of the primary characters of Starsiege, one of them a young warrior leading a rebellion against an empire.

He voiced the Joker in a few Batman games, notably Batman Vengeance and the Sega CD version of The Adventures of Batman & Robin. While some have mistakenly suspected that he reprised his role as Luke Skywalker for LucasArts' Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and its sequel, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, the character is in fact voiced by Bob Bergen (also the voice of Porky Pig and a host of others). Hamill provided voices for The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian. He also voiced the role of Emperor Griffon in the PS2 RPG Dark Cloud 2.

He narrated a documentary on the United States' 1st Infantry Division. Footage from the documentary was used in the video game Call of Duty 2: Big Red One.

Mark Hamill's latest voiceover role is for the PlayStation 2 game, Yakuza, where he plays Goro Majima, a crazed and ruthless lieutenant of a Yakuza family.


As a writer

Mark Hamill is also the co-writer of The Black Pearl, a comic book miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote an introduction to the Trade Paperback Batman: Riddler Two-Face which reprints various stories of the title villains to tie in with Batman Forever.


Personal life

In 1978, he married dental hygienist Marilou York. They have three children together: Nathan, Griffin and Chelsea.[6]

Four old-timers were playing their weekly game of golf, and one
remarked how nice it would be to
wake up on Christmas morning, roll out of
bed, and without an argument
go directly to the golf course, meet his
buddies and play a round.
His buddies all chimed in and said, "Let's do it! We'll make it a
priority, figure out a way and meet
here early Christmas morning."
Months later, that special morning arrives,
and there they are on the
golf course. The first guy says,
"Boy this game cost me a
fortune! I bought my wife
such a diamond ring that she can't take her eyes off it."
The second guy says, "I spent a ton, too.
My wife is at home planning
the cruise I gave her. She was up to her eyeballs in brochures."
The third guy says, "Well, my wife is at home admiring her new car,reading the manual."
They all turned to the last guy in the group who is staring at them
like they have lost their minds. "I can't
believe you all went to such
expense for this golf game. I slapped
my wife on the butt and said,
'Well babe, Merry Christmas!
It's a great morning for sex or golf,'
and she said, 'Take a sweater.'"

ah, Bob of Boston, the jokes about golfers. You know, hawkman. "Old golfers never die they just lose their......"

Love yours too.

Thanks, once again for the great bio's, buddy. I skimmed most of them and found that I knew most of the celebs.

Hope our Raggedy whirls in to our wee studio today. We miss her.

Here's one by Will Smith, folks.

HE'S A NICE GUY
how ya doin
HE'S A NICE GUY
Good to see you
HE'S A NICE GUY
How ya momma now

[VERSE 1]
Mr. Niceguy relationship advice guy
Liked on the vices priceless smile
Look at the eyes got the look of a survivor
Husband, father
Dissed by Eminem but did it bother him (yup)
But he classy Big Will just get another 20 mil
And walk right pass E.
I'm a nice guy why ya'll harassing me, huh
On the radio they be over exaggerating
So blahzay with they lies
They be aggravating me, agitating me
But they waiting and hating me
They be making me crazy but I be taking it patiently
People be messing with me testing me F.ing wit me
I wanna send a message to them
Teach em a lesson quickly
Publicly addressing me, disrespecting me heavily
They better be lucky the way my blessings effected me
But aaaaaaaaaaaaah, Calm down Willy
You don't wanna drop the bomb now Willy
Keep a nice flow for your mom down in Philly
On the news you go if you blow and act silly, you know



[CHORUS]
HE'S A NICE GUY
(how you doin)
HE'S A NICE GUY
(good to see you)
HE'S A NICE GUY
Sometimes ya'll mistake nice for soft
So before I go off I just
RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA

[VERSE 2]
Will's a nice guy, why he's so nice
I'd let him date my daughter
Like he was a white guy
He's not like the rest, he's a private flight guy
Why if I were gay on Friday night I'd
Larry Elder (uncle Tom)
You lucky I didn't make you the whole damn rhyme
Wendy Williams, you don't know me
I'm not your punching bag
You gon blow me up girl you better leave me alone
Before I buy your radio station and send you home
Yo this is a warning shot over the bawl
Truth be told this ain't my style
You gotta understand some stuff a man can't allow
You better chill before you climb a tree you can't get down

[B SECTION]
Ok, people dissing Will sat on a wall
People dissing Will had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put none of their careers together again
You get it

Just a wee whirl for starters, Letty.




Christopher Reeve; Aldo Ray and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Hip hip hoorah! Raggedy whirled in with a quartet, folks.



and one about the whirling ballerina from Nat Cole, listeners.

Dance, ballerina, dance
And do your pirouette in rhythm with your achin' heart.
Dance, ballerina, dance
You mustn't once forget a dancer has to dance the part.


Whirl, ballerina, whirl
And just ignore the chair that's empty in the second row.
This is your moment, girl,
Although he's not out there applauding as you steal the show.


Once you said his love must wait it's turn
You wanted fame instead.
I guess that's your concern,
We live and learn.


And love is gone, ballerina, gone
So on with your career, you can't afford a backward glance.
Dance on and on and on
A thousand people here have come to see the show
As 'round and 'round you go
So ballerina, dance
Dance, dance!




Whirl, ballerina!




Once you said his love must wait it's turn,
You wanted fame instead.
I guess that's your concern,
We live and learn.


And love is gone, ballerina, gone
So on with your career, you can't afford a backward glance
Dance on and on and on
A thousand people here have come to see the show
As 'round and 'round you go
So ballerina, dance!


Dance!

And the birthday ballerina I forgot (did lots of twirling with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, too)

Juliet Prowse



and Mark Hamill and Will Smith



And that's enough whirling for me today. You all have a good day.

Hmmm. What's that puppy doing with a black eye?

Well, I have searched everywhere for lyrics that might reflect the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness. Val Kilmer was, once again, outstanding and Michael Douglas did a bit in the flic as well. No luck, however, so let's do one by Catherine Zeta-Jones then.

All That Jazz

come on babe, why dont we paint the town?
And all that jazz
i'm gonna rouge my knees and roll my stockings down
And all that jazz

start the car
i know a whoopee spot
where the gin is cold
but the piano's hot
it's just a noisy hall
where there's a nightly brawl
And all...that...jazz!

skidoo
And all that jazz
Hot shot
whoopee!
And all that jazz

slick you hair and wear your buckle shoes
And all that jazz
i hear that father dip is gonna blow the blues
And all that jazz

hold on hun
we're gonna bunny hug
i bought some aspirin
down at united drug
in case you shake apart
and want a brand new start
to do...that...JAZZ!

find a flask we're playing fast and loose
And all that jazz
right up here is where i store the juice
And all that jazz

come on babe
we're gonna brush the sky
i betcha lucky lindy
never flew so high
cause in the stratosphere
how could he lend an ear
to all that jazz!

ooohhh, you're gonna see your sheba shimmy shake
And all that jazz

ooohhh, she's gonna shimmy til her garters break
And all that jazz

show her where to park her girdle
oh, her mother's blood will curdle
if she'd hear her baby's queer
for all...that..jazz!
all...that...jazz!

come on babe why dont we paint the town
And all that jazz
i'm gonna rouge my knees and wear my stockings down
And all that jazz

start the car
i know a whoopee spot
where the gin is cold
but the piano's hot
its just a noisy hall
where there's a nightly brawl
And all that jazz!

nooo, i'm no one's wife
but, oohh i love my life
And all that jazz!
That Jazz!

another one of those wonderful folksongs BEN HEPPNER sang on sunday :



with RACHELLE DURKIN at the sydney opera house earlier this year