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Stuart Erwin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stuart Erwin (14 February 1903, Squaw Valley, California - 21 December 1967, Beverly Hills, California) was an American actor. Erwin began acting in college in the 1920s, first appearing on the stage, then breaking into films in 1928 in Mother Knows Best. He was cast as amiable oafs in several films such as The Sophomore, The Big Broadcast, Hollywood Cavalcade, Our Town, International House and Viva Villa!. In 1934 he was cast as Joe Palooka in the film Palooka, and in 1935 he had a supporting role in After Office Hours (starring Clark Gable).

In 1936, he was cast in Pigskin Parade, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Since it was the first year that the Best Supporting Actor/Actress existed, many errors occurred, including Erwin's nomination (he was the lead in the film).

In 1950, Erwin made the transition to television, where he starred in Trouble with Father, which was eventually retitled The Stu Erwin Show. He co-starred with his wife, actress June Collyer. He later appeared in the Disney films Son of Flubber and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. He also starred in the television series The Greatest Show on Earth.

Erwin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6240 Hollywood Blvd.

Lois Maxwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Lois Ruth Hooker[1]
Born 14 February 1927(1927-02-14)
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Died 29 September 2007 (aged 80)
Perth, Western Australia
Other name(s) Lois Maxwell-Marriott
Spouse(s) Peter Churchill Marriott (1957-1973)
[show]Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Most Promising Newcomer - Female
1948 That Hagen Girl

Lois Maxwell (14 February 1927 - 29 September 2007[1]) was a Golden Globe-winning Canadian actress, known for originating the role of Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise, which she played for fourteen films.





Career

Born Lois Ruth Hooker in Kitchener, Ontario to parents who were a teacher and a nurse respectively, she ran away from home at the age of fifteen in order to join the Canadian Army during World War II. Enlisted initially as a soldier, she quickly became part of the Army Entertainment Corps, travelling Europe during the war, performing music and dance numbers to entertain the troops; often performing with Wayne and Shuster. The truth about her age was discovered when the group reached London, and in order to avoid court martial and deportation back to Canada, she enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where she became friends with fellow student Roger Moore.

Travelling to Hollywood at the age of twenty, she quickly found work and soon won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress for her role in the Shirley Temple comedy That Hagen Girl,[2] as well as participating in a 1949 Life Magazine photo layout in which she posed with another up-and-coming actress named Marilyn Monroe. It was at this time that she changed her surname to Maxwell, a name she borrowed from a ballet dancer friend. The rest of her family also adopted the name Maxwell.[3]

Maxwell made a guest appearance in the "Something for a Rainy Day" episode of the ITC series The Baron, playing an insurance investigator. Most of her work was minor roles in B movies.[2]

Having tired of Hollywood, she moved back to Europe, living in Rome for five years from 1950 to 1955. There she made a series of films, and at one point became an amateur racing driver. One of her Italian films was a 1953 adaptation of the opera Aida in which Maxwell played a leading role, lip-synching to another woman's opera vocals and appearing in several scenes with a pre-stardom Sophia Loren, who also performed to another person's singing. While on a trip to Paris, she met her future husband, television executive Peter Marriott; they were married in 1957 and moved to live in London. Their daughter Melinda (born 1958) and their son Christian (born 1959) were both born in London. Marriott, a former commander of the Viceroy of India's household troops, had himself been screen-tested by Cubby Broccoli as a potential James Bond.

During the 1960s, she appeared in many other television series and movies both in Britain and Canada, and was the star of Adventures in Rainbow Country later that decade. She guest starred in episodes of The Saint and The Persuaders! which both starred Roger Moore. Maxwell also had a secondary role in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita. She provided the voice of Atlanta for the science fiction children's series Stingray in 1963. She also portrayed Moneypenny in a 1967 made-for-television special (produced by EON Productions) entitled, "Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond".


Miss Moneypenny

Maxwell lobbied for the role in James Bond, as her husband had had a heart attack and they needed the money. Director Terence Young, who once had turned her down on the grounds that she looked like she "smelled of soap", offered her either Moneypenny or the recurring Bond girlfriend, Sylvia Trench, but she was uncomfortable with a revealing scene the latter had in the screenplay. The role as M's secretary guaranteed just two days' work at ₤100 per day; Maxwell supplied her own clothes.[4] The Trench character, however, was eliminated after From Russia With Love.

In 1967, Maxwell angered Sean Connery for a time by appearing in the Italian spy spoof Operation Kid Brother with the star's brother Neil Connery and Bernard Lee.[4] In 1971, Maxwell was nearly replaced for Diamonds Are Forever after demanding a pay raise; her policewoman's cap disguises hair she had already dyed for another role.[4] For the filming of A View to a Kill, her final appearance, Bond producer Cubby Broccoli told her that the two of them were the only ones from Dr No still working on the series. Maxwell asked that her character be killed off, but Broccoli recast the role instead.[4] She was succeeded by Caroline Bliss and later Samantha Bond.

As Moneypenny, according to author Tom Lisanti, she was seen as an "anchor", with her flirtatious repartee with Bond lending the films realism and humanism. For Moneypenny, Bond was "unobtainable", freeing the characters to make outrageous sexual double entendres. At the same time, her character did little to imbue the series with changing feminist notions.[2]

Her total screen time as Moneypenny in 14 films was less than two hours, and she spoke fewer than 200 words.[1]


Later life

In 1973, Maxwell's husband, who had long been ill following a serious heart attack in the early 1960s, died. Maxwell then returned to Canada, settling in Toronto, where she wrote a column for the Toronto Sun under the Miss Moneypenny pseudonym and became a businesswoman working in the textile industry. In 1994, she returned to England once more in order to be near her daughter, and retired to a cottage in the town of Frome, Somerset.


Later years and death

Following surgery for bowel cancer in 2001, Maxwell moved to Perth, Australia to live with her son's family. She remained there, working on her autobiography, until her death at Fremantle Hospital, on September 29, 2007.

"It's rather a shock," longtime friend Roger Moore told BBC Radio 5 Live. "She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with and was absolutely perfect casting," he said of her role as Miss Moneypenny, going on to reference a comment attributed to Maxwell that she would have liked to have seen Moneypenny become the new M after Moore's retirement from the role. "It was a great pity that, after I moved out of Bond, they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton films. I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M."[1]

Vic Morrow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born February 14, 1929
New York City, USA
Died July 23, 1982 (aged 53)
Indian Dunes, Ventura County, California, USA

Victor Morrow (born February 14, 1929 in the Bronx, New York, USA - died July 23, 1982) was an American actor.

Morrow dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17. Morrow's first movie role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). After this movie, he went into television and was cast in the TV series Combat! (1962-1967), in which he also worked as a television director. After Combat! ended, he worked in made-for-TV movies and several films. Morrow appeared in two episodes of Australian-produced anthology series The Evil Touch (1973), one of which he also directed. He memorably played the homicidal sheriff alongside Martin Sheen in the 1974 TV film The California Kid, and had a key role in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears.

Morrow was 53 when he died on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie while holding two small children, (My-Ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen). A helicopter being used on the set spun out of control and crashed, decapitating Morrow and one of the children and crushing the other.[1] The six occupants inside the helicopter sustained minor injuries. The accident led to massive reforms in U.S. child labor laws and safety regulations on movie sets in California.

Vic Morrow is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Morrow was the father of actresses Jennifer Jason Leigh and Carrie Morrow.

The McGuire Sisters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Background information
Origin Miamisburg, Ohio, United States
Genre(s) Traditional Pop
Years active 1952-1968
Website McGuire Sisters' page on the Primarily A Cappella site
Former members
Christine McGuire, Dorothy McGuire, and Phyllis McGuire

The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. They consisted of Christine McGuire (born July 30, 1926), Dorothy McGuire (born February 13, 1928), and Phyllis McGuire (born February 14, 1931).

They were born in Middletown, Ohio and grew up in Miamisburg, Ohio, where their mother, Lillie, was an ordained minister of the Miamisburg First Church of God and let them sing in the church as young girls. They sang at weddings, funerals, and church revivals. When they started in 1935, Phyllis was only four years old. Eventually, they sang on other occasions than church-related ones; by 1949, they were singing at military bases and veterans' hospitals. They incorporated a more diverse repertoire for these, extending themselves to more than the hymns they had sung at church.

In 1952, they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, and as a result, Godfrey hired them for his other shows, where they remained for seven years. They performed for five Presidents of the United States (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush), and for Queen Elizabeth II, as well as appearing on many top television shows. The Coca-Cola company signed them to a contract with the highest fee in advertising history up to that date.

The McGuire Sisters, and most especially Phyllis McGuire, were the subjects of a 1995 HBO movie called Sugartime, which depicted Phyllis' relationship with mobster Sam Giancana. Giancana was played by actor John Turturro and Phyllis was played by Mary Louise Parker.

In 1968, they retired from public performance. Phyllis went to a solo act; Dorothy and Christine became totally devoted to their families. Seventeen years later, however, they joined as an act again in response to fans' entreaties.

In 1994, they were inducted into the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame. In 2001, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. They have also been inducted into the Coca-Cola Hall of Fame and the Headliners' Hall of Fame.

Florence Henderson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Florence Agnes Henderson
Born February 14, 1934 (1934-02-14) (age 74)
Dale, Indiana, U.S.
Spouse(s) John Kappas (1987-2002) (his death)
Ira Bernstein (1956 -1985) (divorced)

Florence Agnes Henderson (born February 14, 1934) is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing the role of Carol Brady in the television program The Brady Bunch, which ran from 1969 to 1974.





Biography

Early life

Henderson, one of ten children, was born in Dale, Indiana, the daughter of Elizabeth (née Elder), a homemaker, and Joseph Henderson, a tobacco sharecropper.[1] Raised Catholic, she graduated from St. Francis Academy in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1951; shortly thereafter, she went to New York City, enrolling in the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She is an Aluma Initiate of the Alpha Chi chapter of Delta Zeta Sorority.


Career

Henderson started her career on the stage, performing in musicals, such as the touring production of Oklahoma! and South Pacific at Lincoln Center. She debuted on Broadway in Wish You Were Here in 1952, and later starred in such notable shows as Fanny (1954), and The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963). In 1962, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago Theatre, and the same year became the first woman to host The Johnny Carson Show. Talented at skit comedy as well as song and dance, she was ideal for the Dean Martin Variety Show, on which she was a frequent guest.

Her most widely seen role was as "Carol Brady" in The Brady Bunch which was produced from 1968 until 1974. A worldwide success, it continues to be screened in many countries through syndication. Primarily due to her role in the Brady Bunch, Henderson was ranked by TV Land and Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the 100 Greatest TV Icons. Henderson's ability to effortlessly transmit warmth and affection was an essential element to the long enduring success of the Brady Bunch. Henderson was a frequent panelist on the original version of the television game show Hollywood Squares.


Henderson was also the spokeswoman for Wesson cooking oil, from 1976 to 1996. During that time, she hosted a cooking show on TNN called Country Kitchen, and also did ads for Prange's, a former Wisconsin department store chain. Henderson co-hosted the talk show Later Today on NBC (1999-2000) with co-hosts Jodi Applegate and Asha Blake. Today, she is the spokeswoman for Polident denture cleanser (although she does not wear dentures herself). She is also the spokesperson for RainSoft Water Treatment Systems.[2] In 2003, Henderson seemed to poke fun at her wholesome image by appearing in a Pepsi Twist television commercial with Ozzy Osbourne.

Henderson regularly tours as a singer on the condominium circuit with other performers such as magician/comedian Jamie Porter. Henderson has also appeared with her TV children whenever the opportunity comes about. For instance, she appeared on the reality-television series My Fair Brady starring Christopher Knight. She is also in the sixth season of VH1's Surreal Life.

In most years since the mid-1990s, the song "God Bless America" has been performed by Henderson at the Indianapolis 500. Henderson is a friend of the Hulman-George family, the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Her performance is followed by "The Star-Spangled Banner," performed by a notable artist each year.

She appeared in the Weird Al Yankovic video for "Amish Paradise" and co-hosted the daily talk show "Living Live" with former Designing Women star Meshach Taylor on Retirement Living TV. The show was reworked to focus on her and was renamed "The Florence Henderson Show".


Personal life

In the mid-1950s, Henderson was diagnosed with a bone deformation of the inner ear, and she had to have surgery to prevent deafness. Henderson married Ira Bernstein in January 1956, and the couple had four children. During the filming of The Brady Bunch in Los Angeles, Henderson returned to the family's New York home each weekend to spend time with her children. In 1985, she divorced him after almost 29 years of marriage. She later married Dr. John Kappas, a hypnotherapist she met when battling depression in the mid 1980s. Henderson studied hypnotherapy and is a licensed therapist. Kappas died in 2002.

In recent years she has been a big supporter for the Sisters of St. Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana. She was taught by one of the Sisters when she was young and has very fond memories of the Sisters. She appeared in a number of videos and made appearances for the Sisters in their time of need. She was very important in their fund raising bids and even won money for them on the game show, Weakest link. When Florence appeared on the VH1 show Surreal Life Florence made a point of not disrespecting the Catholic church and nuns by dressing up as a Sister for a skit.

Andrew Prine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Andrew Lewis Prine
Born February 14, 1936 (1936-02-14) (age 72)
Jennings, Florida, United States
Spouse(s) Sharon Farrell (1962 - 1962) (divorced)
Brenda Scott (1965 - 1966)
Brenda Scott (1966 - ?)
Heather Lowe (1986 - present)

Andrew Lewis Prine (born February 14, 1936) is an American film, stage, and television actor.




Biography

Early life and career

Prine was born in Jennings, Florida, the son of Florence (née Riviere) and Randy Prine.[1]After graduating from Andrew Jackson High School in Miami, Florida in 1954, Prine made his acting debut three years later in an episode of U.S. Steel Hour. His next role was in the 1959 Broadway production of Look Homeward, Angel[2]. In 1962, Prine was cast in film version of The Miracle Worker as Helen Keller's older brother, James. The following year, Prine landed a lead role on the short lived series, The Wide Country.

After the series was canceled, Prince continued to land roles in films and television. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared on Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Baretta, and The Bionic Woman.

Prine continued landing roles in films and television during the 1980s and 1990s. Most recently, he appeared in an episode of Boston Legal.


Personal life

In 1962, Prine married actress Sharon Farrell, but the marriage ended a few months later. Later that year, he began dating actress Karyn Kupcinet. The relationship started strong, but soon cooled after Kupcinet expressed a desire for an exclusive relationship, something the newly divorced Prine didn't want. The couple broke up and Prine began dating another woman, actress Anna Capri. On November 30, 1963, about three weeks after the breakup, Kupcinet was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment under mysterious circumstances. Prine was a suspect in her murder, but was eventually cleared of any involvement. Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing, Prine's career suffered from the scandal.[3]

In 1965, Prine married actress Brenda Scott. The marriage ended after one month, but the couple remarried in 1966. That union would also end in divorce. Prine is currently married to actress Heather Lowe, whom he wed in 1986.

Gregory Hines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Gregory Oliver Hines
Born February 14, 1946(1946-02-14)
New York City, United States
Died August 9, 2003 (aged 57)

Gregory Hines (February 14, 1946 - August 9, 2003) was a Tony Award-winning American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer.

Born Gregory Oliver Hines in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang. Together with their father the three were known as "The Hines Kids" and later as "The Hines Brothers" only to have the name change again in 1963 to "Hines, Hines and Dad".

Hines appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared, and Tap. On television, he starred in his own series in 1997 called The Gregory Hines Show, as well as in the recurring role of Ben Doucette on Will & Grace.

Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earned Tony Award nominations for Eubie!, Comin' Uptown and Sophisticated Ladies, and won a Tony and Drama Desk Award for the revue Jelly's Last Jam and a Theatre World Award for Eubie!.

In 1990, Hines visited with his idol, Sammy Davis, Jr., as the great entertainer lay dying of throat cancer, unable to speak. After Davis died, a choked-up Hines spoke at Davis's funeral of how Sammy had made a gesture to him, "as if passing a basketball … and I caught it." Hines spoke of the honor that Sammy thought that Hines could carry on from where he left off.[1]

Hines died of liver cancer in Los Angeles, California. He was engaged to bodybuilder Negrita Jayde at the time of his death.

SIGNS OF WEAR

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs
and make love," and you answer, "Pick one, I can't do both!"

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Your friends compliment you on your new
alligator shoes and you're barefoot.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... A sexy babe catches your fancy and your
pacemaker opens the garage door.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles
out of your face.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... You don't care where your spouse goes,
just as long as you don't have to go along.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... You are cautioned to slow down by the
doctor instead of by the police.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting a little action" means I don't
need to take any fiber today.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting lucky" means you find your car
in the parking lot.

"OLD" IS WHEN... An "all-nighter" means not getting up to pee.

Hey, BioBob. Thanks again for the get celeb info. You always educate us with your background material. Hmmm, read through your "Old is When" observations. I fit one or two of those statements, but I most certainly am NOT going to admit which ones. As a matter of record, I just danced with Gregory Hines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KByHC5UYe5I&feature=related

When our Princess Pup arrives, I will tell you how I feel after that dance.

perhaps it's a little early in the day for NABUCCO , but it's mrs h's favourite .
i think it's a masterpiece .
hbg

CHORUS OF THE HEBREW SLAVES

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QyuTFwx2DuI&feature=related

Lovely, hbg. I suspect that in today's world, the worst slaves are the working poor. I had to do a bit of research on NABUCCO, and found that it was done by Joe Green.

One of the seven wonders of the world, folks

Good afternoon WA2K. And a Happy back at you, Letty. Now what about that dance with Gregory?

Bob's bios: Jack Benny; Thelma Ritter (I thought she was great in every picture she was in); Stuart Erwin; Lois Maxwell; Vic Morrow (on the right); Phyllis McGuire (had a pic of all three sisters yesterday); Florence Henderson; Andrew Prine and Gregory Hines

Hey, Raggedy. Great nonet today, PA. Thanks again, gal, for the marvelous photo's. (I really got up and danced, puppy)

As for Gregory, he really knows how to dance.

For some reason, folks, I like this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDI2YjZ7Ntk

Oh no. Roy Scheider dead?
This is sad news.. Aww man.
I appreciated the dedication Letty, thankyou!

Here is the song I wrote and posted here the other day. It is me singing, I made the music and the slide show. Enjoy!

Sailor of the Land

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aQ69PdMMW5Q

RexRed

Welcome back, hebba. I still have a picture in my mind of you watching "Jaws" when you were six years old. Gives me a smile.

Rex, that was truly lovely, and the lyrics were particulaly haunting. Thanks for the original, Maine. You still have not lost your touch.

Strange, folks, I sang this once, and the kids in the video look a lot like my two when they were small.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON0qcXzuUYU

Thank-You Letty!

Happy St. Valentines Day all!

Just call 'em as I hear 'em, Rex

We'll dedicate this one to McTag who dreamed about hearing the song, and then it was played on the radio. WA2K radio, of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afhDaXZU9S8

Wow, RexRed - that's a great song. I love your voice.

It's quite beautiful! Love that website.