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Showing posts from February, 2011

February 28th

At Rest: Jonathan Hale (1966) Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (1977) Zara Cully (1978) Paul Harvey (2009) In Memoriam Remembers...

Happy 95th Birthday to "The Great One"

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The fall of 2011 will mark the 60th anniversary of the creation of Ralph Kramden. He will forever be known as a pioneer among other television characters and also one of the greatest television characters of all time. The man who brought him to life on television on both a regular and recurring basis from 1951 until 1978 would've turned 95 years old today and so at this moment let us look back at the magical legacy he left behind. From his days as a carnival barker and vaudeville performer to his days in Hollywood films The Great One always knew what he was doing and how it should be done. In 1949 he played the lead role of Chester A. Riley on the television version of "The Life of Riley." He also played the character on a single radio broadcast. By 1950 he landed a job as host of the "Cavalcade of Stars" and the rest as they say, was history. It was while working on the variety show that he first met performers Art Carney and Pert Kelton and it was also where

February 26th

Happy Birthday! William Frawley (1887) Robert Alda (1914) Mason Adams (1919) Tony Randall (1920) Betty Hutton (1921)

February 21st

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Born on this day in 1934...a true golden girl left us a little less than a year ago. Today she would've celebrated her 77th birthday. She appeared on Broadway and in films and later found fame on television as Vivian Cavendar Harmon on "Maude" from 1972 to 1978. From 1983 to 1984 she played Aunt Fran on "Mama's Family." It was in 1985 that she began playing the role for which she will forever be remembered - she became Blanche Devereaux on "The Golden Girls." Blanche was the sex starved Southern belle who was never without a man. The actress also brought the character of Blanche to spin-off shows such as "Empty Nest" and "Nurses" and then the follow up show "The Golden Palace." She last played Blanche in 1993. She also made guest appearances on such shows as "The Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "Murder, She Wrote", "Alice", "Lou Grant" and "Newhart." S

February 20th

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Born on this day in 1906. He is one of my favorite people and one of the most talented entertainers that was ever born. On radio his voice could be heard on: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Our Miss Brooks" "Fibber McGee & Molly" "The Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show" "My Favorite Husband" "The Burns and Allen Show" On television he could seen on: "I Love Lucy" (guest star) "Our Miss Brooks" "The Brothers" (1956-1957, 1986-1989) "Playhouse 90" (guest star) "The Danny Thomas Show" (guest star) "Pete and Gladys" "The Donna Reed Show" (guest star) "Dennis the Menace" "The Lucy Show" "Here's Lucy" "Life with Lucy" "The New Lassie" (guest star) "Hi Honey, I'm Home" (guest star) He passed away on June 30, 1995...on his birthday In Memoriam Remembers: Gale Gordon

Too Much Tragedy So Close Together!!!!!!!!!

Wonderful people are leaving us much too quickly... February 12th Betty Garrett, stage and film actress, best known on television as Irene Lorenzo on "All in the Family" and Edna Babish-DeFazio on "Laverne and Shirley died at the age of 91... Kenneth Mars, best known for his roles in The Producers and Young Frankenstein, died at the age of 75... February 14th Joanne Siegel, wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the model for the original Lois Lane design, died at the age of 93... February 16th Len Lesser, best known as Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld" died at the age of 88...

February 15th

Happy Birthday! Cesar Romero (1907) Kevin McCarthy (1914) Mary Jane Croft (1916) Keene Curtis (1923) Harvey Korman (1927) At Rest: Wally Cox (1973) Ethel Merman (1984) McLean Stevenson (1996) Note: Actor Kenneth Mars died on February 12th at the age of 75 and Joanne Siegel, wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the original model for the Lois Lane character, died on February 14th at the age of 93.

February 14th

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Birthday! Jack Benny (1894) Thelma Ritter (1905) Lois Maxwell (1927)

The Man of Steel on the Silver Screen

2011 will mark the seventy-three years since Superman first appeared in the pages of Action Comics. In 1948, ten years after his comic book debut, the mighty hero from another planet made his first appearance on the big screen...it should also be noted that on this day in 1940 "The Adventures of Superman" began on radio starring Clayton "Bud" Collyer as Superman/Clark Kent. Now more than sixty years after it was first shown it is considered to be the most successful movie serial in cinema history... July 1948, when it all began: Chapter 1 - Superman Comes to Earth Chapter 2 - Depths of the Earth Chapter 3 - The Reducer Ray Chapter 4 - Man of Steel Chapter 5 - A Job for Superman! Chapter 6 - Superman in Danger! Chapter 7 - Into the Electric Furnace! Chapter 8 - Superman to the Rescue Chapter 9 - Irresistible Force! Chapter 10 - Between Two Fires Chapter 11 - Superman's Dilemma Chapter 12 - Blast in the Depths Chapter 13 - Hurled to Destruction Chapter 14 - Supe

February 11th

Happy Birthday! Eva Gavor (1919) Kim Stanley (1925) Leslie Nielsen (1926) At Rest: Lee J. Cobb (1976) George O'Hanlon (1989) William Conrad (1994) Sorrell Booke (1994) Don Porter (1997) Caroline McWilliams (2010)

Peggy Rea

Born: March 31, 1921 It is very sad...another of the great character actors has left us. It always makes me so sad to log onto MSN.com and see these announcements in the news feed. She began on television in the 1950's and remained until the 1990's came to an end. Her credits include "I Love Lucy", "Saints and Sinners", "Have Gun - Will Travel", "Ben Casey", "The Eleventh Hour", "Kraft Suspense Theatre", "Burke's Law", "Hazel", "Dr. Kildare", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "The Patty Duke Show", "Gidget", "Family Affair", "The Wild Wild West", "Here's Lucy", "The Red Skelton Hour", "Gunsmoke", "Ironside", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", "Love, American Style", "The Odd Couple", "Adam-12", "The Doris Day Show", "Mannix", "Ellery Queen"

February 8th

Happy Birthday! Burt Mustin (1884) Lana Turner (1921) Jack Lemmon (1925) Audrey Meadows (1926) At Rest: Harriet MacGibbon (1987)