In Memoriam

This is one of those blogs that I wish I didn't have to write. Joan Alexander Stanton is someone that I also felt a great deal of admiration for. She was an actress but her career was somewhat small. In the 40's she spent a great deal of time on radio programs such as "Dimension X", "Philo Vance", "Against the Storm" and "Perry Mason." On "Perry Mason" she played Mason's secreatary Della Street. In 1964 she made her only Broadway appearance in the production of Poor Richard. On television she appeared on the game show "The Name's the Same" from 1951 to 1955. For me though she will always be that light but stern voice on "The Adventures of Superman" which was on radio from 1940 until 1951. Joan provided the voice of girl reporter Lois Lane in more than 1,600 episodes. She also provided the voice of Lois in 17 animated Superman shorts produced by the Fleischer Studios between 1941 and 1943. In 1966, th...

Marge Cotrooke was not a real person. She was a character that was played by Jeanne Cooper on "The Young and the Restless." Cooper has played the well known Katherine Chancellor Murphy since November of 1973 and she played Marge from 1989 to 1990 and again briefly in 2008 and 2009. Back in 1989, Marge was a waitress working in a run down diner. While there she was spotted by ex-con Clint Radison (James Michael Gregary) who was the cell mate of Rex Sterling (Quinn Redeker). Rex was married to Katherine Chancellor at the time and when Clint saw how much Katherine and Marge looked alike he saw it as the opportunity to get his hands on Katherine's vast fortune. He convinced Marge to impersonate Katherine and made arrangements to get her into the Chancellor estate. Katherine and her maid Esther Valentine (Kate Linder) were taken prisoner and held by Clint and his cronies. Everyone noticed the difference in "Katherine" immediately and assumed she had fallen off the w...

Lloyd Bridges - a total class act. As a constant fixture on television from the day it was born right up through the late 1990's his face and stern voice were easily reconizable. In addition to his many guest appearances he also headlined several television shows. His contributions to Broadway and film also never went unoticed. His film career included more than 150 films between 1936 and 1998. His final film Meeting Daddy was released in 2000, two years after his death. The film Jane Austen's Mafia was also released following the actor's passing. Meeting Daddy however was filmed prior to Jane Austen's Mafia however. His other film appearances include Strange Confession, Secret Agent X-9, Trapped, The White Tower, The Tall Texan, Airplane, Hot Shots and Honey I Blew up the Baby. He made his Broadway debut in 1939 in William Shakespeare's Othello. His television guest appearance resume includes "The Steve Allen Show", "The Tennessee Ernie ...

Beatrice Arthur and Estelle Getty are gone now but their spirit will live on forever in everything that they did together. God Bless You Both...you were angels on Earth and now you are angels above. For me the best moments were when Sophia would say something outrageous and Dorothy would shout back "MA!" The episode where Sophia is suffering from memory problems is a fond one for me. There is a scene where Sophia and Dorothy return to their old apartment in Brooklyn. They knock on the door and a Hispanic gentleman answers and Sophia simply utters "Oh God" and almost like instinct Dorothy clamps her hand over her mother's mouth. It is hilarious. Even though Beatrice was a year older than her on screen mother the performance was totally believable. It was magic...simply magic. The very sound of the theme song makes me smile and the sight of those "Golden Girls" on screen makes me laugh out loud. They will forever be in my heart and in my brain....

This loss is so very sad....another 'Golden Girl' has left us. Beatrice Arthur spent the early days of her career on Broadway...mainly in the 1940's and 1950's. In the 1950's she began to appear on fresh television shows like "Studio One", "Caesar's Hour" and "Kraft Television Theatre." By the time the last sentence in the book of pages of Beatrice's life was written she appeared on "Laugh-In", "Soap", "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour", "Dave's World", "Malcolm in the Middle", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Futurama", "The Perry Como Show", "The George Gobel Show", "Saturday Night Live", "The Mike Douglas Show", "Ellen", "The View", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and many many other tribute shows, reunion shows, and award shows. In 1971 she was called on by her old friend Norman Lear to...

Marilyn Borden...the last surviving member of the Borden Twins acting duo. Along with her sister Roz, Marilyn appeared on a handful of television shows, many cruise ships and several fan conventions. She made appearances on "The Colgate Comedy Hour", "The Jimmy Durante Show", "The Joan Rivers Show", "Four Star Revue", "CHiP'S", "Maude" and "The Ropers." Her most famous role though was as "Teensey" in an episode of "I Love Lucy." The episode "Tennessee Bound" originally aired on January 24, 1955 as part of the show's adventures revolving around the gang's trip to California. While driving through Bent Fork, Tennessee Lucy goes a little too fast and is pulled over by the grouchy old sheriff (Will Wright). Ricky agrees to pay the fine but Lucy stands on principle and find herself behind bars. Ricky and the Mertzes along with "Cousin" Ernie (Tennessee Ernie Ford...

On September 20, 1954 the very first screen production of "12 Angry Men" aired during an episode of the anthology series "Studio One." It is very important to note that this performance was a live broadcast. Norman Fell (1924-1998) - Juror #1 John Beal (1909-1997) - Juror #2 Franchot Tone (1905-1968) - Juror #3 Walter Abel (1898-1987) - Juror #4 Lee Phillips (1927-1999) - Juror #5 Bart Burns (1918-2007) - Juror #6 Paul Hartman (1904-1973) - Juror #7 Robert Cummings (1910-1990) - Mr. Davis, Juror #8 Joseph Sweeney (1884-1963) - Mr. McCardle, Juror #9 Edward Arnold (1890-1956) - Juror #10 George Voskovec (1905-1981) - Juror #11 Larkin Ford (1920-2007) - Juror #12 Joseph Sweeney and George Voskovec went onto reprise their roles for the 1957 motion picture version.