The Roger Corman Connection
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- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University but while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a total of three days as an engineer at US Electrical Motors, which cemented his growing realization that engineering wasn't for him. He quit and took a job as a messenger for 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the position of story analyst.
After a term spent studying modern English literature at England's Oxford University and a year spent bopping around Europe, Corman returned to the US, intent on becoming a screenwriter/producer. He sold his first script in 1953, "The House in the Sea," which was eventually filmed and released as Highway Dragnet (1954).
Horrified by the disconnect between his vision for the project and the film that eventually emerged, Corman took his salary from the picture, scraped together a little capital and set himself up as a producer, turning out Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). Corman used his next picture, The Fast and the Furious (1954), to finagle a multi-picture deal with a fledgling company called American Releasing Corp. (ARC). It would soon change its name to American-International Pictures (AIP) and with Corman as its major talent behind the camera, would become one of the most successful independent studios in cinema history.
With no formal training, Corman first took to the director's chair with Five Guns West (1955) and over the next 15 years directed 53 films, mostly for AIP. He proved himself a master of quick, inexpensive productions, turning out several movies as director and/or producer in each of those years--nine movies in 1957, and nine again in 1958. His personal speed record was set with The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which he shot in two days and a night.
In the early 1960s he began to take on more ambitious projects, gaining a great deal of critical praise (and commercial success) from a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories, most of them starring Vincent Price. His film The Intruder (1962) was a serious look at racial integration in the South, starring a very young William Shatner. Critically praised and winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival, the movie became Corman's first--and, for many years, only--commercial flop. He called its failure "the greatest disappointment in my career." As a consequence of the experience, Corman opted to avoid such direct "message" films in the future and resolved to express his social and political concerns beneath the surface of overt entertainments.
Those messages became more radical as the 1960s wound to a close and after AIP began re-editing his films without his knowledge or consent, he left the company, retiring from directing to concentrate on production and distribution through his own newly formed company, New World Pictures. In addition to low-budget exploitation flicks, New World also distributed distinguished art cinema from around the world, becoming the American distributor for the films of Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, François Truffaut and others. Selling off New World in the 1980s, Corman has continued his work through various companies in the years since--Concorde Pictures, New Horizons, Millenium Pictures, New Concorde. In 1990, after the publication of his biography "How I Made A Hundred Movies in Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime"--one of the all-time great books on filmmaking--he returned to directing but only for a single film, Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
With hundreds of movies to his credit, Roger Corman is one of the most prolific producers in the history of the film medium and one of the most successful--in his nearly six decades in the business, only about a dozen of his films have failed to turn a profit. Corman has been dubbed, among other things, "The King of the Cult Film" and "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and his filmography is packed with hundreds of remarkably entertaining films in addition to dozens of genuine cult classics. Corman has displayed an unrivaled eye for talent over the years--it could almost be said that it would be easier to name the top directors, actors, writers and creators in Hollywood who DIDN'T get their start with him than those who did. Among those he mentored are Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, Robert De Niro, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante and Sandra Bullock. His influence on modern American cinema is almost incalculable. In 2009 he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Gene Corman preceded his more-famous brother Roger in the film business, working as a motion picture agent. Beginning in 1956, he and Roger joined forces as producers to make such films as "Hot Car Girl", "Night of the Blood Beast", "Attack of the Giant Leeches" and "Beast from Haunted Cave" for distributors like AIP, Allied Artists and Roger's own Filmgroup. Gene returned to the exploitation field in the early '70s at MGM when he produced several blaxploitation features such as "Hit Man" and "The Slams" as well as the kinky "Private Parts". His more mainstream credits include "Tobruk, " "F.I.S.T." and "The Big Red One." He was for a time vice-president of 20th Century-Fox Television.- Director
- Art Director
- Writer
Austrian-born Nathan Juran was a professional architect before entering the film industry as an art director in 1937. He won an Academy Award for art direction on How Green Was My Valley (1941). World War II interrupted his film career, and he spent his war years with the OSS. Returning to Hollywood, he turned to directing films in the 1950s. He handled mostly low-budget westerns and sci-fi opuses, his most famous (or infamous) being Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) (which he filmed under the name "Nathan Hertz"). On the other hand, he was also responsible for the superb fantasy adventure The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). In the early 1960s, he journeyed to Europe, where he spent several years piloting adventure epics and spaghetti westerns.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Richard Conte was born Nicholas Richard Conte on March 24, 1910, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of an Italian-American barber. He held a variety of jobs before becoming a professional actor, including truck driver, Wall Street clerk and singing waiter at a Connecticut resort. The gig as a singing waiter led to theatrical work in New York, where in 1935, he was discovered by actors Elia Kazan and Julius "Julie" Garfinkle (later known as John Garfield).
Kazan helped Conte obtain a scholarship to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where he excelled. Conte made his Broadway debut late in "Moon Over Mulberry Street" in 1939, and went on to be featured in other plays, including "Walk Into My Parlor." His stage work lead to a movie job, and he made his film debut in Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939), in which he was billed as "Nicholas Conte." His career started to thrive during the Second World War, when many Hollywood actors were away in the military.
Signing on as a contract player with 20th Century-Fox in 1942, Conte was promoted by the studio as, ironically, as "New John Garfield," the man who helped discover him. He made his debut at Fox, under the name "Richard Conte", in Guadalcanal Diary (1943). During World War II Conte appeared mostly as soldiers in war pictures, although after the war he became a fixture in the studio's "film noir" crime melodramas. His best role at Fox was as the wrongly imprisoned man exonerated by James Stewart's reporter in Call Northside 777 (1948) and he also shined as a trucker in Thieves' Highway (1949).
In the 1950s Conte essentially evolved into a B-movie actor, his best performances coming in The Blue Gardenia (1953) and Highway Dragnet (1954). After being set free of his Fox contract in the early 1950s, his career lost momentum as the film noir cycle exhausted itself, although he turned in a first-rate performance as a vicious but philosophical gangster in Joseph H. Lewis film-noir classic, The Big Combo (1955).
Conte appeared often on television, including a co-starring gig on the syndicated series The Four Just Men (1959), but by the 1960s his career was in turnaround. Frank Sinatra cast him in his two Tony Rome detective films, the eponymous Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement (1968), but Conte eventually relocated to Europe. He directed and starred in Operation Cross Eagles (1968), a low-budget war picture shot in Yugoslavia. His last hurrah in Hollywood role was as Don Corleone's rival, Don Barzini, in The Godfather (1972), which many critics and filmmakers, including the late Stanley Kubrick, consider the greatest Hollywood film of all time. Ironically, Paramount - which produced "The Godfather" - had considered Conte for the title role before the casting list was whittled down to Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando. After The Godfather (1972), Conte - whose character was assassinated in that picture, so does not appear in the equally classic sequel - continued to appear in European films.
Richard Conte was married to Ruth Storey, with whom he fathered film editor Mark Conte. He died of a heart attack on April 15, 1975, in Los Angeles, California, aged 65.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Joan Geraldine Bennett was born on February 27, 1910, in Palisades, New Jersey. Her parents were both successful stage actors, especially her father, Richard Bennett, and often toured the country for weeks at a time. In fact, Joan came from a long line of actors, dating back to the 18th century. Often, when her parents were on tour, Joan and her two older sisters, Constance Bennett, who later became an actress, and Barbara were left in the care of close friends. At the age of four, Joan made her first stage appearance. She debuted in films a year later in The Valley of Decision (1916), in which her father was the star and the entire Bennett clan participated. In 1923 she again appeared in a film which starred her father, playing a pageboy in The Eternal City (1923). It would be five more years before Joan appeared again on the screen. In between, she married Jack Marion Fox, who was 26 compared to her young age of 16. The union was anything but happy, in great part because of Fox's heavy drinking. In February of 1928 Joan and Jack had a baby girl they named Adrienne. The new arrival did little to help the marriage, though, and in the summer of 1928 they divorced. Now with a baby to support, Joan did something she had no intention of doing--she turned to acting. She appeared in Power (1928) with Alan Hale and Carole Lombard, a small role but a start. The next year she starred in Bulldog Drummond (1929), sharing top billing with Ronald Colman. Before the year was out she was in three more films--Disraeli (1929), The Mississippi Gambler (1929) and Three Live Ghosts (1929). Not only did audiences like her, but so did the critics. Between 1930 and 1931, Joan appeared in nine more movies. In 1932 she starred opposite Spencer Tracy in She Wanted a Millionaire (1932), but it wasn't one she liked to remember, partly because Tracy couldn't stand the fact that everyone was paying more attention to her than to him. Joan was to remain busy and popular throughout the rest of the 1930s and into the 1940s. By the 1950s Joan was well into her 40s and began to lessen her film appearances. She made only eight pictures, in addition to appearing in two television series. After Desire in the Dust (1960), Joan would be absent from the movie scene for the next ten years, resurfacing in House of Dark Shadows (1970), reprising her role from the Dark Shadows (1966) TV series as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Joan's final screen appearance was in the Italian thriller Suspiria (1977). Her final public performance was in the TV movie Divorce Wars: A Love Story (1982). On December 7, 1990, Joan died of a heart attack in Scarsdale, New York. She was 80 years old.- Born Dixie Wanda Hendrix in Jacksonville, Florida to a logging camp boss (Max Sylvester Hendrix) and his wife (Mary Bailley), wholesome, green-eyed, dark-haired Wanda Hendrix was involved in her hometown's little theater group when she was "discovered" by a passing talent agent and signed up by Warner Bros. Her family moved to California.
Forgoing bit parts, the petite and lovely up-and-comer was immediately featured in featured roles in both Confidential Agent (1945) and Nora Prentiss (1947) for Warner Bros. and Welcome Stranger (1947) for Paramount. Signing up with Paramount, she earned one of her best film roles with Ride the Pink Horse (1947), in which there was talk of an Oscar nomination, and appeared elsewhere in the light comedy Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948) and the melodrama My Own True Love (1949).
After appearing on the cover of Coronet magazine, decorated WWII hero-turned-Universal star Audie Murphy took notice and arranged a meeting with her. They married on February 8 1949, and she co-starred with him a year later in one of his western vehicles, Sierra (1950). The marriage had problems from the beginning. Audie, who wanted her to give up her career, suffered from flashbacks and paranoia from his traumatic war-time experiences and often held her at gunpoint during violent episodes. The frightened woman left him after only seven months and divorced him soon after, charging him with mental cruelty. The final decree came on April 14, 1950.
The negative publicity that came out of their stormy marriage did little to enhance Wanda's status in Hollywood and, after a few standard oaters and war yarns, the more notable ones being Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1949) co-starring Alan Ladd, The Highwayman (1951) with Charles Coburn, and Roger Corman's Highway Dragnet (1954) with Richard Conte, her career waned. The actress retired completely from pictures in 1954 to marry millionaire playboy and sportsman James L. Stack, Jr., brother of actor Robert Stack. She earlier appeared with her famous brother-in-law in the films Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948) and My Outlaw Brother (1951).
The career sacrifice did little to help the marriage and the couple divorced in 1958. Returning to acting, she made a comeback on stage, film and TV but experienced little progression. Overlooked in her three 1960s films, her last film roles were filmed in the early 1970s. "Mystic Mountain Massacre", co-starring Ray Danton, was never released, and the Civil War horror One Minute Before Death (1972), based on a short story "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe, in which she co-starred with Barry Coe and Gisele MacKenzie, died a quicker death than even the title suggests.
In 1969, she married a third and last time, to oil company executive Steve La Monte in Las Vegas. At one point, she considered collaborating with author Douglas Warren on an autobiography of her first husband, Audie Murphy, but it never came to fruition. Divorced from her third husband in 1980, Wanda died shortly thereafter at age 52 of double pneumonia in Los Angeles. She had no children. - Tall, dark, and handsome, Reed Hadley appeared most frequently as either a villain or as an officer of the law during a film career of 35 years. His rich, bass voice was also frequently heard as narrator for movies and documentaries. He may be best remembered for his work in television, where he starred in Racket Squad (1950) and Public Defender (1954). Other highlights of his career include playing the title character in "Red Ryder" on the radio and "Zorro" in the Republic serial, Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939).
- Actor
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wyott Ordung was born on 23 May 1922 in Shanghai, China. He was an actor and writer, known for Walk the Dark Street (1956), Target Earth (1954) and First Man Into Space (1959). He died on 28 August 2005 in California, USA.- 1950s B film actress who worked frequently on television and the stage. Moved to England in the late 1950s where she continued to work on the stage and in the film Girls at Sea (1958). She later traveled the globe as the wife of a foreign service officer. Now divorced and retired from show business she owns a theater in Westcliffe Colorado. She recently authored the spy thriller To Catch A Spy.
- Stuart Wade was born on 1 August 1971 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), Drug Abuse (2000) and Dream (2001).
- Dick Pinner was born on 21 November 1912 in Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Red Snow (1952), The Fast and the Furious (1954) and Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). He died on 25 October 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Production Manager
- Writer
Jonathan Haze is an American actor, producer and scary movie idol. Best known for his work in Roger Corman films, and especially for playing "Seymour" in Corman's black comedy cult classic, The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Haze's career spans more than 20 films in six decades, including screen-writing the science fiction comedy Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962).
Born in Pittsburgh into a show business family, Haze's cousin was legendary jazz drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich. Haze started his career behind-the-scenes working stage production for his cousin Buddy, eventually becoming stage manager for Josephine Baker. A move to Los Angeles lead to Haze to working in film production and consequently becoming an almost exclusive player for low-budget producer/director Roger Corman. The slight-framed, curly-haired, gawky-looking lad made his inauspicious screen debut in Corman's Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954), but managed to continue on a steady scale in minor roles of tough guys and weirdos. He played a pickpocket in Swamp Women (1955), an ex-convict in Five Guns West (1955) and a man contaminated by radioactive fallout in Day the World Ended (1955), which was Corman's first foray into the sci-fi genre. His on-screen versatility noted, Haze received larger roles and subsequent better billing in the cheapjack productions Gunslinger (1956), It Conquered the World (1956), Naked Paradise (1957), Carnival Rock (1957), Not of This Earth (1957), and Bayou (1957) (a.k.a. "Poor White Trash").
Following work as a Viking in the incredulous The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957), Haze landed his first starring role in the Warner Bros. drama Stakeout on Dope Street (1958), directed by Irvin Kershner. Haze plays an average teenager who, along with 2 friends, finds $250k of heroin and decides to go into the drug selling business. The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), however, catapulted Haze into cult stardom. As the slow-witted sad sack Seymour Krelboyne, Haze plays the unassuming Skid Row flower shop assistant who nourishes a seemingly harmless seedling, then falls prey to its grotesque, bloodthirsty plant while having to kill and serve up human beings as plant food. The comedy, which featured Haze's good friend Dick Miller and an unknown Jack Nicholson, grew overwhelmingly in status over the years thanks to midnight TV and spawned a hit Broadway musical and resulting musical film. Haze worked alongside Miller and Nicholson again in Corman's Edgar Allan Poe-like The Terror (1963) which starred Boris Karloff.
Near this time Haze began to veer away from acting opting to work behind-the-scenes again. He wrote the script for the sci-fi comedy Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962) and worked in production for such films as The Premature Burial (1962), Medium Cool (1969) Another Nice Mess (1972), and Corman's The Born Losers (1967).
Experience, connections and opportunity then lead to Haze producing commercials. As a CEO of a commercial production company, he created successful national and international campaigns for the likes of United Airlines, Kool-Aid, Schlitz Beer and more during the 1970s, '80s and '90s. In 1999, he made a cameo in Corman's "The Phantom Eye" (1999).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Floyd Delafield Crosby was born in 1899 to Fredrick Van Schoonhoven Crosby (1860-1920) and Julia Floyd Delafield (1874-1952). Floyd had one sibling, Katherine Van Rensselaer (Gregory). Floyd married Aliph Van Cortland Whitehead in 1940 and they had two children, Floyd Delafield Crosby (Ethan) in 1936 and David Crosby in 1940. Floyd and Aliph were divorced in 1960 and Floyd married Betty Cormack the same year. During World War II Crosby shot training films for pilots learning air routes and landing patterns all over the world (these films are vary difficult to find today and do not carry credits). Crosby left the military as a major in 1946. He enjoyed working on Hollywood "B" movies and shot many of them in the 1950s and 1960s, often for director Roger Corman. In the late 1960s he retired to live with his wife Betty in Ojai, CA. He passed away in 1986. More information about Floyd and his relationship with his family is available in his son David's autobiography "Long Time Gone".- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Robert L. Lippert, the son of a hardware store owner in Alameda, Califorinia, was born there shortly after the turn of this century. Having little interest in his father's business, young Lippert became enthralled with the new fascination of moving pictures. He began working odd jobs in the local movie house, soon working his way into the projection room. During this period he made many improvements on the projectors and developed new variations, many of which are still on display at the Alameda County museum. By the mid-'40s Lippert owned an extensive chain of theaters in California and Oregon. Around 1948 he decided to begin making his own pictures to show in his theaters. His first picture was Last of the Wild Horses (1948), which was also the only one he ever directed. He produced/released hundreds of movies from the late 1940s through the mid-'50s. Movie fans knew when they saw the "Lippert Pictures" logo on he screen that they were in for something different. During this period some real classics were put out by Lippert: Rocketship X-M (1950), Little Big Horn (1951), The Steel Helmet (1951) and The Tall Texan (1953), among others. In 1956 Lippert made a deal with 20th Century-Fox to finance and distribute his pictures, although under the newly created "Regal Films" label rather than "Lippert Pictures". Under this arrangement he turned out a string of low-budget westerns and crime thrillers, virtually all of which made money for both Lippert and Fox.
Robert Lippert may haver been a "B" movie producer, but he gave talented directors like Samuel Fuller and Charles Marquis Warren their starts, and while many of his pictures were routine, there were definitely some gems scattered among them.
He died in 1976.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Born in Canada, John Ireland was raised in New York. Performing as a swimmer in a water carnival, he moved into the legitimate theater, often appearing in minor roles in Broadway plays. His first big break in pictures came in 1945 when he appeared as Windy the introspective letter-writing G.I. in the classic war epic A Walk in the Sun (1945). Ireland was then often featured (mostly as a heavy) in several films. In 1949, he was nominated for best supporting actor for his role as the reporter in All the King's Men (1949). During the early 1950s, Ireland often starred as the emoting, brooding hero, almost exclusively in "B" pictures. In 1953, with his son Peter Ireland and wife, Joanne Dru, Ireland co-produced and co-directed the western mini-classic Hannah Lee: An American Primitive (1953) (aka Outlaw Territory). From the mid-'50s on. he appeared mainly in Italian "quickie" features and showed up occasionally in supporting roles in major pictures (Spartacus (1960)). Occasionally, his name was mentioned in tabloids of the times, in connection with young starlets, namely Natalie Wood and Sue Lyon. He was to play the role of the patriarch on the Ponderosa in Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988) but the series was not picked up. In addition to Hannah Lee: An American Primitive (1953), his best work was in Little Big Horn (1951) and The Bushwhackers (1951). In his later years, he owned and operated a tiny restaurant, Ireland's, in Santa Barbara, California.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Director
Edward Sampson was born on 1 July 1912 in Harlan, Kentucky, USA. Edward was an editor and director, known for The Fast and the Furious (1954), Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) and Duffy of San Quentin (1954). Edward died on 7 May 1962 in Glendale, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The blonde, sultry, dreamy-eyed beauty of Dorothy Malone, who was born Mary Maloney in Chicago on January 29, 1924, took some time before it made an impact with American film-going audiences. But once she did, she played it for all it was worth in her one chance Academy Award-winning "bad girl" performance, a role quite unlike the classy and strait-laced lady herself.
Raised in Dallas, she was one of five children born to an accountant father and housewife mother. Two older sisters died of polio. Attending Ursuline Convent and Highland Park High School, she was quite popular (as "School Favorite"). She was also a noted female athlete while there and won several awards for swimming and horseback riding. Following graduation, she studied at Southern Methodist University with the intent of becoming a nurse, but a role in the college play "Starbound" happened to catch the eye of an RKO talent scout and she was offered a Hollywood contract.
The lovely brunette started off in typical RKO starlet mode with acting/singing/dancing/diction lessons and bit parts (billed as Dorothy Maloney) in such films as the Frank Sinatra musicals Higher and Higher (1943) and Step Lively (1944), a couple of the mystery "Falcon" entries and a showier role in Show Business (1944) with Eddie Cantor and George Murphy. RKO lost interest, however, after the two-year contract was up. Warner Bros., however, stepped up to the plate and offered the actress a contract. Now billed as Dorothy Malone, her third film offering with the studio finally injected some adrenaline into her floundering young career, when she earned the small role of a seductive book clerk in the Bogart/Bacall classic The Big Sleep (1946). Critics and audiences took notice of her captivating little part. As a reward, the studio nudged her up the billing ladder with more visible roles in Two Guys from Texas (1948), Romance on the High Seas (1948), South of St. Louis (1949) and Colorado Territory (1949), with the westerns showing off her equestrian prowess if not her acting ability.
Despite this positive movement, Warner Bros. did not extend Dorothy's contract in 1949 and she returned willingly back to her tight-knit family in her native Dallas. Taking a steadier job with an insurance agency, she happened to attend a work-related convention in New York City and grew fascinated with the big city. Deciding to recommit to her acting career, she moved to the Big Apple and studied at the American Theater Wing. In between her studies, she managed to find work on TV, which spurred freelancing "B" movie offers in the routine form of Saddle Legion (1951), The Bushwhackers (1951), the Martin & Lewis romp Scared Stiff (1953), Law and Order (1953), Jack Slade (1953), Pushover (1954) and Private Hell 36 (1954).
Things picked up noticeably once Dorothy went platinum blonde, which seemed to emphasize her overt and sensual beauty. First off was as a sister to Doris Day in Young at Heart (1954), a musical remake of Four Daughters (1938), back at Warner Bros. She garnered even better attention when she appeared in the war picture Battle Cry (1955), in which she shared torrid love scenes with film's newest heartthrob Tab Hunter, and continued the momentum with the reliable westerns Five Guns West (1955) and Tall Man Riding (1955) but not with melodramatic romantic dud Sincerely Yours (1955) which tried to sell to the audiences a heterosexual Liberace.
By this time she had signed with Universal. Following a few more westerns for good measure (At Gunpoint (1955), Tension at Table Rock (1956) and Pillars of the Sky (1956), Dorothy won the scenery-chewing role of wild, nymphomaniac Marylee Hadley in the Douglas Sirk soap opera Written on the Wind (1956) co-starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack. Stack and Malone had the showier roles and completely out-shined the two leads, both earning supporting Oscar nominations in the process. Stack lost in his category but Dorothy nabbed the trophy for her splendidly tramp, boozed-up Southern belle which was highlighted by her writhing mambo dance.
Unfortunately, Dorothy's long spell of mediocre filming did not end with all the hoopla she received for Written on the Wind (1956). The Tarnished Angels (1957), which reunited Malone with Hudson and Stack faltered, and Quantez (1957) with Fred MacMurray was just another run-of-the-mill western. Two major film challenges might have changed things with Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) as the unsympathetic first wife of James Cagney's Lon Chaney Sr, and as alcoholic actress Diana Barrymore in the biographic melodrama Too Much, Too Soon (1958). Cagney, however, overshadowed everyone in the first and the second was fatally watered down by the Production Code committee.
To compensate, Dorothy, at age 35 in 1959, finally was married -- to playboy actor Jacques Bergerac (Ginger Rogers's ex-husband). A daughter, Mimi, was born the following year. Fewer film offers, which included Warlock (1959) and The Last Voyage (1960), came her way as Dorothy focused more on family life. While a second daughter, Diane, was born in 1962, the turbulent marriage wouldn't last and their divorce became final in December 1964. A bitter custody battle ensued with Dorothy eventually winning primary custody.
It took the small screen to rejuvenate Dorothy's career in the mid-1960s when she earned top billing of TV's first prime time soap opera Peyton Place (1964). Dorothy, starring in Lana Turner's 1957 film role of Constance MacKenzie, found herself in a smash hit. The run wasn't entirely happy however. Doctors discovered blood clots on her lungs which required major surgery and she almost died. Lola Albright filled in until she was able to return. Just as bad, her the significance of her role dwindled with time and 20th Century-Fox finally wrote her and co-star Tim O'Connor off the show in 1968. Dorothy filed a breach of contract lawsuit which ended in an out-of-court settlement.
Her life on- and off-camera did not improve. Dorothy's second marriage to stockbroker Robert Tomarkin in 1969 would last only three months, and a third to businessman Charles Huston Bell managed about three years. Now-matronly roles in the films Winter Kills (1979), Vortex (1982), The Being (1981) and Rest in Pieces (1987), were few and far between a few TV-movies -- which included some "Peyton Place" revivals, did nothing to advance her. Malone returned and settled for good back in her native Dallas, returning to Hollywood only on occasion.
Dorothy's last film was a cameo in the popular thriller Basic Instinct (1992) as a friend to Sharon Stone. She will be remembered as one of those Hollywood stars who proved she had the talent but somehow got the short end of the stick when it came to quality films offered. She retired to Texas and died in Dallas shortly before her 94th birthday on January 19, 2018.- Bruce Carlisle was born on 15 January 1922 in Etna, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fast and the Furious (1954) and Female Jungle (1955). He died on 22 June 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sugar, Pepper, Pearl, Bunny, Dottie, Ruby, Ginger, Sunny, Goldie, Bubbles, all those are nicknames borne by petite actress Iris Adrian in several of the 160 movies and television productions she appeared in. With such names, don't expect to see her playing Joan of Arc or Electra but it remains that all these pet names reflect her winning femininity, its sweetness, its spiciness, its radiance. What's more their funny overtones are telltale signs of Iris Adrian's own quick witty sense of humor. Sexy yes, but with a sharp tongue. This aspect of her personality helped her to evolve and last, changing from the roles of blonde chorus girls or waitresses or, on the wilder side, of streetwalkers and other gangsters' molls to colorful bit parts in comedies with Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley. She ended up playing almost exclusively for Walt Disney productions before retiring at the respectable age of 82. Though she never achieved star status she could easily have if the circumstances had been favorable. For she steals scenes in a lot of movies provided of course her role is fleshed out sufficiently. She was excellent, for instance, in more than one poverty row crime movies. Don't miss her in Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936), Go West (1940) (with the Marx Brothers), Lady of Burlesque (1943), The Paleface (1948), Once a Thief (1950), and The Errand Boy (1961) (with Jerry Lewis).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Tubby 5' 10 1/2" character actor Bruno VeSota had a remarkably long, varied and impressive career acting and directing in the mediums of stage, radio, movies and television. He was born Bruno William VeSota on March 25th, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the second of three sons born to Lithuanian immigrants Kasmir and Eleanora VeSota. Bruno first began acting in the 7th grade while attending the Catholic parochial school St. George's. He made his stage debut as the villain in the children's play "Christopher's Orphans." At age 19 VeSota went to the Hobart Theatre in Chicago where he learned the basics on acting, make-up and direction. He made his stage directorial debut with a production of "Richard III" and went on to direct everything from the classics to light comedies. After briefly working in Lithuanian radio in the 40s Vesota did a longer stint on English-language radio. He even provided the voice of Winston Churchill for a radio production. Moreover, Bruno joined the Actors Company of Chicago and continued to perform on stage. VeSota then worked in live television in Chicago in 1945. He directed over 2,000 live TV programs and acted in some 200 more. VeSota moved to Hollywood, California in 1952. Bruno began acting in films in 1953. He achieved his greatest cult feature popularity with his frequent and delightful appearances in a bunch of hugely enjoyable low-budget Roger Corman exploitation pictures. Bruno was especially excellent as Yvette Vickers' angry cuckolded husband in the Grade B monster classic "Attack of the Giant Leeches." Other notable movie roles include a disgusting slob junkyard owner who sells stolen automobile parts on the side in "The Choppers," a bartender in "The Haunted Palace," a hapless night watchman who becomes a victim of "The Wasp Woman," a snobby coffeehouse regular in the hilarious black comedy gem "A Bucket of Blood," a perverse oddball named Mr. Donald Duck from Duluth in "Single Room Unfurnished," a nervous innkeeper in "The Undead," a Russian spy in "War of the Satellites," a minister in "Hell's Angels on Wheels," a cultured gangster in "Daddy-O," and a brutish loan enforcer in "Carnival Rock." Bruno narrated the atrocious cheapie clunker "Curse of the Stoned Hand" for notorious schlockmeister Jerry Warren. He also worked on the make-up and has a bit part in Curtis Harrington's nicely spooky "Night Tide." VeSota does a cameo in Steven Spielberg's made-for-TV fright feature "Something Evil." Bruno directed three movies: the entertainingly lurid crime potboiler "The Female Jungle," the fun alien invasion entry "The Brain Eaters," and the silly spoof "Invasion of the Star Creatures." VeSota had a recurring role as a bartender in a handful of episodes of the hit Western TV show "Bonanza." Among the TV shows VeSota had guest spots on are "Kojak," "McMillan and Wife," "Hogan's Heroes," "Mission: Impossible," "It Takes A Thief," "Hondo," "Branded," "My Mother the Car," "The Wild, Wild West," "The Untouchables," and "Leave It to Beaver." VeSota had six children with his wife Genevieve. Bruno VeSota died of a heart attack at age 54 on September 24th, 1976.- Actress
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Jean Howell was born on 21 November 1927 in Pomona, California, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Superstar (1999), The Fast and the Furious (1954) and Emergency! (1972). She was married to Larry Thor. She died on 23 July 1996 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Jerome Odlum was born on 26 August 1905 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was a writer, known for Strange Affair (1944), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and The Fast and the Furious (1954). He died on 2 March 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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David Kramarsky is known for The Fast and the Furious (1954), The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) and The Cry Baby Killer (1958).- Producer
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James H. Nicholson was a longtime theater owner and exhibitor and worked as a promo man for Realart Pictures prior to 1954, when he founded American Releasing Corp., Two years later, he decided he wanted to expand globally and, with lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff, formed American International Pictures. The company turned out hundreds of movies over the next 35 years. AIP discovered an audience that was being ignored by mainstream Hollywood--teenagers--and in its early years, it turned out movies about monsters, hot rods and rock'n'roll, and the drive-ins filled with kids. In the 1960s, AIP turned out a string of zany, inexpensive but highly profitable "Beach Party" movies full of sand, songs, surf and (tame) sex. In 1964, 48-year-old Nicholson divorced his wife Sylvia and married 24-year-old actress Susan Hart. When the biker craze hit, AIP was there with The Wild Angels (1966). Nicholson continued to make AIP movies until June 1972, when he resigned as AIP's president and immediately formed a new company, Academy Pictures Corp., headquartered at the brand new Luckman Building, 9200 Sunset Blvd. He soon announced a six-picture deal with 20th Century Fox, who had sought him out. The six pictures included "The Legend of Hell House," "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry," "The Blackfather," "Street People" and "The Thousand Year Old Man," the latter based on a Nicholson original. (The sixth title, unannounced, was to have been "Death Race," on which he had collaborated with his good friend Robert Thom. Nicholson re-titled it "Death Race 2000.") In December 1972, two of those movies were "in the can" when Nicholson died of lung cancer that had metastasized. "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry," budgeted at $1,000,000, reaped $28,000,000, 20th's largest grossing film of that year; it has been reported that its huge profits enabled 20th to make "Star Wars." In the meantime, the floundering AIP became a subsidiary of Filmways, with Filmways' head Richard Bloch now calling the shots. When Arkoff left Filmways in 1980, he attempted to follow in Nicholson's footsteps, basing his new distribution company Arkoff International Picture (notice the identical initials, AIP) at 9200 Sunset. It was responsible for just one theatrical release, the sex- and nudity-filled "Hellhole" (1985).- Producer
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By the early 1950s, future movie mogul Samuel Z. Arkoff was a brash 30-ish lawyer scratching out a living by representing his in-laws and the Hollywood fringe, which included many of now infamous director/angora-clad transvestite Edward D. Wood Jr.'s social circle. As a shark, Arkoff was physically imposing and capable of scaring the snot out of anyone who opposed him. One of his penny ante clients was Alex Gordon, a screenwriter who had submitted an unsolicited script to Realart Pictures, an outfit that was profitably re-releasing 20-year-old movies, often under new titles conjured up by its owner, Jack Broder. One such film, Man Made Monster (1941), had just been re-issued as "The Atomic Monster", coincidentally the same title of Gordon's screenplay. Arkoff, smelling blood in the water, paid Broder a visit and, incredibly, obtained a $500 settlement. Broder's sales manager, James H. Nicholson, was dumbfounded by Arkoff's ability to extract a dime, let alone $500, out of his notoriously tightfisted boss. He met with Arkoff and proposed a partnership, which led to the formation of American Releasing Corp. in 1954. The company's first release was Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954), a low-budget feature by 29-year-old producer'Roger Corman'. Made for less than $50,000, it netted $850,000 and Corman was brought into the fold as a silent partner. By 1955 the company was renamed American-International Pictures, generally known as AIP in the industry. Initially focusing on westerns on the premise that shooting on location was cheaper than renting space in a studio. Although the films were profitable, Arkoff was unhappy with the returns and solicited theater owners for advice on what types of films filled seats.
By the mid-'50s, thanks to television, movie audience numbers had dwindled considerably, with the key demographic now teenagers and young adults, who craved horror movies and, especially, drive-ins (where they could gather together without their parents). AIP jumped into the horror genre with both feet and made a fortune. Under the aegis of Nicholson and Arkoff, the company survived in a constricting industry by catering to the whims of the teenage trade and adapting to trends. AIP's long (350-plus) roster of kitsch classics, running the gamut from horror to rock-'n'-roll, from juvenile delinquency to Italian muscle men and from Edgar Allan Poe to Annette Funicello, have formed their own unique niche in film history. His company became infamous for clever advertising schemes that were often more entertaining than the films themselves. Arkoff never tolerated egos and his films were more often than not profitable, thanks to tight budgets and a clear understanding of the company's target market. After Nicholson's 1972 resignation, Arkoff assumed full control of the company and remained in charge until the 1979 merger with Filmways prompted his own departure. He then became the head of Arkoff International Pictures.- R. Wright Campbell was born on 9 June 1927 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Teenage Cave Man (1958) and The Night Fighters (1960). He died on 21 September 2000 in Monterey, California, USA.
- One of six children born to an immigrant Norwegian glassblower, John Lund had a rather unsettled childhood. He dropped out of school at the age of 14. For a while, he tried his hand at several part-time jobs but never stayed long. He then devised various entrepreneurial ways to generate an income, including a quit-smoking program (a fairly novel idea at the time) and a mail order manual on mind-reading (!). Unsurprisingly, none of these ventures caught on. On the off-chance, Lund then got a small part in a local Rochester production in the Clifford Odets play "Waiting for Lefty". He went on from there to work in summer stock, eventually made his way to New York and finagled another small theatrical role while working at the 1939 World's Fair. For the next two years -- still restless -- Lund alternated jobs in advertising with acting and writing for radio.
In October 1941, he landed a plum role on Broadway in "As You Like It" and the following year penned both book and lyrics for the successful musical revue "New Faces of 1943". A much acclaimed leading role in the Bretaigne Windust production of "The Hasty Heart" followed in January 1945 and led to a six-year contract with Paramount. For the blue-eyed, saturnine, Nordic-looking Lund, the beginning of his career as a Hollywood leading man would also be his apex. He was at his best playing the dual role of an ill-fated World War I flying ace romancing Olivia de Havilland (subsequently, he played her grown-up illegitimate son in To Each His Own (1946)). Lund was also effectively cast as the romantic interest for both Marlene Dietrich and Jean Arthur in A Foreign Affair (1948).
There were further good roles to come: Lund showed unexpected comedic flair in the madcap farce Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948) as a Hollywood stunt man posing as an eccentric relative to help beleaguered heiress Wanda Hendrix against predatory gold-diggers. He gave reliable support to Barbara Stanwyck in the underrated melodrama No Man of Her Own (1950) and co-starred with Gene Tierney as one of newlyweds facing class barriers in The Mating Season (1951) (though Oscar-nominated Thelma Ritter as Lund's outspoken mother walked away with the acting honors for this one). By the end of 1951, Lund's star was in decline. He was briefly signed at Universal, but relegated to appearing primarily in routine westerns. His final major appearance was as George Kittredge, the stuffy fiancée who doesn't get the girl - this being Grace Kelly in her acting swansong High Society (1956).
Lund persisted for several more years on CBS radio as the titular insurance investigator of "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar", a role he made his own between November 1952 and September 1954. He appeared in largely forgettable films thereafter and retired from acting altogether by 1963. In the end, he seems to have succeeded in setting up a moderately successful business and spent his remaining years at his house in Coldwater Canyon (Hollywood Hills) where he died in May 1992. - Actor
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He once jokingly described himself as 'a frustrated song-and-dance man' who wound up typecast as a TV crime fighter. Tall, handsome Armenian-American Mike Connors had a minor career in the movies before becoming a star on the small screen as the impeccably dressed macho sleuth Joe Mannix. Towards the end of the series, his earnings per episode averaged a respectable $40,000. He was four times nominated for an Emmy Award and won a Golden Globe in 1969. Mannix (1967) was highly innovative in its day: among its winning combination were an upbeat jazzy score (composed by Lalo Schifrin), teasers, fast cuts from scene to scene, a car replete with a computer transmitting and receiving fingerprints and an African-American co-star (the charming Gail Fisher, who played Joe's secretary Peggy Fair). Many notable names guested in the show, some at very beginning of their careers (Diane Keaton and Martin Sheen, among others). 'Mannix' ran for eight seasons (1967-1975), a testament to its enduring popularity.
Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in Fresno, California. His mother wanted him to become an attorney. After wartime service in the Army Air Force he enrolled at UCLA on the G. I. Bill of Rights, began in law school but eventually took up theatre studies as his major. The nickname "Touch', Mike acquired on the basketball court where he first came to the attention of the director William A. Wellman who considered his features 'expressive'. He was first signed by Goldwyn studios on a 90-day contract. However, Goldwyn never took up the option and Mike never appeared in any of his films (it turned out that his signing had been no more than leverage to bring Farley Granger back in line who was causing Goldwyn some trouble). Through a talent agent, Mike got an interview at Republic to do a film with Joan Crawford called Sudden Fear (1952). That same guy also decided that his original surname Ohanian sounded too much like O'Hanlon -- George O'Hanlon was already a well-established film actor and writer -- and consequently changed his name to 'Connors'. Until 1957, Mike appeared in mainly low budget movies and TV anthologies, billed as 'Touch Connors' (an appellation he thoroughly disliked). He did several films for Roger Corman for $400 a pop. Arguably, the one highlight of his film career -- several years later -- could be said to be his role as one of a pair of American bomber crew (the other being Robert Redford) held captive in a cellar by a lonely German drug store clerk who chooses to withhold from them the trivial matter of Germany's surrender to the Allies (played with whimsical aplomb by the brilliant Alec Guinness) in the underrated and very funny black comedy Situation Hopeless -- But Not Serious (1965).
After many years as a struggling actor, Mike's first TV hit was Tightrope (1959) for CBS in which he starred as an undercover cop infiltrating an organized crime syndicate. Though the story lines became increasingly repetitive through its 37 episodes, the role pretty much defined his subsequent tough-guy image. During the original pilot for 'Mannix', which initially had Joe Mannix as the top investigator for the computerized Intertect detective agency under boss Joseph Campanella, Mike performed many of the stunts himself, in the process breaking a wrist and dislocating a shoulder. In an effort to make his character 'more real' than the traditional cynical Bogart-style gumshoe, he played Mannix as being more 'humane', often becoming emotionally involved in his cases and -- just as often -- ending up on the wrong end of a knuckle sandwich (in the course of the 194 episodes, poor old Joe was knocked unconscious on fifty-five occasions and shot seventeen times), or watching his beautiful client walk off with another man.
Another subsequent starring role as a modern-day G-Man in the short-lived Today's F.B.I. (1981) did not come close to rekindling his earlier success. Most of Mike's later appearances were as guest stars, notably a return as Joe Mannix in an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993). Later interviews revealed him to have been acutely aware of the transitory nature of TV stardom and exceedingly grateful for his one opportunity to shine. Mike Connors was happily married to Mary Lou Willey for 67 years.- Actor
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Paul Birch, born Paul Lowery Smith in Atmore, Alabama, was a stocky and barrel-chested actor, gifted with a resonant baritone speaking voice. Birch was a veteran of 39 movies, 50 stage dramas and an untold number of television shows, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951). He entered motion pictures via small roles in several westerns in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the middle 1950s he became part of the repertory company of Roger Corman, where he achieved star billing, but which he left following a physical confrontation with Corman during the filming of one of Birch's best-remembered films, Not of This Earth (1957), which had to be completed with the use of a double.
In the late 1950s, Birch starred, along with William Campbell, in the syndicated series Cannonball (1958), a half-hour drama/adventure show about long-haul truckers. He was the original "Marlboro Man" in TV commercials and played both Union Gen. U.S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in several historical playlets. He started out as the first of the original members of the Pasadena Playhouse and his stage work included "The Caine Mutiny". He was often called upon to play Grant due to the striking resemblance (when bearded) he bore to the former General and President. He enjoyed playing the roles of Lee and Grant and once remarked, "There were times when I was switching those two roles so fast I could have surrendered to myself."
Birch died on May 24, 1969 in St. George, Grenada, West Indies.- Actor
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Larry Thor was born on 27 August 1916 in Lundar, Manitoba, Canada. He was an actor and writer, known for The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Zero Hour! (1957) and The Fast and the Furious (1954). He was married to Jean Howell. He died on 15 March 1976 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Editor
- Sound Department
- Actor
Ronald Sinclair was born on 21 January 1924 in Dunedin, New Zealand. He was an editor and actor, known for Die Hard (1988), Spaceballs (1987) and Commando (1985). He was married to Carol A. Larsen. He died on 22 November 1992 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
James B. Sikking was born on March 5, 1934 in Los Angeles, California, the son of Unity ministers. Best known for his yeoman work as hard-charging, hardheaded SWAT leader Lt. Howard Hunter on the classic 80's police drama Hill Street Blues (1981), he received the name James Barrie Sikking as J.M. Barrie (of "Peter Pan" fame) was his parents' favorite author. Graduating from El Segundo High School, Sikking's interest in acting started after participating in various college plays while a student at the University of California-Santa Barbara, UCLA and the University of Hawaii.
Sikking made his professional stage debut in a production of "Damn Yankees" and broke into films with unbilled work in Five Guns West (1955) and The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956). He finally started receiving billing in the 1960s, albeit bit parts in films and television, as minor villains or in-charge types with such roles as a professional assassin in Point Blank (1967), the head of vice squad in The New Centurions (1972) and a CIA agent in Scorpio (1973) coming his way. Sikking's first steady television job was in 1973 when he was cast as Dr. James Hobart for three years on the daytime soap opera General Hospital (1963).
Moving into "Grade A" quality films in the early 1980s, Sikking still stayed pretty much in the background, such as his playing of Donald Sutherland's white-collar business comrade in the Oscar-winning Ordinary People (1980). It took his Emmy-nominated, scene-stealing role as the gung-ho, often volatile and emotionally unpredictable Lt. Hunter on Hill Street Blues (1981) to finally put him on the map.
Following the series' demise after six seasons, Sikking continued to move around in the top supporting ranks, finding steady work on television as Dr. David Howser, Neil Patrick Harris' father on Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989) and in important roles in such mini-movies as Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992). Continuing in such movies as Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Narrow Margin (1990) and The Pelican Brief (1993), he typically played various authoritarians. He received his first major movie co-lead in Final Approach (1991) as an Air Force Colonel who develops amnesia after an air disaster. He ended the decade back in the precinct as part of the ensemble of Brooklyn South (1997).
Into the millennium, Sikking obtained featured roles in the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Fever Pitch (2005); the Patrick Dempsey romantic comedy Made of Honor (2008); the family drama Wild About Harry (2009) and his last movie role, as a doctor, in the drama Just an American (2012). On TV, he showed up on such series guest parts as "The Guardian," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Closer."
Long married to wife Florine, whom he met while at UCLA, his actor/son Andrew Sikking occasionally appeared as an officer on his father's series Brooklyn South (1997).- Art Director
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Ben Hayne was born on 18 April 1897 in California, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for High Noon (1952), Blind Spot (1947) and Down to the Sea in Ships (1949). He died on 13 August 1972 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
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An internationally recognized producer, director, writer, composer, conductor, arranger and musical director. Since the 1950s, Bregman has worked with many of the biggest names in the business. After high school, Bregman attended the University of California. During his sophomore year, he arranged and conducted Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's hit record "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')" for the Cheers. In 1955 he was appointed orchestra leader for the Gary Crosby Show on CBS radio. At age 19 he was a producer, and went on to arrange and conduct music for double-platinum album artists Ella Fitzgerald's Cole Porter and many others. He helped launch "the Verve", and served as the record company's head of A & R. Bregman later produced and directed television and film in Europe, for both the BBC, producing 28 shows within the first two years, and the London Weekend ITV, where he served as Head of Entertainment. Bregman passed away on the 8th of January after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.- Writer
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Lou Rusoff was born on 3 August 1911 in Canada. Lou was a writer and producer, known for Beach Party (1963), Terry and the Pirates (1952) and Panic in Year Zero! (1962). Lou died on 29 June 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Composer, conductor, pianist and author Ronald Stein was educated at Washington University (BA), the Yale School of Music and the University of Southern California. In college he wrote musical shows. He was named the assistant musical director for the St. Louis Municipal Opera in 1950, 1951 and 1954. He served in the US Army Special Services at Fort Dix, NJ, from 1952-1954. Reurning home, he became the piano soloist for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1955. From that year to 1959 he was the music director of American-International Pictures, and in 1964 became the associate musical director for Phoenix Star. He joined ASCAP in 1956 and his popular compositions include "Raymie"; "Mexico City"; "Romantic Idyll"; and "The Garden", plus the film themes for Dime with a Halo (1963), The Littlest Hobo (1958) and Of Love and Desire (1963).- Actor
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The star of many land and underwater adventures, Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was born on January 15, 1913 in San Leandro, California, to Harriet Evelyn (Brown) and Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Sr., who owned a movie theater and also worked in the hotel business. He grew up in various Northern California towns. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but young Lloyd's interests turned to acting while at the University of California at Los Angeles. (Dorothy Dean Bridges, Bridges' wife of more than 50 years, was one of his UCLA classmates, and appeared opposite him in a romantic play called "March Hares.") He later worked on the Broadway stage, helped to found an off-Broadway theater, and acted, produced and directed at Green Mans ions, a theater in the Catskills. Bridges made his first films in 1936, and went under contract to Columbia in 1941. Allegations that Bridges had been involved with the Communist Party threatened to derail his career in the early 1950s, but he resumed work after testifying as a cooperative witness before the House Un-American Activities, admitting his past party membership and recanting. Making the transition to television, Bridges became a small screen star of giant proportions by starring in Sea Hunt (1958), the country's most successful syndicated series. Trouper Bridges worked right to the end, winning even more new fans with his spoofy portrayals in the movies Airplane! (1980) and Hot Shots! (1991), and their respective sequels. Lloyd Bridges died at age 85 of natural causes on March 10, 1998.- Actress
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Joan Taylor's mother, Amelia Berky, was a vaudeville singing-dancing star in the 1920s. Her father was a prop man in Hollywood during that same period, but, after Joan's birth, the family moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where her father managed a movie theater. She developed a love of movies from watching so many at her father's theater, and she graduated from the Chicago National Association of Dancing Masters. Heading to Hollywood in 1946, she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse. Victor Jory arranged an interview for her with producer Nat Holt, and she made her film debut in the Randolph Scott western Fighting Man of the Plains (1949). She appeared in quite a few films over the next several years, many of them westerns. She also made many appearances on TV series, and had a recurring role in The Rifleman (1958), but it's for two sci-fi films that she is fondly remembered by 1950s movie audiences: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). After her two-year stint on "The Rifleman", however, she decided to retire from films, and did so in 1963.- Lance Fuller was born on 6 December 1928 in Somerset, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for This Island Earth (1955), God's Little Acre (1958) and Kentucky Rifle (1955). He was married to Joi Lansing. He died on 22 December 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Paul Dubov was born on 10 October 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Backstairs at the White House (1979), Shock Corridor (1963) and The Crimson Kimono (1959). He was married to Gwen Bagni. He died on 20 September 1979 in Encino, California, USA.- Actor
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Born in the Bronx, New York to Russian Jewish immigrant parents (Isidor "Ira" and Rita Blucher Miller), Richard Miller served in the U.S. Navy for a few years and earned a prize title as a middleweight boxer. He settled in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, where he was noticed by producer/director Roger Corman, who cast him in most of his low-budget films, often as dislikeable sorts, such as a vacuum-cleaner salesman in Not of This Earth (1957). His most memorable role would have to be that of the mentally unstable, busboy/beatnik artist Walter Paisley, whose clay sculptures are suspiciously lifelike in A Bucket of Blood (1959) (a rare starring role for him), and he is also fondly remembered for his supporting role as the flower-eating Vurson Fouch in Corman's legendary The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).
Miller spent the next 20 years working in Corman productions, and starting in the late 1970s was often cast in films by director Joe Dante, appearing in credited and uncredited walk-on bits as quirky chatterboxes, and stole every scene he appeared in. He has played many variations on his famous Walter Paisley role, such as a diner owner (Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)) or a janitor (Chopping Mall (1986)). One of his best bits is the funny occult-bookshop owner in The Howling (1981). Being short (so he never played a romantic lead or a threatening villain) with wavy hair, long sideburns, a pointed nose and a face as trustworthy as a used-car dealer's, he was, and is to this day, an immediately recognizable character actor whose one-scene appearances in countless movies and TV shows guarantee audience applause.- Actor
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Iowa-born Chester Conklin was raised in a coal-mining area by a devoutly religious father who hoped that his son would go into the ministry. However, Chester got the performing bug one day when he gave a recitation at a community singing festival and won first prize. Knowing his father would never approve of his desire to become a comedian, he left home. One night in St. Louis he caught a vaudeville act by the famous team of Joe Weber and Lew Fields, who were doing what was called at the time a "Dutch" act. Conklin thought that he could do that act himself, and better, so he decided to develop a character patterned after his boss at the time, a German baker named Schultz. Schultz had a thick accent and a very bushy "walrus"-type mustache, which Conklin appropriated for his new character. He managed to break into vaudeville with this act and spent several years on tour with various stock companies. Eventually he secured a job as a clown with a traveling circus. After seeing several of Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops shorts in theaters, Conklin went to the Sennett studio and applied for a job there. Sennett hired him as a Keystone Kop (at $3 a day). He stayed with Sennett for six years, and became famous for his pairing with burly comic Mack Swain in a series of "Ambrose and Walrus" shorts and appeared in several of Charles Chaplin's shorts for the studio (Chaplin adapted Conklin's "walrus" mustache as part of the costume for his "Little Tramp" character). Conklin was approached by Fox Films to do a series of comedy shorts, and when Sennett refused to match the offer Fox made, Conklin left Sennett and signed with Fox. He stayed with Fox for several years, then freelanced for several independent producers in a series of comedy shorts. Conklin worked steadily into the sound era, and retired from the screen in 1966. His last movie was the well-received Western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966), in which his character was named "Chester."- Tom Filer (1925-2013) was an actor, screenwriter and novelist. Born in New York, he made his home in Santa Monica Canyon, a Southern California community of writers, actors, artists and architects, and became its greatest chronicler.
His works include "The Man on Watch (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961), "Finding Mahmoud" (iUniverse, 2001) and numerous Pushcart Prize-winning short stories. Unpublished works include "Harushima," a novel based on his wartime experiences as a Naval lieutenant in Micronesia; and "Civilization," "Goat Alley Tales," and "The Last Stand," a sweeping account of the 500-year history of Santa Monica Canyon, anchored by the story of his landlady, the mestizo owner of a rustic remnant of a Mexican land grant that once encompassed tens of thousands of acres.
Filer worked as a screenwriter and actor with Jack Nicholson, Monte Hellman ("Ride in the Whirlwind") and Roger Corman, supplementing his income with lobster diving and albacore fishing.
Filer taught writing at UCLA Extension, and held workshops in his home. In her first collection of short stories, author Mary Yukari Waters thanked Tom Filer and his Goat Alley writer's workshop for guiding her writing. - Additional Crew
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Sketch artist, fine arts painter, sculptor and monster maker Paul Blaisdell was born July 21, 1927, in Newport, Rhode Island, and grew up in Quincy, Massachussetts. He sketched alien monsters and constructed model airplane kits in his childhood days. Following graduation from high school, Paul briefly worked as a typewriter repairman and served a hitch in the military. Using the G.I. Bill, he attended the New England School of Art and Design, where he met his future wife, Jacqueline "Jackie" Boyle. Paul and Jackie got married in 1952 after finishing college and moved to Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles, California. Blaisdell worked as a technical illustrator for Douglas Aircraft and submitted his illustrations to such publications as "Spaceways" and "Otherworlds." Legendary magazine publisher 'Forrest J. Ackerman' was so impressed with Paul's work that he became his agent. It was through Ackerman that Blaisdell got his first film job designing the alien creature for Roger Corman's low-budget sci-fi outing The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955). Paul went on to handle the special effects on and/or design monsters for such low-budget American-International Pictures drive-in fare as Not of This Earth (1957), Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) and The Spider (1958).
Best known for his strikingly original and imaginative creature designs, Blaisdell's most memorable monsters are the grotesquely malformed mutant in Day the World Ended (1955), the infamous cucumber creature in It Conquered the World (1956), Tabanga the tree monster in From Hell It Came (1957) and the titular distaff beast in The She-Creature (1956). In addition to designing these creatures, he also often played them as well.
Blaisdell became increasingly disenchanted with the film business, however, and quit making contributions to movies in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s he and fellow hardcore horror cinema fan Bob Burns launched the magazine "Fantastic Monsters of the Films," a sadly short-lived publication that featured a how-to section by Paul called "The Devil's Workshop." He also, in the early 1960s, did conceptual artwork on several movies which never got made. Eventually Paul left the business altogether and eked out a modest living as a carpenter.
Paul died of stomach cancer at the tragically young age of 55 on July 10, 1983 in Topanga Canyon, California.- Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Louis Albert Denninger Jr. was the son of a garment manufacturer who relocated and set up shop in Los Angeles when Louis Jr. was 18 months old. After finishing school, Denninger enrolled at Woodbury Business College and majored in business and accounting, graduating cum laude with a master's in business administration. But Denninger, who never liked accounting, started becoming involved in little theater groups as a hobby and was encouraged to compete in a radio contest called "Do You Want to Be an Actor?", winning a screen test at Warner Brothers. Warners wasn't interested in him because he looked too much like another well-known actor under contract, but by now he had his heart set on a movie career. Denninger was soon signed by Paramount, who insisted on changing his name (to "Richard Denning") because his real name, Denninger, sounded too much like gunman John Dillinger's. He retired and moved to Maui but was asked to play the governor in TV's Hawaii Five-O (1968). He agreed to play the governor as long as he didn't have to be in every episode. It ran for 12 years, ending in 1980. Five years later, his actress-wife Evelyn Ankers died at their up-country Maui home (cancer). "I'm very grateful for a career that wasn't spectacular, but always made a good living or filled in "in-between," Denning said of his acting days. "I have wonderful memories of it, but I don't really miss it."
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lori Nelson began her show biz career at the age of two-and-a-half, dancing in a show in her native Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was voted Santa Fe's most talented and beautiful child, and toured the state billed as "Santa Fe's Shirley Temple." At age four, Nelson moved to Hollywood with her parents and there was named Little Miss America. She worked as a fashion photographer's model, then (in the early 1940s) made her first bid for a movie career, testing (unsuccessfully) for a role in Warner Brothers' Kings Row (1942). There was a second false start a few years later, when Arthur M. Landau, a Hollywood producer and self-proclaimed "discoverer" of 1930s star Jean Harlow, expressed interest in casting teenage Nelson as Harlow in a movie bio. (The project never materialized.) Agent Milo O. Frank Jr. helped Nelson get into the movies, taking her to Universal to meet with casting people. Nelson trained with the studio dramatic coach, enacted a scene for the front office and ultimately was offered a seven-year contract, which was approved in court on her 17th birthday. After several years at Universal, she freelanced in movies and TV.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Fewer dames were tougher on the 40s and 50s screen than leggy (5'9") "B" star Adele Jergens, the tough-talking, plump-cheeked peroxide blonde who gave her fair share of tawdry trouble in backstage dramas, film noir, crime potboilers, and adventure yarns. She was just as headstrong at trying to bust out of the chorus lines and cheesecake parts to become a topnotch "A" actress draw. She failed in the latter but nevertheless left a respectable Hollywood legacy for the host of hard-as-nails babes that did leave an impression.
Born on November 26, 1917, in Brooklyn New York, the youngest of four to working class Norwegian parents, she was christened Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson) and started her youth as a sports-minded tomboy before setting her young teen sights on an entertainment career as a dancer. After years of study (she earned a scholarship) at a Manhattan dance studio and following her graduation from Grover Cleveland High School, the knockout-looking 18-year-old found her way into the Broadway chorus line (billed as Adele Jurgens, her real name) of the Moss Hart/Cole Porter musical "Jubilee!", which introduced the classic Porter songs "Begin the Beguine" and "Just One of Those Things" and starred Melville Cooper and Mary Boland as the King and Queen and a young Montgomery Clift as Prince Peter.
The John Robert Powers Agency saw in Adele top runway model potential and quickly signed up the gorgeous girl and her gams. She willingly played the starlet game by being squired around town by big Broadway stars and handsome male eligibles, and finding promotional titles to further attract pin-up attention -- "Miss World's Fairest" at the New York 1939 World's Fair, as well as "The Champagne Blonde" and "The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs". She was even dubbed "The Number One Showgirl in New York City" at one point. By this time she had revised the spelling of her last name for the stage (Jergens). In between modeling assignments, Adele found dance work in other in cabaret revues, nightclubs, in the Rockette chorus line, and in such Broadway shows as Cole Porter's "Leave It to Me!" (1938) again starring Gaxton and Moore and co-starring "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" singing star Mary Martin; Cole Porter's "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1939) with Ethel Merman belting out "Well, Did You Evah?" and "Friendship"; "Louisiana Purchase" (in a replacement role) (1940), "Banjo Eyes" (1941) starring Eddie Cantor and the burlesque revue "Star and Garter" (1942) in which Adele had a featured role while understudying one of its headliners, Gypsy Rose Lee. She went on for Ms. Lee, Hollywood took immediate notice with Twentieth Century-Fox signing her up.
Adele started at the bottom rung at Fox with the usual decorative showgirl or good time girl parts in the musicals Hello Frisco, Hello (1943), Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943), The Gang's All Here (1943)and Pin Up Girl (1944). When Fox dropped her option she was snatched up by Columbia in a seven-year contract. After minor parts again in the musicals Dancing in Manhattan (1944), Tonight and Every Night (1945) and State Fair (1945), she was entrusted with the lead femme role as Princess Armina of Baghdad in the Eastern adventure A Thousand and One Nights (1945) with Phil Silvers and handsome Cornel Wilde as Aladdin. She also displayed a brusque comic flair as the aptly-named Allura in the Rosalind Russell comedy She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945) as an hilariously-accented blonde briefly competing for Russell's man Lee Bowman. She top-lined her own musical albeit the quickly forgotten When a Girl's Beautiful (1947) which co-starred Marc Platt and Stephen Dunne.
After a lull, the former WWII pin-up (once nick-named "The All-American Girl" by the men of the 504th parachute infantry) was now being billed by Columbia as "The Eyeful" and returned to the musical genre with the fantasy Down to Earth (1947). Rita Hayworth plays a heavenly muse who, disturbed by a Broadway musical below the clouds that is mocking Greek mythology. Turning mortal, she takes things in her own hands by turning mortal and (not easily) replacing the show's tough-talking original goddess Adele Jergens in order to manipulate the proceedings. Adele gets to tap and sing (dubbed by Kay Starr) before she is fired.
Outside of musicals, the hard-looking blonde (especially when her hair was let down), Adele started making headway in crime dramas and film noir starting with a nifty featured role as a glamour girl in The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947). She followed that with hard-boiled roles in I Love Trouble (1948), The Dark Past (1948), Edge of Doom (1950), Armored Car Robbery (1950) and Side Street (1949). For the most part, however, it was the usual over-served hash that, while keeping her busy, also kept her locked in the "B" support ranks -- The Prince of Thieves (1948), Law of the Barbary Coast (1949), Slightly French (1949), Make Believe Ballroom (1949), Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), Somebody Loves Me (1952) -- when not leading in inconsequential material such as Ladies of the Chorus (1948) (as the mother of Marilyn's Monroe's character), The Mutineers (1949), The Woman from Tangier (1948), The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949) and the serial Radar Secret Service (1950).
Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949) was notable for the casting of Adele and future husband Glenn Langan. One might think that gorgeous Adele would end up a divorcée many times over, but she and Langan, who wed on October 6, 1951, stayed married until his death almost 40 years later. The 1950s, following good parts (Sugarfoot (1951)) but far more routine ones (Beware of Blondie (1950), The Traveling Saleswoman (1950), Blues Busters (1950)), Adele moved into TV work. After having son Tracy in 1953, Adele took a brief break from her career, then resumed it and found work on such programs as "Dangerous Assignment", "The Abbott & Costello Show", "Mr. and Mrs. North", "Make Room for Daddy", "The Public Defender", "I Married Joan", "My Favorite Husband", and "The Burns & Allen Show". Co-starring on film with husband Langan again in The Big Chase (1954), Jergens worked for a couple more years then left the business as the quality of her movies diminished with tawdry roles in Fireman Save My Child (1954), The Miami Story (1954), The Lonesome Trail (1955), Girls in Prison (1956) and Runaway Daughters (1956). She never returned but husband continued his career until the early 1970s; he also dabbled in real estate.
Glenn Langan died of cancer in 1991 and their only child, 48-year-old Tracy, who had become a film technician, died in 2001 of a brain tumor, which devastated the actress. Her health declined quickly after her son's death; she died the following year of pneumonia on November 22, 2002, just days before her 85th birthday.- Actor
- Soundtrack
The son of a physician, Raymond Hatton entered films in 1909, eventually appearing in almost 500 other pictures. In early silents he formed a comedy team with big, burly Wallace Beery. He was best known as the tobacco-chewing, rip-snorting Rusty Joslin in the Three Mesquiteers series. He was also in the Rough Riders series and appeared as Johnny Mack Brown's sidekick as well. His last Western was, fittingly, Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965).- Actor
- Writer
Chet Huntley, a native of Bozeman, Montana, worked for Movietone News and then CBS radio in Los Angeles, as well as NBC TV in Los Angeles. His big break came when he moderated NBC coverage of the 1956 political conventions, when he was paired with former UPI reporter David Brinkley. This partnership led to the Huntley-Brinkley report, the NBC nightly newscast which ran weeknights on NBC until 1970. Chet also participated in historical events, such as November 22, 1963, when, along with stunned colleagues Bill Ryan and Frank McGee, he brought to NBC viewers live coverage and instant analysis of the events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Chet later, after Huntley-Brinkley went off the air, became a spokesman for American Airlines and started his own Montana resort. He passed away in 1974, not long after his colleague Frank McGee.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Santa Cruz, California, Beverly Garland studied dramatics under Anita Arliss, the sister of renowned stage and screen star George Arliss. She acted in a little theater in Glendale then in Phoenix after her family relocated to Arizona. Garland also worked in radio and appeared scantily-clad in a few risqué shorts before making her feature film debut in a supporting part in D.O.A. (1949). Her husbands include actor Richard Garland, and land developer Fillmore Crank, who built 2 hotels which bear her name. Ms. Garland's longest runs were on Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983) and My Three Sons (1960). Later on she guest-starred on a number of TV shows, including The Guardian (2001), on CBS, and Weakest Link (2001), on NBC, and maintained her continuing roles on 7th Heaven (1996), on the WB (now the CW), and Port Charles (1997), on ABC, which began in the 1990s.
In 1983, Ms. Garland received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2001, in recognition of her 50 years in show business, the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters inducted her into its Hall of Fame. Ms. Garland has two very significant historical television "firsts": she was television's first policewoman as the star of Decoy (1957), and, more importantly, the series gave her the honor of becoming the first actress to star in a television dramatic series. After her husband of 39 years died in 1999, Beverly continued to operate the 255-room Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood (with the assistance of three of her four children). Beverly Garland died at age 82 in her home in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California on 5 December, 2008.- Anyone who loves B-movies of the 1950s appreciates this lovely actress Allison Hayes. She was born Mary Jane Hayes on March 6, 1930 in Charleston, West Virginia. The auburn-haired beauty was the 1949 Washington, D.C. entry into the Miss America pageant. Shortly afterwards, Mary Jane adopted the familiar first name of Allison. She got her start on local Washington television before heading to Hollywood in the early 1950s. Allison began her career with Universal Pictures; the studio groomed her, but only on the path of B-movies. In her film debut, Francis Joins the WACS (1954), she was a supporting actress to the speaking mule, which had the title role. She played the devilishly alluring "Livia" in The Undead (1957), and co-starred with B-movie legend Tor Johnson in The Unearthly (1957).
Allison achieved film immortality in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), in which she tore the roof off the place, and killed rival Yvette Vickers. After that, Allison was a staple in classic B-grade horror films. She was in the exploitation classic The Hypnotic Eye (1960), which had a trailer showing an alleged hypnotist mesmerizing a volunteer as he stuck long needles in her arms (this was some of the typical ballyhoo going on at the time). However, Allison was a versatile actress; she did drama very well, as when she guest-starred on the television series The Untouchables (1959), in the highly-rated episode, The Rusty Heller Story (1960).
Allison had a flair for comedy, which she demonstrated when she appeared in the Dean Martin film, Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963). Her last film appearance was with "The King", himself, Elvis Presley in Tickle Me (1965), with a hilarious script by the legendary writer Elwood Ullman. However, Allison's health declined steadily throughout the 1960s. Her death on February 27, 1977 was due either to leukemia or lead poisoning (due to doctor-prescribed calcium supplements). Allison Hayes died far too young; her fans will forever remember her legacy in films. - Martin Kingsley was a successful supporting actor of stage, radio, television and screen for a relatively short period, from 1947 until 1957. Martin was born Martin Kornhauser in Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn, NY on December 14, 1925, the first born son of Harry A. (a native of Hungary) and Sadye R. Weiss Kornhauser. Martin was raised in Brooklyn. He had one sister, Edna, perhaps six years his junior. Martin entered the U.S. Army after he became of draft age, perhaps in early 1944, and served in Third Army Headquarters in France. During the closing days of the war while on active duty, Martin volunteered for an acting role, playing the gangster Trock, in the overseas G.I. production of 'Winterset,' under the Broadway director Guthrie McClintic. It was McClintic who would later provide Martin his first acting job after Martin was discharged from military service. Martin began his professional acting career in the Broadway stage production of Antony and Cleopatra (1947), directed by McClintic, playing the part of Dercetas (and later Menas) with Katharine Cornell. He next played the part of Kurtz in the Broadway stage production of Red Gloves (1948) with Charles Boyer. For the next seven years Martin played roles in more than 200 live New York television productions, including episodes in Suspense, Police Story, Robert Montgomery Presents, Cosmopolitan Theater, Colgate Theater, Philco Studio One, Campbell Soundstage, and Broadway Television Theater where Martin had a starring role as Erwin Trowbridge in "Three Men on a Horse" (1952). For a time, Martin also starred as Captain John Howard in his weekly radio drama "Sentenced" aired over the Mutual Broadcasting network. During that same period, Martin toured with summer and winter stock stage productions where he played a variety of roles opposite well known stage, TV and screen actors of that era such as José Ferrer, Mary Anderson, Brian Aherne, Peggy Ann Garner Paula Laurence, Buff Cobb Buster Keaton, Signe Hasso, Shelley Winters Sam Levene, Sylvia Sidney, Diana Barrymore, Ann Thomas, Orson Bean, Vincent Price, Maureen Stapleton, and Ruth Hussey. In 1953, Martin received second billing in his first known film for TV with James Dean in one episode of No Room (1953). In 1956, Martin was again called to Hollywood where he played supporting roles in Gunslinger (1956) with John Ireland, and in The Oklahoma Woman (1956) with Richard Denning, Mike Connors and Peggie Castle. He was also filmed in two television episodes, for 20-20 (1956) with James Arness and Dennis Weaver; and in Press Photographer (1956). In February 1956, while Martin was working in Hollywood, his father in Brooklyn developed serious medical problems and would later undergo two major surgeries. Because of this, Martin was compelled to returned to his parent's home in Brooklyn and to immediately take over the business his father had founded: "Edmark Gowns - Makers of Kornhauser Originals:" a successful high end fashion line that was marketed nationwide. On April 15, 1956 Martin wrote to his wife, Polly, from Brooklyn saying, "Seems to me my parents seem prouder of what I accomplished in the last two days than of anything I've done in the last 32 years. And this was child's play compared to what I had to do the last ten - believe me. It was more difficult for me to get one television job than to go through three months of what I accomplished there. But, at the same time, it was satisfying and I think the effect on future operations will be salutary." Martin had abandoned his acting career; and for the next sixteen years, he traveled the country from his homes in New Your and in New Jersey selling Edmark Gowns. During the mid 1970s Martin sold or closed Edmark Gowns, sold the home in Montclair, NJ that he had once shared with his wife Polly and their daughter Claudia, and relocated to Claremont, CA, 35 miles east of Hollywood. At that time, Martin and his wife were separated, and Martin was living alone. From Claremont Martin reportedly pursued roles and producer opportunities in the movie and TV industry while working part time in various sales jobs. As of August 11, 2010, nothing is known of Martin's TV and film career beyond 1956. Martin eventually lost his contacts within the industry he loved, fell into poor health and died September 30, 1997 at Montclair (near Claremont), CA at age 71.
- An arch-villain -- the ultimate henchman -- Chris Alcaide appeared in scores of film noirs (mainly vintage Columbia B detective movies) and Westerns. His tall frame, steely look, and deep voice menaced such TV and movie stars as Glenn Ford, Tyrone Power, Lorne Greene, Richard Boone, Clint Walker, and even Elvis Presley, for decades. In 2003, Alcaide won a well-deserved Crystal Samuelian Golden Boot several months before his death.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
The son of Edwin Schallert, drama editor of the "Los Angeles Times" and the dean of West Coast critics, William Schallert became interested in an acting career while at UCLA in 1942. After graduation, he became involved with the Circle Theater (eventually becoming one of its owners) and made his film debut in The Foxes of Harrow (1947). He then became ubiquitous in movies and TV ever since, and from 1979 to 1981, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild. He stayed active with SAG projects and said he never gave retirement a thought.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Frederick E. West was born on 1 October 1903 in California, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for While London Sleeps (1926), Swamp Women (1956) and The Missing Link (1927). He died on 20 November 1984 in San Luis Obispo, California, USA.- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Paul Rapp was born in Beverly Hills, California to father Phil and mother Mary. He is the younger brother of comedy writer Joel Rapp. Paul attended school in Beverly Hills including Beverly Hills High School and finished his schooling at USC where he majored in English, Child Psychology and Film. In 1958 he wrote one of his most important papers about the use of 3 cameras in shooting sitcoms. His experience in this was assisting his father directing 4 pilots of "The Bickersons" in 1954. In 1958 Paul was introduced to Roger Corman where he became head of production on many of Roger's films both in writing and directing. Paul worked virtually every major studio as an assistant director or unit production manager. Throughout that period Paul continued being Roger's right hand man. Paul aimed his skills on developing advanced equipment and production technologies that would speed shooting and reduce costs. From 1960 onward, Paul raised his son Brian. He was the first single father to be given custody of a tender age child in California. Roger helped Paul by supplying him with plane tickets for Brian to visit Paul on location and money for Brian's nanny. Some of Roger's earliest films were shot in five days or less. "The Terror" with Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson was shot in two days using the set of the just finished "The Raven". Many technologies started with Roger. Hand held cameras on "Wild Angels" and "The Trip". Mobile studio vans on "Ski Troop Attack", "Box Car Bertha" and "Gas". Every film was under budget and ahead of schedule. With money invested by Wilt Chamberlain, Paul decided to make a sports documentary style film entitled "Go For It" (1975). He wrote, directed and produced this very successful film. The title became a part of the language as in the teen oriented films of the sixties such as "Girls on the Beach", "The Trip", and "Wild Angels" where many hippie expressions began. Paul also directed 2nd Unit on the "Happy Days" episode where Fonzie jumps the shark, which led to another expression. Budweiser had an entire ad campaign that used the "Go For It" logo. "Go For It" spawned a completely new style of camera work where the hand held 16mm camera was put to use inside waves and mounted on skateboards. The film would later be blown up to 35mm. Paramount Pictures had to rely on Paul's expertise using these technologies to film Fonzie jumping the shark. "Wide World of Sports" asked Paul to show them some of these camera shots for their cameraman. While with Roger Corman, Paul was asked to help tutor the likes of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and others who broke into filmmaking working for Roger. When Martin Scorsese came to Paul to make "Mean Streets", Paul said it must be made in Los Angeles with four days of 2nd Unit in New York. Using the first handheld Arriflex BL, 1st unit was shot in 16 days on schedule and under budget of $350,000.
When asked to produce "Miracle on 34th Street" for Norman Rosemont, Paul showed that by shooting the film on practical locations it could be made for its license cost. Had it been done in studio at 20th Century Fox as originally planned it would have been over budget by several hundred thousand dollars. Between 1968 and 1972 Paul acted as Head of Production for Fanfare Films, a publicly traded company on the NYSE. There he produced "Run Angel Run", a film about a motorcycle gang that was a big winner at the box office. That was followed by another hit, "Gay Deceivers". Then Paul directed the first general release X rated film, "Curious Female", which became a cult film in Europe. All of the Fanfare releases were under budget and on schedule. At Fanfare Paul initiated the use of product placement to offset costs, which was to become common practice in 21st century TV and films. While at Fanfare Paul was very active in distribution. Back with Roger Corman, Paul worked as Executive Producer on "Avalanche". With a budget of $1.5 million this film starring Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow and heavy on special effects was once again made under budget and on schedule in Durango, Colorado.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Mark Hanna was born on 12 January 1917 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), The Gatling Gun (1971) and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). He was married to Charlotte M Preston and Helena Pauline Cordell. He died on 16 October 2003 in Lake Worth, Florida, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Tall, sultry, green-eyed blonde Peggie Castle was actually spotted by a talent scout while she was lunching in a Beverly Hills restaurant. In her films she was usually somebody's "woman" rather than a girlfriend, and her career was confined to mostly "B"-grade action pictures, dramas or westerns: Harem Girl (1952), Wagons West (1952), The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Jesse James' Women (1954), among others. She did, however, have good roles in such films as Payment on Demand (1951) with Bette Davis, 99 River Street (1953) with John Payne, I, the Jury (1953), The White Orchid (1954), Miracle in the Rain (1956) with Jane Wyman and in Seven Hills of Rome (1957) with Mario Lanza. After three seasons playing sexy femme lead Lily Merrill, the dance-hall hostess and romantic interest for steely-eyed Marshal Dan Troop in the TV western series Lawman (1958), she left show business in 1962. She later developed an alcohol problem and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1973 at age 45.- A pleasant, attractive leading lady, Cathy Downs was an "outdoors type" who worked as a model before she became a Fox contract player in 1944. In the late 1940s she was being groomed for major success -- e.g., she played the title role in John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) -- but most of her subsequent movie roles were in low-budget westerns, action and horror pictures. She was married to Joe Kirkwood Jr., an actor and producer who played Joe Palooka in a series of low-budget 1940-'50s films. They acted together in a short-lived TV series The Joe Palooka Story (1954). She is well-regarded in science-fiction fan circles as a memorable heroine of 1950s sci-fi flicks.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
This distinctive-looking, bushy-browed, heavy-set Welsh character actor played dozens of rustics, sea captains, sheriffs, priests and police officers during a forty-year long career, starting in 1926. His was the perfect face for period drama. At the peak of his popularity, Owen co-starred as a first mate in Captain David Grief (1957), a South Seas adventure based on stories by Jack London. During the 1940's and 50's, he was prolific on radio, lending his voice to crime dramas like "Pursuit" (CBS, 1949-52) and "Pete Kelly's Blues". His best-known role was that of alcoholic 'wharf-bum' Jocko Madigan, drunk ex-doctor friend and sidekick of star Jack Webb, in "Pat Novak for Hire". He also voiced Towser in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)).- Actor
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Kermit Maynard was born on 20 September 1897 in Vevay, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fighting Texan (1937), Valley of Terror (1937) and Phantom Patrol (1936). He was married to Edith Jessen. He died on 16 January 1971 in North Hollywood, California, USA.- Before he began his acting career, Saxon was a wrestler ("Lord Spears") whose gimmick was entering the arena in a dress suit and quoting Shakespeare at every opportunity. His cauliflower ears marked him for "mug" roles; after making a few movies, he was able to afford plastic surgery and had an operation in hopes of landing different types of acting assignments. One of his first after the procedure was the part of a newspaper journalist seeking a better understanding of desperado Jesse James in 'The True Story of Jesse James' (1957).
- Producer
- Writer
- Casting Director
Alex Gordon and his equally movie-crazy brother Richard Gordon haunted English movie theaters as boys before emigrating to New York in 1947. Richard remained East Coast-based as he forged a career as a film distributor and producer, while Alex set down roots in Hollywood, where he got in on the ground floor at AIP and produced the company's Day the World Ended (1955), The She-Creature (1956) and many more. He later left AIP to become an independent producer, turning out such films as The Atomic Submarine (1959), The Underwater City (1962) and the westerns The Bounty Killer (1965) and Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965). After his producing career wrapped, Alex accepted a position at 20th Century-Fox, where he instituted a film restoration program and rediscovered more than 30 Fox films that had been considered lost. In 1976, he left Fox for the Gene Autry Organization, becoming vice-president of a company owned by the B-western hero he had admired as a boy (Alex had been the president of the British Gene Autry Fan Club) and worked for as a young man (he was advance man on Autry's cross-country personal appearance tours in the 1950s).- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Peter Graves was born Peter Duesler Aurness on March 18, 1926 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While growing up in Minnesota, he excelled at sports and music (as a saxophonist), and by age 16, he was a radio announcer at WMIN in Minneapolis. After two years in the United States Army Air Force, he studied drama at the University of Minnesota and then headed to Hollywood, where he first appeared on television and later made his film debut in Rogue River (1951). Numerous film appearances followed, especially in Westerns. However, Graves is primarily recognized for his television work, particularly as Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible (1966). Peter Graves died of a heart attack on March 14, 2010, just four days before his 84th birthday.- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of the great movie villains, Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr. was born in Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia (Van Fleet) and Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef, Sr. His parents were of Dutch ancestry. Van Cleef started out as an accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and sub chasers during World War II. After the war he worked as an office administrator, becoming involved in amateur theatrics in his spare time. An audition for a professional role led to a touring company job in "Mr. Roberts". His performance was seen by Stanley Kramer, who cast him as henchman Jack Colby in High Noon (1952), a role that brought him great recognition despite the fact that he had no dialogue. For the next decade, he played a string of memorably villainous characters, primarily in westerns but also in crime dramas such as The Big Combo (1955). His hawk nose and steely, slit eyes seemed destined to keep him always in the realm of heavies, but in the mid 1960s Sergio Leone cast him as the tough but decent Col. Mortimer opposite Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More (1965). A new career as a western hero (or at least anti-hero) opened up, and Van Cleef became an international star, though in films of decreasing quality. In the 1980s, he moved easily into action and martial-arts movies and starred in The Master (1984), a TV series featuring almost non-stop martial arts action. He died of a heart attack in December 1989 and was buried at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills.- In her brief but noted screen career in the late 1950s, vivacious blonde Sally Fraser ran screaming from spiders, aliens, monsters and giants and straight into minor cult filmdom. While not handed many roles that would show off her true acting mettle, Sally, whose slight resemblance to Marjorie Lord was noticeable, nevertheless photographed beautifully and was captivating enough to leave her mark in 1950s films.
Born in Williston, North Dakota, on December 12, 1932, she moved to Southern California with her family (the youngest of five children) after spending a few years in Minneapolis. Her father subsequently bought and operated a feed store in the Canoga Park area of Los Angeles and worked there after school. As a young girl she expressed an interest in singing and joined her church choir while taking voice lessons. Spotted after singing on a local TV show, the pert beauty was encouraged to take drama courses and started to gain experience in local and summer stock plays, including "Bus Stop" with Marie Wilson, "Separate Tables" with Don Porter and Signe Hasso and "The Moon Is Blue".
Finding a theatrical agent Sally's move into television came as a result of her singing skills (in a way). It was a TV version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Fredric March as Scrooge and Basil Rathbone as Marley's Ghost. She played both Belle and The Ghost of Christmas Past but her singing voice would be dubbed by operatic diva Marilyn Horne. She went on to appear in a number of western shows such as The Gene Autry Show (1950), Annie Oakley (1954) and Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951). A vivacious presence in lighter fare, Sally made guest appearances on "December Bride," "Bachelor Father," "Mr. Lucky" and took her last job in the late 1960s in "Lassie".
As for films, following a bit role in her debut film All I Desire (1953), she nabbed the female lead opposite Edmund Gwenn and a canine in the sentimental fantasy It's a Dog's Life (1955). Sally quickly found herself pocketed in low-budget 50s sci-fiers. She played the wife of Peter Graves who becomes possessed by aliens in the Roger Corman quickie It Conquered the World (1956); the brave sister of the colossal man in War of the Colossal Beast (1958); and a mother protecting her baby in The Spider (1958). Others included Giant from the Unknown (1958), the racing car programmer Roadracers (1959), and Dangerous Charter (1962). Rare quality films also came her way such as Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) and the Burt Lancaster starrer Elmer Gantry (1960), but her roles would be minuscule.
Fraser continued to work on stage ("Jenny Kissed Me" with Rudy Vallee and "the musical "Of Thee I Sing" with George D. Wallace) and TV and well into the 60s until she decided to retire to raise her family.
Her husband, Allan Johnson, ran a manufacturing business for some time. They eventually moved to Harrison, Idaho in the 80s and lived on a cattle ranch. She died there on January 13, 2019, at age 86. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Russ Bender was born on 1 January 1910 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for War of the Colossal Beast (1958), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) and The Twilight Zone (1959). He died on 16 August 1969 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Production Manager
- Writer
Taggart Casey was born on 26 August 1912 in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor and production manager, known for Office Love-in (1968), It Conquered the World (1956) and My World Dies Screaming (1958). He died on 19 March 1998 in Burlingame, California, USA.- David McMahon was born on 11 December 1910 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for It Conquered the World (1956), Cavalcade of America (1952) and Rescue 8 (1958). He was married to Dorothea McMenamin. He died on 27 January 1972 in Pasadena, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen) was born in Marysvale, Utah, and attended Brigham Young University. She trained for the stage under Maria Ouspenskaya before she began playing leading roles in B pictures in the late 1940s. So many B films in fact, that she garnered the title of 'Queen of the Bs'.
She was a talent - to paraphrase a cliché - of the right type and the right time. If film noir could have manufactured an archetype, it would most definitely have been Marie.
With Ms Windsor's bedroom eyes ('they didn't fit for a 'goody-goody wife, or a nice little girlfriend' ) she smouldered on screens, in scenes with John Garfield, and many others, in some of her best work. Marie's femme fatale (Ms Windsor was later quoted as saying a femme fatale is '...usually the woman who gets the man into bed... then into trouble') was on screen, most notably her role as the manipulative, double-crossing wife of Elisha Cook Jr. in The Killing (1956) (which earned her "Look" magazine's Best Supporting Actress award).
Marie later said she loved playing them because they're '... the type of character audience's never forget'.
Some of her favourites amongst her own films, in addition to The Killing (1956), are The Narrow Margin (1952) and Hellfire (1949).
Marie married was married twice before she met Jack Hupp, a realtor with whom she had a son. After retiring from films, Marie took up sculpting and painting.
Marie passed away one day before her 81st birthday. She's interred with her husband in her hometown.
Marie said audience's 'loved to hate her', and this is only partially true; audience's love Ms Windsor for the dynamism she portrayed, and as film noir gains new fans every day - more than 3/4 of a century since their heyday, it's a love affair which shows no signs of abating.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carole Mathews was born on 13 September 1920 in Montgomery, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Swamp Women (1956), Cry Murder (1950) and Blazing the Western Trail (1945). She was married to John Arthur Stockton. She died on 6 November 2014 in Murrieta, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Susan Cummings was born on 10 July 1930 in Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress, known for Swamp Women (1956), Soldiers of Fortune (1955) and Utah Blaine (1957). She was married to Robert Edward Strasser, Charles Pawley and Keith Larsen. She died on 3 December 2016 in Chandler, Arizona, USA.- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Lou Place was born in 1912 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is a production manager and assistant director, known for Daddy-O (1958), Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966) and Doc Corkle (1952).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Smoulderingly beautiful and a fetching, exotic-eyed vision on the American screen during the 1950s and early 1960s, dark-maned Lisa Montell impressed more, especially to male film-goers, as a lovely diversion midst all the rugged terrain and tropical South Sea hazards than as a formidable actress. Similar in beauty and allure to the stunning Debra Paget and France Nuyen, the "Starlet of Many Faces" had a strong knack for ethnic accents and managed to play a variety of foreign types over her relatively brief time before the camera (Peruvian, Mexican, French, Italian, Burmese, Polynesian). Her film resume, which would include such cult-oriented classics as Daughter of the Sun God (1962), World Without End (1956) and the Roger Corman cheapies Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) were nearly all "B" and "C" grade (or worse) in scope and she eventually tired of the lack of challenge. She abandoned her career at the height of her beauty (around 1962) but found immense personal rewards in later decades as a spiritual exponent of the Bahá'í faith.
Although Lisa was born Irena Ludmilla Vladimiovna Augustinovich in Warsaw, Poland, on July 5, 1933, she was not raised there and did not keep her given name for long. Of Russian-Polish descent, she was born to privilege. She and her family managed to flee safely to the United States just months before the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Her father, a successful businessman, changed the family name to Montwill and Irena's name was adjusted to Irene. The family moved into a spacious Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City and generously took in Polish refugees (both friends and family) as needed during WWII.
Lisa studied art, voice and dance in Forest Hills and eventually was accepted into the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. She later transferred to the High School for the Performing Arts where she developed an interest in acting. Following graduation, she attended the University of Miami (Florida) for a semester before her father, whose business involved iron mines in Peru, relocated the family to Lima. While there Lisa again studied drama in American-based acting workshops that were set up there. She received her first professional break in 1953 after being noticed and cast by Hollywood producers searching for local female leads for a film they were shooting in Peru.
The film was called Daughter of the Sun God (1962) and it was set in the Peruvian jungles. Lisa plays a young adventurous blonde explorer on an expedition who is not only threatened by raging waters, desert heat and native ritualistic practices, but by various wildlife as well (crocodiles, pumas and gigantic snakes, to name a few). The film had financial problems and was so poorly made that it was held up nearly a decade before it was finally bought and released to the American market in 1962.
While enjoying a South American jet-set life in Peru, Lisa went on to appear in a handful of other local films before learning of Hollywood's interest in her despite the unsuccessful marketing of her debut film. Following her father's untimely death, Lisa and her mother moved to Los Angeles where the ethnic-looking wannabe found work cast on TV as Eurasian, Latina and Native-American types.
Billed as Irene Montwill, Lisa's first Hollywood film was Warner Bros.' Jump Into Hell (1955), a French Indochina (pre-Vietnam) war picture in which she played a French love interest to European soldier Peter Van Eyck. The studio then put her under a temporary contract and she changed her name to the more exotic moniker of Lisa Montell. Despite more second-lead exposure in the RKO films, Escape to Burma (1955), a tea plantation drama starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan, and Pearl of the South Pacific (1955), a tropical South Seas adventure with Virginia Mayo and Dennis Morgan, Lisa was not able to up her status in Hollywood.
After filming the minor western, The Wild Dakotas (1956), she appeared in one of her better-remembered pictures, the cult sci-fi film, World Without End (1956), with Hugh Marlowe and Rod Taylor, which takes place on Earth in the 26th century. She went on to play a small role as a ballet dancer in the Leslie Caron MGM drama, Gaby (1956), and was also one of the Italian Martelli sisters (the others being Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok and Lisa Gaye) in the musical comedy, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), starring Dean Martin. On the western front, she appeared, with Chuck Connors, as an Indian maiden in Tomahawk Trail (1957). Things moved in a cult-like direction for Lisa with her tropical female roles in Roger Corman's Naked Paradise (1957) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958), both filmed in the same spot in Hawaii. If nothing else, she got to show off her great figure and underwater swimming skills. Over the years, scores of adventurous guest roles came Lisa's way on TV, notably westerns, including the popular series as The Gene Autry Show (1950), Broken Arrow (1956), Tales of Wells Fargo (1957), Colt .45 (1957), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Sugarfoot (1957), Cheyenne (1955), Bat Masterson (1958) and Maverick (1957). Outside the western genre, came a few varied performances in everything from comedy (The Ann Sothern Show (1958)) to hip action adventure (Surfside 6 (1960)).
Once wed to fellow actor David Janti, Lisa's last film was the minor "B" western, The Firebrand (1962), starring Kent Taylor. She retired soon after and devoted herself, exclusively, to educational pursuits as well as her Bahá'í religion. She was elected to the Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles and served as Chairperson. Often a public speaker, she has been outspoken on such issues as poverty and discrimination. She was also quite active in the early stages of the civil rights movement and has spent active time with youth arts programs. She later wrote a book (as Lisa Janti) about her spiritual sojourn and, more recently, became the program director of the Center for Education at the Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute. In 2008, she was a guest attendee at the Western Legends Film Festival.- Leslie Bradley was born on 1 September 1907 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Crimson Pirate (1952), Time Flies (1944) and Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957). He was married to Dorothy Ruth Rose. He died on 20 July 1974 in Desert Hot Springs, California, USA.
- Morgan Jones was born on 15 June 1928 in Wooster, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Forbidden Planet (1956), The Blue Angels (1960) and The Gallant Men (1962). He was married to Carole Tetzlaff and Joan Granville. He died on 13 January 2012 in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
William Roerick was born on 17 December 1912 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Wasp Woman (1959), Playhouse 90 (1956) and Law & Order (1990). He died on 30 November 1995 in Monterey, Massachusetts, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Anna Lee Carroll was born on 7 October 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She was an actress, known for Not of This Earth (1957), One Step Beyond (1959) and Fear No More (1961). She died on 30 April 2017 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.- Script and Continuity Department
- Actress
Barbara Bohrer was born on 25 September 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Not of This Earth (1957), Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) and Queen of Blood (1966). She was married to Dr. William Lorack and Jack Bohrer. She died on 7 May 2006 in California, USA.- Roy Engel was born on 13 September 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), The Man from Planet X (1951) and Rogue River (1951). He died on 29 December 1980 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Charles Gross Jr. was born on 9 October 1914 in Connecticut, USA. He was an editor, known for Carnival Rock (1957), Not of This Earth (1957) and Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957). He died on 17 December 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Born January Boleslavsky. His father, a actor, was Richard Boleslawski who also spelled his last name as Boleslawsky. He barely knew his father. Jan was almost two years old when his father died of cardiac arrest. Jan died at the early age of 27 (1935 - 1962). He worked for Roger Corman in three of his movies as the Assistant Director and acted in one, Not of This Earth (1957).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Garland was born on 7 July 1927 in Mineral Wells, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955). He was married to Judith Ann (Callies) DeCinces, Patricia Elaine Lee and Beverly Garland. He died on 24 May 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Pert and pretty Brooklyn-born actress Pamela Duncan made brief movie news in the 1950s as a "B" level performer and would be best remembered for her damsel-in-distress participation in two of Roger Corman's cult turkeys -- Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) and The Undead (1957), both co-starring Richard Garland. She played a dual role in the latter. Known for her exceptional fresh-faced beauty, she won several local pageants as a bobbysoxer on her way up. Deciding to pursue a movie career, she made her debut in Whistling Hills (1951) and appeared in small bits for the most part. In addition to her two prime sci-fi roles, she also enacted the role of Mike Hammer's secretary in the low-budget film whodunit My Gun Is Quick (1957).
Pamela was also a decorative presence on many major TV programs, especially westerns, such as Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951), The Roy Rogers Show (1951), The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954), Colt .45 (1957), Laramie (1959), Death Valley Days (1952) and Maverick (1957). She also provided pleasant distraction on crime-solving dramas including Perry Mason (1957), Peter Gunn (1958), Mr. Lucky (1959) and The Detectives (1959). Following her brief "15 minutes" of fame, her career quickly phased out in the early 60s. Out of touch for decades, she appeared out of nowhere in the Oscar-nominated documentary Curtain Call (2000), a documentary that focused on the lives and careers of the residents of the Lillian Booth Actors' Fund of America Home in Englewood, New Jersey. She lived there for the last ten years of her life. The 80-year-old Pamela suffered a stroke and died at the home on November 11, 2005. She left no survivors. - Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Long before he was known as "The Professor" in the cult comedy classic Gilligan's Island (1964), Russell Johnson was a well-known character actor, starring in several Westerns and Sci-Fi classics as This Island Earth (1955) and It Came from Outer Space (1953). Johnson grew up in Pennsylvania and was sent to a boarding school in Philadelphia with his brothers when his father died.
Johnson said that, unlike his Professor character, he was not a bright student early on and was, in fact, held back a grade. However, he did redeem himself later on by making the National Honor Society in high school. He joined the Army Air Corps in World War II. Both his ankles were broken when his B-24 Liberator was shot down over the Philippines during a bombing raid in March of 1945 and he was awarded the Purple Heart as he recovered in the hospital. After the war, he used the G.I. Bill to enroll in acting school to pursue his new trade.
Johnson lived in the state of Washington and did several guest appearances on television shows. He passed away peacefully on the morning of Thursday January 16, 2014 from kidney failure, with his wife, Constance Dane, and his two children by his side. Connie described her husband as a very brave man.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Prior to his Hollywood acting career, New York-born Mel Welles held a variety of jobs, including clinical psychologist, writer and radio deejay. After some stage work he wound up in Hollywood, making his film debut in Appointment in Honduras (1953). His best and favorite role, as flower shop owner Gravis Mushnick in director Roger Corman's horror comedy The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), was one of his last before leaving the US in the early 1960s and forging a long acting-producing-directing career in Europe. After his return to the US Welles again acted, did voice-over work and made appearances at autograph shows.- Val Dufour was born on 5 February 1927 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Search for Tomorrow (1951), The Undead (1957) and The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956). He died on 27 July 2000 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Billy Barty was born William John Bertanzetti on October 25, 1924 in Millsboro, Pennsylvania. He began performing at age three and began making pictures in 1927. He played Mickey Rooney's little brother in the "Mickey McGuire" comedy shorts series. He was equally adept in both comedy and drama, and generally gives an added zest to any production he is associated with. He founded the Little People of America in 1957 and the Billy Barty Foundation in 1975. He possessed an immense talent and energetic charm that added a much needed shot in the arm to many series and films. Billy Barty died at age 76 of heart failure on December 23, 2000 in Glendale, California.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
William A. Sickner was born on 23 December 1890 in Rochester, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for Medic (1954), Scouts to the Rescue (1939) and Tangier Incident (1953). He died on 18 September 1967 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Make-Up Department
Curly Batson was born on 20 April 1896. He is known for Carnival Rock (1957), Witness to Murder (1954) and Not of This Earth (1957). He was married to Ivy Close. He died on 24 September 1957 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Art Department
- Set Decorator
Karl Brainard was born on 20 August 1911 in California, USA. He was a set decorator, known for The Killing (1956), Pajama Party (1964) and Fireball 500 (1966). He died on 10 March 1981 in Oceanside, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sleek and striking Abby Dalton became a very familiar perky and sexy presence in 1960s TV households. Known not only for her award-worthy acting on TV comedy, she became an avid game-show panelist and appeared on a slew of TV's more popular programs. It might come as a surprise to some that she honed her wholesome sitcom personality only after apprenticing in Roger Corman cheap-jack cult movies -- sometimes as a juvenile delinquent. She was born Gladys Marlene Wasden on August 15, 1932 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and started working in the entertainment field as a teen magazine cover model, also appearing at times on record album jackets. An acting company member for writer/producer Roger Corman beginning in 1957, Abby made her dubious debut in the low-grade beatnik film, Rock All Night (1957), in which she and others are trapped and held hostage in a bar by a pair of killers. Corman continued to use her in his films, some with and some without billing, including Teenage Doll (1957), Carnival Rock (1957), Stakeout on Dope Street (1958), and the absurdly-titled The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957), in which she played Desir, a stalwart leader of Nordic women in search for men, after presumably losing their own at sea. Outside the Corman fold, she appeared in the equally low-budgeted and exploitable Cole Younger, Gunfighter (1958) and Girls on the Loose (1958). The blonde, toothy beauty fared much better on TV starting in the late 1950s, popping up on several TV's best known westerns (Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Rawhide (1959), Maverick (1957), The Rifleman (1958), Sugarfoot (1957)). She eventually earned a steady role on Jackie Cooper's Hennesey (1959) series and both actors received Emmy nominations for their roles -- she playing his girlfriend. The TV couple "married" just before the demise of the sitcom in 1962. A higher degree of visibility was achieved when Abby won the role of Joey Bishop's pert-looking wife on The Joey Bishop Show (1961). She gave birth to a TV baby in 1963 (played by her real-life infant son, Matthew David Smith). Her daughter, Kathleen Kinmont, also appeared on the program. Following the end of its four-season run, Abby engaged more fans to her corner by appearing regularly on the game show circuit. She showed off a delightfully off-the-cuff humor and sexy edge as a mainstay panelist, alongside Cliff Arquette, Wally Cox, and Rose Marie, on The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965) and was located in the lower middle square for about four seasons before leaving her then-permanent post in 1970. During that time, she also played the "straight woman" in a number of sketch sequences for Jonathan Winters on his show, playing Margaret, his wife. The series, however, was rather short-lived (1967-1969). The only film she made during the 1960s was as "Calamity Jane" opposite Don Murray's Wild Bill Hickok and Guy Stockwell's Buffalo Bill Cody in a lackluster remake of the Gary Cooper starrer, The Plainsman (1966). For the most part, she focused on TV. Abby continued to be seen here and there throughout the 1970s. She might have enjoyed a major career boost as Hal Linden wife, Elizabeth, in the pilot of sitcom favorite Barney Miller (1975) had she stayed with it, but she was replaced by Barbara Barrie, when the show was picked up for its first season. Abby became part of the original cast of Falcon Crest (1981), a prime-time soap. As winery heiress Julia Cumson, Jane Wyman's daughter and Lorenzo Lamas' mother, she eventually shows her true colors as a murderous schemer. Coincidentally, Abby's daughter, actress Kathleen Kinmont, was later married for a time to "Falcon Crest" star Lorenzo Lamas. After leaving the show, she was seen only sporadically on TV and in films, including a short stint on a daytime soap. Her work continued until 1999, though she remained active in volunteer work. Twice married, her second to Jack Smith in 1960, produced three children, including daughter/actress Kathleen and son Matthew David. Her first marriage to Joe Mondragon ended in divorce in 1959.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jeanne Cooper was born on 25 October 1928 in Taft, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Young and the Restless (1973), Ben Casey (1961) and Kansas City Bomber (1972). She was married to Harry Bernsen. She died on 8 May 2013 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- In the 1950s Richard Cutting derived fame as "Manners," a tiny butler in a Bowler derby hat in a series of commercials for Kleenex Napkins. By trick photography he appeared to be about only inches in height and would manifest under a dinner table in a traditional butler's cutaway. A paper napkin was always slipping off the lap of a diner, giving Manners the opportunity, after a polite "ahem," to inform the guest of the non-slip benefit of the Kleenex napkin.
- Robin Morse was born on 13 July 1915 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fast and the Furious (1954), Sabu and the Magic Ring (1957) and Rock All Night (1957). He died on 11 December 1958 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Beach Dickerson was born on 3 February 1924 in Glenville, Georgia, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) and The Savage Seven (1968). He died on 15 December 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Preeminent vocal group of the late 50s and early 60s, hugely successful in the U.S., as well as in England and Australia. Formed in Los Angeles in 1953, the original line-up of The Platters consisted of Tony Williams (lead vocals), David Lynch (tenor), Alex Hodge (1935-1982, baritone) and Herb Reed (bass). Later members included Zola Taylor (contralto), Paul Robi (baritone), Nate Nelson, Sonny Turner, Barbara Randolph and Sandra Dawn. After being signed to Mercury Records by their manager Buck Ram, The Platters made their breakthrough hit in 1956 with "Only You". This was followed by "The Great Pretender" which made it to #1 on the R&B charts, holding that spot for eleven weeks. The group performed both numbers on the screen in the musical Rock Around the Clock (1956). During their heyday, from 1956 to 1960, The Platters recorded a string of popular hits: "The Magic Touch", "My Prayer", "You'll Never Know", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Twilight Time", "Enchanted" and "Harbor Lights" (their final Top 10 single). The original Platters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
They have been various groups since 1970 using the brand name, including The Buck Ram Platters, The Magic Platters (based in France), The Legendary Platters (Canada), Zola Taylor's Platters, The Amazing Platters, Sonny Turner's Platters and Herb Reed of The Original Platters & His Group.- Actor
- Soundtrack
The Blockbusters is known for Carnival Rock (1957) and Rock All Night (1957).- Soundtrack
- Editor
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Frank Sullivan was born on 7 February 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. He was an editor and cinematographer, known for The Philadelphia Story (1940), Joan of Arc (1948) and Woman of the Year (1942). He was married to Doris Sullivan. He died on 30 September 1972 in Los Angeles, California, USA.