Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   An actor who followed in the footsteps of French movie stars Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer has died. Louis Jourdan (left) was known for his suave roles in The Paradine Case, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Madame Bovary, Three Coins in the Fountain, Can-Can, The V.I.P.s, and Octopussy. Gigi made him an international star.

   His striking good looks helped get him acting jobs, including his film debut, Le Corsaire, with Boyer in 1938. During the German occupation of France, he was forced into a labor gang, cutting wood and digging ditches. Assigned to make cinematic propaganda for the Nazis, he escaped and joined the French underground.

   Considered the last French actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age, he romanced Joan Fontaine, Jennifer Jones, Grace Kelly, and Shirley MacLaine in films during the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. Jourdan also collaborated with motion picture icons, such  as David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, Leslie Caron, Richard Burton, and Roger Moore.

   Jourdan’s career reached its peak in 1957 with the Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe musical, Gigi, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. At first, Jourdan protested that he couldn’t sing and wasn’t right for the role. Lerner and Loewe persisted, and they gave him the title song, which required little vocalizing.              LESLIE CARON / LOUIS JOURDAN ——->

   He received a Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur in 2010. The dashing Louis Jourdan was 93.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Southern California has suffered the loss of two media giants. One was a giant in radio and television, while the other was best known for his work in news broadcasting:

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   Gary Owens hosted thousands of radio programs over his busy seven-decade career. He appeared in more than a dozen movies, and scores of television shows, including Lucille Ball and Bob Hope specials. Owens also voiced hundreds of animated characters, recorded a comedy album, and wrote two books. He is best remembered as the wacky announcer on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

   Gary joined the staff of KMPC in 1962, replacing previous host Johnny Grant, where he remained for over the next two decades working the weekday Afternoon Drive shift. Owens was part of Armed Forces Radio for 10 years. He also hosted a national show on The Music of Your Life Network, the syndicated Soundtrack of the 60s. A gifted punster, the air personality became known for his surrealistic humor.

   National Lampoon’s European Vacation, The Green Hornet, and Neil Simon’s Prisoner of Second Avenue were among his film credits. During the late 1960s, when the films of 1930s comedians, such as The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, and Mae West, were finding a new audience, Owens narrated phonograph records containing sound clips from the flicks.

  During this period, Owens became widely known as the voice of the eponymous cartoon characters in Roger Ramjet and Space Ghost, and the excitable narrator/announcer from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. He was a scriptwriter for Jay Ward Productions, and has done over 30,000 commercials. Gary was also a guest star on The Munsters and McHale’s Navy. In 1976, he hosted the first season of the nighttime version of The Gong Show. Most recently, Owens was the promotional announcing voice for Antenna TV, a network dedicated to classic television, including Three’s Company, The Monkees, Adam-12, and Gidget.

   The man who coined the phrase Beautiful Downtown Burbank, my dear friend Gary Owens was 80.

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   Stan Chambers was a television reporter who worked for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles from 1947 to 2010. His ongoing report on the Kathy Fiscus recovery effort was recognized as the first live coverage of breaking news in small screen history. Chambers was also involved in the initial telecast of an atomic bomb test at the Nevada Test Site in 1952. Stan logged over 20,000 stories in his 63-year career.

   Among other stories Chambers has covered:  The Sylmar and Northridge earthquakes, the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., the Watts Riots, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the Tate-LaBianca murders by the Manson Family, and the Hillside Strangler. Stan broke the story about the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police officers.

   The Associated Press Television-Radio Association would re-name its Extraordinary Achievement award for Chambers following his retirement from KTLA. The annual award honors lifetime achievement by broadcast journalists in the Western United States.

   The prolific Stan Chambers (left) was ninety-one.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Bob Simon (right), the longtime news anchor for 60 Minutes, has died from cardiac arrest after a car crash in Manhattan. At the time of his passing, he was the senior foreign correspondent for the popular television news magazine. One of his final stories involved the making of the motion picture, Selma.

   In 1962, Simon graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University with a degree in history. From 1964 to 1967, he served as an American Foreign Service officer, and was a Fulbright Scholar in France. From 1969 to 1971, he worked at the CBS News London bureau. From 1971 to 1977, he was based in the London and Saigon bureaus, where he worked as a Vietnam War correspondent. From 1977 to 1981, he was assigned to the Tel Aviv bureau.

   Over the years, Bob reported the withdrawal of American troops from Saigon, the Yom Kippur War in in 1973, and the student protests in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, he and four of his TV crew were captured and imprisoned by Iraq for forty days. In subsequent years, he reported from war zones in Grenada, Somalia, and Haiti; and while Poland was under martial law. Simon spent time in Washington, D.C. as the CBS News State Department correspondent. In 1987, he was named the Chief Middle East correspondent

   Simon has received numerous accolades during his career, including recognition from the Overseas Press Club and 27 Emmys for journalism. He was also the winner of three George Foster Peabody Awards. The veteran reporter was considered among a handful of elite journalists working today.

   The venerable Bob Simon was 73.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The Henry Ford Museum will mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination in April with a lecture by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln became the basis of an acclaimed Steven Spielberg movie.

   Kearns Goodwin (above) , a former presidential advisor and author of six best-selling books, will talk about how the experiences faced by Lincoln continue to be relevant to Americans to this day. The lecture begins at 7p on April 13th in the Anderson Theater at the Henry Ford. Tickets begin at $50 for general balcony seating, and $75 for main floor. VIP tickets also are available — $150 each — and include a pre-reception with Kearns Goodwin and a copy of her book.

   To also commemorate the Lincoln anniversary, The Henry Ford will allow the public a closer look at the chair the president was sitting in on the night of the assassination at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. For the first time in decades, the museum will take the chair from its sealed glass case.

   Admission to the museum on the anniversary day of the assassination — April 15th — will be waived, courtesy of Target Stores. Is it just me, or is this the wrong company sponsoring the event, due to its name? It smacks of bad taste… Just sayin’.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Lizabeth Scott was a screen beauty, known for her deep voice and sensual looks. She emerged  in such features as The Strange Love of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin, Dead Reckoning with Humphrey Bogart, Desert Fury with John Hodiak, and Too Late for Tears with Don DeFore. No actress appeared in more film noir.

   An 18-year-old Scott auditioned for Hellzapoppin. From several hundred women, she was chosen by vaudevillians “Ole” Olsen and “Chic” Johnson, stars of the original Broadway production. She was assigned to one of three road companies. Scott’s film debut was the comedy You Came Along opposite Robert Cummings. During the shooting, Hal Wallis showed Scott’s screen test to Hollywood columnist Bob Thomas.

   In The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, she was cast as the ingénue, given higher billing than Kirk Douglas, his motion picture debut. The casting of Scott caused total friction between Barbara Stanwyck and producer Hal Wallis. In June 1946, Lizabeth would gain the distinction of being the first Hollywood star to visit Britain after the end of World War II. She attended the London premiere of Ivers and she did a promotional tour throughout the country.   LIZABETH SCOTT —->

   Columbia Pictures originally wanted Rita Hayworth for the starring role in Dead Reckoning, who was busy with The Lady from Shanghai. Then attention turned to Lauren Bacall, who refused. As a result, Scott was borrowed from Hal Wallis. At the tender age of 24, Lizabeth Scott’s billing and portrait received equal compensation to Bogie on lobby cards, posters, and newspaper ads. Despite the publicity, the long-term effect of her performance was to typecast the former comedienne for her entire career as a femme fatale.

   Though the overall public response to Scott was generally favorable during the Paramount years, over time, the film critics were less so, repeating unfavorable comparisons with Bacall and Tallulah Bankhead. With the revival of interest in film noir, beginning in the 1980s, Scott’s acting reputation has increased among critics and cinematic historians. She appeared on stage at an American Film Institute tribute to Hal Wallis in 1987.

   The reclusive screen siren, Lizabeth Scott was 92.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The Eastman Kodak Co. will continue to make motion picture film in the age of digital filmmaking after reaching new supply agreements with the major Hollywood studios. The Rochester-based photography and film pioneer had been in talks with the studios, as well as several filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, Judd Apatow and Christopher Nolan, to keep movie film alive after seeing sales fall 96 % since 2006.

   The agreements announced late Wednesday call for Kodak to continue to supply motion picture film to Warner Bros. Entertainment, Walt Disney Co., 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures. Without the pacts, production of motion picture film, which Kodak began in 1896, was in danger of being halted.

   Three of this year’s eight Best-Picture Oscar nominees — Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and The Grand Budapest Hotel— were shot on Kodak film. Several movies due out this year, such as Mission: Impossible 5 and Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, are being produced on film.

   Founded by George Eastman (above) in 1880, Kodak is credited with popularizing personal photography at the start of the 20th century. However, its revenues today are primarily from commercial imaging. Film now provides less than 10 % of company revenues.

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   Thank you to Al Rivers of Newport Beach, CA, who has sent me a friendly note regarding my Forgotten Hollywood Book Series. He writes:

We met at the Havurah meeting, where I purchased both your books from you. I have already read both and I thoroughly enjoyed them. You are a truly brilliant and gifted writer with an amazing ability to weave the history of our country with the intricate lives and careers of those Hollywood characters. I was especially impressed with your discussion of the Monroe Doctrine and our Good Neighbor Policy. I have always been an ardent moviegoer. I am 86 years old and my first movie was King Kong which I saw when I was 4 years old in 1933. ( I have been afraid of very large gorillas ever since!).

Also, I decided to list every movie you printed in bold that I either saw or recognized. This was over a 90% yield with 380 titles. I am compulsive that way!

 Good luck in your endeavors!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Harper Lee (below) and her publisher announced Tuesday that this summer they’ll release the 88-year-old author’s second novel, Go Set the Watchmen, a kind of sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird,with publisher HarperCollins planning a first printing of two million copies. Completed first in the mid-1950s,  the original manuscript for Go Set a Watchman had been considered lost until the author’s lawyer Tonja Carter rediscovered it and persuaded Lee to have it published. The shockwaves were felt almost as much in Hollywood as they were in the book world.

   The movies love a sequel. And, the chance to follow up one of the finest American films half a century later would be most desired. If Lee agrees to sell the movie rights of her new work, it can be expected to be one of the most eagerly sought novels for optioning to the big screen. Particularly since Lee said Tuesday that Go Set the Watchman follows her young heroine, Scout, into adulthood, it’s sure to be feverishly pursued by producers. It’s likely to spark a bidding war well before it lands on book shelves on July 14th. Such an opportunity could draw in a host of high-profile producers. Oprah Winfrey, for one, has called To Kill a Mockingbird her favorite book.

   Starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, and featuring a young Robert Duvall as Boo Radley, To Kill a Mockingbird has regularly been ranked among the greatest American movies. It won three Oscars, including Best Actor for Peck and Best-Adapted Screenplay for Horton Foote. In 1995, it was added to the National Film Registry; and in 2003, the American Film Institute listed Peck’s Atticus Finch as the greatest movie hero of the twentieth century.

   Duvall expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of reading the sequel. He also showed his appreciation for the film as a pivotal point in his career. Mary Badham, who was received an Oscar nod at age ten for her performance as Scout, only acted in a handful of films after To Kill a Mockingbird. Almost forty years after her last film, she came out of retirement to appear in the 2005 Indie drama, Out Very Own. Badham didn’t respond to requests for comment over Lee’s announcement.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Nine weeks before his death by complications from AIDS on October 2nd, 1985, Rock Hudson was in France trying to get treatment not available in the United States. But, Nancy Reagan refused his request for the White House to help.

   When Hudson collapsed on July 21, 1985, shortly after arriving in Paris, he was admitted to the American Hospital. He wanted to see Dr. Dominique Dormant, the French army doctor who had been working on experimental AIDS treatment HPA-23, and who had secretly treated the actor months after his diagnosis. Dormant, however, couldn’t get Hudson transferred to the military hospital. So, over the next 10 days—as the public first became aware that Hudson was gay and had AIDS—his team made a number of desperate attempts to get help, including sending a telegram to the White House.

          ROCK HUDSON   NANCY REAGAN   PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN 

   Hudson was friendly with then-president Ronald Reagan from their acting days. The July 24th telegram pleaded with the White House to request that the commanding officer reconsider admitting the star to the military hospital. The Reagan staffer who received the telegram spoke with Nancy Reagan. However, he recommended she refer the issue to the US Embassy in France because the Reagans were very conscious of not making exceptions for people just because they were friends of theirs, or celebrities. She agreed, and though her husband called Hudson to wish him well, the official response was that Nancy Reagan did not feel this was something the White House should get into. Dormant was eventually able to treat Hudson, but his condition was too advanced.

   Today, the former First Lady simply does not recall the incident in question. It’s generally regarded that the publicity generated by Rock Hudson and Magic Johnson’s illness has led to medical advancements in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Just in time for Black History Month! Beginning Wednesday at the Library of Congress, researchers and the public will have full access to Rosa Parks’ archive of letters, writings, personal notes, and photographs for the first time. The collection will provide what experts call a more complex view of a woman long recalled in history for one iconic image — that of a nonviolent seamstress who inspired others to act at the dawning of the Civil Rights era. Philanthropist Howard Buffett bought the collection and placed it on long-term loan at the national library.

   Parks, who died in 2005 at 92, is beloved in American history for her civil disobedience on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. That defining moment in 1955 triggered a yearlong bus boycott that eventually helped dismantle a system of segregation.

   After her arrest, Parks lost her job as a tailor at Montgomery’s largest department store because of her activism. Her husband also struggled for employment, and the couple sank into deep poverty. They moved to Detroit but continued to struggle.

   Parks traveled with the NAACP, pressing for civil rights, and then, landed a job at the Hampton Institute in Virginia earning $3,700 a year — enough to send some money home to her husband and mother. It wasn’t until 1965 when she was hired at the district office of Michigan Representative John Conyers that she finally earned a steady, living wage.

   The collection may surprise people by revealing that Parks had an aggressive edge, and supported more radical actions seeking equality over the years, archivists said. She used her new-found status to support Malcolm X, Black Panther gatherings, and the Wilmington 10 in North Carolina.

   The library now holds about 7,500 manuscript items and 2,500 photos from Rosa, including a Bible she always kept, letters from admirers, and her cherished Presidential Medal of Freedom. A small exhibit is planned for March. All items will be digitized and posted online. They are in talks with Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, under construction on the National Mall, to house more of her items.                                                   ROSA PARKS

   What a heck of a bus ride for the iconic Rosa Parks!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here …

   Thanks to some progressive urban policies coming out of the governor’s office, Los Angeles is reimagining itself as a more traditional, walkable city with a vibrant downtown business district. And, iconic Latino / Irish actor Anthony Quinn will metaphorically witness its ongoing transformation.

   A giant likeness of the trailblazing star, who passed away in 2001, will be standing tall and proud on the wall of the Victor Clothing Co. building at 241 S. Broadway as the surrounding Downtown area springs back to life under current Mayor Garcetti. The portrait has undertaken a restoration of Quinn’s faded likeness in collaboration with its original muralist Eloy Torrez as a part of an collaborative effort to reinvigorate the city’s struggling downtown.

   Born Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca in Chihuahua in 1915, Quinn was raised in El Paso, TX and Echo Park, CA. He scored some secondary roles as gangsters and Indians in a number of Hollywood productions throughout the 1930s. It was his role opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan’s Viva Zapata! where he earned the first of two Oscars, and secured his place in the Hollywood pantheon. He became the second Latino actor to pick up a statuette; the first being Jose Ferrer. To this day, he is considered one of the great actors of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

   The mural itself, capturing Anthony dancing in a moment of joyous abandon, recalls an iconic scene from Zorba the Greek in which Quinn’s eponymous character dances quite exuberantly. His performance garnered yet another Academy Awards nomination.

   Now, Anthony Quinn’s legacy will stand tall in the middle of Downtown, Los Angeles.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Natalie Wood was screaming for help as she drowned, according to a witness whose account has never been disclosed. Retired stockbroker Marilyn Wayne has provided credible eyewitness testimony that the star was shouting desperate cries for aid, but was ignored.

   Relatedly, the Los Angeles police last week said that substantial new evidence has led them to reopen their investigation into the Wood’s drowning off Catalina Island, thirty years ago this week. Her death was ruled accidental at the time. Now, a police source has described Robert Wagner, now 81, as a person of interest in the updated case.

ROBERT WAGNER   NATALIE WOOD

   They were on-board their yacht Splendour, with her alleged love interest, Oscar-winner Christopher Walken on that fateful evening, and Wagner has always maintained Wood accidently slipped and drowned as she drunkenly tried to tie up a dinghy against the boat. Natalie’s sister has claimed that the actress was so scared of water, she never would have ventured off alone to Avalon late into the evening.

   With this new witness coming forward, the questions homicide detectives are exploring — Did Wagner  or Walken hear the cries of distress and Did they attempt to save Wood from drowning after she fell into the ocean… Investigators plan to hold a news conference, and are asking for individuals to come forward with information about the case, and to contact sheriff’s officials or an anonymous tip that has been set up.

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   Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History, has reached its next impressive  milestone. On the heels of my second paperback, the sales for my first book has surpassed 3200. My most recent purchases have come from tourists who have visited Larry Edmunds Bookshop and  LA LA Land souvenir megastore along Hollywood Blvd., and the fine membership of the local chapter of Rotary International in Burbank, CA.

   The book series is now found in the combined hands of 4400 readers. Onward and upward!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Ernie Banks, the baseball player known as Mr. Cub, has died. He played nineteen seasons at Wrigley Field in Chicago, and was voted to the All-Star Game 14 times. Banks is most famous for cheerfully coining the phrase: It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two, due to his love for double-headers.

   Ernie was born and raised in Dallas. He joined the Negro Leagues in 1950, and played for the Kansas City Monarchs. He served in the military for two years, and then returned to the Monarchs before beginning his Major League career in September 1953. Banks had his best seasons in 1958 and 1959, when he received back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player awards. He was the first player from a losing team to win the NL MVP. Banks finished his career with 512 home runs, and his 277 home runs as a shortstop were a career record at the time of his retirement. Banks holds the Major League record for the most games played (2,528) without a postseason appearance.

   Banks was active in the Chicago community during and after his tenure with the Cubs. He founded many charitable organizations, and became the first black Ford Motor Company dealer in the United States. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, and later named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Cubs retired Banks’s uniform number 14 in 1982 the first player in the team’s history. No other numbers were retired by the team for another five years, when Billy Williams received the honor. In 2013, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to sports. A statue of Banks sits outside Wrigley Field.

   He was one of Chicago’s greatest city ambassadors. Never losing his boundless enthusiasm, the ever-sunny Ernie Banks  was 83.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Turner Broadcasting is revealing that two-time Oscar winning actress Sally Field will be joining Robert Osborne on the set to discuss classic films shown in conjunction with the popular Saturday night series, The Essentials. A formal press release from TCM concerning the new Essentials co-host has yet to be announced.                           SALLY FIELD ——->

   Sally Field first appeared on television in 1965 as Gidget, and later, as The Flying Nun. She then began a fabulous career as a cinematic actress with such popular movies as Sybil,  Mrs. Doubtfire, Smokey and The Bandit, and Forrest Gump. She received Academy Awards for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Field most recently garnered Oscar buzz in 2012 with her role as Mary Todd Lincoln with Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.

   As a TCM guest programmer in July of 2008, Field selected films that concern given situations gals deal with in their lives, often in funny ways. She chose The Awful Truth, The Miracle of Morgan Creek, Love With the Proper Stranger, and All About Eve.

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   Steady sales keep on pouring in… Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History has reached 1200 literary purchases. Many thanks to the folks from Southern California chapters of Rotary International in Arcadia, Oceanside, and Carson for unyielding recent support. 2015 has begun in a most robust way, and this latest milestone is a positive indicator of a great year. My initial paperback in the Forgotten Hollywood franchise is about to go into its third printing. And, my next book in the series is almost ready to go to print. GREAT NEWS!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The late actor Edward Herrmann’s (right) final project before  succumbing to brain cancer last month was narrating an upcoming documentary on the disease. The six-hour project will air over three evenings on PBS in March, and is based on Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies; a book by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

   Herrmann collapsed because of a seizure on the first day he came to work, and had to explain to filmmaker Barak Goodman that it was due to his terminal disease. Still, Herrmann was committed to do the work and complete this intensely personal production.

   The talented narrator is best remembered for his on-screen performances and narrations on various projects on PBS and the History Channel. He often portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt. His voice is quite familiar to generations of television viewers.

   I suggest you honor Edward Herrmann’s legacy by watching this  informative program.

Until next time>                               “never forget“

Manny P. here…

   Highclere Castle, the English country estate where Downton Abbey is filmed, will be opening an on-site hotel called London Lodge. (Despite the name, the castle and its hotel are in Newbury, West Berkshire… not in London.) The estate, built in 1793, is home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and has already been open to tourists for some time. There are organized Downton-themed tours that take tourists to see the building and grounds. But, this will mark the first time visitors can stay overnight there. You will enjoy the look and feel of Edwardian England.

   London Lodge is a smaller property near Highclere Castle on the estate. The process of opening the lodge took two and a half years. Like many of the old structures, Highclere suffered from some wear and tear over the years and needed some repairs, including a much-needed new roof. And while the period charm is intact, there are modern amenities in the hotel rooms, including television, Wi-Fi, mini-fridges, and electric kettles perfect for making that cuppa.

   Rooms at London Lodge begin at £350 ($540) per night. Season Five of Downton Abbey currently airs in the United States.

   Someone better warn Mr. Carson and Mrs. Patmore of the impending arrival of guests…

Until next time>                               “never forget”