“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Ground Breaking Role…

July 31st, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Nichelle Nichols was a small screen pioneer for her portrayal of Starship Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek. She broke color barriers, and along with Diahann Carroll, helped re-define roles for Black characters. In 1968, Nichols and William Shatner broke a cultural barrier when they engaged in the initial interracial kiss on network television. She workd as a singer and dancer and would eventually tour with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before her acting career took off.

“`Star Trek became a pop culture phenomenon and shattered stereotypes common on television at the time by casting Black and minority actors in high-profile roles on the show.  She had planned to quit the after one season, but Martin Luther King Jr. convinced her to stay because it was so revolutionary to have a Black woman portraying a senior crew member at a time when Black people were fighting for equality in American society. She influenced future actors (Whoopi Goldberg); a future president (Barack Obama); and generations of female astronauts such as Sally Ride.

“`Nichols also helped break color barriers at NASA.  Many of their employees were Star Trek fans. After she criticized the space agency for failing to hire qualified women and minorities as astronauts, it hired Nichols in the 1970s to help in recruiting.

“`Nichelle Nichols (above right) was eight-nine.

Until next time>                               “never forget

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Summer Under the Stars Schedule…

July 30th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Thanks to our friends at Turner Classic Movies, here is the complete August schedule of their Summer Under the Stars daily program. Each day, a movie star will be the subject of a tribute. I am looking forward to Jean Arthur, Spencer Tracy, William Holden, Myrna Loy, and two actors featured in my Forgotten Hollywood Book Series: Gilbert Roland and Jack Carson.

“`Pick out your favorite actors and enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood” – A Pinterest Collage…

July 28th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`I have created a page on the platform PINTEREST that showcases the fifty-eight actor subjects in my Forgotten Hollywood book Series… From Alan Hale to William Bendix!

  

“`Here is the link or cut-and-paste for you to enjoy the massive photo collage!

https://www.pinterest.com/raideoman1/_saved/

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“`Tony Dow played the older brother of Jerry Mathers on Leave It To Beaver. Wally Cleaver was the television face of the American teen in suburban life prior to the arrival of  The Beatles and this made Dow a cultural icon. He also guest-starred on My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, Adam-12, Love American Style and The Mod Squad.

“`Dow went go on to direct television programs and sculpt in his free time. He was chosen as one of three sculptors to show at the Société Nationale des BeauxArts exhibit in the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.

“`Tony Dow (above right) was seventy-seven.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Celebrating Non Actors…

July 26th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Non-actors chosen to stand out in big budget motion pictures is the topic for Art Kirsch, John Coleman and me to discuss on Celebrating Act 2. This is an amazing chat!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Remembering Paul and Bob…

July 25th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`The passing parade claimed two in the last 24-hours. These were giants in the film industry!

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“`Paul Sorvino was a dynamic actor, best known for playing the tough mob boss in the crime film, GoodFellas. He is the second member of the cast to recently pass away; Ray Liotta was the other. The actor was also memorable on the television show, Law &  Order. His daughter is Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino.

“`Well regarded on Broadway for his performance in That Championship Season, Sorvino had a great career on the big screen. His resume includes  Where’s Poppa?The Panic in Needle ParkA Touch of Class, RedsDick TracyThe Firm, and Nixon.

“`He was very vocal in his disgust for the way Harvey Weinstein treated his daughter after she complained of sexual harrassment. He offered a veiled threat against the film producer.

“`Paul Sorvino was eighty-three.

    

PAUL SORVINO                                            BOB RAFELSON

“`Bob Rafelson was a film director, writer and producer. He is regarded as one of the key figures in the founding of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. The director often worked with Jack Nicholson.

“`Among his best-known films as a director include Five Easy Pieces, The King of Marvin Gardens and The Postman Always Rings Twice.  Other flicks he produced as part of his production company: Two of the most significant films of the era, Easy Rider and The Last Picture Show. He was also one of the creators of the pop group and television series, The Monkees, with partner Bert Schneider.

“`Bob Rafelson was eighty-nine.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Celebrating Summer Movies…

July 13th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 takes a long look at Summer 2022 blockbusters out in theatres. Art Kirsch and John Coleman get me to predict the state of the motion picture industry.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Cowboy in Revisionist Westerns…

July 10th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Just like John Ford, Sam Peckinpah employed many of the same actors for his revisionist Westerns. One of those performers was L. Q. Jones. He was cast in the director’s Ride the High Country, Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue and in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. He was also prolific in television Westerns.

“`Jones turning to acting after corresponding with his former college roommate,  Fess Parker. At the time, Parker was already in Hollywood working in films and on televisions. This chat led to recurring roles in Cheyenne, Lassie, Tales of Wells Fargo, Wagon Train, Have Gun – Will Travel, and especially, in Laramie, Rawhide, The Big Valley and Gunsmoke. He also guest-starred in Perry Mason, Route 66, My Favorite Martian, Hawaii 5-0, The F. B. I., Cannon, Kung Fu, Ironside, McCloud, Charlie’s Angels and Columbo.

“`He became a member of Sam Peckinpah’s stock company of actors and was frequently cast alongside his close friend Strother Martin.  Under the tutelage of Peckinpah, Jones eventually directed, produced and wrote the screenplay for Harlan Ellison’s A Boy and His Dog in 1975. Jones also appeared in  Battle Cry, Love Me Tender, Operation Mad Ball, Flaming Star, Nevada Smith, Hang ‘Em High and Casino.

“`L. Q. Jones (above right) was ninety-four.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Loss at F-Troop…

July 9th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Larry Storch was a comedic actor, best remembered for his role as Corporal Agarn on F-Troop. He was also a celebrated voice actor. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 1967, but lost to childhood friend Don Adams that year. He even auditioned to play James Bond early in his career.

“`His high school classmate was Adams;  and he was the shipmate of Tony Curtis on the submarine tender USS Proteus. Early on, he would warm up an audience with comedic impressions for a local bandleader.

“`Storch was busy on television, guest-starring in Car 54 Where Are YouSergeant Bilko, MannixGet SmartColumboCHiPsFantasy IslandMcCloudThe Flying Nun, Alias Smith and JonesI Dream of Jeannie, Gomer Pyle  U. S. M. C.Gilligan’s IslandThat  GirlLove American Style and All in the Family.  He also performed on variety programs, such as The Ed Sullivan Show, Sonny and Cher, The Tonight Show, Laugh-In and The Hollywood Palace.

“`Surprisingly, Storch was in twenty-five films, notably in Captain Newman M. D., Sex and the Single Girl, The Great Race, Airport ‘75, and S. O. B.

“`Larry Storch (above right), always in his Agarn hat, was ninety-nine.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Dignitaries at TCM Classic Film Fest…

July 8th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`While at the TCM Classic Film Festival for Celebrating Act 2 and Forgotten Hollywood, I ran into Hollywood Forever’s Karie Bible and Hollywood historian Jeremy Arnold. This was a lovely chat!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- An Actor of Note…

July 7th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Out of the 1960s, came a rugged type of actor, well-suited in Westerns and hard-boiled dramas. Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, James Garner and Steve McQueen come to mind. One of the very best was James Caan; a true movie star who shared his screen time with some of the very best in his generation, such as Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Al Pacino, Robert Mitchum, Kathy Bates, Robert Duvall and Billy Dee Williams. He is remembered as the hot-tempered Sonny in The Godfather; and as the dying football player in the remarkable teleplay, Brian’s Song.

“`Caan went to Hofstra University and sparked an unlikely and fortuitous friendship with classmate Francis Ford Coppola. Caan was accepted to New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where he studied for five years. He began his career in television in 1961.

“`Caan guest-starred in Combat!, The Untouchables, Death Valley Days, Naked City, Dr. Kildare, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, Get Smart and The F. B. I. His film career began with a walk-on in Billy Wilder’s Irma La Douce. His big break came when Howard Hawks cast him in El Dorado. Caan’s 1971 television role in Brian’s Song proved to be so successful, he earned an Emmy nomination and became an instant matinee idol.  (He had turned down the part four times!)

“`In The Godfather, Coppola originally cast Caan to play Michael Corleone. Both agreed that Al Pacino was better suited to the role. Coppola really wanted his friend to be in the movie, so he moved him over to play Sonny. During the production, Caan began hanging out with actual Mafiosos. Like George Raft, he kept a close relationship with his mob friends for the entirety of his career. Pacino, Caan and Robert Duvall received Oscar nods for their sterling performances.

“`Caan co-starred in Cinderella Liberty, Freebie and the Bean, Funny Lady, Rollerball, Silent Movie, A Bridge Too Far, Comes a Horseman, Dick Tracy and memorable bits in Misery,Thief and Elf. He also had a flashback cameo in The Godfather Part II. During his peak years of stardom,  he rejected a series of starring roles that proved to be successes for other actors, including M*A*S*H, The French Connection, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Kramer vs. Kramer, Apocalypse Now, Love StoryBlade Runner and Superman.

“`James Caan (above right) was eighty-two.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Always a Wolf…

July 5th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`I get to spend a treasured moment on Celebrating Act 2 with Art Kirsch and John Coleman to chat about the famous Hollywood stars that were graduates of my alma mater, Van Nuys High School in the San Fernando Valley. I get to share a couple of very personal fun stories as well!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Muse for Kubrick…

July 1st, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Joe Turkel was a character actor most known for three roles in Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, Paths of Glory and The Shining, He also gave a memorable performance in Blade Runner.                 JOE TURKEL —>

“`Turkel’s career took of in the 1950s and he remained busy through the 1960s with parts in Halls of Montezuma, Friendly PersuasionHellcats of the NavyThe Carpetbaggers, King RatThe Sand Pebbles, The St. Valentines Day Massacre, and The Hindenburg. On the small screen, he appeared in The Life and Times of Wyatt EarpBat Masterson, Bonanza, Rat Patrol and Miami Vice.

“`Prior to his passing, Turkel wrote a memoir, The Misery of Success, scheduled for a release later this year.

“`Joe Turkel was ninety-four.

Until next time>                               “never forget”