“Forgotten Hollywood”- Athletes in Cinema…

October 29th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`John Coleman and Art Kirsch of Celebrating Act 2 join me in running down famous sports figures who have appeared in movies and on television. It is a fun discussion.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The President of Cinecon…

October 28th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`The Celebrating Act 2 cameras are rolling. Our weekly exposé on Cinecon 58 continues with Art Kirsch and John Coleman’s wonderful interview with Stan Taffel,  the president of Cinecon. He is a noted archivist and preservationist as well. And I am proud to call him my good friend.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Soundies at Cinecon…

October 21st, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Soundies  were two-reelers showcasing the performances of unknown and up-and-coming talent. The platform was a kind of a video jukebox and it was accessible to anyone with two-bits. Celebrating Act 2 converses with archivist Mark Cantor at Cinecon 58 as they chat about the Library of Congress preservation of this cinematic treasure.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Mob in Movies…

October 17th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 takes a look at the famous movie stars with ties to the mob. John Kirsch and Art Coleman are the wiseguys in this engaging discussion.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Cinecon Chat with Alan K. Rode…

October 14th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`The Celebrating Act 2 cameras were out at Cinecon 58 over the Labor Day Weekend. We had a chance to interview noted  Hollywood historian Alan K. Rode as he shared the history behind the historic Hollywood American Legion Post 43 Theater.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Dame Lansbury…

October 11th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`One of the finest talents to grace cinema, the stage and small screen, Angela Lansbury’s career spanned nine decades and produced indelible portraits of a wide range of characters. She is best known as the sleuth in Murder She Wrote and her Broadway performances in Mame, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd. She would eventually earn five Tony Awards.

ANGELA LANSBURY

“`Lansbury was born in London in 1925 and traveled to the United States with her mother in 1940 to elude the blitz. She studied acting and her motion picture career took off. Contracted by MGM, her first three movies were Gaslight, National Velvet and The Picture of Dorian Gray. A pair of Academy Award nominations followed during this initial stretch. Her casting in The Manchurian Candidate earned her the finest cinematic reviews of her career and more Oscar attention.

“`Other films parts included The Harvey Girls, State of the Union, Till the Clouds Roll By, The Three Musketeers, Samson and Delilah, The Court Jester, The Long Hot Summer, Blue Hawaii, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Death on the Nile. She did voice work, contributing to animated films like Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. One of her more celebrated recent appearances was in Mary Poppins Returns.

“`On television, she would receive eighteen Emmy nods, eleven for playing Jessica Fletcher on Murder She Wrote. Sadly, a statuette eluded her mantle. She also guest-starred in The Man From U. N. C. L. E., Magnum P. I., and Touched by an Angel.

“`On a personal note, I was blessed to see her perform in Gypsy live when she toured in Los Angeles. I was in my teens and still remember her iconic work.

“`Truly a superstar in every way, Angela Lansbury was ninety-six.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Passing of Art Laboe…

October 10th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`The orignal Oldie-But-Goodie, Art Laboe, was a multi-generational broadcasting legend. He gave Latinos a music voice throughout the Southwest of the United States. Art appears in the Guinness World Book of Records for his seventy-nine year career. Personally, he mentored the totality of my career and I am saddened for his loss.

“`Laboe was born in Salt Lake City. Serving during World War II, he transmitted Morse Code to ships in the South Pacific.  In 1943, Art was hired at a San Francisco radio station. He traveled to Southern California after the war and continued his broadcasting career. His contemporaries included Alan Freed, Murray The K, Hunter Hancock, Wolfman Jack and Dick Hugg Huggy Boy.

“`Art Laboe coined the phrase, Oldies but Goodies, which led to his successful series of album compilations.  Art popularized live radio remotes when broadcasting his program at Scrivner’s Drive-In in Los Angeles. He developed the modern West Coast Urban Oldies format, featuring popular songs and listener dedications from the Southwest Latino community, and elsewhere. His dance and oldies shows at El Monte Legion Stadium united teens of Southern California regardless of race in an often culturally divided city. He personally arranged the deal that kept KRLA 11-10 AM on the air after negotiating with co-owners Bob Hope and Art Linkletter.

                                         ART LABOE    RICK NELSON

“`Art owned Original Sound Records and many of his tunes he licensed ended up in popular movies, such as American Graffiti. Laboe received a Star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame at Hollywood and Highland. I was proud to attend this wonderful ceremony in 1981.

“`In 2009, he was honored with Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters/Diamond Circle Award, given to members who have made an important contribution to the development of broadcasting. Art Laboe memorabilia can be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum’s interactive Rock and Radio exhibit in Cleveland. In 2012, Art Laboe was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame and Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.

“`I recently aired an interview I did with my dear friend on my podcast. You are welcome to listen and appreciate the warmth and candor of the great Art Laboe.

https://manny-pachecos-forgotten-hollywood.castos.com/podcasts/38246/episodes/ep-26-an-oldie-but-goodie-081022

“`Art Laboe was ninety-seven. Vaya con Dios dear Arthur…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Invaders From Mars at Cinecon…

October 7th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Our Celebrating Act 2 travel to Cinecon 58 was special and we start our journey with a chat with Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, IGNITE Films CEO. He explains the process in restoring the 1953 classic, Invaders From Mars,  as well as the cultural value of the film that made them want to restore it. All footage of Invaders From Mars is shown by permission from IGNITE Films.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Trip to Canoga Park…

October 6th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`If you reside near the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, please join me on Saturday (October 8th) at 1p for a family-friendly book-signing event at the Canoga Park Branch Library. I will chatting about Hollywood, based on my award-winning Forgotten Hollywood paperback series. And I will be signing copies of my literary work for interested patrons.

   

“`The library is located at 20929 Sherman Way in Canoga Park and the event is FREE!

“`I hope to see you there!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Celebrating Screen Couples…

October 5th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Tracy and Hepburn… Bogie and Bacall… They are all here on Celebrating Act 2! Art Kirsch, John Coleman and I review some of the great cinematic relationships.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Gal From Butcher Holler…

October 4th, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Loretta Lynn was a country music legend,  a coal miner’s daughter and moonshiner’s wife. She built a reputation as a hillbilly feminist who wrote songs that resonated with women. Her sister was country singer, Crystal Gayle.

“`Lynn grew up in the coal-rich area of Kentucky known as  Butcher Holler, where her miner father died of black lung disease at age fifty-two. She was only fifteen in 1948 when she married Oliver Lynn. By the time she reached eighteen, she was the mother of four children.             LORETTA LYNN –>

“`They moved to Washington State in the 1950s.  She taught herself to play a guitar that was a gift from her husband and began performing at radio stations. By 1960, she had a recording contract and a self-written tune, I’m a Honky-Tonk Girl. The couple traveled around the United States visiting radio stations to promote her work. They ended up in the country music capital of Nashville.

“`Lynn scored with Fist City, You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)  and Coal Miner’s Daughter. She had more than fifty top-ten hits. Fourteen of her songs were also banned by radio stations for mature content.

“`Lynn’s 1976 autobiography  Coal Miner’s Daughter made the New York Times bestseller list and Sissy Spacek earned an Academy Award for portraying her in a movie of the same name. The actress became a life-long friend of the singer after the film was made.

“`Lynn was the first female to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year honor in 1972. She won seven other CMA awards and was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.  In 2003, Lynn was a Kennedy Center honoree and was given a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2010. Three years later, President Obama presented her a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“`Loretta Lynn was ninety.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- An Apology Before Death…

October 2nd, 2022

Manny P. here…

“`Sacheen Littlefeather was an actress and Native American civil rights activist. On Marlon Brando’s behalf at the 45th Academy Awards in 1973,  she declined a Best Actor award he earned for his performance in The Godfather. Brando boycotted the ceremony in protest against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans and to draw attention to the standoff at Wounded Knee. During her speech, the audience’s response was split between booing and applause.

“`In interviews, Littlefeather had described a difficult childhood. As a young adult, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a modeling career with a portfolio of photos taken by Kenneth Cook. Aspiring to become an actress, she worked in radio and television commercials and joined the Screen Actors Guild.

“`To celebrate her heritage, she joined the United Bay Indian Council and participated in the occupation of Alcatraz in 1970. As a spokesperson for the National American Indian Council, she protested President Nixon’s budget cuts to federal Indian programs in 1973.

“`Littlefeather auditioned for Francis Ford Coppola who then referred her to Brando. At the time of the Oscars, she had known the actor for almost a year.  She was in the audience just before the Best Actor was announced. She was joined by Brando’s assistant Alice Marchak and wore an Apache buckskin dress. Producer Howard Koch allowed her to make her speech.

“`The Best Actor trophy was presented by Liv Ullmann and Roger Moore. They declared Brando as the winner. Littlefeather appeared on stage and declined the Oscar. Koch and director Marty Pasetta both later recalled that John Wayne was in the wings and was restrained by six security guards to keep him from forcing her off stage.

“`Brando’s actions were considered inappropriate for the awards ceremony. She visited the actor’s house after the Academy Awards and shots were fired into his front door while they were talking. SACHEEN LITTLEFEATHER –>

“`Littlefeather was blacklisted by the Hollywood community and received threats. The federal government encouraged blacklisting to abate Native American activism after Wounded Knee. She continued her activism and became a respected member of California’s Native American community.

“`In June 2022, the Academy finally sent Littlefeather a statement of apology. It read in part:

 The abuse you endured was unwarranted and unjustified. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration. 

“`An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather was held on September 17th, an event honoring the activist. She also recorded an episode for the Academy Museum podcast and a visual history for the Academy Oral History Projects.

“`Sacheen Littlefeather was seventy-five.

Until next time>                               “never forget”