Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 takes a look at movies made to just entertain an audience. These are not necessarily Oscar-worthy cinema. They are just fun… just like Art Kirsch and John Coleman.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Hollywood lost two wonderfully talented television stars this past couple of days. They were bold in their efforts to fashion remarkable careers on and off the screen.

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“`Suzanne Somers was an actress, author, singer, businesswoman and health spokesperson. She is best known for her role as Chrissy on Three’s Company. Her memorable appearance as the girl in the T-Bird in American Graffiti earned her attention by Hollywood studios.

“`In the 1980s, Somers lived in Las Vegas and was an entertainer, headlining at the former MGM Grand until the theater burned down and then at the Las Vegas Hilton. In the early 1990s, Somers was the spokeswoman in a series of infomercials for the Thighmaster.   She was eventually inducted into the Infomercial Hall of Fame.

“`Suzanne Somers was seventy-six.

“`Lara Parker was an actor and novelist. She is best remembered as the witch Angelique on the gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows. Originally introduced to explain how Jonathan Frid’s popular character Barnabas Collins had become a vampire, Parker was so popular with fans that she remained with the show until it ended in 1971.

“`In 1998, Parker published her first book: Angelique’s Descent. She followed with The Salem Branch, Wolf Moon Rising and Heiress Of Collinwood. She attended Dark Shadows conventions with other cast members from the show.

“`I moderated a panel that included Parker and another Dark Shadows regular Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans) while at a book fair in El Segundo in 2014. They were gracious in taking a photo with me (above right). The soap opera was actually my favorite program on television in the 1960s, so this was a rare treat.

“`Lara Parker was eighty-four.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2, with John Coleman and Art Kirsch, enters the dark side with a look at very mean characters on screen. This conversation will keep you up at night!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Piper Laurie was an underrated actress,  who was spectacular in almost everything she appeared in. She is best know for her Oscar-nominated roles in The Hustler, Carrie and Children of a Lesser God. On television, she was in the original production of Days and Wine and Roses and she was memorable on the television series, Twin Peaks.

“`In 1949, she signed with Universal and changed her screen name to Piper Laurie.  While on the lot, she made friends with James Best, Julie Adams, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson. She dated Ronald Reagan before he married Nancy Davis.

“`The actress negotiated herself out of the contract with Universal in the mid-1950s after a series of ingenue roles in mediocre films. She turned in an impressive performance in Robert Wise’s Until They Sail in 1957. Discouraged by the lack of substantial film roles, she moved to New York City to study acting and to seek work on stage and in television.  Laurie married Joseph Morgenstern, a New York Herald Tribune entertainment writer and Wall Street Journal movie critic. She left show business to start a family.

“`By the mid-70s,  she was ready to work again and appeared in a Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie. On television, she guest-starred in Naked City, Ben Casey, The Thorn Birds, St. Elsewhere, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, ER, Will & Grace and Frasier.

“`Piper Laurie (above right) was ninety-one.

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“`Mark Goddard was an actor who starred in a number of television programs. He is probably best known for portraying Major Don West in the CBS series, Lost in Space.  He also played Detective Chris Ballard in The Detectives.  He guest-starred in Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Adam-12, The Fugitive, The Mod Squad and Barnaby Jones.

“`Mark Goddard was eighty-seven.

MARK GODDARD              PHYLLIS COATES

“`Phyllis Coates was an actress, with a career spanning over fifty years.  She was best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film  Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman. Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in two  Superman serials, in 1948 and 1950, replaced Coates, who was not available for the second season.

“`Her career began at 20th Century Fox,  co-starring in the Joe McDoakes two-reelers.  On television, she guest-starred in Lassie, Leave it to Beaver, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Untouchables and The Patty Duke Show.

“`Phyllis Coates was ninety-six.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Today, John Coleman, Art Kirsch and I stroll through Central Park, walk across from the Empire State Building and check out Time Square as Celebrating Act 2 looks at movies about New York.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”