Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`Manny Pacheco’s Forgotten Hollywood podcast on Spotify. This show is streamed each week! And you can listen for FREE…

“`Episode ninety-four is on the cloud. Our final original episode is the presentation of a radio drama, It’s a Wonderful Life.  First presented in 2020 by the Carlisle Theatre in Carlisle, Pennsylvania under the direction of Artistic Director Ashley Byerts. The performance features the Carlisle acting troupe, Player’s On High, and voice actors from around the country.

I was honored to be a featured talent in this production and I play Clarence, the Angel.  This performance has been artificially aged to give it a feel that you are listening to a 1940s radio drama. I believe this is a fitting way to bid adieu to Manny Pacheco’s Forgotten Hollywood!

Now, sit back as we travel to Bedford Falls for the presentation of It’s a Wonderful Life.

~ ~ ~

PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK to also listen to the previous ninety-three episodes.

“`If you do not subscribe to Spotify, you can still listen to Forgotten Hollywood on Castos. And no membership is necessary. PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK:

https://manny-pachecos-forgotten-hollywood.castos.com/episodes/ep-93-happiest-place-on-line-112223?_gl=1*1y2kxhh*_gcl_au*MjA2Nzc5NDYyNi4xNjk0ODI5MzMx

Until next time>                               “never forget” 

Manny P. here…

“`Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Woody Allen and Neil Simon all found their footing as movie makers while as a writing team for the iconic variety series, Your Show of Shows. Celebrating Act 2 takes a glimpse at the influence this television program had on cinema!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Today, I join Art Kirsch and John Coleman on  Celebrating Act 2 to enjoy a post-Halloween discussion about the scariest monsters on the silver screen tinged with blood! We will try not to frighten you too much!

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Well, the day is finally here! Sunday night prime time programming at TCM will highlight an evening with Robert Youngson. Again, I want to sincerely thank Vice President of Programming Charlie Tabesh for taking my suggestion at the TCM Film Festival and then letting me know of his intentions to offer this bill of fair on November 5th. He sent me a few emails to assure me that this was going to happen!

“`Beginning at 8p Eastern (5p Pacific), TCM will present The Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy was King and The Big Parade of Comedy, all cinematic compilations by Youngson. And they will be a natural lead in to their normal Silent Sundays feature.

“`Forgotten Hollywood, in collaboration with the Laurel and Hardy International Appreciation Society, has been campaigning to get The Golden Age of Comedy and/or When Comedy was King into the Library of Congress National Film Registry. A panel of film historians are currently finalizing the twenty-five selections for the Class of 2023. It was incredibly kind of TCM to showcase the work of Robert Youngson in an effort to help our campaign.

“`On a very sad note, one of our chief supporters of this campaign suddenly passed away this week. John Field was the Grand Sheik of the Saps at Sea tent in San Diego; a chapter with the L&H society. He died in his sleep and he was sixty-five. His help in getting the members of the society from all over the globe to campaign and vote was appreciated. John was a very special person.

“`I know where I will be on Sunday evening. I hope all my friends who enjoy TCM will join me in our celebration of the great Robert Youngson and the works he created that helped preserve silent comedies. They also served as an introduction to a joy of slapstick silent comedy for the baby-boomers generation. Please cue Chopin’s Tristesse!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

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.

=========================

“`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”

Manny P. here…

“`David McCallum was a Scottish actor,  who gained recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television program The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  His brand personified the British Invasion, which included The Beatles, James Bond and Twiggy.

“`In his youth, he attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Joan Collins was a classmate. After a stint at BBC Radio, McCallum began working in motion pictures and television.  On the big screen, he co-starred in A Night to Remember, Billy Budd, The Great Escape, The Greatest Story Ever Told and One of Our Spies is Missing.

“`Once he was cast in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he became a sex symbol with his Beatles-style blond haircut and was elevated to co-star status. While playing Kuryakin, McCallum got more fan mail than any other actor in MGM’s history,  including such popular actors as Clark Gable, Robert Taylor and Elvis Presley. He also received two Emmy nominations in the course of the show’s four-year run for playing the intellectual and introverted secret agent.

“`He also guest-starred in small screen shows, including The Outer Limits, Perry Mason, Hullabaloo, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Night Gallery, The Six-Million Dollar Man, Hart to Hart, The A-Team, Matlock, McCloud and Murder She Wrote. McCallum never quite repeated the popular success he had gained as Kuryakin until he was cast in NCIS.

“`For a time he was married to Jill Ireland. She met Charles Bronson while McCallum worked with the actor in The Great Escape. After their divorce, she wed Bronson.

“`David McCallum (above right) was ninety.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Art Kirsch and John Coleman join me in chatting about the great buddies and sidekicks of Hollywood on Celebrating Act 2.  From Gabby Hayes to Nigel Bruce,  we profile some of the great second fiddles to ever grace the silver screen.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`I am returning to my home town in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, where I went to high school, the city of Van Nuys, CA. The Van Nuys branch of Los Angeles Public Library system will be hosting a Forgotten Hollywood event this Thursday at 3p. I will be offering an oral presentation and autographing copies of my Forgotten Hollywood book series.

“`My presentation includes fascinating tales about Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Arthur Lake, Frank Morgan and Lionel Barrymore. Consider this my personal invitation to enjoy an afternoon of nostalgia about Hollywood’s Golden Age.

“`The Van Nuys Library is located at 6250 Sylmar Avenue. By the way, I graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1975. I would love to see my fellow Wolves attend the event!

“`See you there!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`The owners of the 1920-era home, which Marilyn Monroe purchased in the early 1960s and where the actress died of an overdose in 1962,  submitted a permit request to the city of Los Angeles to raze the estate.  It was unclear why the owner was looking to demolish the home. News of the residence’s pending demolition, however, sparked outrage from local history buffs and fans of the actress. As news of the demolition plans spread, a change.org petition to save Monroe’s home quickly garnered thousands of signatures this past week.

                          MARILYN MONROE

“`On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion seeking to save the Brentwood place by having it declared a historic-cultural monument.  The popular motion was introduced by Councilwoman Traci Park whose 11th District includes Monroe’s home. After the vote, the Department of Building and Safety issued an official notice to stop construction,  as well as a notice of intent to revoke the permit for the demolition of Monroe’s home.

“`The motion was handed in to Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. The CHC will have to make a decision within seven-five days.

“`Monroe bought the home after she moved back to the West Coast following the end of her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. Sources say the price was $77,500. She reportedly paid for half with cash and took out a mortgage for the rest. She described her casa as a “fortress where I can feel safe from the world.”

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`I am happy to provide a sneak peak into my next book,  Adventures of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History, on Celebrating Act 2. I join Art Kirsch and John Coleman in profiling the life and times of the wonderful Ida Lupino, a chapter subject in my next literary effort.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Bob Barker was a television game show host and his career spanned over five decades.  His most memorable work was on Truth or Consequences and The Price is Right. He hosted the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, giving him a distinction as the longest-serving host of those annual events. BOB BARKER ->

“`He was hosting an audience-participation radio show on KNX 1070 AM in Los Angeles when game show producer Ralph Edwards who was looking for a new host to replace Jack Bailey on the daytime-television version of his long-running show, Truth or Consequences, happened to be listening and liked Barker’s voice and style.

“`After nineteen accolades throughout his career, Barker received a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at the 1999 Daytime Emmy Awards. He was also inducted into the 2004 class of the Television Hall of Fame.

“`He became an advocate for animal rights, supporting groups such as the United Activists for Animal Rights. He began ending The Price Is Right show with: This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet population; have your pets spayed or neutered. He participated in several PETA public service announcements over the years.

“`Bob Barker was ninety-nine.

Until next time>                               “never forget”