Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

The royal couple won’t let their golden years keep them away from a grand overseas commemoration: the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (right) have stopped traveling abroad — a reluctant concession to their advanced years — but next week, they intend to be in Normandy for ceremonies to honor soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate Europe from the Nazis.

The perils of World War II directly shaped the lives of Elizabeth and Philip. The anniversary is so heartfelt that the royal couple is preparing to cross the English Channel once more, this time on a Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel that Elizabeth helped inaugurate 20 years ago. They will bring younger royals as well, including Prince Charles, heir to the throne, and Prince William, second in line. The Queen and Philip are well aware that this is the last time a reasonable number of veterans will be able to attend. So, it’s very important to both.

   The Queen was a teen during World War II. As a princess, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service; serving as a driver and a mechanic. Philip was on active duty in the Royal Navy. Elizabeth plans on attending a remembrance service, personally meet with veterans, and taking part in a  ceremony at Sword Beach, a landing spot where British Allied forces faced enemy fire from entrenched German troops and tanks.

   French officials have described the monarch as a super guest of honor — a nod both to her longevity and to Britain’s vital role in the D-Day invasion that liberated France. After the solemn events in Normandy, the Queen and Philip will be given a state banquet on Friday night at the Elysee Palace, and hosted by French President Francois Hollande.

   A decade ago, my wife Laurie and I visited Normandy, including Omaha Beach,  Pointe du Hoc, and the Allied cemetery. It was a somber but revealing excursion. Photos that we took appear in my book, Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History.

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   Lee Chamberlin was a television pioneer. She was an original cast member of The Electric Company on PBS, along with Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and others. During the 1970s and 1980s, Chamberlin appeared in many popular television shows such as Lou Grant, The White Shadow, Diff’rent Strokes, NYPD Blue, Roots: The Next Generation, Moesha, and Touched By an Angel. From 1983-1995, she was a regular on the ABC soap All My Children.                                           LEE CHAMBERLIN ———–>

   She co-starred with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier in two of the more popular film comedies of the 1970s, Uptown Saturday Night and Let’s Do It Again. Both of these comedies were popular with black audiences who sought out more positive African American representation in the media. Lee also played Cordelia in the Shakespeare in the Park production of King Lear alongside James Earl Jones and Paul Sorvino.

   In 2010, Chamberlin founded the Playwrights’ Inn Project in France.  This production company developed works of diverse American playwrights, including persons-of-color and women, traditionally under-served in the play development process.

   Lee Chamberlin was 76.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at 2:16 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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