Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Florence Henderson went from Broadway star to becoming one of America’s most beloved television moms in The Brady Bunch. Her most widely recognized part was as Carol Brady. The sitcom aired on ABC from 1969 until 1974. Henderson’s best friend, Shirley Jones, had turned down the role to spend more time with her family. Primarily owing to her performance on The Brady Bunch, Henderson was ranked by TVLand and Entertainment Weekly as #54 on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Icons.

   Initially, Henderson represented an idyllic mother to a tumultuous nation that was protesting an unpopular war, and a presidential abuse of power. After ending its initial run, the show kept resonating with audiences, and it returned to the small screen in various forms, including The Brady Bunch Hour in 1977, The Brady Brides in 1981, and The Bradys in 1990. It remains a popular rerun.            FLORENCE HENDERSON

   Prior to the iconic program, Henderson began her career as a 19-year-old drama student in New York when she landed a one-line role in the play Wish You Were Here. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were so impressed, they made her the female lead in a 1952 road tour of Oklahoma! When the show returned to Broadway for a revival in 1954, she continued in the role and won rave reviews. She went on to play Maria in a road production of The Sound of Music; was Nellie Forbush in a revival of South Pacific; and was back on Broadway with Jose Ferrer in The Girl Who Came to Supper in 1963. Her career nearly ended in 1965, when she suddenly lost her hearing while appearing in The King and I in Los Angeles. Corrective surgery resolved the issue.

   As her television career blossomed, Henderson made frequent guest appearances, including Password, I Spy, The Dean Martin Show, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, L.A. Law, Alice, Fantasy Island, Murder She Wrote, Roseanne, Ally McBeal, The King of Queens, and 30 Rock. She was the first woman to host The Tonight Show for the vacationing Johnny Carson. For eight years, Florence also commuted to Nashville to conduct a cooking and talk series, Country Kitchen, on The Nashville Network. She was the host of her own television series, The Florence Henderson Show on Retirement Living TV. In February 2013, she began hosting her own cooking show, Who’s Cooking with Florence Henderson, on RLTV. She was the spokesperson for Wesson Cooking Oil from 1976 to 1996.

   She made her movie debut in 1970 in Song of Norway. Henderson also had a cameo as Carol Brady’s mom in The Brady Bunch Movie. Three days before her passing, Florence appeared on Dancing With The Stars, giving moral support to Maureen McCormick, who played the popular Marcia Brady.

   She was partly old-school small-screen mom, as perfectly groomed and poised as Harriet Nelson in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet or Barbara Billingsley’s June Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver. But Henderson’s own sass, warmth and strength made Carol Brady the right surrogate mom for the changing 1970s. For viewers who came of age during The Brady Bunch years, it was Florence Henderson who more than earned the honor.

A couple of years back, I met Ms. Henderson, and found her to be quite warm and engaging. She was unassuming and down-to-earth.

   Florence Henderson was 82.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Plans for a life-size bronze statue in honor of silver screen legend and fiery red head, Maureen O’Hara, are underway in Glengarriff, Ireland. The project is in the planning stages, and the volunteers have persuaded Jeanne Rynhart, who designed the famous Molly Malone statue in Dublin, to come out of retirement to take on the task of immortalizing Maureen. The statute will be in bronze, life-size, and depict Maureen in one of the scenes from her famous movie, The Quiet Man. The exact design has not been chosen yet, but it will be a fitting tribute to O’Hara and her family.                        MAUREEN O’HARA —>

   A resident of Glengarriff from 1968 until she moved back to the United States with her grandson Conor in 2014, Maureen was considered a local by all who lived and worked in the town. Her film career, which spanned 62 years, included a partnership with John Wayne in some of Hollywood’s most memorable movies. She also sponsored the longest-running golf tournament in Ireland. The Maureen O’Hara Classic has now been held for over 50 years in Glengarriff.

   As well as a statue in Glengarriff, an auction of O’Hara’s movie memorabilia, as well as some of her dresses, ball gowns, and a collection of never-before-seen love letters from film director John Ford will go under the hammer in Bonhams Auction House in New York at the end of the month, on Conor’s instructions.

   Following Maureen’s death in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 95 in 2015, her daughter Bronwyn passed away at her home in Glengarriff in May of this year.

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   Paul Sylbert (right) was a prolific production designer who won an Oscar for his work on Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait. He and his late twin brother Richard Sylbert became some of the most sought-after production designers in the business following arts school, working together on Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll and A Face in the Crowd.

   A Korean War veteran, Paul would span over four decades, during which he worked on films like The Wrong Man, The Drowning Pool, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Wolfen, Gorky Park, Kramer vs Kramer, Blow Out, Biloxi Blues, and The Prince of Tides, for which he scored another Oscar nod. Paul also designed for the New York City Opera Company, and penned a book about his experiences in Hollywood called Final Cut.

   In 2009, Sylbert received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Director’s Guild. Recently, he was on the faculty of the Film & Media Arts Department of his alma mater Temple University in Philadelphia.

   Paul Sylbert was 88.

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    A public service announcement:

   Gobble… Gobble…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Ralph Branca’s career was defined by that one high-and-inside fastball. The Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher gave up Bobby Thomson’s famed Shot Heard ‘Round the World still echoes more than six decades later as one of the most famous home runs in baseball history.        RALPH BRANCA —->

   Branca was a three-time All-Star, and spent 12 seasons in the majors. Brought in from the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth inning during the deciding Game 3 of the National League pennant playoff in 1951, he gave up a three-run homer to Thomson that gave the rival New York Giants a stunning 5-4 victory.

   The one-out line drive into the left field lower deck at the Polo Grounds prompted the frenetic call from announcer Russ Hodges, The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The team and its fans celebrated wildly as Thomson breezed around the bases, while Branca, wearing his unlucky #13 jersey, trudged off the mound. Thomson, who also homered off Branca in Game 1, capped a sensational comeback for the Giants, who trailed the Dodgers by more than a dozen games heading toward mid-August.

   For the next 50 years, Branca and Thomson often appeared together at card shows, corporate events, and baseball functions, re-telling the story of the home run that grew into a sports legend. They always were friendly at the affairs, sometimes even teaming up to sing about the big moment. But, it wasn’t until many years later, it was revealed the Giants had a little extra help, too. That’s when it came to light they employed a telescope-and-buzzer system that season to steal signs from opposing catchers. With that advantage, hitters got a boost in their swings. Thomson firmly asserted he didn’t get a sign in advance. A three-time All-Star himself, he stuck to that claim until he died in 2010 at age 86. Branca, however, wasn’t so sure.

   One of the last remaining Boys of Summer, Ralph Branca was 88-68 with a 3.79 ERA in his big league career. He spent the first 11 years with the Dodgers, then played for Detroit and the Yankees before returning to Brooklyn for a final game in 1956. Branca made his debut as a teen in 1944, and went 21-12 with 15 complete games during Jackie Robinson’s first season in 1947. Branca added another win at Yankee Stadium in the World Series.

   He co-founded the Baseball Assistance Team, which aids members of the baseball family in need of financial, medical, or psychological assistance, and served as its president for 17 years. He was a pallbearer at Robinson’s funeral in 1972. His son-in-law was former big league manager Bobby Valentine

   The steadfast Ralph Branca was 90.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   On November 22nd, 1963, Abraham Zapruder shot what has become the most famous home movie of all time: A chilling 26-second snippet of film depicting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Russian-born Zapruder was a clothing manufacturer whose office sat across the street from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. On the day of the assassination, he and some of his employees went to Dealey Plaza to get a glimpse of the presidential motorcade. As Kennedy’s limousine passed, Zapruder began filming with his 8mm Bell & Howell camera and inadvertently captured the most complete record of the president’s murder.

   Knowing his footage might prove valuable in a future investigation, he developed the 486-frame film, and screened it for the Secret Service the following day. He also met with a representative from Life Magazine and agreed to sell all rights to the footage for the sum of $150,000. Plagued by nightmares of the film’s gruesome content, Zapruder only allowed the magazine to publish photos of the assassination footage on the condition that it remove frame 313 — the moment in which Kennedy is shot in the head. The infamous frame would remain excised from all public versions of the film until 1975, when it was shown for the first time on reporter Geraldo Rivera’s television program, Good Night America.

   Zapruder’s film has since served as a major piece of evidence for amateur detectives, government investigators, and conspiracy theorists. In 1964, the Warren Commission spent weeks examining the footage and conducting tests on the camera during its official investigation of the assassination. Abraham Zapruder (right) died in 1970, but Life Magazine later sold the film back to his family in 1975 for the token sum of $1.

   They went on to license the footage to several other sources, including to Oliver Stone, who used it in his 1991 film JFK. Stone’s film helped lead to the creation of the Assassination Records Review Board, which would later decide that the United States government should own all footage related to the Kennedy assassination. As a result, the Justice Department awarded the Zapruder family $16 million for the original print in 1999. That same year, the family donated all copyrights on the film to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

   It remains there to this day; a few blocks from where it all was first recorded.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   President Barack Obama has named 21 star-studded recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to:  Individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

   This years awardees include:  Robert De Niro, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Lorne Michaels, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, and Bruce Springsteen from the entertainment industry; Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Vin Scully from the sports community; and Bill and Melinda Gates, and Frank Gehry from business and industry.

            TOM HANKS            ELLEN DEGENERES           KENNEDY   JOHNSON   TRUMAN

   On July 6, 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9586, establishing the Medal of Freedom to recognize notable service by civilians during World War II. With Executive Order 11085 (signed February 22, 1963), President John F. Kennedy re-established the award as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and expanded its scope to include cultural achievements. The first recipients, selected by Kennedy, received their medals from his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, on December 6, 1963, at the White House. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous month, was added to the list, posthumously.

   The medal is suspended on a blue ribbon, and it incorporates the color scheme found on the presidential seal. Its most visible design element is a white star, upon which is centered a collection of 13 smaller gold stars arranged on a field of blue. A red pentagon is set behind the white star, and gold eagles bridge the distance between the points of the star. The recipient’s name is engraved on the reverse side of the medal.

   The awards will be presented at the White House on November 22nd.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Priscilla Presley has opened up about her life with Elvis Presley, saying she truly lived in a bubble with the superstar. She told the British talk show Loose Women on the ITV network that she didn’t spend her teenage years as a normal girl, losing herself in Elvis’ career. Only when she began attending a dance class, did she realize how unusual their relationship truly was.           PRISCILLA PRESLEY —->

   Priscilla began dating Elvis when she was 14, and he was 24. The pair got married when she was 21 in 1967; and divorced in 1973. During the interview, the 71-year-old expressed that Elvis was the love of her life. He died in 1977 at 42 years of age.

   Hal B. Wallis, the Hollywood producer who had financed many of Elvis’ earlier films, had shown an interest in signing Priscilla to a contract. Elvis, however, had no intention of allowing his wife to appear in cinema. She would go on to have a successful acting career, appearing in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and all three Naked Gun flicks; and on television, in Dallas, The Fall Guy, Melrose Place, Touched by an Angel, and Spin City. Priscilla had originally been offered a role on Charlie’s Angels. But, she turned down the role because of her reported distaste of the show.

   Priscilla has also been the ambassador of the Dream Foundation for the past 11 years, helping to fulfill the wishes of adults battling terminal illnesses. She became involved in this vital organization after helping to grant a recipient’s wish to visit Graceland. The Dream Foundation is the only national organization of it’s kind, working with the adults, as well as helping to create lasting memories for their family and friends left behind.

   Currently, Priscilla is promoting a United Kingdom exclusive: ELVIS. With the singer on-screen, in concert, while backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra live on stage. It’s part of a UK Arena tour that began on Thursday. Priscilla will make a special guest live appearance during each event.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Francis Ford Coppola signed on to direct The Godfather when he was just 29 years old. The film centers on a fictional Sicilian crime family in New York City and Coppola knew nothing about the Mafia, but he did understand Italian-American culture and tradition — and he was determined to avoid stereotypes.

   Released in 1972, The Godfather went on to become an iconic American film. It won three Academy Awards — including for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay — and its sequel, The Godfather: Part II, won six. Coppola was nominated for another Oscar in 1991 for his work on The Godfather: Part III.

   The director had little idea at the time how successful the movie would be. Instead, as a young director, he was focused on getting the studio to let him do it his way, including casting choices deemed unpopular by his producers:  Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

   As he was preparing to make the flick, Coppola put together a notebook with ideas for each scene and pitfalls to avoid. It also included pages from the eponymous Mario Puzo novel the motion picture was based on, with Coppola’s notes in the margin. He has now published those materials into a new paperback called The Godfather Notebook.

   With the holidays fast approaching, this literary coffee table item might fit the bill for a fan of classic cinema.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she famously sang Happy Birthday to President John. F. Kennedy has sold. Julien’s Auctions reports the form-fitting gown went for $4.8 million to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

   The sale comes as part of a three-day auction of Monroe’s possessions and keepsakes from her career. She wore the Hollywood designer Jean Louis creation — flesh-colored and sparkling with over 2,500 hand-stitched crystals — on May 19th, 1962, for an early 45th birthday celebration for JFK at Madison Square Garden. Monroe’s breathy rendition of the birthday song has been broadcast repeatedly since, adding to the lore surrounding the screen icon.

   MARILYN MONROE  w/  ROBERT KENNEDY        JOHN KENNEDY

   It was just a few months later on August 5th, that the 36-year-old Monroe was found dead from what the Los Angeles district attorney’s office ruled was an overdose of barbiturates. Kennedy was assassinated the following year.

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   Today, there are 33 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in ten countries, dozens of books, a huge internet web presence, and hundreds of television videos in the company’s archive vaults. This legacy is due to Robert L. Ripley; a cartoonist, explorer, reporter, adventurer, and collector, who traveled to 201 countries in 35 years seeking the odd, the unusual, and the unexplained.

<— Ripley’s television program was the first reality show, and was growing quickly in popularity until on show #13 on May 23rd, 1949, he had a heart attack and died while on stage discussing the military funeral hymn, Taps! Robert Ripley led an incredible life of adventure and excitement, and will be known for coining one of the recognized and most used phrases in the English language.  BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   The Los Angeles Philharmonic will accompany screenings of classic cinema. These events will take place this week at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Here are the details:

   When most scores were influenced by 19th-century composers, Leonard Rosenman revolutionized film music, taking it into the 20th-century with a potent mix of serialism, jazz, and the rhythms of Bartók and Stravinsky. The way he came to score Rebel Without a Cause is quite a story in itself. Rosenman was roommates with movie star James Dean (and even gave him piano lessons); Dean introduced him to Elia Kazan — who directed Dean in East of Eden, Rosenman’s first film — which led Rosenman to meet Nicholas Ray, director of the controversial, but acclaimed, Rebel Without a Cause.

   The next evening, you can experience a thrilling new presentation of On the Waterfront,  winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Imagine Leonard Bernstein’s electrifying score live, while the newly re-mastered film is shown in glorious high definition on the big screen with the original dialog intact. This classic romantic tragedy – directed by Elia Kazan with screenplay by Budd Schulberg, produced by Sam Spiegel, and starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint, in her first film role – is one of the greatest achievements in the history of movie-making.

   After he moved to Hollywood in 1929, Max Steiner became one of the first to compose for the movies, going on to score more than 300 films. The father of film music is now considered one of the greatest film composers in the history of cinema. The beloved Casablanca earned Steiner one of his 24 Oscar nominations.

   The Walt Disney Concert Hall is at 111 South Grand Ave. in Los Angeles. For more info, click (or cut-and-paste) on the link below:

http://www.laphil.com/films-with-live-orchestra

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

  Gwen Ifill was one of the most prominent African-American journalists in the country. She was the trailblazing host and managing editor of the PBS roundtable talk show, Washington Week, as well as co-anchor of PBS NewsHour — a job she shared with Judy Woodruff since 2013. She was a veteran Washington journalist who covered seven presidential campaigns, and moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. She also moderated a Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2015. Gwen won pop-culture recognition when she was parodied on Saturday Night Live, with host Queen Latifah portraying the journalist as a debate moderator.                                 GWEN IFILL —>

   Ifill started her journalism career as a print reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun and Boston Herald American. She went on to become a national political reporter for the  Washington Post, and White House correspondent for the New York Times. Her initial job on television was with NBC news.

    Ifill was absent from PBS’s election coverage last week because of ongoing health concerns. She also took a leave of absence in May to address those issues. At the time of her passing, she served on various boards, including Committee to Protect Journalists, Harvard Institute of Politics, University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, and Museum of Television and Radio. She was getting from Columbia University the 2016 John Chancellor Award on Wednesday. A school spokesperson did not immediately have a comment.

   She became the best-selling author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. The work was published in 2009.

   Gwen Ifill was 61.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Lupita Tovar was an early cinematic Mexican sensation. Best known for her role in a Spanish version of the original Dracula, she was later known in Hollywood circles as Lupita Kohner, a prominent hostess, and wife of agent Paul Kohner.

   Tovar’s ascendance as the Sweetheart of Mexico was curbed by the emergence of talkies, a departure from the silent film industry in which she was poised to become a mega-star. Although Lupita did not make any silent films, with her earliest movies released by Fox Film Corporation in the Movietone sound-on-film system, some may have been released in silent versions for theaters, not yet equipped for sound. She also worked at Columbia Pictures.

   Her skills were used in Spanish-language versions of Hollywood fare. The productions were made at Universal Studios, with the Spanish-speaking crew working overnight after the English-language cast had clocked out. The idea — often credited to Universal executive Paul Kohner, Ms. Tovar’s future husband — was to tap into the Latin American market demand for sound films, at a fraction of the cost of the originals. In the early days of Hollywood, it was common for cinematic studios to produce their foreign language versions of their screenplays, usually in Spanish; but also in French, Italian, and German, using the same costumes.

   Tovar didn’t much care for Dracula’s grueling schedule. That version, produced in 1931, was filmed at night on the same sets that were being used during the day for the English-language Dracula with Bela Lugosi. The alternate version is considered a superior motion picture by many by film historians. It was thought to be lost until a print was discovered in the 1970s and restored. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected the flick for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

   She amassed 31 credits over 16 years, including a starring role in the 1932 film Santa, an early Mexican talkie and commercial breakthrough that heralded Tovar’s status as a national treasure. In 1982, her face even made it onto a postage stamp. In 2006, Santa was shown in a celebratory screening by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, part of their retrospective called A Salute to Lupita Tovar.

   Tovar is also the matriarch of several generations’ worth of Hollywood nobility, including her Oscar-nominated daughter, Susan Kohner (for Imitation of Life), and her grandsons Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, who wrote the Academy Awards-nominated screenplay, About a Boy.

   An original, Lupita Tovar was 106.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   In a tumultuous week, this is a story worth telling.

   The Leatherby Libraries is now home to the most complete set of Oskar Schindler’s (right) archives and documents – including copies of the original Schindler’s Lists that protected over 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust.

   About 50 people attended a ceremony November 10th of the grand opening of a room in Leatherby Libraries that now includes 22 boxes of Schindler’s letters, photographs, and architectural drawings that Chapman presidential fellow David Crowe donated to the Chapman Holocaust Memorial Library, located on the fourth floor.

   Crowe donated the documents, which took him seven years to accumulate, to Chapman because of its proximity to the Beverly Hills home of the late Leopold Page and his wife Mila, who attended the event Thursday afternoon. The Pages were among those Schindler saved from concentration camps. Leopold convinced author Thomas Keneally to write the book that inspired Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, after Keneally visited Page’s Southern California leather shop.

                  BEN KINGSLEY    LIAM NEESON

   Crowe, who was on the education board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., for 14 years, said he wanted to put the letters and archives in a smaller location, where it would be available for anyone interested in Holocaust study. President Danielle Struppa, who gave a speech at the ceremony, said Marilyn Harran, director of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, emailed him asking if he’d like to include Crowe’s archives, but the contents of the room were kept a secret until Thursday. The ceremony culminated with a champagne toast and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, where Struppa, Crowe, and Harran gathered around Mila Page. Marie Knecht, the Pages’ daughter, was excited to see photos of her mother and father, and hopes the exhibit will help ensure that scholars never forget the history of the Holocaust.

   The archives are on display in the Brandman Survivors room, adjacent to the Samueli Holocaust Library. They will be available by appointment to Chapman students, faculty, and visiting researchers.

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   In a related story, the dilapidated factory that Oskar Schindler (left) once used to save his Jewish workers from Nazi death camps during World War II will be restored into a Holocaust memorial, Czech officials have announced. The Czech culture ministry named parts of the complex a cultural monument earlier this month. They plan to turn the munitions shop into a repository on Schindler’s life, and it should be completed by 2019.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   With nearly 80 acting credits to his name — from cinematic classics such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Barefoot in the Park, Inside Daisy Clover, Three Days of the Condor, The Great Gatsby, The Sting, The Way We Were, and All the President’s Men — Robert Redford (right) has had a career like few others in Hollywood. Now, one aspect of his work will soon come to an end. While he’ll still keep up directing and his championing independent voices after founding the Sundance Film Festival, he’s announced he’ll be retiring from acting after his next two features.

   When it comes to his last acting role, Old Man with a Gun — which is a re-team with his Pete’s Dragon director David Lowery — it sounds like the ideal send-off. His final films are due to be released in 2017. Along with continuing a career as a director, the 80-year-old — who won the Best Director Oscar in 1981 for Ordinary People — also sees himself returning to painting. He received his art training in Paris after dropping out of the University of Colorado. Other successes behind the camera include A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show. He garnered an honorary Oscar in 2002.

   Redford will remain the chairman of the annual Sundance Film Festival, held in Utah. The actor made the announcement in an interview with his grandson Dylan for the Walker Art Center.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Robert Vaughn was an actor noted for his stage, film, and television work. His best-known small screen role was as the suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In cinema, he portrayed the quiet, skittish gunman in The Magnificent Seven, and a war veteran in The Young Philadelphians, which earned him a 1960 Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.    ROBERT VAUGHN —–>

   Vaughn made his television debut in 1955 on Medic, the first of more than two hundred episodic roles. His first big screen appearance was as an uncredited extra in The Ten Commandments. He was signed to a contract with Burt Lancaster’s film company and was to have played the Steve Dallas role in Sweet Smell of Success, but was drafted before he could begin the film. Vaughn served in the United States Army, and became a drill sergeant.

   in Hollywood, he had parts in The Glass Bottom Boat, The Bridge at Remagen, Bullitt, If It’s Tuesday This Must Be Belgium, The Towering Inferno, S.O.B., Superman III, and The Delta Force. On television, he also guest-starred in Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Father Knows Best, Zorro, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, Thriller, The Untouchables, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Virginian, Hawaii Five-0, Laramie, Trapper John M.D., Murder She Wrote, The A-Team, Diagnosis Murder, Columbo, Law & Order, and of course, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.

   The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was part of an avalanche of secret agent shows (I Spy, Mission: Impossible, The Saint, The Avengers), spoofs (Get Smart), flicks (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Our Man Flint), and even songs (Secret Agent Man) inspired by the James Bond films.

   Vaughn’s most famous role spawned the spinoff series, merchandising, overseas theatrical motion pictures of re-edited episodes, and a sequel, The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. – The Fifteen-Year-Later Affair. The original show achieved such cultural prominence that costumes, props, documents, and a video clip are in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library’s exhibit on spies and counterspies. Similar U.N.C.L.E. exhibits are in the museums of the Central Intelligence Agency and other agencies and organizations gathering intelligence.

   Vaughn was the first popular American actor to take a public stand against the Vietnam War and was active in Another Mother for Peace; and, with Van Dyke and Carl Reiner, was a co-founder of Dissenting Democrats. Early in the 1968 presidential election, they supported the candidacy of Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. became a friend of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and campaigned for him during his 1968 run for the presidency. When Kennedy was assassinated that year, Vaughn was so upset that he moved to England for five years. Continuing his higher education during his acting career, Vaughn earned a Ph.D in communications from the University of Southern California in 1970. Two years later, he published his dissertation as the book, Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting.

   The charismatic Robert Vaughn was 83.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   AFI FEST 2016 presented by Audi has announced its annual Cinema’s Legacy lineup. This year features iconic titles from film history:

~ CARMEN JONES – Dorothy Dandridge stars in the title role that made her the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Oscar for Best Actress. The Otto Preminger classic also starred Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, and Diahann Carroll.

~ CITIZEN KANE – Orson Welles’ classic — #1 on AFI’s list of the greatest films of all time — follows the tragic life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane. Also features Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead, and Paul Stewart. The screening features a re-mastered version of this timeless motion picture.

~ THE HITCH-HIKER – A deranged hitchhiker takes two hostages in this gripping film noir classic. Directed by Ida Lupino, this tense movie stars  Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman.

~ SPEEDY – Special engagement of this silent film classic, presented with a live music accompaniment. Harold Lloyd stars in the title role as a man who tries to save the last horse-drawn streetcar in an increasingly modern New York City.

~ MIFUNE THE LAST SAMURAI – This thoughtful, elegant documentary on Japanese cinema’s greatest actor, Toshiro Mifune. Interviews include Keanu Reeves, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.

   Screenings will take place the TCL Chinese Theatre and Egyptian Theatre American Cinematheque. The official host hotel is the Hollywood Roosevelt. The AFI Fest 2016 is taking place through November 17th.

Until next time>                               “never forget”