Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   William Schallert was very familiar on the big screen and on television. He’s best known for playing Patty Duke’s dad on The Patty Duke Show. He also served as the president of the Screen Actor’s Guild from 1979 – 1981. As with other character actors with long careers, Bill Schallert’s face was more recognizable than his name.

    PATTY DUKE           WILLIAM SCHALLERT

   He began acting at USC; and in 1946, co-founded the Circle Theatre with Charlie Chaplin’s son. The comedian directed Schallert in a stage production of Rain in 1948. Bill also took on all sorts of film assignments, including Mighty Joe Young, The Red Badge of Courage, Them!, The Gallant Hours, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Story of Mankind, Pillow Talk, Hour of the Gun, In the Heat of the Night, Will Penny, Charlie Varrick, Lonely are the Brave, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, and Twilight Zone: The Movie.

   Schallert really shined on the small screen, guest-starring in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Zorro, Hazel, Father Knows Best, Have Gun Will Travel, The Donna Reed Show, Rawhide, Leave it to Beaver, Maverick, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Peter Gunn, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, The Rifleman, Combat!, The Andy Griffith Show, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Rat Patrol, Bewitched, Gunsmoke, Hawaii 5-0, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek, Room 222, The Lucy Show, Get Smart, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Partridge Family, Mission: Impossible, Love American Style, The Walton’s, Little House on the Prairie, The Mod Squad, Archie Bunker’s Place, Quincy M.E., Lou Grant, Quantum Leap, and a whole lot more.

   During Schallert’s tenure as SAG President, he founded the Committee for Performers with Disabilities, and in 1993, he was awarded the Ralph Morgan Award for service to the Guild. He also as a Trustee of the SAG Pension and Health Plans since 1983, and of the Motion Picture and Television Fund since 1977. In 2010, Schallert made a series of Public Service videos with Patty Duke for the Social Security Administration.   WILLIAM SCHALLERT –>

   The durable William Schallert was 93

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is commemorating the 25th anniversary of Disney’s animated classic Beauty and the Beast with a cast-and-crew reunion at its Beverly Hills headquarters that will include lead voice actors Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, and Angela Lansbury. But, there’ll be one notable absence at the Monday night celebration — the film’s Oscar-winning composer, Alan Menken. He’s got a beauty of an excuse, though: He’s in New York working on the new live-action version of this timeless tale.

     That film, expected in theaters next year, casts Emma Watsonand Dan Stevens in a musical version of the timeless tale, with Bill Condon directing. Menken is incorporating the 1991 film’s songs, which he co-wrote with the late Howard Ashman, as well as composing new material with his Aladdin lyricist, Tim Rice. The release is well anticipated because of the recent success of the updated version of The Jungle Book.

   Beauty and the Beast was the first animated feature to be nominated for a best-picture Oscar, and the first to gross more than $100 million in North America.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The ashes of Alan Freed, a seminal figure in the history of modern music, have found a home in Cleveland, where the disc jockey coined the term rock ‘n’ roll, and organized what’s considered the genre’s first concert more than 60 years ago. A monument was unveiled Saturday at the Lake View Cemetery during a ceremony to celebrate Freed’s colorful and tumultuous life. During the tribute, music artists spoke about Freed’s legacy.

   The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, built there in part because of Freed, asked to bury the ashes outside the museum as part of a cornerstone. Those plans were thwarted by a city law saying human remains can be buried only in a cemetery. An urn containing the ashes spent time beneath an escalator inside the museum before being put on display around 2002. Freed’s family was asked to take the urn back in 2014 after a new chief executive decided the display was inappropriate. After nearly two years in a vault at Lake View, the urn was buried at a grave site on Friday.

   Alan Freed was born near Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Salem, Ohio when he was 12. He found his calling in radio while a student at Ohio State, and worked at various stations before landing a job in Cleveland, where he promoted popular rhythm and blues artists on his Moondog Show. Cleveland also is where he applied the phrase rock ‘n’ roll (slang for sex in the black community) to music. Freed, while a disc jockey in Cleveland, took his initial steps to synthesize a new musical form that blended jazz, blues, pop, rhythm and blues, and country music into what’s known today as rock ‘n’ roll. Freed organized what’s considered the first rock ‘n’ roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball, at Cleveland Arena in 1952. A dance show featuring R&B artists, it was shut down when 20,000 people without tickets showed up and tried to crash the party. Freed apologized for the mayhem, but the show caught the attention of the entertainment world and propelled him to New York City, where he hosted a late-night radio show called Rock ‘n’ Roll Party.

   He appeared in movies with top acts of the day, including Clyde McPhatter, Ritchie Valens, The Platters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bill Haley, Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran, The Flamingos, The Moonglows, Brook Benton, LaVern Baker, Lionel Hampton, Ferlin Husky, and Jackie Wilson. These films were often welcomed with tremendous enthusiasm by teenagers because they brought visual depictions of their favorite American acts to the big screen, years before music videos.

   One of Freed’s most enduring legacies was his effort to promote music across color lines. He began taking black and white artists on the road for popular shows. It drew the ire of the white establishment, which accused him of promoting race mixing and lascivious behavior. Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks later called Freed a person who broke down racial barriers.

   Alan Freed’s career was destroyed by the payola scandal that hit the broadcasting industry in the early 1960s. He died a broken man in Palm Springs in 1965 at age 43 of liver failure. This weekend, the broadcasting legend returned home for the last time.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Bob Hope Airport, the transportation hub located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, will now be known as Hollywood Burbank Airport. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday voted to re-brand the airport’s unofficial name in a marketing effort to let travelers know the airfield is a gateway to destinations beyond just Burbank. It has flights coming in from Jet Blue, United, Delta, Southwest, and American.

   Built in 1930, it was named Hollywood Burbank Airport in 1967, re-named Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in 1978, and then Bob Hope Airport in 2003, the year he died in nearby Toluca Lake. A PR firm was awarded $50,000, and the re-branding became their chief strategy. The airport authority also plans a major renovation.

   Bob Hope is an American legend who devoted much of his life to bringing joy to military servicemen through his USO tours. But, that wasn’t enough to keep his name on the Southern California airport. One argument for the change was that Hope’s name wasn’t helping to brand the airport to travel agencies and tourists. Hope died 13 years ago, but his career wasn’t resonating with younger travelers.

   Bob Hope’s signature song was Thanks for the Memory, and he will soon fade from the airport named after him. Officials are in the process of designing a new logo for the facility.       BOB HOPE —->

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   A megalo-maniacal media type transforms the way pockets of our country views a 24-hour news cycle, modern advertising, television-viewing habits, and even, our political system. I’m not referring to the 2016 presidential race. Sixteen years after the celebrated, Citizen Kane, and two decades before the scathing, Network… There was A Face in the Crowd.

   Based on a collection of short stories compiled in 1953, A Face in the Crowd was smartly written by Budd Schulberg. Elia Kazan took on the controversial director’s assignment. And, the cast included Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Anthony Franciosa, and in their screen debuts, Andy Griffith and Lee Remick. To underscore the era of television culture in America, Kazan incorporated cameos by media personalities: Earl Wilson, Sam Levinson, Mike Wallace, John Cameron Swayze, and Walter Winchell. Schulberg and Kazan had previously collaborated on the Oscar-winning, On the Waterfront, which deservedly won eight statuettes.

   Griffith, in a role starkly different from the amiable Sheriff Andy Taylor persona, was quite ferocious in a down-home kind of way. Screenwriter Schulberg (channeling his inner David Mamet) based a significant part of the Lonesome Rhodes character’s facade on Will Rogers, adding a distinctively un-Rogers-like level of amorality and cruelty. Schulberg later explained that he interviewed Will Rogers Jr. during his candidacy for Congress. The younger Rogers reportedly told Schulberg his father socialized with the very establishment types he mocked in his public pronouncements, adding that his father was actually a political reactionary in private life; not the populist he claimed to be.

WILL ROGERS                                    ARTHUR GODFREY

   Aspects of the Lonesome Rhodes character were also likely inspired by 1940s and 1950s CBS radio-television star, Arthur Godfrey. The scene where Rhodes spoofs his sponsor in Memphis echoes Godfrey’s reputation for kidding his own advertisers. Godfrey claimed he would not advertise products he did not believe in, and routinely ridiculed both the sponsors’ stodgy ad copy, and occasionally, the companies’ executives. The more Godfrey did this, the more sales increased. At one point in the film, Rhodes states he is missing a broadcast, and requests that Godfrey fill in for him.

   The year was 1957 when A Face in the Crowd was released, at the heart of the Cold War. Very real narcissists, who manipulated our fears and put a red scare on the radio and in newspaper columns, were the dominant spin-masters of the day. Walter Winchell and Hedda Hopper ruined the careers of actors, directors, and screenwriters with an anti-Communist diatribe that permeated society.

   To understand 2016 media, politics, and today’s influence of television on a frustrated nation, A Face in the Crowd is a must-see motion picture. It’s celluloid that birthed the screenplays of later generations, such as Network, Broadcast News, and last season’s Trumbo. After viewing the latter film, Kirk Douglas would write:

At 98 years old, I have learned one lesson from history: it very often repeats itself. I hope that TRUMBO will remind all of us that THE BLACKLIST was a terrible time in our country. But, we must learn from it. 

   Let me humbly suggest you screen A Face in the Crowd before you vote in this year’s general election.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   One of the most beloved child stars in film history, Shirley Temple Black went from Hollywood starlet to a distinguished diplomat in a life filled with adventure, fame, and service to her country. As a pint-sized actress, she cheered Americans during the last years of the Depression. A talented performer, she was the #1 box office draw for four years in a row, and was awarded the first-ever juvenile Oscar. As a teenager, she appeared in memorable movies opposite Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, and John Wayne. For a time, she was married to actor, John Agar.

   After leaving Hollywood, Black became involved in public service and politics. During the 1960s, she co-founded the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies. Black was appointed a delegate to the United Nations in 1969, and later served as the American Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. The diplomat also went public in her fight against breast cancer.

   Shirley Temple Black continued to be honored for her achievements in film and diplomacy; most recently at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where she was presented with their Life Achievement Award. When she died in 2014 at the age of 85, she left behind three children, a grandchild, and three great-granddaughters. Perhaps, the finest way of measuring one’s success is how well your fame lasts after you are no longer in the spotlight. When you consider that Temple retired from cinema 64 years ago, and yet, is still a household name, her fame has stood the test of time.

   Since April 18th, you can purchase a Forever Stamp at any post office in the country, immortalizing the most famous Curly Top in cinematic history. Her photo on a piece of mail will surely keep a smile on any recipient’s face. Shirley Temple Black reminds us why we have survived our nation’s darkest days; and why classic Hollywood remains so relevant.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Actress Tippi Hedren recently shared with a crowd that she endured bizarre harassment (sexual and otherwise) at the hands of director Alfred Hitchcock during and after the productions of The Birds and Marnie. Then a 32-year-old model, Hedren had no acting experience when Hitchcock spotted her one morning in 1962 appearing in a diet drink commercial on the Today Show, she told interviewer Ben Mankiewicz during a Citi Card-sponsored conversation at the TCM Classic Film Festival. After an elaborate, $25,000 screen test that he personally directed, Hitchcock signed Tippi to a five-year personal contract that turned out to be a nightmare.

   Though, The Birds is considered to be Hitch’s last unqualified masterpiece, playing the main character caught in an avian holocaust was a harrowing experience for Hedren. She was originally told mechanical birds would be used in a scene where her character is attacked by crows and seagulls in a house. So, when real birds — not all of them declawed — were thrown at her for a week while the cameras rolled. Her doctor told Hitchcock she was so traumatized, she needed a week off. When the director said that wasn’t possible, Tippi quoted the physician: What are you trying to do… kill her?  She ended up spending a week at home in bed, recovering.

   Rod Taylor, playing her romantic interest in The Birds, was given instruction to not touch the girl — meaning Tippi. And, the possessive Hitchcock gave the same order to Sean Connery, her co-star in Hedren’s second and last movie with Hitchcock… Marnie.

   ALFRED HITCHCOCK    TIPPI HEDREN        on the set of  MARNIE

   A studio executive at Paramount Pictures suggested actress Lee Remick to Hitchcock for the title role. Eva Marie Saint, the star of North By Northwest, unsuccessfully pursued the role. Hitch also considered two other actresses who, like Tippi Hedren, were under his personal contract; Vera Miles and Claire Griswold, wife of director and actor Sydney Pollack. Instead, Hitch opted to use Hedren

   It was during the making of Marnie that Hitchcock’s demands for Hedren to have lunch with him in the studio commissary escalated to meals in his office, and finally, to intimate champagne toasts after each day’s shooting was completed. She became uncomfortable with his suggestive behavior. Explaining her discomfort to the director, Hitchcock would never used her in another film, and refused all requests to loan her out for other movies while she was under contract, derailing her then-promising career.

   She finally returned to the big screen in 1967 with a supporting role in Charlie Chaplin’s last movie, A Countess From Hong Kong, starring Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. The movie was made at the same studio where Hitchcock had his headquarters. By then, he refused to acknowledge her existence.

   And, that was that!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   What a California lawmaker intended as an innocent  resolution honoring a movie icon of the past turned into an emotional debate over decades-old defamatory comments. The State Assembly defeated a resolution in honor of The Duke, after a few legislators described statements he made about racial minorities, plus his unwavering support for decisions made by the House Un-American Activities Committee and John Birch Society.  JOHN WAYNE ->

   Assemblyman Luis Alejo of Watsonville cited a 1971 interview with Playboy Magazine in which Wayne talked disparagingly about people of color. According to the interview, he said:

I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

   Assemblyman Mike Gipson of Carson, an African American, found John Wayne’s interview personally offensive. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego also cited his comments defending European encroachment on American Indians, who Wayne once candidly surmised: Were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.

   The resolution fell on a 35-20 vote. ACR137 was created in response to a Texas resolution commemorating Wayne’s birthday a year ago. One reaction to the defeat of the bill:

Opposing the John Wayne Day resolution is like opposing apple pie, fireworks, baseball, a Free Enterprise system, and the Fourth of July!

   Wayne was a major cinematic star, with iconic roles in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Bravo, The Alamo, The Green Beret, The Shootist, and True Grit, for which he won an Academy Award, while portraying rugged cowboys and brave soldiers who were his stock in trade. Assemblyman Matthew Harper of Huntington Beach sought to declare May 26th, 2016, as John Wayne Day to mark the day the actor was born. He represents the legislative district that includes John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The airport was renamed after the actor’s passing in 1979. Several lawmakers supported the resolution, recalling Wayne as an American hero, and whose family created a namesake cancer foundation after his death.

   Wayne is the latest deceased white icon to recently come under attack. President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner, Indian fighter, and the politician who led the opposition against the creation of paper money, is being removed from the face of the $20 bill. And, Princeton University recently announced that former President Woodrow Wilson’s name will remain on its public policy school despite calls to remove it because he was an avowed segregationist.

   Sometimes, Hollywood finds itself in the cross-hairs of Americana.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   Turner Classic Movies announced the launch of its first ever-official fan club, TCM Backlot, which will serve as the ultimate destination for enthusiasts. TCM Backlot will give fans unprecedented access to all things TCM, including exclusive content, never-before-seen talent interviews, archival videos from the TCM vault, an exclusive TCM podcast, as well as opportunities to win visits to the TCM set, attend meet and greets with TCM hosts, and the opportunity to influence programming through online votes.

   TCM Backlot can be accessed at tcmbacklot.com for an $87 annual fee, and is now available for all fans to join in conjunction with the kick-off to the 7th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, which begins today. The fan club was created in partnership with FullCube, an integrating and automating subscription-based business platform.

   TCM Backlot will provide members with robust access to TCM content, talent, programming, and events. Membership highlights include:

• Programming Influence – An advance look at TCM programming, and the opportunity to influence the schedule of movies through contests and voting

• Guest Programmer – Enter to win a chance to co-host a night of movies with a TCM host

• On-set Tours – Win the opportunity to tour the TCM set, and watch a TCM production being shot, as well as interact with TCM hosts and crew

• VIP Event Access & Members-Only Events – Exclusive access to special events during the annual TCM Classic Film Festival and TCM Cruise, as well as exclusive events at historical Hollywood sites, and members-only TCM Bus Tour events

• Giveaways and Discounts – Discounts to TCM related events, tours, and merchandise, as well as contest givaways of TCM merchandise

   For more information on TCM Backlot, please click here or visit tcmbacklot.com.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   On the heels of this week’s TCM Film Festival, film buffs will soon have a new viewing option for contemporary and classic movies with the start of a streaming service called FilmStruck. Developed by Turner Classic Movies in partnership with Criterion Collection, the subscription-based service will feature thousands of films from independent and major Hollywood studios. They include Seven Samurai, A Hard Day’s Night, A Room With A View, Breaker Morant, and Mad Max.

   FilmStruck also will be the exclusive streaming destination for Criterion Collection, which specializes in licensing classic and contemporary films. Criterion will operate a channel on the service to spotlight more than 1,000 films, and provide other content such as commentary on films and filmmakers. The service will be advertising free. Specific pricing details are still being determined. Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements.

   FilmStruck is a terrific example of the strategy to meet consumer demand for great content across all screens, according to a Turner press release. It’s tailor-made for the die-hard movie enthusiast that crave a deep, intimate experience with independent, foreign, and art house films. And it takes advantage of TCM’s powerful curation capabilities, as well as its proven track record of building a long-term relationship with passionate film fans. FilmStruck is the latest endeavor in Turner’s overall strategy to innovate beyond the traditional television ecosystem by providing rich viewing experiences that drive engagement across all platforms.

   Available in the Fall, check out the sizzle reel promoting FilmStruck:

http://filmstruck.com/

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Madeleine Sherwood was a Canadian actress of stage, cinema, and television. She was known for her portrayals of Sister Woman and Miss Lucy in the Broadway and film  versions of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on the Hot Tin Roof  and Sweet Bird of Youth. She’s best remembered as Reverend Mother Placido in The Flying Nun from 1967–1970.     MADELEINE SHERWOOD / JACK CARSON —>

   She started her professional career in Montreal when cast in CBC dramas and soap operas. In 1953, she originated the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. She became a member of the Actors Studio in 1957 working with Lee Strasberg, and was a life member. Sherwood succeeded Bette Davis on stage in The Night of the Iguana. During the 1980s, she received a grant from AFI as one of the first women to direct short films (along with Cicely Tyson, Joanne Woodward). Sherwood (below) wrote, directed, and acted in Good Night Sweet Prince, which received excellent notices.

   In motion pictures, she had small parts in Hurry Sundown and The Changeling. On the small screen, she had recurring roles in the daytime dramas, Guiding Light and The Secret Storm. Other soap operas she appeared in include All My Children, Another World, and Capitol. In prime time, she guest-starred in Naked City, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Name of the Game, Love American Style, Columbo, Hotel, Cagney & Lacey, and Dynasty.

   Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. During the Civil Rights Movement, she met and worked with Martin Luther King Jr., in the late 1950s; and went to join the Congress on Racial Equality. She was arrested during a Freedom Walk, jailed and sentenced to six months hard labor for endangering the customs and mores of the people of Alabama. Her lawyer, Fred Grey, was the first African-American lawyer to represent a white woman, south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In the 1970s, she met with Gloria Steinem, Betty Dodson, and other activists at the First Women’s Sexual Conference at Barnard College in New York. She started consciousness raising groups and counseling workshops for Women and Incest.

   Madeleine Sherwood was 93.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

   The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture will honor long-time Wallowa County rancher and Hollywood actor Walter Brennan with a three-day celebration April 28th-30th. From his arrival in Wallowa County in the 1940s until his passing in 1974, Brennan was an important citizen. He made movies and television shows well into his 70s, but also took the time to help run the Lightning Creek Ranch, build a motel and theater in his adopted hometown of Joseph.

   Walter Brennan Days kicks off with a showing of The Westerner, for which Brennan’s portrayal of Hanging Judge Roy Bean won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The movie will screen at 7p on April 28th. Next, biographer Carl Rollyson will talk about his recently published biography, Real American Character: The Life of Walter Brennan, and will be available for sale and book signing, according to the Josephy Center’s press release. The discussion will begin 7p on April 29th. Finally, at 2p and 7p on April 30th, La Grande actor Kevin Cahill will portray Brennan in a one-man play written by Rollyson from his personal interviews. The Old Character: Walter Brennan in His Own Words is the only ticketed event of the celebration. Tickets cost $5 at the door, or in advance at the Josephy Center.

   Brennan passed away in 1974, but his son, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren continue to live in Wallowa County. Relatives will be here for the events, and some of their memorabilia of the actor, Elks member, area supporter, rancher, and business owner, will be on display.

   The Josephy Center and Brennan family invite the community to dig out their favorite old hats and wear them in his honor. There will be a vote on movie night and author night to decide who has the best hat. The winner will receive a free copy of Rollyson’s book. On a personal note, Walter Brennan has a featured chapter in Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History; and my writing is an acknowledged source of Rollyson’s inspiration in writing his extended novel.

   Sounds like a great way to spend a weekend.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Spain commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of its best-known writer, Miguel de Cervantes on Saturday. Events took place throughout the country celebrating the author of Don Quixote, one of the most influential books in world literature, and a work generally regarded as the precursor of the modern novel. Some artists and academics have been critical of Spain’s central government for not allocating funds to organize events on a scale similar to those celebrating William Shakespeare’s life in Britain.

   In Alcala de Henares, Cervantes’ birthplace, King Felipe VI honored Mexican author Fernando del Paso with the Cervantes Prize and Culture Minister Inigo Mendez highlighted his contribution to the development of the novel, combining tradition and modernity, as Cervantes did. The Cervantes Award is handed out each year on April 23rd. It coincides with UNESCO’s World Book Day, which promotes literature and commemorates Cervantes (and Shakespeare, who died on that date in 1616).

   The long-dead Bard is one of Britain’s leading cultural ambassadors, and the anniversary of his death on April 23rd is being marked across Britain with parades, church services and — of course — stage performances. In the playwright’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company is mounting a stage extravaganza with performances by stars including Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen — and even Prince Charles, who is slated to make a brief appearance as a performer in the televised show. President Barack Obama took a break from political talks in London to tour Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Saturday, listening to Hamlet’s soliloquy and admiring the open-air venue — a recreation of the theater, built in 1599, where many of the Bard’s plays were first performed.

   And, if you decide to Google looking for events, you will be reminded of Shakespeare’s continued influence.

   After all, the play’s the thing… Even for the celebrated Bard and The Man of La Mancha.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here… 

   Movie director Guy Hamilton (with Sean Connery and Shirley Eaton, right) guided four popular James Bond films, and raised the profile of the genre in his collaborative work with Sean Connery and Roger Moore. The Brit would direct Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die, and The Man with The Golden Gun. Hamilton turned down an opportunity to direct Dr. No, but accepted the Goldfinger assignment. His genius was making his villains more believable.

   Hamilton was born in Paris to British parents. His first exposure to the film industry came in 1938 when he was a clapperboard boy at the Victorine Studios in Nice. He worked for the Paramount News newsreel company in England during World War II before serving in the Navy. He got his big break in 1948 when legendary British director Carol Reed hired him as first assistant director for The Fallen Idol. Hamilton worked with Reed on The Third Man starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton; and with John Huston on The African Queen featuring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Hamilton went on to direct several movies in the 1950s.

    Other films he created during (and after) his success with James Bond – Battle of Britain, Force 10 from Navarone, Evil Under the Sun, and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Personal issues forced him to decline work on Superman: The Movie and the 1989 version of Batman.

   Guy Hamilton was 93.

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   Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History has reached it’s latest milestone in sales. Over 3400 copies of paperbacks and eBooks have been purchased. Thank you to the local Cypress and La Mirada Rotary chapters, and Cypress Kiwanis for this week’s contribution. Also, the actual reason for this latest accomplishment: A person who decided to buy my book on Amazon; and then, they bought an additional book as part of the Amazon Matchbook eBook program that allows you to obtain the extra item at a discounted rate.

   My initial work is about to go into it’s 3rd Print, since I continue to sell my book at an astounding rate. This action will make the first two printings (you own), collector’s editions.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here.. 

   A true Urban legend, Prince combined R&B, jazz fusion, funk, disco, pop, and rock to create a sound that was truly unique. He influenced or mentored many singer / songwriters, including Michael Jackson, Sheila E., Vanity, Sinead O’Connor, Tom Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Morris Day, Chaka Khan, Madonna, and The Bangles. Prince sold over 100 million records, worldwide, making him one of the biggest-selling acts in the annals of pop music. He garnered seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. In 2004, Prince was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.         PRINCE –>

   He was a pupil of Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Todd Rundgren, Earth Wind & Fire, and Miles Davis. Rock critics noted his similarities with Little Richard’s androgynous look and vocals. Eric Clapton once called him the best guitarist alive.

    Prince’s 1984 album Purple Rain sold more than 13 million copies in the United States, and spent 24 consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard Magazine’s 200 Chart. He won an Oscar for Best Original Score for the film, Purple Rain, and had the #1 album, single, and film; the first time a singer had achieved this feat. Other movies include Under the Cherry Moon, Sign o’ the Times, and Graffiti Bridge. Returning to their original format, MTV suspended their regular programming, and ran his many music videos all day after the announcement of his passing.

   The songwriter had many memorable tunes, such as Little Red Corvette, Controversy, I Wanna Be Your Lover, When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy, Take Me with U, 1999, I Would Die 4 U, Raspberry Beret, A Love Bizarre, Kiss, Cream, and The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. The magic happened at a recording studio in Minneapolis known as Paisley Park. Protesting his record contract, he transformed into The artist formerly known as Prince, or simply:   THE SYMBOL

   After Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter listening to Prince’s xxx song, Darling Nikki, she founded the Parents Music Resource Center. It advocates the mandatory use of a warning label (Parentel Advisory: Explicit Lyrics) on the covers of record albums containing language or lyrical content unsuitable for minors. The recording industry later voluntarily complied with this request.

   The singer defied convention, and recently became a Jehovah’s Witness; and he was a vegetarian. And, throughout his career, he was not afraid to engage in lawsuits, mostly with his music labels, or over a copyright infringement.

   I suspect in death, Prince’s estate will continue to earn gobs of royalties. The ubiquitous, prolific, trailblazing, cultural icon known as Prince was 57.

Until next time>                               “never forget”