Isn't this special? Liberal actress Julienne Moore has teamed up with rich gun-hater Michael Bloomberg to form yet another anti-gun group called the Everytown Creative Council, and this one is populated with other Hollywood has-beens and never-weres like Alec Baldwin, Yoko Ono, Kim Kardashian and other assorted losers whose sole claim to fame is that, given enough time, an army of make-up artists can make them look good and talented writers can make them sound smart, so long as they stay on script word-for-word, of course.
Everytown Creative Council members include:
JJ Abrams, Aziz Ansari, Judd Apatow, Christina Applegate, Kevin Bacon (he's still alive?), Bob Balaban, Alec Baldwin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Barkin (famous now only for cursing cops during Occupy Wall Street protests), Jason Bateman, Noah Baumbach, Kristen Bell, Kate Bosworth, Amy Brenneman, Jeff Bridges, Matthew Broderick, Ty Burrell, Steve Carell, Rosanne Cash, Josh Charles, Jessica Chastain, Don Cheadle, Sofia Coppola, Billy Crudup, Lee Daniels, Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Dern, Rachel Dratch, Kirsten Dunst, Michael J. Fox (shake it off, Mike), Bart Freundlich, Jim Gaffigan, Greta Gerwig, Bill Hader, Chelsea Handler, Melissa Joan Hart, Todd Haynes, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard, Helen Hunt, Rashida Jones, Mindy Kaling, Donna Karan, Kim Kardashian West (a tower of intellectual credibility there, eh?), Nathan Lane, Jennifer Lawrence, Spike Lee, Steve Levitan, Laura Linney, Aasif Mandvi, Seth MacFarlane, Katie McGrath, Debra Messing, Hasan Minhaj, Megan Mullally, Olivia Munn, Julianne Moore, Nick Offerman, Conan O'Brien, Ed O'Neill, Yoko Ono (probably just on this list to convince people that she's still alive and somehow relevant), Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow (major Obama backer), Amanda Peet, Tracy Pollan, Mark Ruffalo, Meg Ryan, Zoe Saldana, Kristen Schaal, Amy Schumer Chuckie Schumer's niece...what a surprise), Adam Scott, Naomi Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Sarah Silverman (failed comedienne turned bitter social justice warrior), Russell Simmons, Tim Simons, Michael Stipe, Liv Tyler, Reese Witherspoon, Jeffrey Wright and someone named Sasheer Zamata.
Talk about a freaking Loser-palooza. Of the names that I even recognize, most of them haven't worked in years and none of them have ever really made it. Still, they all want to stand up for disarming you and I, because they hate guns...right up until their agent calls and says that he has a role for them in a show where they'll get to run around with a gun and shoot people, at which point, money trumps their public ideology. But then Liberal "logic" has never really made a lot of sense. Julienne Moore herself sits on the board for Planned Parenthood, so while it apparently disturbs her to have to explain to her daughter how some kids got shot by a criminal psychopath, it's obviously not disturbing at all to explain to that same daughter why she believes that other kids can and should be killed off as a mere convenience so long as they haven't actually left the womb yet. Can someone explain that one to me?
Anyway, these idiots don't think that you and I should have firearms, because our firearms somehow equate to danger for everyone else, or so they say. I'm thinking that if they really believed that, they would not have the personal armed security that many of them have around their homes and studios and in their entourages.
When these useful idiots give up their own armed security and swear off any and all roles in any movies or shows depicting violent acts perpetrated with firearms, then I'll consider taking them seriously. Until then, I'll just dismiss them as typical deranged liberals and avoid paying money to see anything that they are involved in.
Oh, and by the way...since all of these liberals are so famous and presumably wealthy, and since the organization's founder, Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire, why are they begging for donations from average people on their website? Can't they spend their own money to advocate for what they want?
Oh that's right...liberals.
Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
RIP James Best
James Best is gone.
'Dukes of Hazzard' star James Best dead at 88
Most of you likely knew him as good-natured but bumbling Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard TV show, but he was much more than that.
Following his service in the Army in World War Two, a young James Best took up acting and began a career that crossed decades. He was a bit player and character actor in many, many movies and TV shows, and he worked with most of the greats at one time or another, including James Stewart, Audie Murphy, John Wayne, Stewart Hayden, Clint Eastwood, and pretty much anyone who was anyone in film or TV in the 1950s through the 1970s. He even worked several times with another Western-genre character actor who also attained his greatest fame on The Dukes, and that was Denver Pyle. Pyle and James Best were real-life best friends from their first role together in The Left-Handed Gun (starring Paul Newman) in 1958 until Pyle passed away on Christmas day, 1997.
I always looked for him in the old westerns that I tend to favor over the modern tripe that Hollywood barfs out these days, and he never disappointed. My loss, he was here in Hagerstown, MD a couple of years back, signing autographs at a fair (in character as Coltrane) and I did not go for some reason, though I'd planned to. I would loved to have met the man and thanked him for brightening so many of my days in his earlier works. Those who worked with him described him as a truly gifted and professional actor the likes of which we don't see today. And with James Best's passing, the silver screen grows a little less silver.
Here's a clip from one of his appearances on the Andy Griffith Show. He and Andy were also long-time good friends.
RIP.
'Dukes of Hazzard' star James Best dead at 88
Most of you likely knew him as good-natured but bumbling Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard TV show, but he was much more than that.
Following his service in the Army in World War Two, a young James Best took up acting and began a career that crossed decades. He was a bit player and character actor in many, many movies and TV shows, and he worked with most of the greats at one time or another, including James Stewart, Audie Murphy, John Wayne, Stewart Hayden, Clint Eastwood, and pretty much anyone who was anyone in film or TV in the 1950s through the 1970s. He even worked several times with another Western-genre character actor who also attained his greatest fame on The Dukes, and that was Denver Pyle. Pyle and James Best were real-life best friends from their first role together in The Left-Handed Gun (starring Paul Newman) in 1958 until Pyle passed away on Christmas day, 1997.
I always looked for him in the old westerns that I tend to favor over the modern tripe that Hollywood barfs out these days, and he never disappointed. My loss, he was here in Hagerstown, MD a couple of years back, signing autographs at a fair (in character as Coltrane) and I did not go for some reason, though I'd planned to. I would loved to have met the man and thanked him for brightening so many of my days in his earlier works. Those who worked with him described him as a truly gifted and professional actor the likes of which we don't see today. And with James Best's passing, the silver screen grows a little less silver.
Here's a clip from one of his appearances on the Andy Griffith Show. He and Andy were also long-time good friends.
RIP.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Seven Reasons To Go See American Sniper.
Even if something's wrong with you and you're not a fan of Chris Kyle, Navy SEALs, the U.S. Military, Clint Eastwood or America, there are still seven great reasons to go to the theater and plunk down your money to watch American Sniper.
Michael Moore hates it. (Well Duh. If it's pro-America, America's fattest hypocrite anti-capitalist millionaire is gonna hate it. But still..)
Seth Rogen hates it. (As if a guy who is only famous for playing sexually-frustrated potheads in cheesy movies really counts...)
Alec Baldwin hates it. (Actually I suspect that he just chimed in to get another fifteen minutes of fame, lest we all forget who this annoying elitist is.)
Bill Maher hates it. (I guess he's trying to show us that he's got more to say than just calling Sarah Palin the "C word".)
Russell Brand hates it. (Can anyone even tell me who this faggy Brit that looks like he gets his mail sent to a dumpster is?)
MSNBC hates it. (Not really surprising. MSNBC makes Al Jazeera look like Stars and Stripes.)
Jesse Ventura hates it. (Why? Because Chris Kyle kicked his America-hating ass, that's why!)
I plan to see it this week-end, but frankly, if that many top-tier gold-plated douchebags hate something, I can't help but like it, even sight unseen. Granted, I'm sure that much of their loathing comes from the fact that none of them can walk by a mirror without seeing the guy who is too much of a pansy to ever do the things that Kyle did, and that's got to sting.
Michael Moore hates it. (Well Duh. If it's pro-America, America's fattest hypocrite anti-capitalist millionaire is gonna hate it. But still..)
Seth Rogen hates it. (As if a guy who is only famous for playing sexually-frustrated potheads in cheesy movies really counts...)
Alec Baldwin hates it. (Actually I suspect that he just chimed in to get another fifteen minutes of fame, lest we all forget who this annoying elitist is.)
Bill Maher hates it. (I guess he's trying to show us that he's got more to say than just calling Sarah Palin the "C word".)
Russell Brand hates it. (Can anyone even tell me who this faggy Brit that looks like he gets his mail sent to a dumpster is?)
MSNBC hates it. (Not really surprising. MSNBC makes Al Jazeera look like Stars and Stripes.)
Jesse Ventura hates it. (Why? Because Chris Kyle kicked his America-hating ass, that's why!)
I plan to see it this week-end, but frankly, if that many top-tier gold-plated douchebags hate something, I can't help but like it, even sight unseen. Granted, I'm sure that much of their loathing comes from the fact that none of them can walk by a mirror without seeing the guy who is too much of a pansy to ever do the things that Kyle did, and that's got to sting.
Friday, January 09, 2015
Sorry--been one of those days.
The internet was down at work, so I couldn't post anything. And now I'm home, but have no time for anything original.
So here--enjoy a blast from the past: Vaudeville stars Mantan Moreland (playing Birmingham Brown) and Ben Carter, famous in their day for their "interrupted sentences" act, which they performed on live on stage countless times. We get a few demonstrations of their routine in these old clips from a couple of Charlie Chan movies, The Scarlet Clue and Dark Alibi. And as a bonus, in the end, Charlie Chan himself has a say.
Oh--and the puzzled-looking young Chinese fellow is Tommy, Charlie Chan's "Number Three son". Well-intentioned, but not the brightest bulb in the marquee, if you know what I mean.
True Hollywood gold, of the sort that we'll likely never see again.
So here--enjoy a blast from the past: Vaudeville stars Mantan Moreland (playing Birmingham Brown) and Ben Carter, famous in their day for their "interrupted sentences" act, which they performed on live on stage countless times. We get a few demonstrations of their routine in these old clips from a couple of Charlie Chan movies, The Scarlet Clue and Dark Alibi. And as a bonus, in the end, Charlie Chan himself has a say.
Oh--and the puzzled-looking young Chinese fellow is Tommy, Charlie Chan's "Number Three son". Well-intentioned, but not the brightest bulb in the marquee, if you know what I mean.
True Hollywood gold, of the sort that we'll likely never see again.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Jay Leno backs out on SHOT show.
Anyone who was expecting to see Jay Leno at January's Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) show in Las Vegas might well want to make other plans for that night, because he just backed out after the gun-hating harpies began to harrass him.
Jay Leno cancels gig for pro-gun group located near Sandy Hook Elementary School after victim’s daughter speaks out
This time, the issue blew up when professional victim Erica Lafferty, who is now riding her fifteen minutes of fame for all it's worth since her mother, Dawn Hochsprung, was killed by deranged psycho Adam Lanza at Sany Hook Elementary School, decided unilaterally that Jay Leno should not be speaking to other Americans who do not share her extremist anti-gun point of view. She began agitating and holding press conferences and the Leno camp folded and backed out, pretended not to know that the National Shooting Sports Foundation that hosts the SHOT show was about...wait for it...shooting.
Of course Lafferty had to get her plug in for her fellow gun-haters:
Jay Leno cancels gig for pro-gun group located near Sandy Hook Elementary School after victim’s daughter speaks out
This time, the issue blew up when professional victim Erica Lafferty, who is now riding her fifteen minutes of fame for all it's worth since her mother, Dawn Hochsprung, was killed by deranged psycho Adam Lanza at Sany Hook Elementary School, decided unilaterally that Jay Leno should not be speaking to other Americans who do not share her extremist anti-gun point of view. She began agitating and holding press conferences and the Leno camp folded and backed out, pretended not to know that the National Shooting Sports Foundation that hosts the SHOT show was about...wait for it...shooting.
“Jay was asked to do what was positioned as a sportsman show, and when he found out it was a pro gun lobby show, he cancelled,” Leno’s spokesman Bruce Bobbins [said].Yeah, ok. Whatever. If you're going to back out because a handful of hysterical women and liberal girly-men start wringing their hands, that's your choice. But please don't insult us by saying that you didn't know what the event was about.
Of course Lafferty had to get her plug in for her fellow gun-haters:
Lafferty urged Leno to take his cues from fellow comedians Sarah Silverman, “Tim & Eric” star Tim Heidecker and recent “Tonight Show” guest Kurt Braunohler who performed Tuesday night in Los Angeles at a benefit for Moms Demand Action and Everytown.org, the gunFirst of all, I had to scratch my head and ask who two of those gun-hating "comedians" even are. Silverman I've heard of, but she's about as funny as dog vomit on a white rug because she continually confuses her extremist liberal political ideology with the comedy that she's paid to do, which is why over half of America changes the station every time she comes on the TV. Frankly, if those three are the best that the anti-gun/anti-freedom/anti-Constitution Left can come up with, I can't get that worried about them. I mean, our side still has the Founding Fathers and the Constitution on our side, plus a few A-list celebrities of our own if that's actually what sways people these days.safetybanning group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
RIP, Eli Wallach
One of Hollywood's great character actors from the days when real men made real movies, Eli Wallach passed away yesterday at the age of 98.
He served for five years in World War Two in the US Army Medical Corps where he was discharged as a captain at war's end before starting out his acting career on Broadway in 1945. He went on to star in movies such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and "The Magnificent Seven",
Here is is offering sage advice that I've always remembered:
He served for five years in World War Two in the US Army Medical Corps where he was discharged as a captain at war's end before starting out his acting career on Broadway in 1945. He went on to star in movies such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and "The Magnificent Seven",
Here is is offering sage advice that I've always remembered:
Monday, April 07, 2014
When real stuntmen made movies
Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man has put up a couple of recent clips from the good old days when movie stunts were really done instead of just ginned up on computers. Drjim over at Every Blade of Grass had one too.
In that vein, have to offer up this gem from Hooper (1978).
I miss the days when real men actually made movies, and by "real men", I mean many of the ones who did the stunt work behind the scenes. Those days are pretty much gone now, and they likely won't ever be back.
In that vein, have to offer up this gem from Hooper (1978).
I miss the days when real men actually made movies, and by "real men", I mean many of the ones who did the stunt work behind the scenes. Those days are pretty much gone now, and they likely won't ever be back.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Book Review:
He chucked his movie career to get involved in World War Two, enlisting in the Marines. He was quickly selected for Officer Candidate School and then assigned to the OSS, which sent him to Italy to run sailing ships past the German navy to supply Yugoslav partisans.
Returning from the war, he picked up his movie career, divorced Carroll, and joined the Communist Party, a short-lived venture that would eventually have him testifying before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Unhappy with his Hollywood life, he took to the sea again aboard his boat, children in tow.
Sometimes, you can accomplish everything and still have nothing. Sterling Hayden shows us how that's possible.
Buy the book here in Amazon
Friday, January 17, 2014
Farewell Russell Johnson
Best known to most as Professor Roy Hinkley Jr., on Gilligan's Island (Yes, that was the character's actual name), he was an actor in many other shows and movies as well. One of my favorites was Law and Order (1953) in which he played Jimmy Johnson, younger brother of legendary lawman Frame Johnson, played by Ronald Reagan.
Towards the end of the movie, Jimmy shot Frame in the arm, making him the first Hinkley to shoot and wound Ronald Reagan, beating out the second Hinkley by 28 years.
Russell Johnson served in the US Army Air Corps in World War Two. He was a B-24 crewman who survived being shot down over the Philippines.
Towards the end of the movie, Jimmy shot Frame in the arm, making him the first Hinkley to shoot and wound Ronald Reagan, beating out the second Hinkley by 28 years.
Russell Johnson served in the US Army Air Corps in World War Two. He was a B-24 crewman who survived being shot down over the Philippines.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Here come the Hollywood hypocrites again.
Billionaire movie producer and friend of Obama Harvey Weinstein is now pledging to make a propaganda film targeting the NRA and gun owners.
The guy admits straight out that it won't be a documentary and that his goal is to make people sicken regarding guns and the NRA. (Josef Goebbels would be so proud.) Of course Weinstein conveniently overlooks the fact that he made much of his fortune bankrolling and selling movies that depict and sensationalize gun violence. Not to run down a list of his movies, but he's made possible many of Hollywood's most violent movies, including most anything that Quentin Tarantino could dream up. He's also been a big backer of that other gun-hating "moralist" who got rich in movies about gun violence, Sylvester Stallone.
To say that Harvey Weinstein is probably more responsible for the epidemic of gun violence in America today than any law-abiding gun owner or organization that he accuses is a massive understatement to say the least. And this time, he's dragging the washed-up attention-seeker Meryl Streep into the fray with him. I say a pox on both their houses, and the next time either of them ever finds themselves needing the help of a police officer that they should just call Sean Penn instead. Police officers, after all, carry guns and might hurt some poor bad guy and Penn, ever the bleeding heart, just melted all of his guns down and sold the scrap to Anderson Cooper to make his new girlfriend, Charlize Theron, happy.
The guy admits straight out that it won't be a documentary and that his goal is to make people sicken regarding guns and the NRA. (Josef Goebbels would be so proud.) Of course Weinstein conveniently overlooks the fact that he made much of his fortune bankrolling and selling movies that depict and sensationalize gun violence. Not to run down a list of his movies, but he's made possible many of Hollywood's most violent movies, including most anything that Quentin Tarantino could dream up. He's also been a big backer of that other gun-hating "moralist" who got rich in movies about gun violence, Sylvester Stallone.
To say that Harvey Weinstein is probably more responsible for the epidemic of gun violence in America today than any law-abiding gun owner or organization that he accuses is a massive understatement to say the least. And this time, he's dragging the washed-up attention-seeker Meryl Streep into the fray with him. I say a pox on both their houses, and the next time either of them ever finds themselves needing the help of a police officer that they should just call Sean Penn instead. Police officers, after all, carry guns and might hurt some poor bad guy and Penn, ever the bleeding heart, just melted all of his guns down and sold the scrap to Anderson Cooper to make his new girlfriend, Charlize Theron, happy.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
When Hollywood stars were real men
There was a time when Hollywood reflected American values of hard work, integrity and perseverance, and that's how the heroes won the day, got the girl, and often lived in real life. And this was especially true in the 1940s and 1950s, when many of Hollywood's leading men put their film careers on hold and enlisted in one of the armed forces to fight for America. Examples include but are not limited to:
Sterling Hayden, US Marines and OSS. Smuggled guns into Yugoslavia and parachuted into Croatia.
James Stewart, US Army Air Corps. Bomber pilot who rose to the rank of General.
Ernest Borgnine, US Navy. Gunners Mate 1c, destroyer USS Lamberton.
Ed McMahon, US Marines. Fighter Pilot. (Flew OE-1 Bird Dogs over Korea as well.)
Telly Savalas, US Army.
Walter Matthau, US Army Air Corps., B-24 Radioman/Gunner and cryptographer.
Steve Forrest, US Army. Wounded, Battle of the Bulge.
Jonathan Winters, USMC. Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Anti-aircraft gunner, Battle of Okinawa.
Paul Newman, US Navy Rear seat gunner/radioman, torpedo bombers of USS Bunker Hill
Kirk Douglas, US Navy. Sub-chaser in the Pacific. Wounded in action and medically discharged.
Robert Mitchum, US Army.
Dale Robertson, US Army. Tank Commander in North Africa under Patton. Wounded twice. Battlefield Commission.
Henry Fonda, US Navy. Destroyer USS Satterlee.
John Carroll, US Army Air Corps. Pilot in North Africa. Broke his back in a crash.
Lee Marvin US Marines. Sniper. Wounded in action on Saipan. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Sec. 7A next to Greg Boyington and Joe Louis.
Art Carney, US Army. Wounded on Normandy beach, D-Day. Limped for the rest of his life.
Wayne Morris, US Navy fighter pilot, USS Essex. Downed seven Japanese fighters.
Rod Steiger, US Navy. Was aboard one of the ships that launched the Doolittle Raid.
Tony Curtis, US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus. In Tokyo Bay for the surrender of Japan.
Larry Storch. US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.
Forrest Tucker, US Army. Enlisted as a private, rose to Lieutenant.
Robert Montgomery, US Navy.
George Kennedy, US Army. Enlisted after Pearl Harbor, stayed in sixteen years.
Mickey Rooney, US Army under Patton. Bronze Star.
Denver Pyle, US Navy. Wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Medically discharged.
Burgess Meredith, US Army Air Corps.
DeForest Kelley, US Army Air Corps.
Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Officer.
Neville Brand, US Army, Europe. Was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Tyrone Power, US Marines. Transport pilot in the Pacific Theater.
Charlton Heston, US Army Air Corps. Radio operator and aerial gunner on a B-25, Aleutians.
Danny Aiello, US Army. Lied about his age to enlist at 16. Served three years.
James Arness, US Army. As an infantryman, he was severely wounded at Anzio, Italy.
Efram Zimbalist, Jr., US Army. Purple Heart for a severe wound received at Huertgen Forest.
Mickey Spillane, US Army Air Corps, Fighter Pilot and later Instructor Pilot.
Rod Serling. US Army. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila.
Gene Autry, US Army Air Corps. Crewman on transports that ferried supplies over "The Hump" in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Wiliam Holden, US Army Air Corps.
Alan Hale Jr, US Coast Guard.
Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Battle of Okinawa.
Russell Johnson, US Army Air Corps. B-24 crewman who was awarded Purple Heart when his aircraft was shot down by the Japanese in the Philippines.
William Conrad, US Army Air Corps. Fighter Pilot.
Jack Klugman, US Army.
Frank Sutton, US Army. Took part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor.
Jackie Coogan, US Army Air Corps. Volunteered for gliders and flew troops and materials into Burma behind enemy lines.
Tom Bosley, US Navy.
Claude Akins, US Army. Signal Corps., Burma and the Philippines.
Chuck Connors, US Army. Tank-warfare instructor.
Harry Carey Jr., US Navy.
Mel Brooks, US Army. Combat Engineer. Saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.
Robert Altman, US Army Air Corps. B-24 Co-Pilot.
Pat Hingle, US Navy. Destroyer USS Marshall
Fred Gwynne, US Navy. Radioman.
Karl Malden, US Army Air Corps. 8th Air Force, NCO.
Earl Holliman. US Navy. Lied about his age to enlist. Discharged after a year when they Navy found out.
Rock Hudson, US Navy. Aircraft mechanic, the Philippines.
Harvey Korman, US Navy.
Aldo Ray. US Navy. UDT frogman, Okinawa.
Don Knotts, US Army, Pacific Theater.
Don Rickles, US Navy aboard USS Cyrene.
Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Served aboard an LST in the Battle of Okinawa.
Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Instructor.
Soupy Sales, US Navy. Served on USS Randall in the South Pacific.
Lee Van Cleef, US Navy. Served aboard a sub chaser then a mine sweeper.
Clifton James, US Army, South Pacific. Was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
Ted Knight, US Army, Combat Engineers.
Jack Warden, US Navy, 1938-1942, then US Army, 1942-1945. 101st Airborne Division.
Don Adams. US Marines. Wounded on Guadalcanal, then served as a Drill Instructor.
James Gregory, US Navy and US Marines.
Brian Keith, US Marines. Radioman/Gunner in Dauntless dive-bombers.
Fess Parker, US Navy and US Marines. Booted from pilot training for being too tall, joined Marines as a radio operator.
Charles Durning. US Army. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. Shot multiple times. Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Survived Malmedy Massacre.
Raymond Burr, US Navy. Shot in the stomach on Okinawa and medically discharged.
Hugh O'Brian, US Marines.
Robert Ryan, US Marines.
Eddie Albert, US Coast Guard. Bronze Star with Combat V for saving several Marines under heavy fire as pilot of a landing craft during the invasion of Tarawa.
Cark Gable, US Army Air Corps. B-17 gunner over Europe.
Charles Bronson, US Army Air Corps. B-29 gunner, wounded in action.
Peter Graves, US Army Air Corps.
Buddy Hackett, US Army anti-aircraft gunner.
Victor Mature, US Coast Guard.
Jack Palance, US Army Air Corps. Severely injured bailing out of a burning B-24 bomber.
Robert Preston, US Army Air Corps. Intelligence Officer
Cesar Romero, US Coast Guard. Coast Guard. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transport USS Cavalier.
Norman Fell, US Army Air Corps., Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.
Jason Robards, US Navy. was aboard heavy cruiser USS Northampton when it was sunk off Guadalcanal. Also served on the USS Nashville during the invasion of the Philippines, surviving a kamikaze hit that caused 223 casualties.
Charlie Callas, US Army.
Steve Reeves, US Army, Philippines.
Dennis Weaver, US Navy. Pilot.
Richard Crenna, US Army. Radioman, Battle of the Bulge. Saw further service in the Pacific after VE Day.
Robert Taylor, US Navy. Instructor Pilot.
Randolph Scott. Tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to injuries sustained in US Army, World War 1.
Ronald Reagan. US Army. Was a 2nd Lt. in the Cavalry Reserves before the war. His poor eyesight kept him from being sent overseas with his unit when war came so he transferred to the Army Air Corps Public Relations Unit where he served for the duration.
John Wayne. Declared "4F medically unfit" due to pre-existing injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times(Army, Navy and Film Corps.) so he gets honorable mention.
And of course we have Audie Murphy, America's most-decorated soldier, who became a Hollywood star as a result of his US Army service that included his being awarded the Medal of Honor.
Would someone please remind me again how many of today's Hollywood elite put their careers on hold to enlist in Iraq or Afghanistan?
The only one who even comes close was Pat Tillman, who turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million over three years from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the US Army after September, 11, 2001 and serve as a Ranger in Afghanistan, where he died in 2004. But rather than being lauded for his choice and his decision to put his country before his career, he was mocked and derided by many of his peers and the Left.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you that this is not the America today that it was seventy years ago. And I, for one, am saddened.
Sterling Hayden, US Marines and OSS. Smuggled guns into Yugoslavia and parachuted into Croatia.
James Stewart, US Army Air Corps. Bomber pilot who rose to the rank of General.
Ernest Borgnine, US Navy. Gunners Mate 1c, destroyer USS Lamberton.
Ed McMahon, US Marines. Fighter Pilot. (Flew OE-1 Bird Dogs over Korea as well.)
Telly Savalas, US Army.
Walter Matthau, US Army Air Corps., B-24 Radioman/Gunner and cryptographer.
Steve Forrest, US Army. Wounded, Battle of the Bulge.
Jonathan Winters, USMC. Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Anti-aircraft gunner, Battle of Okinawa.
Paul Newman, US Navy Rear seat gunner/radioman, torpedo bombers of USS Bunker Hill
Kirk Douglas, US Navy. Sub-chaser in the Pacific. Wounded in action and medically discharged.
Robert Mitchum, US Army.
Dale Robertson, US Army. Tank Commander in North Africa under Patton. Wounded twice. Battlefield Commission.
Henry Fonda, US Navy. Destroyer USS Satterlee.
John Carroll, US Army Air Corps. Pilot in North Africa. Broke his back in a crash.
Lee Marvin US Marines. Sniper. Wounded in action on Saipan. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Sec. 7A next to Greg Boyington and Joe Louis.
Art Carney, US Army. Wounded on Normandy beach, D-Day. Limped for the rest of his life.
Wayne Morris, US Navy fighter pilot, USS Essex. Downed seven Japanese fighters.
Rod Steiger, US Navy. Was aboard one of the ships that launched the Doolittle Raid.
Tony Curtis, US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus. In Tokyo Bay for the surrender of Japan.
Larry Storch. US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.
Forrest Tucker, US Army. Enlisted as a private, rose to Lieutenant.
Robert Montgomery, US Navy.
George Kennedy, US Army. Enlisted after Pearl Harbor, stayed in sixteen years.
Mickey Rooney, US Army under Patton. Bronze Star.
Denver Pyle, US Navy. Wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Medically discharged.
Burgess Meredith, US Army Air Corps.
DeForest Kelley, US Army Air Corps.
Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Officer.
Neville Brand, US Army, Europe. Was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.
Tyrone Power, US Marines. Transport pilot in the Pacific Theater.
Charlton Heston, US Army Air Corps. Radio operator and aerial gunner on a B-25, Aleutians.
Danny Aiello, US Army. Lied about his age to enlist at 16. Served three years.
James Arness, US Army. As an infantryman, he was severely wounded at Anzio, Italy.
Efram Zimbalist, Jr., US Army. Purple Heart for a severe wound received at Huertgen Forest.
Mickey Spillane, US Army Air Corps, Fighter Pilot and later Instructor Pilot.
Rod Serling. US Army. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila.
Gene Autry, US Army Air Corps. Crewman on transports that ferried supplies over "The Hump" in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Wiliam Holden, US Army Air Corps.
Alan Hale Jr, US Coast Guard.
Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Battle of Okinawa.
Russell Johnson, US Army Air Corps. B-24 crewman who was awarded Purple Heart when his aircraft was shot down by the Japanese in the Philippines.
William Conrad, US Army Air Corps. Fighter Pilot.
Jack Klugman, US Army.
Frank Sutton, US Army. Took part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor.
Jackie Coogan, US Army Air Corps. Volunteered for gliders and flew troops and materials into Burma behind enemy lines.
Tom Bosley, US Navy.
Claude Akins, US Army. Signal Corps., Burma and the Philippines.
Chuck Connors, US Army. Tank-warfare instructor.
Harry Carey Jr., US Navy.
Mel Brooks, US Army. Combat Engineer. Saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.
Robert Altman, US Army Air Corps. B-24 Co-Pilot.
Pat Hingle, US Navy. Destroyer USS Marshall
Fred Gwynne, US Navy. Radioman.
Karl Malden, US Army Air Corps. 8th Air Force, NCO.
Earl Holliman. US Navy. Lied about his age to enlist. Discharged after a year when they Navy found out.
Rock Hudson, US Navy. Aircraft mechanic, the Philippines.
Harvey Korman, US Navy.
Aldo Ray. US Navy. UDT frogman, Okinawa.
Don Knotts, US Army, Pacific Theater.
Don Rickles, US Navy aboard USS Cyrene.
Harry Dean Stanton, US Navy. Served aboard an LST in the Battle of Okinawa.
Robert Stack, US Navy. Gunnery Instructor.
Soupy Sales, US Navy. Served on USS Randall in the South Pacific.
Lee Van Cleef, US Navy. Served aboard a sub chaser then a mine sweeper.
Clifton James, US Army, South Pacific. Was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
Ted Knight, US Army, Combat Engineers.
Jack Warden, US Navy, 1938-1942, then US Army, 1942-1945. 101st Airborne Division.
Don Adams. US Marines. Wounded on Guadalcanal, then served as a Drill Instructor.
James Gregory, US Navy and US Marines.
Brian Keith, US Marines. Radioman/Gunner in Dauntless dive-bombers.
Fess Parker, US Navy and US Marines. Booted from pilot training for being too tall, joined Marines as a radio operator.
Charles Durning. US Army. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. Shot multiple times. Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Survived Malmedy Massacre.
Raymond Burr, US Navy. Shot in the stomach on Okinawa and medically discharged.
Hugh O'Brian, US Marines.
Robert Ryan, US Marines.
Eddie Albert, US Coast Guard. Bronze Star with Combat V for saving several Marines under heavy fire as pilot of a landing craft during the invasion of Tarawa.
Cark Gable, US Army Air Corps. B-17 gunner over Europe.
Charles Bronson, US Army Air Corps. B-29 gunner, wounded in action.
Peter Graves, US Army Air Corps.
Buddy Hackett, US Army anti-aircraft gunner.
Victor Mature, US Coast Guard.
Jack Palance, US Army Air Corps. Severely injured bailing out of a burning B-24 bomber.
Robert Preston, US Army Air Corps. Intelligence Officer
Cesar Romero, US Coast Guard. Coast Guard. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transport USS Cavalier.
Norman Fell, US Army Air Corps., Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.
Jason Robards, US Navy. was aboard heavy cruiser USS Northampton when it was sunk off Guadalcanal. Also served on the USS Nashville during the invasion of the Philippines, surviving a kamikaze hit that caused 223 casualties.
Charlie Callas, US Army.
Steve Reeves, US Army, Philippines.
Dennis Weaver, US Navy. Pilot.
Richard Crenna, US Army. Radioman, Battle of the Bulge. Saw further service in the Pacific after VE Day.
Robert Taylor, US Navy. Instructor Pilot.
Randolph Scott. Tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to injuries sustained in US Army, World War 1.
Ronald Reagan. US Army. Was a 2nd Lt. in the Cavalry Reserves before the war. His poor eyesight kept him from being sent overseas with his unit when war came so he transferred to the Army Air Corps Public Relations Unit where he served for the duration.
John Wayne. Declared "4F medically unfit" due to pre-existing injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times(Army, Navy and Film Corps.) so he gets honorable mention.
And of course we have Audie Murphy, America's most-decorated soldier, who became a Hollywood star as a result of his US Army service that included his being awarded the Medal of Honor.
Would someone please remind me again how many of today's Hollywood elite put their careers on hold to enlist in Iraq or Afghanistan?
The only one who even comes close was Pat Tillman, who turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million over three years from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the US Army after September, 11, 2001 and serve as a Ranger in Afghanistan, where he died in 2004. But rather than being lauded for his choice and his decision to put his country before his career, he was mocked and derided by many of his peers and the Left.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you that this is not the America today that it was seventy years ago. And I, for one, am saddened.
Saturday, October 05, 2013
So disappointed
There's a new movie out with Sandra Bullock, a little cutie that I never tire of watching on-screen. It's a nifty-looking "survival" type meeting called "Gravity". The movie is set in outer space and the trailers and reviews really caught my interest.
However I won't go see it. I won't rent it when it hits the rental boxes, either.
As much as I'd like to see it, the producers ruined it right out of the gate by casting liberal assclown George Clooney in it. And because he's in it, and because he'd get paid if I paid to see it, I'll forego the experience. Hopefully other Americans will do the same thing and send a message to anti-military, anti-gun, Obama-supporting jerks like Clooney and the studios that make movies--if you go around on the talk shows insulting us and our beliefs, or if you cast egotistical buffoons that do, we're not going to patronize your big-budget movies.
So sorry, Sandra. I'm passing on this one. Pity. But if it helps, maybe I'll go rent "Speed 2" again, just for you. (Well, ok...maybe not that bomb, but I'll find something.)
However I won't go see it. I won't rent it when it hits the rental boxes, either.
As much as I'd like to see it, the producers ruined it right out of the gate by casting liberal assclown George Clooney in it. And because he's in it, and because he'd get paid if I paid to see it, I'll forego the experience. Hopefully other Americans will do the same thing and send a message to anti-military, anti-gun, Obama-supporting jerks like Clooney and the studios that make movies--if you go around on the talk shows insulting us and our beliefs, or if you cast egotistical buffoons that do, we're not going to patronize your big-budget movies.
So sorry, Sandra. I'm passing on this one. Pity. But if it helps, maybe I'll go rent "Speed 2" again, just for you. (Well, ok...maybe not that bomb, but I'll find something.)
Sunday, September 29, 2013
When real men made movies
In his heyday, Frank Tallman did stuff like fly this real Beechcraft D-18 through a billboard (made of styrofoam).
Some of the styrofoam and balsa wood wound up lodging in the aircraft engines and Tallman barely made it back to the airport. Shortly afterward, he told a reporter for the Sarasota Journal that that was the most dangerous flying stunt ever done for any movie and no one, not even him, would ever try anything like it again.
He was also an amputee. Frank Tallman lost his left leg in 1965 in a go-cart accident. But like Sir Douglas Bader and *cough* someone else that you might know, he got a new leg and returned to flying. In no time at all, he'd gotten the FAA to give him his pilot's licenses back and he was flying P-51 Mustangs and F8F Bearcats for the filming of the movie Cloudbusters.
OK, yeah. I'm jealous of that.
In 1961, Tallman went into business with famed air racer and stunt pilot Paul Mantz, forming Tallmantz Aviation. It was in this capacity that the two men established themselves as aviation experts.
Paul Mantz died in 1965 while flying this custom-built plane for the James Stewart movie Flight of the Phoenix.
Had Tallman not lost his leg when he did, he might well have been flying that plane on that day. But he wasn't able to fly at that time, so Mantz flew and Mantz died when the aircraft that the two men designed together came apart in flight.
Frank Tallman died thirteen years later, also flying an aircraft. He was ferrying a Piper Aztec from Santa Monica, California to Phoenix Arizona when he encountered bad weather in the form of a lowering ceiling and rain. Flying on through the Santa Ana mountains in poor visibilty, he struck Santiago Peak and was killed.
He was one hell of a pilot, though. He had over 21,000 flying hours in over 500 different aircraft, everything from balloons to helicopters, bi-planes to jets. He flew in over 200 movies and his work can still be seen in dozens of classic movies and TV shows. If there was a spectacular flying scene in any movie or show made in the 1960's and 70's, odds are pretty good that Frank Tallman was either at the controls or had something else to do with it. For decades, he lived his life actually doing what all of those actors pretended to do back in the pre-CGI days.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Pop Quiz
What do the following people all have in common?
Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith, Dick Clark, Bert Convy, Harry Morgan, Howard Cosell, John Astin, Jackie Coogan, Vic Tayback, Mark Hamill, Jodie Foster, Larry Wilcox, Louis Gossett, Jr., Norman Fell, Richard Pryor, Rob Reiner, Arte Johnson, Slim Pickens, Johnny Cash and President Reagan's daughter, Maureen Reagan?
Discuss this amongst yourselves and comment if you think you know. No cheating and I'll post a list of the best guesses (and the correct answer) later.
EDIT: Brigid knows. And LOL @ Brigid.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Another Hollywood has-been jumps into the election fray.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a young Mark Hamill was actually relevant as he played Luke Skywalker in the first three episodes of the Star Wars saga. And, truth be told, they were the only movies in the series that were worth the theater admission price. (and that last one, Return of the Jedi, was about one Ewok away from being ridiculous.)
There's no denying that Mark Hamill was cool back then. Heck, I'll go so far as to say that he redeemed himself for his role in Corvette Summer. But that was the late 70's and early 80's. Fast forward to the year 2012, and he's a bloated, corpulent has-been who has to hang out at comic book conventions, begging people to pay for his autograph and hoping against all hope for another acting gig. But since that's not likely to happen any time soon, Hamill has apparently decided to raise his visibility and establish himself as a member of Hollywood's far-left cadre by coming out and claiming that Mitt Rommney is not human. He also doubles down and says that anyone who doesn't vote for The Zero is "insane", because without Obama, "the middle class will disappear."
Sounds to me like he's spent the last couple of decades hitting the hard drugs with Carrie Fisher. And credibility-wise, he ranks up there with Randy Quaid, who at last report was still in Canada, hiding from the "star whackers" that are out to get him.
What is it with today's Hollywood culture that totally unhinges people and turns bright young men and women into bitter old liberal America-haters? It didn't always used to be that way, you know. Once Hollywood reflected America's values instead of trying to impose it's own on us. That was when Hollywood was great and admired worldwide. But back then, no-talents like Alec Baldwin, Julia Roberts and Mark Hamill would be pushing brooms on sound stages after hours if they could get hired at all, and "writers" like Michael Moore would be beaten and tossed out of the studio on their butts.
Yes, the times have certainly changed in the entertainment industry, and not for the better. Come back, John Wayne...and bring Bogie and Jimmy Stewart with you!
There's no denying that Mark Hamill was cool back then. Heck, I'll go so far as to say that he redeemed himself for his role in Corvette Summer. But that was the late 70's and early 80's. Fast forward to the year 2012, and he's a bloated, corpulent has-been who has to hang out at comic book conventions, begging people to pay for his autograph and hoping against all hope for another acting gig. But since that's not likely to happen any time soon, Hamill has apparently decided to raise his visibility and establish himself as a member of Hollywood's far-left cadre by coming out and claiming that Mitt Rommney is not human. He also doubles down and says that anyone who doesn't vote for The Zero is "insane", because without Obama, "the middle class will disappear."
Sounds to me like he's spent the last couple of decades hitting the hard drugs with Carrie Fisher. And credibility-wise, he ranks up there with Randy Quaid, who at last report was still in Canada, hiding from the "star whackers" that are out to get him.
What is it with today's Hollywood culture that totally unhinges people and turns bright young men and women into bitter old liberal America-haters? It didn't always used to be that way, you know. Once Hollywood reflected America's values instead of trying to impose it's own on us. That was when Hollywood was great and admired worldwide. But back then, no-talents like Alec Baldwin, Julia Roberts and Mark Hamill would be pushing brooms on sound stages after hours if they could get hired at all, and "writers" like Michael Moore would be beaten and tossed out of the studio on their butts.
Yes, the times have certainly changed in the entertainment industry, and not for the better. Come back, John Wayne...and bring Bogie and Jimmy Stewart with you!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
So how stupid are today's celebrities?
Pretty stupid, it seems.
Hollywood no-talent Amanda Byrnes (Don't feel bad if you don't know who she is. I've never heard of her, either.) got popped for a DUI after sideswiping a police car recently in Los Angeles. So what does she do? She tweets Barack Obama, denies driving drunk (even though she refused the breath test that would have cleared her) and demands that he personally fire the police officer who arrested her.
Amanda Bynes Charged with DUI, Asks Obama to Fire Arresting Officer
Apparently this ditz doesn't even comprehend the fact that police officers are local government employees and that the federal government does not have, has never had, and is not supposed to ever have the authority to dictate to them or interfere with their employment.
Stupid. So stupid. Who reminds these idiots to breathe every day? Is it any wonder that she and her Hollywood pals fawn over Obama so? And sadly, her vote counts as much as mine or yours.
Hollywood no-talent Amanda Byrnes (Don't feel bad if you don't know who she is. I've never heard of her, either.) got popped for a DUI after sideswiping a police car recently in Los Angeles. So what does she do? She tweets Barack Obama, denies driving drunk (even though she refused the breath test that would have cleared her) and demands that he personally fire the police officer who arrested her.
Amanda Bynes Charged with DUI, Asks Obama to Fire Arresting Officer
Apparently this ditz doesn't even comprehend the fact that police officers are local government employees and that the federal government does not have, has never had, and is not supposed to ever have the authority to dictate to them or interfere with their employment.
Stupid. So stupid. Who reminds these idiots to breathe every day? Is it any wonder that she and her Hollywood pals fawn over Obama so? And sadly, her vote counts as much as mine or yours.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
And now for something totally different...
Hey, I'm feeling a little bit better. Murphy is back to his old self (and I hate him for it) so maybe I'll recover, too.
I'm still wide awake at 3:30 AM though, randomly cruising the interweb. So here, watch Fred Grandy with me. Before he was a conservative radio icon in Washington, DC, before he was a Republican member of Congress from Iowa, before he was Gopher on The Love Boat...he used to bomb around in an old van with three monsters, fighting crime in a ridiculous yellow sweater.
Monster Squad.
Yes, it was a real show. And no, it had nothing to do with anything, other than it's just what's out there on the outer edges of the interverse.
Far out, man.
I'm still wide awake at 3:30 AM though, randomly cruising the interweb. So here, watch Fred Grandy with me. Before he was a conservative radio icon in Washington, DC, before he was a Republican member of Congress from Iowa, before he was Gopher on The Love Boat...he used to bomb around in an old van with three monsters, fighting crime in a ridiculous yellow sweater.
Monster Squad.
Yes, it was a real show. And no, it had nothing to do with anything, other than it's just what's out there on the outer edges of the interverse.
Far out, man.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Jane Russell. 1921-2011
Jane Russell, one of the few remaining starts of Hollywood's great days, is gone.Blessed with a figure that wouldn't quit, she was discovered and cast by Howard Hughes as Rio McDonald in The Outlaw. She became a pin-up girl for our troops overseas in World War Two and a movie censor's nightmare.
Bob Hope used to say that "Culture meant being able to describe Jane Russell without using your hands."
But unlike other contemporary starlets, she remained relatively free of scandal, and she was a staunch Republican who attended Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration along with other notables from Hollywood such as Lou Costello, Dick Powell, June Allyson, Anita Louise and Louella Parsons. That would have killed her in today's immoral Hollywood, but back then, it represented real America, and she was in good company. As she described it:
"I have always been a Republican, and when I was in Hollywood long ago, most of the people there were Republican. The studio heads were all Republican, my boss Howard Hughes was a raving Republican, and we had a motion picture code in those days so they couldn't do all this naughty stuff. We had John Wayne, we had Charlton Heston, we had man named Ronald Reagan, we had Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, Clark Gable."
She was also a proud Christian woman who opened her house to bible studies for Christians in the film industry while her career was at it's peak, and she formed a gospel quartet, Hollywood Christian Group, with Connie Haines, Beryl Davis, and Della Russell.
Russell left the movie business early in life, claiming that there really wasn't any work for actresses over thirty in those days. But she stayed busy. In 1955 she founded World Adoption International Fund (WAIF), an organization to place children with adoptive families and which pioneered adoptions from foreign countries by Americans.
She was a lot of things to a lot of people, and today's Hollywood has no one like her or her contemporaries, above. She'll be missed, and she'll always be Rio to me.
Monday, February 21, 2011
How times have changed
As we watch today's spoiled youth mock and malign our troops who are in harm's way, and as we recall a generation who came of age in the 60's and 70's who considered it "cool" to hate and spit on our troops and burn recruitment centers, sometimes I need a reminder that it wasn't always that way. There was a time when Americans got behind our troops and our leaders, and back then, a pro-America, pro-war-effort Hollywood actually led the way.
Here's a little gem I found consisting of veteran actor William Frawley (known to many later in life as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's grumpy landlord Fred Mertz or Bub O'Casey on My Three Sons) leading a movie matinee patriotic sing-along about supporting our war effort and buying war bonds during World War Two.
Catchy, ain't it?
It's ironic that he's dressed as an academic. Maybe those sheltered shitbird Columbia U. kids could learn a thing or two from "Professor" Frawley.
Here's a little gem I found consisting of veteran actor William Frawley (known to many later in life as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's grumpy landlord Fred Mertz or Bub O'Casey on My Three Sons) leading a movie matinee patriotic sing-along about supporting our war effort and buying war bonds during World War Two.
Catchy, ain't it?
It's ironic that he's dressed as an academic. Maybe those sheltered shitbird Columbia U. kids could learn a thing or two from "Professor" Frawley.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Name the celebrity
OK, this celebrity began as a child star on stage when he was four years old. He caught the attention of another star, Charlie Chaplin, in 1917 and got a start doing movie roles. He went on to become the youngest self-made millionaire in history, however when he tried to actually get his money after becoming an adult, his mother and manager-turned-stepfather refused to give it to him, having squandered most of it on their own high living. He brought suit against them and that suit led to the law that to this day requires that a percentage of the money earned by child actors be placed in trust for them. Alas, he still wound up with no money--they'd spent nearly all of it.
Figure it out yet?
How about if I told you that a close friend of his from college wound up being kidnapped and murdered, and when the kidnappers were caught, public outrage was such that a lynch mob stormed the jail and took the criminals out to a nearby park and hung them. This actor was identified as being one of the leaders of that mob but was never prosecuted.
Know who it is yet?
He was married to film star Betty Grable for a couple of years, and following Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, volunteering to fly gliders and land commando teams behind Japanese lines in the dead of the night. He did this until 1944, and he also managed to get busted by the Military Police when they caught him in a cathouse in Burma.
Know who I'm talking about yet?
He returned to acting in the 50's, but his career didn't really do much despite his getting bit parts on such shows as Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, Emergency!, Family Affair, The Wild, Wild West, and Hawaii Five-O.
If you haven't got it yet, maybe you'll recognize him from this clip of his first movie where he played opposite Charlie Chaplin.
Recognize him yet?
OK, that first one was a bit dated. How about a picture from his most famous role--the one that finally put him on easy street:
That's right--the man who played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family from 1964-1966 was none other than former child star Jackie Coogan and his life was a long and interesting one as he married and divorced beautiful movie stars, helped lynch the kidnappers of Brooke Hart, and volunteered for extra hazardous duty in World War Two.
He died March 1, 1984 in Santa Monica, California. He was 69.
His star on the Hollywood walk of Fame.
Figure it out yet?
How about if I told you that a close friend of his from college wound up being kidnapped and murdered, and when the kidnappers were caught, public outrage was such that a lynch mob stormed the jail and took the criminals out to a nearby park and hung them. This actor was identified as being one of the leaders of that mob but was never prosecuted.
Know who it is yet?
He was married to film star Betty Grable for a couple of years, and following Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, volunteering to fly gliders and land commando teams behind Japanese lines in the dead of the night. He did this until 1944, and he also managed to get busted by the Military Police when they caught him in a cathouse in Burma.
Know who I'm talking about yet?
He returned to acting in the 50's, but his career didn't really do much despite his getting bit parts on such shows as Perry Mason, The Andy Griffith Show, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, Emergency!, Family Affair, The Wild, Wild West, and Hawaii Five-O.
If you haven't got it yet, maybe you'll recognize him from this clip of his first movie where he played opposite Charlie Chaplin.
Recognize him yet?
OK, that first one was a bit dated. How about a picture from his most famous role--the one that finally put him on easy street:
That's right--the man who played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family from 1964-1966 was none other than former child star Jackie Coogan and his life was a long and interesting one as he married and divorced beautiful movie stars, helped lynch the kidnappers of Brooke Hart, and volunteered for extra hazardous duty in World War Two.
He died March 1, 1984 in Santa Monica, California. He was 69.
His star on the Hollywood walk of Fame.
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