Curmudgeon

He was the man with a frown that never turned upside down. His name was Charles Lane. His crabby face was a staple to film and television for 77 years! Born in San Francisco in 1905 he was an American character actor who worked steadily except for a period of time when he worked as an insurance salesman until he started studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Charles Lane was a great friend of Lucille Ball and she cast him many times on her various productions. During the golden age of television if some one needed a crabby man or a nasty old geezer Charles Lane was your man. He also worked in movies. He had roles in "It's a Wonderful Life", "Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes". 
His roles were always the ornery curmudgeons but in reality he was a fun loving and amusing man who was loved by the casts he worked with. He lived for many years in Brentwood, CA with his long time wife Ruth. His son Tom announced his death at the age of 107. He died in his bed taking his last breath in his bead room. "He closed his eyes and just died." his son said.

You're Soaking In It

The television landscape had a staple for many decades. It was a woman loved by millions who was able to give sell you her product without making herself annoying. This woman was Jan Miner but she was known to you and I as Madge the Manicurist. Her famous phrase "You're Soaking in it." was heard world wide for over 30 years.

Jan Miner was born and raised in Boston, MA and studied acting with Lee Strasberg. She worked for years on radio at one time she played Della Street on the radio version of Perry Mason. It was television that really brought her fame as sassy manicurist Madge who soaked her clients fingers in Palmolive dish liquid. She may well have been the first manicurist many people ever saw.
She did other work over the years acting in movies such as the Lenny Bruce Biopic. playing Bruce's mother opposite Dustin Hoffman.
Jan Miner died after a period of failing heath in 2004. 

The Party is Over

Sadly this week Hollywood lost a legend. Zsa Zsa Gabor died at her home at the age of 99. Zsa Zsa was the very first person famous for being famous. She paved the way for the Kardashians and oddly fro Paris Hilton. She has a connection to Paris as she was once married to Conrad Hilton the scion of the Hilton clan. Conrad was the father of Zsa Zsa's only child. Zsa Zsa along with her sisters Eva and Magda as well as her mother Jolie took 195o's Hollywood by storm. Both Zsa Zsa and Eva had acting careers whereas Magda became a society figure. They were all push and supported by their mother Jolie who had aspirations to be an actress but settled on becoming as famous mother not unlike Kris Kardashian. 
Zsa Zsa was the most famous and most outrageous member of the clan. Her acting roles will never be remembered for their artistry but did propel her to a level of fame that most people could never imagine. 

Zsa Zsa was famous for her glamour and marriages but if it hadn't been for her sense of humor and quick wit she would have been just a blip on the fame radar that faded fast. Always a favorite guest on chat shows like The Tonight Show, The Merv Griffen Show and The Mike Douglas Show. She was agreat guest because you never knew what she would say next. In her 60's Zsa Zsa may have pulled off her biggest and most outrageous stunt when she was pulled over in Beverly Hills for an expired registration on her Rolls Royce and did the thing everyone would love to do. She slapped a cop. This case went to trial (pre-dating OJ) and became a media sensation. She did end up spending time (72 hours) in jail and used her lock up and release as a press event.

We will all miss Zsa Zsa and as her cousin from Hungry said, "When Zsa Zsa left the party was over".

Richard Deacon King of the Straight Men

Some people are always cast as the straight man. Sometimes the straight man roles can make you a star. One of the most famous straight men on 1960's and 1970's television was Richard Deacon. He is most famous for playing the stoic and unflappable Mel Cooley on the "Dick Van Dyke Show". He was also cast as the always unpleasant Fred Rutherford on "Leave it to Beaver" 

Deacon was born and raised in Philadelphia and attended Bennington College. His career took him to Hollywood where he played a series of smaller roles in some very funny movies. He was a comedian but he did it through deadpan looks. His dour appeal made him even funnier than if he had the gag line. He was always the but of Morey Amesterdam's joke on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". He also appeared on "The Lucy Show" playing Tallulah Bankhead's butler. Deacon also appeared on Broadway in "Hello Dolly" along the side of Phyllis Diller.
Richard Deacon was also a gourmet cook. He did infact near the end of his life host a cooking show on Canadian TV. It was based on his own cookbook. his cookbook was all about microwave cooking.  He was very social and entertained frequently in his Beverly Hills home. He was very friendly with the likes of Paul Lynde and Nancy Walker. He was also a very quiet gay man and life long bachelor.
Deacon died of heart attack in his home at the age of 62.

Don't Mess With Jamie Lynn Spears

If you are in the Pita Pit in Hammond, Louisiana and you want to start a fight you had better make sure Jamie Lynn Spears (Briteny's little sister) is not there. She will mess you up it you are startin' trouble. Ms Spears just recently pulled a knife on some brawling guys who had knocked over her friend during their fight. Jamie Lynn wasn't having it and brandished the knife until they stopped. That's Swamp Justice! 

David Bowie Is

“David Bowie Is” is a documentary about a show that was created by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the title of a documentary about the show.  The film was screen recently in Hollywood at the Arc Light Cinema. I got a call from Ginger Coyote asking me to go in her stead as she was out of town performing with her band The White Trash Debutantes.  I attended the screening with Liberty Mitchell-Bradford.  There was a bit of a problem when we arrived as the promoter was supposed to arrange tickets for us but the management of the Arc Light had no idea who we were. Luckily the manager was very nice and accommodating and Liberty and I were given some nice seats.

The Film is about a show put on at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The show itself looks like it is very interesting and filled with memorabilia. It appears David Bowie is a pack rat and has never thrown anything away. There were photos and art work from his childhood and early career when he was still Davy Jones.  The Victoria and Albert show looks like it must have been a very fun exhibit to see and is touring the world to different museums.

As a documentary I found the film to be rather slow paced and lacking in many ways. There were many long and frankly dull sections in the film with art historians and music historians addressing and audience. These sections really could have been edited down.  There was one in particular where a costume designer discussed David Bowie’s fashion and impact on fashion which could have been interesting if the talking head had an understandable accent or had been subtitled. I frankly couldn't understand a word he said other then David and Bowie.

The film is really about the show so if you watch it expecting any incite on the real David Bowie or find out anything new you will be disappointed, His wives and children are never mentioned and his only influence mentioned is Little Richard and that was an aside.  I really wanted more. The archival footage was fun to watch and of course hearing his voice and music was enjoyable. The only thing I really did not care for was the ending of the film with footage of Bowie performing the song “Heros” at a concert for the first responders of 9-11. I found it to be rather tasteless and wondered who could think this was a good idea. It would be a fine ending to a First responders documentary but hardly fitting for a documentary on David Bowie and the show “David Bowie Is”.

Don't Hate Him, He's Just an Actor

Sometimes actors do their job so well the audience forgets that they are acting. The actor has actually become the character in the audience's mind. This was the case for an American character actor named David Dukes. Dukes was an accomplished film television and Broadway actor when he was cast in a role that for a time changed his life. Dukes was cast in a two part episode of "All in the Family" that aired on October 16, 1977. The role he played was that of a character called Lambert who masquerades as a cop in search of a neighborhood rapist. He appears the the episode titled "Edith's 50th Birthday" as the cop he gains access to the Bunker home where Edith is home alone awaiting to go to her surprise birthday party next door. It turns out that Lambert is not a cop but the rapist and attempts to rape the beloved character of Edith played by Jean Stapleton. 

In the course of the episode Duke's character threatens Edith with a gun and ties her hands with a necktie. He makes several attempts to rape Edith only to be foiled and finally getting hit with a burning birthday cake and pushed from the house.
The episode was both funny and moving at the same time. It was the first time on American television let alone on a sitcom where an attempted rape is shown. The character of Edith was so loved by the American viewing public that audiences truly believed in her and thus believed that Dukes really did attempt to assault Edith. Dukes received hate mail and death threats because of the episode and the audiences belief that it was Dukes not his character that attempted to rape Edith Bunker.