Happy Birthday Abe Vigoda!

February 24th is Abe Vigoda's birthday. On this day he has turned 93. Abe Vigoda the sad faced actor made his first real mark in Hollywood as gangster Sal Tessio in Frances Coppola's Godfather. He was then cast in Barney Miller as long suffering detective Fish. The character of Fish then got his own sitcom where Vigoda played Phil Fish along side Florence Stanley as his wife Bernice. The show ran for two seasons.

It was in 1982 that People magazine reported that Abe Vigoda had died and it was pick up by other media outlets. This has become a long running joke that Vigoda has enjoyed for over three decades. Yes Abe Vigoda is alive and 93.

Famous for Saying Nothing

Sometimes you don't have to ever say a word to become a celebrity. This happened to an English actress named Emily Perry. It was at the age of 80 Emily Perry was cast in the role that brought her stardom after years of working as an actress. the role that brought her the fame was that of Madge Allsop the sad sack side kick/bride's maid of Dame Edna Everage. The character of Madge was for many years an unseen character but in the 1970's Barry Humphries decided to bring her on stage. Originally the role was played by Madeline Orr but she died and the role was re-cast. "I did nothing at the audition and I have done nothing since.", said Perry in an interview about The Dame Edna Experience. Madge was always silent save an occasional sigh when on stage except for one time when she appeared with Andrew Lloyd Webber in Comic Relief in 1997 where she sand and danced "I feel Happy".
Emily Perry worked exclusively as Madge until she was 96 other than an appearance on the long running sitcom "Last of the Summer Wine". Perry retired in 2004. She died in 2008 at the age of 100.

Adieu Ralph Monroe

Mary Grace Canfield has died. If you don't know who she is then you didn't watch "Green Acres" or 1960's or 1970's television she was a character actress fixture. Her most notable character was Ralph Monroe one of the Monroe Brothers in the surreal world that was Hooterville. This was a world where a woman named Ralph could be a brother but still a woman. Ralph was always looking for love and eventually found a man and his name was Evelyn. The world of Hooterville was enchanting and magical. A place anything could happen and the fourth wall was fluid. Everyone was in on the joke and that is waht made it funny.
Thanks for being a part of one of the best written television shows in TV history Mary Grace Canfield,

The Pink Palace

Tucked behind hedges and gates on Sunset Blvd. in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles was once a huge 40 room Spanish style mansion. The house was once the home of Rudy Vallee but in 1957 it was sold to Jayne Mansfield. Ms Mansfield loved the color pink ( it was her signature color) so she decided that her dream home should be painted a light pink. The Pink Palace was then born. Jayne Mansfield had her own ideas as to what was right for her dream home and naturally the interiors were also mainly in shades of pink. Carpeting in the living room as well as the walls. The master bathroom was cover in pink fur and included a heart shaped tub. Mansfield's husband Mr. Universe aka Mickey Hargitay was handy around the house and built her a heart shaped swimming pool as well as a heart shaped fireplace. Jayne mansfield also being the queen of publicity stunts was also able to arrange to get over $150,000 (1950's dollars) worth of free furniture by writing to furniture companies and decorating firms asking for free samples in exchange for publicity.

This was her dream home and she loved it! She loved to show it off and have it photographed for magazines. This was her home until her tragic death 1967. Hargitay lived in the home with their children for many years after her death but did in time sell it. The house had several famous owners after the sale including Ringo Starr, Cass Elliot and finally Englebert Humperdinck. Humperdinck sold the home in 2002 and it was sadly raised.

She Was the Funny Fat Lady

Women comics were once not the norm, they were a novelty. One of the few early stand up women was Totie Fields. She was born with the name Sophie Feldman but took her stage name from a childhood nick name mispronunciation of Sophie (Totie) and in an effort to sound less Jewish became Fields. Fields got her start in Boston singing on the radio at age four. She moved onto performing on the Borscht Belt circuit eventually hosting a show back in Boston when she was 20. She then moved on to nightclubs after marrying fellow comic George Johnson. It was when she was performing at the Copacabana she was discovered by Ed Sullivan who asked her to be on his show. Fields was fat and this was a major part of her act. She would start out stating it right away so there would be no hecklers telling her what she already knew. Much of her act was self deprecating. 
She became a big hit on the talk show circuit as well appearing on Mike Douglas, Merv Griffen, The Tonight Show and others. Fields was also a popular draw in Las Vegas where she made her home. Her career was slowed down at times because of health problems brought on by her weight. She was a diabetic and lost a leg because of it. This didn't stop her and she would incorporate her health problems into her act, famously appearing on an a comedy special in a wheel chair after her leg was amputated announcing that she was thrilled to say she was finally weighed less than Elizabeth Taylor.
Fields was scheduled to start a two week engagement at the Sahara in Las Vegas when she was stricken with a blood clot and taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Totie Fields was 48 years old.  

The Dingbat

To most people the word Dingbat means either a typography style or Edith Bunker. The word does have another meaning. It is the name of a quirky architectural style. A Dingbat building is a style of architecture very popular in Southern California in the mid-century. 

The Dingbat is notable for its tucked under parking. The ground floors of these buildings have parking spaces and the living space starts on the second level. They were very popular in Los Angles with its dense population  and narrow lots. Dingbats are usually apartment buildings with normally two or threw stories.
The Dingbat has its detractors claiming them to be cheap looking and not the safest places during an earthquake. There is some truth in this reaction but they also have an essence of the mid-century modern Los Angeles look. Dingbats are now being looked at in a new light and being appreciated. The shear silliness of man of the buildings now have a quaint old time feel and very kitschy names. 

Emmaline Henry Always the Wife

The go to actress in the 1960's and 1970's when you needed a wife was Emmaline Henry. Her most notable role was Amanda Bellows in the sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie".

Born in Philadelphia Henry never planned on becoming and actress she started out as a singer on local radio and television. She moved to Hollywood to further her signing career but started getting acting roles. She appeared regularly in guest spots on sitcoms and dramas through out the 1960's. It was the role of nosy Mrs. Amanda bellows that got her noticed. She played the role until the series end. She also had a small role in "Rosemary's Baby" and Hitchcocks's "Marnie". After "I Dream of Jeanine" she continued to appear on TV with roles in "Three's Company" and "Eight is Enough".
Emmaline Henry died in 1979 from the complication of brain cancer. She was 50 years old.

Thank You Sid Caesar

Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar died today in his Beverly Hills home. He was 91 years old. Caesar was a renowned comic genius with a rubbery face and one of the keenest senses of timing in the business. His "Your Show of Shows" was an early television masterpiece.

He will be greatly missed!

She was Her Own Man

Marion Barbara Carstairs was know to all as Joe. Joe was her own kind of woman, the manly kind. Joe was born in London 1900 to an American heiress and a man who she never knew. Her mother was a descendant of one of the founders of Standard Oil Company but lived life in Europe as a drunken opium addict. Joe moved back and forth between Europe and the USA until she more or less had enough of her family and joined the ambulance services in World War I as a driver. In a time when women were treated as second class citizens Joe rebelled and lived as she wanted, dressing like a man and sleeping with women. She cut a dashing figure driving her ambulance. When the was was over Joe moved to London and with a few girlfriends started an all female chauffeur service. they bought a few Rolls Royces and drove society women around London in the roaring 20's. It was during this time she discovered power boats and racing. Joe Carstairs was at one time the fastest woman on the water in the world.
At one point Joe did have to follow some one else's rules; if she wanted her inheritance she needed to be married. So Joe went out and found herself a gay man in the same boat. They married and as soon as the money was hers the marriage was annulled. She was once again her own woman and rich. Very rich. 
Joe became involved with some of the most talked about women in the 1920's. One of who was the niece of Oscar Wilde. She also started a series of affairs with several women all of who she supported even buying them homes. One of her ladies gave Joe a gift of a male doll. Joe named him Lord Tod Wadley. Tod live with her for the rest of her life. He was her child replacement.He went everywhere with Joe.

Things didn't work out with her racing career as she wanted so Joe quit. It was then she found what would be her biggest challenge and success in her life. Whale Cay was a scrubby island in the Bahamas. This island became her very own kingdom and she was the strict but loving ruler. Houses were built, farms planted and marinas created on the island. She even built a small town on the nine square mile island.
Joe lived on the island almost until the end of her life. This was a lesbian hot spot and famous and infamous women visited there through out the 30's, 40's 50's, 70's and 80's. When Joe started to become frailer with old age she sold the island and moved to Florida with her gay male assistant.
Joe died in 1993 her remains along with Lord Tod Wadley were cremated.