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".
Yvette Vickers was once for a minute or two a star. Her brief stardom was pretty amazing and fast in coming. It also left equally as fast. Yvette Vickers is now known more for the way she died than anything else in her life. Ms. Vickers mummified remains were found in her Benedict Canyon home over a year after her death.
Born in Kansas City Missouri to a Jazz musician she traveled the country with her parents for work and eventually settled in Los Angeles. Vickers studied at UCLA starting as a journalism major but found she liked acting and changed majors. It was while attending UCLA She started making local television commercials. Upon graduation Yvette moved to New York to do some modeling work. She soon found herself back in Los Angeles where she made her first film appearance in an un-credited role in "Sunset Boulevard". This sadly was the most high brow film she was ever to be involved in. One of her next films was "Reform School Girls" but her masterpiece was "The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman". Vickers mad a few more films including "Attack of the Giant Leeches". "Beach Party" and "What's the Matter With Helen?". It was TV that was her bread and butter. She made guest appearances on TV through out the 1960's and 1970's. Her last film role was in the movie "Evil Spirits". During the 1990's Vickers released a jazz CD dedicated to her parents. In 1959 Vickers was Playmate of the Month in Playboy Magazine. Russ Myers shot her centerfold.
The five foot three inch Yvette Vickers was married three times and was a in long-time relationship with Jim Hutton. She was also know as being the date of Lee Marvin and Cary Grant. Her life in later years was very quite although she would make appearances and do autograph events. Her neighbors described her as very nice and very quiet, keeping to her self.
The quiet life is what makes her death so sad. no one had noticed she wasn't around. It was finally a mail man who figured out that something wasn't right. When her house was entered and her body discovered it was well over a year since anyone had last seen her.
Carl Switzer was the actor best known for playing Alfalfa in the Our Gang series in the 1930's. Switzer was born in Illinois and when on a family vacation in Los Angeles Carl and his brother Harold were discovered by Hal Roach while they were performing at the Our Gang Café across the street from the Hal Roach studios. Both brothers were signed to contracts and went to work immediately in the Our Gang shorts. Harold eventually was used a mainly an extra but Carl was cast as Alfalfa the kid with the cowlick and off key singing voice.
During the run of the series Carl Switzer was his families main source of income. He was also the most troublesome of the Our Gang kids. Switzer was often the cause of trouble on the set and was considered a mean kid by many of the other cast members and despised by the crew. In 1938 MGM bought the series from Hal Roach and production was moved to the MGM lot. The series focus became much more centered on the Alfalfa character for the next two years. Switzer left the series in 1940 when he was 12 years old. His career never really took hold after this time he played mainly bit parts in B movies. He did have some small roles in bigger films but he never achieved the status he once had as a child.
In the early 1950's Switzer appeared on television in guest star roles and supplemented his income with raising and training hunting dogs as well as bartending. In 1954 he was set up on a blind date with a woman named Dian Collingwood the heiress from Kansas. They were married three months later in Las Vegas. They were running low on money as Switzer's family had used up most of his earnings from Our Gang. He and his wife had a child (Justin) and little to no income so they accepted the gift of a farm in Kansas. Switzer tried to be a farmer but wasn't cut out for it and the marriage suffered. He and his wife were divorced in 1957. Switzer then moved back to Los Angeles and was more actively involved in the breeding of hunting dogs.
In the late 50's Switzer had a couple of problems with the law. He was arrested in the Sequoia National Forrest in December of 1958 for cutting down pine trees. One of his hunting dog clients Bud Stilz, lost his dog on a hunting trip and Switzer set about finding the dog offering a $50 reward for the return of the dog. Several days later a man contacted Switzer and agreed to come to the bar in Studio City where Switzer was working at the time. Several days later on January 12,1959 Switzer and a friend were drinking and decided that Stilz "owed" Switzer the $50. They drove to the house where Stilz was living in Mission Hills and pounded on the door demanding the money. A fight ensued and Stilz pulled out a revolver. Switzer then pulled out a switchblade and lunged at Stilz who shot him. Carl Switzer was shot in the groin and bled to death on the way to the hospital. He was 31 years old.
The death of singer Amy Winehouse is one of those tragedies that has affected a lot of people. It was one of the saddest celebrity deaths in many years. It has only gotten sadder now that her older brother Alex has announced that not did Amy have drug and alcohol problems she also suffered from bulimia.
Alex Winehouse was quoted in a Guardian interview for the opening of London's Jewish Museum's show "Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait" as saying "She suffered from bulimia very badly. That's not, like, a revelation – you knew just by looking at her. . . She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia. . . I think that it left her weaker and more susceptible. Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger."
Alex Winehouse is four years old than his sister. They had been very close as children. He hopes the show will give people the chance to see her as a person not just the celebrity she became. "She was annoying, frustrating, a pain in the bum. But she was also incredibly generous, very caring. She'd do anything for anyone, she really would. She was loyal – as a sister, daughter and friend. She was probably the most loyal friend to people I've ever known."
Amy Winehouse's sad story just got even sadder.
HBO has announced that a funeral for James Gandolfini will take place on Thursday June 27th at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. The 51 year old actor died in Italy this week and his body is being brought back to the USA. Saint John the Divine is an Episcopal cathedral in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in upper Manhattan. The never completed cathedral is a masterpiece of monumental architecture that has been in construction since 1892.
One of the world's best yodelers has died. Slim Whitman died today at age 89 from heart failure. Mr. Whitman a country and western singer/song writer was know for his falsetto and yodel sold over 120 million records in his 40 year career.
Born in Tampa, FL Whitman's real name was Otis. He was a self taught left handed guitarist. He was naturally right handed but because of an accident while working in a ship yard he played lefty. His career started after he left the Navy at the end of World War II. His first hit was "Rose Marie". Whitman was extremely popular in England much more so than in the US.
Whitman's main claim to fame in the US was his commercials for his record "All My Best" that sold 1.5 million copies.
Esther Williams the MGM movie star and swimming champion died today at age 91. Esther Williams was born in Los Angeles in 1921. It was in a local pool Williams took a job counting towels to avoid the entry cost and there she was give swimming lessons by the male life guards who taught her the "male only" stokes like the butterfly. It was this stroke that she excelled in winning local and national competitions. Because of World War II she was not able to compete in the Olympic Games. During her senior year of high school Williams received a D in algebra which prevented her from enrolling in UCLA. She enrolled in LA City College and got a job as a stock girl and part time clothing model at I. Magnin department store. While working at I. Magnin she met Billy Rose who offered her a role in his "Aquacade". The Aquacade was part of the Golden Gate International Exposition. Her performance in the Aquacade got the attention of MGM talent scouts. At the time MGM was looking for someone to compete with Fox's ice skating star Sonja Henie. MGM signed Williams to a contract in 1941. There were two interesting clauses in her contract one she was give a pass to swim in the pool of the Beverly Hills Hotel everyday and the other that she was not allowed to appear on camera for 9 months while she was given acting, singing, dancing and diction lessons.
MGM released photos of her in her bathing suit which became an instant hit as a pin up shot. Williams' first movie for MGM was an Andy Hardy movie with Mickey Rooney called "Andy Hardy's Double Life". She was later paired with Van Johnson whom she made five films with. Williams became a huge star at MGM with film hits like "Million Dollar Mermaid".
After refusing to appear in a film titled "The Opposite of Sex" she was suspended at MGM and eventually her contract was voided and she lost millions of dollars. Williams then signed with Universal where she worked with Fernando Lamas. The two eventually married and she stopped making films moving onto television appearances. She also created The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle and shows at Florida's Cypress Gardens. In the 1960's Williams retired from acting and became the spokesperson for a line of retro swimwear.
Williams was married to Fernando Lamas until his death in 1982. She lived in Beverly Hills and in 1994 she married actor Edward Bell. Esther Williams died in her sleep in her Beverly Hills home at the age of 91.
The actress Jean Stapleton died May 31, 2013 at the age of 90. Ms. Stapleton became a household name at the age of 50 playing the role of long suffering Edith Bunker on the seminal TV sitcom "All in the Family". The character of Edith became one of televisions favorite characters being the voice of reason to her husband Archie and his prejudices. Stapleton played the character of Edith for 9 years. Edith would also make appearances on the spin-off "Maude". The final year of "All in the Family" the series became know as "Archie Bunker's Place". The new series started with the death of Edith Bunker.
Jean Stapleton was born with the name Jeanne Murray in New York on January 19, 1923. Her career started off on the Broadway stage where she appeared in "Damned Yankees". She later moved to making movies and television. In 1968 she first worked with Carroll O'Connor in a pilot called "Those were the Days" that was not picked up. Three years later it had been re-worked and became "All in the Family" and this lead to stardom for Jean Stapleton who won 3 Emmy awards. Edith the "dingbat" made her a star.
Jean Stapleton was married for 30 years to William Putch who ran a summer stock theater in Pennsylvania where Stapleton would appear.
Ramon Novarro was a heart throb in the 1920's and 1930's. He became a star after the release of the film "Scaramouche" in 1923. He was Valentino's biggest competitor. Through out the silent and early sound period he was a major Hollywood star. Novarro had one problem in the eyes of the moguls though, he was gay. MGM's Louis B. Mayer went as far as suggesting a "lavender" marriage to keep his secret a secret. Novarro turned him down! During Hollywood's hey day there were many gay stars who bowed to the pressure to marry for their careers but Novarro was not one of them. He lived his life as openly as he could but was still internally tortured; he was a devote Catholic and homosexual. This problem along with the intense pressure of his career along with the aging process turned him to alcohol. By the end of the 1940's his drinking had taken a toll on his professional and personal lives. His roles were smaller and further in between. Novarro tried his hand at television and had moderate success but still didn't give him the success he once had. Novarro in the height of his career owned a grand home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright but in the 1960's it was sold and Novarro moved to a smaller home on Lauren Canyon Blvd. Here he tried to keep his career together as well as his life. He spent much of his time drinking and ordering liquor delivered to his home. He also had the number of a pimp who would send young men to his home. One of the young men he had delivered was a man named Paul Ferguson. He had been a semi-regular visitor to Novarro's home.
On October 30, 1968 Novarro's assistant entered the home to find there was a mess and empty liquor bottles and full ash trays. Novarro didn't smoke. He looked around and wasn't able to locate Novarro until he entered a second floor bedroom. There he discovered Novarro's body.
Ramon Novarro was not only dead but the evidence showed that he had also been tortured. It was a brutal torture. Because of the police investigation Paul Ferguson (age 22) and his younger brother Tom Ferguson (age19) were arrested for the torture and murder of Ramon Novarro. They went there for a sexual tryst and believed that Novarro had a large amount of cash in his home. He did not. Ramon Novarro was nearly broke. Both brothers were eventually found guilty of their crimes and sentenced to long prison terms.
Ramon Novarro's long kept secret was out.
Are you rich and want to wear something garish Lilly Pulitzer has designed something for you! Socialites and wanna be socialites delight in her bright flowery over the top fabrics and simple frocks. Starting as a juice stand in Palm Beach Lilly Pulitzer's clothing line became so popular it took over the shop and eventually juice was all but forgotten. Jackie Kennedy loved her simply cut dresses and skirts and bright fabrics making Lilly a household name in you live in a Palm Beach/Hamptons mansion.
Born into a wealthy family and marrying the grandson of famed publisher and prize giver Joseph Pulitzer Lilly had an entree to the clientele she served. Her clothing line and home fabrics became synonymous with wealth and preppy look.
Lilly Pulitzer died this week in her home in Palm Beach. She was 81.
Annette Funicello the ultimate beach goer died today. Annette made her start as one of the original Mouseketeers on Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club and went onto become one of the hottest teen stars in the Beach Party movies. Annette Funicello also made a name for herself as the spokesperson for Skippy peanut butter.
Walt Disney discovered her dancing the part of the Swan in a production of Swan Lake in Burbank at the age of twelve. He cast her in his new television show The Mickey Mouse Club and she went on to be the show's breakout star.
Annette Funicello announced her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 1992. The complications from the disease was the cause of her death at age 70.
The perennial girl next door Ms Funicello was always the good girl and was happy with that role. Her best friend was another girl next door Shelly Fabares. The two women had been friends since their time as teen stars.
Annette Funicello was Walt Disney's favorite star he gave her a full length mink coat at one point. It was with his permission she was loaned out to make the Beach Party movies. He one request was she not wear a bikini.
Captain Peacock is no longer free. Comic actor Frank Thornton has died in his sleep at age 92. The role Frank Thornton was most famous for was that of the floor-walker Captain Stephen Peacock on the long running Britcom "Are You Being Served?" He was the last member cast to be alive. Frank Thornton went on the epic running "Last of the Summer Wine" where he played Truly of the Yard for the last several years of the comedy's 37 year run.
Frank Thornton is survied by Beryl his wife of 67 years.
The University of Texas has sued actor Ryan O'Neal over a painting of the late actress Farrah Fawcett done by Andy Warhol. The always arrogant O'Neal is hard to root against in this case. His rationale is logical on this rare occasion. His story is he had known Warhol for ten years when he introduced Farrah to Warhol and the artist wanted to do her portrait. He did two (they didn't require a lot of work) one was for Farrah and one for O'Neal.
When Farrah died he living will donated her art collection to the University of Texas. Farrah had attend the university in the 1960's. The university has one of the portraits but wants the other which is valued at over $30,000,000.
Granted Ryan O'Neal is sort of a putz but he and Farrah were together for many many years and he is th father of her messed up child. The University had a private investigator look for the painting and his sleuthing found the Warhol on the wall in O'Neal's home. He was able to located it by watching Ryan and Tatum O'Neals failed reality show. Didn't this once happen on the Rockford Files?
Geoffrey Hughes is known to most American's as Onslow the bone idle brother-in-law of Hyacinth Bucket on the television series 'Keeping Up Appearances". Hughes had a long and successful television career in the UK. Like many British actors he started his career in repertory theater and pantomime then moving on to perform in West End shows. His first television role came in 1969 with a small role on a sitcom. Hughes worked off and on in sitcoms before landing the role of Eddie Yeats on the long running soap opera "Coronation Street". Eddie was from Liverpool and a bit a bounder working as a widow cleaner and builder as well as a petty thief. Hughes played Eddie for nearly ten years before leaving the show in 1983. He did return very briefly for one season in 1987. The next role he had was that of Onslow on "Keeping Up Appearances". Hughes played Onslow for the five year run of the show.
His next major role was that of Twiggy on the sitcom "The Royale Family". The series set in Manchester was about the television obsessed family living on state benefits. Twiggy was a petty criminal and friend of the family.
Hughes also had a role in one of the very popular "Carry On" films. His was also the voice of Paul McCartney in the animated film "Yellow Submarine".
When not acting Hughes lived on the Isle of Wright. In 2009 he was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant to the Isle of Wright which made him the official link between the island and royalty at official engagements.
Geoffrey Hughes had battled prostate cancer starting in 2010 and died at his home on the Isle of Wright in July of 2102.
The Twinkie has been on of America's favorite snack cakes since 1930 but there is a possibility they may go the way of the 8-track player and Tab. There could be a day coming very soon when the Twinkie will be no more. Hostess the bakery responsible for the Twinkie has filed for Chapter 11 Bankrupcty protection. The company and the baker's union are trying to hammer out a contract and if they do the Twinkie may be saved.
Created in 1930 by James Alexander Dewar a baker for the Continetial Baking Company the Twinkie was originally filled with bananna filling. Mr. Dewar noticed that the machines used to make cream filled strawberry shortcakes sat unused when strawberries were out of season and he figured there must be something that he could make using the machines. He then set a bout making a sponge cake filled with banana cream and called it a Twinkie. He thought of the name after seeing a billboard for "Twinkle Toe Shoes" when in St Louis. The Twinkie became an instantly successful treat. It was during World War II when bananas were rationed that the filling was changed to "vanilla". The cakes were still successful and at the end of the war the banana cream filling was not widely reintroduced. It did make a brief comeback in 2005 when it had a promotional tie into the unsuccessful re-make of the movie King Kong. Over the years there have been attempts to add other fruit flavors but the "vanilla" flavored Twinkie always won out.
The Twinkie like any star has been gossiped about and it is claimed that the Twinkie has an infinite shelf life. this is just an urban rumor. There is such a thing as a stale Twinkie. They really only last about 25 days. Then of course there was the "Twinkie Defense" a term coined by columnist Herb Caen in the murder trial of Dan White. He was found guilty.
Could this truly be the end of the Twinkie? Will the other staple of the lunch box Wonder Bread (also a Hostess product) go as well? Only time will tell!
Hal David wrote the lyrics to some of the most recognizable songs form the 1960's and 1970's. He died in Los Angeles. David partnered with Burt Bacharach wrote songs recorded by Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones and The Carpenters among others. This past May he received received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at a ceremony at the White House. His award was accepted for him by his wife as he was recovering from an earlier stoke.
He and Bacharach often worked over the phone when they started out as David was living in New York and Bacharach in Los Angeles. He won an Academy Award for the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and was nominated for "Alfie". David also worked with Henry Mancini and Willie Nelson. David, Bacharach and Dionne Warwick had a falling out ending in a law suit but buried all of their grievances and reunited in 1992.
He is Survived by his wife Ann of 65 years and two sons.
It was 86 years ago that Rudolph Valentino left this mortal coil. The Sheik was a mere 31 sexy years old when he died in New York of pleurisy. What is pleurisy you ask yourself, well it is a disease that really doesn't exist anymore thanks to anti-biotics. It is the kind of disease that many a heroine in a romance novel falls prey to.
Rudolph Valentino the Latin lover and biggest grossing star of the 1920's was more than a just dashing figure he was a heart throb. He was the original matinee idol. The announcement of his death made women literally swoon. His funeral in New York was a mad house. 100,000 mourners stood in line to view the body. Polish actress Pola Negri collapsed upon seeing the casket. Valentino's body was then sent via train to Los Angeles where another equally elaborate funeral was arranged. As Valentino was a young man and had been in good health he had no final resting spot and one had to quickly arranged. His friend and mentor June Mathis offered her crypt in what is now Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This was meant to be a temporary resting spot but here it is 86 years later and there he lies.
One of the oddest of all results of the icon's death is the Lady in Black. The Lady or as it must be assumed Ladies in Black appear at Valentino's crypt dressed in widows weeds leaving roses. As he died 86 years ago and the Lady in Black still appears one must assume that the mantle has been passed down through at least two generations. This is just a myth I hear you saying but I am here to tell you the Lady in black is real! I have seen her with my own slightly disbelieving eyes. She puts on a show too! The weeping is world class. The Lady in Black I have seen also added a bit of low singing in a vaguely foreign language that was indecipherable. It was an over all mind boggling effect.
"My Platex Living Bra Died"
"I wore a peek-a-boo blouse, they peeked and then they booed"
Arnold Dingfelder Horshack aka Ron Palillo has died at age 63. Mr. Palillo died in his West Palm Beach home where he was found unresponsive by his long time partner Joseph Gramm. Playing contrary to his reality Ron Palillo was cast as remedial student Arnold Horshack in the the sitcom "Welcome Back Kotter" in 1975. The series ran for 4 years. In reality Palillo was an excellent student skipping years in high school and graduating from University of Connecticut with a 3.9 GPA.
After "Welcome Back Kotter" Palillo performed in supporting roles in several TV series's as well as doing voice over work. He did however have a darker side battling depression and living in virtual seclusion for several years. Returning to his first love the theater was his salvation. He then went on to teach both in Florida and at his alma mater University of Connecticut. He was quoted as saying "I finally have something more to say than 'I played Arnold Horshack.' " His character of Arnold did bring him fame and was a delight to watch.
