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Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald’s Assassin
Many factors at work in the genesis of today’s post. 1) The recent release of what are the purported last remaining “JFK files” by the Trump administration; 2) Today is the most commonly given date...
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Stuff About Sterling Hayden
Every so often you stumble across a piece of intel about a movie you thought was perfect that suggests a way in which it might have been better. The factoid I learned today is that Sterling Hayden...
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A Double Header Today!
And by “double header” I mean that this year World Theatre Day falls on MLB opening day! Hence this picture of “Ya Gotta Have Heart” from Damn Yankees, a number I have to admit I really, really love....
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Helen Westley: Born 150 Years Ago Today
In a span of two months at the end of 1942 the theatrical world lost five actresses known for playing older female characters: Marie Tempest, May Robson, Edna May Oliver, Laura Hope Crews, and,...
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A Trip Through the Buninverse: On the Bunin Puppets, From the Fuhrer to Foodini
In my recent conversation with the Flexitoon folks last week, Craig and Olga mentioned Foodini and Pinhead as being a major influence. I’d heard the reference at least once before; the show had also...
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Strangers With Candy
Few things made by humans have given me as much pleasure as the Comedy Central show Strangers with Candy (1999-2000), which I am astounded to realize is now a quarter century in the rear view mirror,...
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My New Piece in the Sideshow Gazette
I’m pleased to report that I’ve got a piece in the upcoming April issue of Sideshow Gazette. In the article I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. David Geary (late of the New York Times), whose...
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Of Ethel Owen and Pamela Britton: A Mother and Daughter in Sit-Coms
March 30 was the birthday of Ethel Owen (Ethel Waite, 1893-1997), best known for playing Ralph Kramden’s bossy, meddlesome mother-in-law on The Honeymooners. Originally from Chicago, Owen began her...
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A Trip Down Frankie Laine
People of generations older than mine would be nonplussed to learn how little Frankie Laine (1913-2007) is remembered, and even more so to learn what he is remembered for, among those who do recall...
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For National Doctors Day: A Dozen Writers Who Were Doctors
Just a little trifle in celebration of National Doctor’s Day. Having already done a post on comedy doctors a couple of years ago, I thought of this new one over the course of writing about certain...
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Viva Herb Alpert!
Yes! Herb Alpert (b. 1935) lives! Over the course of my moderately long life, I have done a complete 180 about-face on my feelings about Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass. When I was a kid in the...
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The Lore of Andrew Lang
I don’t know if it’s true that, as they say, the Scots are gifted with the Second Sight, but they are definitely lovers of the lore informing us that such things exist in the world. I know, because...
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R.I.P. Sian Barbara Allen
Thanks Eve Golden, as always, for the intel that actress Sian Barbara Allen (1946-2025) has passed away. Allen was an obscure figure to be sure, but I had actually taken note of her before and made a...
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Edgar Wallace: Born 150 Years Ago Today
Born 150 years ago this day: British mystery author Edgar Wallace (1875-1932). In America, Wallace is known for writing of the first draft of the original King Kong (1933), and dying before he could...
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Oh My Gosh, It’s Robert Pirosh
April Fool’s Day birth notwithstanding Robert Pirosh (1910-1989) may have been the least characteristic and least-suited writer the Marx Brothers ever had. A former advertising copywriter, as well as...
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The Descent of Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson (1957-2019), or, as some clever soul might contract it, “D’ickerson”, is surely best known as the child actress who played Violet Beauregarde, the obnoxious gum-chewing child who...
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The Hard Boiled Haggerty Centennial
I think it would be really funny if some terrible and yet physically rambunctious actor claimed to have studied at HB Studio, but the H.B. turned out to stand not for Herbert Berghof, but for Hard...
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A Tip of the Hat to Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born 220 years ago today, and died 150 years ago this year — now would seem a propitious time to add him to our annals. I love the photo above! “Action” photos...
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Happy International Children’s Book Day
I just learned from researching my new post on Hans Christian Andersen that (on account of his birthday) April 2 is celebrated as International Children’s Book Day. In honor of the day, I have created...
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Dead Man’s Curve: The Jan and Dean Story
The Jan and Dean saga deserves remembrance, not just because their binary star rates a bona fide place of significance in the pop firmament, but because theirs is a good yarn, with the same kind of...
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