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The list of actors with whom Barbara Rush shared the big screen is impressive. "I did work with a lot of interesting and talented men," said Ms. Rush from Los Angeles. "And actresses, too, such as Jane Wyman. I found the nicest people were actually the biggest stars because they were all so gracious and helpful." Just considering 1958's "The Young Lions," she worked alongside Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin. "It was a serious war film, but Dean still made me laugh – a lovely m...
Whether singing her own words or those of others, the sublime vocal talent of pop/folk singer Judy Collins has been drawing audiences for over 50 years. But it almost never happened. "I contracted polio as a child and later tuberculosis when I was in my early 20s," recalled Collins from her home in New York. "My school teachers told me I was suffering from growing pains but when I was around 11 and the pain became severe, I went to the doctor who said I had polio. Of course, there was an...
Best known for her roles in musical theater, Tony-nominated actress and singer Susan Watson released a collection of 14 Broadway and jazz standards on her CD "The Music Never Ends" last fall. "Some of these tracks I had sung earlier in my career and others I had always heard and loved, and just wanted to get them recorded," said Watson from her home in Sherman Oaks, California (see www.susanwatsonmusic.com). As an added bonus, says Watson, six of the songwriters on the CD were women well into th...
We all use the wrong word occasionally – "that skinny dog looks emancipated" – but comedian Norm Crosby molded a career from such humorous grammatical gaffes known as malaprops. "Although I had a good job as an advertising manager for a shoe company in Boston, I liked to fool around with comedy," said Crosby from his home in Los Angeles. It was the 1950s, and Crosby began visiting small, local bars and clubs on weekends to try his hand at standup. "I would watch the Ed Sullivan show and borrow a...
Known for his trademark salutation, "Hello Dere," his bug-eyed comic stare and wild Brillo-pad hair, veteran comedian Marty Allen is still making audiences laugh. "I get up in the morning and the only thing that doesn't hurt is my pajamas," joked Allen, who turned 95 in March, from his home in Las Vegas. A veteran of six decades in the entertainment industry, in 1957 the Pittsburgh-raised comedian teamed up with handsome lounge crooner Steve Rossi, who became his "straight man." The union produc...
Don't expect Ed Asner's name to fade from casting lists anytime soon. With a variety of current and upcoming projects, 87-year-old Asner remains as busy and versatile as ever. It's a trend that follows a lifetime of dedication to his craft, playing bishops, doctors, judges, cops, cowboys, professors, villains and hundreds more film, television and stage characters and voice roles. "When I came out to Hollywood in 1961, I was determined not to be typecast," said Asner from his office in Los...
A couple of years ago, visitors to Carol Burnett's home might have observed the comedy legend glued to the TV set, binge-watching every episode of her old variety show. But it wasn't a case of extreme celebrity vanity sweeping through the Burnett household. "I'd been getting calls from writers wanting to interview me about the show," said Ms. Burnett from Los Angeles. "So I thought, maybe I should write a definitive history of the 11 years I worked on 'The Carol Burnett Show' because, after all,...
On screen, she amused TV audiences as feisty nurse Maj. Margaret Houlihan for 11 seasons in the highly acclaimed late 70s/early 80s comedy war drama, M*A*S*H. But away from the cameras, Loretta Swit surrounded herself with paintbrushes and watercolors instead of scalpels and plasma. A collection of her paintings appears in "SWITHEART – The Watercolour Artistry & Animal Activism of Loretta Swit" (see www.SwitHeart.com). Published in January, SWITHEART is written by Mies Hora with the full s...
Drab, handbag-wielding TV character Gladys Ormphby never met a celebrity she didn't feel compelled to smack senseless at the slightest provocation. Short in both stature and patience, the feisty diminutive spinster's victims ̶ such as Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra ̶ were more likely to be paralyzed by laughter than fear. Portrayed by comedic actress Ruth Buzzi in the late 60s TV show "Laugh-In," Gladys soon found her way into the popular culture of the day, landing guest spots on other shows such...
Were you one of those kids who dashed home from school in the late 60s to catch the latest developments in the fantasy/horror TV serial "Dark Shadows"? When the show first aired on daytime television on June 27, 1966, Kathryn Leigh Scott was among the original cast of the landmark soap opera. Five years and 1,225 episodes later, Scott had left the series, but Lara Parker was on hand for the final episode. The actresses have been attending conventions and reunions all year to commemorate the show...
American audiences were introduced to British actress Stephanie Cole when she portrayed grumpy, sharp-witted Diana Trent, a resident of the Bayview Retirement Village in the 90s sitcom "Waiting for God." A decade later, Cole was back on U.S. Public Television playing a more congenial matriarchal character in another popular British comedy import, "Doc Martin." Turning 75 last month, Cole's current work schedule might be the envy of many actors. "I'm in two popular series ('Man Down' and 'Still...
There was a time when Burt Ward would leap dramatically across our TV screens in green shorts, beige tights and a gold cape masquerading weekly as 'Robin, the Boy Wonder,' one-half of the crime fighting Dynamic Duo in the popular television show "Batman," which first aired 50 years ago this year. Today, you'll find Burt more comfortable at home in jeans, rescuing dogs, although he hasn't abandoned the citizens of Gotham City entirely. "I was the Caped Crusader, but now I'm the Canine Crusader,"...
Two decades ago, Barbara Bain embarked on a mission many might have considered impossible: to convince children that books and reading could be fun. "I volunteered in a daycare and just started reading to the kids one day as we sat on the lawn," said Bain, who starred in the TV series "Mission: Impossible" and "Space: 1999." "They seemed to really enjoy it and were very responsive." The actress soon recognized the potential of her simple act of kindness. "I thought of all my acting colleagues in...
One of the hottest actresses to emerge from the 1970s has been appearing around the country in recent years presenting her stage show, "More than a Bionic Woman: An Evening with Lindsay Wagner." In August, Lindsay will be in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. (See www.lindsaywagnerinternational.com for details.) "I'll be sharing anecdotes and stories from behind the scenes in my career, and showing clips and photos from my personal collection," said Wagner from her California home. "So it should be a...
What were the chances that a 6' 3" spaghetti-thin, 18-year-old blonde actor from Bennington, Vt., could break into Broadway on his first job interview in the 1940s? For Carleton Carpenter, after arriving in New York City in the winter of 1944, they were clearly quite good. "Within 24 hours I had my first Broadway role in a play called 'Bright Boy,'" said Carpenter, who turns 90 in July, from his home in Warwick, NY. "The character was written as a tall, lanky blonde who wanted to be an actor. Ta...
She put the "Tennille" in the popular 70s music duo of "The Captain and Tennille" and enjoyed two huge number one Billboard hits – "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me One More Time." But Toni Tennille also brushed shoulders with Hollywood's biggest stars. Born and raised in Montgomery, Ala., Toni recently left five decades of West Coast life behind her, as well as nearly 40 years of marriage to musical partner Daryl "The Captain" Dragon, and returned to the South. "I'm now living j...
Recognized for hundreds of television roles dating back to the 1950s, Peter Mark Richman broke into film alongside Gary Cooper in the 1956 civil war western, "Friendly Persuasion." "But I'm not only an actor, I'm also a playwright," noted Richman, who turned 89 in April, from his home in Los Angeles. "'A Medal for Murray' just finished a two year run in Israel and it toured Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa." Richman was doing a scene from his play in Los Angeles several years ago with Sean Penn's...
The battle for late-night talk show dominance is nothing new to TV audiences. In the 60s and 70s, three prominent hosts sometimes went head-to-head for the coveted ratings bragging rights. "There was a time when Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and myself were all opposite each other," noted Dick Cavett from his home in New York. With the addition of "The Dick Cavett Show" to the Decades Network line-up at the beginning of February (see www.decades.com for schedule), the trio of former competitors ar...
Four decades before James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" made waves at the Academy Awards with 11 wins, Audrey Dalton signed on for Hollywood's 1953 recreation of the famous 1912 maritime disaster. "Our version only received one Oscar for writing," said Ms. Dalton, who turned 82 in January, from her home in Saddleback Valley, Calif. "But the special effects were pretty good for 60 years ago." The cast included Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb, who delighted '40s and '50s movie audiences...
A hugely popular singer and actress throughout the 50s and 60s, Doris Day first became interested in animal issues on the set of a 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film. "One of my first profound experiences working with animals in my films was in Morocco on the set of 'The Man Who Knew Too Much,'" recalled Ms. Day from her long-time Carmel, Calif., home. "I was never one to make waves when working on my films, but was appalled at the condition of the local animals used in this film and refused to...
It's just after noon on the third Friday of the month, and 89-year-old Betty Lynn is preparing to take her seat behind a small brown table in the main room of the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, NC. Visitors are already beginning to flood into the 2,500-square-feet building to meet the actress best known to 60s TV fans as Barney Fife's girlfriend, Thelma Lou, from "The Andy Griffith Show," set in the fictional town of Mayberry. "Over 500 people come through," says Betty of a typical day...
Richard Anderson appeared in over 200 films and TV shows throughout his career. But it's not just his well-known role as security chief Oscar Goldman in "The Six Million Dollar Man" that elicits fan questions on the classic film/television convention circuit. "They always ask about 'Curse of the Faceless Man,' which we made in 1958 and was my first lead film role," said Anderson from Los Angeles. "It was a low-budget remake of 'The Mummy' two decades earlier, featuring a stone monster rather...
Come November, Henry Darrow's thoughts typically turn to turkeys ... and burros. Darrow, who turned 82 in September, played Manolito in the popular 60s western television series "High Chaparral." He recalls the memorable Thanksgiving episode, "For What We Are About to Receive," first broadcast on NBC on November 29, 1968. "We spent that episode looking for a lost turkey that I'd won in a shooting contest," said Darrow, from his home in North Carolina. "The bird falls off my wagon and in one scen...
From "I Love Lucy" and "All in the Family" to "Married with Children" and "Seinfeld," structuring a sitcom around four lead characters often proved a successful formula. "It was the perfect format for 'The Honeymooners,'" said Joyce Randolph, who starred as Trixie in the popular 1950s series based on two tenement-dwelling couples – the Kramdens and the Nortons. As the sole surviving member of the original series cast – which included Jackie Gleason, Art Carney and Audrey Meadows – Rando...
Laughter is often cited as a key ingredient for a successful marriage. Shirley Jones and Marty Ingels would agree. In 1974, Shirley was leaving an art exhibit at Michael Landon's home when Marty bumped into her. Literally. "I was getting into my car and as Marty was arriving, he knocked me over onto a chaise lounge," laughed Jones from the couple's home in Encino, Calif. "That's how we met." Marty, however, didn't hit and run. The two actors became friends and were married 3 years later. "That...
