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1-18 of 18
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Craggy-faced, athletic veteran character actor who played hard-bitten or menacing types in numerous westerns and crime dramas. One of five brothers, Woodward grew up in Arlington, Texas. He had a keen interest in aviation early on and took flying lessons from 1941, getting his pilot's license and subsequently served in both World War II (Army Air Corps) and Korea (Military Air Transport Command). Woodward first acted at Arlington State College, majoring in music and drama. He appeared for a while with the Margo Jones Repertory Theatre '47 in Dallas and then went back to study for a degree in corporate finance at the University of Texas, graduating in 1948. At one time, he sang with a jazz band and as a member of a barber shop quartet as well as having a regular weekly gig as a talk show host on local radio. Possessed of a powerful bass-baritone voice, Woodward's ultimate ambition had been to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. That didn't pan out. Neither did his hope that moving to Hollywood in 1955 might open the door to a career in musicals. Instead, he successfully auditioned at Disney for The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), followed by a part in the western pioneer saga Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956). His first big break was as co-star opposite Hugh O'Brian in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), playing the role of Earp's deputy Shotgun Gibbs for four seasons. This effectively typecast him as a western genre actor with a record number of guest spots on Gunsmoke (1955) and Wagon Train (1957). Nonetheless, his most famous role was that of ""the man with no eyes", a sinister chain gang overseer in Cool Hand Luke (1967), distinguished by perpetually wearing reflective sunglasses. He also made two appearances on Star Trek (1966) (most famously as Simon Van Gelder, the first human with whom Spock 'mind melds') and played the shrewd Armani-suited oil tycoon Punk Anderson in 55 episodes of Dallas (1978).
Thomas Morgan Woodward was awarded the Golden Boot Award from the Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Fund in August 1988. In 2009, he became an inductee into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Privately, he was a respected authority on Early American Aircraft. According to his website, his main hobby was "restoring, rebuilding and flying antique airplanes".- Actress
- Soundtrack
A pouty-lipped glamour girl in "B" films during the 1940s, actress Frances Rafferty did a complete role reversal and turned wholesome housewife on TV into the next decade.
Born on June 16, 1922 in Sioux City, Iowa, Frances Anne Rafferty and her family, during the Depression era, moved to Los Angeles in search of work. Interested in the arts while growing up, she won a scholarship to the Edith Jane Dancing School the next year and attended UCLA following her high school graduation, but dropped out when she nabbed an understudy position for dancer Vera Zorina in the film I Was an Adventuress (1940), choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine.
A severe leg injury suffered after falling during a performance of "The Firebird" at the Hollywood Bowl changed her focus from dance to acting. Coached by the renowned teachers Maria Ouspenskaya, Frances was signed by MGM at the age of 19 and began with a dancing bit in Presenting Lily Mars (1943) starring Judy Garland. Other parts in The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942), Barbary Coast Gent (1944) and Mrs. Parkington (1944) added to her film credits. Her almond-shaped eyes gave this beauty a slightly exotic look and she capitalized on it in her best movie performance Dragon Seed (1944) as the ill-fated Oriental girl who is raped and subsequently murdered. Her skills as a dancer also showed up in the film comedy Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), in which she dances in the elaborate "On the Midway" number.
Unable to secure major starring parts in "A" pictures, Frances remained an able "B"-level co-star with postwar roles in Bad Bascomb (1946), Lost Honeymoon (1947), Curley (1947) and An Old-Fashioned Girl (1949). None did anything to further her career.
A marriage to John Harlan in 1944 lasted only three years. In 1948 she married Thomas R. Baker, an Air Force colonel who later became general manager for the Los Alamitos Racetrack. They had two children, Bridget and Kevin. Following a role in The Shanghai Story (1954), Frances began setting her sights realistically on TV. A friendship with comedienne Lucille Ball helped Frances earn the co-starring role of "Ruth Henshaw", the daughter of Spring Byington, in the highly popular Desilu sitcom December Bride (1954), a role for which she is probably best known. When Harry Morgan, who played "Pete Porter" on the show, spun his character into the subsequent series Pete and Gladys (1960), Frances was brought on board to play Nancy, a next-door-neighbor. The show, which co-starred Cara Williams as Gladys, was short-lived, lasting only one season.
Frances quietly semi-retired after the show's demise with just a handful of TV performances coming her way, then disappeared altogether. She later raised quarter horses with her husband in California for a time. She died in 2004 of natural causes at age 81 in Paso Robles, where she helped form a local acting group called the "Pioneer Players".- Director
- Writer
- Producer
King Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter of Hungarian descent. He was born in Galveston, Texas to lumberman Charles Shelton Vidor and his wife Kate Wallis. King's paternal grandfather Károly (Charles) Vidor had fled Hungary as a refugee following the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (1849-1849). The Kingdom of Hungary had attempted to gain independence from the Austrian Empire, but the revolutionary troops failed against the allied armies of the Austrian Empire and the Russian Empire. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary was placed under brutal martial law. Karoly fled the country and settled in Galveston, Texas by the early 1850s.
During his childhood, King Vidor was a witness of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. The hurricane caused between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States, based on varying estimates. Most of these deaths occurred in the vicinity of Galveston. Every house in the city sustained damage, about 3600 houses were completely destroyed, and an estimated 10,000 people were left homeless, out of a population of about 38,000. King Vidor would later give a somewhat fictionalized account of his hurricane experience in a 1935 interview.
By the early 1910s, Vidor was working as a freelance newsreel cameraman and cinema projectionist. In 1913, he directed the short film "The Grand Military Parade", his directing debut. In 1915, Vidor moved to Hollywood, California and was hired as a screenwriter and short-film director by Judge Willis Brown (1881-1931), owner of the Boy City Film Company in Culver City. Brown had gained fame as a judge of the Utah Juvenile Court and a progressive expert on boys' reformation, but had been kicked out of service when it was discovered that he did not actually have a law degree. Brown had established himself as a film producer in order to produce films depicting his main concerns about American society: juvenile delinquency and racial discrimination. Vidor served as a screenwriter and director of at least 10 films with these topics, while working for Brown.
In 1919, Vidor directed his first feature film: "The Turn in the Road". It was a silent drama film, depicting a businessman who loses his faith in God and any interest in industry, when his beloved wife dies in childbirth. Vidor's first major hit was the feature "Peg o' My Heart" (1922), an adaptation of a popular Broadway theatrical play. Following this success, Vidor was signed to a long-term contract for the studio Goldwyn Pictures. The studio was under the administration of Polish-American producer Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974). In 1924, Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into a new company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vidor remained on contract with this new company.
In the 1920s, Vidor's most famous silent feature films were the war film "The Big Parade" (1925), the Academy-Award nominated drama "The Crowd" (1928), the comedy "Show People"" (1928), and the comedy-drama "The Patsy" (1928). His first sound film was the drama "Hallelujah" (1929), about the life of sharecroppers. It was one of the first Hollywood films with a cast consisting fully of African-Americans. Vidor expressed an interest in "showing the Southern Negro as he is" and attempted to depict African-American life beyond the popular stereotypes of the era.
Vidor faced no problem in transitioning from silent film to sound film, and continued regularly working on feature films until the late 1950s. His last major film was the Biblical-romance "Solomon and Sheba" (1959), featuring love, court intrigues, and military invasions during the reign of legendary Solomon, King of Israel (estimated to the 10th century BC). Afterwards he worked on short films and documentaries, his last film being the documentary "The Metaphor" (1980). The 86-year-old Vidor chose to retire from filmmaking in 1980.
In 1982, Vidor died at his ranch in Paso Robles, California, from an unspecified heart disease. He was 88-years-old and well past his prime. His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered in his ranch.
Vidor was nominated 5 times for the Academy Award for Best Director, without ever winning. He was nominated for the feature films "The Crowd" (1928), "Hallelujah" (1929), "The Champ" (1931), "The Citadel" (1938), and "War and Peace" (1956). He won an Academy Honorary Award in 1979. Part of his modern fame rests on an uncredited part as an assistant director. Vidor directed the scenes set in Kansas for the novel adaptation "The Wizard of Oz" (1939).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Colleen Moore was born Kathleen Morrison in Port Huron, Michigan. Her father was an irrigation engineer and his job was good enough to provide the family a middle-class environment. She was educated in parochial schools and studied at the famed Detroit Conservatory. Colleen's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and later to Tampa, Florida, where she spent some of her happiest years. She described her childhood as a happy one where her parents were very much in love. In fact, she claims she never heard her parents argue with each other, although she admitted they had their differences. As a child she was fascinated with films and the queens of the day such as Marguerite Clark and Mary Pickford and kept a scrapbook of those actresses; she even kept a blank space for the day when she would be a famous star and could put her picture there. When a neighbor down the street from her had a piano delivered, Colleen talked the deliverymen into taking the wooden packing crate to her house, and she set it up as a stage. It was the beginning of her career, as she and her friend performed plays for the other neighborhood children. By 1917 she would be on her way to becoming a star. Colleen's uncle, Walter C. Howey, was the editor of the "Chicago Tribune" and had helped D.W. Griffith make his films The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) more presentable to the censors. Knowing of his niece's acting aspirations, Hovey asked Griffith to help her get a start in the motion picture industry. No sooner had she arrived in Hollywood than she found herself playing in five films that year, The Savage (1917) being her first. Her first starring role was as Annie in Little Orphant Annie (1918). Colleen was on her way. She also starred in a number of westerns opposite Tom Mix, but the movie that defined her as a "flapper" was the classic Flaming Youth (1923), in which she played Patricia Fentriss. By 1927 she was the top box-office draw in the US, pulling in the phenomenal sum of $12,500 a week (unlike many other young, highly-paid actresses, however, Colleen did not spend her money frivolously. Instead, she put it into the stock market, making very shrewd investments). She successfully made the transition into the "talkie" era of sound films. Her final film role was as Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter (1934). She did make one final appearance in the TV mini-series Hollywood (1980), but it was her silver screen appearances that mattered most. After she retired she wrote two books on investing and went so far as to marry two stockbrokers. On January 25, 1988, Colleen died of an undisclosed ailment in Paso Robles, California. She was 88.- Actor
- Writer
Peter Mamakos was born on 14 December 1918 in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Ten Commandments (1956), Adventures of Superman (1952) and Drums of Africa (1963). He died on 27 April 2008 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Rex Downing was born on 21 April 1925 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Wuthering Heights (1939), Blood and Sand (1941) and The Escape (1939). He died on 18 November 2020 in Paso Robles, California, USA.
- Former host of "The Webster Webfoot Show" at KJEO-47 in Fresno, California during the 1960s (KJEO is now KGPE-47). Webster Webfoot was a squat duck (ventriloquist's dummy), who was the eternal Webelo Cub Scout, including hat, scarf and Boy Scout emblem choker. Later produced children's Christian programs using Webster Webfoot. Has full recording studio in his home.
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Production Designer
Frank Armitage was born on 5 August 1924 in Geelong, Australia. He was a production designer, known for Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Jungle Book (1967) and The Magical World of Disney (1954). He was married to Karen Connolly Armitage. He died on 4 January 2016 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Actress
- Art Department
Nanita Greene was born on 5 October 1937 in Rockwood, Tennessee. She was an actress, known for Johnny Staccato (1959), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952) and Shotgun Slade (1959). She was married to Peter Griffith. She died on 17 October 2020 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Irene Hunt was born on 22 February 1892 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Oliver Twist, Jr. (1921), The Stronger Man (1915) and One Flight Up (1915). She was married to Lester F. Scott Jr. and Walter Weyman. She died on 13 October 1988 in Paso Robles, California, USA.
- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Writer
Ron Neal was born on 22 December 1936 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Moesha (1996). He was married to Carol Ann Howie. He died on 21 January 2022 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Leon Burbank was born on 4 July 1934 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for No Escape (1953), The Loretta Young Show (1953) and Ethel Barrymore Theater (1956). He died on 22 April 1995 in Paso Robles, California, USA.
- Bill Jackson was born on 15 September 1935 in Unionville, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991), Gigglesnort Hotel (1976) and Walker, Texas Ranger (1993). He was married to Jo. He died on 17 January 2022 in Paso Robles, California, USA.
- Actor
Bud Mercer was born on 5 September 1913 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was an actor. He died on 27 October 2014 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Chrisie Vaichis was born in October 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chrisie is known for Once Upon a Scoundrel (1973). Chrisie died on 10 February 2021 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Istvan Deak was born on 11 May 1926 in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Istvan is known for The Burning Wall (2002). Istvan died on 9 January 2023 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Special Effects
Franz Dallons was born on 23 August 1910 in Charleroi, Belgium. Franz is known for Space Patrol (1950). Franz died on 24 August 1982 in Paso Robles, California, USA.- Additional Crew
Jackie Brady Baugh was born on 1 January 1948 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Jackie Brady is known for In the Line of Fire (1993), The Perfect Storm (2000) and Batman & Robin (1997). Jackie Brady died on 23 September 2014 in Paso Robles, California, USA.