RIP: FRANCESCO QUINN

Francesco Quinn, a son of the late screen legend Anthony Quinn, died of an apparent heart attack near his Malibu home on Friday night, reports a local news site and other sources.

Quinn, 48, was reportedly running in the street with his son Max when he collapsed. A neighbor who attempted to revive him told the Malibu Patch: "We were working feverishly at it. But at a certain point it turned, and there was no response."

Paramedics were summoned, and Quinn was reportedly pronounced dead at the hospital.

Born in Rome on March 22, 1963, to Anthony Quinn's second wife Iolanda, Francesco, who bore a strong resemblance to his father (who, in all had 13 children), landed a major screen role in 1986 as the drug dealer Rhah in Oliver Stone's Platoon.

Francesco also appeared on such TV series as The Young and the Restless, NCIS, ER and 24.

Besides his wife Valentina Castellani-Quinn, Quinn is survived by three children. "Francesco was my soulmate and the best father for Sofia, Michela and Max," Valentina told the Malibu Patch. "I will love him forever."

Anthony Quinn passed away in 2001 at the age of 86...

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MAME: LUCILLE BALL'S FOLLY

When Broadway shows are adapted to film a lot of consideration takes place. Even though they are just transferring an existing production to the screen, countless things need to be reworked. For every Broadway hit that becomes a movie smash, there are countless other movies that just don't seem to work. One such movie was the ill fated Mame in 1974.

Mame was based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur. Warner Bros. heads were concerned that Angela Lansbury, who had originated the title role on Broadway, had not yet captured the attention of the general public since she was mainly a Broadway star at this point (although she had starred in Disney's live-action/animated musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971). Her popular television series Murder, She Wrote, which would make Angela Lansbury a household name, would not debut for another ten years.

The film focuses on eccentric Mame Dennis, whose madcap life is disrupted when her deceased brother's son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, which includes his nanny Agnes Gooch and Mame's husband Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern aristocrat with a Georgia plantation called Peckerwood.

Filming, scheduled to begin in early 1972, was postponed when Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. Owing to the delay, original director George Cukor was forced to withdraw from the project. The assignment went to Gene Saks, who had helmed the Broadway production, and his influence resulted in his then-wife Beatrice Arthur reprising the role of Vera Charles she had created on stage, a role that had been actively sought by Bette Davis.

Production began in January 1973. Ball, who had casting approval, was dissatisfied with Madeline Kahn's interpretation of Gooch and had her replaced by Jane Connell, another member of the original Broadway cast. Cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop made a valiant effort to draw attention from Ball's age by filming her with special lens filters, but the contrast between her soft-focus close-ups and the clarity of everyone and everything else was noticeable and jarring. Furthermore, despite extensive rehearsal sessions with Jerry Herman, who had composed the score, there was nothing that could be done to disguise her lack of singing ability. Herman held a grudge over Lucille Ball being cast in the main role. Not only could Ball not sing, but Herman had written the role especially for his friend Angela Lansbury.

It was originally planned to have Lucille Ball's singing voice dubbed if her vocals were not good enough to use in the film. Alternate vocals were rumored to have been recorded by Lisa Kirk, but at any rate Ball intervened and her vocals (a point of contention for many critics) were ultimately used. While, Ball's voice was adequate during many of the musical numbers like her superb duet with Bea Arthur on "Bosom Buddies", Lucille Ball just did not have the voice to pull off a musical. Earlier in her career Ball starred in a musical DuBarry Was A Lady, and her vocals were dubbed in - so how could Lucy be expected to sing some thirty years later!

Jerry Herman disliked this film so much (and was also unhappy with the film of his prior musical Hello, Dolly!) that no film of his musicals can be made again without his direct involvement and approval. Bea Arthur has confessed that she had reservations about making this film, but agreed to do so in order to work with her husband, director Gene Saks. In a 2008 interview, she called the film "a disaster." Even the star of this opus, Lucille Ball later regretted the movie. She would later say that "making the movie was about as much fun as watching your house burn down." Mame would be Lucille Ball's last theatricial movie.

Some parts of the movie do work. There was a definite chemistry between Lucille Ball and the actor Kirby Furlong, who portrayed her nephew in the film. That chemistry made the movie both touching and heart warming at times. Despite the lack of Lucille Ball's musical ability, she was surrounded by great musical stars like Bea Arthur and Robert Preston. That alone makes Mame worth seeing.

It is a movie that as a youth I saw on a lazy Sunday with nothing better to do. Lucille Ball does her best, and even Ball in a horrible movie is worth watching. Mame is not Lucy's proudest moment on screen, but some 100 years after her birth, it is still an example of Ball never being afraid to attack a project and give it her all...

RIP: ANNETTE CHARLES

Annette Charles — the raven-haired actress best known for playing Cha Cha DiGrigorio in the 1978 movie “Grease” — has died at the age of 63.

According to Access Hollywood, Charles’s mother, Mary Cardona, confirmed that Charles passed away Wednesday after spending a month in the hospital. The former actress, who left her Hollywood career behind to become a speech professor at California State University Northridge, had an unidentified form of cancer, but was initially hospitalized because she had pneumonia.

In addition to “Grease,” Charles guest starred on numerous TV shows during the 1970s and early ‘80s, including “Barnaby Jones,” “The Bionic Woman” and “Magnum, P.I.” But it was her role as Cha Cha — the self-described “best dancer at St. Bernadette’s” who also had, according to Frenchie, “the worst reputation” — that won her a permanent fixture in pop culture lore.

Sadly, Charles’s death comes roughly two months after the death of Jeff Conaway, who also starred in “Grease” as Kenickie, Cha Cha’s date to the film’s climactic school dance.

JERRY LEWIS OUT AT TELETHON

Comedian Jerry Lewis is no longer the Muscular Dystrophy Association's national chairman and won't be appearing on this year's Labour Day telethon, the non-profit agency announced Wednesday night.

Lewis, 85, has been the MDA's national chairman since the early 1950s and has hosted the Labour Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon since 1966.

He announced in May that he was retiring as host of the telethon that has become synonymous with his name. But Lewis added that he planned to make his final appearance on this year's Sept. 4 show and planned on continuing to serve as MDA's national chairman.

MDA chairman of the board R. Rodney Howell said in a statement that Lewis "will not be appearing on the telethon" and "we will not be replacing him as MDA national chairman."

Howell added that Lewis "is a world-class humanitarian and we're forever grateful to him for his more than half-century of generous service to MDA."

The statement did not provide any further explanation for the moves, and calls to the Tucson, Ariz,-based non-profit weren't immediately returned Wednesday night. Representatives for Lewis, a publicist and a manager, also did not immediately respond to messages left for comment.

Lewis, a Las Vegas resident, has in recent years battled a debilitating back condition, heart issues and the crippling lung disease pulmonary fibrosis.

MDA officials said more than $1 billion has been raised during the telethons over the years and a national network of some 200 hospital-affiliated clinics has opened since Lewis became involved in the telethon.

Lewis' first live Labour Day weekend telethon in 1966 was broadcast by a single New York City television station. It raised more than $1 million in pledges.

The telethon moved from New York to Las Vegas in 1973 and had stints in Los Angeles before returning in 2006 to Las Vegas.

Last year's Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon aired from the South Coast hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and was broadcast by more than 170 stations. It raised almost $59 million to fund research to find a cure for muscular dystrophy and ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

The live telethon usually lasts 21½ hours. Sometimes Lewis would sing or tell lighthearted jokes. He introduced guests and other performers like a ringmaster. Sometimes, he turned serious and shared stories of people afflicted by the disease or who were helped by the association. All the while, he urged donors to contribute while a tote board rang up pledge totals...

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DAME VERA LYNN AT 94

One of the greatest vocalists to ever come out of Great Britain is surprisingly 94 years old. Dame Vera Lynn was the force's sweetheart during World War II. Although she hasn't sung publicly since 1994, her records still sell in the millions. Dame Vera Lynn still makes appearances throughout England for various causes.

Dame Vera Lynn recently visited Princess Marina House in Rustington as a special guest at the home’s Annual Garden Party. On the day Dame Vera met Sir Robert Wright, Controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund, as well as staff and guests of the home. Dame Vera was introduced to several guests including Joan Owen, who served in the RAF during WW2 as a Plotter. She also met the RAF Guinea Pig Mr Jack Perry and his wife Mary, who are frequent visitors to the house.

Joan said: “I am so honoured to have met Dame Vera. She was an inspiration to us all during the war and her example makes one feel proud to be British – especially the way she continues to support the Armed Forces!”

Shirley Steeples, General Manager of Princess Marina House said: “We were delighted that Dame Vera could join us for our annual garden party. This event is a great chance to thank the local community for their support and to raise awareness of the work of Princess Marina House with both serving and former RAF families from across the UK.

Princess Marina House offers short welfare breaks in a relaxing environment for anyone who has ever served in the RAF, as well as their partners and dependants, with 24 hour care on hand if required.

Dame Vera Lynn also recently appeared at the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home Open Day celebrations. Famous disc jockey David Jacobs also attended the event to announce the winners of the grand-prize draw and visitors got the opportunity to meet original forces sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynn DBE, as she signed autographs.

Dame Vera was also presented with a special cake, made in her honour by special Brighton chocolatiers, and the cake was then shared with residents and sold off to the public for a small donation.

Additionally Lynn has been involved in the efforts to privatize the port of Dover. She called for the port to become a “people’s port” in which local residents could buy shares and have input in its operation. That is a busy schedule for anyone - let alone a 94 year old living legend...

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BORN ON THIS DAY: MYRNA LOY

Born today August 2nd, in 1905 was classic film legend Myrna Loy. Loy was one of the truly great actresses of the 1930s and 1940s. Whether playing opposite William Powell in the Thin Man series or playing the long suffering wife of Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), Loy made every movie role her own.

Loy was born Myrna Adele Williams in Helena, Montanam, to Adelle Mae (née Johnson) and rancher David Franklin Williams, in near by Radersburg. Her paternal grandparents were natives of Wales, and her maternal grandparents were Swedish and Scottish. Her first name came from a train station whose name her father liked. Her father was also a banker and real estate developer and the youngest man ever elected to the Montana state legislature. Her mother studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.

During the winter of 1912, Loy's mother nearly died from pneumonia, and her father sent his wife and daughter to La Jolla, California. Loy's mother saw great potential in Southern California, and during one of his visits she encouraged her husband to purchase real estate there. Among the properties he bought was land he later sold at a considerable profit to Charlie Chaplin so the filmmaker could construct his studio there. Although Loy's mother tried to persuade her husband to move to California permanently, he preferred ranch life and the three eventually returned to Montana. Soon afterward, Loy's mother needed a hysterectomy and insisted Los Angeles was a safer place to have it done, so she, Loy, and Loy's brother David moved to Ocean Park, where Loy began to take dancing lessons. They continued after she returned to Montana, and at the age of 12, Myrna Williams made her stage debut performing a dance she choreographed based on The Blue Bird from the Rose Dream Operetta
at Helena's Marlow Theater.

Loy's father died on November 7, 1918 of Spanish influenza, and Loy's mother was finally able to realize her dream to permanently relocate her family to California, where they settled in Culver City. Loy attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls in Holmby Hills and continued to study dance in Downtown Los Angeles. When her teachers objected to her participating in theatrical arts, her mother enrolled her in Venice High School, and at 15, she began appearing in local stage productions.

In 1921, Loy posed for Harry Winebrenner's statue titled "Spiritual," which remained in front of Venice High School throughout the 20th century and can be seen in the opening scenes of the 1978 film Grease. The statue was vandalized several times, and at one point was removed from display. However it has been rebuilt using bronze, and is on display again, surrounded by some thorny rosebushes to protect it.

Loy's silent film roles were mainly those of vamps and femme fatales, and she frequently portrayed characters of Asian or Eurasian background in films such as Across the Pacific, A Girl in Every Port, The Crimson City, The Black Watch, and The Desert Song, which she later recalled "...kind of solidified my exotic non-American image." It took years for her to overcome this stereotype, and as late as 1932 she was cast as a villainous Eurasian half-breed in Thirteen Women. She also played a sadistic Chinese princess in The Mask of Fu Manchu, opposite Boris Karloff. Prior to that, she appeared in small roles in The Jazz Singer and a number of early lavish Technicolor musicals, including The Show of Shows, The Bride of the Regiment, and Under A Texas Moon. As a result, she became associated with musical roles, and when they began to lose favor with the public, her career went into a slump.

In 1934, Loy appeared in Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell. When gangster John Dillinger was shot to death after leaving a screening of the film at the Biograph Theater in Chicago, the film received widespread publicity, with some newspapers reporting that Loy had been Dillinger's favorite actress. From that point on Myrna Loy never looked back, and the rest is history...

JACKIE GLEASON AND UFOS

Orson Welles coined the name "The Great One" for Jackie Gleason, and Welles had good reason to. During his career, Gleason not only was a television icon, but he also made his mark in movies and the recording industry as well. Anything Gleason is involved in, whether good or bad, was worth taking note of. In his personal life, Gleason tackled everything with the same gusto as he did in his career. Even his hobbies, he tackled with highly concentrated interest. One of those hobbies may be surprising to some and that is Gleason's interest in UFOs.

Gleason was an extremely serious armchair UFO researcher, and prided himself on his huge collection of UFO-related books, which numbered into the thousands. As soon as a new title came out, even in Europe or the UK, Jackie had a copy. Little did he suspect that his interest in that topic would one day gain him access to something that most people would never even believe, and would leave others who shared his interests either skeptical or forever jealous.

It was a chance conversation one afternoon, back in 1974 in Florida, while Jackie was playing golf with one of his regular partners, President Richard Nixon. Jackie had mentioned his interest in UFOs and his large collection of books, and the president admitted that he also shared Jackie's interest and had a sizeable collection of UFO-oriented materials of his own. At the time, the president said little about what he actually knew, but things were to change drastically later on that same night.

One can only imagine Gleason's surprise when President Nixon showed up at his house around midnight, completely alone and driving his own private car. When Jackie asked him why he was there, Nixon told him that he wanted to take him somewhere and show him something. He got into the president's car, and they ended up at the gates of Homestead Air Force Base. They passed through security and drove to the far end of the base, to a tightly-guarded building.

At this point, I will quote directly from Gleason himself, from an interview he gave to UFO researcher and author Larry Warren:

"We drove to the very far end of the base in a segregated area, finally stopping near a well-guarded building. The security police saw us coming and just sort of moved back as we passed them and entered the structure. There were a number of labs we passed through first before we entered a section where Nixon pointed out what he said was the wreckage from a flying saucer, enclosed in several large cases. Next, we went into an inner chamber and there were six or eight of what looked like glass-topped Coke freezers. Inside them were the mangled remains of what I took to be children. Then - upon closer examination - I saw that some of the other figures looked quite old. Most of them were terribly mangled as if they had been in an accident."

Gleason was understandably excited by all of this, but also quite traumatized, and said he couldn't eat or sleep properly for weeks afterwards, and found himself drinking heavily until he was able to regain his composure. His wife at the time, Beverly, recalls him being out very late that night and speaking excitedly about what he had seen when he returned home. Later on, however, when she and Gleason were splitting up and she told the story to a writer at Esquire Magazine, which printed it in an article, relations between her and the entertainer deteriorated and Gleason became very upset and angry that the story had been made public. For this reason many people, including Beverly herself, have wondered at the truth of the story. However, in his interview with Larry Warren, who was invited to Jackie's house in person because Gleason wanted to hear firsthand about Warren's experience at Bentwaters Air Force Base in England, it was clear that Jackie was being honest and sincere:

"You could tell that he was very sincere - he took the whole affair very seriously, and I could tell that he wanted to get the matter off his chest, and that was why he was telling me all of this. Jackie felt just like I do, that the government needs to 'come clean,' and tell us all it knows about space visitors. It's time they stopped lying to the public and release all the evidence they have. When they do, then we'll all be able to see the same things the late Jackie Gleason did."

For a long time the incident affected Gleason. Looking back, his professional output in the mid 1970s suddenly slowed down, which would be the same time he visited the site with President Nixon. Whether or not aliens have visited this planet is another story for another blog, but what I find interesting is the interests of these classic Hollywood stars. Here is Jackie Gleason, The Great One, looking up in the sky and wondering what is out there. It shows that despite Gleason's involvement in show business, he was indeed a renaissance man with a lot of other fascinating interests...