Sunday, January 30, 2022

A DISCOGRAPHY MOMENT: NAT KING COLE - FEBRUARY 6, 1951

Nearly 71 years ago, Nat King Cole was in the Capitol Studios with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra recording some of these beautiful tunes...


Harry Bluestone, Benny Gill, Seymour Kramer, Dan Lube, William Miller, Misha Russell, Jack Shulman, Robert Sushel, Jerry Vinci, violin; Joe DiFiore, Lou Kievman, viola; Armand Kaproff, Eleanor Slatkin, cello; Kathryn Julye, harp; Buddy Cole, piano; Irving Ashby, guitar; Joe Comfort, Milton Kestenbaum, bass; Lee Young, drums; Nat King Cole, vocals; Les Baxter, conductor; Nelson Riddle, arranger.

Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA, February 6, 1951

7107-10Early AmericanCapitol 1565
7108-8Too YoungCapitol 1449, H-357, EAP-2-357, T-357
7109-7Because Of RainCapitol 1501

* Capitol T-357   Nat 'King' Cole - Unforgettable
* Capitol H-357   Nat 'King' Cole - Unforgettable
* Capitol EAP-2-357   Nat 'King' Cole - Unforgettable
* Capitol 1565   Nat King Cole - My Brother / Early American
* Capitol 1449   Nat King Cole - Too Young / That's My Girl
* Capitol 1501   Nat King Cole - Song Of Delilah / Because Of Rain

SOURCE

Thursday, January 27, 2022

A TRIBUTE TO CLORIS LEACHMAN: ONE YEAR LATER

The great Cloris Leachman died on this day one year ago. She is still missed...

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

RIP: PETER ROBBINS

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the classic 1960s Peanuts cartoons, has died. The former actor committed suicide last week, his family told A Trip Down Memory Lane. He was 65.

Robbins (real name Louis G. Nanasi) was born in 1956 in Los Angeles. He began acting in 1963 and was the first to play the Charles M. Schulz-created character of Charlie Brown, including in such perennial holiday animated classics as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).


In addition to voicing Charlie Brown for four years, Robbins recurred on the 1968 comedy Blondie and guest starred on such TV series as Rawhide, The Munsters, The Donna Reed Show, F Troop, Get Smart and My Three Sons. Robbins quit acting in 1972. For awhile, he worked as a DJ in Palm Springs.

Robbins, who suffered from bipolar disorder, made headlines in 2015 when he was sentenced to five years for making threats to several people, including public figures. He was released in 2019...



Sunday, January 23, 2022

PAST OBITS: MARILYN MAXWELL

Here is the obituary for the beautiful and talented Marilyn Maxwell as it appeared in the New York Times on March 21, 1972...


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 20 (UPI)—Marilyn Maxwell, who starred in numerous song‐and‐dance movies in’ the 1940's and later on television comedy shows, died today at her home at the age of 49.

Miss Maxwell, who had been under treatment for high blood pressure and a pulmonary ailment, was found in the bathroom by her son, Matthew, 15 years old, when he returned home from school in the afternoon, the police said.

A Durable Blonde

Miss Maxwell's durable blonde good looks and breezy manner carried her from World War II action films, radio and musical comedy to frequent television appearances.

She. appeared with Robert Taylor in ‘Stand By for Action,” with Wallace Beery in “Salute to the Marines” and with Kay Kyser in “Swing Fever,” in which Bosley Crowther, movie critic of The New York Times, called her “a routine blonde warbler.” She showed up with. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in “Lost in Harems; and was in several of the “Dr. Gillespie” medical sagas with Lionel Barrymore and Van Johnson.

In 1948, she won praise from Mr. Crowther as the “pictorial and sensuous Belle” in “Summer Holiday,” a musical screen version of Eugene O'Neill's “Ali! Wilderness” with Mickey Rooney.

In 1950 Mr. Crowther found her “lushly attractive as the bubble dancer who inhabits convention hotels” in “Key to the City,” in which Clark Gable played the lead.


That year she also was the female star of Bob Hope's troupe of entertainers visiting Korea in the early months of the conflict there. She had appeared with him in “The Lemon Drop Kid” and later in “Off Limits.”

On television she starred in a version of the stage show “Burlesque”in 1955 with a cast including Dan Dailey and Jack Oakie.

In 1961, television took the title “Bus Stop” from the William Inge play as a format for a series. Miss Maxwell played Gracie, proprietress of the roadside stop, but she later dropped out of the cast with the complaint that she was not suffi ciently involved in the actual plots.

Miss Maxwell, who was born in Clarinda, Iowa, graduated to Hollywood from the Pasadena Playhouse.

Her three marriages—to John Conte, an actor; Andy McIntyre, a restaurateur, and Jerry Davis, a producer—ended in divorce. Her surviving son,. Matthew, was a child of the third marriage...

Friday, January 21, 2022

RIP: LOUIE ANDERSON

Louie Anderson, an Emmy winner whose career spanned from stand-up and game show host to starring roles in TV and film, died Friday in Las Vegas from complications related to cancer, his publicist Glenn Schwartz confirmed to our blog. He was 68.

Born one of 11 children in St. Paul, Minnesota, Anderson was a counselor for troubled children when he won a the first--place trophy at the 1981 Midwest Comedy Competition. The host of the competition, legendary comedian Henny Youngman, was so impressed that he hired the young comic as a writer. Anderson was soon basking in his own spotlight on comedy stages all over the country.

Johnny Carson invited Anderson to make his national television debut on the "The Tonight Show" in 1984 and Anderson's career took off. It was hosting the beloved game show "Family Feud" in 1999 that made Anderson a household name and opened doors for him into acting. Anderson guest-starred in multiple TV series, including "Grace Under Fire," Touched by an Angel" and "Chicago Hope," and he appeared in films like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Coming to America" and its sequel "Coming 2 America," opposite Eddie Murphy. He voiced a fictitious version of his 8-year-old self in the popular 1990s animated series "Life With Louie," which ran for three years.


More recently, Anderson appeared on "Young Sheldon," had a recurring role in the dark comedy "Search Party" and had joined the cast of the hit BET series, "Twenties." Critics took notice when in 2016 Anderson was cast to co-star along with Zach Galifianakis and Martha Kelly in the hit FX comedy series "Baskets." Anderson played the role of "Christine," the matriarch of the Baskets clan, and based the character on his mother and his five sisters, who he said were a major presence in his life. The role won him an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series, as well as a Critics' Choice award for best supporting actor in a comedy series.

Anderson was also a best selling author. His books included "Dear Dad -- Letters From An Adult Child," "Good-bye Jumbo...Hello Cruel World," and "The F Word, How To Survive Your Family." His most recent book, "Hey Mom" was published in 2018 and "combined wry wit and poignant humor while sharing his journey of turning life's challenges into joy as well as plenty of wisdom he gained from his late mother." His last role was in 2021's Coming 2 America...



Sunday, January 16, 2022

COOKING WITH THE STARS: ROCK HUDSON

With the amount of time that classic Hollywood stars spent making movies and appearances, I can not believe when they got the time to cook! Here is a nice dessert receipe from heartthrob of the 1950s - Rock Hudson...

Rock Hudson’s Cannoli