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1-50 of 65
- Actor
- Soundtrack
New York-born Morrow developed an interest in the theater as a result of his studies at art school. As "Irving Morrow," he was acting on stage (in Pennsylvania) as early as 1927; he later appeared in such plays as "Penal Law", "Once in a Lifetime", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Twelfth Night", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Macbeth", treading the boards opposite stars like Katharine Cornell, Maurice Evans, Katharine Hepburn, Luise Rainer and Mae West. His film career commenced with the Biblical epic "The Robe" in 1953 and continued into the '70s. In his latter years, he worked as a commercial illustrator while taking occasional acting assignments.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Steve Franken was born on 27 May 1932 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Westworld (1973), The Party (1968) and The Time Travelers (1964). He was married to Jean Garrett and Julia Elizabeth Carter. He died on 24 August 2012 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Production Manager
Actor and stuntman Terry Wilson was born on September 3, 1923 in Huntington Park, California. A football star during his high school days, Wilson originally planned on becoming a veterinarian and attended California Polytechnic School on a football scholarship. Terry enlisted and served in the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946. Following his tour of duty, Wilson was chosen by Warner Brothers from amongst a group of athletes to be trained for the stunt profession with his initial specialties being fistfights and work with horses. Among the notable actors that Terry doubled are John Wayne, Ward Bond, and Forrest Tucker. Terry's career as both an actor and stuntman in Westerns spanned several decades. Outside of his work in film and television, Wilson and his fellow stuntman friend Frank McGrath were big hits together on the rodeo circuit (they also appeared at many prison rodeos). Moreover, Terry in the wake of retiring from the film business went on to run a location ranch in Simi Valley, California and was the vice president of a construction firm in Southern California. Wilson died at age 75 on March 30, 1999. He was survived by his wife Mary Ann Wilson and three children.- Born in San Francisco, Paul Mantee started "pretending" when he was very young, playing at being people like Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney. He toiled anonymously in the Hollywood vineyards for several years; it was this initial lack of success that worked in his favor when "an unfamiliar face" was sought for Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964). Most famous for his role in this 1964 sci-fi adventure, Mantee has in more recent years begun writing magazine articles and novels.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
One of MGM's more vivacious secondary stars during the 40s, petite and lovely Jean Porter was born in Texas in 1922 but left the state while young to pursue her dream as an actress. Following some vaudeville experience, she made her uncredited film debut in 1939 (age 17) and slowly graduated to sweet-natured ingénues in light, wholesome "B" fare. Most were sentimental trifles, such as Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)and Easy to Wed (1946), or western action with such obvious titles as Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) and Home in Wyomin' (1942). Despite her promise and talent, none of her approximately 30 films managed to set her apart and top stardom remained elusive.
Jean's finest screen roles probably came with The Youngest Profession (1943) and Till the End of Time (1946), where she met future husband, director Edward Dmytryk. They married in 1948 and had three children: Richard, Victoria and Rebecca, the latter becoming a wildlife rescuer and rehabilitator. Not long into their marriage, Dmytryk was branded a Communist as one of the "Hollywood Ten" (he was admittedly once a member of The American Communist Party) and the next decade or so would be a dark period of time for them.
Unable to work, the blacklisted director moved his family to England where he found some employment. In 1951, however, Dmytryk decided to return to the States and was jailed for six months before giving testimony and being granted a reprieve. As a result, he was allowed to return to directing. Jean's last film, in fact, would be The Left Hand of God (1955) starring Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney, which was directed by her husband. She last appeared on 1961 TV episodes of "Sea Hunt" and "77 Sunset Strip."
Throughout their ordeal Jean and Edward remained a loyal couple and in later years wrote a book together "On Screen Acting" in 1984. Happily married until his death at age 90 of heart and kidney failure in 1999, Jean continues to be a regular attendee of film-related events and a by-line contributor for "Classic Images," the popular magazine for old-styled film fans, in which she reminisces of Hollywood back then. Jean died at age 95 on January 13, 2018, in Canoga Park (Los Angeles), California.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hari Rhodes was born on 10 April 1932 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), Shock Corridor (1963) and Coma (1978). He was married to Mlmi Christie Segura . He died on 15 January 1992 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jozsef Barsi was born on 26 November 1932 in Mezokövesd, Hungary. He died on 27 July 1988 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Ford was born April 4, 1922 and raised in San Francisco and Santa Barbara, California, as well as in Tucson, Arizona. During school she appeared in several pageants, and after graduation went into modeling. Standing 6'2" and with measurements of 38-26-38-1/2, she was a natural for photographic work.
Her first job was in San Francisco when Billy Rose cast her in his "Aquacade", along with Johnny Weissmuller, and she was an Earl Carroll showgirl, appearing in various revues including "Something to Shout About" and "Star Spangled Glamour". Ford caught the attention of casting agents, and made her screen debut as a model in Lady in the Dark (1944). MGM put her under contract in 1943, casting her in two musicals, Thousands Cheer (1943) (with Red Skelton) and Broadway Rhythm (1944). Her other appearances that year included Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Meet the People (1944), Bathing Beauty (1944) and The Thin Man Goes Home (1944). She was seen in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) as part of an onscreen performing act and in King Vidor's An American Romance (1944) before she left MGM in 1945.
Dorothy studied at the Actors' Lab, the West Coast version of New York City's Group Theater. She had a much fuller role in her Universal Pictures' debut with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Here Come the Co-eds (1945), which finally gave her a chance to really act. Playing the captain of a women's basketball team appearing as ringers in a college game, she exuded a bold confidence as well as a shy streak, and stole every scene she was in. She briefly returned to modeling in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as part of South America's first post-war fashion show. It was there that she met Gen. Mark W. Clark, who testified that "this is the first girl I've ever seen who could go bear hunting armed with a switch."
In 1946, she returned to MGM and appeared in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946), playing a co-ed who doesn't have a date for the college dance and is unexpectedly matched up with Mickey Rooney. The height difference between Ford and the 5'2" Rooney made for laughs at the homecoming dance, which was the highlight of the film. This was her first major role to play off her height; she wore four-inch heels and publicity stills from the studio listed her height as 6'6". By that time she was often referred to in press releases as a "Glamazon". She was outspoken in advising other tall women that "if nature has made you tall, then be good and tall." During the 1940s, when actresses between 5'8" and 5'10", such as Maureen O'Hara, Ingrid Bergman, Alexis Smith, Angela Lansbury, and Marie Windsor, were regarded as formidable, Ford -- at 6'2" and 145 pounds -- was regarded as one of the most striking women in Hollywood.
Ford appeared in a New York stage production of "The Big People" (which played off her height in a positive way). In 1948, she was back in Hollywood in an unusual independently-made anthology film, On Our Merry Way (1948). In 1949, she was cast in John Ford's 3 Godfathers (1948) playing the potential love interest of John Wayne. That same year she married James Sterling in Las Vegas. However, just over a month later she obtained an annulment in Ventura, California on the grounds that they were both drunk at the time. Her Superior Court suit said the two never lived together after the rites and that she didn't know she was a bride until two days after the ceremony. Sterling did not contest the suit.
As the 1950s began, Ford's career slowed down and her biggest role of the decade came in the Abbott & Costello fantasy-comedy, Jack and the Beanstalk (1952). Evidently, Costello liked Ford and appreciated her sense of humor, because he later included her in an episode of The Abbott and Costello Show (1952). She made various television appearances throughout the 1950s, including "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" and "The Red Skelton Show". In April 1952, aged 30, she married Thomas B. Chambers, an automobile sales manager and tennis star. In 1953, she became pregnant, but was hospitalized after losing the baby. She and Chambers divorced the following year.
After an appearance in The Bowery Boys vehicle Feudin' Fools (1952), Ford's screen career started to wind down, but her remaining roles were in some surprisingly high-visibility films. John Wayne cast her in a small role in The High and the Mighty (1954) as a glamour girl with her hooks into 'Phil Harris', and Billy Wilder used her in the opening segment of The Seven Year Itch (1955). Dorothy appeared in several lower-budget films over the next few years, then faded out of movies in 1962 but remained involved with the movie business even after giving up acting, joining MGM as a technician in the studio's film lab in 1965. She was married for 30 years to actor Mike Ragan (born Hollis Alan Bane); they retired to Marina Del Rey, California until his death in 1995. She died in Canoga Park, California on October 15, 2010 at the age of 88.- Sheila Ryan was born on 17 September 1952 in Franklin Park, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Road House (1989), Fertilize the Blaspheming Bombshell (1990) and Hunter (1984). She was married to James Caan. She died on 18 September 2012 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Cinematographer Russell Metty, a superb craftsman who worked with such top directors as John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and Orson Welles, was born in Los Angeles on September 20, 1906. Entering the movie industry as a lab assistant, he apprenticed as an assistant cameraman and graduated to lighting cameraman at RKO Radio Pictures in 1935. Metty's ability to create effects with black-and-white contrast while shooting twilight and night were on display in two films he shot for Welles, The Stranger (1946) and the classic Touch of Evil (1958), the latter showing his mastery of complex crane shots. (Metty shot additional scenes for Welles' second masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), whose lighting cameraman was Stanley Cortez but had the look of Citizen Kane (1941), which was shot by Gregg Toland). At Universal in the 1950s, he enjoyed a productive collaboration with director Douglas Sirk on ten films from 1953-59, including Sirk's masterpieces Magnificent Obsession (1954) and Imitation of Life (1959), a remake of the 1934 classic (Imitation of Life (1934)). However, his collaboration with Kubrick on Spartacus (1960) proved troublesome.
A union cinematographer himself who had been an accomplished professional photographer, Kubrick exerted control over the look of his films. Kubrick gave far less leeway to his directors of photography than did traditional directors, even directors such as Welles and noted bizarre-camera-angle freak Sidney J. Furie (The Appaloosa (1966)), men who were extraordinarily active partners in crafting the look of their films. Kubrick was not deferential to his directors of photography, even to such top cameramen as Lucien Ballard and future Academy Award winners Oswald Morris and Geoffrey Unsworth. Metty and Kubrick clashed over the filming of "Spartacus," as Kubrick--with his extraordinary sense of light and effect--considered himself to be the director of photography on the film.
Ironically, it was "Spartacus" that won Metty his sole Academy Award, for color cinematography (he received his second nomination for the color cinematography on Flower Drum Song (1961)). Metty continued to work on top productions into the 1970s, including The Misfits (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Madigan (1968), and The Omega Man (1971). Metty also worked extensively on television, including Columbo (1971) and The Waltons (1972).
Russell Metty died on April 28, 1978, in Canoga Park, California. He was 71 years old.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gavin Gordon was born on 7 April 1901 in Chicora, Mississippi [now Buckatunna, Wayne County, Mississippi], USA. He was an actor, known for Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and The Scarlet Empress (1934). He died on 7 April 1983 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Lila Leeds was born on 28 January 1928 in Dodge City, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Wild Weed (1949), Moonrise (1948) and Lady in the Lake (1946). She was married to Irvin Rochlin, Dean O. McCollom and Jack Little. She died on 15 September 1999 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles County, California, USA.
- Joe Downing was born on 26 June 1903 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Danger on the Air (1938), A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939). He died on 16 October 1975 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Burny Mattinson's helmed the Academy Award-nominated 1983 animated featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol." In 1986, wrote, produced and directed "The Great Mouse Detective." Mattinson's worked on"Sleeping Beauty," "101 Dalmatians," "The Sword in the Stone," "The Jungle Book," "The Aristocats" and "The Rescuers." He was a key story team member on Disney's contemporary classics: "Aladdin," "Beauty & the Beast," "The Lion King, "Pocahontas," "Mulan," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Tarzan." Mattinson joined Disney in 1953 at age 18 without formal art training, and started work as an in-betweener for "Lady and the Tramp" less than 6 months later.- Actor
- Talent Agent
- Soundtrack
Romantic leading man and singing cowboy star whose career was far eclipsed by that of his brother Robert Livingston. He acted and sang on Broadway prior to entering films, then appeared in a number of non-Western films before signing with Monogram Pictures in 1937 as a singing cowboy. Unfortunately, despite his singing ability, the films were poorly received even for the genre, due primarily to shoddy production techniques. After a few musical Westerns, Randall continued playing leads in B-Westerns, but not as a singer. His career rapidly faltered, however, and he moved into supporting parts and villain roles. At the age of 39, he died of a heart attack while shooting a riding scene in The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945).- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
William Beaudine, the director of nearly 350 known films (nearly one for every day of the year; some listings of his work put his output at 500 movies and hundreds of TV episodes) and scores of television episodes, enjoyed a directing career that stretched across seven decades from the 'Teens to the '70s (he also was a screenwriter, credited on 26 films and one TV series). His movies, ranging from full-length features to one- and two-reel shorts, included the notorious Mom and Dad (1945) of 1945--the Gone with the Wind (1939) of the hygiene/exploitation genre--for infamous producer Kroger Babb, one of the notorious "Forty Thieves" of the exploitation circuit. His final, as well as very likely best-known, films were the grind-house/drive-in horror classics Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966) (in 1966, when he made these two cheapies, he was the oldest active director in Hollywood, at 74). Beaudine was prolific not only because he mastered efficient filmmaking but also because he started in the early days of the film industry, when one- and two-reelers were ground out like sausages, and that's how he learned to make them. Although he was responsible for some prestigious pictures in the silent era--i.e., Mary Pickford's Sparrows (1926)--after 1937 he worked primarily churning out programmers at Poverty Row studios. When producers needed an efficiently-made potboiler shot on a two-week (or less) schedule, William Beaudine was the go-to guy, and he remained so through the mid-'60s.
William Washington Beaudine was born January 15, 1892, in New York City, an advantageous location for a tyro filmmaker at the turn of the last century, because the original "Hollywood" of America was located in nearby Ft. Lee, NJ (Thomas A. Edison, the inventor of the first motion picture production device and, more importantly, holder of several of its most important patents, was headquartered there. The patent monopoly he helped found did not want filmmakers operating too far away, as it wanted to oversee the industry to ensure it did not use pirated equipment that infringed its patents. California arose as a major production center in the 'Teens because it was far away from the prying eyes of the Edison trust, which was not averse to hiring thugs to wreck the equipment and beat up the employees of companies that defied it). Beaudine started in the industry as a $10-per-week prop boy, factotum and extra in 1909 with American Mutoscope and the Biograph Co., where he first worked with D.W. Griffith, the father of the American film. He began appearing as an actor in Mack Sennett's Biograph films in 1912 and continued to work behind the camera while appearing in front of it in 44 films through 1915. From 1911-14 he was an assistant director or second-unit director on 55 movies. He wed Marguerite Fleischer in October 1914 (they remained married until his death in 1970), the same year he moved to California. Although hired by the Kalem Co. as an actor, he got his first chance to direct while working on the studio's "Ham and Bud" comedy series in 1915. He directed at least five films in 1915, and served as an assistant to Griffith on his seminal masterpiece The Birth of a Nation (1915) and its follow-up, the aptly named Intolerance (1916). By 1916 Beaudine was making $100 per week as a director, and turned out as many as 150 short comedies before graduating to feature film assignments in 1922. Beaudine, like fellow director John Ford, was known for "editing in the camera", i.e., shooting only those scenes that are absolutely necessary, which saved time and raw stock. He did not shoot full coverage of scenes, with master shots and alternate takes (his contemporary William A. Wellman, another master of editing in the camera, did Beaudine--who was known as "One-Shot"--one better as "Two-Shot"--he would film two shots of a scene in case one was ruined in the developing lab), but no more than what he knew was necessary, and since he worked almost exclusively on low-budget "quickies" for the last 30 years of his career (he directed over half of the Bowery Boys films), producers valued him for his ability to make pictures quickly and economically, despite the gaffes (which likely would not be noticed by the audiences for these movies anyway). His attitude towards most of the films he was shooting at the time can be summed up by an incident in the 1940s, when he was informed that an East Side Kids quickie he was making for Monogram was falling behind schedule. His reply was, "You mean someone out there is actually waiting to see this . . . ?".
Beaudine churned out low-budget films by the gross, in a wide variety of genres. That's why it may be difficult for some to believe that, in the silent days, he was one of the more respected directors in the industry, and had established himself as a seasoned comedy director with a light but sure touch for such major studios as Goldwyn, Metro, First National and Warner Bros. He was renowned for his skill at working with children, which won him two assignments directing films for Mary Pickford at United Artists: Little Annie Rooney (1925) and the above-mentioned "Sparrows", a Gothic suspense thriller that is an ur-The Night of the Hunter (1955) (it reportedly influenced "Hunter" director Charles Laughton). Beaudine's finest silent film is generally considered to be The Canadian (1926), based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham.
By the time talkies arrived, Beaudine was a top director in Hollywood, his salary increasing from $1,250 a week in 1925 to $2,000-$2,500 a week in 1926. For directing the "Izzy and Mike" (Jewish/Irish comedy) The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928) in 1928, he earned $20,000 (approximately $215,000 in 2006 terms), which was not bad considering the speed at which he turned out his films. Even after the Great Depression hit in 1929, as late as 1931 Beaudine was commanding $2,000 a week. Unfortunately, like many other Americans, he was heavily leveraged in the stock market and was virtually wiped out by the Crash of '29. He moved to England in 1935 and directed more than a dozen films there before returning to the US. Once home, however, he discovered that during his absence Hollywood got along just fine without him, and he couldn't find a job for two years. When he was finally offered work it was near the bottom of the Hollywood food chain, at low-rent studios like Monogram or PRC. By 1940 his once flourishing career had declined to the point that, where he had once commanded $2500 a week, he was now lucky to get jobs paying $500 a picture, and was turning out bottom-of-the-double-bill films like Desperate Cargo (1941) and the The Ape Man (1943). The lowest point of his career is generally considered to be the aforementioned "Mom and Dad" for Kroger Babb (an independent producer who often released through Monogram, for whom Beaudine did much work). "Mom and Dad" was a "hygiene" picture, featuring footage of a live birth, that Babb "four-walled" in territories across the U.S. ("four-walling" was the practice of renting an entire theater outright, which meant that after the rental fee was paid, all money taken in went to the exhibitor). Babb was a master showman, and his practice of having screenings for males and females at separate times, and providing a "doctor" and two "nurses" (who were in reality actors) to give a hygiene lecture and sell sex hygiene books at inflated prices (the money being collected by the "nurses", who ostensibly were there lest anyone faint from such a frank divulging of "the facts of life") was a masterful touch, capitalizing on the extreme sexual repression of the era to titillate and make a barrel full of money while doing it. These tactics were also helpful in keeping local authorities at bay--after all, who could close down a theater that showed such an "educational" film?
Some cinema historians say that "Mom and Dad" may well have been, on a return-on-investment basis, the most profitable film in history, grossing as much as $100 million. Babb later recounted that each one of his investors got back $63,000 for each $1,000 invested in the film. In a pre-"Kinsey Report" world filled with ignorance and misinformation--deliberate and otherwise--about biology and sex, "Mom, and Dad" filled a void and turned a handsome profit while doing so (it was playing at drive-ins in the South and Midwest at least until 1977, long after the sexual revolution of the "Swinging Sixties", so potent was the "birth of a baby" come-on to the rural audiences for whom it was made). "Mom and Dad" was likely the top-grossing picture of 1947. The film was so heavily promoted that "Time" magazine commented that the ad campaign "left only the livestock unaware of the chance to learn the facts of life." Until the advent of The Blair Witch Project (1999), many film historians regarded "Mom and Dad" as the purest and most successful exploitation film in history.
By the end of the 1940s Beaudine had churned out 60 movies. Still, he was regarded highly enough as a man who could make a movie quickly and efficiently to command a salary of $3,000 per week for The Lawton Story (1949), an adaptation of a Passion Play staged in Lawton, OK (which was re-released in 1951 by Babb's Hallmark company). His paced slowed somewhat in the 1950s, when he made only 23 films, most of them for Allied Artists (formerly Monogram). A quarter-century after directing superstar Mary Pickford, Beaudine was reduced to piloting a washed-up, drug-addicted former Dracula and two Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis clones in the pathetic Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952), with Lugosi, Duke Mitchell (the Martin clone) and Sammy Petrillo (the Lewis clone). In the "plot", Mitchell is turned into--what else?--a singing gorilla. Beaudine, who had worked with Lugosi in 1943's "The Ape Man" and the East Side Kids entry Ghosts on the Loose (1943) (most memorable for featuring a young Ava Gardner), wrapped the film in nine days on a budget of $50,000. In fact, during his preparation for playing Lugosi in Ed Wood (1994), the chronicle of another director of bad movies, Martin Landau watched "Brooklyn Gorilla" three times. Landau, who would earn an Oscar for his turn as Lugosi, said that it was so bad "it made the Ed Wood films look like 'Gone with the Wind'".
In 1947, two years after giving the world the landmark naughty picture "Mom and Dad", Beaudine was contracted by an evangelical Christian organization, the Protestant Film Commission, to make a religious-themed movie (beginning in the late 1940s, evangelist Billy Graham had done quite well in converting non-believers with movies made specifically for that purpose). It was successful and the PFC hired him on a regular basis to make more films. By 1955 Beaudine had directed ten of them for the Commission, all crafted to spread the word of God and convert non-believers to Christianity. Ironically, Beaudine himself reportedly was an atheist, who took the jobs solely for the money.
Beaudine's ability to overlook almost anything in order to get film into the can would prove a huge advantage in television. In the 1950s he moved into that medium, directing hundreds of episodes of popular series, including shows for Walt Disney. By the 1960s he was one of the principal directors on Lassie (1954), eventually passing the baton on to his son, William Beaudine Jr., upon his retirement from the show (proving the adage that the fruit really doesn't fall far from the tree). At the time of his retirement in 1967, William Beaudine was the oldest active director in Hollywood. He died in Canoga Park, CA, on March 18, 1970, with a record so prolific that it's unlikely to be ever matched again.
In 2005 the "labor of love" brought into the world by William Beaudine and Kroger Babb, two of Hollywood's most prolific sons, was honored by the Library of Congress' National Film Registry with the inclusion of "Mom and Dad" on the list of the nation's cinematic treasures.- Jack Ingram was born on 15 November 1902 in Frankfort, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Superman (1948), Who's Guilty? (1945) and Federal Operator 99 (1945). He was married to Eloise Fullerton. He died on 20 February 1969 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Glen Ash was born on 3 October 1931 in Norwood, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Hart to Hart (1979), Petticoat Junction (1963) and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967). He died on 23 March 2018 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Jeff Porcaro was born on 1 April 1954 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Aquaman (2018), Dune (1984) and Moonfall (2022). He was married to Susan Porcaro Goings. He died on 5 August 1992 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Addie McPhail was born on 15 July 1905 in White Plains, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress, known for Corsair (1931), Aloha (1931) and Midnight Daddies (1930). She was married to Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Lindsay McPhail. She died on 14 April 2003 in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
Steve Fisher was born on 29 August 1912 in Marine City, Michigan, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Destination Tokyo (1943), Hell's Half Acre (1954) and Nurse from Brooklyn (1938). He was married to Edithe Seimes. He died on 27 March 1980 in Canoga Park, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Myrna Smith was born on 28 May 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for T.J. Hooker (1982), The Idolmaker (1980) and Circus (2000). She died on 24 December 2010 in Canoga Park, California, USA.- McBride was best known as a lead guitarist for Sha Na Na during their heyday on their own TV series of the same name. He also appeared in the film Grease in 1978 with Sha Na Na, enjoyed success with other bands and as a solo artist, appeared as an actor and voice-over performer, and is a published writer of humorous pieces for magazines. He died in his sleep on July 23, 2009.
- Raymond Lee was born on 3 January 1910 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Bread (1924), The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) and Long Live the King (1923). He died on 26 June 1974 in Canoga Park, California, USA.
- St. James, Scott: KMPC, 1979-82; KMGG, 1984; KMPC, 1991-92 and 1995; KCBS/FM, 1995-2004. Scott died December 17, 2018, following a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. He was 75.
Scott was born on January 25, 1943 in Lockport, New York. He got his start in radio at South San Francisco High School when he and a buddy built a pirate radio station. From 1960-65, Scott served in Korea with the US Army.
Following his tour of duty, Scott tried his hand in the real estate market before playing the professional bowling circuit for a couple of years. He returned to radio at KLIV-San Jose, then afternoons at WPOP-Hartford. Always having tremendous respect for his audience, Scott made a point to travel to local high schools to get to know the kids who listened to his show. He even gave his home phone number on the air. He opened each show with a train whistle and exclaimed "The St. James Express is Smoking!"
Scott next moved to St. Louis where he worked at KKSS, KSD and CBS powerhouse KMOX. It was at KMOX he worked with legendary broadcasters Jack Buck and NBC sportscaster Bob Costas. Scott believed in the theory of 'Go Big or Go Home.' When Scott showed up somewhere, you definitely took notice.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 and joined Gene Autry's "Station of the Stars," 710/KMPC. Scott became an important member of the Robert W. Morgan "Good Morgan Team." Scott also formed a friendship with three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammed Ali during this time. It was a friendship that endured the rest of their lives.
Scott also produced a nine-hour star-studded special on Gene Autry. The show covered the career of the Singing Cowboy from his three decades as a performer in radio, TV and film, to his ownership of both radio and TV stations, as well as he beloved California Angels baseball team.
Scott's later on-air jobs in L.A. included working with KIIS/FM's Rick Dees, "Arrow 93's" Uncle Joe Benson and Charlie Tuna. Once nicked-named 'The Jammer with the Hammer,' St. James picked up multiple Golden Mike and Mark Twain awards for commentary writing.
In the '80s, Scott was on-camera sports director at KHJ/Channel 9. During this time, Scott regularly hosted the LA Police Department's celebrity golf tournament.
Radio and TV wasn't enough for this talent. He caught the acting bug and made his first appearance on the big screen with a role in Heart of a Champion: The Mancini Story, exec produced by Sylvester Stallone. He appeared in dozens of motion pictures. His TV acting work included Dallas, ER, The A-Team, Murder She Wrote, The Young & the Restless, Everybody Loves Raymond, with many appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live. His national TV commercial credits include American Express, Pepsi, DirecTV and the Honda Motor Company.
In 2004, he briefly returned to radio and did a talk show on KTRS-St. Louis. When he returned to the Southland, he was heard on the Cable Radio Network with Mike Horn. Scott was an incredible story teller.
For more than fifty years, Scott St. James has entertained millions of people from coast to coast, with his distinctive voice and charming wit. He's worked with the best in the business and he and his celebrity friends have given their time and money to hundreds of charities and individuals in need.
There are lots of people who made their mark in radio and television, but few that are considered true 'broadcasters.' There are those unique individuals who relate to an audience one-on-one, and are not afraid to tell it like it is. Scott St. James is a man who always did just that!