Yearly Archives: 2020

Marge Champion, Dance & Disney Legend, Dies @ 101

Marge Champion, Dance & Disney Legend, Dies @ 101
Marge Champion, who with her choreographer husband Gower Champion (1919-1980) was among the most popular and influential dancers in Hollywood history, died Wednesday, October 21, in L.A., a month after turning 101. Champion's death was confirmed by her son Gregg Champion, 64, who reported that she had been living with him since the beginning of COVID-19.…
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Mel Brooks, 94, Offers 1st Political Ad

Mel Brooks, 94, Offers 1st Political Ad
Comedy legend Mel Brooks has turned in his first-ever political ad at the age of 94. Like his late buddy Carl Reiner, who died at 98 in June, he's a fan of Joe Biden, saying it's: Because Joe likes facts. Joe likes science. Gotta love Mel: https://twitter.com/maxbrooksauthor/status/1318930412610211841?s=20
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Designing Women on ‘Designing Women’ — A Mini-Reunion

Designing Women on ‘Designing Women’ — A Mini-Reunion
Throw Back TV hosted a wonderful script reading of the Designing Women pilot, and then followed it up with a 23-minute, moderated chat featuring series stars Jean Smart and Annie Potts and creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. The NEW South! (GIF via GIPHY) The table read was to raise money for Color of Change and World Central…
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Flame-Haired Leading Lady Rhonda Fleming Dies @ 97

Flame-Haired Leading Lady Rhonda Fleming Dies @ 97
Golden Age of Hollywood leading lady Rhonda Fleming died Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, ExtraTV reports. She was 97. Fleming's death was confirmed by her secretary, but no cause was specified. Born Marilyn Louis on August 10, 1923, in Los Angeles, her mother and grandfather were actors, but she was taken aback when she was…
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Coke Canning Tab, Bassey’s Bad-Ass Comeback, Lansbury’s 95th & More!

Coke Canning Tab, Bassey’s Bad-Ass Comeback, Lansbury’s 95th & More!
Links to the past, with relevance today: Tab's ads were calorie harpers. (Image via Coca-Cola) WSJ: Coca-Cola is pulling the Tab — the '70s-tastic, one-calorie diet soda will no longer exist by 2021. Tiara I breathe ... (Image via Chris Jackson/Canadian Government) PEOPLE: The Queen of England, 94, has posed for her first official portrait…
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Conchata Ferrell of ‘Two and a Half Men’ Dead @ 77

Conchata Ferrell of ‘Two and a Half Men’ Dead @ 77
Actress Conchata Ferrell, who had been ailing for months following a July heart attack, succumbed to the effects Monday, October 12, at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 77. Deadline reports the veteran actress died while surrounded by family and friends. Though Ferrell is best remembered as salty housekeeper Berta on more…
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Von Trapps Mask Up!

Von Trapps Mask Up!
The hills are alive ... and they intend to stay that way! The Von Trapps didn't survive the Nazis to let more Nazis tell them not to wear masks! (Images via Twitter) The five surviving actors who played the Von Trapp kids in The Sound of Music (1965) — Nicholas Hammond/Friedrich (b. 1950), Duane Chase/Kurt…
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All 8 U.S. Presidents Who Have Died in Office

All 8 U.S. Presidents Who Have Died in Office
It is unprecedented for a sitting U.S. president to become seriously ill in the month before a national election. Changing of the guard (Image via New York Herald Tribune) Since Trump confirmed Friday, October 2, that he and First Lady Melania Trump had contracted COVID-19, probably during a Rose Garden ceremony introducing his Supreme Court…
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The Movie That Inspired ‘Airplane!’

Yeah, yeah, the airplane-themed disaster flicks of the '70s certainly influenced 1980's hilarious parody Airplane! — but as many similarities as one can find between Airport '75 (1975) and Airplane! pales in comparison to the scenes in another movie that match the knock-off! (Image via Paramount) Zero Hour! was a histrionic suspenser from 1957 starring…
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