Monthly Archives: September 2021

‘Old Yeller’ Star Tommy Kirk Dies @ 79

So sad to read that Tommy Kirk, the winsome star of Disney's phenomenally popular — and deeply sad — family film Old Yeller (1957), has died. Tommy was the ultimate boy-next-door for Disney (Image via Walt Disney) He was 79. ExtraTV reports the retired actor was found dead at home in Las Vegas yesterday, September 28, by…
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20 Emmys In Memoriam Snubs

The Emmys' in memoriam segment included a lot of people I was worried they'd forget — but it inexplicably forgot quite a few others. No sale?! (Image via CBS) Maybe if the Queen's Gambit director had shut his trap sooner? Just as bad, the director decided to shoot a lot of footage of the performers…
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Took It All Off: ‘The Great American Strip-Off’

If you're looking for a camp flashback to the '80s with some juicy sex thrown in, look no further than The Great American Strip-Off, an '80s Playboy Channel show that daringly offered topless girls and mixed male and female contestants in a reality show decades before its time. Disrobing for dollars (Image via video still)…
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Happy 88th to Pat Crowley!

Today, Pat Crowley — a too-often-overlooked TV mom — turns 88! Pat was Joan Nash on the confection Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965-1967), which definitely felt like it ushered The Brady Bunch into existence. Based on a best-selling book, it was a lovely sitcom about an English professor, his newspaper columnist wife, their four…
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Jane Powell, ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ Star, Dies @ 92

Jane Powell, a leading lady of the '40s and '50s — and later an indefatigable star of musicals on the road — died Thursday, September 16, at the Wilton, Connecticut, home she once shared with her child actor-turned-publicist husband Dickie Moore (1925-2015). Cute as a button! (Image via MGM) ExtraTV reports the 92-year-old actress died…
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I’m With Yma — A Blast from the Past

I fell hard for Yma Sumac — born on this day 99 years ago — when I went off to college in cosmopolitan Chicago, where I was able to browse LEGIT used record stores near my Hyde Park dorm. I saw her 1950 Voice of the Xtabay album and was enchanted. I bought it and…
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Art Metrano, Comic & ‘Police Academy’ Star, Dies @ 84

Art Metrano, a comic actor who made his mark in two Police Academy movies, died Wednesday at his home in Aventura, Florida, at 84. Metrano in his Police Academy drag (Image via Warner Bros.) His son Harry Metrano's Instagram post made the sad announcement: "Yesterday I lost my best friend, my mentor, my dad. He was…
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