Links to the past, with relevance today: This is me in September. (Image via NBC) JULIEN'S AUCTIONS: The first big Betty White sale is coming September 23, and it includes over 1,000 items from the personal collection of the First Lady of Television. Mixed in with animal-themed doo-dads and jewelry, you'll find original scripts from…
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Mildred Kornman aka Ricki VanDusen, ‘Our Gang’ Star, Dies @ 97
According to most sources, as of last week, there were just three human beings alive who appeared in any capacity in a Silent Era silent film — no stars, the last having died in 2020. Kornman (second from L, next to Pete the Pup) (Image via vintage still) On August 19, 2022, the last woman…
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Pat Carroll, TV Vet & ‘The Little Mermaid’s’ Ursula, Dies @ 95
I had a great time when I met Pat Carroll — Ursula from The Little Mermaid, to you! — in 2012 at the Hollywood Show. Weren't we cute?! (Image via Matthew Rettenmund) Pushing 85, she was bubbly and was floored when I produced an original '50s image of her. In the photo, she is mugging,…
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Marilyn Monroe Goes ‘Blonde,’ RIP Bernard Cribbins, Laurie Anderson at 75 & More
Links to the past, with relevance today: The NC-17 look at Monroe is adapted from the Joyce Carol Oates novel. (Image via Netflix) THR: Yet another take on Marilyn Monroe, this one starring Ana de Armas — and Blonde takes on the dark side of the dream: https://youtu.be/aIsFywuZPoQ WORLD OF WONDER: 100 years of Norman…
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Lorna Luft Lights Up Empire State Building, Unveils Portrait at Stonewall Honoring Judy Garland
You've heard of Dueling Bankheads? How about Dueling Wainwrights? Even the cake was rainbow-themed! (All images by Matthew Rettenmund) On Tuesday, Grammy nominee Rufus Wainwright appeared at the Empire State Building by day and the Stonewall Inn by night to deliver his trademark passionate rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”: https://youtu.be/fsBQTT-AfzI The first go-round, he…
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Debbie Reynolds: A 90th Birthday Remembrance
Today, April 1, marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Debbie Reynolds. Debbie at Cinecon in '12 (Image by Matthew Rettenmund) I first encountered her at her Cafe Carlyle show in NYC in 2009. She was just great! And she guess my partner and I were gay, inviting me to "touch my one good…
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Oscars In Memoriam Snubs & Flubs 2022
It was not the most controversial thing that happened at the 94th Oscars, but as usual, the In Memoriam segment had its fair share of detractors. Anne Rice was a writer, but some of her works were made into very famous films. (Image via selfie) First, there seems to be a cultural divide over whether…
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Sally Field on Her 1st Feature, Ketanji Brown Jackson in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ & More
Links to the past, with relevance today: From Gidget to Oscar winner (Image via Variety) VARIETY: Sally Field opens up about basking in her first Oscar win, firing her first agent, how she owes it all to Gidget and more. She also talks about getting her first feature role, in Stay Hungry (1976): Dianne Crittenden,…
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Conrad Janis of ‘Mork & Mindy’ Dies @ 94
Conrad Janis, most familiar to TV fans as Mindy's music store-owning dad on Mork & Mindy, died March 1, just a few weeks after his 94th birthday. He gave good head shot. (Image via head shot) Janis, an accomplished jazz trombonist and art dealer with expansive knowlege of Modernist art, moved between the fields of…
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Cecil B. DeMille’s Female Max, Spielberg vs. Oscars, ‘Andy Warhol Diaries’ Coming & More
Links to the past, with relevance today: Rosson at her desk (Image via Brigham Young University) THE DAILY MIRROR: Remembering Gladys Rosson, who as Cecil B. DeMille's right-hand woman knew more about the great director's personal life and career than any other person alive. Fascinating summary of her mostly forgotten life. WoW: The true story…
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